Synecdoche

Today on solipsistc NATION our guest is Saltillo’s Menton J. Matthews III. He’s just released Monocyte, Saltillo’s long awaited second album. Saltillo’s Monocyte is both an album and a comic book. The comic book was released by IDW and the album was released by Artoffact Records.

Jacek Kozlowski is the founder of Artoffact Records and his label was featured on solipsistc NATION‘s label showcase back in January. Jacek prepared a great mix with select tracks from his label and introduced me to Saltillo with two tracks that were gorgeous and mysterious and very, very dark.

Ganglion is Saltillo’s first album but I’d be hard pressed to say if one was better than the other. Their both beautiful and while Ganglion is more restrained it no less powerful than Monocyte. And Monocyte is very powerful—cinematic in scope chock full of cryptic dialogue, sound effects and the music, the beautiful and haunting music.

Menton J. Matthews III is one half of Saltillo and he joins us from his studio in Chicago to talk about both his new album and the comic book.

Join us again next week. We’ll do it all over again. But completely different.

1. X:THC “Hide”
2. Zeller “Asperitatis Texture”
3. Saltillo “ABEO”
4. Saltillo “The Opening”
5. Interview with Menton J. Matthews III of Saltillo
6. Saltillo “If Wishes were Catholics”
7. Access To Arasaka “Sao”
8. C.Db.Sn “Artificial Intelligence”
9. Spyweirdos, John Mourjopoulos, Floros Floridis “The Letter After Omega”
10. Steinbruchel “narrow”

Today on solipsistic NATION we’re going to listen to select tracks from Futuresequence and talk with the labels founder, Michael Waring.

Futuresequence is based out of the UK and began as a blog but has slowly been mutating into a music label that explores the possibilities and boundaries of textures, patterns and sounds and, hopefully, pushes past those boundaries.

I’ve known about Futuresequence since their first Sequence compilation album. I recently read about the release of Sequence3 in Zite‘s electronic music section. After downloading all 41 tracks of the album and being blown away by each and every one, it was obvious that I had to feature Futuresequence on solipsistic NATION.

We’ll talk with Michael about his label and the music we’ll hear on today’s show. If you heard a track you liked on today’s mix you can always show your support by buying a track or two from the artists by clicking the links on today’s show notes.

If you like the show, you can also support solipsistic NATION simply by giving the show a quick 1 to 5 star rating on iTunes. I of course hope you’ll give solipsistic NATION a five star rating. You can also support solipsistic NATION by turning your friends on to the show.

The more people who listen to solipsistic NATION the more shows like today’s show I can produce. Each edition of solipsistic NATION is free for your listening pleasure. I just ask you share solipsistic NATION with people who enjoy good music.

I’ll see you again next week when we’ll do it all over again! But completely different.

1. Radere “I’ll Make You Quiet”
2. Sun Hammer “A Dream In Blood”
3. Interview with Michael Waring, founder of Futuresequence
4. Widesky “_____ Is Also Movement”
5. Zvuku “Untitled”
6. Radere & A Setting Sun “VII”
7. Radere “Good Evening, Ghosts”
8. Interview with Michael Waring, founder of Futuresequence

Can I share something with you that is simultaneously mind blowing and utterly mundane?

I get anywhere from 50 to 250 tracks emailed my way every week. Let me repeat that: every week. And I’ve made a pact with myself that if musicians or music labels are generous enough to send music my way to play on the show then I feel obligated to every single song.

As you can imagine, that takes a lot of time.

My strategy to deal with this constant geyser of music is to listen to a couple hours of hours a day of music on my phone that has been sent my way in the last week on random. Listening to music on random gives me an approximation what an album sounds like. I realize it’s not fair to the artists but it would take me forever to listen to each and every album from start to finish. Random’s just faster.

Anyway, whenever a really good track comes on that I flag it for consideration to play on the show. And tracks from Velapene Screen‘s album, What If They Can’t Trust You?, just kept popping up again and again, demanding my attention. Who the hell was this guy? Whoever he was, his music is slamming! I wasn’t surprised, What If They Can’t Trust You? is a Centrifuge release, and The Centrifuge puts out quality music. Check out my interview with The Centrifuge’s Wassim if you don’t believe me.

And as I was listening to yet another killer track from Velapene Screen I suddenly saw him post something to Twitter. I wondered if he’d be interested on coming on the show with a live set and sent him a Tweet. Minutes later he Tweeted back that he was interested. We talked further and the results is today’s show.

On the surface that’s not such an amazing story but if you think about it, it’s almost magical.

Musicians and music labels send me music to download which I might later play on my show, which is available as a podcast or streaming from an internet radio station. And I’m deluged in music. All. The. Time. And I listen to this stuff, anywhere I go, on my phone. And I can reach out and contact the musicians I’d like to come on the show by posting message in the aether. Can you fucking believe that shit?

Like I said: utterly mundane but completely magical.

Anyway, listen to today’s show featuring a chat with Chris Ghiraldi, the man behind Velapene Screen, and Chris’ in-studio performance! His whole life is magical. Became a touring musician at a young age, won the Philly Laptop Battle in 2004 and the New York City Laptop Battle in 2006, received attention from Rolling Stone, remixed artists including Interpol, Meat Beat Manifesto, Radiohead and Regina Spektor, etc.

Before I get out of Dodge, keep your fingers crossed because next month’s Live show may feature a set from the Stereo MCs! I hope I didn’t jinx it.

See you next week!

1. Velapene Screen “Breaks The Habit” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. Velapene Screen “Breathe Again (Sense’s In, Out and Around Mix)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
3. Interview with Chris Ghiraldi of Velapene Screen
4. Velapene Screen “Live”

One of my resolutions for 2012 is to infect as many people as I can with the meta virus that is solipsistic NATION to as many people as possible.

When I first concocted solipsistic NATION I had no idea how far the contagion would spread. While solipsistic NATION features the best of all genres of electronic music it is a specialized format that will only infect those who are susceptible to that particular virulent strain. Furthermore, solipsistic NATION uses podcasts as a delivery mechanism to bypass the blood–brain barrier, narrowing the scope of the meta virus.

I had developed a potent show. All I could do was release it into the world and watch its vectors grow… and spread.

I always knew solipsistic NATION was a quality show. I work damn hard on it, after all, and the music and the interviews are great. And as solipsistic NATION has mutated, it has infected more and more people surprising even me how many people it had reached. solipsistic NATION was getting over 47,000 downloads a month in 2011. I saw solipsistic NATION in a new light. How far could it go? I wanted to find out.

Enter Bob Rogers, founder of TaintRadio.

solipsistic NATION already podcasts on the Mevio and Alterati networks and now streams on TaintRadio

TaintRadio is an international alliance of independent producers dedicated to presenting music and music-related programming on the Internet 24/7. If Taint Radio has a format, I guess I would call it freeform. I come from a freeform background myself as a DJ from WMFO and I’ve always applied that approach to solipsistic NATION, which makes solipsistic NATION and TaintRadio a perfect fit.

In the short time I’ve been listening to TaintRadio I’ve been blown away by music and the DJs I’ve heard on the station. I tell you this with all sincerity, if you want to listen to some incredible music selected and curated by fantastic DJs, tune in. You can catch solipsistic NATION on TaintRadio Thursdays at 2PM Eastern and Saturdays at 11AM.

I invited Bob Rogers to join us on today’s show to tell us more about TaintRadio and he joins us from the TaintRadio studios in Raleigh, North Carolina. Also joining us to talk about his Bot Box boxed set is Brian Botkiller from his underground lair in New Mexico.

Brian is a friend of the show and appeared on solipsistic NATION when I did a segment on the Oscillation electronic music festival that he organized in New Mexico. Brian has just released a boxed set that’s an anthology and collection of his works from 2002 to present.

Today’s show is especially contagious. Help spread the virus that is solipsistic NATION further and wider. If you think the show is good, tell your friends about it. Tweet it. Like it. Play it at work. Play it at home. Loud.

Join us again next week when we’ll be treated to a live set from Centrifuge recording artist, Velapene Screen!

Photo Credit: © Angel

1. Mos Dub “Ms. Vampire Booty” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
2. Roots Manuva Vs Wrongtom “Dutty Rut”
3. Zeller “Zion Asteroid”
4. Interview with Bob Rogers, founder of TaintRadio
5. rozz3r “348844”
6. RaaskalBOMfukkerz “AAN / UIT (with DJ Basel)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
7. Mid-Air “Perspective and texture remix”
8. Malachai “Snake Eyes”
9. Igor Boxx “Breslau”
10. ZenWest “Explosion of the Now”
11. Brian Botkiller “Welcome to Postwar USA (Featuring En Esch)”
12. Brian Botkiller “OCCUPY”
13. Interview with Brian Botkiller
14. Brian Botkiller “Mind and Space”