Photo credit: Jelle Baars

Over the last couple of years I seem to have grown a much stronger affection for public transportation. I’m not a daily commuter – I can go to work and university by bicycle – but regularly travelling back and forth by train between my hometown and Amsterdam for concerts has convinced me that the social elements of it by far outweigh the advantages of travelling by car. Sure it might be more comfortable and easy to sit behind the wheel yourself and be the captain of your own ship, but isn’t it much nicer for instance to have a casual chat with a stranger than to sit isolated inside your four-wheeled cocoon? Public transportation is the black sheep of our increasingly individualized society.

This playlist is an ode to the train. The rhythmic cadence of the rails as the train rattles over it, shaking and clattering, constantly building momentum and pushing itself forward.

I like to see it lap the miles,
And lick the valleys up,
And stop to feed itself at tanks;
And then, prodigious, step

Around a pile of mountains,
And, supercilious, peer
In shanties by the sides of roads;
And then a quarry pare

To fit its sides, and crawl between,
Complaining all the while
In horrid, hooting stanza;
Then chase itself down hill

And neigh like Boanerges;
Then, punctual as a star,
Stop — docile and omnipotent –
At its own stable door.

~ Emily Dickinson / The Railway Train ~

1. Railroad Sounds, Steam and Diesel – Side A: Steam Locomotives and Some Diesel Locomotives (excerpt)
   Railroad Sounds, Steam and Diesel (Audio Fidelity, 1958)
2. Steve Reich – Different Trains (America – Before the War)
   Different Trains/Electric Counterpoint (Elektra/Nonesuch, 1989)
3. Saddleback – Train South
   Everything’s a Love Letter (Preservation, 2004)
4. The Notwist – Pilot
   Neon Golden (Domino, 2002)
5. Hood – The Lost You
   Outside Closer (Domino, 2005)
6. Hangedup – Klang Klang
   Clatter For Control (Constellation, 2005)
7. Tarentel – Hello! We Move Through Weather!
   We Move Through Weather (Temporary Residence, 2004)
8. Elliott Brood – Cadillac Dust
   Tin Type (Weewerk, 2003)
9. Calexico – Hot Rail
   Hot Rail (Quarterstick, 2000)

Stream playlist

1. The American Analog Set – Don’t Wake Me
(From Our Living Room to Yours, 1997)
2. Union of Knives – Opposite Direction
(Violence and Birdsong, 2006)
3. Belle & Sebastian – Expectations
(Juno OST, 2007)
4. Say Hi - Spiders
(The Wishes and the Glitch, 2007)
5. Art In Manila – Our Addictions
(Set the Woods on Fire, 2007)
6. Klaxons – It’s Not Over Yet
(Myths of the Near Future, 2007)
7. Death From Above 1979 – Turn it Out
(You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine, 2004)
8. Les Savy Fav – Rage In The Plague Age
(Lets Stay Friends, 2007)
9. Justice – Genesis
(Cross, 2007)

I have to say that I relate maybe a bit too much to Moka’s last post. Lately I avoid going out with my friends because I swiftly get bored, and so my time has been spent in reading, looking for new music and basically inmersing myself in all the school work I have to get done for one due date or another, they never seem to end and are always back to back. I’ve also been absorbed with new “pet projects”, new experiments with myself; experiments with photos, new goals in my jogging routine (I can now go 10.5K in an hour), looking for architecture contests online (did I tell you that I’m getting one of my projects published?), doing this, not doing that, bla bla bla… But generally I just find myself in a kind of limbo I just can’t seem to kick myself out of. The good thing about limbo is that there’s alot of moving space, the bad thing is, you have no idea where to. I sometimes think I need to quit this city, and then I think I just need to find new habits and addictions, it’s a constant pull and tug. So I guess I was trying to put that into this playlist, it start’s out calm and moves on to more rabid, violent mood and ends in a catchy exploding dance song.
To those of you in Limbo, welcome to MdM.

Image: LOW

- Yehuda Amichai, from Songs of Zion the Beautiful.

Kreon – Shake N Make (Reboot Rmx)
(Shake n make Ep / 2008)
Markus Fix – The Russian
(El comienzo / 2007)
Mathias Kaden – Saloee
(Lucidas Ep / 2008)
Dub Kult – Cluster Fuck (via)
(Cluster Fuck / 2007)
We can do it! – Der Geist in der Muschel
(Der Geist in der muschel / 2007)
Gabriel Ananda – Trommelstunde
(Bambusbeats / 2007)

Lately I get bored of my friends easily and I have an increasingly disgust for my family and my city. For the past few days I’ve been avoiding going out and I’ve spent most of my time alone at home trying to understand this book and fooling myself into thinking that maybe if I start running every morning or perhaps if I drink more glasses of water and eat vegetables everyday I might feel less old and frustrated but ironically, worrying about this kind things makes me feel the exact opposite way. I fear that I might have reached a new low in my life.

Hoping that before the end of March I’ll be able to regain my focus and in an attempt to clean the lazy vibes produced by my recent self-imposed hiatus, I’ll kick this week with some sort of tribal minimal playlist that I made last night while dozing off in the sofa after shower. They’re all slow burners with some nice undertones and masterful cutting and pasting of diverse kinds of organic drums and foreign chants.

Tell myself everything is sacred, remember to be thankful for what you’ve got.

Photos: Raiworld + Vassy Popova.

“A Proper IDM List for Once ”

01. Aphex Twin – IZ-US
Come To Daddy (1997)
02. Worm is Green – sunday.session.3.04
Automagic (Arena Rock, 2004)
03. Amon Tobin – Mighty Micro People
Out From Out Where (2002)
04. Matmos - Cabin in The Sky
The Civil War (2003)
05. Shitmat - Shut Up (Hellfish Remix)
Planet Mu – 200 (Planet Mu, 2007)
06. Lars Blek – Dagtid
Lars Blek (Garmonbozia Productions, 2002)
07. Venetian Snares – Absoulute Smakatrosmic
Infolepsy EP (Coredump, 2005)

note: My serious attempt to make IDM listenable. Despite having been around for almost a decade, IDM is not as widely known as more head bopping older cousin techno, the hipper kids twosteps or more traditional rocker’s delight electroclash. True enough dumping standard dance floor functionalism and cramming all sort of strange structure don’t make the genre fit in well. On top of that known leaders in the genre often times rejecting familiar composition like lyric/voice, steady rhythm and keys, etc. Venetian Snares layers sampling so thick and fast, even the craziest gangsta rap think it’s too harsh and should eb avoided for safety reason. On the other end, bunch electronic minimalistas are invading the net and dumping all sort of ultra pristine computer generated sound. They are so common, I can’t even recall any of them. Then there is comfy zone in the middle, Matmos, Telephone Tel Aviv or Boards of Canada for eg. But then again, people don’t think of them as electronic musician or DJ do they?

So is this genre ever going to be listenable at all? I hope so. It has different feel to it. Go pass the novelty bleep, one can find intricate rhythm, clever layering and that odd moment of beauty inside random exploration. Sometimes even melody and cord progression! Wooo…. (I am so conventional.) k. enjoy.

image: limonada

“Dub is a way of life…when you embrace dub, you are a righteous human. DUBBING IS A MUST.”
Mez Urik (from the book: All Life Is Dub)

Rory Breaker - Southern Gravel Rhodes
(2003)
LudacrisSpeed – Awkward Beat
(2008)
Quimby’s Chimney Rock Gig – The 42nd St. Session
(2002)
LabAssistant4 – vAliumM
(2002)
DaCrazedCamaro - In the Presence of a Stoned Dub
(2005)
Bex ft. Click OK – Soft Clip
(2003)
SpitzNagel – Dub Me on You
(2008)

Side notes: Unsure of where to take the next playlist, I perused a bit and stumbled across Dub and Illbient. This playlist takes me back to electronica: but with a twist, some jazz thrown into the mix, and a touch of uptempo in the midst. A welcome reflection to the coming of Spring, and for me a transitional awakening to the sound of the season. Like March, some of the tracks are in like lions and out like lambs, thus begin a bit strong but evenly mellow out to balance. For what it’s worth, enjoi.

All of the tracks are from independent artists/producers courtesy of acidplanet.com (yes, i’m a fiend for the unknowns on that site)

photo credit: Kshaka