Hardcore Math User

'95 Jungle Sound Murderah

2011-12-29T08:52:00.000-08:00

Back once again for another old school collection. This time we’re going to the back of the crate for some heavyweight classics that will absolutely melt your face. Spanning the crucial '92 – '95 era, we let drum and bass legends Roni Size, Goldie, Bay B Kane, Andy C, and Aphrodite take us on the ultimate jungle safari back to where it all began.

Hardcore Math User - '95 Jungle Sound Murderah.mp3

These are some of the songs that got me seriously hooked on the jungle / drum & bass scene when I first got my start as a producer in the early 90’s. I remember completely feeling the intelligent vibe as I listened to Goldie’s Jah, Rogue Unit’s Nocturnal, and EZ Roller’s Rolled Into One. The combination of complex rhythms, mathematical symmetry and lush keyboard sounds absolutely floored me.

I'll never forget the first time I listened to my then brand new vinyl copy of Boogie Times Tribe's Real Hardcore — absolutely changed my life. Later on, my CD copies of Goldie's Timeless and D'Cruze's Control were worth more to me than my car. My love for jungle / drum and bass has burned bright ever since. This mixtape is a tribute to these masters of the dark arts.

Having said all that, I can't let this mix go out without a nod to what I consider to be the original jungle track – the one that came before all the others, the one that I never listened to without a pot haze around my head: The 1991 Version Galore mix of Meat Beat Manifesto's Radio Babylon. This track truly lit the spark in a gasoline-filled warehouse, and has got to be my favorite jungle / drum & bass track of all time. This is the third recent mixtape of mine to include samples of this monster tune.

All of the songs have been sped up to 170 bpm to give the mix a modern feel, but each song’s original pitch has been preserved to maintain the old school vibe. Many snippets go uncredited, such as Van Kleef's Life Began Changing, Randall & Andy C's Sound Control, and A Guy Called Gerald's 28 Gun Bad Boy. There are some fresh bootleg remixes (456, Dancer), and one is an unreleased song of mine from 1994, when I was just learning my jungle chops (Congo Menace).

This one goes out to DJ Spree. Let’s get 2012 off to a proper start. OH GOSH!

Track list:

The Intelligent Jungalist - Double Barrel
Amazon II - Booyah (Remix)
Danny Breaks - Step Off
Kane & The Paraquat - Addikshun
Phuture Assassins - Roots 'N Future (Altern 8's Dark Future Remix)
Bay B Kane - Hyd & Seek
Dillinja - You Don’t Know (Remix)
Roni Size - Phyzical (Vintage Remix)
Remarc - Drum N Bass Wise (Remix)
Da Intalex - What Ya Gonna Do
Rogue Unit - Nocturnal
Roni Size - All The Crew 'Big Up' (95 Lick)
Pascal - Freedom
Chuck E. - Smokin’ A Blunt
DJ Krust - Jazz Note
Money & Dubtronics - Jungle Jazz
Goldie - Jah
Bay B Kane - Giant Steps
Ironik - Believe In (Remix)
Bay B Kane - Jump Up Jungalist
Hardcore Math User - Congo Menace
Tom & Jerry - Dancer (Hardcore Math User Remix)
Tic Tac Toe - 456 (Hardcore Math User Remix)
Tom & Jerry - For The Gold Teeth (F.N.T.)
Boogie Times Tribe - The Dark Stranger (Johnny Jungle Remix)
Kid Thunder - Life Goes On
Roni Size - Timestretch (Origin Unknown Remix)
Roni Size & Krust - Witchcraft
EZ Rollers - Rolled Into One
Foul Play - Being With You (Remix)

- - - - -

If you just can't get enough of that drum and bass vibe, check out these other menacing mixes on the Hardcore Math User network:

Allusions And Homages To Mrs. Regera Dowdy

2011-10-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

This year I thought I’d try something a little more original in lieu of my traditional Halloween mixtape. For your consideration and entertainment, I present my first full-length album.

It is a continuous mix of black ambient offerings, with samples of old phonographs and wax cylinders from the 1880s - 1920s.

Jason Herrboldt - Allusions And Homages To Mrs. Regera Dowdy.zip

Folder includes:

01 Percival Ravenwood, Esq. Watched With Some Horror

02 An Unexpected Change Of Meteorological Affairs

03 The Supernatural Effects Of Harry Houdini's Demonstration

04 Lady Willowthorn's Studebaker

05 A Choir Of Boys With Hollowed-Out Eyes

06 The Dreadful Occasion

07 The Automatic Toastmaster Contraption

08 Duet By Marie And Mabel Church

09 The Apparition's Scream

Album Art

Liner Notes

Excerpts from the liner notes, which are available separately here:

The full song titles are as follows:

Allusions and homages to Mrs. Regera Dowdy, on the anniversary of her first published correspondence with Colonel Gouraud.

1. Percival Ravenwood, esq. watched with some horror as the phosphorescent ectoplasm crawled up the ribs of Duchess Claxton's whalebone bodice.

2. An unexpected change of meteorological affairs drew all attention eastward, causing well-wishers and passersby to feel suddenly and strangely unwell.

3. The supernatural effects of Harry Houdini's demonstration have caused Mrs. Gravesbottom to lose consciousness.

4. Lady Willowthorn's Studebaker, which has stalled on the tracks just outside of Professor Lemon's Sweet Shop at precisely the worst possible time, refuses all attempts at revival.

5. A choir of boys with hollowed-out eyes was glimpsed in the old rehearsal room at the end of the basement hall.

6. The dreadful occasion forced Mr. Edison to reconsider his well-established and probably prudent policy.

7. The automatic toastmaster contraption failed to impress little Billy "ne'er do well" Buckswallow the day before he was brained by a falling harpsichord.

8. Duet by Marie and Mabel Church, who died horribly in a vinegar works factory explosion and are now ghosts.

9. The apparition's scream caused the trembling chandelier finally to collapse, inspiring more than a few of the assembled and noble guests to hasten the seance's conclusion.

Mrs. Regera Dowdy is an anagramic pen name of American writer and artist Edward Gorey (1925 - 2000), probably best known for his 1963 illustrated book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies. (“A is for Amy who fell down the stairs; B is for Basil assaulted by bears...”) The inspiration for this album came from Gorey's illustrated corpus, as well as my love of old haunted things. (I leave it to you to decipher the significance of Colonel Gouraud.)

The idea to employ old 78s and wax cylinders as a vehicle of terror was born on my 2010 Halloween mixtape Father Morning Presents..., in which I wove together shards of an old phonographic recording and the closing credits of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. In 2009's You've Been Sick I sampled heavily from the saturation chamber sequence of the 1999 remake of The House On Haunted Hill, where 100 year-old ghosts are pitted against the living in an abandoned asylum for the criminally insane. (Ditto for Session 9, which I seem to sample just about every year.)

I love to frighten. I love to conjure up ghastly images and ghoulish landscapes with nothing but the human voice. This is exactly what I feel I have accomplished on Allusions & Homages, which in a way is really an homage to the first recording artists of history, those brave souls of the 1880s who whispered into strange machines with absolutely no idea that, 130 years later, some macabre eccentric with another strange machine (the computer) would be reinterpreting their voices for the sole purpose of scaring the petticoats off the unsuspecting.

All non-phonographic voices are me, recorded on the iPhone 4 Voice Memo app. The audio files were transferred to and manipulated on TwistedWave 1.10.1 (Snow Leopard). All effects consist of EQ, delay, reverb, pitch, volume, and looping. Some effects wound up sounding rather otherworldly, and nothing like the human voice. I assure you that they are. (If you can tell it's an old phonograph, it's not my voice.) The only effects added to the phonographs were light reverb and delay.

A special thanks to Bryan Smith for the cover art.

The Dreadful Occasion is available as a 12”, with a remix and stand-alone versions of three other tracks from Allusions & Homages (the full-length CD is a continuous mix). Free downloads of both the album and the single are available on my music blog (hardcoremathuser.blogspot.com), as well as the Halloween mixtapes mentioned in the preface.

A limited edition of 200 CDs were pressed and freely distributed to random corners around the Minneapolis area in October 2011. They were blank discs in a plain slim jewel cases, and bore an ink stamp drawing of a phonograph. Album, artist and song data is available via Gracenote / CDDB.

The songs were almost more fun to name than record, and took just about as long.

This album is dedicated to Edward Gorey.

- Jason Herrboldt, Minneapolis, October 2011

The Dreadful Occasion 12"

2011-09-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

This is the single for my forthcoming album, Allusions and homages to Ms. Regera Dowdy, on the anniversary of her first published correspondence with Colonel Gouraud. On it you will find a remix and some stand-alone tracks for individual play. (The full-length will be a continuous mix.)

[Edit: Allusions & Homages is now available!]

The Dreadful Occasion 12".zip

Folder includes

The dreadful occasion forced Mr. Edison to reconsider his well-established and probably prudent policy.
The dreadful occasion forced Mr. Edison to reconsider his well-established and probably prudent policy. (Two victrolas and a microphone.)
The automatic toastmaster contraption failed to impress little Billy "ne'er do well" Buckswallow the day before he was brained by a falling harpsichord.
The supernatural effects of Harry Houdini's demonstration have caused Mrs. Gravesbottom to lose consciousness.

This is an experimental / ambient release with a strong emphasis on the macabre. The samples are all old phonographs and wax cylinders from about 1888 to 1922 (credits below), and all music and atmospherics are done with my voice and some minor effects. I recorded my voice on the iPhone 4 Voice Memos app and processed the audio files on TwistedWave v 1.10.1 (Snow Leopard). All of the effects were limited to pitch, reverb, delay, and EQ, with the exception of a few distortion pedals on the remix. Some of my vocal effects wound up sounding quite otherworldly, and may not be immediately recognizable as the human voice; I assure you they are. If you can tell it's an old phonograph, it's not my voice.

The inspiration for both the single and the album stems from my love of old haunted things. Ghosts are widely depicted in cinema and literature as Victorian, causing some to wonder why spectral visitors with mall bangs from the 80's never appear. It's because nobody would be scared by them, that's why. But a 130 year-old photograph of a well-to-do woman who appears to rot into a zombie as the night descends? THAT shit is scary.

The focus on Edison naturally emerged the deeper I dug into the archives for inspiration and source material. (Thank you archive.org!) It was nigh impossible to escape references to him the further back in time I went, and eventually I stumbled upon a recording of his voice for public consumption made just at the close of World War I. So the song on the album most directly linked to Edison felt like a natural choice for the pre-release single. (That's him on the cover.)

I decided to go with lengthy titles. This was a logistical challenge, as most media players will only display a certain number of characters before cruelly truncating the title. I made shorter title versions for the song file names, and put the full titles here and in the ID3 tags. The titles are a homage to Edward Gorey, who sometimes went by the name of Mrs. Regera Dowdy, an anagram. (I leave it to you to figure out who Colonel Gouraud is.)

The album is slated for a late September release. There will be nine tracks continuing the same theme of black ambient soundscapes enfolding turn-of-the-century audio. It will be available here, of course, for free.

Happy early Halloween, you frightfully dreary street urchins, you.

- - - - -

Media sources (a special thanks to Paul Kondig for the background on Edison's Message To The American People):

The dreadful occasion forced Mr. Edison to reconsider his well-established and probably prudent policy. (5:03) Sample: Let us not forget - A message to the American people (December 30, 1918); Source; Notes

The dreadful occasion forced Mr. Edison to reconsider his well-established and probably prudent policy. (Two victrolas and a microphone.) (6:54) Sample: Let us not forget - A message to the American people (December 30, 1918); Source; Notes

The automatic toastmaster contraption failed to impress little Billy "ne'er do well" Buckswallow the day before he was brained by a falling harpsichord. (6:04) Sample: A. M. Broadley's speech (1888); Source; Notes

The supernatural effects of Harry Houdini's demonstration have caused Mrs. Gravesbottom to lose consciousness. (6:20)

Sample: Edison machine rehearsal (1914) – Harry Houdini; Source; Notes
Sample: Santa Claus Hides In Your Phonograph (1922); Source
Sample: Voices of Christmas Past - 1898 to 1922 (1922) -- Track 20, "Uncle Josh Plays Santa Claus"; Source

Boo!

FUCK

2011-08-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

This is a kind of funny Halloween mixtape preview.

Jason Herrboldt - FUCK.mp3

This year, in lieu of a Halloween mixtape, I will be dropping the first original, full-length CD of my life. There is some light, copyright-free sampling, which I promise will make sense later. Everything else is just me and a microphone. Nearly the entire thing will be done with my mouth, a painful if joyous experience. (I've been told I'm good with my mouth.)

The full release will be screamed in your ear early October.

Favorite Album of Summer 2011

2011-08-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

I've clawed my way through stacks of CDs this summer and reignited my love for rock and roll and the full-length album. I've listened to bands I've never heard of. I've given old bands another chance. I've spent way too much time looking at what "customers also bought" at Amazon and the iTunes Store.

I think it's time I cop to the album that made me its bitch this summer. My initial take was so-so. It took more than a few listens to finally win me over, and now I can say that the album I loved the most over the last few months has been Van She's 2008 debut V.

Here are some highlights:

It's a rare thing that an album can consistently blow my face off after even the tenth listen. Check these guys out as soon as fucking possible.

...And I Will Know Them By The Trail Of Awesome

2011-08-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

In 2002 I remember seeing the Source Tags and Codes poster in the window of Minneapolis stalwart Let It Be Records, thinking that they had stumbled upon the coolest band name ever. I didn't listen to them for four solid years. Then in 2006 I think I must have been casting about LimeWire (Ha! Remember them?) looking for some fresh death metal treats for my ears when I remembered seeing their poster. Sounds like a name for a metal band.

"I wonder what they sound like..."

What indeed. That year I downloaded and voraciously annihilated every single song I could find by ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. I was almost immediately deeply in love, and fed often. I wish I could explain my instant and overwhelming fascination with this band. It's something nearly intangible, like a flash of memory resurrected by the burnt smell of late October.

Then I dropped them like nothing had happened. I think I had moved on to tackle -- of all things -- baroque music, and political podcasts were taking up a bigger and bigger slice of my audio diet. Once I suck a band dry of all their genius, I tend not to go back for seconds.

But for whatever reason I felt compelled to unearth all of my Trail of Dead MP3s this summer. I found that some had aged a bit better than others, but the standout was obvious. Clearly my favorite album of theirs is still Source Tags and Codes, just as it was in 2006 when I could not stop listening to them. The album finishes strong with one of the most ingeniously written and performed songs I've ever heard...

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Source Tags and Codes

This is actually my favorite song of their entire corpus. It blows my face right off every single time I listen to it, and it refuses to age in my mind like some demented vampire or stone statue.

I'd be hard pressed to not include this song in a list of my top five all-time favorites.

The List Of Awesome Band Name Ideas

2011-08-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

This has happened to you at least once:

Last night: "Dude, that's straight up ridiculous. That would make a stellar band name! We gotta remember that." "Totally!"

This morning: "Shit. What the fuck name did we come up with last night? It was solid fucking gold! God DAMMIT."

This is one of the seemingly endless good uses for the humble smartphone notepad. The clue: Write it down immediately, because you probably got stoned a lot in high school and have very poor short-term memory recollection skills.

I started such a list in 2008 and have added new names on a regular basis ever since. Some are unwitting contributions of friends, some bubble up from my subconscious during a nap, some arise organically from a conversation, like an ugly, inevitable weed spiraling up from a garden, and some are just too stupid not to write down. Some have probably already been used. Some are very, very cool. Many have never seen the light of day.

I reproduce them for you here now. Take of them what you will. I can always make more.

Aerodynamic Mullet
A-Lister Crowley
Auntie Maim
Aziz Light
Bear Mode Engage
Beepower
Best Cave Scenario
Binary Dreams
Bubba Hitler & the Redneck Fag Killers
Burn In Hell Willy Wonka
Carpe Deity
Cheese Hangover
Cheesecake Mashup
Children Of A.I.
Code Freeze
Corpsicle
Crown Of Gnats
Date Rape Cupcake
Definitely Technically Possible
Devil Jizz
Dirty Eye Sockets
Drag Queen Knife Fight
Dragged To The Hague
Dread Basket
Dubious Chicken
Electric Honey
Emotional Stunt Double
Exploding Manhole
Felonious Monk
Femergency
Fhloston Paradise
Fun With Knives
Gagging For A Shagging
Gamelan Trap
Gay Nazi Porn
Gay Robot Sex
Gnome Fail
Good Luck Tonight With The Poison
Granny Get Your Gun
Gumjob
HMS Petit Four
Holy Rollin' Empire
Homicidal Somnambulism
Honorably Sad Rejects
Hot Lesbian Witches
House Of Medici
I Deserve The Fork
Iffy Lineage
Illiac
I'm Sorry About The Balls
Junta of One
Ku Klux Klowns
Lesbian Bondage Fiasco
Lesbian Spank Inferno
Let Your Mom Watch
Mandroid
Mantenna
Meat Glue
Medame Square
Mono á Mono
Moon Pi
Muppet Fluffer
Murderous Skydiving Love Triangle
My Dear Lady Lovelace
My Little Machines
Naughty Uncle
Nazi Fashion Shooter
Petrified Penis
Pocket-Propelled Grenade
Pro-Porn Platform
Psycho Nazi Girlfriend
Psycho Tranny
Puppets In HD
Radioactive Sugar
Random Robot
Robot Lover
Robot Owl
Robot Sleepover
Romeo Kills
Rough Code
Run Ripley Run
Satan's Fluffer
Sci-Fi Bad Guy
Seussical Square Dance
Shoelace Soup
Sick Cherry
Sinposium
Snowmance
Space Dirt
Specialized Savant
Sugar Whore
Superlinear
Suspiciously British
The Bottom Bits
The Cheese Bandits
The Chinese Drywall Issue
The Hidden Bit
The Masturborgs
The Slim Black Ties
The Stoic Penguins
Vampire Squirrels
Voidstar
Wall Of Zen
Weirdly Asian

The National

2011-08-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

Breaking up sometimes means hunkering down with a bottle of wine, closing the blinds, switching off your phone, and crying like a little faggot. You will find no better breakup music than this, my friends. Even if everything in the world is going just fine. Sometimes you just want to let it go for no reason. You know, we won't tell. Here's some kleenex, you little pussy.

I didn't realize what a shit day I was having Sunday until I listened to High Violet all the way through. It was subliminal, subconscious, the way I felt. I didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. If you need to get it out, Matt Beringer will fucking find it in you. Let him.

If you like these songs, which I totally do, go download their CD High Violet right now. Amazon will sell it to you for six measly bucks. Check out their website while you're at it. You'll probably, like me, pick up shades of Red House Painters, Nick Cave, and Drift-era Scott Walker.

I've had a rough couple of weeks. I think it's probably not self-indulgent, if you sometimes need to cry like a little bitch, which I kind of do. Getting dumped sucks balls. Matt Beringer can relate; his life must be infinitely worse. He opens the door for a little sunlight with these albums, just far enough for us to sneak in and try to make sense of the oddly arranged vocal furniture. It's no easy thing, getting through High Violet. But fuck me, it's worth it.

Top Free Downloads

2011-07-29T12:57:00.000-07:00

In light of the whole going legit thing, I thought it might be nice to put all of my top exclusive downloads in one place. Old posts with illegal music links have been neutered, and who wants to claw through hundreds of pages to find the good stuff?

Here are the best of the exclusive downloads from this music blog. All downloads are 100% free and legal. Some are remixes, some are mixtapes, some are original songs, some are short stories, and some are... um... unclassifiable.

Mixtapes are considered legit if they involve any level of original production, in light of Girl Talk's fair-play blitzkreig. The mixes listed below are not just playlists. I spent dozens of hours on each and every one, and all include exclusive material not available anywhere else.

I will continue to update this master list as new material is released.

ORIGINAL MUSIC

Scary

Lounge

House / Garage

Jungle / Drum & Bass

BOOTLEG REMIXES

MIXTAPES

Halloween

SHORT STORIES

Hardcore Math User is now officially too legit to quit.

Summer Music Roundup: An Ode To The LP

2011-07-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

It's been a truism for years now that playlists have supplanted albums in a serious way. Music comes to us in dribs and drabs, of varying genre, popularity, and sound quality. Our iPods are less like a well-organized bookshelf of CDs and more like a garage filled with worn boxes of 45's and cassingles.

The average music enthusiast is far less likely to spend time downloading songs one at a time and pulling them together -- album art and all -- into a coherent whole. He'd probably rather drop $10 at a legal outlet to get the finished product in one click. But why do even that when streaming services try to supersize your personal radio station in anticipation of the coming Spotify storm?

Taking the time to appreciate an album from beginning to end is a privilege and a rare pleasure. Sometimes there are more good tracks than bad, which is kind of like winning the lottery (a little). The order of songs is torturously crafted -- the first song is supposed to grab your attention, the middle songs must negotiate a rocky emotional terrain without causing injury or boredom, and the last song is supposed to leave you reeling. So it is in this spirit that I give you my summer 2011 music roundup, album by album.

Summer 2011 Music Sampler.zip

Folder includes Our Age (Constantines), Crazy World (Ladyhawke), and It Could Be The Same (Van She). Sorry it's not more, but I'm out of fucking bandwidth.

Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke (2008): A+ An arcade game bonus round for fans of Benatar, Jett, Hall & Oates, Human League, and Berlin, Ladyhawke brings a fresh voice to the familiar terrain of Reagan-era radio hits without giving an inch on her rock and roll origins. She never quite throws caution to the wind vocally, but the restraint is oddly appropriate. At its center Ladyhawke is a confessional on her terms alone, as well as a love letter to the 99 red balloons of 1983, and we're damn lucky to tag along for the ride. Ladyhawke - My Delierium
Van She - V (2008): B+ This came right on the heels of Ladyhawke for me. It was one of those "customers also bought" moments, and thank Christ for that. The eponymous single blew my mind, but the full length V is where it's at. Smart and winky, although a bit overproduced and nostalgic, these guys bring real music. (They also bring an amazing cover of (Don't Fear) The Reaper.) Echoes of the Editors and Mute Math are scattered here and there. What's not clear is whether or not this is an electronic rock-like exercise in the spirit of MGMT and Daft Punk, or a true rock album shrouded in the debris field of a dead dance music revolution. What is clear is that they meant to build a bridge between the old and new without compromising real artistic integrity, and they came close. They don't hit the mark exactly, but it was a long shot -- and nobody can blame them for trying. Van She - It Could Be The Same
Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual (1983): B+ Having somehow never obtained a digital copy of this album, I downloaded and gleefully listened to She's So Unusual from start to finish for the first time in at least fifteen years. An old friend once recalled that he could tell his mother was sad whenever she listened to this album. It makes perfect sense, actually. Even the charged rock and roll sensibilities of Money Changes Everything aren't immune to the gnawing sorrow that seeps through the veins of Time After Time, All Through The Night, and the adorably bi-curious When You Were Mine (which is, by the way, one of the best Prince covers ever). This album would have earned an A+ were it not for the abysmally disappointing second side, which includes the so-so Witness and straight up wincers I'll Kiss You, He's So Unusual, and Yeah Yeah. This was probably a warning sign that her role as 80's pop goddess was going to be short-lived indeed. Cyndi Lauper - When You Were Mine
The Dead Weather - Sea Of Cowards (2010): B Not wanting to do anything but go to a southern church service in the middle of July after not showering for a few days is what Sea Of Cowards is all about. Hot, dusty, angry, and horny. More than a few nods to James Brown dot the landscape, or at least James Brown on a bad night. There are boozy spasms in all the right directions, from blues to straight up country, and they bring along a vintage synth and a smokey Hammond organ for good measure. Jack White meets Kill Bill. My kind of summer CD. Dead Weather - Die By The Drop
Doves - Kingdom Of Rust (2009): A Another redo from my past. Some Cities and The Last Broadcast were responsible for more than their fair share of my mid-decade emotional sugar highs and lows. Coming back for seconds was a good idea. Kingdom Of Rust is an earful, but there's real substance here. There are notes bright and dark, plenty of reverb, and lots of frothy emotional appeal. A bitter cynicism helpfully lurks at the heart of everything they touch, and this keeps their albums from floating away into some glowy abyss. To whoever broke Jez Williams' heart, we thank you. Doves - Spellbound
Constantines - Kensington Heights (2008): A+ A lovely bit of sentimental self-absorption on a Texas dirt road in the middle of fucking nowhere. I fell in love with St. You a few years back, and I'm really feeling the rock and roll this summer, so this was a no-brainer. Kensington Heights is, like most of their work, spartan and brooding whenever possible, and bad enough to make you feel like you're sticking your finger in the eye of whoever is responsible for Lady Gaga. A pair of dusty jeans and a wince in the sun. Flawless. Constantines - Hard Feelings
Iceage - New Brigade (2010): A+ What The Police wish they could have sounded like when they listened to The Clash. A middle finger straight out of 1978, from a band of punks who weren't even alive when Nevermind came out. You have to get past the wall of distortion and broken trash cans, but it's worth it. Inside is some really very clever musical craftsmanship, and hey, it's brand new! Gnarly as a wounded alley dog and sexy as broken glass under a young thug's boot. Never have I wanted to fuck a trio of 17 year-old boys as I do right now. Ice Age - White Rune
Patti Smith Group - Easter (1978): C Wanting to give myself a crash course in modern rock history seemed like a good idea at the time. Downloading Smith's Easter along with The Cars' eponymous debut and Lou Reed's Transformer was a good start, but I quickly realized I was heading down a very long road that only leads to a dead end. (After a while you run out of things to discover, and anyway you start to look like you're succumbing to a midlife crisis.) Having a sense of rock history is crucial, but Easter proved just how far I had to go to meet it halfway. It's clearly a brilliant album, and I could find plenty to enjoy (Rock 'n Roll Nigger being an obvious highlight), but I'm just not up to the challenge of fully exploring every room that Smith fitfully points out along the way. It's a sweaty and psychedelic endeavor worthy of a much more patient audience. (A fun aside: The song Easter sounds kinda like The Cure's The Top, both of which share respective song and album titles, and were really only released a few years apart from each other.) Patti Smith Group - Because The Night
Hall and Oates - The Very Best Of (2001): A Mustache + rock sax solo = jizz in my pants. When they were on, they were fucking on. They nailed every one of their hits, and earned every bit of respect they've amassed over the years. Clever songwriting, brilliant production, and plenty of earnestness mark the highlights. Pretty much every song that's not a hit can be easily dismissed, or even outright hated, but the winners truly offered some of the best reasons to louvre 80's pop music. Hall & Oates - Your Imagination
Spoon - Transference (2010): B+ Verve and swagger puncture dream sequences and sunny afternoon naps in a smart post-rock offering that has the privilege of being one of only two alternative CDs I'll allow into my phone with male falsetto vocals. (The other is Van She's V.) It takes more than a few listens to get under the surface, to the closely guarded, dirt-dovered gems. It's thirsty work, but rewarding, and you have to want it. A literate and weirdly gorgeous album. Spoon - Before Destruction
Beach House - Teen Dream (2010): C+ Hearing the single Norway, which easily earns an A+ on its own, is enough to bring me to my quivering knees. An obvious ode to My Bloody Valentine's Loveless and Cocteau Twins' Victorialand, Beach House wobbles the pitch just enough to cause orgasms and mild acid flashbacks among the 35+ set, and a curt history lesson for pretty much everybody else. I want to enjoy the rest of the album more than I do, and Norway really makes me want to try. Maybe I'll get there after a few more listens. A band that makes, with one song, so perfect a tribute to these two timeless stars of the holy college-rock constellation is worthy of the effort. [Edit: I've decided after another listen to give this one a B+. It's still growing on me, but what Teen Dream lacks in accessibility is more than made up for in originality.] Beach House - Norway

Goodbye Tom

2011-07-05T17:23:00.000-07:00

Thank you for four and a half years of long, lazy conversations in your bed while staring at the ceiling, strolls between sushi bars and ice cream shops in the summertime, amazing sex, and loving me for exactly who I am.

The B-52's - Theme For A Nude Beach.mp3

Now that we have decided to bring our relationship to an end, we are free on the nude beach of life. I dedicate this song to you.

We know a place where we are free;
We cast our suits into the sea.

Ladyhawke - Back Of The Van

2011-07-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

Just heard the Fred Falke remix of Back Of The Van while trying on shorts at Macy's. Blew my head right off.

Ladyhawke - Back Of The Van.zip

Folder includes

* Back Of The Van
* Back Of The Van (Fred Falke Ultimate Beverly Mix)

Falke easily channels early post-disco awesomeness in the first rare pop gem that I've been excited about for just years and years. I can't recommend it enough.

You set me on fire.

[Edit: This was a very difficult song to track down, BTW. There are like (seriously) 50 songs with the title "You Set Me On Fire" and "Set Me On Fire," completely running the genre gamut from blues to techno and back again through jazz and metal. It wasn't easy, but it was totally worth the effort.]

[Edit 2: Now reviewing her eponymous LP, can't stop thinking of Out Of Touch - era Hall & Oates.]

Check Out My New Blurg

2011-06-23T10:47:00.001-07:00

It's over for opinions and rants on this music blog. It's just beginning for Barbie in Shanghai.

Get into it.

Soul II Soul - Back To Life (Joshua Reid Remix)

2011-06-22T04:26:00.000-07:00

Found this in Joshua Reid's 11/8/08 guest set on Radio Glitch.

Soul II Soul - Back To Life (Joshua Reid Remix).mp3

Simply brilliant.

Caspian - Otoño Perpetuo

2011-06-21T04:20:00.000-07:00

Somewhere in the midst of working for an independent dance music record label in San Francisco, I was introduced to the nice kids at Om Records. I was offered the chance to write an original track for Om Lounge Vol IV, and I jumped at it.

Caspian - Otono Perpetuo.mp3

This was my first, and pretty much only, whack at mid-tempo future jazz. But as far as professional, serious music recording goes, this truly was my finest hour as a producer.

Thank you Chris Smith of Om Records and Oli Goss of Cosmic Flux Music for pushing me to always go beyond my self-imposed limits.

DJ Mixes For Spree

2011-06-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

Jes puttin' 'em all in one place for easy access.

* Class of '93: Hyper On Hardcore
* Class of '93: Rave Hysteria
* Class of '93: Robot Dub Killer
* Class of '93: Techno Acid Meltdown
* Slow School Jungle Breakz
* Freezer Burn: Ice Cold Drum & Bass

COME AND GET SOME!

Thanks for the vinyl and the cheesecake. Great to see you again, man.

A Choir Of Sixteen Jasons

2011-06-02T08:04:00.000-07:00

This is an early proof of concept test for my Halloween mixtape. The idea was to record sixteen (nearly) identical takes and layer them together to make a small army of singing Jasons. I thought it turned out very well, so I'm sharing it with you.

Jason Herrboldt - Deus (Proof Of Concept).mp3

What you're hearing is four loops of the same brief recording. I made it repeat four times because it's such a short end product (~20 seconds), and it's nice to be able to scrutinize it in multiple takes. There are four Jasons singing each note, and there are four notes to the take, giving a result of sixteen Jasons.

Just this one small result took hours of processing, so a more ambitious project will take days, if not weeks, to pull together.

The voice takes were recorded on the iPhone Voice Memos app and processed using TwistedWave 1.10.1 on Mac OS X 10.6.7. Only mild EQ and reverb were added to the final take for a more pleasing effect. (Of particular loveliness is the sound of sixteen Jasons taking a huge breath at the beginning of the take!)

This year's Halloween mixtape will be quite different, by the way. I'm working on a project with only my voice and pre-1925 audio recordings. Aside from the occasional wax cylinder and phonograph samples, it will be an entirely original production. This is almost like making an entire CD from scratch, something I've never before attempted. A free download will (of course) be posted here in early October.

The Holiday Remix Snow Globe: A Short Story

2011-05-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

A bit of techno thriller nonsense for your reading pleasure.

The Holiday Remix Snow Globe.pdf

This is my second attempt at short fiction, the first is here.

Enjoy.

Rareish Altern 8

2011-05-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

So instead of just using one of the ready-to-wear megamixes that Altern 8 provided, I decided to dig deep into their back catalogue to find a few rare gems for my hardcore mixtape. Don't you know I found them.

From collaborations with Inner City and Pet Shop Boys to Cabaret Voltaire, Altern 8 really made their way deep into the scene. Some of these cuts made it into the mix tape, but many of their hard to find original tracks didn't. Here's a smattering of these rarish original tracks, including two modern remixes for good measure.

Rareish Altern 8.zip

Folder includes

* Destiny
* Hole In The Speaker
* Infiltrate 202 (Altern 8 vs Astrix & Space Mix)
* Frequency (DFRNT Remix)
* Infiltrate 202 (Autobots Remix)

Watch your bass bins.

Class Of '93: Hyper On Hardcore Breakbeat

2011-05-04T23:09:00.000-07:00

If you've ever loved jungle, drum and bass, or happy hardcore, you've loved hardcore breakbeat. Hardcore is the solid trunk of early 90's British electronica that spawned literally dozens of sub-genres, including 2-step garage, dubstep, and fidget.

Hardcore itself is a branch of earlier revolutions in dance music, fusing together shards of house, breakbeat, acid, reggae and hip-hop turned up to 45. The tempos eventually chased each other up into the 150 bmp range, at which point jungle nabbed the weed, warbly bass lines, and MCs to form drum and bass, happy hardcore stole away with the 4/4 beats and screaming piano divas, and gabber kept the distortion petals for a notorious affair with techno.

But once upon a time they were all one. Funky breaks, chimpmunked vocals, scratched rap samples, rasta MCs, and heavenly synth stabs all lived together in glorious unity. This mixtape is dedicated to the memory of that unity, and to all the DJs and producers who made it happen.

Class Of '93: Hyper On Hardcore Breakbeat.mp3

Track list:

Hardcore Math User - Hyper On Hardcore
Wishdokta - Teknoschizo
D'Cruze - World Within A World
Gamer 3 - Acid For Blood
Art Of Noise - Instruments Of Darkness (Prodigy Remix)
Austin - Unity In Dub
Blame - Music Takes You (2 Bad Mice Take You)
SL2 - On A Ragga Tip
Criminal Minds - Re-Baptised By Dub (Selector’s Revenge)
Annie Lennox - Little Bird (NJoi Remix)
Smart E's - Sesame's Treet (Krome & Time Remix)
Altern 8 - Brutal-8-E (Jungle Brutalism Mix)
Acen - Window In The Sky (Krome & Time Bad Up Remix)
80 AUM - Mindcontroller
Nu-Matic - All Over Me
2 Bad Mice - Like It Deep
Hackney Hardcore - Dance Hall Dangerous (Terrorize Mix)
Nu-Matic - It's Strange (Dances Are Changin')
Krome & Time - The Slammer
Austin - Rude Boy
Foul Play - Open Your Mind (Nookie Remix)
Tom & Jerry - The One Reason
Andy C - Something New Pt 1
LA Style - I’m Raving
Prodigy - Everybody In The Place (155 And Rising)
Cuba Gooding vs Altern 8 - Happiness Is Just Around The Bend
Mark One - Hoovers And Spraycans
808 State - Timebomb
Altern 8 - Respect Is Due (Breakbeat Hysteria Mix)
Tic Tac Toe - The Big Blue
DJ Nex - DJ Nex’s Theme
Atomizer - Time To Time
Moby - Permanent Green
Prodigy - Out Of Space (Celestial Bodies Mix)
Praga Khan - Kick Back For The Rave Alarm
Fat Controller - In Complete Darkness
Messiah - 20,000 Hardcore Members
Inner City - Let It Reign (Alternate Altern 8 Mix)
Hardcore Math User - Hyphereoid
MIDI Rain - Fire
DJ Phantasy & DJ Gemini - Never Try The Hippodrome
808 State - Colony
Wishdokta - Whine You Bottom
Manix - Hardcore Jungalism
Foul Play - Finest Illusion (Legal Mix)
Tom & Jerry - Nine Lives (Mind Out Tube Mice)
DJ Doc Scott - Surgery (Ordinary Mix)
Altern 8 - One For John (Strag-O-Late The Chicken Mix)
Deee-Lite - Good Beat (Beatapella)
Tom & Jerry - Baby Don’t Shout
Phuture Assasins - Future Sounds (2 Bad Mice Remix)
Third Mind - Beans And Barley
SL2 - DJs Take Control (DJ Seduction Mix)
Dance Conspiracy - Dub War
Beyond The Future - Feel It
Blow - This Is Called The Cutter (Altern-8-ive Hardcore Remix)
Hyper On Experience - A Certain Emotion
Criminal Minds - The Criminal
Kaotic Chemistry - Space Cakes (2 Bad Mice Remix)
Manix - Feel Real Good (Remix)
Prodigy - Jericho
DJ Hype - Weird Energy (Hells' Bells Mix)
Orbital - Chime (Ray Keith Mutation)
Altern 8 - Hypnotic St-8 (St-8 Of Art Edit)
Austin - I Get High (‘93 Remix)
Bay B Kane - Bass Pump
Inner City - Follow You Heart (Altern 8 Annihil 8 Mix)

Old school enthusiasts should also check out the other Class of '93 mixtapes: Techno Acid Meltdown, Robot Dub Killer, and Rave Hysteria.

Coming soon: A tribute to jungle, 1994 and back.

RuPaul FTW

2011-05-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

Oh, sweet Jesus. I am so gay for this song right now.

RuPaul - The Beginning.mp3

RuPaul - The Beginning (Happy Hardcore Hack).mp3

Best. RuPaul. Song. Ever.

Weird Day

2011-05-02T11:51:00.000-07:00

Last night Americans learned that Osama bin Laden had been killed in a US raid. The President addressed the nation, crowds cheered outside the White House, and people like me tried to think of friends who would be up at 11:00 on a Sunday night so I could call them and OMG together.

But here's a funny thing: Osama bin Laden was killed today, not yesterday. The Washington Post announced that he clocked out near 1:00 am Pakistan time, which was mid-afternoon Washington time. So the official date of his death, a date that will be recognized in every history book from now on to forever, is May 2nd, 2011.

On a completely unrelated, but equally strange note: Those of us unfortunate enough to live in the upper Midwest are experiencing the seventh consecutive month to begin with wintry weather. Seventh month. SEVENTH MONTH. November 1st was seven months ago, and the temperature this morning was below freezing.

Weird day.

Nuyorican Soul - Runaway

2011-04-29T06:27:00.000-07:00

A taste of summer.

Nuyorican Soul - Runaway.zip

Folder includes

* Runaway (Mongoloids In Space Remix)
* Runaway (Mousse T's Jazz Funk Experience)

India really won me over on this one. I was not a fan of her earlier work with the MAW boys, but they constructed the perfect environment for her old-school, show tune vocal style to really hit the mark.

Armand Van Helden is the Mongoloid In Space. He turned out many classic remixes in the mid to late 90's, but this one always brought me to the dance floor. To this day I cannot hear this remix without peeing a little bit. Mousse T serves up a smooth soulful house version worthy of the most lavish after party.

Two truly great remixes of a truly great song. Along with Sandy B's Make The World Go Round, this was my favorite song of 1997. And that's no small feat, considering 1997 was also the year of New Forms.

Play them vibes.

Why Is This Afternoon Different From All Other Afternoons?

2011-04-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

Because we get cheezed to the tits on hairy purple ganja. Oh, wait. How is that different?

Although I have been sober now for many years, I still celebrate the right of my sleepy brothers and sisters to smoke themselves into the middle of next week, and what better day to celebrate this right than on the 20th of April?

Project One - Smokin.mp3

I have no idea what's going on right now.

Aphex Twin - Avril 14th

2011-04-16T19:27:00.000-07:00

Missed it by two days...

Aphex Twin - Avril 14th.mp3

...seems appropriate somehow

2011-04-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

I completely lost track of 808 State or anything connected to Graham Massey after 1992. I had the attention span of a coked-out club kid, and there was this really exciting thing going on over here with something called "jungle." My three 808 State CDs collected dust in the back of the crate while I moved on to speedier pleasures.

Sometime around the turn of the millennium I rediscovered Gorgeous, 808 State's follow-up to the canonical "pink album" and "blue album" that everybody seemed to have in 1991. While their earlier work deserves credit for breaking serious ground in techno, Gorgeous broke even more serious ground in aesthetics and deserves yet another listen.

808 State - Gorgeous Excerpts.zip

Folder includes

* Moses
* Orbit
* Southern Cross

A chocolate sundae for your soul.

How Do You Say... Deee-Lite?

2011-04-13T04:45:00.000-07:00

Because I'm having a bad week and I need a smile, that's why.

Deee-Lite - How Do You Say... Love.mp3

Also, I downloaded Bouncing Off The Satellites by The B52's. If that doesn't cheer me up, nothing will.

Bongwater: Another Toke, Please

2011-04-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

I know this sounds super gay, but it's not meant to: This one goes out to Daniel.

Bongwater - Kisses Sweeter Than Wine.mp3

I have louvred this song since I was a tender teen. It's twangy and has a banjo, and Daniel is all up into that kind of Americana shit. It's not exactly Americana, in fact I think it has Irish roots, but it's a god damn good song.

And it's definitely a cover.

So I Got Me A Rental Car...

2011-04-06T18:12:00.000-07:00

... but all I really want is you.

This song has been playing in my head all day, and so now I inflict it upon you.

Bongwater - White Rental Car Blues.mp3

Also I kind of dreamt about Ann Magnuson last night.

Stephen Colbert & Jimmy Fallon Sing Rebecca Black's Friday

2011-04-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

This is the best thing that has ever happened to my life, ever.

Whether we like it nor not, this is now America's official party anthem.

I Love This Woman

2011-04-01T01:59:00.001-07:00

Watch 30 Rock's Queen Of Jordan episode, and you will too.

Duck Duck Snow Duck

2011-03-31T06:42:00.000-07:00

Quite possibly the coolest picture I've ever taken.

Top Ten Downloaded MP3s

2011-03-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

You asked for them, and here they are. The ten most downloaded MP3s from this music blog are...

10. My 2010 Halloween Mixtape ("Father Morning Presents...")
9. Psychic TV - Tune In (Turn On Thee Acid House)
8. My 2009 Halloween Mixtape ("You've Been Sick")
7. David Sylvian - Taking The Veil (Mendelsohn Mix)
6. Cyndi Lauper - She Bop (Dance Mix)
5. Michael Jackson - Rock With You (Opolopo Remix)
4. Vanity 6 - Nasty Girl (Hardcore Math User Remix)
3. Limahl - Neverending Story (Hardcore Math User Remix)
2. Steely Dan - Peg (Hardcore Math User Remix)

and, of course, the most downloaded song on this blog...

1. Jeff Buckley & Elizabeth Fraser - All Flowers In Time Bend Towards The Sun

...holding strong at 567 nabs and counting.

It does his ego a great deal of good to see so many Hardcore Math User remixes and mixtapes in the top ten. He swears he will not let it go to his head and instead promises to get back to that old school hardcore mixtape he's been teasing us with. (Midterms are a bitch -- stay tuned.)

Don't forget, the Hardcore Math User music blog is going legit. Excluding remixes and mixtapes, links to all non-exclusive tracks will vanish with the boys of summer.

Get 'em while you can.

Hardcore Math User To Go Legit

2011-03-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

Rumor has it that Hardcore Math User's music blog will soon feature only exclusive content.

He's been in school and off the grid for the last few years, and will soon graduate. This means job interviews, and this in turn means his true identity will be revealed and Googled. That will bring prospective employers to this very blog, and eyebrows will be raised. Or not.

Sharing music online is a no-no. Hardcore Math User gets away with it because he is small-fry. But given enough attention, anyone can be sued into oblivion for hosting a tiny music blog. HMU has enjoyed the opportunity to share music with his friends and fans (all eight of them), and he will continue to post original material and commentary well into the future. (Science comes first, but music is a close fucking second.)

Links to original songs, remixes, mixtapes and other exclusive content will remain active and free. See the top free downloads here.

So enjoy the wide range of downloads on this music blog while you can, for many of them will be gone with the boys of summer. The last links should be gone by the end of August, 2011. [Edit: The last illegitimate link was removed on July 29th, 2011.]

Fun fact: The most downloaded song on this blog is Elizabeth Fraser's duet with Jeff Buckley, followed by my remixes of Steely Dan's Peg and Limahl's Neverending Story.

Moby - Bring Back My Happiness

2011-03-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" "Yeah, that dude looks like Moby."

So goes one of my favorite lines from NBC's unforgivably fantastic series Community. The moment inspired me to dig way back in the archives for one of my favorite Moby moments, Bring Back My Happiness.

I've only included the best two songs from this 1995 EP, and the original mix has been amped up to 170 bmp because, what can I say? I like it fast. Everybody knows that faster = happier.

Bring Back My Happiness EP.zip

Folder includes:

* Bring Back My Happiness (Sped)
* Bring Back My Happiness (Josh Wink Mix)

It's hard to let you go.

It's Fry Day

2011-03-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

Rebecca Black - yadirF

2011-03-23T10:33:00.000-07:00

This is my tribute to the pop genius of Rebecca Black. It is a looped version of her viral music sensation Friday played backwards.

Rebecca Black - Friday (Hardcore Math User Reloop).mp3

If you haven't seen the Friday video yet, you should stop whatever you're doing and watch it here now. It becomes instantly clear that a 13 year old has succeeded in beating Ke$ha at her own game.

Although the video is a montage of teenage silliness and the song itself makes Tik Tok's inanity seem like a forgivable transgression by comparison, Ms. Black doesn't lose her steady poise for a second. She seems to possess a natural royalty lost to most pop singers, and she brings the classy with her gesture to donate proceeds of her song to Japan.

If Rebecca Black does blow up like a Mylie or a Taylor -- and there's every sign that she is well on her way -- we may have finally found a young celebrity who will not go the way of a Britney or a Lindsay.

Fuck the haters. I love Rebecca Black.

[Edit to said haters: Lady Gaga and Simon Cowell have my back on this one. So does E!Online.]

In The Hall Of The STOP IT!

2011-03-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

Attention filmmakers: I know it seems like it was made for the job, but please, PLEASE stop using In The Hall Of The Mountain King in your movie trailers.

Latest offender: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (trailer here). It was clever for ten minutes in 2007, and now it's time to let it go the way of the entirely beaten to death Requiem For A Dream song.

Come up with something new, for fuck's sake.

[Edit: Mad credit to David Fincher and Trent Reznor for using it mid-film in the henley sequence of The Social Network. You're doing it right.]

Leather Hands - Vertical Lines

2011-03-16T11:47:00.000-07:00

Walking around on the first warm day of March + listening to Leather Hands' brilliant new single Vertical Lines = mind blown.

Leather Hands - Vertical Lines.mp3

This is my favorite new band. See their eye-popping video here, and visit their MySpace page here. 100% pop genius.

Hey, Bleedin' Records -- more of this kind of music, please.

Paul Young - Every Time You Go Away (Extended Version)

2011-03-10T06:40:00.000-08:00

Best 80's pop ballad ever. I don't care how gay it is.

Paul Young - Every Time You Go Away (Extended Version).mp3

Haters gonna hate.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

2011-02-25T19:56:00.000-08:00

I don't know who these guys are, or where they came from, and I don't care. They are my new favorite band.

They should be yours, too.

Moonlight Hits The Mirrorball EP.zip

Folder includes:

Moonlight Hits The Mirrorball
Moonlight Hits The Mirrorball (2 Bad Mice Lost '92 Mix)

Bay B Kane On CD

2011-02-20T18:50:00.000-08:00

I fell madly in love with Bay B Kane about five minutes after jungle hit the U.S. In 1993 I memorized every second of his Forwards In Reverse EP, and I slammed down $40 for Guardians Of Ruff in 1994, sound unheard.

Shortly thereafter I picked up two CD box sets, helpfully titled Best Of Jungle and Best Of Jungle '95. I saw Bay B Kane's name here and there on the enclosed CDs, and was grateful to have a few digital copies of drum & bass history.

Little did I know.

Discogs.com is a dangerous place. You know all those bands you loved as a teenager and into your early 20s? Now you can look up everything about them. Who was in them, where they recorded, offshoots you've never heard of, and bonus tracks hidden away on obscure compilation CDs that you now must have. I made the mistake of looking up Bay B Kane's name there last week, and I'm only just emerging now.

Most of his early work was vinyl-only. I was able to rip a few gems loose from YouTube, but the audio is pretty awful. What really got my attention was his list of pseudonyms. Bay B Kane (Mel Jalal Tanur) is known as Code K, Double T, Icon, Intelligent Jungalist, Kid Thunder, Parallel, Rinca, as well as a few group efforts. Imagine my surprise when I learned that I've had some of his early work on CD this whole time.

Bay B Kane On CD.zip

Folder includes

* Bay B Kane - Jungle Warriors '95
* Code K - Barehedd One
* Darkenator - The Warning
* Intelligent Jungalist - Double Barrel
* Kane & The Paraquat - Addikshun
* Kid Thunder - Scorpions Theme
* Nu-Matic - Hard Times

[Edit: Found another one: In Perfection - Expression (Bay B Kane Remix).mp3]

That last one by Nu-Matic really got me, not because it was released in 1992, but because I've had it since 1992 and I never knew it was him. No, it's not nearly as good as his peak years, but it's Bay B Kane in 1992. Excuse me while I switch pants.

Anyway, it's a real treat to re-experience one of the most brilliant minds of the early drum & bass movement in crystal-clear CD audio. Hope you find this collection as tasty as I do.

Rare Altern 8 B-Sides

2011-02-17T22:01:00.000-08:00

Every aging raver worth his salt remembers Altern 8. Their sound is immediately identifiable with early 90's rave madness, along with other crossover acts like Smart E's and Prodigy.

Here are two unforgettable and timeless b-sides from their Everybody EP.

Altern 8 - Everybody B-Sides.zip

Folder includes

* Domain 8 (Origin 8 In Detroit Mix)
* Underground (8 Till L-8 Mix)

Domain 8 finds the group on a one-way ticket to a Detroit trance party, while Underground keeps the breakbeat hysteria alive from the other side of the pond.

Two more gems from the back of the cr-8.

KLF - The White Room (Bootleg Jungle Remix)

2011-02-14T13:32:00.000-08:00

I rediscovered KLF's The White Room while digging through the crates for my old-school jungle mixtape. Not only did it bring back tons of memories, it scaled up nicely to 170 bpm. I punished it with classic jungle drum loops and now it's all ready for the mix.

KLF - The White Room (Hardcore Math User Remix).mp3

KLF - The White Room (Original Version).mp3

I pulled an all-nighter for this one. I can barely hold my eyes open, but such is the labor of love. Sometimes the muse just won't take no for an answer.

This is my valentine to 1991.

Calling All Jungle Heads

2011-02-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

I am presently working on a ridiculous sugar and caffeine infused old school hardcore mix that will make your eyes water like a slice of lemon to the face. It's going to span 1991 to 1994, and will be a minimum of 170 bpm. I am going to ass-rape you with screaming chipmunk piano jungle on helium, and you're going to like it.

While trolling the back of my oldest crates for the mix, I noticed that I still have a copy of Bay B Kane's Pure Shot A Lick from his classic 1994 The Guardian Of Ruff release. I tried to find a digital copy of the song online (or at least a better vinyl copy on YouTube), and don't you know, it couldn't be found.

I had stumbled upon the rarest of gems -- a song by an artist with a devoted following that is neither available for sale at the iTunes Store, nor ripe for ripping from YouTube.

Bay B Kane - Pure Shot A Lick.mp3

You're welcome.

I used to play this fucker out, so the quality is not the best. But it's better than not having it at all. Why they decided not to include this in The Guardian Of Ruff CD release is beyond me. It's criminal, really.

So stay tuned, stoners. Your old school, proto-happy hardcore, jungle-on-45 safari is on its way. It's going to be truly sickening.

Bye Bye, Hosni

2011-02-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

Madonna hardly seems like the appropriate artist to mark the occasion of Mubarak's ouster, but this was the first song that popped in my head.

Madonna - Bye Bye Baby.mp3

Bye bye, Hosni. You f**ked it up.

Cutting Crew - (I Just) Died In Your Arms (Remix)

2011-02-04T06:41:00.000-08:00

It's Flashback Friday! We're going to try something completely different and post an extended version of a mid-80's pop hit!

Cutting Crew - (I Just) Died In Your Arms (Remix).mp3

I downloaded like 100 of these in August, and school is kicking my ass. I'm just going to keep serving them up until I get my life back, or until I run out, whichever comes later.

Just roll with it.

The Only Dead Or Alive Song I Will Ever Post

2011-02-02T06:26:00.000-08:00

WHY DO I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH?

Seriously, I can't stand Pete Burns. He makes Amy Winehouse look pulled together by comparison, and if I ever hear Spin Me Round again, I will drive a butter knife through someone's knee.

And yet, for some reason...

Brand New Lover.zip

Folder includes

* Brand New Lover (Radio Edit)
* Brand New Lover (Extended Version)

The radio version is the better of the two, but I included the extended version just to be OCD.

General Public - Tenderness (Long Version)

2011-01-30T11:41:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't love this song?

I mean, really. If you're having an absolute shit day, and you hate everybody on the planet -- in other words, if you've baked up a batch of frownies -- this song will force you to smile.

General Public - Tenderness (Long Version).mp3

Sometimes you just need a little 80's sunshine to chase away the emo.

INXS - Need You Tonight (Extended)

2011-01-25T10:04:00.000-08:00

Julian Mendelsohn is a god. Who? Exactly. Unless you follow 80's remixes with a laser beam like focus, you've probably never heard of him. But like all truly great producers, you've heard him whether you know it or not.

I remember hearing the extended version of David Sylvian's epic Taking The Veil back in the late 80's, but I could never seem to lay my hands on a copy of my own. When I finally downloaded it in 2006, after picking my jaw up off the floor, I noted Mendelsohn's name.

And don't you know, I came across it again.

INXS - Need You Tonight (Mendelsohn Mix).mp3

One of the most memorable hits of the late 80's gets the treatment it deserves from one of the most talented producers in the industry.

For more Mendelsohn backstory and discography, visit his website.

Hey Ricky

2011-01-22T10:21:00.000-08:00

Attention world: Please stop giving me reasons to love Ricky Gervais. (Reason #1, reason #2, reason #3.)

I have enough now.

Level 42 - Something About You (Shep Pettibone Remix).mp3

There's just something about him.

Mighty Dub Katz - Just Another Groove (Vocal Edit)

2011-01-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

I'd like to say that this is not your father's house music, but unfortunately, it is. Even back in the late 90's I heard the kids talk about "dad house." (I shudder to think how they refer to it now.)

This track is so old, the people who grew up listening to it as children are now in college. Sadly, I remember throwing my hands up in the air to this massive club anthem the year it came out. In fact, with the exceptions of Sandy B's Make The World Go Round and the entirety of New Forms, this was my favorite song of 1997. (Seriously, fuck Rockafella Skank.) My only complaint was that the epic vocals were too fleeting. So, with the magic of audio editing software, we may now enjoy a more vocaly version.

The Mighty Dub Katz - Just Another Groove (Vocal Edit).mp3

The wizard behind the curtain of course is Fatboy Slim. I never liked him all that much, mostly because the hype reached utterly ridiculous levels before the 90's wore off. Nonetheless, I respected him from a distance. This is the only song of his I've gone out of my way to download, and it popped in my mind for no reason yesterday.

So here it is.

Small Talk EP

2011-01-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

I've posted these songs before, but as tracks folded into my Halloween mixtapes. Here they are by themselves, unmixed and standing on their own merits.

It's been a while since I've written and recorded my own original material, so this was a bit of a leap for me. Most of my recording gear was ripped off in 2006, and I haven't taken the time to figure out Garage Band or Fruity Loops or any of that other nonsense. Anyway, freeform black ambient seems straightforward enough to do without a metronome.

Jason Herrboldt - Small Talk EP.zip

Folder includes:

Small Talk
Don't Flail Me Now
Small Talk (Whisper Mix)

All three songs were written for my Halloween mixtape series, but are also quickly becoming source material for a full-length album which may or may not be dropped like an h-bomb later this year. Inspiration: Coil, Brighter Death Now, Current 93, Nurse With Wound, Sunn O))), Meldhkwis aka Aymrev Erkroz Prevre/Dapnom/Etmenns Derokwis.

All tracks written and recorded by me in 2009 / 2010. All instruments consist of my mouth and a glass of water. Recorded with TwistedWave 1.9 on Snow Leopard.

:: FREEZER BURN :: Ice Cold Drum & Bass Mixtape

2011-01-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's the time of year. Something about the icy air makes me crave cold, funky, robotic drum and bass. This winter is no exception.

Last week the temperatures dropped well below zero, and before I knew it I had dropped like thirty bucks at the iTunes Store on some of the chilliest tracks around. I mixed them all together, and now I make it available for you.

The robotic vocals sprinkled throughout the mix are generated with a program called Speak To Me. I also used audio from the classic arcade games Galaga, Space Invaders, Q*Bert, and Defender. The mix was done using TwistedWave 1.9.1 on Snow Leopard.

Hardcore Math User - Freezer Burn.mp3

Track list:

Lomax - Palomar (00:00:00)
Icicle - Spartan (00:04:06)
Icicle - Echoes (00:08:30)
Lomax - Artisan (00:12:14)
Lomax - Blades Of Steel (00:16:39)
Icicle - Nowhere (00:20:42)
June Miller - Poison The Well (00:25:50)
June Miller - Shimizu (00:30:59)
Icicle - Minus (00:36:08)
Icicle & Proxima - The Echelon Form (00:40:33)
Lomax - Brain Freeze (00:43:30)
Alix Perez & Icicle - Caution (00:47:10)
Lomax - Mercia (00:50:51)
June Miller & Mindmapper - Quartz Controlled (00:54:31)
Anile - Orthodox (00:58:34)
Anile - Induction (01:05:11)
Icicle - Late Hours VIP (01:11:05)
June Miller - Keep Ups (01:14:45)
Icicle - Cold Revenge (01:19:32)
Icicle - Cause (01:23:57)
Technical Itch - Darkhalf (01:28:44)
Icicle - Frozen (01:36:00)
Icicle - Weak Moments (01:40:24)
Lomax - Federation (01:44:05)
Lomax - Profile (01:47:46)
Data - Kyoshojutsu (01:50:42)
Icicle - Cold Fear (01:54:23)
Lomax - Jungle FX (01:58:48)

Oh, Snap!

2011-01-05T12:11:00.000-08:00

This is in honor of Ted Williams, the homeless guy with the golden voice.

In case you haven't heard of him, here's the quick one-two: Williams had a job as a radio announcer before his struggle with drugs and alcohol led him to a life on the streets. A few days ago someone took a video of him showing off his fantastic radio voice, and it went viral.

Now he's looking at a job offer from the Cleveland Cavaliers, a house, and instant celebrity. He, like Jeff Bridges' character in The Fisher King, suddenly has the power.

Snap - The Power.mp3

Here's hoping Williams fares better than Jack Lucas.

Caspian - Jeweler's Dive EP

2011-01-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

One of the benefits of hosting a free music blog is foisting my own songs on a captive audience. This is one of those moments. Lucky you.

In 1998 I recorded a song called Jeweler's Dive. It was one of only a few jazz-inspired drum and bass tracks I made during the late 90's. An edited version enjoyed a mini-celebrity on Terminal Beats, a compilation released by indie jungle Chicago outfit Forte Recordings. (Old school ruffians will remember Midwest legends 3D and Snuggles.)

The following year I remixed the song for another indie dance music label in San Francisco, Cosmic Flux. I was really into Earth Wind and Fire during this period of my life (believe it), and was deliriously happy to manage to fold samples from the gorgeous New World Symphony into the bridge of the remix. Sadly, Cosmic Flux chose to pass. It was an ironic choice, considering the original version of Jeweler's Dive was on the demo that got me signed to them in the first place.

Caspian - Jeweler's Dive EP.zip

Folder includes:

Jeweler's Dive (Original Version)
Jeweler's Dive ('99 Remix)

The original was done on an Ensoniq ASR-10, and the remix was made with Cakewalk and an Akai S2000. They both sound fairly simplistic and dated by today's standards, but they were both important steps in finding my sea legs as a producer. My love for drum and bass managed to survive the last fifteen years intact, but I've never been further away from jazz in my life.

Ke$ha: Rapper

2010-12-26T07:23:00.000-08:00

That's right. You got served.

REBLOG: Christmas Time Is Here

2010-12-24T10:20:00.000-08:00

Oh, shit. Reblog!

Vince Guaraldi Trio - Christmas Time Is Here.mp3

(I can reblog myself. What?!)

Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days (Extended Version)

2010-12-23T08:52:00.000-08:00

Take your baby by the throat -- and toss her in the nearest moat. The lyrics never fail to perplex, but the song remains a timeless classic.

Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days (Extended Version).mp3

Won't you tell me what a Wang Chung is?

Michael Sembello - Maniac (Extended Version)

2010-12-22T06:27:00.000-08:00

This doesn't have anything to do with the holidays other than the fact that I have a crystal-clear memory of listening to the Flashdance soundtrack on my Sony Walkman while on a ski trip in the Rockies over Christmas 1984.

Michael Sembello - Maniac (Extended Version).mp3

Fuck cowbell. Give me more vocoder.

Kajagoogoo - Too Shy (Midnight Mix)

2010-11-27T07:54:00.000-08:00

If you look at this picture long enough, sequin-farting unicorns will come flying out of your ass and barf rainbows and flavored condoms all over your laptop.

Kajagoogoo - Too Shy (Midnight Mix).mp3

Lucky you.

David Sylvian & Robert Fripp - Darshan Remixes

2010-11-20T10:24:00.000-08:00

While I confess I never listened to their full length CD The First Day, I nonetheless adore this small collection of remixes from Sylvian and Fripp's 1993 collaborative period.

I'm not entirely sure I knew who Future Sound of London was when I first bought this EP. I only knew I was still reeling from Sylvian's early solo works of the 80's. I also remembered that Robert Fripp was credited with some synthesizer manipulations on Sylvian's devastating Gone To Earth Double LP, so really, snapping up this single was a no-brainer at the time.

Sylvian/Fripp - Darshan EP.zip

Folder includes

Darshan (Translucent Remix By The Grid)
Darshana (Reconstructed by FSOL)
Darshan (The Road To Graceland)

There's a fascinating traffic jam of talent represented here. Future Sound of London needs no introduction to followers of this blog. Sylvian hails from the glam-emo outfit Japan, and Fripp is of course well known for his work with King Crimson, Blondie, The Talking Heads, David Bowie, and Brian Eno.

The Grid, a name with which I confess to be unfamiliar, is a collaboration between Dave Ball and Richard Norris. Their names had a familiar ring, but I'm afraid I had to look them both up. Ball has famously worked with Soft Cell, and Norris has done remixes for Chemical Brothers, Tracy Thorne, Badly Drawn Boy, Goldfrapp, and others.

More importantly to this blogger, Both Ball and Norris were both partially responsible for Psychic TV's late 80's acid madness, a sample of which is available for download here. (This is why their names rang a distant, broken bell.)

Who's Zoomin' Axel F

2010-11-11T05:23:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Mashup Thursday. I was up all night throwing this one together, so I hope you whores like it.

Aretha Faltermeyer - Who's Zoomin' Axel F.mp3

It borders on religious how well these two songs go together.

JUHYO & Seeking Wellness

2010-11-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

I attended the screening of Daniel Schneidkraut's Seeking Wellness at the Minneapolis Trylon Microcinema last night. JUHYO opened. It was great. I slyly recorded the first 7 minutes of their act on my phone.

JUHYO Snippet.mp3

[Edit: This link has not been removed because I did obtain direct and explicit permission from both the director and a member of JUHYO to post this clip via email.]

Actually, they played for about 30 minutes and then Seeking Wellness started as they were playing. They continued to play for the first 20 minutes of the film, which consists of silent security camera footage. The blend was utterly flawless.

I briefly spoke with Daniel Schneidkraut after the film. It was an honor to meet one of the people behind the most disturbing film I've seen in years. (A mutual friend gave me a copy last Halloween.)

While I was there I picked up a copy of the short film victory., the latest offering from Sepulchral Voice. I just watched it minutes ago, and I think it's going to take a while to sink in. My first impression is overwhelmingly positive. I recommend you go to their website and pick up a copy. While you're at it, buy some JUHYO.

Somebody has to support these psychos.

Halloween Wrap Up

2010-11-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Fuck off to all 41 people who downloaded my 2010 Halloween mixtape, whoever you are. With the 41 downloads and the 200 hand-distributed CDs, I'm on my way to breaking last year's record of 253. (I wish I knew how many copies wound up in the trash where they belong.)

It was a labor of smut, and I'm already dreading next year's. (Stay tuned for an upload of the 2007 Halloween mixtape by request.) Each successive mix gets more and more original, less and less sampley. It's entirely possible that next year's mix will consist of 100% original material. (Me barfing on dying homeless trannies is one idea being kicked around.)

By the way: If you listened to the entirety of this year's mix, you'll be dead within a week. Not that anyone will miss you.

Shaye Saint John

2010-11-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

What a cruel irony to find out about you, to delight in your obscenity, and the next day to learn that you're dead.

RIP, Shaye Saint John. I never knew you, but I feel like a part of me has been sawed off and ripped away. I'll do The Hand Thing all day in your memory. ("God! What is that?") I've ordered your DVD from Amazon. It can't come fast enough.

Thank you Picture Is Unrelated for turning me on to Shaye in the first place. I promise to remember Shaye the next time humanity makes me want to eat my own eyeballs.

We really can do amazing things if we try.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir

2010-11-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

Kudos to Eric Whitacre and the YouTube choir for an outstanding performance.

Mind = blown.

Trick Or Treat

2010-11-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

Here's hoping you had a "special" Halloween.

Siouxsie & The Banshees - Halloween.mp3

Halloween Theme

2010-10-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

Let's mark the occasion properly.

John Carpenter's Original Halloween Theme.mp3

Fuck Rob Zombie.

2010 HALLOWEEN MIXTAPE!

2010-10-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

In what is now a yearly ritual of armed audio warfare, I bring you the latest sonic assault of blood-choked screams, growling ambient hellscapes, distorted machines of industry, serial killers, the possessed, and the insane.

Here to guide you through this drafty tour of the netherworld is my alter ego, Father Morning. He will hold your hand as you penetrate even deeper into the gated circles of Hell and uncover the hidden blasphemies of Sodom. (I hope you don't mind if he brings along a few altar boys to, um, carry his luggage.)

As before (2008 mix here, 2009 mix here), I am relying on the unwitting generosity of a diverse group of musicians and movie directors for audio sampling resources. Father Morning drew upon several putrid wells of creativity to unearth his sonic crash-ups of filth, and he would simply lash himself into oblivion if he thought for one second that these artists and directors might go unthanked. (See Acknowledgments and Apologies.) Both songs credited to Jason Herrboldt are original productions by yours truly, using only my voice and some simple manipulations of layering, pitch, and reverb.

But no more delays. No more teasing. Bend over, grab your rosary beads, and prepare yourself for the ultimate in sonic spiritual punishment. The basement door is open, and Father Morning will see you now. Have a terrible Halloween, you fucking sinners.

Father Morning Presents The ("Don't Tell") Boys Club Basement Party.zip

Track list:

Father Morning - Your Friend The Priest
David Selby - Shadows Of The Night (Quentin's Theme)
Father Morning - The Living
Father Morning - The Third Commercial
Father Morning - The Dead
Jason Herrboldt - Small Talk
Father Morning - Howdy Captain
Heinous Killings - Strangled By Intestines
hardcoremathuser.blogspot.com - Simon Slays
Tony Wakeford & Steven Stapleton - Walk The White Ghost
Father Morning - The Texas Chainsaw Mascara
Father Morning - Unforgiven (Seventeen Of Them)
Devourment - Festering Vomitous Mass
Father Morning - Come On Aileen
Jason Herrboldt - Small Talk (Whisper Mix)
Raz Mesinai vs Aymrev Erkroz Prevre - String Quartet For Four Turntables / Effondrement
Defeated Sanity - Psalms Of The Moribund

(Bonus Track: Adelina Patti sings "The Laughing Song" from Auber's comic opera Manon)

Acknowledgments and apologies:

Anima Damnata
Bernard Becker
Big Mouse
Brutal Truth
Coil
Meldhwkis (aka Aymrev Erkroz Prevre, AEP, Dapnom, Etmenns Derokwis)
The New Blockaders
NON
Nurse With Wound
Genesis P-Orridge
Effie Stewart
Sunn O)))
Vortex Campaign

Audio from the movie:

The Crazies (Breck Eisner, Director)
The Exorcist (William Friedkin, Director)
The Exorcist III (William Peter Blatty, Director)
Halloween III (Tommy Lee Wallace, Director)
Seeking Wellness (Daniel Schneidkraut, Director)
Session 9 (Brad Anderson, Director)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, Director)

All crash-ups and original creations were made during the summer of 2010 using TwistedWave 1.9 on Snow Leopard. A limited number of hard copies were pressed to CD and distributed by hand to random businesses and public spaces around Minneapolis in October, 2010.

Errata: CDDB incorrectly refers to song four as The Dadda's Intoxication by Stereolab vs Nurse With Wound. This track was changed at the last minute to The Third Commercial by Father Morning. The MP3 titles and tags reflect this change, but iTunes and other CDDB clients won't catch it if you load up one of the CDs. Father Morning has been appropriately disciplined for this oversight. (His subscription to Boys' Life magazine has been cancelled.)

Shadow of the Vampire

2010-09-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

I just rented this movie and watched it the other night for the first time in years. I forgot how much I love the score, written by Dan Jones (with excerpts from Wagner).

Shadow of the Vampire Excerpt.zip

Folder includes audio from the opening and closing credits of the film.

I'm particularly fond of the beginning passages of the music for the closing credits. Jones took the same tired old James Bond progression and made with it something more, something much worse.

Season Of The Witch

2010-09-08T23:41:00.000-07:00

The season is almost upon us, and my 2010 Halloween mixtape is almost complete. It will drop no later than October 1st

Last night I watched one of my favorite worst/best horror films, Halloween III: The Season Of The Witch. Some of the audio bits inspired me to do one last quick crash-up for the mixtape, and I thought I'd share it with you here as a sneak peek. You'll surely recognize the uber-annoying Silver Shamrock theme from your misspent youth.

Father Morning - The Third Commercial (Unmixed Version).mp3

(Father Morning is the chosen name for my alter-ego this time around. Last year it was The Silly Doctor.)

I hope you enjoy this piece of b-movie audio trash as much as I enjoyed tossing it together. Father Morning enjoys tossing a nice salad.

Broken/Head Over Heels (Preacher Mix)

2010-09-08T07:05:00.000-07:00

This one took some real digging. The best copy I could find was still far from CD quality. Were it any other song, I would have stopped looking.

Head Over Heels is the same as the album version as far as I can tell, but Broken is extended. Very lovely.

Tears For Fears - Broken/Head Over Heels (Preacher Mix).mp3

I wish I had purchased this one the first time around!

Slow School Jungle Breakz

2010-08-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

What if a twitchy arcade monkey with a penchant for drum and bass hopped in a time machine dialed back to the mid-1990s after taking too much ketamine?

The result, of course, would be a slow motion 8 bit journey through the jungles of England, with the likes of Gavin King, Danny Williamson, Clifford Price, and Rupert Parkes lighting the way.

Hardcore Math User - Slow School Jungle Breakz.mp3

Track list:

Aphrodite - Woman That Rolls
DJ Sole - Deal Wid It
A-Zone - Calling The People
The House Crew - Untitled
Goldie - Still Life
Hidden Agenda - Pressin' On
Amazon II - Bass Light
Art Of Noise - Kiss (Haitian Vampire Mix)
Photek - Third Sequence
Dillinja - Silver Blade
Smokey Joe - A Special Request
Chameleon - Links
Johnny Jungle - Johnny (Dillinja Remix)
Dom & Roland - Dawning
Optical - To Shape The Future
Blame - Centuries
Ken Ishii - Stretch (Shogun Remix)
Photek - Rings Around Saturn
Kinetix - The Stalking Moon (Technical Itch Remix)
J Majik - Arabian Nights

All tracks released 1994 - 1997. Made with TwistedWave 1.9 and two yard bags of imaginary sinsemilla.

Howard Jones - The Balance Of Love (Give & Take)

2010-08-20T16:17:00.000-07:00

I remember buying Howard Jones' One To One on cassette at a suburban mall record store all done up in pink triangles and green claw slashes. I was 13 and completely in love with the (by then) ubiquitous Things Can Only Get Better. Oddly the copy of One To One I wound up with didn't have You Know I Love You... Don't You? or (the insufferable) No One Is To Blame. I seem to remember those coming out a bit later.

Howard Jones - The Balance Of Love (Give And Take).mp3

Anyway, I couldn't find the MP3s from One To One anywhere (legally or otherwise) so as a last resort I ordered a used copy of the CD from Amazon. Listening to these songs again is a revelation. Most are dippy, some are fantastic. This was the opening track on the cassette, and easily my favorite song that year. It still sounds fresh and original to me now.

Adam F - Music In My Mind EP

2010-08-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

I remember the way my life changed when Goldie prodigy Adam F dropped his full-length CD Colours. At the time I was carrying my own PA system to dj at local clothing stores and trying my hand at jazz-influenced drum and bass at home. I must have played Colours on a daily basis for six months. (I still haven't recovered from Andy C's fucktartedly awesome remix of Circles.) Colours was at the absolute pinnacle of intelligent drum and bass, right up there with D'Cruze's Control, Goldie's Timeless, and Alex Reece's So Far.

Here is one of the best songs on Colours, released as an EP in 1998 with some snacky remixes.

Adam F - Music In My Mind EP.zip

Folder includes

* Music In My Mind (Original Version)
* Music In My Mind (Blame's Astral Mix)
* Music In My Mind (DJ Krust Inside Out Mix)
* Music In My Mind (Deep Dish El Nino Mix)

The single moves seamlessly from a robot torch song to a sci-fi adventure, from a dark jazz jitterbug to a door knocking house anthem. At the time I was heavily consuming tracks by Blame (longstanding member of the ubiquitous Good Looking empire) and Deep Dish, so this single is really a perfect microcosm of all the things that went right with electronic dance music in the second half of the nineties. This CD single is, in many ways, the gold standard.

XTC - King For A Day (CD Maxi Single)

2010-08-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

I was recently inspired to download and listen to Oranges & Lemons for the first time in years. (The last time I listened to it was on cassette.) Amazing!

Somehow I had the presence of mind to not only buy this CD single when I saw it, but to hold on to it all these years.

Contains remixes you won't find on YouTube or the iTunes Store.

XTC - King For A Day.zip

Folder contains:

* King For A Day (Czar Mix)
* King For A Day (Versailles Mix)
* Toys
* Desert Island

Turn that frown upside down.

A-Ha - Take On Me (Promo 12" Mix)

2010-08-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is a coup: I've never heard this remix before, and I can't find it anywhere on discogs.com.

A-Ha - Take On Me (Promo 12 Inch Mix).mp3

A really lovely version of a sweet little song. A rare gem indeed.

Out Of Touch (Dub Version)

2010-08-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, the entirely irresistible Hall & Oates.

Hall & Oates - Out Of Touch (Dub Version).mp3

They are my biggest guilty pleasure. Don't hate.

Billie Jean (Opolopo Remix)

2010-08-11T09:21:00.000-07:00

Opolopo does it again. They served up a fantastic remix of Rock With You, and now they're back with an inspired revamp of Billie Jean.

Michael Jackson - Billie Jean (Opolopo Remix).mp3

This is what good networking gets you: Opolopo managed to get their hands on not one but two acapella versions of MJ hits.

Lucky us.

New Order - Ultraviolence

2010-08-11T05:58:00.000-07:00

Everybody makes mistakes.

New Order - Ultraviolence.mp3

Even me.

My Love Is Your Love (Jonathan Peters Remix)

2010-08-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

She might make a train wreck look pulled together by comparison, but there is no denying Whitney Houston's power when she was at her peak.

Whitney Houston - My Love Is Your Love (Jonathan Peters Remix).mp3

I've never been able to explain my immediate and overwhelming love for this song.

Brain Freeze

2010-08-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

Is it cold in here, or is it just you?

Lomax - Brain Freeze.mp3

Jesus, I Love Those Cicadas

2010-07-29T06:49:00.000-07:00

My seasonal sense of Jesus' crucifixion is a little off. Easter happens in spring of course, but my thoughts turn to Cavalry in the late summer when the reverb-laden chorus of cicadas cries out from the treetops. (It's Peter Gabriel's fault.)

Passion Excerpts.zip

Folder includes these excerpts from Gabriel's brilliant The Last Temptation Of Christ soundtrack:

* Of These, Hope

* Lazarus Raised

* Of These, Hope - Reprise

I don't know what musical instrument they use that's so perfectly evocative of the mysterious hum from the trees, but I love it just to death. Let the season of the cicada begin.

My Kind Of Astrology

2010-07-28T05:22:00.000-07:00

Usually the only kind of astrology I allow in my day is from the Onion.

Coldcut - Sign.mp3

I'll make an exception this time.

A Few Words, Please

2010-07-25T07:01:00.001-07:00

The last movement of Sylvian's epic three part Words With The Shaman. I'll bet the words were something sage like, "Don't eat the red mushrooms unless you really want to trip balls."

David Sylvian - Awakening (Song From The Tree Tops).mp3

An early post-Japan favorite.

Kiss Me Like You Mean It

2010-07-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

Today's musical gem shines brighter in the dark. Under the stars, in the light of candles.

Kiss me, god dammit.

Antonio Carlos Jobim - Chega De Saudade.mp3

You, the night, and the music.

Dante's House

2010-07-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

This short story is loosely based on the time I spent at the Perpich Center for the Arts in 1990 and 1991. All characters and events are fictitious.

Jason Herrboldt - Dante's House.pdf

I don't know how writers do it. Working on this short story nearly drove me mad, and it didn't even break 5,000 words. I can't begin to imagine the horror of writing an entire book.

I'm Ready For My Rewind Miss Waters

2010-07-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

The voice of 1994's ubiquitous 100% Pure Love threw down more than a few gems on her Storyteller LP. Here's one of my favorites, remixed by the masterminds who put her on the map.

What I Need.zip

Folder includes:

1. What I Need (Album Version)

2. What I Need (Basement Boys Remix).mp3

A truly inspired mid-90s club anthem.

I've Got The Power (Clowns)

2010-07-13T05:48:00.000-07:00

Smelly funk meets a surreal children's show from the 70s.

Fila Brazillia - Little Hands Rogue.mp3

They're doing it right.

Don't You Care?

2010-07-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

A little shameless self-promotion. This is a single that was recorded back in the day when I was playing footsie with Om Records in San Francisco.

Caspian - Don't You Care.zip

Folder contains:

1. Don't You Care (Original Mix)

2. Don't You Care (Afro-Mystic Remix)

I don't know if Afro-Mystic ever released his version, but mine at least saw one vinyl pressing before my five minutes of fame was over.

Tiny Tim & The Antichrist

2010-07-11T07:14:00.000-07:00

I was dizzy with glee when I found out a few weeks ago that Tiny Tim is buried in my home town. I plan on visiting his grave on the anniversary of his death this November. (Should I leave a tulip? Of course I should.)

Tiny Tim, Current 93, Nurse With Wound - Just What Do You Mean By 'Antichrist'?.mp3

You were the coolest celebrity of the 20th century. We still miss you.

xoxo

Rockhard In A Funky Place

2010-07-09T05:29:00.000-07:00

The wheels came flying off the Prince wagon sometime in the late 80s. Here's one of his last great works from the Black Album.

Prince - Rockhard In A Funky Place.mp3

It's written all over your face.

Where Edges Meet

2010-07-08T09:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday's prescription: flutes, celesta, breakbeats, a violin section, and a time machine dialed in for a game of space golf in 2057.

Noel Zancanella - Where Edges Meet.mp3

Trip hop: You know you still kind of love it.

Heroes At Work

2010-07-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Masters At Work...

Nuyorican Soul - I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun (4 Hero Remix).mp3

A mysticism-infused treasure of late 90s electronica to be sure.

Same As Your Mother Was

2010-07-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime (Masters At Work Remix).mp3

Ein Bisschen Bach

2010-07-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here are a few lovely Bach keyboard selections from hither and thither.

Ein Bisschen Bach.zip

Folder includes:

Concerto for Four Harpsichords In A Minor, BWV 1065 - 3 Allegro
Inventions & Sinfonias - Invention No 2 In C Minor, BWV 773
Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1, Prelude No 2 In C Minor, BWV 847

These tiny compositions may be experienced in the time it takes to eat two cookies - with pinky firmly in the air, of course.

Burn, Motherfuckers

2010-07-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

The dominoes started falling this week in 1914.

Dismember - Europa Burns.mp3

It's the feel-good song of the day. Lyrics:

1914 Nations bleed in the Great War to end all wars
young men march on towards the frontline
Unknowing of the horrors to come
Europa burns

1916, young men fight on
Most of them gone in the western campaign

Count the dead and justify
That nothing has been gained
Mass the troops for another push
A sacrifice to the rain of steel
As Europa burns

1918, young men are gone
Horribly maimed in no-mans land
Trenches are filled with blood of the dead
Human waste of World War One

The Anti-Canada

2010-07-02T05:36:00.000-07:00

Intellectual rock at its finest.

Constantines - Arizona.mp3

Smart, but never boring. Unlike Canada.

Oops, sorry. Happy belated Canada Day, doods.

Bongwater!

2010-07-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

They have Nick Cave dolls now?

Bongwater - Nick Cave Dolls.mp3

I want one.

PS: Not that you whores deserve any better, but I promise that this is the end of my recent hiatus. Daily songs from now on. Pinky swear.