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solipsistic NATION No. 17: Saturnalia

Happy holidays, citizens!

However you celebrate the holidays, I hope you have a good one.

I’m calling this episode of solipsistic NATION Saturnalia for no particular reason. It just sounds cool is all.

From Wikipedia…

The Saturnalia was a large and important public festival in Rome. It involved the conventional sacrifices, a couch (lectisternium) set out in front of the temple of Saturn and the untying of the ropes that bound the statue of Saturn during the rest of the year. Besides the public rites there were a series of holidays and customs celebrated privately. The celebrations included a school holiday, the making and giving of small presents (saturnalia et sigillaricia) and a special market (sigillaria). Gambling was allowed for all, even slaves; however, although it was officially condoned only during this period, one should not assume that it was rare or much remarked upon during the rest of the year. It was a time to eat, drink, and be merry. The toga was not worn, but rather the synthesis, i.e. colorful, informal “dinner clothes”; and the pileus (freedman’s hat) was worn by everyone. Slaves were exempt from punishment, and treated their masters with disrespect. The slaves celebrated a banquet: before, with, or served by the masters. A Saturnalicius princeps was elected master of ceremonies for the proceedings. Saturnalia became one of the most popular Roman festivals which led to more tomfoolery, marked chiefly by having masters and slaves ostensibly switch places. The banquet, for example, would often be prepared by the slaves, and they would prepare their masters’ dinner as well. It was license within careful boundaries; it reversed the social order without subverting it.

Photo Credit: Ray-of-Sun

  1. Dean Martin “Jingle Bells (Dan The Automator Remix)”
  2. Sismo “Pueblo”
  3. Dolce Stil Nuovo “Hawaiin Song”
  4. D.J. Waht “Shopping Cart Ride Reprise”
  5. Skink “The Ages of Carbon Dating MkIII”
  6. Kaká Werá Jecupé “Ibi-Cy”
  7. Neikka Rpm “Kill All Machines (Ft. Kenji Siratori)”
  8. Mel “Sheltered Life”
  9. Tanya Pea “Handcut Ice Cubes (Thieves Mix)”
  10. Cars & Trains “Broken Streetlamp Serenade”
  11. Infantjoy “Without”
  12. Ultre “Scissors and Intervals”
  13. BEe “Our Blood”
  14. Michael Bross “Oscuro”
  15. Beckett & Taylor “Where There You Been Gone Find It”
  16. Spandex “What’s Wrong With You”
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solipsistic NATION No. 16: Acid Jazz and Nu-Jazz

Today’s show focuses on acid jazz and nu-jazz. Acid jazz combines elements of soul music, funk, disco and modal harmonies while nu-jazz lend jazz textures and sometimes jazz instrumentation, funk, electronic dance music, and free improvisation.

As a former punk I originally hated electronic music like acid jazz. I was into hardcore and the only music that mattered to me was the kind that was raw, abrassive and in your face. If it wan’t punk, hip hop or indutrial I couldn’t be bothered with it. Acid jazz was just to dainty of a thing for me to care about.

But that was soon to change.

At the time I was a DJ at WMFO and each weekend I would have live bands perform on my show. As you might imagine, they were all punk, industrial or hip hop acts. My engineer was a guy named Harry and prior and after a band’s set he would blast the speakers of his studio with all sorts electronic music I had never heard before. And it grooved!

I think the big turning point for me was one night after my radio show I headed over to a nightclub I worked at. The DJ was spinning acid jazz and house. It was very sexy watching people dance to the music, always slighty off beat but always riding the rhythm. Kind of like a jazz solo. For the first time I really started digging the music. The tab of acid I had just taken might have helped.

Photo Credit: ^riza^

  1. Dolce Stil Nuovo “12 Times”
  2. Craig De Maio “Intro To Reality”
  3. Tstewart “A World Generated Every Answer Ever For All to Know”
  4. So Percussion “Work Slow Life”
  5. Spacehoppa “Alone”
  6. Soular Sound “Things We Do”
  7. The Messenger “Colorized”
  8. The Other Guy “Rockin Chairs”
  9. Fonkmasters “Once I Get Up”
  10. Heliotrope “Flute Flight”
  11. Nikita Warren “I Need You (MLK’s Dream Version)”
  12. Nettle “Mehmet Irdel (ft. Aziz Arradi)”
  13. DJ Olive “Coonymus”
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solipsistic NATION No. 15: Fake Science

Each week on solipsistic NATION I play the best of all genres of electronic music. On today’s show we talk to James Polanco of Fake Science, the digital online music store. We’ll also hear select tracks from artists who are featured Fake Science.

Fake Science is an internet based distributor of downloadable music. Fake Science provides a unique service catering to fans of indie labels and artists frustrated by a world ruled by large corporate download services, where the true independents are afforded little chance to stand out from the crowd.

Fake Science is dedicated to making independent music available digitally and affordably. Fake Science wants to enable musicians to sell their music and to make more by offering direct payment and an opportunity to reach a larger audience without being limited by the number of CDs they could afford to print.

What if people buying music were treated with respect rather than suspicion? Charged a reasonable amount of money for the music they were getting? What if they were allowed to share their favorite music with their friends without being considered a criminal?

As listeners, Fake Science is sick of being considered as consumers of art, rather than patrons. Fake Science decided to do something about it.

If you enjoy today’s edition of solipsitic NATION then you’ll sure to dig the Fake Science Lab Report podcast.

  1. Fake Science Interview
  2. Nano “Mosaic II”
  3. Qpe “Devil May Care”
  4. Eddie Mis “Acrobat Bilder”
  5. Hol Baumann “Radio Bombay”
  6. Cell Culture “Revelation”
  7. Dr. Toast “Introspective Transmission”
  8. Alchemy “Alchemy”
  9. Carbon Based Lifeforms “MOS 6581 (Album Version)”
  10. Adham Shaikh “Shiraz (Evolution Mix)”
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solipsistic NATION No. 14: DEFcember

DEFcember

People sometimes ask me what’s the story behind the name solipsistic NATION. I first came across the phrase “Solipsistic Nation” in Greg Egan‘s book, Permutation City. In the book, there are two characters who inhabit a digital universe, and because they can create and recreate their world and identities, they were truly solipsistic beings who led existential lives.

You can really lose yourself in the rhythms and sounds of electronic music. It’s often a faceless genre, so to some degree you can interpret the music as you like. Electronic music can both be a communal form of music and a form of individual expression. Hence, the name Solipsistic Nation. Plus, it just sounds so damn cool!

  1. DJ Uff Da & DJ Jay C 3 “Hit Record”
  2. Jedi Mind Tricks “Heavy Metal Kings w/ Ill Bill (Terror Remix)”
  3. Audio War “Analyze”
  4. Iscintilla “Havestar”
  5. Jonny 20 “Vampyre”
  6. Solid Decay “Legalize”
  7. Floattank “Star Gate”
  8. Vaia “Plagas”
  9. Infantjoy “Composure With Isan”
  10. Cooler “Plepp Stumbles Away”
  11. Spiral System “Different Light”
  12. Qpe “Wheel”
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solipsistic NATION No. 13: The New Bin

The New Bin

When I was a deejay at WMFO it was always a joy to check the new bin. The new bin was where we stocked all the recent CD and vinyl releases. Each week I’d go through the new bin to pick the stand-out tracks that I wanted to play on my show. The new bin made every week seem like a combination of my birthday and Christmas.

The other thing that made the new bin so much fun was trying to create a show that flowed together incongrously despite all the different genres I was attempting to mix together. Was is possible to create a show with segues with dub, country, techno, hip hop, alternative rock, etc that sounded seamless?

This week we’re going to go through all the CDs that have been sent to the solipsistic NATION studios here in beautiful San Diego.

Photo Credit: seekoh

  1. Junior Boys “In The Morning”
  2. Grand Analog “I’ll Walk Alone”
  3. My Robot Friend “Swallow (Rap by Crasta Yo)”
  4. Iswhat?! “Front”
  5. Caribou “The Snow Capes”
  6. Mouse On Mars “Fish Bord”
  7. Four Tet “My Angel Rocks Back and Forth (Four Teas on English Time – Icarus Remix)”
  8. Bola “Clockjerk (Trapezoid)”
  9. Infantjoy “Leaving Somewhere With Someone”
  10. Pole “Heim (Four Tet Remix)”
  11. Chris Herbert “cassino”
  12. Alexandra Gardner “Onice”
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solipsistic NATION No. 12: The Agriculture

The Agriculture

About six months ago I interviewed James Healy of The Agriculture Records on the small WORLD podcast. The Agriculture puts out mind blowing music by artists who are influenced by many different genres, which makes their own songs genre defying. House, garage, dance hall, dub, hip hop, minimalist electronic music, etc…it’s all grist for The Agriculture’s mill.

When I began solipsistic NATION there were a number of music labels that I knew that I wanted to feature on the show. Given solipsistic NATION‘s motto of playing the very “best of all genres of electronic music,” The Agriculture was a natural fit.

  1. The Agriculture Interview
  2. Qpe “Devil May Care”
  3. David Last “Cat-Silver”
  4. DJ Olive “Sub Bass Commandante”
  5. DJ Wally “I Know There’s Something Going On”
  6. Ladyman “Poppy God”
  7. Lloop “Bulbbs4”
  8. Lunchbox “Brown Bag”
  9. Nettle “Duende”
  10. Nnnj “Goop Scoop”
  11. Once11 “A Long Beard On A Throne”
  12. Sub Dub “Dawa Zangpo”
  13. DJ Olive “Round Fire Strut”
  14. Ladyman “Infomercia”
  15. Nnnj “What’s The Weather Like Today?”
  16. Once11 “99% Sure”
  17. Sub Dub “Vision Quest 2”
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solipsistic NATION No. 11: Offbeat

Offbeat

Let me give you a little background on solipsistic NATION if you’re new to the show.

solipsistic NATION began as a show on a pirate radio station a year or so ago. Electronic music is so diverse that I didn’t want to limit myself to one particular genre. The concept of the show was that I wanted to explore all genres of electronic music, whether it was drum and bass, trip hop, techno, ambient, etc.

I stopped doing solipsistic NATION as a radio program because I simply could dedicate the time I needed to produce what I considered a high quality show. Things have settled down since then and I’ve relaunched solipsistic NATION as a weekly podcast.

Previous episodes of solipsistic NATION have included shows on house music, chill out music, drum and bass and hip hop. There have also been documentaries on nerdcore and chiptunes, a mix by guest DJ Eve Falcon and a live performance by Deru. The show has also included interviews with Rena Jones, Grouse, and Dielectric Records.

On today’s edition of solipsistic NATION we’ll focus on electronic music that feautres synchopated and offbeat rhythms. We’ll start the show with an interview with Ben Torrence, founder of Woodson Lateral Records.

  1. Woodson Lateral Records Interview
  2. Lamplighter “Purple”
  3. Splinters “Dust Collector”
  4. Hakea “Mim”
  5. Lamplighter “Test”
  6. Choncey Langford “Helium”
  7. Obelus “Big Sky Montana”
  8. Algorithms “Lo Vagrant Sound”
  9. Karsten Pflum “Impulse II”
  10. Cooler “Sorrowful Go Round”
  11. Cars & Trains “The Official Cars & Trains Theme Song”
  12. Matthew Burtner “Spectral for 0”
  13. Juan Farcik “Closed”
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solipsistic NATION No. 10: House of the Rising Sun

House of the Rising Sun

Last week’s show featuring music from Dielectric Records was sort of a litmus test for those of you who listen to the show. I want to play the best of all genres of electornic music on this podcast and that includes the more experimental stuff. If you’re still with us after last week’s show then I know you’re the kind of person who likes music that’s a bit…different.

This week’s episode of solipsistic NATION is going to be more traditional and we’re going to focus on House music.

House began in 1977. The Warehouse on Jefferson Street in Chicago, was a key venue in the development of house music. The main DJ was Frankie Knuckles. The club staples were still the old disco tunes but the limited number of records meant that the DJ had to be a creative force, introducing more deck work to revitalize old tunes.

I’ll be honest with you, House is my least favorite form of electronic music. I think part of it has to do with working in a nightclub in the early 90s and being forced to listen to music from Manchester or House over and over and over again. That sort of repeition will really kill enjoyment of any kind of music.

A few years back I moved to Hillcrest in San Diego which is a very gay neighborhood and most of the people listened to house music. I constantly heard throbbing basslines and piano roles over and over again. And it was the worst kind of house music. It sounded irredeemably cheap, plastic and soulless.

But 99% of anything is crap. So the music you hear on today’s show may not be the kind of house music you would enjoy but it’s the kind of house music I dig.

  1. DJ Vanni “Nikita (Original Mix)”
  2. Paul Zazadze “Mood”
  3. Cheyne Christian “Up On Me”
  4. Greg Kobe “Speed”
  5. Gray “Appeal (Original Mix)”
  6. Los Brutos “Phat (Wehbba Remix)”
  7. Harshmallow “Sati’s Groove”
  8. Dorfmeister vs. Madrid de los Austrias “Boogie No More”
  9. Charles Afton “And So It Seems”
  10. Thomas Gooding “Open Your Eyes”
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solipsistic NATION No. 9: Dielectric Records

Dielectric Records

When I relaunched the solipsistic NATION podcast I knew from the beginning that I wanted push the boundaries of the show from its original format. It wasn’t enough to play a mix of all genres of electronic music, although that is an ambitious effort in and of itself. I wanted the show to include interviews, documentaries and to showcase electronic music labels that I respect and enjoy.

One such music label is Dielectric Records.

Dielectric Records features experimental music for the new millennium. Crazed broken beat electronica, improvisational percussion, drone, dark ambient, situational improv, you can find all of this on Dielectric Records roster of artists.

Today’s show features an interview with Drew, founder of Dielectric Records, as well as a sampling of the musicians on his music label. The music is eerie, haunting and beautiful, which is appropriate for Halloween.

Enjoy!

  1. Dielectric Records Interview
  2. Karen Stackpole “Untitled #1”
  3. Carson Day “Musique Mort”
  4. Dielectric Drone All-Stars “Plotinian Plateau”
  5. Dielectric Minimalsit All-Stars “Forth-Reich”
  6. Pussyfinger “Pussyfinger”
  7. Die Elektrischen “Beat Takeshi”
  8. Sote “Track 08”
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solipsistic NATION No. 8: Chiptunes

Chiptunes

Chiptune is music written in sound formats where the sounds are synthesized by a computer or video game console sound chip. The so-called “golden age” of chiptunes was the mid 1980s to early 1990s, when such sound chips were the only way for creating music on computers.

The composers had a great degree of flexibility in creating music while at the same time they had to operate under the strict limitions imposed by the medium they were working within because the early computer sound chips had only simple tone generators and noise generators.

While chiptunes are closely related to video game music the term is also used for music that uses these distinct-sounding synthesizer instruments for their artistic value.

Special thanks to x|k for provinding the incidental music that appears on today’s show.

8bit movie8 Bit Movie
8 BIT is a hybrid documentary examining the influence of video games on contemporary culture directed by Marcin Ramocki and co-directed by Justin Strawhand. A melange of a rocumentary, art expose and a culture-critical investigation, 8 BIT ties together seemingly disconnected phenomena like the 80’s demo scene, chiptune music and contemporary artists using machinima and modified games.

8 BIT insists that in the 21st century Game-Boy rock, machinima and game theory belong together and share a common root: the digital heritage of Generation X.

Role Model
Role Model is Johan Kotlinski, the creator of Little Sound Disk Jockey. LSDJ enables the user to sequence and program music to run on the Game Boy’s sound processor. LSDJ is primarily used by chiptune artists, however it is also popular with many other musicians for writing songs featuring gameboy sounds.

Johan Kotlinski is a Media Engineering & Computer Science student at KTH, Stockholm, Sweden. Johan also runs Rebel Pet Set, a record label; and Microdisko, a Stockholm chip music club.

OneOne
Swedish born Tobias von Hofsten started breaking the silence in the late nineties. Music and poetry has since then been his main form of self therapy. Tobias enjoys a light case of robophilia and is spiritual from Z to A, with connections both upstairs and below. After a complete rebirth ONE was born and Tobias continues expanding self-boundaries of reality and balancing consciousness, exploring the soul of life and the music contained within. Approved by the Interplanetary Funk Federation, and given the Wisdom of Trees, ONE is a key channel for the cosmic love on planet earth, communicating organic machine soul.

LaromlabLaromlab
Laromlab is a chiptune music project created by Brandon Harrod in Bowling Green, Kentucky around 1998. Laromlab started out as Kid 8 Bit but was cemented as Laromlab around 2001 when Harrod desired a name change and was currently living on Balmoral Avenue in Chicago, IL. Laromlab has been through a whole slew of genres in electronic music inluding digital hardcore ( see 2004 release “That Blood Is For Real” on Komplott Records), gameboy pop, IDM, breakcore,drum n bass, and most recently the genre in which Harrod coined the term Crisco Disco. Laromlab has played over 50 shows in the United States and is currently putting together a solo tour of the entire country and some festival shows.

NullsleepNullsleep
Nullsleep uses Game Boys and NES consoles to create conceptually unique music that blends subversive hardware hacking with powerful melodic pop. In 1999, he cofounded the 8bitpeoples — a collective of artists interested in the audio/video aesthetics of early computers and videogames. In the time since, Nullsleep has released a number of recordings which demonstrate his constant push for new ways to force the most out of yesterday’s machines and an unparalleled romantic chiptune intensity. A very active live musician, he recently completed a 20-date world tour with chiptune compatriot Bit Shifter and is now organizing the upcoming Blip Festival in New York City.

The Mikro Orchestra ProjectThe Mikro Orchestra Project
The Mikro Orchestra Project is an experimental sound – visual project, basing on the use of game console as a music instrument. The main assumption of project’s authors is to create new sound space on the base of tones generated live from console during the performance.

They use elements from archives and current pop culture, in relation to peculiar choreography of their concerts (no move at all) create a kind of an anti-performance commenting quasi avant-garde attempts to place electronic music on the stage next to the spectacular concerts of pop stars. They are also inspired by the aesthetic of 8 bit computers and old school games. The kitschy setting of their performances is purposeful, however it would be a mistake to perceive it as a mean of any ideology.

Goto80Goto80
Towards the end of the 1980’s, together with his brother, Anders Carlsson bought a Commodore 64 homecomputer. Anders changed lifestyle from sporty to geeky and spent most of the following decade infront of either a C64 or its big brother Amiga, making music and collecting massive amounts of soft and hardware. In 2001, after numerous obscure demo recordings, he released Papaya EP on Bleepstreet Records. It was schlagerdubrockelectro made with Commodore 64 and a vocoder. Goto80’s eclectic approach to music was tied together by his experience in lo-tech sound programming, and Papaya EP was a hit.

In 2002 he released Bushrunner EP and Goto80 started appearing on compilations and internet releases, such as Philemon Arthur and the Vic, the 8 Bits of Christmas on 8bitpeoples and the mad C64 mega drum’n’bass track Monkeywarning on Monotonik. In 2003 he escaped fame and fortune by emigrating to Australia, to return to Sweden in 2004. He’s now living in Gothenburg, continuing his task to realise new ideas with old hardware.

8 Bit Weapon8 Bit Weapon
8 Bit Weapon is the brainchild of Seth Sternberger. Seth has performed across two continents with an arsenal of 8 bit weapons, which include a Commodore 64 and 128, a couple of Nintendo Gameboy classics, an Intellivision synthesizer, hybrid lo-fi acoustic-electric drums, and an assortment of other vintage and toy synthesizers.

Inspired by classic videogame soundtracks and electronic music from the 70s and 80s, 8 Bit Weapon delivers a sound that is as unique as it is original. Clever melodies, nostalgic atmosphere, and energetic beats create a decidedly modern sound while maintaining a fun, lo-tech aesthetic.

Photo Credit: small ape

  1. Role Model “Pop5”
  2. One “8-Bit Missionary”
  3. Laromlab “Wrathulon”
  4. Nullsleep “Her Lazer Light Eyes”
  5. The Mikro Orchestra Project “Autofire”
  6. Goto80 “Datahell”
  7. 8 Bit Weapon “Arcade!”