solipsistic NATION: Live Electronica

One of my goals for the second year of solipsistic NATION was to release more shows featuring live performances of electronic music. I've been blessed with some fantastic sets by Robert Rich, Hol Baumann and and select tracks by artists recorded by the Dub Beautiful Collective. In the next few months you can expect to hear live shows from Dr. Toast and DJ Olive.

This week's solipsistic NATION features a live performance by Nalepa, recorded by the Dub beautiful Collective in 2005.

Despite my best efforts, Nalepa's comes up a lot on solipsistic NATION.

Five years ago I made a resolution not play a particular artists too often and never to play one of their songs more than once on my radio program. While I could do a two hour show dedicated to Meat Beat Manifesto or playing songs by Massive Attack over and over again I wanted to force myself to be more stringent on what songs would make it to my playlists. If I were going to play "Nephatiti" by 808 State, for example, I'd better be sure it was worth it because it would be a while before I played 808 State again and "Nephatiti" was never to be played on the show again.

I wanted to keep the show lean and fresh. When I relaunched solipsistic NATION as a once a week, one hour podcast, there was even less reason to repeat artists or songs. And yet Steve's name keeps popping up.

The reason for that is because Steve's an amazingly great musician. His stuff is damn wonderful that as try as I might, Steve's music keeps creeping it's way into the shows.

I'm delighted to present to you a live performance by Nalepa as well two tracks from collaborative efforts Steve is working on with The FMs and Bass Science. And you can be sure I'll be playing more of Nalepa's music on the podcast in the future.

01. Nalepa "Live (December 3, 2005), recorded by the Dub Beautiful Collective"

02. Interview with Steve Nalepa

03. The FMs "Fancy Seeing You Here"

04. Bass Science "Razors"

During the first year of the solipsistic NATION I wanted to make live electronic music performances a regular part of the show and I launched that segment with a set by Deru.

Since then I've featured tracks from artists who performed for the Dub Beautiful Collective in San Francisco as well as Robert Rich. In the next few month's we'll have a live perfromance from Nalepa and Dr. Toast.

On today's show we've got some fantastic music by Ultimae Records recording artist, Olivier Orand, otherwise known as Hol Baumann. from his performance at The Sonic. Joining us is Hol and Sunny, Ultimae Records co-founder.

01. Hol Baumann "Asia"

02. Interview with Hol Baumann

03. Hol Baumann "Final"

04. Hol Baumann "Extended Away"

05. Hol Baumann "Asian Woman"

06. Hol Baumann "Benares"

07. Interview with Hol Baumann

08. Hol Baumann "Send Away"

09. Hol Baumann "Sub 0"

10. Hol Baumann "At Home"

11. Interview with Hol Baumann

12. Hol Baumann "Human"

13. Hol Baumann "Radio Bombay"

14. Interview with Hol Bauman

Live electronic music. It almost seems like an oxymoron. How can electronic music be "live" when it consists of a series of sequenced drum programs and synthesizers. You could literally press play on your laptop and walk away from the stage.

Musicians do play electronic music live and until fairly recently it's been a dull affair. The usual live experience is to see a one or two dudes on stage leaning over their laptops looking as if they we're earnestly answering an email. But that's been changing. More and more artists are incorporating analogue gear into their repertoire. The hardware and software is increasing adapting itself to improvisation and it's not uncommon to see tradition instruments playing alongside their digital brethren.

I'm particularly enamored with live electronic music because I've been around long enough to see its development. From synthpop to hip hop to industrial to glitch, each year the experience becomes more and more organic and exciting.

From time to time on solipsistic NATION I've featured live electronic music from such artists as Deru and Robert Rich. In the near future solipsistic NATION will feature live performances from Hol Baumann and Nalepa.

On today's show we're going to talk with Maer of the Dub Beautiful Collective and play select tracks from bands and musicians who have performed for the Dub Beautiful Collective. Dub Beautiful Collective is a production organization in San Francisco that presents live electronic music events. Over the years Dub Beautiful Collective has put on shows with some amazing talent such as Welder, Adham Shaikh and Ishq from such diverse genres as IDM, ambient, downtempo.

If you enjoy today's show, head over to Dub Beautiful Collective's Net Label or Dub Beautiful Radio to download or listen to more live electronic music. And always remember to support you local artists by going to shows in your city!

01. Nalepa "Live (December 3, 2005)"

02. gasp "Live (March 30, 2003)"

03. Dr. Toast "Live (November 5, 2004)"

04. Ebbnflo "Live (June 3, 2001)"

05. Solar Fields "Live (July 17, 2004)"

06. Zygote "Live (July 17, 2001)"

07. Phutureprimitive "Live (June 18, 2005)"

08. Alchemy "Live (November 16, 2002)"

09. Aes Dana "Live (April 10, 2004)"

On solipsistic NATION I play for you the absolute best of all genres of electronic music. From time to time I do shows that feature documentaires on a specific genre of electronic music such as Nerdcore or Chiptunes. I've also interviewed bands and musicians and record labels and played music from live performances.

Unfortunately, during the last year of solipsistic NATION the live performances have been left behind. I had forgotten about that aspect of the show until a month ago I went back and listened to the Nerdcore or live Glitch set from Deru that appeared on the show back in October. Listening to Deru's performance brought back all the magic and excitement a live show can evoke.

I wanted to bring back recordings from concerts as a feature on the show. I also wanted to do something special for the 50th edition of solipsistic NATION.

Recently ambient/electronic musician Robert Rich released recordings of his performances of his shows at Fort Mason and the Morrison Planetarium in San Francisco on Fake Science. I've been a fan of Robert's music since I first heard his song "Liquid Air" on the From Here To Tranquility Ambient Compilation back in 1993. I knew that the playing select tracks from live performances from Robert Rich is exactly what I wanted to feature on the 50th edition of solipsistic NATION.

Today's show features select live track from the following releases by Robert Rich:

01. Live at Fort Mason [Set 1]

02. Live at Fort Mason [Set 2]

03. Live at Morrison Planetarium

Industrial music's roots go back to the Futurims movement with works like Luigi Russolo's The Art of Noises and later in composer Edgard Varèse's Poème Électronique.

In the 1970s bands like Throbbing Gristle and NON utilized tape editing, stark percussion, and loops to create their dark and distorted music. Bands like Cabaret Voltaire and SPK adopted these elements into their own work, often mixing repeating samples of speeches and dialogue from movies and speeches into their music.

What most people now consider industrial music came from Ministry. For better or worse, Ministry left their stamp on the genre with a sonic barrage of distorted drum machines and bludgeoning guitars. While I love Skinny Puppy and their nightmarish soundscapes it's easy to understand why so many bands followed Ministry's lead. Not only is the music dark and aggressive but you can also thrash about in a mosh pit. It is this subgenre of industrial music that inspired today's show.

01. DieselKopf "Carcrash"

02. Die Warzau "Insect"

03. Sister Machine Gun "Influence"

04. eulogy XL "SpeedBall"

05. 2FB "Unknow Enemy"

06. Spôr "Dilate"

07. 5 Factor Model "Can't Wait"

08. Pig Hut "Uber"

09. Uranium 235 "Uranium 235"

10. Aeon "Starve"

11. 3-Hole Face "Hands of God"

12. Scanalyzer "Anywhere But Here"

13. Zombie Girl "Creepy Crawler"

14. Caffeine Kill "Sonic"

15. I:Scintilla "Scin"