URL: www.uncannyplanet.com (aka, "The Motherpage")
SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/gmm
Twitter: @supergmm
Facebook: facebook.com/ugress
Last.fm: last.fm/label/Uncanny+Planet/
Czhewr Affen (top-left), Hans Petter Lie-Nielsen (top-right),
Therese Vadem (bottom-left), Gisle Martens Meyer (bottom-right)
[Foto: Eivind Senneset]
Firstly, if you're new to Uncanny Planet, then you should be listening and not reading. Thanks to the good doctor's forethought, I've been able to include players for each artist below. Also, the majority of the music is free to download so check the links to their pages. We're talking hours of listening, however, so bookmark this entry.
If I personally had to put my tentacles to the table as to what my favorite music label is, there would be no answer competing for the place UPR holds in the dark recesses of my gray brain matter. When asked what open-source music is "all about", Uncanny is the place where I start my answer. I'll go over each project in order of incept.
If I personally had to put my tentacles to the table as to what my favorite music label is, there would be no answer competing for the place UPR holds in the dark recesses of my gray brain matter. When asked what open-source music is "all about", Uncanny is the place where I start my answer. I'll go over each project in order of incept.
Ugress: I feel safe in stating that most people are introduced to this label through Ugress. This is the breadwinner of the Uncanny household. Nostalgic samples from identifiable sources of geekdom, fluid evolving beats and complex instrumentation. Three-fourths of all that Ugress has done I have kept, often purchasing higher quality versions of my favorites. My favorite to-date remains "Reason to Believe". This is a good time to mention that each music project on Uncanny Planet sources back to a single man--Gisle Martens Meyer. Ugress is coming up on its Ten Year Anniversary, and GMM will be celebrating with the fifth full-length album as Ugress. While no title has yet been declared, I kinda like the nickname UV.
URL: www.ugress.com
Last.fm: last.fm/music/Ugress
Amazon: Ugress on Amazon
Albums and EPs, Reverse-Chronology:
Ugress - Reminiscience by GMM [Amazon
]Ugress - Schizophonica EP by GMM
Ugress - Unicorn by GMM [BandCamp]
Ugress - Chromosome Corrupt EP by GMM
Ugress - Kosmonaut EP by GMM
Ugress - Retroconnaissance EP by GMM
Ugress - Sophisticated Wickedness EP by GMM
Ugress - Cinematronics by GMM [Amazon
]Ugress - Resound by GMM [Amazon
]Others (Incomplete Listing):
Ugress - Film Music: Selected Cues 2002 - 2006 by GMM
Ugress - La Passion De Jeanne D Arc by GMM
Ugress - The B Vault by GMM
Foto: Eivind Senneset
Shadow of the Beat: Shadow of the Beat's "Scared Away" was my personal introduction to this label. Shadow is darker, befitting of the name, yet contains an admixture of psytrance gating technologies, trip-hop ambiance and even drum & bass beats. The instrumentation for many tracks feels more organic than the Ugress project, often inspiring visual elements while listening to the music. "Timelapse Empires", "Propaganda" and "Intruders" find themselves on every playlist I make.
URL: www.shadowofthebeat.com
Last.fm: last.fm/music/Shadow+of+the+Beat
iTunes Store: [link]
Albums, Reverse-Chronology:
Shadow Of The Beat - Nanokaravan by GMM
Shadow Of The Beat - The Shadow Vault by GMM
Spokelseskladden: Whereas "ugress" is a Norwegian word meaning "weed", I have yet to find the meaning of "spokelseskladden". I have my guesses, and they're not pretty. The only promo material other than music the label puts forth for the third Uncanny child is "kriminal muzak". Spokelseskladden, in all the label, is the nearest to trip-hop, using only a few sampled quotes combined with strong beats and large variations in instrumentation. Check out the main Kladden site for free downloads to listen to.
URL: uncannyplanet.com/kladden/
Last.fm: last.fm/music/Spokelseskladden
PixxelTyger: The fourth bad apple of Norway. The increase in tempo brings PixxelTyger beats close to the genres of breakcore and gabber. The bleeps and bloops that compose the few songs from this project hint at a later Uncanny project--Ninja 9000.
URL: uncannyplanet.com/pixxeltyger/
Last.fm: last.fm/music/PixxelTyger
Nebular Spool: It was with painful realization that I found myself listening to the album "Ruins" on repeat, knowing that it meant Ugress had become my second-favorite project on the label. The incredible (nearly obscene) detail to instrumentation in this project, combined with the cinematic elements it inspires, has created one obsessive track after another. I would suggest this project especially to those who prefer instrumentation in place of lyrics.
URL: www.nebularspool.com
Last.fm: last.fm/music/Nebular+Spool
iTunes Store: [link]
Naissance used the song "Ruins" by Nebular Spool to create this stunning video centered on the turning of the seasons.
Albums, Reverse-Chronology:
Nebular Spool - Shul by GMM [Free from BandCamp]
Nebular Spool - Ruins by GMM [Free from BandCamp]
Nebular Spool - Exposery by GMM [Free from BandCamp]
Ninja 9000: Ninja 9k music sounds, all at once, like music from the past and music from the future. Listening to it reminds me of non-isometric (pixel) art, or that the music could have been played during "Lemmings" while gaming a week away on an Amiga. Needless to say, it is very, very digital but with more complex beats and a slower tempo than the PixxelTyger project. Anyone who entered the world of computers when they were still huge bricks that took up a desk will find this project especially interesting.
URL: www.ninja9000.com
Last.fm: last.fm/music/Ninja+9000
Ninja 9000 -Bit Escape EP by GMM [Free from Main Site]
Ninja 9000 - Bit Collapse EP by GMM [Free from Main Site]
Some closing thoughts. You know how just a decade ago you would buy a CD, but then skip between three or four songs on it before moving on to some other album? Imagine not paying for the disc, and keeping almost every track, loving the hell out of it, then paying for some of it anyways because it's just that damned good. That's Uncanny Planet Records.
[Foto: Eivind Senneset]
with thanks to Skybreak for my introduction
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