SubVersion Stop 48: Fushara - Protective Instinct (December 2009)

I was introduced to Fushara by Plainaudio's "Rising" EP, whereby "Symbol Of State" stuck out. Slowing the tempo, he's very kindy offered the 15 Minutes Of Fame mix series "Protective Instinct". A righteous 145bpm venture through bass, Krome & Time piano motifs, piston-precision atmospherics and plentifully multicoloured breakbeats, he's subsequently showcasing some tracks from his forthcoming album on Make:Shift. It's, by this example, a welcomely noble addition to their already high standard catalogue.

TRACKLISTING

01. Fushara - Breakbeat Sign
02. Fushara - Digitalism (Make:Shift-from forthcoming album Tales from A Concrete City)
03. Fushara - Sharpy
04. Fushara - Rate Control
05. Fushara - Element
06. Fushara - Distorted Thinking
07. Fushara - 3am London Borough (Make:Shift-from forthcoming album Tales from A Concrete City)
08. Fushara District 10
09. Fushara Urban Decay part 1 and 2

Mixed in Serato Scratch.

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SubVersion Stop 47: Muttley - Life Support (December 2009)

"Life Support" is the third and final set of 2009 that's dedicated to the people of Bridewell Gardens. As an alternative to sending out Christmas cards, giving each of my friends there a specially made CD seemed the best option. I will be handing "Life Support" out tomorrow at the Christmas meal. Not contrary to the goodwill, it's a free event put on by the Bridewell staffers.

"Comets" by Piano Magic carries the underlying message of this excursion: "you should always tell them, you love them, in case you never see them again". I also aspired to showcase Rameses III and Greg Haines, two artists I will be working with towards spring 2010.

TRACKLISTING

01. Rameses III - All Shall Be Well (from I Could Not Love You More)
02. Global Communication - 4-14 (from 76-14)
03. SpeaK - Drowning Peacefully (from Once Nomadic)
04. Peter James - Flight Of Tears (from Holding On - Letting Go)
05. David Tagg - Magic Interval (from the split with Obfusc)
06. Drowning The Virgin Silence - Beneath The Sulfur Sky (from Beneath The Sulfur Sky)
07. Greg Haines - Arups Gate (from Slumber Tides)
08. Mogwai - Friend Of The Night (from Mr.Beast)
09. Piano Magic - Comets (from The Troubled Sleep Of Piano Magic)

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SubVersion Stop 46: Muttley - I Shall Not Drown (December 2009)

  Photo: Natasha Khan

A body that lives a long time, accumulates debris. It cannot be avoided. Partly inspired by Dave @ Low Light Mixes with his "A Solitary Sea", I chose tracks based on circumnavigating the drowning condition - whether it be your sorrows, tears, or loneliness.

Unlike "Weathering" and "Gravitation To Resolution", I wasn't rooted by track names. Bat For Lashes' "Sleep Alone" is the sole track with national radio play. I saw them live in October and was staggered by the quality of their second album, particularly Natasha Khan's haunting voice. "Sleep Alone" is based on the relationship I lost, and if I will start all over again - which I surely will, in 2010.

Conjoining tenacity for creation with artists receiving scant attention, "I Shall Not Drown" is the second Muttley set built in Acoustica Audio Mixer, which I can see myself using ever greater as the years roll on.

TRACKLISTING

01. Drowning The Virgin Silence - To Reach The Clouds (from Beneath The Sulfur Sky)
02. Rameses III - Across The Lake Is Where My Heart Shines (from I Could Not Love You More)
03. Eluvium - All The Sails (from When I Live By The Garden And The Sea)
04. Peter James - Adrift (from Holding On - Letting Go)
05. Stars Of The Lid - The Evil That Never Arrived (from And Their Refinement Of The Decline)
06. Herzog - Our Friends Save Us From Drowning (from First Summer And The Running Dream)
07. Fennesz - Rivers Of Sand (from Venice)
08. Arovane - Seaside (from Tides)
09. Seafar - New Town Dreams (from Hegira)
10. Black To Comm - Trapez (from Alphabet 1968.)
11. Bat For Lashes - Sleep Alone (from Two Suns)
12. Atomic Skunk - Liquid Dharma (free download - www.atomicskunk.com)
13. Global Communication - 12-18 (from 76-14)
14. Bitcrush - To Drown (from Epilogue In Waves)

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SubVersion Stop 45: Muttley - The Eyes, They See An Ominous Pillar (December 2009)

Photo: Alexisonfire

"The Eyes, They See An Ominous Pillar": designed to soundtrack Thursday 17th - Sunday 20th December. The title references magnifying of small happenings affecting my mindstate, and their consequential broadening and minimizing.

I visited the county I grew up in with my family this past weekend. It was to attend my cousin's wedding reception, and have a meal with old friends. Upon anticipating this I decided to put my feelings to music. The first section supplants a mantra via track names - I felt like I was "Alone In The Rising Fog", and the progress was "Like A Slow River". "The Low Falls" and "Saltwater" are precursors to "I Shall Not Drown", the mixtape that will follow.

When in the venue surrounded by new faces and relatives, I hallucinated mildly. I thought pictures on the wall were rolling their eyes (windows and varying sizes of gaps). Different positioning of shutters on an adjacent image promoted disorientating factors to flourish. The lyrics of "Rough Hands" I used to consolidate word counts, and it proved useful.

The closing three tracks are touchstones from environment altering. I desired to sculpt a contrasting sequence where demons are welcome to wither ("Everybody's got your back" from Zelienople's "Pajama Avenue"), and humanness is dissipated from the ether (see Metric's "I've seen all the demons that you've got / If you're not alright, now, come on baby, I'll take you where, take you where you want"). Ultimately the result is a file with a plentitude of moodswings stitched into it.

TRACKLISTING

01. Aquadorsa - Alone In The Rising Fog (from Cloudlands)
02. Lull - Like A Slow River (from Like A Slow River)
03. Jasper Leyland - The Low Falls (from Carbon Series Vol.5)
04. Last Days - Saltwater (from Sea)
05. Peter James - Aurora (from Holding On - Letting Go)
06. Stars Of The Lid - Another Ballad For Heavy Lids (from And Their Refinement Of The Decline)
07. Max Richter - This Picture Of Us. P (from 24 Postcards)
08. Alexisonfire - Rough Hands (from Crisis)
09. Peter Broderick - A Glacier (from Float)
10. Zelienople - Pajama Avenue (from Pajama Avenue)
11. The Caretaker - Long Term (Remote) (from Persistent Repetition Of Phrases)
12. Metric - Twilight Galaxy (from Fantasies)

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SubVersion Stop 44: Muttley - Head In The Clouds (December 2009)

"Head In The Clouds": constructed to celebrate my folks' 30th anniversary from meeting, in 1979. All blends don't synchronize totally, while the theme - having one's head in the clouds - is presented by the contemplative mood.

TRACKLISTING

01. Quosp - Submerged (from Soundscapes II)
02. Herzog - Congratulations, Here's Your Mountain (from First Summer And The Running Dream)
03. Carl Sagan's Ghost - Into The Light I (from Darkness And The Light)
04. Stars Of The Lid - Dopamine Clouds Over Craven Cottage (from And Their Refinement Of The Decline)
05. Rameses III - Clouds Kings (from I Could Not Love You More)
06. Grouper - Wind And Snow (from Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill)
07. John Foxx & Harold Budd - Raindust (from Transluscence)
08. Biosphere - As The Sun Kissed The Horizon (from the album Substrata)
09. The Lights Galaxia - The Last Lights In The City (from Global)
10. Leyland Kirby - And At Dawn Armed With Glowing Patience, We Will Enter The Cities Of Glory (Stripped) (from Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was)

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SubVersion Stop 43: Muttley - Caught In Static (December 2009)

Photo: Sawako

Movement is tried and tested artistically. It facillitates growth opportunities, frees stangnancy and liberates matters from a rigid structure. However, there are also phases that benefit from being 'stuck'. "Caught In Static" accrues such temporality.

A companion piece to "Mind Over Matter", we've had the sleep selection "Threshold", sequenced to revitalise, now is the turn of specifically chosen tracks that have a time-lapsed feel to them, which, paradoxically, condenses my concentration into a small block and appertains to reap rewards of dedication and perserverence.

TRACKLISTING

01. Sawako - Cloud No Crowd (from Hum)
02. Apalusa - Live From The Dry Valley's (from Live From The Dry Valley's)
03. Stars Of The Lid - Arch Song (from Music For The Ballasted Orchestra)
04. Marow - Hadar (from Scintillation)
05. Last Days - Nothing Stays The Same, Nothing Ever Ends (from The Safety Of The North)

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SubVersion Stop 42: Do you have trouble sleeping at night?

Photo: Richard Lainhart's "Threshold" disc

There have been an array of online comments foretelling that music can be good for sleep, breathing, anxiety reduction et al. There have also been a multitude of mixtapes that put that stigma to the test. And we all have thresholds that limit our conscious perception of living and dreaming. "Threshold" is an excercise in assuaging these statements and reproducing their fruits.

Muttley - Threshold - December 2009

01. William Basinski & Richard Chartier - Untitled 2 (from Untitled 1-3)
02. Richard Lainhart - Threshold (from Threshold)
03. Fennesz & Sakamoto - Oto (from Cendre)
04. Felicia Atkinson & Sylvain Chaveau - How The Light (from Roman Anglais)
05. Richard Lainhart - Cranes Fly West 040706-2 (from Threshold)
06. David Tagg - Cave Light Spectrum (from Dulcimer Studies)
07. Ian Hawgood - Ginseng & Polaramin, And One Long Slumber (from Before I Let The Sunshine Rot)
08. Quosp - Night Coast (from Soundscapes I)
09. Aphex Twin - Blue Calx (from Selected Ambient Works Vol.2)
10. Leyland Kirby - Tonight Is The Last Night Of The World (from Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was)

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I use "Threshold's" timeline as a measure of how active I've been that day. I then estimate what I can do to improve my sleep. By sharing this I trust there are individuals that believe in meditation, inner calm and replacing nothingness with something to treasure for years. The tracks may or may not resonate with the listener, but what they do achieve is lulling the brain and causing panic to subside.