Drove home this afternoon and it was very nice out. Sunny and blissful. I had no choice but to put on Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange album. I swear he could charm the pants off anyone. I know I’m smitten.
Frank Ocean – Twitter Facebook
– Jimi Jaxon
Imogen Heap has one of the most beautiful voices in modern music. I hadn’t kept up with her much since her Speak For Yourself album in 2005. Going back to some of those songs, I remember why I connected with her so easily.
My buddy and I were wandering around the DJ Tech Tools site, and came across an article titled “Video: Imogen Heap’s Ableton-Controlling Gloves”. I was like, “Oh, Imogen Heap! Click on that!”. They posted a video featuring a demo and performance by the artist, which was originally debuted at Wired 2012 and later written about on the Wired site. Wired 2012 took place last October 25-26 in London. They stated, “It’s the next step in Wired’s mission to celebrate the ideas, innovations and people reshaping our world.”. Imogen Heap was one of the people selected to speak and perform..
(0:00-7:20 = explanation/evolution of the concept, 7:20-13:20 = talk through demo, 13:20-19:56 = performance)
Her site says it best..”The Gloves are a cutting edge experimental gestural music ware being developed today for the purpose of Imogen Heap’s studio and stage work. Using a unique gestural vocabulary, motion data-capture systems, and user interfaces to parameter functions developed by Imogen Heap and her team, artists and other users will be able to use their motion to guide computer-based digital creations. The Musical Gloves are both an instrument and a controller in effect, designed to connect the user fluidly with gear performers usually use, such as Ableton – think minority report for musicians brought to you by the DIY/maker revolution.”
I was happy to see that since April of 2012, Imogen Heap has been steadily releasing tracks for her 4th solo album entitled Heapsongs. This one has an interesting format; fans sent her everyday sound samples, which she took as inspiration for the new tracks. 1 track off the album has been released online every 2 months since last year, the whole process taking 1.5 years to be fully available. Her Soundcloud houses the tracks released so far, with links to purchase.
Imogen Heap – Soundcloud Facebook Twitter
– Jimi Jaxon
Such a pleasure to have Mirror State back on Disco Droppings. His steadfast tunes stay with me, and I find his depth as an artist very inspiring. The EP above is available for free via Bandcamp, my personal favorite is “Distress”. Mirror State holds down a show on Sub.fm, which you can hear Sundays from 7-9am GMT time (that’s Saturday’s from 11pm-1 Pacific time)..
DD Your new music, like the productions I’ve featured in the past remains sharp, focused and distinct. What helps keep your perspective fresh?
MS Thanks. I couldn’t say really. Listen to lots of new and old music and make what you want.
DD Are you more introverted or extroverted? Do you get more inspiration from being social and out-n-about, or being more solitary?
MS I would say I’m more introverted. I don’t really get more inspiration from either specifically, a lot of the time I think music is inspired by both. There is music made for the dance floor and for people to come together to, and there is also music for someone to listen to alone. I think I take a bit from each side.
DD Does restricting or limiting yourself play into your approach as an artist?
MS Not really, I normally wouldn’t have a point where I’d say “this is where I’m going to end up”. Sometimes though I find it can be useful when it comes to exploring ideas and finding out what you can do.
DD What state of mind do you find yourself in when creating music?
MS I stay quite focused but open minded with my ideas. Most likely, I’ll have a small idea in my head. I’ll put it down as soon as I can, and let other things flow from there. I find when you’re really pushing yourself to do something specific, it’s not going to turn out how you’d like.
DD Who are you most excited to share next on your Sub.Fm show?
MS A lot I could mention really. I’d have to say keep an ear out for Ghostek and his new tracks. You’ll also hear new things from Neka (Part of Tape Echo in Bristol who also does a show on the station). Some of the deepest and most mesmerizing music around lately.
DD When you want to take a break from dance music, what do you put on?
MS I would have to say I don’t stray too much from electronic music these days. What I listen to if I want a change you could still call “dance music”, but I don’t really think about it like that initially, just as music with a good rhythm. Lots of garage, drum & bass and ambient music. I still play Break’s album from 2010 a lot at the moment, also artists like Seba. I currently live with my twin brother who listens to a huge amount of black metal, so I listen to a lot of that when I’m just chilling as well.
Mirror State – Soundcloud Facebook Twitter Mixcloud
– Jimi Jaxon
Mmmm, the dark vibes of Shackleton. I got a bunch of his remixes and wanted to share the one’s that have connected with me most. Some of these have been appearing in my recent DJ sets. First there’s the Invasion vs. Shackleton 2-part release Wizards In Dub. Part 2 is pretty hypnotic..
In 2007, Pole released their Steingarten lp via Scape. That same year a remix release appeared with “Achterbahn (Shackleton Remix)”. It has a rad baseline and a solid little groove throughout. I was delighted to see that Shackleton remixed one of my all time favorite tracks, Simian Mobile Disco’s “Hustler”. Instead of including the full original vocals, Shackleton takes a few lines and weaves them into his 8:28 reinterpretation. You’ll hear, “I’m a hustler baby, that’s what my daddy’s made me”, “Gotta do what you gotta do, to survive”, “Gotta make what you gotta make, to stay alive”.
In my previous post on Shackleton’s Music For The Quiet Hour / The Drawbar Organ EP’s, I talked about the vocal collaboration with Vengeance Tenfold. The two of them together is equally menacing and inviting. In Shackleton’s remix of Badawi’s Dstry All Prfts, Vengeance Tenfold appears, saying “Life, breath, strength, now” among other things.
Shackleton – Discogs
Now is not the time for fear..
– Jimi Jaxon
In President Barack Obama’s words, from the 2013 State of the Union Address..
“America must also face the rapidly growing threat from cyber-attacks. We know hackers steal people’s identities and infiltrate private e-mail. We know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, and our air traffic control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy.
That’s why, earlier today, I signed a new executive order that will strengthen our cyber defenses by increasing information sharing, and developing standards to protect our national security, our jobs, and our privacy. Now, Congress must act as well, by passing legislation to give our government a greater capacity to secure our networks and deter attacks.”
At first glance, this looks fine. Cyber attacks are a real threat, and defenses need to be there. But the nature and scope of these defenses, and their invasive, vague language is a big problem. CISPA would allow private companies, intelligence firms and homeland security a way to freely share private user information. If the information is deemed a “cyber threat” it can be shared with impunity. As if it wasn’t enough for every American to have their online activities recorded since 9/11 via the NSA. CISPA goes further and removes any legal problems a third party business or intelligence agency could run into for sharing information with the government. So for our own protection, Americans will have absolutely no privacy online. Once again the rights of the people are trampled over by the government, all based on fear.
I see a big gap between what the President says, and what’s going on behind the scenes. The U.S. government has hounded whistleblowers like Bradley Manning and Wikileaks, for revealing America’s true colors. They would deem whistleblowers as “cyber threats”, and with the passage of CISPA it would be much easier to hunt these people and organizations down. From childhood I’ve been taught that if you’re dishonest about your activities or your doing something that’s harming others, that’s wrong. If someone points this out to you, you should listen, examine yourself and stop the bad behavior. It seems that in the world of American government, those rules don’t apply. If you do something that’s wrong, hide it, lie about it, and if someone points it out, try to throw them in jail. Great lesson for all the youngsters out there.
These attitudes show that this country doesn’t actually believe in all that freedom and liberty stuff. They are only words if actions do not follow. I’m not sure what to call this country anymore. Tracking every move of Americans online, stripping away my right to a trial under the NDAA, leading a witch hunt against those exposing corrupt government practices and pushing for a final end to internet privacy with CISPA doesn’t sound like America. Call it the United States of Dystopia; one nation under fear, with liberty and possible indefinite detention for all.
CISPA, aka H.R. 624 has now been referred to the House Committee on Intelligence. With an executive order passed to give it a boost, support from companies like Facebook, and a lack of serious conversation about it in the mainstream media, the government hopes to get it passed into law. It seems intentional to constantly bombard citizens with confusing acronyms like SOPA/PIPA/FISA/CISPA and cryptic language so they don’t understand or don’t care about the nature of these bills. It’s draining to attempt to unpack all this information at my small level. But for the sake of the internet, and to join those who wish to protect and encourage it, I will continue to share my thoughts and stand up against the powers that be. Internet pioneers and activists like Aaron Swartz didn’t die for the rest of us to sit back and take it lying down.
There is still time to contact Congress and say “violating our privacy is not an option.”. To find out more information and get involved, check out these sites..
– Jimi Jaxon
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