“Jonny Vibe pays attention to the smallest of details. His attention to detail was part of the reason I wanted him involved with the radio show. When Jonny joined Future Sound, 6 or 7 years ago, he already had several tracks ready for the dance floor. Constantly making music, his methodic (at times obsessive) attention to detail, which makes for some really dynamic techno!

Over the years Jonny has remained impervious to the fleeting trends of edm, while absorbing the good and filtering out the crap. He has proven himself an accomplished DJ and has cultivated a definitive style that remains true to his original  vision. Jonny  loves both “hard” and “minimal” extremes of the techno spectrum and it’s  apparent in the ambient elements, driving beats and complex progressions of his music.” Chad Martinez

This year saw the debut release of UK musician Aaron Jerome, better known as SBTRK. His release “Young Turks” infuses striped down techno beats, and slowed down sub bass melodies with a surprising pop sensibility.  SBTRK seems to play well with others, apparent from the multitude of vocal collaborators and his many remixes.

We were also very excited to see Amon Tobin come correct with his 7th Ninja Tune release. “Isam” takes the listener on a trip though alien bass-scapes, weird time signatures and intricate sound design. With no jazzy hooks or bass-lines, Isam marks somewhat of a departure for Tobin. Also note worthy is the impressive high-tech 3D projection mapping show that Tobin took on tour.

Warp artist Plaid’s “Scintilli” further establishes the duo’s standing in the psychedelic techno genre.

Rock/POP giants Radiohead released a companion remix CD with their album The King of Limbs featuring such notables as Caribou, Modeselektor and Nathan Fake.

Bjork’s Biophilia was a monumental release not because she is the queen of innovative music but the way in which the album was released. Using interactive apps for iPhone Bjork may have just invented a new model for the way we experience music.

To hear more of our favorite electronic music of 2011, tune in tonight and tomorrow night (Fri  & Sat) at MIDNIGHT PST for our year end show!

This 36 minute track is as dark as they come. It will definitely KILL ANY DANCE FLOOR! And not in the good metaphoric sense-it will literally drive people from the dance floor with it’s sheer satanic, evil, beat-less drone.

Frontman David Tibet’s unironic ode to the Devil and the Faustian story, is a great example of post 90’s ambient noir. Unapologetically evil sounding. A constant wave of unrecognizable whispering, spooky choral music and low frequency sludge.

The CD insert opens with the quote from Satan, “all the kingdoms of the world will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” The insert also includes a short story by Eric, Count Stenbock, an influential poet of the macabre who led a somewhat tragic life.

Adding to the song’s unmitigated satanic-cred., is the fact that the band’s name is itself a reference to Victorian alchemist, Aleister Crowley, dubbed  by the early British press “the world’s wickedest man.” On a scale of 1 to 10 in the spookiest song category, this one is a 666!

Here are the first 10 minutes:

Number 2:Kid 606 “Mr. Wobbles Nightmare”

A bassy rework of 4 Hero’s rave classic “Mr Kirk’s Nightmare.” Re-imagined here in the video as axe wielding fruit with a slightly darker ending. A cautionary tale of a parent’s worst nightmare and a true Halloween classic.

Number 1: Ministry “Everyday is Halloween”

This particular song has haunted frontman Al Jourgensen ever since he decided to butch up his sound with guitars and ditch the dancey synth pop and James Brown samples. Never the less, this song remains a holiday favorite and anthem for people who choose to dress for Halloween 365 days a year, or as we like to call them-Portlanders.

The voice in this recording is that of Danniel Hamm explaining how he had to “open the bruise up and let some of the bruise blood come out to show them.” Composer Steve Reich made this recording of, then 19-year-old, Hamm explaining how he had to convince the police to take him to the hospital during the 1964 Harlem riots. The police were only attending to the wounded that were visibly bleeding so Hamm opened his bruises to be taken to the hospital.

In 1966 Reich composed “Come Out” for a benefit presentation to aid in legal fees for the re-trial of six boys arrested for murder, during the riots.

“The phrase ‘come out to show them’ was recorded on both channels first in unison, then with channel 2 slowly beginning to move ahead. As the phrase begins to shift, a gradually increasing reverberation is heard which slowly passes into sort of canon or round. Eventually the two voices divide into four and then into eight.” Steve Reich

Samples of this recording have shown up in several hip hop songs (DJ Food and DJ Spooky) and there has been quite a few remixes. The phasing effect and length (over 12 minutes) of this recording makes it a dynamic and versatile sample. By the end of the the composition, the recording is unrecognizable from the beginning.

Camper Van Beethoven did this brilliant cover of Come Out in 2004!

In 2006 Nate Harrison uploaded a video to Youtube that examined the impact of a  six second drum loop from the 1969 recording “Amen Brother,” preformed by the relatively obscure soul group The Winstons. Six years, and 3 million views, later many people have become aware of the cultural influence of sampled music. As sample-based music approaches middle-age, we now see that a six second recording can drastically alter the pop music landscape.

Here we have another another (roughly 6 second) sample that we think is very important. Lets just call it the “Levee Break,” shall we? Originally , the song “When the Levee Breaks” was a regional folk blues song.

Later, in 1971, rock legends Led Zeppelin recorded a version of the song. Unbeknownst to them at the time, the first six seconds of their song would take on a life of it’s own.

You have heard this sample everywhere, from the Beastie Boys to Aphex Twin to Enigma. Many have sampled this short intro. Even Pokemon World, yikes!

Included here are some more notable instances of the “Levee Break.” for you listening enjoyment.

Masive Attack “Man Next Door”

Beastie Boys “Rhymin & Stealin”

Bjork “Army of Me”

Russel Velazquez “Pokemon World”

Visit this wonderful Web site to check out Who Sampled Who!

Walter Carlos “Sonic Seasonings”

Before there the term “ambient” was ever uttered to describe music, Walter Carlos (who later became Wendy Carlos) was experimenting with synthetic melodies. Sonic Seasoning was released in 1971 as a double album gatefold LP. The album Consists of four  20 minute (aprox.) songs that sonically represents each of the four seasons; spring, summer, fall and winter.

Perhaps best know for bringing the music of the Moog to the masses or his work (earlier that year) on A Clockwork Orange, Carlos uses a mixture or “natural” sounds mixed with  electronic and instrumental soundscapes to create undulating cycles that evoke the mood of the earth’s natural seasons. This concept heavy ethos became common in most ambient albums to follow.

Brian Eno “Ambient 1, Music for Airports”

“To create a distinction between my own experiments and the purveyors of canned music, I have begun using the term Ambient Music.”_ Brian Eno September 1978

No ambient album list would be complete without mentioning Eno’s 1978 Ambient 1, Music for Airports (which is actually the first in a series of four). This album marks the birth of the term “ambient,” coined by the prolific artist himself. Eno wanted to make music that was the antithesis of the “back ground” music created by Muzak in the 50’s. Music that was both “ignorable as it is interesting.”

Relying heavily on the technique of tape phasing (a method pioneered by Steven Reich years earlier) Eno lays the foundation for ambient music and thus a genre was born.

Coil “How To Destroy Angels”

The ambient sound became a defining element in this duo’s music. Jon Balance and Peter Christopherson (founding member of the band Throbbing Gristle) describe their 1984 EP as “ritual music for the accumulation of male sexual energy.” Applying occult science to their method of music making, Coil carved out their own unique niche. In 2010 fans of Coil, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross co-opted the name, How to Destroy Angels, as their band name.

“Since predjudice and fear of the unknown seem so far unaffected by civilization, we would like to state once again that, should this music have any power, over and above the banal and transitory titilation achieved by most records available now, it is a positive and beneficial power to be used and controlled by the listener, as he desires.” Coil 1984

The KLF “Chill Out”

This 1990 release marks the first  time the phrase “chill” started to work its way out of the “chill rooms” of Manchester raves and into the popular  lexicon of electronic music. Chill Out is a haunting narrative that takes the listener on a nighttime drive through the American deep south. At least that’s what Scottish musician Bill Drumond and British musician Jimmy Cauty would later describe the album as (neither actually having been to the  deep south at the time of recording). Alex Paterson of The Orb was also involved in the making of this seminal album.

Chill Out weaves together a multitude of diverse samples of 70‘s pop music, exotic religious chants, spaced out guitar twang and sound effects. The heavy use of samples makes this an early example of the now ubiquitous mash-up genre. Chill Out was recorded as a single continuous 44 minute mix, the US release divided the album into separate tracks. This album is truly a master piece and is among the best examples of the enigmatic and mystical persona of The KLF.

Aphex Twin “Selected Ambient Works 85–92”

This third release from Richard D. James, under the moniker Aphex Twin marks the solidification of the ambient genre and sets the standard of modern ambient works to follow. James followed up  the popular album with a “Selected Ambient Works Vol. II” in 1994.

Gypsy punk has suddenly started blaring from your speakers, taking the place of bass lines and syncopated beats. ‘What the hell?’ you chime to yourself, hurrying back to your room to figure out what went wrong with your PC THIS time. Before you can move the hourglass on the screen, you freeze as Gogol Bordello’s chorus does the same—‘We’re coming rougher every tiiiiiiiiime’……BOOM! A huge fuzzy wuzzy sub and stomping kick suddenly compel your neck to bob repeatedly as you absorb this forward thinking remix of GB’s ‘Immigraniada’(not to mention deliriously spilling the last of the beer).

Left with an eagerness for more nectar, you head out into the streets of sound to see what else this album has to offer. You run into a few tracks you swear you’ve met before saying, “Don’t I know you?” but they sneak off into the night before you can question them further. Leaning against a light post to catch your breath, the song ‘Raging Stereophonic’ appears on the sidewalk. With it’s breathy beat boxing, hip swaying rhythm and sultry come hither synths, you find you’ve forgotten your exhaustion and are hypnotized by this tune that has ‘classic’ written all over it. Soon stepping over the familiar threshold of home, ‘After Thought’ guides you towards the couch, massaging your temples with the sweetness of its glitch laced lullaby. Just before you dive deeper into the land of music and dreams, your roommate abruptly enters the house. ‘I need a drink!” he declares, unknowingly splashing through the puddle left by his only beer. Bassnectar whispers in your ear, ‘Quick! Out the back door!’ using the sweet sounds of ‘Disintegration’ to guide you safely into the cool, starry night and bringing the album to a close.

‘Divergent Spectrum’? Get it.

By JBGrindley