Audio: Louie Knuxx - Tumblrchk

Audio: Alphabethead - Libra vs Sagittarius

Libra Vs Sagittarius

by alphabethead on 10/10/2011 in MIXTAPES

With Libra Vs Sagittarius I set out to make an entire love mixtape rather than a love song. Put simply, this was a mixtape made for a girl. The selections pertain to the bands we discovered together, gigs witnessed and moments shared. Many of these tracks are now highly evocative touch tones for me; little sonic reminders of those bittersweet times. Should I even be sharing this – I don’t know?

Well, my heart has long since been trampled and looking back at the listing now it’s a motley bunch of tunes. Neither of us had a penchant for pop music so our singalongs and snuggles were most frequently accompanied by Sunn0))) or This Heat! This was compiled December 2009 and stylistically speaking it’s one of my most diverse mixes. Most of the artists featured have entire discographies that warrant a listen. It also features a few of my favourite Wellington acts; Akaname, Thrashing Marling and Leila Adu! A couple of ABC originals in there too.

I hope some of these tunes resonate with you as well. Tracklisting below.

xxAlphabetheadxx -> DOWNLOAD: Libra Vs Sagittarius

Audio: Alphabethead - Flying Destar

Flying Destar

by alphabethead on 28/09/2011 in TRACKS

It’s Glitch + Scratching… DOWNLOAD HERE

Video: Alphabethead - UFO! UFO! UFO!

New video from the bro Alphabethead. He'll be on tour in September w/ Tourettes and Jay Roacher so keep your eyes skinned. Here's what he had to say:

Unrealeased instrumental circa 2009. It’s my take on ESG’s amazing “UFO”. When I lived on Mt Kau Kau I used to frequently see flying saucers knocking about high in the Wellington sky. Unfortunately I haven’t seen a UFO since October that year.

The video features documentary footage from the historical 1956 Washington flying saucer attack.

DOWNLOAD THE TRACK HERE

Audio: Alphabethead - Aliceo

by alphabethead on 07/03/2011 in TRACKS

Do tempo changes have a place in Hip Hop?

When I started listening Progressive Rock and Metal and I was amazed at the bands’ ability to expand and contract time and make sudden jumps in tempo. Coming from a Hip Hop DJ background where the beats are fixed, matched and mixed I was intrigued as to how this was done and wondered whether it could be implemented within Hip Hop?

Whilst in the Flower Orphans I played alongside Dean Hunter, an insanely good guitarist. He came from a metal background and was all about highly intricate riffs and complicated song structures. I once asked him how he navigated tempo changes with such ease and he gave me the best advice I could ask for; “Just do it…and when you hit the change, play it with conviction!” This encouragement launched my obsession with tempo changes both within my tracks and live sets. Sudden changes in DJ sets are pretty much taboo so this direction certainly resulted in its fair share of drunken-punter feedback; “stop chopping and changing the rhythm” or just straight up “play something we can dance to!” Advice I will never heed; I take it as a healthy challenge to dance to shifting rhythms!

Alterations in tempo can add excitement and shift the momentum and energy like nothing else. Unfortunately, there are very few examples in Hip Hop. A few that come to mind are J-Live “Them That’s Not” which gradually winds up in speed until finally locking onto a constant tempo. Another is the absolutely phenomenal “Chemical Calisthenics” by Blackalicious with multiple tempo changes and percussive stabs which the vocalist accents perfectly. This is such an exhilarating listen for me – Prog Hip Hop at its finest! Please check that song out if you haven’t already. The Blackalicious song “Alphabet Aerobatics” is another beautiful example of acceleration of the beats.

Aliceo is a Hip Hop instrumental where I was also toying with tempo changes. Nothing too dramatic, just alterations of 5-10 BPM’s between the different sections. My hope was that the listener wouldn’t perceive them as tempo adjustments more as slight changes in feel? Also, near the conclusion of the tune the ‘chorus’ speeds up in pitch whilst slowing down in speed. My last album ‘Electricity’ was all sampled-based Hip Hop and had quite a few of these little tempo anomalies. I hope you enjoy…

Download Aliceo

X.ABC

Ps. My bro reckons that the Sitar used here has previously been sampled by Cypress Hill? Please hit me up if you know for which track?

Free Download: Alphabethead Mixtape (60s & 70s Vol II)

Alphabethead says...I’ve been gathering old vinyl since long before I became a DJ. I got my leg up in record collecting through inheriting countless LP’s from relatives and family friends. In 2000 it seemed all the Baby Boomers I knew were spring cleaning, purging records and discovering the Compact Disc. Recording my extended family’s LP’s onto CD was a small price to pay for getting to keep them! In digitizing vinyl I was exposed to bands I normally wouldn’t touch (I was a strictly Hip Hop kid). Most of these records were vibrant mono recordings by 1960’s ‘British Invasion’ bands such as The Beatles, The Yardbirds, The Animals and The Zombies. Every so often a King Crimson, Tangerine Dream or Kraftwerk album would crop up and leave me forever changed. I can still remember the day Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ arrived on my turntable!

Perusing ones records can give such an insight into the psyche of a person. I was consistently surprised in seeing who listened to what. The most straight-edged investment banker could be rocking out to Captain Beefheart (true story)! An uncle of mine was a devout hunter, rugby player, gardener, and ‘good old’ kiwi bloke. When he passed on I was gifted his modest stack of 25 records, all of which were tender female folk singers; Joan Baez, Melanie, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Joni Mitchell et al. What a guy!

This is my second mix of 1960’s and 70’s music. It’s assembled from vinyl, in various conditions, all of which I inherited – the fuzz, crackle and other spurious record noise are all included! Once again it’s mostly pop and psych although this time a little more hard rocking due to the inclusion of Led Zeppelin, Hendrix and May Blitz, a monstrous band on Vertigo records. I made sure I included some Kiwi groups from the era; The Underdog Blues Band, Human Instinct and The Fourmyula’s quintessential Sixties tune ‘Nature’ all make an appearance. Other tracks of special interest are The Beach Boys lesser known ‘Feel Flows’ which is in my opinion their most psychedelic tune and Spirit’s ‘The Other Song’ which Gonjasufi used as a rhythmic canvas last year. It’s mixed in a Hip Hop style with scratches, drum-breaks and cut-up sample segues! Please give it a spin – I hope you enjoy.

DOWNLOAD: “Music From The 1960’s & 70’s (Volume II)”



DOWNLOAD: “Music From The 1960’s & 70’s (Volume II)”

Audio: Alphabethead - Like A Boss

Alphabethead says...

Slim Thug is one of those rappers who I listen to not so much for what he says but how he says it. His voice is dense and cavernous and I love the way his syrupy flow blurs words. His tone reminds me of a baritone saxophone! Method Man, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and MF Doom are other rappers for whom I can just switch off the brain and let their timbre and cadence wash over me. As far as life and lyrical content goes Slim’s pretty much the polar opposite to me; I certainly don’t “supply all the rocks, sponsor all the spots”. I can only relate to his drug-toting tales filtered through what I’ve experienced second-hand in watching The Wire (an HBO TV series)!

With this tune I was aiming for an industrial, assembly-line feel. The song was originally meant to begin with the machine-talk groove that comes in at 3:10. On hearing the skeleton of this section Slim Thugs archaic flow was the first thing I thought of setting to the beat. I had to slow him down to a sluggish 68 BPM but with Slim Thugga even playing at half speed doesn’t really detract from his drawl! I hope you enjoy.

DOWNLOAD: Slim Thug X Alphabethead “Like A Boss”

EZ,

alph
abet
head

Audio: Alphabethead - Escalation

Alphabethead says...

Not really a composition as such, more a short ‘visual’ vignette. It’s a collaboration between you and me; my intention is that you will conjure up the mental im­ages to accompany the track! I’m not going to divulge what appears when I hear the tune but it’s certainly a scene painted with thick, course brush strokes using predominately crimson, maroon, cobalt ­and byzantium. Anything I make by candle-light at 2am in the morning inevitably ends up with these tonal colours – I hope it’s not too much of a downer!

Download ESCALATION

Audio: Alphabethead - Triangle

and Alphabethead says...

//\

My fascination with vinyl as a recorded medium goes far beyond the music pressed into the plastic. I’m interested in all the other properties of vinyl; the degradation of sound through repeated use, the percussive thumps of heavy turntable hands and of course the glorious fuzz and crackle of an old record. I’ve even purposely thrown my records around and danced on them to produce such artefacts. Many an idea has sprouted from having a record skip or accidently loop on a bit of grit. I’m not going to lie, it’s also all the ethereal aspects of vinyl I love; the worn sleeves, giant album artwork and ritual of playback. These are the primary reasons I’ve not yet fully embraced the digital vinyl systems.

That’s the beautiful thing about sampling from vinyl. You inherit not only the sound held within the grooves but also the life of that particular record. What has that record seen? How did its previous owners treat it? In buying second hand records I’ve found many historical ‘clues’ within the sleeves; love letters, homemade lyric sheets, 70’s pinup flicks, album review clippings, autographs scrawled on napkins and even a few of ‘crumbs’ of something pungent and green…

You’ve probably ascertained from my ramblings that I’m a bit smitten with vinyl. Well, I was. However, over the last few weeks I’ve had the wandering eye! I’ve made a departure from my usual ‘dusty not digital’ aesthetic and been building tunes completely from sounds generated with ‘virtual’ instruments and computer synthesis. Not a single vinyl record in sight! What sent me off on this tangent was a fantastic Soul Jazz compilation entitled “Future Bass”. This is a collection of ‘hyper’ clean, modern beat/bass music made (mostly) inside computers from synthesised sound. Yet, despite being built from layered sine, triangle and square waves, the tunes still sound so organic. The Ginz and Mala tracks especially. Synthesis of sound and this ability to breathe life into computer tones has really intrigued me.

“Triangle” is one of my attempts at an entirely digital production. It’s all made from my own computer generated sounds, the process of which has certainly given me a renewed respect for all those producing tracks this way. Wow – it can take so long to make all those sine/triangle/square waves dance! LFO (low frequency oscillators), automated filter sweeps, distortion and, of course, reverb were my little helpers.

I’m not sure if this track works of not? Omitting samples was fearful prospect! Never fear – I think it’s just a short foray away from the crates.

Download TRIANGLE

\/\/\/\/\/\\

//\/\//\/\/\\

ALPHABETHEAD

/\/\/\//\//

[source=http://alphabethead.blog.com/2010/10/triangle/]

Free Download: N37 Modulation Mixtape

and Alphabethead says...

G’Day buds,

Whenever I bring a stray piece of vinyl home my fervent hope, aside from it being good music, is to use it as source material in something. Unfortunately, due to my ‘habit’ it’s very hard to assimilate the relentless inflow of records. This recording was a conscious effort to utilize all the random records that had slipped through the cracks. I’d grab any unused LP in arms length of the turntable and set the goal of making a beat from it. This is certainly not a unique approach; many beat-makers set themselves such exercises as a challenge and to breakdown any preconceived notions of what ‘should’ be sampled. In sampling unconventional records I learnt about filtering songs to isolate bass and create muffled drones, amplify and affect record pops to make percussion and stretching and layering notes for textures.

Over 60 LP’s went into this one – mostly Sally Army or junk shop finds. Sample sources include; Frank Sinatra, Uriah Heep, Fiddler on the Roof, Gong, 3 Hur-El, Bach, Donovan, Silver Apples, Ravi Shankar, Santana, Stockhausen… Although it’s my fifth beat-tape, it’s the first I’ve presented in mixtape form with transitions, miscellaneous tit-bits of sound and segues between tracks. This one also includes some Hip Hop cutting!

I’m tickle pink with both ‘Tibetan Glitch Beat’ and ‘Two-Zero-One-Zero’. Both of these beats transcend their source material; I’ve no recollection of what records I sampled? They’ve been mangled and affected beyond recognition! When making sample-based music I feel I’ve succeeded when, rather than the old ‘Oh, he just slightly tweaked Kraftwerk’ type of response I elicit more of a ‘What the hell was that? Was it Frank Sinatra or Frank Zappa?’ The further removed my piece is from the original the better. This kinda sums up my thoughts on sampling. I have absolutely no qualms about using another artist’s work just as long as:

(a) The ‘sample’ of another piece of work is a ‘component’ or ‘element’ in the new work rather than the ‘crux’.

(b) The work can be viewed as a new composition in its own right and doesn’t decrease the artistic merit or impinge on the viability of the existing piece.

Of course what defines a ‘new composition’ or constitutes an ‘element’ is certainly a contentious issue. I’ve found that proving a piece of sample-based music is (at least) equal to the sum of its parts can be an uphill battle…

I’m glad to have finally weaved that classic Kiwi bloke Fred Dagg into a mix. I have a crate of lectures, theatre, advertisement and comedy records which I draw on as the garnishes for my mixes. Next stop for spoken-word samples Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Sam Hunt! The other track I was pleased with was ‘One-Nine-Eight-One’. In the second half all the samples (excluding drums) were pitched up an octave creating a dreamy vocoder effect (thank you Rza)! Please give it whirl…

For those still rocking a discman, hardcopies with covers and disc art are available for 8 NZ bucks.

Alphabethead – N37 Modulations

2Much!

x alphabethead

ps. If you rap feel free to jump on any of these tracks.

Video: Alphabethead - Destroy All Monsters

The following words are from Alphabethead's blog....

Destroy All Monsters is yet another song inspired by a B-movie radio spot. This theme is becoming a bit of an obsession; peep my previous “Zombie” and “Crawling Thing” posts!

When I began DJing I had a single turntable and no real interest in being a ‘proper’ mix DJ playing dance clubs and making people boogie. My focus was on the manipulation of vinyl and making that beautiful-ugly-sound known as scratching. I would run home after school, loop up a beat and just scratch the night away! There were quite a few of us doing this is 2001 – they called us Turntablists or Scratch Nerds. Q-Bert, D-Styles, Mixmaster Mike, Toadstyle and the rest would release records with minimal rhythm tracks, heavy bass and half-time beats designed especially to elevate and accentuate scratching. This song is a throwback to the beats of that era. The fascinating thing is that the bass music and dubstep of today has some striking similarities with circa-2000 scratch beats. A couple of the more notable players in the new beat movement actually cut their teeth in the scratch scene; Hudson Mohawke, Lorn and The Gaslamp Killer. It would be interesting to trace the trajectory of dubstep and bass music in terms of Turntablism…

After finishing my track I found the actual movie trailer for “Destroy All Monsters” on Youtube and on playing them simultaneously couldn’t believe my eyes! The fit was uncanny – the monsters were trashing the capital cities of the world all to my beats! It was too good an opportunity to miss so last week I taught myself the basics of video editing and tried my damndest to fuse the two. For someone with no experience in video it certainly was an exercise in patience, concentration and pulling my damn hair out! This is probably the most rickety, lo-fi, third-generation-VHS-dub you’re gonna see this month. Embrace the pixilation!



The idea of equating turntable scratching to laser and missile-fire is certainly not new. Q-Bert’s fantastic Wave Twisters is a fire-fight packed, animated space odyssey scored entirely with turntables and heavy beats. Technical scratching and dubstep rhythms sure do sound like intergalactic warfare and hulking beasts sometimes!

DOWNLOAD: DESTORY ALL MONSTERS

I’m gonna visit Aro Video this week in search of the original Godzilla film of the same name – apparently it’s one of the classics in the “Giant Monster” canon.

Over & Out,

x

Alphabethead

Audio: Alphabethead - Springs Got Next

Alphabethead says...

Spring’s Got Next is a laid-back, sunny Hip Hop beat. I was trying to banish the blues and create the antithesis to Wellington’s wet, windy winter.

Rather than just let the beat loop I found guitar and flute solos on vinyl and cut them up to fit the track. I love taking unrelated jazz solos and chopping and screwing them to ride my beat. I’ve achieved some fascinating results from dislocating David S Ware and Marshall Allen sax solos and setting them to dubstep or down tempo grooves. The solos are probably totally out of key but it sounds great to me; at least they’re on beat! The guitar solo is from the Roland Kovac New Set. Flutes are from Chilliwack. The fun part in assembling this one was the feel change at 01:56. Gamelan style played on Vibraphone!

Welly winter be gone… Spring’s Got Next [DOWNLOAD]

Adieu,

alphabethead

Brand New Alphabethead For Subs Only

If you aren't already signed up to the Breakin Wreckmail newsletter I seriously suggest you do that shit now!

Because...

This month we will be giving away the all new Alphabethead song to SUBSCRIBERS ONLY! Promise on me mum's life you won't be able to get this anywhere else. It's exclusive, Illuminati, gotta BE DOWN, not even on HIS blog type shit.

So yeah, subscribe now by clicking here

ABC Does 60's & 70's Music

This isn't new but I was just listening to it this morning and I wanted to share something, so if you haven't got this already I definitely recommend taking advantage of the free download below...

FREE MIXTAPE: Alphabethead - Music from the 1960's & 70's



Hello everybody,

Much to my delight my beaten up old ’93 Toyota Corrina has a tape deck! To me my automobile has always been seen as a walkman, with additional combustion engine. I periodically make mixtapes for my car, usually following dubious themes such as film music, 80’s Hip Hop, Kabuki/Gamelan/ethnic and dollar bin soul. ‘Dollar bin’ meaning really common $1 records... These mixes are really just a fun way of condensing my abundance of decrepit records down for listening purposes.

I’m pleased to offer one of these older mixtapes for download. It is of rather sentimental value to me as it was the sole cassette to survive an unfortunate and rather serious slip-up I had driving a car in 2008 (read: car crash). The mix is simply ‘Music from the 1960’s and 70’s’. It was the soundtrack to many a road trip and catalyst for numerous passenger sing-along’s. It’s also quite mellow in nature so makes for good anti-road rage music. I now use Marvin Gayes ‘What’s Going On?’ to quell any anger behind the wheel. It’s hard for my blood to boil whilst ‘Brother, brother, brother, there’s far too many of you dying’ is sung is such a sweet voice.

The mix is mostly pop, with a touch of folk and psych rock. Some of my most beloved songs from that era are featured; namely Jefferson Airplanes ‘Crown of Creation’, Beach Boys ‘In My Room’ and McDonald & Giles ‘Flight Of The Ibis’. Also rare Kiwi psychedelic rock bands Human Instinct and Quincy Conserve are featured. Human Instinct do a droll (but, with searing guitar solo) cover of The Kink’s ‘You Really Got Me’ to great effect!

Please check it out – hope you enjoy. You might even discover your new favourite ‘old’ band! Also available as a second generation cassette dub.

DOWNLOAD HERE (copy and paste into web browser):
http://www.mediafire.com/?zgezzlk2zxz

Over and out,

Alphabethead

Read more: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=403213811&blogId=528222168#ixzz0w4YXZI82

Free Tourettes Downloads On Tripple J

Remember that guy Tourettes who released an album last year then shot off to Australia as soon as the weather started getting cold? Well you can download his newest track Miss You direct from Tripple J. By doing so you may also be upping his airtime over the ditch.

Also on offer is free downloads of his other single Letting Go featuring Jay Roacher and The Company, which has the coolest beat ever (produced by our mate Saan - see below post).

Click here to go to Tourettes' page on Triple J and download some free music

Jay Roacher - In The Mouth Of Madness EP

Check out the free download below of a track from the upcoming Jay Roacher EP - In The Mouth Of Madness. The EP will be available on iTunes and from our website 19th June 2010! Keep peeling your eyes...

Free Download: Jay Roacher Mixtape Is Here!!

BREAKIN WRECKWORDZ, JAY ROACHER, AND ALPHABETHEAD PROUDLY PRESENT....

JAY ROACHER - JUDGE ME BEFORE YOU KNOW ME (MIXED BY ALPHABETHEAD)




01. Jay Brings the Terror
02. Wrong With Me
03. Don’t Be Nervous
04. It Ain’t Easy Freestyle
05. The Trip/Pages Freestyle
06. More Or Less Freestyle
07. Dead Wrong/Phantasm Freestyle
08. Trapped
09. Flashing Lights Freestyle
10. Flashing Lights Beat Juggle
11. Naughty Stewardesses (Intermission)
12. They Know Freestyle
13. All My Friends Are Half Dead (Cyphanetik & Orakle)
14. Chedda Get Low (Hash)
15. Feels So Good
16. Feels So Good (Shakuhachi Glitch Remix)
17. Hopeless Freestyle
18. Psych-Out!
19. Lithium Romp
20. Mouthwash (Kate Nash Cover)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Free Download Ballin On A Budge EP Now!

1.Tyson Tyler - Organized Grime 01:58

2.Tyson Tyler ft Monsta Ganjah, Young Sid, Flowz - Monstars Ink Remix 04:47

3.Tyson Tyler - Self-Tytled 03:31

4.Tyson Tyler - Fire Starter 02:42

5.Tyson Tyler - South City Boys 03:02

6.Tyson Tyler - Bottom Of the Map 03:50



Click here to download entire EP free in one hit now

Grips N Tonic Mixtape Now Available

click on the link above to download their new mixtape "Songs To Fuck Your Hand To" for free.

The Hire Learning Give-away Post

those op shop model fellas aka the Usual Suspects are giving away their album a track a day over the 12 days of Christmas... if you want it fresh.. you wanna get it from www.opshopmodels.com

but just incase you came here looking for it, heres where we are upto so far...



1. Dream Big
2. Wreck Tee feat. J1 (R.E.S), Tyson Tyler
3. Crazy feat. Arme, Quest
4. Friendly Isles
5. Fast Speaking Samoan
6. All the Worlds a Stage feat. Jay Roacher
7. On my Own
8. Interlude
9. Let it Go feat. Tyson Tyler
10. Sweet Tooth
11. The Cool feat. Cyphanetik, Ethical
12. Outro