Tonight is the much anticipated Chillography 103. This may just be the best Chillography 103 in the history of Chillography 103s. If you want to be able to say “yes” to your grandchildren when they ask if you went to Chillography 103, then do the obvious thing and come to Chillography 103. You don’t want to have to lie to your grandchildren, DO YOU????

Chillography 103. Never forget.

Full event info at www.chillography.net.

I’m totally booking this crew, Easyweb, for my next big European event. They use 3D mapping to integrate their material with the architecture that they are projecting on. And to great effect! The way they play with the columned building is simply fantastic. There are lots more videos on the Easyweb YouTube page.

Good news everyone!

Roundhouse is gearing up for another live Shpongle performance on Oct 30, 2009, in connection with the release of their fourth studio album. If this show will be anything like their 2008 Halloween show, it is sure to be another over-the-top live spectacle. Hopefully they webcast the show again, as it was quite a treat to enjoy the performance from the comfort of my couch. Air travel seems to be cheap now, though, so part of me is running the numbers on a London trip to catch this in person.

To quote the Roundhouse event listing:

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Shpongle, the hugely popular ambient project from Simon Posford and co-pilot Raja Ram. Where organic harmonies and melodies blend with the most cutting edge digital effects to bring you the kind of sonic experience, that will leave you seriously Shpongled!

Shpongle return to the Roundhouse with a brand new show. This time to celebrate the worldwide launch of their 4th studio album ‘Ineffable Mysteries from Shpongleland’

CD copies will be available on the night- 3 weeks before any shops or websites.

Here’s a bit of video from the 2008 Roundhouse show:

Regression Session is a mega-mix tapestry, woven from my older ambient works. It has been sitting nearly completed on my hard drive for many many months, and I’ve finally finished it up, and am now putting it out on the ‘net for the world to download and hopefully enjoy.

The music in this produced set was created between 2000 and 2008, which was a very explorative time in my music making pursuits. I’m at a point now where I’m feeling more certain of my own creative voice, and feel that combining my older works into a larger piece is a proper way of closing the book on that chapter and allowing me to have a fresh start with my newer techniques, equipment, and processes. Essentially, Regression Session is a time capsule of sorts, documenting the ambient side of my musical voyage since 2000. The production files of most of these tracks have been lost to digital gremlins and computer platform changes, so they are presented here in their final state—goofed notes, audio glitches, mastering mistakes and all. They are what they are and will never be anything different. Despite these imperfections, I am proud to say this is/was me and am happy to have a nice package of the material to present to the world.

Your thoughts and feedback would be very welcome, but are not expected. If you enjoy what you hear, or parts of it, let me know! This music has been intensely private for so long, that I’m now very curious about how it sounds to other sets of ears.

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Download » Leave Trace - Regression Session

Tracklist::
Ocean Deep
Uncertainty Principle
Time Lapse
Quantum Soup
Freedom of Movement feat. Gel-Sol (live)
Interlude
Deeper States
Lighter Than
Had
Moment of Clarity (Ethereal Bliss Mix)

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Leave Trace - Regression Session

I’m looking forward to this new trance-centric monthly from the groovy minds behind HOTwired.

VISION: A monthly series of events designed as immersive experiences that feature live video and surround sounds where guests can loose themselves in rhythms and visions. Music genres will vary with mellow sounds to start the night that build into a climax of trance-state inducing dance experience.

Beginning Friday Feb. 20, 2009…
FUTURE NURSES and Tracer Visuals will take you there…

TRACER VISUALS
Scott Sunn of Tracer Visuals uses video feedback and MAX MSP with Jitter to create an evolving free-form video “painting” that follows the musical experience. Scott and his work have been featured with rock legends Radiohead (Hail to the Thief Tour 2003-2004 in US, UK, Japan and Australia), as well as tours with Keller Williams and String Cheese Incident. He has also been a consistent feature at Seattle’s Decibel Festival.

And music by:

SKOI SIRIUS
liquid-glitch-funk
(audiblebicycleday, Starborne)

LOCUS
deep-proggy-techno
(Future Nurses, HEAD/SET)

PSYKI
psytrance
(Seattle)

$5 before 9pm, $10 after

Club Noc Noc
1516 2nd Ave. Seattle
206 223 1333

Full event details can be found here.

This is a great electronic cover of the classic Pink Floyd track, On the Run, by Muzik 4 Machines. It is performed with only hardware synths and effects units, and no computer, which is a deliciously novel thing in today’s music making. Check out the video description on the YouTube page for a complete gear list.

I picked up Movements, the new Solar Fields album, last week and have been listening to it daily since. The short of it is that this album is amazing. I’ve been a huge fan of Solar Fields for quite a while, and Movements fully delivers on that Solar Fields sound that I so love. I like to describe the Solar Fields sound as Arena Ambient because it’s as if he’s writing epic music to be played on giant PAs in huge stadiums. Massive bass with precise percussion and smooth, evolving textures and melodies fluttering in and out of the scape, digging deep into your emotional core, without ever stepping into cheese territory. Man, a Solar Fields arena show would just be breathtaking.

There’s nothing ground-breaking about Movements, just huge, emotional scores that are so satisfying that its easy to just let this album loop over and over. It’s interesting to me that while his sound and techniques seemed to have changed little from his first release, I have not yet tired of his brand of musical magic. He’s definitely tapped into something that just speaks to me. It’s like every release is a further refinement of that sound, leading the listener further into the depths of the same mysterious musical cavern.

If you are a fan of Solar Fields, getting this album is a must. If you are fan of the mellower flavors of electronica, you too must get this album. Not sure if you are into either of the former? You could certainly do worse things than buying Movements and giving it a chance. Check the track and videos below for a sampling of the album.

Here’s some great Solar Fields performance footage featuring the track Discovering. This must have been an incredible musical experience for those in attendance.

I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned the reschedule of Chillography103 here yet…. silly me!

We’re back on and ready to roll, with the same line up of wonderful lady Chillographers and at the same venue, the Transcendent Church of Bass. New date is Feb 27, 2009.

Don’t know what I’m talking about? Check out the Chillography site for full event details plus downloads and photos from past events.

What fun! I was all like oontz oontz oontz and Shapey was like wicky wocka wicky and then I was like earon earon scrickty wah wah woosh and Shapey did his tik tika tik tokka tokka wrown womp womp and the dancefloor was all like stomp stomp yay stomp skippy stomp….. Good times indeed.

Our set got recorded, so hopefully I’ll be able to post that at some point for download. Until then, here are some photos of the evening, taken by my wife.



And here are some great photos taken by Osiris.

In every genre there are those precious few producers that continually redefine the cutting edge and really push the boundaries of electronic music itself. Jnr Hacksaw is a breakbeat producer that has been doing just that. I’ve seen his style described as psybreaks, electrobreaks, and glitchbreaks, but whatever it’s called, it is certainly awesome. He manages to take the thick and heady atmosphere of dark drum and bass, layer it upon super slick sub basslines, and cover it all in a thick ooze of brain melting sound design and audio wreckage. His music can be very reminiscent of another breakbeat artist on the edge, Tipper, but with a much more heavy-handed psychedelic sheen.

Jnr Hacksaw – 13 Mix

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Download link and mix info can be found here.

There are very few artists that produce a golden track every time, but Jnr Hacksaw certainly hits pretty close to that mark. He has quite an extensive catalog of tracks which are sold exclusively through Addictech. Download his mix, drop $15-20 bucks on his tracks, and have yourself a fantastic voyage through the better sounding reaches of breakbeats.