aux-in's Collection: [The Electronic Continuum]

Aux-In · 05-20-2016, 08:22 PM

Time for some premium drum 'n bass:

Other Echoes (ft. Alice Smith) - "You'll Be My Medicine"

Aux-In · 05-22-2016, 01:09 PM

Back in post #50, I wrote about a duo named Anderson. I had come across their song "Michael: Running on the Asphalt," which is duplicated in the spoiler below.

Spoiler for Song 1:

Anderson - "Michael: Running on the Asphalt"

Members: Bas van Nienes & Jeroen van der Werken.

This is a slow-moving (but catchy) electro-pop song from a duo based out of The Netherlands. I can draw two possible takes on the social commentary that exists within the lyrics: (a) a critique on modern city life and/or (b) a critique of homogeneous suburban culture, where a stereotype can sometimes exist that there's a facade built up between neighbors, just before they close their doors, of course. I'm going to spend more time on the first one, because I think that's closer to the narrative.

*My interpretation in blue. I added the / to split the ideas between work and ordinary living so I can cover both interpretations (sorry if it's hard to read).

We've come together where the buildings rise (individuals have arrived at work/home)
We're crawling up where the concrete meets the sky (walking up a high-rise building)
We walk in line (walking into the office/home life with a sense of detached readiness)
We've come together in our daily grey (drudgery of work life in a cubicle/boredom of home life in a domicile or complex)
Where all our private boxes look the same (cubicles look identical/homes looks the same)
In every possible way (in every possible way)

Sell our souls when the market's right (has a job that pays but sucks the soul out of them/perhaps this is about Wall Street trading as the album this song is on was released in June 2009/unable to relate this to a home thing)
Shake hands as we're pulling down the blinds (day is done, so feign comradery to wrap up a day's work/say hello to a neighbor, make small talk, then get on with things)
It's almost fine (It's not fine. It's an empty feeling from unsatisfying work/too much modernity can feel cold and distant; removed)

We've been missing out on daylight lately (working too much/spending too much time indoors and missing out on the things that matter in life)
Killing time with late night TV (TV is a poor and plastic substitute to fill an empty void that would otherwise have been filled with people interactions and going outside like they used to do in "olden times")

I didn't touch on every line in the song, but I think that paints a pretty decent picture of what Anderson is trying to get at. The video itself is comprised of old movie clips from the mid-20th century, which is evident in both the analogue video style of the recordings, as well as the clothing styles of the people it features. The aforementioned is mixed with sped-up/time-lapsed traffic scenes which depict the hubbub of modern life. So, by using the old clips and juxtaposing them with those of the modern era, Anderson could be harking back to a supposedly simpler time where everyone knew their neighbors and there was a pie in every window.

I'd be fine with either of the above interpretations, (a) or (b). Hell, perhaps there's a (c) or a (d).

Originally, I thought the title was weird, where it has a person's name, Michael, and then the rest of the track's title. I kept having to do a double-take to make sure I wasn't looking at some sort of typo on this relatively-obscure track. Low and behold, in preparation for this write-up, I was able to find an article that tells me that Anderson's vision for their album It Runs In The Family, on which this song appears, was to have an idea of a family that was spread out all over the world, each of them having their own story. Read more: Anderson Interview. Subsequently, each track on the album has a person's name in it. That's certainly an interesting concept, and I think I'm going to have to check out the rest of the album.

And since I liked the concept of an album with song titles that included the names of family members, that told a story, I wanted to obtain the physical album in order to do a review. But I got a little more than that.

Picture: Signed copy of Anderson's It Runs in the Family

Unbeknownst to me, it came with the signatures of both members of the band: Bas van Nienes & Jeroen van der Werken. Unsure of what I had just received, I looked closer so that I could decipher whether or not the signatures were facsimile. The seller had made no mention of this being an autographed copy, which I picked up for around $3.00 U.S. The signatures didn't appear to be facsimile, but I didn't want to exclaim that I had something that I didn't really have, so I did some digging. And it took some digging. After perusing a bunch of social-media links that served as ones and zeroes to nowhere, I eventually pulled up the contact info of van der Werken, and shot him an e-mail. To which I was informed the following:

They signed a bunch of U.S. jewel-case versions at their record label's office in Los Angeles. I.e., signatures officially confirmed.
Although they haven't toured with this band in a while, they are working on something new, although I was not informed as to what.

SUMMATION

I already wrote about song #1 in the spoiler above, but now I've given the rest of the record a spin. Most of the rest of the album is a mix of subdued, poppy, clear & crisp, rock-like vocals that blend with techno bleeps and bloops, 8-bit sounds, and a little bit of disco"ish" stuff thrown in for good measure. Song #2, "Trevor: On the Dancefloor," carried off the flavor that I just described. Things unfolded quite normally form there, but it took song #7, "Catherine: And the Unexpected Guest," to finally jog my memory as to what rock act I was being reminded of: that would be Ben Folds. Of course! Yes, that's who this band reminds me of, in their own way, save a bit of the silliness of Mr. Folds.

Overall, It Runs in the Family was surprising and fresh, and it follows the pop formula that they were going for. That said, I still struggled to get into the downtempo parts of the album, which appeared more than I prefer.

I'm hard-pressed to find another instance where something like this has happened. Usually sellers today are more savvy as to what to look for when they purchase items, but I can't complain. From a random Pandora find, to a CD that I might not have bought had I not been writing in a music journal on a music site on the Internet, the story of this album's accent into my collection, is the story itself.

Aux-In · 06-17-2016, 07:33 PM

Dimension (ft. Bailey Tzuke) - "All I Need"

Genre: Drum & Bass
Release Year: 2013
Release Type: Single
Label: Cyantific Music

A simple, underrated rave song with a "freeing" mood to it.

Moonbeam (ft. Leusin) - "Flight" [Kairo Kingdom Remix] (Video Edit)

Genre: Glitch Hop
Release Year: 2013
Label: Black Hole Recordings

More of an indie vibe on this one.

Moonbeam was founded in 2003 by Russian brothers Vitaly and Pavel Khvaleev. Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonbeam_(band). Some guy on a different upload of the same vid says "the video got nominated for the "10th Other Venice Film Festival 2013." Source: some guy's comment

Luminary - "Amsterdam" [Original Mix]

Genre: Trance
Release Year: 2006
Label: Anjunabeats

Classic 2000s vocal trance with a relaxing-yet-energizing club vibe. I prefer this mix, but the Smith & Pledger remix also gets a nod.

Aux-In · 07-11-2016, 09:44 AM

Elliot Berger (ft. Laura Brehm) - "Diamond Sky"

Genre: Dubstep
Album (from): Spotlight Compilation, Vol. 1
Album Type: Compilation/various artists
Release Year: 2013
Label: edmSpotlight

---

Shogun - "Skyfire" [Original Mix]

Genre: Trance
Release Year: 2011
Label: Armind (Armada)

---

Phetsta (ft. Reija Lee) - "Run You Down"

Genre: Dubstep
Album (from): Prism EP
Release Date: 02-13-2011
Label: Technique Recordings

Aux-In · 07-17-2016, 05:35 AM

Found a new one (for me). I switched things up and tuned into an old, trusty friend named the Club Dubstep channel via di.fm. Found a dubstep remix of this and liked it, but I listened to the original as well, and I think you know the rest (see winner below).

Hybrid - "Disappear Here"

As an aside, the video is shot in an abandoned building, which obviously sets the atmosphere to this dark, soft-but-edgy piece.

Not related, but there's a guy on YouTube who uses drones to shoot footage of abandoned places. I'm putting that here because I can.

Aux-In · 07-21-2016, 07:16 AM

Alright, this journal has been up for over a year, and I've enjoyed posting in it, but I've been slow on updates lately. So, at this time, I am announcing that I'm taking an extended hiatus from this journal.

But fear not! I've also decided that it's a good time to release the entire list in a simple Notepad form. All songs follow the same formatting (starting with originating artist), and it's all in alphabetical order. There's still a ton of quality titles on it that I hadn't posted yet, so there's plenty of hidden treasure yet to be found.

Overall, I'm satisfied that I've made many of the points that I wanted to make in this journal, but I have some other things that I need to focus on at the moment. Thanks to all who took interest in any of this content.

---------------------------

The following Notepad in the link below contains 100% of all I have as of 7/12/2020. Nothing was left on the table. Additional songs were added.

NOTEPAD FILE: AUX-IN'S COMPLETE MASTER LIST 7.12.2020

Previous versions:

7.21.2016
8.18.2018
7.11.2020

Aux-In · 05-01-2017, 07:22 AM

Joanna Syze

Joanna Syze (with Zardonic) - "Rodina"

I haven't gone YouTubing in months, but I did happen to come across this artist recently when flipping through YouTube's "Recommendations," as used to be my custom when I started this journal. Syze was born in Bulgaria, but her family moved to the States when she was young. I found an article that laid all of that out, such as the move happening in the early '90s, but I can't seem to find it now for some reason. The Internet can be weird like that sometimes. I mean, right? Am I right? Be that as it may, since I am always partial to getting the skinny on artists via artist interviews, "the move," as well as Beth Gibbons from Portishead being her top influence, are described in a different article riiiiight here ----> Joanna Syze Interview.

"Rodina" is the lead track off her album of the same name.
The translation for rodina is "homeland."
The album looks to be mostly Dark DnB and some Dubstep, with Bulgarian influences throughout.
Slightly different than my style, but the album is on order anyway because I like the artistry, effort and emotion that was put into it.

Rodina Album Cover

Aux-In · 07-27-2017, 03:58 PM

Recently received my Xilent T's. It's been about four or five years since I first discovered his Touch Sound EP, and I still don't get sick of spinning his tracks.

Aux-In · 07-27-2017, 04:33 PM

Already posted this in the What Are You Listening to Now thread in the Electronica forum, but this has been my most-replayed jam over the past week.

Sirus - "Neon Dominion"

I had this bookmarked for about a month before I got around to giving it more attention, and man does it get better and better with every listen. Really fresh sound that doesn't fit a genre, and it's an Aux-In pick, so melodic vocals? Of course. Also, the music video is visually impressive, IMO, from how the city lights up at night, the lighting effects on the close-ups, the ways in which that mysterious logo appears, etc. But why take my word for it? Click that ****.

Discovery method: random YouTube click

05-20-2016, 08:22 PM	#81 (permalink)
Aux-In Wrinkled Magazine Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: In Time Posts: 467	Time for some premium drum 'n bass: Other Echoes (ft. Alice Smith) - "You'll Be My Medicine" __________________ Reviews l YouTube Playlist: Another Dimension "All over a bowl of bitter beans."

05-22-2016, 01:09 PM	#82 (permalink)
Aux-In Wrinkled Magazine Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: In Time Posts: 467	Back in post #50, I wrote about a duo named Anderson. I had come across their song "Michael: Running on the Asphalt," which is duplicated in the spoiler below. Spoiler for Song 1: Anderson - "Michael: Running on the Asphalt" Members: Bas van Nienes & Jeroen van der Werken. This is a slow-moving (but catchy) electro-pop song from a duo based out of The Netherlands. I can draw two possible takes on the social commentary that exists within the lyrics: (a) a critique on modern city life and/or (b) a critique of homogeneous suburban culture, where a stereotype can sometimes exist that there's a facade built up between neighbors, just before they close their doors, of course. I'm going to spend more time on the first one, because I think that's closer to the narrative. My interpretation in blue. I added the / to split the ideas between work and ordinary living so I can cover both interpretations (sorry if it's hard to read). We've come together where the buildings rise (individuals have arrived at work/home) We're crawling up where the concrete meets the sky (walking up a high-rise building) We walk in line (walking into the office/home life with a sense of detached readiness) We've come together in our daily grey (drudgery of work life in a cubicle/boredom of home life in a domicile or complex) Where all our private boxes look the same (cubicles look identical/homes looks the same) In every possible way (in every possible way) Sell our souls when the market's right (has a job that pays but sucks the soul out of them/perhaps this is about Wall Street trading as the album this song is on was released in June 2009/unable to relate this to a home thing) Shake hands as we're pulling down the blinds (day is done, so feign comradery to wrap up a day's work/say hello to a neighbor, make small talk, then get on with things) It's almost fine (It's not fine. It's an empty feeling from unsatisfying work/too much modernity can feel cold and distant; removed) We've been missing out on daylight lately (working too much/spending too much time indoors and missing out on the things that matter in life) Killing time with late night TV (TV is a poor and plastic substitute to fill an empty void that would otherwise have been filled with people interactions and going outside like they used to do in "olden times") I didn't touch on every line in the song, but I think that paints a pretty decent picture of what Anderson is trying to get at. The video itself is comprised of old movie clips from the mid-20th century, which is evident in both the analogue video style of the recordings, as well as the clothing styles of the people it features. The aforementioned is mixed with sped-up/time-lapsed traffic scenes which depict the hubbub of modern life. So, by using the old clips and juxtaposing them with those of the modern era, Anderson could be harking back to a supposedly simpler time where everyone knew their neighbors and there was a pie in every window. I'd be fine with either of the above interpretations, (a) or (b). Hell, perhaps there's a (c) or a (d). Originally, I thought the title was weird, where it has a person's name, Michael, and then the rest of the track's title. I kept having to do a double-take to make sure I wasn't looking at some sort of typo on this relatively-obscure track. Low and behold, in preparation for this write-up, I was able to find an article that tells me that Anderson's vision for their album It Runs In The Family, on which this song appears, was to have an idea of a family that was spread out all over the world, each of them having their own story. Read more: Anderson Interview. Subsequently, each track on the album has a person's name in it. That's certainly an interesting concept, and I think I'm going to have to check out the rest of the album. And since I liked the concept of an album with song titles that included the names of family members, that told a story, I wanted to obtain the physical album in order to do a review. But I got a little more than that. Picture:* Signed copy of Anderson's It Runs in the Family Unbeknownst to me, it came with the signatures of both members of the band: Bas van Nienes & Jeroen van der Werken. Unsure of what I had just received, I looked closer so that I could decipher whether or not the signatures were facsimile. The seller had made no mention of this being an autographed copy, which I picked up for around $3.00 U.S. The signatures didn't appear to be facsimile, but I didn't want to exclaim that I had something that I didn't really have, so I did some digging. And it took some digging. After perusing a bunch of social-media links that served as ones and zeroes to nowhere, I eventually pulled up the contact info of van der Werken, and shot him an e-mail. To which I was informed the following: They signed a bunch of U.S. jewel-case versions at their record label's office in Los Angeles. I.e., signatures officially confirmed. Although they haven't toured with this band in a while, they are working on something new, although I was not informed as to what. SUMMATION I already wrote about song #1 in the spoiler above, but now I've given the rest of the record a spin. Most of the rest of the album is a mix of subdued, poppy, clear & crisp, rock-like vocals that blend with techno bleeps and bloops, 8-bit sounds, and a little bit of disco"ish" stuff thrown in for good measure. Song #2, "Trevor: On the Dancefloor," carried off the flavor that I just described. Things unfolded quite normally form there, but it took song #7, "Catherine: And the Unexpected Guest," to finally jog my memory as to what rock act I was being reminded of: that would be Ben Folds. Of course! Yes, that's who this band reminds me of, in their own way, save a bit of the silliness of Mr. Folds. Overall, It Runs in the Family was surprising and fresh, and it follows the pop formula that they were going for. That said, I still struggled to get into the downtempo parts of the album, which appeared more than I prefer. I'm hard-pressed to find another instance where something like this has happened. Usually sellers today are more savvy as to what to look for when they purchase items, but I can't complain. From a random Pandora find, to a CD that I might not have bought had I not been writing in a music journal on a music site on the Internet, the story of this album's accent into my collection, is the story itself. __________________ Reviews l YouTube Playlist: Another Dimension "All over a bowl of bitter beans."

06-17-2016, 07:33 PM	#83 (permalink)
Aux-In Wrinkled Magazine Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: In Time Posts: 467	Dimension (ft. Bailey Tzuke) - "All I Need" Genre: Drum & Bass Release Year: 2013 Release Type: Single Label: Cyantific Music A simple, underrated rave song with a "freeing" mood to it. Moonbeam (ft. Leusin) - "Flight" [Kairo Kingdom Remix] (Video Edit) Genre: Glitch Hop Release Year: 2013 Label: Black Hole Recordings More of an indie vibe on this one. Moonbeam was founded in 2003 by Russian brothers Vitaly and Pavel Khvaleev. Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonbeam_(band). Some guy on a different upload of the same vid says "the video got nominated for the "10th Other Venice Film Festival 2013." Source: some guy's comment Luminary - "Amsterdam" [Original Mix] Genre: Trance Release Year: 2006 Label: Anjunabeats Classic 2000s vocal trance with a relaxing-yet-energizing club vibe. I prefer this mix, but the Smith & Pledger remix also gets a nod. __________________ Reviews l YouTube Playlist: Another Dimension "All over a bowl of bitter beans." Last edited by Aux-In; 06-24-2020 at 10:24 AM. Reason: Fixed broken video link

07-11-2016, 09:44 AM	#84 (permalink)
Aux-In Wrinkled Magazine Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: In Time Posts: 467	Elliot Berger (ft. Laura Brehm) - "Diamond Sky" Genre: Dubstep Album (from): Spotlight Compilation, Vol. 1 Album Type: Compilation/various artists Release Year: 2013 Label: edmSpotlight --- Shogun - "Skyfire" [Original Mix] Genre: Trance Release Year: 2011 Label: Armind (Armada) --- Phetsta (ft. Reija Lee) - "Run You Down" Genre: Dubstep Album (from): Prism EP Release Date: 02-13-2011 Label: Technique Recordings __________________ Reviews l YouTube Playlist: Another Dimension "All over a bowl of bitter beans."

07-17-2016, 05:35 AM	#85 (permalink)
Aux-In Wrinkled Magazine Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: In Time Posts: 467	Current song stuck in my head Found a new one (for me). I switched things up and tuned into an old, trusty friend named the Club Dubstep channel via di.fm. Found a dubstep remix of this and liked it, but I listened to the original as well, and I think you know the rest (see winner below). Hybrid - "Disappear Here" As an aside, the video is shot in an abandoned building, which obviously sets the atmosphere to this dark, soft-but-edgy piece. Not related, but there's a guy on YouTube who uses drones to shoot footage of abandoned places. I'm putting that here because I can. __________________ Reviews l YouTube Playlist: Another Dimension "All over a bowl of bitter beans."

07-21-2016, 07:16 AM	#86 (permalink)
Aux-In Wrinkled Magazine Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: In Time Posts: 467	Announcement: Extended Hiatus Alright, this journal has been up for over a year, and I've enjoyed posting in it, but I've been slow on updates lately. So, at this time, I am announcing that I'm taking an extended hiatus from this journal. But fear not! I've also decided that it's a good time to release the entire list in a simple Notepad form. All songs follow the same formatting (starting with originating artist), and it's all in alphabetical order. There's still a ton of quality titles on it that I hadn't posted yet, so there's plenty of hidden treasure yet to be found. Overall, I'm satisfied that I've made many of the points that I wanted to make in this journal, but I have some other things that I need to focus on at the moment. Thanks to all who took interest in any of this content. --------------------------- The following Notepad in the link below contains 100% of all I have as of 7/12/2020. Nothing was left on the table. Additional songs were added. NOTEPAD FILE: AUX-IN'S COMPLETE MASTER LIST 7.12.2020 Previous versions: 7.21.2016 8.18.2018 7.11.2020 __________________ Reviews l YouTube Playlist: Another Dimension "All over a bowl of bitter beans." Last edited by Aux-In; 07-12-2020 at 08:25 PM. Reason: list updated with 7.12.2020 version

05-01-2017, 07:22 AM	#87 (permalink)
Aux-In Wrinkled Magazine Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: In Time Posts: 467	Joanna Syze Joanna Syze (with Zardonic) - "Rodina" I haven't gone YouTubing in months, but I did happen to come across this artist recently when flipping through YouTube's "Recommendations," as used to be my custom when I started this journal. Syze was born in Bulgaria, but her family moved to the States when she was young. I found an article that laid all of that out, such as the move happening in the early '90s, but I can't seem to find it now for some reason. The Internet can be weird like that sometimes. I mean, right? Am I right? Be that as it may, since I am always partial to getting the skinny on artists via artist interviews, "the move," as well as Beth Gibbons from Portishead being her top influence, are described in a different article riiiiight here ----> Joanna Syze Interview. "Rodina" is the lead track off her album of the same name. The translation for rodina is "homeland." The album looks to be mostly Dark DnB and some Dubstep, with Bulgarian influences throughout. Slightly different than my style, but the album is on order anyway because I like the artistry, effort and emotion that was put into it. Rodina Album Cover __________________ Reviews l YouTube Playlist: Another Dimension "All over a bowl of bitter beans."

07-27-2017, 03:58 PM	#88 (permalink)
Aux-In Wrinkled Magazine Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: In Time Posts: 467	Recently received my Xilent T's. It's been about four or five years since I first discovered his Touch Sound EP, and I still don't get sick of spinning his tracks.

07-27-2017, 04:33 PM	#89 (permalink)
Aux-In Wrinkled Magazine Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: In Time Posts: 467	Sirus - Neon Dominion Already posted this in the What Are You Listening to Now thread in the Electronica forum, but this has been my most-replayed jam over the past week. Sirus - "Neon Dominion" I had this bookmarked for about a month before I got around to giving it more attention, and man does it get better and better with every listen. Really fresh sound that doesn't fit a genre, and it's an Aux-In pick, so melodic vocals? Of course. Also, the music video is visually impressive, IMO, from how the city lights up at night, the lighting effects on the close-ups, the ways in which that mysterious logo appears, etc. But why take my word for it? Click that ****. Discovery method: random YouTube click