30 mars 2010

carte blanche to Guillaume Richard :: 02

guest of the project, "carte blanche", Guillaume Richard have been invited to give his personal view about the actual history and relationship between music and home computers ::

" the tracker scene"

Years passing by, the 90s slowly killed these old platforms, introduced the PC era and so, new soundtrackers were coded.
Between all the new soundtrackers available, FastTracker II and ImpulseTracker2 were the two most widely used and it was quite common to read and hear discussions about which one was the best (actually, we all know it was ImpulseTracker…)

New musicians were emerging, inspired by every new genres which were being explored during this period. Internet kicked in, people were now able to hear about trackers without being a part of the demoscene and finally, the "tracking scene" was born.

At a certain moment, the term "tracking group" was coinced. I guess it was following the term "demogroup"… actually, even if the tracking scene was evolving aside the demoscene, at some moments, some demosceners had no idea about some musicians that were into the tracking scene and vice-versa. In the end, it was a funny "troll" to start on some irc channels. Mentioning the tracking scene on a demoscene-related channel was always a good recreation… as much as trying to answer to these questions:
What is exactly a soundtracker?
What is the difference between a soundtracker and a sequencer? (Answer: 90°)

The whole deal behind "tracking groups" was about uniting some guys under the same collective, just like a label. They were releasing their source files (named "modules") on the internet so anybody could download and listen at them.
The idea wasn't about about "staying underground" or "being against the music industry". They were releasing their module files because… well, they always did.
Nowadays, you hear about a lot of long and dull explanations to justify "the right motivations" behind "the free music scene" while during this dark (and pleasant) era, there were no real other explanations except "well, why not?"

The tracking scene was getting so important that one of the two main PC scene e-zines was focusing on the music part of the scene only.

Yes, internet magazines… right… around 1995…
Indeed, the web2.0 is older than you thought.

Its name was Traxweekly and it ran for 119 issues from March 1995 to February 1998, ending with a circulation of over eleven hundred subscribers. It featured interviews, reviews, demoparty reports, tips and some jokes (yes… what is the difference between a tracker and a sequencer?).

For the record, many other followed but I think the two most important were Staticline and Music massage.

KFMF, NOiSE, Five Musicians, Milk, Mono211, Hellven, Tokyo Dawn Records … were for sure the most reknown groups on the web.
On top of them, we should add Theralite, Miasmah, Charlie Brown Records, Black Sista, Chillproductions, Schleudertrauma, Rohformat, Language Lab, Inpuj and Kyoto Republic.

Yes indeed, there were a bunch of them, releasing very different genres for sure. All the groups mentioned above got their own audience and some known trackers were sometimes releasing on many of these different groups.

They were releasing some amazing modules, each of their musicians got an almost unique style and they introduced new ways of going beyond the limitations of a soundtracker, new ways of making a beat sound, news methods… new shapes… new heroes?

People were collecting their modules and were burning them on CDRs or copying them on tapes so they could listen to these guys everyday ( actually I believe some did… as I did).
And even some friends of mine did that when I made them discover these stuff.
Come on, let's just open a facebook group entilted "I was burning modules to CDRs before going to holidays with my parents".

In the late 90s, making music with a computer was still expensive, dealing with real-time virtual synthesizers almost impossible considering the power of computers and connections weren't fast enough to deal with mp3s on a regular basis.
On the other side, soundtrackers were free and a module file could be so small that many more tracking group emerged.

Big databases got unleashed and the first community websites arrived. The most famous was named "traxinspace" and was a huge collection of tracker music where every trackers could even upload their own creations and get reviewed, ranked and listened!

And please, let's not forget about United-trackers and modarchive. " ...

02/03 - to be continued

<< 01/03 demoscene
>> 03/03 netlabels

actor involved in recent developments of online music, Guillaume Richard, aka Kaneel, is a musician and a label coordinator.

:: mynameiskaneel
:: petite&jolie
:: the questionnaire
:: discogs

29 mars 2010

Thomas Fehlmann :: gute luft



















scoring a TV film "24H Berlin" (not seen) about the fascinating city, Gute Luft is the sixth release of Thomas Fehlmann since the man emerged from the palais - result of an impressive work, these 15 slaloming and highly expressionnist sequences are the perfect soundtrack for any visitor running after the proteiform atmosphere of a (so) desired area - tour de force, Gute Luft is a charming sort of trouble - mixing fleeting images, brushing the flashes of lights outlining the contours of walls and spaces where intersecting lives, aspirations, rhythms, dreams also, stories ... no further look for a tour guide.

:: kompakt records
:: Thomas Fehlmann > mysp.
:: discogs

carte blanche to Guillaume Richard :: 01

guest of the project, "carte blanche", Guillaume Richard have been invited to give his personal view about the actual history and relationship between music and home computers ::

" noCo...mmencement : demoscene

Once upon a time, there was no Internet.

No really, I'm being very serious. I'm talking about the 80s.

There even was a time where cat pictures weren't necessarily captioned, where computer were funny-looking machines and video-games really were inventive and challenging.
During this time, the few lucky enough to have a computer at home were often friends of each others at school and called "nerds" by the others who weren't really understanding the whole thing about swapping floppies instead of caring about "normal social interactions".

And sometimes, when they were not swapping videogames, they were swapping demos!

To make it short, demos are executable animations.
It's calculated real-time, like a videogame but you can't really interact with it… you just sit in front of your screen and watch. Eventually, you'll wave your arms and even dance if you really enjoy the music but anyway, people will never understand why you just love watching these "plasma stuff" and "moving typos".

As I've been saying, there was no internet. Some people were starting to make graphism, illustrations and music on their computers and what was the best way to show your style?
Yeah, I guess you get it: Get a coder, a graphician and finally, a musician, make a production and meet at a demoparty!

There were sceners in many countries of Europe, on many different platforms… c64, amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC to name a few.

Back in this time, making music on computers wasn't as common as nowadays since having your own home-studio was expensive. Still, there were tiny applications named "soundtrackers" that would allow you to create tunes with only a computer and nothing else aside. On some platforms, you would have to create your sounds using the sound chip of the computer and on some others, you would only load samples that you could finally rip from other "soundtracked" music. In any cases, you would just enter notes on rows and here we go, you made your first catchy (or not) tune!

People using soundtrackers were called trackers (yeah, I know, it's a bit messy) and finally, some of these guys became famous for decades amongst other trackers.
Some even worked and are still working for videogame companies, some others joined labels and some decided to enjoy their life another way… sadly. " ...

01/03 - to be continued

>> 02/03 the tracker scene

actor involved in recent developments of online music, Guillaume Richard, aka Kaneel, is a musician and a label coordinator.

:: mynameiskaneel
:: petite&jolie
:: the questionnaire
:: discogs

26 mars 2010

Cagey House :: b for breakfast

la légèreté d'être, d'entendre et probablement de voir aussi, à chaque nouvelle réalisation de Cagey House, Dave Keifer nous enchante, nous ravit et nous permet, encore et toujours, d'espèrer que le monde pourrait être ainsi fait, de brics et de brocs, de timballes enchantées, de fanfares chamarrées, de libertinages écervelés, d'accords de guitares de dentelles, de divas supersoniques et d'un sourire de Kurt Schwitters, d'un collage libellule de Kinle Wo, de tambours battants, du voisinage d'un lièvre de mars, d'enfants toujours farceurs, d'adultes faisant d'amusantes grimaces à l'ordre et la raison, et avant de s'enfuir, l'instant suivant, vers une nouvelle et malicieuse espièglerie. un instant fugace, un instant de ... bonheur.

:: bypass
artwork by :: Kinle Wo

>> 1902
>> lark
>> the cartoon mouse regards

24 mars 2010

Philip Sulidae :: an high land


An high land ... une terre au rythme d'un ballet, frictions, parfois grimaçantes, de plaques tectoniques en mobilité fusionnelle, accouplement protéiforme de matières, de masses érodées - An high land ... où la lenteur prend durablement possession d'un espace sonore repoussé à la plus strict expression des frontières d'ombres graduellement solidifiées par une recouvrante pellicule, poussière ? crachat magmatique ? An high land ... une énigme individuelle (nighthill), pour tout voyageur en process d'égarement - An high land ... la puissante réponse de Philip Sulidae au naufrage avéré des indifférences.

:: dontcaresulidae
<< the questionnaire > sept 2009
<< southwest

20 mars 2010

Autechre :: oversteps




Practicing the science of the title with excellency ... "oversteps" - set the stage - not less than two years after a return (success) in graceful humanity, and (fortunately) far from the extreme disembodiment of 2005, Rob Brown and Sean Booth have worthily aerosolized into 14 strata, and it is a highly recommended success. pssshhhittt!

Pratiquer la science du titre avec excellence ... "oversteps" - le décor est planté - pas moins de deux années après un retour (réussi) en gracieuse humanité, et (heureusement) bien loin de l'extrême désincarnation de l"année 2005, Rob Brown et Sean Booth se sont dignement aérosolisés en 14 strates , et c'est un succès ultra recommandé. pssshhhittt !

:: Autechre

13 mars 2010

Alexander Kibanov & Norihito Kodama :: through fire walk with me

un interstice, initialement pluvieux, entre réalité et fiction, à moins que celà ne ressemble à un gouffre, qu'importe - Cette nouvelle collaboration entre Kibanov et Kodama, se poursuit avec notre consentement quant à la perspective de s'entourer de flammes et comme nous aurons autant de difficultés d'oublier les aéroports, fussent-ils abandonnés.

:: bump foot
:: just not normal

:: Alexander Kibanov > mysp
:: Nryy > discogs

12 mars 2010

Eurasia :: glooming in the twilight



la proximité sonore quasi immédiate est tellement évidente et opérante que l'on se surprend à interroger notre très officieuse mémoire - Ce crépuscule n'est pas loin de devenir lumineux, voir incandescent.

:: MiMi records
:: Eurasia > mysp.

J.CNNR :: finis natura

singulière réalisation, de l'exigeant tres catorce, ce finis natura de J.CNNR, sorti en janvier dernier, n'a de cesse de mettre en péril l'effacement graduel de nos mémoires sensorielles, de rebooter les disques durs en phase de sédimentation, tel le gant, d'un candidat au voyage temporel, balayant les parasitages givrés d'un monitor obsolète - cette réanimation constructive est une réussite.

:: tres catorce netlabel
:: J.CNNR > mysp.

11 mars 2010

Sardinia Bass Legalize :: timeless



suspension and distance, an equation, the figure of timelessness - King Kietu and Sensitive Dub overlook a human soundscape, an ellipse found from the right measure of distance between people in motion - Let your eyes make it circular, and don't take care, your ears will makes you back to reality with the unavoidable trumpet of Zen.I - an equation suspended, a timeless suspension.

:: aQuietBump
:: Sardinia Bass Legalize
:: King Kietu > the-questionnaire

<< visions on my land
<< sbl
<< italian dub community - vol 1

10 mars 2010

Leonardo Martins :: quick McLuhanian guide for transmigration

"the medium is the message" and if, by chance, we speak of hopping merging perceptions, this selective guide of Leonardo Martins will not be far.

:: pandafuzz

7 mars 2010

Glenn Ryszko :: soundwalk

... "Sound is visual. When I listen to sound, whether these are field recordings, environmental sounds, abstract soundscapes or just an ordinary pop album, I always have images popping up in my mind. A collection of memories. Our brains seem to recollect memories each time our senses are activated. We internalize what we hear or see externally." ... the message is perfectly clear, Glenn Ryszko gives us an objective answer, the soundwalk is a mental image, coming from "a" reality, a reality all made of our subjectivity, a reality coming and going, a reality in motion, particles of signals captured and stored carefully away in our pocket, a treasure

:: konkretourist
:: Glenn Ryszko
<< machine

4 mars 2010

EdP Sampler 1

loin d'être exhaustif, et donc d'envisager toute l'étendue d'un projet protéiforme, ce premier gateau d'anniversaire de EdP, nous permet d'appréhender les grandes lignes et qualités de celui-ci. Encore trop confidentiel, EdP ne mérite pas un unique gateau toutefois surmonté de 10 jolies bougies mais, au minima, d'une patisserie toute entière.

:: editora do porto

3 mars 2010

Entertainment for the braindead :: roadkill

Julia Kotowski fell in love and ... gives us happiness.
Outstanding !

:: aaahh records
:: Entertainment for the braindead

<< hydrophobia

Counterspark :: the halpern experiment

césure et correction d'épreuves en forme de paysage sonore, les huit mouvements de "the halpern experiment" confinent à l'appréciation intérieure, une indolente ressource.

:: resting bell
:: discogs

merci à Yamanotedreams

OCP :: rejects

jeu savant, entre incongruité, constance et fugacité, ces rejets de João Ricardo ont l'étrange saveur d'un repas gastronomique avalé dans l'urgence sur le coin d'un comptoir de fastfood - fort de ce besoin incessant d'investigations, de combinaisons insolites, d'expérimentations en équilibre précaire et très loin des standards, affligeants produits calibrés, l'homme de Lisbonne poursuit un chemin semé d'embuches aux bienfaisantes aspérités - amateurs de certitudes, s'abstenir.

:: ocp - operador de cabine polivalente
:: discogs