Onra Makes His U.S. Debut

French beatsmith Onra, hailing from Paris, made his stateside debut performing at The Grand Star Jazz Club in LA's own humble Chinatown. Seems like it was the perfect setting for the guy who made his album Chinoisere (which is French for "Chinese-ery") by fusing traditional Asian samples with modern beat bangin' sensibility. Some of LA's finest sound system rockers such as Kutmah, Ras G, SAMIYAM, and of course TheMotherFucking Gaslamp Killer turned up to dig Onra's first United States performance.

Before the future funk began, Computer Jay blew minds with a blast from the past by hooking up his Atari system and blasting the loudest and craziest "Not 8-bit... but 4-bit" tunes ever heard. I've been a huge fan ever since hearing Jay's collaboration with the Grey Kid on seminal classic compilation From LA With Love and was pretty pumped to see him perform at Low End Theory earlier this year. Complete with the witty on-stage banteur between Jay and his Computer, and jamming a bit on his insanely rigged synthesizer setup that I have yet to wrap my head around, Computer Jay remains one live show that I am ALWAYS stoked to see.

Onra came out next bringing the future of funk with two MPCs and two Kaossilators. It was a hypnotic and awesome set of downtempo, soulful and head-nodding soundscapes all tapped out and patterned with articulate precision. Never thought you'd be getting funky to Vietnamese mallets and flutes? Onra says think again. After the show, in the alley known for the monthly Firecracker street event, we witnessed our own CB (aka @chucksauce) hop into a casual cypher presided by Watts beat-heavyweight Mr. Dibiase with a boombox pumping his own simply amazing set of Michael Jackson Thriller album remixed beats. I have to try and track that -ish down...

Shamon, you guys, shamon

Click it and download the track.

YMO in Kirin Beer Ad

I was digging through some of the things I checked "favorite" on youtube and had forgotten about this Japanese beer commercial featuring '80s electronic synth pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), keep an eye out for that ridiculously gigantic Moog modular synth in the background:

The Online Keyboard Museum

I have been really busy lately. I have been really busy screwing around in the real world. I will post this item to distract you, the casual reader, for enough time so that I can recuperate and throw some more ideas down the old turnpike.

This online keyboard museum has all kinds of classic drum machines from the '70s and '80s, all simulated in glorious Macromedia Flash. I recommend trying the Boss DR-55 Drum Machine and the Electro-Harmonix Space Drum.



http://www.keyboardmuseum.com/d_machines/vdrums.html

Go... play.

Vestax Controller One Turntable

Return of the Ruckazoid! Check out this crazy turntable that was created by Vestax with design input from the Ruckazoid and D-Styles of famed Low End Theory residency. The magic secret that separates this deck from any other wheels of steel on the planet - it controls tones like a musical instrument. Using the buttons on the side or an accessory MIDI device, DJs (ahem, musicians) can scratch a record and control the pitch at the same time. Dig this bad-ass video demo:



As far as I can decipher, he's using the pitch shift buttons to change the tone on the center table spinning the main riff, while the table on the bottom playing the bass line is being controlled directly via MIDI keyboard. Looks like Controller One is able to adjust the motor speed of the table to instantly accomodate whatever note on the keyboard is played. Hot damn. There's certainly all kinds of crazy tricks to be pulled with this device, such as getting the record on the right screen to play backwards.

Check out the previous post on Ruckazoid for the link to his session on dublab where he explains a little bit more about the Controller One.

LISTEN to: The Depreciation Guild

Brooklyn based band The Depreciation Guild grabbed my attention on the Blip Fest 2007 DVD, which featured them rocking out their song "Butterfly Kisses" with an extra emphasis in the sound mix toward their song's 8-bit counterparts. An indie rock band that bases one-third of its sound around a hacked Nintendo Famicom? Sign me up...

The Depreciation Guild's sonic landscapes span vast virtual worlds with lush dreamy guitars and sweet melancholy vocals, all punctuated with the signature bleeping and blooping tones and crunchy drum effects unique to classic video game technology. The result is a transcendant shoegazing experience to get lost in for hours. The Famicom elements never distract or become a mere gimmick and the songwriting holds up in its own right.

Go check out their website where they have their album In Her Gentle Jaws available to download for donation or free. Gems like the epic searching of "Sky Ghosts", the frantic infatuation of "Butterfly Kisses" and the haunting nostalgia of "Nautilus" make this album and this band an unforgettable listening experience.

The Depreciation Guild
http://www.inhergentlejaws.com/

Ambient Youtube Video Project

This is really cool. Just click on a bunch of the videos at once and see what happens. Thanks to my buddy @chucksauce for linking me to this one.

http://www.inbflat.net/