for today’s mp3 smorgasbord, i’m rounding up some of the links that have been sitting brooding, quietly at the back, and have yet to make it onto the blog. before that though, a heads up to irmin schmidt from can (pictured top left) who i interviewed on today’s show…
CAN [GERMANY]
oh yeah (from ‘tago mago’) mp3
pinch (from ‘ege bamyasi’) mp3
when introducing the irmin schmidt interview today, i went so far as to say that anyone making music other than traditional blues rock owes some kind of debt to can. the band formed in the 1968 from the nucleus of irmin schmidt and holger czukay, both of whom studied under the man who some regard as the grandfather of electronica, karlheinz stockhausen [more on stockhausen here]. after a visit to new york and being in the presence of a live performance of the velvet underground, the idea for can was formed. the band were incredibly prolific – not including compilations, there were 13 albums (11 of which fell in a 10 year period) and the first four have just been re-issued through mute records. it’s true to say that genres such as post-rock would not be what they are today without can. their mastery of multiple forms of music, from rock to jazz to classical, may well be something that’s expected of many musicians today, but back in the late 60s, it was almost a sacrilege. links worth visting: official can site – spoon records, holger czukay‘s personal history of can and mixmaster morris on can. a transcript from today’s interview may well be posted soon.
AIRBORN AUDIO [US: NEW YORK]
bright lights mp3
formerly of anti-pop consortium (from whence beans also sprang), airborn audio is hip hop artists high priest and m. sayyid. their debut album ‘good fortune’ has been gestating for a couple of years and, given the added pressure of beans‘ remarkable ‘shock city maverick’ album, expectation is justifyably high. check out the mindzero site to download another track from the album (wma format).
MING [BELGIUM]
sentir et analyser (barbara morgenstern rmx) mp3
fredrique vs superpitcher mp3
following in the wake of the excellent styorfoam album, some more great music from belgium for you, albeit remixed by some of the smartest talent in germany today. ming (pic.left) are a m/f duo frédérique franke and nicolas deschuytenee, perpetuating the ever-growing canon of middle european electronic pop. their recent album ‘intérieur/extérieur’ was given over to a squad of artists, whose own label loyalties read like a whos-who of the cutting edge of european music – diskoB, kompakt, monika, playhouse, kitty-yo to name but a few. the 2nd mp3 is described by ming’s label as ” is one of many mixed and vocally reworked tracks by frederique, put on her overdubbed dj set”. make of that what you will. more info at doxa records.
BOOM BIP [US: OHIO]
the matter (of our discussion) (feat. nina nastasia) goto:scissorkick
the move goto:better propaganda
taken from his forthcoming album ‘blue eyed in the red room’, there’s two new boom bip tracks now available at the above sites. he’s been getting a great deal of press in 2004, mostly off the back of his remix collection ‘corymb’ which saw artists such as boards of canada, clouddead, lali puna and four tet getting on board to mix tracks from the ‘seed to sun’ album. according to his label, lex records, the new ten-track album is due to drop in a matter of weeks (february ’05) and features no samples and very few vocals. scissorkick has posted one of the only two vocal tracks, featuring nina nastasia (the other will feature gruff from super furry animals) and you can download a 2nd track from the good folks at better propaganda.
TIEFSCHWARZ [GERMANY]
acid soul mp3
something a little more four-to-the-floor for you now – if you haven’t come across any of the extensive tiefschwarz remix catalogue, you might have been hiding under the wrong rock lately. the three-piece have recently put together a 2 disc set ‘misch masch’ – the first cd featuring a mix set from the trio, the second is a compilation of their remix work with artists such as phonique, lopazz, dj hell, mocky and truby trio all being represented. the above track is taken from their self-titled 2002 album.
COPPE [JAPAN]
i lick my brain in silence mp3 edit
i can’t find any full-length mp3s for this artist, but i did want to nonetheless draw your attention to coppe – a female japanese solo artist whose voice is compared here on the milk factory to beth gibbons, bjork and billie holliday. she’s worked with pre-eminent electronc artists such as russian dj vadim, plaid and the orb. you can find heaps of edited mp3s at her web site – any pointers to full-length legal downloads appreciated!
AUTECHRE [ENGLAND]
while you’re out and about on the galactic interweb today, also check out xltronic‘s 2003 autechreremix competition – 180 (count ’em) remixes of autechre tracks as part of their remix competition. if you don’t have the time to trawl through around 15 hours of remixes (why not?), autechre’s personal favourites were ‘amnesie drane2 (remix)’ mp3 and ‘naftwa4 (handled by goodhands team)’ [mp3]. also have a listen to this odd bootleg from mindovermidi.no – autechre vs david sylvian.
finally, heads up to emptyfree – a blog with a refreshingly eclectic selection, not for the faint-hearted. recent posts include rarely published links for polish and french hip-hop, plus articles on laibach, pan sonic, boyd rice and shitmat. also click over to radio free polygon for more electronic downloads – check out posts from calamalka, venetian snares, iso brown and the rip-off artist. go get yer lobes rattled.
and with that, the fat planet radio show bows out for 2004. there might be an occasional update during the xmas break if i’m feeling productive, otherwise we’ll back on 3rd january 2005. have a freaking good holiday.
so it goes.