The British label Skint is best known for Fatboy Slim’s hits (“Praise You,” “Rockafeller Skank”), which tend to lay sampled vocals atop the heavy electronic percussion that typifies so-called “big beat” music. The Brassic Beats USA compilation will excite fans of that sound with a dozen cuts that adhere to Fatboy’s formula, like how Midfield General (on “Devil in Sports Casual”) finds unwitting funk in the phrasing of a man who talks about the Satanic purpose of dance music. Or how Dr. Bone (on “I Came Here to Get Ripped”) turns a few plays on the word thumpin'” into a memorable chorus that has more in common with the pub rock of, say, Dave Edmunds than one might want to ponder. Fatboy himself contributes “Sho Nuff,” built around a disco sample, and also remixes the Midfield General track. Electrelane, a relatively traditional rock band (you remember, guitar and drums), lends some diversity to the mix with some ’60s-style organ riffs. Among those also present are Lo Fidelity Allstars, Space Raiders and experimental DJ Cristian Vogel, working with Jamie Liddell under the name Super_Collider. The poppy context provides an opportunity to revel in the rudimentary tweaking of found sounds.
Current Activities
Upcoming
• December 13, 2021: This day marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of Disquiet.com.
• December 28, 2021: This day marks the 10th anniversary of the Instagr/am/bient compilation.
• January 6, 2021: This day marks the 10th anniversary of the start of the Disquiet Junto music community.Recent
• July 28, 2021: This day marked the 500th consecutive weekly project in the Disquiet Junto music community.
• There are entries on the Disquiet Junto in the book The Music Production Cookbook: Ready-made Recipes for the Classroom (Oxford University Press), edited by Adam Patrick Bell. Ethan Hein wrote one, and I did, too.
• A chapter on the Disquiet Junto ("The Disquiet Junto as an Online Community of Practice," by Ethan Hein) appears in the book The Oxford Handbook of Social Media and Music Learning (Oxford University Press), edited by Stephanie Horsley, Janice Waldron, and Kari Veblen. (Details at oup.com.)Ongoing
• The Disquiet Junto series of weekly communal music projects explore constraints as a springboard for creativity and productivity. There is a new project each Thursday afternoon (California time), and it is due the following Monday at 11:59pm: disquiet.com/junto.
• My book on Aphex Twin's landmark 1994 album, Selected Ambient Works Vol. II, was published as part of the 33 1/3 series, an imprint of Bloomsbury. It has been translated into Japanese (2019) and Spanish (2018).
disquiet junto
Background
Since January 2012, the Disquiet Junto has been an ongoing weekly collaborative music-making community that employs creative constraints as a springboard for creativity. Subscribe to the announcement list (each Thursday), listen to tracks by participants from around the world, read the FAQ, and join in.Recent Projects
• 0506 / Wipe Out / The Assignment: Take something whole and erase half of it.
• 0505 / Line Out / The Assignment: Share a track, get feedback, and give feedback.
• 0504 / Transform Formula / The Assignment: Take a sound, change it, and contrast that with the original.
• 0503 / Sing Song / The Assignment: Record a song using only your voice transformed beyond recognition.
• 0502 / Global Swarming / The Assignment: Create a swarm of imaginary insects.Full Index
And there is a complete list of past projects, 506 consecutive weeks to date.