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 So,
you know, it's hotter'n a pistol and everybody around here (FLA) is pretty
much hangin' out inside, enjoying the A/C when they can't be in the pool
or in the Gulf ... and so this is our time for cabin fever. Some
suffer it in the winter, some in the summer, but it's always the same
routine ... stuck inside due to the weather, feeling like half your life
has shut down, waiting for better times (actually, that also sounds a
little like what people are feeling on account of the economy, but that's
a different subject for some other post....) Anyhow, if you're lucky
like me, you have something as interesting and engaging as MixMeister to
help you while away the hours ...
The result of my time inside
this July/August can be heard in the newest upload to the BeatConscious
stream on mmRadio, aptly called
Cabin Fever
(or was I just too lazy to come up with a clever name -- you decide.)
I must tell you, there are some stand-out tracks on this set,
particularly from favorites like The Warheads, All India Radio and
a new discovery, Proof of Concept.
The Warheads have been
working on a soundtrack for something called Nihon Noir,
while the newest release from All India Radio (Fall) has had
a few of the tracks remixed for our listening pleasure ... a portion of the mix bounces
back and forth between tracks from these two offerings and the overall
effect is truly sublime.
Proof of Concept is
the nom du musique of James Foster, whose "View from Above" I've
paired with one of my favorite tracks of all time, Lamb's "Five"
from the Fear of Fours album ... you'll hear how this new
artist holds his own with the best, and you may be encouraged by that
showing to seek out his music on Myspace ....
Speaking
about the latest show to stream on
BeatConscious,
Independence Suite 2008 (see post below), I want to take the
opportunity to also pay respects to
All India Radio,
purveyors of fine music based in Australia (the new release is Fall)...
and to Martin Kennedy and Leona Prue in particular.
They co-wrote the track Let Me Remain, which I
find stunningly lovely ... I went so far as to ask Martin for the lyrics,
because the tune just haunts me, and Leona (the wordsmith) was kind enough
to oblige ... if you see me driving along singing, it might just be that
I'm singing along to Let Me Remain, now that I know the words.
And speaking of musical
favorites, I understand there is new goodness coming from The Warheads
... heard a little bit yesterday (would it be wrong to say Asian
triphop?) and will be looking for a new CD soon ... this is a very active
and talented group ... like All India Radio,
The Warheads
are a source of consistently excellent music and I'm delighted to have
found them ... hope you will seek them out as well.
The
buzz is on
Previous Features:
Take
a second to read the last post (immediately below) and you'll understand
my gratitude to KUSH, one of several independent artists featured
on this July 4th's indie music set: Independence Suite 2008.
But the fact is, I appreciate everyone out there putting in the time and
talent to produce such excellent music ... I only know my one little
downtempo corner of the musical world of course ... but from what I hear,
there's good news in almost every genre, and a large number of listening
venues (the artists's websites, their myspace pages, last.fm and pandora
and a number of other online radio outlets, including of course mmRadio
and Live365, where you can catch the music that has entertained and
impressed me and my fellow MixMeisters and other music devotees.)
Go here to check
out the set-list for the 2008 indie music offering and use one of the
links in the left-side panel to check out the actual music (L365 listeners
-- coming to you a bit later in the month.)
One special (though
relatively tiny) feature of this new mix is the drop from jrs of The
Warheads ... it pleased me enormously ... like anything you never knew
you wanted until after someone gave it to you.
And now, back to enjoying my
long weekend ....
Took
the plunge, took the challenge, and on this rainy June weekend I renewed
the Live 365 station presence for BeatConscious ... I can spend the text
elsewhere to talk about why I would even hesitate (as you make your own
economic decisions these days, I know you know) but here I'll just say
that under the new terms of membership, the greater cost is buying more
server space which I've used to plump up the roster of sets ... you can
find the current line up on
the Live 365 information page. I made the decision in part
because I recently had email from another fine group (KUSH) who let me
know they'd found me due to the station on L365 ... not everyone mentions
that, so it's possible to lose sight of the great job the station does in
keeping me connected to the world of music lovers looking for a new sound
to love. I listened as I worked this weekend and even with the
commercials, the station sounds decent ... though I would hope and expect
that most serious listeners would buy a membership that would relieve them
of listening to the commercials. Why don't you check out the show
(you can use the Live365 link in the navigation panel at the left side of
this page, under the word "Audio" to stream it) and let me know what you
think ....
Memorial
Day Weekend, a perfect time for uploading a new show to mmRadio and
updating the website as well ... and I waited for this sweet moment until
after I had done my yard work ... just so you know.
I'm calling the new show
SemiConsciousParty ... with a bit of a nod to Ziggy Marley
and the basic recognition that we never entirely commit to our own part in
the big picture as long as our personal lives keep throwing us curves.
You'll find the
set-list
here and the
cover over here.
Enjoy the soul sensibilities of Erykah Badu, Verse 2, Subatomic Sound
System, Rithma, Nightmares on Wax, Atjazz, Freddie Cruger, Joy Denalane,
Fontella Bass, Lauryn Hill, Deela and others .... And you may
find you relate to some of what they have to say.
Speaking of what people have
to say, I've posted a new article link on the
BrainScan
page, another one about the healing powers of music ... the scientific
community keeps poking around the edges of this particular line of
research, but never dips more than a toe in. Maybe this time,
they'll get a little farther.
WIRED magazine
has an interview with Brian Eno ... I've excerpted
a small bit on the
BrainScan page; if you're interested in the entire article, you can check that out
here. And the NYT also has a cautionary tale about
the rise and spectacular downfall of a prolific blogger, Emily Gould,
told in her own words. My first experience of the phrase
oversharing ... but I recognized it
instantly:
One of the strangest and
most enthralling aspects of personal blogs is just how intensely personal
they can be. I’m talking “specific details about someone’s S.T.D.’s”
personal, “my infertility treatments” personal. There are nongynecological
overshares, too: “My dog has cancer” overshares, “my abusive relationship”
overshares.
It’s easy to draw parallels between what’s going on online and what’s
going on in the rest of our media: the death of scripted TV, the endless
parade of ordinary, heavily made-up faces that become vaguely familiar to
us as they grin through their 15 minutes of reality-show fame. No wonder
we’re ready to confess our innermost thoughts to everyone: we’re
constantly being shown that the surest route to recognition is via
humiliation in front of a panel of judges.
But is that really what’s making people blog? After all, online, you’re
not even competing for 10 grand and a Kia. I think most people who
maintain blogs are doing it for some of the same reasons I do: they like
the idea that there’s a place where a record of their existence is kept —
a house with an always-open door where people who are looking for you can
check on you, compare notes with you and tell you what they think of you.
Sometimes that house is messy, sometimes horrifyingly so. In real life, we
wouldn’t invite any passing stranger into these situations, but the remove
of the Internet makes it seem O.K.
Trust me, I'll be keeping a
careful eye on FLYpaper for signs of this oversharing stuff ...
Thank
god I've never lived an interesting life ... otherwise, people who
followed it on FLYpaper
would be really upset about the lack of news there ... as it is, most of
what you need to know, you can read right here in the Fresh News column.
And in fact, I do have a news flash for today, the very tag-end of April
... an email from the Tranceporter! OK, lose that confused
look ... think a little and you'll remember reading the
History of My World page
from a couple of years ago (I'm SUCH an optimist
 ) At the time I wrote
that page, the punch line was that I had been in contact with one of the
guys from the musical godhead, Heights of Abraham. But of
equal importance on my personal scale of wondrous happenings, is that I've
also heard from the Tranceporter, the guy who introduced me to the music
of HoA to begin with. Since that hazy day in Key West, we have
touched base maybe twice, and I have an absolute fit (the good kind) each
time ... especially because it is completely unexpected -- like all the
best presents.
So, for you DP, a big warm
public hello ... thanks for all the new music recommendations -- you can
be certain that I'll be tracking them down. And when we are both on
the same continent once again, we really must try to have a visit and a
meal together ....
So
you know I went to WMC, and so I'm sure you're wondering if I brought home
any new music ... well, as mentioned already (see below), I had the
pleasure of meeting up with Emch and the Subatomic Sound System
folks for the Miambient event, and Emch kindly comped me a couple of
the CDs he's brought with him ... and on these I found some excellent
music, including the track Rize Up which appears on the new
Dub & Dubber 08: 2008:04:20: Dubset, uploaded this morning and
currently stream on mmRadio ... yes, folks, it's that date once again and
it could not pass unmarked here at BeatConscious
Check out the set-list
here.
Respect and appreciation
also go out to Miguel Migs who appeared at The Opium Garden and
handed out a few copies of his new release on OM Records: These
Things (Remixed) ... the Cottonbelly remix of Fire
is among the stand-out tracks on that collection, and you'll hear it on
the D&D 4:20 mix also. Also in the spirit is a contribution from the
Dubmatix remix contest -- the Dubactivist version of Dust, Dirt
and Sand, a timely anthem for a troubled economy.
Whether you celebrate today
or just have yourself a typical pleasant Sunday ... enjoy.
Did
I go to Miami? Indeed I did, and lived to tell the tale ... check it
all out on the Winter Music
Conference page -- complete with pictures. Speaking of
pictures, I'm pestering my friends for some of their shots, so do check
back as I expect to be updating that page over the next week or so....
This year it seemed
downtempo was in shorter supply ... one really excellent opportunity was
the Miambient afternoon at The Standard Hotel (respect and
gratitude to Emch for the heads-up on that event.) Otherwise,
I was hearing House music and the best of that was the BasicNYC
party at the Beach Plaza Hotel ... details on these events via the
link above. I did come home with a couple of discs in addition to my
pics and good memories ... look for tracks from Miguel Migs and the
Subatomic Sound System people to pop up on the BeatConscious
stream soon.
Speaking of the
BeatConscious stream (and I mean the one hosted on
beatmixing.com)
-- do visit me there soon and see the striking new site design by DJ Jez
(not just a DJ, but a phenomenal graphic artist as well.) The
site redesign is set to launch on April 1st and barring any of those pesky
technical issues the web sometimes serves up, we hope to have you join us
and let us know what you think.
Yes,
it's about time for the Winter Music Conference in Miami ... but
before I go, I just had to drop one more jazzy joint for ya ... click on
over to the BeatConscious show on mmRadio (beatmixing.com --
see the link on the leftside panel) and see what you think about The
Mighty Wick, featuring the music of Parov Stelar, Gary B,
Afternoons in Stereo, The Warheads (in their jazz outfits, this time)
and duo Tassel & Naturel featuring DJ Cam ... and much more
besides: check out the
set-list here.
Last
month, I promised you a new Quiet Storm-style mix featuring new material
from the good folks at ViceLounge and you know I wouldn't lie ...
you can hear Terms & Conditions streaming now from the
BeatConscious show on mmRadio (check the panel at the left for
the link.) This being February, you can assume that Terms &
Conditions is the Valentine's Day joint... Check out
the cover art and
the set-list
for more clues as to my heart-rate and whether or not those are stars in
my eyes ....
In addition to the
ViceLounge mash of Melissa Young's "Just a Girl", this mix runs the
gamut from Memphis Minnie to Candi Staton with a couple of
stops for Remy Shand, the Canadian neo-Soul artist who put out one
record in 2002 and then disappeared....
Work and other aspects of
Real Life are a bit overwhelming this season ... you can bet I'm looking
forward to a week in South Beach at the Winter Music Conference in late
March ... there will be the chance to meet up with other MixMeisters as
well as seeing some inspiring musical performances ... If you find you
have the time and the inclination, please join us there and help us make
the party happen
The
new year is well under way and so it must be time for a fresh show on
BeatConscious ... I believe Moto will rearrange things
this weekend, retiring the "Best of 2007" show and shuffling the mixes
around a bit ... At this point, the one truly new item will be my 2008
kick-off mix of independent artists, featuring the music that was brought
to my attention during the last couple of months in 2007 (when my
attention was really focused on pulling together the Christmas show.)
Stop by beatmixing.com and check out the show (MoonDrop)--
you'll catch up on releases from Torso, unworking mind, Alyse Black,
The Warheads, Tassel and Naturel, Neptilos and Sonanaut, among others.
You'll find links to all these folks on the
Declaration of Independents page post that supplements each Indie
mix aired on the show.
Speaking of new music, I had
a message recently from Jake, an ex-New Yorker transplanted to the L.A.
area ... we talked about how it's good to keep up with folks in the same
vibe and I asked him to be sure and let me know if he heard anything that
might be good for the show ... he said, I'm always on the hunt!
Well, I'll bet you are too ... just because not too many folks make it to
BeatConscious.org unless they are seriously interested in music ...
interested enough to read a small non-commercial website that isn't even
giving anything away for free
...
So, by all means, pick up a
few tips while you're here and before you go, consider sharing your own
tips with me: drop a line to talkback [at] beatconscious.org and let
me know what you've discovered recently ... and let me know how you found
it. I'm guessing that the majority of new finds will have come via a
musician's myspace page. But maybe you know the musician personally,
or maybe you discovered a website by reading your local arts newspaper.
However you got there, I'm interested in hearing about it. (If you
are interested in my stats, I can tell you that about 30% comes from
friend requests on myspace, 50% comes from artists contacting me directly
and the rest from news articles or tips from friends. This is a
guesstimate ... no calculators were used in developing this data.)
Coming soon: a new
Quiet Storm-style mix featuring the latest track to drop from the fine
people at ViceLounge ... watch for it!
So
we made it through another one ... no thanks to anything but blind luck
and the sheer refusal to lie down, or so it seems on the gloomier days.
Yet I think just about everyone has something that pulls them through in a
positive way (as opposed to simple denial or hiding out) ... and that one
thing, for me, is of course music: Hearing it, mixing it,
discovering new music and making sure that others learn about the really
cool stuff that comes my way ... and this year, thanks to Tim and Tom (no,
I'm not making this up) I'm actually learning a little bit as the months
roll by, proving it's always handy to have a pro around when you have
puzzles to be solved.
New things are cooking at
MixMeister, as usual ... new version releases of the software including,
most significantly, a version for Mac users. Their numbers may be
small but they are a vocal bunch and MixMeister, now with the financial
cushion that came from their alliance with Numark, has finally had the
chance to respond to their demands to be included in our world ...
The Mac version should be rolling out this month.
And it looks as though some
of us in the MixMeister community will be visiting South Beach for the the
2008 Winter Music Conference ... it seemed like a nifty place to have a
little party we've been planning. If you are planning on being in
that neighborhood March 26-30, be sure to let me know ....
Until then (or the next
opportunity) you have my very best wishes for this new year.
I've made an
archive of the oldest contents of this section ... feel free to
visit and dip in, should you have the time and inclination....
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