iDJ Review

iDJ magazine has reviewed Certain Frequencies in its latest issue. It gave it 9 out of 10, which is absolutely incredible.

Current

The last of my solo albums from the Silent/Flask days is now available for sale. Called Current, it was released in 1995 and was one of the last things I put out until my rebirth (ahem) as Kemek the Dope Computer in 2001.

Current is available here.

I'd like to continue putting old releases up. If interest exists, I plan to put up the Arthur Dent & Deeper Than Space album Drift plus some unreleased stuff, and even the 303 Terrorists.

Spaceship Melody Remixes

The re-releases continue with Spaceship Melody Remixes, a 5-track EP of remixes from my debut album, Earth Rise. The chief reason to get this is "Spaceship Melodies" itself, a minor hit for myself and my collaborator, Dreams Without Number aka Dabecy. There's also a version of "Deeper Than Love" done by myself and Arthur Dent aka Borful Tang.

Lots of goodness on this one. Get it here.

Deeper Than Space Now Available

I've decided to make my early albums available again, starting with "Earth Rise" by Deeper Than Space. It was released on the Flask imprint of Silent Records way back in 1993 and has been out of print for many years.

The album is available here: http://deeperthanspace.bandcamp.com/. You can pay as much (or as little) as you like.

I plan to eventually make them all available, including some stuff that was never released.

A Helpful Guide To Better Ambient Listening

First things first: Ambient music can be many things, but there are three things it most definitely is not:

It is not merely techno slowed down.
It is not just a bunch of sound effects records played at the same time.
It is not boring.

If the ambient music you are used to hearing is any of these things, chuck it in the garbage, because it's a waste of your time. Ambient music requires one to listen, and these elements are all shortcomings to actually listening. It is the easy way out. And that's called 'pop music.'

Like Muzak, ambient music creates an environment that you enter while listening. Notice how no other sense is necessary for this experience: no fractals to look at, no patchouli to smell, no bean bags to lie on. These are all superfluous. All you need are your ears and an active, open mind. Ambient music can get you there—minus the jet lag, minus the come down. All it requires of you is to listen.

And when you've turned off the stereo, keep listening. Ambient music is constant. Birds, wind, cars, people—a rhythm of random, natural sounds perpetually performed: the concert of life. As John Cage has said: "Music is all around us, if we only had ears." So listen, listen to your own rhythms: your heartbeat, the sub-bass rumble of your circulating blood, the music bubbling forth in your brain. Don't tune them out because you've heard it before—it's beautiful, and it's free.

Travel deeper than your surface perceptions, listen behind the sounds, around the silent spaces. Beats begin to emerge from the clutter, voices from seemingly unintelligible sounds (my first ambient experience was hearing rhythmic voices from a running dishwasher as a child). And listen actively—we have been conditioned into passive listening, an activity that requires virtually no action. Ambient music can help you fly, but you still have to flap your arms. How hard you flap only depends on how high you want to go.

Adam Douglas, Redwood City, 1993

Brilliance For A Better Past

Brilliance For A Better Future by kemek

In 1994 I co-curated a compilation of Bay Area techno artists for Silent Records. It was called Brilliance For A Better Future and it wasn't a bad little release. I've uploaded the two tracks that I was involved with to the Soundcloud.

This is just a taste of the re-releases of my Silent Records material I've got planned. Watch this space for more info.

dts

Here's An Old One

Sine Language on YouTube

Someone put up a video of my "Sine Language" track on the YoobTubes. Thanks!

Thanks

The Gypsy Diaries has been kind enough to say a few words about Certain Frequencies on her blog, and play the lead track on her radio show. Thanks much!

Certain Frequencies Now Available

My latest EP, Certain Frequencies, is now available on Muti Music exclusively on Addictech. The release will be exclusive to Addictech for a month or so and will then be available on all your favorite digital download sites, including iTunes.

The EP is decidedly melodic but still with a dubstep vibe. I was hoping to marry the kinds of melodies I like to listen to while chilling out with strong beats and bass. There's lots of moody dubstep but not much that I would call pretty. Here's hoping you'll call this one pretty.

I'm also excited because the release features a remix by Lord Tang aka Borful Tang, who's been at it making strange and wonderful music for quite some time. He's also a good friend.

Lastly, here's an ambient remix of one of the tracks from my new EP, "Seeding the MIDI Cloud," available for free download.

Seeding The MIDI Cloud (Soundtrack Mix) by kemek

New Order In Confusion

It seems I've been neglecting this site. I don't have all that many music releases to write about but I listen to music everyday, so I figure this is as good a place as any to muse on the music I'm listening to. And lately, I've been listening to "Confusion."

New Order's 1983 single is something of an anomaly for the band. It was produced by Arthur Baker, the man behind the desk for "Planet Rock" and countless other hits and the then king of the New York dance floor. New Order had been interested in the NY scene for awhile and so, flush with success from "Blue Monday," their first true club cut, they went to the Big Apple to cut "Confusion" with Baker.

Take a look at this promotional video for the song, shot in NY at the Fun House, the main spot for electro and underground club music at the time.



That's producer Arthur Baker with the long hair. It's telling that he appears more in the video than the band, as the song sounds more like an Arthur Baker remix of a New Order song than an original song. It's got those heavy Arthur Baker beats so popular at the time. It even has "Planet Rock"-style chanting towards the end.

The song was popular upon its release, coming hot on the heels of "Blue Monday," but unlike that more famous song, which successfully blended dance floor concerns with that typical New Order joy, "Confusion" is largely devoid of personality. The melody is recognizably New Order but the feeling, that familiar New Order feeling, is conspicuously absent.

I started listening to the band in 1986, just in time for Low Life, still my favorite album. The original 12" mix of "The Perfect Kiss" is an epic cut, wide screen disco that both borrowed from the conventions of its time and set new standards. I would often listen to it on my Walkman while riding the bus home from school and let the song transport me away from my suburban malaise.

Maybe I never liked "Confusion" because it was too indicative of (sub)urban malaise, those tough beats mimicking the hip-hop of the time. It wasn't an escape; it was a reminder. Or maybe it was just an inferior song. I asked a friend of mine, a fellow New Order fan, what he thought of the song and he called it an experiment. That it is, but I'd label it more of a mis-step.

New Order would eventually perfect the dance floor pop hybrid on Technique but they would do it on their own terms, without the help of an established producer with an established sound. "Confusion" then remains the odd one out in New Order's discography.

Booming

Read full review of Sine Language - Kemek on Boomkat.com ©

Buy directly from here to Boomkat!

Sine Language EP Now On sale

My comeback dubstep EP, Sine Language, is now on sale exclusively on Beatport. Then it'll go up on Additech and finally iTunes in June. Very exciting.

Read more about it on the Muti Music site.

The Story of Itsuka

"Itsuka" is the title of my album on Muti Music, and it's a long time coming. I started working on the album in 2004, and contributed to it off and on over the past five or six years. Along the way, the tracklist changed some but the core feeling remained, and that's what I want to talk about.

In Japanese, "itsuka" (いつか) means "someday." All my life, I've been the kind that always looked to the future. "Never to what you are doing," as Yoda said. I like to think of myself as a dreamer, but if you were inclined to call me an escapist that might not be far from the truth too. In 2004, I dropped everything—quit my job, sold my car—and went to Japan. I lived in Tokyo for two months until the money ran out. I had intended to get a job but because I never finished college that was just about impossible.

Because of Japan, something changed in me. After 30 years of drifting through life I finally knew what I wanted. I wanted to live in Japan. But I couldn't. That pesky college degree. So I went back to school to study Japanese. Along the way, I made this album. All of my longing for Japan is in these songs. "Someday I'll be back there." I guess you could say it's a love letter to Japan. Love songs for a country.

In 2009 I gave the album to Muti Music, a label I had worked with back in the breaks days. I had no idea if they would like it, if it would fit their roster. Truthfully, I had almost given up on the album ever coming out. It was such a personal thing, I couldn't imagine anyone else liking it. Listening to it is like crawling into my head. But Muti liked it, and it's finally coming out.

I'm probably more proud of this than any other music I've ever made. I hope people enjoy it.

Here are a few video promos for the album, and here's where you can download some songs that didn't make it onto the final version.

Itsuka Extras

As with most albums, there are many more tracks for "Itsuka" that didn't make it into the final tracklist. They just didn't fit the mood, or wouldn't slot into the progression all that well.

I've made five such tracks available on SoundCloud as a set to download. Enjoy.

Itsuka Extras by kemek

Mixcloud Mixes

I spent the day yesterday uploading mixes to Mixcloud. I put up an Italo disco mix, an old school hardcore mix, a disco and funk mix, and an ambient mix in support of my upcoming "Itsuka" album. Check it out.

http://www.mixcloud.com/kemek/

Kemek on YouTube

With "Itsuka" coming out soon on Muti Music, I thought I'd get into promotion mode and put some songs up on YouTube.

First is "Paper Deer," the lead track. The song was inspired by the art of Midori Harima, who does sculpture with paper and multimedia. Midori graciously allowed me to use some images of her art in the video.



Next up is "Train Song." It's not hard to figure out what this was inspired by.



And then we have "Living Room Floor." There's a very specific memory associated with this song but I'll leave you to come up with your own ideas.



Lastly, as I was in the YouTube mood, I uploaded two tracks from the very first thing I released professionally. Released on Silent Records in 1993, here are two tracks from "Unauthorized Acid" by the 303 Terrorists, aka myself and Thad Jones.

Itsuka Artwork Sneak Peak

Take a look at this! It's the artwork for my upcoming album, "Itsuka," being released digitally by Muti Music this spring (hopefully May).

The artwork was done by Noah Hanlon, who's also done the cover for my upcoming "Sine Language" dubstep EP. Thanks, Noah, it looks great!

Unreleased Track

Just posted the track "Function" over on the SoundCloud. It's from the same sessions as my forthcoming "Itsuka" album, dropping on Muti Music hopefully in May or June.

Function by kemek

The track was built around a sample of the bass line from Fugazi's "Waiting Room." I had always wanted to use that in something. I originally tried to make it a banger but it ended up as a downtempo track. Funny how that happens. Enjoy.

Two Unreleased Breaks Tracks on Soundcloud

The headline pretty much says it all. Two unreleased tracks from the Kemek the Dope Computer are now up on Soundcloud, available for free download.

The tracks are "Ghola (tokidoki dub)," a techy piece I completed while in Japan, and "Darkwave," a moody piece with a sort of horror movie vibe. Enjoy.

Kemek Classics by kemek

Seeding the Sound Cloud

I'd like to direct your attention to my Sound Cloud page, which is constantly in flux (much like a real cloud, I suppose). Because I'm an out-of-work post-student, I can't afford to pay the monthly fee so I'm working with a limited amount of uploads. Hence the flux.

Anyway, I like to use it as a place to debut tracks and post rough mixes in search of criticism. Right now I've got a rough version of an ambient dubstep track, "Certain Frequencies," up for consideration.



Feel free to leave comments and, as always, thanks for listening.

Soundtracking

I did a couple pieces of music for the VCinema podcast, which is set to debut soon. In keeping with the theme of the show, the music is in an '80s horror soundtrack vein. Think John Carpenter, which is who I was thinking of while I was writing it, or Fabio Frizzi, whom the show's producers likened the music too.

Go here for the advance word from VCinema.

Update! The podcast is now up. Hear it here.

Deep Currents

LA-based DJ Mixmaster Noah Massey has a classic deep house mix up on his site for your listening pleasure. Although I am good friends with him, it was purely the music and the mixing that prompted my favorable review of his mix in URB magazine.

Check out the mix here.

He's got lots of other mixes up from an amazingly wide variety of styles. Well worth a look (and listen).

EMB Podcast Mix

I did an exclusive dubstep mix for the Electronic Music Bears at their request recently. It's available as a podcast or a direct download, or you can play it from the following page without downloading if you're feeling afraid of commitment.

Here is where the magic happens.

Tracklisting, so you know what you're getting yourself into:

Appleblim: Vansan (Gatekeeper Remix)

L-ow: Rising 

Mayhem: Split Second (Scuba Remix) 

Helixir: Helicraft 

Komonazmuk: Preset Whore 

Gatekeeper: Blip

Si Begg: My Style (Si Begg's Bleep Steppas Mix) 

ReLocate: Too Moody To Swing 

The Black Ghosts: Some Way Through This (Plastician & Skream Remix) 

Reso: TikTak 

Greena: Actual Pain 

Black Sun Empire: Cold Crysis

Reso: Namida 

Eskmo: Hypercolor

Lung: Time

Now also available on Mixcloud.

Emb Mix by Kemek on Mixcloud

Welcome!

Welcome to Dope Computer Music, a site for all of my Kemek-related music endeavors. Things are a little slow now but this will be the place for links to new songs, information about releases, live events (possibly, if my ringing ears are up to it) and whatever else I feel like throwing up.

Thanks for listening.