Men and Women Have Love to Give

Men and Women Have Love to Give is an ambient mix I assembled in October of 2008. It is full of some beautiful and sublime music by many talented artists (see tracklist below). I give this as a gift to everyone, on a day dedicated to love, and I ask you to not be …

Engineering a gangsta-as-hell synth

Fresh off of a month of nothing but grad school prep tasks, followed by a subsequent hard-drive death - in which I lost practically everything except for my newest tracks-in-progress - thank you God (and Craig)! - and a computer makeover from the ground up in Mac, …

Viul readies "Summer's Wet Work Is Done"

Say "Vell."

Those who have heard Views from the Real World or Moodgadget's compilation Expanse at Low Levels will be familiar with Viul. Personally, I was thrilled with Luke Entelis's remix of my "Walking Toward a Setting Sun," which left me dying to hear more. His …

The Graduate Record Examination: An experiment in creative living

Hi. My name is Jay. From 8 December 2008 until 14 January 2009, I spent nearly all of my time studying for the Graduate Record Examination, or GRE, which I took on 15 January 2009. This is an exam that most graduate schools require their applicants to take, as a …

Dial81 releases free album "As the Mood Swings"

Dial81 is one of my current favorite musical artists (along with the incredible Benoit Pioulard). Although maintaining a relatively obscure status (a fact that is inexcusable!) his music is exploding with focused creative artistry. Stylistically, the rapper and …

Table for Two out everywhere

Table for Two is now available on iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, Moodgadget, and basically anywhere else you would want to buy mp3 files of good electronic music.

Please support us and buy this reasonably priced musical release!

Empty Sound (Part 2): "Muse or Ick?"

MUSE OR ICK
by Sean Lennon

What distinguishes music from other sounds? Why are some sounds pleasant and others painful? Why does Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata make me feel as though the secrets of the universe are being revealed, while LeAnn Rimes's Can't Find the …

Exclusive eMusic Moodgadget compilation now available!

Due to Empty Sound's success on eMusic, the site is now offering a free Moodgadget compilation. Along with artists like Mux Mool, Praveen, Shigeto and Benoit Pioulard, my song "Sun Position 6pm on a Summer Sunday" (from Views from the Real World) is featured.

Download …

Empty Sound (Part 1): "Vinapa, The Music Lover"

VINAPA, The Music Lover

"After years of perseverance and devotion / I mastered the vina's errant chords / Then I found the unstruck sound / And lost my self."

Vinapa was the only son of the King of Gauda, a realm bordered by Mother Ganga. He was dearly beloved by his …

Men and Women Love Alternate Guitar Tunings

My desire to add new elements to my electronic music and to expand my sound has led me to get back into a daily guitar habit. In doing so, I have sort of wandered my way into a new style of playing that I never had before. I'm not sure where it came from; this is …

Empty Sound (Part 0): Preamble

EMPTY SOUND, BEGINNINGLESS, ENDLESS

I intend, through a brief series of written works by myself and others, to explore the concept of what I have nicknamed "empty sound." In other words, I want to ask the question, what is there to sound? Is there something inherently …

Happy Birthday Yogananda and Intricate Dialect!

Today marks the birthday of two important Capricornian mystics! In honor of these two profound influences on my life and thought, I dedicate this post.

Yogananda:
"The happiness of one's own heart alone cannot satisfy the soul; one must try to include, as necessary to …

Merry Christmas: Men and Women Want Babies

Men and Women Want Babies is my Christmas gift to the world. This special A Setting Sun session is the first installment in my Men and Women series of ambient mix sets. Completed back in September, this one was inspired by my questioning into the love men and women …

Best of 2008

I asked some of my friends what their favorite records of the year were. This is what they told me.


Frank Omura
1. Flying Lotus: Los Angeles
2. Audion: Live at Fabric
3. A Setting Sun: Empty Sound
4. Mr Oizo: Lambs Anger
5. Samiyam: Rap Beats Vol 1


Dial81
(no particular order)

"Table for Two" available as part of Moodgadget Limited series

Table for Two, my collaboration with Zach Saginaw (Shigeto), is available now as part of the Moodgadget Limited series, which lets the listener choose the price of the release.

This special exclusive deal will be going on for exactly two weeks. Then, on January 27th, …

Latest report: Music is basically really good

Favorite albums ever.

Aphex Twin drukqs
The Avalanches Since I Left You
Beck Midnite Vultures
Cannibal Ox The Cold Vein
Cypress Hill III: Temples of Boom
Daft Punk Discovery
Mr Bungle Disco Volante
Prince Paul Psychoanalysis: What Is It?
Squarepusher Ultravisitor
Tricky

Collaborating with Machines

In preparing a brief essay about the significance for electro-acoustic music of Tom Jenkinson's Ultravisitor album, I was reminded of his essay "Collaborating with Machines." I read this essay (included in Flux Magazine's March 2004 issue) right after I bought the …

Garmonbozia. Fell a victim. Electricity.

Some Thoughts on Plug-in Design

Just as girls and boys want boyfriends and girlfriends, electronic music producers want plug-ins. There are some great ones out there. Right now I love Image-Line's Morphine additive synthesizer, because its 'Grand Piano 2' preset (with a little additional band-pass …

Moodgadget: Big Status on iTunes!!

Moodgadget was featured three times on iTunes' Best of 2008 electronic section!

Mux Mool was selected as one of ten in the Best New Artist category, and his track "Death9000," remixed by Machinedrum came in at number 24 in Best Tracks.

In the Best Instrumental Album …