solipsistic NATION

Today on solipsistic NATION we'll hear a live set from Giulia Loli from Mutamassik, which was originally recorded for Fari Bradley's Six Pillars radio show on Resonance FM to promote Giulia's 2012 release, Rekkez, out on Ini.itu Records. In fact, there are quite a few tracks from Rekkez on today's live set. We'll also talk to Giulia about balancing artistry with industry, and her growth as an artist, musician and as a DJ. Today's show is eight years in the making. When I launched solipsistic NATION podcasts were a new thing and most people didn't know what a podcast actually was, which made it difficult when I would email labels and ask for them to send me promotional CDs for the show. And even if a label knew what a podcast was I didn't have the audience that I do now, so why mail out music to show that only had a few hundred listeners? I can't blame them, really. But one label I did approach was generous enough to send a CD. I had read a review about Mutamassik's album, Masri Mokkassar: Definitive Works in XLR8R, back when it was still a print magazine. Definitive Works had been released by Sound-Ink Records and they sent me Mutamassik's LP without questions or hassle. Like I said, podcasts were an unknown quantity back then, so it meant a lot to me that Sound-Ink took me seriously enough to send me Mutamassik's album. And it was a great album! I played it on the show and I played it on my iPod constantly. Someday, I told myself, I'm going to have Mutamassik on the show as a guest so I could get to know the person behind all this fantastic music! That day is today. It took months of planning and aligning our schedules but it finally happened. Join us again next week. I'm still getting my ducks in a row but I think our guests will be Known Rebel's Germán Escandell and Jaime Irles. See you then! 01. Mutamassik "Babomb" 02. Interview with Giulia Loli of Mutamassik 03. Mutamassik "Live"

Great show for you today! We're going to hear a live, in-studio performance from Khafru. But first, I've got some sad news to announce. Cheb i Sabbah died last week of stomach cancer. For those of you who didn't know him, Chebi was a musician and composer from San Francisco. If there's a genre that would describe his music I guess it would be worldbeat, but that doesn't adequately describe the richness, complexity and the beauty of Chebi's artistry. I first discovered Chebi late last century in 1995 when I purchased Sub Rosa's Ancient Light and the Blackcore at Newbury Comics in Boston. The album featured field recordings of Yanomami shamans, Seefeel, Scorn and Timothy Leary remixed by some guy called Cheb i Sabbah. The track by Chebi was called "Why Are You Here?" Timothy Leary waxed psychedelic on the meaning of our existence and was supported by Chebi's timeless, cosmic music. It was mind blowing stuff. From that point on, Cheb i Sabbah was on my radar so when Sub Rosa released an album of poetry by Ira Cohen with music from Chebi, I purchased it without question and I was not disappointed. Chebi's music was still psychedelic but it now incorporated sounds from Morocco. Combined with Ira Cohen's words, I felt like I was living in one of William Burroughs' fevered dreams. Chebi then released a series of albums: Shri Durga, Maha Maya and Krishna Lila, each one exploring music from North and South India. In 2005 Chebi veered off into an entirely different direction and released La Kahena, which featured music from North Africa. When I launched solipsistic NATION I had a list of artists I wanted to have on the show to talk about their music. Chebi was one of those artists and it was a pleasure to talk to him about his craft and each of his albums after listening to his music for so many years. At the time, that show was supposed to be a retrospective of Chebi's musical journey so far. Like everybody else, I assumed that Chebi would release album after wonderful album. Sadly, Chebi only released two more albums: La Ghriba: La Kahena Remixed in 2006 and Devotion in 2008. Chebi had been diagnosed with stomach cancer. Chebi didn't have health insurance so an online fundraiser campaign was launched to cover Chebi's medical fees. Six Degrees Records, who had put out nearly every album during Chebi's musical career, also released a benefit album called Samaya in 2012. And now Chebi's gone. His music is still with us, but the man is gone. He will be missed. As I mentioned earlier, I had a list of artists I wanted to feature on solipsistic NATION and Cheb i Sabbah was one of them. Over the years I've got to talk to a lot of people on that list. There are still quite few names on that list like Kraftwerk and Crystal Method I'd like to have on the show but these days I'm more about finding new voices in electronic music. Which brings us to today's show featuring Khafru. Producing solipsistic NATION means listening to a lot of music. One might even go as so far as to say that I listen to an unhealthy amount of music. And most of it is either awful or forgettable. Statistically that's just the way it is. 99% of everything is crap. But when Khafru's music came over my headphones I got goosebumps! Who was this guy?! I knew I had to have him on the show. It took a few months but Khafru found a window to talk about his music and send me a recording of him performing live, in studio. Before I go, I'll spend the rest of the month catching up on loose ends and next week we'll listen to a live set from Mutamassik. See you then! Khafru "Mirrors Become Doors At Night" Interview with Abhimanyu Malhotra of Khafru Khafru "Live" Finegan Finch "Thousand Eyes Towards The Skies [Khafru Remix]" Khafru "Mon Petit Fleur" Khafru "Coasts Of Khayyam" Khafru "Venn Diagram" Khafru "Industry Of Man" Khafru "Sentinel" Arms of Oblivion "Sleep [Khafru Remix]" Khafru "Mirrors Become Doors At Night" Khafru "When The Morning Comes" Khafru "Delicate Dawn"

Today on solipsistic NATION DJ Food's Strictly Kev returns with a live set that was performed in a... really unexpected place. In a planetarium. The FullDome UK, to be exact. Before we get to DJ Food, a couple of things. First, I want to thank everyone for sticking around and coming back to solipsistic NATION during my absence. It really means a lot to me. I know, you're busy, you could be listening to another podcast, or watching a movie or playing a video game or reading a book... but you're here, right now with me. Thanks. And thanks for listening to the last edition of solipsistic NATION that featured Grouse, The Other Guy, and today's guest, DJ Food. I'm really proud of that show. It was firing all cylinders. The music was unquestionably great, and the interviews were great, too. A lot of heart. I don't know about you, but I got inspired when Grouse talked about chucking out all his old sounds and starting fresh for his new album. Sometimes you gotta destroy before you create. And it was adorable when DJ Food's Strictly Kev's son crashed our interview. And I got a lump in my throat when The Other Guy talked about his mom passing. Just a great show. If you missed it, go listen to it now. Okay, today's show. I originally planned to release a mega show featuring interviews with Propellerheads' Kalle Paulsson, ScatterRadio's Dae Choi, and music recommendations from Alan Ranta and Macedonia, and a show idea from Edward Stumpp that I was really excited to talk about. And I was also planning to celebrate 300+ editions of solipsistic NATION to boot. But I just didn't have time to put it together. And now it's the first weekend of the month, and that's live music time, so I had to push that show back. On today's show we're going to hear a live set from DJ Food's Strictly Kev. Well, kind of live. It's music Kev put together for people to experience at a planetarium in the UK. When I first heard the idea I kind of rolled my eyes, thinking it was going to be like the cheesy laser shows I saw back when I was a kid. But once Kev described the whole thing on the last show I was totally enchanted with the idea. Check out the YouTube video below. I'm listening to Kev's set as I write this and even without the visuals it's still an amazing. Totally trippy You're in a for a great time! And just think, if there's a planetarium in your area you just might get to experience it for yourself. Before I get out of Dodge, I've got a backlog of shows to catch up on so the next few weeks expect to hear live set from Khafru and Mutamassik. And then we'll get to that mega show I mentioned and then we'll take off from there. Great to be in the saddle again. Now go enjoy today's show and kiss the sky! 01. DJ Food "Discovery Workshop" 02. DJ Food "A Trick of the Ear (Album Edit)" 03. Interview with Strictly Kev of DJ Food 04. DJ Food "The Search Engine, FullDome UK"

Got a great show for you today! We're going to rock out to Pepe Deluxé, live from the Tavastia Club in Helsinki. We'll also chat with Pepe Deluxé co-founder, Jari Salo. Before we talk with Jari, let's address the elephant in the living room. Where the hell have I been for the last three months!?! I wish I could tell you that I was on a tour around the globe, or that I was on a river boat, writing the great American novel, or something equally grandiose to justify my long absence. But I've got nothing–because I did absolutely nothing. And I think I needed it. Or must have needed it. solipsistic NATION has been growing by leaps and bounds the last year and once I started getting millions of downloads a month I kicked into over gear and took on a lot of ambitious projects for the show. Thing is, solipsistic NATION was already taking up almost every free moment of my life. Between constantly listening to new music to play on the show, arranging interviews and producing and promoting shows-there simply wasn't much room for anything else. I burnt myself out. The last few months I've barely listened to music. Instead, I've really been enjoying... quiet. It's given me a chance to do a lot of thinking and reflecting, or not thinking at all. And slowly but surely I've been recharging my batteries, so to speak. Clearly, I can't go on like I did before. I just can't. In fact, before I crashed and burned I was planning to expand solipsistic NATION to include contributors to the show, to make solipsistic NATION more of an audio magazine. I was already heading in that direction, I just should have had that all in place before biting off more than I could chew. I'll tell you more over the next few weeks as I make that transition. It kills me that it took me three months to get this show out because Jari and I must have spent at least six months getting his live set together and arranging our interview. And it's a great interview. Jari's a hell of a nice guy and had so many interesting stories to tell. I hope he'll forgive the wait. Special thanks goes out to Alan Ranta for making today's show possible. I mentioned earlier that I'll be having regular contributors on the show. Alan's one of them. Follow him on Twitter @alanranta. While you're there, follow me @solipsistic. Okay, it's already been three months since my last show. Let's not wait a moment longer. 01. Pepe Deluxé "The Secret Forces In The Mountain" 02. Interview with Jari Salo, co-founder of Pepe Deluxé 03. Pepe Deluxé "My Flaming Thirst (Instrumental)" 04. Pepe Deluxé "Live, Club Tavastia (February 16, 2013)"

Today on solipsistic NATION... Never before in human history has so much information been available to so many people. You'd think that would be a good thing, right? But it can be overwhelming. What to do? Zite CEO Mark Johnson offers a solution on how to deliver your favorite magazines, newspapers, authors, blogs, and videos right to your phone or tablet. I've been using Zite the last couple of years to help me stay on top of everything that's going on in the electronic music community. Through Zite I can read articles from such respected sources as The Quietus, Factmag, XLR8R and more. Electronic music related news is only one of the sources Zite offers. Politics, technology, arts and culture—Zite has it all! The Search Engine is the latest album from DJ Food, and it devours everything DJ Food has previously released even as it moves in new directions. I've been a fan of DJ Food as far back as late last century. I love the noirish psychedelic sounds and samples, and anyone who incorporates the ironic poetry of Ken Nordine into their music, well, their okay in my book. The Other Guy's Stephen Lombardo's latest EP, The Long Drive, has a lot of joy distilled into it: his engagement, the birth of his daughter... But there's also some tragedy to it. The Other Guy and was one of the artists I featured on the show when I launched solipsistic NATION as a podcast seven years ago. The Other Guy's music has always been sexy, lush and dark. Perfect fit for today's show, right? Ronan Carroll of Grouse returns to solipsistic NATION with his new album, Heads. Same Grouse. New sounds! I've played Grouse's music on the show several times in the past and he even made a brief appearance on solipsistic NATION way back in 2007, so it's be good to have him on the show again for a longer conversation. One last thing, and it's important. Troy Psymbolic, of the Psymbolic multimedia label, was recently diagnosed with chronic pain syndrome and autoimmune response and he needs your help. If you can spare him 10 or 20 dollars or more it would make all the difference in his life. That's about the cost of an album these days, right? Why not spend it on Troy? For more information got to gofundme.com/LoveForTroyPsymbolic. Okay, that's about it. Join us again next week. I have a few guests in mind but I'll keep that under wraps until their confirmed. See you then! 01. DJ Food feat. DK "Sentinel (Shadow Guard)" 02. DJ Food feat. 2econd Class Citizen "Magpie Music" 03. Interview with Mark Johnson, CEO of Zite 04. DJ Food "In Orbit Every Monday" 05. DJ Food "A Trick of the Ear (Album Edit)" 06. Interview with Strictly Kev of DJ Food 07. The Other Guy "Morning Call" 08. The Other Guy "Illusions" 09. Interview with Stephen Lombardo of The Other Guy 10. Grouse "Arm The Harmless" 11. Grouse "Silent Protest" 12. Interview with Ronan Carroll of Grouse

Summer vacation is over and I'm back! I've been away for the last few months recharging my batteries. It takes a lot of work producing a show like solipsistic NATION and, quite frankly, I had hit the wall. Constantly listening to new music, reading music blogs, posting on social media—I just don't think it was healthy for me to be doing that nearly every free moment of each and every day. Let me expand on that a little bit. It's not just that I was listening to too much music, I was listening to too much bad music. People send me a lot of free music to review for the show and because people were kind enough to send me their music I felt obligated to listen to it. All of it. Unfortunately, statistically speaking, a lot of it is terrible. It's just the way it is. And I have to listen to a lot of it to find the good stuff, the stuff I feature on solipsistic NATION. I don't mind mediocre music because at least with mediocre music is not terrible, it's just mediocre. But bad music wounds me. And it makes me angry. You might be thinking to yourself, hey, it's just music—get a grip. That's true, but music, good music, is important to me. You don't produce over 300 shows of electronic music unless it is important to you. And so bad music infuriates me because not only is it wasting my time but it feels like a physical assault. Presumably the people who make bad music have heard good music. Why not emulate the good rather than subject us with their shit? I can't do it any more. It's just exhausting. So I'm changing my policy. I'll give the bad music 30 or 60 seconds of my time but if it's clearly not getting any better I'm just going to skip past that track like everyone else in the world does. I've spent the last few months actively not listening to music and slowly letting my soul heal. I've kept my social media and blog reading to a bare minimum, gathering my strength. But now I'm tanned, I'm rested, and I'm ready to take on the world! I want to thank you for listening and your continued support. I've got a lot of big plans for solipsistic NATION and I'll need your help. We'll talk about that more on next week's show but in the meantime, if you'd like to help support solipsistic NATION, tell a friend about the show. Tweet about solipsistic NATION on Twitter. Flatter us of Flattr or purchase a solipsistic NATION t-shirt. Now let's get to what's important—great electronic music! Today on solipsistic NATION we'll also hear a special live in-studio performance by wAgAwAgA. We also talk to wAgAwAgA about launching his own record label, Cooking Up Records; his growth as an artist from album to album; and traveling the world for the field recordings he features on those albums. Robbie Martin from Record Label Records first turned me onto wAgAwAgA with the release of wAgAwAgA's Midnight Sampler album on Robbie's label (check out our showcase of Record Label Records here). wAgAwAgA's album was lush, dub-heavy and dense with the sounds of nature and world music. In fact, Midnight Sampler made my list of one of the top 10 albums for 2012. wAgAwAgA has since moved in new directions and his music has become more restrained, kind of minimal, really. But all those elements that I love in his music is still there, which you'll hear on today's live set. I think you're really going to dig it! Join us again next week when we'll showcase Tripswitch's label, Section Records (check out Tripswitch's live set here). I think. I'm still getting my ducks in a row. See you then! 01. wAgAwAgA "flagnag dub" 02. wAgAwAgA "floaty edit" 03. Interview with wAgAwAgA 04. wAgAwAgA "Live"

Stop me if I've said this before. Or skip ahead a few paragraphs. Whatever. After spending the last six years or so producing edition after edition of solipsistic NATION I finally figured out one of the important reasons I love electronic music so much and that reason is surprise and delight. I'm surprised it took me so long to work that out because it's blindingly obvious—one of the first things they teach you in art—in fact, is surprise. It's playing with your expectations and revealing something new. That element of surprise may reveal something sacred or profane and, if done deftly, causes delight. Pop used to do this. In a way, it's what made pop music pop. But pop music has been so colonized by corporatism that it's rare that something fresh and new escapes into the wild. Hip hop used to do the same but it followed quickly in pop's footsteps at a gallop. Electronic music has relatively remained immune to the constraints of pop music and is free to play fast and loose with our expectations of music, constantly mutating and adding each genre and sub genre of electronic music's sonic distinctiveness to it's own. Yes, that's a Star Trek reference. Major labels are once again rediscovering that there's some cool shit happening in electronic music and seems content for the moment to deliver it to the masses in the form of EDM. I don't doubt that it will soon turn it's great, lidless eye (Lord of the Rings reference) to other genres of electronic music in it's never ending quest for the next new thing to make a buck off. Today's label showcase on solipsistic NATION features select tracks from Naboa Music. There's a lot of breakcore in Naboa Music but that's just the framework to explore it's inner weirdness. So entrenched is Naboa Music in exploring these sonic territories that I don't think it's a label that could ever be tempted to embrace the dark side (Star Wars reference, and a rather forced one at that). But seriously... I'm always asking for labels to feature on future editions of solipsistic NATION and [tlr] made the case for Naboa Music. [tlr] has been on solipsistic NATION a number of times and his most recent album, Homunculus, was released on Naboa Music. When he suggested I do a feature on the label I listened because I trust [tlr]'s taste in music. And I was right to do so. Just listen to today's show and see! We'll also chat with Laskfar Vortok's Naoboa Music, cofounder. He's got a unique vision for what a music label can be. Naboa Music is weird and wonderful and will take you in some very interesting places. Join us again next week when we'll talk with Zite CEO Mark Johnson and recording artists Grouse, The Other Guy and DJ Food. See you then! 01. Allen, I Hate Myself "Day Break Ground Score" 02. Interview with Laskfar Vortok, cofounder of Naboa Music 03. Autofuture "Mountain Revenge" 04. Naboa "Monopolar Pulse" 05. Beytah "Burning Villages" 06. Oxygenfad "Custom Firmware" 07. Eddie B. Rock "Dungeon Quest" 08. Psychedelic.Osmo "Kenta Cho Achieves Godhood" 09. Victor Vankmen "Walkman Spaced Reverb Dopeness (Feat. GDS)" 10. [tlr] "Magic Powers" 11. Syphilis Sauna "Comfort Zone (On Addiction)" 12. Naboa "Butcher Blossom 5" 13. Interview with Laskfar Vortok, cofounder of Naboa Music 14. Arson[EYE]-K "Thirty Puzzled Five Fidge" 15. Helium Ointment "Rubber Chicken" 16. EDN "2-1 Death Peak" 17. Genus Inkasso "Hurler's Pappy" 18. Laskfar Vortok "Marshal His Being To Culture" 19. Interview with Laskfar Vortok, cofounder of Naboa Music

What makes today's such a special show—aside from the music, which is great, by the way—is that today's show comes to you from Ty, who is both a listener and a friend of solipsistic NATION. Ty emailed me a few months ago and suggested that I might consider doing shows featuring Calima Shatiday and Elastic Bond. After checking out their music on iTunes I knew Ty was absolutely right, I had to have them on the show. Calima will appear on solipsistic NATION in the next few months, but today we're going to hear Elastic Bond's live DJ Mix! Andres and Sofy join me from their studio in Miami. We're actually did today's interview by video, which seems to be happening more and more on solipsistic NATION. Too bad you can't see it, Miami looks lovely. Elastic Bond's live DJ mix is fantastic and is chock full of their music and various remixes. Elastic Bond is a band and and electronic music is just one element they weave into their music. They're currently hard at work on their forthcoming album and you can bet I'm going to have them back on the show when their new LP drops. The other thing that makes today's show so special is Ty himself. solipsistic NATION has always been a communal effort. I may be at the helm of the show but a lot of people behind the scenes make the show happen. There's the bands and musicians, the music labels and promoters, the people who provide the artwork for the website and the album artwork you're looking at right now, as a matter of fact. And then there's you. None of this would be possible without you, all of you. I've wanted more listener involvement in the show for a long time and I've decided that 2013 is the year to push and really make that happen. It helps that solipsistic NATION has more listeners then ever before, so if you have an idea like Ty for future shows on solipsistic NATION, email me and let's see if we can make it happen. I'm at solipsisticnation@gmail.com. Or you can reach me on Twitter at solipsistic. There are a lot of exciting changes in store for solipsistic NATION this year and I'd really like you to be a part of it. Join us again next week when we'll showcase Naboa Music. We'll listen to select tracks from Naboa Music and talk with the label's founder, Laskfar Vortok. 01. Elastic Bond "You ...Ay! (feat. Locos por Juana)" 02. Elastic Bond "Pierdo el Control" 03. Interview with Andres Ponce and Sofy Encanto of Elastic Bond 04. Elastic Bond "Live DJ Mix"

If James Joyce was a DJ from America living in the 21st century then Ulysses just might have sounded like Mister Wi$E's Narrative Mixing: First Movement, Land. That explains everything, right? No? Brett Wise is Mister Wi$E and Narrative Mixing: First Movement, Land is his epic, sonic, surrealistic, psychedelic tale of our protagonist, making his way in the world using a vocabulary of a staggering amount of samples, songs and found sounds. Tell you what, why don't I just quote Brett wholesale. "What is the fundamental task of a DJ? "The idea for this sound project began with that question. My answer? Creating an experience tailored specifically to the context. Different contexts should equal entirely different listening experiences. More often than not DJs create mixes that are a mirror of what they've been doing in the club. That can be interesting and I've done it myself but I wanted to do something more suited to the solitary listener. "So in exploring the extremes of what I believed a headphone listening experience demanded I created something entirely different from what I'd done in the past. "So what is this? A mix? A mixtape? A sound collage? It's not exactly a mix because I don't actually beat match any songs together. It’s not a mixtape because it's more than just a collection of songs played one after the other. And it's not a sound collage because it's more than just a collection of sounds. "I'm calling it a narrative mix. It's music as we find it most of the time, out in the world and thoroughly situated in a context: a hospital, in a car driving down the road with the windows down, in a bar, through an MP3 player whilst walking down the street, etc. And often it is the context that gives the music it's magical quality. That's what I've tried to do here. "There's a story to be found in the sounds if you let your imagination go, but each section stands on it's own as a vignette designed to impress wonder, curiosity, surprise and a sense of voyeuristic beauty. "This is the first movement of three." Actually, Brett will explain it all in his own words during today's show. Brett will also return to solipsistic NATION once he completes movements one and two. Quick note: on today's show we were going to celebrate 300 episodes of solipsistic NATION. I had big plans and lots of guests. But as long as I'm being completely honest about how solipsistic NATION works, then I have to tell you that producing multi-segmented shows are time consuming and take a lot out of me. Problem was my epic show just wasn't coming together the way I wanted. I could either take another week off to get it right, like I did last week, or I could go on with the show. I didn't want to keep you or Brett waiting any longer, so I opted for the latter. Join us again next week! By special listener request we'll hear a live DJ set from Elastic Bond! See you then!

A few years ago I showcased Bak$hish Music, a collective of like-minded artists modeled after Hakim Bey‘s Temporary Autonomous Zone. Bak$hish Music was also indebted to the musical stylings of Bill Laswell, although they were a thing unto themselves with a roster of artists that included the likes of Lingua Lustra and Mauxuam. Some time afterwards I started seeing releases by a label called Spiritech Records. The label's name raised an eyebrow and when I looked further I noticed Spiritech Records predominantly featured music from Lingua Lustra. I really dug Lingua Lustra's music on Bak$hish Music and as much as I wanted to showcase Spiritech I decided to wait until they had filled out their own roster of artists. A few weeks ago spacesfm did a feature on Spiritech Records, which prompted me to check out how their catalog had grown and I was floored to see that the label had exploded! I wasted no time inviting the label's founder, Albet Borkent, to join us on today's show. Turns out he also records and performs under the name Lingua Lustra. Who knew?! solipsistic NATION covers all of electronic music in it's many, many forms but there's a special place in my heart for electronic music that explores the mystical and the psychedelic. That's something that Spiritech Records does very well. During my chat with Albert I told him that I believed that music from Spiritech Records can experience a heightened state of consciousness. I wasn't entirely kidding about that. There were several times today's mix that took me to some interesting places when I let go and my imagination go wild while listening to while listening to music from Spiritech Records. It can happen to you if you let it, so kick back and kiss the sky! Special shout-out to Andrew from Apple's iTunes Store Customer Support. Last month solipsistic NATION got over a million downloads so I thought I'd check out our page on iTunes. I admit it, I was being vain. I wanted to see if there were any new reviews of the show. But you know what? Apple was no longer displaying my podcast in iTunes. I was upset! Did I lose all my new and regular listeners just like that? And why? I sent an email to the iTunes Store Customer Support to find out what was going on, not really expecting an answer. But I got a response right away, and that's how I met Andrew. He helped figure out my problem and within a few days solipsistic NATION was back on iTunes. Not with going into what caused the problem, I'm just glad it got resolved so quickly. Look, I already love Apple, and this was yet another reason to love them even more, and it's just another example why they are such a phenomenon. So, Andrew, if you're reading this, thanks! Join us again next week. I'll be celebrating 300 episodes of solipsistic NATION. I'll talk about where we've been, how the show has exploded in the last year, and where I'll take the show in 2013. Big news! And of course, great music! See you then! 01. Rainbow Vector "Newsflash" 02. Textural Being "+" 03. Interview with Albet Borkent, founder of Spiritech Records 04. Lingua Lustra "Journey With The Flower Mobile To The Central Temple Of Bliss" 05. Data Rebel "Rifflekt" 06. Olexa "Wanderer" 07. Enoruos "Yggdrasil" 08. Lingua Lustra "Caravan To Utopia" 09. Interview with Albet Borkent, founder of Spiritech Records 10. Snufmumriko "Rites Of December" 11. Lingua Lustra "Fluxon (excerpt)" 12. Interview with Albet Borkent, founder of Spiritech Records

Welcome to the 300th edition of solipsistic NATION! Today on solipsistic NATION we'll hear a special live in-studio performance from CRL Studios recording artists, Psykkle. Evan Collingwood is Psykkle and we'll talk about his upcoming album and what his live shows are like. Before we talk with Evan, I want to welcome all of you who are new to the show. solipsistic NATION got well over a million downloads last month so I know there are a lot of you who are just tuning in for the first time. Let me give you the lay of the land. The first weekend of the month I feature a live performance from an electronic musician. Some of the live sets are recordings from concerts or, like today's show, recorded live in-studio. Recent live shows have included Dope Records recording artist Tokeee performing live from Moscow, an in-studio performance from Michael Maricle and Ad Noiseam recording artist Raoul Sinier, live from Toulouse. It's not all live music, though. The second week of each month I showcase a label that's putting out such amazing releases that it's my duty as host of this show to turn you on to those labels. Recently I've showcased the aforementioned CRL Studio and Dope Records and Elephant Records. Next week I'll showcase Spiritech, which I'm excited about. The rest of the month is up for grabs. Sometimes I'll have several guests on the show. That include festival organizers, writers, bloggers, movie makers, software developers-anyone who is connected to the electronic music community. Sometimes I'll have guest DJs on the show and sometimes I even get to get behind the virtual wheels of steel and play the best of all genres of electronic music. I'll release a show later this month celebrating the big Three-Oh-Oh. It would make more sense to do that on today's show but like I said, the first weekend of every month is dedicated to a live performance and I'd hate to break that tradition. If you enjoy today's show then give us a quick review on iTunes. Every review helps turn someone on to solipsistic NATION and hopefully I can turn them, and you, on to more of the best of electronic music. Join us again next week when we'll showcase Spiritech Records and talk to the label's founder, Albert Borkent. See you then! 01. Psykkle "Chemtrail Lullaby [feat. Mechanical Garden]" 02. Interview with Evan Collingwood of Psykkle 03. Psykkle "In The City of Nodes [Uprising Mix by Blast Radius]" 04. Psykkle "Live"

In the six years of producing solipsistic NATION I've never done a "best of show." There are a couple of reasons for that. One reason is because there are already enough record stores, magazines and blogs doing a much better job of curating music from the last year than I am. Hell, the Headphone Commute blog dedicates an entire month looking back at the last year alone. But honestly, I could never care enough to get my act together to do this kind of show. I normally don't keep track of things like this. Besides, I play the best of electronic music on each show, so I'm doing it do already. There are times, however, where I did make the effort to stay on top of what I thought was hot for a given year. But those were also the years where my computer would die and I'd lose all the meta data that I used to keep track of music I thought was noteworthy. But this year the stars aligned and I'm here to present to you the best electronic music of 2012. At least according to iTunes. I created a smart playlist to select music from 2012 with three simple criteria: the music had to have been released in the last year, and I had have given it a high rating and, most importantly, I had to have played the hell out of it. Does that make it the best electronic music of 2012? Maybe not, but it's good enough for me. By the way, when I give a numerical ranking all it means is that I played that particular song or album a lot last year and also gave it a high ranking. I didn't give it any more thought than that. Show the artists some love by buying a couple of tracks, or albums, if you're feeling especially extravagant. Check back again next year and we'll do it again. And check back next week, we've got a special live set from CRL Studios recording artists, Psykkle! See you then! 01. Shawn Lee "Tiger Style" 02. Emsy Prank "Backside" 03. DJNSM "XYZ" 04. Piotr Kurek "Heat" 05. Leaving Richmond "Tiny Things" 06. Renart "Conte D'Eté" 07. Tomas Barfod "Broken Glass" 08. Dorit Chrysler "Winther Glow" 09. Blockhead "Meet You At Tower Records" 10. Clark "The Pining Pt3" 11. Brambles "Reflected Consciousness" 12. Maps and Diagrams "Oblonga" 13. DJ Food "A Trick of the Ear (Album Edit)" 14. wAgAwAgA "phaseyphase" 15. Deadbeat "Dub Des Erables"

Good grief! I had a four-day weekend and it took all four of them to produce today's show, never mind the hours spent arranging and preparing for the interviews featured on today's show! That's the problem with the star-studded-ultra-mega-cool editions of solipsistic NATION, they're totally worth it but that still doesn't make producing the show any less backbreaking. Okay, I'm working on a computer—it doesn't make producing the show any less carpal tunnel inducing. And, hey, have you heard? Sitting can kill you! Sorry, A little woozy. I'm still spent from producing today's show. But I crushed it. Let me tell you how. Come back again next week and we'll do it all over again. But completely different. Next week I do do something I thought I would never do: I'll be playing the best songs and best albums of 2012. How am I doing? Tell me what you think at solipsisticnation@gmail.com or Tweet me @solipsistic. See you next week! Photo Credit: ©schillaci70 01. ESA "The Shape Of Hate To Come" 02. Opposite Exhale "Stare Into The Sun" 03. Interview with Paul Nielsen, founder of Tympanik Audio 04. Access To Arasaka "Fragments Of A Hologram Rose" 05. Integral "Empty" 06. Lodsb "Cyan" 07. Zan Lyons "Devil's Advocate" 08. Interview with Wassim, cofounder of The Centrifuge 09. Vaetxh "Resonant Bridge" 10. Alphabets Heaven "Darma (Kwala's Headshotboyz Reremix)" 11. Muta "Movie Hour" 12. Interview with PK, founder of King Deluxe 13. Johan Ess "Spastick Witchcraft (featuring Gianna Love)" 14. Johan Ess "Gematria" 15. Interview with Johan Ess 16. [tlr] "Crystalline Space Entity" 17. [tlr] "Gzngztrzm" 18. Interview with [tlr] 19. [tlr] "Jungular" 20. Julian Sartorius "October 2011" 21. Julian Sartorius "May 2011" 22. Interview with Julian Sartorius 23. Julian Sartorius "September 2011" 24. Julian Sartorius "December 2011" 25. Julian Sartorius "January 2011" 26. Julian Sartorius "May 2011" 27. Julian Sartorius "November 2011" 28. Julian Sartorius "March 2011"

Today on solipsistic NATION we're going to listen to select tracks from CRL Studios and talk with the label's founder, James Church. You may be more familiar with him as Lucidstatic. If you're new to solipsistic NATION you might be under the impression from last week's and today's show that all I play is IDM and industrial, and you'd be wrong. I play the best from all genres of electronic music. It just so happens that a few months ago I had Fariz Suliman from Dope Records on the show. He raved about CRL Studios. Up to that point I had know about Lucidstatic but I had never made the connection that he also ran a label, and once I started listening to tracks from CRL Studios I knew I had to have him on solipsistic NATION to showcase his label. The music is just that great! It's just coincidence I scheduled Dope Records recording artist, Tokee, and today's show featuring CRL Studios, back to back. Today's mix was lovingly crafted by Chris Lacroix, AKA, DJ Siborg. Funny thing about the mix. Behind the scenes I listen to a lot of music in order to present to you the very best in electronic music. I do a lot of this on the go so I'm constantly pulling out my iPhone and rating and noting songs that I might play in future editions of solipsistic NATION. Whenever I played DJ Siborg's mix I'd get lost in the music and get so excited about what I was listening to that I'd pull out my phone to rate the track I'm listening to and realize "Oh, right, right, this is a mix, not an individual track." That's how I knew this was a great mix and I'm thrilled to share it with you! Before I get out of Dodge, I want to apologize if I sounded kind of like a douche bag on last week's show for talking about how quickly solipsistic NATION is growing. I'm just just excited. I always thought there was a larger audience for the show and it's gratifying to see how many people are downloading solipsistic NATION. Oh, and, uh, we're at 342,116 downloads for January so far. Just in case you were wondering. Look, I realize that Pete Tong or Tiësto probably get over 342,000 downloads a week for their podcasts. But I'm not them and I do a very different kind of show and 342,000 downloads is a big number for me. Bigger than I ever expected. So let's keep this thing going, tell a friend, tell a stranger about the show. I'll make it worth your while. Join us again next for next week's mega-ultra-awesome show featuring Mark Johnson from Zite, a beautiful news aggregator that's become essential in producing this show! We'll also talk with Julian Sartorius about his Beat Diary project! We'll chat with _TLR_ and Johann Ess about their new albums they just released! We'll also celebrate King Deluxe's two year anniversary and The Centrifuge and Tympanik Audio's five year anniversaries! Whew. I think I just burned through my exclamation point quota for 2013. See you next week! 01. Cloud Roots "Nome (4 am)" 02. Interview with James Church, founder of CRL Studios 03. Glue On Smile "G_os" 04. Sleepless "The End" 05. Mono Penguin "Reaching Heaven" 06. Adonikam "Perpetual Symmetry" 07. Cryogenic Echelon "You're Still Lonely (ft Sabine Snaps, Studio-X, and Martin Veress)" 08. Human Error "Puppetshow" 09. Interview with James Church, founder of CRL Studios 10. Lithia "Tarnish (Interface Remix)" 11. Angel Of Violence "Mr. Sleep" 12. Viscera Drip "Suspiria" 13. Scrap/Grinder "To Make A Ring" 14. Virtual Terrorist "Gridwalkers (ft Psykkle)" 15. Tokee "Black Joy" 16. Interview with James Church, founder of CRL Studios

On today's show we're going to hear a recording of Tokee performing live in Moscow. It's bracing stuff and I just know you're gonna love it! I'm actually new to Tokee's music. I found out about him when I read a blog post about Dope Records. I thought the label's name sounded cool and downloaded a few tracks from their website expecting to hear some hip hop jams. Instead what I got was everything from IDM to dubstep to metal. Tokee is actually one of the founders of Dope Records and his music encompasses all those styles of music and more. I was so impressed and invited Fariz Suleiman, the other founder of Dope Records, to showcase his label on solipsistic NATION back in November. I kept in touch with Fariz and extended an invitation to the roster of artists on his label to feature their live sets on future shows. I was delighted when Fariz sent me a recording of Tokee performing in Moscow to me earlier this week. I quickly got a hold of Tokee and arranged an interview. Quick note: Tokee used his iPad to speak to me over Skype during the interview and it doesn't sound half bad. Most of the time I'm talking with my guests over their phones or desktops or laptops. This may be a first. Affordable tech continues to create opportunities. Anyway, you're in good hands with Tokee. He's going to rock your free world, straight from Moscow! Join us again next week when we'll talk with James Church, and play select tracks from his label, CRL Studios. Speaking of CRL Studios, Tokee released his Feeling Alive album on CRL. Dope Records, Tokee, CRL Studios... see how it all comes together? See you then! 01. Tokee "The Edge" 02. Interview with Tokee 03. Tokee "Intro, Live" 04. Tokee "PA, Live" 05. Paindonor "Loneliness of ... (Tokee 2012 Version), Live" 06. Human Error "Satcom (Tokee Remix), Live" 07. Tokee "AM, Live" 08. Tokee "Exodus, Live" 09. Tokee "Coma (Tokee Versus Human Error Remix), Live" 10. Tokee "Conquistador, Live" 11. Tokee "Genesis, Live" 12. Tokee "Ode to Winter, Live" 13. Tokee "BK, Live" 14. Tokee "Pink Bliss, Live" 15. Paindonor "Shell shock (Tokee 2012 Version), Live" 16. Tokee "Leviticus, Live" 17. Tokee "Black Joy, Live" 18. Tokee "CM, Live" 19. Bouquiniste "Stormtrooper Waltz, Live"