All of the tracks of these release are made only with one Game Boy DMG and the Nanoloop 1.3 program. Hydrioider album is a session of almost one hour of music performed and recorded in live, with some improvised parts. It was recorded directly into computer with a Pro Sound modification in the Game Boy but without any extra effects, editions or postproduction stages. 100 % DMG and Nanoloop. Hydrioider was created during 2009. The cover is made with Photoshop by Ralp.

http://www.ralp.org

All songs composed and produced by Ariel Gross and Dave Benjamin. Sampling, sequencing, and keyboard by Ariel Gross and Dave Benjamin. Guest keyboard and production on Dry Bones by Taylor Pakula. Drums, guitar, and bass guitar by Dave Benjamin. Drums on Pointy Fingers, Stellar Converter, and Also the Game recorded and mixed by Ariel Gross with help from Matt Helman and the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Gilbert, Arizona. Mastered DIY over the internet.

Dave would like to thank Taylor for his undying persistence in getting him to accept Ableton into his life, and the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences for the most amazing set of microphones he has ever seen or used.

Ariel would like to thank Dave for thanking the people that he thanks, because Dave’s thanks pretty much cover Ariel’s thanks. Also, Ariel thanks his chuchkin.

Ralp’s Biography:

Raül Peix (Ralp). Multifaceted artist member of Device, Distortled Box and Tricoma, independent collectives dedicated to audiovisual creations. Under the same name, Ralp takes different paths in electronic music, digital music with an IDMcore aesthetic made with computer, circuit bending and 8 Bit productions with Nintendo Game Boy. During his trajectory he has played in several events and festivals around Europe and in lots of improvised “mini-raves” in the street. So far he has published sonorous material in some netlabels like Brainstormlab (London), Crazy-Language (Berlin), DexandtheCity (Letonia), 49Manekinów (Polonia), Noise-Joy (USA) and Spoomusic (USA).

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/ralp8bit

http://www.myspace.com/ralpralpralp

Our planet.  It’s the biggest and most beautiful gift we have, yet almost all of us take it for granted.  In fact, many of us thoughtlessly cause harm to this great gift through seemingly inconsequential actions on a daily basis.  What’s worse is that this type of behavior is condoned and encouraged by our society at large.  As the average income ratio of the richest 1/5 to the poorest 1/5 on the planet soars toward 100:1 and beyond, all many of us can think about on a daily basis is what’s on tv or what we’re going to buy next.  We live as though we’re not intimately connected to nature and to this planet that we are so fortunate to live on.

This album’s content spans more than a year, and thus, contains the full range of emotions and experiences from that period.  I learned a great many things during this time, as one does in one’s travels, and many of those things contributed to the thoughts and feelings that went into the album.

I’d like to take some time to thank EVERYONE in my experience for being a part of it, and specifically my friends and family for all of the love and support they’ve given me over the years (especially this last year).  Special thanks to modem for his inspiration, teachings, and encouragement.  Special thanks also to James Stimac for the fabulous album art.  Finally, a big thank you to The Zeitgeist Movement and The Venus Project for opening my eyes and giving me hope and something to work towards.  Check them out at the following links:
http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com
http://www.thevenusproject.com

Album art by Joseph Ratigan.

The Fantastical Nikmis vs the Evil Dr. Crobe

Chapter ONE
One day the Fantastical Nikmis was winning a battle against Dr. Crobes minions. He kept killing them till they were dead by shooting them with his magic powers from his hands. Suddenly he flew real fast and then exploded ON TOP OF THEM! “AAAAHH” Stop killing us please they cried But then it was already done and they died. Or did they? They didn’t really die yet because Dr. Crobe their boss made them really smart with his ultra science powers he learned at evil school. BUt it was ok cause then Nikmis said “by the power of happiness YOU SHOULD DIE” and they did badly. Nikmis one the battle but he did not win the war yet although he wins the war in the end. The war isnt over until later. Or is it?

Chapter TWO
This is the story of the Fantastical Nikmis. One day he was drinking tea but then suddenly he broke the teapot. “NO!” he cried but then it was too late
Outside the wind blew air onto the face of him but it did not care alot. The world needed saving because the evil Dr. Crobe would destroy it if it wasnt saved! Nikmis was sad and had to kill several bad guys with a gun or sword to kill them. He aproched Dr. Crobes base inside a abandoned warehouse on a dusty road of despair. but then suddenly more bad guys got killed. “HIYAHH” “DIE” he killed them
“It’s too late,” Dr. Crobe smiled. It was an evil smile that he held the gun with.
“No it’s not too late YOU INSANE MANIC” and he ran to him. And he used his secret magical powar to kill him. The wrold was saved from the evi Dr. Crobel.
“Hooray I saved the wolrd!” he shouted. he shouted “THE WORLD IS SAFE” But was it? For how long was the world really truely save?

CHAPTER FOUR:
Nikmis flies to his friends house

But he couldn’t fly to good because Dr. Crobe had cursed him with his words. So instead he went to the video game store and played some. Then suddenly there was Dr. Crobe. “I’m going to do science” he said with an evil smile of content. “No you wont never” “Oh yes, I will!” and then there was a battle they had. Maybe you think Dr. Crobe was dead cause he was dead in the last chapter, but he did science to come back to life. Evil Science.

CHAPTER FIVE.
“OOOH!!” shouted Nikmis. As he ran as fast as he could like a ninja. But he was too fast for Dr. Crobe got out from the way and said “OH!” Then suddenly Dr. Crobe ninjad Nikmis in the back and said “A HA NOW I SHALL TIE YOU UP” in a British accent because Dr. Crobe was from there. So then he tied him up and took him back to his evil layer. It was then that Nikmis felt real sick cause he got injured in the back too hard. “Oh you despicable friend Docter Crobe!” said Nikmis as he used his powers to kill everyone and save the world. But for how long?

THE END

Remixes are good for the soul.  This is true for both the artist and the listener – each grows a bit in moving from the beginning to the end.  This album splits nearly right down the middle in terms of whether the remix was at the request of someone or chosen as a special experiment.  I hope all are as enjoyable to listen to as they were to make!

Special thanks to my sister Lizzy, as I would never have thought to remix ABBA without her, and my buddy boy James Stimac (whose name you should see more often if you’re into art) for the fantastic album cover.

HI SWEETIES,

Molly_eskonitron is a name that I gave to the type of work I was doing in that range of a year and a half. The older stuff (2002-2004) all had the name of vale_eskonitron. It’s a hard thing to try to describe certain period of life where you have a range of ideas and expressions that reflect those ideas, so I just give these periods names when the word sounds like it fits the ideas. These songs have a similar kind of idea as the vale_eskonitron period, but their differences are more audible to me than their similarities. It’s hard to explain, so I won’t bother. This is collection of songs I usually play live but have never actually released (aside from that one live cd… but that doesn’t count). Most of them are Nintendo-oriented and such. Here’s a bit about how they came about…

“The Robot and Unicorn Festival” was written in october of 2005 with the help of a now deceased modified speak & math. It was originally a 56-second slower song done for a compilation that never came out. I couldn’t stop writing and adding to it, and it ended up being over 4 minutes long… halfway thanks to the obnoxious acid solo that only comes out descently when played live

“1986 Peepees and Weewees” is a rip off of the Beastie Boys song “Girls!”, but it happened halfway by accident. The intro and main chord progression of the song was originally 3 1/2 steps higher and had slight timing variations. When I was messing around and trying to come up with parts for new songs, I had a keyboard hooked up to my Nintendo and would just record stuff while playing. Most of these songs came out of this one recording-while-messing-around session. This loop ended up getting stuck in my head so I developed it into a full loop with drums and backing synths before trying to write it out as a full song. When half of the full song was done, I was like “aww man! this is that Beastie Boys song!!” Then I was like “Who gives a shit!” and finished it. The drums are all overprocessed NES sounds I recorded while doing the initial recording tests and stuff. The higher-up synths in the later parts of the song are from my Nintendo as well. They were sequenced for this album, but usually get played live.

“Alfred Chicken” is a cover of the ending song from the Nintendo game by the same name. The original is simply one of the baddest, most ill-taco, hydrochloric neptune jams ever. period. Not THE baddest though… that’s “Tendance Part 5″ by Patrick Peters. Anyway, even the Alfred Chicken ending song done for Super Nintendo was awesome because it used a voice “ahh” for the main synth. Just awesome.

“Hawaii Of Course” came from an entire group of parts that were written for the song “Jackie (The Ending Song)”. They didn’t quite fit in anywhere, so they all got their own song. Parts of the drums come from my Casio VL-Tone, a Nintendo, and 800 other trinkets. If I remember right, the slight voice sound heard throughout the song is my voice run through a George Foreman grill.

“Jackie (The Ending Song)” sounds like… um… and ending song. Something like the ending of the Pee-Wee Herman Show. The main part came from that recording mentioned earlier, but was then sequenced and transposed. Then I learned to play it on the guitar. Then I messed around playing it, tabbed what I played, then resequenced that. It seems like a ridiculous process. It is.

“The Legend of Jack Burton” is entirely Nintendo. No modifying samples, no processing, no nothing. Just Nintendo. I think we know who it’s named for. If not, it’s a character in this movie I watched every other day between the ages of 3 and 4.

A few songs got cut out of this cd, including a cover of a Guardian Legend song. I figured one cover (and one sound-alike) were quite enough.

Have fun with this cd.

Terminator 8: Return Of My Keys,

-captainmarmalade

p.s. Really, I can’t find them.

When I (ramen) worked at Borders at Fiesta Mall in Mesa, Arizona (Hi, Kai! Hi, Nick!), someone would always get on the PA around closing time and announce, “Borders Books and Music will be closing in 10 short minutes…”. I found this to be completely absurd, and would often complain, “no wonder it takes me so long to do all these dishes–they only give me short minutes…”.

This album is about not having time to finish. Most of the tracks are under a minute long. Some are longer. Others are finished. For the most part, this is what you get when life hands you the short minutes. The track list might grow if we can find the time to not finish more tracks, so watch this space! (What does that even mean? Watch space? WTF?)

I’d like to take this time to

If the world were to end today, this album would be its theme for doing so. Complete with beams of judgment, this album depicts the world ending the way it should be done: beautifully, and finally. Each original track was created from the ashes of a major crisis or other world-shattering event, and both remixes are completely annihilated versions of the originals. Enjoy, and remember to watch the show from a safe location: the edge of the solar system.

‘Nikmis and the Mystery of the Blue-Blooded Wendigo, Which Had Undergone Musk Gland Enhancement Surgery, at The Expense of €599, in Order To Achieve Success With Members of the Opposite Sex. His name were Edward, and In Life He Had Been a Trained Ventriloquist, Although He Had Never Been to The Ocean’,

or ‘Nikmis and the Mystery of the Blue-Blooded Wendigo’ for short, is Nikmis’ second full-length release on spoomusic, or anywhere for that matter! Artwork by Randy Green!

‘Nikmis and the Mystery of the Blue-Blooded Wendigo’ tells a story, concerning the mysterious ‘Blue-Blooded Wendigo’, which is apparently a giant mushroom near the ocean. Nikmis is shocked to see it, while stick figures dance in the sky. Nikmis must race against the clock to defeat the evil giant spider of death, who is an interesting fellow! Also, there is music, of the electronic/classical variety. Its sort of like Wendy Carlos except the music is not as good as Bach, and the synthesizers are not as smart as the Moog Modular. Not that Nikmis means to put himself down, thats just the truth. Track 11 is by a cover from guest artists, The Sideshow Brothers, who did an A Capella Version of Elo (track 8).. This is a mystery even Nikmis can’t solve. Can you? No, you can’t. Or can you?

“Its fantastic! Its so awesome, people will be sending him vast quantities of money. They will be selling their cars, stealing them back, and driving the sold and stolen vehicles to wherever it is that Nikmis lives, and giving the cars and money as offerings to him. Nikmis will be much too magnanimous to accept such petty gifts, and instead will only accept their unwavering servitude. As a result, Nikmis shall rule the world. However, one day yeti partisans will discover that ‘Nikmis and the Mystery of the Blue-Blooded Wendigo’ wasn’t half as good as ‘Eine Kleine Nekopanmusik’, and the revolutionaries will be victorious, curse their furry hides. Nikmis will die as he lived, cold and alone on the frozen plains of Canada, while drinking tea. It will be oolong tea, of the tung ting variety.” - an impartial review by someone who isn’t Nikmis

Nikmis on myspace!

The Sideshow Brothers (who did track 11)

A Nikmis Fansite, if you can believe it

sexy photograph;