solipsistic NATION: Live Electronica

It's such a beautiful day here in San Diego that I decided to get out of the studio and record today's introduction with you from my roof deck. There's a light breeze and from where I'm standing I can see the Pacific Ocean. I wish you were here to see it with me. After living in Boston, San Diego feels like a slice of paradise.

Today's show is going to be a bit different. Instead of featuring one or two live performances and an interview, I present to you four, count 'em, four live sets for your enjoyment!

During the last year or so I've been accumulating some recordings of live performances that on clock in at around 15 or 20 minutes. I've just been waiting until I had enough of these shorter sets to combine them into one show. Obviously, we've reached that point so let me tell you what you'll hear on today's live extravaganza.

First up, we'll hear a live set from alka. I believe this set was recorded at the GATE in Philadelphia a year or two ago. Special thanks goes to Bryan Michael of Newt.org for providing me with alka's live set.

Next, we'll hear a live set from merohedra performing at Openmind stage back in 2010 at the Psycrowdelica Festival in Germany. merohedra is part of the Bak$hish Music collective and you can hear more music from the Bakshish Music on November 14th edition of solipsistic NATION.

From merohedra we'll move on to Alexei Borisov show at Yaroslavl way back in 2003. I don't know much about Alexei Borisov but I do know he's somehow affiliated with Marcos Fenrandes of Accretions and that's all the credentials I need (check out my interview with Marcos here).

We're going to close today's show with a live set from 80(sun). 80(sun) is the solo recording project of Jonathan Scherk. I'm not sure where this was recorded at except that it was recorded at a now closed art gallery to a room of dubstep punks. That's all I know.

Speaking of live, I want to thank Daysha out in Texas for turning me on to Calvertron, Figure, Turbo Teen, Aversion and DJ Monkey who performed at the World Beat Center last night here in San Diego. Daysha is not only super nice but she's also super talented and produces and promotes bass music.

Join us again next week when we'll showcase Waveform Records, who are one of my favorite labels that also happen to be based here in San Diego. See you then!

01. alka "Live, GATE in Philedelphia"

02. merohedra "Live, Openmind stage at the Psycrowdelica Festival"

03. Alexei Borisov "Live, Yaroslavl"

04. 80(sun) "Live"

Looks like we picked up a lot of new listeners thanks to last week's show featuring Karsh Kale, Tim Tim Sköld, Ogre and Hoodoo Engine. If that's you, welcome aboard!

The first weekend of each and every month I feature a live performance with a quick interview with the artist. Recent shows have included concerts from Igorrr, :papercutz and Atari Teenage Riot.

On today's show we're going to listen to a live set from James and Andy of Matta. I think you're going to dig it. I've already played it enough times over my headphones that I think it's worn a permanent groove in my brain.

James and Andy have remixed everyone from Hecq to Haters and they recently released their album, Prototype, on everyone's favorite label, Ad Noiseam Records. Prototyope is definitely worth your money, but listen to today's show first before you run off to download it.

Join us again next week when we'll showcase the music of Herb Recordings!

01. Interview with James and Andy of Matta

02. Hecq "Sura (Matta Remix)"

03. Matta "Puncture"

04. Matta "Chest Rocker (Dub)"

05. Matta "UFO"

06. Matta "Inquisition pt2"

07. Matta "Monster"

08. Skism "Back Off (Matta Remix)"

09. Matta "Empire vs Turning Tricks (Dub)"

10. Haters "Anthem (Matta Remix)"

11. Matta "Bullet Screams"

12. Matta "Release The Freq"

13. Matta ft MC Coppa "Eyes"

14. Matta "Chaos Reigns"

15. Matta "Fade"

16. Matta "Chamber"

17. Roel Funcken "Skarm Sfias (Matta Remix)"

18. Bong Ra "Megasaurus (Matta Remix)"

19. Matta "Mass"

20. Tomandandy "Tokyo (Prohabit Remix)"

21. Matta "Feed (Dub)"

22. Black Lung "Succulent Bruises & Bruised Roses (Matta Remix)"

23. Matta "Freefall"

24. Matta "Hit The Switch"

25. Matta "Turning Tricks"

26. LDZ "Faith (Prod by Matta)"

I'm going to talk gear for a bit so please indulge me.

I relaunched solipsistic NATION in 2006 because I had just purchased a Mac Mini and it came with GarageBand pre-installed. GarageBand changed everything because suddenly I could create shows easily and quickly. It's safe to say that if I hadn't picked up my Mac Mini that solipsistic NATION would never have happened.

I loved my Mac Mini. It was a speedy little machine that got stuff done quietly. I often petted it and called it a good boy. I kid you not.

I didn't just use GarageBand to produce solipsistic NATION. I used software like Sound Studio to record IDs and voice overs and edit interviews for years. But over time I added more tools to my toolkit like Levelator, iTunes-LAME and SoundSoap. And after a hundred shows I had accumulated a lot of audio files. I hadn't noticed it but my Mac Mini was slowly growing old and decrepit.

In the last year I came to dread working on my machine because it was painfully slow. Just switching between applications could take anywhere form 30 to 60 seconds. Saving files took forever. It was psychically painful to even think about working on the show on my Mac Mini. The machine I was once called a "good boy" I now cursed.

Last month I had to put the old boy to pasture and I picked up a new Mac Mini from Apple. I don't think I can adequately convey how much of a joy it is to work on it. Actually, I can. It's exactly like when I first got my original Mac Mini. But on steroids. Now I'm eager to edit episodes of solipsistic NATION. It's like falling in love all over again.

Take today's show, for example. Our guest is Igorrr and we're going to listen to a recording of his concert in Stockholm from earlier last month.

A lot of music gets sent my way but there are certain labels that I will always make a point of listening to first. Once such label is Ad Noiseam.

Ad Noiseam consistently releases such mind blowing music on regular basis that not only have I showcased the label on solipsistic NATION but I go out of my way to listen to whatever music they are kind enough to send my way.

Last year Ad Noiseam sent me an album called Nostril by Igorrr. I didn't know what to expect but if it was released by Ad Noisem that was good enough for me. That said, I was completely surprised and utterly delighted by Igorrr's baroque infused breakcore.

I asked Igorrr if he had recorded any concerts that I might feature on solipsistic NATION and he was kind enough to send me his Stockholm show.

I'm really excited to present Igorrr's concert on today's show and I was equally excited to produce the show. My new Mac Mini works like a champ and I was able to effortlessly switch back and forth between apps and edit and save large audio files in record time. So much fun!

Thanks for letting me geek out about today's show and my new Mac Mini. I just had to get that out of my system.

Join us next week when we'll showcase music from The Centrifuge. See you then!

01. Interview with Igorrr

02. Igorrr "Live in Stockholm (12 of March 2011)"

Producing solipsistic NATION is a labor of love and it keeps me out of mischief but it does eat up a lot of time. Last week's show featuring Meat Beat Manifesto's Jack Dangers, Bassweight dubstep documentary director Suridh Hassan, DJ Umb of Generation Bass and [tlr] of NVR-NDR took 21 hours to put together.

When I was freelancing from home producing shows like that we're easier to do. I could carve out a few hours day here and there to work on upcoming shows. But for the last 6 months I've been working onsite on jobs that demand my complete attention. I come home from work with just about enough energy to exercise, cook myself some dinner, maybe watch a little TV then it's off to bed. I pretty much only have the weekends to work on these shows.

As a consequence sometimes these shows go out late. I'm sure most of you don't mind since podcasts are a time-shifted medium but I know it must bugs some of you. It certainly bugs me when my favorite shows are late. So... apologies.

As long as we're on this topic, I want to thank you for listening.

There are thousands of other podcasts you could listen to. At this very moment you could be listening to an album by your favorite band or watching a movie or playing a video game or reading a book.

I've always know this but lately I've come to appreciate tyou as a listener all the more. As I mentioned, my current job demands my complete attention so the amount of music and podcasts I listen to has dropped significantly. You could be doing a million other things besides listening to this show so it means a lot to me that you do.

I do everything in my power to make listening to solipsistic NATION entertaining and worth your time to listen to. To that end, today we'll talk with Bruno Miguel and hear :papercutz live set at Islington Metal Works recorded in 2010.

Bruno was on the show a few years back when he released his Ultravioleta EP. Since then he's released Ultravioleta Remixes, Lylac and Do Outro Lado Do Espelho - Lyalac Ambient Reworks and he joins us today from the UK.

Join us again next week when we'll showcase the music of Iberian Records.

01. :papercutz "Encantamento"

02. Interview with Bruno Miguel of :papercutz

03. :papercutz "The Gift of Self (Simon Scott Remix)"

04. :papercutz "Ultravioleta (Inside The Nimbus Machine Rameses III Remix)"

05. :papercutz "Broken Treasure (Jasper TX Remix)"

06. :papercutz "Live at Islington Metal Works (2 July 2010)"

Let me tell you something in confidence. Despite many years of interviewing everyone from sandwich makers to filmmakers, there are still people the show affords me the opportunity to talk to who reduce me to a gibbering fanboy.

Today's guest is Alec Empire so as you might have guessed, he's one of those guys that it takes, on my part, a sheer act of will not to be reduced to uttering Chris Farley-like lines like "Uh, you're so cool."

But, c'mon, this is Alec Empire we're talking about! This is the guy who, alongside with Hanin Elias and MC Carl Crack formed Atari Teenage Riot. This is the guy who co-founded Digital Hardcore Recordings. This guy has recorded with and remixed the likes of Björk, Justin Broadrick and Coil. I think I can be forgiven any fanboy tendencies. I just have to keep telling myself what Dan Le Sac always says "...just a band."

Fortunately, Alec makes things very easy for me. He's got the gift of the gab and has such great stories to tell. The plan was to have a quick chat with Alec and then play Atari Teenage Riot's "final" Brixton Academy show, but Alec was very generous with his time and the interview went long, so we'll only hear it in the background. But Alec was also kind enough to send a bootleg recording of Atari Teenage Riot at the Hultsfred Festival from earlier in 1999 and we'll hear that later on today's show.

Before you leap into today's show you should know that I had to edit down my interview with Alec. It pained me to do so and it was especially painful because three of the questions came from @s_w_u and @Spartz on Twitter. Rather than leave those segments on the virtual cutting room floor I've decided to make it available as bonus material, which you can download here.

If you enjoy this week's show then why not dig into the archives and listen to my interview with Alec about Digital Hardcore Recordings and hear some classics from his label.

Speaking of label, join us again next week when we'll showcase Diffrent Music.

See you then!

01. Atari Teenage Riot "Live At Brixton Academy 1999"

02. Interview with Alec Empire

03. Atari Teenage Riot "Live in Hultsfred Festival Bootleg 18-06"

label. Ad Noiseam is one of those labels that puts out consistently great music so it was a real chore to try and shoe horn only an hour's worth of music into the show. I think I did a fairly decent job although it pained me not to include the other great music from Ad Noiseam.

One of the artists on Ad Noiseam that took me by surprise was Chevron. His track, "Burn Down The Jungle!," was so mindblowingly awesome that when I showcased Planet Mu Records there was no question that I was going to play another track by Chevron.

Since then Chevron has remained on my radar and when he sent me a copy of his live set a few months ago I knew I had to play it on solipsistic NATION. Hence, today's show.

A little background on Chevron: Chevron is Jonathan Valentine and hails from the UK. Jonathan began making rave and techno from an early age. In 2003 Planet Mu released his first 7" Swimmin’ Lessons. Further short releases on Planet Mu followed in 2004 as well as a European tour with Ceephax Acid Crew. He has also played many shows, including the legendary Kraked Squat Party, with artists such as Venetian Snares and Shitmat. Since 2003, he has lived in Brighton with Shitmat, who is also the founder of Wrong Music Records.

Hope you enjoy Chevron's live set. Join us again next week when we'll showcase the music of Nueva Forma. See you then!

01. Chevron "Live"

02. Interview with Jonathan Valentine of Chevron

Whoa, today's show is really, really late. I feel bad about that. On the other hand, this is a podcast so you're listening to this show on your schedule. Still, there's something to be said about hearing a show just as it's released. Anyway, today's show is a worth waiting for because I have not one, but two, live sets from two great musicians: Masmöd and Solipsism!

I'll let you in on a secret. Today's show had a one year gestation period.

I usually have six to 12 months of live sets waiting in a queue (it's a little anal retentive but I prefer to have those live sets on hand than having to scramble each month to find the next live set). One of the live sets was from Masmöd that he recorded at the Someday Lounge in Portland, Oregon that he had sent me some time ago. I really like the Portland music scene and I really like Masmöd's music (I'm also a fan of Nueva Forma, a label and collective he co-founded) but his set clocked in just over 30 minutes and solipsistic NATION is an hour long show. Usually in these situations I pair of shorter live sets with other shorter live sets. I had a couple but they just didn't fit with Masmöd's music until last month Solipsism sent me his live set recorded at Nice n Sleazy in Glasgow. Solipsism is another musician I really like and I've been digging his It Could Be Clouds album (I also really like Solipsism's label, Herb Recordings) so I'm thrilled to be able to present to you their live sets.

Told you today's show was worth waiting for.

Oh, and my queue is now empty as of today's show. I've sent out some feelers so we'll just have to see what next months live show will feature. Hopefully it will be on time!

01. Masmöd "Live, Someday Lounge (PDX)"

02. Interview with Masmöd

03. Solipsism "Live, Nice n Sleazy (Oct. 10th 2010)"

04. Interview with Solipsism

solipsistic NATION broadcasts and podcasts on KYOURadio, Mevio and Alterati and once a month on solipsistic NATION I feature a recording of a live performance. Recent guests have included Enduser and DJ Spooky. Today our guest is Dub Gabriel and the show was recorded last February in Beijing.

Gabriel's music is inventive and fun and has just that right mix of aggro and sonic grit that I dig but how would that play in Beijing, I wondered. Very well, from what Gabriel tells me. And on a boat, no less!

I've been a fan of Dub Gabriel's music since he first came on my radar, no doubt through XLR8R. My ears definitely perked up and when I heard his tunes and I've been following his career ever since. Gabriel has been a producer, DJ and multi-instrumentalist for over a decade and is one of only three artists in the world endorsed by Akai for their APC40 controller (the other two being Trent Reznor and Pete Townshend). It took a few years but I'm glad I to have him as a guest on today's show!

Join us again next week when our guest will be Moreno, one of the co-founders of Bakshish Music.

01. Dub Gabriel "Live in Beijing (Boat Club 2/19/10)"

02. Interview with Dub Gabriel

Last month solipsistic NATION broke all previous records for downloaded shows! That's due in large part to the guests I've had on the show during September such as Decibel Festival's founder Sean Horton, Mad EP, Ektoplazm and Enduser.

If you're new to solipsistic NATION let me welcome you aboard.

On solipsistic NATION I feature the very best of all genres of electronic music. Dubstep, techno, drum and bass, whatever the genre is, as long as the music is slamming, I'll play it.

solipsistic NATION also features interview with musicians, record labels, festival organizers-basically anyone who is involved in the electronic music community.

Once a month I also feature a live electronic music performance by and artist and have I got a treat for you today! We've got a live set from Krystian Taylor of Forensics!

Krystian was on solipsistic NATION with a brief live set back in June along with ill.gates and Terminal 11. I'm a big fan of Krystian's music so I invited him to come on the show again with a longer set.

Krystian has been featured on Radio One and has releases on such labels as Eight:FX, DubKraft, and Methodology and is the co-founder of the Ruffnek Diskotek club night.

Join us next week when we'll showcase ZZK Records!

01. Forensics "Comfort Blanket"

02. Interview with Krystian Taylor of Forensics

03. Forensics "Up at Dawn"

04. Forensics "All to Waste ft. Indi Kaur"

05. Forensics "Bright White"

06. Forensics "Hear Them Say (with Juakali)"

07. Forensics "Exile VIP ft. Indi Kaur"

08. Forensics "Wilderness"

09. Forensics "Your Blood, My Hands"

10. Forensics "Endless"

11. Forensics "Lament"

12. Forensics "Lost in Yamun ft. Indi Kaur"

13. Forensics "Dungeon Master (Alien Pimp Remix)"

14. Forensics "Not Alone VIP"

15. Forensics "The Sixth"

16. Forensics "Runway"

17. Forensics "Exile (Phaeleh Remix)"

18. Forensics "Endgame (DZ Remix)"

19. Forensics "Trauma ft. Indi Kaur (Kulture Remix)"

20. Forensics "Rough Ride ft. Rhythmical Thinker (Demon Remix)"

21. Forensics "Endgame (R.Demon Remix)"

22. Forensics "Endless (Wrexile Remix)"

23. Forensics "Endgame (Two Oh One Remix)"

The first Friday of each month I feature a live set from an electronic artist.

Yes, I know this is a Monday and not a Friday.

solipsistic NATION is a labor of love that keeps me sane but it's not a paying gig, so real life often gets in the way. Putting food on my table, I'm sad to day, trumps putting music in your ears.

So from time to time solipsistic NATION will go out a week late. And I could have easily pushed today's show back a week, too, but since this is a holiday in the US I figured that's all the excuse I needed to release tofay's show.

As I mentioned, once a month I feature a live set and this month's set comes to us from Lynn Standafer. You probably know him as Enduser.

Lynn's latest album, 1/3, was released by Ad Noiseam and like Ad Noiseam, Lynn's music is top notch, inventive and always takes you in unexpected directions. Today's live set from Lynn is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Lynn kicks things off with iamthesun, a project between him and Casey Beagle and Balazs Pandi and then moves to a project he did with former Swans member Jarboe. We'll also hear two track from Blood of Heroes, a project that includes Justin K. Broadrick and Bill Laswell. Lynn is a man who is not confined by genre. So we've got a lot of great music to look forward to!

Join us again this Friday when we'll talk with Alexander Synaptic of Ektoplazm and play select tracks from his net label.

01. Interview with Lynn Standafer of Enduser

02. iamthesun "Untitled"

03. Enduser w/ Jarboe "Ode to V (Enduser Remix)"

04. Enduser "Untitled 1"

05. Enduser "Untitled 2"

06. Blood of Heroes "Remain (Unreleased Demo Version)"

07. Enduser "Untitled 3"

08. Enduser "Untitled 4"

09. Enduser "Void"

10. Enduser "Les Dilution"

11. Enduser "1/3"

12. Enduser "Berlin Dub"

13. Enduser "Death Vest 09"

14. Enduser "End of A Beginning (Sublight Version)"