Another great guest mix by J. Ben Leonard from flood watch music. His dissection of many a hip hop, funk and jazz record and general music blogging in the last little while (or at least since I found his blog anyway) has compelled me to invite him to compile this guest mix. Armed only with the theme beautiful technology this is his contribution…

At times I long for the absence of any traces of technology in music, a stark sound-world of unamplified acoustic guitars, pianos, wind instruments, drums.

Then I recall the incredible variety of textures that electronic sounds can produce, and when combined with natural, acoustic sounds, the sonic palette expands to infinity. This mix contains elements of my favorite flavors of technology, from the cumbersome the to the streamlined: awkwardly triggered samples, disembodied voices, analog synths, dense harmonic colors, the capturing of an intimate performance, an electric piano leading a crack jazz band. Hope you enjoy.

Playlist
Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares - Tangerine Dream
Musicians in Insadong - D. Riposo
Aguirre - Popol Vuh
Ancient Phat Farm Coat - Underworld
Everyone in the World Is Doing Something Without Me - FSOL
String Quartet No. 1: Andante molto - Sergei Prokofiev
How Can We Be Sure - AMP
Languidity - Sun Ra
Prue Lawarne - Aix em Klemm
Apollo 1 - Great Barringtron
Armenia - Einsturzende Neubauten
Red Lift - Glifted
Descriptions automatiques: Sur un vaisseau - Erik Satie
WR - Labradford
The Sky Suspended - 7% Solution

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Just a quick heads up come that im in the finals for the melbourne fringe festival DJ comp called FRINGE SPIN. If your in Melbourne come along and check it out. I promise to be awesome and make pleasing sounds come out of the speakers. The theme is “around the world” Be vocal and boozy. I know i will!

Im told there will be some breakers and a big video screen projecting the action.

peace

This is an excellent guest mix from Matt Levinson (dj calico) who edits Cyclic Defrost magazine and hosts Join The Dots, Thursday nights, on FBI 94.5 from (Sydney).

“One of my friends got permanent residency on Friday. It shouldn’t be something to celebrate. He was recognised as a refugee from Afganistan three years ago. It’s six years since he saw his family last. It took masses of red tape. But he got it. So it’s a major celebration. Major! Everything else this weekend dropped, replaced by an after dusk feast Auburn-style. And a celebration needs a soundtrack. Musically it’s pretty diverse, but there’s something that connects the entire mix: tone’s dark and gritty; vibe’s optimistic.”

Kinski - Silent Biker Type (Sub Pop) Horsepower Productions - Marseilles Connection (Tempa) Chiapet - Tick Tock (Two Lone Swordsmen R.G.C. Remix) (Phonography) Ides - Limer (Acid Fuckers Unite) Second Protocol - Bass Lick (East West) Jammin - Kinda Funky (Wookie Remix) (Bingo) Pressure feat. Warrior Queen - Money Honey (Remix) (Hyperdub) Rhythm & Sound - Let We Go (Villalobos Remix) Kim Hiorthøy - Hej, Vart Blev Det Av Dat En, Kim? (Alog’s Album Remix) (Smalltown Supersound) Boxcutter - Rikta (Planet Mu) Sun - Reach For The Sky (Pluramon Remix) (Staubgold)

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After a couple of requests Ive uploaded this mix again. It was recorded as a prelude to summer in 2005 and was the first mix that christened this podcast. So I guess a few of you may have missed it.

It really just mellows me out defiantly a great prelude to summer and the impending daylight savings, barbies and lazy weekends at the beach. If you cant make it to the east coast of Australia you can always check the vibe on this mix. It definantly reminds me of my friends new and old from up north who I miss chilling with.

Includes tracks by Artifacts, PUTS, Sadat X, Pete Rock and CL smooth, Afu Ra, J Live and Rodney Rude among others.

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Sometimes I want to take time out from things for a few moments and my ears become tired from all of the music I feed them and at times they want to be soothed with melodies and fragments of sound rearranged in a pleasing order.

This remedy helps me zone out and let my mind relax as much as I can while still being awake. This mix is something to keep the mind active in the twilight hours, or to rejuvinate the headspace to feel fresh and ready for whatever the day or night ahead might surprise you with.

Ive included some recordings that blur the lines between scored classical music for film and an excerpt of a excellent beatless composition by dj olive entitled sleep with more information available from the room 40 webstore or buy it from the bleep.com which I highly recommend.

Tracklist

Opus 3 - Kirk Degiorgio’s Off World Shinsen - Susumu Yokota Gekkoh - Susumu Yokota Sleep - Dj Olive Chao De Estrelas - Baden Powell The Sound of Mu(sic) - The KLF Ralome - Plaid

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As I mentioned in an earlier post I’ve moved from Sydney to Melbourne not so long ago. Im scrawling the rough draft of this post while standing outside on a midweek morning with an icy chill running through my fingers. Winters in Melbourne are much the same as in Sydney but a bit colder and it seems a lot more rain (which I like).

There is a bit of healthy rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne about which city is better, more cultured, has better nightlife and tourist attractions etc. So on my arrival and after meeting new people, many asked the inevitable question – which is better? I cant answer that question right now I need to digest Melbourne some more, but I suspect my answer will be neither they both have very different qualities that stand on their own.

I had the opportunity to visit Sydney as a tourist for the first time recently to play live at the launch of a compilation of Sydney electronica called – midi in the city. It’s a mixtape compiled by the Sculpter and mixed by Simon Mann.

There is a diverse array of tracks by artists honing their craft in bedroom studios all over town. The party was a success with a solid turnout and a great vibe. I’ve heard that another party and releases are already in the pipeline. Im quite chuffed that they even included one of my tracks!

tracklist _______________________ SomeFreak - Lagos Legs Eleven - Lakeside Recyclotron - Film Music Legs Eleven - Control Alt Fist The Sculpter - Inside The Sculpter - Tube Riding The Sculpter - The Mad Aunty Stalker - Unknowned The Sculpter - Memo Boomstix - Motion Boomstix - Back in the City Swboy - Lick It Remix (Electroid Styles) Swboy - Crazy (Busta Rhymes Dub Remix) Swboy - Subtle Rebuilt Remix Illbot - Shut Me Down Drox- Imperial Eclectic Stalker - Landscapes We’d - Orbit Over Sunrise _____________________________

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Memories recall, the brain and hip hop. Drum breaks and Horn Loops.

When I first understood the power a virtual snapshot could trigger a memory of another time, which is the essence of what advertisement and marketing people try to express in the visual media. I understood straightaway the feelings this memory recall can create. A forgotten song plays on the radio that digs up feelings that you the listener associate with driving on a Sunday with your family on holidays from school. It at least triggers the neurons in your brain and invokes a good or bad feeling about that time.

In hindsight I think this is one reason that I gravitated towards the sound collage style of music utilising any and all reference points. I was always about the beats first and then after a few listens the mc’s message would seep through. The late 80’s through to the late 90’s for me produced some timeless classics.

Food for thought.

Ive also added a bit of reading material which can be wordy at times but an interesting read nonetheless titled – Making beats- The art of Sample based hip hop. by Joseph Glenn Schloss

Let me know if your enjoying the reading material, blog posts or music. Feedback always welcomed.

PLAYLIST

boom bap 1 check the rime - a tribe called quest 2 sound of the police - krs one 3 the main ingredient - pete rock and cl smooth 4 In Meh Dreams - Bush Babies 5 Obstruction. A Freestyle (Moonrock Featuring Ivo) - Moonrock feat. Ivo 6 vapours - biz markie 7 stakes is high - de la soul 8 runnin - pharcyde 9 AIN’T NO HALF STEPPIN’ - big daddy kane 10 girl trouble - STEZO 11 Marley Marl Scratch - Marley Marl featuring MC Shan 12 Step Up Front - Positive K 13 Fat Pockets - Showbiz & AG 14 Holy Calamity (Bear Witness II) feat. DJ Shadow & DJ Quest - Handsome Boy Modeling School 15 Mr. Hood Gets A Haircut - KMD 16 Soul Power - Wu Tang feat Flava Flav 17 South Bronx - Krs One

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It’s been a little while between transmissions. Ive recently relocated from Sydney to Melbourne and don’t have access to turntables at the minute. But im working on that.

 Chick Corea at the Melbourne Jazz Festival

The great people over at melodytrip.com have asked me to review the Melbourne jazz fest for them. So over on spaceport26 we have spent the last 2 weeks in immersed in the jazz venues around Melbourne. Highlights for me so far have been Chick Corea and the Yamandu Costa Trio. You can read the reviews here.

For this episode I thought Id dig out some of my jazz favourites to share with you. Included is some Alice Coltrane Featuring Pharoah Sanders (who I will be seeing perform tonight), some Herbie Hancock including the full version of chameleon and the Mighty Art Blakey and the Jazz messengers track “On the Ginza” from one of my all time favourite jazz albums Ugetsu. Enjoy!

playlist 1 Bettina - Bola Sete 2 Journey into Satchidananda - Alice Coltrane feat. Pharoah Sanders -Journey in Satchidananda 3 On the Ginza - Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Ugetsu 4 Jazz-New Age - Herbie Hancock ?? (I don’t know if this is right my I have some nasty ipod gremlins at the moment. If you know the correct track name let me know.) 5 Chameleon - Herbie Hancock - Headhunters

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Mid last year a good friend of mine emailed me and asked, “what is IDM?” I became quite animated and started telling him about artists that I have been into since the mid 90’s. Releases like the Artificial Intelligence series from Warp and many of their artists including Aphex twin, Autechre’s early work, Mouse on mars, Squarepusher and Boards of Canada among others.

He was intrigued by this music as he had only read about it at uni.I promised him a mix of some of my favorite IDM tunes, which I totally neglected to produce. Damn slacker! He did give me some of his reading material for the class, which I will share with you. It is a pdf written by Simon Reynolds titled - Funk Dance Lets Art.

I like Simons writing style, but with no reference point it can be confusing as so many artists are name checked. Some that is still actively producing work today and others that have disappeared into the ether.

Simons book Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture is a great starting point if you are interested in reliving some of those moments of hedonism or if you are just interested in dance music history in general. Its been a while since I read It and I have a feeling that this may be an excerpt.

The DJ history website also has some more recommendations for music and culture reading.

You can check out more of Simons writing at his blog blissout. He has also been published in many esteemed publications such as Melody Maker and New Musical Express (NME) among others.

The mix included is sprinkled with some new Idm, funk, Hip-hop, and Jazz. I think Ill dust off some of my favourites and create that IDM mix soon enough after all.

Good for a sunday afternoon with the paper or pre golf psych up.

enjoy

playlist 1 Sofisticada - Luiz Bonfá - Bonfa Burrows Brazil 2 Little Children - David Axelrod 3 Crystallized - The Detroit Escalator Co. 4 This Complete Feeling of Loss - Colin Everingham - Skies of Error 5 Moments In Love - The Art Of Noise - (Who’s Afraid Of) The Art Of Noise? 6 Persian Teardrop (Massive Attack Mix) - Cocteau Twins 7 One Day or so - Depth Affect 8 Nuno - Prefuse 73 - vocal studies & uprock narratives 9 Make Me Love You - Pivot 10 Check out My Gold Tooth - Jimmy Edgar 11 Kind of Laid Back - Birdy Nam Nam

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Welcome to another transmission. The EAT METAL ZONE party went well, it was great to see some familiar faces, along with some new ones. Im a big fan of re/discovering the roots and or history of things. As the saying goes “Its not where you’ve been but where your at” Well i like to see how we got here… anyway i guess via hip hop Ive gained an appreciation for the funk, latin and all that jazz. Blending the old with the new….

enjoy

__________________

playlist

1 Farandole (L’Arlesinne Suite#2) - Bob James 2 Cosas Remix- Los Hermanos Latinos 3 Itch and Scratch - Rufus Thomas 4 Hot pants.. im comin, im comin - Bobby Byrd 5 Put On Train - Gene Harris & The Three Sounds 6 Hercules - Aaron Neville 7 Express Yourself - Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhtyhm Band 8 Express Yourself - NWA 9 More Bounce to the Ounce - Zapp and Roger 10 Quit Jivin’ - Pearly Queen 11 Funky Beeper - Afrika Bambaataa 12 Beat Me Till I´m Blue - Alan Hawkshaw 13 Magnificent Sanctuary Band - Donny Hathaway 14 Right On - Clarence Wheeler & The Enforcers 15 Dust Yourself Off - Pleasure 16 Clap Your Hands - Reginald Milton & The Soul Jets 17 Cookies - Brother Of Soul 18 Mt. Airy Groove (Inst.) - Pieces of a Dream 19 Rock Creek Park - The Blackbyrds

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