Author: joseph

The last couple of months I’ve been thinking about the electronic music community. Electronic music has been around for decades but to me it has always seemed underground, even more so than punk. What’s weird about that is that electronic music is a presence in almost all genres of music today. Almost every artist or band employs samples or drum loops, from your local bar band to Madonna. And yet if you asked your average person on the street they’d be hard pressed to think of an electronic music artist or band they know.

But if you’re listening to solipsistic NATION then you’re obviously a fan of electronic music and may be part of the electronic music community.

Today’s guest is Dave Heckman, the founder of Metropolis Records. Dave’s label specializes in electro, industrial, synthpop, futurepop, darkwave, and goth and his roster of artists include the likes of KMFDM, Front 242 and Snog. While it was a pleasure to talk to Dave about Metropolis Records what I really enjoyed was the history of the label and the community that grew around the label.

As Dave points out, genres like industrial came out of the post-punk scene and that scene has always had a strong community. Electronic music in general may still be underground, and maybe that’s for the best, but there has always been people who have kept the scene fresh and exciting.

1. Snog “License”
2. IAMX “The Alternative”
3. IAMX “Nightlife”
4. Interview with Chris Corner of IAMX
5. KMFDM “Godlike (Original 12″ Mix)”
6. Front 242 “Headhunter (Front Line Assembly Mix)”
7. Front Line Assembly “Unleashed (Mindless Mix By Sebastian R. Komor)”
8. Combichrist “Electrohead”
9. Ken Marshall & (Cevin) Key “Maniac Shuffle”
10. Interview with Dave Heckman of Metropolis Records
11. PIG “Suck Shit Spit (Album Version)”
12. Velvet Acid Christ “Discolored Eyes”
13. Interview with Dave Heckman of Metropolis Records
14. Vnv Nation “Descent”
15. Juno Reactor “Tanta Pena”
16. Wumpscut “Hard to Bear”
17. Interview with Dave Heckman of Metropolis Records
18. Meat Beat Manifesto “Children of Earth”

When I relaunched solipsistic NATION as a podcast my only plan was to play for you the best of all genres of electronic music. But after a few weeks I realized that I could pursue the things I wanted to do but couldn’t do at the radio station I used to spin at. At first it was just doing interviews but that quickly grew to include documentaries about electronic music, showcasing artists and record labels, guest DJs and featuring recordings of live performances.

The live shows have been a lot of fun because it gives me the opportunity to focus on a specific artist and hear music by them I might otherwise not know about.

When I began the live shows I thought it was just something I’d do every once in a while but it has become a regular segment of solipsistic NATION. The only problem is that very few live sets are an hour long. Originally I’d pad out the show by adding a few studio recordings by the featured artist but then I got the brilliant idea (okay, the obvious idea) of featuring two live performances back-to-back!

Today’s show features Jason Chung, AKA Nosaj Thing, and Robin Rimbaud, AKA Scanner.

I first found out about Nosaj Thing through Nalepa. Nalepa was singing praises to Jason and Nalepa had never steered me wrong so I downloaded a few tracks by Jason, which were absolutely beautiful. I highly recommend Jason’s Views/Octopus EP. Jason’s set comes from his performance he gave for dublab.

I’ve been a fan of Robin’s music for years, maybe decades at this point. Recently Robin made some songs from his many albums available to podcaster, which gave me the excuse to have him on the show back in April. Afterwards I asked Robin if he had any live recordings I could play in the show and he was kind enough to give me a copy of his concert at The Rhiz.

In the near future you can expect to hear concerts by The Orb and Bubblegone. You can also expect to gear more sets back-to-back!

1. Nosaj Thing “Live from dublab“
2. Interview with Nosaj Thing
3. Scanner “Live at The Rhiz”
4. Interview with Scanner

Back in the mid 80s I fell in love with hardcore punk. The rage, the belligerence, the do-it-yourself ethic; I loved all of it.

But while I was thrashing out to the likes of Minor Threat, Bad Brains and Agnostic Front I was also listening to electronic based bands like Skinny Puppy, Wire and Clock DVA and this caused a problem with my hardcore ideology. I was supposed to despise the latter bands for their “pretense” and “artiness.” They were, after all, the antithesis of hardcore. Hell, you’d actually have to learn to play your instrument beyond furiously bashing out bar chords.

My hardcore punk phase didn’t last long, though. I had always loved all kinds of music and I found most of punk terribly boring, never mind the conservative mindset of most people in the punk community. Leaving hardcore punk behind (but not the music), I started listening to more and more of these electronic based bands.

The mid 80s were an interesting time for electronic music because while electronic music had been around for many decades it was always in the domain of composers like Edgard Varèse and Iannis Xenakis. Suddenly anyone could go to their local music and purchase some synths and sequencers for very little money. Well, it was still expensive but not insanely so. And so music started going into some weird places.

I lived in Boston while all of this was happening and while Boston’s galaxies of colleges and universities ensured a incredibly rich and vibrant music scene there was very little in the way of electronic based bands. But there were a few like D.D.T., Big Catholic Guilt, Think Tree and You Shriek and they were all great and they were all very unique.

A couple of months ago I thought it would be cool to have D.D.T. come on the show and play some of their songs but then it occurred to me, why not have some of the other bands that I loved so much on the show as well? I contacted them all and to my delight, everyone wanted to participate. It was great talking to them and the conversations brought back a lot of memories of my days in Boston that I had completely forgotten about. If you’re fans of any of these bands then I’m sure you’ll experience the same thing. If you’re new to D.D.T., Big Catholic Guilt, Think Tree and You Shriek then you’re in for a very special treat!

Photo Credit: Boston Pozivivor

1. Big Catholic Guilt “Crank”
2. Big Catholic Guilt “Silence (Remix)”
3. Interview with Big Catholic Guilt
4. Big Catholic Guilt “Descent”
5. You Shriek “Grim”
6. You Shriek “Untitled #4”
7. Interview with You Shriek
8. You Shriek “New Romantic Circuitry”
9. D.D.T. “H2O (Remix)”
10. D.D.T. “AID, Live”
11. Interview with D.D.T.
12. D.D.T. “Unknown, Live”
13. D.D.T. “Unknown, Live”
14. D.D.T. “Vogue”
15. Think Tree “Hire A Bird”
16. Think Tree “Mampther”
17. Interview with Think Tree
18. Think Tree “Holy Cow”

I had originally planned to release this mix during the week of Valentine’s Day but I decided against it because I had meaning to have Lovespirals on solipsistic NATION for quite a while so I shelved the mix for a later date. Speaking of Lovespirals, if you dig this week’s show then you’ll want to listen to the Chillcast, which is hosted by Lovespirals chanteuse Anji Bee.

Today’s show is a mix of acid jazz and trip hop and is very romantic and very sexy. In fact, you might use it to woo that special someone or, better yet, use it during lovemaking. Trust me on this. I’ve actually used a couple of my shows for that exact purpose. It is a bit disconcerting to hear my voice over the speakers during pillow talk.

If you want more sexy music may I direct you to the Just Chill edition of solipsistic NATION? I think you’ll find it very sensuous. I also recommend the Through A Glass Darkly. Either one or both of those shows will set the mood for trysts.

Photo Credit: DrJoanne

1. Stephane Pompougnac “Better Days” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. Monkeybacon “Roller” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
3. Braces Tower “Spelling Bee” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
4. Nils Krogh “Things We Do” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
5. Genji Siraisi “Space Monkey” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
6. Jette-Ives feat. Jette Kelly and Holmes Ives “In the Presence of… (D-Fault Remix)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
7. Belleruche “Northern Girls”
8. DJ Genesis “Hush” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
9. A’Merika Vera “Goduria” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
10. Spiral System “Elephant” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
11. Govinda “Delicate Poison” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
12. The Shanghai Restoration Project & Di Johnston “Jade Buddha Temple” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
13. Mysteria “In My Soul” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
14. Head Surfers “Blaise – Le Mans” [FREE DOWNLOAD]

As long as I’ve been a DJ my shows have been two to three hours long. I couldn’t imagine doing a show in less than two hours. I saw my shows as a journey that I took the listener on and those journeys took time, ideally three hours so there would be a first act, a second act and a third act. But when I relaunched solipsistic NATION as a podcast I had to do away with that structure.

If you listen to podcasts then I’m sure you’ve noticed that shows usually clock in anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and there’s a reason for that. Your average radio listener will tune into a station for seven to 15 minutes and then spin the dial or turn off the radio. Podcasts are different in that most people will listen to a show from start to finish and asking them to sit for two to three hour show is asking a lot. So an hour is the most you can expect a person to listen to a show.

At first that seemed a tremendous compromise after doing years of two to three hours radio programs. How I could condense that journey to a mere hour? I felt like I was cheating you, the listeners and myself.

But after a few months of doing one hour editions of solipsistic NATION I came to accept that limitation. After that I began to think of it as a challenge. How much great music and engaging interviews could I pack into an hour? Pretty soon I came to think of any show longer than an hour as being excessive. When I think of doing a three hour show now I see it as wilderness that I would quickly get lost in. I’m afraid my shows would meander aimlessly.

Today’s guest DJ is Pietrobot, who we had on the show just a few weeks ago. Pietro is the co-host of Digital Nimbus, an electronic music program on KUCI 88.9FM in Irvine, California. Pietro is also the managing editor of Igloo Magazine. Pietrobot, alongside his fellow DJ and wife, Freakquency Modulator, blaze a trail into the wild frontier of electronic music. Each week they lead their listeners through unknown sonic landscape, introducing the listeners to natives along the way in the form of interviews and live performances.

Despite everything I said before, I envy Pietrobot and Freakquency Modulator and their leisurely safaris through sound. We have the good fortune of having Pietro with us to navigate through through this week’s mix. Don’t be afraid to lose yourself in the music.

Photo Credit: nana_cindy42

1. Port-Royal “Putin vs Valery”
2. Interview with Pietro, co-host of Digital Nimbus and managing editor of Igloo Magazine
3. Worriedaboutsatan “Morwenna, Pt 2”
4. Hammock “The Silence”
5. Bitcrush “A False Movement, True”
6. Aaron Spectre “The Wrong Fuel”
7. Ben Frost “Theory of Machines”
8. Interview with Pietro, co-host of Digital Nimbus and managing editor of Igloo Magazine
9. SubtractiveLAD “Spoiled Honey”
10. Syntaks “In The Wake”
11. Fabio Fonda “Re-Seed”
12. Interview with Pietro, co-host of Digital Nimbus and managing editor of Igloo Magazine
13. Disinterested “Dissonance”

I’ve got a great show for you today! Well, actually, Robbie Martin from Record Label Records has got a great show for you. I’m just the host for this week’s shin dig.

I first met Robbie about four months ago when he was kind enough to send me his latest album Gaseous Opal Orbs. I enjoyed his CD so much that I had him on the show as a guest. I twas only then I found out that Robbie is the founder of Record Label Records. That’s one of the joys of producing solipsistic NATION, the show constantly surprises me with the people it puts me in contact with.

Record Label Records is a cool indie label that features such artists as Scorn, Kush Arora ( who I’ve also had on the show as a guest, by the way) and Sote. I like Robbie’s label because he features music by artists who fall on the experimental side of electronic music but lacks the pretension of your more artier musicians. There seems to be an element of playfulness and adventurousness than your typical soundsmiths who are usually over serious.

1. Fluorescent Grey w/Laurie AK “Pea Leery”
2. Kush Arora “Surya Dub”
3. Scorn “Pin Down”
4. Fluorescent Grey “Blue Glue”
5. Interview with Robbie Martin of Record Label Records
6. Nommo Ogo “Induction (Excerpt)”
7. Fluorescent Grey “Hold Down + HK + START to Play as Kintaro”
8. Lich “Shadow Men”
9. Tomoroh Hidari “Shranzhall”
10. Contagious Orgasm w/ Jiver Dicker “A1”
11. Fluorescent Grey “EBM Nightmare”
12. Dalglish “16b”
13. Interview with Robbie Martin of Record Label Records
14. Scuzi “Vanishing Twin Syndrome”
15. Kush Arora “Garage Riddim”
16. Sote “Trip”
17. Nommo Ogo “Aisha”
18. Interview with Robbie Martin of Record Label Records

Let me tell you my favorite Meat Beat Manifesto concert story.

I had become a fan of Meat Beat Manifesto during the 99% tour and was psyched to see them again on their Satyricon tour. I went to the nightclub they were going to perform at with my buddy in hopes of catching their soundcheck. No such luck, but we did get to meet the members of Consolidated. Nice guys but I don’t think they were to impressed to see me eating a Whopper from Burger King.

Later that night, Harry, my soundman from WMFO, and I went to the nightclub for the show. Consolidated put on an incredible multimedia show and as much as I loved Meat Beat Manifesto I didn’t know how they could possibly top their opening act. I needn’t have worried because Meat Beat Manifesto put on a show that I’ll never forget.

That’s saying quite a lot for two reasons. One, I’ve seen some top notch show and, two, I was out of my head that night. I’m amazed I can remember anything for all the beer and whiskey I was drinking, and I’m not much of a drinker in the first place.

Meat Beat Manifesto were phenomenal. The music was unrelenting and their multimedia stage show was a paranoid hallucination. The beats were pounding and the bass was throbbing and despite my tendency to be one of those guys who stands against the wall tapping his feet to the music I couldn’t but help hitting the dance floor.

I met a lot of cool people that night. None that I can remember after all these years but cool all the same. That’s another thing I like about Meat Beat Manifesto, they’ve built up a community of smart and wonderful people around them. To this day if I meet someone who is also into Meat Beat manifesto we almost always instantly bond.

Anyway, the night came to a close and Harry managed to herd me into his truck and drive me home. I don’t remember anything after that. What I do remember is that Heidi, my girlfriend at the time, had spent the night working at a club and was covered in cigarette smoke, sweat and beer scum came home from work to find my passed out in a puddle of my own vomit. Not my proudest moment. Angel that she was, she undressed me, got me in the tub and washed me down and put me to bed. She’s a far better man than I because if I came home to that, I would have just left me on the floor and went to bed.

Writing this all down I realize that this doesn’t sound like such a great story but somehow I’m very fond of that night. If you have a favorite Meat Beat Manifesto concert story, email me and I’ll read it on the show.

All the songs that appear on this week’s solipsistic Nation come from Meat Beat Manifesto’s Live ’05 album, courtesy of Jack Dangers.

1. Meat Beat Manifesto “I Am Electro”
2. Meat Beat Manifesto “Spinning Round”
3. Interview with Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto
4. Meat Beat Manifesto “Hello Teenage America”
5. Interview with Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto
6. Meat Beat Manifesto “Radio Babylon”
7. Interview with Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto
8. Meat Beat Manifesto “God O.D.”
9. Meat Beat Manifesto “No Purpose, No Design”
10. Meat Beat Manifesto “It’s the Music”
11. Meat Beat Manifesto “Nuclear Bomb”
12. Meat Beat Manifesto “Helter Skelter”
13. Interview with Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto
14. Meat Beat Manifesto “Edge of No Control”
15. Meat Beat Manifesto “Prime Audio Soup”
16. Interview with Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto
17. Meat Beat Manifesto “Do It with Soul”
18. Interview with Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto

I’ve been trying to remember when I first came across Scanner (the stage name of Robin Rimbaud). I’m quite sure it was a compilation CD but I can’t recall which one. No matter. What I do recall, however, was that the track featured recordings of phone conversations that he had snatched from the ether. At first I regarded it as a cheap gimmick. But I kept coming back to the track, listening to it over and over again as I wrestled with the complications of what the song meant.

The conversation was compelling because of it’s intimacy. It was simply two people talking, gossiping and joking, completely unaware that they were being recorded and, as far as I know, unaware that their conversation would be incorporated into a song. Despite Robin’s unsettling soundscape the conversation had a warmth to it. It lent humanity to Robin’s bleak music. Was this his commentary that we all can make the simplest connections with each other despite the alienating effects of the very technology that makes that connection possible?

But the question also sparked some anger. What right had Robin to steal their conversation? It rankled that he would intrude on their privacy and then compound the intrusion by using it in his art. But that provoked the question of my role as a listener. How could I point an accusing finger when I was just as complicit by being drawn into the song. True, I’m not the one who made the recording but if I was truly outraged I could have pressed stop on my CD player as soon as I realized what was going on. But I kept listening. Again and again.

And all of this raises the question of our governments who are more and more eavesdropping on our phone calls and reading our email and text messages. It’s one thing for an artists to do it but quite another for the government to do it. The common explanation these days is that the government is doing it to monitor for terrorists but it also acts as yet another panopticon to keep people under control. As Foucault observed, if you think you are constantly being monitored you will begin policing yourself which is very unsettling.

Robin has since moved away from using recorded phone conversations in his music but he’s always had a unique of making me questioning and reevaluating the world I live in and always shifting the context. Robin is a perfect example of one of the reasons I love electronic music so much because it has the capacity to go far beyond a dance track with cool sounds.

1. Scanner “140 Acid” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. Interview with Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner
3. Scanner “Pearl Necklace” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
4. Scanner “Reason by Heart, Sleep by Twilight, Excerpt” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
5. Interview with Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner
6. Scanner “915.675” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
7. Scanner “394” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
8. Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner “Experience” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
9. Scanner “Radio Entry” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
10. Scanner “Passage De Recherche” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
11. Interview with Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner
12. Scanner “Unknown” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
13. Interview with Robin Rimbaud aka Scanner

When I think of Germany and electronic music I often think of the robotic sounds of Kraftwerk or the pummeling tracks of techno of the 90s. When I think of Germany I don’t think of electronic music that blends jazz elements with house and r&b that will either shake your ass or seduce you. I admit it’s a stereotype but there you have it. Well, I believed that until I came across Compost Records.

Compost Records was founded in 1994 by Michael Reinboth and in the last 14 years Michael has released music from some of the most talented artists around. Beanfield, Trüby Trio, Jazzanova; these are just some of the dynamic talent that Compost records represents.

On today’s show we’ll talk with Michael and find out where his love affair with r&b, jazz, funk and soul began and how his career as a music journalist led to launching Compost Records. And, of course, will accompany our conversation with Michael with select tracks from the roster of artists on his label.

What better way to get your groove on?

1. Eddy Meets Yannah “Shamed (Domu Remix)”
2. Interview with Michael Reinboth of Compost Records
3. Studio R Feat Capitol “A&R (Llorca Remix)”
4. Shahrokh SoundOfK “Chicago”
5. Lorenz Rhode “Shake It (Extended)”
6. Tj Kong & Nuno Dos Santos “Circus Bells (Technucada Mix)”
7. Interview with Michael Reinboth of Compost Records
8. Nova Dream Sequence “Dream 4”
9. Interview with Michael Reinboth of Compost Records
10. Alif Tree “Forgotten Places (Moodymann Remix)”
11. Koop “I See A Different You”
12. Marsmobil “Mangia Amore”
13. Kyoto Jazz Massive “Between the Lights”
14. Marbert Rocel “Blue Days”