Music as therapy...

I have realized that the ratio of posts to stuff going on internally are related. It's been a busy month of posting.

The music consumption has been near addiction levels meaning that I have been avoiding reality to a large degree. Not that reality is bad, mind you, but cruise control doesn't work with lots of traffic, if you get my drift.

Music can play a role in healing and dealing but it can also distract us from ourselves.

Honesty comes not without cost so thanks for sharing in the (semi-public) catharsis...

Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out

Play it loud...on repeat...'til you get it all out.

This is one of those songs that comes along every so often and is just about perfect. There is an energy present that reminds me of The Nationals "Bloodbuzz Ohio."

Album due out Monday...

A Musical Statement - The Shuffle on Steroids

Now this is fun...

Seriously, these are really pretty great. Somewhat thematic, I've discovered a whole range of music well outside my radar, more than a few tunes that have instantly snagged my attention.

Kind of fits right in with the schizo mood I've been in lately where nothing is real and everything is permitted.

From the creator:

"A radio show for the musically curious: post-rock, avantgarde, old time radio, contemporary classical, plain old rock, internet buzz, voices from the past... and some fun stuff. Every other week a new selection, a new experiment, a new musical statement."

Tracklist:

Side 1
01. The Tibetan Book Of The Dead [read by Richard Gere]
02. David Sylvian - Small Metal Gods ["Manafon", 2009]
03. Explosions In The Sky - Human Qualities ["Take Care, Take Care, Take Care", 2011]
04. Jack Kerouac - The Dharma Bums [read by Allen Ginsberg]
05. Tim Buckley - Song Of The Magician ["Tim Buckley", 1966]
06. Fleet Foxes - Sim Sala Bim ["Helplessness Blues", 2011]
07. Joseph Conrad - I Duellanti
08. Grails - Soft Temple ["Burning Off Impurities", 2006]

Side 2
01. J.D. Salinger - The Catcher In The Rye
02. Elbow - Lippy Kids ["Build A Rocket Boys!", 2011]
03. Sparklehorse & Danger Mouse - Revenge (feat. Wayne Coyne) ["Dark Night Of The Soul", 2010]
04. Carmelo Bene - Il Sentimento
05. Sean Carey - In The Dirt ["All We Grow", 2010]
06. Fedor Dostoevskij - Notes From Underground
07. Jónsi - Tornado ["Go Live", 2010]

 Many more episodes can be found:

HERE

or

THERE

(Nothing to join, no password needed)

You can't go back...

I was downtown today watching my GF finish up a 5K run and at the finish were throngs of people "partying" as the runners came across.  I stood several hundred yards up from the finish line and observed.  What I observed was sameness.

They had a DJ from a local Clear Channel station who played such things as Bryan Adams and the "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" song.  Same music, same event, same people, everything exactly as expected.  No wonder people drink and do drugs trying to shake off the sameness.

I had my mp3 and headphones and tuned into Mr. Cloudy (who may be more prolific than even bvdub) and noticed that the beats of his music seemed to flow with the rhythm of the runners' feet hitting the pavement.  It was perfect, almost surreal.

I felt strangely - and happily - out of place, a reminder that sometimes we're not meant to go along with the crowd, and that it's ok.  That's probably why music is a constant companion.

Lately my journeys have been going through various universes of recorded sounds and music.  From wire sounds to drone to field recordings of the Waveform Transmission variety to the otherworldy analogue of the guys from Echospace, deeper and deeper I go.  But I'm not sure where I'm going...

Currently listening to Alva Noto's Resident Advisor mix, contemplating dropping some cash on his new Univrs LP.  From the samples I've heard, it sounds intense.

It's such a far cry from the music I was surrounded by growing up and I'm not sure how this applies to the daily routine but I look to music for escape and, ideally, as fuel for stepping out and creating something new. 

Not sure how I got here but I know I can't go back.  The future beckons...

Can anyone relate?

Echospace in the mailbox...

Ok, shameless plug, I admit...

But what an interesting thing this new music distribution.  Forget the majors, they can just disappear along with all the other "talent" shows on television these days.  With the exception of Marvin Gaye's 40th Anniversary deluxe deal, I can't tell you the last time I bought anything (knowingly) from a major label.

Independents are alive and well so we really need to support them or they will disappear as so many independent labels have over the years (or, worse, been bought out by a major).

Deepchord/Echospace is the one artist/label that has been a constant since sometime around 2007 with their The Coldest Season release.  I've since dove deep into their back catalogue and remain entranced and thrilled by what is there.  Been a long time since I've been so passionate about any artist...

I discovered The Coldest Season via the web.  Never would have found it any other way, not even close.  And my first listen was, of course, by a shared download.  However, since then I have probably spent 10 to 20 times (or more) the original purchase price on later (and previous) releases.

Why do I pass this story along?  Not to defend sharing files (though I do, if there is an ethic to it) but to advocate a choice, a commitment, to support the artists/labels that you dig.  It has to be a conscious choice, especially when everything is so freely available online. 

Download it, listen to it, but by all means realize the expense involved in music creation.  It's the little guy, the guy that truly loves music, that needs the support to continue, or at least supplement, the making of music. 

My daughter is a musician (went to a show of hers last night - hip-hop/rap, of all things - in a pub downtown) so I know firsthand the expense and labor involved in music creation.  It ain't cheap.  Many artists have "real" jobs to afford them the means of making music. 

So I highly value these CDs.  They came directly from the label after direct communication with people from the label who are close to the artists.  No middle man, no distribution chain, no mumbo jumbo.  You can get a feel for what the artist is really about (for better or for worse) in this way and it is perhaps the best thing about music today.  So when you give the money, you know exactly where it is going.  It is quite personal (and not in the obsessive, weird kind of way) and really cool. 

There are some really interesting stories about how the two new releases came to be and how it never would have happened in the old traditional way.  Do whatever you can to keep the feedback loop going - there are artists out there who are listening and are really in it for the music.

So here's the scoop on the albums, if interested:

DeepChord Presents Echospace – Spatialdimension (2011) - limited edition of 100

cv313 – Beyond The Clouds (2011) - limited edition of 100

cv313 – cv313 - Live - DEMF After Party In 2008 (2009) - limited edition of 300

Rapidshare account expiring...

When I began way back when everything was posted on Rapidshare.  At the time it was one of the few and was one of the best share sites.  For a while they were offering "referrals" when folks signed up by a link that was on the site.

This enabled me over time to almost two years' worth of membership which was way cool.  Files stuck around then.  Then they made all kinds of changes and, by and large, not many people use them anymore.  Sadly, they quit doing "referrals" a while ago.

Time has come...at the end of November mine expires and I won't be paying to keep it going.

Any file not downloaded within a 30 day period will disappear.  Not sure how much that will really matter as many a file has been deleted from their archives anyhow.  Most newer posts are on MU or MF or other more convenient and user friendly links.

So just giving a heads up...if any files disappear let me know and I'll see if I can "relocate" them.

Thanks all for checking out the blog.  Never figured I'd still be here several years later!

The Shuffle Mix #2

Track list is a surprise so it's a great chance to maybe pick up something you haven't heard before.

Cover art shows some cassette mixes I made in school during the 80s (still have 'em as historical record). The photo is for cover art only...now that I think about it, I'm not even sure I have most these songs in mp3 anyhow...

Cheese free, no worries.

Part1//Part2

P.S. I was inspired by baroquedub (been around as long as I can remember...) to post a file of the mix.

It's officially over...

...electronic music is now very mainstream (or maybe I'm just noticing...).

Massive Attack, M83, Burial...on NPR.

NPR - Electronic Edition

It's like 1998 all over again, with "electronic" music being touted as the next big thing.

Hopefully the media will get over it soon.

Good for the artists featured, though.

Fortunately, the underground has, once again, gone underground.

The Shuffle...

So often I spend more time looking through albums to listen to while trying to decipher the mood I'm in that I end up listening to nothing.  Rarely do I have the attention span (or the ear time) to digest an entire album in one sitting so by the time I'm able to listen to something my mood has changed and I start the process again...

So in an act of frustration, I hit shuffle on the mp3 player (which brand shall remain nameless but those who remember the old blog will know...).  It's been liberating. 

Instead of trying to decipher my mood and chooose from over 5,000 songs currently at my fingertips, the random selections of songs has had the power to actually influence and/or change my mood. 

It's easy to get set in how we hear/recognize songs and then judge it in another context (which may indicate we've become a music snob or that we're just getting old...).  The songs out of context (especially when taken from mixes), especially from one style to the next with no rhyme nor reason, is enough to keep me from locking into any one particular mood.


So here's a snapshot of today's randomness just for fun:

1) Dull My Heart - Ghosts of Paraguay, Silent Souls

2) Fable from Arabian Knights - Professor Shehab & Captain Kowatchi, Land of Baboon Vol. 1

3) In From The Cold - Stasis, History of Future E.P.

4) #13 - Ryoji Ikeda, Demixed

5) Portugese Love (Album Version) - Bah Samba, 4

6) Easy We - Rob Nuca, Dub Be Good to Me

7) Silk Road Fantasy - Kitaro, Silk Road

8) XY Ungelost - 4E, Electric Ladyland III

9) North Bay - Pablo Bolivar, Motion

10) Panama Cell - Once11, Versus The Pyramid

11) Horizontal Structure 3 - Moritz Von Oswald Trio, Horizontal Structure

12) Trip - Megaperis, Coffeeshop Vol. 4

13) Würfel (Version)  - Von Schommer, dcv07

14) Mal!c!ouz "Abracadabra"  - Once 11, Versus the Pyramid

15) Live in Tokyo I - Deepchord Presents Echospace, 14 Tracks: Echospace Exclusives

16) Tyrolean Music Station - The Conet Project, Recordings of Shortwave Numbers Stations

17) Where's My Money Mastermix - Mark Broom, Excursions

18) Sigh No More - Mumford & Signs, Sigh No More

Love it will not betray, dismay or enslave you
It will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be
There is a design, an alignment, a cry
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be

19) The Young People - Moon Wiring Club and Belbury Poly, Ghost Box Study Series 01

20) Morphin - STL, Machines Down Low

*Did not include mention of two tracks that were under 20 second each...such is the nature of the shuffle. 

Now if only the shuffle could beat and pitch match...

Feel free to share yours in the comments if so inspired.

DJB.157 – Deepchord (June 2011)

So I'm on shuffle this week and it's kind of nice as I'm hearing tracks I probably would never get to so what a pleasant surprise when this one popped up.  All I can say is...

...you need this.

Killer deep, chunky, dubby tech mix with mostly non-Deepchord related stuff. 

You should still be able to DL it...

Here

Eluvium - Static Nocturne (2010)

Can't remember how, when or where I stumbled across Eluvium but he has developed a sound all his own ranging from slow moving, beautiful piano pieces to dissecting what is often considered "noise" to bring out the beauty found therein.

The first time I ever heard "Zerthis Was A Shivering Human Image" I sat mesmerized for 15 minutes of distorted guitar washing back and forth over me and I achieved a level of peace I could not explain.

This was a limited release from Eluvium (currently going for stupid money on discogs) that tapped into this sound.  For 50 minutes, prepare to be immersed in what he called "an homage to static/white noise."

Try

Info

Scion – Arrange And Process Basic Channel Tracks (2002)

Been on vacation this week so I've lots of time to put on music and just let it play rather than the usual soundbytes on the way to work, on the way home, as I crash at night, etc.

Killer reworking of stuff from the Basic Channel archives by the guys from Subtance & Vainqueur (also in the Basic Channel family) with driving beats that will take you places...

Put this is in and go somewhere.

Try

Info