Consumer's Guide to Useless Stuff You Need

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:46:00 +0000

Alright, so, if you know anything about me, you know that I love that "boom" in my drums. Most of my kicks can be described as 808-esque or derived, but, truthfully, I actually synthesize most of my drums, not culling them from the millions of online 808 sample collections that can be found out there (though some of them are actually some good shit).

And, no, sadly I don't own an actual Roland TR-808.

Well, what I've decided to do today is share with you two drums (no, not a whole mo'fuckin collection) that I myself have "engineered". Some may find them useful, some may not, but, hey, they're here for ya, so, stop pouting. Let me know what you think and if you do get to put them to use in a song, I'd love to hear it. Also, another great idea would be to layer the two and get that real "can't hear a single word your girl is saying" effect after. Hmmmm, kay??

Next up, more breaks...

P.S. - The significance of my using that picture is to drive home a point to all the mofos that love to post on production forums asking questions to which the answer could easily be found in that lovely manuscript known as the manual. As we would say in my Guitar Center days, 'RTFM', in other words "Read The Fuckin Manual". Shit, I remember one day a cat called GC and was trying to get me to teach him how to use some Akai machine (not the MPC series, or else I would have recalled what it was) OVER THE PHONE. Folks are hilarious...

Ten Tips For The Fledgling Producer

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:32:00 +0000

So, being that I'm somewhat frustrated with the lack of flight in regards to my musical career, I figured I'd give a list of ten things that you need to know upon disembarking on an "attempt" to make music your career, catered specifically to electronic music producers (and yes, folk, hip hop music is electronic music).

Here's part 1:

1. Don't NOBODY believe you're gonna make it with this "little" hobby of yours more than you. For example, as much as your girl loves you, somewhere inside of her, she really just wishes you'd give up this shit and go back to school like you've been saying for the past five years (odd thing is, as I listen to this, Saint Etienne's Lose That Girl is playing on Pandora on my Iphone, and they make a reference to dropping out of school; weird). Of course, that is, until you start making some shit that she feels is competitive with the stuff she listens to on the radio (that is, unless you're one of the lucky blokes to find a chick that's into the weird or hardcore shit that you be producing; and, if you are, hold that motherfucker in a headlock and don't let her out of your sight for a second).

2. Being a music producer is never an intriguing thing for folks you encounter until you can turn to them and say, "You know that song by so and so? Yeah, I did that." Until then, expect them not to give a fuck. Or say, "Oh, that's cool." So, by that end, don't waste your time getting their opinion on your output, for, to the casual music listener, shit don't sound good until it's either on MTV, the radio or played in the club.

3. Getting your music to the artist that you envision gracing it is doubly as hard today than it was before the advent of myspace, facebook, blogger, etc... Reason being, you're just 1 0f the 1,000 cats that try to get at said artist through that venue every month. And yes, your shit may be leagues better than their shit, but, after a month or two of sifting through shit, most artists are sending beat submissions either to their lackeys or straight to the trash.

4. Fuck a music production forum. And, that's not to say that there's not some valuable information to glean from these social communities, but, there' s also a lot of bitter people on there who, due to their own lack of success, have now chosen to deflate the balloon of anyone else hoping to float up into the ether of musical greatness. So, yeah, that cat telling you that your snare is too loud or that your music isn't Ed Banger-ish enough, or doesn't have enough Timbaland derivatives, trust, he's gonna be there doing the same shit 5 years from now, with nothing to show.

5. Use what you've got. One thing I've learned is, no one tool is better than the other. Some will have you believe that Fruity Loops is the devil, Reason is his cousin and anything other than a good ole MPC (and not just ANY MPC, has to be 2000XL or earlier; anything else is just sacrilege) is just nonsense. Hodge podge. People are making all kinds of wonderful music these days and there is NO way of telling what someone is actually using without sitting down and spending some time with them during the production process. And, when you factor in that a lot of cats just straight up LIE about what they actually use (so, ignore those cats on your favorite music forum telling you that Madlib only uses the SP303), you'd be terribly mistaken to trump one tool over another. So, the next time that cat on that production forum (see rule #4) says that a particular beat sounds like it was made on Fruity Loops, don't pay his ass no mind. There's no real way to listen to a track, and, by listening to the sequencing of the track, tell what piece of software or equipment it was created on. The one thing someone CAN recognize is stock sounds, but, with the internet being what it is, Fruity Loops stock sounds are being used in Reason and samples from almost any sound module you can think about are floating out there somewhere, so, let's get off that bullshit, please?

The Drum Beater

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:05:00 +0000

So, we're back to the breaks. This time around, I've got a break that's in 5/4 time that's pretty hot. There is a little piece of the track at the end, just so that the break could loop right, but, it should be nothing for you aficionados to discard of that and put the rest of the break to use.

I DO have another break that I'm just about to post over at my twitter page, and, trust, if you think this break is ill, then that one will knock your socks off. For that one, I actually posted two versions of the break, one with all the reverb of the original track and another showing how Recycle can be used to decrease the amount of reverb that is present in most drum breaks.

Get over there and see what I mean.

P.S.

Both of the files include a wav file for those not fond of Recycle or who are just holding out on this great piece of software.

Also, I wanted to post links for two "free" VST's that support rex files so that, even if you don't own recycle, you can still get your groove on. There are plenty of "commercial" plugs that support rex files, but, in this time of recession, I'll focus on the freebies.

Ilio Satellite

Shortcircuit

Satellite is both Windoze and Mac while Shortcircuit is only Windoze. These were two that I found with a quick search of the KVR Database, so, you may be able to find some more if you're willing to look.

Pass in comments, as usual.

So, I'm back....

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:26:00 +0000

Well, I'm back. Thanks to all that have raped the drum breaks but never bothered to leave a comment. I guess that's to be expected with the anonymity that the internet allows. Anyway, just stopping by to let you guys know that I started an online mixtape over at 8Tracks. I guess they're doing things a little different than Muxtape, so, they should be straight for a while.

But, anyway, here's my mix. The pic that you see is of the ferry dock on the east side of St. Thomas, which is my home. I love it and will be there soon enough. Either way, other than that, new breaks up this week, so, stay tuned. Maybe even as early as tomorrow. And I'll be posting at least two, so, get ready. As always, they will be rex'd and ready to go for Reason, MPC, Battery, etc... digestion.

Well, it's 3:47 on the dial right now and I have to be at work in like the next 4 hours, so take that for now and let it marinate.

I'll leave ya'll with a question: Why is it almost impossible to find a woman that's into music as much as you are? It's like, I meet women all the time and, being the musicophiliac that I am, that's the first thing that I tend to talk about. But, they tend to just "brush" it off. I don't know about other folks, but, when someone tells me that they have a strong passion for ANYTHING, I want to learn more about what that is, even if it's something that I've never had an interest in before or even after that conversation.

Maybe that's what makes me different.

But, let me know, ya'll.

So, here's a little about me and shit I been feeling recently.

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:23:00 +0000

So, first off, I'm an MPC nut, like, something crazy. Currently own a MPC 2KXL, but, had a chance to really put in some work on a 1000 from Summer 0f '07 to March of '08. That JJ OS makes that thing a beast. It's a cot damn shame that Akai is pussyfooting it on the development of their own OS. At this point, it kind of seems to me that they're happy that someone else is doing their work. But, let those cats from JJ OS truly get enterprising and decided to release a software version of the OS. Suddenly, cease and desist orders will flood their inboxes.. Way of the world, eh?

Anyway, as you can tell from the music that suddenly comes blaring through your headphones or speakers whenever you enter my page, I'm an aspiring producer. A little history behind some of the beats, you say? Why not...

Dillishis was kind of my tribute to Dilla without really aping his style. I kind of just poured my emotions into that one and that's what came out. That man truly changed my life since the first time I heard one of his productions, which was on the Pharcyde's "Runnin", followed shortly thereafter by Tribe's 1nce Again. Been hooked ever since.

Be Tough was me just trying to utilize this sample that I had sitting around for the longest (probably since like 2005). My original intent was to make this really 808 heavy, down south type of beat but with the ill vocal sample throughout. Needless to say, it didn't come out that way. But, maybe one day I will decide to "remix" it and get more closer to my original vision. I guess you could say that beat is the closest thing I have up that's "hip-hop".

I started as strictly hip hop but then this "electrocrunk" (the name I created for my type of music) just started coming out whenever I touched the keys. I'm trying really hard to get back into hip hop but it's kind of hard to get "reacquainted" with the sparseness that hip hop music entails. Not that I'm knocking it or anything, cause it still is the largest portion of my listening diet, but, it's just difficult. I want to add a synth here and some strings there EVERYTIME. ARRRGGHHHHH.

Funny story: I posted a link to some of my tracks over at the Crate Kings forum, and , what was the first thing most of the cats replied: "Why don't you make some hip hop; What's up with this electro stuff?; Where's the filtered samples?" You know, the prototypical closed-minded hip hop listener response. Dudes really need to raise up off that shit. I don't know when was the last time they saw Jel or El-P top the charts or go gold, but, they seem to think that stuff is God's gift to hip hop. And, don't get me wrong, I love that stuff. I listen to it way more than I do stuff like Akon or Souljaboy, but, that type of hip hop is very limited in the ears it will touch.

Electrocrunk is just some other shit. I knew this chick who was on this French comp and she let me hold the cd for a bit. I came across the ill sample and decide to freak it a bit. Since the beat had some much going on in it already (melodically), I decide to just append drums. Came out pretty ill, I think.

"Can't I Dream??" is that other OTHER shit. I kinda wanted to make something really impromptu, in the vein of Madlib's Beat Konducta stuff (which, for the most part, I don't really like, but, I digress...). Also, it was kind of powered with my frustration of not being where I want to be right now, as far as my musical aspirations. I just sort of feel that I'm making some pretty good shit and all these other hipster cats be getting all the praise on the internet for their off-kilter, Flylo and J. Dilla derivative beats. But, my lack of exposure is to a large degree my fault, so, I'll be working on correcting that soon.

Trancey was kind of my response record to Usher's Love In This Club. I REALLY liked that record and kind of wanted to challenge myself to create something similar but BETTER. And I think the BETTER part was affirmed for me when I found out that Polow (a cat that I still respect heavily) used two Garage Band loops to create that one. In the end, I can't knock that man because he got paid off of his lackadaisical effort and I'm still grinding. By the way, mine is totally original, inside and out.

I Need It was something I just wanted to knock out to create an R&B track for a boy of mine that sings. It is wholly original also. I kinda wanted to get that "Strawberry Fields" kind of thing going on with the flute in that song. Hopefully I came somewhat close. As you can tell, I still need to get a little work done with my bridges. I kind of "don't" know where to go, but I think I'll start maybe jumping to the relative minor of the scale used for the main portions or the 3 or 5th of said scale. If ya'll have any suggestions, holler.

New Wheels was just another ill ass sample that I came upon and just kept adding stuff until that which you hear came out. My boy claims it's my illest beat thus far. Don't know about that, cause, if you heard the shit I got coming??!! WHOOOOOO!!!

Lastly, is Neptuney. I guess, kind of my homage to the Neptunes and their exemplary discography. I think a lot of dudes tend to knock them, but, they are some of the most idiosyncratic yet successful producers known to the urban music genre. I'm like, who else can take cheap synth and string sounds, stock keyboard drums and percussion and come up with some shit that has serious replay value? While most electro bands continue with their self-masturbatory idealization of vintage gear and the records they love to emulate that were concocted from those pieces, these dudes were using whatever was at their disposal, including such frowned upon gear as the Korg Triton and Korg 01w. And, I say, WHY NOT. Fuck everyone that tells you need a specific piece of musical equipment in order to legitimize your art. FUCK THAT. Make good music and leave those bedroom producers in the same room of their house that they woke up in.

Now, in conclusion, I'd like to hip ya'll to this joint that got me going crazy for the past few days. It's a song by Brandy called "A Capella (Something's Missing)". I did an entire post over at OKP discussing this same track, so I won't take up any more space or time on my blog retreading the already trodden. I'll just let you peep and be the judge.

Just to let ya'll know, I think I might do an "official" release of my first beat tape, which will include the songs you hear on the left with maybe 1 or 2 additions. Let me know if ya'll interested in that.

Until then.... If you'd like to talk production techniques, exchange drums, talk about production styles, let me know.

P.S. If any of you guys can "correctly" identify any of the samples in any of my tracks, I'll hit you with a free drum break for you and you only.

Peace.

Heating That Ass Up Better Than The Hibachi

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 11:30:00 +0000

Well, here I am again. Been on a little Sabbatical and haven't really had much time to put up that niceness for ya'll. Here's some shit I came upon while trying to block out the noise that is so prevalent on my job. But, I'll tell you this little known fact: This is not the break that I originally wanted to lace ya'll with. I actually forgot the track that I had found that break on, so, just for ya'll, I'm going to have to go back and listen to all the albums I have ripped on my Sansa clip to see if I can find it. If I do, we good to go.

Anyway, no passes, no bullshit this time around. Just heat. And, oh yeah, that track in my now playing sig? That's a little bit of the same. Be sure to check out the man Kenny Fresh to find out what that's really all about.

Also, the .aiff file is in there this time for those who need all that extra fluff.

----------------
Now playing: Hawthorne Headhunters - She Wanna (feat. JimiJames & Coultrain)
via FoxyTunes

Feels Like Another One...

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:30:00 +0000

Just so that ya'll can't say that I've left ya'll hanging. Here's another one. Gotta find that link though. Pass will be in the comments shortly. Also, wanted to let ya'll know that I've got a pretty interesting post going at Okayplayer where I'm trying to devise a Record Industry Rulebook. Check it out, ya'll might be able to glean something from it.

Also, I got a new track in the Reverbnation player to the left. It's called "Can't I Dream??". Feedback would be great.

And then she turned around and give the bassist the rest!!

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:55:00 +0000

Aight, so I'm back. I got a pretty good response for the last break and I'm gonna try to keep this going as long as I can. Let's remember ya'll, the more feedback, the more breaks. Simple arithmetic. You know how to add and subtract, right?

She's Ready To Give The Drummer Some

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:47:00 +0000

And, just like that, I FINALLY begin my drum breaks posts. Okay, so I'm loading the breaks up as REX 2 files for those of us using Recycle. For those of us not using Recycle? Well, you're shit out of luck. Now, these are freebies, but here are some rules. By no circumstances is anyone to ask me why I don't upload them in .wav or any other file format. I won't. Secondly, for the next break to be added, I must get at least 10 comments. No comments, no more breaks. And, lastly, don't ask for the name of the artist or song or album from which the break came. Another thing that won't happen. Now, remember, this is from the goodness of my heart and one silly bastard can wreck it for the rest of ya'll, so, please conduct yourselves properly. Also, if I'm seeing like 100 downloads with like no comments, link is dead on arrival. Would be a shame though, because most of the breaks that I'm uploading have probably never been used before or they're at least pretty rare.

And, here is the first in the series.

Let's see how this works out.

P.S. I had to change the file up. I rar'd it up and added a password. I saw that knuckleheads couldn't simply just leave a comment. So, new policy, 10 comments and then the pass is given. Maybe ya'll can work with that.

Damn, it's like someone could give ya'll the gift of life and ya'll still wouldn't praise him or give him thanks.

EDIT: Pass is in comments. A brother's allowed to have a change of heart, right?

Sample Snitchin' Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 07:16:00 +0000

Doesn't the picture say it all. Anyway, here are the tracks.

First, the original:

boomp3.com

You should know what that is (in instrumental form for those who lack):

boomp3.com

Now, if you listen to the last 15-20 seconds of the first original I posted, you should notice a run that sounds very familiar. Well, that run was combined with this other piece found later in the song:

boomp3.com

To create this gem:

boomp3.com

Had enough yet? If not, drop some comments so I can continue down this rosy path.

Here's something that I was blessed with...

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:11:00 +0000

Just wanted to make a quick update. I got this gem from the good man El Reza. It's from a pretty great band from out of Japan called Soil and Pimp Sessions. It's their new single and you might be interested.

I plan to continue my Dilla Sample Snitchin' series and I also want to start this new thing of posting REX'd drum breaks that I find while listening to the crates, so, if you're a producer, stay tuned.

peace.

Here it is... Sample Snitchin' Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:02:00 +0000

The first installation of Sample Snitchin' with, as you can tell from the picture above, a Dilla Delicacy from Welcome 2 Detroit.

Let me start off by giving you the original (true Dilla fans will know the track crafted from the piece as soon as they hear it):

boomp3.com

Nice little fusion piece leaning more towards the free jazz area. Would love to give you guys the artist and track name, but I'm not trying to invite postmortem lawsuits on the Yancey household. The portion used is actually from around the 0:19 point.

Now, here's the track he molded from a small snippet within the original:

boomp3.com

Tell me that the final track isn't just pure genius. Dilla definitely did a great job of erecting a very strong sound garden around the sample, adding a very deep and sparse bassline along his signature off-kilter drums.

I know that some may say that sample based music is not "music", but, after listening to what equates to pure genius here, how can you deny such music's place?

In my opinion, a great sample job is when you hear the original and you go, "I would have never thought of sampling that shit, and, even if I did, it sure wasn't going to come out sounding nothing like that."

That is the case here today, ladies and gentleman.

I will continue to series based on the feedback I get on this post. I have another track where Dilla made two beats just from the 20 second intro of this one song.

But, if you don't comment, you may never hear it, so... You know what to do. Until then, peace.

And, here I stand with my gun in my hand...

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 04:17:00 +0000

So, I just wanted to let ya'll know that I'm still here. I got like no comments on my last post, bu t that's cool. I've never been part of the in-crowd, nahmean? Also, the fact that I only get to update the blog like every 2 weeks doesn't help too much either, does it?

Anyway, I'll probably get a post with actual content up tomorrow. I am planning to begin a series called "Sample Snitchin'". Now, don't get me wrong, I won't actually be exposing the original artists or song titles of the songs the samples were pilfered from (I'm not trying to make life any harder to sampling producers out there), but I will be providing the track used (with no ID3 tags for you sneaky bastards out there) and the song it was used within. I also might only provide a snippet of the original track. It's all up in the air.

Well, just as a heads up, the first producer to be exposed will be none other than the late, great J. Dilla. And, TRUST ME, I'm going to be providing you with some ish that you have not heard on any of the million plus sample mixes that have sprouted up out of the nebula since his passing.

So, that's it. Stay tuned and TRUST ME, the samples will be some ish you haven't heard.

Lastly, I wanted to plug my myspace page: Harmonix Analogue

I should be adding a new beat to the page sometime this weekend, so be sure to hit it up.

Anyway, until tomorrow, peace.

Back To Shed Some Light

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:51:00 +0000

Okay, so this time around, I'm going to shed some light on of my favorite producers: Roddy Rod.

I don't know much about him other than he's a member of and producer for the group Maspyke. He's also a member of the Low Budget Crew along with Oddisee, Kev Brown and Kenn Starr.

Here are two discographies of his work, one from Discogs and one from Prodby.

If you guys haven't heard of Prodby, please be sure to utilize it from here on out. Great place for finding out who produced what. You can even submit changes, corrections or new submissions. I hope they don't pull a CDDB and then go private using all of the submissions we ardent music listeners have provided.

Anyway, here's the Roddy Rod album I will be providing you guys with, Oakwood Grain:

Here's a sample to whet the tastebuds:

boomp3.com

Great album.

Enjoy.

A Little Something From The Underground

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 04:19:00 +0000

Here's something that most of you guys may not have heard. Buff1 hails from Detroit and the group Athletic Mic League.

He's pretty adept with the lyrics but the true star of this album are the Lab Techs.

They produced about 16 of the 18 tracks on the album and the styles scattered amongst the productions are so varied you would be led to think that the album was the average hip-hop hodge podge release. Wrong!!! Wrong!!!

So, enough already. Listen up!

And enjoy one of the better underground releases that saw the light of day last year. I'll will probably post a couple of the tracks within this post sometime tomorrow for those who don't trust my tastes as of yet. Until then....

Back In The House, Once Again

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:14:00 +0000

So, I decided that after more than a year and half, maybe I should give this blog thing a go once again. I'm not really sure of what direction I should go with it though. I don't want to make it just your average "album" blog, because there are so many blogs that are already taking care of that arena immaculately, it makes no sense for me to join the fray. Either way, there are two things I love, good beats and great songwriting. So, the blog may just be a mixture of those two.

Moving on, here is an album that was requested from Basso from over at the wonderful The Growing Bin. Peep the site if you haven't already been.

Other than that, I'll be back soon enough with a decision made on where I want to go with this blog and I'll be moving forward full speed.

Here's the Zero 7 - The Garden release as promised.

Also, for those with too much time on their hands, head on over to my Myspace page and tell me what you think of the tunes. peace.

It's Been A Long Time...

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Sun, 30 Jul 2006 14:05:00 +0000

I shouldn't have left you, without some dope beats to get def too. Yeah, yeah, I know it's corny, but hey, isn't life? Anyway, been a way for a while trying to get myself right. For all the MPC users out there, after struggling for a while with getting sounds to the MPC 2000XL from my Mac (actually had a chance to cop an external zip 750MB drive one time, but passed only to check for it later only to find that some scrub had lifted it), I finally utilized the MIDI Sample Dump feature. Basically, what this allows you to do is send data via MIDI to your MPC. It's pretty slow (no where even near USB 1.1 speeds) and it splits stereo channels into two files, which you then have to setup for simultaneous play back (using your pad settings) and pan each file hard to one side. But, this method is much easier than what I did before, which was:

1. Edit files on Mac using DSP Quattro, Audacity and Recycle.
2. Place files on flash drive
3. Transport to PC
4. Load on to PC and transfer to zip disk
5. Load zip disk into MPC
6. Pray that everything sounds fine.
7. If not, start the whole process over again
8. Get frustrated
9. Fuck it, I'm going to sleep
10. Start whole process over again tomorrow

Well, for all my OSX users, DSP Quattro is a mo' fuckin' godsend I tell ya. It's about the only program on OSX that allows MIDI Sample Dump. Also, it's a great audio editor. I've found that it's recording quality smashes that of Bias Peak, which would give me mad distortion whenever I recorded anything from vinyl. Fuck 'em and they expensive piece of basura (thought I was gonna say shit, didn't ya?). Anyway, enough tech talk (don't want to confuse those not into that).

So, I went to see Lady In the Water, the new M. Night Shyamalan film. I thought it was pretty decent. The plot was kind of convoluted, but not in a good way. More like, hard to believe, although I have come to kind of expect that from him. I really think he would make a much better author then he would a director/screenwriter. Folks were walking out like crazy at this showing. My thing is, if you know Shyamalan's filmography, you should know what to expect. No shoot 'em up, no thuggery. Just some quasi sci-fi mess that he tries to reign in at the end.

Other than that, your boy skateboard P released a mish mash collection of music this week entitled "In My Mind". Let me put it to you this way: stick to tracks 2-8 and throw in #14 just for good measure every now and again. And, is it just me, but does the version of the track "Number One" (featuring Kanye) on the album sound much different than the video version? Can someone confirm this?

Well, that's a lot of stuff for a new post eh? But, that's not it, I've also got a full album download for ya:

Zero 7's The Garden

Nice litte number from these guys. Much better than their last one, When It Falls, which wasn't to bad either. Both pale in comparison to their first, Simple Things, but who's keeping track?

Anyway,from here on out I will be posting a full album with every post. If not an album, an EP, if not an EP, a podcast, if not a podcast, a recording of one of my favorite online shows (quite possibly Gilles P.). Anyway, here you go. And please, PLEASE POST A MOFUCKIN' COMMENT IF YOU'RE GOING TO LEECH MY JOINT. And all the good shit you see in my LastFm charts? Don't bother asking for none of that, because I don't worked too hard to collect that stuff to just up and give it away. Be happy with what you get. Piece.

Zero 7 - The Garden

P.S.  My little radio station will now be running from 11 a.m. to around 8:30 p.m. every day.  I might even put it on before I go to sleep (just for the night owls).  But, until further notice, that's the schedule.

As promised, byatches!!

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 01:23:00 +0000

That's right. I got it done. My radio station is LIVE!!! Here's the link: http://65.34.155.79:8000/listen.m3u

Just copy that into you favorite streaming player and you're good to go. Only 8 slots, so jump on the gravy train quick or lose your seat.

Right now I have a varied mix of music genres, so everyone should be satisfied.

Also, here's the Lo Mein track that I promised. Don't say I don't keep my promises.

Oh, and for that pic. That's a seagull that was chilling on Magen's Bay in St. Thomas. Secretly, he wishes you were there.

Off.

Waiting for the green light of your demise...

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 16:02:00 +0000

Well, I've been hitting the bricks pretty hard for ya'll over the past few nights, trying to get

Nicecast to work. It says that it's broadcasting but I've been unable to connect to the stream from other computers. I'm hoping I'll have it figured out by this weekend.

This past weekend I was in a wedding for a friend of mine and took a lot of nice pictures using my Fuji Finepix S5200. I was feeling like Gordon Parks-ish and ish (if you figure that vernacular out, you need to stop hanging with them fools on the block; they ain't gone get you no where but in trouble). It was a beheading to remember.

But then, my girlfriend went ahead and played the Delilah (sp?) to my Sampson and deleted every last one "by mistake". Would have loved to have let ya'll see some of the pics. But, no need to fear, there will be more to follow. I got some nice ones from Saint Thomas, when I was there 2 weekends ago (I travel regular, very regular).

On an aside, there's this 400 pound gorilla working at my job who goes by the name of Reuben. The man's like a little kid. Everytime you tell him something he doesn't like, he runs to his boss to "tell" (a boss who's waiting for him to mess up bad enough so that he can get rid of him). To add to that, the man got sunburnt this weekend and came in looking like a buttered lobster on Monday. And, he's limping still from getting an ingrown nail removed. Do I need to tell you that he's a character? Well, I'm going to sneek a nice pic of him for your delight and mines.

Lastly, later on tonight I'll be posting a song called "Lo Mein" from Georgia Anne Muldrow's captivating EP Worthnothings. Don't be a herb, peep her page on the Stones Throw website. If you can figure out the metaphor she's employing in the song, please enlighten. Until then, smoke 'em if you get 'em.

And, dead last: WILL YOU UNGRATEFUL MOFOS POST SOME COMMENTS?!!!

Peace.

So, um.. I'm back?

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 23:06:00 +0000

So, I don't need to tell you that it's been quite a long time since I've posted here. But, I'm working on my posting discipline and will now "try" to post at least once a week. I got a lot of stuff I'm "trying" (notice the emphasis) to line up that may benefit all those who read this shit:

1. Get a Shoutcast channel going for all those who may be interested in my latest listens. This I'm really looking forward to because, believe me, my collection is immense.
2. Maybe post some new tracks that I'm working on.
3. I'm also "trying" to get my photography steez on, so I will definitely be posting pics (since they come more easier than beats).

There was more, but like Kat Williams said:

I only let you mofos know about 1/3 of the stuff I do. That way, you can only hate on that 1/3.

Peace.

Sorry ya'll...

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 22:32:00 +0000

Got caught up on some stuff.

But anyway, I told ya'll that I would have a funny story, so here goes:

About during the Fall of 2004, there used to be these two cats who used to walk up and down South Beach trying to "sell" their demo (later found out that it was only really one song and the instrumental). I respected it, because, everyone has their hustle. So, one day, my co-worker comes in and tells me that he ran into these same two cats. Now, apparently, one of the guys had his girlfriend out there soliciting customers (no, not in that way). So, she runs up on my co-worker, claiming: "Yeah, please buy my boyfriend's cd because he's trying to retire. He's trying to give up the rap game."

Now, Jay-Z was able to pull of the whole retirement steez with a decent amount of aplomb (many before have failed to accomplish that much: Too Short, Master P). But, how could you be retiring from the rap game before you even have a cd out? Is the game that hectic. What, are the A&R's that are not pursuing you too much to handle? The groupies a dime a dozen? The yes men making it difficult for you to accomplish anything of merit?

I mean, come on. Needless to say, like, the next week, those guys were no longer around. Guess they must have found a lil spot in Boca Raton to seclude to. I wish them social security dreams and pension wishes.

I swear, the human race (or, more accurately, the younger generation [X,Y, Z or whatever we're called these days] is doomed.

Now, for a listen to someone who was once doomed but has found some rays in the unlikely place of a new label home, here's Cage:

Shoot Frank

Off of his new album, Hell's Winter:

All I can say for the track is that it's pretty (in that Cage dark, psychotic type of way).

Enjoy (and post a comment if you do).

Peace.

Sophmore Slump..

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Fri, 30 Sep 2005 13:45:00 +0000

Okay, so Dwele dropped the bomb on Some Kinda...

Here's the only track worth salvaging:

Old Lovas

Now, I won't tell you not to buy this album.  But, if you do, don't expect too much.

Anyway, I'll be back a little later with a humorous story that I gathered during my days working on South Beach.

Stay tuned.

Here's the meat of it...

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 15:29:00 +0000

I got this new novel by Zadie Smith called On Beauty last night.

She's like damn near my favorite author, since she's like 1 of 2 who I've read more than one novel from; the other being Chuck Palahniuk (of Fight Club fame), who writes some pretty weird stuff but it fits me some reason (other than Fight Club, check out Lullaby or Survivor; remember, WEIRD).

But Zadie's stuff is just so sardonic that I can't help but indulge.

Anyway, I'll be enthused with that for about the next 10 mins. (ADD, you see) and my new Stereolab 3 cd collection called Oscillons from the Anti-Sun.

I love their stuff and own most of it. Still have a couple holes to fill though. Anyway, this box set collects most of their miscellaneous b-sides, singles, etc...

So, my first treat of the day is a track from that collection:

Ping Pong unreleased LP version

If you like this ish, please go cop the box set. It's reasonably cheap (22.99 on both bestbuy.com and amazon.com) and it includes a DVD.

Enough of that though. Enjoy this ish, await my next treat (Dwele) and make sure you check the links on the right. Pretty cool sites. And, I will be getting rid of the Google News link soon enough. I also want to get one of my friends to help me with the site design, so, keep your eyes out.

On.e

Here's my gift to all who make the mistake of stumbling upon this blog...

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 21:14:00 +0000

Robin Thicke - Wanna Love You Girl

New signee to the Star Trak Music imprint.

Had to quasi-remaster the track from the wma file they have over at the Star Trak website. Highs might be a little harsh though, so be careful.

If you haven't checked out his first album, Cherry Blue Skies (and it's reincarnation as A Beautiful World), please do.

Peep and let me know.

Also, here's gripe #1 (of many more to follow):

Why is Blogger's free photo upload program only available for Windows?

Huh?

The BS begins...

noreply@blogger.com (Harmonix) — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 19:40:00 +0000

And who better to start it than me.

Anyway, I guess this is my outlet to release some of the pent up funds that I have, so... What better way to spend it than on some useless ish?

If I can be more committed to this than I am to many other things in my life, I will post everyday.

If I don't, then that's just my fear of commitment speaking. Don't be alarmed.

For those interested in what this domain master looks like, here I am, entrenched in thought.

Harmonix hard at work

I'll be back later with a treat for those that have as much time on their hands as myself.