An Ultraklystron self-titled album after, uh, I guess 20 years of releasing music online
Posted on May 6th, 2018
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 11:58 pm
Why yes, I am washed! Why do you ask?
Anyway, slightly more seriously with slightly less pseudo self-deprecation, I’ve released my first Nerdcore(?) Rap(?) LP in over 2 years, and it’s brisk – 10 tracks, 26 minutes, so rather than continuing to talk about it, here’s an embed of my bandcamp, followed by links to all of the other services:
Oh that said, shoutout to CJSF in Vancouver for breaking this album already on the airwaves on their show “The Vancouver Mixtape”! College radio play for life!
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Oh yeah wait. Another 1 & 1/2.
Posted on February 15th, 2018
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 7:21 pm
Ultraklystron – No Words Only Feels
&
So I totally forgot to mention it here, but I did one more Drum n’ Bass LP & a Big Beat EP last year. Somehow I still just about managed to do a track a week on average including collabs As always, I’ve sent things to collaborators too, so seeds have been sown for 2018 as well, so actually, I probably did a bit over a track a week (most of it on the train though.) I really don’t know when I’m getting to my own new music this year (no more train commutes,) so be sure to really enjoy the 2017 stuff:
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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:
- Unwarranted Self Importance
- Romance Language
- Romance Language 2
- Romance Language 3
At the $4+ tier you add:
- Opensource Lyricist
- The Fourth Estate
- Animatic [Deluxe]
- Null Signifier
- Hours Free
- Lookbook
- Music For Tablets #
- Music For Tablets Alpha
- Music For Tablets Beta
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.
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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.