solipsistic NATION No. 114: Lush
October 31, 2008 | Comments Off
Originally I was going to do a Halloween themed show this week but after putting the playlist together I realized that it just sounded cheesy. Now I appreciate a certain amount of cheese in a postmodern ironic way but the mix I had put together was ridiculous. You’ll just have to trust me on this.
I had to put together the show quickly so I was flailing about for ideas for mixes when I decided what playlists I had created for my iPod. I’ve got a couple of smart playlists that contain all the songs in the solipsistic NATION library sorted by year, in current rotation and previously played on the show. I’ve also got a dozen or so playlists grouping songs by genres or labels or themes. One playlist called “Acid Jazz/Trip Hop/Swing/Lounge” had a bunch of dope tracks that I had been accumulating over the last year. All I had to do was pull an hour’s worth of songs for today’s show and bang! Instant show.
Acid Jazz/Trip Hop/Swing/Lounge pretty much sums it up, too.
Mr. Scruff encompasses all those genres and his collaboration with Alice Russell absolutely swings. Paul Malmstrom in the guise of Monkeybacon has got this wonderful 60s retro exotica thing going on in his music and it’s always torture choosing which song to play on solipsistic NATION. And as much as I try and keep things fresh on the show by rarely ever playing more than one track by an artists Suhov and Mothboy have been making their way into my mixes with alarming frequency. They’re that good!
As I’m writing this week’s show notes I’m listening to the mix and it just occurred to me that what would complete the show is a martini. Shaken. Not stirred. Of course.
Photo Credit: ©drjoanne
- Mr. Scruff “Music Takes Me Up Featuring Alice Russell (Radio Edit)”
- Parov Stelar “Wanna Get (Dublex Inc. mix)”
- Robberriff “Stringing Away Revisited”
- Riovolt “Rakki Deshita”
- Ed Solo & Skool Of Thought “Sometimes (Featuring Bukue One & Pimpernel Jones)”
- Monkeybacon “Meatball” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Don Shtone “Drunkable”
- Luxurious “Chilled”
- Suhov “Funny” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Pinker Tones “Beyond Nostalgia”
- CX Kidtronik “Whoopsi Daisy Featuring Ricky Ray”
- Modaji “Bar Blues” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Coleman “No Strings Attached”
- Mothboy “Second Spin R.I.P.”
- Tosca “Chocolate Elvis (Boozoo Bajou Soul Sufferer Version)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
Download episode.
1:00:25 | 55.40 MB
Sponsors: eMusic, Budget Rent A Car
Tags: eMusic, Budget Rent A Car
solipsistic NATION No. 113: Koyaanisqatsi
October 24, 2008 | Comments Off
Sometimes it sure feels like everything is going to hell.
We’re simultaneously dealing with an economic meltdown, water shortages, the rising cost of food, peak oil, global warming, the sixth wave of mass extinction, dead zones in the ocean, islands of trash the size of Manhattan floating in the sea, terrorism, sanctioned torture, increased government surveillance and much more. It makes me reel to think of it!
I don’t think about that stuff all the time. I’d go crazy if I did. This is what goes through my head on the odd day when it’s two in morning and I can’t get to sleep. I take all that stuff seriously but at the same time I’m somewhat cynical. Just last century we were all concerned that the world would end by the atom bomb, then later ICBMs and then overpopulation, killer bees from South America, AIDs, crack, holes in the ozone, etc. Seems like there’s always something to be afraid about but in the end we’re still here and most of that stuff we didn’t have to be afraid about in the first place. But in our society it’s difficult to maintain that kind of insight because we’re constantly bombarded by the media with horrific stories and images.
Bruce Sterling once said that we’re all on the Titanic. The ship is sinking but hey, the music’s great! I put together this week’s show in that spirit. Maybe everything we’re hearing in the news is overblown, maybe we really are at the end of the world, but I got some tunes to kick out the jams!
Photo Credit: ©greenwood100
- Sebastian “Dog”
- Black Light Burns “Forkboy”
- Saul Williams “List of Demands (Reparations)”
- Tricky “Council Estate”
- CX Kidtronik “Council Estate”
- Mothboy “Moth F.M.”
- Mothboy “Given Away”
- Bassnectar “Amorphous Form (Featuring Souleye & E Note)”
- The Bug “Warning (featuring Flowdan)”
- Roots Manuva “Witness (1 Hope)”
- Meat Beat Manifesto “Young Cassius”
- Scorn “The Palomar”
- Enduser “An Apology”
- Burial “Ghost Hardware” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Bass Science “Transmission from Planet Dub”
- OP11 “Feu”
Download episode.
1:02:14 | 57.07 MB
Sponsors: eMusic, Budget Rent A Car
Tags: eMusic, Budget Rent A Car
solipsistic NATION No. 112: Disembodied
October 17, 2008 | Comments Off
Here some useless trivia you didn’t need to know about me.
I use the iTunes-LAME encoder to convert each edition of solipsistic NATION to MP3. I could use the iTunes built-in MP3 encoder but I want to give your ears the best sounding show possible. Compressing a track to MP3 means sacrificing quite a bit of fidelity for the convenience of listening to the show on your computer, iPhone, Zune or whatever you use to listen to tunes. If I’m going to convert music to MP3 then I might as well use the best encoder available. The downside of getting the best sounding MP3 I can that means twirling my thumbs for 25 minutes or so while I encode each podcast to MP3.
So what do I do during those 25 minutes?
I usually catch up with people on Twitter or checking email. Maybe read.
Today I blew the dust off my PlayStation and played Street Fighter Alpha 3 for 30 minutes. Because I haven’t played in so long my super combos were pretty rusty (I play Rolento, by the way) and I overcompensated by mashing the buttons on my controller. By the time this week’s show was converted to a MP3 my left thumb and forearm were throbbing.
Anyway…
This week’s show goes out to Sean, who wants less interviews and more music, and Michael, who is my own personal Ganesh.
Got some cool tunes on today’s show.
Can you believe it?! Ninja Tune’s Hip Hop London imprint, Big Dada, has been putting out great music for over 10 years. Their recently released double CD, Well Deep, Ten Years Of Big Dada Recordings has so much great stuff on it that it was difficult to choose which artists I would feature on this week’s show. More and more music from netlabels have been working their way into solipsistic NATION and this week is no exception. Natalie Walker makes two appearances on this weeks show. Once as a solo artist and once with her new project, Dive Index.
Enjoy the show!
Photo Credit: Liberoliber
- Diplo “Diplo Rhythm”
- Goldfrapp “Train”
- Tiny Stikz “Watching You (Vocal Mix)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Lokua “Coupe Deville” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Suhov “Clear” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- DJ Internet & Kid Kool A.K.A.Pella “Games” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Nobody Presents Blank Blue “All The Shallow Deep”
- Cornelius “Music”
- Dive Index “Between Sky and Sea”
- susumu yokota “My Energy”
- Aunt Jessica “Thin Air”
- Bitstream Dream (featuring Jenna Ferone) “Rising Sun”
- Tricky “Past Mistake”
- Natalie Walker “Quicksand (Thievery Corporation Remix)”
Download episode.
1:05:01 | 59.62 MB
Sponsors: eMusic, Budget Rent A Car
Tags: eMusic, Budget Rent A Car
solipsistic NATION No. 111: PsyBooty Records
October 10, 2008 | Comments Off
I have a love/hate relationship with House and Psytrance.
See, House is kind of like the glam rock of electronic music and Psytrance is the electronic equivalent of prog rock. House, glam rock, Psytrance and prog rock are all over dramatic genres of music. House and glam for its melodrama and Psytrance and prog rock for its pomposity, which I really have to be in the mood to listen to because I usually find that kind of stuff a little overbearing.
PsyBooty Records pulls off the neat trick of combining what I love most about House and PsyTrance.
Continuing with the whole House/glam rock analogy, what I love about those two genres is that they’re incredibly sexy. And what I love in Psytrance and prog rock is their ability to sonically transport you to other realms. PsyBooty Records has the knack of picking artists who craft music that is at once very sensual and psychedelic.
I first found out about PsyBooty Records while listening to their music on the Fake Science podcast and instantly became a fan of the label. I’ve wanted to do a show all about PsyBooty since launching solipsistic NATION and I’m amazed that it’s taken this long to finally get David Justin, the label’s manager, on the show. On the other hand, it’s a perfect example of how many music labels are putting out such great music that it’s taken me this long to have David as a guest on solipsistic NATION.
This week’s show is longer than usual because David gave me two CDs of music he wanted me to play. He knows that solipsistic NATION typically runs an hour, plus or minus a few minutes, and told me to feel free to delete tracks from his mix. But in the end, I said to hell with it. I figured that since David went through all that trouble and since all the music is fantastic it would be worth it to go long this week. Besides, since solipsistic NATION is a podcast I don’t always have to be locked in to clocking the shows in at around 60 minutes. Enjoy!
- Biotone “The Rhythm”
- Psytrip “d3skoh”
- Interview with David Justin of PsyBooty Records
- Bluetech “Cerulean Funk”
- Equisol “Mokoko”
- Interview with David Justin of PsyBooty Records
- Prosect “In Styled”
- Sound Field “Passion Session”
- Interview with David Justin of PsyBooty Records
- Evan Marc “Silver”
- Evan Marc “Ekoshok”
- M-Field “Foundation”
- Interview with David Justin of PsyBooty Records
- M-Field “Progressive Evolution”
- M-Field “Worldsoul”
- Init String “Watching The Rain”
- Init String “Bacon Shake”
Download episode.
1:36:04 | 88.02 MB
Sponsor: eMusic
Tags: PsyBooty Records, eMusic
solipsistic NATION No. 110: Dubmatix, Live
October 3, 2008 | Leave a Comment
On today’s show I’m going to follow up on last week’s all dub set by playing live tracks from Dubmatix and talk to the man behind Dubmatix, Jesse King.
Dub is a tricky genre. While the basic elements of dub are understood, but it’s difficult to do good dub well. I’ve wasted hours that must surely equal to weeks of sifting through some truly uninspired dub to find the true gems. The sort of stuff that’s flat, unimaginative and, worse, ungroovable. And Dubmatix’s Jesse makes some great dub.
Dubmatix has charted both in Canada and internationally and tours domestically and abroad. Jess has also collaborated with reggae greats like Sugar Minott, Michael Rose and Alton Ellis.
I’ve been a fan of Dubmatix since first playing “War, Peace & Dub” on one of dub sets. When I recently realized for all the live shows on solipsistic NATION and with all the different genres of electronic music those shows offered I hadn’t gotten around to featuring dub. I immediately thought of Jesse and asked him if he’d come on solipsistic NATION and share some music from some of Dubmatix concerts.
Oh, and I have a retraction from Bruno Natal, the director of the Dub Echoes documentary, who was my guest on last week’s show. When Bruno was talking about Joe Gibbs he really meant Errol Thompson.
- Dubmatix feat. Kulcha Ites “Burn Out The Rich”
- Dubmatix Soundsystem “My Selecta”
- Interview with Jesse King of Dubmatix
- Dubmatix Soundsystem “War, Peace & Dub”
- Dubmatix Soundsystem “Sensi”
- Dubmatix Soundsystem “Dub Phanatique”
- Interview with Jesse King of Dubmatix
- Dubmatix “Soul Dread Dub”
- Dubmatix Soundsystem “Pirate Dub”
- Interview with Jesse King of Dubmatix
- Dubmatix & Howie Smart “Heavy Living”
- Dubmatix feat. Treson “Praise Jah”
- Dubmatix Soundsystem feat. Ranking Joe “Tornado”
- Dubmatix Soundsystem “Jump & Twist”
- Dubmatix Soundsystem “Champion Sound”
- Interview with Jesse King of Dubmatix
Download episode.
56:47 | 52.07 MB
Dubmatix @ Diversity Festival 2008