I like the naïveté and wonder of a lot of older “cosmic” music, and find that it can work well slowed down and hardened up. Here is a mix I put together. Hope you enjoy it.

(♪)The Greatest Conversation  – Space

Tracklist after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes forcing myself to work with a simpler palette is productive. And sometimes listening to a simpler palette is more revealing.

When I was seven I was in a violin maker’s workshop in Germany. His instruments sounded amazing, and in a corner he had a big ugly rock he called his “antiquing stone”; apparently lots of players won’t buy a violin that doesn’t look 300 years old, regardless of how good it sounds. That’s sort of how I’m feeling about all the bedroom artists out there who are trying SO hard to sound like dirty cassette recordings of giant synth studios from the late 1970s; why hide behind all that stuff? If the songs are good, step away from the “vintage” filters and the krazee field recordings. It’s like buying pre-faded jeans.

Kumon Plaza is some guy from the prairies, who puts out sleepy, catchy, simple tunes. After being on a bit of a Dimlite/1000Names/Ras G trip, it is kind of nice to not have to search for the melody. At some point it gets pretty brave to just put your melodies out there without any trappings.

(♪)Kumon Plaza  – Meet Me At Westmount