Black Sweater, White Cat

Scomber - Electric Lady Supastar

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Wed, 8 Feb 2017 13:40:00 -0500

Barabeke, Electric Lady (2006)

Well, here we are. It's been over a year since the last post. Nothing for 2016, nada.

It's a new year and here we go...no promises.

Fitting to start with something from ccMixter. Scomber has posted a lovely little "robo" love song. We love robot love here at BSWC. This number fits right in with quirky lyrics by Scomber mixed with a sweet acoustic jazz guitar track by Clarence Simpson.

It's February. It's Love (of a sort).

It's the ccMixter Key of Love - Valentines Day Remix Event. Tis' the season of love and ccMixter has you covered.

We just heard of some good news from Subsystem 7 and were inspired. Felicitations to Subsystem.

Scomber - Electric Lady Supastar

Viktor Van River - OCD

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 13:03:00 -0500

Back from a little break and just in time for some Fall chill from our new favorite netlabel, Dusted
Wax Kingdom.

The name of the release is Damaged and the artist is Viktor Van River hailing from Kazakistan.

We hear things are on the move and we want to move to the groove.

Viktor Van River - OCD

Jovem Palerosi - Deuses Mutados (feat. Independência ou Marte)

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Fri, 8 May 2015 13:55:00 -0400

Today we feature a fine release from our friends at Bump Foot.

The release is called Mouseen and was released last August.

Jovern Palerosi found some wonderful Brazilian artists to sample and these seven tracks are the result.

One of the tracks features Chico Correa who has a fantastic release on Bump Foot and has been featured on these pages before.

Jovem Palerosi - Deuses Mutados (feat. Independência ou Marte)

Billano - Ninas Fresas

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Thu, 7 May 2015 17:52:00 -0400

Man, we love strawberries.

Today we dip into a pretty cool hip-hop scene in Mexico City. We have posted music by LFA and Billano and Luis René in the past and decided to visit Billano's Soundcloud page and stream some tunes.

Billano is a dj who loves the solo format, as well as performing with a band. He is from southern Mexico City.

Today's track is from a release called Poetics of Sunset that was put together with LFA in the producer's chair.

This track stood out and here it is.

Billano - Ninas Fresas

Ricky Eat Acid - A Smoothie Robot For My Moon Mansion

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Wed, 6 May 2015 18:28:00 -0400

In honor of Creative Common's 10th anniversary a few years ago the netlabel Bad Panda put together a playlist that we discovered on CC-Europe's Soundcloud page.

Some really nice stuff on this list, but we were immediately attracted by "Robot" and "Moon Mansion". BSWC has always had a thing for Space, Sex and Robots.

Great track by Ricky Eat Acid and while we type this their Soundcloud stream is playing on behind us. Worth checking out. There is a bunch of material at Bandcamp, as well.

He has a note about his motivation on multiple channels:

lately i've been really into music that sounds like it's reaching upwards to God and falling short, over & over

Always reaching, higher and higher.

Ricky Eat Acid - A Smoothie Robot For My Moon Mansion

Frenic - Money Ain't No Women

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Wed, 6 May 2015 14:59:00 -0400

Today's track is from a blocSonic netBloc release called Antididonai. This was #39 in the series. It was released in November 2012.

netBloc #39 has a great collection of tracks from a broad spectrum of artists (one of whom was featured in yesterday's post).

Bristol artist and producer Frenic describes his music on his Facebook page:

Frenic's music production reflects his D.J influences and a love of old retro sounds creating deep emotional music."Essentially Im a hip-hop D.J but I don't just play Hip-Hop Records". His tunes touch on hip-hop, breaks, DnB, dubstep, funk, soul, rock and anything that bounces!.

If you are exploring the universe of Creative Commons music then you can't do much better than to immerse yourself in this amazing series of releases. We are regularly impressed and surprised by what we find there.

Frenic - Money Ain't No Women

Professor Kliq - Wire & Flashing Lights

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Tue, 5 May 2015 12:04:00 -0400

Back on February 18 we posted a track by the good professor for the first time. Time to circle back 'cause this is pretty awesome.

This is the title track off the release which you can find on Professor Kliq's Soundcloud page.

Professor Kliq is Mike Else from Chicago. He has been producing music since 1999 and places all of his original work in the Creative Commons.

We owe a tip of the hat to Laika who contributed this as part of a Top Ten List to our friends at Starfrosch. It's a great list.

If you are looking for a good aggregator of CC music you should definitely dip your toes in the warm Swiss waters of Starfrosch.

Professor Kliq - Wire & Flashing Lights

Miranda Shvangiradze - Ready for the Trip

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Mon, 4 May 2015 12:10:00 -0400

Things are bubbling right along here at BSWC. No dust gathering beneath our feet.

Featured in this post is a lovely 2012 VKRS release called Talk to Me. Miranda Shvangiradze is originally from Georgia but is currently living in the U.S. This is a collection of instrumental piano tracks with a nice dollop of electronics.

She has a Soundcloud page that features her more current work along with some ringtones and the like.

The liner notes for the release provide a list of her influences:

Her music is influenced by Mozart, Chopin, Georgian folk and many contemporary artists like Imogen Heap, Roykssopp, Coldplay, and Katie Melua.

Feel the bubbles.

Miranda Shvangiradze - Ready for the Trip

Lonah - Fly Me

noreply@blogger.com (subsystem7) — Mon, 4 May 2015 11:55:00 -0400

We've been looking back at playlists of old to check in with some artists we followed back in 2005 and 2006. Many are nowhere to be found, remembered only by the tracks they left on archive.org or on netlabels that have gone extinct. But many are still active, or somewhere in between. Lonah, from Paris France, looks to be somewhere in between.

Today we present you with Fly Me, the third track from Lonah's second release on Jamendo, Au fond du temps [estrella sin cara]. It is the digital version of an album that was a collaboration with BinaryMind. You can see some of the wonderful artwork on the Jamendo page.

Enjoy!

Lonah - Fly Me

Hasenchat - Everybody

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Sun, 3 May 2015 16:00:00 -0400

Artist, social media, netlabel...we are not quite sure how to describe Hasenchat, but we found this track on Jamendo.com and wanted to share.

Hasenchat has a bunch of tracks on the ever wonderful Jamendo, however there isn't a lot of information. We followed the link to the Hasenchat.net site and found this bit of description:

In 1997 we Started in Germany in the Local Area of ” Hassberge ” Bavaria. The Coat of Arms of this Area is a Rabbit ( Hase is the German Name for Rabbit, Hasen are more than one Rabbit ) So Hasen for the Coat of Arms and Chat for the Chat System. The HasenChat at the Time of 1997 to 2014 was a Free Chat System like Facebook or Google Plus.

We still have questions, but we do love rabbits.

Hasenchat - Everybody

Gurdonark - I cannot play my Mother's Marimba

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Sat, 2 May 2015 15:09:00 -0400

Our old friend, Gurdonark has a new release out called Constellation Blackbird from the netlabel, we are all ghosts.

WAAG describes his sound as "weirdbient". That works. We have enjoyed the Gurdonark sound for almost of decade now. His music appears both in BSWC the show and here in the feed.

WAAG has a nice way with words:

“Constellation Blackbird” continues the musical journey Gurdonark first started with WAAG back in late 2012 with “Open Spaces”. This isn’t easy listening: it has dissonant frequencies, naive sounds and glitchy melodies that may not be instantly accessible. However I, for one, enjoy his particular style of minimalist expressionism … I look on it aural ginger that cleanses the palate from a meal of ambient sushi.

Clear your palate.

Gurdonark - I cannot play my Mother's Marimba

Eric Jackson - It's Time

noreply@blogger.com (subsystem7) — Sat, 2 May 2015 12:42:00 -0400

Another day, another post. I've always been a fan of the album as a composition, and Rainy Days by Erik Jackson is just that.

American producer and sound maestro Erik Jackson; shares his incredible album "Rainy Days" with the Dusted Wax Kingdom's audience. The release is a unique fusion of light melancholic drum & bass, romantic acid jazz and relaxing downtempo.

This release is also more evidence that the Bulgarian netlabel Dusted Wax Kingdom is a Creative Commons label with few rivals in terms of breadth and quality.

"It's Time" is the second track, which I start with, only because the first track is a 28 second intro. It begins with a lone trumpet and some digital snapping... when the bass and drums come in, everything is fleshed out and you'll be sucked in. If you're reading this, you might as well listen to the whole album!

From Erik:

"Rainy Days" was a project I have been working on for over a year. After my last album "The Road Less Traveled", I wanted to push further into jazz, and dig even deeper into my soul. The album weaves in and out of acoustic drum & bass or (jazz & bass), to Traditional jazz songs. I am very happy with the outcome. The albums theme is; a cold and rainy night, an old turntable and the progression of the evening at home, alone or with someone special. That's what was in my mind when It was created. I will let your imagination create the rest. I guarantee this is something you have never heard before.

Find Erik here, lots more to listen to, and hey, buy some albums.

Eric Jackson - It's Time

Nullsleep - depeche mode gameboy megamix! (Oops! 4/30/15)

noreply@blogger.com (subsystem7) — Fri, 1 May 2015 13:37:00 -0400

And for our first oops... a fantastically pure 8bit composition by nullsleep from the collective 8bitpeoples. Lots of great stuff here!

"Equally suited for use when dancing in front of the mirror alone in your bedroom or rocking the crowd to the ground at your next mega dance party!"

Subsystem7 likes!

Nullsleep - depeche mode gameboy megamix!

Shin Wada - Scene #1 "Do You Know What The Scariest Thing Is?"

noreply@blogger.com (subsystem7) — Fri, 1 May 2015 10:46:00 -0400

Bump Foot has always been an interesting place to dig, quite a number of picks from past posts and shows have been from either the Bump or the Foot side of this Japanese net label formed as far as I can tell, in 2005. Bump focuses on techno and house while foot does everything else. Collectively, this netlabel boasts a 441 releases to date!

This pick is from the release A Fictional Movie Soundtrack [foot240] by Shin Wada from late February. It is beautiful classical ambient, each track transitioning beautifully into the next. Apart from Bump Foot, Shin Wada (hailing from Japan) has a soundcloud page and numerous other web locations (bandcamp, etc) primarily highlighting this release. Shin Wada seems fairly new on the scene - certainly a welcome addition!!

Since the whole release is a single composition, I am posting the first track... make sure to download the rest for a journey we are all lucky to have for free.

Oh, and as for getting things back on track with one-a-day (yup, Biotic and Subsystem7 have fallen a bit behind... call it Spring fever here in New England) we'll be catching up with any missed days under the "oops" tag.

Have yourself a sonicful day.

Shin Wada - Scene #1 "Do You Know What The Scariest Thing Is?"

Beth Quist - Monsters

noreply@blogger.com (subsystem7) — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 18:25:00 -0400

Sometimes it pays to look back through our Black Sweater White Cat playlists, when we hosted a two or three hour Creative Commons only show on WBCR-LP in Great Barrington Massachusetts. One of these look-backs brought me to Beth Quist, who is credited as the reason that Magnatune was started.

"It was Beth Quist who inspired me to create Magnatune...
John Buckman - Magnatune

You can read more on her Magnatune bio page, and you can listen to her music and buy any of her four albums. Beth was Magnatune's best seller for three years. This is not a huge surprise, her voice is pretty damn amazing.

In BSWC history, we played a number of her songs in 2005 and 2006. This song, Monsters, was not on any of those playlists, so it makes its debut today, 12 years after being released. It is the third track on her album Silver.

I hope you enjoy!

Beth Quist - Monsters

Boogie Belgique - Stairway To The USSR

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 15:22:00 -0400

After our belated discovery of the aural excellence of Boogie Belgique earlier this year we have been digesting their back catalog. This is some really great stuff.

Today's track comes from a July 2012 Dusted Wax Kingdom release called Blueberry Hill. Amazing from first note to the last.

Boogie Belgique is based in Ghent. Here is a little more on the release from the liner notes:

From top to bottom "Blueberry Hill" is filled up with electro swing moods, funky hip-hop rhythms and tasty jazzy samples.

Dive in and lose yourself...

Boogie Belgique - Stairway To The USSR

April - Age of the Moon

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 16:12:00 -0400

The netlabel Evoke Records goes back to 1995 with it's roots as an art label with physical releases distributed mostly at art galleries. Later it morphed into a digital netlabel.

They recently re-released their catalog to mark their 10th anniversary.

Evoke artist, April had a great collection called Age of the Moon. We are pleased to present the title track. In fact, we are especially pleased because it fits in with the space part of our Space and Sex preoccupation.

April - Age of the Moon

Sp. Ace - Caravan (feat. Faerytale)

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 07:00:00 -0400

When in doubt go with the Dusted Wax Kingdom catalog. Wow. There is some great stuff therein.

Remarkably, I have absolutely nothing on the artist Sp. Ace except they are from Latvia. It's a great release called Caravan of Lightbulbs. It is about a year old, released on April 14, 2014.

Enjoy.

Sp. Ace - Caravan (feat. Faerytale)

Nambavan - Devushka Naprotiv (Po Glazam)

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 13:04:00 -0400

Here is an older, perhaps wiser version of Nambavan. He has appeared on the BSWC radio program here, here, here, here, and here. He also has a track in the One-a-Day feed that was posted February 20, 2007. Ok, we really like the guy.

This tune is from a WM Recordings release from May 20, 2011 called Modnay Discoteka.

Nambavan is Linar Bilalov. He is originally from Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan (also known as the "Third Capital of Russia").

We found his origin story on his website:

...a bright young man with a passion for Rodchenko, Bauhaus and '70s gay disco, thrust into a vortex of small-town degradation. He christened himself Nambavan (a corruption of Number One) and recorded a couple of albums' worth of aggressive minimal techno with crass, no-holds-barred lyrics. "Chechnya on the Dancefloor," "So Many Men, So Little Time," "I Passed Your Girlfriend Around," "Babu Po Ebalu!!!" were all shock value and no hidden message. The music, however, was quite remarkable for something recorded on a home computer with a cheap guitar and a karaoke mike. His ear-scarring barrage of raw hate and stories of abuse spread over the Web like fire through a city dump. A gig in Berlin and a dozen good reviews later, Linar decided that simply singing from the dark corners of a thug's skull was not enough.

We are glad to get reacquainted.

Nambavan - Devushka Naprotiv (Po Glazam)

Loveshadow - This LifeBoat (Let's Change)

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 10:58:00 -0400

We decided to take a loop through ccMixter.org to see what's up. Smooth dance rhythm with a message anyone?

Loveshadow and Snowflake sound like they have been working together in a studio for years. No, Snowflake provides the 'pella and Loveshadow lays the tracks down.

If you have been around this blog over the years you will know that we love our ccMixter.

If you haven't, then get on over and experience the outrageously huge collection of Creative Commons mixing that have happening over there the past 10 or so years. If you are looking for the definitive search tool for the site there is dig.ccmixter.org. Take it for a spin.

Loveshadow - This LifeBoat (Let's Change)

Parapunte - You are dreaming

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Sun, 19 Apr 2015 10:28:00 -0400

We are going to stay with Japanese netlabel Tanukineiri Records and are pleased to present their latest release, Primitive by Parapunte. This release hit the streets on Friday.

Dreamy Indie J-pop (yep, biotic tried to describe something).

Tanukineiri Records is based in Nagoya, Japan and as well as being a respectable netlabel also has a business in Japanese tableware.

Google doesn't do a particularly good job translating Japanese, but here is some text:

Osaka resident, by singer-songwriter Terry SusumuAkira and Akutsu Masumi
1st mini album of indie pop duo "Parupunte" "primitive".　 Artwork, cartoonist, PV director, VJ et al., "Nagao Kenichiro" has been active in multi Parupunte was incorporating elements such as shoegazer, of 80s idle culture, psychedelic rock sound is characterized by unit.Worked warm sense of sound image of reverb, incorporating the technique of hip-hop dance music, to realize the infatuation likely to repeat phrases. Interprets the sweet pop song drifting Nosutariji of the contemporary, it is up to create a unique sound. Cults, but catchy pop song drifting nostalgia of such Best Coasts has emerged as a form of one of indie rock, rather than one that is simply imitation its music, unique to Japan Nosutariji "Techno Kayo", "folk rock" and " 80's subculture "incorporating I have evolved as a" new music ".

Enjoy some new music.

Parapunte - You are dreaming

Super Magic Hats - This Last Week

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Sat, 18 Apr 2015 16:37:00 -0400

We were very happy to discover today's artist. Super Magic Hats is a Melbourne-based musician, beatmaker and producer. This Last Week appears on a collection called Slowly that was released February 28 by the Japanese netlabel Tanukineiri.

They have a wonderful catalog with some intriguing compilations. You can get full release downloads from their website and they also post to both Bandcamp and Soundcloud.

How to describe Super Magic Hats' music? I'll rely on the artist:

Half-heard/half-imagined vocals sit alongside vintage drum machines, soaring analogue synth lines mix with surf guitar, crisp production punches through recordings of rainy walks through the park.

Enjoy This Last Week.

Super Magic Hats - This Last Week

Puyo Puyo - Grave Groove

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 12:51:00 -0400

Getting wild...the weekend is nigh...

Thanks to our friends at Netwaves for posting their tribute to Da ! Heard It Records, a netlabel that has catalog going back to 2006.

This track comes from a 2009 release called Disco. Puyo Puyo began his musical career as a New Wave drummer and from there began producing his own sounds and touring the continent and Mexico performing a reportedly wild stage show.

The liner notes describe the sound:

This album is a delicious witches brew of German new-wave, Psychopolka, Turbopop and that little Puyesque je-ne-sais-quoi, iodiosyncratic dissonant melodies, glitch and kitsch licks.

It is not Saturday, yet...

Puyo Puyo - Grave Groove

Ancient Lasers - Building Peace Through Better Weapons

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 10:13:00 -0400

Here is an awesome track from a 2013 release from the Russian netlabel, Clinical Archives. The release is called You in the Future.

Ancient Lasers hail from lovely Whatcom County in the northwest corner of Washington State.

[Full Disclosure: A radio program by the name of Black Sweater, White Cat first aired on radio station KUGS-FM in the county seat of Bellingham, WA during the 80's...mostly soul, R&B, Afropop and early hip hop.]

Ancient Lasers is a project of Daniel Finfer. Inspired by the writings of Ray Kurzweil, he describes his approach:

...While his lyrics may sound like they are a stereotypical exploration of love, romance, and youthful bravado, they are actually “a conversation between my future and present selves, I’m sort of talking back and forth through time.”

We're guessing you will want to listen in to the conversation.

Ancient Lasers - Building Peace Through Better Weapons

Möbius - Daft Funk

noreply@blogger.com (Biotic) — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 11:31:00 -0400

This track comes from a Various Artists compilation released on the Foot side of the wonderful netlabel, Bumpfoot. The release is called Footprints 2 and hit the streets on April 21, 2012.

Möbius is from Germany and first began to develop musical chops during his gaming sessions using an Amiga 500 in his childhood.

He describes his music on his Facebook page:

My music can be described as a mixture of Amiga MOD-music, pop, chillout, some breaks, hard basses and a lot of atmosphere.

The netlabel Bumpfoot has been on the scene for many years now and features both "bump" releases and "foot" releases. Both categories have many excellent releases. Footprints 2 is a good starting point to explore the Bumpfoot universe.

Möbius - Daft Funk