//RADIO//2019

Must hear new music

2011-07-24T17:27:00.002-04:00

I am not at all bashful for my love of the Witchhouse genre. I am especially unbashful in my love for the quite fantastic self-titled ep from Tri-Angle Records artist oOoOO. So you can only imagine my giddiness at sharing a new track from him. The track while technical not NEW (it did appear on the lovely Fact 227 mix that he did earlier in the year) this song is the sort of slow motion drag that pulls you in and never lets you go.

Not necessarily a summertime jam, but more of a thoughtful piece for the whole year. Enjoy!

Clams Casino- Rainforest EP

2011-06-27T15:05:00.005-04:00

2010 saw the emergence of a new genre of music that nobody could quite put their finger on defining. It was kind of spooky, had its' leanings towards fetishizing the imagery of 1970's witchcraft movies and Twin Peaks, (and the corresponding soundtracks) and an unusual sonic influence (wether intentional or not) in DJ Screw who was known for his mix tapes of almost demonically pitch shifted and slowed-down hip hop. That genre has been known as Witchhosue, Drag, Chillwave, Emo (just kidding- we all know that emo is now synonymous with failed goth) what ever you want to call it (or how ever you want to ignore it) there is something appealing in the horror of it all.

Amongst the labels here in the states releasing (insert what ever you want to call it here) music New York's Tri Angle Records is the leader of the pack with top notch artists like Balam Acab, oOoOO,(who's self-titled EP was easily my favorite record of 2010) How to Dress Well, Holy Other, and added to that roster of quality is the debut EP from Clams Casino.

The Rainforest EP finds Clams Casino sole member Mike Volpe exploring the same sonic paths as label mates Balam Acab, and Holy Other- chopped up vocal samples and melancholy oozing through the ones and zeros which feels like everything trip hop promised us, but failed to deliver when it went on prozak. (think Portishead for the Blade Runner generation)

The first track Natural feels like a slightly less menacing Burial combined with the afore mentioned Balam Acab, while other tracks such as Treetop, Waterfalls, and Drowning are mixed bags of hard synth sequences, hip hop sensibilities, and big beats all weaved in and out of the almost heartbreaking vocal mashes (the latter of the three has what I could swear was something reminiscent of the ki ki ki ma ma ma from the Friday the 13th soundtrack )

The final track of the EP Gorilla sounds a bit like a Suspiria era Goblin recording hiphop. Sinister synths move in and out of the mix like an Argento killer with razor sharp precision.

While the EP may not be everybody's cup of tea it certainly is worth a spin or two late at night in an old ballet school.

Natural by clammyclams

Buy Rainforest at Boomkat

Clams Casino on Facebook

CULT BRAND TARTAN BRINGS IN NEW LEADERSHIP TO REVIVE BRAND

2010-05-26T14:24:00.002-04:00

Vin Roberti, Chairman of Palisades Media Corp., announced today that veteran industry executive, Soumya Sriraman, has been named President and CEO of Palisades Tartan US and UK.

"Soumya's executive background with the studios and entrepreneurial spirit coupled with her fresh perspective and keen insights make her an ideal fit for our growing company," stated Roberti. "We are looking forward to her immediate contributions."

Sriraman added, “Vin’s track record of success with Palisades is reflected in the amazing catalog and team he has built. I am a huge fan of the Tartan catalog and plan to aggressively rebuild the brand and introduce US audiences to a new collection of cutting-edge and remarkable films.”

Palisades Tartan has emerged as one of the premier distributors of independent and arthouse cinema in the US and UK and has been on the forefront of consumer trends. Straddling both continents, their film line-up boasts an impressive repertoire in the UK including the Ingmar Bergman library, Takashi Miike’s AUDITION, horror phenom THE RING and INFERNAL AFFAIRS, which was successfully remade in the US and titled THE DEPARTED. Apart from many favorites such as Michael Winterbottom’s 9 Songs and Carlos Reygadas’s Silent Light, the US library is anchored by Park Chan-wook’s Cannes jury prize winner, OLDBOY, the film that famously introduced the Western World to the Asia Extreme brand.

Roberti and Sriraman added that they planned to aggressively build the Palisades Tartan brand in the US and UK territories with new strategic acquisitions and mergers over the coming year. Sriraman remarked that despite shrinking shelf space, newer delivery mechanisms including digital represented a significant opportunity offering consumers many viewing modes to whet their appetite for independent films.

Sriraman entered into an undisclosed multi-year contract with the company and will be relocating to New York from Los Angeles. She will immediately begin representing the company at the major film markets worldwide and aggressively source new partnerships.

Most recently, Sriraman was Senior Vice President at Universal Music and Video Distribution¹s filmed entertainment arm, Vivendi. As one of the early members on the Vivendi core executive team, she helmed the growth of the company¹s home entertainment, theatrical and TV divisions, contributing to their successes. Prior to Vivendi, she was at Warner Home Video where she spearheaded core initiatives in the TV franchise division like Friends Finale, the rebranding efforts on ER etc. Earlier, at Universal Home Entertainment, she was a pioneer in the DVD catalog space, leading the successful re-launches of Scarface and Animal House, the former considered the most successful catalog relaunch in the history of DVD.

Ms. Sriraman has over 12 years of experience in the filmed entertainment space in a vast range of disciplines including category management, brand marketing, sales analysis, theatrical distribution and TV licensing. An engineer by education, Soumya holds a M.S. in Transportation Engineering from Texas A&M University and a MBA from University of California, Irvine.

ABOUT PALISADES TARTAN
Tartan Films was originally founded in 1984 in the UK and is credited with bringing Asian Extreme film to the West as well as some of the most compelling art house films of the last quarter century. In May 2008, Palisades Pictures acquired Tartan Films US library assets and two months later, acquired a majority of Tartan Films UK’s 400+ film library assets. The new company Palisades Tartan has operations both nationally and internationally. Palisades Tartan will continue to expand an already distinctive and provocative slate of films by focusing on quality film acquisitions, thus significantly increasing the size of their overall library in both territories. Palisades Pictures and its parent company Palisades Media Corp is a prestigious financier of print & advertising for the independent film market. Together with its affiliate, Palisades Media Asset Fund, Palisades has securitized and financed more than 550 films. www.PalisadesTartan.com

How to Destroy Angels "The Space in Between [Null]"

2010-05-15T00:32:00.004-04:00

No words, just watch.

Thom from that radio somethin band covering Joy Division

2010-04-16T11:04:00.002-04:00

Oh hai.

Long time no speak.

I decided to pull myself out of exile to share this tasty little tidbit with the 3 of you reading this - Thom Yorke and his lil backing band covering Love Will Tear us Apart. Enjoy, and I promise to not be such a stranger.

New Portishead single!

2009-12-09T21:25:00.002-05:00

International human rights day (10 December) marks the anniversary of the United Nation’s historic ”Universal Declaration Of Human Rights” on 10 December 1948. The UDHR set out for the first time in a single document the fundamental rights to which everyone, everywhere is entitled - including the right to life, liberty, security, the freedoms of opinion, association and expression, and the right not to be subjected to torture or cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. More information: amnesty.org.uk/udhr

Purchase it here

First new Imminent (starvation) in 10 years!

2009-10-20T09:24:00.004-04:00

I realize I am quite late on this one, and anybody who is into the band already knows about the album, but just because you are late to a party doesn't mean your enjoyment should be diminished. Right? Right. Anywho...

For those of you unfamiliar with Imminent, the music project of Olivier Moreau among the innovators of the movement that became known as power noise (or power electronic) in the late 90's. The last Imminent album (when he was still punctuating it with Starvation) Nord stands up to this day as one of the most essential albums of the genre. That being said it had quite a bit of underground appeal with industrial fans, tech heads, and even ravers getting into the rhythm and the noise. After that Moreau's output began slimming. There were some collaborations with Ant-Zen label mate's Synapscape (another innovator in the power electronics movement) along with some scattered comp appearances, but for the most part we heard very little recorded material from Imminent. Which is kind of ironic from a noise artist.

Thankfully the silence has finally been broken. Cask Strength Imminent's 4th full length release comes out on October 30th. This press release is taken direct from the ant zen website:

cask strength is the term used in whisky making to describe the strength of whisky (in a cask) during maturation. this strong whisky is not the one that is usually bottled, as at cask strength the whisky isn't as drinkable. most bottled whisky is normally diluted with spring water to bring its strength (alcohol by volume) down to a level that makes it more palatable, usually about 40%. while the majority of whisky bottled by distillers is watered down, some whiskies are bottled at cask strength, which is about 64% abv.
imminent starvation has been a leading light in the intersection of powerful industrial music and advanced electronics. incessant technoid rhythms, twisted electronic noise and cold, sinister atmospheric textures are the key ingredients in olivier moreau's musical spectrum. after finishing 'nord / north' in 1999, he destroyed his mixing desk, gave away the pieces as part of the limited ‘nord’ release and shortened his moniker to imminent. after the name change he produced remixes for sonar, iszoloscope, orphx and others, appeared on compilations, performed live and collaborated with synapscape as 'the incredible three'. furthermore he constantly worked on this new full length album - which has now been completed.
like any good whisky that has to mature for at least 10 years in a cask, it took the same time for this release to maturate - and it was worth awaiting the ripening. indeed the music is comparable to a cask strength whisky’s taste: raw, aggressive, powerful, without any concession or any additive to dilute it's true nature, but it also includes a lot of complexity that awaits to be discovered by a true connoisseur. straight beats interwoven with sophisticated breaks, brilliantly placed samples, intertwining powerful atmospheric synth textures and forceful distorted sequences (without inhibition) form into the sophisticated style of industrial music imminent is known and loved for. 64 minutes of music - just like a 64% abv bottled cask strength whisky contains - taste it and full satisfaction is guaranteed!

The album is available in 3 different flavors:

Standard cd edition

LP (on sister label Hymen)

Limited edition wooden box(!!)

I suggest this album to fans of industrial, noise, IDM, or the like.

Imminent's page at Ant-Zen
Imminent's Myspace (where you can hear Teskede from the new album)

Free track from ohGr!

2009-10-13T11:21:00.002-04:00

Follow the magic widget and get a new song, This won't necessarily tide you over until there is a new Skinny Puppy album, but it's cool to see there is something cooking in the camp!

Radio2019 Podcast #1

2009-10-11T23:14:00.004-04:00

I decided that it was long overdue for me to start 'casting. I've considered doing this since I first created this blog years ago. I also realize that this is really the only way for me to possibly keep up with all of the things I am currently listening to. (for now anyways) I hope to start creating video podcasts in the future, but for now I'll just stick to doing audio. This is my first crack at it, so I promise the mixes will only get better. Anywho... On to the show. In this particular case the subject of the podcast is dubstep. I've been hooked on the genre for a couple of years now, and I have yet to have talked at all about it here. So rather than me giving a long intro into the world, I want to share some of my favorite tracks. (a couple of these are not dubstep, but because the whole thing started with a comp cd I did for a friend of mine I think you can forgive me for it)

So Enjoy the first episode, and hopefully this will mean many more to come!

Vengeance Trilogy Box set info, plus October Tartan/Palasades releases and a contest!

2009-09-29T06:26:00.004-04:00

There was a huge amount of release information from Palasades/Tartan released recently.

Just in time for Halloween, Palisades Tartan is pleased to present THE BUTCHER, a distinctive and bloody treat. Told entirely from POV camera shots, this film is set to shock and scare audiences October 27th in video stores across the country.

A small group of people lie battered and bound on the floor of a dirty slaughterhouse covered in blood. Scared and confused, they soon learn their captors are snuff film producers and plan to torture them as creatively and heinously as possible before brutally killing them off one–by-one. Each scene is shot from either the killer or victim’s point of view in order to fully capture the emotional torment of the prey and the unspeakable acts that will be perpetrated on their captive bodies.

An Official Selection of The New York Asian Film Festival, THE BUTCHER highlights the creative talents of Lee Chang Man one of the best special make-up artists in Korea. Lee and his team have worked on over 20 features, including Palisades Tartan’s BLOODY REUNION, R-POINT and WHISPERING CORRIDORS.

Tartan/Palasades has graciously provided me with two copies of the butcher to give away! Stay tuned here for contest information!

THE BUTCHER
Palisades Tartan Asia Extreme
Genre: Horror/Foreign
Rating: Not Rated (Special Features Not Rated/Subject to Change)
Language: Korean (English Subtitles)
Format: DVD Only
Running Time: Approx 75 Minutes (Plus Special Features)
Suggested Retail Price: $19.99
Pre-Order Date: September 29, 2009
Street Date: October 27, 2009
Catalog #: TVD 3062
UPC Code: # 842498000052
Official Website: http://thebutcherfilm.com/

Also available and featuring some of the most twisted and perverse horror films from France, Denmark and Japan, Palisades Tartan’s TERROR PACK contains a brutal collection of spine-chilling thrillers from around the world. This 3-disc box set will be haunting DVD shelf space October 13th just in time for Halloween.

From France we have SHEITAN, starring Vincent Cassel (OCEAN’S TWELVE, IRREVERSIBLE) as Joseph, a creepy and mysterious man whose pregnant wife remains hidden in a large frightening house. When a group of teenagers visit the house, sex, satanic possession, and incest become the dinner topics and what follows is not for the faint of heart…

From Denmark comes the aptly named SLAUGHTER NIGHT. When a teenage girl loses her father in a brutal car accident she brings some friends to an abandoned mine in hopes of retrieving the last manuscript her father ever penned about nineteenth century serial killers. It’s rumored one spirit with a taste for young, pretty flesh and decapitations still hunts the old mine hungering for another Slaughter Night…

Finally from Japan, we have CARVED: THE SLIT-MOUTHED WOMAN, a story about a beautiful bride who was grotesquely disfigured by a jealous husband. Pissed off and roaming the streets in a trench coat and surgical mask, her spirit is fond of children and punishing any who fail to find her pretty with fists, knives and one incredibly wicked pair of scissors…

SHEITAN played the Midnight Madness selection at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival and screened at the 2006 Tribeca, Edinburgh and Melbourne Film Festivals. SLAUGHTER NIGHT made its North American premiere at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival and CARVED was dubbed “An instant horror classic” from Screem Magazine. This boxset marks the first in what will a series of Terror Packs from Palisades Tartan, so be sure to look out for our next great mix of horror titles from around the world.

SHEITAN / SLAUGHTER NIGHT / CARVED: THE SLIT MOUTHED WOMAN
Palisades Tartan Video
Genre: Horror/Foreign
Rating: Not Rated (Special Features Not Rated/Subject to Change)
Language: French, Danish, Japanese (English Subtitles)
Format: DVD Only (Boxset)
Running Time: Approximately 274 minutes (Not Including Special Features)
SHEITAN – 94 min (Not Including Special Features)
SLAUGHTER NIGHT– 90 min (Not Including Special Features)
CARVED – 90 min (Not Including Special Features)
Suggested Retail Price: $39.99
Pre-Order Date: September 15, 2009
Street Date: October 13, 2009
Catalog #: TVD
UPC Code: # 842498000069

Palisades Tartan is proud to present P, our very first Asia Extreme release since acquiring the Tartan Films library in May 2008. Racy and sinfully entertaining, this horror film is set to scare audiences when it streets October 20th in video stores across the country.

While growing up in rural Thailand, a young and beautiful orphan girl is taught the mysterious art of dark magic by her grandmother. When her grandmother falls sick, young Dau travels to Bangkok looking for work in order to earn enough money for medicine. She lands a job as an exotic dancer at a go-go club. Hesitant at first and ridiculed by the other dancers, circumstances force Dau to become an adult before her time and ultimately becomes the most popular and eerily seductive dancer at the club. Jealousies ensue and as her magic gets darker, the young girl gradually loses control as something abhorrently evil and wicked takes over.

An Official Selection of the New York Asian, Chicago International, Fantasia (Montreal) and PIFAN (Korea) Film Festivals, P is directed by Paul Spurrier, a former child actor who appeared in popular US television shows Max Headroom and Anna Karenina.

Thai, with English subtitles, P is presented in anamorphic widescreen, with stereo sound. Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and DTS Surround Sound 5.1. Special DVD features include Director Commentary and Behind the Scenes Video.

P
Palisades Tartan Asia Extreme
Genre: Horror/Foreign
Rating: Not Rated (Special Features Not Rated/Subject to Change)
Language: Thai (English and Spanish Subtitles)
Format: DVD Only
Running Time: Approx 110 Minutes (Plus Special Features)
Suggested Retail Price: $19.95
Pre-Order Date: September 22, 2009
Street Date: October 20, 2009
Catalog #: TVD3061

Finally this is one that I have been waiting for (as I am sure many of you have been) The Vengenace Trilogy Boxset!

Tartan will release the most exciting, impressive and comprehensive Vengeance Trilogy box-set the world has ever seen! Featuring 8-discs and more special features then any other set on the planet (including the Korean version), celebrity essays as well as a few surprises, Palisades Tartan will release Park Chan-Wook’s VENGEANCE TRILOGY November 24th in DVD stores across the country.

SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE is the first film in Park Chan-Wook’s acclaimed Vengeance trilogy. The sister of a simple and deaf factory worker, Ryu, falls ill and needs a kidney transplant, however he is not a match so he looks to the black market which he can’t afford. After being fired from his job, his rebel girlfriend suggests that he kidnap the child of his former boss, Park. When the girl accidentally dies, her father seeks vengeance for her death.

OLDBOY is Park Chan-Wook’s classic genre-defining revenge tale of a man who’s wrongly been imprisoned for 15 years and is then suddenly released. Given money and a cell phone, he’s challenged to discover who incarcerated him in the first place, but he only has five days to uncover the truth. Even with a mysterious young girl to help him, his tortures have just begun. Cannes-winner championed by Tarantino, OLDBOY regularly appeared in top ten best movie polls across the country and is listed as one of the all-time best films as rated by IMDB users.

LADY VENGEANCE, the final film in the trilogy was created by Chan-Wook for his daughter. After being wrongfully convicted of kidnapping and murdering a young child, a beautiful young woman (Lee Young-ae) is imprisoned for 13 years. While in prison she gains the respect and loyalty of her fellow cellmates, all the while plotting her vendetta on the man responsible (OLDBOY’s Choi Min-Sik). Upon her release she sets in motion an elaborate plan of retribution, but what she discovers is a truth so horrifying, even revenge doesn’t seem punishment enough.

Director Park Chan-Wook’s most recent film THIRST won the Jury Prize at Cannes (2009) and was released in the US earlier this year by Focus Features. All three films in his celebrated Vengeance trilogy collection have garnered an impressive 28 Film Festival wins at prestigious venues including Cannes, Venice, Chicago, Fantasia, Stockholm, Hong Kong and the Sitges International Film Festival to name a few.

Each film is recorded in their original language (Korean) and offer English and Spanish subtitles. Each title is presented in anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and DTS Surround Sound 5.1.Special features include an essay on each film by celebrated filmmakers, actors and writers, including Eli Roth... Additional features include but are not limited to Audio commentary by Park Chan-Wook and actor Ryoo Seung-wan (SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE), Behind the Scenes, The Process of Mr. Vengeance, My Boksu Story, Storyboards, Photo Gallery, Filmographies, Film Notes, Crew Interviews, Three Audio Commentaries (OLDBOY), 5 Behind the Scene featurettes, Le Grand Prix at Cannes, Deleted Scenes with commentary, Regular and Fade-To-White versions (LADY VENGEANCE), Character Interviews – Lee Geum Ja, Prof. Baek, Prisoners, Families, Lady Vengeance at the 62nd Venice Film Festival, Trailer, Film Notes, Making of and Deleted Scenes.

VENGEANCE TRILOGY Box Set - (SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE / OLDBOY / LADY VENGEANCE)
Palisades Tartan Video
Genre: Thriller/Foreign
Rating: Not Rated (Special Features Not Rated/Subject to Change)
Language: Korean (English Subtitles)
Format: DVD Only / 8-disc (Box-set)
Running Time: Approximately 361 minutes (Not Including Special Features)
MR. VENGEANCE – 129 min (Not Including Special Features)
OLDBOY– 120 min (Not Including Special Features)
LADY VENGEANCE – 112 min (Not Including Special Features)
Suggested Retail Price: $49.99
Pre-Order Date: October 27th 2009
Street Date: November 24th 2009
Catalog #: TVD8307
UPC Code: # 842498000076

That should be more than enough to wet your appetite for the next few months!

Marat Sade Journals back in print!

2009-09-24T12:52:00.002-04:00

If you have followed this blog during it's last few years you may remember me going all gaga over the new published journal by Barron Storey who's work has influenced countless generation of artists (wether they realize it or not) and more importantly that a new edition of his very famous Marat/Sade Journals would go back into print.

Flash forward several years.

I just got an email from Carl Wyckaert (who runs the Graphic Novel Art blog stating that the new edition of the journal would be available October 17th!

136pages on 140gr paper

Reconstructed from the original Barron Storey journals

Introduction by David Mack

The book will be available in two editions:

A standard edition for USD $39.00

And a limited edition (of 100) signed and slipcased for USD $129

I think you can take a wild guess which edition I am ordering!

If you would like to place a pre-order for the book you can contact Car via the Graphic Novel Art page here.

I am terribly excited to see the new edition! I hope it opens up a whole new generation of fans to the book, and more so to the fantastic art of Barron Storey!

The contest you’ve been THIRST-ing for!

2009-09-16T10:39:00.002-04:00

This is pretty friggin rad I have to say!

Palisades Tartan will fly two fans to London for the THIRST premier in October and
Introduce them to Director Park Chan-wook

LOS ANGELES —September, 11th, 2009 — For Immediate Release —Palisades Tartan has just announced the ultimate contest for fans of Asian Extreme films! Beginning September 11th 2009, US and UK residents can visit www.PalisadesTartan.com and sign-up for a chance to win a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet director Park Chan-wook in person, have their picture taken with the celebrated filmmaker and travel to the UK to attend the London premier of THIRST.

“We love the films we distribute and know the fans do too. We had always planned on throwing a contest to promote our new website, but wanted to create something really special and unique,” said Kevin Burns, President and CEO of Palisades Tartan. “This contest is the perfect way for us to thank fans who have really embraced the Asia Extreme genre and shown such strong support to our filmmakers, such as Mr. Park.”

Palisades Tartan will pay for the lucky winner and their guest to travel to London to attend the THIRST premier. This will be hosted by our theatrical partners, Metrodome Distribution, at the Curzon Soho on Monday October 5th 2009. Once the winner arrives, a personal driver will be waiting to chauffer them and their companion to a beautiful hotel located in the center of London. Park Chan-wook will be at the premier and lucky winners can look forward to enjoying lunch with him the following day. Meals will also be covered, but don’t expect live octopus on any of the menus.

The contest will run for approximately two weeks, from Friday September 11th to Wednesday September 23rd 2009 (it ends midnight EST) and is open to both US and UK residents and the Republic of Ireland. No purchase necessary and complete rules and regulations are available at www.PalisadesTartan.com.

About Park Chan-wook:
Park Chan-wook is best known for OLDBOY, which won the 2004 Grand Jury Prize in Cannes and was featured on over 50 “Best Of” lists in 2005 (including Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone and The Onion). In addition to OLDBOY, SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE was the first film in the acclaimed Vengeance Trilogy series and the final film LADY VENGEANCE, boasts the highest grossing opening weekend numbers in Korea’s history, generating $9.3 million US in sales. Since the release of his first feature film JOINT SECURITY AREA (JSA), Park Chan-wook has risen in stature, becoming one of the most exciting, inventive and scrutinized directors working today.

About THIRST:
THIRST is the new film from director Park Chan-wook (OLDBOY, SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE, LADY VENGEANCE). Already a boxoffice smash in Korea, THIRST was honored with the Prix du Jury [Jury Prize] at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival. THIRST tells the dark story of Sang-hyun (played by top Korean star Song Kang-ho, of The Host), a priest who reveres life and so selflessly volunteers for a secret vaccine which is meant to eradicate a deadly virus. The vaccine fails and a blood transfusion is ordered. The lifesaving blood saves Sang-hyun but was infected, leaving him a vampire with a newfound carnal desire for blood. Sang Hyun quickly realizes that blood is not the only thing he craves when a friend’s wife comes to him for help and the priest fins his faith tested in ways he would have never imagined.

About Palisades Tartan:
Tartan Films was originally founded in 1984 in the UK and is credited with bringing Asian Extreme film to the West as well as some of the most compelling art house films of the last quarter century. In May 2008, Palisades Pictures acquired Tartan Films US library assets and two months later, acquired a majority of Tartan Films UK’s 400+ film library assets. The new company Palisades Tartan has operations both nationally and internationally. Palisades Tartan will continue to expand an already distinctive and provocative slate of films by focusing on quality film acquisitions, thus significantly increasing the size of their overall library in both territories. Palisades Pictures and its parent company Palisades Media Corp is a prestigious financier of print & advertising for the independent film market. Together with its affiliate, Palisades Media Asset Fund, Palisades has securitized and financed more than 550 films.

Goodbye Garvey...

2009-08-07T06:30:00.002-04:00

It's been a long time since i posted here. I needed to say something about this though since it's 4 days later and not a peep from the media about it.

William Garvey passed away on August 3rd from a stroke.

Right now the collective mass of you are scratching your heads asking the same questions WHO IS WILLIAM GARVEY AND WHAT IS HE ON ABOUT?

William wrote one of my favorite songs of all time, yet it is always credited to another person. For most people who hear Goodbye Horses it immediately connects to two things- The Silence of the Lambs and Q Lazzarus.

The first is of course the reason for the song's cultural significance. Anybody who hears those eerie synth notes immediately thinks back to shots of actor Ted Levine putting on makeup, and standing with his penis tucked away to look like a woman. It was etched in my brain like many things were in 1991. (I remember that being the year of Terminator 2, as well not to mention all of the industrial dance of the day that I was getting into but i digress) I wanted quiet badly to find a copy of the song, but not a person in Akron, Ohio knew how to get it. (I later found out that there was a VERY limited edition of the single that passed unknown through everybody's radar at the time)

The other thing associated with the sing is it's singer Q Lazzarus. (who previous to recording the vocals on the song worked as a cab driver in NYC) Her distinctive voice really helped to etch the song into our collective unconsciousness.

But it was not Q who wrote it.

That credit belongs to William Garvey. William, who worked for years as a freelance graphic designer in NYC, wrote the song in the late 80's. It was featured on the soundtrack to Married to the Mob (which was also directed by SotL's Director Jonathan Demme) Jonathan was so fond of the song he used it again in the infamous Buffalo Bill scene.

Despite the song's very grisly connotations it actually has a much softer meaning. According to William's site the song was "...about transcendence over those who see the world as only earthy and finite. The horses represent the five senses from Hindu philosophy (The Bhagavad Gita) and the ability to lift one’s perception above these physical limitations and to see beyond this limited Earthly perspective."

I had the chance to speak with William via email about a year ago, he proved himself to be kind hearted and very open. I very much regret not keeping up the correspondence he invited me to.

So, to you William I leave the lyrics to your best known song. Goodbye William. You will forever live on through this song.

He told me, “I’ve seen it rise,
But, it always falls.
I’ve seen ‘em come, I’ve seen ‘em go.”
He said, "All things pass into the night.”

And I said, "Oh no sir, I must say you're wrong,
I must disagree, Oh no sir, I must say you're wrong,
Won't you listen to me?”

He told me, “I've seen it all before,
I’ve been there, I've seen my hopes and dreams
lying on the ground.
I've seen the sky, just begin to fall.”
He said, "All things pass into the night"

And I said, "Oh no sir, I must say you're wrong,
I must disagree, Oh no sir, I must say you're wrong,
Won't you listen to me.”

Goodbye horses, I'm flying over you.
Goodbye horses, I'm flying over you.

download Goodbye Horses from the 1988 Married to the Mob soundtrack

while you are at it please purchase some of William's music which is available at the iTunes store here

NEW HORRORS SINGLE AND VIDEO!!

2009-03-16T17:18:00.002-04:00

It's been two years, but finally the horrors are back.

From midnight tonight, visitors to thehorrors.co.uk will be able to view
the brand new video for 'sea within a sea', the first single to be taken
from the band's forthcoming album. As a special treat for you mailing list
subscribers, we're making the song available to download right now, for
free. Just follow the link to receive your copy of the song:

http://www.thehorrors.co.uk/audio2349rf/seawithinasea.mp3

'Sea within a sea' is taken from the brand new album 'Primary Colours', set
for release on may 4th.

(after midnight tonight i'll have a copy somewheres about)

Happy Holidays from your favorite monsters...

2008-12-12T17:09:00.001-05:00

This is the best commercial I have seen in a while. Just awesome. Enjoy!

Fever Ray digital single to drop Dec 15th

2008-12-09T13:24:00.002-05:00

Now this is good news! The debut single from Fever Ray If I Had a Heart is going to be available Tuesday December 15th via Mute.

So wait? Who is Fever Ray you ask?

Karin Dreijer Andersson one half of a band called The Knife. The single is available in an instrumental form streaming via the bands myspace page.

Fever Ray’s debut album will be released on March 24th 2009 March 24th through Mute in the US.

undeniably the coolest thing you will see all day

2008-11-15T09:36:00.003-05:00

Justice's "Genesis" dubbed over Michael Jackson's Thriller!

I'm not a justice fan, but I do love dancing zombies!

(the video was edited By DJ LEZ)

Enjoy!

(in case the imbed gets taken down in the future original URL)

New Otto von Schirach "Nightmare Nipple F" Ep on iTunes!

2008-09-04T08:09:00.003-04:00

Aww yeah, we know you can't get enough Otto- and to be honest, neither can we! So here's Nightmare Nipple F, the second Digital exclusive Ep supporting Otto's Oozing Bass Spasms album! This time we enlisted Raffertie, Dj Absurd and Dj Donna Summer to make awesome bass driven remixes, plus the album original, plus a breakcore brain-melter from Otto that's not on the album. If you've seen him live, you'll know this one was the one that made you piss yourself just a little.

BUY IT NOW HERE:
http://www.itunes.com/ottovonschirach/nightmarenipplef-ep

1-Otto von Schirach - Nightmare Nipple F (Original Mix)
2-Nightmare Niple F - (Raffetie mix)
3-Nightmare Niple F - (Show DJ Absurd Your Nipples mix)
4-Nightmare Niple F - (Dj Donna Summer War Siren mix)
5-Otto von Schirach - Another Night Another Rave

http://www.cockrockdisco.com
http://www.myspace.com/ottovonschirach
http://www.myspace.com/raffertie
http://www.myspace.com/djabsurd1
http://www.myspace.com/djdonnasummer
http://www.myspace.com/cockrockdiscolabel

Otto Von Schirach "Oozing Bass Spasms" released today

2008-07-11T21:07:00.003-04:00

Available NOW at: iTunes, Beatport (front page!), Amazon, Warpmart, Emusic and most other online retailers and in physical form in many stores too!!!
-

The sado-booty ring-master is back again. That's right, Cock Rock Disco is proud to present the new full length album by Otto Von Schirach: "Oozing Bass Spasms". With enough porn and horror samples to satiate the most demented programmer, and enough juicy bass to placate the most voracious bass-head, Oozing Bass Spasms is a masterwork by one of the world's most original artists.

By far his most approachable and even refined album, it's still pretty fucking crazy in a way that only Otto von Schirach can provide. This time the overall feeling of the album is more dance sounding; elements of Booty, Electro, Breakcore, and Rave music all find a place in his bizarre universe. From the first track "Subatomic Disco Divas" to the last "Satanic Unicorn Orgy", we are spoon-fed outstanding beats of all types, fractured and welded into ghettoized forms never seen. "Magnetic Rave Headache" will probably be one of the hardest breakcore tracks you've ever heard, and then the next song, "GELATIN FIXATION" is built around a dubstep bassline that would make Scorn wet himself. His ballad "Her Blood Is Like Poison" gets the ladies horny and the boys start the mosh-pit during "DJ Hepatitis Tofuburger". But the party gets rowdy with his collaboration with Liquido -"Romance in the Club"- a electro-club banger like we rarely get anymore- it's positively soaked in party.

Download Otto von Schirach - Romance In the Club

News Story about Ian Curtis's Stolen headstone

2008-07-03T18:27:00.002-04:00

As a follow up to yesterdays post about the headstone here is the news report from Macclesfield.

I would like to note again how disgusted I am by this.

Ian Curtis's headstone stolen.

2008-07-02T17:46:00.002-04:00

What the fuck.

NO SERIOUSLY. WHAT THE FUCK.

According to this article at the BBC site
the headstonewas taken sometime between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.

I don't think I have to remotely go into how fucking disrespectable (and for that matter deplorable) of an act this was. It doesn't make you the world's biggest Joy Division fan to have stolen this. It makes you the world's biggest asshole.

Lets hope the person will feel guilty and return it. :/

aaaand in the category of how the %$#! did I miss this...

2008-07-01T12:12:00.003-04:00

Chris Cunningham to produce the Horrors new album.

According to this blurb from MARCH.

According to Faris Rotter "He won't approach things in the way that so many people will. He's really into the music we like: y'know - My Bloody Valentine, Dead Can Dance and Squarepusher and I think he's gonna bring something to the new album that no one else will."

Name checking both MBV and Squarepusher in the same sentence? In regards to the new album?

I am so excited I could pee.

You may remember that Cunningham directed the Horrors first video Sheena is a Parasite back in 2006.

Seriously, this sounds awesome!

New Otto Von Schirach

2008-06-26T11:47:00.008-04:00

EDIT* For some reason blogger isn't rendering links correctly at the minute. Copy and past the link into your browser.

How about some free Mp3 action?

In preparation for the incredible new Otto von Schirach album "Oozing Bass Spasms" Cock Rock Disco brings you it's first Mp3 only release on Tuesday, July 1st in partnership with BEATPORT!

Dance Like A Hoe

Otto's title cut comes straight from the humid dance floors of Miami. It's dirty bass and lyrics would definitely get approval from Dj Assault and Rob Gee alike. Cock Rock Disco's first released artist and long-time collaborator Duran Duran Duran continues turns the track into an electro-trance banger, perfect for late summer nights and stadiums alike. Dj Donna Summer cleans it all up at the end with his "Gelatin Fixation" remix, giving the sort of dubstep sounding original track a cleaned up bass-house vibe.

About Otto:
Otto Von Schirach (half Cuban / half German) was born in 1978 in the ghetto in Miami. In 1995 he bought his first drum machine from a crack-head just 2 blocks from his mom's house, and in 1998 Otto released his first demo, which got him signed to a 4 album deal with Schematic Records. In 2003 Otto worked on the Skinny Puppy album "The Greater Wrong of the Right" and then tour with them now 3 times. In 2004 Miss Kitten had Otto remix her "Professional Distortion" track for Nova Mute UK. Otto's last album, "Maxipad Detention", was released by Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings in 2006 to vast critical and fan accolades world-wide. Otto is currently touring in Europe with Einstürzende Neubauten (May), in the USA with Venetian Snares (June), and will be back for a massive tour in collaboration with porn-rap legend Blowfly (August-Sept).

4 tracks:
Otto Von Schirach- Dance Like A Hoe
Otto Von Schirach- Dance Like A Hoe (Duran Duran Duran trance Like a hoe mix)
Otto Von Schirach- Gelatin Fixation (Dj Donna Summer Tittymix)
Otto Von Schirach- Romance In The Club (feat. Liquido)
Full-length album "Oozing Bass Spams" out JULY 11th!!! More news SOOON!

Here's the bangin Dj DS remix, fully being supported by such Dj's as: Munk (DE), Shir Khan (DE), Brian May (AS), Hakan Lidbo (SE), Simon Lister (UK), and heaps more!!

Otto Von Schirach- Gelatin Fixation (Dj Donna Summer Tittymix) - http://www.zshare.net/audio/132165572fc95c5f/

http://www.myspace.com/ottovonschirach
http://www.cockrockdisco.com
http://www.myspace.com/djdonnasummer

2008-06-18T12:49:00.002-04:00

I really need to say something about this, but I don't have the time to put it into words at the minute.

Some of you may have heard that Stan Winston died on sunday.

This was a really big blow to me. When I heard about it my stomach sank, and I immediately got sick. For those of you who don't know he was a part of the old guard in special effects makeup. The name may not be familiar, but the impressive list of movies (Aliens, Predator Jurassic park The Terminator...) is going to resonate withy any film fan.

It has been a few years since I left the film industry for personal reasons. I am starting to question that decision. I just realized how few people out there doing that kind of art, and I may have been kidding myself that this was not a part of me....

WAAAAAY behind

2008-06-11T12:09:00.004-04:00

Yes. I know. I suck.

All of this stuff happens in the music world that I love and like a greedy fat kid at candystore* I kept it all to myself.

A few quick rundowns:

Autechre released an exclusive digital album with even more mixes from the VERY UNDERRATED Quaristice the first week of May. It was Autechre quality so you are either going to love it or hate it (I am in the former group) If that sort of thing strikes your fancy head on over to bleep or iTunes and download it.

Speaking of online digital exclusives...

We finally get to say hello to some horses that had been gone for FAR too long. William Garvey ( who's name may not be familliar to you...yet) wrote a little song in the very late 80's that is probably very familliar to ANYBODY who has ever seen the Silence of the Lambs

Yes. THAT SONG. Goodbye Horses (which up until now had only been available on the VERY out of print Married to the Mob soundtrack or in an edited version on the Clerks 2 soundtrack) has been re-released as an iTunes exclusive EP with 3 new mixes and just sounds fan-friggin-tastic.

Buy it. If you are going to own one song that was used as the background to a creepy penis tuck dance THIS should be it!! Plus, the song has always been one of my favorites. While you are at it check out the the Q Lazzarus Myspace page and leave her a comment to tell her just how much you LOVE the song :)

So, last year Trent Reznor went out of his friggin way to prove that he is not a douche. It worked. he is totally awesome. Well, as if he couldn't become more awesome he sent out a message to his fans:

as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com.

That's right kids. FREE. Want a copy? Head on over here

He also released an exclusive tour EP with songs from the bands that he is touring with. Also available online and FREE.

My favorite movie of last year is finally available on DVD stateside. Control (which unless you have been living under a rock you already know) is the biography of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis. It's not to be missed by JD fans or film lovers. It's spectacular. i've literally seen it more than a dozen times ALREADY.

And finally (though good gawd there is so much music I missed out on!!) the whole reason I was making this post in the first place. Two great tastes are about to taste great together. I want to leave you with this.

RADIOHEAD COVERING PORTISHEAD

Find more videos like this on w.a.s.t.e. central

SWOON.

(as a note. I don't care what anybody thinks. The new Portishead record is just great and gets better witH EVERY listen)

GAH! There is so much more I want to talk about but for today this is enough. I am going to do my best to keep up a bit more, but you know... life...

Anyhow. Keep listening. :)

*I was totally that fat kid.

Downliners Sekt release new album

2008-04-18T20:57:00.002-04:00

If you have been following this blog at all, you might remember my very first post was all about a band that released an amazing record for free.

That band was Downliners Sekt.

I just got an email from the band today to let me know that they just released a new album.

I am currently listening to the first track and have a strong feeling that it the rest of the record is going to be as fantastic and will find a place on my iPhone for many months to come.

Give it a go, what have you got to lose?

(and if you do like it give them some money!!)

Johnny Von Schirach?

2008-04-18T00:35:00.004-04:00

oh HAI!

Yeah, I'm still alive. I have been neglecting this blog in order to get my photo career off the ground.

However I do find the ocasional thing that must be shared.

This video is one of those things.

Take two great tastes that taste great together- footage from Chris Cunningham's masterful short Rubber Johnny and combine it with the music of Otto Von Schirach and you get this:

Just the right bit of insanity to end your night. :)

Later taters.

AUTECHRE album update

2008-01-29T21:25:00.000-05:00

Earlier today Warp sent out an email with additional info about Quaristice

First and most important - the album is available for download TODAY from bleep (I'll give you a few seconds to head over there and get your copy)

Second there are going to be a few different formats available:

1- 2x 12" version

2- 2 disc set

But most importantly a box set* (which as of NOW has sold out)

Strictly limited to 1000 copies worldwide. This is the 20 track Quaristice album, plus an extra CD containing 11 different versions of selected tracks. These tracks are all produced by Autechre and are exclusive to this edition of the album.
The double CD set comes in a Designers Republic styled, photo-etched, 0.4mm steel slipcase with foil blocked inner gatefold wallet. Full images of the artwork coming soon.

The two other formats are still available for pre-order, I would suggest you do so now :)

*yes, I did get one of the limited editions

By far the coolest thing I have seen all week.

2008-01-05T10:30:00.000-05:00

Turn down the volume if you are web-surfing at work.

The video was put together by The Bastard Fairies. A band of cool mutant popsters (who incidentally are giving away a 12 track sampler from their debut album Memento Mori at the minute) that included a bit of one of their songs at the end of the viddie.

(It may actually rival the now infamous Will Ferrel Landlady video from last year. )

Worth checking out, and hey who doesn't love free music on a Saturday morning?

...and so it begins. With news from a malnourished infant dog

2008-01-04T22:55:00.000-05:00

cEvin Key posted a little note via the Scaremeister myspace page today:

Sessions 2008 have now started. LP 3 for SPV. Some extreme forms of heavy.
Stay tuned! sparker

New Skinny Puppy as well this year?

Cool.

Last post of 2007

2007-12-31T17:52:00.000-05:00

So this is it. 2007 was a pretty interesting year here. So much music that I went into overload and had to take time of from blogging, because I was listening to so much damn music. There were some really cool things happening in my little musical microcosm. Bands re-uniting, taking a stand against the RIAA, and being immortalized on the big screen. Here are a few of my highlights:

Radiohead releasing In Rainbows in a few formats was really cool. Shouting a collective "sod off!" to their long time record label, and signing with a couple of smaller indies was even cooler.

Covering Ceremony was just the icing on the cake.

Nine Inch Nails. Damn yo. Not only did we get the fantastic Year Zero, an impressive remix album that included multi-tracks for making your own remixes, but Trent found the time to produce Saul William's Niggy Tardust which benefitted from Radiohead's pay what you like scheme.

2007 also brought us announcements from two of our longest out of circulation bands that they were recording. Portishead and My Bloody Valentine are both finishing up studio albums.

Video Director Anton Corbijn brought us the biography of Ian Curtis with the critically acclaimed Control. I had high expectations for the film and was very happy that they were not just fulfilled, but it exceeded what I thought the film could be. Not really the feel good movie of the year (that honor belongs to Juno) but a film that is in my top 5 of all time.

The film which clocks in at my number 1 spot Blade Runner also had a re-release in the form of a 25th anniversary edition dubbed - The Final Cut it looks more beautiful than I ever thought possible, and it made me remember what it is I love about film all over again.

Speaking of re-releases The boys at subConscious Communications remastered some very influential albums in expanded editions this year. Download's Furnace Doubting Thomas's The Infidel and Plateau's Music for Grass Bars got the treatment, and we got to hear a new collection of Skinny Puppy outtakes, The first Download record in 5 years, and a new Tear Garden album. Great year for fans of the Puppy crew indeed!

Finally 2007 brought us the announcement that march 3rd would give us a new Autechre album.

There are so many other albums and things worth mentioning that I can't possibly give it all lip service here, suffice to say though if you are a music fan (and I would assume you are) 2007 should have given you more than a few things to peak your interest.

See ya next year!

Autechre New Album

2007-12-24T13:21:00.000-05:00

I was a little slow on the uptake on this one but a new AE album was announced December 3rd. The 20(!) track album Quaristice will be released March 3rd on Warp.

1. Altibzz
2. The Plc
3. IO
4. Plyphon
5. Perlence
6. SonDEremawe
7. Simmm
8. Paralel Suns
9. Steels
10. Tankakern
11. Rale
12. Fol3
13. fwzE
14. 90101-51-1
15. bnc Castl
16. Theswere
17. WNSN
18. chenc9
19. Notwo
20. Outh9X

Autechre Myspace
Autechre @ Warp Records

Tor Lundvall "The Seasons Unfold" sampler

2007-12-03T10:10:00.000-05:00

As previously reported on this blog Tor Lundvall has released (through strange fortune) a sampler that will act as a precursor to the Seasons Unfold boxset.

Each of the the four tracks are exclusive to the sampler and provide a great introduction to Tor's world of ambience. I am a very big fan of the atmosphere he creates, and it his albums should be in the collection of fan of biosphere's substrata

If you haven't places an order with Strange Fortune yet, now would be a great time to start doing so!

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!

2007-11-06T09:23:00.000-05:00

I didn't quite know what to expect when i heard this album. I had heard the clips (and in fact encouraged people to download the tracks) but my cynicism kind of got the best of me. I didn't think this record could possibly be as strong as the two "leaked" tracks.

Yeah, I took a huge shot of STFU in the mouth when the album dropped. This is by far the most genre bending album I have heard in a very long time. It's (to quote the NY mag) as if "...NIN meets Gnarls Barkley meets Justice..."

All of the noise that Trent brought with Year Zero (which imho is spectacular) combined with the social consciousness of a Fear of a Black Planet era Public Enemy.

Best part about it? No RIAA. $5.00 if you want a lossless copy of the album. Free if you just want to have it at 192kbs.

I decided to try and play a track from the album last week at the local Goth night. It was Saul's cover of U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday The response? VERY favorable. (I dropped it during a post punk set that included joy division, and a little smiths new wave action. Everybody wanted to know who it was, and more importantly how to get the album.

The album is just fantastic. From the very industrial influenced Black History Month, Niggy Tardust, and the Ritual to the really modern hip hop sounds of Tr(n)igger which samples the aforementioned Public Enemy) this album breaks so many musical boundaries that one can only hope that more "producers" (and I use that term very lightly for folks who do little more than sample a hook and add some modulation) will look outside of their tunnel vision and really make the kind of record that can make an impact on more than a limited time fickle audience.

I give this album an unconditional stamp of approval and implore every who has read this entry to download the record. The most it would cost you is $5.00. You will not be disappointed. I promise.

Purchase The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust from NiggyTardustdotcom

The Sultan's Elephant

2007-11-04T22:51:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a video and it's audio are so well meshed that the two of them embed themselves very deeply in your psyche.

Such was the case when I clicked on a bulletin a friend of mine posted to myspace this weekend. Here is is for your enjoyment:

The video was taken from a part of a show by the Royal Deluxe Theatre company called The Sultans Elephant what struck me about the video was not just it's very obvious mastery of puppetry, but the song that was used in conjunction with the video decollage by the French band Les Balayeurs du desert is so perfect that it was almost as if it was written specifically for the video. (edit- it may very well may have been. The band is apparently very closely tied to the theatre company)

download decollage from the album Jules Verne Impact

Skinny Puppy and Star Wars? !!

2007-10-30T21:18:00.000-04:00

Welcome to today's WTF.

As if my day couldn't get any more surreal lo and behold an interview with Skinny Puppy frontman Nivek Ogre was just posted at Star Wars dot com.

Yes, you read that right. Star Wars dot com.

I kinda just feel like two of my worlds just joined in an awkward sort of way.

Joy Division "Love Will Tear us Apart"

2007-10-29T23:06:00.000-04:00

Has been re-released as a cd single. Do you REALLY need any reason at all to purchase it other than it being available again?

No. Seriously.

It is among the most seminal singles you can own, and is a great teaser for the new re-issues from rhino

Saul Williams track "leaked"

2007-10-28T22:04:00.000-04:00

Hmm... I wonder who could have let this one go? Nobody is naming names but if you would like to have a listen either head on over to the pirate bay or grab it here

Enjoy!

Trent Reznor and Saul Wiliams team up to bring you Niggt Tardust

2007-10-25T22:15:00.000-04:00

It looks like TR is putting his money where his mouth is... sorta. The new Saul Williams album (which he produced) is being delivered in a Radiohead esque content delivery system. Here is Trent's letter to fans:

As many of you know, I've been working closely with Saul Williams on his new record. We've spent many hours together in hotel rooms, busses, backstages and studios around the world working on something we knew was great. This is the most involved I've been with any project outside NIN since Antichrist Superstar, and I've been impatiently waiting for the chance for you to hear it. Well... guess what?

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! has arrived! After my own recent dealings with record labels we decided to release it directly to you. Head over to http://www.niggytardust.comfor all the details. Register now and you can download the record November 1st. Working on this project was a real pleasure. Saul was interested in breaking boundaries / crossing genres / defying expectations and we learned a great deal from one another in the process. When asked about the sound of the record, I've had to resort to "... I really don't know HOW to describe it." That's a good thing more than ever these days.

A word on the way we've chosen to release this. There are obvious similarities in how Radiohead just released their new record and the way we've chosen to. After thinking about this way too much, I feel we've improved upon their idea in a few profound ways that benefit you, the consumer. You obviously will be the judge of this in the end. One thing that IS very different in our situation is that Saul's not the household name (yet!) that Radiohead is, and that means we need your support on this more than ever. If you like what you hear, spread the word.

I hope you enjoy the music,

TR

I hopped on over to the site and was presented two choices. Pay nothing and get the album. Or I could pay $5.00 and have my choice of 192kbs or 320kbs mp3 OR a lossless FLAC version (which would require reformatting to play in iTunes or on an iPod).

So now we have somebody who is as well established of an artist as Trent Reznor helping to get a record out there for a really deserving artist. I REALLY hope more people follow suit and push this new model forward. It's the only way that artists will break free of the label system.

You can pre-order the album below. I urge you to do so.

PITTSBURGH IS GETTING CONTROL!

2007-10-18T16:57:00.000-04:00

According to a recent announcement Control will play here beginning November 9th.

I am happier than you can imagine!

Just as a reminder

2007-10-17T08:40:00.000-04:00

Control is now playing at select theaters in the US. If it is in your town please go see it. The better it does the larger of a snowball's chance in hell it will play in Pittsburgh.

Links: Official website

Downliners Sekt does set your own pricing for EP

2007-10-15T11:21:00.000-04:00

HOW did I miss this?

Downliners Sekt (who I covered in my VERY FIRST BLOG POST) released a new ep IN JUNE that is using Radiohead's pay what you want model. or Radiohead is using their model...

I was a very big fan of their last release, and I would highly suggest that everybody who is reading this and is into indie electronic music to download the ep and throw a few dollars to the band.

By supporting these models it will really open up doors for other artists to do the same thing, and it will send a clear message to the RIAA that artists don't need them, but they need artists!

Happy Radiohead day!

2007-10-10T11:08:00.000-04:00

I really can't imagine why you would want to spend any part of today reading blogs when a new Radiohead album is available for download.

So in honor of the new record this is all I am writing.

Look for a review tomorrow.

-_A

Happy he ended the slavery

2007-10-08T21:20:00.000-04:00

Currently posted on the front page of nine inch nails dot com:

08 October 2007: Big News

Hello everyone. I've waited a LONG time to be able to make the
following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally
free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have
been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the
business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very
different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a
direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.
Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008.
Exciting times, indeed.
posted by Trent Reznor at 10:45 AM.

First Radiohead and now this.

Truly shaping up to be an interesting year in the music world even with the RIAA winning a case that is nothing more than an abusive show of power

GOOD ON YOU TRENT!

Portishead album done !!

2007-10-04T07:13:00.000-04:00

Let me repeat that for you. The Portishead album is DONE. I'll give you a moment to pick yourself up out of your chair.

This was posted October 2nd on their blog

hello we have mixed all the tracks and the whole album is shit, so were going to start all over again. ok only kidding...sorry ! its sound pretty good but we have to go back to a few things in the next few weeks though. it sound pretty different from what we have done before i dont think the fondue society will be happy oh well , like the bee joke ends....... fuk em bye geoff

This is the kind of news that really just knocks down. I could safely bet that most of the people who read this blog probably have the same love for the band that I do. Between Dummy and Portishead there are so many memories, raw emotions, lost loves and all night talks that those albums provided the soundtracks for. (not to mention countless makeouts, but I digress.)

In the 10 years since they released their last album the landscape of music has changed. I am very interested to hear if things will have gone full circle for the band with these recordings being influenced by the late period recordings of the bands that influenced them, or if we get a pure album that really makes people drop everything and listen. Not just hear, but really listen just like their last two records did.

With the amount of anticipation that is built up around this record it may not ever live up to any expectations, but after a decade of being MIA there are so many people that are excited just to have them back that it may not matter what the album sounds like, but that Portishead have finally come back.

New Limited Edition cd by Phil Western of Download/Plateau

2007-10-03T10:09:00.000-04:00

There are way to many music related things for me to play catch up on, and they keep coming.

This was posted a bit ago by Phil Western on his Myspace blog on the 22nd of September:

I will be releasing a limited edition CD of 10 new songs on a release scheduled for October. The cd will be limited to 250 numbered copies and will be a joint Record Company/DHsound release. I will be taking preorders through here, and also through paypal for early birds (15 dollars, musicatdhsound@paypal.com)

tracklisting so far (three songs still in production)

electric death
crackheads
stalker
where
san julian
no to gladys
ja bay (original mix)
creeper tech
thieves suffer

Pretty cool, no? This was a busy year for Phil with the first new download and plateau recordings since the early 2000's. I can't wait to get the disc!

Be on the lookout for an email interview with Phil soon.

Tor Lundvall Sampler CD

2007-10-02T10:52:00.000-04:00

Completely forgot to post this! Considering Empty City was the whole reason I started the blog in the first place!

Tor Lundvall Sampler CD Available the 1st of Autumn 2007

A surprise underground success of the last year has been the evocative "ghost ambient" music of Tor Lundvall, his _Empty City_ album (2006) attracting his widest and most enthusiastic attention to date.

Tor has lately been written up by magazines from Terrascope to Terrorizer, and his music has been heard nationally on NPR radio stations on the "Echoes" and "Hearts of Space" radio programs.

While for many listeners _Empty City_ came as a first glimpse of Tor Lundvall's distinctive world, his unmistakable ambient soundscape craft happens to stretch back a few years.

Following the buzz of _Empty City_, Tor Lundvall and Strange Fortune have decided to make available a special sampler CD that offers a taste of some of Tor's most delicious tracks from his earlier years.

The new sampler CD is called Tor Lundvall's _The Seasons Unfold Sampler_, and it takes the listener on a journey through four seasons of deep and hazy, reverb-loaded "ghost ambient" sonics.

Tor Lundvall's _The Seasons Unfold Sampler_ is offered free to Strange Fortune customers placing orders at strangefortune.com, starting the first day of Autumn (September 23rd, 2007) and lasting until supplies run out.

Tor's next major release in the works is a deluxe box set to be entitled _The Seasons Unfold_ (release date TBA), that will present his first four ambient solo albums together in one package for the first time.

Now might be a great time to head on over to Strange Fortune to place an order!

NEW RADIOHEAD OCTOBER 10TH!!

2007-09-30T22:03:00.001-04:00

Yes, you read that correctly. New Radiohead album October the 10th.

However, don't expect to be able to walk down to your local record shop to purchase the record.

It is being made in two distinct formats. Digital download and Disc box.

The digital download which will be available october 10th "consists of the new album In Rainbows . It does not include the Extra Material contained in the Disc Box. You can download the file digitally from the 10th of October 2007.

YOUR PURCHASE MAY BE SUBJECT TO A TRANSACTION FEE. THIS WILL BE SHOWN AT THE CHECKOUT."

The tracklisting is as follows:

15 STEP
BODYSNATCHERS
NUDE
WEIRD FISHES/ARPEGGI
ALL I NEED
FAUST ARP
RECKONER
HOUSE OF CARDS
JIGSAW FALLING INTO PLACE
VIDEOTAPE

How much is it for the digital download you ask? Radiohead have left it up to you to decide how much you want to pay. No joke. At checkout you are asked to put in a price in £. No pre-set price. They are putting everybody on the honor system.

How freaking cool is that?

Well, not nearly as freaking cool as the disc box.

DISCBOX

THIS CONSISTS OF THE NEW ALBUM, IN RAINBOWS, ON CD
AND ON 2 X 12 INCH HEAVYWEIGHT VINYL RECORDS.
A SECOND, ENHANCED CD CONTAINS MORE NEW SONGS, ALONG WITH DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS AND ARTWORK.
THE DISCBOX ALSO INCLUDES ARTWORK AND LYRIC BOOKLETS.
ALL ARE ENCASED IN A HARDBACK BOOK AND SLIPCASE.

THE ALBUM DOWNLOAD AUTOMATICALLY COMES WITH THIS PACK.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE FILE DIGITALLY FROM THE 10TH OCTOBER 2007.

DISCBOXES ARE BEING MADE TO ORDER AND ARE PRICED AT £40.00 INCLUDING POSTAGE.
SHIPPING WILL BEGIN ON OR BEFORE 3RD DECEMBER 2007.

Along with the tracklisting as stated above the second disc with the box has the following track listing:

MK 1
DOWN IS THE NEW UP
GO SLOWLY
MK 2
LAST FLOWERS
UP ON THE LADDER
BANGERS AND MASH
4 MINUTE WARNING

I just pre-ordered the box. December the 3rd cannot come soon enough.

So how do you get yours?

Easy. Head on over to the In Rainbows site and place your order.

I got an email confirmation almost immediately. This is the best news I have heard all week!

Ok, quit reading and start pre-ordering!!

My Bloody Valentine at Coachella 08?!!

2007-08-31T09:02:00.000-04:00

I know better than to believe Coachella rumors, but this one really peaked my interest.

Can it be true? After all of these years of obsession, and talk and whispers can MBV FINALLY be reuniting? The band that rightfully lands on most top albums of the 90's list may finally be playing a show.

I'm speechless.

I don't remember my life before Loveless. The only other band that holds that same esteem for me is Skinny Puppy. Thinking back to the first time I heard Only Shallow I know my life was forever changed.

Bands won't be announced until January, however that hope will get me through these next few months. Even if the show doesn't happen something is brewing in the MBV camp right now as evidenced by a new official myspace page, along with a new domain . Who knows? Maybe it will actaully happen, and I can cross them of of my list of bands I wish I had seen.

Have a great weekend everybody, and do yourselves a favor and give loveless a spin.

Blade Runner: The Final Cut trailer

2007-06-21T15:48:00.000-04:00

Ok, do I REALLY need to say anything about this? Really?

I have a feeling if you are reading this blog you have heard of this film, probable have seen it more than once, maybe even had a domain name connected to it at one time.

What ever your connection to this film, you are going to be excited to learn that Ridley Scott's definitive cut of his OTHER sci-fi masterpiece (Alien anybody?) will be released THIS FALL.

How about I stop typing, and you start watching?

Skinny Puppy Cleveland Ohio June 3 2007

2007-06-20T09:30:00.000-04:00

Hello everybody!

I know it has been far too long since I have updated. I have started a new photo blog project, and to be honest it has taken up way too much of my time. That being said however, I have had the time to really think about what I want to post, and I have some really cool stuff coming up here on radio2019.

Today though I would like to share the entry from my photo blog. It's no small secret that I have love for a little electronic band from Vancouver, and I had an opportunity to shoot some pictures of them at the recent Cleveland, OH show.

Atrocity Exhibition: Skinny Puppy 6/3/07

Enjoy, and look for some more regular updates starting next week!

What more can be said?

2007-05-25T08:57:00.000-04:00

Does there need to be a long daitribe about Star Wars and it's impact on film, culture, spiritualty, etc?

My childhood would have ben vastly different with out it. I would be vastly different with out it. So, thank you George for not just giving me an amazing movie, but for providing the fist step into a larger world.

(I should like to point out that I am jealous of my friend Christine who shares the same birthday! HAPPY BD CHRISTINE!!)

I'll get back to music blogging next week. For today though, why not take a trip to a world from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

Control

2007-05-24T11:25:00.001-04:00

I've been looking forward to the the Ian Curtis biopic since it was first announced. Just a few days ago I came across 2 things that made it even more exciting.

1. The poster

2. A small version of the trailer via some hot YouTube action (with French subs no less!)

There was a fairly blah writeup on Screenhead about the movie.

It receives a standing ovation at Cannes and this cat was all kinds of Negative Nelly about it.

F'n goths. I tell ya.

I hope I can find a better version of the trailer soon.

Barron Storey Life After Black

2007-05-23T10:35:00.000-04:00

Who is Barron Storey you ask? Simple put, he is one of the most influential illustrators of our time. His work has graced the covers of Time Magazine , he did the first official rendering of the Space Shuttle for NASA, and his classes at The Academy of Art in San Francisco have turned out hundreds of illustrators who understand the true nature of being an "artist".

My first introduction to Storey's work was through his 1996 Watch Annual in 1996. I can vividly remember seeing it in a comic shop in PIttsburgh on my first trip there. At the time I was (and still am) quite the Dave McKean junkie, and when I saw his name on the cover I had to grab it right away. I not only blown away by Storey's art, but amazed by the obvious influence it had on McKean.

That one book became a huge turning point for me in the way I created art. I knew of his now legendary Marat/Sade Journal that was printed in 1993 (and out of print almost immediately) but could not get my hands on it for quite a few years. My mom happened upon a copy and gave it to me as a Christmas gift in 2003. It is one of the most treasured books in my collection, and I only take it out on a rare occasion to share with a friend, or to remind me what it is to be an artist.

I learned earlier this year from a blog entry on Neil Gaiman's page that there was going to be a NEW journal by Barron Storey. I was so excited I do believe my head almost exploded.

I took a look at the quite spectacular Graphic Novel Art Blog that was written by the gentleman that was publishing the new journal. The older entries were glimpses into the art, and publishing of the book. The art was simply phenomenal, and I placed an immediate pre-order for the book. I watch with anticipation as the days became closer to publication, and witnessed the cover being made, and the final inspection. It was making me giddy as if I was a child who somehow happened upon Santa's workshop, and saw my gifts being made.

The journal arrived just a couple of days ago, and I must say that it far exceeded my expectations. If you are a comic fan, art lover, an artist yourself I cannot stress how much you will love this book. It needs to be in your collection, and studied ,and appreciated and talked about. The standard edition of the journal is $49.00 and is available now. There are even talks of re-printing the Marat/Sade Journals which means an entire new generation of artists can have the book, and not worry about having to pay in excess of $150.00 for it!

Enjoy, and by all means tell your friends about this amazing work!

Walk in Silence

2007-05-18T08:16:00.000-04:00

I had considered a woefully out of print Friday for today, however instead I would really like to dedicate today to the memory of Ian Curtis. It was 27 years to the day today that he was found hanged in his Macclesfield apartment on the eve of what would have been Joy Division's first American tour.

The haunted lyrics that Ian wrote in the last few months of his life seemed to echo his understanding that his life was to be cut short, if not by the health problems that plagued him, then the stress of balancing family life, and the tempestuous affair he was having with a Belgian journalist. This along with his already crippling depression made death seem like the only solution.

I write this today, and think about the influence Joy Division has had on countless scores of musicians, artists, writers and most importantly fans. I ask that any readers of this blog take a moment to reflect on not only on Ian and the legacy he left behind, but life, and how precious it really is. I'll leave you with the lyrics to Digital. It was the last song preformed by Joy Division on May 2, 1980.

Feel it closing in,
Feel it closing in,
The fear of whom I call,
Every time I call
I feel it closing in,
I feel it closing in,
Day in, day out,
Day in, day out...

I feel it closing in,
As patterns seem to form.
I feel it cold and warm.
The shadows start to fall.
I feel it closing in,
I feel it closing in,
Day in, day out,
Day in, day out...

I'd have the world around,
To see just whatever happens,
Stood by the door alone,
And then it's fade away,
I see you fade away.
Don't ever fade away.
I need you here today.
Don't ever fade away.
Don't ever fade away...

Ian Kevin Curtis July 15, 1956- May 18, 1980

Silicon Scally "bioroid", Snoweffect "Rustic Physiocrat" and Small Fish Records BIG sale

2007-05-09T11:41:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine tipped me off about Silicon Scally due to it's haujobbish feel. He was right. Before you ask me why I might be talking about something like this. Besides my fetish for really good industrial (and not much in recent memory falls under that category) I really dig on the style 'jobb has on most of it's records.

Bioroid is everything GREAT about haujobb minus any industrial trappings. Intricate programming? Check. Complex melodic structures. Check. Dance music that isn't just a simple 4 on the floor beat accompanied by arpeggiated keys and bad vox? HUGE CHECK. It's undeniably funky and I have a feeling it is going to be played at both of the nights I dj

This album really would appeal to fans of not only the aforementioned haujobb, but also to fans of early Autechre, Gridlock, Funkstorung, or Lassigue Bendthaus (think pop artificaille minus vox though not as glitchy)

This cd succeeds because it is not only a compelling listen, but is begging to take over the dance floors.

The mastermind behind the project Carl Finlow has been tearing up dancefloors with his other projects Random Factor, Voicestealer, IL-EC-TRO, Circle City and merits further investigation. (according his bio on the Haywire site he " is more influenced by classic artists rather than contemporary that he sets his standards so high. He cites Tomita, The White Noise, Yello, Prince, and Depeche Mode before going further back in time to experimental godfathers Stockhausen, Varese and Raymond Scott as his source of inspiration.") You had me at Tomita.

download Population III

download Encapsulate.m4a

Had I not benifited from the kindness of an ebay seller I would not have discovered this Japanese band.

Snoweffect is a 3 piece laptop band, comprised of Takafumi Ishikawa (who engineers the recordings), Masaaki Takemura (who is a well known guitarist from Kyoto), and KenIchiro Hoshi (a well known fixture in the techno/ambient scene in Japan)
and produce instrumental glitch pop from the Oval school of thought. The pieces are really compelling and quite complex with out being strictly academic. I am quite a fan of the way they craft the skips and glitch and make it fun and interesting to listen to. Still probably not your mom's glitch pop (or your significant other that hates those cds that sound broken for that matter) Sadly there is very little information about the project available in English so I am going to contact the label for a little more info (and perhaps an email interview)

Until I hear back enjoy two tracks from Rustic Physiocrat

download PS2 - Powdery Snow

download Physiotronica

Finally, my favorite (virtural) record shop in London is having a HUGE sale.

Head on over to the Small Fish site you will see that they are running a fairly unique sale- any cd released before January 1, 2006 is 50% off. How cool is that?

Now might be the time to catch up on some of those back catalogue titles, no? As it is you should know this shop. They introduced me to more music in one trip to the shop than any other shop I have been to!

Small Fish Blog
Small Fish Myspace

I'm going to try to do one more post tomorrow, and then it's woefully out of print Friday (already!)

Woefully out of Print Friday

2007-05-04T08:10:00.000-04:00

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week I decided indulge my shoegazer fetish and talk about an unsung Band from Boston called Drop Nineteens and their album Delaware.

1992 was the year My Blood Valentine dropped Loveless on an unsuspecting world, and the waves could be heard everywhere. Many people were already proclaiming it to the the greatest album in the history of albums (just as many were saying it was crap) and dozens of bands "influenced" by the band were releasing records to it's coat tails.

The Drop NIneteens were different though. They didn't just make a copycat record, but rather expanded on the ideas, and really made it into something uniquely their own. The band charted in the UK's Indie and charts, but sadly did not make nearly as much of a splash here in the states as they were lost in the buzz created by their (very overrated, and derivative ) labelmates The Smashing Pumpkins. Delaware was an impressive debut that should have made much more of a splash here in the US, but sadly other than college radio made little more than a ripple.

The band broke up due to artistic differences in 1995 having recorded only one other full length album National Coma in 1993.

I have included the tittle track, and their cover of Madonna's Angel for your weekend musical enjoyment. Enjoy, and try to track the album down. You won't be disappointed!

download Delaware

download Angel

Woefully out of Print Friday

2007-04-27T11:45:00.000-04:00

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week is going to be a cd that was my introduction to dark electronic music outside of movie scores (though it was a rejected score it's self) I"m referring to Coil's Unreleased Themes for Hellrasier

It was 1987 that Clive Barker released Hellraiser on a very unsuspecting audience. The blood, sadomasochism, sexual imagery- and that was just in the first 5 minutes- left quite an impression on this particular kid (enough that I can VIVIDLY remember my very first issue of Fangoria magazine with a Hellraiser cover story) enough so that I sought it out on VHS and got to see it that same summer. I loved the movie. It was in a word AWESOME.

Rumors started to float around about an alternative soundtrack for the film. This peaked my interest because I knew how much of an important role music played in the film, and I could not imagine what this other score could have possibly sounded like. I just knew if was from some band called Coil.

Little did I know that Coil had been making some of the most influential experimental and f'n DARK electronic music since the early 80's. (Give me a break. I grew up in rural Ohio) I spent a good amount of time trying to track the cd down. It was through an ad in Thrasher that I found the record- well the cd. How could I possibly turn down an album that was given this endorsement "The only group I've heard on disc, whose records I've taken off because they made my bowels churn." - Clive Barker, Director of Hellraiser.

I was not at all disappointed. That cd opened up a whole world of music to me, and provided some of my favorite remixes of all time (Gave Up on nine in nail's Fixed EP comes to mind) However that being said nothing will ever compare to the first time I heard the Hellraiser EP and how it pretty much changed EVERYTHING for me.

The songs are available on the Unnatural History II comp, but that 6 track EP is one of my favorite 17 minutes of music, and I hope that a few of you can track it down and listen to in the way it was intended. Lights off, candles lit, and playing with a curious puzzle box.

download The Hellbound Heart
download Box Theme

Coil page at brainwashed
Threshold House for all of your Coil needs

Happy NIN day!

2007-04-17T12:52:00.000-04:00

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few months, you probably know that the new Nine Inch Nails record Year Zero is out today.

Year Zero is a concept album based on an entirely plausible future where the United States Bureau of Morality is the high law of the land, and listening to a "subversive" album like this could land you in some serious shiznat. More over the US in entranced by what is being called "The Presence" (which could be nothing more than drug influenced hysteria) and brandishing bibles like they are going out of style...

What intrigued me most about this album was not just its concept, but the way that the concept was carried out from start to finish.

It all began innocently enough with some diligent fans decoding a url on a shirt (!!) that lead them to iamtryingtobelieve.com

The weirdness didn't end there several songs were leaked via usb drives left in restrooms at shows, and more websites started to emerge. All of these sites pointed to more bits of info about this distopian future...

All of it leads to the release of the album, and the very scary world that Trent Reznor has constructed.

In the next couple of days I will try to post a few of blogs about some of this. For now I'm doing what the rest of you should be doing...

Listening to Year Zero and trying to make sense of it all...

One more non-music related post for today

2007-04-05T12:27:00.000-04:00

I just discovered Audrey Kawasaki's artwork via boing boing earlier today.

I am completely drawn into the subjects of the paintings. The melancholy I see in their eyes makes me want to sit down with a cup of tea and just listen- the stories they have of what that brought them to that moment must be fascinating.

I have not been as drawn to a piece of art since I first saw the works of Dave McKean years and years ago. (Though his work touched me on a different level.)

I highly recommend you take a long look at the work on her site. I cannot imagine any reader of this blog not falling in love the same way I have.

It's been a while since I posted a mashup

2007-04-05T08:36:00.000-04:00

This one however, is not music. It's video. Robocop VS The Terminator.

My inner cyberpunk just made a very Quagmire GIGGITY GIGGITY GIGGITY GOO!!!

Enjoy! And be on the lookout for Worfully out of Print Friday!

PS I updated my links. Check out the things I check all of the time.

Monday post just because...

2007-04-02T22:43:00.000-04:00

Ok, so just a few things.

First of all The Field.

All of the hype? Totally worth it. Holy crap. This came out of left umm...fie...erm you get the point. Minimal techno at it's most interesting. With the copious amount of microhouse I've been listening to this really hits the spot. I can't believe how much I like this record, and the more I listen to it, the better it becomes. You can bet your bottom dollar that there will be a track or two from it played at the first week of Halcyon here in Pittsburgh.

To wet your appetites you can download the track over the ice here.

In a non-music related post I'd like to point you in the direction of the website for Chanwook Park's new film I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK.

Who is Chanwook Park you ask? The Director of the spectacular revenge trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Lady Vengeance) which are 3 of the most amazing films in recent years. This film focuses on Cha Young-goon (played by Su-jeong Lim) who is committed to a mental institution, because she thinks she is a cyborg. She finds love with a quirky patient named Rain (Park Il-sun) who thinks he can steal people's souls. The movie looks like it is going to be nothing short of amazing. The website is set up like a virtual pop-up book, and is just really cool. (be sure to let each page load!)

Finally, I wanted to thank all of my readers for coming back, and sending emails. It's cool that I'm reaching as many people as I am!

Woefully out of Print Friday

2007-03-30T07:49:00.000-04:00

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week is going to be one that was a bit of personal frustration for me. I was getting some music ready for a new downtempo night here in Pittsburgh, and I noticed that this cd was missing. So I hopped over to Emusic. NOPE. iTunes... Same thing. I even tried to find a Torrent of it desperate to get the couple of songs I was thinking about playing. Guess what? NO TORRENT. The only mention of it in the blogosphere was one of my earlier entries! UGH. So with out further adieu I give you Welcome 4000 by For a Space.

I first heard of this little project via a remix of the haujobb track overflow in 2000. I was taken aback by the simplicity of the remix. It didn't try too hard to be something it wasn't. Naturally being the person I was I spent a chunk of time trying to track the band down. They had one album that was self released and was out of print. However, there was something new from the band coming very soon. So I just had to be patient.

My patience paid off. Welcome 4000 was released in 2001 on Daniel Meyer's (of haujobb and NEWT fame) Basic Unit label. The very first few moments of the album is that of a passing subway train, which transformed my environment into an unnamed bustling metropolis in a not too distant future. (this particular track could have easily appeared on the Fifth Element soundtrack.) The subdued click beat is a nice accompaniment to the pads that dominate the track. The simple melody keeps the flow of the song moving along. A lush song that held my interest for all of it's 7 minutes. The rest of the album was the same sort of blissed out ambient that would probably appeal to fans of Microgravity era Biosphere.

For a Space re-released their first album Secrets Behind in 2003 to the delight of fan boys everywhere. The second proper full length Civilian on a Battlefield was released in 2005. While both of these are great records, the magic of Welcome 4000 will always hold a soft spot in my heart. (though that being said... Civilian is quite spectacular, and the addition of female vocals will really appeal to some dream pop fans)

download Overflow (For a Space Remix)
download Mindtrip from the Basic Unit Productions Subunit Four comp/

For a Space home page

Something a little different for Friday

2007-03-23T04:49:00.000-04:00

This week there will be no woefully out of print Friday.

Today I would much rather talk about an unsung (to the casual listener) hero who pioneered electronic music production. HER name was Delia Derbyshire. The name may not be familiar, but her work certainly is to any Sci-Fi geek worth their salt.

Delia joined the BBC in 1960. During that time she composed quite a bit of incidental music for radio plays and television shows.

In 1963 she was asked by composer Ron Grainer to produce the theme song for a new show on the BBC called Dr. Who. Delia as a part of the Radiophonic Workshop labored for weeks on the theme song. Her production was such a major component of the success of the theme that Grainer reportedly tried to get her a co-composer credit. Due to BBC red tape (and a slight bias against women working in productions) This was not meant to be.

To listen to the song in modern times it sounds very straight forward. However in 1963 the luxuries of multi-track recorders, and synthesizers did not exist. Each note had to be recorded to tape, and spliced together to form loops which were then syncipated and the output was then recorded into a final mix. Sound complex? Here is a short video clip (which was posted earlier this week on the excellent Create Digital Music blog) that demonstrated the process by none other than Ms. Derbyshire herself

Delia continued working in music production throughout the 60's and 70's. By the mid 70's though she was disillusioned with the future of electronic music and dropped out of the industry all together. Her interest was re-peaked in the 90's but sadly she passed away in 2001 at the age of 64.

Much of the incidental music that she produced IS woefully out of print. Some things can be found on ebay, or through vintage record shops. (several of the Avant Garde recordings she did with various groups have been re-issued ove rth eyears, but can be hard to come by) For the most part though the music is floating out there floating in the ether waiting to be heard again.

DOWNLOAD Dr. Who Extened theme

Delia Derbyshire dot org -featuring interviews, music clips and a discography

Martin's Delia Derbyshire page An audiological chronology. A conscise biography of Delia with a ton of information.

Au Revoir Simone and The Bird of New Music

2007-03-21T09:04:00.000-04:00

So you may remember a few months ago when I went seven different kinds of ga ga over a band called Au Revoir Simone. I was kicking myself because it had I listened to a friend of mine's imbedded music on her myspace profile sooner I would have heard this great band.

Fast forward a few months. I go back to said bands myspace profile and lo and behold I find a blog post from JANUARY which tells me that their new album will be out in digital form March 5th.

Seriously. I need to do a little something about this lack of mindfulness.

This new record is a step forward in song-writing, and has a different feel to it. I stick to my original assessment- that it sounds like the LIbson sisters with synthesizers. It's there. It's delicate in it's femininity, like those characters were. However, in this case the Libson girls grew up in a later decade on a steady diet of Wes Anderson films. (that being said I would be quite surprised if we don't see the band show up on a few more soundtracks soon) There is not as much melancholy, but rather a playfulness with their emotions. (that is not to say the last album was melancholy. It's just that this cd is even less so)

It's quite hard to listen to this band with out having a smile on your face. Some people have maintained that they are a little too squeaky clean in their production, and it detracts from the overall sound. I really disagree. In a world where I can spend an afternoon listening to an album that was reconstructed from scratched up and painted cds, I like being able to celebrate a group that takes their instruments and PLAYS them. Nothing more, nothing less.

This band comes and album HIGHLY recommended. It's pop in it's purest, and a great example of the craft of song writing with no gimmicks. Just great songs. The band is probably going to be in your town very soon. (Just not if you live in PIttsburgh) I urge you to check them out. The album is available right now from both itunes and emusic

Download A Violent Yet Flammable World

Au Revoir Simone on myspace

Au Revoir Simone dot com

Wait, don't worry I've not left you again

2007-03-19T21:21:00.000-04:00

I know, my first week back and no woefully out of print Friday. Well... right now I'm working on a pretty big post about an electronic music pioneer, and would like to get some high quality rips to share. So if you can be patient I PROMISE that you'll hear some cool stuff soon.

Speaking of cool stuff... anybody hear anything that is really striking their fancy? I'm all about microhouse and glitch (again) but I would like to know what other cats are on about these days.

Maybe in the next few days I'll post some of the tracks that keep ending up in my on the go list.

Later taters.

PS. Look for a post about Alva Noto soon...

The Return of the Revenge of the Woefully out of Print Friday (Strikes Back)

2007-03-09T11:40:00.000-05:00

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week I'd like to dig to the early days of techno with a little record called The North Pole by Submarine by Bleep.

1990 was a year of changes in electronic music. Most notably Bel Canto founding member Geir Jenssen wanted to branch off from the band and record something new and fresh. So Bleep was born. In a 2004 email interview with The Milk Factory Geir Describes it as happening ...by accident. In the summer of 1988 I started listening to acid house and techno. The second Bel Canto album, Birds Of Passage, recorded in the summer of 1989, had some elements of this music. While recording Birds Of Passage in Brussels I also worked on my own material in a small 8-track studio nearby. This was the first time I used a sampler. This material became the Bleep album The North Pole By Submarine.

North Pole by Submarine had a club hit A Byte Of AMC but Geir lost interest the project as he wanted to avoid unwanted associations with the UK Bleep techno scene. Thus Bleep was no more. Jenssen released the first Biosphere record Microgravity in 1991. This album however stands as an interesting monument to the early workings of the man who would redefine ambient in the late 90's.

One interesting tidbit that I dug up about the record. According to legend Geir Jenssen signed to R&S the same day as the Richard James. The two met in the label's offices where Aphex admitted to listening to The North Pole By Submarine almost every day!

download A Byte of AMC
download Cycle 92

Biosphere page

Well, hello new blogger!

2007-03-03T15:38:00.000-05:00

So, just a couple of things before I get started up again. I had mostly given up on this blog because I really thought that it had fallen on deaf ears. It wasn't that I needed validation for doing it, but if anybody had said something about the blog I would have known that people were appreciating it and the time I was putting in was totally worth it to everybody.

LIttle did I know that a BUNCH of people were reading it, AND commenting. Blogger failed to let me know that it was going on.

So I wanted to thank EVERYBODY that has taken the time to not only read, but interact with the blog. It really meant the world to me.

So, what better way to thank you than to post something supremely cool?

How about 3 members of Portishead performing a stripped down version of Only You a couple of days ago?

Apparently this gig happened out of nowhere. There was a dj gig going on, and according to this story over at PItchfork "Geoff and...Adrian Utley began to play 'Wandering Star'-- Geoff playing bass. A few bars in Geoff picked up the mike and asked 'Anyone here know how to sing?' At this point Beth walked on stage and started singing."

i've listened to this about 4 times since I found it. If the rumors are true this is going to be the year of PORTISHEAD. I cannot imagine a better way to spend 2007 than looking forward to new material by them.

Between this, the new NIN tracks that have leaked (which will get their own entry this week) AND a new Download record... it's time to dust off my blogging skillz, and get this party started again.

An now for something totally diferent: The Importance Of Having A Lot Of Influences

2006-11-12T11:55:00.000-05:00

John Kricfalusi. Name sound familiar? maybe you remember him as John K. I had read this post The Importance Of Having A Lot Of Influences about a month and a half ago on his really excellent all kinds of stuff blog.

The post talks about influences in art and how important it is to look into not just the basics of the art you're into, but what influenced the artists to create what they did.

So lets say for say for sake of argument Nine Inch Nails is your favorite band. You love NIN so much it makes you want to make music. Your next step is to look into what made him make the music he does- so you would read about and listen to some Skinny Puppy, Prince, The Clash, Depeche Mode, and Ministry.

Maybe Skinny Puppy strikes your fancy and you adore the band. Now you go back further and listen to Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, and Severed Heads. So on and so forth.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a real understanding of the art that came before. Without knowing the past, there is no chance for a future.

Please read his entry, if you are an illustrator, musician, designer or effects make up artist. It will put things into a new light for you.

One more thing- Speaking of influences. Check out the work of Zan Lyons Sort of a moving amalgimation of Chris Cuningham and Boards of Canada cover art.

Really cool, and really inspiring.

No music today

2006-11-07T14:18:00.001-05:00

I think that many of you would agree that today your time could be much better spent making your voices heard rather than reading about my fetish for obscure electronic music, shoegazer rock, or Asian cinema.

Please get out there and vote. The internet will still be here tomorrow.

Promise.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

2006-10-31T14:23:00.000-05:00

So, remember me saying that I was going to get back to doing this blog on a regular basis?

I was totally on track until I was asked to play a show. All of a sudden *POOF* my time disappeared.

The show was for my local goth night. I decided to do a couple of cover songs.

Here are they are in all of all of their sp00ky glory

Halloween

Humanity (Part I) -main titles to The Thing

So, everybody have a safe and sane Halloween. I'll see ya Friday!

Bobby Bird email interview

2006-10-17T22:06:00.000-04:00

Hello everybody.

You may remember my woefully out of print Friday about System Error from a few weeks ago.

Bobby Bird of System Error/Higher Intelligence Agency was kind enough to do an email interview with me.

I hope you enjoy! (I'll be in italics, BB will be bold)

Hello Bobby,

Thank you again for allowing me to conduct this interview by email. I realize it's not
the ideal medium for an interview so your graciousness is really appreciated.

1. What were the early days of HIA like?

early HIA evolved in a club night we used to do called Oscillate, we started of in this tiny club called Jasmin's in Birmingham in about 1991 & used to put our equipment in the DJ booth & play live tracks & jam between disc's, it was pretty heady days really, the club owner used to wonder why we didn't drink much beer!

2. What records had the biggest impact on your first recordings?

I suppose stuff that influenced me to make records was things like:
Nick Cave
jimi Hendrix ,
syd Barrett,
the Swans - Children of God,
white noise - an Electronic Storm

3. How did you hook up with Warp records?

Sean Booth from autechre came to some early Oscillate night's & they played live at one of them & warp records came to that show, I think it was there 2nd live performance, HIA supported them on there 1st

4. What kind of impact did your appearance on the Artificial Intelligence comp have?

I think there was a lot happening at that time with HIA anyway, we were playing live & writing a lot & it was generally a busy time.

5. When did the work begin on the System Error record?

I think it was started in 1998 at my studio in Brighton rd , birmingham, it seemed to take us ages!! about 4 months if I remember correctly

6. What equipment were you using at the time?

for the sounds we used a Akai S700, Akai S1100 & Emu E64 samplers, effects were things like - Ensoniq DP4, Quadraverb ,Zoom 9030 guitar FX, plus Atari ST computor...

7. What was your process for recording System Error VS HIA?

where HIA was mostly analog, System Error was totally digital, we spent a lot of time making sounds from nothing, we'd sample nothing, turn it up, squash it , stretch it , try & make the samplers crash, anything we could think of to make new sounds, quite an interesting process thou as the machines somehow created the sound we had to work with, rather that creating the sounds you wanted as is the case with analog gear.

8. If you re-did the record today how would the sound differ?

I'm sure it's not possible to re-do the system error album, if we re-did it now, it would be a different album

9. Did you play any shows as System Error?

no

10. What can we expect to hear from you next?

I've been involved with a collective of people/artist's 'Modulate' for a few years now & we've been putting on events, creating installations & recently we've completed a DVD of abstract Audio/Visual works called - Modulate 5.1, it's just released on my label Headphone records, anyone who's interested could go to - modulate.org.uk - for more info.

also maybe some more HIA material in the not too distant future.

For more information on what Bobby is up to (and has done) head on over to:

Headphone Records
Modulate

And I really do encourage everybody who is reading this to purchase a copy of System Error's Nothing

Empty City [file under: ghost ambient]

2006-10-16T14:10:00.000-04:00

There was a time several months ago that I first though of doing the radio2019 blog. I was walking away from a very successful (in the sense of information sharing, not financial) website about high tech special effects makeup materials. But my heart wasn't into it anymore. I had been talking about doing a blog like this for years (in it's original incarnation it was called 3lectric Sh33p) But the timing never seemed right, but fortune would smile on me and I would find my muse. In this case it was for a singular reason- an album a friend of mine was releasing on his own Strange Fortune label. The album was being described as "(A) new category to discover. The subtle underlying melodic structure of this music means it may be the most listenable "ambient" music you've ever heard, while it's all drenched in a singularly moody, haunted atmosphere that is Tor's real trademark. "

That was enough for me thus radio2019 was born. Just one problem.

In all of my excitement I forgot to buy the CD, and do a review of it! So with out further adieu I present to you what should have been the first radio2019 review Empty City by Tor Lundvall.

It's rare that an ambient album will really strike a chord with me. In 1997 I was blown completely sky high by Biosphere's outstanding album Substrata To me that album defined what modern ambient could (or should) sound like.

Almost 10 years later what Tor Lundvall has done is re-define ambient music by invoking not just an aural landscape, but what felt to be (to my ears) a fully immersed environment.

Even as a write this review in the middle of the day in a coffee shop in Pittsburgh I feel like I am in a desolate seaport city that lacks both people, and the trappings of commerce. Large empty buildings covered in layers of snow and ice surround me. Empty train yards tell stories of the people that used to be, but have ceased to exist.

The music with it's broken hip hop beats, and subtle melodies harkens to an alternate soundtrack to Twin Peaks (perhaps with Ridley Scott directing?) The slow grooves won't linger in your head for days, but will call to you to listen again and again. The delicate tranquility will reveal itself more and more like the layers of posters you see on city walls. If you carefully peel it back more and more of it's history will be revealed. This would probably appeal to not just fans of ambient, but to people in love with Souvlaki era Slowdive, and has certainly taken it's place as one of my favorite ambient records of all time.

download Scrap Yard

Order Empty City from Strange Fortune

Tor Lundvall's home on the web

Hello my lovelies.

2006-10-14T11:02:00.000-04:00

It's been a while. Work and weddings and such got in the way of me posting. I'll not let that happen again.

To make it up to you I've got a ton of content for the next week. Album reviews, DVD reviews, an interview with Bobby Bird of HIA/System Error. (Not to mention the return of woefully out of print Friday)

All of this for you. My loyal fan-base. :)

For now how about a little bit of news?

First bit. The Horrors.

I don't hide the fact that I love the band for 2 reasons.

1. The music is really cool in a psychobilly sort of way- minus the billy. (and as you may guess I'm not a little bit country in the least bit)

2. Their first video was directed by Chris friggin Cunningham!

So, I was pleased as punch when I got this message via a myspace bulletin:

US HORRORS FAN – PRE-ORDER THE HORRORS US EP NOW

The Horrors are releasing a 5 track EP Stateside on October 23rd as an introduction to all you guys over there. The tracklisting is:

1. Death At The Chapel
2. Crawdaddy Simone
3. Sheena Is A Parasite
4. Jack The Ripper
5. Excellent Choice
Enhanced with the 'Sheena Is A Parasite' video

PRE-ORDER THE HORRORS EP by OCT 23 and receive a limited edition autographed poster!
Go here now to pre-order the EP.

Autographed poster AND the Sheena video. No brainer yo. BUY IT!

Now for something completely different.

I love Asian cinema. Tartan Entertainment has been releasing some of the best films out there under the Asia Extreme banner. (Including the Chanwook Park revenge trilogy, not to mention a bevy of other amazing flicks)

A little birdie told me that for the next 2 weeks a bunch of them (including Marebito, Cello, Face, Koma, Phone, Wishing Stairs, Whispering Corridors, Memento Mori, Acacia, Unborn But Forgotten, Doppelganger, The Booth, and Pray) will be on sale at Walmart for $9 monies each. I'm not the biggest Walmart fan, but if you'd like to build up your Asia Extreme this would be ~~the best way~~ a cheap way to do it.

That's all for now. I'll get something posted either late Sunday or early monday. Until then have a great weekend!

PS. Make this weekend a shoegazer weekend with some Slowdive. It's what all of the cool kids are doing. ;)

Woefully out of print Fridays

2006-09-29T20:47:00.000-04:00

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week is bLaCKlaNDs by bLaCKlaNDs

George Cicci was a hero of the Morgantown W. VA music scene having fronted the local punk band Dreagerman. However, it was his work as the ambient project bLaCKlaNDs that would catch my ears in the late 90s. The record shared much of the same sonic space as things being released on Skam, and to a large extent Warp.

His shows where something of legend with thick smoke encapsulating the stage and the music creeping through like the calls of the Sirens. (Though to listen to his music didn't force anybody into rocky places. Some were to have said to have drowned in the ambience created on stage however.)

There was a rumored 2nd album to be released as a follow up, but it was not meant to be. I thought George had all but faded into musical obscurity, however I am happy to report that his new project Evasdad is just as good as bLaCKlaNDs (though not nearly as dark, and much more sci-fi)

download Skies
download Celestine

Evasdad myspace page

Oldboy 3disc Special edition

2006-09-19T19:54:00.000-04:00

It's no small secret that I love Asian Cinema. One of my favorite films of the last few years had to be Park Chanwook's masterpiece Oldboy The 2003 revenge film was based on the Manga by Minegishi Nobuaki and Tsuchiya Garon. In a nut shell (from IMDB) After being kidnapped and imprisoned for 15 years, Oh Dae-Su is released, only to find that he must find his captor in 5 days.

The movie is one of the most amazing character studies I have ever seen. Every action of every character is so exquisitely orchestrated to the very end that you are on the edge of your seat with anticipation for what the next moment will bring.

Several years ago there was an amazing limited edition of Oldboy on DVD. It was no less than 4 discs, included the soundtrack and was house in a handmade metal box. Unless you were in the know you had to buy this after the fact on ebay ay quite an inflated price.

Tartan Films who have been releasing some of the finest films Asia has to offer is going to release their own Oldboy Limited Edition on November 14th.

The package looks AMAZING:

DISC 1
Feature Film
Director’s Commentary
Director and Cinematographer’s Commentary
Director and Cast Commentary

DISC 2
5 Behind the Scenes Documentaries:
Making the Film – The Cast Remembers (11 mins.)
Production Design (13 mins.)
The Music Score (17 mins.)
CGI Documentary (8 mins.)
Flashback (23 mins.)
Cast & Crew interviews (41 mins.)
10 Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary (25 mins.)
Featurette: ‘Le Grand Prix at Cannes’ (9 mins.)

DISC 3
The Autobiography of Oldboy (212 mins.)
A video diary from each of the 69 shooting days.

INCLUDED IN METAL CASE
Special collector’s edition card featuring an actual film cell from the theatrical 35mm print.
The first volume of the Old Boy graphic novel upon which the movie is based.

That's an amazing amount of stuff packed into that metal box. This will be the first in Tartan’s “Vengeance Trilogy Collector’s Series” (which included Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy , and Lady Vengeance )

I highly suggest hopping over to your favorite online retailer and pre-ordering a copy today.

Trailer

Woefully out of print unheard of Friday

2006-09-15T21:08:00.000-04:00

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week though, I wanted to do something just a little different. I wanted to share with you an album that (IMO) has gone very unheard, and not talked about. Ironically, the album is titled Nothing and was put out in 1996 by System Error.

Bobby Bird had already gained quite a bit of a fan base with several releases under the Higher Intelligence Agency moniker (including an appearance on the seminal Warp Records compilation Artificial Intelligence II in 1994) and 1996 was to be a stellar year for releases. Not only was it the first of two collaborations with Biosphere's Geir Jenssen but a record created literally from nothing would fuel my musical imagination for years to come.

Something from nothing. But what was the nothing? According to these notes on the album "..the album is called 'nothing', because that's essentially what it was derived from. We wanted to reveal the hidden voice of sampling technology and play the samplers rather than the samples. Using no input signals at all, we just sampled nothing and looked really closely at it. We used every glitch and software fault and tried to listen to what the machines had to say."

What does nothing sound like? Not as cold and digital as one would think. There is a real human feeling to the compositions.(despite the tracks coming from such an unfeeling source) A warmth within the machine hums.

This was from a time when dance music really was intelligent, and not just the noodlings of a kid and his MacBook. Meticulously programmed beats intersperse with delicate melodies that reside within subtle textures. It's relaxing and challenging, and is best suited in a room lit only by a single computer monitor while reading something like E.M. Forester's The Machine Stops as the music could easily be a future artifact from that time period.

The album is thankfully still available on the web. I would suggest hopping over to Headphone and picking up a copy.

Fans of the early days of Warp will not be disappointed.

Look for an interview with Bobby Bird later this week.

For now have a great weekend.

download Enough Already

Woefully out of print Friday Sunday

2006-09-10T11:49:00.000-04:00

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week is 2000's The Age of Terminal Irony By Ammo.

In 1999 I was introduced to the power electronics movement, and all of the output on the Ant Zen label. I adored the albums put out by the likes of Imminent Starvation, Synapscape and the like. (More-so I was impressed with the output of their sister label Hymen. )

Through Ant Zen and Hymen artists I discovered the much lamented Flatline Records label, and their 2 disc comp. I was really blown away by much of what was on there, but I especially loved the track No Safe Place by Ammo.

Who was this band? I put my internet ninja skills work, and tracked down info telling me that The Ammo EP was going to be released in early 2000. I was totally psyched!

When the day did arrive I was totally unprepared for the opening track Ghost Phalanx The 3 minute intro is very reminiscent of the ambience John Sellekaers created as Xingu HIll. That all changed at the 3:14 mark.

The tension of the track with it's pulsating high hats gave way to glitched out drum and bass that easily could have been the soundtrack to Asuka Langley's final stand in the End of Evangelion movie. It was brutal, and sounded like a battle between giant robots that decided the fate of all mankind. The song didn't so much end, but have the life drained from it.

The other stand out track (though there were no bad tracks) Reptiles in Paradise has a really infectious beat to it, despite having what i dubbed as a studio error sound to it. (The glitch reminds me very much of the Lassigue Bendthaus album Pop Artificielle, and it would probably appeal to fans.)

The included remixes were good, though I do believe the original tracks had much more power and urgency to them. Live the band was just phenomenal. The tracks were tighter, and lent themselves to really great live remixing on the fly. (I still can't believe I saw them in Pittsburgh!!)

Ammo put out a few other VERY out of print EPs after that, but faded into nonexistence. They will be missed.

download Ghost Phalanx
download Reptiles in Paradise

For more information on all of John Sellekaers's musical output head over to the Metarc page. (John's mastering company)

We interrupt this Woefully out of print Friday to announce an amazing reissue!

2006-09-09T01:19:00.001-04:00

Spend enough time with me and you will learn that I am a bit of a sucker for all things electronic. By sucker, I mean that if something is really good, I will probably fall for it, and it will become a huge part of my musical environment.

Case in point: Bola.

Darrell Fitton's Bola is one of the most underrated/unknown of all of the heavyweight IDM projects out there. I fell hook line and sinker when I heard 2001's Fyuti. It was a nice change from all of the digital terror I was listening to at the time. A guy who was making music with analogue gear that was both compelling, and challenging. (Not to mention easy on the ears)

I spent much of my time looking for everything and anything I could find on the guy. I tracked down a copy of his first full length Soup I found the great Mauver EP, and READ about the so called "Shapes" LP (which wasn't attributed directly to him, but the lucky 300 who got a copy knew it was) I spent my time and energy looking for it, seeming to miss it at every turn.

Then today I looked on a whim for Bola on ebay, and what do I come across, but this: An auction for the shapes EP re-mastered with bonus tracks! I did a little bit of digging around and found that not only was it going to be released september 26th, but that his new record was finished and slated to be released in a few months!

What a great day to find that something isn't quite as woefully out of print as I though it was just one scant day ago!

Run, don't walk over to the Skam shop and pre-order the Ep. Or, if you are like me, and can't wait purchase the MP3 album directly from Skam!

HOORY FOR NEW BOLA!!

Look for a bonus WooP sometime this weekend as I load some Ammo into a gun and fire it at your ears!

Au Revoir Simone

2006-09-06T02:26:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I amaze myself as far as the whole "missing something right under my nose thing" goes. For example- I don't listen to the music my friends have embedded on their myspace profiles.

It's not because I'm a jerk, or that I think my taste in music is soo much more refined (ok, it is partially both of those reasons, but I don't mean it in a disrespectful way). It's mostly because 9 times out of 10 I'm already listening to something, and that something will get all kinds of garbled with the myspace music... Tragedy unfolds.

However, tonight when I listened to a friend of mine's musical selection I discovered something quite spectacular!

Au Revoir Simone is an electronic band from Brooklyn made up of Heather D’Angelo [vocals, drum machines, keyboard], Erika Forster [vocals, keyboards], Annie Hart [vocals, keyboards].

What do these fine upstanding young ladies create? Some of the most amazing dreamy pop music I have heard in a long time. (Though this trio owes more debt to Stereolab, than say MBV) I know that gives a vague explanation to the band. (it's 2:30 in the am, and my brain is leaking out of my ear) Let me try again

Imagine if you will that the 3 eldest Libson sisters (of the Virgin Suicides) each got a synthesizer, and recorded poppy soundscapes using bits and pieces from their diaries as inspiration for their lyrics. The sweet sounds would be light and airy, (the kind of music you would want to hear while sitting under the stars on a cool October night) but with enough worldly understanding to keep even a jaded listeners ears perked.

If the Libson girls were around now, and didn't write this music they would all certainly do everything they could to listen to it. (as my readers should)

Their cd (with a hand silkscreened cover) is available online. I would suggest doing what I just did and buy it.

Download Through the Backyards

Au Revoir Simone on Myspace
Au Revoir Simone official page

[Thanks Rachel! Your taste in music has never ceased to amaze me!]

{EDITED 9:21 AM, now fortified with added coherence!]

Holy Crap! It's ben almost two weeks since I posted!

2006-09-01T22:20:00.000-04:00

Ok, so it's been a while. Life got in the way. That is going to change. Starting next week there will be at least two posts a week.(Including the return of Woefully out of print Fridays.)

As time permits I'll post more. For now, have a great weekend. See ya next week!

-The Management

A little of the old catch up.

2006-08-15T21:53:00.000-04:00

So, I kinda dropped the ball on this whole blog thing last week. Yes, life kinda got in the way, but that's no excuse.

That being the case, I'm going to try to pack as much musical info into the next week.

So, welcome back to Radio2019. You can read along with me in your book. You will know it is time to turn the page when you hear Artoo-Detoo beep like this

Lets begin now.

First order of business is The Prairie Cartel.
I got a friend request from them on myspace. I usually proceed with much trepidation with these invites, after the large amount of awful indie and electronic acts I've heard on there. (No, I'm not a snob- well ok, I sorta am, but really a few chords and some Apple Loops does not a band make.)

However, that is not the case with this Chicago based band. I was mad impressed with the sound of their project. The track Fuck Yeah that Wide reminded me very much of Land of Rape and Honey era Ministry. While other songs had a very great post punk/disco feel to it that will really appeal to fans of Bloc Party and the like. I have a feeling that the next time I dj they are going to be a big part of my arsenal!

Their myspace page has 4 songs available for download, and I encourage peeps to head on over there, and check them out!

Prairie Cartel on Myspace
Official Site

[beep]

And now for something completely different.

I should come right out and say I don't like pop music. Like not at all. It doesn't challenge the ears, nor is it up to par with the production standards that demand. Annie being the exception to the rule, but I digress.

However, my ears were given the a treat earlier in the week in the form of an IM from a friend of mine who told me I HAD to check out this band called Khoiba. Ok, now I am really particular about my music, and not to say that my friend doesn't have good taste in music, but he does legitimately like the Insane Clown Posse. Again, I proceed with caution.

I was blown away. To call Khoiba pop is a great disservice to this amazing band from The Czech Republic. Really mind blowing intricate noisy electronic pop structures with female vocals that remind most people of Bjork, but to my ears she sounds like a cross between Bjork and a much less annoying [and talented] Jewel.

I would post some mp3 love, but I have the iTunes DRM'd versions of the Album. No love I'm afraid. However there are a bunch of songs at both their myspace page, and the official site.

Who would it appeal to? Fans of Dntel, The Knife (at their noisiest), and of course Bjork. [Though I think if you played this for the average Jewel fan their heads would asplode. ;) ]

Khobia on myspace
Khobia Official Site

[beep]

[almost] Woefully out of Print Friday... erm Sunday now.

2006-08-11T22:09:00.000-04:00

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week is going to be a little different. While this album is not out of print NOW it almost was not heard by a generation of electronic musicians. That album is The Planets by Isao Tomita.

The year was 1976. (A scant two years after I was born) Japanese synthesist Isao Tomita had released several critically acclaimed electronic albums albums (including electronic interpretations of versions of Moussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition and Stravinsky's Firebird Suite) but was found him self with a legion of new fans as his version of Gustav Holst's The Planets found it's self at #67 on the Billboard pop chart at the #1 slot on the classical chart.(1)

One subset of fans that he didn't have was the estate Gustav Holst. They demanded the album be withdrawn as it was a sub-par recording, and an abomination. (The other complain from classical music purists was several of the tracks were abridged versions, which As a result the album was pulled from stores, and a generation of electronic musicians lost out on an amazing recording.

Enter the age of the Compact disc. Not Only is The Planets Available on CD, but it was given the special edition treatment with a new recording and mix in 2003!

While not everybody's cup of tea (some people find it fairly kitschy) The recordings really stand the test of time as a really cool piece of electronic music history.

Tomita official site
Tomita fan site

download Mars here

(1) interview with Tomita originally from Keyboard magazine available here

Woefully out of print Friday

2006-08-04T15:15:00.000-04:00

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week is going to be 1997's -273c by NEWT

Not content with being the current kings of the Industrial underground Daniel Meyer (of haujobb) and Andreas Meyer (of Forma Tadre) got together to do an album of progressive ambient. Interviews from that time period call NEWT "dynamic and structural elements from different sources, trying to envision our own musical conception which has to do with small and great spaces, empty rooms, electricity, flow of energy."

I found it to be an amazing soundtrack for an unmade sci-fi film. The environmental sounds of that record and it's stark isolation were touched upon in Biosphere's album Substrata from that same year, though this album suggested the reaches of a deep dark space many years from now, and not a winter tundra. While it's influences are worn almost like a badge of honor (Aphex Twin being the most obvious ) this album stands very much on it's own sounding like an alien transmission that somebody recorded and mass produced on CD.

I can't say that this album would be everybody's cup of tea, but for somebody like me it is one of the most mind-numbingly amazing record I had heard up until that time, and I will maintain that it had more influence on the current music I both listen to and produce than any other single album ever had.

The accompanying Phaseshifting EP is not to be missed either. The reconstructions of these tracks are simply amazing. (Especially the Architect mix of Abyss, and the new song Patina. Perfect for a night in an off world bar.

download Testone from -273c
download Abyss (Architect Mix) from the Phaseshifting EP (fair warning. this song is a 9 minute long beast... might want to go put on a pot of tea while it's downloading)

Planet Myer home to Haujobb, NEWT etc
Andy Maya dot com home to Forma Tadre
Amazon dot com search for -273c
273c search on Ebay

For those who know- free music

2006-08-03T13:54:00.000-04:00

I just got an email update this morning from James Vehslage (who handles drums in For Those Who Know):

For Those Who Know is a psychedelic band from Austin, Texas, who released a self-titled EP that came out last year, and caught a lot of attention here in Texas. Comparisons have been made to the Jesus and Mary Chain, New Order, Sonic Youth, and My Bloody Valentine. You can download the entire album for free at for-those-who-know.com and at myspace.com/forthosewhoknow .
They are currently planning a tour to the East Coast for October, and on August 10th they will play their first show in California, headlining at the Silverlake Lounge with the Fleeting Joys, the Meeting Places, and Rachel Goldstar(of Experimental Aircraft).
Also, FTWK is working on a new full length record and a video with Super!Alright! for "Night At The Danceclub". Super!Alright! has done work with Single Frame, the Octopus Project, and the Black Eyed Peas.

As somebody who has just a bit of a Shoegazer fetish, this is right up my alley. I would love to see a triple bill with these cats, Asobi Seksu and Alcian Blue.

Dream pop bliss. Yum. :)

download Grow Old Together and Die
download Night at the Danceclub

For Those Who Know on the internets

Woefully out of print Friday

2006-07-28T21:55:00.000-04:00

New feature!

Each Friday I'm going to dig through my cd collection and talk about a cd that really should be available for purchase, but alas and alack is gone daddy gone.

This week is going to be Render the 1994 album from Lassigue Bendthaus

Industrial music in 1994 was a strange creature. Nine Inch Nails brought it to the stereo of every kid in America with "that fuck you like an animal song" Many a Gap cloned minion swayed and made out to slick and sleazy Closer (which I always felt to be the ugliest song on TDS, an album that many a reviewer found to be one of the most emotionally devastating since Pink Floyd erected The Wall in 1979) little did they know of the emotional turmoil contained on the rest of the cd...

Uwe Schmidt had released 3 albums and 4 12" singles under his Lassigue Bendthaus moniker (Including the very underrated Cloned which used the same basic sample set to create several very different songs, and Cloned:Binary which gave those samples to end users for using in their own compositions. )

Render was different though. Render turned industrial music on it's ear. It took the ideas that Kraftwerk laid out in the 70's and early 80's and expanded on it, and perfected it. Beautiful minimalistic techno/industrial/ambient hybrid tracks that sound as fresh today as they did almost 12 years ago.

The album was a bit of a conundrum. Industrial kids didn't like it because it was too techno. Techno kids? Nahh... not weird enough in an Artificial Intelligence /Warp Records sort of way. But the people who were recording electronic music around that time found the album to be forward thinking enough to borrow elements from it (See haujobb's Solutions for a Small Planet , or even Madonna's 1998 Ray of LIght )

Herr Schmidt went on to record under His Atom Heart moniker, and gained a whole new fan base when he started releasing albums as Senior Coconut. He even managed to release a collection of pop covers as LB called Pop Artificielle which sounded more like the glitchy world of Atom than the warm minimalism of the former.

I wanted to share this album as the first of the woefully out of print, because it is to me one of the biggest crimes against the laptop generation of the electronic music scene to not have one of the last truly great albums recorded on outboard gear available to challenge their sensibilities.

A friend of mine once described Render as sounding like a "pop album from 2007", we are quickly approaching that year, and I can only hope that somebody creates something this fresh in the next year.

download Molecular Modelling
Atom Heart Discography
Ebay search forRender

It's July 25th, and I think you all know what that means...

2006-07-25T09:11:00.000-04:00

HAPPY SILENT SHOUT DAY!!

Finally, after months of listening to low grade mp3s those of us unfortunate enough to live in the states can finally get our grubby little paws on a copy of The Knife's 3rd record.

I myself am as giddy as a school girl about it. This record is probably going to stay in my top 3 of 2006 (with Eraser being just a bit higher on the scale due to my rampant fanboydom)

I think this is another record that if you have spent any time on the blogosphere, and have somehow not heard it mentioned you are either:

A. Blind
2. Not paying attention
D. Don't care.

I myself fell in love with the first listen and have been spinning it on my ipod since I first downloaded it. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

The Knife homepage
Mute records page about Silent Shout

Also of note today:

Easily one of my favorite shows on TV. Also one of the smartest things ever committed to animation. There was mucho controversy when the show was first released with claims that it was too racist for tv. Eff that I say. It was a very realistic depiction of racial tension in the US. It's not (as the ignorant right wing claimed) hateful towards whites. I see it as empowering by pointing out the fallacies of our society. One of the best things on tv, and I hope with it's dvd release more people will give the show the time it deserves, and really pay close attention to what is going on around them.

Buy the Boondocks at Amazon

Finally we have

Here is the info from the Tartan Films website:

Mi-ju, played by the beautiful Sung Hyun-Ah, is a brilliant cellist who craves peace and stability after surviving a car crash, which killed her best friend. Haunted by terrifying memories of the accident, she decides to forgo a professional career in music, in favor of teaching college students and her daughter how to play. Unfortunately, things begin to go terribly wrong. One of her students attacks her, her sister in-law becomes dangerously obsessed with her fiancée, and the new housekeeper is scaring her to death. Further, there is something very ominous and portentous about the music coming out of her daughter’s cello.

Cello has gotten some rave reviews, and I cannot wait to see it! Be on the lookout for a review soon!

Tartan Films info page on Cello

Ok, time to get to a store. Later taters!

Stephen Parsick Hoellenengel

2006-07-23T18:01:00.000-04:00

Get to know me a bit and you will soon begin to see that I have a bit of a Blade Runner fixation. By saying "a bit" a really mean a full blown addiction. Several years ago when I was maintaining a special effects makeup website I choose a domain name that was a reference to Blade Runner replicants.org . The idea of living in a time where rogue androids are running amuck and effin shiznat up is amazing. (Not to mention the beautiful cityscapes that warped my perception and gave me a very serious love for run down buildings and strong back lighting) Heck, even the 2019 in my blog name is a BR nod...

So, what does this have to do with Stephen Parsick and his record Hollenengel? Everything. Stephen is also a HUGE Blade Runner fan. It's evident the first time you listen to the droning synths of Der Tod , or the big analog synth lead of Der Prinz . The dark soundscapes are made possible (according to the press info on his website through "...the same sort of equipement Vangelis had at his disposal when he recorded the score" At times it sounds like what could have been a collaboration between John Carpenter, Coil, Vangelis, with just a little bit of Isao Tomita thrown in for good measure.

The album (which took 4 years to record) was created "entirely without computers, multi-track recorders, sequencers, MIDI interfaces or overdubs." This was a true labor of love and would be a welcomed adition to the library of any fan of dark ambient, or film scores.

download Die Burg (The Castle)
parsick.com
Doombient
The Tyrell Corporation [a great resource on Blade Runner]
BR Movie

The randomness of the day

2006-07-21T08:22:00.000-04:00

Life has kept me from posting this week. Which is both suck and ass.

I've been scrambling to finish a Dj on your Mac workshop for that place that gives me paychecks, so the choice was made between keynote, and blogging. Keynote won this week.

However, I am not with out some cool random stuff from this week.

The first is an article I found listing The 25 Best Moments from Pee-Wee's Playhouse. I am quite unbashful in my love for the show, and this was a loving tribute dripping with sarcasm. My favorite line? It's another example of how far Pee-wee will go to be our American Mr. Bean -- hilarious, but a complete dickhole to everyone.

DICKHOLE

Let me repeat that one more time.

DICKHOLE

I am going to be saying that all effin day.

In honor of my djing SpOoky Ooky Goth night here in Pittsburgh I thought I'd share this really great Black Strobe mix of Nitzer Ebb's Getting Closer It's available on the Body Rework Remixes. It's rad, and if you don't know who Nitzer Ebb is, apparently you missed out on a great era of minimalistic industrial dance circa 1987.

(which is entirely possible... I am pretty effin old)

ANYWHO download Getting Closer (Black Strobe Moderne Remix)

Hopefully next week will be a little less chaotic, and allow me to bring more of the noise. Speaking of... I am really diggin on Scale from Herbert this week. All that hype it's getting? Totally deserving. It's seriously got to make some top 10 lists at the end of the year. He is giving away an edited version of The Movers and the Shakers at herbertdashscaledotcom Take a listen. Have a good weekend. Don't drink too much.

Quickie...

2006-07-17T15:21:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to post a couple of things.

First is an update to the post about The Horrors.

As promised I found a much better quality version of the Shenna was a Parasite video.

Thanks to the amazing Director's File website I found a MUCH better quality mp4 of the video. download it here

I'll leave it on my server for a couple of weeks.

Second:

I just found the most amazing app for resizing pictures. It's called iZoom. It works in windows, linux, and of course my favorite Mac os X

I think every blogger in the universe should use it. I kid you not. It's THAT good. So easy, quicker than photoshop, and best of all FREE.

download for Mac OS X v1.2

Kasabian announce the departure of Chris Karloff

2006-07-17T11:35:00.000-04:00

Just got this from the homepage:

Lead guitarist/keyboard player Chris Karloff and Kasabian have parted company.

Karloff and the band experienced certain creative and artistic differences during the writing and recording of their second album. These irreconcilable and diverging approaches resulted in the band asking Karloff to leave the group. Karloff will pursue a musical career elsewhere.

Kasabian's Album 'Empire' is released on Columbia records on the 4th of September.

I don't know what this means for the future of the band. Part of the reason I REALLY loved their debut was the production on the album. Keyboardist and guitarist leaves... all of the production tricks go with him...

download club foot

Myspace Part 2- oh the HORRORS!

2006-07-13T08:52:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I've learned to plan a bit better for my theme weeks, and maybe I don't know write the entries out ahead of time.

But that is neither here nor there.

Today I am covering a little band called The Horrors. They are a horror/gage/punk/surf band. Think The Cramps, only louder and with a thick London accent.

Normally I'm not into the whole gothabilly/psychobilly thing (most things influenced by the deep south grates on my nerves like nobody's business) but these guys cut out all of the crap that I really don't like (the billy) and stick to the cool stuff. Well worth the listen!

Their debut 7" Sheena is a Parasite/Jack the Ripper is pretty much sold out everywhere. I can't wait to hear a full length.

Now, I don't want you kids to think that I was going to leave you without pretty pictures, oh heavens no! One of the reasons that the band grabbed my attention in the first place was that the video for Sheena was directed by non other than my favorite director Chris Cunnigham.

(I apologize for the craptastic you tube quality. I'll see if I can track down a better version.)

Tune in tomorrow when I'll have a proper post to finish up for this first attempt at a theme week.

The Horrors Myspace page.

We interrupt this theme week with a Tuesday new release bulletin

2006-07-11T17:58:00.000-04:00

A few notables from today...

Thom Yorke- The Eraser

Unless you have been living under a rock, you are probably well aware that Thom of that one band Released a solo album today.

Do you need it? Well, asking that of a bonafide Radiohead fanboy my answer would be an enthusiastic "hell to the yes!" HOWEVER, I realize not everybody is nearly as over-zealous about my boys from Oxford. That being the case, I submit this to you- do you like the electronica of Kid A ? Yes? Then you will probably dig this record quite a bit. No? It may not be your cup of tea.

The Eraser
radioheaddotcom
XL Recordings

Jesus and Mary Chain re-issues.

Another of those do you need it sort of releases. Do you? I happen to be a big fan of J&MC. I purchased both Psycho Candy, and Honey's Dead (sadly, Darklands was not available during my record store excersion) I'm probably going to spring for the others later on this week, yes I am a sucker for shoegazer rock. I am also a sucker for bonus features, and lets be honest here. Music videos always kick butt. (as does dvd audio, and remasters... ok I'm just a sucker and I must like buying my cds several times... lets just hope ther are never any dvd audio versions of Skinny Puppy's back catalogue anytime soon...)

Jesus and Mary Chain at Rhino Records

Muse Black Holes and Revelations

On first listen this reminded a lot of a glam rock influenced Ok Computer Not at all a bad thing. I think it will grow on me a bit, but at first listen the Queen-like vocal harmonies were just a little bit alien to my ears...

[//edit//2:55 am//7.12//] Say, wouldn't it have been smart of me to upload this thing when it wrote it earlier today?

The most interesting music on myspace (part 1)

2006-07-10T09:54:00.000-04:00

I thought about trying my first theme week.

As you can guess by the title it's myspace bands. Surprisingly it's not just people like me with a Mac making attempts at IDM rather, there are some really talented artists out there doing some cool things.

I thought I could give you a heads up on a few of them. Today is going to some electronic acts of note that are near and dear to my heart.

The first is Mr_Hopkinson's Computer ™ from Bristol, UK. This little iBook got tired of not having a voice of it's own. For so long he had been used as a tool to create music, but there were songs he had herd since he as long as he could remember that really touched him. He wanted so much to be heard, so his human counterpart helped him to get a few solo shows. The computer did a few cover songs, (mostly 80's and 90's indie artists) and it caught on. Now he's playing all over the UK from coffee shops to festivals.

Definitely guaranteed to brighten up your day a bit. My favorites have been Fake Plastic Trees and Roads As a bonus (to me anyways) Lassigue Bendthaus is listed as an influence!

Mr_Hopkinson's Computer ™'s myspace page

Deep Roller is a couple of my oldest friends. Otto and W.R. Schultz make some of the coolest f'n electronic music I have ever heard. How they aren't on a label yet, or haven't been heard by many, many more people baffles me. They styles range from d&b to glitch, industrial and electronica. They don't get to record together very often, but when they do it's magic. I encourage as many people as possible to add them to your myspace page, and bug them about playing live shows. Much love you two! (Bonus trivia- Deep roller is a reference to the film Hannibal, and one of Lector's conversations with Barney about Agent Starling)

Deep Roller on Myspace

The last one for today is sort of a cheat. I had been into the music of Cyrusrex for a really long time before I ever knew he had a myspace page. HOWEVER, I don't think nearly enough people own a copy of his debut allOfme.hyde. How do you describe the music of Cyrusrex? Think the most progressive alien sounds you have ever heard. Then give it a glitch beat, and a great melody. Then wrap it up with some of the best production you have ever heard. He really blows me away, and I can say is one of only a few artists that have NEVER left my iPod Nano since the day I purchased it.

Cyrusrex on Myspace
Cyrusrexdotcom

Thats all for today. Tune in tomorrow for part 2, where I might actaully review something with geetars.

I'll stop starring at my feet and get to the playful sex

2006-07-06T22:15:00.000-04:00

Asobi Seksu (which is colloquial Japanese for playful sex ) is beginning to build some serious momentum thanks to the magic of the blogosphere. I am totally flipping out over the band right now, and I hope I can help a few more people to do the same. If you like the idea of kicking it like it was 1991 shoegazer style, with some great female vocals (in both English and Japanese) I highly encourage you to take a listen and buy a copy of Citrus

download New Years
download Thursday

BUY Citrus from Amazondotcom

Asobi Seksu on myspace

Found this little Bootleg Gem out in the blogosphere

2006-07-04T06:39:00.000-04:00

Thanks to the amazing 1 two punch of Elbows and the independent music blog I found this GREAT NIN mashup album.

It's called withboots, and as you can guess it's a mashup of With Teeth.

This is one hot little record. I think songs from this are going to end up on a bunch of mix cds really soon. I'm in the process of downloading the lossless version right now via bit torrent. Definitely worth a listen!

[Edit- 7/5] The lossless files are in the .ape format. Sooo... most of my OS X wielding warriors probably won't have much of a clue as to how to open them. That why I've included a version tracker link to this handy little converter called xACT Now, enjoy the music!

THEY'RE BACK!

2006-07-03T20:16:00.000-04:00

From Wired News After an unannounced hiatus of over a month that left fans dizzy and disoriented, Homestar Runner returns with...well, not an apology. Not even an explanation, really. But it's a cartoon, and that's what's important!

the best things in life are free part 2

2006-07-02T14:10:00.000-04:00

I just stumbled upon Chamomile Music, a self described "free music net label created by Genshi Media to promote the distribution of high quality, professional music through the use of the internet."

The first release I downloaded was Evangelion by Tang Kai. My hunch in choosing this as the first release to take a listen to was a good choice. The bleepy down tempo tracks on this EP brings to mind Microgravity era Biosphere along with just a bit of Coil's early to mid 90's techno.

Not by any stretch a prefect release, but interesting enough to keep my ears peaks for several listens. The first track Further Away's first 40 seconds fools you into thinking you are headed towards a dystopian nightmare, but instead are transported to a future world uninhabited by Roy Batty and his ilk. It's a relaxing bit of electronica that reminds me a bit of the first For a Space album Welcome 4000

Download Further Away

sometimes the best things in life ARE free part 1

2006-07-02T11:35:00.000-04:00

Downliners Sekt. Statement of Purpose LP

It was through this article on the Sabas Judas blog that I first heard about the band.

"...(M)elancholic and minimal electronic" was enough to peak my interest. I soon found however that this didn't give the music any sort of justice. The blending of hip hop, industrial, idm and glitch makes for some rich soundscapes that you can't necessarily tap your toes to, but you can certainly listen in awe of a group that should be among the heavies right now, but have chosen to remain in the shadows (for right now)

To my ear this this is what industrial music should have evolved into. Forget ebm, power electronics, future pop, and every other trend in the post Dwayne Goettel industrial wasteland. This is the real deal.

Downliners Sekt must be experienced to be believed. They feel the same, and for that reason (and just a bit of distain for the current state of the music industry) the album is being given away on their website.

The only thing they ask for in return is a small pay pal donation. It's not required, and I'm certain many people have downloaded it with out. However, I encourage you to oblige them if you like the music.

But don't take my word for it...