solipsistic NATION No. 100: 100
July 25, 2008 | 2 Comments
These days I get all my news from the internet. I follow nearly a hundred blogs on various topics that fascinate. Instead of watching television I watch YouTube videos of video podcasts. And I never listen to the radio. I listen to podcasts. Nearly all the media I consume don’t come down from on high from multi-billion dollars corporations but folks just like you and me.
solipsistic NATION is part of the new media movement and I thought we’d spend this week’s show exploring how people like yourself are participating and changing the way media works, which in turn changes the way we see ourselves, our community and our world.
Half my life I’ve been a DJ at college and community radio stations, pirate and internet radio stations, and, for nearly four years I’ve been a podcaster.
I’ve always been evangelical about being a DJ. I constantly encourage people to be a DJ and I’m always amazed how many people turn down the opportunity to get on the mic and be heard. In fact, I’m amazed everyone isn’t a DJ.
Especially now when it’s so easy. All you need is a computer, a microphone and a place to host your files and, boom!, you’re a podcaster. Granted, there’s some skill involved and spending some extra cash on some decent hardware and software doesn’t hurt but the most important thing is the content. People will forgive most anything if you’ve got something worth hearing.
When I started podcasting I hosted a show called Small World where I’d talk to people from all walks of life from all over the planet. I’ve interviewed everyone from sandwich makers to filmmakers. I started off recording all my interview into a crappy cassette recorder and then transfer it to the computer. Later on I got savvy and ran a microphone directly into my computer and did my interviews on Skype. I made mistakes, sure. The audio sounded pretty bad, too. But as I went a long I learned and improved and had people from all over the world listening to my little show that I recorded in my apartment. I didn’t need to spend countless dollars on a radio station to be heard.
When I launched solipsistic NATION as a podcast I knew it was going to be much more than a show where I would spin music. And I knew I wasn’t going to stick to just one genre of electronic music. There are enough shows that do just that and while they may be good, after you heard two or three shows you’ve pretty much heard all their shows. If that kind of show bores me then I know it’s going to bore you.
But I also wanted to take what I had learned from the Small World and talk to people who were part of the electronic music community, whether they were drum and bass heads or glitch addicts. I wanted to talk to the people who made the music, the people who put out the music and the people who love the music.
I’ve always tried to keep the interviews on solipsistic NATION brief because despite what I just said, the show really is about the music. And it’s a tricky balancing act, trying to keep things interesting with the music but not detracting from the music. I don’t always succeed but looking back on the last 100 shows I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish.
On today’s show I’m going to pretty much just going to play excerpts of interviews from previous shows. from people who are part of the electronic music community. Hey, it’s the 100th show. Indulge me.
- Killfish “Scape From Pilar (Excerpt)”
- Richard Metzger “Disinfo.Con, Opening Remarks”
- Interview with Pete Cooper, host of bleepshow (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 95: Bleep! - Interview with Snowy, host of Electronicast (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 74: Electronicast - Interview with Mikel OD, host of Most People Are DJs (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 59: Synthpop - Interview with Anji Bee, host of the Chillcast (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 76: Lovespirals - Mr Flash “Disco Dynamite”
- Interview with Travis Nobles, host of hiddenplace music (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 79: HiddenPlace Music, Part 1 - Interview with Pietro Da Sacco, managing editor of Igloo Magazine (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 90: Left of Dissonance - Niteffect “Lights Off (Excerpt)”
- Interview with Vivian Host, editor of XLR8R Magazine (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 51: Accelerate - OP11 “Naissance (Excerpt)”
- Interview with Stephen Page, station manager of KYOURadio (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 87: Glitterdämmerung - Robberriff “Lifebreath (Excerpt)”
- Interview with Brian, founder of the Oscillation Electronic Music Festival (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 58: Oscillation - Interview with J. Anthony Allen, Director of Programming of the Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 78: Spark - Omid “Beat From My Mouth (Excerpt)”
- Interview with Simon Carless of Monotonik (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 66: NetLabels - Interview with Nicolas Chevreux of Ad Noiseam (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 81: Ad Noiseam - Interview with Evan Marc of Native State Records (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 77: Native State Records - Interview with Sunny of Ultimae Records (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 61: Ultimae Records - Detalles “Cilantro (Excerpt)”
- Interview with Cheb i Sabbah (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 56: Cheb i Sabbah - Interview with Martin Rev and Alan Vega of Suicide (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 87: Glitterdämmerung - Interview with Amon Tobin (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 82: Amon Tobin - Sebastian “Greel (Excerpt)”
- Interview with Robert Rich (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 50: Robert Rich, Live - Interview with Hol Baumann (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 67: Hol Baumann, Live - Interview with Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 88: Meat Beat Manifesto, Live - DJ Internet & Kid Kool A.K.A. Pella “Hit (Excerpt)”
- Interviews from the Dubstep documentary (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 83: Dubsonic - Interview with MC Frontalot (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No.4: Nerdcore - Interview with Johan Kotlinski (Excerpt)
solipsistic NATION No. 8: Chiptunes - Suhov “Moonhill”
Download episode.
1:06:51 | 61.04 MB
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solipsistic NATION No. 99: Terrorist Fist Jab
July 18, 2008 | 2 Comments
I try not too talk too much on solipsistic NATION because I’ve only got an hour to cram as much music and interviews into each edition of the show. I don’t want to waste your time with my banter. Besides, anything I can’t fit in the show I can always say in the show notes.
We’re just months away from a presidential election here in the U.S. and after the longest political campaign in our country’s history things are really heating up. It’s been said that politics are a full contact sport and this campaign has been particularly ugly and for good reason: one of the former candidates, Hillary Clinton, is a woman and Barack Obama, is a black man. Despite the changing face of America our country has yet to fully come to terms with the much needed equality of women and race in our nation. Simply by being in the campaign Clinton and Obama has forced America to think about the issues of sex and race.
While that is a good thing it also means that a lot of people can express their bigotry. Sometimes it came across in an obscure manner such as when pundits observed Clinton’s tactics as being a form of “muscular” politics (none of the other male candidates politics were identified as “muscular”). Sometimes it was more egregious. For example, there were many times when Clinto was told that her place was in the kitchen, often by other women.
The campaign has narrowed down to McCain and Obama so now America’s discomfort with the possibility of having a black man as a president has become more pronounced. Recently there were a batch of pins that read “If Obama is President…will we still call it The White House?” When Obama gently banged fists with his wife, Michelle, a FOXNews anchor asked if the fist-bump might actually be “a terrorist fist jab.” It goes on and on.
When I’m optimistic I see all this as a good thing because it means my country is addressing it’s collective fears and hopefully we can move on. If Obama is elected president racism will still exist in our country but it’s a step in the right direction. Even if Obama is not elected president it still is a victory. The U.S. is finally moving past an antiquated mindset. When I’m not so optimistic I get really pissed off. Can we please move into the fucking 21st century. But rather than rant about all this on solipsistic NATION I figure it would be more productive and just play some music that kicks ass and today’s show does just that. Turn it up and get your rage on!
Photo Credit: Chad Davis
- The Prodigy “Smack My Bitch Up”
- DJ Danger Mouse “99 Problems”
- Rob Sonic “Brand New Vandals”
- Aesop Rock Feat. Rob Sonic “Dark Heart News”
- Dark Machines “Rituals”
- Klaxons “Interzone To Golden Skans So Me (Remix)”
- Neon Stereo vs Marcie “F*ck Me Baby” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Cornelius “Gum” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Justice “Stress”
- Time Promises Power “Rope of Gloves” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Rabbit Junk “Vote Bolshevik Lite”
- CTRLer “Flesh” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Bong-Ra “Suicide Speed Machine Girl”
- Sabrepulse “Dot Matrix Hero”
- Raüberhöhle “My Heart Bleeps Noisy Beeps”
Download episode.
1:00:14 | 55.25 MB
solipsistic NATION No. 98: 12k
July 11, 2008 | 5 Comments
It amazes me just how many music labels are out there that are putting out some of the most phenomenal music I’ve ever heard. What’s wonderful about electronic music is that these labels can focus on a specific genre and mine the very best music that that genre has to offer. Ultimae Records, for example, focuses and ambient/trance music while Native State Records specializes in the glitchier and dubbier stuff.Today on solipsistic NATION we’re joined by Taylor Deupree, the founder of the 12k music label.
12k is an independent boutique label that showcases artists who specialize in experimental electronic music. To date, 12k has released over 50 CDs since the label’s inception in 1997 and 40 CDs on LINE. Due to the caliber of music Taylor offers 12k has become one of the most respected experimental electronic labels in the world. Each album from 12k is a special and made even more unique by Taylor’s insistence that he only releases 1000 copies of each CD.
I think that 12k puts out some of the most beautiful electronic music I’ve ever heard. Since most of the albums on 12k are quiet things I’ve come to enjoy how the sounds of the environment I’m in when I listen to 12k releases become part of the music while the music colors my perceptions of the environment I’m in. It’s a sublime experience. See if that happens to you when you listen to this week’s show.
- Savvas Ysatis + Taylor Deupree “Under Your Breath”
- Interview with Taylor Deupree of 12k
- Solo Andata - Seaworthy - Taylor Deupree “Solo Andata”
- Interview with Taylor Deupree of 12k
- Giuseppe Ielasi “01″
- Sawako “Wind Shower Particle”
- William Basinski + Richard Chartier “untitled 2″
- Interview with Taylor Deupree of 12k
- Richard Chartier “Archival1992″
Download episode.
1:06:36 | 61.04 MB
solipsistic NATION No. 97: Bubblegone and Verzerren, Live
July 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment
For those of you who live in the U.S., Happy 4th of July!
Today is a special day for me because July 4th of 2004 is when solipsistic NATION was first broadcast on Free Radio San Diego (FRSD). Back then, studio of FRSD was located in a toolshed. We had an air conditioner but that only brought down the temperature down a few degrees and I had to turn it off whenever I went on the mic for on-air announcements to avoid the air conditioner’s hum.
Another challenge of doing an electronic music show on FRSD was that our station used Ots Labs radio software. Ots Labs has come a long way but when I first began solipsistic NATION their app was great for programing the schedules for shows but lousy for doing the seamless segues you expect from an electronic music show. Despite the software and our air conditioner I managed to put out a decent show each week and built up an audience in San Diego for people who were starved for just such a program.
In addition to solipsistic NATION’s four year anniversary I’ll have released 100 editions of the show as a podcast in three weeks and in September solipsistic NATION will celebrate two years of weekly podcasts. 2008 is a banner year for solipsistic NATION!
This week’s show is special for another reason because I’ve released one show featuring a live performance by an electronic artists for nearly a year. When I began the live segment I thought it would be something that I would do occasionally on the show and never expected that it would become a monthly segment. In the last year I’ve has live sets from the likes of Robert Rich, Hol Baumann and Meat Beat Manifesto and in the next few months you can expect to hear concerts by The Orb, Bass Science and Aes Dana.
To celebrate solipsistic NATION’s four year anniversary we have a live performance from Bubblegone and Verzerren. Play it when the fireworks begin!
One more thing: Travis Nobles of the hidenplace music blog, who I had as a guest DJ on the show back in February, has put out his first mix. Beautiful stuff and you can download it here.
Photo Credit: chromedecay
- Bubblegone vs. Verzerren “Live at the Darkroom (Chicago, IL 2004)”
- Interview with Jason Engling of Bubblegone and Joe Bauer of Verzerren
- Bubblegone “Live at the Dreamland Theater (Ypsilanti, MI 2007)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Interview with Jason Engling of Bubblegone and Joe Bauer of Verzerren
Download episode.
1:07:41 | 62.07 MB