Woob “Return To The City” Keycard Edition unboxing

Last night I came home to a special little package in the mailbox mailed directly to me by Paul Frankland. Frankland is the man behind Woob. He has released an excellent pair of albums as Journeyman with collaborator Colin Waterton, as well as a few other releases as Max & Harvey.

So the latest Woob album, entitled Return To The City, has finally landed in a physical format. Although 24-bit digital files of the album have been available for some time, the physical release was delayed… until now. I must say right off that this is a pretty deluxe package, the most ambitious yet even considering the extra mile Frankland went with 2010′s lovely Repurpose album which also came out in several slightly different editions. With the various release formats of Return To The City, it makes sense to clarify what is what. Posts on the official Woob blog indicate that, aside from the pure digital and keycard editions, a special one-off Mainframe Edition was also released that included an analog monophonic synthesizer called the Monowuub. This uber-deluxe edition is not listed on discogs at the time of writing. Instead the Keycard Edition is listed on discogs as being the Mainframe Edition. This is the version I received.

Strictly limited to 50 copies, only 33 were signed and numbered by Frankland with a silver sharpie. Upon opening I discovered I had received lucky #2! What’s most noteworthy about the Keycard Edition is the inclusion of a few extra goodies, including 4 bonus tracks that were not included in the digital-only release and some additional images and videos. The keycard itself came packed in a nice case with a magnetic clasp. Once you pop the keycard out, you swing the USB connector out to plug it in.

Frankland is really on a roll these last few years with all his projects and many enjoyable releases. Musically, I’d say Return to the City is his strongest effort since the original Woob1194 release. Be sure to check out the Woob Bandcamp pages for further information about other recent releases and singles.

Happy New Ears 2012

I tried to do something beatless and austere for new years again. I always try for such a set, but it just didn’t come out that way this round. Instead, we’ve got a set made up of favorites from 2011. All those Top 10 lists out there are going to take you a while to explore, so here’s something you can enjoy right now. Start off with a handful of uplifting tracks that set the stage with some easy beats. Then explore more intense rhythms that map to the outer edges of beat science. You’ll finish out the set with exquisite ambiance from two of the UK’s great masters in the craft. Clocks in at just under an hour, check it out on the soundcloud page or download it.

Final Radio Show for 2011 this Friday Night

Looks like this Friday night will be my final radio broadcast for 2011. I’ll bring a bag full of my favorite tracks from this year for ambient, dub techno, future garage, and whatever else raised the bar for intriguing electronic noises over the past twelve months. This will be the year in review and a special cocktail of sounds concentrated down into 120 minutes you won’t want to miss. Already looking ahead to 2012 which is shaping up to be a good year for wild sounds. Tune in via the various streaming options at www.wnur.org or 89.3 WNUR-FM on your FM dial in the Chicagoland area. Show starts around 12:30am (Friday night) Chicago time and will go for at least two hours, possibly longer for the marathon headz. Hope you’ve had a good 2011 and wish you the best in 2012!!!

DJ set @ the Morseland tonight

Tonight, the evening of Wednesday November 30th, at the Morseland I’ll be joining Lokua and Dormilón for the weekly humpday groove session going on in Rogers Park from 10pm until 2am. Dormilón looks set to start us off for the evening with a range of chip tune stylings. I hit the decks soon after with some future garage, atmospheric lounge music and chilled downtempo to break up the evening’s techno beats. Lokua will finish us off with some harder hitting techno tracks. This is a rare weeknight outing for me and a fine blend of musical offerings on tap for tonight on Chicago’s north side. The Morseland is a nice place serving up food and drinks all night long, so come by and check it out.

Fall Update :: Relax In Your Chairs

Hello friends! Well there’s lots of colorful leaves on the ground here in the Chicago area, and the kiddies have been ghouled up this evening for trick or treating. It’s been quite a while since my last post, so two mixes this time around. The first is a new beatless mix, an exclusive set pulling material from the four corners of the ambient world, including selections from several ambient veterans as well as lesser known artists who clearly deserve more exposure. This set will take you on a journey into both intimate and expansive soundscapes. Most of the content is from the last few years, with one or two older tracks to stitch things together smoothly. Why? Because turntables don’t work in zero-G. Also just posted is an excerpt of a radio show I did last winter, originally broadcast on WNUR-FM 89.3 December 17th, 2010. It’s a set of more upbeat tunes that were consistently bouncing around my playlists around that time. Most of these tracks were brand new when the show occurred. Get them both here & have at it!

show tonight + new tasty sounds

Doing a quick show tonight from 9-10pm on behalf of EntroMC & Grifty. Jack in to the live mix happening via 89.3 WNUR-FM or the live streams at www.wnur.org

Next, check out the recent soundcloud post from Relaxed Machinery, featuring JKN, Vir Unis and James Johnson doing a live improvisational set recorded live during my radio show on WNUR-FM 89.3 from back in 2003. More information on John’s soundcloud page.

Finally listen to recent work from Chris Russell, entitled Together Again, which features a field recording I made a couple years ago of a group of owls. Listen to Russell’s track and for more information about the field recording refer to the info page for it.

Short Early Show

Quick early show this Friday night, August 12th on 89.3 WNUR-FM during what would normally be EntroMC’s Grifty hour from 9-10pm. You can also tune in online if you’re outside broadcast range. If you’ve caught any of my previous sets this summer you already know to expect a handful of spacious post-steppers and future garage carefully infused with quality ambientechno, dubbed out downtempo, and beatless atmospherics assembled by hand from only the finest vinyl and high quality digital sources (turntables don’t work in zero-G). A recent streaming set is up in the mixcloud, and before a few expire check out the mixes page, if you’re into that sort of thing. Perseids are flying tonight, but the Moon’s all up in your grill too so may be difficult to see without a strategy.

10 o’clock session tonight

Tune in on the session tonight @ 10pm on 89.3FM or www.wnur.org. If you’ve been enjoying the mixes lately this one will not disappoint. Lots of new releases to play and we’ll be covering a handful of styles across the 90-minute set.

Two In A Row

I’ll be doing another round tonight on 89.3 WNUR-FM starting around 11:30pm and going for 90 minutes or so. This will be a warm-up session for m50′s set later tonight, as well the evening’s special guest Kassem Mosse. Also during the mix, be sure to check out the realtime video component which will be generated courtesy of Bit Synthesis. During the mix, hit this link to watch the show [http://bitsynthesis.com/live/].

Friday July 1st :: Guest radio session tonight!

We hit the airwaves around 11:30pm CDT, starting off with Michael Serafini (Gramaphone Records / Boom Boom Room) alongside The Cushion who will be bringing their latest goodies for your enjoyment. Following their sets, stay tuned for a return mix from Islamabots stuffed full of future garage and UK funky grooves + helium divas. This one not to be missed! Use the online streams at www.wnur.org or tune your radio dial to 89.3 WNUR-FM here in the Chicago area. As always, check the download page for the latest archival mixes, more updates coming soon!