Ilictronix Podcast: Tech (And Relationship) Issues

Claude and Adam discuss and play their favorite tracks of the week. This Week Claude shares a user submitted track from Dispak and shares cuts from Apparat, Modeslektor and Wisp. Adam processes a breakup and shares a comforting playlist

This week's ilictronix podcast is now live! I carefully skirt the idea of just using cuts from my Cyberpunk playlist once again, instead focusing more on a specific 'techy' sound. I don't mean techno by that, and I hope my classification becomes clear after the first couple of songs. Opening with Squarepusher's deliciously smooth Plug Me In, before sharing a submitted track and diving deep once again into the semi-obscure of my collection with a host of Aphex Twin bootlegs from Wisp. Adam changed up his selections last minute in response to the situation mentioned above, nothing like the super depressive Gloomy Sunday playlist we used to make; Adam takes us on a tour of his mind and share some audio-based comfort during his trying times. An interesting (if unfortunate in terms of circumstance) methodology, always interested to hear what he comes up with and this week was especially good in that regard. We had some slight technical issues during the first few songs, but thanks to our method of locally recording our inputs we've managed to work around it with little to no other issues! Tracklist and show notes follow as always:

Tracklist:
Intro:
Squarepusher - Plug Me In

Claude’s picks:
Dispak - Koshkina
Apparat - Get Out Of Your Krib
Modeselektor - Don't Panic
Aphex Twin - Z Twig (Reworked By Wisp)
Ben Prunty - Mantis (Battle)


Adam’s Picks
Drexciya - Aqua Worm Hole
Basic Channel - Q Loop
Mala - Alicia
Millsart - Gamma Player
Fingers Inc. - Can You Feel It

Outro:
Golden Donna - Should


Show Notes:
A lot of show notes this week, starting off with Dispak's EP that I talked about as my first selection You can pick up their EP on bandcamp, the EP also has the full description I was trying to read when talking about the EP (only to be foiled by my internet dying as it was loading). It's a short one at 3 tracks, but if you enjoyed the sounds of Koshkina or any of my other choices this week I highly recommend checking it out.

I was slightly wrong about the Wisp Reworks of Selected Ambient Works 2 they were actually released way back in '04, but on a now-defunct net-label called TavCOM Records. It's not a high quality release, the tracks vary from 128-192kbps but they're still a nice listen. I managed to find the arcive site where I'm pretty sure I originally picked the EP up from. At any rate, you can find the link here to grab the EP if you so choose (It's a direct download of a .zip).

And finally, as mentioned on the show, you CAN get FTL's soundtrack from Steam, but if you want it in 320/FLAC I'd recommend buying it from Ben Prunty's Bandcamp, where you can ot only find his soundtracks for FTL and Into The Breach, but his other music projects too. As mentioned on the show, the FTL soundtrack is well worth picking up, and even comes with extra goodies like the notes from Ben himself about the tracks. And also be sure to get the expanded FTL: Advanced Edition Soundtrack too, it's a handful of extra tunes Ben did for a big update for the game and is well worth your time if you've enjoyed what you've heard so far. it's a name-your-price release so you can scoop it for free if you want also.

Dive In The Sky

Koshiro Onchi - Diving (1932)

Coming as no surprise to anyone, I've been digging things of a more downtempo persuasion as of late. But in contrast to the usual lo-fi trip hop / hip hop I usually post when I'm in one of these moods, I've been on a more 'space-y' kick. I'm dipping my toes into some writing beyond the blog and I've been looking for some suitably thematic accompaniment you see, and like so many times before, the Röyksopp boys were there to deliver.



Next, the tune that actually made me settle on the space-y descriptor, the opening from Ben Prunty's sublime soundtrack to indie darling FTL. It plays every time you launch the game, butunlike some other misguided attempts at that idea (looking at you Burnout Paradise), I'm not at all sick of this theme some 6 years later. The opening stabs create this isolated feel that goes hand in hand with the quieter parts of the game, before giving way to a slightly IDM backing beat after some time. The album even comes with a .txt file from Ben himself detailing the process behind the compositions. He says:

"So I tried to merge two ideas. The first is an overt retro aesthetic, with fun melodies, arpeggios and simple synthesizers to evoke that feeling of playing an older game. The second is a calculated, cinematic atmosphere, with high-quality percussion, ambiences and deeper textures. The intention is to suggest that the game's world is bigger than you can see and there's more going on in the universe than just your own adventure."

And finally, some of Wisp's reworking of Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2. I remember stumbling across these years ago when I was a mite more snobbish than I am now, what blasphemy was this, reworking SAW 2? Never mind it was perfect already, how would reworking ambient music even work out?. Well as it turned out, especially in the cases of more melodic tunes like Z Twig, pretty damn well. There's even a little bit of Blue Calx mixed into this rework too which is a nice touch. The end result comes out looking more like a tune from The Flashbulb or Casino Versus Japan which is fine by me, I can appreciate both the moody original and this rework just fine, they suit different contexts after all.



-Claude Van Foxbat

January Blues

Hello all, it's 2016! And don't you worry nothing much has changed, I'm still your resident selector with a penchant for Cyberpunk sci-fi and moody electronic sounds. So let's start this shindig.

Miwa Ogasawara - Nacht (2010)

Never a lot to do in the winter unless you like naff telly. So instead I revisited my favourite gang of bounty hunters the Bebop crew, the OST is well known for it's frequent jazzy bits but there's a good selection of genres in there too. Here's a long time favourite to warm you up.



I know I dumped a load of Hotline Miami stuff for the year end track dump, but it's still super good. And it's not all frantic doorkicking synthwave neither, have a surprisingly introspective addition to the soundtrack from Scattle.



And finally Wisp's reworks of Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2 make a reappearance. I haven't given them nor the original LP a listen in a long while, but I'm feeling it right about now. It hits a nice mid point between the ambient techno of 85-92 and the all out ethereal of Volume 2 that's quite refreshing.



-Claude Van Foxbat