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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

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

What I'm listening to today: "Soma ROAT Jam - Mélodie d'automne", Sidney Cote Nadon

This one uses *two* Rumble of Ancient Times units plus an Akai sampler to make dance techno with the ROATs' various noise generators providing the sirens, swells and background beepy noises you expect to be drifting in and out in the background of such music. It jams. If you liked whatever "Electro" was in 2008 ("Electroclash"? Was that the same thing?) you'll probably like this.

youtube.com/watch?v=6Sr5JBlofM

What I'm listening to today: "Soma ROAT Jam - Mélodie d'automne", Sidney Cote Nadon

This one uses *two* Rumble of Ancient Times units plus an Akai sampler to make dance techno with the ROATs' various noise generators providing the sirens, swells and background beepy noises you expect to be drifting in and out in the background of such music. It jams. If you liked whatever "Electro" was in 2008 ("Electroclash"? Was that the same thing?) you'll probably like this.

6 Dec 2022 at 21:29 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "random noise 079", glenn clyatt

A bizarre journey back and forth across the border between music and noise, this uses a Bastl Kastle and a chiptune synth to pile together bizarre noises until suddenly the noise coalesces into some pretty cool sounding dance techno!… before just as suddenly slowing down 800% and becoming one of, depending on your mindset,

1. A blissful, psychadelic trip
2. The sound of something crying out in pain

youtube.com/watch?v=mh20zAi3l5

What I'm listening to today: "random noise 079", glenn clyatt

A bizarre journey back and forth across the border between music and noise, this uses a Bastl Kastle and a chiptune synth to pile together bizarre noises until suddenly the noise coalesces into some pretty cool sounding dance techno!… before just as suddenly slowing down 800% and becoming one of, depending on your mindset,

7 Dec 2022 at 21:50 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Koma Krell | 0-Coast | Field Kit | Part Two | Extended Cut", Bottle Makes Music

The "Krell Patch" is a setup various synthesizers make possible to construct, where the closing envelope at the end of one note triggers the start of the next note. The name is a reference to the movie "Forbidden Planet". This Krell is augmented with a synth-controlled radio and a church fellowship hall used for natural echo.

TLDR: This is 12 minutes of beeps.

youtube.com/watch?v=4ECBiZ8P_X

What I'm listening to today: "Koma Krell | 0-Coast | Field Kit | Part Two | Extended Cut", Bottle Makes Music

The "Krell Patch" is a setup various synthesizers make possible to construct, where the closing envelope at the end of one note triggers the start of the next note. The name is a reference to the movie "Forbidden Planet". This Krell is augmented with a synth-controlled radio and a church fellowship hall used for natural echo.

8 Dec 2022 at 20:39 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "live stream #1 … subroom signals", substan

substan posts a lot of chill electronic music on YouTube; I've linked him in this thread before. This is an absolutely lovely two-hour (!) flowing set of chill-beats ambient songs, alternating "music they'd play in a yoga class" and "music to program to" with flavors of acid and dubby clicks-and-cuts floating in and out. Every song in this set individually is a song I'd recommend by itself. Massive

youtube.com/watch?v=tvmciNTS60

What I'm listening to today: "live stream #1 … subroom signals", substan

substan posts a lot of chill electronic music on YouTube; I've linked him in this thread before. This is an absolutely lovely two-hour (!) flowing set of chill-beats ambient songs, alternating "music they'd play in a yoga class" and "music to program to" with flavors of acid and dubby clicks-and-cuts floating in and out. Every song in this set individually is a song I'd recommend by itself. Massive

9 Dec 2022 at 23:19 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Messed up", KUČKA

KUČKA is a singer-songwriter who produces her own tracks and makes lush, grimy* hyperpop. This track is a single off what I think is an upcoming album and it's super intense, it's got a good driving beat and works as both pop and avant-garde sound design.

* in the sense of "reminiscent of Grimes"

youtube.com/watch?v=qTRDMKQyPS

10 Dec 2022 at 21:17 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Limited Access", GOLDEN BOY

At some point last week this tab got opened on my browser and I d… I honestly don't remember where it came from. The song in the tab is from an album named "I NEVER MEANT FOR THIS TO HAPPEN" and is frankly pretty hype. As is the wont of Bandcamp electronic musicians, GOLDEN BOY (she/her) seems to be trying to fit as many different club genres into one song as possible. Kinda reminds me of early Prodigy.

deathbysheep.com/track/limited

What I'm listening to today: "Limited Access", GOLDEN BOY

At some point last week this tab got opened on my browser and I d… I honestly don't remember where it came from. The song in the tab is from an album named "I NEVER MEANT FOR THIS TO HAPPEN" and is frankly pretty hype. As is the wont of Bandcamp electronic musicians, GOLDEN BOY (she/her) seems to be trying to fit as many different club genres into one song as possible. Kinda reminds me of early Prodigy.

11 Dec 2022 at 21:35 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "◯" (Vision Creation Newsun part 1), The Boredoms

The Boredoms started off making entire EPs of just screaming, but evolved into a mindblowing mix of psychadelia, surf rock, and Taiko drumming. And screaming. This is their masterpiece, a joyous explosion like the sound of a world being created, cf "Victory over the Sun".

I couldn't find a good single-track rip on YouTube, so this is the whole album. "Oops." Press stop whereever feels right.

youtube.com/watch?v=zdPCt5ZEf4

What I'm listening to today: "◯" (Vision Creation Newsun part 1), The Boredoms

The Boredoms started off making entire EPs of just screaming, but evolved into a mindblowing mix of psychadelia, surf rock, and Taiko drumming. And screaming. This is their masterpiece, a joyous explosion like the sound of a world being created, cf "Victory over the Sun".

19 Dec 2022 at 20:01 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Asozan", OOIOO

OOIOO is the side band organized by Yoshimi P-We, the drummer from the Boredoms. (If you are a millennial hipster: Yes, this is the Yoshimi who allegedly battled the pink robots.) OOIOO usually offer a slightly more structured take on the Boredoms formula, mixing P-We's drumming with funk stylings. This particular track is a longtime frequent re-listen to me; it has a feeling like a dream, something drifting close and away.

youtube.com/watch?v=ekNkMkF9qi

What I'm listening to today: "Asozan", OOIOO

OOIOO is the side band organized by Yoshimi P-We, the drummer from the Boredoms. (If you are a millennial hipster: Yes, this is the Yoshimi who allegedly battled the pink robots.) OOIOO usually offer a slightly more structured take on the Boredoms formula, mixing P-We's drumming with funk stylings. This particular track is a longtime frequent re-listen to me; it has a feeling like a dream, something drifting close and away.

20 Dec 2022 at 20:59 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Super Are", The Boredoms

This is from an album on which every song name begins with "Super".

If I were going to give someone exactly one Boredoms track to listen to it would probably be this one. I mentioned before the Boredoms combine a few different musical styles; this one basically splits them apart and showcases each of them one by one, taking time to savor each flavor, starting with Eno-ish 60s organs and ending with Taiko surf rock.

youtube.com/watch?v=vC2vqPHUw7

What I'm listening to today: "Super Are", The Boredoms

This is from an album on which every song name begins with "Super".

If I were going to give someone exactly one Boredoms track to listen to it would probably be this one. I mentioned before the Boredoms combine a few different musical styles; this one basically splits them apart and showcases each of them one by one, taking time to savor each flavor, starting with Eno-ish 60s organs and ending with Taiko surf rock.

21 Dec 2022 at 20:25 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: July 22, 2009 total solar eclipse, BOADRUM

In the 00s the Boredoms spent a while organizing increasingly complex performance art pieces involving very many drum kits, with the largest being 88 drummers in a giant spiral in a Brooklyn park. In my favorite, they took a boat into the pacific ocean to perform this ecstatic noise music ritual in the umbra of a solar eclipse. The dude next to Yoshimi P-We is Zach Hill of Hella and the Death Grips.

youtube.com/watch?v=WAriDgdd8J

What I'm listening to today: July 22, 2009 total solar eclipse, BOADRUM

In the 00s the Boredoms spent a while organizing increasingly complex performance art pieces involving very many drum kits, with the largest being 88 drummers in a giant spiral in a Brooklyn park. In my favorite, they took a boat into the pacific ocean to perform this ecstatic noise music ritual in the umbra of a solar eclipse. The dude next to Yoshimi P-We is Zach Hill of Hella and the Death Grips.

22 Dec 2022 at 20:02 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "kawasemi Ah", OOIOO

OOIOO released a new album in 2020 that was mostly alternate-version rerecordings of older songs, but one of the new tracks is this song called "kawasemi Ah" with a really good groove. My summary of this song is: kawasemi Ah

ooioojp.bandcamp.com/track/kaw

23 Dec 2022 at 20:08 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Mixed Emotions", Bebe Barron

In 1956, experimental electronic musicians (and married couple) Bebe and Louis Barron composed the score for Forbidden Planet, inspiring a generation.

In 2000, Bebe visited the music lab at UCSB and recorded a new piece. It is *sick*. It seems to be inventing entirely new emotions. It sounds exactly like the music 60s electronic artists would have made if not held back by the friction of contemporary recording.

youtube.com/watch?v=Biqz1r2d_x

What I'm listening to today: "Mixed Emotions", Bebe Barron

In 1956, experimental electronic musicians (and married couple) Bebe and Louis Barron composed the score for Forbidden Planet, inspiring a generation.

In 2000, Bebe visited the music lab at UCSB and recorded a new piece. It is *sick*. It seems to be inventing entirely new emotions. It sounds exactly like the music 60s electronic artists would have made if not held back by the friction of contemporary recording.

26 Dec 2022 at 20:01 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "La Jet​é​e", Sines of Exquisite Pleasure

I somehow, happily, managed to wedge YouTube in a state this weekend where it recommended me nothing but albums from the early 80s artists self-published on cassette tape. S.O.E.P. was a particularly exciting find from this; their 1981 album "Modular Systems" is *amazing*, but this one serene track from their 1984 tape stands out to me for its retro-invocations of Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Air.

candlefam.bandcamp.com/track/l

What I'm listening to today: "La Jet​é​e", Sines of Exquisite Pleasure

I somehow, happily, managed to wedge YouTube in a state this weekend where it recommended me nothing but albums from the early 80s artists self-published on cassette tape. S.O.E.P. was a particularly exciting find from this; their 1981 album "Modular Systems" is *amazing*, but this one serene track from their 1984 tape stands out to me for its retro-invocations of Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Air.

27 Dec 2022 at 20:53 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "pulsar 23 volca fm jam", clyv

This jam gets some *wonderfully* bizarre noises out of Volca's cheap modern DX-7 clone box, combined with some wonderful grungy noises from using the Pulsar-23 (a drum machine) as a synth voice. Once the (chugging, dirty) beat comes in the overall feeling is pleasantly disorienting, like listening from afar to a rock concert, or perhaps an alien invasion, happening on the far other side of an echoey valley.

youtube.com/watch?v=N5sEjtfmPV

What I'm listening to today: "pulsar 23 volca fm jam", clyv

This jam gets some *wonderfully* bizarre noises out of Volca's cheap modern DX-7 clone box, combined with some wonderful grungy noises from using the Pulsar-23 (a drum machine) as a synth voice. Once the (chugging, dirty) beat comes in the overall feeling is pleasantly disorienting, like listening from afar to a rock concert, or perhaps an alien invasion, happening on the far other side of an echoey valley.

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

What I'm listening to today: "Spirals & Orbits", Benge

This was recorded this year but is going *hard* in both audio and visuals for the aesthetics of a 60s-70s educational filmreel, all baffling diagrams and radiophonic-workshop abstract noises, video feedback, quiet glimmering echoes on slow oscillator sweeps. As a piece of ambient music it's entrancing.

youtube.com/watch?v=cSNVv2x6QT

29 Dec 2022 at 20:02 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Elysium State", Stardust

The "demoscene" if you're not familiar makes tiny audiovisual programs that push the limits of computer hardware. The community started on 80s hardware, and since wowing on modern GPUs is less challenging they to a large extent stayed on 80s hardware, making them a good chiptune source. Here's a new 2022 demo by Stardust (not to be confused with the 1998 Thomas Bangalter side project).

TLDR Dubstep on a ZX Spectrum

youtube.com/watch?v=eEOv-OCil5

What I'm listening to today: "Elysium State", Stardust

The "demoscene" if you're not familiar makes tiny audiovisual programs that push the limits of computer hardware. The community started on 80s hardware, and since wowing on modern GPUs is less challenging they to a large extent stayed on 80s hardware, making them a good chiptune source. Here's a new 2022 demo by Stardust (not to be confused with the 1998 Thomas Bangalter side project).

30 Dec 2022 at 20:25 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "I Am A Recording", m 10538

The poster of this song claims it's a cassette tape they recorded in 1981, when they were a child, on a toy organ in their parents basement. It definitely sounds like a child hitting random notes, but after a bit something clicks and they hit this powerful, spooky groove. Daniel-Johnston-esque in more ways than the conceptual.

The YouTube summary ends with a strange rant about digital preservation, worth reading.

youtube.com/watch?v=u8Y9vVDyuz

What I'm listening to today: "I Am A Recording", m 10538

The poster of this song claims it's a cassette tape they recorded in 1981, when they were a child, on a toy organ in their parents basement. It definitely sounds like a child hitting random notes, but after a bit something clicks and they hit this powerful, spooky groove. Daniel-Johnston-esque in more ways than the conceptual.

2 Jan 2023 at 22:49 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Almost in tune live play pulsar 23 buchla easel", Amon Tobin

I spend a lot of time listening to bedroom synth jams by YouTube randos and I've gotten *very* used to incredibly hype stuff posted by accounts with 23 subscribers, so when I got to the end of this driving, buzzing techno jam I was shocked to realize THIS rando was Amon Tobin, a Ninja Tune-signed musician I've seen live three times. Apparently he also has synths in his bedroom.

youtube.com/watch?v=xlzb7XnCoA

What I'm listening to today: "Almost in tune live play pulsar 23 buchla easel", Amon Tobin

I spend a lot of time listening to bedroom synth jams by YouTube randos and I've gotten *very* used to incredibly hype stuff posted by accounts with 23 subscribers, so when I got to the end of this driving, buzzing techno jam I was shocked to realize THIS rando was Amon Tobin, a Ninja Tune-signed musician I've seen live three times. Apparently he also has synths in his bedroom.

3 Jan 2023 at 21:00 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Bedroom electro test demo (live electro track feat Elektron Octatrack // Analog Rytm // Slav Squat)", Matt Leagre

Now *this* is a true bedroom synth jam, as in, you can literally see the bed and the dude visibly doesn't have enough space for all the synths he has jammed in the corner there (the unplugged Arp Odyssey reissue! D:). Eight minutes of shifting groove with 90s dance and vaporwave flavors. Really good stuff actually.

youtube.com/watch?v=X1TDKIWG6D

What I'm listening to today: "Bedroom electro test demo (live electro track feat Elektron Octatrack // Analog Rytm // Slav Squat)", Matt Leagre

Now *this* is a true bedroom synth jam, as in, you can literally see the bed and the dude visibly doesn't have enough space for all the synths he has jammed in the corner there (the unplugged Arp Odyssey reissue! D:). Eight minutes of shifting groove with 90s dance and vaporwave flavors. Really good stuff actually.

4 Jan 2023 at 21:02 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Volca Keys + Beats ambient jam - Volca Dreams", Fortress of Sound

A lovely, gentle electronic groove made on the two most basic Korg Volca units and one guitar pedal. Feels like water level music from a lost Donkey Kong Country game. The basics, they work. This is 13 minutes long and realistically probably could/should have been like seven but you just kind of zone out and you don't notice how long it's been.

youtube.com/watch?v=H5LKC0h6Nb

5 Jan 2023 at 19:59 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "True Love Will Find You In The End (Daniel Johnston cover)", The Mathletes

I went to high school with Joe Mathlete, the lead / occasional only member of this band, so I guess I'm one of their oldest fans. As a home-recording indie musician from Texas Joe's got a deep love for Daniel Johnston and played a version of Johnston in Speeding Motorcycle, a stage musical in Houston and Austin. This cover is super intense to me; best listened loud.

youtube.com/watch?v=ArNMLWOM2_

What I'm listening to today: "True Love Will Find You In The End (Daniel Johnston cover)", The Mathletes

I went to high school with Joe Mathlete, the lead / occasional only member of this band, so I guess I'm one of their oldest fans. As a home-recording indie musician from Texas Joe's got a deep love for Daniel Johnston and played a version of Johnston in Speeding Motorcycle, a stage musical in Houston and Austin. This cover is super intense to me; best listened loud.

6 Jan 2023 at 20:10 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "400 piece 1", Alessandro Cortini

Cortini is a colossally talented synth musician famed for doing all Nine Inch Nails' synths for many years. He also has a YouTube channel where along with his music videos he posts jams, and videos of his cat sitting on rare synthesizers. This video, from 2017, is a spooky, swaying ambient piece; he claims it was the first thing recorded on a "newly restored" Buchla 400. Check out the ancient CRT interface.

youtube.com/watch?v=4syAC6LxT1

What I'm listening to today: "400 piece 1", Alessandro Cortini

Cortini is a colossally talented synth musician famed for doing all Nine Inch Nails' synths for many years. He also has a YouTube channel where along with his music videos he posts jams, and videos of his cat sitting on rare synthesizers. This video, from 2017, is a spooky, swaying ambient piece; he claims it was the first thing recorded on a "newly restored" Buchla 400. Check out the ancient CRT interface.

9 Jan 2023 at 19:59 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Make Noise | Strega with Pocket Operator PO-33 Session 221119", ナカヤマコウジ

This is a short and simple, kind of ambient / abstract trip-hop piece made with a handheld sampler and the Strega, a synthesizer/effects unit (co-designed by… Alessandro Cortini, again). Not super attention-grabbing or anything and it's over near as soon as it starts, but it sounds really cool and it creates some nice distinct moods before it goes.

youtube.com/watch?v=dHgY892cYt

10 Jan 2023 at 21:30 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Pulsar 23, THYME, and Generation Loss MKII - Destruction Jam", nealwho

This one uses a Pulsar playing a gritty industrial drum loop, but the centerpiece is a guitar pedal that simulates the sound of degraded magnetic tape on a poorly maintained player. This, and an unusual (sequenceable) bitcrushing delay-echo by Bastl, place the loop on a rack and stretch it into 10 minutes of muffled, unsettling error noises. William Basinski in real time

youtube.com/watch?v=oQatVhfxHK

What I'm listening to today: "Pulsar 23, THYME, and Generation Loss MKII - Destruction Jam", nealwho

This one uses a Pulsar playing a gritty industrial drum loop, but the centerpiece is a guitar pedal that simulates the sound of degraded magnetic tape on a poorly maintained player. This, and an unusual (sequenceable) bitcrushing delay-echo by Bastl, place the loop on a rack and stretch it into 10 minutes of muffled, unsettling error noises. William Basinski in real time

11 Jan 2023 at 21:07 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Stations of the Tide (annotated)", Dave Seidel

An extremely quiet piece consisting entirely of Schoenberg-y tonal hums rising and falling in possibly-patternless waves. In places it just falls into complete silence. There's a feeling of intense isolation here, maybe something like dread.

The piece is mechanically generated in VCV Rack; the video shows the machine that generated it, and overlay text explains what each functional block does.

youtube.com/watch?v=pDN_Zy8sg4

What I'm listening to today: "Stations of the Tide (annotated)", Dave Seidel

An extremely quiet piece consisting entirely of Schoenberg-y tonal hums rising and falling in possibly-patternless waves. In places it just falls into complete silence. There's a feeling of intense isolation here, maybe something like dread.

12 Jan 2023 at 20:11 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Sixtyniner", Boards of Canada

All those "chill synth jam" videos I link here? You can blame basically all of them on BoC, who perfected a blend of educational-film-score analog synths + hip-hop beats that in 1998 was a revelation.

BoC had tons of early stuff recorded when they signed, so they have multiple rerelease albums. My favorite BoC track ever is still "Sixtyniner" from their 1995 self-published cassette. The mood remains unmatched.

boardsofcanada.bandcamp.com/tr

What I'm listening to today: "Sixtyniner", Boards of Canada

All those "chill synth jam" videos I link here? You can blame basically all of them on BoC, who perfected a blend of educational-film-score analog synths + hip-hop beats that in 1998 was a revelation.

BoC had tons of early stuff recorded when they signed, so they have multiple rerelease albums. My favorite BoC track ever is still "Sixtyniner" from their 1995 self-published cassette. The mood remains unmatched.

13 Jan 2023 at 20:00 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "shortbus take1", SunFallsMusic

The "Shortbus" is a literally-named Eurorack module that doesn't connect to the power ribbon; the switches just determine which plugs are electrically "shorted" to the others. This guy rigged up a pleasantly strange repeating beat with a wavetable synth and a shortbus at the center. The same guy has a "take2" video which shows the performance possibilities of the switches better, but I like this strange loop.

youtube.com/watch?v=aQf7tEJmKE

What I'm listening to today: "shortbus take1", SunFallsMusic

The "Shortbus" is a literally-named Eurorack module that doesn't connect to the power ribbon; the switches just determine which plugs are electrically "shorted" to the others. This guy rigged up a pleasantly strange repeating beat with a wavetable synth and a shortbus at the center. The same guy has a "take2" video which shows the performance possibilities of the switches better, but I like this strange loop.

14 Jan 2023 at 22:09 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "The Ark Of Redemption/Full Circle (Pulsar-23, Strega, 0-CTRL, DBA Rooms)"

This is a half-hour long (improvised?) performance of somewhere between one and three songs. So it's kind of a lot, and some of the sounds are harsh, but I really like the progression on this, going from a constant buzzing drone into epic warehouse ambiance and sinister clicking and, eventually, music. If you can let yourself be hypnotized by sound, this will do it.

youtube.com/watch?v=oLQenWSEQ-

What I'm listening to today: "The Ark Of Redemption/Full Circle (Pulsar-23, Strega, 0-CTRL, DBA Rooms)"

This is a half-hour long (improvised?) performance of somewhere between one and three songs. So it's kind of a lot, and some of the sounds are harsh, but I really like the progression on this, going from a constant buzzing drone into epic warehouse ambiance and sinister clicking and, eventually, music. If you can let yourself be hypnotized by sound, this will do it.

15 Jan 2023 at 19:59 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Push for Woogies", tvvt

This is an acid techno jam posted on the synthesizer subreddit this morning based around what I think is a Moog Sub37 and a bunch of Electron boxes. It's messy but very fun; I like how the first 20 seconds or so sound like just random noises until the bass drum drops and suddenly everything snaps into place.

reddit.com/r/synthesizers/comm

16 Jan 2023 at 20:26 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Techno jam / polyend tracker,tr-6s,j-6"

This is a desk jam using some boxes from Roland's recent attempt to approximate the Volca line, specifically the "It's like a TR-606 with sliders? Sort of?" box and the "It's like a Jupiter-08 with a chord sequencer? Sort of?" box.

The opening just-drums part goes on maybe a little longer than I would have let it, but once the j-6 comes in it gets "hype". Overall some enjoyably dirty techno.

youtube.com/watch?v=ggQX4bPwnl

What I'm listening to today: "Techno jam / polyend tracker,tr-6s,j-6"

This is a desk jam using some boxes from Roland's recent attempt to approximate the Volca line, specifically the "It's like a TR-606 with sliders? Sort of?" box and the "It's like a Jupiter-08 with a chord sequencer? Sort of?" box.

17 Jan 2023 at 20:18 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Laidback Dub session # DubTechno studio Jam (Tempest SpaceEcho Prophet6 Perfourmer Strymon..)", VØSNE

VØSNE has a bunch of good videos of live sets doing laid-back dub. (In this context, "Dub" means "instrumental reggae for nerds".) This is… a live set of laid-back dub. This one's forty minutes long and starts as a few minutes of just ambient echoes, but the drive keeps building the entire time and once it's built it's got a great goove.

youtube.com/watch?v=G3egwPIkSG

What I'm listening to today: "Laidback Dub session # DubTechno studio Jam (Tempest SpaceEcho Prophet6 Perfourmer Strymon..)", VØSNE

VØSNE has a bunch of good videos of live sets doing laid-back dub. (In this context, "Dub" means "instrumental reggae for nerds".) This is… a live set of laid-back dub. This one's forty minutes long and starts as a few minutes of just ambient echoes, but the drive keeps building the entire time and once it's built it's got a great goove.

18 Jan 2023 at 20:12 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Soma Pulsar 23 - Dark Minimal performance", Deaftone Audio

A small, hissy percussion piece ("microhouse"? Is this what "microhouse" is? Maybe nanohouse?) with some really good sounds, including an acid bassline rigged out of a Pulsar drum channel. In my opinion a good way to spend four minutes.

youtube.com/watch?v=vE3LsBuzXv

19 Jan 2023 at 22:34 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "Particle Hands", HELL F.O

HELL F.O has a bunch of fun stuff posted— they've appeared in this thread before— and it's practically all abstract, ambient noise music. So this track is an interesting surprise just by being a completely listenable, borderline-pop dance techno piece. Still some interesting sound design, mind you! But drop this into a club set with some bass EQ and I think the crowd would eat it up.

youtube.com/watch?v=qNL8eU7aAX

20 Jan 2023 at 20:00 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "digitakt + modular live improv set", ANVBS

This is a live set basically comprising a concert's worth of different songs, all that kind of dirty industrial techno I like so much. The flow's good and it works well as focus music. The set isn't of completely consistent quality— if this were say, a Bandcamp album I probably would have picked a favorite track and linked only that— but the songs in here that are good are real good & hard-driving.

youtube.com/watch?v=AAtLRZxt1_

What I'm listening to today: "digitakt + modular live improv set", ANVBS

This is a live set basically comprising a concert's worth of different songs, all that kind of dirty industrial techno I like so much. The flow's good and it works well as focus music. The set isn't of completely consistent quality— if this were say, a Bandcamp album I probably would have picked a favorite track and linked only that— but the songs in here that are good are real good & hard-driving.

21 Jan 2023 at 20:26 | Open on mastodon.social
mcc replied to mcc

What I'm listening to today: "GRP A4 sequence 3:1", Klang Zaun

The A4, it turns out?, is a $5000 synthesizer the size of a desk, designed to be a "more affordable" version of the A8 (a $10,000 synthesizer the size of a wall).

No drums in this, just synth tones that don't feel so much retro as prehistoric, like that proto-electronic stuff from the 70s before Giorgio Moroder realized synths were for dance music. It's hypnotic and ends with you kind of wanting more.

youtube.com/watch?v=4byztyOvIj

What I'm listening to today: "GRP A4 sequence 3:1", Klang Zaun

The A4, it turns out?, is a $5000 synthesizer the size of a desk, designed to be a "more affordable" version of the A8 (a $10,000 synthesizer the size of a wall).

No drums in this, just synth tones that don't feel so much retro as prehistoric, like that proto-electronic stuff from the 70s before Giorgio Moroder realized synths were for dance music. It's hypnotic and ends with you kind of wanting more.

22 Jan 2023 at 23:03 | Open on mastodon.social
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