Andrew Duke--Consumer vs. User remix competition

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:48 pm

Speaking of prizes:
Ross Bencina at AudioMulch (http://audiomulch.com) has kindly donated
2 full licenses of AudioMulch to the prize list.

reubenc · Post by **reubenc** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 11:40 pm

Stratagem's releases have always been more towards the minimal side of techno and tech-house. Best of luck to everyone who participates

Respect

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 3:52 am

reubenc wrote:Stratagem's releases have always been more towards the minimal side of techno and tech-house. Best of luck to everyone who participates

Respect

And great stuff it is, too. Here's the link to listen to the releases thus far:
http://www.stratagem-musik.com/releases.htm

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 4:29 pm

AndrewDuke wrote:Magazine subscription prizes:
Computer Music
Remix
Virtual Instruments

These are all for one-year subscriptions, or a one-year
renewal if you're already a subscriber.

Hatchets McGee · Post by **Hatchets McGee** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 4:32 pm

*bump*

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 1:01 am

oops.

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:27 am

reviews are starting to come in:

Andrew Duke--Consumer vs. User (Phthalo/USA)

If industrial robots have their own blend of funky music to listen to during their
breaks on the assembly line, then "Consumer vs User" is likely to make fluids
boil in their servovalves. Glitchy and groovy are indeed two words that go
together well in the music of Andrew Duke on this release (published 2006 on
Phthalo Records), and it had been a long time I hadn't listened to something
with a feeling both as mechanical and dancy at the same time--maybe since
Cabaret Voltaire, but it was aeons ago, and in a quite different genre.
At first, this album won't sound funky or groovy at all. Raw distorted beats, some
weird sounds, and when you think that's all then you realize that all this is
deceivingly repetitive, and there is definitely something more. Andrew Duke
starts where minimal techno ends, and against this minimalist background (a
heavy bass--sometimes very heavy, like in d'n'b or dub--saturated
drumloops and sequences) something else is slowly built, through weirdly vocoded
voices, electronic noises imperceptibly coming up, lots of processed samples that
seem to be based on audio electronic interferences, and almost unnoticeable at
first hear variations. But, though this could read quite experimental, the way it is
done gives us 11 tracks that qualify as real idm since it is both intelligently done
and sometimes catchy as hell.

Well, this won't come as a real surprise for those of you who already know
Andrew Duke: an audio activist based in Halifax, Canada since nearly 20 years,
he has gained international recognition through the years both as a musician and
for his consistent investment in the worldwide development of the idm scene (see
for instance the Cognition Audioworks label he rules at
http://www.cognitionaudioworks.com/). Again he proves here with this very good
and coherent album that he deserves all the praises for what he does best:
electronic music, both as a producer and as a composer. Groove ex Machina.
(Cyrill Duneau/Igloomag/USA)

ANDREW DUKE - CONSUMER VS. USER (CD by Phthalo Records)

The career from Andrew Duke started in 1987 and has never been quiet in any
way since then: his own releases, his remixes (Aaliyah, Pink Floyd, Chicks On
Speed to mention a few) and his concerts, plus the fact that he is since 1981
writing about music. It's a vast amount of work that I must admit don't know in
every possible detail, but that I off and on follow throughout the years. Here he
has a record of rhythm based music. Important to know, since Duke sometimes
does also more experimental drone based ones. But it's rhythm here and Duke
plays not just one kind of rhythm oriented music, but from several different points
of view. Some of the pieces are quite minimal along the lines of Kompakt or
Plus8/Plastikman, but also beat stuff that involves a lot more, fucked up rhythm
pieces that we found in the past on the Phthalo label itself. I must admit that the
minimal pieces were the better ones, but perhaps the more chaotic, somewhat
disorganized beats is just not my thing, and minimalism is. Music by Andrew Duke
is always well produced, full of sound (perhaps the only thing not minimal!), and
perhaps not always full of surprises, but quality is guaranteed.
(Frans de Waard/Vital Weekly/The Netherlands)

Hatchets McGee · Post by **Hatchets McGee** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 10:28 am

we should give you your own forum-section =)

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 1:08 pm

Hatchets McGee wrote:we should give you your own forum-section =)

I asked Alex and Jesse to sticky this thread because it is a contest ongoing till August 31 and I don't want to see it get lost amid the USA scores a goal at the world cup and my air conditioning is broke et al threads.

Hatchets McGee · Post by **Hatchets McGee** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:41 pm

ya, but all you have to do is say 'bump' rather then going over rules/prizes again & again...

2p

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 5:06 pm

Hatchets McGee wrote:ya, but all you have to do is say 'bump' rather then going over rules/prizes again & again...

2p

Thanks for the tip, Hatchets.
Andrew

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 2:13 am

This just in:
Remix magazine on the competition:
http://remixmag.com/transmissions/andre ... st-062906/

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 5:19 am

Andrew Duke
Consumer vs. User
(Phthalo)
Halifax’s Andrew Duke has been producing electronic music for almost two decades now, generating a voluminous and varied discography. A quick glance at his New Music Canada page reveals that, over the past couple of years alone, he’s made everything from ambient drone arrangements to bumping tech-house tracks. And though Duke generally tends to put the “I” before the “DM,” much of his music would find a welcome audience on the dance floor of some all-night party in a derelict factory.
For Consumer vs. User, however, Duke seems to have led us into the still-active electronics manufacturing plant next door to said all-nighter. We can still hear the muffled bass through the walls, but the snare drums have been replaced by hydraulic spurts and the high-hats with electronic sizzles. Tracks like “Raven” march on with a perseverance only factory machinery could maintain. With the exception of some delayed treble loops echoing through the open skylight from next door, most of the songs’ melodies are made up, not of different notes, but of variations in sound texture.
The album sits on the border between IDM and ambient, and so it shouldn’t be surprising that there are few to no hooks throughout. But what Duke’s latest cut lacks in catchiness, it makes up for in its evocation of a cold yet fascinatingly intricate landscape. This is definitely not your summer barbecue soundtrack, but it makes for a fantastic listen at 3AM on your basement surround sound system. (Peter C./Discorder/Canada)

stratagem · Post by **stratagem** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 4:59 pm

our latest compilation release (automaton) is now available. check it out here - http://www.stratagem-musik.com/stmnet005.htm.

cheers!

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 6:33 pm

stratagem wrote:our latest compilation release (automaton) is now available. check it out here - http://www.stratagem-musik.com/stmnet005.htm.

cheers!

Excellent compilation. Daniel Carew was one of my sound design/music production students (http://andrew-duke.com/course.html) so it is super cool to see him continuing on with his music like this--his homework assignments were great and his full songs I've heard, including Fishes Wishes, have been awesome.
Andrew

Andrew Duke--Consumer vs. User remix competition

another review