A bloke, his voice and some effect pedals. A street musician in one of it’s purest forms. Dub FX just feels good.
I’ve only recently discovered Benjamin Stanford’s work via word of mouth and YouTube and have already found everything I could by this man - bootlegs and official material. It just that good. Really.
I’ve found that the melodies are fantastic, the beats raw and invigorating, the innovation relentless… though I’m not really describing the album titled ‘Everythinks a Ripple’ but the live material found on video all over YouTube (see below). This is a case where the ‘real’ is far superior to the posed, produced, polished and manicured. It’s Benjamin’s performance that seals the deal. I would NEVER throw my copy of ‘Everythink…’ in the trash but I certainly would prefer a quality recording of streetside emotion and honesty over a refined-by-q-tips take any day, any hour, any way… at least for now.
Enjoy the tracks below. Please watch each at least once through to the end. If you don’t choke up while watching any of these videos you have ventured too far from the wall and your emotional self has become unplugged.
Ok, so it’s not pure as there is obvious editing going on but still, it’s good stuff showcasing music apps for the iPhone. And yes, I own all of these apps used, my fave being Bebot (the lil robot thingy featured)
“(Picture by Sequencer.de) As you may or may not know, Musicmesse (the European equivalent of NAMM) has been going on this week. There hasn’t been too much announced that has really set my socks on fire, but this innovative approach to modular synthesis from Klangwabe looks promising. Info is pretty hard to come by, though. Anyone have any details?”
I may be a bit late on this but I happened across this really great duo by the name of Lazer Sword via XLR8R TV. This isn’t purely original material as it is remixes/mashups of common big name hip-hop tracks using indie rock and electro acts. The end result is simply jaw-dropping and almost hallucinogenic at times. Very heavy editing, stitching and their own ideas makes the end product sound as though it is entirely original. Click the pic above to download the 45 minute megamix known as ‘Blap to the Future’ and be sure to visit LL and Lando’s official MySpace page here.
This is a remixed track from the just released Hot Chip EP ‘We’re Looking For A Lot Of Love’. This remix itself doesn’t add much new sonically to the original track though it does provide a bit more of an improvised, live sound to the original mopey beauty that is featured on the album ‘Made In The Dark’. Download the track by visiting this link and be sure to get the entire EP here.
One of my fave podcasts, Percussion Lab, recently posted a sweet entry from upcoming hip-tronica act Letherette titled ‘Brown Lounge Vol 2′. This download is nearly and hour and a half of prime, abstract beats layered with equally lush synth leads and often steals vocals (and sounds) from well known acts… but Letherette makes it all a thousand times more interesting than the originals could ever hope to be. I am looking forward to an official debut from Letherette soon(ish?)
From the site: ‘Andy & Rich of Letherette met decades ago and have been making mysterious, charmingly unpolished music ever since. Their warm, tape enhanced beats are crafted from bits and pieces of the finest, melodic source material from music’s golden genres, funk and soul. Their roughly chopped rythms are imbued with a personable, feel good vibe that is lacking in most modern music these days. Everyone from Madlib, MF Doom, Flying Lotus to Pete Rock comes to mind when listening to this mix.’
Really interesting find today. Into Infinity is, as they put it:
“Explore the wide possibilities of forever! INTO INFINITY is an art and music exhibition presented by DUBLAB and Creative Commons. It is built on audio loops and circular canvases that are available online to the public for sharing, remixing, and resubmission.”
I am particularly fond of this project as it reminds me of an experiment titled “Unbalanced” I did a few years back in memory of Coil’s Jhonn Balance. The idea was to make two cd’s of faded loops and textures to be played randomly on two separate devises… think Flaming Lip’s Zaireeka but much more random and much less professional. Maybe I’ll dig up the project and post it here at some point.
The unofficial Skinny Puppy site Litany, particularly the forum, has shined a light on a track from Skinny Puppy that may or may not have been meant to be on the SP-but-disappointing album The Greater Wrong of the Right titled ‘Elements’. This track was ripped and stitched from an interview w/ Omar Torres and is certainly jaw-dropping. It truly is something so forward thinking and dark, intense and dramatic… THIS should have been the feel of the latest album. I am certainly holding my breath for the latest album to be released, well, whenever.
I always thought many hip-hop albums should come with an instrumental version… Puppy is getting close - Sorry, but the vocals seldom match the sound in it’s ‘flow’ anymore… and I LOVE Ogre’s voice.
The latest Squarepusher album ‘Just a Souvenir’ is now available as a DRM-free, ten dollar download over at Bleep ahead of the full-blown CD/LP release on 10.27. You can a heaer sample track over at Warp’s Myspace page. The sound seems to be similar to ‘Music is Rotten One Note’ in it’s physical, traditional ‘band’ sound.
Just released today, here is the official video for ‘Dull Flame of Desire’ from Bjork’s Volta album. From the first full listen of the album this was easily my fave song due to the intensity and heartbreaking sounds falling from both Bjork’s and Antony Hargarty’s mouths. The video is directed by three runners up from the Innocence video competition from awhile back.
From the upcoming ‘Plutonium Blonde’ album, available 10.07. Also, see here for Pink Dots tour dates. If you haven’t seen them live, you should not miss this tour. I have seen them live about 8 times and they never fail to delivery a quality, emotional, dramatic atmosphere and often you can buy the folks drinks at the venue afterward.
A hauntingly beautiful video for Twine’s ‘Endormie’ track off of Violets featuring Alison Shaw from the Cranes, one of my all time fave ethereal goth-esque bands. The strange thing is how this track is a perfect blend of Twine and The Cranes and could easily be a cut from either projects past releases… a natural collaboration.
One of my fave producers, AGF, has released a really interesting, free album on her site full of glitchy broken beats similar to Matthew Dear and Plateau. Grab it now by clicking the pic above and please donate if you can to show your support for independent artists that are unafraid to offer works for ‘free’
honestly fucking fantastic: dub fx
