– Not only have the good people at SubDivison made a new website, not only have their Rifflandia parties been amazing, their latest podcast is by my man Natron, and it is smooth, smooth, smoooooooth.
– School has started. Apparently grad school is basically about reading every damn thing.
– The first chunk of the music for DREAM|CITY came together really fast. The second chunk, which I started tonight, is looking like it will take longer.
– I picked up a flyer from somewhere, advertising Jerome Derradji of Still Music playing at Le Bleury. So, I went. Having gone, I can tell you that Le Bleury is a gorgeous little space, and that the people there play awesome post/disco, but often stumble on mixes. Jerome did likewise: amazing tunes, some often iffy technical things, but man: what amazing tunes.
– I just today finished listening to every album I own, in alphabetical order. I started in January: it was a bit of a thing, and I will hopefully write more about it soon.
week 26
week 25
Moving is a party, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I am officially changing my master’s research to teleportation and soundproofing.
In other, more interesting news:
– Kev, Cheeba, & Moneyshot re-built Paul’s Boutique from samples, Beastie interviews, and acapellas. This is almost certainly the best mix of the year.
– Artisinal integers are now a thing. Really.
– Jon Rafman curates Google Street View. Welcome to the now.
– Finally got to read Dan Sicko’s TECHNO REBELS. It’s a great and detailed book that catches lots of small scenes and subtle influences.
– You may recall that I made a Weavr a few months ago. It has been killing it, of late. It’s like a bizzaro world version of me that loves romance novels, shitty dance music, and the Canucks.
week 24
– At the recommendation of the all-knowing, all-seeing Christopher Butterfield, I got a copy of James Gleick’s THE INFORMATION, which I promptly devoured. The more I read about data, the more I want to know about DNA.
– Went to three of the MISQA concerts at McGill: I am on the one hand worried about the state of string repertoire, when these quartets are playing basically the same things that were played last year…and on the other hand, happy to see performers of such excellent quality. Special outs to the Noga quartet for playing a damn fine Ligeti I.
– Beatport is selling mixes, and has probably been doing so for a while – shows how much time I spend on Beatport. Nevertheless, this represents a culmination of sorts: Beatport now has everything. This is news both amazing and depressing, both the end of the frustration of digging, and the end of the deep joy of digging and hustling.
– HOLY SHIT THE NEW FOUR TET ALBUM.
– My man Albert Santoni of Oscillicious has dropped Songstarter: an in-browser jam station. Highly recommended.
– I am working on half an octect called HAMADRYAD. It’s about trees, and trees, and is sort of structurally odd.
– Met the casually scintillating Erin Gee, am working on some Max/MSP hacking for her biofeedback piece. More on that as it breaks!
week 23 or so
– I’m in Montreal! It’s pretty nice so far.
– I finished a hack called Music I Used To Like, based on the shirt of the same name. It is interesting how much variance there actually is between people’s taste in music.
– I had to do a bit of hacking in openFrameworks. openFrameworks is amazing.
– I finished the edits to TORNADO SONGS, based on the feedback from Composer’s Kitchen. Now I get to try to handle edits from 3,700 KM away.
– I’m writing up thesis ideas, as I need to beg for funding for second year. Aiiiii.
composer’s kitchen
I was lucky enough to participate in the undergraduate version of Composer’s Kitchen, as put on by SFU, Owen Underhill, Christopher Butterfield, and the monstrously talented Quatuor Bozzini. They helped me work out the middle movement of TORNADO SONGS, for which I am very grateful. Big ups are also in order to Jamie, Sara, Alex Jang, Remy, Jeremey, Alex Mah, Thomas, Duncan, and Will for their exceptional pieces. I’ll have recording the moment I get them.
week 20
– You may have heard of this thing we did called Get Excited And Make Techno: we’re finished doing it, now. It was rad. Seven local producers met for six workshops over eight weeks to produce a free compilation of techno, dub, and house.
– I finished up my job with UVic’s CHISEL software engineering lab this week: many thanks to Peggy Storey and co. for a fun six months.
– Everything is ready for Composer’s Kitchen in two weeks.
– Everything is ready for TORNADO SONGS: I just need to make parts.
– I got a hack called ‘music i used to like’ working. I just need to get the styling nailed, and I’ll be good to go.
made techno
Get Excited & Make Techno presents a our free, 7-track EP, a product of a summer’s worth of workshops and beatsmithing:
– BandCamp
– SoundCloud
– Tumblr
Big thanks to Quinn, Kevin, Dan, Mike, Jason, Lee, as well as Rennie, Manj, Nathan, Kirk, Charlie, and Chris.
week 19
– I finished mixdown for HOLD, which doesn’t sound like this any more.
– HOLD will be release as part of the Get Excited & Make Techno project, later this week.
– I made a mixtape! It’s about moving to Montreal, surprise surprise.
– I realized, when watching a cat play some vinyl, that one thing that key-locked digital DJing loses is the pitch up / down that you get on vocals when cranking a tune up or down.
– I’m into the final edit stage on TORNADO SONGS: many thanks to Laine, Alex, and Nathan for telling me what double stops are impossible.
– Started a thing called MONTREAL COMPRESSION EXERCISES. Don’t know how much will come of it, but we’ll see.
music for distance
I’m going to Montreal! This is what I’ll be listening to on the plane.
1: Hannah Read – Only You Will Know [hannahread.com]
2: Lusine – Gravity [Ghostly]
3: Julia Easterlin – Go Straight Away [juliaeasterlin.com]
4: Talking Heads – Once In A LifeTime [Sire]
5: Maximo Park – The Coast Is Always Changing [Warp]
6: Julia Easterlin – Eyes On The Prize [juliaeyesprize.com]
7: Thor Kell – Sunbird (Jillian Hanks, piano) []
week 18
– I have 343 pieces of vinyl. I probably had about 1200 to 1300 before. Well then.
– I am over the moon, as I’m done a full draft of TORNADO SONGS, and all three pieces for the Composer’s Kitchen workshop.
– The Dream|City webapp is working: Connor and I just need to write the music.
– I can recommend you to Bleep’s Guide To Electronic Music in the strongest possible way.