- New remix EP! I’m basically doing here what I tried to to with Biggie, but now I have more tools at my disposal and I don’t suck as much. I wanted to do another Hip-Hop legend. Nas was on the list, and is still. Ironically though, one of the songs on this album is a 2001 track (off The Blueprint) called “The Takeover” in which Jay-Z talks alot shit about both Mob Deep and Nas. I can’t mess with the original, which is one of Kayne West’s best beats, it manages to sample The Doors and KRS One and David Bowie. Dang. Anyways, yeah enjoy. Most of the tracks are pretty dark besides “H.O.V.A.” which kind of has a dance party vibe, and “Encore” which is sort of a reflective, hopeful sounding song. Here’s the cover:
There’s still much to be desired with my scratching, but I’m getting better. Also there should be a guitar solo. Maybe at the end of HOVA. Okay I’ll stop. Here’s the stream:
Okay what the fuck? Bandcamp has changed since I last used it. There used to be a drop down menu to embed albums on a variety of sites, including WordPress. Now they’re only providing embed shortcodes for Tumblr, Twitter, and Google+ (with Facebook being default embed). Hmm. Okay, well here’s the damn link cause yeah F this:
- Good God. If you happen to have enough time to watch this video, please give it a try. This a Twin Cities musician named Martin Dosh. His latest collaboration is with the band Cloak Ox (who have their first EP out now) where he drums. But according to Wikipedia, he’s planning on continuing to release solo material (under simply “Dosh”) into the future. Dosh uses a mixing board to combine any number of sounds or instrumentation when he plays live. Unreal. Have a peek:
Well… my “new” album isn’t done. But I do have something here to ship out to the world-wide net. For free.
It’s a 6 track EP built solely out of FELT acapellas and FLAMING LIPS songs. It was so damn much fun to make, and the hope is that it’s as fun to throw on the stereo. This is the track list:
Myspace – with all its horrible functionality and viruses and attempts to ripoff Facebook — is a pile of shit. That’s nothing new. That being said, I have a huge problem on my hands: a Google search of “mild maynyrd” will bring you plenty of links on me, the fourth down the list being my outdated and ancient Myspace artist page. The options were as obvious as they were limited: update the damn thing, leave as is, or close permanently. Number 2 didn’t seem like much of an option at all. I had songs on the player that were from before I finished this album… Songs that may have reflected who I was as a producer at the time (and, I suppose, a person), but they don’t anymore. Not even close. So I opted to wipe the slate clean and upload two tracks of the last thing I made, and one off each of my previous EPs. Yes, I very reluctantly chose option number one. Why? Well… because I have no reason to not use every single option I have to share my music with other people. That includes mentioning it when it’s released on things like Facebook and this site and message boards, keeping a Bandcamp page as neat and clean as possible, or handing out free CDs to people around town. I don’t make money, I just want to share what I do. Because hey, I’m fucking proud of it. Myspace, even for how terrible of a place it is, is one of those alleyways. Then again, I probably wouldn’t even touch the thing if it wasn’t number four down on the Google search. Tom Anders, you miserable grinning bastard.
Anyways, here’s the updated page. *(Click at your own risk. Myspace has been glitchy as hell in the past.)
There’s something about that style of stream-of-consciousness lyricism that allows anyone to relate to it. I suppose that’s probably because everyone has those words buried deep inside their head, whether they know it or not (or want to admit it or not). So is the case with Black Lantern Musichypnotic ringleader TEXTURE‘s new EP, ‘PARASOMNIA’. This is the third EP in a trilogy from him, each titled after primal conditions of human beings in the filth of the 21st Century (the first, Aphasia, refers to the loss of the ability to understand written or spoken language, typically due to traumatic brain damage; the second, Sythaesthesia, is a sensation in the human body manifesting itself in a part, or sense, which was not originally stimulated).
Parasomnia, in a sense, is the epitome of the trilogy: the production and lyricism cut directly to gullet of what it feels like to be living in the 21st Century. The album matches our plight in a lot of ways, as you listen, you aren’t sure where it’s going next, or how you’re going to fit into that place you know will eventually exist. ‘Parasomnia’ refers to deep sleep dysfunctions and disorders; it makes sense, do we not feel as if we cannot wake from archaic, trivial 20th Century existence? When will we eventually flip that railroad-switch? Where are the tracks leading?
Texture’slyricism has always been top-notch (as a lyricist, a background in poetry and writing can only result in eloquence, intelligence, and identity), but he’s managed to challenge himself — and therefor the listener — on Parasomnia. Whispers of product placements, mugwumps, grungy feedback, BBC news, and modern truths which may or may not have been revised over and over again for the past some-odd thousands of years… Something about a Nike travel bag from Singapore… about being thousands of miles away in the snow. Read the rest of this entry »
-Lots of good (FREE) stuff up, and coming up, on Black Lantern Music. This includes a sharp-witted EP from Tickle (one of Texture’s pals) called “Red River”, and something crafty electronica called Full Blush (I’m pretty sure this is he projects first album; impressive debut, to say the least). Like I say, the shit is FREE. You’ve got no reason to not give a quick peek. I’m very proud of my BLM brethren, seems like every time I swing by the site I’m inspired by something new.
-Decently high-quality recording of an Eyedea & Abilities show from the Twin Cities (rep rep!). I still can’t believe I’ll never see another show, or hear a new album from this combo. One of the most pure, battle tested Hip-Hop duo’s ever. I’ll stand by that. Big RIP to Eyedea (and to my Mom too).
Right now I’m listening to music the old fashioned and interactive way: spinning vinyl records in my basement.
I know, I’m not walking to the corner store with my earbuds while blogging this on my mobile device, I’m a geezer. I dunno know how it went down in your town, but Record Store Day in the Twin Cities was a massive success this year. Just check out this list of participating shops at Gimme Noise, and that was only part of the madness. For a small(er) town, we’ve got quite a few options up here. True, we don’t have the shops Chicago or New York has… but we also have a few less million people.
I bought a concert ticket that day (for local Hip-Hop festival Soundset), so I was careful not to spend too much. That being said, not including the CDs I bought and received for free (SEE, supporting your local record store does have its perks), this is what I walked away with:
This shit will rattle your brain out. When I shop for music, be it CDs or records or MP3s, I typically tend to get at least one thing I previously hadn’t heard of or know very little about. This was that purchase. But I’m really glad I got this, because it’s one of those vinyl’s that’s great to have around: vocal free, percussive, blasting Electro that’s ripe for sampling to or simply sampling. Some of the kicks and hits alone were worth the price. Not to mention this amazing cover in large form:
I’ve always loved mixing classic Dub music (I’m talking the kind from Jamaica, from the 70′s, not “Dubstep”) on my turntables — particularly this guy — but never owned any on vinyl. That’s a problem. But I finally got my wish of owning some old-form King Tubby. It was surprising, the Hip-Hop shop (RSE’s… it’s called “Fifth Element“) had several different Tubby records. That shit is hard to find even at the most eclectic of record stores. Declaration Dub, bitch.
I also snagged that Rhymesayers record store day exclusive vinyl which has some of the coolest looking album art (I’m talking literally on the disc… picture discs) I’ve seen. It’s a mean looking beast.
It’s my one day off this week and I’m slurping on Leinenkugel’s Original (a wonderfully simple North-Wisconsin beer brewed out of Chippewa Falls) and trying to figure out a way to chop up some piano riff’s for my latest Biggie track.
The first three tracks of the EP — tentatively titled “MM vs. BIG, Volume II” — are done. I had a relatively good idea of the type of beginning I was going for: a drawn out fade-in of repetitive electronica into a spit-fire opening track, followed with some noise fading into a freestyle on the streets of Brooklyn when the guy was 17, followed by a guitar-heavy, catchy as hell third track. So that’s done. “Dangerous MC’s”, which features Mark Curry, Snoop, and Busta (I’ll probably only use Curry and BIG’s vocals; no offense to Snoop Dog or fans of his), will be track number 4. It’s the “slow it down” track. The one that flips over the EP to start again after it’s done. The “mid-track”, or what-have-you. Like I said, I got some piano tracks in the key of F minor that I want to use, but I’m having a hard time cutting them up to fit well together.
I also wanted to start a new track, based off the third song on Fugazi’s sophomore album “Steady Diet of Nothing”. Which is probably one of the best punk records of all-time, and one of the least talked about (even amongst Fugazi fans). I’m really excited about my new stuff, and using turntables as instruments. The guitar is still there. And the electronics. Anyways, gotta go.
[*EDIT: Well, took me about an hour but I figured it out. (smiley-face emoticon thing)]
- I started William Burroughs’ Cities of the Red Night this week. As with all of Burroughs’ work, the novel will scare you with its sheer power. Power of ideas, power of language, power of subconscious. It follows two parallel stories. One in present day — late 70′s? — about an investigator looking into the death of a families son. Turns out he’s a victim of the disease of the novel, which Burroughs calls “the disease of man”. Some say he predicted AIDS before it was discovered, as the virus in the novel is transmitted by sexual contact. The other story-arc follows a group of pirates in the 1700′s searching for the communal utopia of famed and real pirate Captain James Mission. The truth of this community of “liberty” has been argued over by historians since the 1800′s.
Apparently Burroughs himself was a private investigator before becoming a writer at the tender age of 35 (he was also an exterminator, which was his favorite job). How do I know? I found a couple really interesting interviews a year apart in his home of Lawrence, Kansas. Here’s the 1984 interview:
And 1985:
- I spent most of my night sipping on brandy and crafting a new song for my next EP. I wanna say “like a watchmaker”, but really it’s probably more like a meat butcher in reverse. If that makes any sense. With this track I started with a sort of Pink Floyd-ian dueling guitar, floaty arrangement and built from there. Normally, with this Industrial/Electro shit I make, it’s the opposite: craft a beat first, slip in melody/notation second. I’m happy with it for the most part. Although the middle bit could be tweaked a little. So far I know the order of the tracks, generally. I’ll need to create some sort of short, fast, insane beat between the new one and the last (number 5?) in the rotation; probably more than 120 bpm’s — maybe even 140? — of wacked out insanity. Surprisingly I don’t have a track like this yet. Maybe this EP will be more of a mid-range creeper.
Warren Ellis was nice enough to include me on his latest “4AM” music podcast. The selection is other-worldly, ambient, perhaps for the faint of sleep. Here’s the link:
So I was making music while I was gone. A lot of music. Partially I guess it was a way — and it still is — to deal with what was going on in my life. But it’s also another way to get creativity out of myself, I haven’t been writing, and it’s something I just fucking love to do. Combine recording with my hours long no-nonsense Rock & Roll jam sessions with my pal, and my musical creative addiction is really getting its fix. I’ve had this program on my laptop for a while now, but lately it feels like I’m really starting to become efficient with it, really starting to come into my own again and find my voice in a production sense. However miserably awful that voice may be… Like the T-Shirt says, man: “Get Excited and Make Things”.
So what the fuck do I even make? Well, a variety of things really. M. Ward‘s solo-stuff has really been intriguing me lately (Hold Timeis sweetly nostalgic and a little progressive at the same time, it’s great), and at some point I really wanna try to make an EP like that. That classic, tape reel sound with layers and layers of guitar, with only a dash of spacey weirdness. I’ve got a few progressions and licks that could work in this vein, but nothing concrete yet and I haven’t even tried laying anything down.
I just wrapped up a… well, it’s ahh… I guess an Industrial/Trip-Hop/Electronica EP with plenty of bleeps and bloops and maybe a few melodies every now and again. It’s dark, maybe the darkest thing I’ve ever done (with bands or myself or otherwise). I conceived and drafted and finalized all the tracks through the dead of winter, with a hearty layer of snow on the ground. I wanted the name to somehow reflect that, but I also wanted something industrial, machine-esque, in the title as well. I ended up titled it “Nordic Rust” (the last track is called “Nordic”), and I’m pretty happy with it. I think when I come back to this side of me, I’ll do even better. But for now, it’s a good start. No one really cares, and that doesn’t bother me. But I haven’t made an Amazon account or a Bandcamp account or anything like that so there’s no way to get it to people. One or two tracks from the album can be found in their DEMO form at my Mild Maynyrd MySpace Page. I ‘spose I could just ship copies in the mail. Daniel Johnston used to do that shit with his tapes. Read the rest of this entry »
