Author: joseph

Today’s show was many months in the making!

Mad EP has been on solipsistic NATION several times in the past. Mad EP delivered a live set back in May and was on the show with O’Slick last September. During that time Mad EP and I have talked abut him coming on the show with a mix of his music. In fact, a few months ago he sent me a mix. I was game to play it but then Hecq came on solipsistic NATION with his mix and it occurred to both Mad EP and me that his mix, while great, didn’t convey they full range of musical styles that he is capable of. So it was back to the drawing board.

Things got pushed back even further when Mad EP broke his hand. Mad EP is also a cellist so this must have been horrifying to him. Fortunately, he’s mending just fine but it meant that his mix would have to wait.

I’ve been looking forward to his mix for quite a while but I had to be patient. What was I going to say? “Hey, dude, sorry about your broken hand but walk it off and deliver the damn mix!” So I sat tight. And the wait was well worth it.

Today’s mix features at least 21 tracks that seamlessly weave in and out of each other. When I asked Mad EP for a playlist he just laughed and said it would be impossible. The playlist he did provide told me at the very least which track he did play but not necessarily the sequence in which they appear. Like I said, they weave in and out of each other only to reappear later like a leitmotif. But the mix does give you an idea of the spectrum of music Mad EP creates. As a bonus, a lot of the tracks are unreleased!

I’ve been a fan of Mad EP since the day Nicholas Chevreux from Ad Noiseam records was kind enough to send me a stack of promotional CDs so I’m thrilled to share with you Mad EP’s incredible mix. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have because I’ve been listening to it almost daily since he sent it to me.

Join us next week when our guests will be Sean Horton, the founder of Seattle’s Decibel Festival; Karina van Heck, who has created the Body Speaker that creates music when she moves her body; Leif Inge of 9 Beet Stretch, who has slowed down Beethoven’s 9th Symphony so that it takes 24 hours to listen to from start to finish; and Shamantis, who has slowed down Justin Bieber‘s “U Smile” by 800%. Stay stuned!

1. Mad EP “Sap/v.1 (Unreleased)”
2. Interview with Mad EP
3. Mad EP “Noise 11211 (Unreleased)”
4. Mad EP “Scab Removal Technique”
5. Mad EP “Dreme (Unreleased)”
6. Mad EP “Jackwind (Unreleased)”
7. Mad EP “Inf-Enj (Unreleased)”
8. Mad EP “Slack (Unreleased)”
9. Mad EP “Tonem Sevo Lehs”
10. Mad EP “51 Areas”
11. Mad EP “Everything Falls Apart”
12. Mad EP “Matthew’s Lament (Unreleased)”
13. Mad EP “Yuido”
14. Mad EP “Scapegoat Waltz (Unreleased)”
15. Mad EP “Cosican rmx222 (Unreleased)”
16. Mad EP “When It Hurts (Unreleased)”
17. Mad EP “Damb (Unreleased)”
18. Mad EP “The Way It Is (Unreleased)”
19. Mad EP “Graveyard Salsa (Unreleased)”
20. Mad EP “Stepping Amongst Daysteppers”
21. Mad EP “Crocacyst” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
22. Mad EP “Shades of Grey Remix (Unreleased)”
23. Mad EP “Iowa City”
24. Mad EP “S-Cents”
25. Mad EP “Optigrab (Unreleased)”
26. Mad EP “Insomniac” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
27. Mad EP “Lilies & Libations”
28. Mad EP “Drinking Your Tears (Unreleased)”

From time to time I’ll ask listeners on Twitter and Facebook which labels I should showcase on solipsistic NATION and time and time again people have demanded that I do a feature on Ektoplazm, a psytrance netlabel. Amazingly enough, this is the first all-psytrance show on solipsistic NATION. In fact, I’ve played next to no psytrance on solipsistic NATION.

The reason is simple. I’m not a fan of psytrance. Just about every psytrance track I’ve heard sounds like every psytrance track I’ve heard. But when I think about it, you could say that about just about every sub genre of electronic music. To people who are not fans of, say, dubstep or drum and bass, it all sounds the same. But if you are a fan then it is very easy to hear the differences.

I’m glad I asked which labels I should showcase because it takes me out of my comfort zone and exposes me to music I would otherwise never listen to and the music from Ektoplazm is very, very good. Alexander, the founder of Ektoplazm, is our guest on today’s show and he’s put together select tracks from his label. Even while working within the framework of psytrance the music on Ektoplazm is distinct, playful and inventive. Listening to Alexander’s mix it’s obvious why psytrance has such longstanding popularity.

If you like what you hear then you’ll be thrilled to know that you can download everything on today’s show for free by clicking the links below of by going to the Ektoplazm website at http://www.ektoplazm.com!

Today’s show has got me thinking: what other genres have I missed out on? I’m certainly not a fan of house or techno but as always, like today’s show, when I hear great music I instantly recognize it and become a fan. So what other genres do you think I need to focus more on on solipsistic NATION? For the matter, what other labels should I showcase? Send me an email and let me know.

Join us gain next when our guest will either be Mad E.P. or Andrew from The Bombay Dub Orchestra!

1. Magic & Witchcraft “Spiral” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. Jikkenteki “Default To Zero” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
3. Interview with Alexander, founder of Ektoplazm
4. Amygdala “MetaMusic” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
5. Anakoluth “Delphic Haze” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
6. ManMadeMan “Stillness Within” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
7. Interview with Alexander, founder of Ektoplazm
8. Cenotes (DoHm & P. Tale) “Freaking In The Distance” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
9. Tsabeat “New Technologies” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
10. EvsY “A.M. User” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
11. Ekoplex “Twisted Root” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
12. Phobosphere “Intersection 2060” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
13. Interview with Alexander, founder of Ektoplazm
14. Etnoscope “Might & Magic [Unreleased]”

The first Friday of each month I feature a live set from an electronic artist.

Yes, I know this is a Monday and not a Friday.

solipsistic NATION is a labor of love that keeps me sane but it’s not a paying gig, so real life often gets in the way. Putting food on my table, I’m sad to day, trumps putting music in your ears.

So from time to time solipsistic NATION will go out a week late. And I could have easily pushed today’s show back a week, too, but since this is a holiday in the US I figured that’s all the excuse I needed to release today’s show.

As I mentioned, once a month I feature a live set and this month’s set comes to us from Lynn Standafer. You probably know him as Enduser.

Lynn’s latest album, 1/3, was released by Ad Noiseam and like Ad Noiseam, Lynn’s music is top notch, inventive and always takes you in unexpected directions. Today’s live set from Lynn is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. Lynn kicks things off with iamthesun, a project between him and Casey Beagle and Balazs Pandi and then moves to a project he did with former Swans member Jarboe. We’ll also hear two track from Blood of Heroes, a project that includes Justin K. Broadrick and Bill Laswell. Lynn is a man who is not confined by genre. So we’ve got a lot of great music to look forward to!

Join us again this Friday when we’ll talk with Alexander Synaptic of Ektoplazm and play select tracks from his net label.

Photo Credit: ©Ad Noiseam

1. Interview with Lynn Standafer of Enduser
2. iamthesun “Untitled”
3. Enduser w/ Jarboe “Ode to V (Enduser Remix)”
4. Enduser “Untitled 1”
5. Enduser “Untitled 2”
6. Blood of Heroes “Remain (Unreleased Demo Version)”
7. Enduser “Untitled 3”
8. Enduser “Untitled 4”
9. Enduser “Void”
10. Enduser “Les Dilution”
11. Enduser “1/3”
12. Enduser “Berlin Dub”
13. Enduser “Death Vest 09”
14. Enduser “End of A Beginning (Sublight Version)”

I just encoded this week’s show to mp3 (thanks, Blacktree!) and I’m coasting on the dregs of nervous energy. Before this buzz evaporates let me tell you about this week’s show before I crash.

And what a great show it is!

I’m a little late to the party. Greg Harrison‘s Groove came out in 2000 but I only just saw it on Netflix a few months back.

For a while I’ve been thinking about the 90s and the millennium buzz that was building. Things seemed so optimistic but 10 years later, I just can’t seem to muster that same optimism. I don’t know if it’s guarded caution from 9/11 or just a fact of getting older. Was I ever really that idealistic and is it possible to ever feel that way again? Harrison’s Groove put me in touch with the Y2K zeitgeist but also with the smaller, more intimate moments that Douglas Rushkoff is always talking about. Come to think of it, Rushkoff wrote about his take on rave culture and meta culture in his book, Club Zero-G. Groove served as touchstone to how important those connections can be. I’m very happy Greg Harrison came on today’s show to reflect on Groove.

Just as I feel obliged to cover electronic music culture in popular culture like movies like Groove I also feel obliged to promote electronic music festivals. This week we’ll talk with Viola van Alphen and Kythe (Keith? Sorry about the spelling.) about the Gogbot Festival taking place in the Netherlands September 9th-12th. This year’s theme is the technological singularity, which is a meme that’s latched a hold of the my brain since the 90s. I blame that on rave culture!

The second half of today’s show takes place in my fair city of San Diego. My very neighborhood, in fact.

A few weeks back I was kicking back at the Krakatoa Cafe and while I was waiting for my latte to be brewed I came across two flyers for the San Diego DIY New Media Lab and the Fundamentals Progressive Concepts and DJ Academy. I invited San Diego DIY New Media Lab’s Morgan Sully and Fundamentals Progressive Concepts and DJ Academy’s Chase Costello to join us on today’s show to talk about the art and craft of creating and producing music.

And there goes my last bot of energy. Perfect timing! Thanks for reading, thanks for listening. See you next week for a special live set from Enduser!

Photo Credit: ©Darrell Skeels

1. Boozy & Swan “Champagne Beat Boogie”
2. Orbital “Halcyon + On + On”
3. Interview with Greg Harrison, writer/director of Groove
4. Broken Note “The Fury”
5. Alva Noto “Garment for A Garment”
6. Interview with Viola van Alphen and Kythe of the Gogbot Festival
7. Sickboy “Doofemilius”
8. Zeller “Galactik Dust”
9. Interview with Morgan Sully of the San Diego DIY New Media Lab
10. Master Margherita “Can Not See” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
11. Chris Abrahams “Birds and Wasp”
12. Interview with Chase Costello of the Fundamentals Progressive Concepts and DJ Academy

Today’s show is dedicated to Florian, a newly acquainted friend who has recently gotten into dubstep. Florian, while today’s mix isn’t all dubstep I think there’s enough to keep you happy.

It’s been fun listening to dubstep with fresh ears with Florian. It’s easy to forget that dubstep has only been around for the last ten years. Unless you’re this kid, who is going to grow up with dubstep, then it’s easy to forgive if you’ve never heard dubstep.

The first time I had heard of dubstep was back in 2002 when XLR8R explored the genre. I had already heard the sound percolating through acts like Horsepower Productions but now the sound had a name. And who wouldn’t want to get into dubstep? The genre’s very name dripped with cool.

Dubstep quickly took off once it was championed by the likes of BBC Radio 1’s John Peel and Mary Anne Hobbs. What was once an obscure scene now exploded into the mainstream. Well, as mainstream as a genres is going to get with it’s two-step rhythm and depth-charge low-end bass is ever going to get. Dubstep is so pervasive and so easy to do wrong that I’m almost sick of dustep.

But not yet.

As today’s show proves, dubstep hasn’t even begun to play itself out. Artists like Broken Note, Cardopusher and Mobthrow continue to plumbs the depths for new sounds to bring back to the surface.

So turn up that sub woofer and dance like a zombie!

Photo Credit: ©Fotoautotrofo

1. Two Fingers “What You Know (Radio Edit)”
2. Frank Riggio “Derdra Silodar” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
3. Geomatic “Serpent’s Tooth”
4. ESA “Randomly Selected Drawbacks Of The Human Condition Pt 2”
5. Broken Note “Dubversion (Remix By Hecq)”
6. Mobthrow “Breakstar”
7. Enduser “Interruption 4 (Remix By Cardopusher)”
8. Cardopusher “Collapsible Shelter (Pacheko Remix)”
9. Search & Destroy “Candyfloss (Loefah Remix)”
10. Anklebiter “O’Bannon”
11. B1t Crunch3r & Adapt “House of Ophiuchus” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
12. Expect Resistance and Greg Hunter “Chemtrails” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
13. Master Margherita “4drums”

Each month I showcase a music label that puts out amazing releases you absolutely need to know about. Today on solipsistic NATION I’ll play select tracks from Crammed Discs.

Usually this would be pretty straight forward but in the case of Crammed Discs it’s a challenge. Crammed Discs has been around for 30 years now and in that time they’ve released over 265 albums and 250 singles. Furthermore, Crammed Discs features artists from all over the world, from the Balkans to Africa, from South America to the Middle East and beyond. How do encompass all of that in a one hour program.

The simple answer is that it can’t be done. Fortunately I had Marc Hollander, the label’s founder, join me on today’s show and guide the way!

Crammed Discs was founded in 1980 by Marc and the first release was Marc and Vincent Kenis‘ band, Aksak Maboul. Since then Crammed Discs and its sub-labels Ziriguiboom, SSR Records, Made To Measure and Language have put out wonderful releases from the likes of Minimal Compact, Zap Mama, Tuxedomoon and more.

As I said, it’s impossible to convey the scope of Crammed Discs in a one hour show, even with the framework of electronic music. In the end I tried to express the diversity of the label as well as play tracks from some of my favorite artists such as Colin Newman, Balkan Beat Box and Bebel Gilberto. I even played a track by Konono Nº1 who technically aren’t even an electronic music band. But it’s my show and I can bend the rules when I want.

I hope you enjoy today’s show featuring music from Crammed Discs and my conversation with Marc Hollander. Join us again next week and we’ll do it all over again. But completely different.

1. Bebel Gilberto “Samba da Bênção”
2. Bossacucanova “Samba Da Minha Terra”
3. Suba “Tantos Desejos”
4. Interview with Marc Hollander, founder of Crammed Discs
5. Balkan Beat Box “Pachima”
6. U-Cef “Ouddamak”
7. Interview with Marc Hollander, founder of Crammed Discs
8. Niko Marks & City Boy Players featuring Eddie Fowlkes “Way Back When”
9. Carl Craig “Televised Green Smoke”
10. Interview with Marc Hollander, founder of Crammed Discs
11. 4hero “Universal Love (feat. Carol Crosby)”
12. Konono Nº1 “Lufuala Ndonga”
13. Interview with Marc Hollander, founder of Crammed Discs
14. Buckfunk 3000 “Planet Shock Future Rock”
15. Colin Newman “I Can Hear Your”

Back when I used to DJ at Free Radio San Diego (FRSD, incidentally, is where solipsistic NATION was born) I was introduced to the music of Atom & His Package.

FRSD was staffed mostly by punks and there was some discussion as to whether Atom & His Package was punk rock or not. On the one hand, Atom’s music was mostly played on his sequencer (many will tell you that you don’t play punk rock on a sequencer), his lyrics were mostly pretty silly and sung in an almost cartoony voice. But on the other hand, the sequencer had a “cheap” sound and Atom waved his freak flag in his lyrics that were earnest and heartfelt with a fuck you attitude if you didn’t get it or didn’t like it.

I don’t think any of us took these discussion seriously but my own view was that Atom was most definitely punk. Not the conservative, thoughtless punk that dominates most of the genre and culture today. But the punk of yore, when there weren’t really any rules as to what punk was.

If Atom is punk then what is he doing on solipsistic NATION, an electronic music show?

If you’ve listened to solipsistic NATION in the past then you know I play fast and loose with what the definition of what electronic music is. Like punk, I think electronic music is pretty much open for definition. I guess the only requirement is that it should have some electronic instrumentation and so Atom’s package, his sequencer, fits the bill perfectly.

Atom & His Package is Adam Goren is our guest on today’s solipsistic NATION and his set was originally record live at the University of Maryland.

In 2003 Adam performed his last show as Atom and His Package due to impending fatherhood and being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Adam now teaches chemistry and physics at the Shipley School located in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and plays from time to time with Armalite.

Join us next week when our guest will be Marc Hollander, the co-founder of Crammed Discs!

Photo Credit: ©elawgrrl

1. Interview with Adam Goren of Atom & His Package
2. Atom & His Package “Intro”
3. Atom & His Package “Pumping Iron for Enya”
4. Atom & His Package “Hats Off to Halford”
5. Atom & His Package “Mountan Goats Cover”
6. Atom & His Package “Happy Birthday Ralph”
7. Atom & His Package “Goalie”
8. Atom & His Package “Undercover Funny”
9. Atom & His Package “The Seed Song”
10. Atom & His Package “Punk Rock Academy”
11. Atom & His Package “Trump”
12. Atom & His Package “Back”
13. Atom & His Package “Shopping Spree”
14. Atom & His Package “(Lord, It’s Hard To Be Happy When You’re Not) Using The Metric System”

Today on solipsistic NATION we’ll listen to the fractured dubstep of Misk and EshOne, Steve Nalepa and his former students of It’s Not Over Quebec and the first release from Clear Notice Recordings!

EshOne was a guest DJ on solipsistic NATION back in February and we talked about his role on the San Diego Dubstep blog San Diego’s Brokenbeat. Since then he has released his new album Loving What Is.

One of the artists EshOne featured in his mix in February was Misk. He mentioned that Misk was moving aways from dubstep so when Misk announced his new album, Saturation, on Twitter I knew I had to have him on the show. It’s not at all what I expected, which is a delight all in itself!

Steve Nalepa has been my most frequent guest on solipsistic NATION and that’s because Steve is always up to new and interesting projects, from his solo work to collaborative efforts with Bass Science, The FMs and much more. This time he returns with a new EP he recorded with It’s Not Over Quebec called, appropriately enough, Professor Nalepa vs It’s Not Over Quebec.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Steve isn’t a man. He’s a conversation that walks like a man. Case in point: the interview you’re about to hear is roughly 30 minutes long and I only asked Steve two questions. It seemed a wasted to edit my conversation with Steve down to a mere seven minutes so I thought I’d give you the unedited version because Steve had such interesting things to day and you can listen to it here.

Finally, we’ll talk with Kieron James of Clear Notice Recordings about his label’s first album, Enter Calico. In a bold move, Clear Notice Recordings will also be releasing an iPad app to accompany the release of Enter Calico and it will be chock full of videos and other goodies. Send me an email or Tweet me for your chance to win!

Join us again next week for a special live set from Atom and His Package!

1. EshOne “Residue” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. EshOne “Knicked Spoons” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
3. Interview with EshOne
4. EshOne “Where It Went” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
5. Misk “Worms and Fast Food” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
6. Misk “Cookies for Breakfast” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
7. Interview with Misk
8. Misk “Subterranean Crawlspace” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
9. Professor Nalepa vs It’s Not Over Quebec “Harpoon”
10. Professor Nalepa vs It’s Not Over Quebec “Jellyfish”
11. Interview with Steve Nalepa
12. Professor Nalepa vs It’s Not Over Quebec “Ripple”
13. cloudchair “Echoes and Whispers (Liquid Weeld Mix)”
14. Thomas L. Raukamp “Août”
15. Interview with Kieron James of Clear Notice Recordings
16. Subterminal “For Afo…”

Two hundred shows.

I don’t usually talk all that much on solipsistic NATION. Unless I’m talking with a guest I usually just say what needs to be send and then I get out of the way of the music.

But I’ve been producing two hundred shows since 2006. Two hundred shows!

Indulge me this rare occasion to be verbose and verklempt. When you reach a milestone like that there is, I think, a natural urge to want to sum up the experience. But how do you encapsulate 200 shows?

My dad, who has been a guest on the show, by the way, was recently commenting on how remarkable it is the thousands of people who spend countless hours building and maintaining Wikipedia or publishing on their blog or, in my case, produce an electronic music show.

I shudder to think how many hours I’ve spend producing solipsistic NATION over the years: pouring over new music, putting together mixes, having guests on the show, editing interviews… It’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of time.

But it’s rewarding because I get to talk to people like Alex Paterson of The Orb or Toby Marks of Banco De Gaia. Are you kidding me? I can’t believe the number of people who have been kind enough to come on the show and let me play their music.

I’ve got a lot of them to thank. And I’ve got to thank the folks at Terrorbird, Ultimae Records, BPitch Control, Ad Noiseam and all the other record labels who have been generous enough to share their music with me and make this show possible.

I’d also like to thank the folks at KYOURadio in San Francisco for broadcasting solipsistic NATION each and every Saturday night.

I don’t do this often enough but I have to thanks all the photographers and artists whose graphics grace my website and each podcast who I’ve met on Deviant or Flickr.

I think you know where this is going.

That’s right, here’s where I thank you for listening. Without you their wouldn’t be a show.

I know the music on each edition of solipsistic NATION is good. That’s just a given. But not everybody rolls like I do, jumping from genre to genre each show. Sometimes within the same show. But you do. So… good on you.

There’s no interviews or overarching themes on today’s show. I’m just playing stuff I love.

1. Banco De Gaia “Spirit Of The Age”
2. The Orb “Vuja De”
3. The Chemical Brothers “Dissolve”
4. We Like Cats “No Ordinary Dub”
5. The Phenomenal Handclap Band “You’ll Disappear”
6. LCD Soundsystem “45:33 Padded Cell Remix (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)”
7. Lady GaGa “Bad Romance (Larry Tee & Per QX Super Disco Party Machine Extended Mix)”
8. Trentemøller “Silver Surfer, Ghost Rider Go!!!”

Back in 2006 when I relaunched solipsistic NATION I noticed that drum and bass was going through a resurgence in popular culture. I loved catching DJs at clubs spinning amazing jungle/drum and bass sets so I welcomed the renewed interest in d ‘n’ b.

At the time I was listening to a lot of music from Jerona Fruits Recordings. The music on Jerona Fruits had all the muscular leanness and high end production I loved about drum and bass and non of drum and bass’ sometimes embarrassing bombastic pretensions (although I’m a sucker for bombast when it works). I had the lads from Jerona Fruits on the Small World to talk about their label and play music form some of the artists on their roster.

Drum and bass has never gone away, of course. It’s always been there, seething below the surface, constantly mutating into new hybrids. Now is as good as time as any to check in with Baz, who is one third of Jerona Fruits, to find out what the state of drum and bass is on 2010 and how his label has grown since we last talked.

Baz is our guest DJ on today’s show and he’s got a mix of select tracks of the very best Jerona Fruits has to offer. If you like what you hear, and really, how can you not?, then show Jerona some love buy buying a few tracks from stores like Digital-Tunes and iTunes. As long as you’re at iTunes, you can subscribe to the Jerona Fruits Podcast and hear even more great music from their label!

Next month I’ll showcase music from Crammed Discs and talk to Marc Hollander, the label’s founder.

Join us again next week for the 200th edition of solipsistic NATION! Feel free to leave any comments about the show on my voice mail at 1-619-717-6322 and I’ll be sure to play it on next week’s show.

1. Sabre “Floating Source”
2. Madcap “Switch the Lights”
3. Interview with Baz of Jerona Fruits Recordings
4. The Burbs “Alone”
5. Andy Skopes “Africa is Zion”
6. Mijatoho & Zodiak “Curare”
7. Greg Packer & MC Asassin “Landslide”
8. The Burbs “That Sound”
9. Mijatoho “Shape (Hidden Agenda Rmx)”
10. Bungle & Ney Faustini “No Routine”
11. Amaning & Dizplay “Sienna”
12. Matt Domino “Papercut”
13. Mijatoho “Jazgal”
14. The Burbs & Mijatoho feat. Jon Jon “Coming Down”
15. The Burbs “Anything”
16. Andy Skopes “Bucktown”
17. FX909 “Bad Attitude”
18. Andy Skopes “State of Grace”
19. Interview with Baz of Jerona Fruits Recordings