Category: Listen

It amazes me just how many music labels are out there that are putting out some of the most phenomenal music I’ve ever heard. What’s wonderful about electronic music is that these labels can focus on a specific genre and mine the very best music that that genre has to offer. Ultimae Records, for example, focuses and ambient/trance music while Native State Records specializes in the glitchier and dubbier stuff.Today on solipsistic NATION we’re joined by Taylor Deupree, the founder of the 12k music label.

12k is an independent boutique label that showcases artists who specialize in experimental electronic music. To date, 12k has released over 50 CDs since the label’s inception in 1997 and 40 CDs on LINE. Due to the caliber of music Taylor offers 12k has become one of the most respected experimental electronic labels in the world. Each album from 12k is a special and made even more unique by Taylor’s insistence that he only releases 1000 copies of each CD.

I think that 12k puts out some of the most beautiful electronic music I’ve ever heard. Since most of the albums on 12k are quiet things I’ve come to enjoy how the sounds of the environment I’m in when I listen to 12k releases become part of the music while the music colors my perceptions of the environment I’m in. It’s a sublime experience. See if that happens to you when you listen to this week’s show.

1. Savvas Ysatis + Taylor Deupree “Under Your Breath”
2. Interview with Taylor Deupree of 12k
3. Solo Andata – Seaworthy – Taylor Deupree “Solo Andata”
4. Interview with Taylor Deupree of 12k
5. Giuseppe Ielasi “01”
6. Sawako “Wind Shower Particle”
7. William Basinski + Richard Chartier “untitled 2”
8. Interview with Taylor Deupree of 12k
9. Richard Chartier “Archival1992”

For those of you who live in the U.S., Happy 4^th of July!

Today is a special day for me because July 4^th of 2004 is when solipsistic NATION was first broadcast on Free Radio San Diego (FRSD). Back then, studio of FRSD was located in a toolshed. We had an air conditioner but that only brought down the temperature down a few degrees and I had to turn it off whenever I went on the mic for on-air announcements to avoid the air conditioner’s hum.

Another challenge of doing an electronic music show on FRSD was that our station used Ots Labs radio software. Ots Labs has come a long way but when I first began solipsistic NATION their app was great for programing the schedules for shows but lousy for doing the seamless segues you expect from an electronic music show. Despite the software and our air conditioner I managed to put out a decent show each week and built up an audience in San Diego for people who were starved for just such a program.

In addition to solipsistic NATION‘s four year anniversary I’ll have released 100 editions of the show as a podcast in three weeks and in September solipsistic NATION will celebrate two years of weekly podcasts. 2008 is a banner year for solipsistic NATION!

This week’s show is special for another reason because I’ve released one show featuring a live performance by an electronic artists for nearly a year. When I began the live segment I thought it would be something that I would do occasionally on the show and never expected that it would become a monthly segment. In the last year I’ve has live sets from the likes of Robert Rich, Hol Baumann and Meat Beat Manifesto and in the next few months you can expect to hear concerts by The Orb, Bass Science and Aes Dana.

To celebrate solipsistic NATION‘s four year anniversary we have a live performance from Bubblegone and Verzerren. Play it when the fireworks begin!

One more thing: Travis Nobles of the hidenplace music blog, who I had as a guest DJ on the show back in February, has put out his first mix. Beautiful stuff and you can download it here.

Photo Credit: chromedecay

1. Bubblegone vs. Verzerren “Live at the Darkroom (Chicago, IL 2004)”
2. Interview with Jason Engling of Bubblegone and Joe Bauer of Verzerren
3. Bubblegone “Live at the Dreamland Theater (Ypsilanti, MI 2007)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
4. Interview with Jason Engling of Bubblegone and Joe Bauer of Verzerren

This week on solipsistic NATION I’ve got a great show for you!

Last year I interviewed JP of Rabbit Junk for a documentary on digital hardcore that I’m working on. He’s since released his latest album, Life Is Where You Get Fucked, and was kind enough to send me a copy of his CD. On his new album JP has combined metal, punk, hip hop and electronica. It’s an exciting venture and I wanted to have JP on today’s show to talk about his CD.

I’ve also been kicking around the idea of doing a regular feature on artists and bands who played a major role in the early days of electronic music. While this notion has been bouncing around my skull I came across Hula‘s web site. Hula was an electronic based band I was into during the 80s and so I contacted Nort to have him on the show to talk about the band.

A few weeks ago I was perusing XLR8R and read their review of Lulu Rouge‘s Bless You album. I was intrigued and went to Lulu Rouge’s MySpace page. After hearing their song, “Melankoli,” I instantly fell in love with their music. As you might have guessed, I invited them to come on today’s show.

Our last guest is Cheb I Sabbah. I had Cheb on solipsistic NATION for a retrospective mix of his musical career so far. Cheb released his latest album, Devotion back in January. I’ve been meaning to have Cheb back on solipsistic NATION for quite a while and this week’s show seemed like it would be a perfect fit.

So there you have it: a great show with great guest and great music. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: JohnKit

1. Rabbit Junk “Black”
2. Interview with JP of Rabbit Junk
3. Rabbit Junk “Ghetto Blasphemer”
4. Hula “Poison”
5. Hula “Big Car”
6. Interview with Nort of Hula
7. Hula “Invisible”
8. Lulu Rouge “Bless You”
9. Lulu Rouge “Slow Pigeon”
10. Interview with DJ T.O.M & DJ Buda of Lulu Rouge
11. Lulu Rouge “Melankoli”
12. Cheb I Sabbah “Qalanderi” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
13. Cheb I Sabbah “Devotion”
14. Interview with Cheb I Sabbah
15. Cheb I Sabbah “Haun Vaari Haun Varaney”

I hate Pete Cooper!

Each week I face the same dilemma: what do I feature on solipsistic NATION? My priority is to play the best of all genres of electronic music but I’ve only got an hour to work with. Add to that the interviews, the live sets and the spotlighting of music labels of note and the question becomes what do I take out? Those are the kind of decisions that I agonize over.

The obvious solution is to release solipsistic NATION as a daily podcast. That would give me the opportunity to do everything I want to do with the show as well as giving me the chance to be an actual DJ and play more mixes. But honestly, I spend so much time putting out one show a week that doing a daily podcast would most likely kill me and given my obsessive compulsive tendencies that would happen pretty quickly.

Back in January I had Snowy who hosts Electronicast on solipsistic NATION as a guest DJ and he told me about his favorite podcast called bleepshow, hosted by Pete Cooper. Since I’m always on the lookout for new shows to listen I gave it a try and became a regular listener.

Pete does a daily one hour podcast where he plays the best electronic music that netlabels like Monotonik and Thinner have to offer. bleeppshow is fun, informative and eclectic. Pete does the kind of show I only wish I had the time and energy to do.

I hate Pete Cooper!

Photo Credit: Ultra (No videos on Flickr)

1. Stark Effect “Bunnyrabbits, Satan, Cheese And Milk” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. Braces Tower “Eleven Twelve” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
3. DQ “Psychosis” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
4. Interview with Pete Cooper, host of bleepshow
5. Seksu Roba “Telstar” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
6. Interview with Pete Cooper, host of bleepshow
7. Pocka “Cutty Ranks Mashup” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
8. Glomag “Cherie Amour” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
9. Interview with Pete Cooper, host of bleepshow
10. Orange Dust “Chillin With The Villin” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
11. Mossa “Town Hall – Take One” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
12. Interview with Pete Cooper, host of bleepshow
13. Gary Beck “Face of the Day” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
14. Troy Pierce “Louderbach” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
15. Ronin “Ferox”
16. Interview with Pete Cooper, host of bleepshow

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