freedom

I don't know how often I'll be able to thematically link the tracks I want to post. Sometimes you should just try out a bunch of different things or whatever.

In short:

Felix Da Housecat is awesome. I like how he focuses on each sound in his mix, giving everything its space. "Silver Screen" is a perfect example of how that minimalism translates a pretty benign spoken-word vocal into something listenable, if a bit repetitive. However, the pop sensibility has been taken up a notch on his newer track "Radio" with some gorgeous light whispered vocals combined with a male vocoder version.

Shinichi Osawa also is awesome, and his mixes are generally very elastic-feeling. He likes to use pitch modulation a lot on basslines, but not in that copout wiggly-no-key way (not that I don't like that stuff, but I think it's best suited for dubbier mixes). Either way, the results are what matter, and this mix consistently results in the shaking of asses. I think you'll hear what I'm referring to in his take on "Radio." Enjoy!

Felix Da Housecat- Radio (Shinichi Osawa Remix)

Familjen's track "Det Snurrar a Min Skalle" was one of my favorite tracks of the past six months, and I feel obligated to share this head-tearing-off mix. The original brings back the hot 303 acid bass and seats it firmly where it belongs, in the 21st century.

Cat Burglar's take represents a great remix in that it reworks aspects of the original to achieve a new effect that is genuinely reminiscent, while fresh-feeling. I think shifting to the relative minor key and turning up the distortion was an excellent choice. Et tu?

Familjen- Det Snurrar a Min Skalle

Diskokaine just puts out great techno. This piece is laid back, ravey feeling but slow burning. The synths feel soft, which is nice compared to all the bangers that overload our poor ears daily. I like the "rimininini" vocal sample and how they keep the track light and atmospheric even though they function as a rhythmic element that keeps the energy up. A track that exemplifies my love/hate relationship with reverb.

Diskokaine- Rimini


Also I believe some parties and shit are going down this weekend, check out the guys at the Famousish

Some shit's going down at Orchid, and the Hype Headz are throwing something mad in the Hyde Park area.

leaving/NWO/what weekend

So I'm headed for NYC in a couple weeks. I hope to do more of what I'm doing in Austin up there, and I think it will be a blast even if I am just working on tracks and stuff. With that in mind, I've selected a few of the more sentimental tracks that have been bouncing around my head recently.

I have always had a love/hate relationship with M83 but this remix falls squarely within the love category. Sometimes heart on sleeve is acceptable. Sometimes even more than acceptable.

M83-Kim And Jessie (Data RMX)

Midnight Juggernauts are getting remixed a lot, which is startling as they don't really seem to respond well to the treatment most of the time. Someone named Turkish Prison has bucked that trend, and the title track to their album Dystopia is thanking him/her for it right now.

Midnight Juggernauts- Dystopia (Turkish Prison RMX)

Finally, a real biter by one of my favorite synthpop bands from back in the day or whatever. Telex are great, and this track takes their formula to its only logical conclusion: that if everyone were to succumb to their power, a computer-based euro-centric new world order would emerge.

Telex- Euro Vision

Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend, I know a few people danced.

LOVE HEAD K?

Hi again. These four tracks seemed appropriate in an effort to stake out some of the vast musical territory I hope to cover as regularly as possible.

The SymbolOne remix is reminiscent of prog synth stuff with a really bad(ass) yazz flute refrain that is then trumped through "Digital Love" style synth-tar wonderment. Because he receives plenty of talk, I don't really know what to say except that he may be called Danger for a reason.

The Frankmusic remix is in the terrifying above 135-bpm range which still means it can have some potential. Unfortunately its potential invariably involves inordinate head-bobbing and other happy-hardcore-esque movements which give pain to the soul. But it mixes well into other music of that strata well. Frankmusic uses vocal samples in a very pleasing way, resigning the female backing tracks of the original to a textural role and bringing those bouncy drum fills in every eight bars, right when you need them the most. Occasionally reminds me of a commercial for painkillers.

Also the band Heads We Dance got their name for their band from a Kate Bush song. Wild??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Kelley Polar is in the same ballpark as the off-the-cuff electro of the Junior Boys, except more subtle and creative (and alone. Are these related?). He loves to harmonize with himself (surprisingly a valuable trait) and he has consumnate restraint.

I am trying to keep this first mp3 post short, as I have a lot of things yet to do.

-SymbolOne- Love Juice (Danger TV Remix)

-Heads We Dance- Love In The Digital Age (Frankmusic Remix)

-Kate Bush-Heads We're Dancing

-Kelley Polar- Chrysanthemum

listen to this stuff before three year olds can make it

In the year of our lord 1192...

So i just decided a moment ago to start a weblog about music and my experiences related to that. Now seems as good a time as any to start talking about things, because I'm about to move to New York to pursue my musical endeavors. I've never been much of one to keep a journal or any such document, finding it a waste of time. Now I really like blogs so I will make one too. Expect more things like dance remixes and hopefully some more meaningful words than I am capable of generating at the present time.

Best always,
Gryphon