Welcome dojonions! We're on our 4th week at 'le dojo', and as usual, let's discover 3 tracks and 3 artists together. We're giving you links, videos, and loads of stuff to give depth to your discovery. A little guided visit in 'le dojo' awaits, sounds good?
Sweet! Let's make way for Max Cooper and his never-ending universe. This first gem is truly intriguing, so hold tight! Oh, and you'll need headphones for this one.
[Headphones Only]
Here at le dojo we don't even know where to start with this producer. He is THE perfect link between science, music and visual arts (he's actually a doctor in computational biology)...He's an explorer, a mad scientist and as passionate as it gets. Anyways, here is « Resynthesis 3D », a beautiful journey that the Irish producer has reworked in a Binaural Audio experience (don't worry, we'll explain what that is).
To give some context: Max Cooper has already 21 tracks released this year, and 16 albums/EPs since 2009. He's made binaural audio, a DOLBY ATMOS film, advert music, holograms, immersive installations, and so much more... The tune we're sharing with you this week was initially released on the 36-track album/compilation « Balance » in 2018. (By the way, to close the cycle 'dojonion-style', that album includes a track from Rival Consoles, an artist we talked about in our hall_03) « Resynthesis 3D » appears on the 3D Reworks 001 EP released in April this year. Cooper's concept is to rework previously released tunes he made, by carefully replacing each and every sound into a new space, and making a new 3 dimensional story. Now, what's binaural audio?
We could say that it's like virtual reality, but for your ears. The technology has already existed for quite a long time (the first song recorded in binaural was released in 1978). Yet there has been a lot of refinement with the introduction of immersive video games and VR. Binaural audio gives surround sound (achieved with a minimum of 6 speakers) an unprecedented accessibility. The listener just needs headphones, it's as easy as that. Of course, the better the headphones, the better the experience. Similarly to VR, binaural audio can feel a little disorientating and weird though, but that's just when it's done in an extreme way. It's achieved - basically - with the combination of variations in parameters such as in volume, distance, delays, space and frequencies (a source of sound coming from behind you will be muffled, it'll have less high frequencies. check it out if you're interested: vidéo BBC).
You combine this technology with music and you get your audience completely immersed, intrigued and entranced. If done right, it's just sublime.
This 3D Reworks EP was released through Max Cooper's unique label: Mesh. An incredibly creative community that thrives on pushing the boundaries of audio-visual art. When you follow Max Cooper on instagram for example, you see crazy good visuals. His catalogue never ends, especially with music videos. One of our favourites (amongst so many) is Circular.
If you want to lose yourself in his audio-visual works, go ahead, Cooper has so much to offer: https://emergence.maxcooper.net/
--> And if you'd rather listen to some of his productions: Order from Chaos or Perpetual Motion
Max Cooper, it's simply eargasms and eyegasms at the same time!
We open up our hall_04's second door to talk a bit more about our local swiss scene. Let's take you to Crans-Montana for a gem by Giorgio Maulini: Una Venezuela
It's a beautiful track, a peaceful and comforting walk in the forest. A track that warms you up in winter and gives you chills in summer.
It all starts with the sweet sound of a forest. The piano comes in ever so quietly, and blends into the track's landscape as if it had always been there. The chord sequence embraces you like waves on a beach, bringing that unique swooosh. You suddenly realise you're already 8 minutes-in, and have completely surrendered to the music. You just put it on repeat, you just have to.
On top of producing quality sounds, the south-american's contribution to the local scene is remarkable. Resident for Caprices & MDRNTY, he founded Underground Town in Crans-Montana, a label that already counts 3 releases. In 2020, the artist gained momentum and piled-up releases: special mention to Bouncing Visa and Spaceport. On top of that, he announced this summer the creation of a new label 'MAU', especially made for his own releases. Living Room Beats is his first album on the label, a project he'd been working on for a while that explores other areas he's not used to exploring.
In short, Giorgio Maulini is an extremely talented and creative artist, whether it be in the studio or behind the decks. YES, we've seen him in action, and we know for a fact that this vinyl-lover does everything he can to share his passion thanks to a niche selection. Giorgio knows what he's doing and is an undeniable reference in the french-swiss local scene too. It's not only thanks to his production, but also because he's shaking things up. Le dojo is looking forward to see what he has in the loop for the end of this year and the next one!
To end this hall with power, we present this crazy "brit' connection". Blawan and Pariah get together to form Karenn, a british south-north fusion that has a taste for risk but most importantly that knows how to make you move. Here's On Request.
It's bass, it's heavy, it's techno, it's modular, it's crushing, it's synthy, it's Pariah, it's Blawan. It's gooood.
Who's Karenn? Well, about ten years ago, Blawan and Pariah decide to step into live performance. They hide behind a bunch of cables and machines that they now know by heart, to deliver heavy techno sets. The english duo lets its creativity talk with synthesizers, drum machines, loopers, and effect pedals among others. It's honestly just hell'of crazy.
If we wanted to talk about Karenn it's because we're impressed by their work and what they represent. They could have opted for a regular duo but decided to perform ONLY live for around ten years now. It's not a coincidence if both of them, separately and together, represent a real moving force for british techno. You can see this MAGICAL live performance they did for Resident Advisor here:
Well, seeing how amazing they are at live performance, we can wonder why they've started releasing songs? Pariah says that one of the main reasons that made them release Music Sounds Better with Shoe - the EP that contains On Request - it's because they wanted to thank everyone for the support they've had for the past 10 years. In fact, their move from a live setting to the studio further reinforces the influence the duo has on the development of british techno. Last year was an incredible year for Karenn as they launched they label Voam and their first album Grapefruit Regret.The result of their work is an edgy modular techno, and it's banging!
Listen to: Karenn - Crush the Mushrooms, Kumquat; Blawan - Careless, 993; Pariah - Linnae, Orpheus