Today’s guest deejay is Dan Haines Cohen, founder of Machine Records.
Last year Machine Records celebrated 20 years of releasing new electronic/experimental music, mostly from Wales. Described as “Cardiff’s number one underground electronic imprint” (Buzz Magazine), Machine was the winner of Best Label at the Welsh Music Awards in 2005.
Dan Haines Cohen
Dan also records as Stereo Minus One since 2001 and currently based in Wellington, New Zealand. As well as recent mixes and remixes, his eighth album will be released in June 2022.
I met Dan on Twitter. After he turned me on to new releases from his label, I asked if he’d be interested in sharing a mix on Soundwave. Happily, he said yes.
Dan’s mix showcases some recent releases and includes exclusive, as-yet-unreleased tracks. Dan’s mix also includes a new, never before heard remix by Cape Canaveral of Dan’s 2001 track “Alarums’ which features on Lodestone, as well as an exclusive track from Cape Canaveral’s upcoming new release in 2022 (“Far”).
Every morning this week, I’ve listened to Dan’s mix while drinking coffee and beginning my workday. And every morning, while Dan’s mix plays, a squirrel will sit on the railing of my roof deck, munching on nuts. Later, a blackbird will swoop down and peck through the succulents in their flower pots. We have a nice routine going.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be James Vella.
Today’s guest deejay is Julie Carpenter, AKA Less Bells.
Several months ago, I did a deep dive on musicians on Bandcamp who explored ambient, classical, experimental, and instrumental music. Julie explores all those genres, so naturally, I invited her to join us on SOUNDWAVE. I expected to be surprised, but I didn’t expect how surprised by her mix. Dirty Projectors? Buddy Sainte-Marie? Big Star? What the hell?!? I’m not complaining. In fact, I’m delighted!
Speaking of delights, I urge you to go on your music streaming platform of choice and listen to Julie’s music. I’ve been listening to her albums constantly since first discovering her music, and I have a feeling you’ll do the same. Better yet, if you like what you hear, and you will, why not spend a few dollars on some of her songs or her albums. You can thank me later.
Julie will talk about her mix below.
I need to wrap this up because my wife will visit me for the next week and I need to tidy up around the house. The pandemic and work have kept us apart for months at a time. While I’m used to a solitary life, I don’t like being apart from her this long. But I have relapsed into my former bachelor ways and need to get things shipshape before she’s back in town.
Join us next week when our guest deejay will be Emil Zapffe, AKA João Guimarães.
See you then!
Julie Carpenter, AKA Less Bells
Putting together a coherent playlist makes me feel like I’m having a party and leaving some of my favorite guests standing outside in the cold. I start with way too many ideas and then eliminate the various contestants. This is how I write music, too. It isn’t until I’m done that I can see what I was trying to do. This list revealed itself as a collection of my favorite sound palettes.
I love music that makes me ask, “how on earth did they do that?” The whole Bitte Orca album from Dirty Projectors is a cabinet of wonders, but this is the crowning gem for me. They hung this beautiful melody on reversed swelling strings, and it’s sculptural.
The Clint Heidorn piece that follows has its own kind of dimensionality but pursues it through timbres. The way the sax, strings, guitar, and upright bass move together creates one gorgeous multi-faceted instrument.
Windy & Carl have such a deep body of work, it was hard to choose, but I love the little chimes that litter the winter landscape of “Snow Covers Everything.” Guitar and vocal sounds are their trademark, but it’s the attention to little sonic details that sets them apart.
“Sleep Walk” is a song I’ve loved my whole life because it’s one of those perfect melodies that embodies yearning and satisfaction in the same moment. Also, it’s got the best reverb.
Christina Vantzou’s piece that follows is from a completely different planet, but the dialogue between the elements she’s chosen is so subtle and warm. It’s a piece you can wrap up in.
The Books take us in yet another direction, a frantic scramble of chopped acoustic bits that comes together in an emotionally resonant way.
Buffy Sainte-Marie is a hero of mine in many ways, but I especially love Illuminations for her experimentation with processing. “Poppies” shows off her acrobatic voice in such a chilling atmosphere.
I debated putting “Kanga Roo” on this list as it’s such a well-known song, but it’s got so many elements that draw me in. It’s the ultimate beautiful mess: distortion clashing with strings, dissonance, and melody, timing fluid to the point of falling apart.
I closed out the playlist with “Queen of Crickets” from the most recent Less Bells album Mourning Jewelry because I feel like its one of our most successful experiments with texture. I loved bringing together the sound of a 120-year-old banjo with synthesizers and strings. In the end, it’s all just vibrations and how they move the listener.
I subscribe to several newsletters but I usually delete them as soon as they hit my inbox because they’re uninteresting or sharing links to other articles. The only newsletter I read from start to finish is Bob Lefsetz‘s newsletter. Lefsetz is a music industry analyst and critic and the reason I read his newsletter while I delete the rest is because he always has a fresh take on things, whether it’s music, politic or sports or just talking about his life.
Recently Lefsetz wrote a response to an article on the Washington Post about the decline of electric guitar sales. In short, rock is dead. Or on life support. As Lefsetz pointed out, rock is still around but it has all the relevancy of jazz or folk music. Why? Because rock has been so thoroughly corporatized that rock has been de-fanged. It’s no longer dangerous. Songs are no longer crafted, they’re manufactured on spreadsheets and ProTools and and any spontaneity left over is autotuned out. Not only that, rock has nothing new to say. It’s an exhausted genre. Furthermore, rock is reductive. It simplifies more complex music like blues or folk or Cajun music, etc. But now rock is reductive of rock music. It’s become pablum.
The only thing fresh and exciting happening in music today is hip hop and electronic music. It’s taking chances. It’s experimenting. Even the stuff you hear on the radio (who even listens to radio these days?) is more inventive than what passes for rock these days.
The electric guitar is dead. I mourn it’s passing. But to put things in perspective, there was a time when the accordion was huge. Now it’s an instrument regarded as hokey and old-timey.
I’m going to keep the introduction to today’s show short because I only have a little time to record this before we head out to see The LEGO Batman Movie at the nearby park. The kids and I have already seen it but my girl hasn’t. She’s not the comic book nerd that I am but she likes those kinds things well enough and indulges me in my nerdy. We’re also going to meet up with my new friend Blanca, and her family. So let’s get to today’s show before I have to leave.
I tend to ramble a bit at the beginning of each show but not today. I’ve got too much to do. I have to take my puppy, Blossom, to a manners class first thing in the morning. In the afternoon I have to take my boy to Little League practice and then in the evening I’m taking Blossom to yet another class. She’s a little crazy so we’re training her as much as possible so she doesn’t grow up to be an unmanageable dog. If there’s time, I hope to take my kids to see the The Lego Batman Movie. If I’m being honest, I’m going to see The Lego Batman Movie and bringing the kids along for the ride. Fortunately for all of us, I know they’re going to love the movie.
If you like today’s show, share it with a friend. Don’t keep it to yourself. Oh, and as of last week, The Weekly Mix is now available as a podcast. Click the here to subscribe to The Weekly Mix or go to iTunes to subscribe.
You can listen to The Weekly Mix every Sunday on KAOS Radio Austin at 6PM Central and every Friday on Bondfire Radio out of Brooklyn at 11:30 AM Eastern Standard Time.
You can find me online on Twitter at @josephaleo. If you happen to like any of the songs on today’s show, click on the links on today’s show notes to purchase and download the songs you dug. Show the bands and musicians some love with a little bit of your hard earned cash.
Okay, time for me to make like a tree and leave. See you next week!
I’ve got quite a show for you today. Not only do I have a fantastic mix of eclectic music for you to groove to, but we’ll also chat with Geneva Bee, who provides the illustration of the headphone wearing beauty who graces the album art for each show.
I first discovered Geneva Bee through my girlfriend, who follows Geneva on Instagram. Through her illustrations Geneva creates a world of whimsy and color that’s decidedly very girly. Seeing Geneva’s artwork in my Instagram feed always delivers a hit of dopamine. When I launched The Weekly Mix I asked Geneva if she’d allow me to use one of her illustrations for the album art for each show and she was generous enough to let me.
See you next week with another weekly mix. I’m out of here.
Damn, this week’s show is packed with great stuff!
When I relaunched solipsistic NATION as a podcast one of the first shows I did was a documentary about Nerdcore. Shortly afterwards I learned that Negin Farsad was also working on a documentary about the genre called Nerdcore Rising. The documentary was recently released and I knew I had to get Negin on the show to talk about her documentary.
Another person I’ve wanted to get on solipsistic NATION is drum and bass artist Panda. As luck would have it, Panda has put out a new album called Retake Manhattan that simply rocks! Panda and I have been exchanging emails during the last year and I nailed a date to get hm on the line to talk about his new CD. It’s rare to hear an electronic music concept album and Panda sails around the globe in a mere hour and ten minutes.
Speaking of new releases, Meat Beat Manifesto has released a new album titled Autoimmune that is so bass heavy that it could move a freight truck across a parking lot. Just imagine what it can do to your ears! I had the pleasure of seeing Meat Beat Manifesto last week and they put on an awesome show. They’re on the last leg of their U.S. tour so visit their website to see if they’re playing in your area. If you’ve missed them, no worries, Jack will be on next week’s show with a live recording of one of Meat Beat Manifesto’s performances.
I’ve mentioned previously that one of the blogs I frequently read is Igloo Magazine. I’ve been talking with Pietro Da Sacco, Igloo’s managing editor, and I asked him to come on this week’s show to talk about his ‘zine. Pietro will be back on solipsistic NATION next month with a beautiful mix of electronic music that’s going to make you weak at the knees.
A few months back solipsistic NATION was picked up by KYOURadio 1550 AM in San Francisco. KYOURadio plays an eclectic program of talk and music shows but what make the station truly unique that all the content comes from user generate content. That is to say, podcasts. I invited KYOURadio’s station manager, Stephen Page, to come on today’s show to talk about the station and the dramatic changes radio is currently going through.
Last, and by no stretch of the imagination, least, is an interview with Martin Rev and Alan Vega of Suicide. Alan and Martin are old school and began Suicide way back in the 70s. Often imitated but never duplicated, Suicide is one of the original proto-electronic music bands who have influenced genres such as techno, industrial and electroclash. Suicide was never ahead of their time, just that everyone else was behind the times and desperately trying to catch up to the path that Suicide was blazing.
