Second Square To None


Mysterious new Irish artist Emakousma is "a collection of semi-dried brain cells with a distinctive nutty eggy flavour, often used as seasoning for Matzah brei." Currently uploading haunting lo-fi acoustic explorations, we are anticipating very interesting things to come.


Tell us a little about your musical background.

I was given a guitar at 13 and shown how to play the blues loud and ignorantly. I think everything's just been an extension from that. I pick up new influences whenever I'm lucky to hear them and mostly learn styles and techniques from memory. Then they just sort of work their way into whatever I play. I've tried to learn the rules and technical side of things a few times, but I'm not a good student, my head wasn't made to remember things. Plus I've never been fond of the idea there's a specific way to do anything.

STA002 - Loudmouth EP

Friday, April 30, 2010 , , 0 comments


Stasis Records follow up their first release, Antimode, with another ridiculously quality EP. This release features big dancefloor tunes from Lakker, Rory St. John, Fran Hartnett and Nonima. It will be on general digital release next month, for now check out the stream above. 

Toymonger - Doors Of Deception by SSTN Noise

Toymonger are a duo made up of Deserted Village's Gavin Prior and Munitions Family's Andy Fogarty, both active in a wide variety of groups, including United Bible Studies and Boys of Summer . They have loads of releases between the various projects and labels they are collectively involved with, and the picture above shows a new Toymonger t-shirt that they will gladly merch you with. Here's what they have to say:

What are your reasons / motives for making music, and how you arrived at this style?


AF: I started to play this type of music while living in Limerick in 2003. I was doing music technology course and was feeling pretty anti-computer, so I started to play a plank of wood with strings on it. Moved back to Dublin, met Gavin and started to focus more on Toymonger than solo gigs.

GP: I'd say my motives are the same as most peoples; blowing off steam, satisfaction in a job well done, Seeing what will happen.......As long as I can remember I've always been fascinated by sound, musical or otherwise. In the first half of the last decade I played in an improv group called Murmansk with people who I still play with in United Bible Studies. Murmansk leaned towards noise a lot, but seeing Andy play solo was one of the first times I'd ever seen noise played live - Ireland is much noisier now but there weren't many people doing it then. I'm not sure how we arrived at this style - we tend to go for it and talk about how it worked afterwards. These days we're both using loops less so our playing is more nimble and more dynamic. We're thinking on our feet more.



  A Shadow - A Postcard From A Rained Out Wedding by sstn-strings

New series here on SSTN, Strings, where we talk to different artists who use stringed instruments about their approaches to using their instruments as tools for sound generation and composition. It is intended to provide a broad overview of different methodologies; covering areas such as different playing styles, extended techniques and effects processing. Each week we will feature an exclusive piece of music and an interview. First up is Dublin artist, A Shadow.

Tell us a little about your musical background.

I started to learn guitar as a teenager when I was big into guitar bands around at that time like The Bluetones and Blur, but particularly Radiohead. I was always interested in listening to different music and by the time I got an 8 track I was recording songs and instrumentals based mostly around the guitar usually in odd tunings I’d pick up from learning Nick Drake or Kelly Joe Phelps songs incorporating whatever other instruments I could get my hands on.

i-and-e festival 2010

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 , 0 comments

Curated by David Lacey & Paul Vogel , the i-and-e festival is three days of improvised and contemporary music taking place this weekend Fri 23 - Sun 25.


Click here for programme

Bouncey bass eclecticism from !Kaboogie man Richie !K. Check out kaboogie.net for updates on their dancefloor-smashing gigs, tasty audio downloads and label news.

Tracklist:
peter wyngard - come in
grace jones - art groupie
roska - without it
cooly g - craze refix
tricky disco - tricky disco
spektrum - fit together (cosmo remix)
shed - flat axe
shed - that beats everything!
3mb ft eddie 'flashin' fowlkes - illuminism (sun electric)
phuture - acid trax
anthony_rother - dont stop the_beat
dmx krew - texture mapping
claude von stroke - who's afraid of detroit
james ruskin - torridon void
James blake - sparing the horse
joy orbison  - Hyph Mngo
clark - new year storm
bim sherman - raining dub
efdemin - acid bells (martyn dark mix)
drt - rising sun
yusuf islam - upsy daisy prayer song
sarsparilla - the count
international music system - run away
radioactiveman - manwich (skrewd)
ed chamberlain - styge
depeche mode - but not tonight

Redmonk on Mixcloud

Thursday, April 15, 2010 , 0 comments



Check out Remonk's Mixcloud for quality bass-music mixes. The above mix is currently rocking SSTN HQ.
Originally aired on 2FMs Late Night Sessions on February 12 2010. Dubs galore in this one, chock full of raved-up beats and bass.
Square Waves 12: ElectronicStringsandMallets by SquareWaves

This show looks at the intersection between contemporary classical music and electronic music.

Tracklist & Info:
Artist: Gavin Bryars
From: England
Track: the sinking of the titanic
Album: the sinking of the titanic
Label: Touch
From: London
Year: 2007
Notes: This version of Gavin Bryars's seminal piece, The Sinking of the Titanic, was recorded at the 49th International Festival of Contemporary Music at The Venice Biennale on 1st October 2005 at the Teatro Maliban.

Gavin Bryars - Double Bass
Philip Jeck - Turntables
Alter Ego - Strings, Brass, Wind, Percussion, Keyboard, Tape Recorder and sound design

Artist: Okkyung Lee
From: Korea, now based in New York
Track: Sky
Album: Nihm
Label: Tzadik
From: John Zorn’s new york based label
Year: 2005
Notes: okkyung has also released a duo recording with christian marclay Rubbings on My Cat is an Alien/a Silent Place; a solo cello album I saw the Ghost of an Unknown Soul and it Said... on Ecstatic Peace!; a trio album with steve beresford and peter evans, Check for Monsters on Emanem.

Fyodor-Summa by sstn noise


Turntable vandalism and more loop and delay pedals than you can shake a rain stick at this week from Square Waves radio show host Fionn Wallace, a.k.a. Fyodor. Here's what he has to say for himself:

What are your reasons / motives for making music, and how you arrived at this style?

FYO: My brother used to be the drummer in a grunge cover band when I was about 13 and I thought they were the shit. I started playing drums around the age of 14 with Killian Redmonk on guitar and we quickly realized that just jamming was way more fun than playing the music of other bands. Ten years later - with the addition of Niamh de Barra and Ed Devane - we were the JohnMaryTrilogy (and also on the brink of extinction). We were dedicated to improvisation at this stage and a noise element was steadily creeping into our music.

Reasons? Love of music. The act of creating music is pretty magical, especially with improvisation, even more so when playing with others. With JohnMaryTrilogy, we jammed a lot of shit music, but when it came together it was exciting and rewarding, jam sessions were something I really looked forward to.


Hyper-banging acid, electro and techno make this a mix that'll instantly make you want to dance/party/drink etc. Absolutely huge selection of quality tunes, download it now and thank us later.

Tracklist (1.08.27):
1. Richard Divine Marguerita030303(no.3).
2. Magnetize-man trap 004.
3. Rune-ScattyBrainz Records02.
4. Ben Pest-Victim07. 5.Lukes Anger-Victim 05.
6. Grimjaw-Don't14/Victim08.
7. Jerome Hill-Don't015.
8. Onken-Coin Operated07.
9. Alexander Koepke-Null10.

Where Is This - Your Mouth is a Locked Groove by sstn noise



The Noise Series this week features a good example of extreme noise by Dublin-based noisnik Where is This, a.k.a. Mark Ward. Mark also makes more subtle tracks that are well worth a listen on his Virb page. He has this to say for himself and his music:


What are your reasons / motives for making music, and how you arrived at this style?

WiT: For a long time, I was just someone who wrote, then I became a lyricist, and a singer. I’ve always been utterly obsessed with music, and it was during my time in my first band, that I decided to start making my own. It wasn’t very good for a long time, but it gave me something to noodle away to. It was after the bands ended, and I got Cubase that Where is This started to take off for me. For a long time, I was making mostly electronica (with vocals), but I was also making more “experimental” music. Over the course of a few years, the noise-based stuff started to take more of a hold until it eventually became the focus of the project last year. And of course, as my interest grew, so did my taste in noise, as well as my output.

As for style, that can be a tricky one, but basically, I ended up with the style I have, because of what equipment I have (read: not much), which I’m sure is the case of a lot of noise musicians (especially those starting out/new to the scene). I would say I have two styles that work well together, and occasionally overlap; digital noise, using AbletonLive and programs like it, and countless VST to mangle samples into tracks; and analogue noise using microphones, amps, pedals and lots and lots of feedback. This forms a huge part of my noise. I tend to do a lot of improv sessions, and then work with the results; editing, modifying and layering them. However, I have been doing a lot of digital based noise lately, which can be great for creating thick wall noise. And of course, each record (I tend to think/operate in records, as opposed to tracks) has its own style: industrial, experimental (a la Coil), noise, harsh noise, wall noise, ambient, electronic, percussive-based, etc. I find that my style changes quite a bit, sometimes almost like “ok, I’ve done that ‘sound’ – what’s next?”

  Square Waves 11: AmbientDroneBlissMusic part 2 by SquareWaves

Full tracklist and info here. Catch Fyodor doing a live turntables and electronics set tonight in Galway.