A Forgotten Trillbit Chiptrap Nightmare Rediscovered
Posted on January 23rd, 2013
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 4:27 pm
I do tend to write so much stuff that unless I make a point to render it out of Reason and stick in a playlist for future release, I will forget that I had it done. One such example is my latest little freebie EP release, Trillicon Chip:
Basically, I’d written a bunch Chiptunes meets Trap with Dubstep wobble back in 2010 while taking the ferry over to Victoria to visit Nursehella while she was finishing her university degree. Since it was never really intended as anything other instrumental music, I probably banked the five tracks I’d hashed out, figuring I’d eventually get back to them as part of a bigger electronic release. However, it’s hit me that for a lot of what I’m writing, it makes no sense to hang on to it while I write more material, and so when I find something like these tracks in my archives, I don’t see the point in hanging on to them any more. Might as well put them out for the world to enjoy.
In fact, I think I want to stick to regular EPs in future, at least for my instrumental stuff. Check back in regularly through out the year, because this is just the tip of the stuff that I’ve been holding back.
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Lost Items Returned Improved
Posted on January 8th, 2013
Filed under: Music News,Videos — Karl Olson @ 11:47 pm
Someone dug up a remix I’d even forgotten about making, and a cut nice slideshow to the song. It’s a remix of a song from the Katawa Shoujo OST, and I have to say, it got me thinking that if I do Trap/Moomba/EDM concept EP after I finish the other projects on my plate, I should probably wrap my long standing idea of a Katawa Shoujo Remix/Concept EP into it.
I don’t think I want to do more than an EP’s worth of original material at the moment anyway. Yeah, I have tons of tracks in the back catalog that might be wrapped into a different release, but I think those should be held on to for later for now. I mean, I could easily drop a two or three LP-length beat tapes tomorrow if I wanted to, plus an electronic album. The songs just need titles. However, I figure I should be responsible though first, and see if I can get MCs/vocalists on them first (or maybe even take a crack at vocals myself,) so doing a focused concept EP of fresh material seem like the best next step once I get other projects put to bed. I also think I should try to work more conceptually, at least sometimes.
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Trappings
Posted on January 3rd, 2013
Filed under: Music News,Videos — Karl Olson @ 12:07 am
The last 3 Ultraklystron tracks for 2012, all of which are Trap EDM, and all of which are free.
YouTube versions:
SoundCloud versions:
SoundCloud set:
If that’s not enough there is always the new pay-what-you-want EP/Single from Rai Kamishiro (which I produced):
And if you’re still hungry for more, you should probably at least listen to the whole of Nursehella’s Second Coming on youtube:
…if not pre-order the hard-copy.
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Long Awaited, Finally Created
Posted on December 13th, 2012
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 12:50 am
Nursehella – Second Coming – The Debut Album
Go download it. I am unreasonably proud of it.
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Three Otaku MC Legends – One Track
Posted on December 5th, 2012
Filed under: Music News,Videos — Karl Olson @ 10:31 pm
If the iFrame above doesn’t work: City of Amnesia by Ultraklystron (feat. Richie Branson & Mikal kHill)
That would be myself, Richie Branson and Mikal kHill all on one track about the Big O. This was fun to make, and it came out dope. Cop it when the full mixtape drops in the future, but stream it to death and share it everywhere in the interim.
EDIT – Now with fan tribute video:
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Massive Cyber Monday/Holiday Sales
Posted on November 26th, 2012
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 2:39 am
Digital Savings Side:
Use code HALFOFF at the Ultraklystron Bandcamp for half-off all downloads until December 3rd. This makes many releases of mine only $2.50.
Physical Savings Side:
I’ve done some big markdowns in the store, specifically…
-30% off the Animatic CD with Deluxe Download Code, taking it from $10 down to $7
-40% off the Complete Karl Olson USB Key, taking it from $25 down to $15
-40% off the Complete Karl Olson USB Key and Animatic CD combo, taking it from $35 down to $21
Shipping is still $3 in the US and $7 internationally per item, but those are some pretty big discounts. Get them while the getting is good.
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Purchases & Downloads & People You Should Know
Posted on May 28th, 2012
Filed under: General,Music News — Karl Olson @ 12:22 pm
The webstore is back up. It’s still not pretty, but for the first time ever, I can offer international shipping. It is, in the words of Mr. Dink, “very expensive”, but it’s there. For those who don’t buy things, have a fresh mediafire upload of Animatic at the store as well. My friends said I should’ve made the free version .wma files, but I am not a sadist.
Meanwhile, I want to take a moment to recommend two releases by two artists who I think any fan of mine would almost certainly enjoy. In fact, both are at least two orders of magnitude more popular than me anyway, so I really hope my half-dozen regular readers already copped these releases and know these people. Let’s not leave anything to chance though:
Richie Branson – Otaku Tuesdays v.1: Richie is a dope mc and a producer, and he is self-proclaimed King of Otaku Rap. Normally, I’m not sold on boasts like that, but much like YT Cracker’s self-proclaimed crown, it’s 100% legit. He sticks to themes, while not sacrificing delivery and production. Every track covers a seminal piece of anime, yet it never feels impersonal nor like simple summary – he makes each track count. For any friend you can’t get into HipHop, Richie is probably the best gateway artist since Random, and like Ran, his style makes him a great Nerdcore artist to relay to Hip-hop-obsessed friends. He and I are currently working on a collab centered around The Big O, and really, I just hope I manage to keep pace. You should check him out.
Adam WarRock – NeoTokyo: Speaking of sticking to themes, Adam WarRock knocks it out of the park with his new Akira-themed release, NeoTokyo. Adam’s an amazing MC as well, and it’s definitely on display here. He definitely captures the story and setting of Akira, and DecepticoN punches in with fitting and clean production. The impressive part is that this is basically the average for WarRock; he’s been knocking it out of the park like this for a while now, and previous works touch on anime as well; for example, he samples Evangelion on his track “Human” off his second album, “You Dare Call That Thing Human?!?” and the usage was dead on. All this culminates in a similar refrain on my part: if you’re not following Adam WarRock, you should be.
All in all, otaku-centric Nerdcore was never something I could ever really lay sole claim to anyway, but these days, I really think anyone into me should be aware of artists working with the same themes. You’re missing out on too much otherwise.
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Animatic is Out
Posted on April 13th, 2012
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 3:01 pm
Coming soon, get the regular version on a plastic disk, get the fancy version as audio files free!
It’s done. It’s apparently somewhere between 1000 and over 9000 tracks depending on whose twitter you follow. I really hope people enjoy it. I mean, I’d like people to buy it too, but frankly, I’ll be happy with as many people as possible embracing the album. I hope it connects with people. It’s all the stuff I love and think about, and it’s all wrapped into what I think is pretty catchy and fun package, even when I’m being more serious.
But, like I say right at the start of the album’s first first, “Sixth’s time the charm, but even I am skeptical.”
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Waiting For The Other Shoe To Drop
Posted on April 3rd, 2012
Filed under: General,Music News — Karl Olson @ 1:36 pm
So, the lovely dose of early-00s cartoon nostalgia this past weekend was followed today by the lovely luck of getting a whole bunch of clothes for $3 dollars an item. After taxes I was only in it for about 20 bucks for 2 pairs of jeans, 2 pairs of cargo pants and 2 new sweaters. Honestly, I’ve hit so much in the way of clothing deals in the past few years I really didn’t anything I picked up, but when you’re talking 3 bucks for any new item of clothing, it’s worth it if it fits. Of course, my neurotic side is just waiting for things to de-laminate and implode as often seems to be the case for me.
If this convention-loaded weekend goes swimmingly, I can only assume I’m going to be completely gutted by my finals, or my fans decide my new album is a national tragedy and generally awful.
Though, I am having a lot of trouble writing my final paper.
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Pre-Orders Are Over/Re-Orders Are Starting
Posted on March 22nd, 2012
Filed under: Music News — Karl Olson @ 12:49 am
It’s good thing I didn’t try to do a Kickstarter, because I doubt I would’ve made the money I asked for. Also, they take forever to setup and get cash to you apparently, and with any luck, pre-orders are set to ship by April 9th. I’ll keep people in the loop as the goods come in, but so far, I think we’re holding steady. Anyway, it looks like I’ll be in the black (barely) off the preorders. Well, maybe not after shipping, but hopefully, more than a few people want stuff at Norwescon and Sakuracon. We’ll just have to see how that goes. I have to say though, it was definitely only friends/super fans who preordering the album. I somewhat expected that, but at the same time, I hope one day I can see a name I haven’t seen on the order lists for my previous albums.
The re-order part comes in regards to Rai’s album, which we’re pushing back from her severe bronchitis. How severe was said bronchitis, you may ask? If she waited another day or two for treatment, we’d be using the word “pneumonia” instead. Probably also with the words “hospital stay.” However, this is not going to be time wasted – she can’t record vocals right as is recovering for the next few weeks (doctor’s orders,) but there are other aspects of her new album and the related materials she’s working on.
Frankly though, I’m just glad she isn’t in the hospital. Rai’s not just a great musician to work with, but more importantly she’s a good friend. Sure, I want just as badly as she does to get this record done, but her health comes first.
To end on a positive note, Nursehella and I will hit the studio again in the next couple weeks for atleast two sessions. Given the rate at which she’s been knocking down vocals, that means we’ll have the principal vocal recording done in those two sessions. That means in the next couple weeks, the vocal recording part of the long anticipated (even by me,) debut of Nursehella shall occur. Then we start working on some sort of Kickstarter equivalent for her. It should be a blast, and I already know the incentives for said donation campaign should be awesome.
Things may still not happen in the order now anticipated, but so I long as I live, they’re gonna happen.