Jimmy Edgar and Schematic for LSD/DSL!

Hey everybody, I'm not going to be around much this week because there was a death in my family, but I will post the lossless version of the Miles Davis box set on Friday at the latest. That said, Rom wanted me to let you all know about a show coming up very soon if you're in the Miami area. Jimmy Edgar will be playing the first LSD/DSL show at EVE on February 20th and so will Rom, Jacque Polynice and eight more, all to kick your ass and have a good time! So if you're in the Miami area you've gotta get down there and check 'em out! All the info you need is on the flyers so grab 'em, bookmark 'em, print 'em, whatever you've gotta do just as long you're there!

Schematic Records Present: StiLL iLL

Rom told me about a forthcoming Schematic release and I knew I had to spread the word about it! Next Tuesday the 28th, Schematic Records will unleash StiLL iLL, a collection of tracks from some fine folks who I've mentioned here that are on Schematic (Joe Lentini, o9, Takeshi Muto, Jacque Polynice, Dino Felipe and more) as well as friends of the label. It's gonna be available for digital purchase on iTunes and Amazon with the hope that if sales are good a physical version may be produced. I've listened to the whole thing several times now and it's solid as a rock, so I know people will be pleased. That said, with Rom's blessing, I've got the track listing below with two tracks from the album available for download. Check 'em out because they're really good! SCHEMATIC RULEZ!


StiLL iLL

01 Machine Drum - nosefing
02 Ay Fast - mama4
03 Finesse & Runway - I'm Inside Out
Finesse & Runway are Dino Felipe and Melba Libia. They are awesome! Their self-titled album is available for purchase here.

04 Joe Lentini - ROM STOLE MY PU55Y
05 Bulldozier - doomed
06 o9 - gv rmx
This is o9's previously unreleased contribution to the Glen Velez remix album, External Combustion. That comp is available for purchase here and is really incredible, as is this track!

07 Syndrone - cicadub
08 Audiose My Angel + Nerikatsu - Meanwhile In Vostok
09 Takeshi Muto + Diagoro - Takagoro
10 Jacque Polynice - simbad
11 Subjex - magnetic funk
12 Dino Felipe - don't hang around


PS - Yes, that IS the cover art! Rom told me that guy was sleeping in the street in the middle of the day with the power chord from the VCR wrapped around his leg so he'd wake up if anyone tried to steal his stuff. That's some straight Miami shit right there!

Schematic Records Dukes Of The Stratosfear Tour Revisited

A quick example of what you probably missed:



Schematic rules! Hit their site and support! Much love to Rom, Joe and the whole Schema fam!

Schematic Records On Tour!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Schematic Records are on tour right now! Ay from Ken Rei, Joe Lentini and my man Rom aka Takeshi Muto are going to be performing live starting tomorrow through the 24th. Here is a list of tour dates:

Schematic Records Summer Tour
Dukes of the Stratosfear

July 13th Knoxville, TN - The Pilot Light
July 14th Cincinnati, OH - Mayday
July 15th Chicago, IL - Co-Prosperity Sphere
July 16th Detroit, MI - The Old Miami
July 18th Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop
July 19th Columbus, OH - Skylab
July 20th Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks
July 21st Buffalo, NY - Soundlab
July 23rd Boston, MA - Asteroid M House
July 24th Brooklyn, NY - Public Assembly Loft

I was really hoping to go to the Grog Shop show but I don't know if it's gonna happen, but hopefully I'll still be able to hang out with Rom and company maybe on Saturday. Regardless, I believe Ay, Joe and Rom will be spinning sets at each tour date and they're gonna be excellent so make sure you get yourself down there! You can find more information about the shows here and here, Schematic in general here, and Ay and Ken Rei here and here. GET THERE!!!!!

Updates on Phoenecia, 69 and Janelle Monáe

This post is primarily an update about two artists I've spoken about here before, but there is also info about someone you might not know of yet that I'd really like to tell you about.

First off, although I hinted about it in a recent post, I wanted to make sure you all know about my buddy Rom and his "co-conspirator" Josh's new release as Phoenecia. It's called Echelon Mall and it's a collection of recordings based on soundtrack work the duo has done over the last few years. If that sounds a little confusing, let me elaborate: While the music on Echelon Mall is based on Phoenecia's soundtrack work, all the tracks contained therein have been reworked with an emphasis on ambient sound. The album is filled with stark, disturbing atmospheres that will send chills down your spine, although the sounds can also be relaxing and soothing. Overall, I think it's a beautiful album and it's well worth your time to check it out. The album is available on iTunes but you can also get it via BandCamp where it is available in a multitude of formats including my preference, the lossless FLAC format. On top of that, if I remember correctly, BandCamp had the album for a few dollars less than iTunes, and that includes lossless formats, so I'd suggest you grab it there. Last but certainly not least, you can visit Phoenecia's page for the album where you can listen to samples and watch all of the films the music was composed for. Check their site here and you can visit BandCamp here.



Next up, back in September of 09 I did a post about Carl Craig's work as 69 (pronounced Six-Nine). There was some controversy about that post because it almost got me an interview with Carl Craig but because I'd posted most of the then-out-of-print 69 releases I was told that it most likely wouldn't happen. The interview didn't happen but Carl's PR people were very nice about everything and I happily removed the download links from the post. As I've said many times before, I'm always happy to remove music from the site if I'm requested to as, for the most part, I haven't asked permission to share these recordings and I don't hold any rights to them. All this said, I've kept my eye on Mr. Craig and am glad to note that his label, Planet E, has re-launched their website and now have digital downloads for purchase there, including the amazing 69 compilation, The Legendary Adventures Of A Filter King, which was previously available only as a very limited edition vinyl release of 500 copies and contains nearly everything released under the 69 moniker. Unfortunately, the download appears to be pretty expensive ($2.99 for single, uncompressed wave files and $1.49 for mp3s), but at this point it's the only other place you can purchase these excellent recordings legally and in their wonderfully remastered states. Here is a direct link to that 69 compilation so you can check it out for yourself.



Finally, if you're unfamiliar with Janelle Monáe, be prepared to get familiarized! I don't generally listen to whatever would normally be considered modern pop music but Janelle is pure entertainment, plain and simple. She has a new album out, The ArchAndroid, which can be purchased digitally or in your favorite record store, and has support from an unexpected source, Sean "Puffy" Combs and his Bad Boy label. Puffy and Janelle are an unexpected combo as Janelle is clearly not trying to fit into any of Puffy's stereotypes, but she also has a lot of support from Big Boi of OutKast who makes a cameo on the album. None of this really tells you about what she sounds like though, and rather than try and convince you to check her out with piles of purple prose, you're better off hearing her soulful sounds at her website and checking out this awesome video of Janelle and her band live on Letterman recently. The video is below and you can check Janelle's website here.






I might not be around much for the next few days as I'm going to be at a wedding this weekend, but I'm always checking my e-mail and I'll be posting something new on Monday if not earlier. Everyone take care!

Joe Lentini

I seem to get a lot of e-mails from very friendly folks trying to hype their new releases, and while I appreciate their intent, my site is generally not about "new" music. That's not to say that I won't talk about new music when it's important or gets my interest, but writing me about your "slammin'" new hip-hop jam and how you're giving me an exclusive leak won't normally get my attention, at least not unless you're Dr. Dre or the zombie version of Easy-E. Sorry, not to be harsh, but it's the truth. That said, when I do hear something new that I really like I wanna scream about it from the highest mountains, and in this case I've been telling a lot of my friends about a fellow named Joe Lentini who has two EPs out on one of my favorite labels, Schematic. My buddy Rom was nice enough to let me check both EPs out in their entirety and I was rather pleasantly taken with Mr. Lentini's angle on club jams. Joe isn't making your stereotypical club jams, he's adding the glitches and flipping rhythms and keeping things interesting, but he'll get you to dancing too. Me, I don't get dancing very often, but when something makes me wanna drive REAL FAST, that to me is a great sign!

Below you'll find a little sampler of tracks from Joe's EPs, one track from each. The first track, Hanky Tank, from the Pink Pussy Popsicle EP makes me think of an evil Devo groove, something that makes you wanna boogie but also leaves you feeling a little spooked, taking an occasional look over your shoulder. The second is 347 from the 512 Max Health EP, and Joe gets a bit glitchier on this one while he weirds-out some vocal samples. Very funky stuff.

If you're feeling these tracks and want to grab the EPs, head on over to the official Schematic site where you can purchase them and check out additional samples. On top of that, Joe and Rom will be doing some shows throughout the summer and I'll share more info about those shows as soon as I have more details. For those unfamiliar with my man Rom, he is better known to many as Takeshi Muto, one half of the amazing Phoenecia who are also on Schematic and whose new album, Echelon Mall, can also be purchased via the official Schematic site. hint hint!

Anyway, check out these two tracks, hit the Schematic site for more samples, and support independent artists if you like what they're doing! Enjoy!


Joe Lentini - Sampler

01 Hanky Tank
02 347

Richard Devine

I'm sure everyone has noticed my love for Schematic Records and it's roster of artists. The first things I heard that were released on Schematic was Richard Devine's self-titled EP and the Lily Of The Valley compilation, home to Richard's incredible track Anthracite T. Vari. So I thought it would be cool to ask Richard some questions about projects/releases that he is involved with that may or may not have seen the light of day. I sent him some questions via e-mail and he responded with the answers, all of which follow below.


Me: I got a copy of something labeled the Asect:Dsect EP from someone on soulseek. Two of the tracks are on the A:D LP but the rest of it seems to be unreleased. Rom (from Phoenecia/Schematic) didn't know about this but said I should definitely check with you about it.

Richard: Not sure what this could be. At the time that I was throwing around a few tracks to make up the Asect:Dsect record I know we had a large collection of stuff, and some of the earlier tracks might have leaked out somewhere. I made several versions before I decided on what the final record would be. For the Japanese release I did an extra track that wasn't on the US version. This track is now uploaded to my myspace page and is called Amber's Prelude.

Me: I remember and album labeled Lipswitch showing up a while before the finished version was released. It has a few tracks from the finished album, at least one of which is incomplete as it cuts off early. There is also a lot of ambient sounding stuff on it. You released a track or two from it on Native Instruments website back in the day and I think something else ended up on Cautella, but the rest of this is unlabeled and I don't believe was released.

Richard: Yea, there was a lot of tracks floating around during that time period. The original Lipswitch album was actually supposed to be more then the mini-album release. I originally intended it to be around 14 to 15 tracks. In the end, Warp decided to narrow it down to 8 tracks. I then took what Warp didn't use, and released them on other compilations/albums. There was some stuff that never was released. This was an interesting time for me as most of these tracks I wrote between 1998-2000 and I was in a transitional period from making music with hardware based machines to computers. Warp did a super limited run of 50 aqua clear colored vinyl copies of this release.



Me: There was also a collection of tracks labeled Lipservice floating around online prior to Lipswitch's release. It has three tracks, two of which were released on Lipswitch, and one which was an ambient piece. Apart from the mp3s, I've never seen any information about this release online.

Richard: Lipservice wasn't me =), I think this was something that someone must have misheard, or misread. Something that someone else came up with.

NOTE: Rom confirmed that Warp had mislabeled some early Lipswitch materials Lipservice. The content is definitely Richard, but the title is all wrong.

Me: A lot of people have been wondering about Sculpt/Audio Sculptures album. I have a decent quality rip of it but no one seems to know much about it.

Richard: Sculpt was a triple pack full album release I did for Woody McBride's Tape/Communique record label. This collection of works was some of my first recordings from 92-94. It was mostly music made entirely on hardware using only the Roland Drum machines, TR-808, 909, 707, 727, and TB-303. I was heavily influenced by early Detroit techno during this period. I remember hearing the music of Jeff Mills and his Purpose Maker series, Richie Hawtin, and Surgeon (Downwards Records).

Me: I've seen people wonder about the Polymorphic EP too since it, and Sculpt, sound so different from your later works.

Richard: The Polymorphic EP was my first release on the Drop Bass Network's "Six Sixty Six" Limited Record label from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I actually wrote these tracks before the Sculpt record, early 90-94 era. It was my first attempts at making music I really liked. Extremely crazy, mechanical violent machine music. It was heavily influenced by the early music of Richard D. James (Aphex Twin) and the legendary Rephlex Records label. I also loved Chris Jeff's (Cylob) first two Kinesthesia records. No one was making music like this in the states during this time, and I wanted to be able able to DJ a full set of music that was similar in this style. I didn't think that this release would do as well as it did. It sold out quickly, Drop Bass did a limited repressing of 300 copies in November 2002 to celebrate their 10th Year Anniversary. I was only 17 years old when I recorded these tracks, I remember recording these during my junior and senior years in high school, good memories this brings back."



Me: I know the Richard Coleman Devine EP came out on Schematic, but I've always wondered about it's mastering. I asked Rom and he told me it was mastered at the same facility as the other early Schematic vinyl releases, but I've always thought it sounded very tinny without much bass, especially when compared to the tracks you released on the Ischemic Folks compilation. Was it meant to sound this way?

Richard: I think this release was mastered by another mastering house we did business with in the beginning. If I remember correctly it was someone in Nashville, Tennessee. They never heard music like what I was creating and didn't know how to master it. Funny because it was so odd even I didn't know at that time how to go about mastering this type of music which was extremely heavy on the high end =). I don't think it was meant to sound this way. This was an interesting release for me. One of the first tracks on Side-A was my first track ever created with Cubase. The first track on side-B was the first track I ever wrote with Logic Audio. We did a short run limited clear colored vinyl (50 copies).



Me: I haven't met anyone who has heard the Digital Rawhide or Coefficients Of Friction EPs. Also, the Sort/Lave record didn't come out, did it? Can you give me any information on these and their availability? Oh yeah, whatever happened to the DVD?

Richard: The Digital Rawhide EP, was a release on Tommy Sunshine's record label, Xylophone Jones. It was a split EP with Chris Brann (Wamdue Productions ATL). I did the A-Side with two tracks, Burnt Toast and After Morning. Both produced and written in 1998, on just a Roland TR-909, Akai-S3200, and two Roland TB-303's. The sound of this record was purely acid. I was really into the late eighties acid. Big influences for me during this time was the sound of AFX, Kosmik Kommando (Mike Dread), and Universal Indicator. I was making hundreds of acid tracks, and still have tons of unreleased tracks that one day I will have to transfer from DAT tape to digital format.

The Coefficients Of Friction EP was a record I did with my friend Dan Kurzius of Sidereal Records. It was just two tracks on a B-Side with a heavy influence from the Basic Channel/M7/Chain Reaction dub sound. I was going for more static deep complexity for this release. It was only a white label, that never saw a proper release. I still have the original white label test pressings of this release.



NOTE: Richard didn’t talk about Sort/Lave in the original e-mail response so I wrote him another message about it. Here is his response:

Sort/Lave was to be a collection of tracks to be released after Asect:Dsect. Most of these tracks ended up on Cautella, although there were a few that didn't make it. I was going to release Sort/Lave as an EP, but never finished it completely, so most of those tracks ended up coming out on Detroit Underground, compilations and EPs. I was originally going to release them with Sublight, but when things went under I figured I would take the best of what was left over and release them on other labels.



Me: Last but not least, are you planning on releasing any more music or are you not really working in that field any longer? I know you're probably extremely busy with the new business and the sound designs, but I love your stuff and would love to see something new released.

Richard: I have been doing a lot of remixes for other artists (Ryuichi Sakamoto, BT, Kiyo, Mike Patton, and Telefon Tel Aviv), and have a new album of 5.1 material that I was planing on releasing. Unfortunately many of the labels that I was previously working with have all gone under within the last three years. Sublight Records closed its doors in 2007, and Asphodel went under soon afterwards. I was originally planning on releasing the DVD with Sublight. I was pretty bummed when I heard the news, so I have been sitting on this new 5.1 release trying to decide if I will just release it on my own, or somehow release it for free for all my fans to enjoy. I have gotten very busy more recently with working on sound design projects, and pushing my new boutique sound design company devinesound. I have been doing everything from doing music for TV/Film, Video Games, and music software/hardware. In 2007 I signed a deal with Sony Media to release my first two Sound Effects libraries, Pulse and The Electronic Manuscript which won 2009's Best Sample Library by Remix Technology Awards. In 2008 I was nominated the Cannes Lions Award for my sound design work on the Halo 3 Believe Site for Microsoft’s gaming division.



I'd like to thank Richard for taking time out of his schedule to answer these questions for me, it's truly appreciated! Also, while it would be cool if the 5.1 release came out for free, I'd certainly pay for a copy and I'm sure others would as well. Maybe you could take orders privately and press them in batches for mail order?

Make sure you visit devinesound and check out Richard's catalog as it will blow your mind! Lipswitch or Cautella are great starting points and are both available for purchase at Bleep.

I told Richard that I would like to upload some of the rarities that I've found floating around online and he was very cool with it, so cool in fact that he wrote some info for each track contained herein! Link and info below.


Richard Devine - Selections


01 Refractor
This is one of the tracks off the Drop Bass Network "Six Sixty Six" record.One of the first noise core recordings, pretty bad quality mp3 of this =). Funny to hear this again.

02 RSL-COM (Asect:Dsect Outtake 3)
This is actually track six, RSL-COM from Cautella. Although this track was written during the Asect Record, it actually didn't get chosen in the end to be put on this release, so it went to the Cautella record. Recorded this track late night at my old studio.

03 Ascisei
This is taken from the Scuplt record on Woody Mcbride's "Tape Record label" Side A2. created in 1995

04 Lipswitch Outtake 6
This is indeed an outtake of the track Route Increment, track 3 on Lipswitch. Don't know how this got out =).

05 Metval 72 (Asect:Dsect Outtake 2)
This is actually the track Metval 72 which was released on the Shitkatapult 50 - Special Musick For Special People compiliation DVD. This too was originally an Asect:Dsect track which didn't end up on the final release, so I released it on Shitkatapult.

06 Lipswitch Outtake 4
This is another DSP short processing outtake that I did in this software called "composer's desktop project". Short outtake here, from the Lipswitch file archive.

07 Necteric
This is taken from the Polymorphic EP on Six Sixty Six Records. It was taken of the B2 side. Another noisy Gabber Core track. This is another bad quality mp3 =).
(Sorry Richard, best quality version I could find!)

08 Chris De Luca - Two (Trapezoid Mix)
Richard did this remix that was released on the Chocolate Industries version of Chris De Luca's Unknown EP, Choc-04, released in 1999. Richard was nice enough to send me the proper track for me to post here.

09 Clear
Taken from the Sculpt 3xLP on Tape Records, TAPE 005, Side D1, 1995.

10 East Flatbush Project - Tried By 12 (Trapezoid Mix)
This was my Tried By 12 Remix that was released on Chocolate Industries/Ninja Tune. It was released in 1998. One of the most challenging remixes I had ever done. My first remix syncing vocals to beats, was a very interesting learning experience. I received praise from Sean from Autechre for this mix. I remember this being a wonderful moment for me =).

11 Amber's Prelude
This was an unreleased track that I released on the Japanese only version of Asect:Dsect. The Japanese version was released through P-vine records Tokyo, 2003-Schematic/Asphodel. Originally was just a little track I wrote for my girlfriend Amber, who I am still with. We will be getting married next year, it will 10 years we have been together. Nice little tune I wrote for her, back in 2003.
(Congratulations Richard and Amber!)

12 Horizontal Deflection Plate excerpt (Lipswitch Outtake 5)
This is actually the track Horizontal Deflection Plate, Track 11 on Aleamapper, Schematic Records 2001. Was originally a piece I wrote that didn't get used for Lipswitch and was later used for the release of Aleamapper. Strange experiment, trying to emulate the sound of Morton Subontick, but using completely digital computer synthesis. He was a huge inspiration to during the creation of this record.

Schematic Records

I first heard of Richard Devine when I purchased the WARP 10+3: Remixes compilation in 1999. He contributed a remix of Aphex Twin's Come To Daddy that barely resembled the original but contained all the ferocity of the source track. It wasn't the easiest track to absorb, but it grabbed my attention and I had to hear more. This led to LOTS of primitive searches online for anything Richard Devine related, which led me to find out all about Schematic Records. It all culminated in a long drive to Lakewood to visit a shop whose name will remain unspoken, at which I purchased the Ischemic Folks and Lily Of The Valley compilations and began a long love affair with Schematic Records. Through these comps I found out about Phoenecia, Push Button Objects and Delarosa & Asora, among others, which led me to hunt down as much material as possible from everyone on the label. I began chomping at the bit for Phoenecia's Brownout, playing Delarosa's Agony Part 1 constantly, exploring the untitled Richard Devine EP and eventually his Lipswitch album, bumping Push Button Objects' Dirty Dozen comp and wondering what came next. I wondered if this is what it felt like to discover WARP Records in the early nineties, as Schematic definitely felt like the American WARP.

Schematic kept putting out new releases, many on vinyl which was difficult to get so I often downloaded their releases via emusic with whom they had an early digital distribution contract. Their roster continued to grow and soon releases from Otto Von Schirach, O9, the Secret Frequency Crew, Din-St, Hearts Of Darknesses and others were in my collection, but around 2006 everything came to a halt. The label's site was updated infrequently and several long-awaited releases seemed to be on hiatus. A few of them showed up digitally via Bleep and other services, but nothing else was heard for a long time. Understandably, I feared the label may have bit the dust. I couldn't get e-mail to work and I tried to find contact information for Joshua Kay and Romulo Del Castillo, the label's founders and together working as Phoenecia, but I had no such luck.

Earlier this year, the Schematic site was updated with video from a Phoenecia scored film, Smother, and a link to Devine Sound, Richard Devine and Josh Kay's new company where they do sound design for everything from film and television to video games. I sent an e-mail and was thrilled to get responses from Josh, Rom and Richard, all of whom were extremely friendly and led to some great conversations with Rom all about the history of the label and what's happening now!

First off, it's important to understand why Schematic Records was started. Josh and Rom initially became known as Soul Oddity and had a contract with Astralwerks. Soul Oddity was rightfully considered the future of the American electronic scene, fusing techno with Miami bass and easily rocking a party. This was around the time of the big "electronica" push from the major labels, and being on the same label as the Chemical Brothers led to Josh and Rom being pressured to make more commercial records. That isn't what they did so they parted ways with Astralwerks, changed their name to Phoenecia and started Schematic in Miami. Initially they had a small distribution agreement with Star 67 but eventually moved to Forced Exposure through which they had great success. Most of the best known Schematic releases were available through this period which led to the Schema crew touring the world and their releases getting distribution with labels like WARP. Eventually there was a move to Asphodel for distribution, but they eventually shut down and Schematic was left in the lurch.

After touring forever and having so many issues with distribution, Josh and Rom decided to take a break. They worked on the long awaited second Phoenecia album, Lewd Archives, scored independent films and worked on a number of other projects. Other artists like Richard Devine and Otto Von Schirach continued to release material through other labels (Sublight and Ipecac) and continue to work to this day. As for Schematic, they’re back with new releases, several of which will be coming out later this year.

What's important to understand is that Schematic is still here and will continue to release new music. I had several great conversations with Rom where he wanted to make it completely clear that they hadn't quit, they were just playing it quiet. Rom also answered several questions about the label and it's roster that have been permeating for years.

Phoenecia are indeed still together and working on new music. For those wondering about the leak of their forthcoming Echelon Mall album, it won't stall it's physical release and there will be some cool additions to the final release including a detailed website. For the record, the versions of the tracks on Echelon Mall are significantly different from the versions in the films. Check Smother for an example. The versions with beats will remain exclusive to the films, while the beatless versions are exclusive to the album. Also, Echelon Mall IS NOT Lewd Archives. Lewd Archives is a completely separate album of new material. It's name may be changed before release, but it will see release in the near future, as well as a compilation of non-album tracks that will have a title most likely parodying Aphex Twin's 26 Mixes For Cash.

Richard Devine is hard at work with his company Devine Sound. There may be more music from him eventually, and there is tons unreleased, but for now his focus is the business.

Otto Von Schirach is crazy busy and working on a myriad of top-secret projects. Seriously, it would blow your mind if some of them were mentioned, but then they wouldn't be top-secret! Keep an eye on him because he's far from finished! Check his site here for more information.

Dino Felipe is, in Rom's words, moving from releasing music to working on art projects and installations. That doesn't mean there won't be more music, but he's in a different place right now. Check his site for details.

Aura is a pimp! Check out his mixes and see him live if you get the chance!

Hearts Of Darknesses, aka Frank Musarra, one half of Trey Told 'Em and pals with Girl Talk, is still kicking ass. Hearts are now a full band and have a 12" out on Deleted Art. Get it now and expect your mind to be blown!

Scott Herren, aka Delarosa & Asora, but best known as Prefuse 73, is cool as hell! There was an Agony Part 2 being planned and it would have featured remixes of tracks from Part 1 and potentially some new tracks, but Scott is very busy and the album never got finished. He’s still cool with the Schematic folks and is still working as Prefuse 73 regularly. Check on him here.

Edgar from Push Button Objects is, as far as Rom knows, no longer in the music making biz. He has TONS of unreleased stuff but it may never see the light of day. Apparently Boards Of Canada are huge fans of PBO and wrote him a very extensive thank you letter for his remix of An Eagle In Your Mind. Rom, Josh and Edgar sent them a number of still unreleased PBO test pressings at their request.

O9 is the coolest guy you’ve never heard of. Rom explained that O9's newest stuff is almost devoid of specific musical influences and is very beautiful minimal stuff. Rom described O9 as the type of guy who could be blown away by Aphex Twin and Aerosmith all in the same sitting. He loves all kinds of music but his influences are very difficult to pinpoint. Rom wants to release an album of O9's minimal stuff badly, and hopes it may happen in the near future.

There are several new releases coming soon on Schematic. Touane, whom I'm sure you will find on iTunes or BeatPort, has two EPs coming soon with tentative release dates in November. I've had the pleasure of hearing them and they are excellent! Also, new signing Jacque Polynice is dropping his first release in junction with Schematic and Circuitree. His style is similiar to that of Flying Lotus or early Prefuse, and I honestly think people will go crazy for it. You can check here for more details about it and go here to purchase it. Beautiful stuff! On top of that, Echelon Mall will finally see physical release hopefully in October so make sure you go pick it up!

Rom sent me so much content for this post that I wasn't sure where to start, so I'm going to be giving you a link to my flickr page so you can check out some of the awesome artwork produced for Schematic and Miami related releases and events to give you a feel for the scene. On top of that, he was kind enough to give me a copy of Aura's 2003 tour mix which was only available there and VERY BRIEFLY on Bleep. This is exclusive to this site so grab it now!

As of right now Rom is working with Andrew Strasser, another really cool guy, on the Bad Brilliance exhibition in Miami. Very cool stuff which you can check out here. Strasser has done design work for Schematic, Negativland, Girl Talk and many others, much of which can be seen at his official site.

Speaking of official sites, please check the official Schematic and Devine Sound sites. I’m sure you’ll find them very detailed and interesting. Also, below are the links to the flickr gallery and Aura’s fantastic mix. The flickr gallery is a must see! There will probably be two more updates to it in the next few weeks, so keep checking back. And grab Aura’s mix fast! It’s over an hour of Schematic goodness that should give you a good idea of their sound. Enjoy!


Aura - El Tour De Los Guapos: USA VIA RV 2003 Schematic Tour Mix

A Gallery of Schematic and Miami related flyers for releases and events