Friday, June 19, 2015

OHWL#Ten

The once promising Other Heights label, known mostly for its offering of dub techno releases, suddenly veered off course with nary a  sound. You can track its decline here.

It appeared briefly, straying into more techno territory, with a smattering of vinyl releases before disappearing altogether circa 2014. Their BC page went dark circa Dec 2012.

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Thursday, June 18, 2015

Alternative Selection Volume 1 and 2

Still going through the archives. They are a mess but this has been cathartic and has led to some fun discoveries. These go back to 2009 when I first started dabbling in this blog thing and I'm glad I still have them. Can't recall what blog these were originally found on though the link for the info ("inspired by the Artificial Intelligence series") on Volume 2 may be the source.

Not too sure about Volume 1, will try and get a track list up at some point. High recommendation with or without a track list.


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Friday, June 12, 2015

Dreamstates and Soundscapes


Always put together with great care, this is another series from BoxSetGo that I unearthed as the file cleanup continues. This is a series of 'Post Rock' compulations that may just be one of the best primers on the genre available from back when blogging was much more adventurous. 

An earlier comp from the blog was posted here. Unfortunately, it seems the blog has vanished.

The cover here is the only residue I could find but the artwork is embedded in each of the volumes.




Monday, June 8, 2015

Fii0 X3


It has arrived and it is a thing of beauty, exactly what I was looking for to liberate me from the cult of Apple.

As I learn more I'll try and update this post with a review or details but I can tell you already that it's a beast. A little Emmylou Harris to break in the lossless capability. 

If anyone has questions in the meantime let me know.

More music to follow as I retag and improve the bit rates of files on my HD.

'Tis a good day.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Foobar Fiio


This is what I've been up to so I've been quite consumed and I'm torn as to whether or not it's good for my OCD tendencies.

It took a while but I finally made good on my promise to ditch iTunes. Also ditched the iPod. Slowly gravitating away from the iPad, though it's so light and portable in comparison to the Surface option but that Apple proprietary thing just grates on my nerves. Have an iPhone but it's company paid.

So I'm in the process of 'fixing' all of my files. I'm amazed at the age of some of the files and I've found just how far along my understanding of tagging and bit rate has come. Many, many of my olders files are low bit rate CBRs or v2 rips. I knew next to nothing about them and back then had no clue about CUE files and the like.

For the geekophiles out there, this is an awesome program. It's not open source but it is customizable to a degree the the iTunes behemoth is not and the file management ability is far superior than the forced hand of iTunes. I'm discovering so much old music that has been lying in the digital dust bin I'm hoping to get some of them up here.

It takes a little getting used to since it's personal choice as to how we set it up but once you get it, it is quite liberating. It took me an hour or so to set it up and get a grasp of the flow but that was it. The hard part is going to be cleaning up the files. Foobar does make it easy but I envision hours upon hours getting it right.

If you want an excellent tutorial on how to set it up, check it out:


The Fiio X3 comes tomorrrow so I'll provide some input into that for those who are curious.

In the meantime...


Tuesday, June 2, 2015

смерть в летнюю полночь (death in the summer midnight)

Russian artist Roman Zorin (aka lost-radio and illwitch) also makes music under the moniker смерть в летнюю полночь (aka death in the summer midnight). This is not only a great introduction to his work but it is a great introduction to three Bandcamp links across whose pages two of his releases can be found.

I have lately begun to gravitate not so much out of the world of 'techno' but toward more experimental sounds from ambient to drone to dark to industrial trying to dust off some cobwebs and get some distance to appreciate my roots more deeply to see what remains.

I stumbled across his sounds through the Sense/Net netlabel but after some digging an entire new universe opened up. I highly recommend navigating all three of these netlabels to see what you unearth and show support where you can. 

spontaneous modulations (2015)



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death in the summer midnight (2014)


GV Sound (346 releases listed on discogs)

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