Blogariddims 48 / Jazz from Woebot

(Droid Sez: Episode 48 comes from the one and only Woebot, who has (kind of) come out of retirement to contribute this set. Theres not much to add to Matt's intro and post, simply that I hope you'll all enjoy this musical ambrosia as much as I have....)

Shunted off the stage and smoking in the alley. For a while Jazz had something like an Embassy but then its proponents drifted on to Reggae and Brazilian music. Now no-one (apart from you dear listener) gives a shit about it:

Download direct here, subscribe here, or peruse the series at your leisure here.

1. Yuseef Lateef: Plum Blossom
2. Andrew Hill: Illusion
3. Gil Evans: The Barbara Song
4. Marion Brown: Bismillah Raxmani Rahim
5. Don Cherry: Brown Rice
6. Mahavishnu Orchestra: You Know You Know
7. Roy Ayers: We Live In Brooklyn
8. William Fischer: Circles
9. Weather Report: Non-Stop Home
10. Billy Cobham: Stratus

This mix has been specially put together for the Blogariddims series.

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Blogariddims Round Up

So - nearly 2 months of blogariddims have gone by with nary a whisper from my vocal circuits. It feels a bit like the self-loathing and despair brought on by a hospital stay followed by weeks of DIY and home improvement have worn off somewhat, so now seems a good time to update things as theres no telling how long this will last before I lapse into somnolence once again.

First on the list is Blogariddims 45 / Fusion part 1 from the profligate DJ Zhao:
Zhao was scheduled for a Blogariddims way back in '06, but for various reasons it never happened. I'm very happy that he was squeezed back into the schedule though as this mix is a superlative example of how mash-ups and cross genre mixing can be a good thing, as his technically excellent mixing and playful selection make for a highly entertaining listen. I've been listening to this since it came out and I still haven't absorbed it fully. Also recommended is his Ngoma mix Vol.1.

Blogariddims 46 / Doppelmix from the mysterious Doppelganger was next up:

I've been a fan of Dopplegangers' writings for a while now, he's one of the few bloggers out there who can bring theory into an analysis of music, comics and (ahem) doctor who! without coming across like an elitist polo-neck wearing twat. His trademark doodlewerk is great too, having made the job of Woofah layout somewhat of a more enjoyable task. I knew he would come up with an epic post to go with his mix (and he has), but I had no idea what his selection would be like, so I was happily surprised when this monomaniacally dark episode hit the airwaves. In his own words:

I started off with such grand aspirations:.... an architectonic mix... a psychometric reckoning... a map... a narrative of the psyche. The return of the repressed in the form of the 'Theme from Joe 90'. A hint of the Lacanian Real in 'Power Rangers - Mystic Force" (surprisingly good). 'Voodoo Ray' exhumed from the collective unconscious. A fragrant Kruder and Dorfmeister - smelling more of cred than sweat... representatives from the psychotopographical corners of the inner globe... a cathartic purge of my musical unconscious....

But there's a reason for repression: assembled together in the exercise yard - lined up like a Colditz count with a couple of dummy prisoners thrown into the line-up, those boys looked ugly....

So I went for one note: Not a neurotic exhumation of the past, but a single psychotic present. A Deleuzian walk in the sunshine..... a dark yodel.....

And so, having just had our apples and oranges, it was time for something even less easily comparable... dragonfruit maybe?

Kid Shirt, FACT writer, geomantic music critic, and techno-occultist extraordinare picked up the mantle with Blogariddims 47 / Ontological Hysteria

I've pretty much run out of superlatives at this point, so I just have two things to say about this set.

1. This is probably one of the episodes Ive put on repeat the most, I dunno why really, I just put it on and I don't feel the need to flick. Either its something to do with mood, pacing and atmosphere, or some kind of subliminal 192kbps incantation encoded along with the rest audio information.
   
   
2. Any mix that starts with two tunes from goblin has got to be good.

Here's what the man himself has to say:

This mix is a deliberately genreclectic collection, ie it doesn‰¥út plough any particular musical furrow. Instead, the tunes are linked around a vague theme of, erm, Ontological Hysteria ‰¥ã in that they all display some sense of impending pandemonium, either real or imagined‰¥Ïall the artists or songs here reveal some level of inner tension that manifests itself in the form of all sorts of batty symptoms from low-level teeth-grinding to full-on howling-at-the-moon midnight bareneck nekkid dancing. Songs on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown, basically.

And thats that. Posting guilt absolved - for now.

Next episode out on Monday.

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 ÌÅiretronica 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.