Synecdoche

Here’s something you don’t know about me: I hate talking over the songs I play on solipsistic NATION. On the other hand, I think talking over music is pretty useful because it has less impact on the flow of the show. It’s a dilemma. Take this week’s show.

Once a month on solipsistic NATION I showcase a record label that is putting out amazing releases that you need to know about. Recent shows have featured n5MD, Dragon’s Eye Recordings and Summer Rain Recordings. On this edition of solipsistic NATION we’ll talk with Mike Paradinas (AKA μ-Ziq), the founder of Planet μ Records and play select tracks from his label. And therein lies the problem.

Planet μ began as a subsidiary of Virgin Records but in 1998 Mike Paradinas made Planet μ independent of Virgin and Astralwerks. In the last 10 years Mike has released great albums from a roster of amazing artists like Luke Vibert, Benga, Mary Anne Hobbs and much more. There’s no way I can capture the scope of Planet μ in an hour-long show. All I can do is paint a picture for you with music but only in the broadest strokes. That leaves me with the unenviable task of choosing which tracks we’ll have to talk over.

For example, I love Luke Vibert’s “Homewerk.” The repeating riff in “Homewerk” is a classic electronica theme and has been sampled many times. How can I talk over that. And then there’s “Meinheld” by μ-Ziq. He’s my guest. That’s be just plain rude to talk over his track. I love, love, love just about everything Venetian Snares puts out and it would cause me physical pain to talk over “Twirl.” But as I said, I would rather talk with Mike over the music than not play music at all. Plus, that’s an extra track you otherwise would not have heard.

I’m really excited that Mike is on today’s show. Planet μ consistently puts out amazing releases and has garnered a lot of respect from people who love great music. A fan base has been created around Planet μ because of the label’s roster of talent and phenomenal albums. You’ll become a convert, too.

If you liked today’s show, mention it on your blog or give solipsistic NATION a quick one to five star review on iTunes so I can spread the virus that is solipsistic NATION further and wider!

1. Luke Vibert “Homewerk”
2. μ-Ziq “Meinheld”
3. Venetian Snares “Twirl”
4. Interview with Mike Paradinas, founder of Planet μ Records
5. Meat Beat Manifesto “Less”
6. Vex’d “Thunder”
7. Interview with Mike Paradinas, founder of Planet μ Records
8. Pinch “Punisher”
9. Benga “Killers About”
10. Interview with Mike Paradinas, founder of Planet μ Records
11. Boxcutter “Bug Octet”
12. edIT “Twenty Minutes”
13. Interview with Mike Paradinas, founder of Planet μ Records
14. Chevron “Going Out of My Head”
15. Mrs Jynx “Dusty”
16. Jega “Alternating Bit”
17. Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble “The Nothing Changes”
18. Interview with Mike Paradinas, founder of Planet μ Records

Once a month on solipsistic NATION I feature a live performance from an electronic musician. Recent shows have included live sets from Rena Jones, Milieu and Lokua. Today’s show features Exillon‘s concert at Bang Face.

Jay Fields is the man behind Exillon and I first heard his music when I interviewed Nicolas Chevreux and played music from his label, Ad Noiseam. Jay, like so many electronic musicians, played traditional instruments like the drums, guitar and bass in his teens. That changed when he got his first computer and realized that he could have complete control over every aspect of his music. His love for electronic music kicked into high gear when his friends gave him the Impulse Tracker, a simple, sample based sequencer used by some in the demoscene. Exillon performs frantic IDM with an acid twist.

I was hoping to release Jay’s live set last month to help promote his concert for The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence that took place in San Francisco, June 27th, but was unable to due to a scheduling conflict. Sorry about that!

Bang Face is a monthly event that is held at the Electrowerkz in Islington, North London and has been running since October 2003. The next Bang Face event takes place in August and features a line-up that includes Luke Vibert, Pinch, Bong-Ra, Appleblim and much, much more!

If you liked today’s show, mention it on your blog or give solipsistic NATION a quick one to five star review on iTunes so I can spread the virus that is solipsistic NATION further and wider!

1. Exillon “Live at Bang Fest (February 8, 2008)”
2. Interview with Jay Fields of Exillon

One of the ways I put together episodes of solipsistic NATION is that I’ll collect songs and keep them in an iTunes playlist. Some times they’re tracks that are genre specific like drum and bass and other times the songs will have a sound or feel, which is the case for today’s show.

The last few months I’ve been gathering songs that either seamlessly blends traditional and electronic instruments or draws attention to the differences between those instruments.

One of the bands I’ve wanted to feature on solipsistic NATION is the Boredoms. I’ve been a fan of the Boredoms since I discovered Yamantaka Eye from his days with Hanatarash. Where Hanatarash explored the boundaries of sound and music with raw feedback the Boredoms did the same with instruments like the guitar, bass, drums, bass, etc. The Boredoms have mutated every genre of music they touched, whether it was funk or heavy metal.

I’m also delighted to play Cornelius on the show again. Cornelius is Keigo Oyamada and I have to believe that Keigo is a happy guy because everything I’ve heard from him is beautiful, wacky or pretty and just makes smile.

We’ll also hear some music by Black Moth Super Rainbow and The Octopus Project. Black Moth Super Rainbow describe themselves as a psyche-pop group in early ’70s electronic clothing but I like to think of them of what the Butthole Surfers would sound like on a happy acid trip. Black Moth Super Rainbow also collaborated with The Octopus Project on their The House of Apples & Eyeballs album.

I’m also a long-time fan of Odd Nosdam because all his music is incredibly inventive and I’m really digging his recent release, the T.I.M.E. Soundtrack, out on Aniticon Records.

One artist I’ve just become a huge fan of is Yppah. Yppah is a Ninja Tune recording artist and Yppah is “Happy” spelled backwards. Also from Ninja Tunes we have a track from Daedelus and from Ninja Tune’s sister label, Big Da Da Records, we have a track from cLOUDDEAD. You can listen to my interview with Jonathan Shedletzky of Ninja Tune here.

Somnia Records is a label that consistently puts out breath taking releases and one of my favorites is juxta phona & offthesky. You can listen to my interview with Evan Bartholomew, the founder of Somnia Records, here. Another label that puts out mind blowing releases is 12k and I’m thrilled to play tracks from Giuseppe Ielasi, Savvas Ysatis + Taylor Deupree and Sawako on today’s show. You can listen to my interview with Taylor Deupree, the founder of 12k, here.

There’s a lot of weird and wonderful music on today’s show and I hope you fall in love with all of it!

Before I sign off, a bit of sad news. First, Thomas of the spectacular French hip hop podcast, Yo La La, has decided to stop producing his show due to time constraints. Yo La La will be missed but you can always listen to the previous shows at the Yo La La archive. Secondly, Michael Jackson died at age 50 of a cardiac arrest. I was never a big fan of Michael Jackson but even so his music always got my feet taping and my hips swaying. The King of Pop is dead.

If you liked today’s show, mention it on your blog or give solipsistic NATION a quick one to five star review on iTunes so I can spread the virus that is solipsistic NATION further and wider!

Photo Credit: Augie Pagan

1. Boredoms “(Boriginal)”
2. Cornelius “Toner”
3. The Octopus Project + Black Moth Super Rainbow “All the Friends You Can Eat” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
4. Black Moth Super Rainbow “Born On A Day The Sun Didn’t Rise” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
5. Yppah “Gumball Machine Weekend (Pollination Remix)”
6. Odd Nosdam “Ethereal Slap”
7. cLOUDDEAD “Physics Of A Bicycle”
8. Cloudland Canyon “Heme”
9. Daedelus “LA Nocturn”
10. juxta phona & offthesky “trust & roullette”
11. Giuseppe Ielasi “Track 08”
12. Savvas Ysatis + Taylor Deupree “The Youthful Sea”
13. A Wake A Week “One Take Away One”
14. Bizzart “Mount Washington Blue And Red”
15. Sawako “April – From Sea Shell (With Radiosonde)”
16. Konntinent “pin point” [FREE DOWNLOAD]

As much as I try and keep solipsistic NATION fresh I have to admit that I can be fairly predictable at times. For example, if on one show I play music that ambient and ethereal then the next show I go in the opposite direction and go hard. Today’s show is is exactly like that. Last week featured melodic, shoegazer electronica so this week I’m going aggro with the likes of The Teknoist and Sickboy.

So let’s talk about today’s show.

First off, most of the tracks featured on today’s show come from Ad Noiseam and Tympanik Audio.

First up from Ad Noiseam is The Teknoist from his wonderfully titled first full-length album, …Like A Hurricane Made Of Zombies. Definitely stuff to make your ears bleed! Also from Ad Noiseam is Enduser, an artists I’ve been meaning to feature on solipsistic NATION for a very long time. I’m thrilled to finally be able to play a track from his Pushing Back album. The we’ve got a track from Sickboy’s Time To Play CD. From Omelette Records we’ve got the weird and wonderful Frank Riggio who crafts songs that often remind me of Amon Tobin‘s Out From Out Where album (by the way, you can download Riggio’s Noise Thinking EP absolutely for free here). Going back to Ad Noiseam, we also have tow tracks from Abelcain and Cdatakill from their Passage album. From there we move on to a track from Meat Beat Manifesto‘s Autoimmune album available on Metropolis Records. From Tympanik Audio we’ve got a track from Ad·ver·sary and then we bounce back to Ad Noiseam with from Larvae and then back to Tympanik with Pandora’s Black Book and Integral. We’ll close this week’s show with a track from Blackfilm‘s self titled album on Spectraliquid.

If I’m going to stay true to form then next week I guess I’ll have to play a set of soothing and relaxing music. Maybe I’ll do a mix of industrial music just to keep you on your toes.

If you’re craving more music featured on today’s show then I suggest listening to the Ad Noiseam, Tympanik Audio, Spectraliquid and Metropolis Records record label showcases on solipsistic NATION. You also might want to listen to the mix Blackfilm put together for solipsistic NATION or Meat Beat Manifesto’s live set.

If you liked today’s show, mention it on your blog or give solipsistic NATION a quick one to five star review on iTunes so I can spread the virus that is solipsistic NATION further and wider!

Photo Credit: BFLV

1. The Teknoist “No Such Luck”
2. Enduser “The Maker”
3. Sickboy “Spartan Gabba”
4. Frank Riggio “Mini Cum Shot” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
5. Abelcain “Musca Domestica (Cdatakill Remix)”
6. Cdatakill “Tornado Sirens (Abelcain Remix)”
7. Meat Beat Manifesto “Less”
8. Ad·ver·sary “Waiting For Gira (Phylr Remix)”
9. Larvae “Gigan And The Mysterians”
10. Pandora’s Black Book “The Wait”
11. Displacer “The Witching Hour”
12. Integral “Moonwalk”
13. Blackfilm “Five Years”

Since re-launching solipsistic NATION as a podcast I’ve done over 25 episodes showcasing records labels that you absolutely need to know about. There are so many labels putting out such amazing releases that it some times take months, if not years, to get get to. One such label is n5MD.

n5MD was unique from the start. Founder Mike Cadoo launched n5MD as a MiniDisc-only label (hence the name, an acronym for “No Fives, Minidiscs!”). n5MD eventually transitioned to CDs when they Sony stopped manufacturing pre-recorded MiniDiscs. Whatever the platform, almost from the very beginning Mike was putting out releases that he defines as “emotional experiments in music.”

What I’ve always found so charming is that the releases on n5MD don’t just provide musics that establishes a mood, the releases on n5MD take you on an emotional journey, which I find far more compelling and interesting. Anyone can play a chord in E minor that will evoke an emotional response but it’s much more difficult to build a song is emotionally complex and takes you places in your imagination. Let me take that back. There are plenty of people who can do that, there are just few people who do it well and do it with sincerity and I think that’s what n5MD is all about.

If that isn’t enough for you, n5MD also has launched sister labels Enpeg Digital and Nonresponse. Enpeg Digital is the digital only division of n5MD while Nonresponse is a label run by Clay Emerson and Ian Pullman of Loess.

I know you’re going to love today’s show and if you’d like to hear more music from n5MD I suggest you download the n5md Label Sampler with Bitcrush from XLR8R‘s podcast.

Speaking of podcasts, two weeks ago I put together a mix of experimental and psychedelic music for the always excellent Spartacus Roosevelt podcast which you can download here.

As much as I love electronic music I also love many different genres of music. The format of solipsistic NATION doesn’t allow me to explore those other kinds of music n the show so I made a deal with Spartacus: he can host an episode of solipsistic NATION and play electronic music he digs if I can host an episode of Spartacus Roosevelt. Fortunately he agreed and you can expect a mix from him on an upcoming show. In the meantime, check you out the mix I did for his show. It’s got everything from the Butthole Surfers to Zoviet France and it will melt your brain!

Finally, if you’re digging solipsistic NATION why not mention us on your blog or on Twitter. Maybe even give solipsistic NATION a one to five star rating iTunes. Thanks!

1. Funckarma “The Other Dredge”
2. Ruxpin “A Sunrise (and They Turned into Stones)”
3. Another Electronic Musician “Congee”
4. Interview with Mike Cadoo, founder of n5MD
5. Phylum Sinter “What Once Was One Now Adds Two”
6. Fell “Bulgaria”
7. SubtractiveLAD “Through The Trees”
8. Interview with Mike Cadoo, founder of n5MD
9. Loess “Nomon”
10. Proem “Sputterly”
11. Interview with Mike Cadoo, founder of n5MD
12. Plastik Joy “Hands”
13. Lights Out Asia “Radars Over the Ghost Of Chernobyl”
14. Near The Parenthesis “Departing Gate”
15. Interview with Mike Cadoo, founder of n5MD
16. Last Days “Blue And White Flowers”

If this is your first time tuning into solipsistic NATION you should know that the first Friday of each month I feature a recording of a live performance from an electronic musician.

Recent shows have included live sets from Amon Tobin, Milieu and Lokua. This week’s show features Rena Jones‘ concert recorded at The Triple Door for the Decibel Festival Fundraiser in Seattle recorded on May 6, 2009. The show also included performances from Gala with Helios, Lusine and the Seattle Piano Collective.

Rena is a multi-instrumentalist and sound engineer who weaves traditional instruments such as the violin and cello with digital instruments. Rena has also provided background music for the award winning video games Dance Dance Revolution and Karaoke Revolution.

Rena Jones has also released tracks with such reputable international labels as Iboga Records, Spun Records, Aleph Zero Records and Native State Records.

If memory serves, I first heard Rena Jones music on the new defunct Fake Science podcast. I was immediately struck by Rena’s beautiful music. Some how she was able to weave the feeling of stillness and movement together in a spell of the eternal now. Heady stuff! I was so enchanted that I had her come on the Just Chill edition of solipsistic NATION to talk about her album, Driftwood. Rena has since launched her own label, Cartesian Binary Recordings, and her first release on her label will be her album, Indra’s Web. I thought this would be the perfect time to have Rena back on solipsistic Nation to talk about her new label and album!

By the way, I highly recommend you read Fluid Motion‘s interview with Rena and their review of Indra’s Web.

1. Rena Jones “Live at The Triple Door (May 6 2009)”
2. Interview with Rena Jones
3. Rena Jones “A Lullaby for Corvis”
4. Rena Jones “Helix”
5. Rena Jones “Helix (EVAC Remix)”

Once a month on solipsistic NATION I feature a live set from a musician and showcase a music label that is putting out amazing releases. While this format keeps solipsistic NATION and unique amongst other shows that specialize in electronic music it really doesn’t give me the opportunity to put together mixes of my own. That said, I get very excited whenever I can put together a mix for the show.

Last week I did a mix of dubstep. I’ve heard it said many times in the past that dubstep is drum and bass slowed down and that inspired me to put together a drum and bass mix for this week’s show.

Like all other sub genres of electronic music drum and bass comes in a variety of different styles and moods. I was sorely tempted to do a mix of fluid drum and bass for a very sexy and jazzy feel but I decided to go in the opposite direction and play some incredibly fierce drum and bass. I’ll admit right here that I’ve always been attracted to the aggressive aspects of drum and bass. It’s such a visceral experience that I just can’t resist! If you’re more into fluid drum and bass, don’t worry, I’ll play some of that on the show in the next few months.

For this week’s solipsistic NATION I’ve put together some of the fiercest drum and bass tracks I’ve come across in the last few months. As an added bonus, most of the tracks can be downloaded absolutely for free! Check the playlist below to download some of the MP3s of tracks featured on today’s show.

One label that has consistently put out fantastic drum and bass is Zardonic Recordings. I first came across Zardonic Recordings after reading about the label on the Phlow Magazine website. Just about everything I’ve heard on Zardonic Recordings is fantastic and it just blows my mind that they give their music away for free. Nearly everything in their catalogue I’d be happy to spend my hard earned cash on.

Another label featured on today’s show is PlainAudio. Like Zardonic Recordings, PlainAudio is a net label that puts out mind blowing music that you can download for free. Whether it’s drum and bass, experimental or electronic music I’ve yet to hear a bad track from PlainAudio.

One of the artists that appears on this week’s show is The Angel. The Angel is a record producer, programmer, remixer, DJ and film composer and has scored music for such films and television programs as Boiler Room, KiDULTHOOD and Standoff. We’ll have The Angel on an upcoming edition of solipsistic NATION to talk about digitally scoring music for movies and television.

Another artist I wanted to mention is Kubiks. I had the pleasure of talking with Kubiks on my previous show, the Small World. I’ve always dug Kubiks music so it’s a pleasure to play one of his tracks on this week’s show.

I hope you enjoy this week’s drum and bass mix. If you’re craving more drum and bass, why not download the Drum and Bass for Your Face!, Sturm und Bass and Biotron editions of solipsistic NATION.

See you next week!

Photo Credit: Willis Lucero

1. Zardonic & Malsum “Natural Born Killers” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. The Angel “Selector (On Tha Side Of Midnite) (feat. Cokni O’Dire) [E-Sassin Remix]” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
3. Blal “Noise Control (Zardonic Edit)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
4. Hek187 “Rockwool Vip” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
5. Kubiks “Rendered (Kubiks Remix)”
6. Panda “Monkey Island”
7. Ramsey & USB “Cut Throat” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
8. Triplet & Lehis “Nebyval’shina” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
9. Buzz “Revelation” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
10. Macc “Air Drumming” [FREE DOWNLOAD]

To keep solipsistic NATION fresh I’ve followed a few rules. For example, a rarely play music from the same artists unless they’ve released something truly phenomenal.

On of the other rules I try to adhere to is not to play music from a specific genre of electronic music to often. That’s important because otherwise I could easily play breakbeat tracks on solipsistic NATION week after week. But sometimes I follow that rule to rigidly. Take this week’s show, for example, which features a mix made up entirely of dubstep tracks.

I love dubstep. It has many moods: dubstep can be playful, spiritual or downright menacing and the bass and the drums always moves the music forward. But I have to watch myself or I’ll play dubstep on the show constantly. I followed my one of my rules so blindly that I realized that it’s been over a year since I’ve done a show dedicated to dubstep. That’s much too long!

So I present to you on this week’s solipsistic NATION a mix of dubstep tracks. Some artists, like Ebola and Cardopusher are more aggro and experimental, while other artists like Bionics and Frescoe are more traditional in their approach to dubstep ( considering that dubstep has only been around for a couple of years makes that an absurd statement – dubstep hasn’t been around long enough to have an established tradition). There’s something for everyone and I know you’ll dig this week’s show!

If you find yourself craving more dubstep then you’ll want to listen to the documentary I did about dubstep labels featuring music from the likes of Boka Records, Lodubs and more! I’ve also done a show grimestep show featuring an with Leo Olofsson of Grimestep International and the lads from The UK Connection. Finally, I’ve got a straight up dubstep mix I know you’re gonna love!

Photo Credit: Jon Cartwright

1. Ebola “Teledildonics (Shitmat Remx)”
2. Cardopusher “Toothsmasher”
3. Atreus “Born to Kill” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
4. Pinch “Punisher”
5. 6Blocc “The End” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
6. Lone Wolf “Uproot V”
7. Bionics “Feist”
8. Relocate “Dot Dot Dash”
9. Spatial “Artcore Steppa”
10. Scuba “Braille Diving”
11. Bass Science “Razors”
12. Frescoe “Afghanistan”

This week on solipsistic NATION our guests are Bassnectar, Kush Arora, Doubleclick of Two Fingers and Great Scott.

This show came together in an unexpected way. Originally I was just pulling together songs that I liked that I thought would work together nicely in a mix. But as I started gathering the songs I started noting all sorts of connections. For example, Nibu has MC’d on tracks for both Great Scott and Bassnectar. Also, this month Bassnectar and Kush Arora did a show together in Portland. After some consideration I decided to focus on these artist and ignore the rest of the tracks I had gathered for the mix and as I interviewed them even more connections became apparent. Funny how these things work out.

A few notes.

If you like Bassnectar’s music (and really, how can you not?) then you’ll enjoy his appearances on the The Newest In New! and Koyaanisqatsi editions of solipsistic NATION. Kush Arora has appeared on the Year One and Record Label Records editions of solipsistic NATION. While this is the first time I’ve had the pleasure of talking with Doubleclick I have had Amon Tobin, the other half of Two Fingers, for the Amon Tobin and Amon Tobin, Live editions of solipsistic NATION. This is also Great Scott’s first appearance on the show but you listen to more music from his label on the Muti Music edition of solipsistic NATION.

I hope you enjoy this week’s show as much as I did putting it together because I had a blast! Oh, and be sure to check out the related videos below.

Photo Credit: BFLV

1. Bassnectar “Underground Communication (Featuring Seasunz)”
2. Bassnectar “Art of Revolution (Instrumental)”
3. Interview with Bassnectar
4. Bassnectar “Kick It Complex (Bassnectar Remix)”
5. Kush Arora “Lose Control Feat. MC Zulu”
6. Kush Arora “British Sucking Desis”
7. Interview with Kush Arora
8. Kush Arora “Newcommers Feat. N4SA”
9. Two Fingers “Jewels and Gems”
10. Two Fingers “Keman Rhythm”
11. Interview with Doubleclick of Two Fingers
12. Two Fingers “Straw Men”
13. Great Scott “Theorists feat. Raja Wilco and Nibu [Radio Vocal Edit]”
14. Great Scott “Caravan”
15. Interview with Great Scott
16. Great Scott “Defcon”

Once a month on solipsistic NATION I showcase a record label that releases fantastic music you should know about. Keeping with the theme of the show I focus on record labels that release music from all genres of electronic music. On this week’s solipsistic NATION we’ll showcase Dragon’s Eye Recordings.

Dragon’s Eye Recordings is an independent record label that focuses on limited edition and varied format releases from a growing roster of sound artists, composers, and producers. By showcasing the individual artists’ viewpoints, Dragon’s Eye acts as a platform for new, challenging, and provocative work. Founded by Paul Novak in 1989, as the audio/visual arm of Only Connect…Publications, the label was then relaunched by his son and Northwest-based sound artist Yann Novak to continue the family tradition of self publication. Novak has since expanded the label to publish works by artists whose voices he feels need to be heard. Dragon’s Eye Recordings also acts as a companion label to Infrequency.

Special thanks goes out to HC, the host of the Headphone Commute music blog. As always, HC, is one step ahead of me on all things cool in electronic music and turned me on to Dragon’s Eye Recordings on his review of Lissom‘s Nest of Iterations album. Thanks, HC!

Next month on solipsistic NATION we’ll showcase n5MD. Next week on solipsistic NATION our guests will be Bassnectar, Kush Arora, Two Fingers and Great Scott. Stay stuned!

1. Kamran Sadeghi “Euqal”
2. Wyndel Hunt “3”
3. Interview with Yann Novak of Dragon’s Eye Recordings
4. Clinker “Provodyty – A New Terrain”
5. Son of Rose “Grand Treatments”
6. Interview with Yann Novak of Dragon’s Eye Recordings
7. Lissom “Adrift”
8. Corey Fuller “Light Along the Edge of Water”
9. Tadahito Ichinoseki + Tomoyoshi Date “Gensho No Tabi”
10. Tomoyoshi Date + Corey Fuller “Midnight Sanctuary”
11. Interview with Yann Novak of Dragon’s Eye Recordings
12. Manning / Novak “Feeling Alone All Together”
13. Yann Novak “Lulluby”
14. Interview with Yann Novak of Dragon’s Eye Recordings