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VEMF 2k8: 50,000 kickdrums

August 8, 2008 · by · in ,

(Photo by Davey B.  Further pics by Davin here)

I had a pretty darn good weekend at the 2008 edition of the Victoria Electronic Music Festival, thank you very much.  Highlights included:

Greenlaw:  I’d always missed seeing this live D&B pair before, so I was really happy to catch them playing an opening slot with lots of verve and lots of acoustic instruments – flute, trumpet, bass guitar, and vox from both members.  Lovely, summery stuff, for the most part.

The Angry Samoan:  Keoni, playing a middle slot on the Saturday, just killed it, sliding around what I think of as his typical tribal / tech style in all kinds of different directions.
Kenzie Clarke & Nathan Jonson:  The nice part about VEMF weekend is that the lousy club opening slots aren’t lousy, because the clubs are full from 10:15.  On opening duties at Sugar, Kenzie & Nathan proved that no one adds sass to techno quite the way they do.
AFK:  Our very own progressive house legend played some positively demolishing tunes, and took home the award for both MOST MELODIES and BEST MELODIES with consummate ease.

Gobe:  One of the problems with dubstep is that you really do need speakers that can shake the earth.  Gobe went up one side of the Sunset Room speaker system and down the other during an utterly exacting set of the stuff that was a fantastic way to close out my weekend.

My set with Matt went well – some tricks worked especially well, some were iffy.  I learnt how to work my EFX with the new Pioneer mixer, managed to accidentially stop the music 5 minutes too early, and we basically picked everyone up by the scruff of their collective necks and got them dancing.  Llllllook out for our next show at Hush on September 13th, for both our birthdays, with Davey B on opening patrol.

Lastly, I can’t that the VEMF team enough:  Bruce, Davin, Adam, Derrick, Chelsie, etc, etc, etc:  you’re all grand and I really appreciate the time you spend on this shindig.

my music: let me show you them

July 22, 2008 · by · in

Two new sets, because I loooooove you:

^^ Rigorous house / tech / prog / electro, from myself and Braeden.

^^ A metaphorical blast of a mixtape, from the proverbial past.  Does exactly what it says on the tin.

math gets all over your face

July 20, 2008 · by · in ,

Math is a problem.  In fact, math is several problems, or many problems, or a multitude of problems, depending on who you ask.  Having survived first year math at UVic, my problem with Math is in the teaching.

The issue here is simple:  hidden under all the rote learning and memorizatiom, math is actually a *creative* subject.

Let me be more explicit:  The most important skill in math is to be able to solve a problem using the tools and information that you have at hand.  This gets harder when you have to transform the given information to get what you need – and it gets harder still when you have to transform the tools you have to get the correct result.  These require increasing degrees of creative thought, or imaginative thought, or abstract thought, or whatever you want to call it.  Newton and Leibniz had it in spades, to dream up calculus.  So did Euler, to conjure up i out of nothing.  Likewise whoever thought up the concept of zero in the 7th century or so.

Is there a way to teach this sort of skill?  In a perfect world, we’d have one math teacher per child, and everyone would learn algebra in grade 4.  But we live in a brutally imperfect world.  Is there, then, a way to make a game along the lines of Brain Age that could teach synthesis of concepts like this?  And could it be made fun?

On the face of it, that doesn’t seem like a very tough thing to do.  Line up a series of questions & problems, sort them into sections, allow for a varying number of valid solutions…and we’ve just described a typical math textbook.  Oops.

What we need is a game that is more than a game:  a system that allows for answers that may come from outside the system.  And that’s where things get difficult, because it then becomes impossible to have a concrete set of answers, or even a concrete set of methods and hints.  The way I solve a problem about area may not be the way you solve a problem about area, and neither of them may be the ‘traditional’ way of finding the answer.  I’ll point you to the diabolical Ovuerture Facile as a kind of inverse reference:  OF forces you to do something odd and non-linear to find the ‘answer’.  Our hypothetical math-game would have to support any odd and non-linear way possible to find the answer.

sundays are for lying

July 13, 2008 · by · in , ,

And also for ideas.

I went to The Cheaper Show #8 near the end of June, and got thinking about the nature of selling art.  The Cheaper Show gets a TON of pieces together in one place, and sells them all for the same price: $200, in this case.  (They also have clever-awful ads that say things like BUY ART NOT COCAINE, but that’s beside the point.)  This got me thinking, as I was discussing pieces with my friends:  would people buy more art if they could remix it?  And would that art be better?
For example, there was a piece that had a red circle in it.  I would’ve liked it much more without said circle.  Would the artist be willing to make me a copy without the circle?  Or, contrawise, would the artist say “No, sorry, the circle’s too important, you can’t change it – but you can change this other thing, would that help?”

This, of course, assumes that you have the art in digital and can make high-quality prints of it easily – which limits things somewhat, both technically and philosophically.
On the music front, I had the somewhat insane though of “a Markov chain of Markov chains…which wouldn’t actually be that hard to do, and certainly not in code.  I also have a note to talk a bit about graph theory and tonal harmonic theory, which is basically the same thing as a Markov chain, really.  From I you have lots of choices, but some are more likely than others.  Then, from VI, you have fewer choices, and so on.

Of coures, the real interesting things start happening when you change the parameters away from western tonal harmony…

Finally:

Four Tet – Ringer [Domino]
Four Tet – Swimmer [Domino]
Agoria – Les Violons Ivres [Different]
Matt Rowan – Hot Steppin (Soliquid Remix) [Proton]
Jaytech & Rowan – Noodles [Cuurve]
Kosmas Epsilon – Soho (RR Edit) [Sick Watona]
Ladyhawke – Back Of The Van (Fred Falke Mix) [Modular]
Maurice – Feline [Distinctive]
Morgan & Shiu – 8 Feet Under (AFK Remix) [Powerplant]
Innerzone Orchestra – Bug In The Bass Bin [Planet E]

tracklists on your six!

July 7, 2008 · by · in , ,

Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince – Summertime (Hybrid Mix) [Jive]
The Lotterboys – Blazer [Eskimo]
Ilmli – All Dressed Up And Nowhere To Go (Habersham Remix)
Ricardo Tobar – Boy Love Girl Song [Border Community]
Ricardo Tobar – Psprf Frame [Border Community]
Ricardo Tobar – Voy a Buscar [Border Community]
Pin Me Down – Cryptic (Phones Materialisation Mix) [Kitsune]
Xinobi – Day Off (Anoraak Remix) [Discotexas]
Michael Cassette – Shadows Movement [AnjunaDeep]
Joshua Ryan – Pistolwhip (James Holden Remix) [NuLife]

We have some AMAZING tunes line up for Tide Pool, by the by…but, of course, I have no solid release dates for any of them.  C’est la vie.

Finally, I’m playing at VEMF on the Sunday, August 3rd, from 4:00 to 5:00 with DJ What.  We’ll be playing awesome dance music.  Join us!

liner notes from the future

June 28, 2008 · by · in

It has been a good summer for albums, and we’re only halfway through it.  To wit:

Atmosphere – When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold is a gorgeous, gorgeous album of utterly tragic hip-hop.  The production, (with one or two annoying exceptions) is lush, acoustic magic, and the vocals are profoundly, profoundly depressing.  As an indicator of what I mean by depressing, the two upbeat tunes are about cocaine and speed, repsectively.  With that said, it remains a gorgeous album.

Cyne – Evolution Fight is less overwhemlingly sad, but also less varied in terms of backing tunes:  Piano over samples breaks is pretty much the order of the day.  This is by no means a bad thing, especialy where songs like ‘Arrow Of God’ are concerned…but a track or two that didn’t all have the same sounds would be nice.

Steinski – What Does It All Mean, of course, all sounds like Steinski.  This is a mind-melting album:  A first disc of the man’s legendary bootleg / mashup / mixes, including ‘Lesson 2’, ‘Lesson 3’, and ‘The Payoff Mix’ and then a second disc with his (mind-boggling) Solid Steel mix from 2002.  Sample culture owes this man a huge debt of gratitude, and this music is why.

Baby Loves Hip-Hop Presents – The Dino 5.  What happens when Prince Paul collects a bunch of hip-hop’s finest?  They make a kid’s album.  About dinosaurs.  With tracks like ‘I May Be Big and Scary But I’m Really Pretty Nice’.  Obviously.  This is pure class – thanks to Terence for the tip.

Steve Reich – Music For 18 Musicians.  My feelings on Mr. Reich are pretty well known.  That is to say, I love this album.

Jesse Somfay – A Catch In The Voice.  The next album by one of Canada’s finest techno people sounds like being lost in a forest with light tumbling through the trees.  A deer may nuzzle your hand, and then leap away.  Beautiful stuff.

Limbo – First Person is my pal Liam from deepest Saskatchewan.  His first album is all psy-edged techno, detuned pads, gorgeous leads, and sly, snappy drums.  Highlights are ‘I Like Turtles’ and ‘Flying Kites’, which sounds like every Minilogue track ever mixed into a single 10-minute joyride.

the answer, to your problems

June 22, 2008 · by · in

Music dump! (And there’s kind of a lot)
Rennie Foster – A Commitment To Transit (Fractal Remix) [Gemini]
Davis & May – Goldwashed Illusions [Back Home]
Qbical – Dust In The Cartridge [Manual]
Ignition Technician – Untitled 1 [Pirate Audio]
Perc – Serious Moonlight [CLR]
Richley & Rivera – Trackman (Gaetano Parisio Mix)
Hrdvsion – Playing For Daddy’s Girl [Wagon Repair]
Gark Beck  – Madrid [Shrimp & Chips]
Gaiser – Chlorine [Minus]
Minilogue – Ghost [Mule]
Heartthrob – Apprectice [Minus]
Kyle Geiger – Glide [Drumcode]
Rekorder – Rekorder 10.3 [Rekorder]
Perc – Troll Bait [Drumcode]
Michal Ho – Screw The Coffeemaker (Adam Beyer Remix) [Tuning Spork]

Lophase – Chlo’s Dream (Limbo Remix) [FullBodySoundSystem]
Soliquid – Blue Bubbles & Pink Rabbits [Proton]
Soliquid – Sunflower Therapy [Proton]
Kasey Taylor – Peaches (Luke Chable Remix) [Iboga]
Klien & Eyerer – Babylon [Kling Klong]
Inner City – Good Life (Mathew Jonson Remix) [KMS]
Hrvsion – Playing For Keeps (Daddy’s Angel) [Wagon Repair]

Russian Linesman – Mouth [Archipel]
Rennie Foster – Devil’s Water []
Nina Simone – Here Comes The Sun (Francois K Remix) [Innervisions]
Daso – Chair & Table [Spectral]
System 7 – Planet 7 (Holden Remix) [A-Wave]
Quivver – Surin [Boz Boz]
Fractal – Mistroad (Dance Mix) [Tide Pool]
Eelke Kliejn – It All Comes Together [Audio Therapy]

Sandji – A Walk At The Sunset Seaside [Proton]
Feihstel & Ukumori – You Made Me Smile (Instrumental) [Proton]
Ryan Davis – Clouds Passing By [Proton]
Ryan Davis – Wide Open Spaces [Klang Gymnastik]
Dibby Dougherty – Lights Out (Chloe Harris Remix) [Dyami]
Rex The Dog – Circulate [Kitsune]
Rex The Dog – italian Blond [Kitsune]
KIM – Fistogram [Modular]

weather canada

June 17, 2008 · by · in , ,

bWe’re well into one-off territory, folks. The weather in Vancouver has been all kinds of bad, but there’s a lot to talk about:

– I went to see Jamie Lidell about a thousand years ago now, at Richards on Richards, and despite his new album being way too Jameeroquai for me, his live show is still amazing.  Highlights included a man playing two saxophones at one, an extended beatbox jam of tunes from Mulitply and an epic encore.

– James Zabiela at Celebrities was pretty good too.  The problem with JZ in this day and age is that everyone else has caught up to his sound.  He’s still got all sorts of black magic and trickery, but it doesn’t sound as violently new as it did before.

– The m_nus showcase, also at Celebrities (which is a gorgeous space, by the by), was pretty good.  Hawtin no-showed, but Magda and Heartthrob played, with Heartthrob’s live set particularly impressing.

– On the subject of shows, I can’t thank the people behind Back To Bollywood and White Label (and Kenzie Clarke, my partner in crime at White Label) enough.  Both gigs were good times.

– Onwards and upwards, now.  How cool is Phoenix?  And how cool is this shot?

That’s a spacecraft landing on Mars.  Photographed by another spacecraft that’s orbiting Mars.  I think that’s amazingly bad-ass, myself.

– To geek out about acoustics, if you live above ground level in a big city, spend a night with the windows open listening to sirens as they echo off buildings, like ghosts.  Gorgeous.

– Tide Pool Is Love is this Thursday on Proton Radio, and features an overwhelming two-hour set from Robsounds, as well as a headfuck ambient / string quartet from Hollas Longton.  Tune in, do.

All My Friends – A Mixtape Special

June 11, 2008 · by · in

It’s done: Download here.

1001 <3s to the contributors: Alex Jang, Alia Yeates, Amanda Farrell, Andy Clequin, Chelsie Kadgien, Colin Moller, Dave Miles, Emily Farnsworth, Gerald Deo, Hilary Dawson, Jennifer Mitchell, Jessica Smith, John Spurr, Jordie Yow, Josh Doherty, Kathleen Genge, Kim Shepherd, Kira Hall, Kyle Smith, Mary Clark, Nathan Friedman, Pat Littlejohn, Rob Cross, Ryan Noakes.
Tracklist:

  1. Nujabes – Feather feat. Cise Starr & Akin
  2. Bach – Fantasia in G Major
  3. CocoRosie – K-Hole
  4. Bonnie Prince Billy – The South Side Of The World
  5. Dmitri Shostakovich – Jazz Waltz
  6. Morphine – Bo’s Veranda
  7. Julie Doiron – The Wrong Guy
  8. Serge Gainsbourg – Joanna
  9. Jamie Saft Trio – Czeqeel
  10. Tyler Straub – Easy Does It
  11. Cadence – The Things We Do For Love
  12. Handel – Zadok The Priest
  13. Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position
  14. Crystal Castles – Crimewave
  15. Bach – Fantasia in G Major
  16. The Rolling Stones – Jumpin’ Jack Flash
  17. Maurice Ravel – Le Jardin Feerique
  18. Fall Out Boy – The Take Over, The Breaks Over
  19. Editors – All Sparks (Cicada Remix)
  20. The Bravery – An Honest Mistake
  21. Pearl Jam – Dissident
  22. Okkervil River – A King and a Queen
  23. Radiohead – Reckoner (LoveTongueAttack Bmore Remix)
  24. The Smiths – That Joke Isn’t Funny Any More
  25. Talking Heads – Seen And Not Seen

I think it turned out really, really well, although this sort of mixing can be really subjective. (Disclaimer: I had to split the Bach up. I hope you can all forgive me.) Regardless, the tunes themselves are overwhelmingly eclectic and kind of fantastic, and that’s the point.  Enjoy! (Prior info on this project can be found here.)

white label / lit literature

June 2, 2008 · by · in ,

I am playing at White Label on June 14th, in Victoria.  I appear to be both opening and closing, and tagging with the legendary Kenzie Clarke in both slots.  If you like the techno, you should come.
I’ve been reading.  Ooops.  Kind of a lot.  I can say that the ‘The Best American Comics’ yearly anthologies, populated by people like Chris Ware, Robert Crumb and Jamie Hernandez, are very, very good.  I can say that ‘Empire’, by NOZONE, is a really lovely piece of work.  I can say that MAUS is amazing.  I can say that BLACK ORCHID is very obvious an early work of Gaiman’s and McKean’s – see in that light, it’s very good.  See in the same light as SANDMAN, it feels like a stepping stone.  I can say that FABLES, or at least the first book of FABLES, is like LXG meets SANDMAN…and not as good as either.

Whew.  I can also say that THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC, by Daniel Levetin, is very good – I would have liked a dash more science, but it’s a lovely read.  I also enjoyed a random single of DOKTOR SLEEPLESS, despite the harpings of my friends – I think Ellis is going somewhere with it.  Buy the ticket (or the trade), and take the ride.  I’m struggling through WORDS & MUSIC, by Paul Morley.  It would be a better book, I think, if Morley hadn’t been totally high when he was writing it.  I also need to finish THE MODERN CENTURY, by Northrop Frye….which is dry, but interesting.