Andrew Duke_Consumer vs. User remix contest_16 great prizes

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Thu May 25, 2006 3:42 am

I am thrilled to announce that my Consumer vs. User album is out now and available on CD on California's Phthalo:
http://www.phthalo.com/cat.php?cat=phth40

Phthalo has always been one of my favorite electronic music labels, and it is a priviledge to be on an imprint with faves of mine including Phthalocyanine, OST, Kit Clayton, Vladislav Delay, Massaccesi, Mimi + Boyd (ie Vapourspace and Punisher), Eight Frozen Modules (ie [a]pendics shuffle), Blectum From Blechdom, and many many more.

Consumer vs. User is rugged and rhythmic and raw, yet detailed and open and spacious, sort of like a distant cousin of my Sprung album--which was released on Bip-Hop and went on to be nominated for Album of the Year (Electronica) at the Canadian Independent Music Awards. There's even DJ-friendly material on here, too (some straightforward, some more adventurous).

This album is mastered by Mark "Vapourspace" Gage, one of my early techno heroes, and features two collaborations with the USA's Massaccesi and a remix of a track from the UK's Tristan "Phonopsia" Watkins (a long-time 313-Detroit mailing-list member).

Here is what Phthalo's Phthalocyanine writes about this album:
"Consumer vs. User is Andrew's first appearance on Phthalo. It is a focused study, filling out unlikely accent schemes with abstract DSP techniques. The aesthetic is semi-derived from something reminiscent of classic Detroit minimal techno (I think of Terrence Dixon, Kevin Saunderson, and early Plus 8 stuff like the stark, controlled acid bass stabs of Heinrich Tillack AKA Sysex). I also however hear our label, Phthalo, embedded in this work, particularly references to the extensive exploration of heavily processed, raw, beaten-up drum machines given to us by O.S.T. (Chris Douglas) (e.g. Phthalo#09: O.S.T. Live @ Static) and Phthalocyanine (e.g. Phthalo#05: Phthalocyanine: Zacks e.p.) in the late 90's. These ideas work here as the point of departure for a music that is meticulously arranged and much richer in variation than vernacular minimal techno, though much more 'moderate' than O.S.T.'s work. "

Stay tuned for details on a remix contest that will involve remixing one of the tracks from Consumer vs. User. The best remixes will be released and there may even be some prizes.

You can hear one of the tracks from this album in the player on http://myspace.com/andrewduke

Thank you.
Take care.
Andrew

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Tue May 30, 2006 8:01 pm

AndrewDuke wrote:
Stay tuned for details on a remix contest that will involve remixing one of the tracks from Consumer vs. User. The best remixes will be released and there may even be some prizes.

You can hear one of the tracks from this album in the player on http://myspace.com/andrewduke

Thank you.
Take care.
Andrew

Remix contest is shaping up well.
11 prizes lined up so far as of today.
Stay tuned for more details in June.
Andrew

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Sat Jun 17, 2006 4:46 am

AndrewDuke wrote:
AndrewDuke wrote:
Stay tuned for details on a remix contest that will involve remixing one of the tracks from Consumer vs. User. The best remixes will be released and there may even be some prizes.

You can hear one of the tracks from this album in the player on http://myspace.com/andrewduke

Thank you.
Take care.
Andrew
Remix contest is shaping up well.
11 prizes lined up so far as of today.
Stay tuned for more details in June.
Andrew

Managed to round up super-duper sweet 16 prizes for this.
Check http://andrew-duke.com and http://stratagem-musik.com for Consumer vs. User remix contest details.
Andrew

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 5:53 pm

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)

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 5:17 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)

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 2:40 am

Thanks much for the sticky, Jesse.
Andrew

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 2:54 am

Dear Ableton Livers:

Ableton Live played a HUGE part in the production of my recently-released Consumer vs. User album (http://www.phthalo.com/cat.php?cat=phth40) and I hope you'll enter the remix competition related to it (details below). Also, there are 4 prizes in the list that you'll likely be very interested in.

The Andrew Duke--Consumer vs. User remix contest is now officially "live" on http://andrew-duke.com and http://stratagem-musik.com and running until August 31, 2006. The best resulting remixes will be released on Stratagem Musik (http://stratagem-musik.com) and great prizes are up for grabs including software, magazine subscriptions, books (including 2 copies of Chad Carrier's Ableton Live 5 Power!), CDs-ROMs (including 2 copies of Brian Jackson's Ableton Live CSI Master), and CDs.

Even if you decide not to enter the contest, there are 385 WAV samples (available as 24bit and 16bit) from my Consumer vs. User album (http://www.phthalo.com/cat.php?cat=phth40) available for free download on http://andrew-duke.com/contests.html as well as a full preview of the album's lead track in the player on http://myspace.com/andrewduke

I do hope, though, that some of you Ableton-Live-using-music-makers here will enter the contest. And please spread the word to any producers and composers and sound designers you think might be interested in entering the contest and in playing with the samples.

Thanks.
Take care.
Andrew

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 2:58 am

Andrew Duke--Consumer vs. User remix competition rules:

* Entrants are strongly encouraged to use only the samples from the Consumer vs. User sounds zips in the creation of their remix, but this is not a requirement.

* Encode your track as a WAV or AIFF (24bit preferred over 16bit) or minimum 256 kbps MP3.

* Email your track as an attachment to Stratagem Musik with subject "Consumer vs. User remix contest"

* With your submission, include your:
>artist name
>real name
>website address
>mailing address (in case you win a prize!)
>bio
>photo

* You may submit only one remix per artist name.

* Your submission must be received by Stratagem Musik by Thursday August 31, 2006 12 noon Atlantic Standard Time to be considered for this remix contest.

The best remixes (as determined by Andrew Duke and Stratagem Musik) will be released on Stratagem Musik.

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 2:59 am

Andrew Duke--Consumer vs. User remix competition has 16 great prizes:

1 copy of Native Instruments Reaktor 5 (grand prize)
1 copy of FXpansion GURU
2 copies of FXpansion DR-008
2 copies of AudioMulch *
1 one-year subscription to Computer Music
1 one-year subscription to Remix
1 one-year subscription to Virtual Instruments
2 copies of Ableton Live 5 Power! (by Chad Carrier)
2 copies of Ableton Live 5 CSi Master (by Brian Jackson)
1 autographed copy of Sound Forge 8 Power! (by Scott R. Garrigus)
2 autographed copies of Andrew Duke's Consumer vs. User CD

* Two AudioMulch licenses have been kindly donated by Ross Bencina, one of which will be awarded to the best remix made using AudioMulch (either exclusively or in conjunction with other tools). Contestants wishing to be considered for the special AudioMulch prize must submit their .amh documents along with their audio remix.

stratagem · Post by **stratagem** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 3:17 am

release number 5 for stratagem is now available, check it out at http://www.stratagem-musik.com

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Sat Jul 08, 2006 3:31 am

stratagem wrote:release number 5 for stratagem is now available, check it out at http://www.stratagem-musik.com

Check it out, folks.
Lots of awesome stuff and a whole bunch of variety, too.
Andrew

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 3:42 pm

Thanks for the mention in the newsletter, Ableton.
Take care.
Andrew

stratagem · Post by **stratagem** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 6:42 pm

hello.

we have updated our design, now it looks better and more consistent.

http://www.stratagem-musik.com

cheers!

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 2:57 am

stratagem wrote:hello.

we have updated our design, now it looks better and more consistent.

http://www.stratagem-musik.com

cheers!

Lookin' great.
One of my fave colors!
Andrew

AndrewDuke · Post by **AndrewDuke** » Sat Jul 15, 2006 2:59 am

Dear Ableton:

Thank you for your continuing support of the Andrew Duke--Consumer vs. User remix competition. It is MUCH appreciated.
And great to hear the announcement of Live 6 today. My sound design and music production course students will be chomping at the bit to give that a go!

Have a good weekend, everybody.
Andrew