Lights All Night Countdown: Paper Diamond

Bringing the heat at the Groove Hall Friday Night (Dec. 30th) 11:25-12:20.

Can we go up by Paper Diamond
Free "Can We Go Up" Download

Electric Smile by Paper Diamond
Free "Electric Smile" Download

Levitate by Paper Diamond
Free "Levitate" Download

Lights All Night Countdown: Nadis Warriors (Interview)

Lights All Night will finally be in full swing two nights from now, so I thought I'd take the time to highlight an act that has gained rapid popularity on the electronic music scene. The Nadis Warriors manage to incorporate their knowledge of electronic technology into their full blown live band. Yes, they are a full on band and they have struck fans in awe in recent years exploding onto the scene. Let me be clear this is not merely a band trying to imitate STS9, in fact they are one of the few electronic band outfits that isn't trying to imitate sound tribe's sound, something that has been long overdue in the scene. For this reason they thrive on fierce live energy performers that are coupled with the impressive visuals of Alex Grey. Not going to Lights All Night? You can still see them on the 30th at the Parish in Austin, TX. 

Oh yea and that tiny venue called the Fillmore in Denver, CO.... yea they just sold that one out. Simply put they are on the rise and they are constantly pushing to ensure that their live show is nothing shy of exceptional. Jason Hahn of the Nadis Warriors was kind enough to answer a few questions about the band. Please check theotherperspective.net (Click here for our Lights All Night Preview) for a Lights All Night review in the coming weeks, we will be speaking with Jason about his thoughts on the Lights All Nights festival. 

Jason Hahn on the Nadis Warriors

Q: At a festival with primarily DJ acts, what do you find to be the clear advantages of having a full band?

A: There are advantages and disadvantages to being a full band.
Some of the disadvantages is sound teams and promoters have seen how easy a DJ is to set up, sound check ect. When a band plays the sound teams have to sound check, not just plug in and go. On the other hand being a live band helps us bring the energy levels up by filling more space, the more space we fill the bigger the experience. It also enables us to improv more, meaning each show will be different, we wont ever sound "exactly" like the album version of the song. This makes it where if you miss one of our shows you could miss that connection the band makes, which in turn brings the peak of the song to the next level. It makes each show unique, each song different live.


Q: Having a live painter with the skill and reputation of Alex Grey is certainly a major asset to the live concert experience in several ways. As a musician how does his painting inspire you when you are playing?

A: Alex Grey's genius pushes us to take our sound, our vibe, our meaning to the next level. He is a great catalyst in our art, and for that we are forever grateful. He is also now a great friend and mentor, while on stage looking over and seeing Alex paint still sends chills through my body. His art can create that "moment" live. That "moment" is what people go to shows for, to experience something new, something pure, something special. Our goal as a band is to augment that while he is painting to make each and every show a special experience for the audience.

FREE DOWNLOAD Nadis Warriors: Allele Frequencies

Lights All Night Countdown: RJD2

        RJ Krohn is currently one of the most talented DJ's on the scene right now for a variety of reasons. To begin, RJD2 has managed to spread himself across genres in a way that many electronic DJs of our time have failed to do as they fall into a comfort zone of the norm in a particular niche of electronic merely recycling old ideas. This is true in any genre, but many have argued that Dubstep in particular has this problem. Not that the niche in of itself is bad, but because of an explosive growth a number of copy cat artists fans were left to sift through multiple tracks to find the masters of the genre. Again, I agree this is true with every genre, but nonetheless RJD2 has put himself on the map by doing the opposite. RJD2 has worked with hip-hop artists such as Aceyalone on the album Magnificant City Instrumentals. In addition, RJ has produced solo work using sampling. Seeking a way to really push his sound he got rid of using other's samples. This sparked the creative vision on his album titled "The Third Hand," which uses instrumental and vocals samples produced organically all by RJ Krohn himself. Not only a musician, RJ now releases his work through RJ's electrical connections allowing the harsh deadlines of recording and distribution to not hinder him from using as much time as necessary to produce quality work. Recently he has worked on a side project Icebird in order to create the effect of a full band, all while using certain techniques he has incorporated into his work for years. Maybe you think you haven't heard his music, but if you've watched "MadMen" then you will recognize his track “A Beautiful Mine” as the theme song.

     Love him or hate him this guy deserves some huge respect for his large incorporation of spinning actual vinyls with samples on them. "Work with limited resources ya know what I mean? It's four turntables and records, ya know I don't have a lot of fancy computer shit or whatever. But at least I hope, I hope that it's trying to make something from a point of view that people know understand, ya know, cause most the people they come they DJ or their friend DJs or some shit, hopefully they learn to understand the concept at least" (See first posted video). He has used samplers in the past, but he knows that his live show is enhanced because he doesn't have to struggle with making a controller sound different from the studio recording. I am not ripping on other artists here, but this guy deserves more attention as the whole electronic scene continues to gain massive recognition.

       We have quickly seen that many electronic artists have similar feelings. Though they may not have thrown away controllers they have added another DJ, live guitars, and more commonly, another drummer. We have seen this in the state of Texas with Austin native D.V.S. who is "The future of guitar in electronica". Big Gigantic has exploded on the scene in the past few years and anyone who has seen them knows that their fierce live drummer and saxophonist make the show, not the sick beats in of themselves (Big Gigantic Preview to be posted this week). I believe other artists will continue to follow suit as fans love seeing their favorite studio version of a song come to life with real instruments complementing electronic technology. In all, a perfect example of genuine organic music in the sampling DJ realm is RJD2. In the words of one fan, "RJD2 is the truth". 

 Catch him at Lights All Night on Friday Dec. 30th performing in the Bass Hall from 10:00-11:00.

RJD2 - Ghostwriter by MrAnonymas

Lights All Night Countdown: Archnemesis

At any major festival fans naturally find themselves focusing on the headlining acts, but what truly adds to the experience is exploring new music which opens the doors to a whole new stream of listening opportunities for fans. This is no exception at Lights All Night. To kick off the Lights All Night countdown I wanted to feature Archnemesis off STS9's record label 1320 Records.

Download this album for FREE

 People's Radio by Archnemesis

05 Harder Days by Archnemesis

02 Face to Face by Archnemesis

03 Diamonds and Glass by Archnemesis

Lights All Night Countdown

For all you Dallas music fans I'll be doing a countdown to Lights All Night featuring some of the artists that will be bringing in the New Year at this two night NYE Dance Festival. Here is a good preview of the upcoming events from The Other Perspective. net

TOP Lights All Night Preview

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Gramatik & Break Science

Just a few weeks ago Gramatik & Break Science got together to collaborate on the track "Boogie Down". As if this collaboration wasn't good enough to begin with they brought one of the best drummers on the scene, Adam Deitch, to lay down some tight beats. Sometimes all-star collaborations fail to meet expectations, but that is not the case with "Boogie Down". This track was down in respect to EWF. Go ahead and give this one a listen. Due to a large workload at the end of the semester I was unable to post daily, but I will now be posting everyday again so check back.

Gramatik & Break Science - Boogie Down by Gramatik

DOWNLOAD "BOOGIE DOWN" by Gramatik & Break Science

Here is a video that was made for the Gramatik & Break Science Track

Also, I had to include a link to Gramatik's FREE album "Beatz and Pieces Vol.1". 

Download "Beatz and Pieces Vol.1" by Gramatik

Gramatik explains, "TheBeatz & Pieces series comes as a successor to the popular Street Bangerz series which was my first work as a producer. I never really considered these volumes to be albums.  I always looked at them as hip-hop beats on steroids. They are still raw, sample based beats, but with evolved arrangements and wrapped in a fine layer of live instrumentation.  And the reason I started adding live instruments is because I felt that classic hip-hop beats without vocals lose me after two minutes.  I want to keep the listener through the whole track!"