Category: Listen

As a former Bostonian, living in San Diego can be difficult. Especially during the fall.

When I lived in New England, for example, the seasons served as cue as to what I be drinking for the next several months. When summer came to Boston I would begin drinking rum and cokes or gin and tonics. They were light and effervescent. Just the sort of thing to keep you cool during the hot and humid summer months. When fall crept in I would switch over to Guinness, whiskey and scotch. They were comfort drinks to get you through the endless winter months.

In San Diego I lack those clues. On, there is a change in the seasons but it’s subtle and to my New England blood it might as well be spring all year round. So what to drink?

I also have a similar problem with music. In the spring and summer it makes perfect sense to listen to The Ramones but once fall kicks in The Ramones seem kind of dumb. In the winter months I can listen for hours on end to someone like Nick Drake but in the summer Nick Drake seems kind of melodramatic. Bit if it’s perpetually spring, what the hell do you listen to?

I don’t have that problem with the music from !K7 Records.

The driving music of, say, The Herbaliser is perfect for sunny days by the beach and I can wind down with their moodier songs in the evening. I find that almost all of the music !K7 Records can be played regardless of the season. All of it is wonderfully inventive, sexy and playful!

1. The Herbaliser “On Your Knees (featuring Jessica Darling)”
2. Boozoo Bajou “Killer (Featuring Top Cat)”
3. Trüby Trio “High Jazz”
4. Bomb the Bass “So Special (Radio Edit)”
5. Erlend Øye “Every Party (Has a Winner and a Loser)”
6. Tosca “John Lee Huber”
7. Stateless featuring Lateef the Truthspeaker “Bloodstream”
8. Swayzak “Quiet Life”
9. Kruder & Dorfmeister “Black Baby”
10. Interview with Stephen Bolles of !K7 Records
11. Carl Craig “Sandstorms”
12. Interview with Stephen Bolles of !K7 Records
13. Cobblestone Jazz “Change Your Apesuit”
14. Interview with Stephen Bolles of !K7 Records

Back in January I featured a recording of Steve Nalepa‘s Dub Beautiful Collective concert on solipsistic NATION. At the end of the show I played some studio projects from Steve’s side projects with The FMs and Bass Science. I asked Steve if he had any more live material he’s like to be heard on the show and he was kind enough to send me a recording of a Bass Science concert in Tokyo.

Steve has been singing the praises of Matt B (otherwise known as RaNDom and RND) and after playing Matt’s “Crystal Dub” on one of my dub mixes I understood why. I love dub and Matt has created some of the most beautiful electronic dub tracks I’ve ever heard. That Steve and Matt would collaborate together on Bass Science was no surprise. That they took Bass Science in the direction of dubstep, however, was a surprise.

Seems like everyone loves dubstep these days. Hell, I love dubstep and listen to quite a few dubstep podcasts. Unfortunately, dubstep is one of those genres of music that is difficult to well. All to often artists will make dubstep tracks that just plod along while others will will create songs that are mired in the conventions of the genre. Not so with Bass Science. Matt and Steve are consummate soundsmiths and are able to craft exquisite dub and glitch tracks. When they combine their musical talent they create dubstep tracks that are sublime. Or dublime, in this case. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

So crank up your subwoofer and prepare to have the top of your skull blasted off by the low-end frequencies of Bass Science!

1. Bass Science “Bass Science Live in Tokyo”
2. Interview with Steve Nalepa and Matt B of Bass Science

There was a time in my life where I’d start off each day by saying “hoka hey,” which means “it is a good day to die.”

I know that sounds morbid but for me it was actually a life affirming experience. I felt that in order for me to be able to say hoka hey each morning, that if I might actually die that day, that I needed to know that I was at peace with the world and that the affairs in my life were in order. Did I have a good relationship with my family and friends? If not, I better make sure they were. Had I accomplished the goals I had set out for myself? And were those goals important enough that it would not be a good day if they were not accomplished? And what goals would I not lose sleep over if they were left undone by my sudden death? It really put things in perspective on what was important and what was not important in my life by acknowledging my possible death each morning. And it also made me appreciate my life that much more.

I’ve felt my mortality more this year more than any other year in my life. I’ve had that unpleasant feeling that there are so many things in my life that I’ve left undone and so many things that will be unattainable. I’ve felt out of balance. But then the words hoka hey came to mind and gave me succor.

“Et in Arcadia ego” is a Latin phrase that acts as another touchstone with my death. Translated it means “Even in Arcadia I exist.” It’s an ambiguous phrase that some people interpret to mean that I, the person who is now dead, enjoyed the pleasures of life. It’s an ironic statement contrasts the grim spectre of death with the blithe joys of the living. But I choose to interpret “Et in Arcadia ego” the same way I use “hoka hey.”

I selected tracks for today’s show in that spirit. It’s a celebration of the seasons and life but with the knowledge that some day we all will die.

1. I Awake “Complete Garden (Eternal Forest Edit)”
2. Dubosmium “Tuvadelic Odyssey (7Heavens rmx by Rafiralfiro)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
3. Aes Dana “Shouting Valley”
4. bubblegone “sometimes i lay in fields at night” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
5. Taylor Deupree “6 A.M.”
6. Krill.Minima “Submarine Poetry”
7. Annea Lockwood “floating World: Part 1”
8. Janek Schaefer “Alone At Last”
9. Akira Kosemura “A Park”
10. Keiichi Sugimoto “Tum”
11. OTI “Large Open Spaces”
12. Maju “Achromatic” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
13. Mathieu Ruhlmann “Rest”
14. Brakhage “Early Morning Frost” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
15. Unit 21 “October, 16th” [FREE DOWNLOAD]

A few week’s back I released the 100th episode of solipsistic NATION and naturally I took stock of where the show has been. Almost right from the start I’ve been interviewing musicians and record labels or having guest DJs on the show. At first it happened once or twice a month but at some point that became the focus of the show. I’m not complaining, mind you, but it did mean that I was more of a host than a DJ, and I like being a DJ.

Another consequence is that all the new music that comes my way piles up because I can only play so much of it each month. That’s frustrating because while I like the interview aspect of the show I feel like I’m doing you a disservice by not keeping you up to date on what’s new in the electronic music scene. I’ve decided to try and strike a balance and get back to being a DJ more than I have in the last year.

This August is pretty cool because there are five Friday’s in the month, giving me even more opportunities to spin you some new tunes.

On today’s show I’ve got some…hell, I don’t what to call it. Is it Bitpop? Electro? House? Disco? All of the above? Whatever the case, it’s a genre I don’t listen to or play a lot of. But I don’t know why not because it’s a lot of fun and makes me want to dance. And I’m one of those guy’s who doesn’t dance.

Anyway, I’m glad I’m making an effort to actively be more of a DJ on the show because there’s a lot of genres of electronic music I haven’t even got around to yet. So enjoy this week’s show!

Photo Credit: Roberto Rizzato

1. Boys Noize “1 & Down (Siriusmo Vs. Boys Noize Mix)”
2. Headman “Running Into Time (LeLe Remix)”
3. Rouge Element “Dead Drummers”
4. Feadz “Edwrecker”
5. Justice “New Jack”
6. DJ DLG “XESS”
7. LeRon, Yves Eaux & Luke Star “Whatever This May Be (Jalebee Cartel Remix)”
8. Busy P “Rainbow Man”
9. Stargroove “Rise Up”
10. Toy Boy “Belle & Sebastian” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
11. 2MB vs Dr Bit “8 bit Music” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
12. edIT “If You Crump Stand Up”
13. Dark Machines “Organus”

On this week’s solipsistic NATION I’ve got some mind blowing drum and bass that’ll be good to your ear hole.

A few things you should know about today’s show:

First, I love drum and bass and I love drum and bass that’s really hard, the kind that bludgeons you senseless with it’s unrelenting beats and that’s what I wanted to play for you today. But try as I might, I kept selecting tracks that were more atmospheric and jazzier so I figured, why fight it.

Secondly, most of the music you’ll hear on today’s show comes from the Zardonic Recordings and Plain Audio netlabels, which means that if you like what you hear, you can download nearly all the tracks on today’s edition of solipsistic NATION.

Zardonic Recordings is a netlabel that releases top notch quality drum ‘n’ bass dancefloor smashers.

Plain Audio was founded in 2001 and featured vinyl-releases and quickly evolved to one of Germany’s most break-dominant drum ‘n’ bass labels. Plain Audio has since expanded it’s horizons to techno, experimental music and other styles of electronic music.

1. Hek187 “Blue Haze” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. Kubiks & Lomax “Systematic”
3. Soul Delay “Float” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
4. Hek187 “Twizter” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
5. Alpha Omega “Shades Of The Past” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
6. Panda “Baghdad”
7. Soulie “Walking Home” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
8. Fushara “Irrational Act” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
9. Ijo “Frequa Gembh” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
10. Cartridge “No Data” [FREE DOWNLOAD]

Back in February I had Evan Bartholomew, otherwise known as Evan Marc and Bluetech, on the show to talk about his label, Native State Records.

Native State is a label the features artists who specialize in mixed genres such as dub, ambient and glitch. I’ve played many artists from Native State on the show in the past such as Nalepa, Rena Jones as well as Bluetech.

At the time Evan had just launched a new label called Somnia. The first album released on Somnia was Caverns of Time by Evan and I was immediately struck by it’s emotional depth. I was impressed. If Caverns of Time represented the direction that Evan wanted to explore through Somnia, then I was along for the ride. Since then, Somnia has released music from Emanuele Errante, juxta phona & offthesky and an album by both Evan Marc and Steve Hillage. Each album is different from the last and each album is astonishingly great. Or maybe not so astonishing if you know anything about Evan.

I’ve invited Evan to join us again on today’s show to talk about his new venture and to play select tracks from artists on Somnia. Kick back and kiss the sky.

1. Evan Marc + Steve Hillage “Hypnagogue”
2. Interview with Evan Bartholomew of Somnia
3. juxta phona & offthesky “escape kit…”
4. Interview with Evan Bartholomew of Somnia
5. juxta phona & offthesky “low spark of high squealed toys”
6. Emanuele Errante “Humi”
7. Interview with Evan Bartholomew of Somnia
8. Emanuele Errante “Fecunda”
9. Evan Bartholomew “We Set Out Into The Caverns Of Time”
10. Interview with Evan Bartholomew of Somnia
11. Evan Bartholomew “Cracks In The Fabric Of The Known”

There is so much electronic music coming out these days that more and more I’ve come to rely on blogs. Just as solipsistic NATION acts as a filter to what is the best of all genres of electronic music so to do the blogs I frequent. And what blogs do I read?

Pitchfork is a great source for music news but Pitchfork’s reporting is broad in scope and I find myself having to sift through a lot of articles to find information useful to me. XLR8R is more in line with the kind of music I’m interested in but I don’t rely on XLR8R alone. Neural.it is a fantastic site for reviews of experimental electronic music. Igloo Magazine is a great site for reviews of electronic music, although I wish they would have more in-depth articles and reviews. More recently I’ve begun following the Headphone Commute and Phlow Magazine. Headphone Commute posts articles featuring music that I really enjoy as well as interesting and concise interviews with electronic musicians. Phlow Magazine extensively covers free MP3 music culture, which is great because you can download the music they review as you read their articles.

I’m a big fan of Travis Nobles hiddenplace music blog. I respect Travis’s thoughts on music so much that I had him on solipsistic NATION as a guest DJ back in February. One of the artists he featured in his mix was Planet Boelex. I was so taken with Planet Boelex that I contacted Ossi, the man who is Planet Boelex, to arrange an interview and to feature his release, Live At Virus Festival 2007, Lithuania, on today’s show.

The music of Planet Boelex is a sonic soundscape that envelopes you like gossamer but is rooted in driving beats and an emotionally complex structure, giving his music a depth and force that belies it’s tenuous first impressions. Just as Ossi’s music metamorphasizes so to does his performances. Live At Virus Festival 2007, Lithuania is a document of Ossi’s development as an artist at a specific time in his life. Ossi is constantly honing his craft and his next live release will significantly different from his previous release. Today’s show represents a snapshot of where Planet Boelex was in 2007. I can’t even begin to imagine where he is now.

1. Planet Boelex “Forever and Always”
2. Interview with Planet Boelex
3. Planet Boelex “Untitled”
4. Interview with Planet Boelex
5. Planet Boelex “Shower Curtain”
6. Interview with Planet Boelex
7. Planet Boelex “Seagull Scene”
8. Interview with Planet Boelex
9. Planet Boelex “Untitled”
10. Planet Boelex “Suunta”
11. Interview with Planet Boelex
12. Planet Boelex “Blinded Of You”
13. Interview with Planet Boelex
14. Planet Boelex “Sim Ten”
15. Planet Boelex “Direction Backwards”
16. Planet Boelex “100kn”
17. Interview with Planet Boelex

We kick off each month with a live performance from an electronic artist and today’s solipsistic NATION features Aes Dana‘s set recorded at the Gaian Mind Summer Festival in Pennsylvania in June.

The Gaian Mind is a psytrance collective has been producing Goa-styled events in nightclubs and at outdoor locations throughout North America since 1996.

Aes Dana is an ambient trance project who’s two members are Vince Villuis and Sunbeam who also run Ultimae Records.

Ultimae puts out some of the most breathtaking music you’ll find and Vince and Sunny are wonderful people. Every time I talk to them they put a smile on my face.

Sunny has been on the show twice so far. Once back in October when she played select tracks by artists on Ultimae and once in December when she acted as translator for my interview with Hol Baumann. If you enjoy this week’s show then you’ll definitely want to download those shows as well.

I’m pleased to have both Sunny and Vince on this week’s solipsistic NATION.

Photo Credit: Eileen Togher

1. Aes Dana “Live at the Gaian Mind Summer Festival (Four Quarters, PA 2008)”
2. Interview with Vincent Villuis and Sunny of Aes Dana
3. Aes Dana “O Adonaï, Live at at Les Dominicains de Guebwiller (France, 2008)”

These days I get all my news from the internet. I follow nearly a hundred blogs on various topics that fascinate. Instead of watching television I watch YouTube videos of video podcasts. And I never listen to the radio. I listen to podcasts. Nearly all the media I consume don’t come down from on high from multi-billion dollars corporations but folks just like you and me.

solipsistic NATION is part of the new media movement and I thought we’d spend this week’s show exploring how people like yourself are participating and changing the way media works, which in turn changes the way we see ourselves, our community and our world.

Half my life I’ve been a DJ at college and community radio stations, pirate and internet radio stations, and, for nearly four years I’ve been a podcaster.

I’ve always been evangelical about being a DJ. I constantly encourage people to be a DJ and I’m always amazed how many people turn down the opportunity to get on the mic and be heard. In fact, I’m amazed everyone isn’t a DJ.

Especially now when it’s so easy. All you need is a computer, a microphone and a place to host your files and, boom!, you’re a podcaster. Granted, there’s some skill involved and spending some extra cash on some decent hardware and software doesn’t hurt but the most important thing is the content. People will forgive most anything if you’ve got something worth hearing.

When I started podcasting I hosted a show called Small World where I’d talk to people from all walks of life from all over the planet. I’ve interviewed everyone from sandwich makers to filmmakers. I started off recording all my interview into a crappy cassette recorder and then transfer it to the computer. Later on I got savvy and ran a microphone directly into my computer and did my interviews on Skype. I made mistakes, sure. The audio sounded pretty bad, too. But as I went a long I learned and improved and had people from all over the world listening to my little show that I recorded in my apartment. I didn’t need to spend countless dollars on a radio station to be heard.

When I launched solipsistic NATION as a podcast I knew it was going to be much more than a show where I would spin music. And I knew I wasn’t going to stick to just one genre of electronic music. There are enough shows that do just that and while they may be good, after you heard two or three shows you’ve pretty much heard all their shows. If that kind of show bores me then I know it’s going to bore you.

But I also wanted to take what I had learned from the Small World and talk to people who were part of the electronic music community, whether they were drum and bass heads or glitch addicts. I wanted to talk to the people who made the music, the people who put out the music and the people who love the music.

I’ve always tried to keep the interviews on solipsistic NATION brief because despite what I just said, the show really is about the music. And it’s a tricky balancing act, trying to keep things interesting with the music but not detracting from the music. I don’t always succeed but looking back on the last 100 shows I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish.

On today’s show I’m going to pretty much just going to play excerpts of interviews from previous shows. from people who are part of the electronic music community. Hey, it’s the 100th show. Indulge me.

1. Killfish “Scape From Pilar (Excerpt)”
2. Richard Metzger “Disinfo.Con, Opening Remarks”
3. Interview with Pete Cooper, host of bleepshow (Excerpt)
   solipsistic NATION No. 95: Bleep!
4. Interview with Snowy, host of Electronicast (Excerpt)
   solipsistic NATION No. 74: Electronicast
5. Interview with Mikel OD, host of Most People Are DJs (Excerpt)
   solipsistic NATION No. 59: Synthpop
6. Interview with Anji Bee, host of the Chillcast (Excerpt)
   solipsistic NATION No. 76: Lovespirals
7. Mr Flash “Disco Dynamite”
8. Interview with Travis Nobles, host of hiddenplace music (Excerpt)
   solipsistic NATION No. 79: HiddenPlace Music, Part 1
9. Interview with Pietro Da Sacco, managing editor of Igloo Magazine (Excerpt)
   solipsistic NATION No. 90: Left of Dissonance
10. Niteffect “Lights Off (Excerpt)”
11. Interview with Vivian Host, editor of XLR8R Magazine (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 51: Accelerate
12. OP11 “Naissance (Excerpt)”
13. Interview with Stephen Page, station manager of KYOURadio (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 87: Glitterdämmerung
14. Robberriff “Lifebreath (Excerpt)”
15. Interview with Brian, founder of the Oscillation Electronic Music Festival (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 58: Oscillation
16. Interview with J. Anthony Allen, Director of Programming of the Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 78: Spark
17. Omid “Beat From My Mouth (Excerpt)”
18. Interview with Simon Carless of Monotonik (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 66: NetLabels
19. Interview with Nicolas Chevreux of Ad Noiseam (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 81: Ad Noiseam
20. Interview with Evan Marc of Native State Records (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 77: Native State Records
21. Interview with Sunny of Ultimae Records (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 61: Ultimae Records
22. Detalles “Cilantro (Excerpt)”
23. Interview with Cheb i Sabbah (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 56: Cheb i Sabbah
24. Interview with Martin Rev and Alan Vega of Suicide (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 87: Glitterdämmerung
25. Interview with Amon Tobin (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 82: Amon Tobin
26. Sebastian “Greel (Excerpt)”
27. Interview with Robert Rich (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 50: Robert Rich, Live
28. Interview with Hol Baumann (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 67: Hol Baumann, Live
29. Interview with Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 88: Meat Beat Manifesto, Live
30. DJ Internet & Kid Kool A.K.A. Pella “Hit (Excerpt)”
31. Interviews from the Dubstep documentary (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 83: Dubsonic
32. Interview with MC Frontalot (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No.4: Nerdcore
33. Interview with Johan Kotlinski (Excerpt)
    solipsistic NATION No. 8: Chiptunes
34. Suhov “Moonhill”

I try not too talk too much on solipsistic NATION because I’ve only got an hour to cram as much music and interviews into each edition of the show. I don’t want to waste your time with my banter. Besides, anything I can’t fit in the show I can always say in the show notes.

We’re just months away from a presidential election here in the U.S. and after the longest political campaign in our country’s history things are really heating up. It’s been said that politics are a full contact sport and this campaign has been particularly ugly and for good reason: one of the former candidates, Hillary Clinton, is a woman and Barack Obama, is a black man. Despite the changing face of America our country has yet to fully come to terms with the much needed equality of women and race in our nation. Simply by being in the campaign Clinton and Obama has forced America to think about the issues of sex and race.

While that is a good thing it also means that a lot of people can express their bigotry. Sometimes it came across in an obscure manner such as when pundits observed Clinton’s tactics as being a form of “muscular” politics (none of the other male candidates politics were identified as “muscular”). Sometimes it was more egregious. For example, there were many times when Clinto was told that her place was in the kitchen, often by other women.

The campaign has narrowed down to McCain and Obama so now America’s discomfort with the possibility of having a black man as a president has become more pronounced. Recently there were a batch of pins that read “If Obama is President…will we still call it The White House?” When Obama gently banged fists with his wife, Michelle, a FOXNews anchor asked if the fist-bump might actually be “a terrorist fist jab.” It goes on and on.

When I’m optimistic I see all this as a good thing because it means my country is addressing it’s collective fears and hopefully we can move on. If Obama is elected president racism will still exist in our country but it’s a step in the right direction. Even if Obama is not elected president it still is a victory. The U.S. is finally moving past an antiquated mindset. When I’m not so optimistic I get really pissed off. Can we please move into the fucking 21^st century. But rather than rant about all this on solipsistic NATION I figure it would be more productive and just play some music that kicks ass and today’s show does just that. Turn it up and get your rage on!

Photo Credit: Chad Davis

1. The Prodigy “Smack My Bitch Up”
2. DJ Danger Mouse “99 Problems”
3. Rob Sonic “Brand New Vandals”
4. Aesop Rock Feat. Rob Sonic “Dark Heart News”
5. Dark Machines “Rituals”
6. Klaxons “Interzone To Golden Skans So Me (Remix)”
7. Neon Stereo vs Marcie “F*ck Me Baby” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
8. Cornelius “Gum” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
9. Justice “Stress”
10. Time Promises Power “Rope of Gloves” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
11. Rabbit Junk “Vote Bolshevik Lite”
12. CTRLer “Flesh” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
13. Bong-Ra “Suicide Speed Machine Girl”
14. Sabrepulse “Dot Matrix Hero”
15. Räuberhöhle “My Heart Bleeps Noisy Beeps”