Synecdoche

The first Friday of each month I feature a recording of a live performance from an electronic musician.

Towards the end of 2008 I found myself scrambling to find those recordings of live performances and my resolution for 2009 was not to let that happen again. I got proactive and contacted about a hundered artists to appear on the show. I figured that out of those hundred artists only a handful would respond but that would be enough to get me through 2009. What I didn’t expect was how MANY people would get back to me about being on the show! I’m not only covered for the rest of 2009 but well into 2010 as well!

Some of the live sets you can expect to hear in the next few months will come from Iambic, Terminal 11, ill.gates, Rena Jones, KiloWatts, Altus, Exillon and The Orb.

On today’s show we have a live set from Milieu.

Milieu is Brian Grainger. Brian has had releases on such labels as U-Cover, Infraction, Awkward Silence, Boltfish, Attacknine and Benbecula. Brian also runs small boutique labels Expanding Electronic Diversity, Second Sun Recordings and Install with David Tagg, in addition to maintaining his own imprint, Milieu Music. Most recently, Brian has recorded music and sound for the Seumas McNally nominated game Dyson.

1. Milieu “Live At 114RKD (March 8, 2009)”
2. Interview with Brian Grainger of Milieu
3. Milieu “Autumn Fog Lifts (Yearbook Version)”
4. Milieu “Coastline”
5. Milieu “Night Ride”

Ever play exquisite corpse when you were a kid?

Let me refresh your memory.

Here’s how it works: you get a sheet of paper and on the top of that piece of paper you draw something. For this example, let’s say you draw the helmet of an astronaut.

You then pass the sheet of paper to the person sitting next to you and that person draws the torso. Let’s say they draw the torso of a sherrif from a western movie: a white button up shirt, a leather vest with a tin star-badge pinned to it, and in the sheriff’s hands are two revolvers, waiting to be fired.

That person then passes the sheet of paper to the person sitting next to them. But this time they’ve covered the top of the paper: the drawing you did of the astronaut’s helmet. The new player on the game of exquisite corpse can only continue the drawing based on what they can see: the sheriff’s torso.

That person decides to draw the legs of a ballerina, complete with tights and a tutu. And then they pass the sheet of paper to the person sitting next to them, but this time both the astronaut’s helmet and the sherrif’s torso are covered. Only the ballerina’s legs are showing.

That person decides to complete the drawing by adding enormous clown shoes to the legs of the ballerina.

At the end of the game the drawing in it’s entirety: an astronaut’s helmet on the torso of a western sheriff with the legs of a ballerina wearing huge clown shoes. Everyone has a good laugh at their group effort.

There are all sorts of variations of Exquisite Corpse. Writers will adopt this technique to tell a story. Composers will use the Exquisite Corpse method to create a piece of song.

And that’s what we’re going to do on today’s solipsistic NATION, but with music and the players are people who blog about electronic music.

I started out the Exquisite Corpse mix by choosing a song, which I then sent to a blogger who then had to choose a track that they thought should go next. The criteria is up to them: they can choose a song that would seguely nicely from the track I selected. Maybe they want to stay in the same genre. mood or key. Maybe they decide to veer off into a different direction. It’s entirely up to them.

The track they selected is sent off to the next blogger, each person choosing a song for the mix based only on the track they have just heard until the mix is complete. Today’s show will be just as much a surprise for them as it is for you.

At the end of today’s Exquisite Corpse mix we’ll hear from each of the players: who they are, what song they chose and why they chose that song.

If you enjoy today’s show you’ll want to listen to the previous Exquisite Corpse mix on solipsistic NATION.

Photo Credit: Patricia Bravo

1. Bubblegone “Thank You” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
   Selected by Bazooka Joe, solipsistic NATION
2. Flexor81 “Myriapoda” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
   Selected by Pietrobot, Igloo Magazine
3. Jason Corder “Twilight Sleep” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
   Selected by Travis Nobles, hiddenplace music
4. Skeetaz “Dirty Dobbers”
   Selected by HC, Headphone Commute
5. Bufi “Homeless Hero” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
   Selected by Mike Gregoire, blocSonic
6. Machine Drum “Stevie Bam Jackson Remix (Kettel)”
   Selected by Jacob Arnold, Gridface
7. New Look “Everything” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
   Selected by Casey Winters, The Music Lobby
8. Tolera Storm “Revelation”
   Selected by Daysha Taylor, Earthbird Music
9. Mint “Dead Pixel”
   Selected by Bruno Lasnier, The Milk Factory
10. Sci Fi Industries “Questions and Ansewers”
    Selected by Miguel de Sousa, Connexion Bizarre
11. Halogen “Redux”
    Selected by Daniel Crossley, Fluid Radio

This week on solipsistic NATION we have a special mix from Spectraliquid recording artist, Blackfilm!

As usual I first heard about Blackfim through HC’s Headphone Commute blog. HC and I have similiar taste in music but HC always seems to be one step ahead of me in finding albums that are spectacular. HC praised Blackfilm’s self-titled CD on Spectraliquid. My curiosity was already aroused but when HC said that Blackfilm defibrillates Amon Tobin‘s pioneering sound I knew I had to hear Blackfilm’s album.

Like Amon Tobin, Blackfilm is haunting, menacing and beautiful. But Blackfilm’s music is also unique. He has an arcane sound that I don’t know exactly how to describe. It’s spooky, eldritch, almost as if Blackfilm had set out to score music for the Kafkaesque stop-motion animated films of the Brothers Quay. Let me quote HC quoting from Emmanuel Top‘s Turkish Bazaar single: “The music was new, black, polished chrome and came over the summer like liquid night.” Once Blackfilm’s music is inside your head it will infect you like a virus and you will never want to be cured.

If you enjoy today’s show you’ll also want to listen to my show featuring music from Spectraliquid any my show featuring music from Tympanik Audio. If you’re also a fan of Amon Tobin you also might enjoy my interview with Amon and a retrospective mix of his career so far or Amon Tobin’s live set.

For now, close your eyes, kick back and create your own imaginary soundtrack to accompany Blackfim’s devastatingly beautiful mix!

Photo Credit: James G. Mundie

1. Blackfilm “Come & See”
2. Blackfilm & Eraldo Bernocchi “Untitled”
3. Interview with Blackfilm
4. Ekaros “Sad Moon (Blackfilm Remix)”
5. Blackfilm “SE5”
6. Blackfilm & Ekaros “Nowhere”
7. Blackfilm “Mahabharata”
8. Interview with Blackfilm
9. Blackfilm “Stalingrad”
10. Blackfilm “Midnight to 4am”
11. Interview with Blackfilm
12. Blackfilm “Interference”
13. Blackfilm & Bridget Insinna “Burning Sun”
14. Blackfilm “Eastern”
15. Hecq “Steeltongued (Blackfilm Remix)”

Okay, here’s the deal: once a month on solipsistic NATION I showcase a record label that is putting out some amazing music that you should know about. Whether it’s house or industrial or experimental, if it’s great I’m going to shine a light on labels who have great releases from their roster of artists.

Recently I have featured music from Tympanik Audio, Spectraliquid, Alfa Matrix and 12k. This week we’re going to hear beautiful music from Summer Rain Recordings.

I first heard about Summer Rain Recordings one day while reading one of HC from Headphone Commute‘s review of artists on the label. I’ve been reading HC’s blog for a while now and I’ve come to trust and respect his opinions on the music he discusses so I kept it in mind to do a show on Summer Rain Recordings. Then out of the blue David Holmes from Summer Rain Recordings contacted me about playing artists from Summer Rain Recordings on solipsistic NATION and I thought that was the perfect opportunity to have him come on the program and talk about his label.

Summer Rain Recordings is pretty eclectic but the music that David has chosen for this week’s show is very soft, beautiful and full of complex emotions expressing everything from quiet happiness to longing and regret. I think you’re going to love what you hear.

Aside from the talent on Summer Rain Recordings one of the things that makes the label unique is that every artist signed to the label donates a minimum of 5% of their royalties for every release to NextAid, or a charity of their choice, and Summer Rain Recordings match their percentage donation from the label profits from the release. Ioda, Summer Rain Recordings distributor and one of my favorite music vendor, also donates 25% of their fees for each of Summer Rain Recordings releases to NextAid.

Every purchase of Summer Rain Recordings music helps NextAid to raise funds for their pilot project, the building of an ecological community center and children’s residential village in Dennilton, South Africa. Now complete are 10 structures of the 25 slated for construction by summer 2010. The center will serve as a safe home for 50 children orphaned by AIDS, a multi-purpose center for the larger community, a hub for economic enterprise, and an example of innovative solutions for future projects throughout Africa.

1. Toby Benson “La Mere de Ma Mere”
2. Proof of Concept “Object of Desire”
3. Auditory Canvas “Desert Sun”
4. Interview with David Holmes, founder of Summer Rain Recordings
5. About 9 “Keep Walking”
6. riccicomoto “Double Zero Theme”
7. Interview with David Holmes, founder of Summer Rain Recordings
8. Melorman “The Small King”
9. Pondermonkey “Cycle”
10. Mr. Squirrel “Nothing But Pebbles”
11. David Kira “Gia”
12. Tepui “Caribu”
13. Interview with David Holmes, founder of Summer Rain Recordings
14. Elysian Piers “Music Box”
15. Fabrizio Cacciamali “Close Curtains on a Sunny Day”
16. Manic “Spring”
17. Interview with David Holmes, founder of Summer Rain Recordings

When I first began featuring live sets on solipsistic NATION I thought it would be a once and a while sort of thing. Kind of a treat, really. But as solipsistic NATION progressed it became a monthly segment on the show. Even so, getting live sets on solipsistic NATION is a challenge and more than once I’ve had to scramble to get material for the show so my resolution for 2009 is to plan the live sets well in advance.

The live sets you can expect on solipsistic NATION will come from Milieu, Iambic, ill.gates, Exillon, Rena Jones, and, hopefully, The Orb.

This month we have not one but two live sets from Lokua.

The first live set was performed at the Morseland restaurant in Chicago on March 25^th. The second live set was also recorded at the Morseland restaurant on March 18^th.

Lokua is Joshua Keckner and is based out of Chicago. Lokua’s music is rooted in hip hop and has an ambient and atmospheric feel to his music. Lokua has a back catalog of tracks hovering in the thousands and you can download his netrelease Trails album at Moment Sound, a netlabel that is maintained and curated by a select musicians from Chicago.

On this week’s show I’ll also announce the winners of Gary Bredow‘s documentary, High Tech Soul DVD, Paul Sizer‘s graphic novel, BPM; and Terrance Dean‘s autobiography, Hiding in Hip Hop from last week’s giveaway contest.

1. Lokua “Live @ Morseland (03-25-09)
2. Lokua “Live @ Morseland (03-18-09)
3. Interview with Lokua
4. Lokua “Thanks Rainbow”
5. Lokua “C Modified”

One of the challenges producing solipsistic NATION is balancing the music I feature on the show with the interviews. solipsistic NATION is all about the music and the interviews are used to enhance the show so I try and keep the interviews to a minimum. Too much talk detracts from the mix. But on today’s show I’m going to toss that rule out the window and focus on the interviews because my guests have a lot of interesting things to say!

First, we’ll talk with Gary Bredow, the director of High Tech Soul, a documentary about Detroit techno. High Tech Soul is the first documentary to tackle the deep roots of techno music alongside the cultural history of it’s Detroit birthplace. High Tech Soul features interview with legends such as Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson.

High Tech Soul is distributed by Plexifilm, who produce original films, release films theatrically, and produce, distribute and markets DVDs. Plexifilm is generously giving away one copy of High Tech Soul on today’s show. Send me an email at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and you could win a DVD of High Tech Soul!

We’ll also talk with Paul Sizer, the author and illustrator of the BPM graphic novel.

The hero of the story is Roxy, a young DJ in New York City who spins in dark clubs and small bars with dreams of making it big. As Roxy becomes more and more successful she finds she has to make a choice: should she follow the music she loves or the love of her life?

Paul has pushed the envelope of what a graphic novel can be by including “liner notes” in BPM and links to iTunes iMixes to complement the story.

Paul is giving away a signed copy of BPM on this week’s show. Send me an email at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and it could be yours!

Finally, we’ll talk with Terrance Dean, the author of Hiding in Hip Hop, about what it’s like to be a gay man in hip hop culture and the entertainment industry. Terrance worked his way up for more than ten years in the entertainment industry from an intern to an executive, and has lived the life of glitz and bling along with Hollywood and the Hip Hop’s elite. Full of startling anecdotes and incredible true stories, Hiding in Hip Hop is not a tell-all book but an honest look at stardom and sexuality.

If you would like a copy of Terrance Dean’s Hiding in Hip Hop, shoot me an email at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and you could be a lucky winner of his autobiography!

1. K-HAND “Security” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. K-HAND “Mystery” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
3. Interview with Gary Bredow, director of the High Tech Soul documentary
4. K-HAND aka Messenger “Wanderer (Ritzi Lee Remix)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
5. K-HAND “Wanderer (Original Mix)”
6. Focus3d “Inclusive Mindset (DJ Aura Minimal Techno Mix)”
7. Interview with Paul Sizer, author and illustrator of the BPM graphic novel
8. Phenomen “Made In Wishland (Zambino Tech House Dub)”
9. Dubacid “What Happens After (1394-4212 Acid House Dub)”
10. Relate4ever “Open Minded (Platona Deep Tech House Mix)”
11. Onelord “Sharing Cooperation (John Dare & Oscar Gonzalez Minimal Techno Mix)”
12. Interview with Terrance Dean, author of Hiding in Hip Hop
13. Ability “Sharing Transparently (Kevin Call aka DJ Nojz Techno Mix)”
14. Because “Sharing Cooperation (Charly Shawllporn Minimal Mix)”
15. Balanced “Universal Interpretation (Danny Lilwall Tech House Mix)”

One of the aspects of producing solipsistic NATION that I really enjoy is that it gives me the opportunity to talk to people in the electronic music community that in other circumstances I would never get the chance to talk to. I’ve gotten to talk with folks like Amon Tobin, Jack Dangers and Cheb i Sabbah, for example. How cool is that? I have to admit that with some of these people I do get kind of starstruck but once I get past that it’s interesting to have a conversation with these artists about how they approach their craft.

On today’s show were going to talk with Terre Thaemlitz. Terre is an award-winning multi-media producer, writer, public speaker, educator, audio remixer, DJ and founder of Comatonse Recordings.

Terre works in many different styles: electroacoustic computer music, club-oriented deep house, digital jazz, ambient, and computer-composed neo-expressionist piano solos. His work also explores the themes of identity politics such as gender, sexuality, class, linguistics, ethnicity and race, and the socio-economics of commercial media production.

Terre recently released his Dead Stock Archive, a collection of every audio release he has made under his real name or under his many aliases. Originally I planned was to play selected tracks from his archive but Terre pointed out that the archive has over 60 hours of music and that maybe I should play his ambient/jazz piece, “Superbonus.” While “Superbonus” does not convey the scope and breadth of Terre’s career it is a beautiful piece of music and provides an example of his many styles he is capable of. What’s remarkable is that while “Superbonus” may, in some ways, evoke Miles Davis’s classic album, In A Silent Way, “Superbonus” was composed entirely n a computer.

Terre’s a very thoughtful person had many insightful things to say. Unfortunately I had to edit our conversation considerably to fit the time constraints of the show. Fortunately, however, I’m making the unedited version of that interview as a separate download. Think of it as a bonus feature that you might find on a movie DVD.

1. Funk Shui with Terre Thaemlitz “Superbonus”
2. Interview with Terre Thaemlitz

Each month on solipsistic NATION I focus on a record label that is putting out some releases and on today’s show we’ve got a fantastic mix of tracks put together by Dov from Muti Music!

I first came across Dov through Cyberset Music. Cyberset Music is a music and media company based in San Francisco. Our growing family of artists blend musical elements of world, ambient, dance, vocal, and urban genres into fresh sounds that share the positive intentions and global reach of evolving contemporary culture.

Little did I know that Dov is also the founder of Muti Music. Since 2002 Muti Music has been one of the stateside labels pioneering the breaks sound with lots of flavour. Muti Music aims to provide quality funk-filled beats and to promote the domestic and international talent featured on the label and reflect human creative response to the urban futurist environment. Flavors of Breaks, Electro, Techno, IDM, Dubstep and experimental bass music are all present in Muti Music. They also aim to forge relationships between like minded producers. Muti Music has already proven to be a pusher of dynamic sound and talent, having released Kemek, Kraddy, EVAC, An-ten-nae, Atomic Hooligan, Future Funk Squad, Rhoca, Suff-x and more recently, Dov, Audiovoid and LayerZ!

This week’s show has been sponsored by AteBits, developers of Tweetie, a fast, full featured Twitter application for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Tweetie is already a great application and with AteBits 1.3 release Tweetie is even better.

Not only can you post to Twitter with Tweetie and send direct messages you can also view trends on Twitter, search Twitter and view posts from your local area. With the 1.3 release of Tweetie there’s a new “Link” button to add web pages to Instapaper faster. There’s also Tweeitie’s new Ping.fm integration and much, much more!

AteBits is not only solipsistic NATION‘s newest sponsor but they are generously giving away three copies of Tweetie. Email me at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and you could win a copy of Tweetie for yourself!

As always, you can find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/solipsistic.

1. Seventh Swami “Forever You Forever Me”
2. Mimosa “Another Day”
3. Timonkey “Wobblesauce”
4. Knowa Knowone “Wildness”
5. Nanda “Cosmik Dance”
6. An-ten-nae “Monkey In The Attic”
7. Klone “Can’t Remember”
8. An-ten-nae “Citoyen Dub”
9. Siren “7th Level Controller”
10. Subvert “Speaker Humping”
11. Knowsleep “Autumn Kaskade”
12. Interview with Dov of Muti Music
13. LayerZ “God Particle”
14. ill.gates & Adam Duke “Lizard Skin Loincloth”
15. LayerZ “Spit Wods Part 2”
16. Subhuman “Bottom Feeder”
17. Interview with Dov of Muti Music
18. ill.gates & Meesha “Irma Vep (Wookie Remix)”
19. Kether “Graffiti”
20. An-ten-nae “Griot”
21. Heyoka “Flying Dub Sauce”

This week on solipsistic NATION I have not one, but two live sets!

The first live set comes to us by way of Legato in Shibuya, Japan and is part of the Made in Glitch events. Made In Glitch is the first and only glitch hop party in Japan. Born on the west coast of the States, and now becoming established all over Europe, Glitch is a fusion of hip hop, electronic music and broken beats. The set features edIT of the Glitch Mob and was recorded in November of 2008.

If you like what you hear then you’ll want to download the January 30, 2009 edition of solipsistic NATION where my guests were edIT and Boreta.

The second live set was recorded by Bass Science for Sub FM. Bass Science are MattB and Steve Nalepa. Sub FM is an online radio station dedicated to broadcasting the best in Dubstep, Garage, Grime, Dub and more!

This isn’t the first time I’ve had Bass Science on the show and you can download their first appearance on solipsistic NATION. Steve also has been on the show and you can also download his live set he recorded for the Dub Beautiful Collective.

This week’s show is sponsored by AteBits, developers of Tweetie, a wonderful fast, full-featured client for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. AteBits is also generously giving away three copies of Tweetie on today’s show. Email me at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and you could win a copy of Tweetie for yourself!

You can find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/solipsistic

1. Made In Glitch “Live in Legato, Shibuya (November 8, 2008)”
2. Bass Science “Live on Syb FM (December 11, 2008)”
3. Interview with MattB of Bass Science

From time to time I have guest DJs come on solipsistic NATION. Previous guests have included Travis Nobles from the hiddenplace music blog, Pete Cooper of bleepshow and Pietrobot, the co-host of Digital Nimbus and managing editor of Igloo Magazine. Today’s guest is Denard Henry of Sonic Warriors United.

A few months I asked the folks I follow on Twitter if anyone would like to be a guest DJ on solipsistic NATION and Deanrd was one of the people who responded to my invitation.

Sonic Warriors United’s members include Sprawl, Floppy, Marita Schreck, C-Dex, Betrisbsdruck, Jana Clemen, Reade Truth, Sneaker and Macoma.

In 2007 Denard and Jana came up launched Sonic Warriors United. They reactivated something that has almost been forgotten: the fusion of Techno, EBM, Electro and Industrial Dance Music. They are now filling dates in Germany, U.S.A and all of Europe. They plan a tour once a year to bring this concept to points of interest and are looking for clubs, bars and open air venues to host some events. For all Sonic Warriors United Events they plan 2-3 S.W.U. DJ’s, plus 1-2 S.W.U. live act’s along with local support: a DJ and/or a live act.

For more information on Denard Henry, tour dates and their street team missions, click here.

You can follow Denard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/denardhenry or follow me at http://www.twitter.com/solipsistic.

By the way, AteBits is generously giving away three copies of Tweetie on today’s show. Tweetieis a wonderful fast, full-featured client for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Email me at solipsisticnation@gmail.com and you could win a copy of Tweetie for yourself!

Photo Credit: Jana Clemen

1. Sprawl “Sonic Warriors United”
2. WB Loops “Vinyl Wunderwaffe Vol. 1”
3. Interview with Denard Henry of Sonic Warriors United
4. Ancient Methods “First Method”
5. Marita Schreck “Pfirsichblut”
6. Datacide “The Ritual of Transparency”
7. Kosmik Kommando “Remember the Feeling”
8. Denard Henry “Vibe”
9. Lady Venom “Bass Me”
10. Crunch-Ø-Matic “Cøm Theme (Cøm 1)”
11. Erik the Viking “Flip2daStation”
12. Simon Owen “re-Evolution”
13. Virtual Terrorist “Search And Destroy Initiative”
14. Crunch-Ø-Matic “Earthquake.2”
15. Exit-12 “Earthquake.2”
16. Interview with Denard Henry of Sonic Warriors United