solipsistic NATION No. 118: Spectraliquid
November 29, 2008 | Comments Off
Today’s show came about from an email from HC of Headphone Commute. HC suggested that I have Kostas K come on the show to play music from his label, Spectraliquid. There are only a handful of releases on Spectraliquid, not nearly enough to qualify for my monthly feature on electronic music labels. Still, HC was right. The music on Kostas’ label was mind blowingly great so I decided to split the show with a segment on Spectraliquid and the rest would be a mix of music that would compliment Spectraliquid. By the tile I had selected the least track I realized that the only way to do Spectraliquid justice was by dedicating an entire show to music from the label.
By the way, HC posted his top 10 mixes of 2008 on his blog. It’s pretty eclectic and features everything from the Glitch Mob to Pinch’s mix on Rob’s Electronic Explorations podcast. HC included my interview with Amon Tobin and my retrospective mix of his musical career so far. I’m honored to be included in HC’s list but let’s be honest, if it’s a mix of music from Amon Tobin, how can you go wrong?
I’d also like to thank Denard Henry for participating on today’s interview with Kostas through his post on Twitter. You can follow Denard on Twitter at http://twitter.com/denardhenry. If you want to keep in the loop on upcoming shows on solipsistic NATION follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/solipsistic.
- Cardopusher “Toothsmasher (Innasekt Remix)”
- Interview with Kostas K of Spectraliquid
- Cardopusher “Cockpit”
- Ebola “Painkillers”
- Interview with Kostas K of Spectraliquid
- Ebola “Teledildonics”
- Cardopusher “Collapsible Shelter”
- Blackfilm “Come & See”
- Interview with Kostas K of Spectraliquid
- Blackfilm “Atlantikend”
- Subheim “Hollow (Remix by Mobthrow)”
- Interview with Kostas K of Spectraliquid
- Subheim “Howl”
- Blackfilm “Stalingrad”
- Interview with Kostas K of Spectraliquid
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1:02:31 | 57.30 MB
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solipsistic NATION No. 117: American Memory
November 21, 2008 | Comments Off
Richard Wagner coined the term gesamtkunstwerk in his 1849 essay, Art and Revolution, to express his concept of a complete artwork. By this he meant an operatic performance that integrated music, theater and the visual arts. Today we call that multimedia.
But as usual with Wagner, gesamtkunstwerk had a multifaceted meaning for him. Gesamtkunstwerk meant more than incorporating various forms of artistic expression. Wagner, like his peer, Friedrich Nietzsche, saw that humanity was becoming a specialized creature. Wagner believed we compartmentalized our capacity for art, religion, philosophy and science and sought to return humanity to a so-called golden age where all those things were unified. The only way Wagner could possibly express this in the framework of opera was through music, theater and the visual arts.
Since Wagner you could argue that even though we now consume and produce vast quantities of media we have become even more specialized. Today we take multimedia for granted. It’s like air. We can watch a music video on our iPhone on the way to work that’s crammed with dancing, singing and special effects. Entertaining for sure, but nothing that combines all that to express and invoke the gestalt Wagner was striving for.
William Morrison and Justin Bennett are currently touring the U.S. with American Memory, an ambitions multimedia project. American Memory tells the story of artists in a far flung future who discover the American Memory Archive on the net. Intrigued but with no historical context to understand what they have found they broadcast their surrealistic impressions back through time.
Justin and William’s gesamtkunstwerk approach of merge and recontextualize music, text, interviews, speeches, photography and film may be the best way to explore the multilayered history of America.
Errata
Justin and William sent the audio files at 24 bit at 48k I played on this week’s show. When I dropped the tracks into Garaband they played at a slower rate. I failed to notice my error until William and Justin brought it to my attention.My sincere apologies to Justin and William. I hope to have them back on the show when the American Memory DVD is released. I can play more music from American Memory but this time at the correct speed.
- American Memory “American Memory Trailer”
- American Memory “Artifacts”
- American Memory “Dear Mr President”
- American Memory “Backwards Song”
- American Memory “Ghost Dance”
- American Memory “Time Don’t Steal”
- Interview with William Morrison and Justin Bennett of American Memory
- Stephan Mathieu “Lux-Scn”
- Al Margolis “Frog Field”
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1:02:40 | 63 MB
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solipsistic NATION No. 116: Alfa Matrix
November 14, 2008 | Comments Off
When I listen to aggrotech, dark elektro or synthpop I sometimes flashback on my days as a young punk in Boston. Like a lot of punks, I was an angry lad full of venom and punk and hardcore perfectly expressed the intensity of my feelings.
The problem was that I wasn’t full of rage 24 hours a day.
I had other emotions that punk simply couldn’t express. A gloomy, overcast day went perfect with The Smiths (and there are a lot of gloomy, overcast days in Boston. When I was up for a night of debauchery James Brown was my kick start for the evening. When I was falling in love Coltrane’s “Naima” would evoke the sublime and if I was heartbroken I could commiserate with Hank Williams “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” And if I was in the mood for some dark, trashy fun I’d throw in some Front 242 or Sleep Chamber.
To admit this to any of the punks I hung out with inevitably led to being labeled a poseur, which is about the worst thing you can call a punk. After a while I started to chafe under all the conservative restrictions of punk: the modes of dress, the limited selection of music, the enforced social punk norms, etc. And like most people who pass through this phase I realized that it was the spirit of punk that’s to be celebrated, not the ridiculous “laws.”
Anyway, it was right about this time that I started hanging out at Manray’s, which was the place to be if you were into stuff like goth and aggrotech. The music was great and I dug watching the crowd. Goths had their own attires and modes of expression but there seemed to be an sense of playful irony while the punks were so dogmatic about everything.
Since then I’ve always had a love for aggrotech, dark elektro and synthpop Alfa Matrix is one label that releases some of the best aggrotech, dark elektro and synthpop you’ll likely to hear. Alfa Matrix is a Belgian record label the was founded in 2001 by Séba Dolimont, Bernard Van Isacker and Benoî t Blanchart. I first became aware of Alfa Matrix when I relaunched solipsistic NATION as a podcast when I came across a release by Zombie Girl on IODA and I’ve been a fan of Zombie Girl and Alfa Matrix ever since!
- Krystal System “I Love My Chains”
- I:Scintilla “The Bells”
- Ayria “The Gun Song”
- Zombie Girl “Go Zombie”
- Mentallo & the Fixer “Opening The Bandwidth For The Cosmic Signal (Fine-Tuning And Frequency)”
- Interview with Séba Dolimont, co-founder of Alfa Matrix
- Implant “Spanish Fury (Out Out Mix)”
- Monolith “Transmission”
- Komor Kommando “Love Your Neighbour”
- Front 242 “Operating Tracks”
- Plastic Noise Experience “Monoton Synchron (Remix)”
- Plastic Noise Experience “Schlafmodus 3″
- Interview with Séba Dolimont, co-founder of Alfa Matrix
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1:08:44 | 63 MB
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solipsistic NATION No. 115: Basteroid, Live
November 7, 2008 | Comments Off
About six months ago the folks at Areal Records were kind enough to send me a couple of promotional CDs. One of them was a live set in Berlin by Basteroid. I’m always on the lookout for new concerts to play on solipsistic NATION so I contacted Sebastian Riedl (aka Basteroid) and asked him to join me on the show.
It took a while to arrange an interview due to our conflicting schedules and the time differences between our countries. After a couple of weeks we finally nailed a date and I found myself up at 4:30 in the morning ready to interview Sebastian. Despite being sleepy I thought it went pretty well. Except for one small thing. In my grogginess I had failed to check the settings on the software I use to record the interviews. When I went to edit the interview there was just a recording of me talking to no one.
Fortunately, Sebastian was a good sport and recorded an intro for today’s show. If you listen carefully you can hear his daughter in the background.
Enjoy today’s show featuring Sebastian’s live set in Berlin and be sure to check out his new project, IRR (International Recordings Records).
Photo Credit: ©dayvidday
- Basteroid “Live Set (Areal/Berlin, DE)”
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55:50 | 51.21 MB
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