Dead Prez vs. Higher Ground
2013-04-11 by Big J
Good strong heartfelt a cappella over Hudson Mohawke’s “Higher Ground”. What’s not to like?
Play loud and get angry as nothing they’re angry about has improved since they released it in 99.
Download MP3 (3:10min / 6MB)
Spaced: 1998 (or thereabouts)
2013-01-03 by Hal BerstramHal Berstram – Spaced: 1998
From a fictional 1999 to the real 1998 (at least I think it was 1998…) I’ve been playing all my old cassettes into the computer and came across this piece which I made and then promptly forgot about. The equipment list was (I think) a Yamaha DX7 and a Zoom effects unit, multitracked using Cakewalk on my old PC. It’s a bit formless but illustrates some of the sounds that the DX7 was capable of quite well I think – a real travesty that this synth became known for electric piano and marimba imitations in the mid-1980s. I’m particularly pleased with the strange burbly sound that comes along at about 8:13 – sounding very similar to the Synthi AKS loop on Fripp and Eno’s “Swastika Girls”. I had no idea the DX7 was capable of such a weird sound, and still can’t quite work out how I did it, 15 years later. Oh well…
Download MP3 (9:59min / 18MB)
New Track from me; 'Techmp'
2010-11-09 by T PotHere is a track i made yesterday. Its extremely simple; made in one sitting and checked on the car sub today, sounded OK. Iv stacked several string instruments on top of each other with some simple but hopefully heavy bass.
I attempted some obvious chord changes but that just didnt work for some reason, the sounds choosen seemed to ‘sing’ in just a few places so i left it at that…...iv left in some resonant problems & stuff in the strings aswell so as not to leave behind the original feel of it.
its at 140 bpm. hope you like it.
cheers. t-pot.
Download MP3 (3:26min / 8MB)
This one goes out to the Pope: welcome to our 3rd world country
2010-09-16 by Hal BerstramBTSM – (We’ll Arrest You) When You Step Off The Plane
A little something topical for the kids now… those of you not on the Richard Branson space program probably know that the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope, is visiting the UK over the next few days.
Last month, three members of the Burning Lodge immersion composition group entered a rehearsal studio in Bermondsey to record a selection of freeform jams, sonic experiments and in-jokes. In other words it was very similar to the recording sessions for Guns’n’Roses’s “Chinese Democracy” album but took about a billionth of the time.
Around 2 and a half hours of material emerged from the sessions – ranging from in the sweet spot to 1-bit unlistenable. This 8-minute effort, excerpted from a longer 34-minute track, was the most topical ‘song’ of the day (with the exception of a track about 25 per cent spending cuts and odes to the late Tony Wilson and Mr Dave Smith, creator of the Evolver synth).
My colleagues Ben and Martin (aka Brothers Buffalo and Sewing Machine) acquit themselves wonderfully. Ben delivers the lyrics with considerable elan: it’s the best delivery since Hunter S Thompson’s story about 1972 presidential candidate George McGovern who went up to a heckler, put his arm round the bastard, and said “I have a secret for you… kiss my ass.”
The music is a fractured groove – a bit messy, but certainly something that could be worked on. I’m particularly proud of the mighty irritating synth arpeggiation that comes in at about 5 minutes in – funky funky. The weird Hawkwind-style background noises are courtesy of the Dave Smith Evolver – a truly untameable beast.
If you want to read a good article about the true purpose of the pope’s visit, Andrew Brown in the Guardian has a go(o)d hypothesis.
I was going to go on the demo this Saturday but not sure if I’ll have enough time. But maybe.
Download MP3 (8:00min / 9MB)
- longer version of this track
- (probably only online for a month or so)
- hilarious article
- about tacky Pope souvenirs - "Benedictaphone", anyone?
Something I have been working on recently
2010-06-10 by Hal BerstramBrother Typewriter – Hushed Tones in The Recording Industry (edit)
This is just a little thing I was working on last month with the Burning Lodge immersion composition group.
I miss the old days of 1970s vinyl when you could get albums which had one track on each side, normally about 17 or 18 minutes long. So I did an album like that.
“Hushed tones…” starts off a bit Floyd and then goes into something a bit like the 70s Tangerine Dream. When the sequencers were primitive and didn’t like to be tuned properly. And then… who the hell knows.
At some point I might post the other “side”, titled “The Great Shortage of Songs About Shop Work”. Named in honour of an in-joke too lame to explain here.
More mad stuff as it becomes available.
Download MP3 (11:50min / 14MB)
electro tune made with reason 4 & rebirth
2010-06-05 by T Potez folks, here is a track lurking on my HD. Quite an odd tune…. the vocal was taken from an xbox360 game. I ran the mix through a decent multi-band compressor afterwards.
Download MP3 (4:37min / 9MB)
Be careful when the mike is switched on...
2009-02-06 by Hal Berstram
Christian Bale vs Microsoft Songsmith – Nice Guy
The novelty of Microsoft Songsmith is beginning to wear a bit thin for me after only a few days of experimentation (an attempt at an acid-jazz remix of Joey Beltram’s ‘Energy Flash’ came out so badly that it couldn’t even be posted here!) but I was lucky enough to pick up this on-set tirade from Christian Bale on ‘gossip’ website TMZ.
To be honest, it’s pretty a standard Extras – style wigout… most notable for the ease with which Bale slips between a British and American accent, both sounding pretty fake, throughout. I think we’ve found the new Lloyd Grossman.
Anyway, on a hyper-minimal ‘techno’ setting, Songsmith just about makes a fist of it. I particularly like the onset of melody in the final two ‘finishing bars’ which Songsmith appends to every song…
Next up – a bluegrass remix of Sir Lord Comic’s reggae classic “Jack of My Trade.” Maybe.
Download MP3 (3:54min / 4MB)
Limb by Limb
2008-12-25 by Big J
Does the world need another Limb by Limb remix? Proabably not, but the a cappella does fit the fantastic Plastic Little (I’m not a thug) instrumental like a glove and…err…it is christmas?
Part 3 in a series of 6 edits by me.
Download MP3 (4:30min / 8MB)
- Buy it!
- Turntable Lab has the original and a whole heap of great stuff
Diverse, Lyrics Born and Ernest Ranglin - Explosive
2008-12-18 by Big J
PT II
another dilate exclusive…
Download MP3 (3:44min / 7MB)
Cold Rock the Party
2008-12-16 by Big J
Download MP3 (6:12min / 12MB)
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