Wrap Your Ears Around These Artists - 21 July 2009

I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

Okay, that's played out...

Here we go ag...

Yep, used too much.

Let's just get to the goods, shall we?

Here are my Wrap Your Ears Around These Artists!

First up - Saine.

Lauri Saine comes from a land of chilldown... quite literally! Finland is the homebase of this chilled out beat slinger. If you tuned into Episode 5 of The Chilldown Period, I put Saine as the lead off to another near hour of great tunes.

To put his music simply, I would say (and have said) that his music is "Instrumental Nostalgia."

As stated in his bio, he is walking the line between recorded and sampled elements. Through this collage of technical skills he keeps the ears intimated to whatever clever sounds he can meld together.

I call his music "Instrumental Nostalgia" because each of his tunes will bring back some sort of memory. Whether it is a stroll down a beautiful river, listening to basketball players in mid game, sitting at a street side cafe, or relaxing next to a loved one - Saine's tunes will bring those fond memories back.

In another sense, Saine's music can become nostalgic. You have the chance to take the music and create a fond place for it in your life. 

There are plenty of glitches, and subtle blips to accompany the catchy hooks and organic feel to his two full length albums and his free EP 'Clockwork.'

Anyway you choose to use or place nostalgia in your life, allow Saine's music to be a catalyst in doing so!

Up next is City Rain.

City Rain comes from an underground source of trip-hop/chillout/IDM: the city of Philadelphia. The city that has brought us great acts such as Natalie Walker, Daughter Darling, Beauty's Confusion and Echo Slightly has another talented son found on this list. 

As his myspace page says, he throws in dance floor minimalism and guitar licks alongside catchy IDM hooks.

It's this indie feel that has kept my attention ever since I first caught wind of his music.

His latest record, 'This I Will Remember' recounts the three month period waiting for his mate to come back who resides overseas (source here).

Now looking back, and relistening to his music once again, I can sense the feelings of anxiousness, joy and hope (source) mapped out through the measures. High pitched tones, rich guitars and flowing melodies meet the emotion he puts into his craft.

Trying not to sound like I've just completely ripped off his bio, his tunes, at least to me, have soothing qualities and youthful tendencies (that is the only thing I can think of to help explain what is in my mind) which keep the ethereal (try definition 1a,b) melodies reachable and relatable. 

(ADHD moment: Plus he has a song called 'Bon Giornio, Sleepysaur'!)

One of his songs has recently taken on a life of its own. This I Will Remember has been remixed by Outputmessage, with lyrics added, to make one great tune. If you dig the Postal Service - this will be right up your alley. Not wanting to seem sycophantic I will embed the video of the final product, "I Remember" right now.

Enjoy!

Third Artist: Dick "Two Ton" Baker

I can see some of you with both eyebrows raised in sudden wonder. I can explain. 

I was listening to the Wild Wilson show on 247polkaheaven.com today, and at the end of his show he played a song called "I Like Stinky Cheese." It is a catchy polka tune which prodded my curiosity to find out more. 

If you have heard of the Dr. Demento radio show - then we have a connection here. His music has been featured on it, and also on his own radio show back in the 1940s.

Yes, we are going way back.

I've listened to a few of his songs and the playful lyrics, the joy in his voice, and the catchy tunes pull you into his style.

Weighing in at 350 lbs/158.76 kg may have led into his nickname, but according to his biography, so did his engaging personality. 

He said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune:

"The only thing I've ever wanted to do in this world is play the piano and sing on the radio. This isn't work, it's play--and I'm getting paid for it! . . . I like to think my radio show helps make people a little more friendly. The world is full of petty stings. I hope my monkeyshines [pranks] and songs make people forget the barbs for a little while."

I hope you find his music as interesting as I have. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That should do it!

So go on out and Wrap Your Ears Around These Artists!

The Chilldown Period - Episode Five

Wow!

I've been negligent of this blog for while. My apologies to all that read/follow! 

First off, I need to give special thanks to the ambienteer for allowing me to use one of his wonderful melodies from his files! Thank you so much.

Second, thanks definitely go out to Thomas Raukamp and his endless search for great Creative Commons/Netlabel music to share. One of his "music for night" picks can be found on this episode of the Chilldown Period.

I would also like to give you guys a heads up about a music project for the people in Iran. Music for Freedom/Artists for Freedom is being put on by Public Spaces Lab (in the podcast I gave their URL wrong, so here I'm correcting that). There are some very touching pieces shared with us by artists who want to help in whatever way they can.

And, if you didn't hear from the podcast, I've got three shout outs to some great DJs spinnin' tunes from both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. I'll give you their Twitter handle so you can follow them as well.

@slacklineradio - Chris always has great tunes streaming from is website www.slacklineradio.com which are perfect for anytime chillin'. You can also catch him every other Thursday on KRUA 88.1 the Edge's Discard Bin at 9:00 pm Alaska Time (That's 11:00 pm for me here in the Mountain). 

@morningsteppa - Making the Auckland morning commute a whole lot smoother is the MorningSteppa. He hosts the Breakfast of Champions show on 106.9 - KFM, which can be heard mornings from 8 - 10 am local time (2:00 pm the previous day here in the MDT). 

@solarosa - Spragga does a great show, also out of Auckland, which is an eclectic mix of smooth music which doesn't follow a strict genre pattern. You could hear some dub one moment, and the next Al Green is melting your ears with his soulful voice! He comes to you every Friday, on BaseFM - 107.3, from 10 am to noon (4:00 pm Thursdays here). 

Finally, here is the tracklisting for Episode Five of the Chilldown Period.

saine - Sleep Mode - Clockwork EP

Jamie Myerson
"Wouldn't It Be Nice" (mp3)
from "Jamie Myerson"
(42 North Recordings)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album


Natalie Walker
"Crush" (mp3)
from "Urban Angel"
(Dorado Records)
More On This Album


Monodeluxe
"Passer" (mp3)
from "Shifting Emotions Vol. 1"
(Vibe Boutique Records)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album


Voodeux
"The Paranormal" (mp3)
from "The Paranormal (Promo Version)"
(Mothership)
Buy at Stompy.com
More On This Album


Axiotronic
"Robot Placism" (mp3)
from "Of Latitude And Longitude"
(Electronic Eel Records)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album


Di Johnston
"Trite" (mp3)
from "The Shanghai Restoration Project Presents: Di Johnston"
(Undercover Culture Music)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album


Klone
"Bud Pets" (mp3)
from "The Push Effect"
(Muti Music)
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album

LowPitch - Eating Fish (Stegna Trip)

Arthur Petersen - Caramel - Big Rig (amazon  rhapsody  iTunes)

Cotton & Gin
"Humuhumunukunukuapuaa Life" (mp3)
from "Humuhumunukunukuapuaa"
(Ninthwave Media)
More On This Album

"a dog lost in the woods" by alka

A couple of weeks ago, I gave everyone a snippet of what I think about alka's new album "a dog lost in the woods."

Now I'm going to expound upon that a bit more. 

First, if you want to get a written taste of his music, you can read my previous post found here.

Second, here comes the meat of my take on the new album.

Why did I send you to a link of a previous posting of alka? Here's an answer - he's taken his original sound and improved upon it. I'm sending you back in time to understand where I am and where he is coming from.

I'm not talking about taking his old sound and just changing the "words" (see Cake), but he's taking his basic premise and launching it into the future.

The prime analogy I could come up with to describe the next album is like saying "principles of suffocation" is to MacOS Leopard, as "a dog lost in the woods" is to MacOS Snow Leopard. 

He's going from interplanetary travel to intergalactic... That maybe hyperbole - but as I said before: he's launching himself into the future.

The reflective tunes and melodies are still there. "when you abandon your youth" and "what will become of your high existence?" take ideas which are both audibly and visually ingested; allowing the music to help your mind do the rest. "when you abandon your youth" is a surprisingly upbeat song (I say this because when you originally think of such a concept it can bring a foreboding spirit. On the converse, if you are ready and it's time for you to go - this time period can be a reprieve from the tensions of your youth) which plays into the alka thesis. (see my three theories on what his music can bring to you emotionally). "what will become of your high existence?" is at a slower, philosophical pace with heavier/darker keyboards that take you from your past and encourage you to step into the future.

"blueberry" and "collocation" are along the lines of "when you abandon your youth." Both buoyantly reflective (yes, I know - repetition. In this case it is necessary) of times in the past where you taste your favorite pie/ice cream/desert, or when you're with a good friend "fishing" for minnows in a ditch.

The notes, beats and memories make the music come alive.

When you come to "i am a wreck" you'll notice the jittery notes and atmospheric backgrounds mesh recreating that nervousness of meeting someone, a new boss, your significant other's parents for the first time, your newborn child (I can only imagine right now), knowing life will not be the same again (in a good way).

Then the synthesized voices capture your attention in "separate" before you head into the mind trip of "immolate." In a previous post I wrote about how you can actually feel the music (physically), but the beauty of the keys mixing with the effects move over you in this fantastic voyage through the album. 

Next up are mirror image songs, "solip" and "alpha pilos." Names and times of the songs, and even sounds are rearranged (maybe it's just me) to make you press previous and next on your iPod or CD player just to make sure you hear the differences/similarities in the timeline.

"israel" has a wonderful somber tone which keeps the thesis growing/going and the end of the album is aptly finished with what I would describe as an astronaut looking down at the earth. "sky, face down" sights in the wonders helping you hope for more great sounds from the keeper of emotional electronica: alka.

Update (12 June 2009): I edited the post to sound better.

The Chilldown Period - Episode Four

It has finally happened, the "Twitter-in-the-Mist" Mix is up and I'm pleased with the outcome. There are so many talented people on twitter.com, and they are the ones who made this Episode!

Thanks so much to all of you!!!

The only thing I really did was get the courage to ask, and add voice to the Podcast. That is not me fishing for compliments... it's the truth. 

So, down to business! I'm going to give you the artist and the track with the twitter address you can follow said act.

Update (6 June 2009): I've added the a page dedicated to the artist (whether their homepage or a myspace page) and a link so you can either buy or find their album(s). 

- alka "alpha pilos" from "a dog lost in the woods" twitter.com/_alka Buy Album Here

- MoShang "Soli" from "Chill Dynasty" twitter.com/MoShang Buy Album Here CC

- Ambienteer "Playground" twitter.com/ambienteer

- Version Big-Fi "Serious Sounds" from "Crux Collide Hybridize" twitter.com/bigfi Find Albums Here

- City Rain "Skyscraper" from "This I Will Remember" twitter.com/cityraintunes Buy Album Here

- Orisha "Beautiful Thing (Album Version)" from "Falling Open" twitter.com/emicorn Buy Album Here

- Strange Republik "No Tomorrow" from "No Tomorrow" twitter.com/strangerepublik

Under  "Under" (mp3) from "Below Zero - Minus 1" 

Official Website (Below Zero LLC)  More On This Album 

twitter.com/TakingMeUnder

- Leisure Addicts "Lazy Train" twitter.com/LeisureAddicts

- JC Lemay "Spirit of Eclipse" from "Deepsound Sessions Vol. 1" twitter.com/JCLemay

A Preview of a Future Post - 29 May 2009

I am currently on vacation here in Oklahoma and I have neglected to put up a review of alka's latest album "a dog lost in the woods" coming out on 2 June 2009.

One term I can use for this album: drool-worthy!

There are so many hidden sound gems (to steal a thought process from Electronic Eel's press release about the album and what I have written about alka's music before) that you have to listen to it with headphones on, in your stereo and in the car. It has so many angles which will lead your imagination in so many directions.

A favorite feature comes from the track "immolated." As the track presses forward, a higher toned/pitched sound is introduced which you can feel - yes, you can feel - in the back of your throat. I've listened to the song on both a laptop and my iPod and have come to the same physiological conclusion each time.

This is just a small example of what I have neglected and will try to rectify as soon as possible.

Two questions with one stone - 21 May 2009

And here they are...

What does 'UBLF' mean? and Why do I like downtempo, trip-hop, chillout music?

I hope you have a bit of time to spend reading this post!

What does 'UBLF' mean?

No, it's not a urinary track infection of the most nasty kind nor is it a radio station from the hinterland of Uzbekistan.

It simply means "Uranium Based Life Form."

Now that you're not looking at the computer sideways wondering what in the heck I was thinking we'll head into the logic behind why I chose this name.

About a decade ago, I used to hang out at a coffeehouse in northeastern North Carolina where hard rock/death metal/stoner rock/rap metal/etc played in the back of the store. Bands would come through a few times a week and, because of my size at the time, I was asked to be the bouncer (I used to be around 280 lbs/127 kg/20 stone. Now I'm about 175 lbs/79.38 kg/12.5 stone). It was a great way for me to get in to see shows for free. I didn't mind one bit.

One of the regulars there also liked electronic music and we became fast friends. We hung out together, stayed up late watching MuchMusic's R.U.R.E.C.E.I.V.I.N.G., and dreamt of making electronic music. He showed me a magazine describing the Gabber scene somewhere here in the States. It incorporated heavy beats, loud sounds, and molecular destabilization of sorts. I wanted IN!

Because of this I decided on a possible name for a group: the Uranium Based Life Form. It arrived out of the fact that Uranium is a radioactive element and I wanted to create music that would destroy you. My comic book imagination stretched out and thought that if the C in Carbon based life forms was changed with a U, it would only bring chaos to the human race. 

We experimented with groovebox sounds and keyboards without taking the "deadly" sounds. We split up eventually doing our own thing (but still working together to help fine tune our sounds). My friend took on the moniker of "Cybersada" and I kept my radioactive nickname. I toned down my sound exponentially going into more of a house/trance direction.

Over the next several months the computer became my instrument of choice and I dinked around with one of the first editions of Techno eJay to create my sound.

I've kept the nickname UBLF (as well as a slew of others, but for this blog it will suffice), and instead of wanting to destroy humanity - I want to radiate out downtempo vibes to help people find a chilled out denominator in their lives.

This brings me to the second question: "Why do I like downtempo, trip-hop, chillout music?"

I can answer this question in sooooooo many ways. 

To me, the music is different from what most people listen to. Am I doing it to be different? Maybe, but in the long run it is a section of the musical spectrum I truly love and I try to share with as many people as I can. 

Hence this blog and my podcast.

Remember my first statement that this is just one of many ways I can answer.

A part b of sorts would have to be the theraputic nature of the music. 

I am a natural worry wort/awkward individual. I think what compounds this is my 'consciousness' of this fact. 

Here's what I mean:

I tend to over think everything (for a good synopsis of this fact watch Halou's "Everything is OK" seen here).

I think I offend people all the time, or I've done something else to lose their trust, so I apologize for things that are boldly innocuous. My best friend can get annoyed by this fact and helps me through the ropes of frustration. People do tell me that I'm not as annoying as I think, which does help... but this post isn't about my "self-diagnosis."

It's about music!

The music helps me find a calming point, a catalyst if you will, so I can get to a state of being level, plumb, whatever. I understand that I have to allow this catalyst to get me to where I need to be, and more times than not it happens (I cannot go too much further without adding the virtues of my wife who is also a huge contributing factor). 

When I start to focus on the lyrics, the beats, the melody and then allow them to flow through me, the therapy can help me find what I need to do and how to go about doing it. 

The Chillout scene has been wonderful in helping me accomplish this. 

There are other reasons, such as the multifacetedness (did I make up a word?) of the music going from the lounge scene to music you turn on in your room when you want to be alone. The history of the music pointing back to that calm down period between raves so people can just relax (see Ibiza), and the experimental nature most makers of the music tend to enlist are also other points that I enjoy.

Downtempo, trip-hop, chillout, lounge, dub, IDM, etc., may not be the cure all, but it's a nice "pill to swallow" when life gets a little testy.

I hope this answers a few questions people might have about me, this blog, and the nature of my podcast.

Update: I made some grammatical corrections which help clarify my points.

Wrap Your Ears Around This Artist - 12 May 2009

I've finally found time to sit down and write about my next W.Y.E.A.T. Artist! One of my jobs has been calling me in a lot lately because business is truly picking up. 

My professional life has eased just enough, so I thought it's about time to get writting.

Here is the Wrap Your Ears Around This Artist: alka.

(the music used for this review is taken from the "Principles of Suffocation" album)

Alka is a renaissance man of sorts. If you take the Wikipedia term of Polymath and apply it to our resident artist of the moment, he would have to excel knowledge wise in several areas. 

In alka's case, these areas are in music, science and math (the three word description he shares with us on his myspace page). 

Okay, okay. Let me explain.

To listen to his music, you can hear the mathematics behind his thought processes. He lays out simple/complex/what-have-you melodies (along the lines of Orbit, the Orb, Future Sound of London, etc) with complementary sounds and beats to create support for his musical thesis. The sounds are so delicately placed as to "go well with wide open spaces or condensed urban settings... it is the place where lucidity and obscurity meet." (http://www.myspace.com/alka) 

Touching on the subject of his music, and not to sound overly redundant, it is stylistically intriguing. When you think you hear all the sounds coming out of your speaker that when you switch to headphones, another world is opened up to you. Songs like "decompose" and "furtive" almost seem to take on another life of their own bringing your assumptions on where he is going to a different plane.

Now, delving into science, we have to swing over into emotional studies. One of alka's goals is to bring emotion into a genre of music that seems to have a lack thereof. 

You're going to have to excuse me a bit if it seems I'm meandering a bit here. I've been reading Machiavelli's The Prince and so that might be the reason why. So bear with me!

While pondering alka's music, I've tried to come up with a label, of sorts, to best describe what I hear. This took me from "Reflectively melancholic" (not depressed or sad, just disjointed from present reality to focus on things of the past), to "forming" to "letting be."

Why did I choose these three tags? I'll take you through a few songs which support my different theories.

Reflectively melancholic would best describe the songs "side of a mountain" and "digging a hole." These songs use melodic devices to best utilize the mind's eye so one can see or sense where the artist is going. Slow movements with unique keyboards simulate the struggle of climbing a mountain. It's not too fast, but there is still a part of you that can sense the huffing and puffing of an out of shape person doing the best they can to keep up with the kids who have an endless amount of energy. While, with "digging a hole," you can use those same points to imagine your foot stomping down on the edge of a shovel for leverage against the unrelenting dirt. 

Stepping into the territory of "forming," I'd have to take the songs "i fell down a deep well" and "abandon": two sides of this unique coin. When I initially heard the first song mentioned, I thought to myself there has to be some sort of tongue-in-cheek humor going on here. This HAS to be the happiest falling down of a well I've ever thought of.  My mind was immediately brought to the Brian Regan comedy skit where he reenacts Evel Knievel's mindset (after being asked the same question of "What was going through your mind before...?") before he had a terrible crash, "I think I want a puppy."

(Yes, my mind usually reverts to sarcasm in situations such as this)

The song has a light, airy feel to it. Which, after further inspection, can simulate that gut-in-your-throat feeling one gets while falling down. One or two things can be happening here: 1) he's trying to get you to make up your mind as to which emotion you want to place or 2) he's forming you as to which emotion he's trying to share. 

Either way, it's a win-win situation. On one hand, you make the choice and on the other you both share a moment of enlightenment. 

"abandon," on the other hand, doesn't come with much guesswork involved. It is dark, almost brooding, and keeps you on the same path working toward some sort of breakthrough. You've got to keep on to the end of the song, or all those "hours" of therapy will not be worth it!

The final tag, "letting be," is one that came to me recently. You can see this in two ways, as well. One way is to let the emotions happen, and the other is don't hold the emotions back. "furtive," "a modest collection of lint" and "the clouds are quite whispy" bring this tag to life. The last two bring me back to my childhood. Children seem to get excited by the simplest of things! The clouds, forming into "cave"-like shapes where your cognitive skills associate labels such as "cat" or "choo-choo train," can bring hours of joy to a young one. Also, a mother finding a weird collection of lint under he child's bed who's been hiding it and molding it for some untold reason. The recollection of "letting be" comes to the fore. You let the smiles form because they're great memories. 

The second bullet point which comes to mind is don't hold the emotions back. Emotions are fickle things, and the longer you don't show them, the more damaging they can be to you.

Yes, there are situations where you have to keep your emotions in check or they can get the better of you. While reading Tom Clancy's "Special Forces," after three days of an intense exercise, a detachment of Green Berets came back just AMPED at the intensity of what they had just participated in. They chatted non-stop about the ins and outs, the ups and downs of what they had endured. That's three days of bottled up adrenaline finally coming out.

While reflecting on the song "furtive" I could sense the subversive role emotions can have if they are not properly dealt with. They seem so innocuous at first, but the longer they go unchecked, the darker and more melancholy they can be when they eventually surface.

So, what is my conclusion about all of this. Which one of the three is it?

Here's a hint just to rile you up: buy the album and find out for your self.

Alka's next release is due to hit shelves sometime next month so stay tuned to this blog and you may get a taste of what's coming!