The dark brush strokes mix

Dark brush stokes by Cubicgarden on Mixcloud

Its another mix from my new pacemaker. This one is a combination of the mixes I was doing to test the firmware downgrades and upgrades of my new and old pacemaker. Its a nice selection of tunes and I have been throwing this around on my phone for about a month. Slight issues with file encoding caused me delays in uploading it. Have a listen and don’t forget to share… because sharing is caring…

  1. 3rd earth – solar stone vs scott bond
  2. Ninety – Sander Van Doorm
  3. Voices from the inside (album mix) – M.I.K.E
  4. Intruder – Armin vs M.I.K.E
  5. One for you (oliver klein remix) – Oliver Klien
  6. Seven days and one week (tomcraft mix) – B.B.E
  7. Brush Stokes – Simon Patterson
  8. Blood Angels (chris liebing remix) – John Startlight
  9. Stellar (TV Noise remix) – Daddy Groove
  10. Rewind (Mikkas Remix) – Emma Hewitt
  11. The Expedition (Indecent noise remix) – Armin van buuren and markus schulz
  12. UFO – Shogun
  13. Tomorrow 2006 (jamx and de leo) – Dumonde
  14. Torrent – Dave 202
  15. Humming the lights – Armin pres Gaia

Tangible playlists

#1 Mixtape

There’s been a research project I have been thinking about quite a bit. It involves something of a passion of mine and maybe many others. It combines a couple of thoughts, I have actually blogged a few times.

pacemaker_sonar_june_2007_09

Make DJing physical again

I have been calling for the more democracy in the world of Djing for a while. Luckily I’m not the only one thinking this, the pacemaker guys are all over this. But before their latest app, I was inspired by my experience of switching from vinyl to laptop to the pacemakerdevice. But frustrated by the lack of forward thinking by the rest of the Dj world. I called for a hackday for djs, oppose to the already popular music hackday.

Part of the thinking was around making the DJ experience physical again, as pressing buttons behind a laptop screen makes you look like your doing your email, not banging out a epic set. Physical without needing tons of controllers and moving away from 2 decks and a mixer.

There are parallels with Djing/Mixing and making a playlist. A lot of thinking goes into the tune selection. But like mixes, the platform allows you to be more creative than simply play one tune after another. You may choose to play part of a tune, start a tune after the introduction. You may choose to speed up or slow down a tune. The mixtape is a narrative, a narrative your giving to another person. To think about a pls, m3u or xspif is almost an insult.

Untitled

Physically sharing things

I have spoken at length about the way we are physical beings and tend to prefer physical things. Whats interesting about physical things is the emotional attachment which comes with them. I even said it myself before…

Physical artifacts are much easier to lend to people and much more likely to be taken seriously by friends currently.

My examples include my book collection and the best example is the creativity which went into mixtapes.

Like it or not, there is something about sharing which is instantly more engaging. I think it might have something to do with the way our brains are wired. Something some people take advantage of (wish I could find the exact effect/scam, where someone gives you a small token gift and you in exchange tend to open your pocket to bigger amounts)…

There have been many attempts to give digital things a physical footprint but its always felt forced. What if you could take the best parts of digital and give them a physical footprint?

What would that look like, what would it be able to do which you can’t do right now in both mediums?

Atlas Hands

Tangible Playlists

This project I nicked named Tangible Playlists… Although its actually called physical playlists. Its a join project between BBC R&D and Lancaster University.

‘Mix tapes’ were a thing of love, a physical object which people would share with significant others and friends around them. They were naturally a social object and highly representative of a person’s identity. The knowledge of effort involved by the giver in selecting the songs and having to sit through each one was also part of the symbolism for the receiver.  Objects can be generated and shaped from and by the media you “teach” them or existing objects you play (embed) media into. Thus the modern mix tape could become a linked series of small objects like lucky charms which are physically shareable in a form representing the tracks they contain.
This is based on the idea that physical items often mean more to us as physical beings and adds a level of exclusivity and personalisation to the sharing process. Considering transplatform engagement and the ability to engage users and viewers in co-creating media it is suggested that this may present as a new modality for user co-creation and curation.

You can read more about the project including a real nice piece about slow digital by Lancaster Uni. It will be great once the project is finished.

Other playlists

Interestingly Nathan Langley is working with others on a startup idea called Desert.fm.

Our industry is full of stories and there is many outlets for them. Blogs, publications, podcasts all giving interviews giving designers and developers a platform to share their sources of inspiration and to tell their story. We found music was usually an afterthought or a sideline, for our idea Desert fm we want to bring music to the fore, in view to create the ultimate inspiring playlist that everyone can access to discover new music and be enthralled by.

Ultimately Nathan would like a playlist from me with a few lines on why each track means something to me in an autobiographical sense.

This could be anything. For example, one track was around when you were you at school, sketching and doodling ideas for a new transformer! Or when you first learning code in the dead of night you had a special artist you would go to to get in the zone. Or just a song you are digging at the moment. This can be as long or as short as you want it.

This reminds me of Top10.com and ultimately Listgeeks.

So here is my clubbing days gone by list

  1. Seven Days And One Week – BBE – Clubbing in Ibiza in 1998, it was heavily played everywhere and although I got bored of it at the time, it still reminds me of the early days of Trance.
  2. Please Save Me (Push Remix) – Push vs Sunscreem – This was known as the Monster track by friends and the girlfriend I was dating at the time. It was killer track and made for some great nights out at the Bristol, Ritzy
  3. Oblivion (Head In The Clouds) – Manix – One of the tunes I danced to in the early days of clubbing in a underground rave.
  4. It’s My Turn (Extended Mix) – Angelic – Driving home from Bristol on the A4 road with my old Aprilla SR125 scooter listening to Judge Jules on the Essential mix. It was perfectly timed for hitting west London.
  5. Time to get ill – 4 Hero – I spent some time in Cheltenham once during school at a special event to do with the rotary club. There was a small funfair and I spent a lot of time on a ride which played Time to get ill again and again. Great time!
  6. Music Reach (1,2,3,4) – Prodigy – This song blew my mind when I first heard it on the Prodigy Experience album, which I borrowed from friend/best man Ross. I wanted more music like it.
  7. Passion (Do You Want it Right Now) – Get Decor – This song sums up clubbing in the old Bristol Mecca discotheque. Its the song which comes to mind when thinking about that period of time.
  8. Rhythm is a Dancer – Snap! – Remember listening to my next door neighbor playing this on 12inch vinyl and being blown away by the introduction. It sounded so alive, then hearing it in a club the week afterwards
  9. The Legacy (Club Mix) – Push – When I heard this tune at the Bristol Ritzy, it blew my mind. I seeked out this tune for a good few months, as I had to own it.
  10. Let me show you – Camisra – When I first heard this in a club, it brought me out chills all over. Love it and its a classic.

There is something quite special about Playlists and its amazing the stories which come out of the wood work when picking music. Imagine what would happen if you could pick any media. This is what we’ll be exploring/researching in Tangible playlists.

Can’t wait to share more details on the project soon…

The high streets of altrincham 8am mix

The highstreets of altrincham 8am mix by Cubicgarden on Mixcloud

Its been a long time since I have created a mix and published it the web. So I finally got something I was mainly happy with and decided to publish it. As the name suggests, it was created during an early morning trip to Altrincham. I needed something quite loud and pretty fast to keep me from falling a sleep.

Mix playlist is fully of old and new tunes fused together for impact (photo credit – http://www.flickr.com/photos/raver_mikey)

  1. Nuclear Device (dave joy remix) – Dave 202
  2. Unexpectation (dengavs manus mix) – Vengeance
  3. UFO – Shogun
  4. Sand Theme (Chris Schwezer mix) – Aly & Fila vs Bjorn Akesson
  5. 3rd Earth (heartbeat remix) – Solarstone vs Scott Bond
  6. A new dawn (virtual vault remix) – Steve Forte Rio
  7. We are One (Instrumental mix) – Dave 202
  8. Headliner – Jornvan Deynhoven
  9. The Expedition (indecent noise remix) – Armin van Buuren and Markus Schulz
  10. Ecstasy – Eddie Makabi feat Einat
  11. Seven Cities (V-One’s living cities remix) Solar Stone

 

 

One of the mixes while I was in Hospital – outta of hope mix

The outta of hope mix by cubicgarden

I had a listen to most of my mixes I recorded while in Hospital, and there some good stuff there. Its going to take a while to recover and make them decent for sharing because sometimes I had the cross fader in the wrong position which is a shame or forgot to do something equally silly. Anyway here’s a nice short one to kick us off. As always enjoy…

  1. Above the sky – Airwave
  2. Cafe del Mar (Marco V remix) – Energy 52
  3. Are you fine – Kyan vs Albert
  4. Sincere (pulser remix) – Firewall
  5. Language (santiago nino dub tech mix) – Hammer and Bennett
  6. Shadow World – Thomas Brozwaer
  7. Lately (Riley & durrant mix) – Airbiscuit
  8. She wants him – Moussa Clarke & Terrafunka
  9. Into Something – Richard durand
  10. The Blizzard (Monogato’s Filth Remix) – Kalopsia
  11. Gamesmaster (matt darey 1999 remix) – Lost Tribe

The one step beyond entropy mix

The one step beyond entropy mix by cubicgarden

The mix isn’t perfect, I almost dedcied not to release it and maybe even do it again, but I changed my mind as theres a lot of new tunes in this mix. Of course there’s classic ones too. Recorded in Bristol while waiting to go out one night, I’m sure yuo will enjoy it.

Its been a while since I’ve uploaded a new mix mainly because I’ve had some trouble getting the Pacemaker editor software working in Ubuntu. I tried to get it working using Wine but it just would not work. So I had to go back to using Sun’s VirtualBox which thankfully does work.

Here’s the playlist for the mix…

  1. Salvation (Album Re-Vised Mix) – M.I.K.E
  2. Second Slience (Michael Jast edit) – Signum vs Delerium
  3. Intution (Martin Roth Remix) – Marninx pres Ecco
  4. Watch out (Extended Remix) – Ferry Corsten
  5. Junk (Body Snatchers Vocal mix) – Ferry Corsten Feat Guru
  6. Strange Bends (Kyau Vs Albert) – Sebastian Sand
  7. A New dawn (Virtual Vault Remix) – Steve Forte Rio
  8. Smack – Simon Patterson
  9. Invisible Touch (Ferry Corsten’s Touch) – Bobina
  10. Sinister (Original Mix) – Airbase
  11. Language (Santiago Nino Dub Tech Mix) – Hammer and Bennett
  12. Shivers (Alex M.O.R.P.H Remix) – Armin Van Buuren
  13. RAMsteram (Jornvan Deynhoven Remix) – RAM

The sound of snow falling in sunshine mix

The sound of snow falling in sunshine mix by cubicgarden

This is the mix I used for the Next Generation DJ contest. I lot of people asked if they could listen to it without Flash, and I had to said no simply because I had to get as many listeners and votes on the contest site as possible. Now Stage one is all but over, its very unlikely that my mix will make it to the second stage due to lack of votes (needed at least 200) I can open the mix up on Soundcloud for people to download and listen to away from the site.

Anyhow, I’ve already had my say on the contest rules and cheating which was going on. There’s also suggestions that music genres outside of House and Techno were/would have been voted down in the end because the contest involves djing live at a famous house arena….

But enough, check out the mix on Soundcloud and if you still feel like voting for it, its still available till 3rd Feb here.

The running order is the same as before of course

  1. Sinister – Airbase
  2. Constellation (john O callaghan remix – Thomas Bronzwaer
  3. Summer Melodies (Frequence remix) – Frequence
  4. Bulgarian (Signum Remix) – Travel
  5. Beauty hides in the deep (john O callaghan remix) – The Doppler effect
  6. Shadow World – Thomas Bronzwaer
  7. Serenity (alphazone remix) – saltwater
  8. Rewire – Robert Nickson & Daniel Kandi
  9. Key of life (Marlo remix) – Ohmna featuring Nurlaila
  10. Attention (steve birch remix) – John 00 Fleming vs Christopher Lawrence
  11. She wants him – Moussa Clarke & Terrafunka
  12. Into the danger (M.I.K.E remix) – M.I.K.E vs Andrew Bennett
  13. Certitude – Thomas Bronzwaer
  14. Ultra Curve – Cosmic gate
  15. It’s the beat – Simians mobile disco

Flicker music podcast

Minimus EP cover

My friend Paul Crowley has created a flipping awesome podcast for his and Gareth Cole's exclusively online music lablel Flicker Tracks.Yes Flicker with an E not without the E. Anyway his just launched a new EP called Minimus and decided the 30secs preview you get from the Apple iTunes store wasn't enough for slow building arrangements which you find in a lot of house and trance music. And he's very right, there's tracks which sound nothing like the first 2 mins because thats your build up period (or mix period) then the track comes alive with something amazing which suprises the listener. Paul says it much better that myself

We decided that it is important that anyone interested in our material can hear significantly more than the 30 seconds currently afforded by iTunes. This is particularly important with club focussed music, where lengthy intros facilitate equally lengthy and seamless DJ mixes. Slow-build arrangements don’t necessarily reveal the true nature of the track in the opening bars, or in fact, in any given 30 second sample.

It’s always been true that the medium has dictated the format and length of mass produced music (from wax cylinders through to compact discs) but in this instance, the promotional method is creating an artificial limitation – the medium is not at fault. It is as if when writing material, you should now produce the musical equivilent of the elevator pitch to have the greatest chance of commercial success.

Were we to write and arrange our material so that the first 30 seconds gives the casual listener a more representative sample of what’s to come, we would then risk rendering the material less appropriate for the intended context – a club (which of course is creating another restriction on form, but one that we choose intentionally). Anyway, all this technology is supposed to be about creativity and freedom of expression, right?

Your damm right Paul. I've added the podcast to this entry which I hope will give it even more visability and I don't think Paul will mind. It would be easier for others to do the same if there was a creative commons licence like Attribution-NoDerivs License attached to the podcast. Then people could play it, copy it and even play it on a commercial radio station. I would also add – it would be great to have included a little tracklist (maybe linked to the direct track on itunes) in the blog post. But it was great to hear louise's voice over the music, very professional sounding.

So about the actual tracks.

1st track minimus – is damm fat and heavy, I like it and might have to get it for net Saturday's Bash.

2nd track bring you too – is a nice rich leader track. Something I would use to bring the crowd to a new place. This is certainly what I think of when thinking progressive or tech house.

3rd and 4th tracks are not quite my style but sound like something I would dance to in a house club.

5th track skidmark – is another fatty track perfect for playing in a bar, warm and smooth, perfect for a slightly upbeat lounge club. Saturday is calling its name.

So Paul it worked, your elevator pitch of a podcast has made me considered buying some of your tracks. Now if it wasn't in itunes encrypted mpeg4 audio (AAC) I could use it in a DJ set next weekend. Oh well…

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