Modus Operandi - "First Mix"

Yeah, that's right. It's my own mix, finally. After years and years of listening to DJ's, being a DJ to a small degree myself, and countless shows, I am giving back. I bought an APC40 and have been relentlessly on the path to mastering it. This first mix is a result of my last four days or so spent accumulating and arranging samples and performing them with the controller. Artists sampled, among others, are Jaga Jazzist, Godspeed, Gaslamp Killer, Felix Laband, Ginormous, Isaac Hayes, etc..

Please, I'd love any and all comments, criticisms, whatever. Lemme know what you're thinking, please. Cheers.

Numero Uno by Nucleic

Ginormous - "At Night, Under Artificial Lights"

Whoa now.
Sometimes you just hear a track, and you kinda just stop thinking about everything else and just listen for a sec. "At Night, Under Artificial Lights" hits like that, the title track on this album just hits hard. Specific, booming, glitchy electronic sound that I've been really getting into in the last month or so. Real name is Brian Konietzko, blah blah...Reminds me of a lot of west coast glitch artists, simple, but epic. The sound fits the name of this dude, Ginormous indeed. Playing it loudly in good speakers is a must. As an aspiring DJ this is definitely getting added into the mix. Rest of the album isn't bad either.


EPIC. GINORMOUS.

Rinpa Eshidan - "Cube"

Fascinating, really cool stuff here. Latest video from Rinpa Eshidan, a Japanese artist collective. The video pretty much speaks for itself, but suffice to say their philosophy is powerful and inspiring. It highlights the temporary nature of art and to a smaller degree existence, in that nothing they create is permanent. Therefore their work retains an extremely organic characteristic, as they are constantly re-inventing and tweaking their imagery. Vaguely reminds me of the Tibetan monk practice of carefully assembling a meticulously constructed mandala made of sand particles, only to sweep it all away upon completion.

This "Cube" video was my favorite, but they have a bunch more on their YouTube channel, check em out. It looks like they are selling a compilation DVD, I bet it's pretty sweet if you wanna support them...

Kammerflimmer Kollectief - "Cicadae"

Shimmering, ambient noise patterns juxtapozed with elegant, beautiful neo-classical melodic passages. These are just some of the sounds coming from the Kammerflimmer Kollectief (translates to "Shimmering Collective".) Founded by German musician Thomas Webber, they have been playing together for more then a decade. Their style is not limited to any specific genre, but instead encompasses jazz, electronic music, neo-classical, ambient, and more.

Understated and subtle, this album is at times elegant and restrained. However, as with any avant-garde work, there are moments of dissonance and squawking. The music veers into a distorted, abstracted feeling of losing control only to abruptly return to a more melodic section. Really interesting/somewhat challenging listen. Not recommended for everyone, but will definitely be appreciated by fans of John Zorn, free jazz, or Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble (see my earlier post here.)

Cicadae (2009)

ESKMO - Colorbrain Podcast

Been really bumpin' this mix a lot lately. Big thanks to my girl Lila out on the west coast for gettin' me into this guy, one of my favorite new artists. ESKMO aka Brendan Angelides, is a San Francisco-based electronic producer that's been making music for the last decade. Representin' the west coast/glitched out style, he makes some of the funkiest, illest bass-heavy tunes I've heard in a while. I saw a description on the net somewhere that labeled his music as "Classy Dubstep", which I thought was pretty dead on. A lot of dubstep (and to a lesser extent glitch music) gets a little boring and repetitive sometimes, but ESKMO always keeps it moving. Liquidy synths and glitch sounds float over massive, hip-hop style earthquaking bass lines. Killer, killer stuff, definitely check this one out..

Podcast on Brainfeeder Records

Hudson Mohawke - "Butter"

Goin straight back to the future with this one. This would be the soundtrack to a dance party on Pluto in the year 2066. Hudson Mohawke is an upcoming producer from Scotland that rips it up with retro yet futuristic funky bangers. He uses a wide variety of old school synths and glitchy, dubby beats in a range of genres. At one moment his sound has the wobble and crunch of heavy dubstep, the next moment the music is filled with frantic video game bleeps accelerating wildly out of control. It's definitely a pretty cool album overall, and he's been getting a lot of publicity and media attention lately accordingly. Check out "ZoOoom", "FUSE" and "I Could Never".

Butter (2009)

Lymbyc Systym - "Shutter Release"

Gorgeous, electronically processed post rock. Reminds me a lot of the Octopus Project, a more well-known act that also mixes electronics with acoustic instruments. Lymbyc Systym is a duo of brothers from Arizona that whose songs alternate from upbeat to serene. The first couple tracks on this record are very uptempo, with layers of synths, bell-chimes, fuzzed guitar riffs, and driving, rousing drum patterns that keep the tempo moving. However the record is full of diverse sounds, including slide guitar, horns sections, and ambient electronic effects. Also reminds me a lot of Do Make Say Think with their expansive, orchestral sound. I really liked "Ghost Clock" and "Contemporary Art".


"Shutter Release" (2009)

Bluetech - "Elementary Particles"

Had the pleasure of seeing this guy perform live recently, at the Wonder Bar in Allston as part of Boston's Together Electronic Festival. Dude put on a pretty solid live set, as well as rockin' some killer visuals on the projecter. Even got a chance to ask him a few questions while we were both standing outside catching a smoke, although I didn't really have much prepared. Note to self: prepare more questions next time I'm at a show. He told me that he's been making music for over 10 years, and has released work under a couple different monikers, Bluetech being the most used. He didn't really explain it in-depth, but he's using a custom-made MIDI controller running into Ableton Live for his live sets. In case you've been living under a rock, Ableton Live is more or less the industry standard these days for live DJing and an extremely powerful tool that pretty much everyone seems to be using.

His music is chilled out, electronic dub with psy elements. "Psydub" is another tag used to describe his music. I really enjoyed his 2004 album, "Elementary Particles", that I am posting here. It's got some crazy ethnic vocal samples, swirling synths, and glitchy/dubby beats to keep things moving. Check out "Alchemie Dub".

Elementary Particles (2004)

Jaga Jazzist - "What We Must"

Soaring, epic, melodic post-rock meets jazz. This album is simply incredible, definitely one of the most powerful instrumental works I have ever listened to. No lyrics, but the epic arrangements of horns, strings, and guitar combine into a majestic tour de force.

Jaga Jazzist is a ten piece, experimental jazz group from Oslo, Norway. Been really listening to a lot of Norwegian artists in the last couple weeks for some reason, lot of musical talent there. Jaga Jazzist released their debut album "Livingroom Hush" in 2002 to critical acclaim, but "What We Must" is their most powerful work, at least to me. Still retaining some of their earlier electronic influences/ambient passages, this album adds much more lushness and melody to their sound. "Swedenborgske Rom" is my favorite track, with swirling chorus vocals and delicate piano lines building into an epic, thundering finish. The entire album is a masterpiece, alternately evoking feelings of sadness and joy at points. Highly, highly recommended.


What We Must (2005)

The Decapitator

This guy seriously cracks me up. Bringin some serious dark, twisted humor to the street art game, this UK artist tweaks advertisements so that one of the models becomes headless and spewing blood. Graphic and violent imagery indeed, but powerful and upholding the core principles of street art: to reclaim public spaces that have long been occupied by corporate messages and propaganda. And really, who hasn't gotten sick of being over-inundated with images of shiny, happy people plastered over multitudes of advertisements? The Decapitator knows this, and is definitely doing his part to fight back...


Interview with Juxtapoz

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