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I have spent over 12 hours producing today's show. This last surge of nervous energy is only going to last so long so let me give you the low down on today's show before I collapse into a quivering heap of exhaustion.

First off, I want to say goodbye to Adam Yauch, or as we know him, MCA of the Beastie Boys.

I wasn't a fan of their Licensed to Ill album because I could never get past their douchebag posturing. But there was no ignoring their Paul's Boutique album and Check Your Head was virtually my soundtrack for 1992. As I was growing and maturing, the Beastie Boys were always a couple steps ahead of me, blazing the trail.

Adam passed away last week. I'll miss his wit, his compassion and his humanity. The world is a little colder place with one less Beastie. Namaste, Adam.

Life is for the living, so let's get on with it.

This year's Glade Festival is less than a month away and we're going to bring it in with Benji Vaughan, who will be performing along with Raja Ram and Simon Posford on the Origin Stage Twisted Sound System. Between them, they are responsible for such ground-breaking music including, but not only, Shpongle, Hallucinogen, Younger Brother and Prometheus.

The MUTEK Festival is also around the corner, taking place in Montreal May 30th to June 3rd. Last year we spoke with MUTEK founder, Alain Mongeau. This year we have the pleasure of talking with Patti Schmidt, the curator, programmer and web editor for MUTEK. Patti also has the distinction of being the voice for the CBC's Brave New Waves, a music program that features music and culture from the "fringes and the future."

We'll also talk with Vibin.fm's founder, Brian O'Toole. Vibin.fm is the Pandora of electronic music and Brian will explain how it all works, us how Vibin.fm works. Want to have a little fun? Enter any of the other artists featured on today's show at Vibin.fm and see what comes up. I heard some lovely music from Kuedo, Teebs and Byetone.

Last but not least, we'll chat with Craig Colorusso about his Sun Boxes. What are Sun Boxes? Sun Boxes are twenty speakers powered by solar panels. Each speaker has a different guitar note that loops. Once the piece begins they continually overlap and the piece slowly evolves over time. Oh, and be sure to check out Craig's mobile Sun Boxes apps!

Today's show is free. But if you enjoyed yourself, learned something new or heard something you liked, tell a friend about the show. Want to go the extra mile? Write up a quick review on our iTunes page. The more people who know about solipsistic NATION the more shows like today's I can produce.

Join us again next week for a special mix featuring select tracks from the Audio Aashram Music catalog lovingly curated by Praketh, from the blueOrb podcast.

See you then!

Photo Credit: ©Fiddybobiddyfiddy

Today on solipsistic NATION we'll listen to select tracks from Experimedia, a record label, shop, and distributor based out of Ohio and established in 2000.

I've known about Experimedia for quite some time and it's kind of surprising that our paths haven't crossed already. Experimedia consistently puts out quality releases, so much so that when I hear about an album that's released on Experimedia, I just assume that it's going to be fantastic. It's that kind of dedication to excellence that I showcase labels on solipsistic NATION in the first place. This is music you need to hear.

Jeremy Bible is the man behind Experimedia and he'll also be performing tonight at the RCN CAVE in Akron, Ohio. If you came to solipsistic NATION from that show, then welcome aboard!

If you liked today's show why not tell a friend about solipsistic NATION. I'd also welcome a quick review on our iTunes page. The more people who know about solipsistic NATION the more shows like today's I can produce.

Speaking of which, join us next week when our guests will be Benji Vaughan who'll be performing at this years Glade Festival. We'll also chat with Patti Schmidt from MUTEK and we'll learn about Vibin.fm, the Pandora for electronic music.

See you then!

On today's show we have a very special live set from Nick Brennan of Tripswitch performing at the O.Z.O.R.A. Festival.

Nick Brennan is Tripswitch and as Tripswitch he's released music that is just fantastic stuff! Nick has this knack for making music that feels well-worn and new at the same time. There's something about his music that's instantly familiar and feels like he's always been part of your record collection. There's something very English about it, too, because his music is very dreamy and idyllic with a undercurrent of darkness that surfaces from time to time.

It's something I also recognized in Ott, who was our guest last June, and I think this strand can be traced back to The Orb, which can be further traced back to Pink Floyd. But that begs the question, how much further does this tradition go back in the history of English music?

We'll find out when we talk with Nick. We'll also talk about his alter ego, Codemonkey, and his label, Section Records.

Before we go any further, if you're listening to today's solipsistic NATION on Taint Radio then I'm afraid you're not going to here the entire show. We're going long because Nick has a very special recording of him performing at the O.Z.O.R.A. Festival.

Don't worry, I've got you covered. Just download today's show and you won't miss a thing. While you're here, why not visit out iTunes page and give the show a quick review. The more reviews solipsistic NATION gets, the higher ranking it gets on iTunes, which means more people might find out about the show. Which means more people might get turned on to Nick's music, which would be awesome, right?

Join us again next week when we'll talk with Experimedia's Jeremy Bible. See you then!

Photo Credit: ©Kant Rathod

Welcome to #twittermix4!

And here's the part where I explain what that means. Explaining what it means is actually one of the #twittermix traditions.

So here we go...

When I first joined Twitter there wasn't a lot of labels or musicians on Twitter, which made it almost useless as far solipsistic NATION was concerned. But I stuck around and gradually more and more labels and musicians came online on Twitter, which is also right about the time when Twitter became my social media platform of choice. Twitter had two things going for it that I came to cherish: it was ubiquitous and concise. Twitter's 140 character limit forced you to say what you wanted to say with laser-like intensity.

I thought it would be fun to put together a mix for solipsistic NATION featuring tracks from musicians on Twitter. I approached the artists I had met through Twitter for their participation and asked them to extend the invitation to musicians they new. I believe this was when retweeting came onto the scene. Heady times! Retweeting put me in touch with a lot of musicians I talk to to this day. Come to think of it, I guess that whole process is one of the traditions of the #twittermix.

Anyway, I got a lot of great tracks and the show was a success, but I have to tell you, today's #twittermix is the best. Not to diminish the previous #twittermixs but this one's pretty special. Not only is the music as diverse as Twitter itself but the music is topnotch! As an added bonus, we'll also talk with Clay Nutting, who is one of the people organizing this year's Sacramento Electronic Music Festival. I really hope to make it to the festival because the've got some incredible talent from folks like James & Evander, Shlohmo, Mux Mool and more. If you plan on going, Tweet me on Twitter at @solipsistic and maybe we can meet up.

Getting back to my point...

I think Twitter is important to me because it also represents the spirit of solipsistic NATION. Through Twitter I am able to informally approach musicians and labels I would otherwise never get the chance to talk to, and that's led to a lot of incredible shows and struck up a lot of friendships. In turns, musicians and labels have contacted me through Twitter as well as listeners of the show and people who just show up because they got word of the show or are just curious or the other myriad reasons.

Twitter has helped me build up solipsistic NATION, reach out and collaborate and have a hell of a lot of fun. The more I think about it the more I'm convinced that solipsistic NATION could not exist without Twitter. Or be something very, very different without it.

Join us again next week when our guest will be Tripswitch's Nick Brennan. He's got a very special live set for us.

See you then!

On today's show our guest is Nathan Phelan, host of The Electro Show.

As the producer of solipsistic NATION I rarely have time to listen to other music podcasts. There simply isn't enough hours in the day so there are only a handful of them. Macedonia's Both Sides of the Surface is one. There's also Mikel OD's Most People Are DJs podcast and the Spartacus Roosevelt podcast and definitely the Headphone Commute podcast. But I barely have enough time to listen to even those clutch of shows, so a podcast better be very special if I am going to make time for it.

I expect it's the same with you, too.

So, why The Electro Show?

Mainly it's because Nathan has also embraced a freeform approach to producing a show about electronic music. Every genre is grist for his mill. And like myself, Nathan eagerly wants to turn people on to great music even as he himself explores the vast terrain of electronic music in all it's myriad forms.

Join us again next week for the fourth annual #twittermix featuring electronic music from artists on Twitter. Best one yet!

Photo Credit: ©kingkong21

Today's label showcase features, by popular demand, ABAGA Records!

A few months back I asked friends of the show on Twitter which labels you thought I should feature on solipsistic NATION and ABAGA Records came up again and again. You demanded it, I listened!

When I launched solipsistic NATION I was uncompromising in my vision for the show. I wanted to feature the best of all genres of electronic music. Not everyone likes jumping from genre to genre of electronic music but the net is big. I knew that there were listeners out there. We just had to find each other. Six years and 276 shows later solipsistic NATION has found a global audience. And damn, the audience has amazing taste. Whenever I ask for suggestions for guest or labels to feature on the show I'm never disappointed and I'm constantly being introduced to new and exciting things. Today's show is proof of that.

Today's show is also a bit different because I haven't heard the mix yet. Andrew, the label's director, sent it to me and I literally just downloaded it. I have no more idea what to expect that you do, dear listener. Despite the time shifting with podcasts I am, for all intents and purposes, listening to today's the same time as you. But you've never steered me wrong. I'm going to trust in your good taste.

ABAGA Records releases bass music, dubstep, jungle, d&b and other sub-heavy styles of music. Based in Edinburgh, the label provides a platform for artists to get their music heard, with both free and paid releases.

Join us again next week when our guest will be Nathan Phelan, host of The Electro Show.

See you then!

I think it's safe to say that if you've heard the Stereo MCs' music then you're probably already fan. And if you haven't heard the Stereo MCs' music, which is almost impossible, then you will be a fan by the end of today's show.

Well, actually, I have to admit the possibility that you may not be a fan.

I know I wasn't.

When the Stereo MCs released their track "Connected" it was a monster hit. You couldn't get away from it. At the time I was working a bar and a nightclub and if the DJs weren't playing it in the nightclub, people were playing it on the jukebox in the bar. Even a good song, a great song, can turn sour if you hear it too much. And so I grew to loathe the Stereo MCs.

But nearly 10 years later a friend from work played "Connected" and I heard it with fresh ears and instantly became a fan. That very night I ran out and purchased their Connected album and, to my joy, they had recently released a new album called Deep Down & Dirty. Those albums were on constant rotation that summer.

I played those albums at parties the summer of 2001. I drove to the Getty Museum for the first time on a date while listening to those albums. I've made love while those albums played in the background.

As you can see, I have a very intimate connection with the Stereo MCs' music. When I saw Rob on Twitter a few week's ago I knew what I had to do: invite him on the show. And to my delight, he said yes!

I don't think neither Rob or his partner, Nick Hallam, self-identify as electronic musicians. I think they just see themselves as musicians and electronic instruments are just one of the tools, among many, they use to create music. That's cool, but they do use electronic gear and that's good enough for me to call them one of our own. And if it isn't? Who cares, it's the Stereo MCs, for crying out loud!

If you liked today's show, and honestly, how can you not like today's show, then tell a friend. The more people who listen, the more people like Rob I can get on the show.

Joins us again next week when we'll showcase music from Abaga Records.

See you then!

Photo Credit: ©highlandcow.com

On today's show we're going to experience the Voltron Mega Mix lovingly put together by [tlr], tooth_eye, A Beautiful Lotus, Johan Ess and Joshua Decker to celebrate Magicore's two year anniversary. You remember Magicore, don't you? They only put together one of my favorite editions of solipsistic NATION evah! Only this time they're mix is darker, sinister, heavier and far more dangerous. But don't worry, it's still just as fun!

"And just what is Magicore?" I hear some of you asking yourselves. It's basically a newly minted genre and blog coined by [tlr] a few years back that combined everything from J-Pop to chiptunes to anime to metal and more. It's since grown and mutated since it was first incepted. [tlr] can explain it better than I can... and he will, along with the rest of team Magicore.

On today's show we'll hear music that represents months, if not years, of hard work. And they're giving it away absolutely for free. If you like anything you heard on today's show, nearly all the tracks are available as free MP3 downloads, check the playlist below. But if you have an extra buck or two, why not show your support by buying one or two of their tracks or albums or other merch from the artists featured on today's show if they're selling them. As long as you're here, why not show you support for solipsistic NATION by clicking the link to our iTunes page leave a quick rating or review. Spread the word!

To celebrate Magicore's two year anniversary we're going to give away some Magicore stickers. Maybe even a bandana or two. Tweet me with #magicorecontest for your chance to win. Maybe even a bandanna. You never know.

Join us again next week for a very special live set from the Stereo MCs. I'm so excited!

See you then!

I keep meaning to write up today's show notes but instead I've got caught up in a discussion with friend of the show, _tlr_, about the movie, John Carter. Sorry, _tlr_, I have duties I must attend to!

Last week I failed to mention how much I've been blown away by Tympanik Audio's recent releases from the likes of Access To Arasaka, Known Rebel, C.Db.Sn and Tapage. Tympanik Audio always releases great stuff but they've really outdone themselves with this recent batch. Tapage in particular has shown a lot of growth and Overgrown is his best album yet. He has some how managed the trick of simultaneously being more restrained in his music and complex and dramatic.

Another label that's batting them out of the park is Record Label Records. Record Label Records tends to release music that's a bit more expierimental and that always runs the risk of falling flat. Record Label Records has always managed to find the good stuff, though, and with the recent releases of their Drinking the Goat's Blood and the Cremation of Care compilation albums (and wAgAwAgA's midnight sampler album, which I sadly was unable to play on today's show) they've really brought their A game.

The Centrifuge has also been blowing up. Velapene Screen returns from his live appearance on solipsistic NATION with a track from his album, What If They Can't Trust You? Lodsb also returns with a fantastic track and Myoptik makes his first appearance on the show.

Of course, there are other labels featured on today's show but I wanted to focus on those three because each and every one of them has been releasing music so great that I have to pinch myself to convince myself that I'm not hallucinating it. Can music really be this good?!

A lot of the music heard on today's show can be downloaded absolutely for free by clicking the links below but why not show your support for the artists by purchasing one or two of their tracks. Maybe one of their albums if you really liked what you heard.

If you want to support the show, that's free too. Just tell your friends about the show or give us a rating or review on iTunes if you think solipsistic NATION is with listening to.

Let me sweeten the pot: join us again next week when the lads from Magicore return with yet another mind blowing mix of select tracks from their blog. That reminds me, I need to get back to my conversation with Magicore's _tlr_ about what a turkey John Carter turned out to be.

Photo Credit: ©Tiger Pixel

Today on solipsistc NATION our guest is Saltillo's Menton J. Matthews III. He's just released Monocyte, Saltillo's long awaited second album. Saltillo's Monocyte is both an album and a comic book. The comic book was released by label showcase back in January. Jacek prepared a

Today on solipsistic NATION we're going to listen to select tracks from Futuresequence and talk with the labels founder, Michael Waring.

Futuresequence is based out of the UK and began as a blog but has slowly been mutating into a music label that explores the possibilities and boundaries of textures, patterns and sounds and, hopefully, pushes past those boundaries.

I've known about Futuresequence since their first Sequence compilation album. I recently read about the release of Sequence3 in Zite's electronic music section. After downloading all 41 tracks of the album and being blown away by each and every one, it was obvious that I had to feature Futuresequence on solipsistic NATION.

We'll talk with Michael about his label and the music we'll hear on today's show. If you heard a track you liked on today's mix you can always show your support by buying a track or two from the artists by clicking the links on today's show notes.

If you like the show, you can also support solipsistic NATION simply by giving the show a quick 1 to 5 star rating on iTunes. I of course hope you'll give solipsistic NATION a five star rating. You can also support solipsistic NATION by turning your friends on to the show.

The more people who listen to solipsistic NATION the more shows like today's show I can produce. Each edition of solipsistic NATION is free for your listening pleasure. I just ask you share solipsistic NATION with people who enjoy good music.

I'll see you again next week when we'll do it all over again! But completely different.

Can I share something with you that is simultaneously mind blowing and utterly mundane?

I get anywhere from 50 to 250 tracks emailed my way every week. Let me repeat that: every week. And I've made a pact with myself that if musicians or music labels are generous enough to send music my way to play on the show then I feel obligated to every single song.

As you can imagine, that takes a lot of time.

My strategy to deal with this constant geyser of music is to listen to a couple hours of hours a day of music on my phone that has been sent my way in the last week on random. Listening to music on random gives me an approximation what an album sounds like. I realize it's not fair to the artists but it would take me forever to listen to each and every album from start to finish. Random's just faster.

Anyway, whenever a really good track comes on that I flag it for consideration to play on the show. And tracks from Velapene Screen's album, What If They Can't Trust You?, just kept popping up again and again, demanding my attention. Who the hell was this guy? Whoever he was, his music is slamming! I wasn't surprised, What If They Can't Trust You? is a Centrifuge release, and The Centrifuge puts out quality music. Check out my interview with The Centrifuge's Wassim if you don't believe me.

And as I was listening to yet another killer track from Velapene Screen I suddenly saw him post something to Twitter. I wondered if he'd be interested on coming on the show with a live set and sent him a Tweet. Minutes later he Tweeted back that he was interested. We talked further and the results is today's show.

On the surface that's not such an amazing story but if you think about it, it's almost magical.

Musicians and music labels send me music to download which I might later play on my show, which is available as a podcast or streaming from an internet radio station. And I'm deluged in music. All. The. Time. And I listen to this stuff, anywhere I go, on my phone. And I can reach out and contact the musicians I'd like to come on the show by posting message in the aether. Can you fucking believe that shit?

Like I said: utterly mundane but completely magical.

Anyway, listen to today's show featuring a chat with Chris Ghiraldi, the man behind Velapene Screen, and Chris' in-studio performance! His whole life is magical. Became a touring musician at a young age, won the Philly Laptop Battle in 2004 and the New York City Laptop Battle in 2006, received attention from Rolling Stone, remixed artists including Interpol, Meat Beat Manifesto, Radiohead and Regina Spektor, etc.

Before I get out of Dodge, keep your fingers crossed because next month's Live show may feature a set from the Stereo MCs! I hope I didn't jinx it.

See you next week!

One of my resolutions for 2012 is to infect as many people as I can with the meta virus that is solipsistic NATION to as many people as possible.

When I first concocted solipsistic NATION I had no idea how far the contagion would spread. While solipsistic NATION features the best of all genres of electronic music it is a specialized format that will only infect those who are susceptible to that particular virulent strain. Furthermore, solipsistic NATION uses podcasts as a delivery mechanism to bypass the blood–brain barrier, narrowing the scope of the meta virus.

I had developed a potent show. All I could do was release it into the world and watch its vectors grow... and spread.

I always knew solipsistic NATION was a quality show. I work damn hard on it, after all, and the music and the interviews are great. And as solipsistic NATION has mutated, it has infected more and more people surprising even me how many people it had reached. solipsistic NATION was getting over 47,000 downloads a month in 2011. I saw solipsistic NATION in a new light. How far could it go? I wanted to find out.

Enter Bob Rogers, founder of TaintRadio.

solipsistic NATION already podcasts on the Mevio and Alterati networks and now streams on TaintRadio

TaintRadio is an international alliance of independent producers dedicated to presenting music and music-related programming on the Internet 24/7. If Taint Radio has a format, I guess I would call it freeform. I come from a freeform background myself as a DJ from WMFO and I've always applied that approach to solipsistic NATION, which makes solipsistic NATION and TaintRadio a perfect fit.

In the short time I've been listening to TaintRadio I've been blown away by music and the DJs I've heard on the station. I tell you this with all sincerity, if you want to listen to some incredible music selected and curated by fantastic DJs, tune in. You can catch solipsistic NATION on TaintRadio Thursdays at 2PM Eastern and Saturdays at 11AM.

I invited Bob Rogers to join us on today's show to tell us more about TaintRadio and he joins us from the TaintRadio studios in Raleigh, North Carolina. Also joining us to talk about his Bot Box boxed set is Brian Botkiller from his underground lair in New Mexico.

Brian is a friend of the show and appeared on solipsistic NATION when I did a segment on the Oscillation electronic music festival that he organized in New Mexico. Brian has just released a boxed set that's an anthology and collection of his works from 2002 to present.

Today's show is especially contagious. Help spread the virus that is solipsistic NATION further and wider. If you think the show is good, tell your friends about it. Tweet it. Like it. Play it at work. Play it at home. Loud.

Join us again next week when we'll be treated to a live set from Centrifuge recording artist, Velapene Screen!

Photo Credit: © Angel

Today on solipsistic NATION we're going to reveal the hidden truth behind Secret Archives of the Vatican... podcast.

I don't listen to many electronic music podcasts because:

For example, I love dubstep, but after listening to three or four episodes of a dubstep podcast, I begin to lose interest. I need variety.

Some of the podcasts I do enjoy are Both Sides of the Surface and Most People Are DJs. The shows are thoughtful, well planned out and offer a lot of variety. I never feel like I've heard the same show twice.

Recently, through Twitter, I've discovered the Secret Archives of the Vatican podcast. It's an excellent show featuring excellent music and I never know what to expect from episode to episode.

The other reason I'm such a fan of the Secret Archives of the Vatican podcast is because the music is reminiscent of the kind of music Bill Laswell was pumping out in the 90s: which is to say that the music featured on the Secret Archives of the Vatican is often mystical and tinged Philip K. Dickian paranoia. Which is not to say that the music is not fun or playful, because it often is.

Speaking of Bill Laswell, be sure to check out the marvelous Sacred Dub podcast. The shows are infrequent but deliver depth-charge explosions when released.

Vince Millett is the man behind both the Secret Archives of the Vatican podcast and band, and he's also the founder of Broken Drum Records, a netlabel dedicated to creating and promoting excellent, globally-influenced bass-driven music.

Vince is also our guest on today's show and he's lovingly hand-picked tracks that have been featured the Secret Archives of the Vatican podcast. I can tell Vince and I have an ironic fascination with the romanticized and eroticized stain of Orientalism in the tradition of William S. Burroughs' heroin-fueled hallucinations, Paul Bowles' Moroccan savage hedonism and Hakim Bey's magical temporary autonomous zones.

Join us again next week when out guests will be Bob Rogers from TaintRadio, Raziel Panic from YouShriek and Brian Botkiller and Mad EP!

Back in the day, if I heard and album I dug and wanted to find out what music label had released it I simply had to look at the CD or cassette or even an album cover. These days, despite the amazing advances in technology, it's not so easy.

If I'm walking down the streets of San Diego, as I often do, listening to music on my iPhone and hear a track that I like I can quickly check out the name of the track and the artist but not which label released the album. But at least I have the names, right? I can Google that. But what a hassle!

But surely a minor inconvenience. Not so fast. Sadly, not all artists or labels tag their MP3s correctly, often omitting the name of the song or the artist or the name of the album. No what? Wait until I get home and play the track over my speakers so I can play it to my iPhone and see of Shazam knows what song it is.

I'll grant you that it's amazing I might be able to solve a mystery with my phone but it's still ridiculous what I sometimes have to go through just to find out which label released which artists.

This is all a long winded way of explaining that if I hear something that I think is good, and good enough that it's worth my time to jump through all those hoops to find out the which label is behind the release, then it's something worth your while to listen to.

The Feedback Loop Label is such a label.

The Feedback Loop Label is a net label from Portugal and founded by Leonardo Rosado and from the label's inception each release has been amazing. And each release found me thumbing through my phone, trying to find out which label was responsible for the beautiful music flowing into my ears. And it was always the Feedback Loop Label.

I've played a lot of music from the Feedback Loop Label and recently label artist Daniel Hopkins of Landcrash appeared on solipsistic NATION with a recording of his performance at the White Star. By that point it seemed ridiculous that I hadn't showcased Feedback Loop on solipsistic NATION, so I emailed Leonardo to rectify the situation. He's our guest on today's show and he's lovingly handpicked select tracks from his label for your enjoyment.

As I mentioned, Feedback Loop is a net label and as such, all their music on their catalogue is available as a free download. In fact you, can download nearly all the tracks heard on today's show by clicking the links below. However, if you like what you hear, and I don't see how you could possibly not, then support the artists and support the label. Feedback Loop does have physical releases that you can purchase and you can buy other releases from the artists as well. You can be a modern day Renaissance patron!

Join us again next week when we'll talk with Bob Rogers from TaintRadio, we'll also talk with Brian Botkiller and You Shriek and the folks from 6Wunderkinder, developers of Wunderkit.

See you then!

It's the first weekend of the month, and that means a live set! It's one of the things I got the most excited about every month. Recent shows have featured performances from everyone from Atari Teenage Riot to Zion Train.

Today on solipsistic NATION were going to hear a live in-studio performance from MSSNGDGTS (88:88). But first we're going to hear select tracks from 88:88's The Grey album, which you can download absolutely for free!

EJ Peter is 88:88 and it's kind of cool how he came to be on today's show.

I've been hard at work preparing future live sets for solipsistic NATION but I didn't see the forest for the trees. The weekend was fast approaching and I had zip. So I did what I always do when I'm in a jam like that: I went on Twitter and asked if anyone had a live set they'd like to share on solipsistic NATION. And out of the blue, 88:88 came through. In fact, he's recording his live set for us as I type these very words. That's how fresh this show is! And it's also a perfect example of how social media makes this show happen.

I actually played a track from EJ a few months ago when I was doing a segment on the Future Sounds of San Diego compilation album. There were a lot of great tracks on the album but 88:88's "Dub-Hop" immediately caught my attention so it's a nice bit of synchronicity that he's on today's show.

Join us again next week. I've got a big announcement about solipsistic NATION. We'll also talk with You Shriek's Raziel Panic and Brian Botkiller about their music boxed sets and maybe review a killer app for your iPhone or iPad.

Until then, say hi to me on Twitter @solipsistic.

Artoffact Records is a Canadian label based in Toronto that has released over 100 industrial, synthpop, rock, and metal albums since the label was founded in 1999. I listen to a lot of music but when it's a release from Artoffact, I take notice because it's bound to be great. Some of my personal faves have been Alice in Videoland, Massiv in Mensch, and, more recently, Saltillo. Artoffact consistently releases such great music that it's a crime I have showcased their label by now.

Jacek Kozlowski is the founder of Artoffact Records and he's been kind enough to put together a mix of tracks from his label featuring some crucial releases from 2011 and 2012. He was also cool enough to talk shop about Artoffact and the music industry in general.

When I first started showcasing labels on solipsistic NATION I think I was caught up in the romance of what it would be like to run a label. But as the years have gone by I've come to realize how much sweat equity it takes to run a music label. No sane person would spend that much time and energy in such an endeavour. No, point of fact, it takes passion. So I guesss the romance is still there, after all.

Anyway, to get back to my point, as I've come to appreciate the hard work that goes into running a label I've begun what, I hope, are very pragmatic questions. How do you sign an artist and who do you develop that artist once you do. Practicalities aside, there's also the art of being managing artists. I'm generalizing here but most musicians I've met will gladly go on and on why they lovingly and painstaking purchased the gear they have or give a spur of the moment dissertation on their art and their music but it's another thing entirely when it comes to the quotidian business of being, well... business.

Hey, cut me some slack here. I said I was generalizing.

Jacek gave some very insightful and considered answers to my questions on today's show. He also delivered some kick ass tunes so enjoy! Bonus, there are some free tracks below you can download for your continued pleasure but by all means, purchase a track or two. Artists need to eat and after all, it is a business.

Welcome to 2012! According to a pop interpretation of the Mayan calendar we're going to go face-to-face with the apocalypse that we've all secretly hoping would finally happen. If you believe that sort of thing.

Here at solipsistic NATION we're going to kick off the new year the same way we kick off each month: a live performance from an electronic music. But instead of one performance, we're going to hear two! One from Pimmon and one from Landcrash.

Both Pimmon and Landcrash appeared on the Soft edition solipsistic NATION back in December. That was a great show and Landcrash and Pimmon's music really moved me. I asked if they'd be interested in coming on the show with some recorded live material. They both said yes and sent me their live sets, tout suite!

Paul Gough is Pimmon and he's prepared a special in-studio live performance for us. Daniel Hopkins is Landcrash and we'll hear his live set recorded at the White Star. Their music is both beautiful and utterly haunted.

Since they both explore the same sonic territory and are both on labels I really enjoy (12K and the Feedbackloop Label), I decided to feature their live sets on one show. It's also the reason why I asked them similar questions and it was pretty interesting to hear how their sensibilities differed and converged.

Join us again next week when we'll showcase music from Artoffact Records. Until then, bask in the music of Pimmon and Landcrash. That seems to be the best way to experience it.

I'm quite certain that the cold I'm suffering from is not, in fact, a cold. It's something far more sinister and deadly. I'm convinced that I've contracted some alien contagion aloft some weird vector that will begin the zombie apocalypse beginning with me: patient zero!

Okay, it's not that bad. I just wanted to add a bit of drama to today's show. I am sick, though, so by necessity I'm going to be brief.

For the last couple of weeks I've been listening to the very excellent King Deluxe Presents: Year One compilation album. As the title implies the album is a celebration of King Deluxe's first year as a label.

I usually wait until a label has been around a couple of years and had more releases under their belt before showcasing them on solipsistic NATION, but I thought it would be a shame not to turn you on to King Deluxe. That way you can say knew about them way back when when.

While King Deluxe is a collective it is effectively run by PK, the label's founder, and he joins us today from his home in British Colombia.

Also joining us from San Diego is Miguel Vega, who is the founder of Dataset Clothing, which also happens to be a label that has just released the Future Sounds of San Diego compilation album. EshOne gave me the skinny on this album some months ago but even so I was still surprised to find that there were a lot of artists on the album I didn't recognize. I've dissed San Diego in the past for not having much of an electronic music scene but can admit when I'm wrong and eat some crow.

Oh, and before I forget, Tweet me at solipsistic with the hashtag #dataset for your chance to win some Dataset schwag!

Okay, folks, I can feel my limbs stiffening as my body transforms in rigor mortis. Time to meet my unMaker!

Join us again next when we'll wrap up 2011 and bring in the New Year.

Until then, for solipsistic NATION, I'm Bazooka Joe. Thanks for listening and happy holidays!

Photo Credit: © WILL★REFUSE

Today on solipsistic NATION we're going to select tracks from Immigrant Breast Nest, a wonderful netlabel that was founded to present NYC’s best in weird, mostly electronic, underground music.

Bit of background on today's show.

Dan Abatemarco and fellow musician and partner in crime, David B. Applegate, are the agent provocateurs of Immigrant Brest Nest and they join us today to tell us more about their label.

I first met Dan back in 2010 when I was putting together a semgent about people who were making music with iPods, Iphones and iPads. Performing as Speak Onion he was creating some gnarly noise that shredded my eardrums. Anyone can make noise. Dan was making noise to make music. I was so impressed with Dans music that I later invited him to return to solipsistic NATION with a recording of his live set recorded at the Charleston in Brooklyn for Immigrant Breast Nest‘s record release party, and that's when I first learned of his label. I was blown away with the diversity and the quality of the artists on their label that I knew it was just a matter of time before I would showcase Immigrant Breast Nest on solipsistic NATION.

Most of the tracks on today's show can be downloaded absolutely for free by clicking on the links on today's show notes below, but if you really like what you hear, why don't you throw the artists a few scheckles. Show 'em you appreciate what they do.

Join us again next week when we'll hear music from King Deluxe and The Future Sounds of San Diego, and more!

I live in San Diego but I hail from Boston. San Diego has been my home for the last 11 years but at heart, I'm a New Englander. As much as San Diego is a paradise to live in, it will never quite feel like home to me like Massachusetts does. After all this time I'm still amazed to see big, cowboy skies and palm trees every day.

I don't think I'll ever get used to it because I'll forever be comparing it and contrasting it to New England. It's just something that's been imprinted on me.

With winter fast approaching I feel even more bewildered. I'm used to gloomy, biting cold and endless days of snow, not going about in t-shirts, shorts and sandals. And while I don't miss any of that I do miss other things about winter, like how snowfall seems to mute sound, while sub zero temperatures seems to crystallize it. And I miss the way winter can bring on a kind of bittersweet frame of mind.

Living in sunny San Diego I have to really go out of my way to tap into that state of mind and today's show is a sonic touchstone to that place, in only that magical way that music can reach.

When I was gathering the songs for today's show over the last couple of months I didn't have any of that in mind. Quite honestly, I was just setting aside songs in a folder in iTunes that just seemed to fit together well. It wasn't until I began working on the mix for today's show that it became apparent what the show actually wanted to be.

I remember one winter night when I was a boy. I was an angry and unhappy kid because my parent's marriage was falling apart. I had all these intense emotions and conflicts that I didn't know what to do with. But I remember one night where I left the house after a terrible argument with my mom. I walked around for a while and then found myself at a local pond that was frozen over and covered with snow. It calmed me. So I walked to the center of the pond, lay down and watched the snow fall from sky.

It was late, and I was far away from any roads. It was quiet and I was completely alone and all the confusion and anger just melted away.

And that's what today's show wants to be: a touchstone to that moment.

At least, that's what it is for me. It will be something entirely different for you. And that's part of the magic of today's show.

Join us again next week when we'll showcase music from Immigrant Breast Nest. Dan Abatemarco is one of the founder's of Immigrant Breast Nest and he also performs under the name of Speak Onion. Speak Onion is an experiment in noise and you can experience Speak Onion's live set here.

See you next week!

On today's show we're listening to select tracks from Electroton. We'll also talk with the label's founder, Martin Weiss.

I've only recently discovered Electroton and I've loved everything I've heard from Martin's label. Electroton is one of those labels that tends to favor music that seamlessly blends noise with minimalistic beats. On the surface that's no reason to get excited about the label but the trick that Electroton has managed to pull off is make noise and minimalistic beats warm and human. Something that you'd go out of your way to listen to.

I featured some tracks from Electroton back in June. Since that show I've been meaning to have Martin on the show to talk with us and share more music from his label. It took a couple of months so I'm happy to that our schedules finally worked out so that we could arrange some time to talk.

If you're a regular listener to solipsistic NATION I also want to apologize for getting some of the shows out late the last two months. I appreciate your patience and I should be back on track in the next few weeks.

Some of the things you can expect from solipsistic NATION in the next few months is an interview with Geeta Dayal, the author of Brian Eno's Another Green World; Martin Vera, who has assembled the Future Sounds of San Diego compilation album, and Lyle Owerko from The Boombox Project.

See you next week!

On today's show we're going to hear Mobthrow rocking it live at the Riddim Collision Festival in Lyon to celebrate Ad Noiseam's 10 year anniversary!

I've been a fan of Ad Noiseam for quite a while and for good reason. Ad Noiseam consistently releases great music. It's that simple. And while Ad Noiseam obvioulsy has a love for breakbeat and dubstep with releases from the likes of Enduser and Bong-Ra it also embraces ambient and experimental music as well, with releases from folks like Wilt and The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation.

Nicolas Chevreux is the founder of Ad Noiseam and you can hear my interview with him and more music from his label here.

I've been a fan of Mobthrow almost as long as I've been a fan of Ad Noiseam.

A few years back I had Kostas from Subheim to talk about his now defunct label, Spectraliquid, and while he was on the show he played some great music from Blackfilm, Cardopusher and Ebola. One of the artists that was also featured on the show was Mobthrow and even in a mix of great music his tracks stood out.

Mobthrow had some great beats and rhythms but it was tinged with a lot of moody atmospherics and some of his tracks were downright noirish. With the release of his first full length album, Mobthrow's music has not only become grander in scale but somehow, at the same time, even more intimate.

Angelos Liaros is Mobthrow and he joins us today by phone from Berlin to talk about his latest album and his live set at the Riddim Collision Festival for Ad Noiseam's 10 year anniversary.

Join us again next week when we'll showcase music from Electroton and talk to Martin Weiss, the label's founder.

See you then!

Today on solipsistic NATION we'll talk with Charles Smith, the co-founder and COO of exfm, an online musical service that I'm very excited about. As you browse the web exfm gathers every MP3 file that you come across and builds a music library for you that you can share with your friends.

I don't get to listen to much music that way because I'm already up to my neck with music that is constantly being sent my way. I do, however, love the idea and I spend a couple of hours every week listening to music selected by people I know on exfm. In fact, today's show was inspired by music I heard from Charles and Murat Esmer on exfm.

Stuntdouble has been my friend for just about as long as I've been in San Diego. While he wears his heart on his sleeve the man has got hidden depths and during the time I've known him he's been polishing his flow, alchemically transferring his words into your brain. And it doesn't hurt when you have someone like Tenshun crafting your beats. The guy makes his own vinyl, for crying out loud!

One of the things I love about hip hop and punk is that it tends to be intensely regional. I hail from Boston, so it's hard for me to see San Diego as anythng other than a slice of paradise. Stuntdouble and Tenshun really brought their A game on The Ballad of Shawn T. Nelson and it's densely packed with rhymes and beats and their track "Enemy" kicks off today's show.

We'll also hear "Quietus" by Meat Beat Manifesto from their new album, Answers Come in Dreams. Jack Dangers is the man behind Meat Beat Manifesto and he came on the show to talk about Answers Come in Dreams last February and you can listen to that show here.

We'll also listen to "In The Throes Of It" by Roots Manuva from his new album, 4everevolution. I've been a fan of Roots Manuva since his 1999 release, Brand New Second Hand, and the reason I've been such a big fan is because he's not afraid to take chances with his music and his musical and lyrical ability has really grown because of that.

"Mascot And The Moth" is by Boom Bip. Bryan Charles Hollon is Boom Bip and "Mascot And The Moth" comes from his new album, Zig Zaj.

"It's Up There" is by The Field from their new album, Looping State Of Mind. Axel Willner is The Field and I was turned on to him by Amy Grill when we talked about her docoumentary, Speaking in Code. In Speaking in Code Amy followed the lives of several different musicians such as Monolake, Modeselektor and Axel. You can find that show here.

We also hear the Unkle Surrender Sounds Session #16 of Trentemøller's "Neverglade" from Trentemøller's Reworked/Remixed album. As always, Trentemøller's music is brooding and gorgeous.

"Dead Guitars" is by Seefeel from their self-titled album that was released last year on Warp Records.

From The Chemical Brothers' Further album we'll hear the tracks "Escape Velocity" and "Snow" featuring the dreamy vocals of Stephanie Dosen.

"Dictaphone's Lament" is by Tycho from his 2010 release, Past & Present and we're going to close today's show with "Disappear" by Phutureprimitive. "Disappear" comes from Phutureprimitive's Kinetik album and he was on the show just a few months ago to talk about his new album. You can hear more music from Phutureprimitive, Bluetech, Pitch Black and Ott on the June 26th, 2011 edition of solipsitic NATION here.

Join us again next week when we'll do it all over again, but completely different. See you then!

Photo Credit: ©__Danny

[tlr] makes his triumphant return on solipsistic NATION as NVR-NDR with a special live set and a handful of studio tracks from his Extreme Hyper Impact album!

[tlr], you may recall, was on the show this time last year with a mix of select tracks from the Magicore blog he runs with tooth_eye and Phil. That show was one of my favorite from solipsistic NATION in 2010 because it was so fun, imaginative and exhilirating. Magicore is a genre that exists solely in [tlr]'s head so I was thrilled when he alchemically transmuted his imagination into reality with the release of his Extreme Hyper Impact album. I admit it, I want to live in [tlr]'s world, anime exagerated eyes and speed lines and all. If you like what you hear then why not spend a few bucks on [tlr]'s album so we can all live in his world.

Some quick apologies before I go.

Today's show was actually supposed to go out two weeks ago. solipsistic NATION is a labor of love but sometimes the demands of day-to-day life intrude on the show. I've been so busy lately that it doesn't take much to derail working on solipsistic NATION and that's exactly what happened a few weeks back. My apologies go out to [tlr] and especially to you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that you listen to the show.

Come back again next week and we'll do it all over again. See you then!

So here's the pitch: 100 songs on one show.

This show has been brewing for, I don't know, the last three or four years. Since solipsistic NATION was first launched I've accumulated a huge library of music. To be honest, at this point it's a constant deluge and I'll never catch up with it. There's only so many hours in a day.

Anyway, not only do I have this huge library of music to choose from to put together each show I've also got a lot of tracks that clock in at a minute or less. At some point it seemed obvious that I should put together a mix of just those brief tracks. In fact, I've tried to do this show several times in the past but it never gelled. I almost gave up on the idea but last weekend I rolled up my sleeves and gave it another shot and what do you know, it finally came together!

It was still a Herculean task, though. As you might have noticed, last weekend's show didn't go out, so Cyclopean was this project. But after much sweat and blood I stand before you diminished, but I stand before you nonetheless with, one show with 100 songs.

What I like about today's show is that these tracks are more fragments of songs than a song proper. They suggest a song. And since there are so many tracks, I can explore a lot of different moods and ideas very quickly. So much so that the show seems more like an auditory hallucination that a mix. At least that's how it feels from over here in the solipsistic NATION studios.

Okay, I'm wrung out like a sponge. I'll see you next week when I'm back to full charge. See you then!

Photo Credit: ©J. Todd Olson

Today's show went out late.

By listener request I was planning to showcase the Moment Sound record label, but due to scheduling conflicts and a blackout that took half of the west coast, I was left in the lurch without a show. By happy coincidence, David Starfire was already putting together a mix for an upcoming edition of solipsistic NATION.

Presto! Instant show!

A little late, granted, but trust me, it will be so worth the wait. I've only just heard the first half of David's mix and it's pretty killer.

Bonus: having David on the show also gives me the excuse to play his cover of The Beatles' "Hey Jude" from David's Bollyhood Bass album.

I love a lot of music, and I love a lot of bands but if you asked me to pick just one, I had have to say that it's The Beatles. Hands down. And I suspect it's the same with David.

I've been a fan of David's music since his Bollyhood Bass album was released back in 2010. Feels weird saying that because I feel that some how I've always been listening to David. Some musicians are just that way, you know?

Come back next week. I've got a project I've been working on in the basement of the solipsistic NATION studios and it's a beast of a mix made up of 100 tracks, with each track being about a minute or less.

See you then!

Today's show goes out to all you Burners out there. I was hoping to make the pilgrimage to Burning Man this year but it wasn't meant to be, so, I'm there in spirit instead with a live set from Polyfuse recorded at Reggie's Rock Club in Chicago, July 6th, 2011.

I've only just met Justin and I know precious little about him, and his website is frustratingly vague, which is just the way Justin likes it. But we'll pull back the layers of mystery and get to know Justin a little bit.

Justin's latest album is called The Speed Of Forever and you can listen and purchase to songs from his latest album on Bandcamp for a mere $5 bucks for 12, count 'em, 12 tracks. Can't beat that!

Join us again next week. Normally I showcase a record label but that may not happen. But don't worry, I'll put together something to keep you entertained. I always do.

Since I don't have any guests on this week's show so I guess I'll take this opportunity to ramble.

Today my friend Sandi and I were out driving to go grab a bite to eat. While we were waiting at a stop light a SUV pulled up next to us and playing some bass thumpingly track. It's not the sort of thing I ordinarily enjoy but I liked it. I think I said those very words to Sandi.

"Who do you think it is?" she asked.

I pulled out my phone, flicked through a few screens and activated Shazam. Just as I stuck my phone out the window the SUV sped away. I think Shazam only heard three seconds of whatever the SUV was playing and within seconds I had my answer: it was Foz Tee's "Shakin' It for Daddy" featuring Nicki Minaj and Robin Thicke. I clicked the button to buy the track from iTunes and in a minute or two it was on my eager little phone.

Think about that for a moment.

I just stuck my hand out the window, heard a fragment of a song and a few minutes later we're listening to it on our car. And we take that sort of thing for granted. That's amazing! It's almost magical. I can't believe I live in a world where something like that is not only possible, but mundane.

That's all I got.

Come back and join us again next week when we'll have two, count 'em, two live sets by Polyfuse and NVR-NDR. Hopefully I'll have something more coherent to say by then.

Until then, enjoy today's show!

Photo Credit: ©Menachem Krinsky

Playing the best of all genres of electronic music means exploring new labels. Just last week, for example, we heard some wonderful stuff from Ember Music.

Playing the best of all genres of electronic music also means playing recordings of live performances and in the last few months we've heard concerts from Zion Train, Matta and Speak Onion.

Playing the best of all genres of electronic music also means exploring the history of electronic music, and the history of electronic music is remarkably dense when you consider just how brief that history is.

Quick sidebar: my net friend Jeremy Meyers turned me on to an excellent article by NPR's Michaelangelo Matos about how the major labels sold 'electronica' to America. It covers a lot of the same ground I've been exploring in the last few week's on the show as well as some excellent reportage of big beat acts like The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers.

My own history with electronic music probably began with Kraftwerk's Autobahn album back in 1974, but my relationship with electronic music really blossomed in the early 1990s with compilation albums like Waveform Records' AD series and Caroline and Astralwerks' Excursions in Ambience compilation albums and Beyond Records Ambient Dub compilation albums. Those albums really transformed what ambient and dub and electronic music could be and introduced me to a lot of other musicians and labels.

The last few months I've been exploring that period in the history of electronic music on solipsistic NATION and I've had the pleasure of talking with Forest from Waveform Records and Brian Long, who curated the Excursions in Ambience compilation series.

On today's show we're going to continue that exploration by talking with Kim Cascone about his From Here to Tranquility compilation album series from Silent Records and playing select tracks from those albums.

The From Here to Tranquility albums were particularly special to me because as much as I loved the AD and the Excursions albums, I didn't think they were very ambient. The Tranquility albums, on the other hand, may have had a few chillroom rave type of tracks, but the thrust of the series was primarily ambient, and the ambient music that the Tranquility albums seemed to favor had a weird, science fiction vibe to it, which was a lot different from the psychedelic earthiness of Brian Eno's On Land album that I was used to. Nevertheless, the Tranquility albums challenged and shattered my preconceptions of what ambient music could be.

Each Tranquility album was special and each album further expanded the horizons of ambient music.

The From Here to Tranquility compilation albums are just one phase in Silent Records own history, which in turn is just a brief chapter in Kim's life. Even so, those albums are magical and timeless and I'm really excited to share them with you, and if you've already heard them before, to re-introduce you to those albums.

We'll have Kim back in a few months to dig more into the history of Silent Records.

Oh, and before I go, if you liked Tylervision's "The Last Human", then you love his track " Purdy Deyenol."

See you next week!

One of the things that thrills me most about the label showcase on solipsistic NATION is that it gives me the opportunity to discover even more new music with a mix that is is lovingly handpicked by the labels founders. In today's case that would be Kurt Lorenz and Bill Bendrot of Ember Music.

Ember Music is an artist-run label and I think that's the other reason I'm excited in particular about today's show. Not only are there more and more labels releasing great electronic music but music labels are also quickly mutating and exploring just exactly what a label is supposed to be. Clearly, the monolithic major labels that ruled the industry for so many decades is a thing of the past. Oh, they're still there, lumbering about desperately trying to evolve to the new environment that the asteroid that is the internet has created. Now is the time for smaller, more nimble labels to flourish in their particular niche in the ecology of electronic music. In Ember Music's case it's distributing music through services like SoundCloud and Bandcamp on behalf of the artists on their roster and giving the talent the lion's share of the revenue. Refreshing, huh?

I mention that because Ember Music really is a wonderful label and if you enjoy any of the music you hear on today's show then I encourage to purchase just one track by one of the artists from today's mix. If you're feeling especially generous, buy a few songs. Maybe an entire album. Anything to support the artists and Ember Music. There are links below to all the artists who appeared on today's show. The rest is up to you.

Join us again next week for a very special conversation with Silent Records' Kim Cascone about his seminal compilation album series, From Here to Tranquility.

See you then!

Speak Onion is Dan Abatemarco and Dan was our guest on last year's show about music made with iPods, iPhones and iPads. Dan's back again with a live set recorded at the Charleston in Brooklyn for Immigrant Breast Nest's record release party.

Dan's music has elements of breakcore and drum and bass in it but what Dan is really about is unleashing gnarly chunks of noise at his audience. It's rare that a recording of a performance can capture that energy but today's show definitely does.

I want to keep you up to date on last week's Kickstarter San Diego stop sign flower yarn bomb project. I talked to Knitting Guy and he made his goal of raising $1,200.

If you donated some cash because of last week's interview, thanks for making San Diego even more beautiful than it already is. And if there's a worthy Kickstarter project that you think I should promote on the show, shoot me an email at solipsisticnation@gmail.com

I also want to take this opportunity to thank for you listening to the show. Solipsistic Nation has been getting literally thousands of new listeners every month. In fact, solipsistic NATION got over 42,000 downloads in July. I know some shows have listeners in the hundreds of thousands but 42,000 downloads is pretty amazing for my humble little show. So thanks!

It's very flattering that so many of you are enjoying the show and sharing it with your friends. I'll try and hold up my end of the bargain by putting out as many fun and interesting shows as I can.

Join us again for next week's label showcase with a special mix from Ember Music's Bill and Kurt, featuring select tracks from their label.

Today's show was originally going to have interviews with Amon Tobin and Dr. Toast about their new albums; an interview with the folks from the Norbergfestival, which is taking place in Sweden this weekend; and an interview with Geeta Dayal about her book about Brian Eno's album, Another Green World.

That would have been a great show, right?

But shows like that take a lot of time. I have to schedule the interviews, come up with some hopefully thought provoking questions, then record and edit the interviews, never mind producing the actual show. Add in a day job and suddenly flying to Indiana to say goodbye to my grandfather. I just didn't have that kind time to wrap up the month with a show like that. I promise to deliver that show to you next month, though.

So what have I got for in store for you on today's edition of solipsistic NATION? Glad you asked.

As of last night I had no idea what I was going to do for today's show and then I remembered a mix I had been putting together for Macedonia for his excellent Both Sides of the Surface podcast. Macedonia had invited me to be a guest DJ on his show about a year ago and I've slowly been pulling tracks I thought would perfectly fit right into his show while still conveying the spirit of my own show.

That was the plan, but since I had nothing for today's show, well, my back was against the wall. I'll come up with another set for Macedonia. Hopefully it wont take another six months.

Speaking of Macedonia, you really need to hear his latest podcast. Macedonia's show is always fantastic but he's really been batting them out of the park in 2011. There's a reason I've been listening to Both Sides of the Surface for the last five years. I urge you to give his show a listen and his latest podcast is an excellent place to start.

Lately there's been a huge uptick in the number of people listening to the show. If that happens to be you, thanks for tuning in. And thanks to all you long-time listeners, too.

Just in the last six months I've done features on the Excursions in Ambience and Waveform compilation albums, I've had live performances from everyone from Atari Teenage Riot to Zion Train and segments with everyone from Bluetech to Skinny Puppy's Ogre.

I can't help but think part of that is due to the number of people who listen to the show. If you'd like to help support the show then turn your friends on to solipsistic NATION if you think it's something they'll enjoy as much as you do.

Who knows where the show could go if there was even more of us!

And since there are so many of you listening to solipsistic NATION there's a Kickstarter project I want to you to consider funding.

You know Kickstarter, right? It's a website where people, mostly artists and designers, can try and crowd source funding for a project they want to produce. The most famous Kickstarter project to date has been a very stylish watch band for Apple's iPod Nano.

My buddy, Knitting Guy, has a far humbler but no less magical idea. He wants to transform stop signs in San Diego into flowers. Even if you only kick in a buck you'd be helping him out a lot. Go here for more information.

Join us again next week for a special live set from Speak Onion. I guarantee he'll melt your ear buds.

See you then!

Today's show is very special for me and I imagine it will be a very special show for a lot of people, because today we'll be talking with Brian Long and showcasing music from the Excursions in Ambience compilation album series.

Back in the early 1990s when I was first falling deeply in love with electronic music, Caroline Distribution released Excursions in Ambience, which captured my imagination and expanded my horizons of what electronic music, and ambient music, could be.

Excursions in Ambience turned out to be an incredibly successful album, and was quickly followed up with Excursions in Ambience: The Second Orbit, The Third Dimension and ended, sadly, with The Fourth Frontier.

Brian was the AR & Project Manager for Caroline Distribution back in the early 90s and was the man responsible for releasing the Excursions In Ambience series as well as being instrumental in the launch of Astralwerks. Astralwerks is owned by Virgin Records/EMI and distributed by Caroline Distribution in the US and continues to release amazing electronic music.

Brian currently runs Yes Know Management and represents artists such as The Juan McLean and VHS or Beta.

The Excursions in Ambience albums are no longer being pressed and are not available as digital downloads. You can still find used versions of those albums, however, and I've included links below where you can find them on Amazon for a fair price. You can always give sites like eBay a try. too.

If you enjoyed todays' show, and really, how could you not, then you'll probably dig last month's show featuring Waveform Records. I'm going to continue the theme next month with an interview with Silent Records' Kim Cascone and play select tracks from his From Here to Tranquility compilation albums.

A special thanks goes out to all of you who expressed their concern and sympathies for my grandfather's failing health. The last two weeks have been an emotional roller coaster for me and I'm grateful I was able to say goodbye to him. I'll see you again next week. I'm not sure what I've got in store for you. As you can imagine, my schedule has been a bit disrupted, but I'll think of something.

See you then!

Today's mind bendingly fantastic show is all thanks to you! Well, not you specifically, obviously, but those of you on Twitter and Facebook who suggested that I feature Katabatik Records on the next label showcase. I've been doing this show long enough to know that people like you who listen to this show have good taste in music so when you said give Katabatik Records a listen, well, I listened. And I loved what I heard!

That's really fortunate because over the years the format of this segment has evolved. In the beginning it was an excuse just to talk to labels that I already knew and loved. What's changed is that these days I'm more about exploring labels that I have not yet heard or that I am just getting acquainted with. Keep your suggestions coming.

Jynx is our guest on this week's show and he's prepared a mix featuring select tracks from his label for your enjoyment. Many of the tracks come from net releases that you can download by clicking the links below. Oh, and check out the Autonomous Mutant Festival (which, for some reason, I insist on calling the New Mutant Festival) taking place next weekend in Cascadia USA.

Those of you with a keen ear will note that Fluorescent Grey of Record Label Records and Exillon make an appearance on Jynx's mix. These artists and Record Label Records have all been guests on previous editions of solipsistic NATION and I encourage you download those shows if you like what you heard on today's solipsistic NATION. If you know someone else who also might dig what you hear, turn them on to the show!

Next month, also by popular demand, we'll showcase Moment Sound from Chicago.

I'll be taking next week off to visit my grand father, who is very, very ill but the following week I'll be back with a very special interview with Brian Long, who put together the seminal Excursions in Ambience compilation albums back in the 90s. See you then!

This week's show came together so quickly my head is still spinning!

Once a month on solipsistic NATION I feature a live performance from an electronic musician. I usually try to have a bank of live sets so I don't have to scramble at the last minute to get a show out. I say "usually" because lately I've been so very busy that my bank of live sets had dwindled away and today's show was fast approaching and I had absolutely nothing!

And then, out of the blue, I get an email from Dubmatix announcing Zion Train's forthcoming Dub Revolutionaries - The Very Best Of Zion Train album (check out Dubmatix's live set on solipsistic NATION while you're at it. I asked Dubmatix if he could put me in touch with Zion Train and within a day I was exchanging emails with Zion's Neil Perch. Neil agreed to come on the show and was kind enough to send me their live set from Poland. I only just got off the phone with Neil a few hours ago.

I'm excited about today's show for a couple reasons. First, it's Zion Train, for crying out loud!

Zion Train were part of the dub explosion that came out of the 90s. They've released over 10 albums and their Live As One album won Zion Train the 2007 Jamaican Reggae Grammy for Best Dub Recording. It's crazy that I've been listening to their music all these years and now I get to talk with one of the founding members and play one of their concerts on the show!

Another reason I'm excited about today's show is that I got to use Apogee's Duet 2 to record the voice overs for the first time!

solipsistic NATION has always been a D.I.Y. cheap tech operation. I'm quite proud of that, in fact. I think it's great we all have access to inexpensive technology that can be used for tools of creation. But I've reached a point where that aesthetic has stopped being a produce the best show I can with the tools at hand to a limitation. Yeah, my gear is okay, but for a reasonable investment I cam make solipsistic NATION sound so much better!

The Duet 2 is the first part of many stages that will take place behind the scenes in the next few months in the production of solipsistic NATION. I'm thrilled that I'll be able to significantly boost the quality of the show and I'm equally thrilled in all the ways I'll have to re-learn how I do my show.

Okay, enough of that.

Join us again next week when, by popular demand, we'll showcase Katabatik Records.

Today's edition of solipsistic NATION is epic but it fought me every step of the way in it's creation! Arranging and preparing for four interviews, waking up in the wee hours of the night to call Pitch Black's Michael Hodgson, endless hours of editing and mixing, two essential applications crashing constantly, etc. It is by sheer will alone that I was able to pipe today's show into your tender and wanting ears. And what a show it is!

I've spent the last couple years off and on trying to showcase Waveform Records and that show finally came together earlier this month. Quite by coincidence, Bluetech, Phutureprimitive and Pitch Black had all recently released new albums, and all of them had releases on Waveform Records. I'm new to Ott but he's somehow managed the trick of sounding at once utterly familiar and worn in but completely fresh and surprising at the same time.

Bluetech's album, Rainforest Reverberation is classic Bluetech and 100% of the proceeds from all music sales go to end deforestation, species loss, and cultural upheaval in the Amazon. For more information visit criticalbeats.org and amazonvoice.org to stay tuned for regular updates and future releases. Evan has released over 20 albums, and he's founded two really fantastic record labels, Native State and Somnia, where he's released even more great music. You can listen to more music from Evan and his two record labels by downloading shows number 77 and 102.

I've been a fan of Phutureprimitive since the release of his first album, Sub Conscious. Phutureprimitive is another artist that took a few years to get on the show but the stars aligned and a window opened up for Rain to talk about his new album, Kinetic, and it was well worth the wait. From the music, to the albums, title, to the album cover, Kinetic is meant to convey one thing: movement. So get your booty moving!

While I was putting today's show together I asked folks on Twitter and Facebook who they thought I should also include to round out the show and Pitch Black came up time and again and is an obvious choice if you give it a moment's thought. Another happy coincidence: Pitch Black have also released a new album and it's called Remixes & Rarities. Mitch was gracious enough to come on the show to talk about their new album and how much Pitch Black owes their sound to dub, so much so that it's their "lead instrument."

As I mentioned earlier, I'm new to Ott but I'm now a dedicated fan. I said that Ott's music also feels very familiar. Earlier in his career Ott worked with such luminaries as Brian Eno, The Orb, Youth, African Head Charge, Steve Hillage, and On-U-Sound and I can't help but think those experiences rubbed off on the young Ott. No wonder Ott's music feels instantly beloved.

A bit of news...

This has been a banner month for solipsistic NATION and Junes's not yet over!

As of today, solipsistic NATION has been downloaded over a whopping 33,000 times this month. That's a record but it gets better still. This month's live show featuring alka, merohedra, Alexei Borisov and 80(sun) has been downloaded over 11 thousand times! That's more than the other show that was the most downloaded edition of solipsistic NATION. That was Amon Tobin's live set and that show took over two years to break 10,000 downloads!

Listen, I work hard on the show because I love the music and I want to share it with as many people as I can. If you like what you hear, you can help the artists by spending a buck or two on one of their songs, maybe buy an entire album. You can help me out by telling your friends and your net friends on Twitter and Facebook about solipsistic NATION if you want to share the music with them too.

Finally, and sadly, I don't know if you've heard the news but Cheb I Sabbah has been diagnosed with Stage 4 stomach cancer and that his cancer is spreading to his liver and left lung. Without immediate and proper treatment, the prognosis given is very grim. Cheb does not have health insurance. As you can imagine, the cost to treat his cancer is going to be astronomically expensive. To make matters worse, due to his weakened condition, Cheb has had to cancel many shows, bringing his income stream to a complete halt.

But you can help.

Indiegogo is crowd sourcing to raise money to help pay for Cheb's medical expenses. Cheb is a sweetheart of a guy (just listen to my interview with him back in 2007) and if you've ever met the man or enjoy his music, I implore you to go to generously donate some of your money to help Cheb.

Join us again next week for a recording of a special live performance. I'm not sure who our guest will be but I'm hoping it will be Altus. He's long over due to be on this show. See you then!

Photo Credit: ©ViaMoi

I've got a great show for you today. Well, great if you like things that snap, crackle and hiss.

We'll hear a couple tracks off of the Clicks & Cuts 5.0 - Paradigm Shift compilation album. Clicks & Cuts was released by the newly relaunched Mille Plateaux label, and Clicks & Cuts caused a bit of stir in the electronic music community. Some feel the new owner, Marcus Gabler, is taking the label beyond it's roots, while others think that Clicks & Cuts is simply derivative. Me, I don't care. I think the album is pretty dope and I'm basing that solely on the music.

We'll also hear a couple tracks from Electroton with artists Weiss, Thorsten Soltau and Kabutogani. I don't know a lot about Electroton but so far everything I've heard from the label has been absolutely fantastic so I'll be keeping my eye on them, and so should you.

I got a really nice email earlier this week from Lyman, who listens to the show from the UK. Lyman likes the show and he also turned me on to some really great music ranging from flamenco to French horn and Javanese Gamelan music to some Renaissance music. You can find videos of the music Lyman introduced me below.

Last week's label showcase featuring Waveform Records got a lot of love. Macedonia from the always excellent Both Sides of the Surface podcast said that his wife still has her copy of the One A.D. compilation album along with releases from Higher Intelligence Agency and Sounds From The Ground.

Seven on Facebook told me that Waveform Records A.D. series helped him study while he was in med school and was excited to learn that he can now listen to more music from Waveform Records on the Musical Starstreams online radio show.

If you liked last week's show featuring Waveform Records, then you're really going to dig next week's show. We'll talk with Bluetech, Phutureprimitive, Ott and Pitch Black and hear tracks from their new albums.

See you then!

Photo Credit: ©nickphotos

On today's show we're going to hear select tracks from artists on Waveform Records. We'll also talk with Forest, who is the label's co-founder.

Today's show is kind of a big deal for me. Back in the early 90s there were a clutch of albums that came out at roughly the same time I was falling in love with electronic music. Beyond Records Ambient Dub , Astralwerks Excursions in Ambience and Waveform Records A.D. compilation albums were on heavy rotation on my show when I was spinning at WMFO. I still consider those albums essential listening and they introduced me to a wider world of electronic music beyond industrial and happy hardcore.

When I began solipsistic NATION I had a list of record labels I wanted to feature on the show and Waveform Records was always on the top of the list. It's a real treat for me, and I hope for you as well, to have Forest on today's show. Forest will flesh out the history of Waveform Records and it's origins in Forests radio show, Musical Starstreams and it's connections to Beyond Records. We'll also get a look at how online reviews can unfairly dog an album for years. And we've got some really, really great music to listen to!

Next month, by listener demand, we'll showcase Katabatik Records. Joins us again next week and we'll do it all over again. But completely different!

It's such a beautiful day here in San Diego that I decided to get out of the studio and record today's introduction with you from my roof deck. There's a light breeze and from where I'm standing I can see the Pacific Ocean. I wish you were here to see it with me. After living in Boston, San Diego feels like a slice of paradise.

Today's show is going to be a bit different. Instead of featuring one or two live performances and an interview, I present to you four, count 'em, four live sets for your enjoyment!

During the last year or so I've been accumulating some recordings of live performances that on clock in at around 15 or 20 minutes. I've just been waiting until I had enough of these shorter sets to combine them into one show. Obviously, we've reached that point so let me tell you what you'll hear on today's live extravaganza.

First up, we'll hear a live set from alka. I believe this set was recorded at the GATE in Philadelphia a year or two ago. Special thanks goes to Bryan Michael of Newt.org for providing me with alka's live set.

Next, we'll hear a live set from merohedra performing at Openmind stage back in 2010 at the Psycrowdelica Festival in Germany. merohedra is part of the Bak$hish Music collective and you can hear more music from the Bakshish Music on November 14th edition of solipsistic NATION.

From merohedra we'll move on to Alexei Borisov show at Yaroslavl way back in 2003. I don't know much about Alexei Borisov but I do know he's somehow affiliated with Marcos Fenrandes of Accretions and that's all the credentials I need (check out my interview with Marcos here).

We're going to close today's show with a live set from 80(sun). 80(sun) is the solo recording project of Jonathan Scherk. I'm not sure where this was recorded at except that it was recorded at a now closed art gallery to a room of dubstep punks. That's all I know.

Speaking of live, I want to thank Daysha out in Texas for turning me on to Calvertron, Figure, Turbo Teen, Aversion and DJ Monkey who performed at the World Beat Center last night here in San Diego. Daysha is not only super nice but she's also super talented and produces and promotes bass music.

Join us again next week when we'll showcase Waveform Records, who are one of my favorite labels that also happen to be based here in San Diego. See you then!

If you're going to this year's Mutek Festival in Montreal I'm envious. Sadly, I won't be going but I've decided to bring the Mutek Festival to me by having Mutek's founder, Alain Mongeau, chat with us about this year's festival.

Mutek is an annual five-day event in Montreal which kicks of this year June 1st.

Each year, more than 100 artists, panelists, and industry professionals participate in what has become a leading event of its kind in North America. MUTEK also hosts numerous international versions of its festival in locations often under-represented in such places like Mexico City, Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Colombia.

Today's show is a bit of a hodgepodge mix of acts I'd like to see at this year's Mutek Festival. Amon Tobin has been on solipsistic NATION a couple times and his live set is actually the fist edition of solipsistic NATION to break 10,000 downloads but I've never actually seen Amon rock a show. I finally saw Badawi on Meat Beat Manifesto's Autoimmune tour and if I was going to this year's Mutek Festival I'd definitely see Badawi again. I've also been a fan of Four Tet for years so I'd love to catch their show. And Plastikman? Are you kidding me? That guy's been a part of the electronic music scene for what seem like forever. He's an institution in the techno world. And that's just some of the acts I wish I could see at this years Mutek Festival, let alone all the other other artists that are completely new to me.

If you happen to be going to this year's Mutek Festival let me know what you though were this year's highlights.

Join us again next week for a special live extravaganza featuring 80(sun), Alka, Alexei Borisov and Merohedra.

Today on solipsistic NATION we're going to bring in the Rapture with a mix put together for us by Praketh, who is also the host of the blueOrb podcast.

Praketh has only released a handful of shows on blueOrb but when he does, well, they're just breath taking!

I first came across Praketh's blueOrb podcast back in 2006 when he released his Down The Rabbit Hole (Electronic Chillout Mix). I still remember the first time I listened to it.

It was an early morning in San Diego. I had just pulled an all-nighter and was walking down the street to get some coffee. I had Praketh's mix playing over my headphones and I was hearing things that I wasn't sure was part of his mix or sounds of my city. They blended together so seamlessly I couldn't tell one from the other. but they made that morning a magical experience.

And then there was the music, the beautiful music! With tracks from the likes of Tycho, Boards of Canada and Nalepa it's hard to go wrong, but in Praketh's hands he turned those songs into a narrative and an emotional journey.

I was so touched by Praketh's mix I asked him if I could feature it on the show, and you can find it here.

Last month, Praketh emailed me with a link to another mix he had put together and asked if I would consider playing it on the show. I said yes before I had even downloaded his mix.

Praketh is an Indian based electronic music DJ who also performs as buffaPirate.

As blueOrb he plays music that's emotional and rich in texture. As buffaPirate he spins bass heavy electronic music like Dubstep, drum and bass and Glitch-Hop.

In 2008 he moved from Bombay to New Delhi to work as the A&R/Label Manager for Audio Aashram and Programming Head for Radio79.com. As of 2011 he has focused more on his own music productions, which I am really looking forward to hearing more of.

Go to soundcloud.com/praketh to learn more about Praketh and hear more of his wonderful mixes.

Join us next week when we'll talk with Alain Mongeau, the founder the Mutek Festival taking place in Montreal next month.

Photo credit: ©goblinqueen

Once a month on solipsistic NATION I showcase a record label that is putting out such amazing releases that I am compelled to share them with you. I like to think of it as a form of public service.

On today's show we're going to hear select tracks from Herb Recordings. We'll also chat with Craig Murphy, the man behind Herb Recordings.

Herb Recordings is is an independent record label based in Scotland and while they're not an electronic record label per se, they release enough of it that I feel like I can claim them as one of our own.

I first took note of Herb Recordings when I would I listen to music from the likes of Skytree, Kingbastard and Shamanic Technology and I would think to myself, "this is great stuff!" And then I run off and quickly Google them and the trail always lead back to Herb Recordings.

Last December, Solipsism came on the show with his live set that was recorded at Nice n Sleazy in Glasgow. Craig Murphy is Solipsism and he's also the man behind Herb Recordings and I asked if he'd be interested coming on the show. He joins us today from his home in Glasgow to talk with us about his label and the release of Herb Recordings excellent compilation album, Verdant.

Next month we'll showcase Waveform Records. They put out all those great ambient dub and trance compilation albums we love so much and they also happen to be based in my backyard here in San Diego.

Join us again next week for a special mix from Praketh of the blueOrb podcast.

The first weekend of each and every month I feature a live performance with a quick interview with the artist. Recent shows have included concerts from Igorrr, :papercutz and Atari Teenage Riot.

On today's show we're going to listen to a live set from James and Andy of Matta. I think you're going to dig it. I've already played it enough times over my headphones that I think it's worn a permanent groove in my brain.

James and Andy have remixed everyone from Hecq to Haters and they recently released their album, Prototype, on everyone's favorite label, Ad Noiseam Records. Prototyope is definitely worth your money, but listen to today's show first before you run off to download it.

Join us again next week when we'll showcase the music of Herb Recordings!

I'm still astonished how quickly this week's show came together. And what a great show it is!

Hey, I'm like you. I've got a job, I've got a life. I'm a busy guy. But I've got a to-do list as long as my arm and every day I chip away at it. A quick email here, a phone call here, and slowly but surely things get done. But when I'm in this mode I don't often see the forest for the trees. Or is it the trees for the forest? I can never remember how that goes. Anyway, my point is that sometimes I'm so caught up in the minutea of producing a show that I lose sight of the big picture.

In the last couple of weeks I learned that Karsh Kale, Tim Sköld, Ogre and HoodooEngine had released or were about to release new albums. I dig them all so I do what I do sent out the emails and made the phone calls. There were other musicians, labels and festivals I wanted to feature on the show as well but they didn't happen due to availability and time constraints and before I knew it, this week's show had been distilled into a gem of greatness.

I discovered Karsh Kale right about the same time I discovered the Asian Massive (or Asian Underground) scene. Over the years I watched the careers of Karsh Kale, Asian Dub Foundation and others grow over the years and it's a wonder that I haven't had someone like Karsh on the show earlier. Karsh has released six albums and recorded and performed with everyone from Zakir Hussain to Yoko Ono. Karsh's latest album, Cinema, is his most ambitious album to date. It's big, bold and melodramatic, and Karsh's experience scoring films has had an impact on the scope of Cinema.

Tim Sköld was another surprise! Before I knew it, one night after work I found myself in front of a microphone talking to Tim about his long career, from his rock roots in bands like Kingpin and Shotgun Messiah and then later playing with the likes of KMFDM and Marilyn Manson. Tim also released a solo album back in 1996 and 15 years later he's followed it up with Anomie, due out May 10th. Tim was great to talk with and I found that he's as much an agent provocateur in person as he is in his music. I also had some great questions to ask him from folks like Jeremy and Royb0t from Twitter and Facebook.

Ogre's is set to release a second album with ohGr called unDeveloped that also due to be released May 10th. Ogre and Skinny Puppy have scored the post apocalyptic soundtrack to our lives for nearly 30 years. While Skinny Puppy was my introduction into industrial music, there's industrial music and then there's Skinny Puppy. They're in their own category and to call them industrial is kind of limiting. I was curious to see what directions Ogre would explore through ohGr and to be honest, I didn't like unDeveloped at first. As Ogre mentions during our chat, people rarely give music full attention because they're usually multitasking while they're listening to music. I was doing the same thing with unDeveloped but one night while I was going out for a run I listened to unDeveloped and without being aware of it I found myself lost in the album and now I think it's one of my favorite album of 2011.

Once I finally realized that Tim and Ogre were going to be guests on this week's show I knew I had to include Hoodoo Engine. I've wanted to play tracks from their EgoWhore album since it was released in 2010 but it was just one of those scheduling things. Hoodoo Engine would be perfect for today's show and to top it off, they're gearing up to release their new album, Murder the World, and it's more wretched and evil than EgoWhore, if such a thing is even possible. The core of Hoodoo Engine is Marz233, James Curcio and Johann Ess. Just to be above board, both James and I are on the Alterati Network, but I've known James long before Alterati when I interviewed him about his book, Join My Cult. While you anxiously wait for the release of Murder the World you can watch Clark, a gonzo mockumentary reality show art film surrounding the struggles of an independent artist in a capitalist world.

Oh, special thanks to tricil for providing the incidental music during my interviews with Tim and Hoodoo Engine. While I was putting together today's show I realized that I didn't have any instrumental music from either of them and went on Twitter and asked if anyone had some tracks I could use for music beds. tricil stepped responded in minutes and generously let me use his tracks "rcc3" and "conserve destroy." There are links to download those two tracks below.

Enjoy the show. I'm going to shut up and go outside and get some sunshine. But I'll still be listening to today's show on my earbuds. Joins us again next week for a live set from the lads from Matta. Or will they be our guest DJs? See you then!

Photo Credit: ©Aqua Libra

Whew, just barely got this week's show out and I owe it all to Potion Factory's Tangerine! software. Tangerine lets you easily create playlists by analyzing the beats per minute and the beat intensity of your music.

Between work and interviewing people for next weeks big show featuring the likes of Skinny Puppy's Ogre, Marilyn Manson's Tim Skold, Hoodoo Engine and Karsh Kale I just never had time to put together a mix for today's show. But I did have a card up my sleeve: Tangerine!

I told Tangerine! to randomly pull from a playlist I had created in iTunes of tracks that I had listened to and had given a three to five star rating. I also told Tangerine! to to choose songs that had both mid to high BPMs and beat intestity.

Tangerine! did a pretty good job. I was surprised by some of the tracks it selected, but overall I was pleased with the results. I just had to soften the edges here and there. While Tangerine! would never replace a DJ but it does a pretty damn good job. Tangerine! is $24.95 and runs only on Macs. Sorry, PC guys. Potion Factory isn't sponsoring this week's show, I just happen to like their product.

Before I get out of Dodge, I just have to say that I love my Apple Magic Mouse and wireless keyboard.

The keyboard may be a touch on the small side but it's a tight little device and really well designed. The keys have a matte finish feel to them, giving them a slight sand papery feel, which pleases. The keys also make a satisfying clacking sound when you type, enough to make you feel like you're accomplishing something, but not distracting.

It took me a few weeks to warm up to my wireless mouse but now I love it. What really helped was installing MagicPrefs, which cleared up the default settings lousy cursor tracking. MagicPrefs also gave me the options to customize my mouse clicks to perform specific functions. Very cool stuff.

Okay, I'm done geeking out on gear. Come back again next week's big show. See you then!

Photo Credit: ©gordonsl

Today's show is a soundtrack for an imaginary movie set in an imaginary city. Think Bladerunner's LA meets William Gibson's Sprawl meets Tron: Legacy.

Our first track is "Community" by PVT from their Church With No Magic album released by Warp Records. In my movie, PVT's "Community" would be the music that you'd hear at the beginning of the movie when all the production companies display their logos and "Community" sets the mood immediately for the rest of the movie. Big, solemn, and mysterious.

From "Community" we make our way to Neil Milton's "The Broken Lines" from the Brave New World compilation album released by the FeedbackLoop Label. The "Broken Lines" is our movies' introduction as intoned by our narrator. As our narrator speaks we dissolve to ocean waves in the night. The camera pulls back to reveal our sinister city and we segue into Kabutogani's track, "Ducts," from Kabutogani's Bektop album. The camera slowly begins to advance on the city, picking up speed until we glide over the shore and into the city streets.

I don't know what kind of movie this is but it's definitely got a noirish vibe to it with some scifi undertones, kind of like Dark City or The Matrix. I wonder what the big reveal will be? Will our heroes find that they are living in a digital illusion or that their city is actually a spaceship?

We've meet our protagonists and antagonists and the conflict and drama begins as Weiss' "Rezykla" weaves the plot elements together. Thorsten Soltau continues that theme with "Rezykla7."

What soundtrack would be complete without Brian Eno and from Eno's 2010 album, Small Craft On A Milk Sea, we'll hear "Complex Heaven." Come to think of it, this week's show probably wouldn't exist without Brian Eno's many scores for imaginary films.

From Undermathic we'll hear "Big City Nights" from their album, 10;10pm, out on Tympanik Audio. "Big City Nights" sounds like music that signifies that our movie is moving into it's second act and Undermathic is moving the story right along with it. The stakes are suddenly bigger and plot twists abound.

"Shrouding" is by Perfect Blind from their Three Spires album and this to me sounds like your chase scene or fight scene music, right?

This is all leading to the big showdown.

Let's be honest, the music is more to suggest the idea of a kind of movie than an actual plot or storyline. I'll leave that you screenwriters out there.

In act three we listening to Subheim's remix of SE's track, "Mimikry." Mmm, sounds introspective, pensive and full of regret. Our heroes must be doing a lot of soul searching right about now. Smoking cigarettes, walking through the rain, driving nowhere on their motorcycles through the city streets.

Before "Mimikry" we'll hear "Concerning The Bombs" by Starting Teeth featuring Larytta from the Let's Get Creaked compilation album. From Suicide Inside we'll hear "Kill The Guilt" from their album, Dead Red. That's definitely the smash cut to act three.

And how do we resolve out little movie? Well, we're going to close with the Oneohtrix Point Never Edit of King Felix's "Metal Confection." Kind of feels like resolution music where the big plot twist is revealed and with Phutureprimitive's new album, Kinetik, we roll credits with his track, "Disappear."

I hope you enjoy this week's soundtrack to an imaginary movie. Join us again next week and we'll do it all over again. But completely different!

Photo Credit: ©amras_de

Today on solipsistic NATION we'll showcase The Centrifuge, a UK-based electronic arts collective that runs a digital record label and organises events around Europe. The Centrifuge focuses on the expression of the experimental aesthetic in electronic music, with an emphasis on electronica, glitch, ambience and minimalism, acid, IDM and drill and bass.

When I relaunched solipsistic NATION as a podcast and later as a radio program I had a mental checklist of labels I wanted to feature on the show. In the last five years I've slowly checked off most the of those labels. There are still plenty of labels left on that list but I've decided to focus more and more on exploring the blossoming of new electronic music labels. Most of these labels are netlabels, which makes sense in this age of the internet. What curious, though, is how electronic music labels often lends itself to collectivism, and that's a theme we'll explore on today's show.

The Centrifuge as a collective entity has been around since 2007 and its main purpose was to put out releases by Eutechnik. The Centrifuge has grown very quickly during those last four years and has grown its roster of artists. They've been kind enough to send me links to downloads of the latest albums released on The Centrifuge and I've always been impressed with what I've heard. The Weather Channel's "Weather Channel 0" still gives me chills to this day (click here for a free download) and Roy of the Ravers still makes me want to dance. Just wonderful stuff!

Nearly all the music is available as a free download from The Centrifuge at thecentrifuge.co.uk, or, you can just click the links from the playlist below.

Next month on solipsistic NATION we'll showcase Herb Recordings. I have no idea what I'll be doing for next week's show but later this month I'll be interviewing Skinny Puppy's Ogre and KMFDM's Tim Skold. You can always follow me on Twitter at solipsistic to find out what else I've got planned for future shows.

See you next week!

I'm going to talk gear for a bit so please indulge me.

I relaunched solipsistic NATION in 2006 because I had just purchased a Mac Mini and it came with GarageBand pre-installed. GarageBand changed everything because suddenly I could create shows easily and quickly. It's safe to say that if I hadn't picked up my Mac Mini that solipsistic NATION would never have happened.

I loved my Mac Mini. It was a speedy little machine that got stuff done quietly. I often petted it and called it a good boy. I kid you not.

I didn't just use GarageBand to produce solipsistic NATION. I used software like Sound Studio to record IDs and voice overs and edit interviews for years. But over time I added more tools to my toolkit like Levelator, iTunes-LAME and SoundSoap. And after a hundred shows I had accumulated a lot of audio files. I hadn't noticed it but my Mac Mini was slowly growing old and decrepit.

In the last year I came to dread working on my machine because it was painfully slow. Just switching between applications could take anywhere form 30 to 60 seconds. Saving files took forever. It was psychically painful to even think about working on the show on my Mac Mini. The machine I was once called a "good boy" I now cursed.

Last month I had to put the old boy to pasture and I picked up a new Mac Mini from Apple. I don't think I can adequately convey how much of a joy it is to work on it. Actually, I can. It's exactly like when I first got my original Mac Mini. But on steroids. Now I'm eager to edit episodes of solipsistic NATION. It's like falling in love all over again.

Take today's show, for example. Our guest is Igorrr and we're going to listen to a recording of his concert in Stockholm from earlier last month.

A lot of music gets sent my way but there are certain labels that I will always make a point of listening to first. Once such label is Ad Noiseam.

Ad Noiseam consistently releases such mind blowing music on regular basis that not only have I showcased the label on solipsistic NATION but I go out of my way to listen to whatever music they are kind enough to send my way.

Last year Ad Noiseam sent me an album called Nostril by Igorrr. I didn't know what to expect but if it was released by Ad Noisem that was good enough for me. That said, I was completely surprised and utterly delighted by Igorrr's baroque infused breakcore.

I asked Igorrr if he had recorded any concerts that I might feature on solipsistic NATION and he was kind enough to send me his Stockholm show.

I'm really excited to present Igorrr's concert on today's show and I was equally excited to produce the show. My new Mac Mini works like a champ and I was able to effortlessly switch back and forth between apps and edit and save large audio files in record time. So much fun!

Thanks for letting me geek out about today's show and my new Mac Mini. I just had to get that out of my system.

Join us next week when we'll showcase music from The Centrifuge. See you then!

I'm listening to today's show while writing up today's show notes and I'm listening to today's show loud.

It recently occurred to me that I no longer listen to music the way I did when I was a kid. When I was a kid I had two modes of listening to music. One mode was to listen to music on headphones cranked to 10. At that volume I could hear every nuance of David Gilmore's guitar on The Wall, it became obvious just how much Yoko Ono appears on the White Album and hidden samples emerged out of Meat Beat Manifesto's albums. At that volume I was enveloped in the music of Yes and The Orb and transported to other realms. My other mode of listening to music was blast it out over speakers. It's a more visceral experience when you can feel the bass line throbbing in your loins and the snare drum kicking you between the eyes.

What those two modes have in common is making the experience of listening to music more vivid. Listening to music over headphones made me appreciate the richness of sound it lacked the physicality of music blaring through speakers. But both modes made the music more real.

I no longer listen to music at those levels for practical reasons. It'd be foolish to constantly bludgeon my eardrums with music piped through my little white ear buds. And it'd be rude to subject my neighbors to whatever I happen to be listening to. I certainly don't appreciate it when they blast their music.

But sometimes as an adult when you can indulge yourself now and then and turn the music up so loud the windowpanes rattle. And this is just the shot to listen to loudly because it rocks and it's groovy.

Lady Sovereign spits a medley of rhymes and Lady Saw makes an appearance on a track by Talen (and remixed by Stereotyp!). And you can't go wrong with Roots Manuva and it's great to play Santigold and Ms Dynamite on the show. If you're able, give yourself permission to crank today's show up on your headphones or speakers.

If you liked today's show, why keep it to yourself? Share it with a friend. Play it at a party. I'll make it worth your while because next week I've got special live set by Igorrr just for you.

Before I go, the winner of last month's Bassweight dubstep documentary directed by Suridh Hassan is @northsideindian. Expect the DVD to arrive on your doorstep in a few weeks!

Photo Credit: © Karen Reyniers

This month's showcase features a label that actually appeared on the Dubsonic edition of solipsistic NATION and that label is Iberian Records. That show also included music from Boka Records, Hot Flush Recordings, Immerse Records and a lot of other labels putting out fantastic dubstep EPs and LPs.

That show was just a snapshot of each label and I've been meaning to focus more in-depth on each label as we go along. On today's show we're going to hear 21 select tracks from Iberian Records.

I've come to love Iberian Records in the last few years because while their release may be few, each one is special and I've really enjoyed the horizons of bass and groove driven music they've been exploring.

Howie is one of the founders of Iberian Records and he returns to solipsistic NATION to talk about his label.

Join us again next week. Our guest will be my buddy, Headphone Jack!

Producing solipsistic NATION is a labor of love and it keeps me out of mischief but it does eat up a lot of time. Last week's show featuring Meat Beat Manifesto's Jack Dangers, Bassweight dubstep documentary director Suridh Hassan, DJ Umb of Generation Bass and [tlr] of NVR-NDR took 21 hours to put together.

When I was freelancing from home producing shows like that we're easier to do. I could carve out a few hours day here and there to work on upcoming shows. But for the last 6 months I've been working onsite on jobs that demand my complete attention. I come home from work with just about enough energy to exercise, cook myself some dinner, maybe watch a little TV then it's off to bed. I pretty much only have the weekends to work on these shows.

As a consequence sometimes these shows go out late. I'm sure most of you don't mind since podcasts are a time-shifted medium but I know it must bugs some of you. It certainly bugs me when my favorite shows are late. So... apologies.

As long as we're on this topic, I want to thank you for listening.

There are thousands of other podcasts you could listen to. At this very moment you could be listening to an album by your favorite band or watching a movie or playing a video game or reading a book.

I've always know this but lately I've come to appreciate tyou as a listener all the more. As I mentioned, my current job demands my complete attention so the amount of music and podcasts I listen to has dropped significantly. You could be doing a million other things besides listening to this show so it means a lot to me that you do.

I do everything in my power to make listening to solipsistic NATION entertaining and worth your time to listen to. To that end, today we'll talk with Bruno Miguel and hear :papercutz live set at Islington Metal Works recorded in 2010.

Bruno was on the show a few years back when he released his Ultravioleta EP. Since then he's released Ultravioleta Remixes, Lylac and Do Outro Lado Do Espelho - Lyalac Ambient Reworks and he joins us today from the UK.

Join us again next week when we'll showcase the music of Iberian Records.

Today's show was inspired by a piece by Banksy, courtesy of Art of the State. As you can see, we have what we can safely assume is a fairly well-to-do, middle-aged white male gazing thoughtfully of some graffiti that simply reads "BORING." Given Banksy's meteoric rise from obscurity to a cult following art world darling it's safe to assume that this is Banksy wry commentary on art, culture, media and fame.

Banksy's piece also reminds me of something Elvis Costello once said: "writing about music is like dancing for architecture." As the host of this show that comments makes me feel a little uncomfortable. While I may not be writing about music I am dangerously flirting with pomposity when I interview the guests who grace the show. There have been a few times one one of the people I am interviewing feels exasperated talking about their music. Sometimes it's almost ineffable. It's like asking them to write about music. Still, we're human. I want to ask the questions and if you listen to the show, well, you want the answers.

Got quite a show for you today!

First up is a chat with Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto about his new album, Answers Comes In Dreams. If you're a longtime listener of solipsistic NATION then you know I'm a huge fan of Meat Beat Manifesto. If you're a fan too then be sure to check out my interview with Jack and a live set from Meat Beat Manifesto.

Up next is an interview with Suridh Hassan, the director of Bassweight, a documentary that travels from the UK to Brazil and to Japan to explore just how huge and how quickly dubstep has taken over the world and features the likes of Benga, Kode 9 and Mary Anne Hobbs. Suridh was kind enough to give me one copy of Bassweight to give to a lucky winner. Tweet me or email me for your chance to win!

We'll continue with the dubstep theme and talk with DJ Umb of Generation Bass. Vincent Koreman is the founder of Generation Bass, which is a blog, a music label and a festival. I've asked DJ Umb to explain what the glue is that holds them all together as well as their wonderful compilation album, Generation Bass Presents Transnational Dubstep.

We'll wrap today's show up by catching up with [tlr] about his big show at The Terrace performing as NVR-NDR. Also at the show will be Ming & Ping, Kid Static, Kissing Tigers and DJ Bzzrrpp. If you can't make the show then listen to [tlr]'s Magicore mix he did with tooth_eye and Phil for solipsistic NATION a few months back. It's one of my favorite shows of 2010!

Okay, my shoulders are throbbing from working on this show all day and I can type another word. See you next week for a special live set from :papercutz. See you then!

Graffiti Credit: ©Banksy
Photo Credit: ©Art of the State