Showing posts with label electronica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label electronica. Show all posts

26 July 2013

United States of Electronica

United State of Electronica, or U.S.E, is a Seattle, Washington based dance rock band. The U.S.E self-titled album United State of Electronica feels like Daft Punk as power pop. Fun at parties!

Check out the first track, "It Is On", and see if you are smiling before the end.



Smiling yet? Here's the whole album!





Music License: All Rights Reserved
Artist Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
Image: U.S.E promo photo from official website gallery

12 July 2013

Our Disco Disastro and Our Corto Discorso

A Smile for Timbuctu was a fun band from Italy made up of Cristiano Crisci and Simone Brillarelli with designer Jonathan Calugi. Brillarelli is now now famous as Digi G'Alessio and as a founder of the Fresh Yo! label.

This happy 5-song EP, Our Corto Discorso, made for Kazoomzoom is a spin on A Smile for Timbuctu's album, Our Disco Disastro, and is played only with machines: synthesizers and a drum machine.

Enjoy other albums by A Smile for Timbuctu on their site, including the original Our Disco Disastro.







Music License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
Artist Location: Florence, Italy

12 June 2013

Film Noir Spy Themes from GeeNerve

Suspense Dance Delights by GeeNerve (Guido Erfen) is an album we promoted years ago at Oddio. On listening to these film noir spy themes again, we knew we had to share this gem on Blogio, too. See the liner notes for more info. The notes are included in the cover art booklet, as well.


So Healthy Music, the label and netlabel Erfen co-founded, still offers several additional releases for your pleasure.



Music License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
Artist Location: Cologne, Germany

07 June 2013

VitalFM Compilations

VitalFM, "First for Underground and Underrated Dubstep, Drum and Bass, and Electro", put out the call to artists for their compilations and met with success. Move your body to Infinity and Dystopia. Preview videos of both albums below. You will also find mixes and podcasts at VitalFM.






Music License: assume © All Rights Reserved

30 May 2013

Floex Does Game Soundtrack

Tomáš Dvořák, also known as Floex, is an old friend and favorite at Oddio Overplay. We were happy to learn last year about his soundtrack for the innovative game Machinarium by Amanita Design.

That soundtrack is available at Bandcamp, and Dvořák also offers a free Machinarium Soundtrack Bonus EP.



Music License: All Rights Reserved
Artist Location: Czech Republic

11 May 2013

Positive Messages To Get You Through

"Imagine what you could do, if you just believed in you?" -- Dawn Pemberton

Message Positive is an uplifting 18-track mix on the Free Music Archive with songs of positivity and inspiration to act.

The compilation jumps nations and continents and visits the genres of hip hop, soul, rhythm and blues, funk, ambient, chill, reggae, dub, rock, folk, singer-songwriter, rockabilly, blues, electronica, pop, novelty, children, dance.

Message Positive features Axial, BJ Block and Dawn Pemberton, The Crevulators, Eaters, Great Lake Swimmers, Higgins, Ill Papa Giraffe, Jon Rauhouse and Neko Case, Kelley Stoltz, Neko Case, Nobody's Bizness, Propaganda Anonymous, Salakapakka Sound System, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, Spinnaface, Spinningmerkaba, Uncle Neptune, and Underling.

Every moment is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, baby.


[Download Message Positive]  

UPDATE: Sorry. Download stopped working when mix featured on FMA, 
so here is a rebuild. Hope it works for you now.
 
Music License: see individual track for license
Image: "Happy Sun" by pinkpuffball

21 April 2013

Chicago Groove Via Hamburg

Chicago producer, visual artist, and electronic master Blackdaylight (Thomas McCauley) just dropped his newest release, the 14-track Nemesis, with Hamburg label Kreislauf Organization.

His fantastic cover art is a real eye-grabber.


Location: Hamburg, Germany; Chicago, Illinois, USA
Music License: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Germany



Audio preview of "Big Chill" --the last track on the new album, Nemesis:


06 April 2013

Electronic Greats 1955 - 1984 Mixed

"In early 2010, what would eventually become Antique Electronic Synthesizer Greats was simply a concept for a live set. Fluorescent Grey, aka Robbie Martin, cut almost a thousand tiny samples and loops from works dating from 1955 to 1984, limiting his sources to strictly electronic and/or synthesized recordings.

"His rules allowed for non-synthesized compositions (e.g., Delia Derbyshire's tape cutting based tones) as well as synthesizer audio of any kind, including the Hammond Novachord. And far from simply a stolen sample collage, or meta-mash-up project, Robbie wanted to allow the mix he composed to preserve and highlight the eras' best sounds in a comprehensive backdrop. Some of those painstakingly found and excised snippets may be all but indiscernible to most, while some tease with their familiarity (Depeche Mode bass drum? YMO hi hat?), and some are nakedly in homage (synth lines from Vangelis, Giorgio Moroder). All are as playful as the puzzling track names, one of the most obvious of which are pieces that re-imagine the sound of John Carpenter's best synth-centric movie scores. From the uneasy sounds of horror to the sweet spot of vintage synth-pop and industrial, to the brief satisfyingly bizarre vocal cameos by Alan Vega and a Spanish industrial/noise outfit, it runs the gamut of its chosen time period exhaustively....

"Given the uncannily nostalgic or modern moods evoked, it can be all too easy to forget that the entire mix is comprised solely of an endlessly rotating roster of up to 15 isolated loops, all at least a quarter of a century old, some twice that age. On some songs, you could imagine a DJ dialing into the sounds of AFX or Mr. Oizo, an amusing stunt for some of the source material sounds unmistakably dated in a way that has yet to be retrofetishized. Proto-electronica futurism captured in Chris Carter's sequences or Morton Subotnick's Autechre-like FM synth splatters, works that indisputably sound futuristic in their own right. Dated or not, the novelty factor of an overwhelmingly corny synth brass sample is sometimes too good to resist, making it nigh impossible to prevent that old fashioned sound from antiquing the whole mix.

"This pastiche is offered up in both a mix and an individually tracked album for maximum utility. Use the cover art and the hidden messages contained herein as a resource for your own Antique Electronic Music search...."




24 March 2013

Chilean Electronica from Namm

The Geografía album by Chilean artists Namm was released last May on the Michita Rex label, home of Fakuta, Los Embajadores, and Violetta Castillo among others.

The Namm song "Faro" appears in regular play here.



license: Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 3.0 Chile


player:


21 March 2013

Ugress

Ugress is a project of prolific electronic musician Gisle Martens Meyer (GMM) of Bergen, Norway. You may also know his work as Nebular Spool, Shadow of the Beat, PixxelTyger and Ninja9000, and from scoring soundtracks for film and television. The music of Ugress might draw comparisons to Crystal Method, Chemical Brothers and Propellerheads. GGM describes the project this way, "Ugress is cinematic sci-fi electronica."

Spend some time at the Ugress site, and you will find many free releases and fall in love with this gifted and eccentric composer and musician.

Official Website | Support |  YouTube | Facebook | iTunes | last.fm

Some Ugress videos:




16 March 2013

Ashtar Command

Happy belated birthday to Chris Holmes of Ashtar Command! Perhaps his recent birthday celebration is why he is giving away the American Sunshine album to fans again?

Ashtar Command is Brian Liesegang (Nine Inch Nails, Filter) and  Chris Holmes (Yum Yum, The Smashing Pumpkins) joined by lots of friends, like Joshua Radin, Alex Ebert (Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros), Har Mar Superstar, Rachel Yamagata, Priscilla Ahn, Z Berg, Matt Walker (Filter, The Smashing Pumpkins), Solomon Walker (Morrissey) Mike Garson (David Bowie),  Joey Waronker (Beck, R.E.M.), Oliver Kraus (Beth Orton), Stewart Cole (Edward Sharpe), Stephen Fitzpatrick (Veruca Salt), and Johnny Radtke (Kill Hannah).

If you miss the download, you can still purchase the album through Amazon, iTunes, and other standard vendors.






Excerpts from informative review at Dilettantes:
Chris released Dan Loves Patti under his Yum Yum moniker, an album that Rolling Stone said “more than holds it own in comparison with influences as the Beatles, and Beach Boys circa Pet Sounds.” He has since toured and recorded with The Smashing Pumpkins and Felix da Housecat, co-produced tracks for P. Diddy, worked on Billy Corgan’s solo album and written with Rachael Yamagata and Mandy Moore. Also a celebrated DJ, Holmes appeared on URB’s “Next 100” list and was handpicked by Sir Paul McCartney to open for him at the 2009 Coachella Music and Arts Festival.

Brian joined Nine Inch Nails, working on the multi-Platinum, GRAMMY®-winning albums Broken and The Downward Spiral. He subsequently co-founded the two-man band Filter with Richard Patrick. With hit singles like “Hey Man, Nice Shot” and “Jurrassitol,” Filter sold millions of albums, toured with The Smashing Pumpkins, Ozzie Osbourne, Korn and others and contributed to Platinum soundtracks for The X-Files, Spawn and The Cable Guy. Brian went on to produce, write and perform on Veruca Salt’s Resolver and was recruited by Billy Corgan for his Future Embrace album and world tour.

15 March 2013

808 State's O.T.E.P

808 State are a British electronic group who take their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. Since 1987, they have been making top-notch electronica (house, techno, electronica, rave, acid house, experimental, ambient house, New Wave, and Madchester) and are considered pioneers of the acid house sound. At Rancho Oddio, several 808 State CDs are beloved, including 90 / Utd. State 90 and Gorgeous.

At the official 808 State website, the band offer their free EP O.T.E.P. to visitors in exchange for email address.

Their first Top 10 UK single was "Pacific State," a chillout anthem and perhaps the only hit single ever featuring an electronic clarinet. Listen to travel back to 1989!



You may also remember "Cubik" which can be considered their signature song, another Top 10 UK single.



04 March 2013

'70s-'80s Heroes on the FMA

The Free Music Archive is an amazing resource for cutting edge music. It is also home to artists who have helped create the cutting edge for a long time. People such as: David Bynre (Talking Heads), Gang of Four, Bush Tetras, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), Transmitters, Superchunk, Robyn Hitchcock, The Soft Boys, Paul Westerberg (The Replacements), The Church, The Damned, Half Japanese, The Jesus Lizard, Hugh Cornwell (Stranglers), Legendary Pink Dots, to name just a few.

Here's a free 34-track compilation celebrating such music heroes.

'70s-'80s Heroes on the FMA: a compilation of artists on the Free Music Archive who won our hearts decades ago

 
Playlist:

20 February 2013

Solace Concept Album From Tettix

Solace, the latest album by Tettix, is a soundtrack to a game that does not exist.

"I see the composition and concepts of the game with great clarity," said Tettix in a Boing Boing interview, "but you can imagine whatever you like." Tettix offers the album and accompanying game concept artwork as a free download.

In yesterday's post at Boing Boing, Rob Beschizza wrote, "What could easily have been merely a clever idea insinuates itself into one's thoughts; every motif and mood seems perfectly tuned to an echo of gamers' collective memory. Sonorous, sleepy, otherworldly and tentative, it's hard to avoid the curious feeling that I played this years ago—and simply forgot."

See and hear for yourself at the official Tettix website. Donations accepted.

license: full copyrights; all rights reserved

19 February 2013

New N.E.W. 8.0

Hot off the presses, the new esc.rec electronic showcase is released today.

With the software that’s available these days you can have a full studio at home. And thanks to social media, your music can be heard all over the world. Ever more often young producers are making a name for themselves internationally before anyone in their own town has ever heard of them. Nieuwe Electronische Waar (N.E.W.) keeps their ears perked to discover and presents a new generation of talented producers from East Netherlands. These names you should definitely remember.

N.E.W. is a platform and network for producers in Gelderland and Overijssel. Every year N.E.W. releases a new album with twelve tracks from producers they will feature prominently for the coming year.
Generation NEW 8.0 consists of Alias Lou, Julien Mier, GameFace, Kalima, Knarsetand, Knotted Sheets, MSNTHRPX, Near Earth Object, Raymon Brugman, Sinewave77, Sam A La Bamalot + Asterisms, and Yoeri. In their music you can hear the influence of everything that is happening in electronic music at the moment. The dominance of the four to the floor time is long past, and influences are drawn from ambient, acid, dubstep, future garage, glitch, juke, and trap.

Both 7.0 and 8.0 are also available for instant download and streaming at the Free Music Archive. Hear all volumes at Nieuwe Electronische Waar (N.E.W.).

license: Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Netherlands

11 February 2013

Reworking An Electronic Innovator

Daphne Oram (31 December 1925 – 5 January 2003) was a British composer and electronic musician. She was the creator of the "Oramics" technique for creating electronic sounds. Oram was a true pioneer in electronic music.

Reworking Daphne Oram is an album by People Like Us created with recordings from Oram's archives.

INFORMATION

"In January 2005, Sonic Arts Network, the leading UK body for electronic music and sound art, was asked by Daphne’s descendants to care for her collected papers, recordings and other items. It was with the benefit of experimental electronic music practice in mind that Goldsmiths Electronic Music Studio (EMS) collaborated with the Sonic Arts Network (SAN) to bring this collection into the academic community where it could be properly studied and developed. To this end, a grant was awarded to Goldsmiths, University of London in 2007 by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, to catalogue the collection, digitise the audio tapes and initiate related research.

"In June 2008 People Like Us were invited into the archives of electronic music pioneer Daphne Oram, to rework them into new compositions, to be presented as part of a day-long symposium at London's South Bank Centre. Here are the results." -- People Like Us

BIOGRAPHY

Since 1991 British artist Vicki Bennett has been an influential figure in the field of audio visual collage, through her innovative sampling, appropriating and cutting up of found footage and archives. Using collage as her main form of expression, she creates audio recordings, films and radio shows that communicate a humorous, dark and often surreal view on life. These collages mix, manipulate and rework original sources from both the experimental and popular worlds of music, film, television and radio. People Like Us believe in open access to archives for creative use. In 2006 she was the first artist to be given unrestricted access to the entire BBC Archive. People Like Us have previously shown work at Tate Modern, The Barbican, Royal Albert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Pompidou Centre, Maxxi in Rome and Sonar, and performed radio sessions for John Peel and Mixing It. The ongoing sound art radio show 'DO or DIY' on WFMU has had over a million "listen again" downloads. since 2003. The People Like Us back catalogue is available for free download hosted by UbuWeb.

Vicki recently completed the creation of a new live a/v performance called "Consequences (One Thing Leads To Another)", which premiered at transmediale in January 2013. She is now working on a film for live improvisers called "Gesture Piece".

03 February 2013

Wonderfully Weird World of Jason Polland

While revisiting some Jason Polland CDs today, we were struck to find that we had never promoted him on this blog. Jason Polland holds a dear place in the hearts of lovers of oddio! Polland's works call to mind the quirky new wave of Oingo Boingo and Devo. In fact, his voice often reminds one of Danny Elfman.

In most releases, you might hear the arty genius of Logan Whitehurst and The Jr. Science Club (on FMA and Happy Puppy Records) and They Might Be Giants. In other releases, you might hear the cabaret styles of acts like The Dresden Dolls.

You will find your own diverse comparisons, and also find that Polland's work is its own brand of wonderfully weird. You don't have take our word for it, because Jason Pollard offers a large chunk of his catalog of works on the Brave New Weird label (on Internet Archive) for you to enjoy without charge.

Jason Polland's  musical projects:
  • Mental Rental (1988 - 1998)
  • Archbishop Jason Polland (1991 - 2010)
  • Used (1995 - 1996; 1997 reunion show; 1999 reunion album)
  • The Nourishment (1998 - 2003; 2006 reunion show; 2007 reunion show)
  • New Big Black Mr. Super-Soul Bad Sugar Man (1999 - 2001)
  • Plague Party (2008 - 2011)

Try some!

21 January 2013

1980s Electro-Pop Reborn in Montréal

Two free releases of Montréal electro-pop featuring Mathias Mental
Mathias Mental
The Stateroom Scene

Official Site | Facebook | YouTube

license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC 3.0)

(electro-disco electronic pop electro folk rock indie indie pop minimalist)


TangoCharlie 
Worthwhile Dilemmas

Facebook | Bandcamp

license: traditional copyrights

(electronic electro indie rock tango)