Category: Listen

This week on solipsistic NATION we have a special mix from Spectraliquid recording artist, Blackfilm!

As usual I first heard about Blackfim through HC’s Headphone Commute blog. HC and I have similiar taste in music but HC always seems to be one step ahead of me in finding albums that are spectacular. HC praised Blackfilm’s self-titled CD on Spectraliquid. My curiosity was already aroused but when HC said that Blackfilm defibrillates Amon Tobin‘s pioneering sound I knew I had to hear Blackfilm’s album.

Like Amon Tobin, Blackfilm is haunting, menacing and beautiful. But Blackfilm’s music is also unique. He has an arcane sound that I don’t know exactly how to describe. It’s spooky, eldritch, almost as if Blackfilm had set out to score music for the Kafkaesque stop-motion animated films of the Brothers Quay. Let me quote HC quoting from Emmanuel Top‘s Turkish Bazaar single: “The music was new, black, polished chrome and came over the summer like liquid night.” Once Blackfilm’s music is inside your head it will infect you like a virus and you will never want to be cured.

If you enjoy today’s show you’ll also want to listen to my show featuring music from Spectraliquid any my show featuring music from Tympanik Audio. If you’re also a fan of Amon Tobin you also might enjoy my interview with Amon and a retrospective mix of his career so far or Amon Tobin’s live set.

For now, close your eyes, kick back and create your own imaginary soundtrack to accompany Blackfim’s devastatingly beautiful mix!

Photo Credit: James G. Mundie

1. Blackfilm “Come & See”
2. Blackfilm & Eraldo Bernocchi “Untitled”
3. Interview with Blackfilm
4. Ekaros “Sad Moon (Blackfilm Remix)”
5. Blackfilm “SE5”
6. Blackfilm & Ekaros “Nowhere”
7. Blackfilm “Mahabharata”
8. Interview with Blackfilm
9. Blackfilm “Stalingrad”
10. Blackfilm “Midnight to 4am”
11. Interview with Blackfilm
12. Blackfilm “Interference”
13. Blackfilm & Bridget Insinna “Burning Sun”
14. Blackfilm “Eastern”
15. Hecq “Steeltongued (Blackfilm Remix)”

Okay, here’s the deal: once a month on solipsistic NATION I showcase a record label that is putting out some amazing music that you should know about. Whether it’s house or industrial or experimental, if it’s great I’m going to shine a light on labels who have great releases from their roster of artists.

Recently I have featured music from Tympanik Audio, Spectraliquid, Alfa Matrix and 12k. This week we’re going to hear beautiful music from Summer Rain Recordings.

I first heard about Summer Rain Recordings one day while reading one of HC from Headphone Commute‘s review of artists on the label. I’ve been reading HC’s blog for a while now and I’ve come to trust and respect his opinions on the music he discusses so I kept it in mind to do a show on Summer Rain Recordings. Then out of the blue David Holmes from Summer Rain Recordings contacted me about playing artists from Summer Rain Recordings on solipsistic NATION and I thought that was the perfect opportunity to have him come on the program and talk about his label.

Summer Rain Recordings is pretty eclectic but the music that David has chosen for this week’s show is very soft, beautiful and full of complex emotions expressing everything from quiet happiness to longing and regret. I think you’re going to love what you hear.

Aside from the talent on Summer Rain Recordings one of the things that makes the label unique is that every artist signed to the label donates a minimum of 5% of their royalties for every release to NextAid, or a charity of their choice, and Summer Rain Recordings match their percentage donation from the label profits from the release. Ioda, Summer Rain Recordings distributor and one of my favorite music vendor, also donates 25% of their fees for each of Summer Rain Recordings releases to NextAid.

Every purchase of Summer Rain Recordings music helps NextAid to raise funds for their pilot project, the building of an ecological community center and children’s residential village in Dennilton, South Africa. Now complete are 10 structures of the 25 slated for construction by summer 2010. The center will serve as a safe home for 50 children orphaned by AIDS, a multi-purpose center for the larger community, a hub for economic enterprise, and an example of innovative solutions for future projects throughout Africa.

1. Toby Benson “La Mere de Ma Mere”
2. Proof of Concept “Object of Desire”
3. Auditory Canvas “Desert Sun”
4. Interview with David Holmes, founder of Summer Rain Recordings
5. About 9 “Keep Walking”
6. riccicomoto “Double Zero Theme”
7. Interview with David Holmes, founder of Summer Rain Recordings
8. Melorman “The Small King”
9. Pondermonkey “Cycle”
10. Mr. Squirrel “Nothing But Pebbles”
11. David Kira “Gia”
12. Tepui “Caribu”
13. Interview with David Holmes, founder of Summer Rain Recordings
14. Elysian Piers “Music Box”
15. Fabrizio Cacciamali “Close Curtains on a Sunny Day”
16. Manic “Spring”
17. Interview with David Holmes, founder of Summer Rain Recordings

When I first began featuring live sets on solipsistic NATION I thought it would be a once and a while sort of thing. Kind of a treat, really. But as solipsistic NATION progressed it became a monthly segment on the show. Even so, getting live sets on solipsistic NATION is a challenge and more than once I’ve had to scramble to get material for the show so my resolution for 2009 is to plan the live sets well in advance.

The live sets you can expect on solipsistic NATION will come from Milieu, Iambic, ill.gates, Exillon, Rena Jones, and, hopefully, The Orb.

This month we have not one but two live sets from Lokua.

The first live set was performed at the Morseland restaurant in Chicago on March 25^th. The second live set was also recorded at the Morseland restaurant on March 18^th.

Lokua is Joshua Keckner and is based out of Chicago. Lokua’s music is rooted in hip hop and has an ambient and atmospheric feel to his music. Lokua has a back catalog of tracks hovering in the thousands and you can download his netrelease Trails album at Moment Sound, a netlabel that is maintained and curated by a select musicians from Chicago.

On this week’s show I’ll also announce the winners of Gary Bredow‘s documentary, High Tech Soul DVD, Paul Sizer‘s graphic novel, BPM; and Terrance Dean‘s autobiography, Hiding in Hip Hop from last week’s giveaway contest.

1. Lokua “Live @ Morseland (03-25-09)
2. Lokua “Live @ Morseland (03-18-09)
3. Interview with Lokua
4. Lokua “Thanks Rainbow”
5. Lokua “C Modified”

One of the challenges producing solipsistic NATION is balancing the music I feature on the show with the interviews. solipsistic NATION is all about the music and the interviews are used to enhance the show so I try and keep the interviews to a minimum. Too much talk detracts from the mix. But on today’s show I’m going to toss that rule out the window and focus on the interviews because my guests have a lot of interesting things to say!

First, we’ll talk with Gary Bredow, the director of High Tech Soul, a documentary about Detroit techno. High Tech Soul is the first documentary to tackle the deep roots of techno music alongside the cultural history of it’s Detroit birthplace. High Tech Soul features interview with legends such as Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson.

High Tech Soul is distributed by Plexifilm, who produce original films, release films theatrically, and produce, distribute and markets DVDs. Plexifilm is generously giving away one copy of High Tech Soul on today’s show. Send me an email at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and you could win a DVD of High Tech Soul!

We’ll also talk with Paul Sizer, the author and illustrator of the BPM graphic novel.

The hero of the story is Roxy, a young DJ in New York City who spins in dark clubs and small bars with dreams of making it big. As Roxy becomes more and more successful she finds she has to make a choice: should she follow the music she loves or the love of her life?

Paul has pushed the envelope of what a graphic novel can be by including “liner notes” in BPM and links to iTunes iMixes to complement the story.

Paul is giving away a signed copy of BPM on this week’s show. Send me an email at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and it could be yours!

Finally, we’ll talk with Terrance Dean, the author of Hiding in Hip Hop, about what it’s like to be a gay man in hip hop culture and the entertainment industry. Terrance worked his way up for more than ten years in the entertainment industry from an intern to an executive, and has lived the life of glitz and bling along with Hollywood and the Hip Hop’s elite. Full of startling anecdotes and incredible true stories, Hiding in Hip Hop is not a tell-all book but an honest look at stardom and sexuality.

If you would like a copy of Terrance Dean’s Hiding in Hip Hop, shoot me an email at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and you could be a lucky winner of his autobiography!

1. K-HAND “Security” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. K-HAND “Mystery” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
3. Interview with Gary Bredow, director of the High Tech Soul documentary
4. K-HAND aka Messenger “Wanderer (Ritzi Lee Remix)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
5. K-HAND “Wanderer (Original Mix)”
6. Focus3d “Inclusive Mindset (DJ Aura Minimal Techno Mix)”
7. Interview with Paul Sizer, author and illustrator of the BPM graphic novel
8. Phenomen “Made In Wishland (Zambino Tech House Dub)”
9. Dubacid “What Happens After (1394-4212 Acid House Dub)”
10. Relate4ever “Open Minded (Platona Deep Tech House Mix)”
11. Onelord “Sharing Cooperation (John Dare & Oscar Gonzalez Minimal Techno Mix)”
12. Interview with Terrance Dean, author of Hiding in Hip Hop
13. Ability “Sharing Transparently (Kevin Call aka DJ Nojz Techno Mix)”
14. Because “Sharing Cooperation (Charly Shawllporn Minimal Mix)”
15. Balanced “Universal Interpretation (Danny Lilwall Tech House Mix)”

One of the aspects of producing solipsistic NATION that I really enjoy is that it gives me the opportunity to talk to people in the electronic music community that in other circumstances I would never get the chance to talk to. I’ve gotten to talk with folks like Amon Tobin, Jack Dangers and Cheb i Sabbah, for example. How cool is that? I have to admit that with some of these people I do get kind of starstruck but once I get past that it’s interesting to have a conversation with these artists about how they approach their craft.

On today’s show were going to talk with Terre Thaemlitz. Terre is an award-winning multi-media producer, writer, public speaker, educator, audio remixer, DJ and founder of Comatonse Recordings.

Terre works in many different styles: electroacoustic computer music, club-oriented deep house, digital jazz, ambient, and computer-composed neo-expressionist piano solos. His work also explores the themes of identity politics such as gender, sexuality, class, linguistics, ethnicity and race, and the socio-economics of commercial media production.

Terre recently released his Dead Stock Archive, a collection of every audio release he has made under his real name or under his many aliases. Originally I planned was to play selected tracks from his archive but Terre pointed out that the archive has over 60 hours of music and that maybe I should play his ambient/jazz piece, “Superbonus.” While “Superbonus” does not convey the scope and breadth of Terre’s career it is a beautiful piece of music and provides an example of his many styles he is capable of. What’s remarkable is that while “Superbonus” may, in some ways, evoke Miles Davis’s classic album, In A Silent Way, “Superbonus” was composed entirely n a computer.

Terre’s a very thoughtful person had many insightful things to say. Unfortunately I had to edit our conversation considerably to fit the time constraints of the show. Fortunately, however, I’m making the unedited version of that interview as a separate download. Think of it as a bonus feature that you might find on a movie DVD.

1. Funk Shui with Terre Thaemlitz “Superbonus”
2. Interview with Terre Thaemlitz

Each month on solipsistic NATION I focus on a record label that is putting out some releases and on today’s show we’ve got a fantastic mix of tracks put together by Dov from Muti Music!

I first came across Dov through Cyberset Music. Cyberset Music is a music and media company based in San Francisco. Our growing family of artists blend musical elements of world, ambient, dance, vocal, and urban genres into fresh sounds that share the positive intentions and global reach of evolving contemporary culture.

Little did I know that Dov is also the founder of Muti Music. Since 2002 Muti Music has been one of the stateside labels pioneering the breaks sound with lots of flavour. Muti Music aims to provide quality funk-filled beats and to promote the domestic and international talent featured on the label and reflect human creative response to the urban futurist environment. Flavors of Breaks, Electro, Techno, IDM, Dubstep and experimental bass music are all present in Muti Music. They also aim to forge relationships between like minded producers. Muti Music has already proven to be a pusher of dynamic sound and talent, having released Kemek, Kraddy, EVAC, An-ten-nae, Atomic Hooligan, Future Funk Squad, Rhoca, Suff-x and more recently, Dov, Audiovoid and LayerZ!

This week’s show has been sponsored by AteBits, developers of Tweetie, a fast, full featured Twitter application for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Tweetie is already a great application and with AteBits 1.3 release Tweetie is even better.

Not only can you post to Twitter with Tweetie and send direct messages you can also view trends on Twitter, search Twitter and view posts from your local area. With the 1.3 release of Tweetie there’s a new “Link” button to add web pages to Instapaper faster. There’s also Tweeitie’s new Ping.fm integration and much, much more!

AteBits is not only solipsistic NATION‘s newest sponsor but they are generously giving away three copies of Tweetie. Email me at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and you could win a copy of Tweetie for yourself!

As always, you can find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/solipsistic.

1. Seventh Swami “Forever You Forever Me”
2. Mimosa “Another Day”
3. Timonkey “Wobblesauce”
4. Knowa Knowone “Wildness”
5. Nanda “Cosmik Dance”
6. An-ten-nae “Monkey In The Attic”
7. Klone “Can’t Remember”
8. An-ten-nae “Citoyen Dub”
9. Siren “7th Level Controller”
10. Subvert “Speaker Humping”
11. Knowsleep “Autumn Kaskade”
12. Interview with Dov of Muti Music
13. LayerZ “God Particle”
14. ill.gates & Adam Duke “Lizard Skin Loincloth”
15. LayerZ “Spit Wods Part 2”
16. Subhuman “Bottom Feeder”
17. Interview with Dov of Muti Music
18. ill.gates & Meesha “Irma Vep (Wookie Remix)”
19. Kether “Graffiti”
20. An-ten-nae “Griot”
21. Heyoka “Flying Dub Sauce”

This week on solipsistic NATION I have not one, but two live sets!

The first live set comes to us by way of Legato in Shibuya, Japan and is part of the Made in Glitch events. Made In Glitch is the first and only glitch hop party in Japan. Born on the west coast of the States, and now becoming established all over Europe, Glitch is a fusion of hip hop, electronic music and broken beats. The set features edIT of the Glitch Mob and was recorded in November of 2008.

If you like what you hear then you’ll want to download the January 30, 2009 edition of solipsistic NATION where my guests were edIT and Boreta.

The second live set was recorded by Bass Science for Sub FM. Bass Science are MattB and Steve Nalepa. Sub FM is an online radio station dedicated to broadcasting the best in Dubstep, Garage, Grime, Dub and more!

This isn’t the first time I’ve had Bass Science on the show and you can download their first appearance on solipsistic NATION. Steve also has been on the show and you can also download his live set he recorded for the Dub Beautiful Collective.

This week’s show is sponsored by AteBits, developers of Tweetie, a wonderful fast, full-featured client for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. AteBits is also generously giving away three copies of Tweetie on today’s show. Email me at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and you could win a copy of Tweetie for yourself!

You can find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/solipsistic

1. Made In Glitch “Live in Legato, Shibuya (November 8, 2008)”
2. Bass Science “Live on Syb FM (December 11, 2008)”
3. Interview with MattB of Bass Science

From time to time I have guest DJs come on solipsistic NATION. Previous guests have included Travis Nobles from the hiddenplace music blog, Pete Cooper of bleepshow and Pietrobot, the co-host of Digital Nimbus and managing editor of Igloo Magazine. Today’s guest is Denard Henry of Sonic Warriors United.

A few months I asked the folks I follow on Twitter if anyone would like to be a guest DJ on solipsistic NATION and Deanrd was one of the people who responded to my invitation.

Sonic Warriors United’s members include Sprawl, Floppy, Marita Schreck, C-Dex, Betrisbsdruck, Jana Clemen, Reade Truth, Sneaker and Macoma.

In 2007 Denard and Jana came up launched Sonic Warriors United. They reactivated something that has almost been forgotten: the fusion of Techno, EBM, Electro and Industrial Dance Music. They are now filling dates in Germany, U.S.A and all of Europe. They plan a tour once a year to bring this concept to points of interest and are looking for clubs, bars and open air venues to host some events. For all Sonic Warriors United Events they plan 2-3 S.W.U. DJ’s, plus 1-2 S.W.U. live act’s along with local support: a DJ and/or a live act.

For more information on Denard Henry, tour dates and their street team missions, click here.

You can follow Denard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/denardhenry or follow me at http://www.twitter.com/solipsistic.

By the way, AteBits is generously giving away three copies of Tweetie on today’s show. Tweetieis a wonderful fast, full-featured client for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Email me at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and you could win a copy of Tweetie for yourself!

Photo Credit: Jana Clemen

1. Sprawl “Sonic Warriors United”
2. WB Loops “Vinyl Wunderwaffe Vol. 1”
3. Interview with Denard Henry of Sonic Warriors United
4. Ancient Methods “First Method”
5. Marita Schreck “Pfirsichblut”
6. Datacide “The Ritual of Transparency”
7. Kosmik Kommando “Remember the Feeling”
8. Denard Henry “Vibe”
9. Lady Venom “Bass Me”
10. Crunch-Ø-Matic “Cøm Theme (Cøm 1)”
11. Erik the Viking “Flip2daStation”
12. Simon Owen “re-Evolution”
13. Virtual Terrorist “Search And Destroy Initiative”
14. Crunch-Ø-Matic “Earthquake.2”
15. Exit-12 “Earthquake.2”
16. Interview with Denard Henry of Sonic Warriors United

Getting this week’s edition of solipsistic NATION was a bit of a chore.

Last week my iPod had a glitch and requires that I connect it to iTunes on my Mac to do a restore. The problem is that I use my iPod as an external drive to store all my music and also where I build playlists for solipsistic NATION. If I do a restore it will wipe out everything! I haven’t found a way around this (email me if you have a solution) so I’m patiently waiting for the battery in my iPod to die and then I’ll connect it to iTunes. Hopefully this will resolve the reconnect issue.

Fortunately, I have thousands of MP3 on my Mac to choose from (check the links below, nearly half the tracks that appear on this week’s are available as free downloads!), not to mention the stack of new CDs that I’m constantly trying to work my way through. Still, it’s unsettling that I might lose everything on my iPod. I’ve got a bunch of rare tracks that would cause me great pain if they end up unsalvagable.

On a brighter note, AteBits is the newest sponsor solipsistic NATION. AteBits has developed Tweetie, a fast, full-featured client for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. For a while I was using Twitterific, Twitterlator and Twinkle on my iPhone but after trying Tweetie for just a few days I deleted all those other apps. Tweetie beats them hands down. You can handle multiple twitter accounts, view your timeline, replies, direct messages and favorites, view Tweets in your local area, and much, much more.

AteBits is also generously giving away three copies of Tweetie on today’s show. Email me at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and you could win a copy of Tweetie for yourself!

In the meantime, go listen to this week’s show!

1. Spoonbill “Gumtree (Respoon)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. Transient “Everyone Still Isn’t Listening To The Lorax (Screw The Stupid Thneeds)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
3. Ill.Gates “Sweatshop”
4. S.I.M.O. “Smut!”
5. Luxurious “Light Up The Sun”
6. Kodomo “Concept 3”
7. Slomo “Was Für Eine Welt (Remix by Zengineers feat. Backwater Planet)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
8. Skipless “Lo-Moments” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
9. Authist & Dub One! “Ferry to Punjab (Remix by Backwater Planet feat. Zengineers)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
10. General Fuzz “Mellow Drama” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
11. Darkhorse “Take 2”
12. Maco “%” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
13. Laura Palmer “Borderline” [FREE DOWNLOAD]

Each month on solipsistic NATION I spotlight an electornic music label that I think you should know about. What constantly amazes me is just how many electronic music labels there are!

Take Tympanik Audio.

Tympanik Audio has been around since 2007 and has quickly established a reputation for releasing high quality, dark, electronic music featuring the likes of Ad·ver·sary, Totakeke and Integral. The music is stunning and breath taking and the CD artwork is beautiful and provocative. It’s a winning combination that can’t help but get you excited about the label.

There’s a very good reason why Tympanik Audio shines. The label’s founder, Paul Nielsen, is also one of the DJs on the Hidden Forms radio program on WNUR 89.3 FM. As a DJ Paul has a special love for albums, both the music and the packaging.

If you’re looking for music that is hauntingly beautiful then I think you’ll find that Tympanik Audio is just the boutique label for you.

Enjoy today’s show!

1. DJ Hidden “Things To Come”
2. Autoclav 1.1 “This Stranger Hope”
3. Interview with Paul Nielsen, founder of Tympanik Audio
4. Blackfilm “Walk With Me”
5. Stendeck “Blind Army Parade”
6. Interview with Paul Nielsen, founder of Tympanik Audio
7. Totakeke “Patient HM (Response To Conditioning Mix)”
8. Displacer “The Witching Hour”
9. Interview with Paul Nielsen, founder of Tympanik Audio
10. Tapage “Transatlantic Headroom”
11. Flint Glass “Al-Azif”
12. Interview with Paul Nielsen, founder of Tympanik Audio
13. Access To Arasaka “400 Bloc Overground”
14. Integral “Digital Drops”
15. Interview with Paul Nielsen, founder of Tympanik Audio
16. Subheim “Take Me Back”