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Système-D (my little fun barely-have-time-for-it project) released a new podcast last week, titled “All Good Things”.

The reception has been good so far. Oddly enough, I enjoy listening to it - even though usually when I’m done with a podcast I’m so sick of it I don’t listen for months.

The pic above is of my trusty Behringer control surface. It has been put away for a while, because once I’m knee deep in a set there’s a lot of fine editing that has to be done, so I usually just dig in with a mouse and keyboard. But I’m excited when I get to brainstorm a new set (like now), or on rare occasions perform live, because I get to whip this puppy out and jam with it.

I started producing on hardware, and although most of my kit has moved to software now, it’s still so much more fun to connect some control hardware to the computer and tweak things that way.

Head on over and check it out, or check your podcast subscriptions in iTunes for a new track if you subscribed previously. If you’re not a member of the secret club that has a username and password, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

Charlie recently jumped onboard with Midnight Spaghetti as their bassist. They have a remake of Daft Punk’s Around the World that absolutely destroys.

Hey Kanye West. This is how you do Daft Punk.

Going back and forth on a new music debate with friends (you know who you are) - I brought up Björk’s new one (which I sadly am not too enamored with yet). Jeff then pointed us to a clip of her singing a 2Unlimited track drunk, which was surreal and brilliant. (Search for it on YouTube if you’re interested.) But of course I kept digging, and eventually came upon my favorite video of hers.

It’s an amazing treatment of “All is Full of Love”, done back in 1999 by Chris Cunningham, who has stunned me silent repeatedly thorough the years with his videos for artists like Aphex Twin, Portishead, Autechre and Squarepusher. His range is great as well. Though evoking cold beauty here, his disturbing images in the Aphex Twin videos make Chris Cunningham the reason many people are scared shitless of Aphex Twin.

Hoping you enjoy it as much as I do.

Jeff pointed me to this article the other day:

This is way overdue - it has been so long since I got that pit-of-my-stomach anxious can’t wait feeling for a new bit of music. But here it is again. Welcome back knotty stomach, welcome back.

Someone caught “Wandering Star” on video, but unfortunately stopped before the new track.

This means, of course, that I have to break out the old teeshirt:

Update: Here’s footage of probably the best version of “Strangers” ever recorded - complete with orchestra and horn section. Circa nineteen-ninety-something at Roseland Ballroom in NYC. There is no better example of Portishead bringing down the house. Jeffy, weren’t you at this show?

My little music project has released its 4th full podcast this weekend. Visit Systeme-D.org for details. It’s a fun 23 minutes of new twists on amazing songs.

Another entry in my “severely-compressed, yet still amazing-sounding live cell phone recordings” series. This is from the same show as the last post, but the recording is of Luke Vibert, who also had a phenominal set with some seriously hard beats at times.

You’ll have to give it a few plays on a loop to really get into it, but I think the section starting at 00:21 till the end is where it really gets groovy.

Grab the mp3 here.

My little music project has a new release this week.  You can check out the site here.  If you want to download sets or subscribe to the podcast, you need a username and password - so email me if you want in.

Since the summer’s been so hectic, it’s taken way too long to get this one out.  But I’m happy with the results.  Let me know what you think if you have a listen.

Back in November 2003, I saw Plaid, Luke Vibert and Chis Clark at the Paradise in Boston. It was an absolutely amazing show - you can see the pics here.

In scanning some old files, I came across this recording I made of Plaid doing their track, Crumax Rins, with my crappy cameraphone. It’s an AVI but I can’t get it to play the video. Regardless, the audio is what I was taken by. The levels are completely clipped and the song is compressed to hell - dominated by the bass. The recording is so bad, in fact, that it seems to have taken on a life of its own and has become wonderful again.

All of the highs and audience are compressed out when the bass hits, then let back in with a gasp as it releases - creating this amazing syncopation. The stuff between the times 00:17 to 00:34 is just brilliant.

Download the recording here. Listen with headphones.

Update: If you have trouble playing the file, I converted it to mp3 here.

My new music side project launched this week. We retired Fermium and started a music podcast under the name Système-D.

The focus is original mash-ups and remix work - our first set runs the gambit from Roots Manuva to Dolly Parton and the Pointer Sisters and many lesser-known bands. It’s a great listen if I do say so myself.

So, for a good time, come check out the site here. You can also subscribe to it in iTunes or your favorite podcast program.

Here’s the next 2 days: