research and development

I feel like I've been posting a lot about code on this blog. It's mostly what I find myself writing about inside my text editor, but today I feel like I should change the subject a bit. I've been feverishly working on both The Wonder Bars' debut album as well as side projects with some of my friends here in the Philadelphia electronic music scene (in its various forms). One of the most fruitful collaborations has been with The Architech, a DJ I've known about for quite a while but which Philly is just beginning to get introduced to. He was one of the core guys behind the early raves at The Vaudeville Theater, where influential rave DJs like Brak (now Udachi) and Jen Mas performed in what seemed like uninhabitable conditions. This was all before my time as a raver, though, so if you really want to hear the full story you'll just have to come out to one of his shows and ask him yourself. He's a resident at Propaganda and the Bangarang! 4th Fridays monthly parties at The HeadHouse, and frequently plays the legendary PEX parties, including the most recent Heartburn at the Electric Factory.

We've been making tracks together since the start of 2012 as Research and Development. The tracks are harder edged than my work with the Wonder Bars, and that's intentional. I definitely wanted to do something different than what I've been doing with the 'Bars, especially musically. This is a chance for both of us to break out of our shells, and explore some of these less-travelled paths in dance music.

But enough about that. Here's what we've been working on...

Beardyman - Vampire Skank (R&D remix)

An entry for the Beardyman remix competition on JunoDownload, this track was made almost entirely using Beardyman's vocal samples. Our initial goal was to use as much of the sample pack as we could, but we ended up adding some bass stabs and drums to "beef it up" a bit.

I'll Be Your Baby

This was an entry for the Beyonce End of Time remix competition. We had already been working on a remix that had a harder edge and was more "bumpy". But after experimenting one weekend like good little scientists, we came up with this rhythmic, pulsating tune that emphasizes the bass and completely changes the vibe of the original track.

What's next?

We have a few new ones in the works, including AN ORIGINAL as well as a remix of Ross D's Disappear. We're trying some new (old?) tricks in these next couple tracks, so expect them to sound radically different from the music you just heard!