One day you just wake up to an artist that has been drifting around your peripheries for a while and suddenly understand what all the fuss was about. I had this recent epiphany with the mysterious jazz legend Sun Ra. Even though I like jazz I was previously put off by his vast discography and eccentric reputation, but as Ra has influenced artists as diverse as John Coltrane and the MC5 I decided to give him a go. Here is a beginners guide to the strange world of the former Mr Herman Poole Blount....
Sun Ra is often thought of as a weird bloke who dressed as a space pharaoh and made unlistenable music. While this is partially true he was also an innovative band leader in the tradition of Duke Ellington, a pioneer of DIY music making and an astounding showman and thinker. He has made hundreds of albums so getting into his work is tricky as no compilation has managed to capture his sound as one era can sound completely different from the next and many of his best tracks run for 10 minutes or more. The best way with Ra is to just download about ten albums and go for it.
My first pick is from Ra's 1978 album "Lanquidity". This is as "commercial" as Sun Ra ever got, there are grooves, tunes and relatively straight forward arrangements. While this may feel like a sissies way into the great man's many albums it does not feel like a compromise, the old madness is still there but Ra has simply decided to emphasise the funk and blues roots that were always dormant in his music leading to an album that is both an enjoyable and challenging listen.
Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy is often called the first psychedelic album. Released in 1967 this album is recorded on the cheap and does not include particularly futuristic instrumentation so it is a tribute to how out there Ra was that it sounds so bloody weird. One of his skills was using ancient sounds, drawing inspiration from African percussion on this album, to create otherworldly vistas. The past is as unknown and mysterious as the future in Sun Ra's world view.
Ra goes synth crazy on the album Disco 3000. Sounding a lot like some of Miles Davis's more berserk Stockhausen infused fusion this track shimmers and twists in unexpected directions, by turns frightening and pretty. Recorded live, you can see what a tight ship Ra ran as his band follow his every direction though the complex changes.
The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra is an exotic title but in fact this is one of his earlier records from 1961 and shows his ability to play straight Thelonious Monk influenced bop. Opening with a funky double bass riff this track swings with the best of 60's jazz before Ra decided to have a go at freer territory.
Ra goes disco! Kicking out the jams in 1979 with his album On Jupiter this tune could well have been a hit if anyone had played it. As there was always a lot of swing to Ra's music, even at it's most free, he handles the transition to funk and disco better than most of his more uptight contemporaries. Also his interest in black history made it logical he would investigate the latest dance sounds and absorb them into his work.
Space is the Place is a title that sums up Sun Ra's comic and cosmic outlook on life. And the majestic 21 minute title track to his best known album (and only one on John Coltrane's famous label Impulse) is a swirling delight. The first 5 minutes or so are attractive enough to work as nice background music. After a while the hypnotic grooves starts to get to you and when Ra starts messing with his Mini Moog you disappear into a black hole...
And finally a dose of Sun Ra at his most free and avant garde. The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra is a free jazz landmark. Every track is good but the wonderfully descriptive tone painting of Cosmic Chaos sums up the whole album. A funky groove breaks down into a crazy unaccompanied sax solo before an orgy of percussion leaves you stranded in the heart of the cosmos...
If you want to know more about the man there is an excellent BBC documentary Brother from Another Planet that does a great job of providing an insight into this gifted genius.
maningrey
"An introduction to Sun Ra" > read the full post
Tuesday 3 December 2013
Monday 11 November 2013
Phamel Cat
Fancy a free tune? Would you also like to see a video showing you how the whole tune was made in 1 hour and 20 minutes....
Well, you know what to do....
DNB producer Emperor, who is signed to Critical recordings, was sent a message sometime on Friday providing the challenge that he couldn't make a tune in an hour or so. So, with the gauntlet unveiled the challenge was absolutely smashed, and the result is there for everyone to see.
I briefly watched this whilst it was happening (and I'll definitely be going back over it again properly) but Emperor's production style replies laregly on having pre-made and somewhat pre-processed samples ready to drop into projects and exploit them as he likes.
This video also shows off the power of Fruity Loops as a competitive DAW. I think the days of joking about Fruity Loops is long behind us, as when you see the outcome you'll soon agree.
VIDEO > "Phamel Cat" http://www.livestream.com/emperordnb
FREE DOWNLOAD > Emperor - Phamel Cat https://soundcloud.com/the_emperor/emperor-phamel-cat
"Phamel Cat" > read the full post
Well, you know what to do....
DNB producer Emperor, who is signed to Critical recordings, was sent a message sometime on Friday providing the challenge that he couldn't make a tune in an hour or so. So, with the gauntlet unveiled the challenge was absolutely smashed, and the result is there for everyone to see.
I briefly watched this whilst it was happening (and I'll definitely be going back over it again properly) but Emperor's production style replies laregly on having pre-made and somewhat pre-processed samples ready to drop into projects and exploit them as he likes.
This video also shows off the power of Fruity Loops as a competitive DAW. I think the days of joking about Fruity Loops is long behind us, as when you see the outcome you'll soon agree.
VIDEO > "Phamel Cat" http://www.livestream.com/emperordnb
FREE DOWNLOAD > Emperor - Phamel Cat https://soundcloud.com/the_emperor/emperor-phamel-cat
"Phamel Cat" > read the full post
Thursday 31 October 2013
RIP - To The Rock 'n' Roll Animal
Most of you will have heard of the passing of Lou Reed here is an LSS obituary...
Now Lou Reed has died Keith Richard's is the undisputed holder of the "Rock's Wrinkliest Man" title. But there was more to Reed than his facial creases. Many many years ago he wrote some of rock and roll's most joyous anthems. For a guy with such a curmudgeonly reputation he sure knew how to kick out the jams. Songs such as Sweet Jane, Rock and Roll, Beginning to See the Light, Satellite of Love and White Light/White Heat defined all that was great about rock music before it lost the "roll". Despite the gloomy junkie proto-goth reputation of the Velvet Underground, all dark glasses and pale faces, their music looked back to the best of Little Richard and Chuck Berry capturing the clever/dumb excitement better than any other white band until 70's Rolling Stones. While Reed's more extreme lyrics have gained the most notoriety many of his best tracks were almost straight faced love ballads or had an under current of sly humour that was lost in the controversy. The band pre and post Andy Warhol, pre and post John Cale, could not have been more different. And while the earlier epics such as Heroin and Venus in Furs gain the most plaudits they have dated rather badly, sounding immature and rather camp these days. Also the VU may have influenced many bands but they have also influenced many rather terrible bands and movements. Shoe Gaze and Goth just two genres that worship the VU while completely missing the soul and drive of the originals. Lou and the VU felt like a band that you were obsessed with between 15 - 22, fell out of love with as you discovered a world beyond pale ale and cigarettes behind the bike shed, and then come back to as, with life experience, you saw all the good things about their music you missed the first time round, the warmth, humour and passion of the playing and lyrics and the unexpected joy in Reed's voice.
Sadly you could almost hear this joy drain away after the commercial failure and break up of the VU. His first two solo records contained bright moments and include some of his best, and best recorded, singing. But the stardom he had so craved did not seem to sit well with Reed. With out the anarchic but soulful playing of the VU and the calming down to earth personalities of Mo Tucker and Sterling Morrison, Reed descended into an abyss of hard drugs, big haired floral shirted session player and a series of increasingly depressing albums. His voice became a harsh dry rattle and at many concerts he seemed almost to mock the simple beauty of his earlier music. However something interesting happened. His bitterness and cynicism was perfectly in tune with the rising tide of Punk. The decadence and nihilism of albums such as Sally Can't Dance and the noise rock master work Metal Machine Music found a new generation of fans who took these feelings to the logical conclusion in the rock and roll poetry of Patti Smith and later the sneering anarchy of the Sex Pistols. Suddenly Reed's simple grinding rhythm guitar and monotone vocals became the most influential sounds in rock music, despite the basic ingredients of his style having been set in stone by about 1967.
However Reed was always one to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Just as he defined the era with his Street Hassle album we decided jazz fusion was his music of choice. Jazz mixed with alcoholism and self loathing is always an unhappy mix and for most of the late 70's and early 80's he became an entertaining freak show. There were sparks, for instance his album Growing Up in Public contains some of his greatest lyrics, but the music was a horrible bland mess sounding like Hall and Oates. Then the worst thing that could possibly happen happened. Lou dried out, grew a mullet and started writing songs with titles like "My Red Joystick". God awful yuppie rock with god awful yuppie videos. At least he had the decency to look completely miserable while he was prancing about in rolled up sleeve Armani suits. Even working with punk guitar genius Robert Quine failed to lead to much satisfactory music and all seemed lost.
But like a cockroach after the apocalypse the tide turned and the eternal survivor found himself back in fashion again as yet again musical trends embraced his dark outlook on life. Grunge and Industrial were but two genres that sprang up from seeds planted by earlier Reed epics such as the grinding 17 minute Sister Ray and the splattering guitar noise of Metal Machine Music. He slowly got back on track with preposterous but exciting albums like Ecstasy and The Raven. Even the horrible collaboration with Metallica had some edge to it. At least he had lost the Armani although a modified mullet stayed as his default hair cut for the rest of his life.
All in all an epic life and I think you can do worse for an epitaph than read rock critic Lester Bangs' amusingly confrontational interview with Reed here: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/nov/08/lou-reed-lester-bangs-interview
and his hilarious review of Metal Machine Music here: http://www.rocknroll.net/loureed/articles/mmmbangs.html
For a dip into what made Lou Reed great download these albums: Velvet Underground and Nico (the Banana Album), Velvet Underground - Loaded, Transformer, Berlin, Street Hassle, Metal Machine Music, Ecstasy....Farewell Lou! maningrey
"RIP - To The Rock 'n' Roll Animal " > read the full post
Now Lou Reed has died Keith Richard's is the undisputed holder of the "Rock's Wrinkliest Man" title. But there was more to Reed than his facial creases. Many many years ago he wrote some of rock and roll's most joyous anthems. For a guy with such a curmudgeonly reputation he sure knew how to kick out the jams. Songs such as Sweet Jane, Rock and Roll, Beginning to See the Light, Satellite of Love and White Light/White Heat defined all that was great about rock music before it lost the "roll". Despite the gloomy junkie proto-goth reputation of the Velvet Underground, all dark glasses and pale faces, their music looked back to the best of Little Richard and Chuck Berry capturing the clever/dumb excitement better than any other white band until 70's Rolling Stones. While Reed's more extreme lyrics have gained the most notoriety many of his best tracks were almost straight faced love ballads or had an under current of sly humour that was lost in the controversy. The band pre and post Andy Warhol, pre and post John Cale, could not have been more different. And while the earlier epics such as Heroin and Venus in Furs gain the most plaudits they have dated rather badly, sounding immature and rather camp these days. Also the VU may have influenced many bands but they have also influenced many rather terrible bands and movements. Shoe Gaze and Goth just two genres that worship the VU while completely missing the soul and drive of the originals. Lou and the VU felt like a band that you were obsessed with between 15 - 22, fell out of love with as you discovered a world beyond pale ale and cigarettes behind the bike shed, and then come back to as, with life experience, you saw all the good things about their music you missed the first time round, the warmth, humour and passion of the playing and lyrics and the unexpected joy in Reed's voice.
Sadly you could almost hear this joy drain away after the commercial failure and break up of the VU. His first two solo records contained bright moments and include some of his best, and best recorded, singing. But the stardom he had so craved did not seem to sit well with Reed. With out the anarchic but soulful playing of the VU and the calming down to earth personalities of Mo Tucker and Sterling Morrison, Reed descended into an abyss of hard drugs, big haired floral shirted session player and a series of increasingly depressing albums. His voice became a harsh dry rattle and at many concerts he seemed almost to mock the simple beauty of his earlier music. However something interesting happened. His bitterness and cynicism was perfectly in tune with the rising tide of Punk. The decadence and nihilism of albums such as Sally Can't Dance and the noise rock master work Metal Machine Music found a new generation of fans who took these feelings to the logical conclusion in the rock and roll poetry of Patti Smith and later the sneering anarchy of the Sex Pistols. Suddenly Reed's simple grinding rhythm guitar and monotone vocals became the most influential sounds in rock music, despite the basic ingredients of his style having been set in stone by about 1967.
However Reed was always one to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Just as he defined the era with his Street Hassle album we decided jazz fusion was his music of choice. Jazz mixed with alcoholism and self loathing is always an unhappy mix and for most of the late 70's and early 80's he became an entertaining freak show. There were sparks, for instance his album Growing Up in Public contains some of his greatest lyrics, but the music was a horrible bland mess sounding like Hall and Oates. Then the worst thing that could possibly happen happened. Lou dried out, grew a mullet and started writing songs with titles like "My Red Joystick". God awful yuppie rock with god awful yuppie videos. At least he had the decency to look completely miserable while he was prancing about in rolled up sleeve Armani suits. Even working with punk guitar genius Robert Quine failed to lead to much satisfactory music and all seemed lost.
But like a cockroach after the apocalypse the tide turned and the eternal survivor found himself back in fashion again as yet again musical trends embraced his dark outlook on life. Grunge and Industrial were but two genres that sprang up from seeds planted by earlier Reed epics such as the grinding 17 minute Sister Ray and the splattering guitar noise of Metal Machine Music. He slowly got back on track with preposterous but exciting albums like Ecstasy and The Raven. Even the horrible collaboration with Metallica had some edge to it. At least he had lost the Armani although a modified mullet stayed as his default hair cut for the rest of his life.
All in all an epic life and I think you can do worse for an epitaph than read rock critic Lester Bangs' amusingly confrontational interview with Reed here: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/nov/08/lou-reed-lester-bangs-interview
and his hilarious review of Metal Machine Music here: http://www.rocknroll.net/loureed/articles/mmmbangs.html
For a dip into what made Lou Reed great download these albums: Velvet Underground and Nico (the Banana Album), Velvet Underground - Loaded, Transformer, Berlin, Street Hassle, Metal Machine Music, Ecstasy....Farewell Lou! maningrey
"RIP - To The Rock 'n' Roll Animal " > read the full post
Thursday 17 October 2013
Free plug ins! The AJ picks
When it comes to free plug ins, you can go into a download frenzy. It is as if someone shouted "FREE BEER!!!", you are then left with a pile of plug ins to dig through with little patience to find anything that actually works well enough to become a "go to" tool.
Recently I have tried to purge my mac book of the hundreds that I never use. This is when I stumbled upon two great plug ins from Klanghelm. They make several plug ins that are extremely affordable and probably worth picking up, but it is the two free ones on the website that I love...read on...
The DC1A (Compressor)
http://www.klanghelm.com/DC1A.html
How can you go wrong with a two knob compressor. This could not be more simple to use. It is a combination of Opto and Fet designs that just gives you great punch. The idea here is an input knob and output knob. Great for a drum bus, parallel punch, or individual drums.
IVGI (Saturation and Distortion)
http://www.klanghelm.com/IVGI.html
This one is a little less simple, but give you good flexibility. The great thing is that every one is making a saturation plug in, in order to emulate that sound of running your mixes through classic consoles. Honestly this one should not be free. This is just smart, it gives lots of control for only 4 knobs, and even has modelled cross talk for those stereo tracks. If you don't have a saturation plug in to use on your drum bus to control the drums, I would expect to see this one.
I am currently working on a new EP for Marvin Live and find myself reaching for these tools over some of the plug ins I have paid for in the past. They are available from the Klanghelm website on a free download in AU, and RTAS. I am hoping to see 64 bit AAX soon.
You can check out some of the mixes I have done for Marvin Live at his website below. His new EP featuring these plug ins is called Butterflies and Goldfish and will drop this year!
http://www.marvinlive.com/
Enjoy!
Aaron at LSS
"Free plug ins! The AJ picks" > read the full post
Recently I have tried to purge my mac book of the hundreds that I never use. This is when I stumbled upon two great plug ins from Klanghelm. They make several plug ins that are extremely affordable and probably worth picking up, but it is the two free ones on the website that I love...read on...
The DC1A (Compressor)
http://www.klanghelm.com/DC1A.html
How can you go wrong with a two knob compressor. This could not be more simple to use. It is a combination of Opto and Fet designs that just gives you great punch. The idea here is an input knob and output knob. Great for a drum bus, parallel punch, or individual drums.
IVGI (Saturation and Distortion)
http://www.klanghelm.com/IVGI.html
This one is a little less simple, but give you good flexibility. The great thing is that every one is making a saturation plug in, in order to emulate that sound of running your mixes through classic consoles. Honestly this one should not be free. This is just smart, it gives lots of control for only 4 knobs, and even has modelled cross talk for those stereo tracks. If you don't have a saturation plug in to use on your drum bus to control the drums, I would expect to see this one.
I am currently working on a new EP for Marvin Live and find myself reaching for these tools over some of the plug ins I have paid for in the past. They are available from the Klanghelm website on a free download in AU, and RTAS. I am hoping to see 64 bit AAX soon.
You can check out some of the mixes I have done for Marvin Live at his website below. His new EP featuring these plug ins is called Butterflies and Goldfish and will drop this year!
http://www.marvinlive.com/
Enjoy!
Aaron at LSS
"Free plug ins! The AJ picks" > read the full post
Friday 11 October 2013
My favourite albums of the last 10 years or so..
As the school manager I get deluged in new music, mainly recommendations from students. Also as part of my job I have to try and stay up to date with what our students are listening to! Here is a selection of albums I have found myself returning to again and again. It is rather frightening that some albums I tend to think of as "recent" are often 20 year old, so I have tried to keep it within the last 5-10 years or so. Mainly electronic music as frankly I find most rock or indie music these days a bore. However this list is by no means definitive, just personal picks, so please feel free to educate me to your favourite albums of recent times whatever the genre in the comments section.
2562 - Aerial
My all time favourite dubstep album. While a lot of Dubstep has aged rather badly, either intentionally raw to the point of unlistenability (Digital Mystikz, sorry I will get stick for this!) or so techy as it disappear in a cloud of automated reverb (Scuba), Aerial strikes the perfect balance between the icy modern digital sheen and the warm groove of bass heavy dub. While not losing the urban dread that made Dubstep so edgy it has a warm fuzzy glow that makes it enveloping rather than alienating. As a miserable old git who likes King Tubby and Lee Perry I found this album to be an excellent bridge into the new sounds of modern dub, a perfect blend of retro and modern. More importantly it keeps it simple, crisp and funky, unlike a lot of Dubstep this actually skanks!
Neosignal - Raum Und Zeit
I have always loved Phace and Misanthrop so I was excited to hear their latest project Neosignal. Looking to branch out from their dark Drum and Bass into both Dubstep and pop their debut album throws "Numbers" era Kraftwerk, Noisia style monster beats with dashes of Daft Punk in an industrial teutonic blender. Everything is over the top, from the mysterious title of the album (Space and Time in German) to the grinding fuzzy bass riffs that tear through every track. Each song could perfectly compliment Alan Partridge's infamous leather posing pouch lap dance in "I'm Alan Partridge". If you like balls out electro then this album is for you.
Barker and Baumecker - Transsektoral
Moody German techno is as distinctive in it's way as the pioneering sounds of Detroit. Over the years it has developed into a diamond hard music bringing together a peculiarly German love of Dub Reggae with a need to whir and clank like a Audi factory. Much like Audi's all conquering Le Mans sports cars everything here is clean, precise and beautifully propulsive.
Instra:mental - Resolution 653
Being a huge fan of original acid house and later abusers of the 303 such as Richie Hawtin and Luke Vibert I was turned onto this album as soon as I saw the song title "Aggro Acid"! I'm a sucker for squelching sounds so I was instantly sold. The whole album moves beyond drum and bass into the shadowy but accessible sounds of the Post Dubstep/Future Soul touted by labels such as Nonplus, Autonomic and Exit Records. After many of the revolutionary strides made in alternative ways to compose and produce music during the 80s and 90s, the 00s now seem to be an era where the basic ingredients have been set and music is now about recontextualizing and refining. This album is like all your favourite acid house records squashed into a glittering new robot body like the liquid metal, shapeshifting T-1000 from Terminator 2.
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
I like this album because it is the musical equivalent of Bret Easton Ellis's books, specifically his nihilistic debut novel Less That Zero. Eschewing the usual Cristal and bling blather of much contemporary RnB, Ocean's lyrics give a bleak portrayal of bored stoned teens and end of their tether strippers and junkies and makes me think of some of Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield's pained socially conscious funk of the 70's. Tied to weird spacey productions that combine 80's synth funk with the jazzy darkness of Sly Stone, Ocean spins sweet melodies that twist and turn in unexpected ways. It feels like a step on from the more street and rap influenced Neo Soul movement of D'Angelo and Erykah Badu, but while that movement consciously aped 70's instrumental sounds this takes the same hard messages and attaches them to sounds that are startlingly fresh and modern.
LV - Routes
A strange mixture of UK Garage, Funky and Dubstep this collaboration between LV and Joshua Idehen keeps things effortlessly foot taping while adding disorienting synth effects to produce a set of songs that sound like every 5AM post club night bus journey from hell you have ever experienced! Again it is hard to put a finger on what makes it work but Idehen's sometimes humorous sometimes pensive lyrics riding over beats that sound like a potted history of recent UK urban music just hits the mark. LV's next album on Hyperdub featuring three three South African rappers is equally good.
Consequence - Live for Never
Another link in the Autonomic mafia's chain. This album just snuck up on me..in a dark alley with a chain! I wanted to hate it as the whole vibe is a bit portentous and twiddly. The name of the artist and song titles, everything seemed a bit arty for my tastes. However the whole album projects the attractive force of a dying star, it comes on your playlist and you grudgingly give it a listen and soon you are sucked into it's murky depths. A huge sense of space pervades it's turbid surfaces, once again it is hard to tie any of the songs to a specific genre. Elements of Photek's more housey tunes, a dash of Dubstep and elements of hardcore Moog prog rockers like Tangerine Dream and Jean Michel Jarre make up this unique meditative work.
Kryptic Minds and Leon Switch - Lost All Faith
Drum and Bass veterans who really kicked out the jams with this album. One of the few Drum and Bass albums that manages to be "intelligent" without boring the pants of you, it realises that "jazzy" does not mean just chucking a few Fender Rhodes 7th chords about and sampling Weather Report drum breaks. One of the few Drum and Bass albums that took up the challenge of Dubstep while still keeping all the things we loved about Drum and Bass in the first place. So much modern DnB (aka Hospital) has become rigid hands in the air neo soul music, this album keeps the darkness of Dub Reggae, the space of Dubstep, and the jagged synths of classic Neuro Funk and strings them out over rattling beats worthy of Paradox to create a classic album.
Karriem Riggins - Alone Together
Riggins is a well known beat maker and session museum for the likes of Common and Slum Village. While his debut album is certainly heavily influenced by J Dilla it has an off kilter jazzy flow to it that is all his own. I could also have gone for Damu the Fudgemunk's equally excellent "How it Should Sound" as one of the best beats albums of recent times, but while that LP stays firmly within the parameters of beat making established by golden age legends like Pete Rock, Riggins has a broader vision. Combining jazz, unusual sample sources and an odd ball but head bobbing sense of rhythm this 34 track album is a tapestry you can go back to again and again and hear something different.
Jam City - Classical Curves
A bit of a random one here, possibly just a flavour of the month that I will tire of soon. But for now this albums sounds like it could be the future, but a very 80's mullety future. A clattering fusion of old school rap beats, icy rave synths and a dash of Prince at his most synthetic. Many of the songs sound like music to a film that has yet to be made. However once it is made the film will almost certainly include high speed car chases through futuristic cities, lots of neon, mutant zombies, killer robots and swaggering through it all an eye patched anti hero in the mould of Snake Plissken from the sci-fi classic Escape from New York.
Juju and Jordash - Techno Primitivism
I got into this album recently. I was digging about for some good techno but only finding boring Detroit rip offs or rather hand baggy party tunes. This album came to the rescue with weird slightly frightening textures making me think of some of Surgeon's work. Fingers Inc hollow bass lines, creepy late night synths and mystical Augustus Pablo melodica flourishes meet more far reaching influences like industrial pioneers Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle, all mashed into a heady bitches brew.
Kode9 and the Spaceape - Memories of the Future
The ultimate masterclass in the dark art of the infamous "brown sound" this dank dirty album positively quakes with malice and sub-bass frequencies. Kode9's excellent Hyperdub label has released some of the best dubstep music but also a lot of boring rubbish. This album however pretty much sums up what Dubstep was before it went overground. A mighty fusion of The Spaceape's Linton Kwesi Johnsonesque ramblings and Kode9's claustrophobic textures it is amazing how Spaceapes growling patios blends sonically with the bass lines. Through the despairing views on modern society a line can be drawn back to previous urban landmarks such as Massive Attack's Blue Lines and Ghost Town by the Specials, accept this is a hell of a lot more gloomy and less commercial, and all the better for it!
Samiyam - Sam Baker's Album
Former LSS tutor Ben Wood used to react like a dog at a fireworks show whenever he heard Samiyam's berserk unquantized beats! They would drive him insane but in the right mood there is simply no one like Samiyam! After a couple of excellent EPs he burst out with an instant classic debut album. Like a demon child of J Dilla and Dabrye his music completely refines what "rap" or "beats" means, let alone what is now considered pop music. If there is a better example of how avant garde ideas from the 50's and 60's have permeated mainstream (albeit niche) music I'd like to hear it. Fragmentary ideas fly by and listening to an individual track is rather like looking at an individual square of a mosaic. Soon all music will sound like this.
I hope you find something good in the list! Maningrey
"My favourite albums of the last 10 years or so.." > read the full post
2562 - Aerial
My all time favourite dubstep album. While a lot of Dubstep has aged rather badly, either intentionally raw to the point of unlistenability (Digital Mystikz, sorry I will get stick for this!) or so techy as it disappear in a cloud of automated reverb (Scuba), Aerial strikes the perfect balance between the icy modern digital sheen and the warm groove of bass heavy dub. While not losing the urban dread that made Dubstep so edgy it has a warm fuzzy glow that makes it enveloping rather than alienating. As a miserable old git who likes King Tubby and Lee Perry I found this album to be an excellent bridge into the new sounds of modern dub, a perfect blend of retro and modern. More importantly it keeps it simple, crisp and funky, unlike a lot of Dubstep this actually skanks!
Neosignal - Raum Und Zeit
I have always loved Phace and Misanthrop so I was excited to hear their latest project Neosignal. Looking to branch out from their dark Drum and Bass into both Dubstep and pop their debut album throws "Numbers" era Kraftwerk, Noisia style monster beats with dashes of Daft Punk in an industrial teutonic blender. Everything is over the top, from the mysterious title of the album (Space and Time in German) to the grinding fuzzy bass riffs that tear through every track. Each song could perfectly compliment Alan Partridge's infamous leather posing pouch lap dance in "I'm Alan Partridge". If you like balls out electro then this album is for you.
Barker and Baumecker - Transsektoral
Moody German techno is as distinctive in it's way as the pioneering sounds of Detroit. Over the years it has developed into a diamond hard music bringing together a peculiarly German love of Dub Reggae with a need to whir and clank like a Audi factory. Much like Audi's all conquering Le Mans sports cars everything here is clean, precise and beautifully propulsive.
Instra:mental - Resolution 653
Being a huge fan of original acid house and later abusers of the 303 such as Richie Hawtin and Luke Vibert I was turned onto this album as soon as I saw the song title "Aggro Acid"! I'm a sucker for squelching sounds so I was instantly sold. The whole album moves beyond drum and bass into the shadowy but accessible sounds of the Post Dubstep/Future Soul touted by labels such as Nonplus, Autonomic and Exit Records. After many of the revolutionary strides made in alternative ways to compose and produce music during the 80s and 90s, the 00s now seem to be an era where the basic ingredients have been set and music is now about recontextualizing and refining. This album is like all your favourite acid house records squashed into a glittering new robot body like the liquid metal, shapeshifting T-1000 from Terminator 2.
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
I like this album because it is the musical equivalent of Bret Easton Ellis's books, specifically his nihilistic debut novel Less That Zero. Eschewing the usual Cristal and bling blather of much contemporary RnB, Ocean's lyrics give a bleak portrayal of bored stoned teens and end of their tether strippers and junkies and makes me think of some of Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield's pained socially conscious funk of the 70's. Tied to weird spacey productions that combine 80's synth funk with the jazzy darkness of Sly Stone, Ocean spins sweet melodies that twist and turn in unexpected ways. It feels like a step on from the more street and rap influenced Neo Soul movement of D'Angelo and Erykah Badu, but while that movement consciously aped 70's instrumental sounds this takes the same hard messages and attaches them to sounds that are startlingly fresh and modern.
LV - Routes
A strange mixture of UK Garage, Funky and Dubstep this collaboration between LV and Joshua Idehen keeps things effortlessly foot taping while adding disorienting synth effects to produce a set of songs that sound like every 5AM post club night bus journey from hell you have ever experienced! Again it is hard to put a finger on what makes it work but Idehen's sometimes humorous sometimes pensive lyrics riding over beats that sound like a potted history of recent UK urban music just hits the mark. LV's next album on Hyperdub featuring three three South African rappers is equally good.
Consequence - Live for Never
Another link in the Autonomic mafia's chain. This album just snuck up on me..in a dark alley with a chain! I wanted to hate it as the whole vibe is a bit portentous and twiddly. The name of the artist and song titles, everything seemed a bit arty for my tastes. However the whole album projects the attractive force of a dying star, it comes on your playlist and you grudgingly give it a listen and soon you are sucked into it's murky depths. A huge sense of space pervades it's turbid surfaces, once again it is hard to tie any of the songs to a specific genre. Elements of Photek's more housey tunes, a dash of Dubstep and elements of hardcore Moog prog rockers like Tangerine Dream and Jean Michel Jarre make up this unique meditative work.
Kryptic Minds and Leon Switch - Lost All Faith
Drum and Bass veterans who really kicked out the jams with this album. One of the few Drum and Bass albums that manages to be "intelligent" without boring the pants of you, it realises that "jazzy" does not mean just chucking a few Fender Rhodes 7th chords about and sampling Weather Report drum breaks. One of the few Drum and Bass albums that took up the challenge of Dubstep while still keeping all the things we loved about Drum and Bass in the first place. So much modern DnB (aka Hospital) has become rigid hands in the air neo soul music, this album keeps the darkness of Dub Reggae, the space of Dubstep, and the jagged synths of classic Neuro Funk and strings them out over rattling beats worthy of Paradox to create a classic album.
Karriem Riggins - Alone Together
Riggins is a well known beat maker and session museum for the likes of Common and Slum Village. While his debut album is certainly heavily influenced by J Dilla it has an off kilter jazzy flow to it that is all his own. I could also have gone for Damu the Fudgemunk's equally excellent "How it Should Sound" as one of the best beats albums of recent times, but while that LP stays firmly within the parameters of beat making established by golden age legends like Pete Rock, Riggins has a broader vision. Combining jazz, unusual sample sources and an odd ball but head bobbing sense of rhythm this 34 track album is a tapestry you can go back to again and again and hear something different.
Jam City - Classical Curves
A bit of a random one here, possibly just a flavour of the month that I will tire of soon. But for now this albums sounds like it could be the future, but a very 80's mullety future. A clattering fusion of old school rap beats, icy rave synths and a dash of Prince at his most synthetic. Many of the songs sound like music to a film that has yet to be made. However once it is made the film will almost certainly include high speed car chases through futuristic cities, lots of neon, mutant zombies, killer robots and swaggering through it all an eye patched anti hero in the mould of Snake Plissken from the sci-fi classic Escape from New York.
Juju and Jordash - Techno Primitivism
I got into this album recently. I was digging about for some good techno but only finding boring Detroit rip offs or rather hand baggy party tunes. This album came to the rescue with weird slightly frightening textures making me think of some of Surgeon's work. Fingers Inc hollow bass lines, creepy late night synths and mystical Augustus Pablo melodica flourishes meet more far reaching influences like industrial pioneers Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle, all mashed into a heady bitches brew.
Kode9 and the Spaceape - Memories of the Future
The ultimate masterclass in the dark art of the infamous "brown sound" this dank dirty album positively quakes with malice and sub-bass frequencies. Kode9's excellent Hyperdub label has released some of the best dubstep music but also a lot of boring rubbish. This album however pretty much sums up what Dubstep was before it went overground. A mighty fusion of The Spaceape's Linton Kwesi Johnsonesque ramblings and Kode9's claustrophobic textures it is amazing how Spaceapes growling patios blends sonically with the bass lines. Through the despairing views on modern society a line can be drawn back to previous urban landmarks such as Massive Attack's Blue Lines and Ghost Town by the Specials, accept this is a hell of a lot more gloomy and less commercial, and all the better for it!
Samiyam - Sam Baker's Album
Former LSS tutor Ben Wood used to react like a dog at a fireworks show whenever he heard Samiyam's berserk unquantized beats! They would drive him insane but in the right mood there is simply no one like Samiyam! After a couple of excellent EPs he burst out with an instant classic debut album. Like a demon child of J Dilla and Dabrye his music completely refines what "rap" or "beats" means, let alone what is now considered pop music. If there is a better example of how avant garde ideas from the 50's and 60's have permeated mainstream (albeit niche) music I'd like to hear it. Fragmentary ideas fly by and listening to an individual track is rather like looking at an individual square of a mosaic. Soon all music will sound like this.
I hope you find something good in the list! Maningrey
"My favourite albums of the last 10 years or so.." > read the full post
Tuesday 14 May 2013
Got wood?
Maybe the days are over for those that have a "black crack" habit. Seems as though someone has devised a technique to cut records to wood instead of vinyl and/or acetate.
Ignoring the newspaper the report is filed from, it still makes for an interesting read and brings a new angle to things. Best of all you can apparently cut your own records....
Although I wouldn't suggest using an MP3 as your "master" to cut from, I'm not sure if this is a limitation of the code that was developed to perform the process....
Hopefully this might lead to some record labels doing limited runs of certain tunes on wood, which I think is a really cool concept. As a record collector myself, I'm a sucker for anything that's remotely limited or special, and would love to own a version of a song from one of my favorite labels cut to wood.
Find out how to cut your own records to wood
Here's the actual site of the creator and how to cut your own records
"Got wood?" > read the full post
Ignoring the newspaper the report is filed from, it still makes for an interesting read and brings a new angle to things. Best of all you can apparently cut your own records....
Although I wouldn't suggest using an MP3 as your "master" to cut from, I'm not sure if this is a limitation of the code that was developed to perform the process....
Hopefully this might lead to some record labels doing limited runs of certain tunes on wood, which I think is a really cool concept. As a record collector myself, I'm a sucker for anything that's remotely limited or special, and would love to own a version of a song from one of my favorite labels cut to wood.
Find out how to cut your own records to wood
Here's the actual site of the creator and how to cut your own records
"Got wood?" > read the full post
Monday 29 April 2013
Time & Space EZDrummer Lite - Absolutely Free
I've just tried this out myself and the order went through fine, just make sure to enter the discount code "EZDL100" when purchasing and all shall be fine. Waiting for my download to be sent to me, but as far as I can tell you shouldn't have a problem at all.
Happy drumming!
EZDrummer Lite - For FREE!
"Time & Space EZDrummer Lite - Absolutely Free" > read the full post
Monday 22 April 2013
Sega Synthesis
The original games machine may be a little bit before a few of our younger students time, but all that aside this is a pretty sweet idea for a synth!
"Sega Synthesis " > read the full post
"Sega Synthesis " > read the full post
Monday 1 April 2013
Sound City
Just a short to the point post here. If you have any interest in music (which I imagine you would being on this blog) just go check out the film "Sound City."
Nothing much else can really be said, just thank me later :)
SOUND CITY.
"Sound City" > read the full post
Nothing much else can really be said, just thank me later :)
SOUND CITY.
"Sound City" > read the full post
Thursday 21 March 2013
Great Promotional Video
This seems like a great solution to many live mixing engineer's worries, and if you've done it yourself you'll understand why. The ability to roam around the crowd and see what it sounds like to the people that matter why adjusting any parameter on the desk - what a liberty!
"Great Promotional Video" > read the full post
In no way are we endorsed by the company in question, but it sure is a great promotional video none the less.
"Great Promotional Video" > read the full post
Wednesday 13 March 2013
What is this I don't even...
Water + Sound?
Nothing more to be said than to watch this video and try and persuade one of the lectures that doing this in the live room of studio 2 is a great idea....
"What is this I don't even..." > read the full post
"What is this I don't even..." > read the full post
Tuesday 22 January 2013
Won't catch me riding dirty....
SO! It's been a while since I posted. And I guess as part of some new years resolution I said I'd make an effort to submit some blog posts.
It just so happens I've come across a great solution for Logic Pro 9 users who have experienced the "spinning beach ball of death" one too many times.....
So I'd heard about this before, but in all honesty I've not had to use or panic to try and find it as Logic has been pretty stable for about the last year or so on my machine. I've had the occasional crashed project. But nothing like a few years ago where some projects would end up being called "Idea 1 (crashed) (crashed) (crashed) (crashed) (crashed).logic"
Anyway, I digress.
What this is and what it is useful for is when you're performing a task in Logic and you're greeted with the spinning beach ball of doom. Usually your only solution to this is 'force quit' the application and just hope your CMD+S habit has saved you only a small bit of work to recover manually.
I'm not going to bother to try and explain the technicalities behind it, it's best to just watch the video as the guy walks you through pretty well. But essentially from what I understand is that you force logic to crash and therefore save a (crashed) version of the project at the hang up point.
I tried this out today as it finally happened to me and it worked a charm. He says it will work about every 9/10 times. But I'm fine with those odds!
"Won't catch me riding dirty.... " > read the full post
So I'd heard about this before, but in all honesty I've not had to use or panic to try and find it as Logic has been pretty stable for about the last year or so on my machine. I've had the occasional crashed project. But nothing like a few years ago where some projects would end up being called "Idea 1 (crashed) (crashed) (crashed) (crashed) (crashed).logic"
Anyway, I digress.
What this is and what it is useful for is when you're performing a task in Logic and you're greeted with the spinning beach ball of doom. Usually your only solution to this is 'force quit' the application and just hope your CMD+S habit has saved you only a small bit of work to recover manually.
I'm not going to bother to try and explain the technicalities behind it, it's best to just watch the video as the guy walks you through pretty well. But essentially from what I understand is that you force logic to crash and therefore save a (crashed) version of the project at the hang up point.
I tried this out today as it finally happened to me and it worked a charm. He says it will work about every 9/10 times. But I'm fine with those odds!
"Won't catch me riding dirty.... " > read the full post
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