Audio Arsenal

DJ Aptem, Cassette Deck DJ

• June 14th, 2005

This just in from my musically inclined friend DJ Tony Watson, as posted on this Flickr page. Thru them I found DJ Aptems site, Cassette DJ. DJ Aptem is the Russain DJ who made a DIY Mixing Deck out of hacked together Cassette Decks (He has also made a mixer to go with the setup). I have posted a whole bunch of tracks sourced from this DIY Cassette DJ Deck. This is way cool! On the same tip as Konono NO1 (Congotronics).

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View More Photos of his Cassette Deck Rig and Gear!

via Cassette DJ

Konono No1, African Electro DIY Dub

• May 25th, 2005

Just got this link from my musical friend Tony Watson via Francois Kevorkians bulletin board… Holy Jeeesus is all I can say!!! Its some of the most amazing electronic spiritual ethnic percussion I have heard… You HAVE to check out the site it has some amazing photos of the gear these guys built to make the music.

KONONO N°1 was founded over 25 years ago by Mingiedi, a virtuoso of the likembé (a traditional instrument sometimes called “sanza” or “thumb piano”, consisting of metal rods attached to a resonator). The band’s line-up includes three electric likembés (bass, medium and treble), equipped with hand-made microphones built from magnets salvaged from old car parts, and plugged into amplifiers. There’s also a rhythm section which uses traditional as well as makeshift percussion (pans, pots and car parts), three singers, three dancers and a sound system featuring these famous megaphones.

Konono No1 MP3 Excerpt

via Crammed (Belgium)

Buy CD from Amazon
Buy MP3s from iTunes

Stir15 Recordings, German House

• May 11th, 2005

This week I had to go to Frys and buy some tech stuff, I stopped by their CD section as I have found some realy good deals on out of print music of late. I did it again, I found this great compilation from STIR15 Recordings and EFA, called Cityslickers Volume 2, Allstar Alliance, for $4.00 marked down from $12.99! Its a compilation of a bunch of very moody german house music, lightly mixed.

I checked on their website and they have a few tracks from a pending house release for your listening pleasure, WESTPARK UNIT vs. VINCENZO “SET FREE (MUSIC). I have linked to the three tracks here…

Westpark Unit vs. Vincenzo - Music (Set Free)
Westpark Unit vs. Vincenzo - Original Club Mix
Westpark Unit vs. Vincenzo - Satin Soul Mix

via Stir15 Recordings

Oh No Not Stereo, LA Rock Duo

• May 6th, 2005

While trapsing across town from home to work and back I happened upon a large amount of these Oh No Not Stereo spray painted stencils all over the sidewalk. Since I have a Flickr set dedicated to this genre of graffiti, I took some snaps. Upon some further investigation and info from my alternative music guru friend Kent, I found that its a guerilla ad thing for a music group called ‘Oh No Not Stereo’, uhm go figure.

Oh No Not Stereo - Death to the Attitude

via OH NO NOT STEREO

Palm Pictures, My Last Minute Post

• May 3rd, 2005

Palm Pictures, one of my favorite movie and record labels has an assortment of MP3s from their stock. I have excerpted as there are so many to chose from. Please check out their site for more info on their top notch films and music!

Moving Units - Available
Moving Units - Anyone
Electro Bamako - N’Ka Willy
Lake Trout - Say Something
Spacer - The Beamer
Supreme Beings Of Leisure - Freezer: Dub Mix
Mad Capsule Markets - Tribe: Razorface Remix
Radio Zumbido - Livingston Buzz
Radio Mundial - La Raiz
Sidestepper - Mas Papaya
Supreme Beings of Leisure - Ghetto

via Palm Pictues

Amon Tobin - The Last Minute The Last Minute Soundtrack
I reviewed The Last Minute movie on my other blog here…

Nuevos Ricos, Rock en Electrespañol

• April 22nd, 2005

Now THIS is a mission statement for a record label… “Income doesn’t mean happiness but, who wants to be happy?” Nuevos Ricos was formed in Mexico City in September 2003, the label aims to bring underground Mexican (and Spanish) music to Europe by means of limited edition Vinyl and Poster Art. Their home base is in Lucca, Italy, they distribute music from The Netherlands, and they have regular Art Openings in Spain and other parts of Europe. I linked to some tracks of their stock of mostly Spanish speaking (or singing actually) artists…

LASSER MODERNA - KARABAO
LASSER MODERNA - LA CUMBIA DEL ESTEREO
SILVERIO - EL BAILE DEL DIABLO
SILVERIO - SUPER IDOLO
MIKI - SOY POBRE
MIKI - SOLO ESCUCHO DANCE
FACA - VAFALEFERIFI A FA
FACA - NIGHTSHOT
MARIA DANIELA Y SU SONIDO LASSER - MIEDO
MARIA DANIELA Y SU SONIDO LASSER - EL TUVIERA NO EXISTE
SECRET MEXICAN BAND - UNKNOWN 01
SECRET MEXICAN BAND - UNKNOWN 02
THOM REVOLVER - ON THE ROAD
THOM REVOLVER - INTERGALACTIC PARADE

via Nuevos Ricos

8Bit Peoples, Nullsleep Depeche Mode Megamix

• April 22nd, 2005

While perousing the family of x-dump music acts, I came upon this treasure of a site, dedicated to 8bit audio, old school video games (Commodore 64, Nintendo Super Famicom, etc.) and music mods (I did some on my trusty Amiga 500 back in the day!). There are so many freely available mp3s, I figured I would link to one that really brought me back to the old days.. well, not soooo old, but still a new wave classic.

A monstrous gameboy megamix paying tribute to the bad boys of Depeche Mode, spanning over 14 minutes of nonstop chiplove, and using every last pattern of lsdj from 00 thru FE! Equally suited for use when dancing in front of the mirror alone in your bedroom or rocking the crowd to the ground at your next mega dance party! Tracks 1 thru 4 are offered in a single mp3 to ensure a seamless mix. Bonus track 5 takes the sweetest cuts of the megamix and offers them up in a powerpacked mini serving!

01. Enjoy The Silence
02. Photographic
03. New Life
04. Everything Counts

05. Depeche Mode Minimix

I would take a deep look at the rest of the music on the 8Bit People site, its pretty amazing… I am going to spend some time tonite downloading myself! Make sure to check out Lo-bat, Paza, Trash80, Sabastian Boaz, and Mesu Kasumai.

Lo-Bat - White Russian
Paza - Hjihjihji
Trash80 - Your Funk Is Fine
Sabastian Boaz - Some New Wave Song
Highway Signs (Project 65 Remix)

via X-Dump
via 8Bit Peoples

Din Stalker, Swedish Electro House

• April 21st, 2005

While surfing the Ponpoko site, a pair of japanese/french sound designers, I spotted this link to some amazing moody and melodic Swedish Electro House from Din Stalker. Some of his tracks remind me of the Vangelis stuff from Blade Runner with a bit more energy and electronic percussion elements. I am really digging this music! I linked to all the mp3s that were posted on his site.

Din Stalker - Exkursion Nånstans Bort
Din Stalker - Lidilidi
Din Stalker - David Lynch
Din Stalker - Herr Reporter v2
Din Stalker - Ohne Zuschlag
Din Stalker - Majken Makin’ Mambo
Din Stalker - Rate Your Mate v3
Psilodump - The Somnambulist (Din Stalker Remix)

via Ponpoko
via Din Stalker

Funky Do Morro, Brazillian Beats

• April 19th, 2005

After watching ‘Ginga‘ (this is a link to another blog with a good summary of the event) a RES specially screened film from Nike/O2 Films documenting 7 individuals lives surrounding footbal and fusball in Brazil, I HAD to get my hands on the soundtrack. Turns out that as part of the promotional give aways at the RES event, I actually got a CD soundtrack compilation. On this CD are some of the most intense and raw street, percussion and hip hop beats you have heard. I think its safe to assume that Sao Paulo, Rio and Salvador are harder and more rugged places to live than the bronx, harlem or queens or any other hood here in the US? In any case, its amazing to me that in such poverty and disrepair, there are people inspired and equipped to produce this (although somewhat repetative once you listen to a few dozen tracks) primal and spiritual beat focused music.

I got this Brazillian music link from another site, but its basically focusing on the same genre of music presented in the Ginga film. The Funky Do Morro site has a tome of links to quite a few Brazillian Hip Hop, Percussion and Funk Compilations. I have posted a select few here to be concious of their bandwidth issues (since they are on a donation only server plan)…

“Do Morro” translates to “of the hill”, and has been ingrained in brazilian slang as reflection of the culture of the segregated favelas that have firmly rooted themselves in the hills of Rio De Janeiro.

This archive is intended to share the hip hop beat produced in the hills of Rio, the favelas of Sao Paolo, and the streets of Salvador - funky do morro: the funk of the hill.

Much of this music was found with independent sellers, and produced in garages, with not much international distribution. Many of the individual artists on the track may remain anonymous to global audiences…

MC Junior y MC Leonardo - Rap do Centenario (Rap do Brasil)
O Credo (Hip Hop Cultura de Rua)
As Panteras - Descontrolados (Batidao Cruel)
Tigrao - Toc Toc Toc (Batidao Cruel)
Bnd dos Salientes - Genio Saliente (Batidao Cruel)
MC Jaqueline Pocahontas - Vem Meu Bem (Ta Dominado)
MC Catra - Rap Mercenarias (Ta Dominado)
Casinha Da Baixada (As Melhores do La)

via Evil Wire

Ryukyu Underground, RHKirk remixes

• April 14th, 2005

Today I was browsing through some design portfolio sites, Sanderson Bob (ex tDR* Art Director) to be specific, and a recent piece he did, the Richard H. Kirk (ex Cabaret Voltaire) remixes for Ryukyu Undergound CD design caught my eye. Turns out that Ryukyu Underground are big file sharing pro-ponents! So I posted the RHKirk remix links here… Thanks guys!

Asian melodies and sounds combine with cutting-edge beats and production. Shamisen echoes over subsonic bass - Okinawan singers blend with ambient sounds and cut-up break beats.
This is the sound of contemporary Okinawa.
This blending of an ancient eastern culture and a modern westernized world.
This is Ryukyu Underground.

Ashibi Shongane - Richard Kirk Quiet Storm Mix
Ashibi Shongane - Richard Kirk Scientific Dance Hall dub
Ashibi Shongane - Richard Kirk Heavy Weather Mix 1
Ashibi Shongane - Richard Kirk Heavy Weather Mix 2
All previously unreleased

Sefa Utaki - Lelonek mix (Ryukyu Remixed)
Mo Ashibi - Jason Bentley remix (Ryukyu Remixed)
Hana - Progessive Breaks mix (CD single/12″ Hana)
Koi no Michikusa (Mo Ashibi)
Tinsagu nu hana dub (Ryukyu Underground)

via Ryukyu Underground

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