Category: Music

Computer Music Skillz

Sorry for the flurry of posts. It’s the first excitable surfing I’ve done in a while.

I am so envious of this guy’s ability with his computer music equipment:

Here’s some more beatfoolery:

Jealous.

Poor Portishead

I feel dead sorry for Portishead. They were stunning. And then they became the soundtrack to a thing that no-one wanted to be.

But their music skills are good:

And reading about them in the Observer made me like them again. I love the fact that they’d press samples that they’d create back onto vinyl so they can scratch them and make them sound like records. Dedication.

Looking forward to the new album later in the Spring.

Typographic Synthesizer – So Good It’s Magic!

You know sometimes when you see something so amazing that you almost forget to breathe while you’re looking at it. Well I’m just about finished hyperventilating after the end of this video.

The guys at Meek.fm have created something that creates an incredible relationship between typography, sound and a control surface. You can tweak type using knobs, and the sound is generated by the form of the letters. It’s nuts. Totally nuts.

I also love the modesty of the video, the fact it ends with an almost slightly unsure: “OK, that’s it. Thanks”. If I was wearing a hat I’d take it off to these guys.

Pre-YouTube Silly Moments In Techno

I should probably start a separate category in the blog for this stuff. It just seems to keep on coming…

I loved this clip for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’s a bunch of cheeky young ravers from Edinburgh. I would have been living there at the time and I’m pretty familiar with their ilk.

But the best thing about the clip is that it’s from a time way before YouTube. These guys were playing to the camera for no other reason than just mucking about. The only outlet for this stuff used to be You’ve Been Framed, and I don’t think they were going for that…

Thirdly it’s been recorded on Betamax which means there’s a load of ‘non-digital artefacts’ in the clip. The tracking being slightly off in places, moments of tape slur and more.

If you get bored jump through it, there’s new characters, new styles and so much more to see…

A New Mix For The Weekend

Ableton Mix

Actually that’s a lie. It’s not a ‘new’ mix. It’s a mix from last weekend. But I’m posting it now.

This is from Asi’s birthday party last Friday. It was a party in a pub. So I felt I had to play a bit more ‘rowdy’ than I normally would to entertain the drunkards. Hence it’s a bit full on in places – and has some well-known stuff in there too. Disclosure – I did tidy it up when I got home, but it really was almost perfect when I did it live, honest ;-)

Download from here if you so desire: http://www.drop.io/asi_party (click listen, then you can download the MP3 file)

Tracklist:

1. Heart ov Glass – Justus Kohncke
2. I don’t know (justus dub mix) – Chelnois R Jones
3. The Funk Phenomena – Armand Van Helden
4. Who Keeps Changing Your Mind – South Street Players
5. It’s Not Easy (Album Mix) – Westbam
6. I Feel Space – Lindstrom
7. Bells Of Brighton (Original Mix) – Steve Mac and Mark Brown
8. In My Arms (Tocadisco Mix) – Mylo
9. Just Can’t Get Enough (Dirty South Mix) – Depeche Mode
10. Wild Thing (Peaches Remix) – Peaches and Tone Loc
11. Superstylin (Unknown Breaks Mix) – Groove Armada
12. Outta Space – Deekline Feat. Top Cat
13. Fever Called Love – Rising High Collective
14. Positive Education – Slam
15. Age of Love – Age Of Love

Enjoy. Or don’t enjoy. Depends if you like that sort of thing.

All You Can Eat Hip-Hop

Wild Style

Yoiks! Here’s a definitive history of hip hop, all mixed up and ready for download.

I’m not a massive fan of MTV Base style R&Bized modern hip hop, and Westwood makes me want to purchase knock-off Uranium and do something really bad to mankind.

On the other hand these mixes are jammed with stone-cold classics that you and your momma can enjoy. The guys from The Rub (Cosmo, Eleven & Ayres) really know their shizzle. Mixing up well known favourites along with some more obscure stuff.

Featuring artists like:

Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Africa Bambaataa, The Beastie Boys, Eric B. & Rakim – My Melody, Kool Moe Dee, Run DMC, Ultramagnetic MCs, Stetsasonic, Kool G Rap, Public Enemy, BDP, Jungle Brothers, Kid N Play, 45 King, Rob Base, 2 Live Crew, NWA, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, EPMD, Doug Lazy, Biz Markie, Digital Underground, Slick Rick, 3rd Bass, etc. etc. etc.

Each mix documents a particular year from ’79 to ’95 and counting… Archive of 1979-89 is available here. The more recent years are available for download here.

If you’ve always thought that you should or might like hip hop, this is a great place to get started with the good stuff. And if you’re a lapsed fan, it’s the place to re-light your fire.