This mix has been bubbling up for a couple weeks or so. Finally last night I went for it and recorded this fine mix! It's got a little something for everybody. This was great for drinking a little beer and getting ready to go out to the Goodfoot. The sweaty hot Goodfoot, to get down and shake it.
This has happened before, but the handmade mix is a majestic thing. This time, a party is going to be thrown where the price of admission is a mix CD for your friends. The theme is an acoustic thesis of yourself. Everyone must make a CD, then copy it for everyone else who is making CDs. Make a mix that sums yourself up in 19 tracks or so. I love these kinds of things, I used to be hopped up on writing about this subject, but now I find relying on the music I enjoyed a better exercise.GREAT STUFF!
On the first pass through my iTunes library I had 2:33 min of music. Waaaaay too much for a CD. Now I'm parsing down what I have and assembling it into a chronological order. From there I figure I'll reassemble it into mix cd form, breaking up congruent sounds and tracks. The hardest part is paring down the songs that mean something, to the songs that are absolutely essential. It's a great memory exercise.
But what I really want to emphasize is two points.
1)This exercise is fabulous like a scrapbook. I know that my music library has music ranging from junior high up to my current listening habits. I frequently have to delete old music to make room for the new music, but what has remained after three laptop upgrades is the good stuff. Therefore, this mix CD goes from 8th grade all the way up until today. Its fun to see where I was when I first listened to these songs, where I rediscovered them, the context of my listening to these songs, the people that influenced my listening habits etc. I really enjoy all the layered memories. It's like an onion, according to some ogre.
2)If I make a cd, invariably, people will recognize some of the songs. The great part, is when they recognize them, they immediately place them in their own personal context. Thus, my context and the listener's context are superimposed into a strange cocktail of memories. I LOVE the idea of sharing this audio scrapbook. Sharing these memories, which the listener won't have any idea aside from a few brief liner notes, of where I stand in regards to the selection aside from chonology. But when they listen, they will superimpose their own memories and experiences into the experience. "Oh I remember listening to that track back when I was...." Example, what are your memories for the song Everybody by the Backstreet Boys. If you're playing along, that song alone should bring up a plethora of memories and experiences. Let's combine those memories and experiences and you have a tapestry of human experience. I hope that my excitement is universal for really tapping into that kind of combined human living.
To leave you, a music video of another song that was a large moment for me personally. This song heralded my return to dance music after a loooong hiatus. Plus it's a pretty good music video. So enjoy, and perhaps keep an ear to the ground, if I get a chance, I might try to post my mix here if I can figure out the necessary sharing technology.
An online retailer, Boomkat, has a weekly-curated service, where they serve up 14 tracks handpicked that fit into some theme. A couple of weeks ago the theme was "Hauntology: A peculiar sonic fiction". Hauntology, as described by Wikipedia, is a musical idea that stems from sound studio experimentations, capturing the "cold-war dread" of the time; the word originally coming from Derrida as a way to describe how an idea can haunt and permeate thought, like Marxism did in his time.
Recently, a group of music journalist, Simon Reynolds most notably has brought this term and idea back into the popular consciousness by attaching it to artists such as Portishead, Burial and other brooders. Their music, included with others, is known for its ability to capture empty spaces, alleyways, ballrooms, etc. These grim and foreboding acoustics are mesmerizing, if you can wrap your mind around music as guide rather than music as purely entertainment. They use field recordings, samplings of old records, lots of recorded tape hiss, echo, reverb etc. The cliched idea of music underwater comes to mind.
They are creating music with two layers.The first layer is the form and melody we associate with music.The piano lines or drum loops, snippets of song here and there.The second layer is the distress, the grit, the dirt and haze.This second layer “haunts” the first, changing the way in which we understand the first layer of music.By bringing the second layer to the forefront, these artist are changing the overall portrait of their music, moving beyond simply what we hear, but what whe hear and what the presence of these sounds mean to us.
Thanks to Boomkat, I've been hooked by this strange blend of music and ideas. They're big fans of drone, ambient and generally formless types of music, and their fascination has infected me as well. My collection of these strange musical ideas is slowly growing, but i wanted to share some of these discoveries with you. My musical tastes seem to be very influenced by my environment, as I am now currently residing in Portland, which can lend itself to music not painted in primary colors.
Philip Jeck is a turntablist.Not Grand Master Flash or DJ Krush type of turntablist, but an artist who seeks to use records and the instruments that play them in new ways.Playing records at the incorrect speed, distressing records, looping and other creative ways to recontextualize their content.Notice how you can hear snippets of melody from a fanfare but it sounds like its been sped up or played at the wrong speed, almost like you can see the record spinning in a lopsided manner.All the melody is buried underneath a gauze of other sounds.It was shocking when I first heard it, but ultimately one of those albums you listen to again and again, learning and finding more each time.
Burial, as I mentioned earlier, couches his ideas of dance music within a larger context of atmosphere.Notice when the track begins you hear a gun loading, the beep of a train, and other sonic detritus.It feels like you're listening to someone play the song on the street, and you're hearing not only the music but everything that's happening around you.The rumble of the vehicles, grinding of buildings slowly decaying.... etc.
The Caretaker is more overt with these ideas.For this album he collected a bunch of old 78's ( i think) and recorded them playing their music.He added some echo and reverb, looped them and recorded the results.Its pretty, but underneath a haze of sonic grit from a distressed vinyl surface.I read in an article from The Guardian about his new album that's just come out and have been digging since then.Somewhere I read he takes his Caretaker vise from The Shining, Jack Nicholson's character and the the movie's large empty spaces.
I've been enjoying these artists and others quite a bit recently.The Portland sunshine has made it more poignant I'm sure.I tried to pick three sources that were pretty diverse; to give a better picture of the elements I'm focusing on here.I am interested with where these ideas can go.How much farther can one take tape hiss and distressed sound recordings?But for the moment I am enjoying the novelty and enjoy learning new things, digging about the Internet.
And if you want something a bit headier, check out Rouge's Foam, who recently just posted a massive article on the exact same topic.His is a more researched and academic.If you're interested, it's a great read.
After having a few days to let it soak in, its about time I take some time to share how the evening went.
First, it was a little strange how I heard about the event. I hadn't seen flyers or postcards or heard any local hype about the show. I'm still feeling the city out so that may explain why I hadn't heard any hype in person, but I would have expected some flyers, considering every telephone pole is plastered with them, each unique and quirky. I guess the event was really being overshadowed by MFNW, which is kind of like SXSW, but in Portland, and smaller. I've been hearing and seeing things everywhere for this event which is taking place all over Portland this week. But still, a world class dj/tastemaker coming to Portland on a tour that was only 10 dates. Maybe i'm just not used to a city actually getting artist to stop by, unlike Indianapolis. But regardless, I heard about the show on a news story on xlr8r two days prior to her appearance in portland. not knowing how many chances i'd get for an opportunity like this, after a day of ruminating, i bought my ticket.
Next, the Holocene. I did a little research to find out where this club was that would be housing a bass-erific evening. Turns out its like 15 blocks from my apartment. CRAZY. Theoretically i could have walked to the event, but i figured after an evening of bass weight i probably wouldn't want to hike home after 1am. Upon googling the event space, all the random reviews that popped up seemed pretty typical. "cool space, hip music, bartenders that are aloof and condescending" etc. I haven't been to a place like that in a long time, if ever (once again, Indianapolis is a very different city). They hype sounded like a proper venue for something like this, and made me a little nervous. I haven't been a scenester/hipster for a while and was worried that my rusty self would stick out like a soar thumb. But all in all, the club was really clean, neat, well lit, great soundsystem, and generally enjoyable clientele. The bartenders seemed busy enough, but considering the crowd, the bar did seem a little small. But whatever, i wasn't there to wait in line for drinks. (Important note: never get there early. I got there about 8:30pm and absolutely no one was there. I was chatting up the bartender for something to do as he got ready for the night. Its a weird feeling, worried about sticking out, and then getting there to a completely empty club. the bartender i chatted with was pretty friendly considering all the nasty things i heard about them through the reviews. one really cool thing was, as i was talking to him, mary anne hobbs walked in and straight to the back of the club. but she walked right past me, i could have reached out and touched her. very strange to see someone so close after hearing so much about them, and of them online from across an ocean.)
first up was tyler tastemaker, a local portland dubstep dj. A tall lanky fellow with long hair, and a propensity to nod to the beat. He was a fine warm-up dj. He was out in the lounge, a lowered dance floor from the bar. His tunes were well mixed and a proper warm up as people edged onto the dancefloor. I was near the back when that guy walked up to me and struck up a conversation (you know the type, the one that is drunk before anyone else, chatting up anyone who will listen. not a bad dude, just a little much too early on). He was telling me how Portlanders love to drink. Then they love to dance. I told him i was new to town and he gave me a friendly hard time, but told me i was in a great city that could get mary anne hobbs to come play at a venue like this. All in all, people warily began entering the dance floor, like animals entering a clearing after humans had traipsed through. things began to heat up and people were getting more and more into it. someone brought a big bag of balloons and glowropes and tossed them all over the dance floor for everyone to dance and have fun with. i grabbed a green glow guy. he started at quarter till 10ish, and played for little over an hour. not bad, and certainly great local flavor.
next up was alex b. he started up immediately after tyler tastemaker finished, keeping the momentum going. But he was in a second dance room, behind the room where the evening started. A little disorienting, but i guess the better soundsystem was in the smaller, secondary room. his sound is like eli0t lipp and flying lotus, with a healthy dose of w*nky effects. He played his set on a laptop, i'm assuming running ableton, and an effects board/mixer. Great sound, good vibe. Lots of energy, but i felt it started to get a little samey after a while. beats beats beats, bass drop, effect wash, beats beats beats. but all in all, he was entertaining to watch as it was clear he really enjoyed what he was doing. and that translated well onto the dance floor. check out his website for some nice mixtapes and other info.
as he finished up mary anne hobbs was lingering around behind the dj table, unwrapping her headphones, figuring out what she was gonna play first. people in the crowd were starting to get hyped. clearly the room was full of bass heads who knew what they were in for. one guy turned around and asked me "do you know who that is!?" with a smile that said it all. this was about to be special. with no introduction she lead off this tune, Joker-do it. i've know this tune for a while, but WOW, hearing it on that system was AMAZING. It is true, that dubstep is nice through headphones, great at home, but truly something special on a giant sound system, with bass rumbling your chest cavity. then after a few tunes she played the ubiquitous hyph mngo, almost getting it out of the way. I only recognized one other tune, gutter music. she did two rewinds. there was a lot of wobbley wobble, but it wasn't so bad considering the circumstances and the crowd. but the highlight for me was at the end of the set, when the cheering from us in the crown demanded a kind of encore, she played us a new headhunter tune that he had sent her that day. she let us know that we were the first in the world to hear the tune. which was a really cool feeling, like we were coconspirators. all in all, she was wonderful, a true entertainer. i guess that's to be expected since she does it for a living and has been doing it for a while.
all in all, it was a delightful evening. props to abstract earth project for getting in international beacon like mary ann hobbs, and putting it on at a great venue like the holocene. and especially props to mary anne hobbs, alex b and tyler tastemaker for putting on a great evening with great tunes. a fine way to spend a wednesday night.
finding my old copy of reason 2.0 was really a wonderful moment. it was like reconnecting with a long lost friend. due to an unfortunate updating process with my old laptop i was no longer able to work with reason, just as i was getting warmed up and really stretching my production skills. unfortunately, those tunes have been lost.
but since i've found the program again, i've been working on new material. i'm working hard to stay focused on one track until its complete and ready to send around to music labels and such. i think its paying off as the song i'm currently working on it developing. i started working on this track soon after i purchased a copy of the roots of el-b. check el-b out on myspace. his dark take on uk garage was suprisingly fresh sounding despite the fact that most of the tracks came out about 6 yrs ago. as dubstep gets fresher, and funky gets bigger, these older tracks came back with a pow pow. and the review on pitchfork didn't hurt either (considering they usually don't fully embrace dance albums the favorable review was refreshing).
so, to bring us back to where i started. i found reason and began writing music again. it was like i had been riding my bike all over the neighborhood as a kid and had a nasty fall. once i healed all up i was gingerly getting the feeling of the bike back under me and seeing how we could get along once more. well, i've been sweeping the cobwebs out and working on being more disciplined with my approach. i'm pretty proud of what i've developed so far. i'm also working on being more shrewd the synthesizers and drum machines, working on developing my sounds directly rather than relying on effects such as delay and reverb as heavily as i was before.
here it is. my baby. the track is about half done, structure wise. the end of the track is bridging into the second section of the song. hence the sudden cut off. but i'll keep you posted as it develops. any kind words or sound words of advice are indeed quite welcome.
i have a lot of free time on my hands, at least until i get a sweet job...., but to keep my brains in my head, i mix it up. the other night i was sounding pretty good so i decided to start recording in the middle of a session. here are the results. i'm pretty proud of it. i started out with a funky vibe and worked into a darker harder sound. let me know what you think. hopefully now that i'm in portland i can find a way to start doing this for more people, or doing these in a live setting, which would be ideal.
anyways, keep your fingers crossed that the radio station i've been hassling will email me back soon. if that happens i might get my own radio show. how sweet would that be! if that does indeed happen, stay tuned because i'm sure i'll tell you all about it.
okay, well, enough for now. stay tuned and enjoy the mix.
