ooo aah

I’m really appreciating the CG space vistas from the observation deck of the Destiny on SGU. They’re pretty stunning…especially for a Syfy show. Last week, I came across a share-worthy two part series [1, 2] of photo epics on the Daily Kos taking us through the solar system (via Mithridates). It left me guessing at what real flybys might look like from the viewing window on a touring vessel. In particular, I like the photo at the top because, even though the Sun and atmospheric effects are otherworldly, it still has an unmartian feel.

RJD2 – Thine Planetarium from Tin Foil Hat

september mix

It’s been up for a while but I want to comment here on a mix I put on 8tracks before we leave September. Most of this playlist is songs that I’ve wanted to do something with but I’ve had a hard time fitting in elsewhere. Cloud Cult – Feel Good Ghosts is a fun album. I probably would’ve put more songs from them if 8tracks allowed it. I picked ‘Hurricane and Fire Survival Guide’ because of this line:

“I’m done with all of that poop that brings me down…”.

I can’t turn down a song like that.

Listen on 8tracks or Download zip w/ playlist (77.43mb, 50mins)

1. Cloud Cult – Must Explore from Feel Good Ghosts
2. Volcano! – Fairy Tale from Paperwork
3. Hella - 1-800-Ghost-Dance from Hold Your Horse Is
4. The Antlers – Wake from Hospice
5. Cloud Cult – Hurricane and Fire Survival Guide from Feel Good Ghosts
6. Working for a Nuclear Free City – Asleep at the Wheel from Businessmen & Ghosts
7. Explosions in the Sky – A Song for Our Fathers from How Strange, Innocence
8. Blackfilm – Stalingrad from Blackfilm
9. Goldfrapp – Human from Felt Mountain
10. Glowworm – Lux from The Coachlight Woods

Heliopath’s August 2009 Mix

Mougins August 2009

For every summer for the past eight years I have spent the month of August it in a lovely little village called Mougins in the south of France. The car here, as lovely as it is, hasn’t picked up with the ipod generation and still depends on a diet of cds. It’s funny how cars with tape decks are actually better off than those with cds when dealing with the digital audio. I’ve tried out those shitty transmitter things but they never work unless you hold it in the perfect position. However, there is still something nostalgically refreshing in being forced to prepare a 70 minute mixed cd and getting everything you want on it. The art of being certain enough about what’s on there and the play order to “publish” it into physical finalized form.

So every year I end up making a few cds to smoothen the drive around and to get in the mood. Last year Girl Talk was a big hit. I’m quite pleased with the mix i created this year and thought it deserved a feature. so here is my August 2009 Mix for you to enjoy. It starts off strong and hard but cools down in the end. It features some surprising tracks (3OH!3 and plus 44 that i picked up from Aditi, which as naive as they are, still manage to tickle my fancy) and quite a few remixes.

Heliopath August 2009 Mix

1. Intro
2. Danny Byrd – Red Mist
3. Rye Rye – Bang ft. M.I.A.
4. 3OH!3 – I’m Not Your Boyfriend Baby
5. Plump Djs – Rocket Soul
6. Soul Assassins – World We’re In ft. Cynic
7. Groove Armada – Drop The Tough (Van She B-Live Remix)
8. J-88 – The Look Of Love (Two Fingers Remix)
9. Bloc Party – Where Is Home? (Diplo Remix)
10. White Lies – Death (Chase & Status Remix)
11. Florence and the Machine – Rabbit Heart
12. The Books – Tokyo
13. Plus 44 – Make You Smile
14. Dj/rupture – Plays John Cassavettes Pt. 2: Ekkehard Ehlers
15. Sebastian Tellier – La Ritournelle

Heliopath_August_2009_Mix.zip

I created the playlist .xml file that’s in the zipped folder, so just create a new playlist and drop the whole folder in. It should automatically organize the order of things for you. As always please listen to it in the right order and let me know if you have any issues.

I Choose Noise

If you scroll through my itunes list you will find ample of songs featuring smooth beats below flirtatious melodies, whether its party/hype-up music or chill out/thinking music. But every once in a while I get into a mood where none of those will satisfy my musical thirst. Instead, all I really want is to be smashed in the eardrums with LOUD heavy consistent vibrations. just plain musical noise with little deviations- a slowly morphing fuzz, very few beats or melody but mainly just a chainsaw of sound that surrounds you completely. Dark and Dense. At the right volume it vibrates your body, mind and soul. You can lose yourself in the loud and harshness where within I always manage to find beauty from it somewhere. I can’t really explain it without sounding crazy. So just have a listen and decide for yourself, perhaps its not really for you.

So I have created a compilation of tracks that fit this type of mood. They all lack standard musical structure and do not even really have any drums (with the exception of moderat because apparat & modselektor just can’t resist the temptation to indulge in a little dance beat). I find these songs to be just within the realm of audio tolerance without breaking too many treble or bass barriers that usually cause headaches (the art so loved by noisecore) To me these are still smooth soundscapes that can pleasantly fill your ears.

I Choose Noise

Ben Frost – Theory of Machines
Fuck Buttons – Sweet Love for Planet Earth
Moderat – 3 Minutes of / Nasty Silence
Rachel’s – Even/Odd
Esmerine – Histories Repeating as 1000 Hearts Mend
Tyondai Braxton – A Sentence Worth A Thousand Words
Mogwai – Robot Chant
M83 – By The Kiss
Epic45 – Early 80’s Snowfall
Boards of Canada – Sherbet Head
Burial – Forgive

I_Choose_Noise.zip

Theory Of Machines by Ben Frost (first song) is the song that inspired this post. Its exactly what I am going for here. Following him I have put in some other songs that I feel capture that intense craving I get from time to time. Its so loud and crunchy but something about it eventually becomes so beautiful to me. I was extremely tempted to throw in my ol favorite “birth and death of day (Jesu Remix)” because I find that one puts me in a trance as well, but I thought id save the repeat. Also there’s too much drums and normalcy. I hope it works for you and you find that you are able to lose yourself in an odd meditative sensation. Be sure to check the order of songs for best experience.

on a side note, Fuck Buttons

are coming up with something new, I am quite excited. A little teaser clip can be found here.

ants of the sky

(via)

Some people, like Ed Wilson aka the “Lord of the Ants” (on Hulu or PBS) have dedicated most of their lives to the study of ants. I wonder in what ways we’ve already made practical use of the things they’ve learned in ant research (other than more effective ways to kill them, obviously). Maybe at some future point we’ll see them as more than just pests? I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords

Cool facts!

• “They have social habits that differ from one kind of ant to the next. You know, each kind of ant has almost the equivalent of a different human culture.” – Ed Wilson
• Ants use chemical pheromones to mark a trail to food, to alert danger and possibly differentiate between threats, to locate a new nest, to mark position in a colony’s social hierarchy or “caste”, or to discriminate between other living and dead ants. A fire ant may have 10 -20 such communication patterns. – Ed Wilson.
• Some ants appear to herd aphids as a controlled food source. I’ve seen these ants carry the aphids on their backs to shelter during heavy rainstorms.
• Feynman was very curious about ant behavior and carried out some of his own experiments.
• In one type of fire ant, normal sexual reproduction takes place but only produces sterile offspring. All males are clones of a father who was able to destroy the maternal set of genes in an egg. All female ants are direct clones of the queen. Weird, right? from Cloners vs Sexuals, also “Has the mystery of sex been explained at last?”

Between the Buried and Me – Ants of the Sky from “Colors” (13:10)

bon iver

Bon Iver from ryan muir @ Flickr

I came late to the Bon Iver party, but ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’ is a great album. I saw them when they did Skinny Love on Letterman. So I poked around looking for someone who had written up chords for Flume and, while the chords were mostly right, I felt the tunings were off (saw a lot of standard and 1/2 step down). This version from the album sounds 1/4 step down to me. I pulled the lyrics from some site and I’m just going to have to trust the internet on this one because I have no clue what he’s really singing with that voice.

Bon Iver – Flume from ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’
Bon Iver – Creature Fear Live at Glastonbury 2009

may mix

Dodge Stratus - amitc1206 @ flickr

In high school, I just had a tape deck in my car so I packed the center console with cassettes and mixes I’d make from my CDs.  These are songs on those tapes that I used to play on the way to and from school.  Throwing on good tunes while waiting to get out of the parking lot was always a good way to exhale.

grin and bear it

from Matelandia @ deviantart

Years at college broadened my listening habits mostly thanks to the fine gents here at UA. If you seek a more palpable connection with music find some good friends to share it with. The natural social activity around music objects like tracks, albums, artists, live shows, and so forth has a home on the social web now. It’s a great way to invite the influence of others.
Anyway…despite horizontal explorations, I’ve always felt that fast & aggressive represents my core genre. It makes up a smaller percentage of what I listen to now but that slice has been trending to more extreme forms & subgenres ever since 6th grade. I’ve thrown up a few tracks to scratch the itch and get back to my roots.

An Early Summer’s Eve Picnic mix

hey guys, sorry it has been so quiet here on the London front lately. I’ve been amassing knowledge and preparing for some big exams. Luckily amidst this tense and studious period, I have also managed to pick up some great new music to share with you.

It is late spring/early summer which always makes me think of evening barbecues and picnics in parks and beaches, as everyone attempts to escape daily stress and find a temporary moment of peace and hapiness as the sun strives to outlive the previous day. If you are lucky enough to be living in Boston you might be drinking Samuel Adam’s Summer Ale, which sadly we don’t get in london; but nice weather here usually means Pimm’s Lemonade. However you might be indulging in this early summer activity, before you start to take good weather for granted, you cant but feel the the “life is good / the glass is half full” vibes.

Anyway I composed a set of mixes (A side and B side if you will) to capture this mood of a relaxed summer evening spent at a beautiful place with great friends, drinks and food. The particular scene I have in my head is the beach barbecue scene in Eternal Sunshine for the Spotless Mind – specifically the contrast between arriving and departing. The first “Sunlight Mix” are vibrant songs that should be heard under the evening falling sun, while the second “Sunset Mix” are somber songs to be heard while the sun is setting and darkness creeps up. You might be packing up and driving home, or you might be starting a fire and laying under the stars.

Enjoy:

Sunlight Mix

1. The Beatles – Eleanor Rigby (Soulwax Remix)
2. The Presets – The Boy’s In Love
3. Dan Deacon – Woof Woof
4. Passion Pit – Little Secrets
5. Apes & Androids – Nights of the Week
6. Daedelus – At My Heels
7. The Avalanches – Electricity
8. The Books – All Bad Ends All
9. Micachu & The Shapes – Calculator
10. You, You’re Awesome – Two Muffins

Click on the picture to go stream from 8tracks.com
Download the zip of this mix (zip file is not in order, please order it yourself into a playlist for best experience)

Sunset Mix

1. Four Tet – Leila Came Round & We Watched a Video
2. Beirut – Nantes (Remix)
3. Telepopmusik – Smile
4. Noriko Tujiko – White Film
5. High Places – From Stardust to Sentience
6. Trifonic – Good Enough
7. Maps – When You Leave
8. Get Well Soon – I Sold My Hands For Food So Please Feed Me
9. Explosions in the sky – The Birth and Death of Day (Jesu Mix)
10. Adem – To Cure a Weakling Child/ Boy Girl Song

Click on the picture to go stream from 8tracks.com
Download the zip of this mix (zip file is not in order, please order it yourself into a playlist for best experience)


I know i’ve already overloaded you with music but as a Bonus, for those of you who that don’t have this song, there is no day more beautiful than one with Davyan Cowboy blasting loudly.

april mix

Message in the clouds by James Jordan (@Flickr)

I started with 3 songs in mind from artists I’ve seen most recently (The Books, Efterklang, Peter Broderick) then filled in the rest. This should be a pretty mellow group so if you feel the urge to dance to more than 2 songs something has gone horribly wrong. Please visit the service desk for a refund.

Stream this @ 8tracks.
Download a zip of mp3s w/ playlist (9 songs, 48min)

1. B.Fleischmann – As If from “Welcome Tourist” (6:04)
2. Tokyo Police Club – Be Good (RAC Remix) (2:46)
3. Mice Parade – Galileo from “Ramda” (6:15)
4. The Album Leaf – An Interview from “An Orchestrated Rise to Fall” (2:33)
5. The Shins – Sleeping Lessons (RAC Remix) (4:18)
6. The Books – There is No There from “The Lemon of Pink” (3:37)
7. Efterklang – Swarming from “Tripper” (6:32)
8. Múm – The Land Between Solar Systems from “Finally We Are No One” (11:59)
9. Peter Broderick – Games Again from “Roscoe” (4:03)