Annex page for YouTube, etc. tracks. 

Posts more frequent.  Good stuff.  Follow along…

http://diskono.tumblr.com/

These aren’t particularly new to the internets (I’ve been putting off sharing them), but they’re so good that I thought I’d make a post out of it.  

Oni Ayhun has been one of the most thrilling artists to follow in recent years for me.  His releases have been few and far between, but their quality has made for maximum and repeated play.  He is responsible not only for one of the most beautiful tracks of the last few years (OAR 003-B), but also for one of the most fucked-up and bad-ass tracks you’ll find (OAR 004-A).  This is a live set of his from earlier this year in Warszawa, Poland.  

Download - Oni Ayhun Live Warszawa 2011-03-25

Equally interesting to follow, but rather prolific, has been Kassem Mosse (aka Gunnar Wendel, Seltene Erden).   His releases have been so stylistically varied, and on so many different types of labels that it’s always a bit of an event for me when he puts out a new one.  He’s touched on techno, house, broken-beat, synth-heavy stuff, ambient, etc, on labels as varied as Mikrodisko, Workshop, FXHE, Laid, Kinda Soul, Nonplus, Mule, Delsin, etc.  This is a live set from August, at The Boiler Room in Berlin.  Note that the set really, really kicks in and gets interesting at around the half-way mark.  And, on a personal note, seeing him at The Bunker earlier this year was by far one of the best things I’ve witnessed in years.  

Download - Kassem Mosse Live Boiler Room Berlin 2011-8-23

It was never my intention to post any full releases here, but this one is just too good, and too interesting - not to mention relevant to much else I’ve posted.  Besides, it’s a bootleg collection.  If you’re even remotely a fan of anything from early house music, to minimal synth/electronics, to italo disco, to early industrial, to all this current cassette lo-fi-as-aesthetic noise stuff - or all of the above, like me - this is something you’ll want to check out. 

This is a bootleg of unreleased Ron Hardy tracks.  Some of the tracks are not Ron’s at all, or are his edits, or are his productions for other artists, etc.  It’s surprising how cohesive a listen this is considering it’s a collection of unreleased and demo material from who knows where.  I think it’s the warm, hissy cassette quality of it that really brings it all together.  And, that sound quality, in my opinion, makes it especially enjoyable.  If you’re reading this, you’ve most likely downloaded some obscure cassette or scratchy vinyl rip from the early 80’s from some blog, so you pretty much know what I’m talking about with the sound quality.  But ultimately it’s the tracks here that are doing the job - the fidelity just kind of ties it all together nicely.

I should also note that there are some really incredible vocals spread throughout here (you can check the Discogs link for the credits) that really round this out, and make it all the more interesting and highly listenable.  Enjoy this, it’s a unique little gem…

< DOWNLOAD >  /  Release Info  /  Wiki

Sample below - a short, instrumental track…

Ron Hardy - Ron the Unknown

This is a dance mix.  And, it’s also a continuation of me giving away all of my DJ secrets - though, for some serious heads out there much of this may be old news, I know.  Some Synth Pop, some Electro, some Left-field Disco, some Italo Disco, some Industrial-funk, some Detroit Techno origins, some House.  And a passage of Drexciyan pleasures at the end to cool things off a bit.  Really, it’s a dance mix(put it on at your next party!), but there are also some achingly beautiful moments in here as well.  Ideally, I wanted to ‘Traktor’ these tracks into a seamless ‘mixed mix’, but this one was already especially time consuming as it was, just to make the selections and sequence it all, etc.  And Traktor kind of bores me.  I also did my best to edit the tracks in a few ways(hopefully it shows up when you import it to your iTunes).  It’s probably the most cohesive mix/comp I’ve posted here yet, and I guarantee - it’s a LOT of fun…  Enjoy… 

Welcome To Joyland  < DOWNLOAD >

PS - somebody wanna buy me THIS???

Top photo: Claes Källarsson

Compilation of single and EP tracks from Newworldaquarium (aka Jochem Peteri / 154 / Ross 154 / Newworldromantic), from Amsterdam.  First releasing an EP under the name Ross 154 in 1993, Peteri has let out a slow trickle of extremely unique sounding electronic recordings which would be classified as House or Techno, but to me, sound unlike anything else I’ve heard within these genres.  His sound is highly repetitive and hypnotic, extremely warm, and often downright gorgeous. 

Left off of this compilation is anything from his Newworldaquarium LP “The Dead Bears”, which is one of my most listened to records, and probably my favorite Techno/House LP of the last few years.  Also, he released an ambient album called “Strike” under the name 154.  I’d suggest finding these, as they’re actually the real centerpieces of his catalog.  His most well-known track “Tresspassers” can be found on the digital/CD version of “The Dead Bears”.  Listen to a good chunk of the LP HERE.

And… way back in 1991, before finding the sound he still expands on today, he released this 12” of amazingly catchy Euro-House under the name Pallas.  Youtube:   A1  /  A2  /  B1

Some interesting interviews, at times pretty goofy:  ONE  /  TWO

Delsin Records  /  Discogs

Newworldaquarium / Delsin Records in Brooklyn 2.4.11

Download the comp

I am by no means qualified to do a comprehensive best of 2010 list - not for “pop” music, or indie rock, at least - I listened to mostly techno, and drone music from various eras this year - but here are my favorite tracks of the past year that I did get to spend some time with.  Absolute Ear-Worm Awards go to the Crystal Stilts, Tshetsha Boys, and David Lynch tracks.  Favorite album was Anika. 

Not in any sort of rated order, but ordered in attempt to make for an enjoyable listening experience.  FYI: the mix and its tracks are formatted to show up as Various Artists / Compilation.

< < < DOWNLOAD > > >

TRACKS : 

Roedelius - Ampfer

Dirty Beaches - Golden Desert Sun

Anika - No One’s There

Anika - Sadness Licks the Sun

BEAK> - Wulfstan

Crystal Stilts - Shake the Shackles

The Fall - Funnel of Love

Factory Floor - Lying (Chris Carter Mix)

Brian Eno - 2 Forms of Anger

The Soft Moon - Circles

Martial Canterel - You Today

Cosmetics - Sleepwalking

Laetitia Sadier - One Million Year Trip

Sade - Soldier of Love

The Ex - Eoleyo

Tshetsha Boys - Nwa Pfundla

Caribou - Odessa

David Lynch - Good Day Today

The Knife - Seeds

The Knife - Colouring of Pigeons 

ENJOY.

Here’s something i put together quick since I haven’t posted anything in so long.  Stay tuned for a behemoth post that I’ve been putting together for about 2 years now…

So, for me personally, Wire are just about the most enduring band I can think of.  They were, if my memory serves me, one of the first non-contemporary bands I discovered, and fell in love with on my own.  When I was 14 or 15 there was a radio show on Wednesday nights, at i think midnight, on WUSB(Stony Brook) where they played all kinds of things that shaped my musical tastes for years to come.  The first Wire track I heard played on this show was “Two People In A Room”.  After that I believe came “A Question of Degree”.  I won’t go on about why I loved Wire at that age, I’ll just say that they remain as interesting and completely fulfilling to me as they did …more than half my lifetime ago. 

Okay - here’s a collection(20 tracks total) of Wire’s early non-album singles and B sides(from the original CD releases, but left off the box set/re-issues), and a bunch of really great sounding demos, most of which were never re-recorded/released otherwise.  Songs like “Stablemate” and “Stepping Off Too Quick” are absolutely brilliant, and completely essential if you don’t already have them.

Download - WIRE : Singles/B Sides/Demos - Removed, by request.

Here’s a mix of incredibly catchy, incredibly twisted pop songs.  That’s the theme.  If a tune is catchy, that’s one thing, but if it’s catchy along with being completely bizarre and other-worldly it just brings it to another level.

Starting off with a healthy dose of synth pop and neue deutsche welle - then things get even stranger in the middle - then finishing off with some themes, and a serious vintage classic that i couldn’t resist including.

Tracklist:

Der Plan - Am Strand

Der Plan - Leb doch

96 Eyes - Hurry Up

Ensemble Pittoresque - Artificials

Polyphonic Size - Mother’s Little Helper

Die Doraus & Die Marinas - Fred vom Jupiter

Palais Schaumburg - Telefon

Bergtraum - Almenrausch

Holger Czukay - Photo Song

Renaldo & the Loaf - Hambu Hodo

Tom Fazzini - There Be No

Frank Chickens - We Are Ninja

Faust - I’ve Got My Car And My TV Part 2

Crawling Chaos - Creamo Coyl

Theoretical Girls - U.S. Millie

Crawling Chaos - Vulva Boatman

Psychic TV - Stolen Kisses

Chris & Cosey - Stolen Kisses

Die Doraus & Die Marinas - Junger Mann ‘81

Der Plan - Junger Mann ‘83

Der Plan - Junger Mann ‘85

The Chordettes - Lollipop

Download

The revolutionary and highly influential techno duo Basic Channel began working together around 1993.  Since then Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus have collaborated on numerous other projects including Maurizio, Round One - Five, and Rhythm & Sound.  The two are widely credited with inventing the ‘Dub Techno’ genre.  They’ve mostly released their own records(each project has its own label), as well as other like-minded artists with the Chain Reaction label, and have conducted an exhaustive reissue campaign of the incredible roots dub/reggae label out of New York City known as Wackie’s.  Most recently, Moritz von Oswald has collaborated with Carl Craig reworking Ravel & Mussorgsky, and with Sasu Ripatti[Vladislav Delay, Luomo] and Max Loderbauer[NSI] as The Moritz Von Oswald Trio.

The mix includes all of the mentioned von Oswald/Ernestus projects[with 6 Basic Channel tracks], a Model 500 remix by von Oswald, a snippet of the hour-length-running ‘ReComposed’ by Carl Craig & von Oswald, and The Moritz Von Oswald Trio.       Enjoy…

Basic Channel & associated labels website

Download the mix

Record label run by Steve Solamar(Spherical Objects/Noyes Brothers etc.) out of Manchester from 1978-1981.  Object Music and its bands received a fair amount of praise in their time alongside fellow Mancunians The Fall, Joy Division, and The Buzzcocks.  When Solamar closed the short-lived label to pursue other life plans, its bands and their recordings fell into obscurity.  At a time when I’ve been listening to very little “rock music”, Spherical Objects have probably been my most listened to artist of the past year or more.  Naturally, I investigated further and found other incredible records on the label by Grow-Up, The Passage, Steve Miro & The Eyes etc.

This is a pretty large selection of tracks, but LTM Recordings has re-issued most(but not nearly all) of this stuff over the past year or so. Check here for ordering information and an interesting, in-depth biography of the label:  LTM Recordings

A review of one of the Spherical Objects re-issues:  Brainwashed

And an impressively thorough discography

Bands included on the mix:  Spherical Objects, Grow-Up, The Passage, Steve Miro & The Eyes, Noyes Brothers, I.Q. Zero, The Warriors, Contact, Manchester Mekon, Slight Seconds, Tirez Tirez, 41 Degrees.  Thanks to DS for a few of the tracks!

Download the mix.

Enjoy.

Omar-S is one of a select few (in my opinion) currently saving/revitalizing/pushing forward Detroit techno. Releasing all his own records and using all analog equipment(not as a fetish, but because it just fucking sounds better).  Can’t decide whether I’d describe his sound as warm and fuzzy, or razor-sharp.  I’ll say both - no need to decide.

I’ve front-loaded the mix with two of his best, compositionally strong tracks.  The rest is chronological.

Omar-S will be in Brooklyn on New Year’s Eve:  residentadvisor.net

Omar-S / FXHE Records

From the crude, old-school acid of “Track #8”… to the Kraftwerk/Cosmic sounds of “Strider’s World”… to the hazy, infectious soul of “Day” and “Bring It To Me”,  ENJOY…

Download

Mix of mostly instrumental tunes / 70s, 80s / experimental / synth-wave / german new wave / kraut / kosmische / and what i’ll call proto-techno.

…

Tracks:

Kraftwerk -  Tanzmusik

Stephen Mallinder -  Cool Down

Cabaret Voltaire -  Walls of Jericho

Harmonia -  Dino

Cluster -  Prothese

Absolute Body Control -  Faceless

Die Partei -  Austauschprogramm

Pyrolator -  Ein Weihnachtsmann

Richard H. Kirk -  Nocturnal Children

Asmus Tietchens -  Vorsaison

Cabaret Voltaire -  Diskono

Moebius & Plank -  Conditionierer

Duet Emmo -  Heart of Hearts (Or So It Seems)

Throbbing Gristle -  Distant Dreams (pt. 2)

Tuxedomoon -  Volo Vivace

Cluster -  Isodea

Moebius -  Transport

Absolute Body Control -  In Your Mind

Bene Gesserit -  G.P.P.M

Richard H. Kirk -  Black Honeymoon

Grauzone -  Film 2

Die Partei -  Rote Schuhe

Asmus Tietchens -  Mit Zebras Rennen

Conrad Schnitzler -  Con3.1

…

Download

Enjoy.

…

Contact:  hrzntlhld@gmail.com

All mixes are “unmixed”.

If you would like something removed, please contact me.

I am available for DJ gigs in the NYC area.  I use all vinyl.