solipsistic NATION No. 18: Master of Dead Contortions

Hello to all of you in Berlin who tuned in for today’s show.

In the early eighties there was a punk band called MDC and they frequently changed their name to a different acronym with every new record released. Some of the names included Millions of Dead Cops, More Dead Cops, Millions of Dead Children, Multi Death Corporations, Millions of Damn Christians and Missile Destroyed Civilization. The woman I was dating at the time and her friend would come up with their own acronyms for MDC and one them that struck me was Master of Dead Contortions. If there was ever a more appropriate name for today’s mix then Master of Dead Contortions is it.

I’ve noticed that a lot of electronic music podcasts are usually 30 minutes in length while my shows usually clock in an hour. Even without the interviews that sometimes occur on Solipsistic Nation I feel that I need an hour to really take you on a journey.

So here’s the question: would you prefer 30 minute installments of solipsistic NATION or do you think the show should continue to run for an hour? You can post your answer at solipsisticnation.com or email me at solipsisticnation@gmail.com.

Photo Credit: Sarah Glidden

  1. solipsistic NATION “Bad Acid”
  2. Riothead vs. Andrako “Under the Skin (Viral Remix by Bleedr)”
  3. compUterus “Exhaust Head”
  4. Mind Disruption “Sick Minds”
  5. Punch Drunk “Robotopia”
  6. Neikka Rpm “Sacrifice (Sever The Delusion)”
  7. Cristian Paduraru “Pentateuch”
  8. Reverend Rye “The Boom Boom Room”
  9. BioUtopia “A New Origin of Species”
  10. Mel “Waiting”
  11. Insideamind “Twinkle Twinkle”
  12. Junkyard Connection & Montana “Conestoga Bounce”
  13. Raven Chacon “Overheard Song”
  14. Electric Skychurch “Full Moon Generator”

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”

solipsistic NATION No. 2: End of Summer

Ah, summer comes to an end.

I’ve been living in San Diego for the last five years and to be honest, it’s always been summer to me. Natives and long time residents of San Diego can tell the differences between seasons but I’m only vaguely aware of them. As a consequence, all the months and years I’ve live in San Diego have blurred together. There’s only an endless “now.”

While today’s show is a celebration of the passing of the summer it’s more of a salute to my summers in Boston, where the days are hot, humid and lazy and the nights are sultry. I wouldn’t trade the weather in San Diego for anything but I do on occasion miss those New England days where the heat would bake into your bones.

Another thing I do miss about living in Boston are my seasonal libations. In the fall and winter my drinks were whiskey and scotch and in the spring and summer my drinks were gin & tonic and rum & coke. As I said, it always feels like it is summer in San Diego so I have to go out of my way to drink my whiskey or scotch.

That said, I raise a gin & tonic in honor of the summer of ’06!

Photo credit: sk8master

  1. Steelzawheelz “Discotron”
  2. Effecctive “Tulsa Riots Pt. 3”
  3. Vinroc “Wine Country”
  4. Sure Shot “Sleepy Strings”
  5. Shad “Last Cigarette”
  6. Madrid De Los Austrias “Buscando (Karuan vs. Circus Remix)”
  7. Mark de Clive-Lowe “State of the Mental”
  8. Wintermute “Chillstorm”
  9. Autolect & His Meltdown Movement “Open Road”
  10. Urbs “So Weit”
  11. Cj_Harder “Mothra”
  12. Cling “Slipping Away (Of The Darkness Remix)”
  13. Chimp Beams “Menina”
  14. Bombay Dub Orchestra “Mumtaz”

solipsistic NATION No. 1: Relaunch!

I had always intended to bring solipsistic NATION out of retirement but there was always some sort of technical problem that prevented me from relaunching the podcast.

Originally I was going to use Macromedia‘s SoundEdit which came bundled with Director. Unfortunately, when I mixed down a set the track would be in mono and distorted. I tried doing the show using DJ-1800 and recording the set with WireTap Pro or Audio Hijack Pro but there was a touch of distortion in the recording I could never eliminate.

Last month the connection to the hard drive in my ancient G4 tower died. I didn’t have the cash to buy a new tower so I purchased a Mac Mini. The Mac Mini was much more powerful than my G4 and as an added bonus, it came pre-installed with GarageBand. Suddenly all my problems were resolved in one fell swoop.

There are some deejays who like to do everything live without a net and on the fly. I was never one of those deejays. Oh, I’m fine at improvising live sets but my preference has always been to map out my shows in advance, meticulously plotting the segues and overall flow of a mix. Given my anal retentiveness for planning shows GarageBand is perfect with how I like to work.

I hope you enjoy today’s first show in the relaunching of solipsistic NATION!

Photo credit: dro!d

  1. Thomas Feijk “Leak”
  2. Butcherd Beats “Butcherd Beats”
  3. DP-6 “Vital Force”
  4. Wade Robson “Battlewalk”
  5. OPGave “Hiroshima”
  6. Jerry Mane “Magnificent Growlla”
  7. African Express “Overtime & In The Zone”
  8. Oculus “Lo Ki”
  9. Chloe Day “Kingpin”
  10. Autolect & His Meltdown Movement “Calm”
  11. Acoustic Ladyland “Something Beautiful”
  12. Jel “WMD”
  13. Circuit Breaker “Left Hook”