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shatter

October 7, 2010 · by · in

This was originally part of a set that Matt Sinesthetix and I started, in something like 2007. We never finished it, but I turned this into it’s own thing, and used another part in THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS. I am deeply in his debt for his influence on these sets: we got pretty cataclysmic. This set, SHATTER turned into a set about madness, nuclear war, and the end of the world.

Download here.

1: Hybrid – Secret Circles [Distinct’ive]
// Burial – Untitled / Outro [Hyperdub]
2: Kenji Kawai – Kugutsuuta Aratayo Ni Kamutsudo Hite [JVC Victor]
// Burial – Wounder [Hyperdub]
3: Fractal – Totem (Pass 1) [Tide Pool]
// Bela Bartok – String Quartet No. 5 – IV [DG]
4: Igor “Two Fingers” Stravinsky – Ascalapha Odorata (Fractal Mix) // Four Tet – A Joy [Warp]
5: Portishead – Machine Gun [Island]
6: Hybrid – I Chose Noise [Distict’ive]
7: Obakeh – Ghosted (AFK Ambient Mix) [Pacific Front]
// Mortar & Pestle – ItsaChickthing (Luke Chable Remix) [Heavy Rotation]
8: Burial – In McDonalds [Hyperdub]

listen, please

October 6, 2010 · by · in

We were discussing MP3 compression in my (amazing) recording class, and I got to thinking: has anyone ever made custom perceptual coding models? As in, get a person to come in and do hours of listening tests, then craft the encoder to their hearing? Would this give better results?

Secondly, has anyone ever done “I am sitting in an mp3”? I’ve seen the “I am recording a youtube video” cover of I Am Sitting In A Room, but is there a pure audio equivalent?

death in venice

October 2, 2010 · by · in

Hey sports fans: I’m playing at Sunset for Halloween, from 0200 to 0400. This means, of course, spookgressive haus of the highest order. Also on the bill are AFK, Toby Emerson, Joshua , and Nigel Haze.

Other upcoming / potential shows include the opening of CRUSH at Sunset, a trademark collection of chaos with Matt What at Hush in December, and opening up a Sub:Division show. More as it breaks!

linkness

October 1, 2010 · by · in ,

– The trailer for the new Bioshock is astonishing.
– Some madman built a 16-bit ALU…in Minecraft.
– Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellan on Waiting for Godot
– Shigeru Miyamoto & Shigesato Itoi on Mario turning 25, where ideas come from, and the creative process in general.

the hush top 50

September 29, 2010 · by · in , ,

The secret project I’ve been working since January is ready! Meet the Hush Top 50.

Since you asked, it’s a compilation of the fifty tracks that did the most damage to the Hush dancefloor, over the ten years that that club has been open, as selected by a list of residents, guests, and old friends. It’s got stories, audio links, and DJ profiles. If you’re not already there, go check it out! Now!

(I am indebted to David Tillson for his wisdom and aid, Amanda Farrell-Low for her journalistic chops, and Justin Humber for holding my hand as I tweaked the website he built.)

45:33:24:17

September 28, 2010 · by · in

My friend Kenzie described this set as “Oh shit, he went there.” I would submit that I go there multiple times, in fact. Mixed for the OH GREAT! 15-minute contest, this shit is ridiculous.

Fractal – 45:33:24:17

1: Acen – Dirty Raver [TCR]
// Blaze – My Beat (Accapella) [True]
2: Christian J – Nightfighter [Distinctive]
// Blaze – Dance To My Beat (Accapella) [True]
3: Andy Page – Bisted & Twitter [N.I.T.]
4: Quarta330 – Bleeps From Outer Space [Hyperdub]
5: Joker & Ginz – Stash [Hyperdub]
6: X-Cabs – Neuro ’99 (Electro Mix) [Hook]
// Christian J – Nightfighter [Distinctive]
// Blaze – My Beat (Accapella) [True]

two new jams!

September 20, 2010 · by · in ,

Been waiting on these for just ages, but here they are. Both are available for download as full bandwidth .WAV files too.

Harker & Dyer – Ave Maria (Fractal Remix) by Fractal

onefourfiveone – A by Fractal

The Ave Maria remix features the amazing Heather Harker on vox and Andrew Dyer on guitar. The onefourfiveone track is a tease for a four-track EP that I’m working on.

lesson zero

September 18, 2010 · by · in

I’m giving two people DJ lessons this week, which got me thinking about ways to teach the craft outside of endless beatmatching practice:

– Mix with a single cut, nothing more.
– Mix with no cut at all, start to finish.
– Mix with no EQ.
– Mix with only EQ.

^^ These ideas are not about fader chops: they’re about track selection.

– Mix records that someone else picked for you.
– Mix records from your collection at random.

^^ These are about creativity.

– Hold a mix for as long as possible.
– Mix with the fader up.

^^ OK, these two are about beatmatching. It is a bit important.

i came to dance: track lengths part 2

September 15, 2010 · by · in , ,

In my previous post, I talked about track lengths from 1970 to 1990. Now let’s look at 1995 to the present, in a few different ways.

First off, by DJ: Carl Cox and John Digweed are kind of out of favour right now, but they’re both very good and very evergreen. I took averages of three of their tracks from various years, taken from their Top 10s:

Carl Cox:
1995 // 6:17

  • Laurent Garnier – Astral Dreams (Carl Cox Remix): 7:08
  • Slam – Step Back: 6:30
  • Dave Clarke – Thunder: 5:12

2005 // 7:17

  • Cohen vs. Deluxe – Just Kick! (Carl Cox Remix): 6:41
  • Hiroki Esashika – Kazane: 5:49
  • Nick & Danny Chatelain – Is Killing Me: 9:22

2009 // 8:42

  • Sharam – Say Yeah: 9:17
  • Nic Fanciulli – 20%: 9:11
  • Steve Mac & Paul Harris – Dizzy Heights: 7:39

John Digweed:
1994/96 // 9:42

  • Bedrock – For What You Dream Of: 10:44
  • Morgan King – I’m Free: 8:00
  • Underworld – Dark & Long: 10:28

2000 // 11:54

  • Bedrock – Heaven Scent: 10:28
  • Science Department – Persuasion: 10:41
  • Raff ‘n’ Freddy – Listen: 12:39

2004 // 8:58

  • Dousk – Pa-Dida: 10:08
  • Spektrum – Kinda New (Tiefschwarz Dub): 8:15
  • Way Out West – Apollo: 8:32

2004 // 9:51

  • Giorgio Roma – Every Possible Mistake: 11:39
  • Bedrock – Aquatonic: 8:19
  • Maetrik – Choose Your System (Adam Beyer Remix): 9:37

This is more interesting: you can see Digweed going to town during progressive houses’ glory years, and you can see Cox slowing down from his frenetic 3-deck work as a rave DJ. Cox’s track length increases as well, which belies my previous thesis. On the other hand, John “Not a boring DJ” Digweed is back to his just-shy-of-ten-minutes length. So we have no conclusion here; more data would probably solve it.

But here’s more data!

Jungle Lengths // 6:38

  • Lennie D Ice – We Are IE: 7:45 (1991)
  • UK Apache / Shy FX – Original Nuttah: 5:10 (1994)
  • Renegade feat. Ray Keith – Terrorist: 6:16 (1994)

Dubstep Lengths // 5:29

  • Burial – Southern Comfort: 5:02 (2006)
  • Skream – Midnght Request Line: 5:04 (2005)
  • Digital Mystikz – Anti War Dub: 6:22 (2006)

Dubstep tracks are shorter than jungle tracks. Interesting, but perhaps obvious. Importantly, both averages are within the 5:30 to 6:30 range that the averages from 1970 to 1990 supported. One last point of data:

Daft Punk: Homework (1997) // 4:36 (75:53 overall)
Justice: Cross (2007) // 4:38 (48:13 overall)

TWO SECONDS difference in the average. This, for me, is the kicker. Attention span has never been that long, I just happened to get interested in dance music during the John Digweed 12-minute track period. But people have been freaking out to two and a half minute jams and twelve-minute epics since 1970, and will continue to do so.

i came to dance: track lengths part 1

September 14, 2010 · by · in ,

Really, I did. But I also came to do science, dammit. When I started DJing, tracks were 6 to 10 minutes long or so. Now they’re 3 to 8 minutes long. This is obviously very dependant on genre, but it seems like almost all DJs are moving through music faster. So, I did some research.

The first section references tracks from the amazing charts in Last Night A DJ Saved My Life. Track times are from discogs or wikipedia, using the original single whenever possible. Each club has the average of the five tracks I chose at random, its date and location, and then the five tracks. You’ll be surprised:

The Loft // 6:12 (1971-1980, NEW YORK)

  • James Brown – Give It Up & Turn It Loose: 2:45
  • Sylvester – Over And Over: 9:27
  • Atmosfear – Dancing In Outer Space: 9:24
  • Prince – Sexy Dancer: 4:18
  • Stevie Wonder – All I Do: 5:06

Paradise Garage // 5:42 (1977-1987, NEW YORK)

  • ESG – Moody: 5:01
  • Loleatta Holloway – Love Sensation: 6:33
  • Marshall Jefferson – Move Your Body: 10:00
  • Grace Jones – Slave to The Rhythm: 4:20
  • MFSB – Love Is The Message: 2:40

The Warehouse / The Music Box // 6:00 (1977-1987, CHICAGO)

  • Indeep – Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: 5:40
  • Chaka Khan – I’m Every Woman: 3:42
  • Phuture – Acid Tracks: 12:12
  • Mr. Fingers – Can You Feel It?: 5:45
  • Liquid Liquid – Optimo: 2:41

The Roxy // 5:55 (1982-1983, NEW YORK)

  • Afrika Bambaata – Planet Rock: 6:25
  • Babe Ruth – The Mexican: 5:45
  • Grandmaster Flash – The Message: 7:14
  • Donna Summer – I Feel Love: 5:53
  • Talking Heads – Once In A Lifetime: 4:19

The Hacienda // 6:25 (1986-1997, MANCHESTER)

  • 808 State – Pacific State: 3:52
  • Inner City – Big Fun: 7:39
  • Mantronix – King Of The Beats: 5:58
  • Orbital – Chime: 12:52
  • Rhythm Is Rhythim – Strings Of Life: 7:23

Shoom // 5:46 (1987-1990, LONDON)

  • A Guy Called Gerald – Voodoo Ray: 4:27
  • Fingers Inc – Distant Planet: 6:30
  • Ralph Rosario – You Used To Hold Me: 6:28
  • Ten City – Devotion: 6:48
  • U2 – I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For 4:37

To summarize: No more than sixty seconds difference, on average, in 25 years of dance music. This astonished me. I thought for certain that track lengths would be huge in during disco, shorten during house and hip-hop, and then stretch again during the summer of love. Wrong.

If you want to make a great dance record, it should probably be six minutes long. If you want to be a great DJ, you should probably play tracks of different lengths.

But what about the last 15 years, you ask? Patience. More data will come tomorrow.