Madrotter: Indonesian Beats

I am sure that a good number of Pen & Mallet readers are regulars over at the amazing Madrotter blog where the mad Dutchman and friend of the show shares his vast collection of Indonesia vinyl with the world. If you always wondered what the difference between Jaipong, Gambus, and Dangdut was, there is no better place to explore and find out for yourself. And don't forget to check out the Indonesian twee pop, funk, disco, rock & roll, prog-rock, metal, hip-hop, electronica and other madness regularly posted.

Well, Madrotter is himself an excellent musician and recently shared a treasure chest of his own music (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here), so I thought I would help spread the word. He was kind enough to let me post a mix of my favorites. Check it out below.



You can get this mix here: http://www.archive.org/details/MadrotterPenMalletMix.

In aboombong news, the new album is nearly sequenced and should be ready for a late August release and Michael is working on post-production to get the new dustdevil & crow out the door soon.

aboombong in the news

The number of reviews to asynchronic has reached a point that I thought it was worth a post to acknowledge the positive support the album has received so far. I have been updating these on the original post, but thought I could highlight them here.

The first review of asynchronic was posted over at My Little Bubble. Check it out and then have a look around one of my favorite blogs.

This was quickly followed by a nice comment and link over at YoungMossTongue - the man behind DUSTdevils ... check out his latest, "DUSTdevil & Crow". It is great stuff (this also has led to a collaboration, now in the works).

Dogs Can Read Your Mind posted links to both aboombong albums including them alongside a load of other DIY artists you should check out.

Fellow DIY musician deadwhitehorse posted a very nice review on his blog geometria innamorata...check out his music while you are there (or at his new blog).

This was followed by very enthusiastic review at post-rock mecca TheSirenSound, posting on Make Noise!, Dayvan Zombear, and positive and raucous review over at Hate R'n'B.

Jason from the Free Music Archive then added asynchronic to the FMA and has included it on his radio show. This was followed by another nice review over at the brand spanking new blog Hype Light.

Leading up to today for the first local coverage in Seattle on The Stranger's music blog, Line-Out.

If you haven't had a chance yet, check out asynchronic on bandcamp, where it is available in Flac, MP3, and just about any other digital format you might prefer (set your own price).

Truly much more of a response than I expected.

Update: now also reviewed at the mighty Snap Crackle & Pop...alongside some of the best music on the web. Also featured at Hot On The Heels of Love. Ran across a very nice review of asynchronic over at Shot By Both Sides , looks like a good place to find new music.

vast active living intelligent system

Cdbaby is a great company. They have done a lot to make it easier for artists to release their own material. As is apparent from their name, however, they are really about selling CD's. Their support for on-line, digital releases is pretty bare bones. Ever since we ran out of hard-copies of valis, it has bothered me that the only format available was mp3. I have decided to rectify that situation. As of today, valis is now available in a variety of lossless formats over at bandcamp.com...To entice you further, I have included some bonus material.

Ambient soundtracks for your portable cortical theatre. Enjoy.

Artist: psychic enemies network
Album: valis
Style: ambient
Release: 2000
Players: my brother & me - guitar, electronics, tapes, loops, percussion
Available in a variety of formats from http://psychicenemiesnetwork.bandcamp.com/ (set your own price)




This album is still, of course, available at CDbaby, on itunes, and through various other on-line sources.

aboombong: ambientrance dub-dozen

Artist: aboombong
Album: aboombong
Style: ambientrance dub soundscapes
Release: June, 2009
Players: all me* - electronics, tapes, percussion
Available in a variety of formats from http://aboombong.bandcamp.com/ (set your own price)



Tracklist:
1. a
2. ab
3. abo
4. aboo
5. aboom
6. aboomb
7. aboombo
8. aboombon
9. aboombong
10. 3 Days 'til Sunrise (aboombong mix)
11. gnobmooba
12. birds

*aboom contains samples from Waltz Bop Shop and gnobmooba contains samples from ¡para!helion. Narrative in 3 Days 'til Sunrise recorded off of public radio in the late 1990's.

Update: Now on imeem & Last.fm
Update: Wow! aboombong is featured in this week's independent music discoveries (issue-13) over at A Future in Noise. Thanks Marilyn (^_^)
Update: Now also available at the great Dogs Can Read Your Mind blog along with lots of other ambient/drone/experimental music. Check it out.

3 days til sunrise: ambientrance darkdub (p)re-mix

Today we have a (p)re-mix of the track "Sandfall" off of valis. Valis is the second release from a collaboration between my brother and I called psychic enemies network. The first release, P.E.N., came about as a result of my purchase of a vintage 128k MacIntosh with an ancient midi-sequencer program. The soundscapes on P.E.N. come mainly from pushing the limits of this set up. Many of the sounds on P.E.N., in fact, result from errors and glitches in the technology. For valis, on the other hand, most of the soundscapes are created from looping and layering live sound sources (environmental or instrumental) using a new toy (at the time), a mini-disc recorder. "3 days til Sunrise" was one of the more ambitious attempts to use the mini-disc to ping-pong tracks against a DAT player to layer live performances. By the time valis was done, this track ended up as part of the coda in "Sandfall," but I always liked the raw track, so I thought I would share it.

Sandfall: 3 days til sunrise (p)re-mix.
Style: darkdub rhythm drone
source: a room full of percussion, a Linn drum machine, and me with too much time on my hands.

(Was I listening to too much muslimgauze?..........nah).