Having released two big boshy dance albums, I wanted to do something a bit more conceptual with my latest release. Over the last few years, I’ve become quite enamoured with the world of Steampunk, the idea of recapturing ~Victorian inventiveness and progressivism and the associated optimism that goes with it. The general aesthetic is awesome and it has been fairly well explored visually… sonically much less so. There have been some great examples of Steampunk music but I wanted to come at it from a slightly different perspective. On the the other hand, Cyberpunk was a major part of my world growing up. It taught me that the future will probably be a dark and dystopian place but at least the clubbing is going to be awesome: laser laden post-apocalyptic dens of inquity with intense electro pounding all night and day long. I wondered what music from the boundary layer between these two realities might sound like (music from the portal perhaps).
Steampunk Cybercrunk EP is my musical journey into both of these worlds and the spaces in between. The tracks themselves are quite varied, reflecting the different ways that these two genres could intermingle. Beep Beep Baby is an uplifting electo-swing banger (possibly counting more as dieselpunk than steampunk but I’ve never been a fan of over defining genres). Remember me is a deep dubstep inspired track with a hint of the classic horror film with its ethereal piano part. Harpsix is a big dancy tune with a bombastic harpsichord riffing against some classic electronic arpeggios. Finally, Waltzing with the devil is a slow English waltz reimagined with an electro slant. I really enjoyed making the whole EP. I hope you enjoy listening to it too.
Yesyes, the day has finally arrived, Large Hadron Kaleidoscope is out now on iTunes, Amazon and all other good online retailers and streaming services.
You can listen to it on the download page, or using the handy player below
Like all my tracks it’ll be free to listen to forever, in full because everyone deserves music.
Also the very first review of LHK is out now too, you can read it over at Ascrono music
Keep your eyes on the dataphiles homepage and the @DTPLrecords twitter feed as there will be discounts and giveaways posted live for the next couple of weeks.
2011 has been quite a mixed year for me, there has been adversity for my friends, my family and myself. In the end though everything seems to have worked itself out and there have been some wonderful moments too. In a way I think the news has followed the same pattern, we were barraged with an unbelievable amount of crap about the economy collapsing, the riots and the generally unecessary levels of suffering. However in amongst all of this were some of the most incredible and/or hilarious things I think I’ve ever heard. So here we go
Snoop Dogg’s giant vegetables
I’ve been a fan of the crazy world of giant vegetables ever since I saw Half Ton Veg (which I’d highly recommend if you can find it). It turns out Snoop’s also a fan and what starts as the most surreal shout out I’ve ever seen snowballs into one of the best news reports I think I’ve ever seen. Just watch this, it will enrich your life
I’m not sure if the word subtlety is in either of their dictionaries. Thank you both though for bringing me joy
‘Apologising’ to Chris Brown
I wouldn’t think anything on FOX news would make it into my favourites but I guess sometimes their zealotry is actually aimed at a valid target. I wont ruin it if you’ve never seen it before but trust me watch this
Zing!
Basmati Rice Man
The riots were a dark time for London. I was working in Croydon so I got the full driving past the smouldering remains of Reeves on my morning commute. While the arsonists were completely inexcusable (I mean what do you get out of burning down a furniture shop, honestly?) the looters were a source of immense amusement. Once all of the plasma TVs, Xboxs, iPads etc to loot had run out, people carried on with pride. One rioter left with half a dozen Left shoes, another with a handful of Mars bars but noone can beat this guy
Seriously? Tesco value basmati rice. This wouldnt even be that bad if he didn’t try to make out like he was some kind of hardcore gangsta by doing this
‘How on earth do you sleep at night?
If you don’t live in the UK, the One show is a cheesy inoffensive magazine/chat programme we get subjected to on a daily basis. Usually I would try to avoid watching it but back in March there was definately a reason to tune in. The highly media imaged based way that our politics works at the moment means that giving a superficial interview to shows like this is considered entirely necessary. Queue PM David Cameron and his turn to make himself look like he’s doing more by saying that he’s doing it more. Everything went fine until the closing moments when Matt Baker drops this bombshell.
Personally I just love the look on Alex Jones face when she realises whats happening
Charlie Sheen
How could I really sum up the absurdity of 2011 without mentioning Charlie Sheen. While a celebrity breakdown is nothing unusual this man made it into an art form. I’m not sure what the low (or high?) point of the whole debacle was but trying to copyright his catchphrases was a personal favourite, that and the whole tiger blood thing. Strangely even now he is having a bit of a comeback. It only goes to show that if youre going to do something do it properly. I’m sure you’re probably sick of the videos of this so let me instead leave you with the excellent eponymous track by Staggerquake
The laser that’ll rip apart time
As a scientist, electonica producer and avid clubber , I love lasers in pretty much every way. This year a laser was designed and approved that somehow I don’t think will ever find its way into my personal collection. In fact this laser would probably be more appropriate for Dr Evils collection… as it has the ability to rip apart space-time and reveal the sea of theoretical particles underneath. If your concerned that this coincides too well with the whole ‘the world shall end in 2011’ thang, don’t worry, there not intending to turn it on till 2017
Westboro Baptist church iphone fail
Words like evil are overused nowadays but if you’ve never heard of the Westboro baptist church trust me they fit the bill. Lets put it this way, when Louis Theroux went to visit them the episode titled referred to them as the most hated family in America. The sort of people who go to picket an army funeral with banners saying that allowing gays in the armed forces caused their deaths or pretty much every bad taste, racist or inflammatory statement they can dream up. When Steve Jobs passed away this was their twitter response
Oops! I was really hoping to find out that Steve Jobs; ghost could unleash biblical plagues on people via their iPhones and go to task on the unholy Phelps in revenge for this. No news yet, will keep you posted.
Japanese zombie wedding
Not exactly world news but if you’re going to have a themed wedding do it properly. And noone does things properly like the Japanese
Well thats certainly a sweet picture of the happy couple, wait is that a …
I’ll take that as a yes. Personally I wouldn’t invite the undead to a wedding, they bring terrible gifts
Well there are a few snippets of 2011 that tickled my fancy. Bring on 2012, I’ve got an album coming out, 366 days to use and abuse and a world of possibilities to explore. As have all of us (well except the first one I suspect). I hope yours is excellent
I’ve got a draft tracklist together for my upcoming album. Inevitably its taking longer than expected with all the housekeeping jobs for each track. Once that’s done I’ve only got to worry about mastering all of them together, doing the album art, oh and coming up with a name for the whole thing.
Anyway, its always good to make progress, it looks like its going to end up being a late 2011, early 2012 release. In all fairness, probably early 2012 to avoid all the bull that comes out in the run up to Christmas. I’ll be sure to keep you posted
Version 9 of my favourite DAW was released last week. Having given it a proper go now I’m really impressed
Here are my favourite new features
– It was free (OK not actually a new feature but this is by far and away my favourite thing about every FL update, as once you buy it you get lifetime free updates)
– Riff machine – A new and very funky feature is the riff machine that can create lines and melodies in a variety of ways, from completely random to interpreting an existing score
– Sidechaining – While sidechaing effects were possible in previous versions using the peak controller, allowing multiple (seperate) inputs to each mixer channel is definately a long wanted addition. Means I can use some of those cool multi-input Reaktor ensembles
-Vocodex – I have to say this is possibly the most flexible vocoder I’ve ever seen, pretty much everything is tweakable and it uses the multiple inputs feature really well. In all honesty explaining all its features would be a blog post all in itself
– Better Fruity wrapper – Much improved VSTi/DXi handling options
– GUI overhaul – The new version depinately looks prettier, especially the way it handles plug-ins without their own GUIs. Also several graphical tweaks have the whole environment easier on the eyes. While this might not seem important, if you spend 3 hours staring a screen it can make a big difference
– Autogun – A new free addition to the fruity synth library, based on their recent Ogun synth. It has only a couple of controls and a huge (>4 billion) number of randomly generated (and named) presets. I usually like fiddling around with a synths controls but there is something fun about browsing through the library especially if you need a little inspiration. I would however say you should definately add an EQ to it to knock those sounds into shape. Even if you don’t use FL you can still download the (also free) VST version here and give it a go
– Mid/side tools – Its a nice little addition
– Pattern muting – definately smooths out the workflow
And here’s my wishlist for new features
– Please Image-Line add a freeze pattern/channel function. It would be really helpful
– Other than that I’m pretty happy 😉
That just about sums it up… expect to hear some tracks made in it soon.
Also if you’re thinking of buying it, you can get a 10% discount on it if you know someone who’s already bought it through their affilliate scheme. Seeing as you know me (at least in a virtual sense) click here to get your discount.
As you may be able to see dataphilesmusic.com is now live… welcome.
Click the link to the right to go to the download section where you can find free Dataphiles downloads (as well as pay-per-download high quality versions).
I’m getting some tracks mastered and various bits and pieces sorted to launch the (hopefully swanky) Dataphilesmusic.com website. It’ll take this blog as its centre and have the music pages hosted by bandcamp. Watch this space for more info.
Dataphiles' Music Madness 