New Album and Charitable Donations From Solarno
Two announcements to make:
1) ‘Robot Junkyard – Derivative’ is now available throughout the interwebs!
2) Solarno now giving 50% of net proceeds of all sales to charitable organizations!
Yes, ‘Derivative’ is finally available at all of your favorite digital download sites including iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, Bandcamp, and more. ’Derivative’ takes away the sound palate restrictions of the original ‘Robot Junkyard’ and breathes new life into most of the songs by looking at each one through a different lens. ’Deriviative’ includes two remixes from producer Echo Chaser.
I am now going to be using my Solarno music project as a vehicle to raise funds for two non-profits that are deserving of any help they get. 50% of the net proceeds from the sales of Solarno music will be split between the American Red Cross and the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA).
The American Red Cross is an organization well known to most around the world, IMBA not so much. IMBA helps local agencies around the world build and maintain quality mountain bike trails, negotiate for expanded wilderness access, and generally make riding a bike more fun for more people. I can tell you that as an 18 year cycling industry vet, IMBA is one of the most valuable and beneficial assets the industry has. Please check the links for more info on either group. Even if you don’t purchase any music by Solarno, please consider giving.
As always, if you like what you hear from Solarno, please become a fan on Facebook.
2011 – Robot Junkyard – Derivative
1. Last March of the Robot Junkyard
2. Fuzzy Logic (Wobbly Logic Mix)
3. Cyclic Connection (Glytch-pop Mix)
4. Binary Alphabet (Fourth Door Mix)
5. Digital Information (Echo Chaser Remix)
6. Digital Singularity (Orbifold Vocal Mix)
7. Cross Platform Discoteque (Organs of Corti Mix)
8. The Replicators (Cheese in the Cactus Mix)
9. Rise (2006 Blue Sky Mix)
10. La versione per pianoforte di connessione ciclica
11. The Replicators (Echo Chaser Breakdown Edit)
12. Digital Singularity (Orbifold Dub Mix)
13. Digital Information (Original 1992 Version)
A 6-page digital booklet containing full liner notes and album artwork is available here:
Digital Booklet
Robot Junkyard – Derivative takes the simple beauty that is Solarno’s 2010 release Robot Junyard and throws off the shackles of its self-imposed limitations. Where the 2010 album was an experiment with expanding the boundaries of a single instrument, Derivative is an experiment in expanding the boundaries of each individual song. Each song is both remix and re-interpretation, taking the listener to new destinations not imagined when listening to the original Robot Junkyard. (more…)
For When I’m Not Writing Music
Hey, one can’t possibly write music all the time, especially when I still spend the better part of my days helping to save the world from inferior cycling products. So when I’m just not feeling the inspiration to sit down at the synth controller sometimes I’ll just pop a shiny silver disc into my xbox 360 and let my mind wander into another world. BTW, my gamertag on xbox live is solarno72. Feel free to hit me up.
My latest wanderings have taken me into the mud covered world of rally racing courtesy DiRT3 from Codemasters. I’m a fan of many racing games, but rally sims are by far my favorite of the genre. I love getting vicariously dirty, rolling a car multiple times at 100+mph, and walking away from it. (more…)
Review of ‘Vulcan Foundry’ by Dementio13
Clicky drones? Check.
Punchy drums? Check.
Staccato arpeggiations? Check.
The ability to make you dance without a traditional dance song structure? Check.
If we step into the wayback machine and punch up the mid-90′s, cross-referenced with only those four short descriptors, you’d quickly narrow down your search. At the top would be Orbital. (Full disclosure, Orbital is one of my favorite bands of all time, and a big influence on my own productions.) But we’re not in the mid 90′s anymore, so let’s get back to the future-present and punch in those same descriptors. Well, we still have Orbital, but they are not alone anymore. I recently stumbled across a gem of an EP thanks to Twitter. One that joyfully mixes the new with the old, paying tribute to and improving upon a proven recipe. (more…)
I Love Shapelock!
Shapelock iPhone 4 tripod mount
Sometimes you come across something so cool that you have to post about it, whether it’s directly related to music or not! This is just one of those times.
(more…)
2011 – SIDtastic! Volume 5: Remainders
Here it is, SIDtastic! Volume 5! Where the first three were covers of complete albums, and number four was composed of songs from only three artists, volume five is a veritable potpourri of artists. From Europe, to Huey Lewis, to Gloria Estefan, to The Tokens, Volume 5 has a little of everything. (more…)
2011 – SIDtastic! Volume 4: Jackson Michael & Oates
Volume 4 of my SIDtastic! collection is here! This volume contains SID-a-fied nuggets from Michael Jackson, George Michael, and Hall & Oates, hence the title Jackson Michael & Oates. Ha. Ha. Ha. Most of these were completed during the summer of 1988, before my senior year of high school. Two were done around Thanksgiving of that year, and two were completed in January of ’89.
If I had to pick favorites from this batch, they would be as follows: Man in the Mirror, because I love the pristine bell reverb I was able to create for the opening. Faith, as this cover is the polar opposite of the version Limp Bizkit would record 11 years later. And finally, Adult Education. No particular reason, I just happen to like it.
As with all of my SIDtastic! collections, please feel free to download any of the tracks you like. (more…)
The Beatseqr Returns
One more video featuring Steve Cooley’s amazing Beatseqr. This time I’m using the Beatseqr to simultaneously send MIDI data to four different channel strips in Logic, each with a different instrument set up on it. Let the awesomeness ensue.
Beatseqr comes to Robot Junkyard
Here are a couple of videos I recently did explaining the basics of the Beatseqr MIDI controller which is handmade by my good friend Steve Cooley. If you are interested in getting your hands on one of these bad boys, head on over to beatseqr.com to learn more.
2011 – SIDtastic! Volume 3
SIDified versions of the songs from Phil Collins’ 1985 album No Jacket Required. Clicking on any song title will open an mp3 player for that song.
1. Sussudio
2. Only You and I Know
3. Long Long Way to Go
4. I Don’t Wanna Know
5. One More Night
6. Don’t Lose My Number
7. Who Said I Would
8. Doesn’t Anybody Stay Together Anymore
9. Inside Out
10. Take Me Home
Before Phil Collins went completely over to the dark side known as adult contemporary pop, he released this jewel of an album. Yes, No Jacket Required contained a number of pop ballads, foreshadowing Phil’s eventual direction, but he also still borrowed heavily from his Genesis roots. While the overall album hasn’t aged nearly as well as Invisible Touch which he recorded the following year with Genesis, No Jacket Required does contain some lovely nuggets.
I created the SID versions of these songs between 1987 and 1988, during the same stretch that I was covering Invisible Touch. I did not have the same emotional connection to these songs as I did Invisible Touch, and you can tell. To me, these arrangements all have distant, detached feel to them. Long, Long Way to Go contains the lions share of this groups emotion, oozing the despair of an uncompleted journey. My take on No Jacket Required finally completes its journey with the melancholy euphoria of Take Me Home.
Please enjoy.
Cheers!
View from My Eyes
