Transcontinental Electronica CD launch night - 14/11/2008

Roy from Electraset has given me the chance to inflict some classic and more contemporary electronic tunes on the general public for the Transcontinental Electronica CD launch night he's organised at Junktion 7 here in sunny old Nottingham on Friday November 14th. Headlining the bill is Marlow who many of you will know better as Robert Marlow from Vince Clarke's long defunct Reset Records label. The official Marlow website is here. Roy's own band Electraset and fellow Nottingham electro dudes One Moment will also appear. In between bands, NSJ will play a selection of soul, funk, motown and R&B courtesy of one trusty lap-top and Native Instruments Traktor 3. Actually, the choice of tunes might not be of the above flavour but I'm thinking you might have already guessed that!

Anyway, if you're in the East Midlands, please attend. If you're not from the East Midlands, please come anyway and worry about getting home later! Strange electronic sounds will commence at 8pm and the evening will finish at 2am and I can guarantee I won't be playing 'Tainted Love' 'Don't You Want Me' or 'Just Can't Get Enough'! See you there!

NSJ on Last FM     

For some time, I've had a bunch of tunes bunging up the servers over at Last FM. Unlike MySpace, there seems to be no limit to what you can upload and the songs can be of a decent MP3 bit rate. So, if you're hungry for more NSJ offerings and the crap heap MySpace player is refusing to work, click here and you'll find a whole two 'albums' (?) worth of stuff both newish and old which is all downloadable. More will be added in due course.

REJOICE, THE PLAYER ACTUALLY SEEMS TO WORK !!!

As they usually do! Has it been nearly four months since the last lot? I believe it has. How time flies eh? I won't try and describe the five new tracks, maybe one of the few people that can be bothered to listen will be kind enough to do that. You know who you are! Are the tracks drifting towards a different feel? Middle aged induced melancholia perhaps? I'd say not for the last song of the five but overall, I'm listening to a lot more stuff where the tempos rarely exceed 100bpm. Anyway, enough postulating and providing the new MySpace player is actually going to work reliably, it's on with the technically filled synthetic show…

Morning Light Mountain
This will contain elements of that melancholic thing I reckon before picking up a bit. I like the idea of introducing a bass line late, it seemed to work. Freeware synth called Cygnus features a lot as does Reaktor 5 which does all the rhythmic stuff. Wavestation VST does the deep bass/bell. The nice strings are from one of SX's built in VSTIs whose name I forget. Absynth does the sequence near the beginning, Arp 2600 VST does the bass one at the end. Albino 2 and the excellent Synth 1 are also buried in there. I'd like to say the title comes from some dewy-eyed countryside vista that had me reaching for the tissues. It doesn't! Happened to be reading the latest Peter F Hamilton novel which mentions MLN, a controlling anti-social alien keen on the elimination of everything but it's own kind. I just liked the name to be honest!

Magnum Manipulator
Lot's of samples from a well known sci-fi film in this. I'm sure you can guess what it is. I'd just gotten my hands on the re-issued DVD and couldn't resist nicking left right and centre. Novation Nova features in this doing chords, basses and other stuff. MS20 VST plays the high sequence. Drums all from the Waldorf Attack. The last quarter is all out Reaktor 5.

Hyper-Speak
Very Synth 1 based plus lots from Absynth 3 and even the old DR660 drum machine. EVM provides a filtered step bass sequence. I had something relentless in mind when I was doing this, can't think who I was thinking off now. Filtered echoes from the very nice Lexicon DDl plug in. Chopped speech triggered as a step sequence using Reaktor's beat slicer.

Herr Wiesler Of The STASI
Should I explain who the STASI were? Any one reading from Germany will certainly know! Check the link otherwise. Visited the STASI museum in Berlin earlier this year and was blown away and horrified in equal measures by what I saw there. Immediately got back and watched 'The Lives Of Others' again and happened across a little riff that accompanies the STASI officer Herr Wiesler when he get's back to his stark apartment. Liked it so much I decided to build the whole thing around it. The sample from the film is in there buried under Albino and Reaktor sounds playing the same notes. Deep analogue drone is Synth 1. Main sequence is the Albino 2 VST. Reaktor does all drums. Jupiter Six appears later doing a filthy sounding bass chopped up by SXs midi gate. Like 'Hyper-Speak', lots of post mixdown edits and effects inserts. Never avoid the opportunity to bugger around with you finished mix in a wave editor.

8-Bit Delia
Thought things were getting a bit warm and fuzzy so a change of tact was needed. Mostly made of various samples from circuit bent games and old computers including a bunch taken from a 15 year old cassette of Commodore 64 noises. Main synth line from Reaktor and in particular the Carbon 2 synth which excels at nasty sounds. Imposcar plays the fast sequences. Nova does the sync sound and all percussion was nicked from a variety of CDs and the odd bit of Waldorf Attack. Who is Delia? Delia Derbyshire of the BBC Radiophonic workshop, an undisputed pioneer in the field of electronic music and most definitely right up there with Kraftwerk and all the others as far as I'm concerned. Talking of the BBC, yes that is Orac half way in!

On the Jukebox

Portion Control – Slug

I was hoping this might continue more in the vein of 'Filthy White Guy' which it mostly doesn't. Still good stuff from another bunch of still uncompromising pioneers and definitely a slow grower. Stand out track for me at the moment is 'Infant'.

Travelogue – Imaginary Hospitals and The Art Of Conversation

Brilliant retro analogue synth pop of the Joy Electric / Solvent kind. Just reading the kit list on the Travelogue web site prompted me to buy these!

Severed Heads – Clifford Darling Please Don't Live In The Past and Since The Accident

Been meaning to get these early Severed Heads albums for ages. Some amazing tape loop based stuff interspersed with fledgling melodic synth pop, a sign of the direction he's loosely head in later. Also plenty of moments of entertaining chaos that's pure trademark Severed Heads.

Bakterielle Infektion – Early Recordings

A forerunner of Skanfrom and very rough and ready in places but excellent miminal electronic music.

Abfahrt Hinwil -  Links Berge Rechts Seen
Beautiful ambient techno/IDM styled stuff from Switzerland. Melody, tune and interesting rhythm abound.
 
Always keen to hear any comments or criticisms and I'll answer boring technical questions conerning synthesizers with over enthusiastic relish!

I believe that is all.      

A big thanks to everyone who's taken the time to listen and comment on the latest songs. It's very much appreciated and I'm always keen to hear the feedback. Here are a couple more that have come by email and MySpace message from Patrick Marsh & The Tinopener's Art. T.T.A's review refers to the second of two CDs I sent out to him in Germany a while back. Big cheers once again to both of these fellers.

Patrick Marsh : Review of May 08 tracks.

1. Dance The Shark - Do I hear John Carpenter noodling with his Synclavier? A deep, PPGesque arp to set the mood, and then, oh my, when it breaks in....a wonderful layering of sounds to keep you tightly in it's dark grasp. Very, very nice.

2. Communicate With the Future - Another example of how well NSJ layers blankets of sound together without losing a single note. Is it EQ? Mixing? Voodoo? A little of all, I suspect. Anyway, another masterful piece, moody and moving, with not even a slightly dull moment.  Totally synthetic beats meshing with classic beatboxes. Rave-style stabs intertwining with plaintive vintage squarewave leads. Delicious.

3. The Mind of Ezra Fitton - One of the most effective contrasts I think an electronic composer can execute is the combination of analog synths with digital ones. The two sounds, when applied properly compliment each other beautifully. I hear that combination in this piece. There is a director out there that will someday pay a royal sum for some of these pieces for a smash film. I'm sure of it.

4. Planet Five - That's how our electronic grandfathers did it!  One synth, and by God, they worked the hell right out it!  I've done that a couple times with the Mono/Poly, but those songs never saw the light of day. Thankfully, this one did. Superior production as always. Excellent job in that if you hadn't said anything, there would be no way to tell it was all one synth.

Check out Patrick Marsh's own excellent music right here and look out for his forthcoming album 'Hotel Marsh'.

The Tinopener's Art : Review of NSJ CD.

01 Re-Active:
fine song, i like it's somhow "diversified" structure: the intro first sounds a lot like Kraftwerk, but then around 1:08 (and again around 4:08) there starts this other theme sounding more "serious";

02 Silent Hill:
curious loop samples at the beginning of the song (reminds me of my old "Clockworks" sampling CD); after the intro: sounds a lot like very early Depeche or Vince Clark productions; would be really a cool song to add vocals to :)

03 The Edge of the World:
Very nice "happy 80ies sound" instrumental (Depeche meets Jarre); though I could not understand the complete vovoder phrase and thus not the title of the song, which edge does it mean? Sometimes I miss some deep bass sounds in this production; I think that could give the song some "boost", e.g. after the first 2 minutes.

04 The Morning Hate:
Veeeeeery good song, one of my absolute favourites - with the right "sinister", dangerous mood for the theme of the song.

05 Cosmonaut 2007:
One of my all-time favourites of N.S.J, simply perfect, from the beginning with this cool sound, up to the vox samples, real fun to listen to :)

06 Future Pioneers:
Very clean, beautiful sounds; fine rhythm, the vovoder gives the whole song the right atmosphere.

07 Propaganda:
Hey, here again come these nice "clockworks-alike" loop samples :) And I here the conga sound of the Roland D series (sounds familiar :) I like the theme after 1:35 and I like this sound change at around 2:35; makes the song more interesting to listen; cool vox samples at 3:30; also one of my favourite N.S.J. productions

08 Without Electricity:
as said already before on myspace: veeery nice "gadget" sampling-sounds, and cool "lift-off" of the song starting at the 4:08 min, cool track :)

09 On the Hour:
as said already before on myspace: much Kraftwerk feeling with a light flavour of early Depeche sounds; fine, though I'd expected that the song would get more dramatically in the end. By the way, this would also be a song from which I think, it
would "win", if there would be added some vocals

10 Planet Five:
What a dramatical intro - a real space flight :) I also like the synth percussion/drums sounds in this production.

11 Anthony's Brother:
nice changing between faster themes and the somehow "slowlier" arranged in-between themes, where the song sounds like "breathing". Good idea, to "boost" the rhythm starting around 3:00.

12 Treasured Thing:
I reaaally like the surprising theme around 3:09 minutes where the melody stops for a while :)

13 Glow:
Still wonderful to listen to - a cool chill-out production, very "roundly".

14 Numbers Station:
Also one of my N.S.J. favourites - the samples and drum sounds make the song very interesting to listen to - reminds of Richard H Kirk productions
(such as "Biochemical Dread"), cool.

Check The Tin Opener's Art's great melodic electronics here.

A big thanks to each and every once again.

Yes, that is a surprise isn't it? My profound apologies for all those waiting for my long gestating folk project. Maybe this will commence when I get a taste for real ale! So…four new songs and one re-working/remix. A variety of styles(?) and hopefully a reasonable amount of sonic variety. I shall now unleash a torrent of technical blather about the tracks. If this is of no interest, please take this opportunity to **** off!

Dance The Shark
Dance music it ain't! Main 'ticking' melody/loop taken from an excellent New Zealand film. I'm tired of giving away all my trade secrets so you'll have to guess. More 'ticking' nicked from a Nitzer Ebb b-side. Most of the sounds from Absynth 3 and Reaktor 5. Spoken chop up's done with Reaktor's Beat Slicer tool. The Pro One appears later on doing a bass sound.

Communicate With The Future
Yet again, evidence I've been listening to too much Solvent perhaps. Everything was used on this one. Step sequence from the EVM. Inverted envelope bass and counter melody from the Poly Six, sine wave lead from the CS80v. Lots of Pro One percussion sounds plus the mid section bass line. Jupiter does the bell like melody half way in. Albino arps towards the end. Even the battered old DR660 drum machine turns up for 808 & CR78 sounds.
Vocoding courtesy of Richard H Kirk!

Give It To Em! (NSJ vs Liz Modess)
A remix of Liz Modess' 'Give It To Em! Funnily enough. Liz sent a few (and I mean a few) samples down on a CD from the Wastelands of Preston. In the end I nicked a loop from her mixdown of the original and ran it through Cubase's midi gate. Lot's of samples from Richard H Kirk / Sandoz on this one plus some 'hey's' from the Art Of Noise. Bubbly bass from the Nova and various bits from the Z3TA and Albino. Drums from the Waldorf Attack and various Halion samples. Does it remind anyone of Underworld's 'Spikee' about two minutes in? Check out Liz's MySpace page for the original.

The Mind Of Ezra Fitton
From a great film with John Mills in it. Chopped synth chords from a freeware VSTI I can't remember the name of. Bass drone from the TAL Bass-Line. Lot's of Reaktor sounds plus stuff from Albino and the Jupiter Six. Albino does the screeching lead sound and the Nova the arpegiation bit. Big booming 808 drums nicked from a pair of Greek electro pop birds!
"It's life lad…it might make you laugh at your age, but one day it will make you bloody cry"

Planet Five
Not difficult to explain. It's all the Jupiter Six. Came up with the tune(?) by splitting the Jupe's keyboard and having an arpeggiator on the top half and a bass sound on the bottom. Decided to try and wring as much out of the thing as possible. I think there ended up being about 30 audio tracks running.
I had a poster of the Jupiter on my bedroom wall as a lad I'll have you know!

On the Juke Box
Blimey, it's a while since I've bought a CD I'm ashamed to confess. Shortly going to be buying the re-issue of Visage's 'The Anvil' and the OMD 'Architecture & Morality' live CD. Portion Control have a new one out later this month called 'Slug' which I'll definitely be getting. Other than that, the usual selection of things that go bleep from the early Human League up to Solvent and Lowfish via everything in between.

Let me know what you think of the stuff via the page or blog comments.
Marvellous!    

A big cheers to Patrick Marsh for taking the time to offer up this mini review of my latest dubious electro offerings.

P. Marsh mini-review of NSJ new tracks:

First I must say that I am very pleased to hear that you are incorporating physical synths in your compositions. That certainly bucks the current trend of all-soft studios! Now I shall have to dust off the CS-15!

1. Treasured Thing: It is indeed! Very, very tight sequencing, and a beat that drives the point home. Just the right amount of delay, so as not to muddy things, but to add depth. I love, nay adore, the lead that floats through. As George Clinton described Kraftwerk : "They’re so straight, they’re funky" I feel the same of this marvelous track.

2. Without Electricity: Reminds me of the "Some Great Reward" era Depeche Mode in some ways. When they were having at with their Emulators. Lots of good found sounds make for a moody, near industrial feel. One of the lead lines sounds like it could be a Fairlight IIx! Again compliments for the mix placement of all the elements. Much going on, without crowding or lack of clarity. The melody lines pull it in, and join all the pieces perfectly. Another snappy one!

3. Different Funk: A great reworking. Turned an interlude into single material.

4. On The Hour: Vince Clarke-esque polyrhythmic arps abound. A powerful track with a lot of pleasingly small sounds. Pencil-tapping-on-your-desk toned drums are programmed flawlessly. A really nice composition that showcases the NSJ style.

5. Without Electricity (Bik Blackout mix): Could be a b-side from Black Celebration, or a lost Covenant track. Solid re-working by the Bik-master. Big swirly waves of sound....I love it!

Big cheers to Patrick once again for taking the time to do this. Check his own great tunes over at his MySpace page here.

Welcome to another of the imaginatively titled NSJ blogs that surely tempt the reader with hidden mysteries and give rise to those endless rumours about the enigma that is NSJ! Here are some details about the three new tracks, one re-working and one re-mix. Many will find it tediously boring. I can understand why!

Treasured Thing

No idea why this is thus titled. Nothing is to be read into it and I don't consider circuit boards in anyway a 'Treasured Thing'! Like most of the tracks it's a mixture of analogue synths and virtual instruments. Nasty HPF filter sound at the intro is all the Jupiter six as are many of the percussive sounds. Bass line is the Z3TA as is the 'acidy' break midway in. String sounds are from the V-Station and the constant arepggio that runs throughout is the Albino 2. Drums from the ancient DR660. Anything else came out of the Korg Legacy.

Without Electricity

The most sample heavy track here. I don't want to give away everything, but suffice to say, many a CD was raided! Deep bass sound is from the Jupiter Six, arpeggio section from the EVM and the organ type lead sound is from the V-Station. Reaktor 5 also appears making a sound that kind of goes neahhhhhowww! Plenty of stuff from the Pro One including the mid section bass line. The SX vocodered dialogue is lifted from a 1950s educational science record concerning the wonders of electricity!

Different Funk (NSJ vs Patrick Marsh)

A while ago, good US based MySpace friend and professor of electronic music Patrick Marsh uploaded a selection of great tracks as he regularly does and one of them was called 'Tiny Funk'. A short piece intended to be placed between tracks on a  forthcoming album according to Patrick. I really liked this one and decided to build another version around the short recurring sequence the song starts with. 'Different Funk' is the result. Reaktor 5 is plastered all over this one as is Albino 2. The choir sound is from the EVM . Drums are from a Reaktor rhythm ensemble and the 303 like sequence from the Jupiter 8V. Second half bass line is the Pro One and the arpeggio from Albino 2. The artificial singing is a passage from a Godzilla film where the fairies on Mothra island serenade the big moth, vocodered via the Cubase SX plug-in. Strange but true! Check the Marshman's own superb stuff over at his MySpace page here.

On The Hour

So called because of the time signal samples at the beginning. Mostly VSTI's with a new SH101 emulation called the TAL Bassline appearing. Z3TA does the almost backward sounding bass line and the Pro One the other. Strings from the Korg Poly Six gated with the SX midi gate. Managed to find a place for the Jupiter Six (it's the law!) doing a dirty HPF bass sound again. Drums from the Waldorf Attack and a sample from Absynth 3. Telephone dialling sample NOT nicked from Kraftwerk's 'Telephone Call'. It was Absynth honest!

Without Electricity (Bik Black Out Mix)

Not sure why Bik decided to call it this. Maybe he didn't pay his bill!
Anyway, SX files were passed over to Bik and he delivered this great fusion of the original combined with his own inimitable style. Love the filthy throbbing bass and incessant string refrain and that percussive break down Bik ends this on. A totally different feel and direction which was exactly what I was looking for. Have a listen to the Bik's own material over at his MySpace page and send him a message while you're at it instructing him to get off his arse and do some new stuff! 

On the juke box

Lowfish – Burn The Lights Out

So called because of the amount of equipment burnt out during the recording of this. A lot harder hitting than his past stuff and a lot more beat driven but still superb electronic music that's not forgotten what a tune is. Look out for a Lowfish special coming soon on Musique Non Suck.

Joy Electric – Christian Songs & The Tick Tock Treasury

Ronnie Martin's purely electronic pop songs are made entirely with the Roland System 100 and plenty of mileage he gets out of it too. A Definite nod towards early 80s synth pop and a tad twee in places but good stuff non the less.

Mick Chillage -  Track Sampler

MySpace artist Mick Chillage sent this sampler of his work over and brilliant stuff it is. Lot's of dark and minimal ambient techno with a great sense of rhythm and plenty of melody going on. Brilliant production values as well. Check Mick's MySpace page for more of his excellent and regularly uploaded work.

Gary Hunter – Music By Design

This is Gary's 11 track Kraftwerk tribute and a great and conscientious job he's made. I gave an opinion on this which you can read over at his MySpace page.

Always keen to hear people's opinions, comments and criticisms about the music. Feel free to let me know what you think. Until the next time then…

Over and out.    

First new tracks since about July 07 I believe these are. So what shall I blame. Ah yes, Cubase SX will do! I had the PC upgraded about the tale end of last summer, (thanks Steve) something that sorely needed doing on account of some idiot accidentally deleting the dual booting software (me to be precise!) Added power under the bonnet is always welcome with things like Reaktor 5 and the new board and Athlon processor combination really fly's. This also allowed Cubase SX to replace Cubase 5 and what a difference! More VSTIs, more plug in effects, better sound quality and massively improved audio recording and editing. A new Soundcraft mixer specifically geared towards the PC musician makes recording the Pro One and Jupiter as simple as depressing a single button. So what's the problem? Damn, there's so many options!
I've spent hours just tweaking and messing with the built in SX effects, let alone all the third party ones. Start adding in all the new VSTIs and the net result is more than often not S.F.A! I think I've just about gotten around to being the master of it as opposed to the other way around, but it's taken time. Hopefully productivity will improve from this point onwards. Anyway, a bit of technical blather now follows about the five tracks. Tune in or depart, there's no pressure.

Propaganda
The first thing done with SX and it probably shows. Everything but the kitchen sink is thrown in here including numerous soft synths, a lot of samples courtesy of Halion and even the old DR660 drum machine. Z3TA does the trancey riff, V-Station the organ, Albino 2 for bass sounds etc etc. Samples lifted far and wide including (hopefully) subtle borrows from Cabaret Voltaire, Devo, Joy Electric, Hau Jobb and Depeche Mode plus a certain classic piece of 60s British cinema. Answers on a post card for that one!

Cosmonaut 2008
Never gone back and re-examined older stuff before, but I decided there was some more mileage in this one. Along with bits and pieces from the original, it's nearly all soft synths with Albino 2 doing mostly everything. Big analogue resonant bass comes from the Jupiter. Drums stolen from the early 80s again! 

Cosmonaut (Bik Sputnik Mix)
Another good reason for getting SX is fellow collaborator Bik is also a user. He took all the audio away for Cosmonaut on a USB stick and came up with this. Can't remember where he stole the dialogue samples from but they fit in just great. Extra sounds and samples also stamp the Bik trademark on it. Check Biks own tunes here.

Cosmonaut (Lord Numb Mix)
I exchanged CDs with this feller a while back and he expressed an interest in giving it the Numb treatment. A brilliant job he did as well. So impressed I was, I nicked his treatment of my own drum loop and used it on my own version! Really liking Numbs added guitar and synth twiddles as well. Super job all round and officially the first remix of NSJ. Check out Lord Numbs own top tunes over at his page, especially the insanely catchy 'A Question Mark For A face'. Numb side project The Amazing Melting Man is also well worth a look. 

Glow
An attempt to do something a bit slower. Ambient techno? I don't know? Mostly Reaktor 5 with bits and bobs from the Pro One and Jupiter. Absynth strings and some Albino arps. Imposcar does the nice sample and hold lead sound. I get the feeling I'd soaked up a bit to much Vector lovers with this one perhaps.

N.S.J remixes...
I've done a couple of things recently for fellow Myspace'ers Patrick Marsh and Lizthemodess
Check out 'A Different Funk' over at Patrick's page here, and a version of Liz's 'Music Fer Dancing' here. 

On the N.S.J juke box…

Long Range – Madness And Me
Having now heard both of the Hartnoll brothers albums, it's easy to work out who did what in Orbital. Some brilliant up tempo stuff along with some proper chilled moments.

Joy Electric – Robot Rock and Hello Mannequin
It might stand accused of being a bit twee but I don't care! Brilliant electronic music done entirely with a Roland System 100 and a CR78 drum machine. Echoes of Vince Clarkes Chorus era. Perfect synth pop.

Pink Noise – Pink Noise
Self titled album from Canada's Greg Kowalczyk. Some fantastic stuff on here ranging from the laid back to some serious industrial noise. Great melodic and interesting electronic music. A special nod goes to the crazed Gameboy pop of the brilliantly titled 'Greg Is A Little Round Robot'! Check Pink Noise  out on MySpace.

Unit Black Flight – Infiltration And Extraction
Coming from the archives of Patrick Marsh, this album is directly influenced by John Carpenters soundtrack for 'Escape From New York' Moody and minimal, its more John Carpenter than John Carpenter!

Vector Lovers – Afterglow.
I don't think there's an album I've played more in 2007. A more ambient and mature direction than his previous outings but still absolutely superb stuff. Great sound design coupled with Martin Wheelers delicate melodies. Album highlight is the awesome 'Crash Premonition'

Solvent – Demonstration Tape 1997-2007
If there's anything that's had as much airplay as Vector Lovers, it's this 2CD masterpiece. A retrospective from Solvents career featuring stand out album tracks, material from compilations, B-sides and a couple of new tracks. If you know anyone that does electronic music as well as Jason Amm, then I'd like to know who! A showcase for analogue synths and the vocoder, buy it now!

That's the rambling about done I reckon. More tunes most certainly coming soon. Comments, questions and criticism always welcome.

Transmission ends.