A Rather Unexpected Drum n’ Bass Triptych

Posted on November 14th, 2017

Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 10:32 pm

Much to even my own surprise, I had ten more big Drum n’ Bass tracks in me this year, resulting in If You Have To Ask You Will Never Know, my 3rd LP in that genre this year. This time, I actually waited to blog about it until I had it up on some of the major music services, so if you’re more about iTunes, Spotify or Amazon, there you go. It should be up on all major services before too long, so keep an eye on or follow my artist page on your service of choice. The other albums of this sudden trilogy, Lookbook and Emergent Behaviour are also up on the all of the major services or should be there shortly too.

That said, it’s a bit shocking to me that I’ve probably released the most Drum n’ Bass since I was teenager this year. It certainly wasn’t anything I planned. However, it was rather enjoyable to write these records and find themes to encapsulate each one. Further still, my process – working out songs while commuting to and from work – was ultimately a throwback to how I often wrote in my early teenage years. Back then I’d have my headphones and QY70 pocket sequencer as I took the metro bus back home, burning through AA batteries on a black & white LCD screen with no backlight. The gear may have changed along with where I’m commuting, but at the end of the day, it’s about finding a relaxing use for time that’d otherwise be spent moping on public transit. I think I did a pretty good of that at a minimum.

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Neo Yokio is about to get lit…

Posted on September 25th, 2017

Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 10:17 am

Why a tribute to the Netflix X Jaden Smith X Ezra Koenig X Nick Weidenfeld (of Viceland) anime mini-series Neo Yokio? Well, it was a fun watch, and the running Toblerone gag was oddly inspiring. Besides, I’ve released one other Rap track this year, gotta take chances when I’m feeling it. Which hasn’t been often… huh maybe this worked because I certainly had the right melancholic mood for a Neo Yokio tribute 😉

BTW, the actual show is good fun if you don’t overthink it or expect some visual masterpiece. This was done on a relative shoe string for Fox’s ADHD block originally, and could’ve been lost to time if the folks involved didn’t put in a lot of work to get it moved to Netflix. Approach it lightly and it’s a good time.

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Charity and New Releases

Posted on August 26th, 2017

Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 3:05 pm

So, I’m currently doing a big bundle deal with charity bundle site groupees which you should check out if you’ve not downloaded much of my music. After all, you get the following goods:

At the $2 tier you get:

At the $4+ tier you add:

If you spend up enough, there are physical rewards including autographed CDs and my complete current discography on a hand-customized thumb drive! If we meet the second tier stretch goal, there’s even more music in store.

That said, I dropped Lookbook, another pure Drum n’ Bass LP (because of course, after dusting it off for the first time in decade, I’d swing on it again,) so please enjoy it:

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Back to (Drum n’) Bas(s)ics.

Posted on June 19th, 2017

Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 9:49 pm

Strictly speaking, I’ve not done a pure Drum n’ Bass LP since 2004 when I released the initial edition of Haven (which I later remastered and re-released in 2006.) I’ve done bits here and there on my Music For Tablets #, alpha & beta releases, on Doujinshi and on Service Attack. Somehow, the idea of making an LP of straight drum n’ bass wasn’t something I’d felt that into. Perhaps that was in part because of how strong Haven is as a release in my eyes; it is a high water mark in my rather formidable discography. Perhaps it was also that making HipHop became such a passion for me (once I’d found a way to have a voice in it that didn’t at least seem immediately false or fake, if not authentic,) that electronic music of all sorts became more of an influence on my sonic palette rather than a pure focus in it’s own right.

However, now as I feel perhaps as if Null Signifier is a rather difficult to top record in my discography, I’ve somewhat naturally focused back towards electronic music, perhaps especially Drum n’ Bass because at this point, I am no longer concerned with whether what I do tops what I made over a decade ago, and so can now approach it purely in the moment. Of course, having a smartphone with Caustic loaded, the modern equivalent of the QY70 pocket sequencer that I learned how to compose drum n’ bass on, with me at all times, and most importantly on my train commute to and from work, perhaps also provided greater focus towards purely instrumental driven music, but that alone wouldn’t have allowed me to let go and make this release.

So, enjoy my first pure Drum n’ Bass LP in over a decade, Emergent Behaviour. It’s nice to come full circle, and I hope that I can continue to create from that mindset going forward:

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I was chill until the Laura Palmer Funko Pop

Posted on May 16th, 2017

Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 12:03 am

That, was a bridge too far me, and that company had vacuumed up the toy rights for way too many shows just to squander them on creepy soulless eye figures, let alone super tasteless creepy eye figures.

So, a diss track 😀

Bandcamp:

Youtube:

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Vaporwave & Vaportrap, Again

Posted on November 1st, 2016

Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 9:41 pm

This time leveraging VHS tape idents, hence An Identity Crisis:

Youtube:

Bandcamp:

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Your Future Presentation

Posted on September 3rd, 2016

Filed under: Music News,Videos — Karl Olson @ 11:39 am

A visual Future Funk & Vaportrap EP drawn from multiplex cinema policy trailers from days long past.

Free Download At Bandcamp.

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Long Time No See

Posted on June 17th, 2016

Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 10:13 am

First things first, I dropped a new album.

It’s also up a lot of other great services like Spotify, Amazon and iTunes.

The reviews are really good so far.

Also, I dropped this EP:

I also dropped a bunch of instrumental releases on bandcamp and youtube, so if the above isn’t enough, subscribe and go in. I should be doing some production work for other artists this year as well; keep an eye out for it.

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Ultraklystron: Most Otaku Ever [M.O.E.] Mixtape

Posted on August 9th, 2015

Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 8:57 pm


Ultraklystron – Most Otaku Ever [M.O.E.] Free Download

I know this is something I’ve been teasing for over a year, but here it is, finally. 7 otakucore/nerdcore tracks covering Texhnolyze, Ghost In The Shell, Earth Maiden Arjuna, Fruits Basket, Haibane Renmei, Onegai Teacher & Gravitation, thus covering a breadth of anime genres and HipHop production styles while I’m at it. I’m also happy with the concise the release is – I have backing for three more jams, but I’m back pocketing them for now. Since this release somewhat subliminally ended up as a love letter to the anime of the early 2000s/late 90s, I think I might try to keep a similar focus intentionally in future anyway, which the other tracks would’ve blown. That said, I know some of these titles are rather obscure, but really, that’s the point. I love the big name anime and manga as much as the next guy, but I wanted to show love to the more oddball stuff that actually kept me following the medium, and thus consequently had a huge impact on the path of my life. If anime hadn’t hooked me, well, that’s a full on alternate reality at this point. Being an otaku brought to where I am today, and since I quite enjoy what I do and who I know, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

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New Otakucore Hiphop

Posted on May 31st, 2015

Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 4:57 pm

Calling Out (Ghost in the Shell Tribute)

And in case you missed it, The City Awakes (Texhnolyze Tribute)

So yeah, I’m still working on The M.O.E. (Most Otaku Ever) Mixtape. Beats are locked in, but since it’s all gonna be themed tracks, I want to make sure I really represent the anime I’m sampling properly. It’s probably the toughest time I’ve had writing lyrics in a while, but it’s a good tough. The kind of work that sharpens my lyricism and focuses my attentions in a new way. Hopefully the result works well.

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