Too Out of Order

I've been taking a longer than usual break in-between posting recently for various reasons and to be honest Ive got little to offer now other than a few links. The Éiretronica post is still languishing half written in my drafts folder, and that Reach mix is going to take a while to get up as well.

I blame it on the weather myself.

One negative thing about not being arsed to post anything is that you miss the boat on stuff like Nick Guttas excellent new(ish) netlabel Bleepfiend. Everything is free, previously unreleased, hardware based material with artwork by Doppelganger of Woofah/Blogariddims fame (!)... as the man himself says:

Bleepfiend is a totally independent net-label, primarily dedicated to releasing lost/forgotten/unreleased electronic music recordings that we feel deserve a wider audience, to the best of our limited abilities.

Why bother?

Because we want to tell a story: the story of a generation's struggle to realise it's ideas under limitations that would be unthinkable for electronic artists today. This is music made at subsistence level, harnessing whatever technology was available or affordable at the time, from analogue synths to cheap home keyboards, extinct micro-computers to domestic tape recorders. It is the sound of struggle - the creative urge pushing against limitations, forcing the artists to develop their own recording strategies...

So get over there and download (and donate if you've got the cash).

Rob Haigh of Omni Trio fame has just released a new LP, and theres an interesting interview with him over at the Crouton site. I always knew the man had some pedigree in the whole industrial/ambient/no wave field, but I wasn't aware he'd had releases on the excellent L.A.Y.L.A.H. label, home to the brilliant Organum amongst others. From what Ive heard so far his new material owes a large debt to Harold Budd - which can only be a good thing really.

In a similar vein, I was recently made aware of the 'one' netlabel. Tons of nice ambient/drone/postrock/experimental/electronic releases available for free download there. I was also informed of this free album from Nest at the same time. Lovely looping minimal piano business from Deaf Center contributor Otto Totland and Serein honcho Huw Roberts. I told Slug about this as I know hes a big fan of Type records and received the typical 'Oh - Ive had that for ages' response... Big up to Logos and Mattrick on SC for actually telling me about stuff!

Last but not least, the fantastic musical world of the Nintendo DS has just expanded yet again with the release of the Korg DS-10. No more messing about with bulky patch bays, Sticky sliders or broken knobs - now you can do all your synthesis on the go, using two patchable virtual synths with two oscillators each, a drum machine, a sequencer, and a full range of effects, to name but a few features. Check out some vids here. Ive been playing with this for the last week or so and it's ace.