Baths is 21-year old Will Wiesenfeld, a So-Cal native who grew up in the San Fernando Valley. Playing various instruments since the age of 4, he began to produce electronic music at 13.  Recording under the monikers [Post-Foetus] and Geotic, both projects combined sound design, ambient soundscapes and live instrumentation, laying the groundwork for what was to come.

Baths, the next installment of Will’s musical evolution, takes his artistry to another level in all aspects of being a self-taught musician, songwriter and producer. The much-anticipated and multi-dimensional album is where his influences collide, merging musically-trained sensibilities with the nuances of electronic music – fittingly par for the course in a time when the boundaries between the two are becoming increasingly blurred.

Below, Will speaks to his process, inspirations, and more. Check it out!

What was the writing process like for this record? As your first LP under the name Baths, were there any new discoveries?

I made sure that nothing was premeditated. Most of my material under the name [Post-foetus] had very specific ideas before i ever sat down and started recording, but (at least for this first album) I wanted a departure from that sort of writing process. I made sure to just immediately start recording and having fun before I thought too deeply about anything

Who would you love to collaborate with?

Björk! The ultimate for me. But in truth, never been much of a good collaborator… I’m learning

As a musician, how do you think classical songwriting affects the way electronic music is produced? Do the two go hand-in-hand?

Classical training goes well with composing in any genre of music, let alone electronic music. There are ideas and processes that bleed through that I can’t think of off the top of my head, but I know that it has helped me tremendously. I can translate the things happening in my head much faster than I’d otherwise be able.

Finally, what inspires you?

Everything?! Romance, animation, Japanese everythinggggg, men, water… I can’t keep track. Don’t know at any one moment what will become an inspiration.

Cerulean is out now.

iTunes | Amazon

Watch the video for “Lovely Bloodflow” (premiered last week on Pitchfork):

Discover more at Anticon

Similar Artists: Daedelus, Bibio

Arcade Fire, seminal indie band with the #7 record in the country (previously at #1), has teamed up with director Chris Milk and the good folks over at Google Chrome Experiments to create an interactive music video for the single We Used To Wait.

The first of it’s kind, the video utilizes Google maps + HTML 5 video, audio and canvas to present a multi-window, choreographed experience.

Simply enter the address of the house you grew up in and the feature takes it from there.

The experience was designed to work in Google Chrome, but seems to work in Safari too.

I’d rather not spoil anything – check it out for yourself, here!

http://www.arcadefire.com

http://www.chromeexperiments.com/arcadefire

Every single one of us can be a DJ . We have the ability to be an Influencer, a Critic – a Purveyor of fresh musical content.

From an accessibility standpoint, It’s becoming easier to queue up songs and create deep playlists based on the music we love. Between music blogs and social sites, we can preview tracks from established and brand-new artists. We can easily create playlists on the fly, spreading them far and wide to share our respective tastes and express our mood to the world.

Thanks to music blogs, we have the ability to hear upcoming singles at the same time (or even before) traditional musical tastemakers do. And we’re not restricted by FCC rules or political embargos.

The great news is that online music services are consistently getting better and the catalogues are becoming deeper.  We can share tracks, solicit feedback, re-share what our friends have liked and even collaborate with them.

We are eager to share and eager to please.

With all of this newfound access, content will still prevail. There’s still an art to crafting the perfect mixtape – a perfect rhythm and balance that tells a story and will make your friends hunt you down for more.

For what it’s worth (and so I’ll stop babbling to strangers about this at parties), I’ve sketched out a few thoughts on what I think creates great playlist. As a DJ and musical programmer with several years of community + college radio experience,  I feel that I may be able to speak semi-intelligently on the issue (ha).  And if I really have no clue what I’m talking about, please feel free to call me out in any way you see fit (a playlist battle, perhaps? double ha).

Without any further ramblings, here within please find 7 general tips for giving your best set ever.

#1 Grab ‘em from the get go.

Traditionally, a DJ mix starts slowly then builds to peak at about 3/4’ths of the way through. While this may work on a dancefloor, a digital mixtape has different needs. You’ll want to grab the ear of the listener right away. This is ‘specially important in an online world where users don’t stick around for long.

With that said, this doesn’t mean you should put all of your bangers up front. It’s not a tempo thing. Instead, think about starting with something that’s simply really, really good. A banger can be the equivalent of shouting “WAKE UPPP!!” Not many people like that.

You can open your mix in a very subtle way (for example, a classical piece or a clever acoustic cover). Whatever you think is comfortable yet arresting.

The goal here is two-fold. #1 get their attention, and #2 set the mood.

Whichever way you choose to go, the opening track should set the tone for the rest of the mix.

#2 Pick a variety of songs – but stay consistent to your theme.

I have a friend who works in music supervision. He loves trendy indie bands on the folksy, whimsical tip.  And while his mixtape selections are amazing – I always learn something new – in the end it sounds like one long record by the same band. Ultimately, unless he’s hitting fans within his niche directly he’s gonna lose people. The mix is too steady and listeners will easily get bored and go away.

Choose a variety of songs from different decades and genres. This opens up your work to a larger audience with a wider variety of taste.  Mixing it up also keeps listeners on their toes. It keeps it interesting.

The way to tie it all together is through your theme – whether it’s by mood, subject, or purpose.

#3 Be relevant.

Don’t choose songs “just because”.  Try to pick music that is culturally relevant and/or very specific to your theme. For example, you can include an artist who happens to be in town when you publish your mix, or you can feature a recently re-issued track from a brand-new soundtrack or collection.

#4 Know how to sequence tracks.

A good playlist is reminiscent and provokes emotion.  It holds you. It grabs your attention with something familiar yet unique, comfortable yet exciting, and proceeds to take you on a journey. It slowly evolves and it’s purpose unfolds from song to song.

It has peaks and valleys, highs and lows. There are times in-between songs when you may find that it’s completely silent. There are other, more frenetic moments when you can’t tell when one tune ends and the next begins.

A good mixtape puts you in that place. It removes you from the world.  It can drop you into a black hole or allow you to soar. You get lost in that hard-to-describe vibe, the one that removes you from where you physically are at that very time and place.

This is all in how you decide to order the songs. You’ll want to keep this “journey” in mind as you work.

#5 Build trust.

A good mixtape gains and keeps listeners by subtly earning their trust. Ultimately, the end-game  is to enable them to appreciate and/or understand your taste and where you’re headed with your selections.  When that happens, you’re upping the odds that the listener will be willing to sit through the more questionable tracks to get through to something really great that’s just around the corner.

#6 Be Yourself.

For me, sharing a mixtape is just spreading the word about stuff I love to my friends.

Putting together and sharing music is very personal. If you come across as if you’re trying to speak to everyone it can sound fake. It’s like the radio adage, “pretend that you’re speaking to one person.” Just be creative and express yourself.

Admittedly, I used to try waaay too hard on this front. I conformed to what I thought others expected me to play, and in radio, what they expected me to sound like on the mic. One DJ I trained under wanted more “bedroom voice”. I thought that was gross. It wasn’t natural, and inevitably didn’t work. The funnest shows and best feedback I’ve ever received was when I didn’t care about what I sounded like. Creating a sequence based on straight-up instinct over the trying-to-be- cool factor can, and will, prevail.

When you’re free from that fear of judgment and  the self-imposed expectations that come along with it, you can post anything from obscure garage buzz bands to something deliciously Top 40. Because you’re being yourself and are a friend to your audience, your authenticity will shine through and they’ll get it.

With that said, if you know most of your friends are into a particular style, post it! You want to engage your network – it’ll be more worthwhile and relevant for them to check out. Hopefully they’ll be inclined to share as well. And, in your own interest, hopefully they’ll pay more attention the next time you post.

#7 Do it for the Love.

In the end, you want a mix that you’ll love. If you love it – add it. It’s that simple.

Pick openly, freely, and without abandon. The process is the best part.

It’s a tape for you.

It’s a reflection of yourself, your mood, your interests – a bookmark of where you exist at that particular place in time.

If others dig it – sweet! If not, you’ll always have your creation to love and revisit time and time again.

More posts on playlists

THE FULL SERIES

Restless People

There’s something about the debut from Brooklyn-based Restless People that makes me really, really happy. It’s a great listen for summertime and nails the global, big breezy dance sound happening right now (check “Days of Our Lives”, below, for a reference to bands in a similar vein like Delorean).

The four friends have been working together in the groups Tanlines, Professor Murder, and Family Edition before coming together on this project.

The first single “Victimless Crime” is available on their site.  I dig the description:

“Finger point / boogie / windmill / 2-step (??) / lie on bed & stare at ceiling / head bob / strut”

It makes me sympathize with artists in having to categorize their own music!

Get “Days of Our Lives” over at RCRDLBL.

The album is out September 14th (also National Cream Filled Donut Day! also my birthday! ) on IAMSOUND.

http://restlesspeople.com/

Andreya Triana

Andreya is a self-taught singer and songwriter from Brighton.

Her voice is soulful, hauntingly beautiful and put me in that “place” straight away. See for yourself, Andreya performing live with Simon Green aka Bonobo (also on the Ninja Tune label and producer of her debut album):

Visit her website for a free download of the tune “Lost Where I Belong” (the Flying Lotus Preview edit).

A Town Called Obsolete is set for release August 23rd on Ninja Tune.

http://www.ninjatune.net/andreyatriana/

@andreyatriana

Shit Robot

Irish born DJ Marcus Lambkin is Shit Robot. Co-founder to The Leaf label, he’s also co-conspiritor behind seminal NYC label DFA Records alongside LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy.

Guest vocalists on the album include LCD’s Nancy Whang, Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, James Murphy, and more.

The long-anticipated debut From The Cradle to the Rave is out September 21st.

Shit Robot on Facebook

Hear the July Mixcast:

Full selections:

Arcade Fire “The Suburbs (continued)”
Christopher Willits “You Are Always Surrounded by Stars”
B.O.B. “Generation Lost”
Kid CuDi “REVOFEV”
Baths “Animals”
Onra “Mechanical”
The Chemical Brothers “K+D+B”
Shit Robot “I Found Love (TBD Remix)”
Kele “12 EYW – RAC Remix”
!!! “Blue (Bonus Track)”
Restless People “Basic Needs”
Local Natives “Wide Eyes (Fool’s Gold Remix)”
Awesome New Republic “Dark Water”
Hugo “99 Problems (Jay-Z cover)”
The Drums “Let’s Go Surfing (The Raveonettes Remix)”
Bryan Ferry “You Can Dance”
Kisses “People Can Do The Most Amazing Things (Saint Etienne Remix)”
School of Seven Bells “Windstorm (A Place To Bury Strangers Remix)”
Musee Mecanique “Sleeping In Our Clothes”
Laura Veirs “Summer is The Champion”

In any given week, many people choose to have someone else:

-wash their car
-clean their house
-feed, walk, bathe, and groom their pets
-fix the car
-landscape the yard
-drive us around. to the airport, home from the pub…
-take care of financial matters including taxes
-launder and fold our clothes
-make coffee and for that matter:
-breakfast, lunch, and dinner

(Any other big ones I’m missing?)

Obviously, these things we can do ourselves.

Someone in my office roasts his own coffee. I think there’s something great about that.

As I’m writing this, I sip from my savvily-packaged (yet weak in defense, fully-recyclable) venti Starbucks I picked up on the way in because truthfully who knows where my mug went. And, I like their Tazo tea.

This package is more than $2.39. It’s comfort, it’s identity (oh, the options to choose from! I’d like a “tall extra-hot americano, please” an actual reply from a baristo “I’ll let you know when he walks in the door!”) , and most importantly it’s ease.

In looking over the aformentioned list, I subscribe to many of these. Why? The answer to that is simple. Why not? It’s not a matter being unable to handle the day-to-day minutiae anymore. I’m buying convenience.

It makes me wonder what kind of shift is happening here on a socioeconomic level. As we place a higher value on the reliance of services, will we place a higher premium on the service-based industries? Will we start to see higher end and/or gourmet services with higher premiums?

What does this say about the way we work, and live?

THE FULL SERIES

]]> http://www.nicolecifani.com/2010/07/random-imagery-no-7/feed/ 4 http://www.nicolecifani.com/2010/07/the-messages-we-receive/ http://www.nicolecifani.com/2010/07/the-messages-we-receive/#comments Sat, 17 Jul 2010 05:02:45 +0000 admin http://www.nicolecifani.com/?p=1541

Imagine if each message in your inbox was an actual letter. Imagine, opening each letter and reading the pages every morning, during the course of the day – filing away some, sending on others.

How many of us get hundreds of e-mails a day? Can you imagine sorting through some one-hundred odd letters every day and night? No wonder we get bogged down.

The other evening I found myself perusing various feeds in Google reader. I also had two email programs open (work and personal). I was running iChat, Yahoo IM, G-mail chat, and Tweetie. Oh, and I was texting from my iPhone.

This common situation is infinite, part of a lifestyle that defines the ultimate interactive experience – the one we speculated about years ago while learning Microsoft Front Page and building interactive CD-ROM’s.

The baseline 1′s and 0′s of a 2-dimensional social destiny in the making.

Here within the Digital Age, the way we read is changing. We absorb information from various mediums creating a non-linear path of focus. Perhaps due to the multitude of interactive media available to us, we’re brief in how we consume content. We sample and browse, allowing the inevitable multi-tasking to occur.

It can be said that cumulatively, we’re actually reading more than ever.

So I’m wondering – does this new process, this newly adapted way of working through multitasking – affect the quality of our interpersonal communications? And what are the long-term effects of this?

Do we communicate in shorter amounts – but with more folks, in higher frequencies?

The interactive experience is rich. We have the real-time aspect of Twitter, the private element of chat. The social aspect of Facebook. Time delayed emails, character counts, garbled texts sent on-the-go.

It’s easier to reach folks more than ever. But is it confusing? Is it too much? Or is being networked 24/7 merely a lesson in brevity?

On a business level, this may not be a bad thing. We can cut to the chase.

But what about on a personal level? Where in time and space does all of this communication add up?

I wonder if it makes our relationships fluid and transparent – like with the prevalence of social networking we have the ability to see everyone’s business. Or, if it creates more obstacles through illusions of what we choose to share.

And, how can we get to know someone if we never slow down?

Maybe we need to slow down in general and become more present when we multi-task.  We can take the time to stop and chat with someone in person. We can stop needle dropping and enjoy an entire song or album. We can put 5 more minutes into that email.

Maybe we need to appreciate…Life. Or we may wake up one day with nothing but a bunch of intangible 1′s and 0′s.

Reads:

Yes, People Still Read, but Now It’s Social – http://nyti.ms/c1P81A