Nuts/Berries/Music

Run DMC – My Adidas – Tuesday Twelves

nutsberriesmusic — Tue, 04 May 2010 00:08:01 +0000

Man, this blog is turning into nothing but 12-inch remixes. That’s OK, because Nuts + Berries news is on the way, and I’ve also been writing a bit at the other blog I work on, CrazyQuiltRecords.com.

This week’s 12-inch is an extended version of Run DMC’s “My Adidas” with more drum breaks and more profanity. I always thought the song could have used more of both.

So far, I’ve highlighted some really good 12-inches. Enough already. Next week, I’ll find something weird or lousy to highlight. Stay tuned.

Firefly – Love is Gonna Be On Your Side – Tuesday Twelves

nutsberriesmusic — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 05:26:47 +0000

Here’s a fun extended jam I first heard a few years ago on a cool Italo compilation in the used bin at Twist & Shout. When Firefly shouts “love!” it echoes for days. Like Andy Warhol’s soup cans, this is about something so simple and repetitive it’s profound. The 12-inch mix runs for a quick seven minutes.

“Love is Gonna Be On Your Side?” Not entirely sure what it means, but it sounds like poetry to me. Admittedly, I’m a sucker for English lyrics written by someone who studied English as a second (or third or fourth) language.

U2/New Year’s Day (Tuesday Twelves)

nutsberriesmusic — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 09:02:50 +0000

Francois Kevorkian strikes again. Continuing our Tuesday Twelves series, this is a freakish remix of “New Year’s Day” by U2. I like the slow intro, big drums and the screwy vocals. The original is cool, but once in a while this one’s fun to listen to.

Sort of foreshadows what they’d do later on Achtung Baby and Zooropa.

Watch closely

nutsberriesmusic — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:01:22 +0000

Something is about to happen at crazyquiltrecords.com.

Tuesday Twelves: Donna Summer, “I Feel Love”

nutsberriesmusic — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:15:19 +0000

I don’t own a turntable but I have a soft spot for 12-inch remixes. Generally speaking, a 12-inch single is a record that’s big enough to be an LP, but it’s pressed with unusually deep grooves and only has one track on each side. The deeper grooves give it a bigger sound, particularly in the low end, and the songs are usually presented in a extended remix.

This is a great example of a 12-inch that worked: an eight-minute version of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love.” From what I can tell, the remix producer simply took a three-minute song and played it three times in a row, but it still turned out nicely.

As I said, I’m not a vinyl collector. I like the history more than anything. … A small cottage industry grew around 12-inches, with adventurous dance producers like Shep Pettibone and Francois Kevorkian making longer versions of singles that had bigger drums and more crazy sound effects. A lot of disco, R&B, hip-hop and electro acts also had their songs reworked and released as 12-inches. Electronic and dance artists still churn them out, though I’m not sure modern 12-inches are as crazy as some of the stuff from 30 years ago.

A search on YouTube can also turn of a lot of strange artifacts by “respectable” (pretentious?) artists like U2, Bruce Springsteen and REM, who had their songs chopped up and turned into club jams in hopes of reaching more people. More often than not, the artists’ core fans seemed to scowl at these remixes and they’ve been allowed to quietly slip out of circulation. Once in a while, these remixes may turn up as bonus tracks on reissues of their ’80s albums. More often, someone posts them on YouTube. (More on those later.)

I’m going to start posting 12-inches, good and bad, old and new, on this blog each Tuesday. If you know of a good one, feel free to make suggestions.

New Bedsit Infamy track – sneak peak

nutsberriesmusic — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:31:06 +0000

Looks like Billy Armijo’s hard at work on the next Bedsit Infamy release. Here’s a moody video snippet of a song tentatively called “Late Out Tonight” that has a sort of chillwave, downtempo influence. Very different from most Bedsit tracks, and I can’t wait to hear how it turns out. I think I played the bass part on this clip, but I tracked it months ago, so it’s cool to hear it again. Looks like Billy’s taking a break from his other studio project, which is mixing the upcoming Nuts + Berries LP.

Excuse my enthusiasm for this teensy clip. You’ll hear the whole thing when it’s ready. (Nice synths, Bill.)

I listen to music on Q2 all day

nutsberriesmusic — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:22:03 +0000

A quick plug for a new Internet station I just discovered a few days ago:

Q2 is a New York-based online radio station playing modern classical music, for lack of a better description. They play a mix of pieces by well-known composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass along with pieces by lesser-known composers. Also, they link every piece they play to ArkivMusic, so you can buy something instantly if you hear something you love. I’m smitten.

Highlights from today:

Pleiades, a 45-minute (!) percussion piece by Iannis Xenakis

The Old Tavern of Lobenicht by Gavin Bryars

Lament to Phaedra, John Tavener

Three Small Liturgies of the Divine Presence, Olivier Messiaen

I hope Q2 continues to thrive online. I had never heard any of these pieces before and I loved each of them.

“The Beatles: Rock Band” behind the scenes

nutsberriesmusic — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:32:04 +0000

Impressively thorough look at the making of the Beatles video game, from NYTimes.

I’ll write more soon.

‘People think this state is a bunch of mountain man ski bums living in the forest with our animal friends’

nutsberriesmusic — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:48:50 +0000

Junior’s Cave, an online indie music magazine, just published a Nuts + Berries interview, I talk about the concept of laptop punk, why DFA Records and the Talking Heads are a big inspiration to me, and how the rest of the world looks at Colorado.

We also discussed how online music services like Tunecore, Sonicbids and Dropcards are changing the industry and creating room for acts like Nuts + Berries. Enjoy.

Big Oriental show a big success

nutsberriesmusic — Sat, 09 May 2009 05:01:18 +0000

Photo by Amanda Arthur

Nuts + Berries had a great time at the Oriental Theater on Thursday with Bedsit Infamy, Little Dead Things and Kissing Party. I got to play a very high-energy set from the floor of the auditorium. This was 10 times better than playing on a stage by myself — lots of bad dancing and crowd interaction. Also, one fan turned up wearing the first-ever Nuts + Berries bootleg t-shirt. What a night. (Bedsit turned in a noisy, energetic set, too.)

by Amanda Arthur

The evening started weird. The soundman had no iPod or CDs so I did an impromptu DJ set with the handful of tracks in my iTunes library. I used Ableton to slaughter the songs beyond recognition. I blasted “Machine Gun” by Portishead and it sounded like the roof was about to collapse.

Nuts + Berries setlist: Look at all the Progress/A Better Mousetrap/A Good Friend is Hard to Find/Your Whole Garden Sprouts/The 1st Year Sex Didn’t Sell/ Meth Mouth/ The Edgar Song/Forgive Your Hometown/Li’l Fingers/Arch Deluxxx/Flevoland

Next Nuts + Berries show announcement coming soon.