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mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Lyra 8 + Strega", afxtr

What if I just did an entire week of these posting only SOMA synth pieces?

So the Lyra-8 is all about reverb; its oscillators maximize harmonics so the reverb can smear those out. This musician decided that *wasn't enough reverb*, so he added the Strega for maximum possible ominous howling drone.

Note the 0-CTRL isn't sequencing anything; it's wired so the harder he presses the keyboard the more the reverb expands.

youtube.com/watch?v=JDsjpKJ3H5

31 Aug 2022 at 20:51 | Open on mastodon.social
164 comments
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Industrial Raga 1", Vadjuse

The Ornament is a machine for algorithmically sequencing triggers. One of its trigger output modes is "connect to ground", and wiring those outputs to the touch plates on the Lyra simulates the touch of a human finger. So in this one a PO-32 drum machine plays highly distorted beats while the ornament is picking out a note sequence on the Lyra's finger keys, producing something intense and unsettlingly alien.

youtu.be/3Ys7ETM4CdY

1 Sep 2022 at 20:00 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Soma Lyra 8 Pulsar 23 2X Ornament 8 Patch", NodiWolf

A long, slow dirge with a beat so chill it's frigid and a sinister hissing hum, like you're being serenaded by a bank of air conditioners or a swarm of wasps. I absolutely love this.

This one has the full SOMA complement of a Lyra, a Pulsar, and two Ornaments, with each Ornament controlling one device and the Lyra controller on a much slower timescale to differentiate drums and "melody".

youtube.com/watch?v=tT4X9rSbTj

What I'm listening to today: "Soma Lyra 8 Pulsar 23 2X Ornament 8 Patch", NodiWolf

A long, slow dirge with a beat so chill it's frigid and a sinister hissing hum, like you're being serenaded by a bank of air conditioners or a swarm of wasps. I absolutely love this.

This one has the full SOMA complement of a Lyra, a Pulsar, and two Ornaments, with each Ornament controlling one device and the Lyra controller on a much slower timescale to differentiate drums and "melody".

2 Sep 2022 at 19:03 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "I'm Out", Tom Ehrlich

Four minutes of lovely blasting industrial noise, evolving from the drone of evil bagpipes to drunkenly stagging almost-melodic cinematic synthwave.

youtube.com/watch?v=OCy5KgTWQ4

5 Sep 2022 at 19:13 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Off The Wall", Kurena Ishikawa

Live jazz performance of a woman playing a standup bass and singing to her own accompaniment. A really compelling piece with a good groove.

youtube.com/watch?v=mlVpBTpaOU

6 Sep 2022 at 21:11 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Volcano", The Swans

This album is mostly spacy shoegaze until suddenly this track hits in a blast of desynced dance beats, electronic buzzing and ghostly singing; what I didn't know until this week is the reason it's so different is it's the album's one track produced entirely by Jarboe, the woman singing on it. I always assumed this was a sample collage and that the singing was some folk song they'd dug up.

IMO should be experienced loud.

youtube.com/watch?v=RpWiicPTnC

What I'm listening to today: "Volcano", The Swans

This album is mostly spacy shoegaze until suddenly this track hits in a blast of desynced dance beats, electronic buzzing and ghostly singing; what I didn't know until this week is the reason it's so different is it's the album's one track produced entirely by Jarboe, the woman singing on it. I always assumed this was a sample collage and that the singing was some folk song they'd dug up.

7 Sep 2022 at 19:36 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "G-Spot Tornado", Frank Zappa

I didn't know this existed until last week, but Zappa's final album ("Jazz from Hell") was created entirely on the Synclavier, a late-70s DAW predating microcomputers and shipping on several large cabinets. It's impossible to comprehend what this felt like in 1986 as at the time it must have felt impossibly futuristic but to me (and probably you) it indelibly sounds like general MIDI on cheap 90s PC sound cards.

youtube.com/watch?v=XvpdiIaZZL

What I'm listening to today: "G-Spot Tornado", Frank Zappa

I didn't know this existed until last week, but Zappa's final album ("Jazz from Hell") was created entirely on the Synclavier, a late-70s DAW predating microcomputers and shipping on several large cabinets. It's impossible to comprehend what this felt like in 1986 as at the time it must have felt impossibly futuristic but to me (and probably you) it indelibly sounds like general MIDI on cheap 90s PC sound cards.

8 Sep 2022 at 19:14 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Modular Jam#1 - Verbos Electronics", Maarten Vandamme

Incredibly quiet and gentle, this one is a few minutes of soft hissing hums with sharper melodic synths bubbling under the surface. The piece is performed on a Buchla-style modular suitcase; the "Verbos" is the touch keyboard, which is screwed into the suitcase along with the synth modules.

youtube.com/watch?v=XZ1jzrhYvV

9 Sep 2022 at 19:03 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "ORNAMENT-8 self developing composition"

SOMA demo by SOMA's founder, using a Pulsar, Lyra and two Ornaments (this time crosswired to make one giant 16-operator Ornament).

This one is *incredibly* challenging, with every element controlled by analog generative circuits; all the elements of a "song" are present but arranged in an alien way, with cryptic harmonic leaps and no consistent tempo. The structure here has nothing to do with humans.

youtube.com/watch?v=UCYxEBDfX4

What I'm listening to today: "ORNAMENT-8 self developing composition"

SOMA demo by SOMA's founder, using a Pulsar, Lyra and two Ornaments (this time crosswired to make one giant 16-operator Ornament).

This one is *incredibly* challenging, with every element controlled by analog generative circuits; all the elements of a "song" are present but arranged in an alien way, with cryptic harmonic leaps and no consistent tempo. The structure here has nothing to do with humans.

10 Sep 2022 at 21:19 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Wall of Sleep", Daniel Avery + HAAi

This came up on Tidal's new releases stream and I just really liked it. A voice floating in a sea of shimmer pedals. If people had never stopped making trip-hop maybe it would sound like this by now.

There's an official upload of this on YouTube with cool analog video accompaniment, but the sound quality (mastering?!) on that version's real bad. Maybe pull that up and watch it simultaneously but muted.

danielavery.bandcamp.com/track

What I'm listening to today: "Wall of Sleep", Daniel Avery + HAAi

This came up on Tidal's new releases stream and I just really liked it. A voice floating in a sea of shimmer pedals. If people had never stopped making trip-hop maybe it would sound like this by now.

There's an official upload of this on YouTube with cool analog video accompaniment, but the sound quality (mastering?!) on that version's real bad. Maybe pull that up and watch it simultaneously but muted.

20 Sep 2022 at 19:00 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Non-Entity", Nine Inch Nails

This song was recorded, and rejected, for With Teeth, and unheard until September 2005 when MTV held a benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina and Trent Reznor (a longtime New Orleans resident) showed up and played this version solo on piano accompanied only by a drum machine.

The chorus chord progression was later used in "34 Ghosts IV", so this is technically the original version of Old Town Road.

youtube.com/watch?v=3RGYBP1_D1

What I'm listening to today: "Non-Entity", Nine Inch Nails

This song was recorded, and rejected, for With Teeth, and unheard until September 2005 when MTV held a benefit concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina and Trent Reznor (a longtime New Orleans resident) showed up and played this version solo on piano accompanied only by a drum machine.

21 Sep 2022 at 19:06 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Cymbal Rush (live)", Thom Yorke

Thom Yorke's solo stuff tends to a stripped-down style, seemingly limited to whatever electronic gear Yorke can program himself. This is often stark and haunting, but in the case of the album version of "Cymbal Rush" it's just undercooked.

But then there's this incredible one-off live version, which, given inclusion of Johnny Greenwood and Nigel Godrich (watch at 2:50) I guess is more like a Radiohead cover.

youtube.com/watch?v=-4hZt--0Yn

What I'm listening to today: "Cymbal Rush (live)", Thom Yorke

Thom Yorke's solo stuff tends to a stripped-down style, seemingly limited to whatever electronic gear Yorke can program himself. This is often stark and haunting, but in the case of the album version of "Cymbal Rush" it's just undercooked.

22 Sep 2022 at 21:42 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "New Jazz Underground Live! #2", New Jazz Underground

These are some dudes who crowdfund recording their jazz band performances and posting them on YouTube and they just happen to be super good. I found them through a track they called "Sad Boy Anthem" but they've got a bunch of these full-length 50-minute-ish "Live!" performances up and that's the real gold. I listened to a few of their livestream sets and this one was my favorite.

youtu.be/dHb-RtxO2nA?t=90

23 Sep 2022 at 20:55 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "random techno 172(118bpm) Polyend Tracker, Moog Grandmother, Bastl Softpop SP2, Thyme, Korg NTS-1", glenn clyatt

Does anyone remember "dub"? For a while in the early 00s we had this techno genre we called "dub", which was an annoying name because it was inspired by but not the same as dub reggae. Anyway this guy posts daily-ish synth doodles on YouTube and this particular one has strong dub vibes. Good energy here, starts chill and builds.

youtube.com/watch?v=rJHWuMED4y

What I'm listening to today: "random techno 172(118bpm) Polyend Tracker, Moog Grandmother, Bastl Softpop SP2, Thyme, Korg NTS-1", glenn clyatt

Does anyone remember "dub"? For a while in the early 00s we had this techno genre we called "dub", which was an annoying name because it was inspired by but not the same as dub reggae. Anyway this guy posts daily-ish synth doodles on YouTube and this particular one has strong dub vibes. Good energy here, starts chill and builds.

26 Sep 2022 at 23:12 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Cruel", Tori Amos

"Songs from the Choir Girl Hotel" had a markedly different style from basically every other Tori Amos release (she got a backup band, basically) in a way that Tori Amos herself did not actually seem to like, but wow, what a unique album. Each of the first 9 tracks is a standout in some way but "Cruel", a song which has no piano at all but anchors itself around *incredibly* dirty electric bass, has always been my favorite.

youtube.com/watch?v=8j3IQH74jX

What I'm listening to today: "Cruel", Tori Amos

"Songs from the Choir Girl Hotel" had a markedly different style from basically every other Tori Amos release (she got a backup band, basically) in a way that Tori Amos herself did not actually seem to like, but wow, what a unique album. Each of the first 9 tracks is a standout in some way but "Cruel", a song which has no piano at all but anchors itself around *incredibly* dirty electric bass, has always been my favorite.

27 Sep 2022 at 22:08 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "random noise 076 SOMA RoAT, NTS-1"

This is the same guy from Monday I guess? Whatever. This is a good ominous ambient piece with the "Rumble of Ancient Times", SOMA's toy 8-bit synth, combined with Korg's DIY reverb filter. It's made from two improvised takes spliced together so it has a really good movement structure to it ("it's like listening to a real song!"). If you can listen to this on speakers with bass that's an amazing experience.

youtube.com/watch?v=n63V-okqcE

What I'm listening to today: "random noise 076 SOMA RoAT, NTS-1"

This is the same guy from Monday I guess? Whatever. This is a good ominous ambient piece with the "Rumble of Ancient Times", SOMA's toy 8-bit synth, combined with Korg's DIY reverb filter. It's made from two improvised takes spliced together so it has a really good movement structure to it ("it's like listening to a real song!"). If you can listen to this on speakers with bass that's an amazing experience.

28 Sep 2022 at 20:39 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "22 Minutes of Live Modular Techno \\ Verbos, Make Noise Easel, Pulsar 23"

This is a live set of that hardkore classic 90s style four on the floor techno. It's somewhat of note that it's being made with a collection of modern synths (like the Pulsar and Strega, to say nothing of the modular synth rack) that I associate more with noise/ambient, but rather than grabbing your attention the sculpted noises just integrate cleanly into the groove.

youtube.com/watch?v=eleLA1OH_i

What I'm listening to today: "22 Minutes of Live Modular Techno \\ Verbos, Make Noise Easel, Pulsar 23"

This is a live set of that hardkore classic 90s style four on the floor techno. It's somewhat of note that it's being made with a collection of modern synths (like the Pulsar and Strega, to say nothing of the modular synth rack) that I associate more with noise/ambient, but rather than grabbing your attention the sculpted noises just integrate cleanly into the groove.

29 Sep 2022 at 19:27 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "SUMMER COMES EARLY TONIGHT", thofabyq

This is a super chill lo-fi hip hop beats track on the PO-12 and PO-33 toy synthesizers (a drum machine and a sampler). Soul singing chopped up into vaguely pleasant but entirely asemic syllabic soup.

youtube.com/watch?v=k4KeFImCGa

30 Sep 2022 at 22:51 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Shebang II", Oren Ambarchi

I found "Shebang", a lovely little EP thing, on Tidal and was immediately enraptured by the second track, a dark and atmospheric cauldron of unpredictably roiling bass and jazz noises. Like a band all simultaneously woke up from a nap.

youtube.com/watch?v=RbO4Z3hqlk

The whole album (a playlist is linked on YouTube, or orenambarchi.bandcamp.com/albu on Bandcamp) is honestly really worth a listen, it flows well and "II" extends into a 3-song suite.

What I'm listening to today: "Shebang II", Oren Ambarchi

I found "Shebang", a lovely little EP thing, on Tidal and was immediately enraptured by the second track, a dark and atmospheric cauldron of unpredictably roiling bass and jazz noises. Like a band all simultaneously woke up from a nap.

youtube.com/watch?v=RbO4Z3hqlk

11 Oct 2022 at 20:15 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "It's Gonna Rain, Pt. II", Steve Reich

"It's Gonna Rain" is based on a recording of a San Francisco street preacher and "phasing" (multiple copies of a tape playing at different speeds, drifting in and out of sync).

The first part, which sounds oddly like trance music, Reich exhibited in 1965; he initially withheld this, the more-complex second part, fearing it was imbued with so much chaos its release would be dangerous for the world.

youtube.com/watch?v=957pqIqPE7

What I'm listening to today: "It's Gonna Rain, Pt. II", Steve Reich

"It's Gonna Rain" is based on a recording of a San Francisco street preacher and "phasing" (multiple copies of a tape playing at different speeds, drifting in and out of sync).

The first part, which sounds oddly like trance music, Reich exhibited in 1965; he initially withheld this, the more-complex second part, fearing it was imbued with so much chaos its release would be dangerous for the world.

12 Oct 2022 at 20:06 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "1/2", Brian Eno

This is the start of side 2 of "Ambient I: Music for Airports", Eno's infamous album that coined "ambient music" and made his experimental music forever overshadow his pop work (w/ Roxy Music, David Bowie etc). The songs all utilize Reich-style phasing of long loops; this track is the most complex, and my favorite.

Although MFA is great ambient for many contexts, in my opinion it is not appropriate for airports. Wrong mood.

youtube.com/watch?v=R4S8be2xlD

What I'm listening to today: "1/2", Brian Eno

This is the start of side 2 of "Ambient I: Music for Airports", Eno's infamous album that coined "ambient music" and made his experimental music forever overshadow his pop work (w/ Roxy Music, David Bowie etc). The songs all utilize Reich-style phasing of long loops; this track is the most complex, and my favorite.

13 Oct 2022 at 19:01 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Call Me Maybe Acapella 147 Times Exponentially Layered", Dan Deacon

This is the acapella version of "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen, layered on itself 147 times exponentially increasing. In other words, self-explanatory.

mabsonenterprises.bandcamp.com

(There is a clear line running through Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Brian Eno, Negativland, Plunderphonics, Martin Arnold, "It's Over 9000!"/YTP/YTMND and Neil Cicierega/meme mashups. It's all one artistic tradition.)

What I'm listening to today: "Call Me Maybe Acapella 147 Times Exponentially Layered", Dan Deacon

This is the acapella version of "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen, layered on itself 147 times exponentially increasing. In other words, self-explanatory.

mabsonenterprises.bandcamp.com

14 Oct 2022 at 20:29 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Modular Techno Performance// Verbos + SOMA Pulsar 23 + Digitakt", Raucous Studio

Some classic industrial-flavored dark-trance dance music with a lot of juicy clipping. I would describe it as "hype". It is very easy to imagine this being played in a warehouse or some other very large room full of people so if you have not been able to visit a large room full of people in the last couple years maybe this will be a good simulacrum.

youtube.com/watch?v=YdK8Xj2z5K

What I'm listening to today: "Modular Techno Performance// Verbos + SOMA Pulsar 23 + Digitakt", Raucous Studio

Some classic industrial-flavored dark-trance dance music with a lot of juicy clipping. I would describe it as "hype". It is very easy to imagine this being played in a warehouse or some other very large room full of people so if you have not been able to visit a large room full of people in the last couple years maybe this will be a good simulacrum.

21 Oct 2022 at 20:16 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "AepoK feat. Pit&Gore 〓 Visa 96 ☰ Korg EMX - Electro Set live Electribe", CycLoop

More 90s-style hard rave music: a 10-minute flowing set of various songs played on the EMX-1 groovebox, a precursor to the Volca (but aimed at professional DJs rather than hobbyists). In 2004 when this device was released these sounds would have probably sounded five years out of date, but listening now in 2022 sounding like it's from 1999 only sounds charming.

youtube.com/watch?v=WrM2xCglnZ

What I'm listening to today: "AepoK feat. Pit&Gore 〓 Visa 96 ☰ Korg EMX - Electro Set live Electribe", CycLoop

More 90s-style hard rave music: a 10-minute flowing set of various songs played on the EMX-1 groovebox, a precursor to the Volca (but aimed at professional DJs rather than hobbyists). In 2004 when this device was released these sounds would have probably sounded five years out of date, but listening now in 2022 sounding like it's from 1999 only sounds charming.

24 Oct 2022 at 19:35 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Open Your Mind // First Jam with the MAKENOISE XPO", Jon Gee

So the concept here is real simple: This guy got a new synthesizer and he's trying it out, by feeding in a single semi-randomized sequence (bottom left) and turning knobs. The result is like watching something go in and out of focus, as different knob configs make more or less sonic sense (peaking in hypeness around 2:00).

The XPO is based around stereo so headphones recommended.

youtube.com/watch?v=JBNEgcV-2t

What I'm listening to today: "Open Your Mind // First Jam with the MAKENOISE XPO", Jon Gee

So the concept here is real simple: This guy got a new synthesizer and he's trying it out, by feeding in a single semi-randomized sequence (bottom left) and turning knobs. The result is like watching something go in and out of focus, as different knob configs make more or less sonic sense (peaking in hypeness around 2:00).

25 Oct 2022 at 21:28 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Unstability", Hidenobu Ito

One of the best ever songs from the early 00s "Glitch" genre was this track by this mostly-forgotten artist from the soundtrack of Boogiepop Phantom, a mostly-forgotten anime. Several cut-up synth lines (or maybe just a Reaktor script?) collide together and spill ruptured tonal organs all over the floor.

The bass in this YouTube rip is unfortunately a little de-emphasized, so subwoofer or headphones recommended.

youtube.com/watch?v=aPt4zmYRCy

What I'm listening to today: "Unstability", Hidenobu Ito

One of the best ever songs from the early 00s "Glitch" genre was this track by this mostly-forgotten artist from the soundtrack of Boogiepop Phantom, a mostly-forgotten anime. Several cut-up synth lines (or maybe just a Reaktor script?) collide together and spill ruptured tonal organs all over the floor.

26 Oct 2022 at 19:37 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Mutable Marbles experiment., eastern drone swedgling.", Jonny Riddles

"Marbles" is a randomness generator for modular racks, but for structured randomness, it's designed to make values cluster. Here it's being used to pilot timbres of hypnotic clanging noises—like gongs swinging in the wind somewhere distant at the edge of your hearing, but made of metal not of this world, gritty and distorted.

Warning, the mix is biased a bit to left ear.

youtube.com/watch?v=yaJT6mvNUw

What I'm listening to today: "Mutable Marbles experiment., eastern drone swedgling.", Jonny Riddles

"Marbles" is a randomness generator for modular racks, but for structured randomness, it's designed to make values cluster. Here it's being used to pilot timbres of hypnotic clanging noises—like gongs swinging in the wind somewhere distant at the edge of your hearing, but made of metal not of this world, gritty and distorted.

27 Oct 2022 at 19:09 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Tribute", Guano Apes

The Guano Apes were a nu-metal one-hit-wonder on German radio in the late 90s. This isn't their hit; it's their album's final track, where they cut loose and made something really *weird*, starting with funky metal then… devolving? I can't describe it. There's a sense of dread, the vocalist is trying to communicate something she seems to think is very important but doesn't quite have the English skills to get across.

youtube.com/watch?v=wNJhSs9Q0S

What I'm listening to today: "Tribute", Guano Apes

The Guano Apes were a nu-metal one-hit-wonder on German radio in the late 90s. This isn't their hit; it's their album's final track, where they cut loose and made something really *weird*, starting with funky metal then… devolving? I can't describe it. There's a sense of dread, the vocalist is trying to communicate something she seems to think is very important but doesn't quite have the English skills to get across.

28 Oct 2022 at 19:02 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Ondes Sonores", Jean François Lavielle

Some good focused modular ambient. Chaotic windchime sounds, skittering against a quiet but driving beat that gives the piece a good backbone.

youtube.com/watch?v=I1nW5HYLNU

29 Oct 2022 at 21:22 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Shell Fish", Cool Breeze Rack

This is a low-tempo, slightly unsettling VCV rack patch with some interesting dynamics shifts, but what's interesting about it is all of the multiple melody lines appear to be sequenced by random generators. Despite this the brain does a startlingly convincing job of seeing patterns in the chaos even if it knows there is no pattern. This is the true power of randomly selected notes.

Video image is a still.

youtube.com/watch?v=YUzZmFrTGB

What I'm listening to today: "Shell Fish", Cool Breeze Rack

This is a low-tempo, slightly unsettling VCV rack patch with some interesting dynamics shifts, but what's interesting about it is all of the multiple melody lines appear to be sequenced by random generators. Despite this the brain does a startlingly convincing job of seeing patterns in the chaos even if it knows there is no pattern. This is the true power of randomly selected notes.

30 Oct 2022 at 18:49 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Soma DVINA / Make Noise Strega / 0-CTRL", Jon Gee

Chill, dreamy and atmospheric. Here Jon combines my favorite echo/feedback/hiss device (the Strega) with a new device from SOMA which is actually not a synthesizer but is sort of a two-stringed duxianqin [Vietnamese monochord]. (SOMA say they were inspired by Persian and Hindustani instruments.) Jon uses all this to create bowed-string and synth-tone sounds drifting in and out of aural fog.

youtube.com/watch?v=B0Pr_BQQWb

What I'm listening to today: "Soma DVINA / Make Noise Strega / 0-CTRL", Jon Gee

Chill, dreamy and atmospheric. Here Jon combines my favorite echo/feedback/hiss device (the Strega) with a new device from SOMA which is actually not a synthesizer but is sort of a two-stringed duxianqin [Vietnamese monochord]. (SOMA say they were inspired by Persian and Hindustani instruments.) Jon uses all this to create bowed-string and synth-tone sounds drifting in and out of aural fog.

31 Oct 2022 at 19:05 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Guess The Picture", DSP Kills

A fun, peppy jam that seems to be trying to hit as many different electronic music genres within three minutes as possible, but especially seems to love timbres from IDM and jungle. Created on an absolute nuclear control panel of a modular setup, but it's orchestrated from a PC running some sort of tracker so it's structured more like a complex mixed/prerecorded piece than typical live modular. I like the bass.

youtube.com/watch?v=JoOQPhMxYG

What I'm listening to today: "Guess The Picture", DSP Kills

A fun, peppy jam that seems to be trying to hit as many different electronic music genres within three minutes as possible, but especially seems to love timbres from IDM and jungle. Created on an absolute nuclear control panel of a modular setup, but it's orchestrated from a PC running some sort of tracker so it's structured more like a complex mixed/prerecorded piece than typical live modular. I like the bass.

1 Nov 2022 at 19:53 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "3x NYMPHES and 1 spare hour to shoot a video", Dimitra Manthou

As the title says, a synth designer/cofounder at Dreadbox had a slow afternoon one day, so she grabbed a Nymphes and over an hour dubbed it on itself 3 times to make this strange little song. It's short but it turned out really compelling, there's a fascinating mood to it. It tastes to me like aluminum.

youtube.com/watch?v=J_HPzhfxg9

2 Nov 2022 at 19:15 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "SynthCone VISMUTH with Universe Zen Audio VOSKHOD-2 -=|=- DRONE DARK AMBIENT", GIPNOZER

If you've been following this thread you'll notice I keep returning to tracks that consist entirely of ominous howling, and this is for a simple reason, which is that I *really like* ominous howling. This is a great 10-minute track depicting the constant approach of an enormous swarm of invisible insects, punctuated by periodic electric squealing.

youtube.com/watch?v=hPX3Nq5znV

What I'm listening to today: "SynthCone VISMUTH with Universe Zen Audio VOSKHOD-2 -=|=- DRONE DARK AMBIENT", GIPNOZER

If you've been following this thread you'll notice I keep returning to tracks that consist entirely of ominous howling, and this is for a simple reason, which is that I *really like* ominous howling. This is a great 10-minute track depicting the constant approach of an enormous swarm of invisible insects, punctuated by periodic electric squealing.

3 Nov 2022 at 19:08 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Finding Beauty in Distortion", Raucous Studio

Six minutes of meditative "weird noises" based around using an analog implementation of an OR gate as a distortion filter. Mostly very quiet actually, but full of lovely subtle moments. A good demonstration of how one can perceive rhythm in otherwise ambient works through simple things like a repeating click or a phaser pedal.

Headphones recommended.

youtube.com/watch?v=ACIjT_hHuy

4 Nov 2022 at 19:07 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "L.E.S. Artistes", Santigold

The late 00s had a wealth of excellent female producer/songwriter/singers (Janelle Monae, Robyn etc) and among that group Santigold never quite got the attention she deserved, I thought. She's still releasing albums but her first album still stands out to me for its unusual synth accents and the first track, "L.E.S. Artistes", a basically perfect pop song that delivers unforgettably catchy funk from moment one.

youtube.com/watch?v=cz0Qb5ws98

What I'm listening to today: "L.E.S. Artistes", Santigold

The late 00s had a wealth of excellent female producer/songwriter/singers (Janelle Monae, Robyn etc) and among that group Santigold never quite got the attention she deserved, I thought. She's still releasing albums but her first album still stands out to me for its unusual synth accents and the first track, "L.E.S. Artistes", a basically perfect pop song that delivers unforgettably catchy funk from moment one.

7 Nov 2022 at 20:23 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Les Artisans", Theoreme

This album's from 2021 but what it makes me think of more than anything else is like old Einstürzende Neubauten or Swans songs with industrial-sounding (in the sense of "like a factory") bass sounds and clanging beats and prose being intoned in a low voice, except that in this one woman intoning the prose is speaking French instead of German. Anyway, I liked it. The first track on here is the best:

mapledeathrecords.bandcamp.com

What I'm listening to today: "Les Artisans", Theoreme

This album's from 2021 but what it makes me think of more than anything else is like old Einstürzende Neubauten or Swans songs with industrial-sounding (in the sense of "like a factory") bass sounds and clanging beats and prose being intoned in a low voice, except that in this one woman intoning the prose is speaking French instead of German. Anyway, I liked it. The first track on here is the best:

8 Nov 2022 at 22:06 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Les Artistes", Rachid Taha

So if you have Spotify or Tidal or one of those other big unethical streaming sites, a weird thing you can do is search for a song by name, click "play" from the search page and it will *play all the search results alphabetically*, which sounds like it should not work but is sometimes startlingly effective.

Anyway here's some jamming French rockabilly by an Algerian singer / social activist. Guess how I found it

youtube.com/watch?v=zSA1F9D0RH

What I'm listening to today: "Les Artistes", Rachid Taha

So if you have Spotify or Tidal or one of those other big unethical streaming sites, a weird thing you can do is search for a song by name, click "play" from the search page and it will *play all the search results alphabetically*, which sounds like it should not work but is sometimes startlingly effective.

9 Nov 2022 at 20:38 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "THE LIZ", Armani Caesar

Armani Caesar is a new rapper from Buffalo NY with a distinct and really satisfying musical aesthetic. Her rap style evokes 90s rappers like Lil Kim and Foxy Brown, her production evokes Dan the Automator and Kool Keith. I'm making comparisons to old stuff but this isn't retro, it feels like she picked up where those artists left off. She has two good albums in the last two years, both of them named "THE LIZ".

youtube.com/watch?v=y--563E_-M

What I'm listening to today: "THE LIZ", Armani Caesar

Armani Caesar is a new rapper from Buffalo NY with a distinct and really satisfying musical aesthetic. Her rap style evokes 90s rappers like Lil Kim and Foxy Brown, her production evokes Dan the Automator and Kool Keith. I'm making comparisons to old stuff but this isn't retro, it feels like she picked up where those artists left off. She has two good albums in the last two years, both of them named "THE LIZ".

10 Nov 2022 at 20:18 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Communiqué: Approach Spiral", Michael Shrieve

Awhile back I posted a music link here and someone said it gave them "Approach Spiral vibes". I didn't know what that was but it turns out in 1984 the drummer for Santana released an album of chill electronic music. This track features what I guess 80s Americans would have called a "world music" beat, 12 minutes long with a slow but increasingly intense build, and the vibes are excellent.

youtube.com/watch?v=jqZzBtIN30

What I'm listening to today: "Communiqué: Approach Spiral", Michael Shrieve

Awhile back I posted a music link here and someone said it gave them "Approach Spiral vibes". I didn't know what that was but it turns out in 1984 the drummer for Santana released an album of chill electronic music. This track features what I guess 80s Americans would have called a "world music" beat, 12 minutes long with a slow but increasingly intense build, and the vibes are excellent.

14 Nov 2022 at 20:25 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Celestial Soda Pop", Ray Lynch

This album, "Deep Breakfast" was self-produced/self-released by Ray Lynch in 1984, before "techno" was a word; back then it would have been sold as "New Age". Things were fuzzier then.

I heard this song in the 7th grade. I hadn't awakened into musical consciousness yet, so the only way I knew then to explain the extremely deep impression it left on me was "this is the best Final Fantasy overworld music ever".

youtube.com/watch?v=9YtOWeAKTl

What I'm listening to today: "Celestial Soda Pop", Ray Lynch

This album, "Deep Breakfast" was self-produced/self-released by Ray Lynch in 1984, before "techno" was a word; back then it would have been sold as "New Age". Things were fuzzier then.

I heard this song in the 7th grade. I hadn't awakened into musical consciousness yet, so the only way I knew then to explain the extremely deep impression it left on me was "this is the best Final Fantasy overworld music ever".

15 Nov 2022 at 20:00 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Korg Wavestate relax", Ondřej Štěpánek

This is someone's synth jam with Korg's Minilogue-ized Wavestation equivalent; it's recorded last year, but has a deliciously early-90s vibe to it. The piece feels like it's building toward something, but stays quiet and slow right to the end; I get the sense of a song from a movie soundtrack, an early establishing scene, laying down leitmotifs that will pay off in tense and action-packed scenes later.

youtube.com/watch?v=Fsc-_qbOrd

What I'm listening to today: "Korg Wavestate relax", Ondřej Štěpánek

This is someone's synth jam with Korg's Minilogue-ized Wavestation equivalent; it's recorded last year, but has a deliciously early-90s vibe to it. The piece feels like it's building toward something, but stays quiet and slow right to the end; I get the sense of a song from a movie soundtrack, an early establishing scene, laying down leitmotifs that will pay off in tense and action-packed scenes later.

16 Nov 2022 at 21:02 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Children", Robert Miles

It wasn't easy to be a techno fan in Texas in 1995. The Chemical Brothers and "electronica" were still a couple years off so the rock station gave me nothing to work with. My only sources were college radio and, occasionally, 104.1, the soft rock station, which targeted moms but because it played pop *occasionally* would allow dance tracks into its lineup. Occasionally this meant true synth bangers, like "Children".

youtube.com/watch?v=LafSIzwdo-

What I'm listening to today: "Children", Robert Miles

It wasn't easy to be a techno fan in Texas in 1995. The Chemical Brothers and "electronica" were still a couple years off so the rock station gave me nothing to work with. My only sources were college radio and, occasionally, 104.1, the soft rock station, which targeted moms but because it played pop *occasionally* would allow dance tracks into its lineup. Occasionally this meant true synth bangers, like "Children".

17 Nov 2022 at 20:04 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Full Performance (Live on KEXP)", Hania Rani

About a month ago this lady and her synthesizers did a live set on a Seattle radio station. The first six or so minutes are some basic chill 90s style ambient synths, but then she starts layering in piano and singing and from that point to the end it feels like she's banging on your heart with a hammer.

The final minutes are an interview, so you'll probably want to stop the video around 26:00.

youtube.com/watch?v=_3EuiU1qdp

What I'm listening to today: "Full Performance (Live on KEXP)", Hania Rani

About a month ago this lady and her synthesizers did a live set on a Seattle radio station. The first six or so minutes are some basic chill 90s style ambient synths, but then she starts layering in piano and singing and from that point to the end it feels like she's banging on your heart with a hammer.

18 Nov 2022 at 20:18 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Triple Kastle", alloutofsync

The Bastl Kastle is a lovely toy-like palmtop instrument that mocks the entire expensive idiom of modular synths by costing like $60, running off 3 AA batteries and yet sounding like it contains an entire universe of glitchy noise.

This piece combines three Kastles crosswired to make otherworldly noises unlike anything you've ever heard, although oddly it does remind me a bit of the Earthbound cave music.

youtube.com/watch?v=hrIHd5qAff

What I'm listening to today: "Triple Kastle", alloutofsync

The Bastl Kastle is a lovely toy-like palmtop instrument that mocks the entire expensive idiom of modular synths by costing like $60, running off 3 AA batteries and yet sounding like it contains an entire universe of glitchy noise.

This piece combines three Kastles crosswired to make otherworldly noises unlike anything you've ever heard, although oddly it does remind me a bit of the Earthbound cave music.

28 Nov 2022 at 20:13 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Strega processing LF radio signals", Tom Zicarelli

"Software Defined Radio" is a technique where an untuned radio receiver shovels the bottom 48 kilohertz of the spectrum into a computer's audio-in "raw", at which point bandpass/demodulation are performed in software. In this video an iPad runs SDR with intentionally incorrect demodulation/frequency settings, so the only output is chaotic squealing that a Strega smears into audio ambience.

youtube.com/watch?v=pLFDYwzU56

What I'm listening to today: "Strega processing LF radio signals", Tom Zicarelli

"Software Defined Radio" is a technique where an untuned radio receiver shovels the bottom 48 kilohertz of the spectrum into a computer's audio-in "raw", at which point bandpass/demodulation are performed in software. In this video an iPad runs SDR with intentionally incorrect demodulation/frequency settings, so the only output is chaotic squealing that a Strega smears into audio ambience.

29 Nov 2022 at 20:06 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Every song on Björk's album 'Vespertine' at the same time"

This experiment starts off feeling kind of pointless; all the first 30 seconds do for me is reveal 606 drums and the harpsicord from "Pagan Poetry" stand out well amidst noise.

But then there's a shift, like the floor dropping out under you. Once the song intros are past everything blends, and coalesces into a slowly-mutating, gloriously creepy, shockingly emotional uniform howl.

youtube.com/watch?v=ZsT3-B1zQB

What I'm listening to today: "Every song on Björk's album 'Vespertine' at the same time"

This experiment starts off feeling kind of pointless; all the first 30 seconds do for me is reveal 606 drums and the harpsicord from "Pagan Poetry" stand out well amidst noise.

But then there's a shift, like the floor dropping out under you. Once the song intros are past everything blends, and coalesces into a slowly-mutating, gloriously creepy, shockingly emotional uniform howl.

30 Nov 2022 at 20:05 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Saigon Window // Crunchy Ambient [Live Performance]", Dexba

A flowing 20-minute live set featuring a slightly unusual setup (multiple Meng Qi synths) and, as advertised, a window on a Vietnamese street. Starts with some basically okay distorted chimes and echoing howls but around the seven to ten minute mark it finds an atmospheric groove and from there to the end is a transcendent cosmic journey.

youtube.com/watch?v=BO11wOrGxS

1 Dec 2022 at 20:33 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Twelfth", Daniel M. Karlsson

Karlsson (@t36s) is a composer I've been following for years who constantly produces lovely and intense noise/ambient. This was his Nov 12 entry for the "#Noisevember" event (he's now moved on to Dronecember).

Karlsson explains this track is based on a string physical model (mastodon.social/@t36s@social.o); the model seems to be pushed to (past?) its limit, producing unearthly, sorrowful noise.

Source code included:

danielmkarlsson.bandcamp.com/t

What I'm listening to today: "Twelfth", Daniel M. Karlsson

Karlsson (@t36s) is a composer I've been following for years who constantly produces lovely and intense noise/ambient. This was his Nov 12 entry for the "#Noisevember" event (he's now moved on to Dronecember).

Karlsson explains this track is based on a string physical model (mastodon.social/@t36s@social.o); the model seems to be pushed to (past?) its limit, producing unearthly, sorrowful noise.

2 Dec 2022 at 21:20 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "POCKET OPERATOR ACID RAVE", L҉̵͘P̴̶͘

I've mentioned the Pocket Operator in this thread before, but I don't think I've mentioned how much I love it. It's designed with the aesthetics and sense of play of a toy but you can do serious music production with it. This is demonstrated here via, as the title promises, some absolutely MASSIVE acid rave techno performed live from a PO-33 sampler unit on a tiny calculator-like PCB in the musician's hands.

youtube.com/watch?v=J_1glqhmX-

What I'm listening to today: "POCKET OPERATOR ACID RAVE", L҉̵͘P̴̶͘

I've mentioned the Pocket Operator in this thread before, but I don't think I've mentioned how much I love it. It's designed with the aesthetics and sense of play of a toy but you can do serious music production with it. This is demonstrated here via, as the title promises, some absolutely MASSIVE acid rave techno performed live from a PO-33 sampler unit on a tiny calculator-like PCB in the musician's hands.

3 Dec 2022 at 22:47 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Discovering Ambient with the Verbos Multi-Delay", Raucous Studio

This piece is based on a very simple feedback patch; a signal is amplified into itself, piped first through a delay echo and a bandpass with oscillating boundaries to sculpt the frequencies. It's extremely sparse and mostly quiet and almost nothing in it is intentional— just a man turning knobs to see what happens— but the echoing, moaning chirps are very evocative to me.

youtube.com/watch?v=H_h7YZ-PDi

What I'm listening to today: "Discovering Ambient with the Verbos Multi-Delay", Raucous Studio

This piece is based on a very simple feedback patch; a signal is amplified into itself, piped first through a delay echo and a bandpass with oscillating boundaries to sculpt the frequencies. It's extremely sparse and mostly quiet and almost nothing in it is intentional— just a man turning knobs to see what happens— but the echoing, moaning chirps are very evocative to me.

4 Dec 2022 at 23:09 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Soma RoAT Exploration N°2", HELL F.O

This is based on the Soma "Rumble of Ancient Times", an opinionated/toy synth. The normal problem of noise synths is they sound cool but wind up just making one undifferentiated drone; the ROAT solves this by making *four* drones (pad-triggered).

Here the ROAT's combined with Korg's desktop drum-modeling synth to make a cool and nicely structured glitch hop jam. "It's just like listening to real music!"

youtube.com/watch?v=TvoolkTIa2

What I'm listening to today: "Soma RoAT Exploration N°2", HELL F.O

This is based on the Soma "Rumble of Ancient Times", an opinionated/toy synth. The normal problem of noise synths is they sound cool but wind up just making one undifferentiated drone; the ROAT solves this by making *four* drones (pad-triggered).

5 Dec 2022 at 20:05 | Open on mastodon.social
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