Phasen-Listening To Old West Coast Rap

The Nostalgic Music Foundation is a new magazine and record label specializing in all forms of electronica. It is run by Sarin Sunday (if any of you know of his music, it's good!). I will have a new full-length available from iTunes and Boomkat called 'Listening To Old West Coast Rap'.

You can stream or download samples here:

Here's the front cover for this one:

hey your a young kid! You shall be the next Richard D. James of electronic music. The only problem is RDJ was already making SAW when he was your age... you need to catch up African American.

sounds awesome Ryan..when can we expect it to go on sale?

  AOOproductions said:

hey your a young kid! You shall be the next Richard D. James of electronic music. The only problem is RDJ was already making SAW when he was your age... you need to catch up African American.

Haha I'm working on it. I want to be that good one day, I just got a late start.

And Rent- it should be out September 2nd. The first month of the NMF magazine will be out Sept. 1 hopefully and will feature reviews and an interview about the whole thing. Should be fun.

This was going to come out today, but has been pushed back to the 16th of September (two weeks).

Argh. This was supposed to be out tomorrow, but now is pushed back again. I'll post when it's up.

www.nostlagicmusicfoundation.net

Coming for sure on October 21st. Sorry again for the delays.

Good God this has taken forever. That sampler up there sucks, this album is completely different now, and it really is coming in spring. Anyways, it's by far my best work so far. I did an interview about it the other day so if you're really bored or that interested...

There will be an interview on the front page of Textura in the March issue too, 'Phasen Unfiltered' over at www.textura.org coming March 1. Here's this one though:

1) Of course, my first question is about the title of the new

album, 'Listening to Old West Coast Rap'. How exactly did west coast

rap inspire this album?

~~~~Well, to say that this album is inspired

by West Coast Rap is only partially true. It did indeed inspire a lot

of the drum beats, and I am a sucker for any synth that 'glides' from

note to note, as in the super high pitched sine wave melodies on some

early 1990's hip hop tracks. The album also includes some classical

ambient pieces, some dub, some house, some funk, some downright odd

vocal experimentation (listen to Gilded Kitten) and more.

What inspired the album more (as the title indicates) are some memories. My

best friend growing up had-and still has- a 15" Diamond subwoofer in

his truck. We must have listened to a million songs in that thing. The

album is more inspired by nostalgic days gone by, rolling around town

in your best friends car, baking in the Florida sun, windows down,

blasting old west coast rap, annoying everyone around you and being a

teenager- feeling immortal, carefree, and maybe a little stupid. It was

just a lot of fun growing up, and I recently feel that I have done just

that- grown up. I turn 20 in two months, so that nice big round number

is scaring me a bit!

2) Ice Cube, Eazy-E, or Dr. Dre?

~~~~That's easy- Dr. Dre. I've listened to all of his stuff so many times. I think

it's rather interesting that his career has stretched over a decade, he

is incredibly famous, and yet he only has released two studio albums.

Actually, I think his third album is coming out pretty soon. I already

have nabbed most of the tracks as they have leaked around the

internet...sorry Dre.

3) Do you really dislike egg salad? (track 1, 'I Really Don't

Care for Egg Salad') ?

~~~~Of course. I love 'em scrambled, but the moment you mention hard-boiling

an egg I am turned off. You can tell I put a whole lot of deep

contemplation into that title, eh?

4) When did you first start producing this album? When will it finally be available to the public, and where can people get it?

~~~~Well, I suppose I started work on this album in June of 2008. I had just

finished my first year here at the University of Florida. By Fall of

the same year, I had the first version of LTOWCR finished. It was meant

to be released last September, but I pulled the album last minute and

made a lot of changes. As of now, I have made about 175 songs for the

album, and only selected a handful to make it to the final product. I

kept wanting to improve the album. One thing about music, especially to

a newcomer to music production, is that you grow constantly. I kept

practicing and improving my skills set, so that after a few months I

was unsatisfied with previous work because I knew it didn't live up to

my current potential.

I don't know an exact release date

yet, but I have been told to expect Spring 2009 to be the time frame.

The sooner the better for me. The album will be sold only in digital

format from a brand new label started by friend, producer, graphic

designer, and uber excellent web page designer Seth Haley. Seth has

done an extraordinary job with the webpage, which has recently been

launched at www.nostalgicmusicfoundation.net

He is offering a free 4 track EP of his own music (you may know of him

from his alias Sarin Sunday, but he has many many more) over at the

site, so check it out! It's really a great EP, and he made it in a day

and a half!

5) This album seems to have a bit heavier beats than 'Urban Nomad', and a little less experimentalism than 'Well Chuffed'. Is it fair to say you're reaching out to a broader audience?

~~~~Eh, sort of. I'm rather dissatisfied with my first few releases. I really hate to say it, but I released music too early in my formative period. If I could do things differently, a lot of my previous work would have remained unreleased for good. The newer stuff I am very confident about, however, especially this album. Of course, it would be great if a lot of people liked the album and grabbed it when it's out, but I never ever think 'are people going to like this?' when I am making a track. I don't produce for anyone but me, as selfish as that may sound. If you don't like it, I really don't care. If you love it, I am deeply honored. So, while it is unintentional, I do realize that LTOWCR does have a sound that is more tangible to a wider audience.

6) I'd say the album starts out more "funky" than your usual music, but progresses to a more resigned and melancholic mood near the end. Is this on purpose, or did it just come out that way?

~~~~It just came out that way. The album changed content and order so many times over the past months. Only three songs that are on the album now were on the original draft, and they are all much improved from their earlier forms. I just finally found an order and flow to it that clicked.

7) What theme did you have in mind while you were producing this album?

~~~~Big funky beats, something for people to dance to, but also keeping things as musical as possible, so it is also something people can chill to with a nice set of headphones around the house. It had to be fun and fresh but still capable of making the listener 'feel' something. I don't care what it makes you feel, as long as it is something.

Does this album represent any firsts for you?

~~~~Several. It is the first album I didn't rush through. It is the first commercial release of mine that is strictly digital (but physical forms may arise later in time). It's my first release on the new label, NMF, and also the first album I feel very connected to. I poured my soul into this one, and it has become something like a good friend to me.

9) Fill in this sentence: This is the ______ album I've ever produced.

~~~~This is the best album I've ever produced.

(until the next one! the idea is to get better every time!)

10) In general, when you're producing music, are you targeting a music aficionado or a casual listener? How does that affect the final product?

~~~~Neither. I'm not creating any sort of commodity or service. I make next to nothing from music. I run my own label and release a good bit of music, but most of them don't earn me royalties because that's just how most indie labels work. My music has no target at all. I need to make music simply for myself. I make my best work when I come home pissed off, having had a terrible day, when it's been raining non stop for a few days, or whenever I 'feel' the most of a certain emotion. I try to capture what it is I am currently feeling, and every song is the 'audio' format to my current emotional content. I take my mood and convert it into some vibrations that run through some wires into another persons brain, and hopefully it is then converted back into the intangible form of 'mood' in the listener.

11) You mentioned once before that you're studying cultural

anthropology. I'm curious how you see the role of music in times of worldwide crisis as we're experiencing now, both from the perspective of the musician and from the listener.

~~~~Well, for one, good music does and SHOULD have a price tag on it. (There are plenty of free albums out there that are stellar though).

Music is sort of a luxury item to people. It isn't necessary to survive. When it comes between feeding your family and buying an album, the choice isn't even a question. So sales are way down. It's near impossible to sell records these days, and that's not even all to blame on piracy-but also the economy. So from the view of the musician, it's most obvious that making money from music is near impossible. It sucks to be a musician right now, and this is precisely why I am in college, haha.

Music is comforting though, so I feel people probably see more value in it during hard times, yet they juxtapose this with an increased willingness to ignore copyrights, years of someones hard work, price tags, and so on by getting on Soulseek or wh_at.cd or waf_fles.fm and downloading it for free. Thanks guys, really. Thanks for ruining the music business.

Funny enough, Soulseek has recently launched a page where people can donate to artists like myself: http://topic.slsknet.org/starvingartist/starvingartist.html

Oh, the irony. Guess how many donations I have gotten so far: ZERO!

12) One can't help but be impressed by your incredible musical output at such a young age, with this being your 10th full length album. What energizes you to produce so much music? How do you maintain such consistently high creativity?

~~~~Why thanks, I appreciate it! I guess I just started toying with music early on in my life, and it slowly grew into my largest hobby. After a while, you just can't imagine going a week or more without making a song. I get headaches sometimes if I take a break from recording. I get ideas in my head and they need let out regularly. So, I keep the output steady by necessity. As for my creativity, it's just there. It's nothing special- I am talented but still far from great. Just a guy who practices a lot and works hard with the dream that one day it will pay off for me in a big way. I really want to score a movie or do some similar licensed work.

13) What is the best album you've heard in the past 3 months?

~~~~That is such a hard question...I have been listening to some great music lately. I'd have to go with either 'Modern Guilt' by Beck, or an upcoming remix album on the I, Absentee imprint by my good buddy Koen Park. It is a two disc collection of remixes of/by Ian Hagwood (Koen Park), and I'm well chuffed to have three spots on it myself. The other songs on there are incredible though!

14) If you could say any one thing to Amy Winehouse, what would you say?

~~~~Quit fucking up, please. You're an embarrassment and it makes me sick to think that you got the grammy for best new artist while you were in rehab. Way to go, grammy committee, she is a great role model alright.

15) So where do you go from here? Are there any other styles of music you'd like to explore?

~~~~Many. I am already well into the works of another full length album. I have recently launched my own record label with two fellow producers Mark.Nine and Five Step Path. It is called [unnamed Label] Records, and we just put out our first release this month featuring idols of mine like Lackluster, Milieu, Koen Park, Fomatic, and Cheju. The new album delves a bit into classical music, while still maintaining an electronic/dance feel to it. I'd love to work with a filmmaker on a movie soundtrack though. I've only been producing for over two years, and so far things have progressed faster and better than I could have hoped. I guess my next step is to put something out on a major label, and I plan on doing just that with enough practice and a little bit of luck.

What a terrible name for an album.

Seriously.

D:

Hay-Thanks! Typical WATMM style you have!

Hey, the music could very well be the greatest thing ever. I just think the name's kind of lame. It'd be like if Bricolage was called "Going Through Old Jazz Records and Slicing Up The Beats All Crazy-Like".

lol I know. no slicing up beats here though- all from scratch.

Here's the final sampler for this. The last bit runs a little long cause it's the only remix to appear on the album, so I gave it more attention. The full remix is 10 minutes long and by the artist Rumorse, so that's just a clip despite it being 4 minutes long, ha...

Enjoy it, hate it, ignore it, love it, tell me I suck balls- pick one. This'll probably be my last post (or thread, at least) on WATMM cause there's too much to keep up with for me. I like my smaller forums, so...thanks for checking this out and be easy folks:

Stream:

D/L Page: http://www.archive.org/details/PhasensLtowcrSamplerupdated

Label this will be on soon: www.nostalgicmusicfoundation.net (<--free stuff is up there now)

i like the cover.

sounds a little FL to me :(

Fruity Loops? Naw, Ableton 7.

New interview on the front o' Textura, partially about this. There are two free songs on top of the interview too.

http://textura.org/reviews/phasen_unfiltered.htm

Coming soon I hope...this month.

Yo...Changing the label to I, Absentee (www.i-absentee.com) for a early June release on CD.

  Phasen said:

Yo...Changing the label to I, Absentee (www.i-absentee.com) for a early June release on CD.

I haven't followed this at all, and couldn't really care less. But everytime I venture into this thread out of familiarity, and to give your work a listen(eventually). you change every five seconds! one day it's coming out here another here, the next it's a dat only release on easter and only American Express users can get it. What next. come out already! BOYCOTT!

And I apologize good sir, but it wasn't my fault. My work was done a long time ago on this (had to get a new label...the other just wasn't ready to launch yet for several reasons out of my control).

There will be an hour of free music coming soon that will be much easier.

Haha, boycott if you wanna, only gonna be 100 copies anyways:D I know this must've been annoying as hell...Imagine how I feel looking like an ass doing interviews/posting about something that isn't coming out. Awesome. But early June on I, Absentee if anyone still cares.

Pre orders up now. http://i-absentee.com/news.html

Out June 2.

Norman Records said this:

"'Listening To Old West Coast Rap' is not not a bad activity at all. It's also the title to Phasen's latest album on I ,Absentee. Phasen is the pseudonym of Orlando, Florida producer Ryan Palmer. The album has a fine chilled vibe with acidic squelches and lush spacey synths. There is a bit of a quirky feel at times that recalls Plaid or possibly even Luke Vibert where the sounds blur the lines between electronics, techno, house and hip hop with some of the acid lines making me think of old G-Funk records from Dr Dre and Co. All quality melodic, playfull and charming electronica that' s arrived just in time for summer. Most pleasing."

You can get it from n5md as well, or direct from I, Absentee. (and norman records of course. duh)

http://textura.org/reviews/phasen_westcoastrap.htm

Based on the title, I half-expected Ryan Parmer's latest Phasen release to be a full-fledged hip-hop project by the Florida-based producer with at least a handful of cuts featuring MCs. As it turns out, though subtle traces of the West Coast's ‘90s hip-hop scene do surface in some of the fifteen tracks, the collection is less an in-depth exploration of one style and instead a wide-ranging affair that touches upon multiple Phasen bases—melodic IDM, electro, funk, electronica, acid, jazz, and, yes, hip-hop—with all of it executed with an impressive degree of flair and conviction. Though the U-Cover vet and [unnamed Label] Records impresario maintains a relentless production schedule (the number of CD-R and CD releases issued since 2007 is currently in the double digits—and counting), his material never sounds slapdash, sloppy, or unfinished. In fact, if there's one thing Parmer's music could use more of, it's grit and grime. There's no denying the appeal of the title cut's funky IDM and “I Don't Really Care For Egg Salad” is a memorably suave fusion of IDM and funky house, but at times Listening To Old West Coast Rap sounds too polished; while the tracks' programmed beats do the job serviceably enough, for example, they also tend to sanitize it, leaving one to imagine how much more powerful the material would sound if someone like Battles' John Stanier were helming the drum chair (Rumorse's “Vast Nullarbor” remix of the title cut comes closest to that feel when the track explodes exuberantly halfway through its ten-minute running time) . Having said that, there's also much to recommend the release: the downtempo funk of “The Most Spiritual” (which does, in fact, include some of that much-needed grime); “Diskotek,” whose oomph comes courtesy of a nice funk guitar line and synth-laden disco beats; “Cheux,” an elegant, piano-based setting of classical-styled melancholia (slightly marred by the needless overstatement of rain sounds and bird chirps); and “A Negative Epiphany,” which effectively showcases Phasen's more symphonic side. All told, the release provides not only a comprehensive overview but a perfect introduction to listeners new to Parmer's music.

congrats on finally getting your work out there!