we’re still figuring this live thing out. this is early in the process, i suppose it takes time to establish a certain narrative. at the moment the kind of music we are playing as a duo is more or less indistinguishable from the kind of music we’d be playing on our own. some sort of vaguely hip-hop beats/blues guitar improv jam. in the long run i would rather a more traditional pop type situation, in the sense of concise, structured music that can be performed. that is where THE MAGIC happens.
for what it was though, i think last night’s performance went well. if nothing else it offered something different from the usual solo-acoustic-singer/songwriter performers. we’ll see you again soon.
Posted on Monday, October 18th, 2010, by alex
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wow it really has been forever since i last did one of these. school started and pretty much kicked my ass. i’ve been adjusting. this mix is dedicated to summer 2010, which is over.
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Tracklist:
Ida Engberg – Disco Volante (Sébastien Léger Remix)
Denis the Menace – Bamboleo (Phonk d’or Ibiza Re-Work)
Chuckie – Aftershock (Can’t Fight the Feeling) (Chuckie & Silvio Ecomo Remix)
Deep Swing – In the Music 2010 (Christian Marchi Perfect Remix)
Mark Knight & Wolfgang Gartner – Conscindo (Original Club Mix)
Boom Jinx & Andrew Bayer – Keyboard Cowboys
Dinka – Camouflage
Moonbeam – Song For A Girl (Moguai Remix)
Martin Eyerer & Stephan Hinz – Tucan (Nic Fanciulli Remix)
Booka Shade – Teenage Spaceman (Booka in Space Mix)
Posted on Saturday, October 16th, 2010, by alex
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this is a silly mashup that came about when i tried remixing the longest road by morgan page and realized i was just ripping off the life tree by moonbeam, so i thought i’d CUT THE BULLSHIT and just do a mashup.
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Posted on Monday, September 13th, 2010, by alex
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this one’s for a remix contest over at saintwoods.
it’s been a tough couple of weeks, working on this track. the reason i enter these remix contests, above all else, is because it forces me to work to a deadline. work ethic has always been a problem for me. ultimately, a completed track (on time) is itself a prize, and any other recognition that comes out of it would be a bonus. i probably tried four or five different approaches before settling on the one that eventually became the final version. i’ve been listening to a lot of barletta, hervé, and afrojack, so the result is sort of my take on those styles.
this is only my second electro track, but i’ve clearly got tendencies. my stuff tends to be very clean and blocky, so my goal was to be as unpredictable as possible. this time around i recorded most of the synth parts live as opposed to sequencing them by hand, which allows for a lot of cool, unintentional sounds. i think the end result is close to complete raw unpredictability, but it’s not entirely there yet. when i look at something like robotaki’s remix of turn it up, i can’t fathom the attention to detail, the micro-nano-editing that must have gone into creating it. but i look at this track and i am able to say that it is a quantifiable improvement over my last one. what more can you do?
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Posted on Wednesday, September 1st, 2010, by alex
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a friend of mine suggested that my compositional skills were limited by my software i skills. i actually think it’s the other way around. i’ve been producing electronic music for nearly 7 years now, i’ve taken classes on desktop production – i think my abilities and understanding of the medium are fairly sound.
if you compare this beat to born mind – a track i think of as my previous personal best – i think aside from the obvious disparities in production quality, they both suffer from the same fundamental problem: underdevelopment. this is a recurring theme, not only in the music i write, but in any of the work i’ve done in my life. a certain amount of the work comes easy, i’d say around 90%. the last 10% is where i hit a wall. i don’t know what it’s like for other people, whether or not they experience it at all, or if they’re all just much better at handling it. it becomes a kind of torture for me, the most claustrophobic, lonely feeling.
of course, this post has been the same way. all i’ve written is the basic idea, but i can’t figure out how to get past that wall. there’s so much i haven’t said and i know it, but i’m going to post it anyway. maybe i should stop doing that.
now that i’ve got a half-decent piano recording setup, i want to start posting more piano videos. this is christopher o’riley’s arrangement of true love waits, from his album of the same name.
the recording process is something i’m still getting used to. it’s a different sort of pressure than a live performance. there’s also dealing with the frustration that comes with having to repeat the same piece multiple times, and not allowing that to come through in the music. this version here was the best of 20 takes, and there are still a few errors. my guess is that it would take something like 50-100 takes before i felt really comfortable with it, and would be able to get a recording i was happier with. if nothing else, it’s a good way to learn a piece inside out.
Posted on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010, by alex
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seriously, one of the best interviews i’ve seen in a long time. i feel like an idiot, the whole time i couldn’t get over the fact that it was flow 93.5. i haven’t listened to real radio in years, but i always assumed flow was just some mediocre hip-hop station. the host, though – ty harper, i think – he’s clearly an intelligent dude. the interview is incredibly thorough and thought provoking, a level of quality rarely seen in hip-hop interviews. this is just part 1, but you HAVE to watch the other five.
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Posted on Wednesday, August 4th, 2010, by alex
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YOUR SUMMER HASN’T HAPPENED UNTIL YOU’VE HEARD THIS ALBUM.
i don’t fully know the origin or the meaning of the word “lemurian”, but i have played golden sun, a game in which there is a lost island civilization called lemuria. i don’t know if lone had playing many gameboy advance rpgs while making this album, but there is an aura of discovery surrounding his music, and a sense that you’ve stumbled upon a place you’ve never been.
few albums arrive so confident, so three-dimensional in their sound. bibio describes the album as being able to “provoke synaesthetic reactions in those who don’t already have the condition”. there is a universality to lemurian, as though it provokes something innate and fundamental. if you wanted to describe the image of the ocean to a blind person, waves lapping against the shore, light dancing off the water’s surface, you put on “Sea Spray”.
as the album’s cover suggests, lemurian exudes youth and innocence. we catch a glimpse of the exotic reflected through another’s eyes, obscured by the glare of the sun. the bittersweet feeling, like a memory from a past life, aching with loss. all too fleeting. i could live inside this album.
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Posted on Saturday, July 31st, 2010, by alex
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the opening notes of hunted by a freak just hit me, like that moment of recognition when you’re standing in the audience and the familiarity of a song washes over you and you can’t stop smiling. mogwai have a gift with melody that is, at the same time, not melody. vocals that are barely discernible as such ebb in and out over the steady backbeat and constant guitar. there’s something happening between the vocals, guitar, and bass that i can’t put my finger on, it must be something to do with overtones or harmonics (i should have paid more attention in physics). it’s like looking at something through wet glass, morphed, always changing.
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