About a month ago I made mention that process of producing my next effort, an ambient / dub / abstract album.  As of 11/18/2008 I had 7 tracks in various forms of production, and I even released 3 of the demos, but production on this album has come to a halt.

Why?  Because of my mentality.

When I am producing ambient / dub, I have to be in a certain frame of mind.   That is not to say I have to be “happy”, but I cannot really be off my game or I simply don’t care about making music that would make me relax.  Actually, all ideas – all inspiration for any ambient production – simply vanishes.  Instead, what I wanted to develop is aggressive, hard, electronic music.   

So, for the last three weeks I have been focusing on another project – under another name (not trying to be super secretive, but it will come out later).  As of now it really has a life of its own.  I have nothing specific in mind, but it’s turning out to be music that is highly aggressive but engaging at the very same time.

To give you an idea, I’ve already released the first demo track, titled “Enhanced”. I find that my ability to produce music of this nature comes very easily when I am in this state of mind. Once I have everything down, a little bit of polish during the re-write portion of production will allow me to have some outstanding tracks.

More to come!

Just happened to find this one, here is the video for The Orb’s semi-new song “Vuja De”, off of their “The Dream” album.

I love the fact that you never know what they are going to come up with next when it comes to their video production.

It’s time for a break from talking about the state of Business and complaining about my ills….  and the “foot in the brain” picture….  So, it’s video time.

Here we have Meat Beat Manifesto’s Spinning Round Dub video, directed by artist Richard Borge.

Just to point out, Richard Borge is any outstanding artist. I have followed his work since the around 95 and hope to, one day, get one of his originals. You should jump over to his site and take a look around.

Carl Cox – 6 years special

Carl Cox – Global

Infected Mushroom live in Mexico

Blank & Jones Soundfiles Dance

Found via google – ENJOY!

I’m still not a fan of the new song, even set to film.  Ah well… still hoping the new album will be a return to old. .. but here is the new video so you can decide on your own.

Thoughts?

I’m not giving up on the new Prodigy album just yet.  My initial reaction of the first track, which goes by the same name as the album, was extreme disappointment.  I felt as if there was a lot of hype but little substance to the track.  Overall, it seemed “thin” and uninspired.

Truth be told, I didn’t much care for “Firestarter” when it was first released either.  I enjoy it now, but initially, it didn’t rock my world.  I still believe Firestarter doesn’t fit with the overall feel of “Fat of the Land”, and that is why I am not giving up on The Prodigy’s new album.

Well, there is some new information coming out about the album.  Let’s start with the track listing:

“Invaders Must Die”

1. Invaders Must Die
2. Omen
3. Thunder
4. Colours
5. Take Me To The Hospital
6. Warrior’s Dance
7. Run With The Wolves
8. Omen’s Reprise
9. World’s On Fire
10. Piranha
11. Stand Up

But what I find even more interesting is that Dave Grohl, of Foo Fighters fame, is providing some drum backing.  That will be very, very interesting to hear…

Finally, you can take a listen to the Prodigy’s Keith Flint talk about the new album. As with the other press going around, Flint points to the Prodigy of old:

It’s been written, Liam’s written a lot of this album. It’s buzzing, high energy and how The Prodigy used to write, and that’s got a sound about it.

We’ll see if the hype is actually worth it…If the first track is any sign, we may simply be victims to the hype.

Now *THIS* is a rare treat.  

What we have here is (not a failure to communicate) but a live Orb show from 1997 recorded at The Avalon in Boston.  God, the last time I heard this was almost a decade ago.  

I do not believe this is a soundboard recording, one can hear too many comments in the crowd, but the quality of the songs themselves is outstanding.  The recording is in stereo and centered quite well and includes a number of tracks I’ve never heard live before.  A must have for any fan of The Orb.

The track listing is:

1. A Huge Ever Growing…
2. Bedouin
3. Blue Room
4. Delta MK II
5. Little Fluffy Clouds
6. Outlands
7. S.A.L.T
8. Spanish Castles in Space
9. Terminus
10. Toxygene

Aside from the fact that today was the last day before two days off, I was looking forward to download the new Prodigy track “Invaders Must Die”.  

Yea, I know, kinda sad.  Hey, it’s the little things in life, no?

I get up from my nap and download the new the new track from theprodigy.com, waiting for a kick ass music listening experience, but I somehow received a major letdown.  No, that doesn’t do it justice.  I was supremely disappointed.  Like the Cubs losing the playoffs in the first round disappointed.

What I had been expecting from this new track was a sound much like The Prodigy of old – from the “The Fat of the Land” days – but the song I ended up listening to sounds like a rejected track from their last album “Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned”.  Simply put, the track sounded very “thin” and uninspired.

One thing I did notice about the track, The Prodigy ended up sampling themselves.  They pulled a beat and synth from “Funky Shit”.  So, I guess they did end up providing the old FotL sound… but for all of 8 second.

Go download the song and judge for yourself.  I just hope the rest of the album isn’t like this.

Update: The LA Times also seems a that the song is underwhelming.  The members of Beatportal agree as well.

The Prodigy, showing the actually do get the music business, are giving away their new track – Invaders Must Die – for a week starting on 11/26.

Interestingly, the album by the same name is only 40 minutes long (so says the new press release). I am really starting to anticipate this new release.

Yesterday I got a google email alert point me over to klf.de.  Apparently, this past March, The Orb did a promotional mix CD for a magazine based out of Greece called “Freeze”.

I couldn’t find a link to the mix track on klf.de, or the site it linked to, so I turned to “The Google” for some help.  After doing a bunch of searching I happened to find it…

This tracking listing is:

1. The Orb – Dark Star Intro
2. The Orb – Plateau (All Hands On 2 AM Mix) [unreleased]
3. Bill Taylor – Benson Arizona
4. The Orb – Hold Me Tight Version 2 [unreleased]
5. The Orb – Hold Me Tight Version 1 [unreleased]
6. Zulu Chant – Version
7. The Orb – The Truth Is
8. The Orb – Phantom of Ukraine
9. Bounty Killa – Many Gal
10. The Upsetters – Sipple Dub
11. The Orb – Tower Twenty Three
12. Madorb – Hole in The Sky
13. The Orb – U Make Me Outro

Be aware, this is a mix (one giant song) that has a running time of about an hour. 

Download it here!