o yuki conjugate

when i think back over my musical journey (as a listener), it appears to be much like my life. in retrospect it all makes sense - i can see how one thing led to another. through a combination of chance, risk, and fortune i am who i am and i listen to what i listen to. the experiences i have had musically and personally have always been a reflection of the degree to which i have been available to them.

i’ve been listening to music by o yuki conjugate for almost seventeen years now. i came across their music while scouting through a little shop tucked away in a tiny shopping concourse located fifteen steps below the level of the main street of peterborough. in my view, music that comes from such a location should necessarily be obscure or “tucked away” in its own right and as i later found out when i played it on my late lamented teac double-deck player, the music of oyc underscored and honoured this rule.

the cassette was entitled “scene in mirage / soundtracks” - and listeners who took (or still take) risks with cassettes put out by tiny little labels will know this experience well - i felt compelled to seek out more. but to no avail. remember, back then there was no internet so it wasn’t simply a matter of looking them up on amazon or itunes and downloading their latest release or even being aware of there being a new release. back then, with groups like oyc you took your chances, which was a big part of the romance. the possibility of picking up something that might change you or your perception of the world. more simply, the possibility that you might even like some of the music!

even now, you can go into almost any record store - in this town there is one left (!) - and mention the name “o yuki conjugate” and they will always, always ask you to repeat it. then they’ll look at you with that look that contains a darting glance towards the location of the phone in case store security is needed quickly and respond, “nope. we’ve not got anything in stock by them. whad’you say their name was again?”

that having been said, i came across “peyote”, (their second release) in 1991 in a little store in toronto that used to cater to those for whom music off the beaten track carried more presence, more value, and more cache. the store no longer exists having fallen off the beaten track itself, and so will remain unnamed as it will accrue no benefit from my mentioning it. but to its lasting credit, yep, there it was. a section devoted to oyc with a couple of copies of “peyote”.

the title of the disc itself was intriguing as the last time i had seen the word peyote anywhere was in a series of books by carlos castaneda. through having read several of castaneda’s books, i associated peyote with ritual religious or spiritual practices that allowed a person to access a state of deep introspection accompanied by interesting beings, sounds, colours, and experiences. this feature of peyote rides largely on the back of the mescaline naturally occurring in the plant’s chemistry.

so because the title was different, i assumed that there might be something “other” about the music as well. i wasn’t far from the mark. the music is not as hallucinatory as you might expect hovering somewhere between tribal and ambient, with instrumentation including tongue drums, roto toms, bongos, drum machine, wind chimes, frying pan, found percussion, loops, bass, samples, keyboards, fractal guitar, e-bow, flutes, chants, radio and “wildlife”.

the band was augmented for this disc by the appearance of musicians whose contributions include tabla, nose-singing, chant, vocals, and berimbau. oyc in this period was classed as creating “organic ambient music”, which wikipedia describes as being “characterised by the integration of electronic, electric, and acoustic musical instruments. organic ambient tends to incorporate influences from world music, especially drone instruments and hand percussion”.

some other artists in the organic-ambient sub-genre who i listen to on a more-or-less regular basis include robert rich, steve roach, and vidna obmana.

interestingly, the music that appears on peyote was recorded between 1988 and 1990. it was released three years later in 1991. time appears to have no bearing on the activities of oyc! peyote is creative, in places raw, at times beautiful, but ultimately far enough off the beaten track that it has been overlooked by people who might otherwise greatly appreciate it’s groundbreaking integration of ambient electronics, chant, and percussive elements.

an interview from the period around the time of peyote’s appearance covers a few questions that readers might have regarding the group’s background, the group name, the process of creation, and even the group’s perspective on themselves as being unconcerned with commercial success.


side-projects abound almost as much as christmas curry dinners for the members of oyc and you may wish to refer to the discography at the bottom of this entry to follow the trajectory of andrew hulme’s part of the band between official releases. for now though, i’m going to skip to “equator”, the group’s fourth release and the third that i picked up.

equator appeared in 1994.

revealing an oyc moving further along the tribal-ambient path but in a gentler, sometimes darker manner. where “peyote” moved rhythmically, propelled from scene to scene on the back of dense percussion and bass lines, “equator” creates and describes an entire environment using similar instrumentation to peyote but through a richer use of keyboards and possibly also through the presence of paul schütze as producer. there is a much stronger sense of colour, texture and mood as well as a more considered use of sound. more detailed information can be found in equator’s liner notes.

music continued to emerge from fractals of oyc but effectively the group hibernated or better said, didn’t produce music as oyc until 2006. at this time, oyc’s back catalogue was made available for download through itunes and that is where i managed to secure the latest creation from them.


after an absence of almost 10 years, oyc released "the euphoria of disobedience".
“the euphoria of disobedience”, has as its self-described theme “dirty ambience”. as a listener accustomed to a wide range of music including “glitch”, i have to admit i was unsure as to where oyc would go but i can tell you that there is a genetic connection to their earlier work. the percussive element of their music is almost entirely electronic now which lends a different colour to the soundscapes they are creating.

on t.e.o.d., texture and colour abounds in the form of deep metamorphic tapestries overlaid with electronic squiggles and washes of wistful keyboard pads. indeed the word wistful is one that characterizes much of the feeling of this their latest release. the music on this release feels like it has been created by musicians on the next stage of a journey. they appear to have regained their footing after a long absence and look to be carving the niche that is rightfully theirs.

i hesitate to suggest a starting point for a listener wishing to enter the world of o yuki conjugate. each release has strengths in its own right. each is highly polished and complete. each has moments of true beauty and insight.

o yuki conjugate are one of those groups that seem quite happy to do what they do when they wish to do it. so don’t be expecting something new from them every year. they are very obviously highly creative, talented, and probably sitting on outrageous incomes from their day jobs, thereby allowing them the luxury of banging out the odd disc every so often! just kidding andrew!!

much more interesting information can be found about these musicians at the homepage for o yuki conjugate.

here’s the oyc on myspace profile.

those interested may wish to visit this site which has very generously posted a discography of the work of andrew hulme.

here is a short but lovely video released some two months ago . . . .
sounding like a distant cousin of german ambient pioneers popol vuh, nightmare in calligraphy hovers in the interstice between ambient and fourth world music as described by jon hassell “a mysterious, unique hybrid of music both ancient and digital, composed and improvised, Eastern and Western.”

nightmare in calligraphy: