Category: Listen

Fall has come to San Diego.

Not that that means much in this corner of paradise. It’s not like the leaves of the palm trees turn to a riot of autumn colors or that the grass is rimed with frost in the early mornings. None of that for us, thank you very much. Instead, each day it gets darker in the evenings earlier and when it’s particularly cold (60°, brrrr) it might occur to you to wear a jacket or a sweat shirt. Still, I’ve lived in San Diego long enough now that I can detect the passing of the seasons, subtle as they are.

Fall often makes me contemplative and the music I listen to reflects my introspective moods. The Van Halen songs on my iPod give way to The Smiths and Fatboy Slim is replaced by Skinny Puppy.

Today’s show is a mix of ambient, trip hop, and chill out music in an attempt to capture the essence of fall. There’s the romance of the season, autumnal introspection and just a touch of saturnine wickedness.

To quote William Stanley Braithwaite from his poem, “A Lyric of Autumn,”

There is music in the meadows, in the aire
Autumn is here;
Skies are gray, but hearts are mellow

Photo Credit: Kitt Walker

1. Studiodavoli “Kiss (CTlab Remix)”
2. Durango “Golden One”
3. Skult “Jazzy Sofa”
4. Amanda Ray “Stronger”
5. Chilli Guerrea “Dark Clouds”
6. monkeybacon “LNY”
7. a’spool “Organic Ocean”
8. Halogen “Highway”
9. Rena Jones Interview
10. Rena Jones “Driftwood”
11. Jash “Groovinda”
12. The Hijiyama Project “Komorebi (Light Through Falling Leaves)”
13. Stop Paving Roads “In the Park with Trane”
14. Grouse Interview
15. Grouse “Prosperous”

“What the hell kind of show is solipsistic NATION?” you might be asking yourself.

One week I’m playing lazy hip hop beats, the next I’m getting aggro with a drum and bass show and then the week after that I have a guest DJ and then this week is a live performance by ambient glitch dub musician, Deru. What up with that?

There are a lot of excellent electronic music podcasts out there that specialize in one particular genre. While I enjoy and appreciate those podcasts I know that I could never focus on one kind of music because I would soon grow bored with the show. Also, in this iPod world of ours everyone listens to all sorts of music, so why shouldn’t solipsistic NATION reflect that a la carte sensibility?

Which brings us to today’s show.

Electronic music has a reputation as a genre that is performed by faceless musicians, and this is even more true for the ambient glitch dub hybrid. Or is it? The sonic landscapes of, say, Ezekiel Honig, are distinct from the sounds of Nalepa just as Deru’s audio hallucinations are uniquely his own. Deru says he loves the sonic grit of static and ambient noise but for all that his songs can be delicate and all of them are hauntingly beautiful.

solipsistic NATION will continue to feature mixes of electronic music, guest DJs and spotlighting subgenres but whenever possible, I will also release live performances on the show. And what better way to start than with a live performance by Deru?

Enjoy!

Photo Credit: PiotroN

1. Deru Interview
2. Deru “Live”

Last week’s Nerdcore show got a tremendous amount of responses from listeners, I’m pleased to say!

I’m really proud of that episode because first of all, it was a great show and, secondly, it is the start of the slow mutation that will occur on solipsistic NATION.

There are a lot of electronic music podcasts I enjoy but there are aspects of those shows that frustrate me. Some shows only play a few minutes of a song before moving on to the next song, often abruptly. I don’t know if the hosts of those podcasts do that because of time constraints or licensing agreements but it bugs the hell out of me! Other podcasts have a lot of inane banter. If it’s not entertaining or informative then shut the hell up so I can listen to the music, which is why I wanted to listen to their show in the first place. Still other podcasters have the never ending, obligatory shout-outs and who and where they’re representin’. I know that comes from a long tradition but it drives me crazy because after a short while it ceases to mean anything to me.

There’ll be some banter on solipsistic NATION but it will be kept to a bare minimum. There will be interviews on solipsistic NATION but they’ll be brief. There might even be the odd shout-out but again, no more than is necessary.

Speaking of which, today’s show features an interview guest DJ Eve Falcon. I interviewed Eve on the small WORLD podcast and I knew that when I relaunched solipsistic NATION that I wanted her to be a guest on the show. Eve was kind enough to oblige as well as treating us to her Fast Forward mix.

Progressive house, along with trance, has been the main source of the superstar-DJ phenomenon of late. And, to be sure, it’s been a boys’ club. Women are found on vocals, backstage, and behind industry desks, but rarely do they get the spotlight at the biggest clubs. Those who have broken through – DJ Irene, Sandra Collins, DJ Rap – seem to have worked extra hard to prove they can rock a party with the best of them. Now a newer generation of female DJs is following up, plowing through the negatory politics of the scene to get a chance to shine. Brooklyn-bred, L.A.-based Eve Falcon, a talented prog-house DJ and vocalist, has been on a mission for the last five years, taking on global gigs and getting her voice and production (on “Know It All” with Desert Sol) out front. Her momentous progressive-house and steely breakbeat sound is the pulse of now. Feel her freshen up the big room Saturday at Avalon.

-Citybeat (Los Angeles) September ’05 – by Dennis Romero. Click here to see the article.

1. DJ Eve Falcon Interview
2. Jeff Belfi & Blake Potter “Agile (Breaks Remix)”
3. The Project “Truth (Faskil’s Split Remix)”
4. Esque “Volume”
5. KiloWatts “Weird Little Creatures”
6. Voyager “Someone Else (Voyager I-40 Remix)”
7. Merlyn Vs. Burufunk “Two Lives”
8. EK “Absolute (Sound Not Scene)”
9. Deepsky & Marc Mitchell “Lost in the Moment”
10. Eve Falcon & Desert Sol “Know It All (KiloWatts Critical Thinking Remix)”

Subscribe to solipsistic NATION in iTunes.

solipsistic NATION was a two hour radio show that broadcast the very best of all genres of electronic music from Free Radio San Diego 96.9 FM every Sunday night from 10 PM – 12 AM.

Each weekend I would spin only the finest tunes, hopping from genre to genre. Whether it was drum and bass, industrial, hip hop, or whatever else I tossed into the mix, you could count on quality music.

Sadly, after a year of making the airwaves of San Diego throb with the sounds of solipsistic NATION I had to give the show up due to time constraints. A little over a year later and I’m back in action, only this time I’ll be good to your earhole by podcasting the show once a week! I’ve got some great things in store for the the podcast, including interviews, contest and guest DJs.

Stay stuned!

Photo credit: possum4all