Bitnormal Sampler

After a few months, the Bitnormal release page now stands at 16 seperate releases from 9 different artists. For a new-comer to the page, that's a lot of electronica to get your head around. LAst year I got to a stage with my Mender bandcamp page, where I had created and uploaded so much free music that people were simply put off by how much content was available. This is something I have come to consider when trying to promote our label. How many people arrive at the page with no knowledge of who our artists are and how they sound r indeed, what the over-all feel of the label is like, and are instantly daunted by the scale of our back catalog.

So I had this idea last night. Lets put out a sampler that gives you a taste of the sounds going on with our label. 6 tracks that capture the essence of the artists and offer the listner a bigger picture of Bitnormal.

Inspired by the epic branding elements designed by Pete Clark, I knocked together a cover and put together my own selection of Bitnormal artists and sent it to Chris. Earlier today the Sampler went up. Hopefully it is the first of many. It is totally free (as opposed to Name Your Own Price) and features some stunning remixes alongside some original independant material.

The Subtle Sting of Change

The art work for the second Mender album was put together by my brother-in-law Aaron Cole.

He based it on a medievil rubbing that he found. The sinister Skeleton goding the priest really suits the subject matter covered in this album. 



Digital Performance

This is not my picture...I found it on the interweb.

Found an article on live electronic set ups this morning. It got me thinking about the nature of live electronic performance and the big question of what constitutes a live perfromance now that in theory, you can automate so much?

The popular IDM artist Deadmau5 has said in the past that "...given about 1 hour of instruction, anyone with minimal knowledge of ableton and music tech in general could DO what im doing at a deadmau5 concert” 

Is this so bad? Anyone with about an hour's instruction could probably sing like Lou Reed? Since when did performance become a question of athletics? Surely the songs are the most important aspect, rather than the execution!

Even as I type this, I'm not sure I agree with myself but I'm inclined to justify some of the live electronic performance techniques I use myself. My set-up is the same as in the picture to the left. That's not my set up, that's just some random pic I found on a Google image search, but it shows just how simple my live set up is. I use a 13" Macbook Pro with Ableton Live 8 and the Native Instruments Maschine as a controller and a VST. That's it.

A lot of what I do in my main project Mender is automated. In some cases the entire structure of the songs are banks on the Maschine which I flick between and manage the structure live as I go. In other songs I use the Maschine as an instrument and just play a melody over the top of a backing track.

I am fully aware that I could design the songs with performance in mind; triggering clips in Live 8 with the controller mode of Maschine and live looping more with custom pad set ups in Maschine but the fact is that I wrote the songs first and now it makes sense to use the arrangements as the live show.

With KADE however, I am beginning to experiment with custom pad sets and chain of effects on the master channel. This feels less of a scam on the audience if I'm honest but it is much more prone to disaster and restricts me in terms of BPM changes and the over-all mix of drum, bass and synth parts.

If I'm honest, I agree with Deadmau5 in that the performance is not just about what you are doing but more how it comes across. The live Mender show goes down pretty well as I am singing a lot and Dave and Ed hold up the live guitar and bass element really well, giving us an interesting balance between automated electronics and engaging human elements in our live performance. I think that as long as you are giving something entertaining to the audience and you are using your skill to create the automated elements then there's no need to get elitist about how you pull it off live.

With new technologies, come new moral mine-fields when it comes to performance. I guess it depends with what you can live with and whether you have a big mouse head to draw the attention away from what you're up to!

Introducing KADE

Live improvised electronica.

Shep and I have been developing a new approach to electronic music where by we can improvise stuff on the fly. These tunes are recorded jams we did in the last month which we have tweaked and mastered and released on the world.

We are looking for unique performance opportunities and perhaps even a residency so get in touch via Bitnormal Records contact sheet if you are interested in booking us!

Supajam

Last Friday I noticed a call out on this website Supajam for a 30 second version of the song 'Get Together' by The Young Bloods for use in a TV commercial for a  popular food brand in the US. I literally jumped at the chance to have a go at making an advert theme as I rarely do covers for one thing and secondly the brief was challenging. On Saturday I reached a point, round about 6pm, where I realised that my voice was not going to do this piece any justice, or indeed sell this popular food brand's product so I put a call out on Facebook to a talented singer I had recently met called +Katrina Borroff .



The track came together beautifully after that. Her vocals really made it and I managed to submit the track just before the deadline last night.

As well as this, Shep (aka Shep on Bass) finally dropped our debut EP under the name KADE and so part of my first Father's day was also about frantically exchanging emails in order to the tracklisting, write a bio and actually decide on track names!

The EP, entitled 'aphotic love feel' is a slightly unique concept in that it consists of a series of improvised jams (or beatscapes as I like to call them!) rather than structured songs. We aim to market the project as an alternative to having a resident DJ or a mix CD playing in clubs and bars; live, improvised background grooves and ambience if you like. The idea is that if you see us perform, no song will be the same twice.

We put the album out on our pown label Bitnormal Records last night and already we have had some great feedback, which is nice to hear.

Finally, today has seen the release of Karhide's Rough Sleep EP on Bandcamp, Amazon and iTunes. I did a little remix of the title track so it's all a bit exciting to have it out and available on so many popular platforms!

First Post

So this is my first ever blog post. Of any description....

I wonder whether, for a 30 year old guy in the 00's that is a faux pas? I don't know. I'm pretty sure I don't read any other blogs of anyone I know so maybe it's ok. Blogging definitely sounds like something I should be doing since I am doing a lot!

The other night I showcased a new project I've been working on called KADE which  is a live, improvised, electronic-performance-based type thing featuring myself on laptop and vocals and Shep On Bass. We performed to a select audience at an exclusive album playback for +Boards of Canada's new realease Tommorrow's Harvest. It was great. +Glenn Millington got use of this studio in Derby called Dub:rek and set up some great visuals and ambient lighting (it's all about ambient lighting!) Glenn also performed some of his material live which is great. Shep and I released a couple of his singles on our label Bitnormal Records earlier this year. He performs under the name o_S_k_m, you should totally have a listen cos it's great stuff!

The Bitnormal stuff is going really well, although I'm not sure my skills lie in the administration of a label. I'm trying really hard not to piss Chris off with my terrible organisational skills, coupled with my complete lack of time at home since my daughter was born but it seems like I am slacking on the duties I said I would under-take. the fact is, I am working really hard to stay involved and I have ideas and networks with people that are of real benefit to the label. I think as I adjust to father-hood, I will find a way to fit things in. We have some great artists releasing stuff on the label now and I want to be fully behind it. After all, my second Rysic Cygo album is due out soon and I need the momentum behind me so it doesn't just flop.

Any way...got to go now. More blogging later....