solipsistic NATION No. 160: Decibel
September 25, 2009 | Comments Off
I’ve got yet another jam-packed edition of solipsistic NATION for you this week! We’ll talk with Mad E.P. and O’ Slick, Sean Horton from the Decibel Festival taking place in Seattle this weekend, mutantrumpeter Ben Neill, and Thesis from the Echodub collective record label. And of course I’ll play you the best of all genres of electronic music!
Mad E.P. is a crafty musician who jumps from genre to genre and yet somehow makes those genres his own, whether it’s breakbeat or hip hop. Mad E.P. and O’ Slick join us to talk about their forthcoming collaborative album, Brimstone Bangers.
As I mentioned, we’ll also talk with Sean Horton, the founder of the Decibel Festival, a four-day annual music and arts festival dedicated to live electronic music, visual art and new media. The Decibel Festival began in 2004 and has been gathering momentum each year. This year’s festival features more than 100 performers hailing from 10 countries in 14 venues across Seattle, conferences, panels and workshops. You can check out the schedule here.
We’ll also talk with Ben Neill. Ben is a trumpeter and composer and his music has been recorded on such labels as Astralwerks, Verve, and Six Degrees. Ben is another artist who makes each genre his own and his new album, Night Science, is an offering of some heavy, heavy dubstep infused with his mutantrumpet.
Finally, we’ll talk with Thesis from Echodub. I recently discovered Echodub when I downloaded their Anechoic Chamber net release dubstep compilation album. I love dubstep but I have to admit that most of the stuff I hear is plodding and uninspired but nearly everything I’ve heard from Echodub is beautiful and moving.
That’s the show. I hope you dig it because there’s a lot of sweat equity behind this edition of solipsistic NATION. If you do dig it (and I don’t see how you couldn’t) then why don’t you show some love and give solipsistic NATION a quick 1 to 5 star review on our iTunes page.
Oh, before I go, I want to let you know that next week’s show will feature a special mix from Eskmo and the following week we’ll talk with the legendary Alec Empire, the founder of Digital Hardcore Recordings and Atari Teenage Riot! I’m also working on a show that will include an interview with Amy Grill, the director of the documentary, Speaking in Code, and a chat with King Cannibal. I’m still working out who will be the other guests on the edition of solipsistic NATION so stay stuned!
Photo Credit: Yago Veith
- Mad E.P. “Hellbass”
- Mad E.P. “Fire & Mud (Instrumental)”
- Interview with Mad E.P. & O’Slick
- Mad E.P. “Apocalypse (Filthy One)”
- Truckasauras “Hold On (Dutty Larry Mix)”
- Heyoka “Galactic Tea Pad”
- Interview with Sean Horton, founder of the Decibel Festival
- Voodeux “Bones”
- Ben Neill “Afteimage”
- Ben Neill “Monochromatic”
- Interview with Ben Neill
- Ben Neill “Futura”
- Absense “Good Love” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Apathesis “Untitled” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Interview with Thesis of Echodub
- Moonchild “The Glass Lake” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
Download episode.
1:05:56 | 54.57 MB
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solipsistic NATION No. 159: Amplifier
September 18, 2009 | Comments Off
I’ve never said this before about previous editions of solipsistic NATION but today’s show is not safe for work. I figure we’re all adults so I don’t feel the need to give such a disclaimer but I decided just this one it would be be a good idea to cover my ass so you can cover yours.
That said, I don’t have a lot to talk about this week’s show other than listen to it because it rocks so I thought I’d take this opportunity to talk about the gear I use to make solipsistic NATION. It’s a question that comes up now and again so I thought I’d address it.
First off, I rock the Sennheiser e 835 microphone. There are better microphones out there but Sennheiser e 835 is a solid, inexpensive microphone and it has served me well.
I run my Sennheiser e 835 through a Behringer Eurorack UB502 mixer which I then run through an Alesis NanoCompressor which is connected to my Mac Mini.
I use Skype to conduct the interview for the show and Wiretap Pro to record the interviews. Wiretap Pro has been updated and is now called Wiretap Studio but Wiretap Pro is perfect for my needs so I never felt the need to purchase the upgrade.
I use Sound Studio to record and edit my voice overs as well as my interviews and the IDs for which are then run through an application called Levelator to further smooth out the highs and lows in the audio.
I use GarageBand to sequence and mix solipsistic NATION. I suppose I could use GarageBand to record and edit the voice overs, interviews and IDs as well but I find that Sound Studio gives me the fine degree of control I require. Besides, as I mentioned, I’m using a Mac Mini and while it’s a great computer I think I would pushing the machine to it’s limits to simultaneously run Skype and GarageBand and I just don’t want to take that chance while recording interviews for the show.
Once the show is mixed it is exported to iTunes and I then encode the show as an MP3 at 128 kbps/44.100 kHz using an application called the iTunes-LAME Encoder. It usually takes 15 minutes to convert the show to MP3 using the iTunes-LAME Encoder and while I could use iTunes’ built-it MP3 encoder which is much faster (it takes just a few minutes to encode a show in iTunes) the iTunes-LAME Encoder delivers a MP3 with superior audio. If I’m going to compress the music to a MP3 I might as well give you the best sounding show I possible can.
In the past I’ve also been asked why I don’t encode the show at 192 or 320 kbps for higher audio fidelity. The answer is simple. I’d love to encode the show at 192 or 320 kbps but that would significantly increase the file size of the show which in turn would increase the time it would take to download the show to your computer. solipsistic NATION has a global audience and not everyone has a high speed internet connection and I want people to be able to download solipsistic NATION as quickly and easy as possible.
I’ve also been asked by some people why I don’t encode the show as an AAC. This is another dilemma I had to wrestle with. AAC is great because at 128 kbps an AAC file supposedly sounds better than a MP3 encoded at 128 kbps. Also, I could include album art, links and additional information in an AAC file but the problem is that AAC files can, for the most part, only be played on Apple hardware and software like iTunes or the iPod. I want solipsistic NATION to be as easily accessible to as many people as possible and encoding the show an an AAC would limit the size of my audience. Who in their right mind would want to do that?
So there you have it: that’s how I create each edition of solipsistic NATION. As you can see, it’s a pretty inexpensive operation. It’s pretty easy to produce a show but I have to admit that even though I’ve been doing this for a couple of years and have it down to a science it still takes a considerable amount of time to produce each show. But I find producing solipsistic NATION a fun and rewarding experience and I hope you enjoy each show.
See you next week!
Photo Credit: TReynolds08
- hai! Robotto “Breathe” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Lucidstatic “Aux8 (Copy Paste Repeat Remix)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Bassnectar “Teleport Massive (feat. Zumbi)”
- edIT “Artsy Remix (feat. The Grouch)”
- Alice In Videoland “MF”
- Thunderheist “Jerk It”
- The Robot Disaster “Guitars Are Overated (Suxx Rmx)”
- Mochipet “Anthem”
- Tiga “What You Need”
- Starkillers Vs Armand Van Heldan “Funk.Phenomena”
- Kanye West “Robocop (MOTOR Club Remix)” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
- Larry Tee feat. Amanda Lepore “My Pussy (Jeff Doubleu Mix)”
- Aaron LaCrate “Just Wanna Featuring Samir”
Download episode.
59:30 | 54.57 MB
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solipsistic NATION No. 158: Exquisite Corpse III
September 11, 2009 | Comments Off
Today on solipsistic NATION I have got a sweet Exquisite Corpse mix for your ears!
This is actually the third Exquisite Corpse mix on solipsistic NATION but even so, I feel I need to tell you what an Exquisite Corpse mix is. You actually might have played a version of Exquisite Corpse as a child.
Here’s how it works: someone hands you a piece of paper and you have to draw the head of some person or creature, real or imagined. Let’s say you draw the head of an ostrich. You then hand the paper to the next person but the ostrich head would be covered so they couldn’t see what you had just drawn. That person would then draw a torso and they decide to draw the buxom figure of Marilyn Monroe. They then pass the sheet of paper to the next person but covering up what they had just drawn as well as the head of the ostrich. The next person decides to draw the legs of a gorilla. Yeah, let’s go with that. The legs of a gorilla. Once the drawing is done everyone gets to see the complete picture and have a good laugh. The Exquisite Corpse mix goes something like that.
For today’s show I have chosen a song to kick of the Exquisite Corpse mix and then sent it to a podcaster. And not just any podcaster but a podcaster who, like myself, plays electronic music.
Once they have the song they have to choose a song that would segue nicely after the track I have selected or go off into an entirely different direction.
The song they have selected is sent off to the next podcaster and so forth and so on until the Exquisite Corpse mix is complete. Each podcaster only hears the most recently selected song and must base their selection solely on the song they have just heard.
In fact, the mix you’ll hear today will be just as much as a surprise for them as it is for you.
At the end of today’s show we’ll hear from each podcasters and find out who they are, what song they chose for the mix and why. Enjoy!
Oh, if you dig today’s Exquisite Corpse mix then you’ll definitely want to listen to the first and second Exquisite Corpse mix.
Photo Credit: Sam Javanrouh
- Think Tank “A Knife & A Fork” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
Selected by Bazooka Joe, solipsistic NATION - Dynastic “Kabouter (Remix)”
Selected by Gareth Noyce, RK2 - Dan Berkson, James What “Mescaline Circus (Original Mix)”
Selected by Ryan Scott - Voide “Space Sponge”
Selected by Snowy, Electronicast - Aleksi Virta “Princess Melodiae” [FREE DOWNLOAD]
Selected by Pete Cooper, Bleepshow - Zeropage “Void Sensor”
Selected by Michael, Electronica Monthly - Slepcy “With Charles Bukowski On The Ride”
Selected by Spartacus Roosevelt - Dementio13 “Your Link Does Not Work”
Selected by Pixieguts, PixieCast - Beckett & Taylor “Smash”
Selected by Anji Bee, The Chillcast
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1:20:56 | 59.26 MB
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solipsistic NATION No. 157: KiloWatts, Live
September 4, 2009 | Comments Off
Today’s show posed an unusual problem.
solipsistic NATION is an hour long program, more or less. That’s usually not a problem but once a month on solipsistic NATION I feature a live set from an electronic musician and not all of their sets are an hour long. When that happens I’ll either play some of their studio tracks afterwards or if their live set is around 30 minutes I’ll pair them up with a live set by another artist. Problem solved.
But as I said, today’s show posed an unusual problem.
Our guest on today’s show is Jamie Watts, AKA KiloWatts and will listen to his performance at the Forward Festival in Washington D.C. recorded earlier this year.
I’ve always dug KiloWatts’ music because Jamie has a knack for crafting songs that have a kind of hopeful buoyancy to them. Go listen to The Headphone Experience or Native State Records editions of solipsistic NATION to see what I mean.
Jamie’s been a busy guy this year. In 2009 he released Six Silicates and Undercurrent and a third album, Focus & Flow, out later this month that is a collaboration with Vanek. I was lucky that I asked Jamie to be on the show months ago because otherwise I don’t know where he’d find the time to do it now. Jamie was kind enough to send me a recording of his live set at the Forward Festival and here we get to the problem: instead of just clocking in at an hour or less Jamie’s live set is an hour and 20 minutes long!
As a rule, I try to keep solipsistic NATION to an hour . I suppose I could of just chopped off 20 minutes but I really didn’t want to do that because I really like his live set and I know you will to. In the end I decided to play his entire set. This is a podcast, after all, so I don’t always have to adhere to a rigid length to the show. The only problem that remained is that for those of you who listen to solipsistic NATION on KYOURadio will only hear the abridged version of Jamie’s performance at the Forward Festival. Happily, you can always listen to the performance in it’s entirety at solipsisticnation.com.
Anyway, enjoy today’s show. Come back next and we’ll do it all over again. But completely different.
- KiloWatts “Live at Forward Festival (Washington D.C., March 21, 2009)”
- Interview with KiloWatts
Download episode.
1:20:56 | 74.19 MB
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Tags: eMusic, Budget Rent A Car, GoDaddy