Sep/100
Video : Stephan Bodzin × Marc Romboy × Skydiving
Amid my ongoing current obsession with minimal techno, I came across this video. Stephan Bodzin × Marc Romboy × eight minutes of base-jumping and skydiving = hypnotic, and kind of amazing.
Jul/100
Video : Mr. Invisible × Native Instruments
Last month, Mr. Invisible shot two videos in Los Angeles demonstrating the new Maschine beat machine and X1 controller from Native Instruments.
Mr. Invisible Performing Live with Maschine
Justin Aswell Maschine Solo
Mr. Invisible is:
• Justin Aswell (MC, production)
• Ill-Use (MC. production)
• Marley Carroll (DJ)
Mr. Invisible’s newly-revamped website (beta) has just gone up, with photos, videos, shows, news feeds & more: www.mrinvisible.net
Jun/100
Video : Mr. Invisible L.A. Roundup
June has been insane, which accounts for the lack of updates / Melanaster news as of late. We’ll be back soon in full-force, new & improved. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s been going on with my other projects:
• Mr. Invisible spent a week in L.A. earlier this month as part of our sponsorship with Native Instruments. We shot a promotional video for their Maschine workstation and played a show at Low End Theory, alongside Daddy Kev, D-Styles and Gaslamp Killer. Stellar.
• Uncle Mountain just wrapped up a week-long residency in Manteo (outer banks, NC) with the ECU Summer Dance Theater. Incredibly fun, miserably hot, days off in the ocean, bodysurfing among jellyfish blooms.
• Modo is about to embark on a short southeast tour that will take us to the Pensacola Museum of Art, among other places, fresh from a killer show at the Lexington Ave Brewery.
Combine all that craziness with DJ gigs here and there and you can see why the blog has gotten little love lately. But look forward to new videos, new music, show announcements, and more Melanaster goodness.
May/100
Selected : Stephan Bodzin
Stephan Bodzin.
Stephan Bodzin is an experimental electronic artist and minimal techno producer from Bremen, Germany. He started a label called HERZBLUT, and in 2007 released a full-length album called Liebe Ist.
My fascination with minimal house and techno is all so new, but it continues to grow daily. Especially when I encounter tracks like this.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Stephan Bodzin – Vendetta
May/101
Music Video : Bjork – It’s In Our Hands (Marley Carroll Remix)
New companion music video for Marley’s remix of Björk’s “It’s In Our Hands,” which appears on The Remixes.
Mar/100
Ephemera : Keepon
Keepon is an interactive robotic toy designed to be used in social and behavioral therapy. His simple interactions can aid in developing communication in kids with autism or developmental disorders. He’s something of a YouTube celebrity (he stars in Spoon’s “Don’t You Evah” Video), but this simple drum exercise is my favorite demonstration.
Mar/100
MountainX Feature on Asheville’s Electronic Music Scene
Last week, The MountainX ran a cover feature called “The Body Electric,” focused on Asheville’s burgeoning electronic music scene. The articles cover Asheville’s place in the world of electronic music (The Body Electric), the subgenres and styles of DJing (DJ Heroics) and the critical role of promoters and venues in growing the scene (Predicting the Weather).
Featured performers and interviewees include: Sonmi Suite, Panther God, Telepath, Cleofus Williams, Brett Rock, DJ Bowie, and Marley Carroll, in addition to promoters and artist collectives like Under One Beat and Low Frequency Ops.
Here’s an excerpt:
”
At first glance it might seem that Asheville is stacked in favor of roots music, what with a guitarist on every corner and an Americana band in every bar. But there’s also much to suggest Asheville as an electronica hot bed, despite that scene’s apparent underground status.Exhibit A: Asheville is where Robert Moog — pioneer of electronic music and inventor of the Moog synthesizer — worked as a research professor of music at UNCA, based his electronic musical instruments manufacturing company and lived out his final years.
Exhibit B: Asheville has (perhaps in spite of itself) embraced live band-electronica fusion acts like Telepath (since moved on to Philadelphia) and electronic music/arts festivals like Trinumeral.
Exhibit C: Take a walk around downtown and check out the posters affixed to power poles and displayed in shop windows. Every other one is for a DJ show. Same thing with Facebook events. Many electronic artists eschew conventional publicity methods in favor of new media. Not seeing many electronica shows? Go online.
Exhibit D: Even the rootsiest of venues is booking electronic acts. The Rocket Club is home to a free weekly Super Dance Party (Wednesdays at 10 p.m.), with DJs Crick Nice and Adam Strange (GFE) and DJ Mark Davis (who has been spinning underground dance music in Asheville since the ’80s). Mo Daddy’s welcomes its first-ever hip-hop show with local artist Foul Mouth Jerk, PyInfamous from Crystal Springs, Miss., and Charlotte’s One Big Love on Friday, March 5. The Grey Eagle hosts Baltimore duo Beach House on Friday, April 30.
But even with new developments — and nearly everyone seems to agree the local electronic scene has grown exponentially in the past few years — electronic music isn’t a new phenomenon. Its roots reach back to ’70s-era disco, dating the genre older than not just its current practitioners, but many of their parents.
Fueling Asheville’s newfound fondness for electronica is certainly the live band/electronic fusion — anything from the live instruments-meets-computers of The Nova Echo to live sequencing of engineered loops and beats as performed by Freepeoples Frequency. But more than sonic accessibility, it’s technical accessibility that brings new fans to the multifaceted genre. Music makers no longer need to be piano or guitar virtuosos — computer proficiency and a desire to create are the instruments of this under-represented but increasingly available art form.
Want to know more about local electronic music? Read on … “
Jan/100
Ephemera : NPR on the Loudness Wars
NPR has done a great job of summarizing the loudness wars in this article. The infographic [.pdf] is beautiful, even if it documents the degradation of audio quality over the last thirty years.
The backlash against excessive compression and loudness has already begun (see: fans petition remastering of Metallica’s Death Magnetic). Hopefully in time we can bring back some dynamics to recorded music.
Jan/101
New Release : Marley Carroll – The Remixes
The Remixes is finally here. This long-awaited EP features six glitchy reimaginings by Marley Carroll and gorgeous high-res album artwork by Johan Stenbeck.
The album is available for free download. Just enter your email address in the form above; the download will start immediately.
If you enjoy The Remixes, please consider making a donation!
Featured Content
