Moment Sound is happy to be part of the annual Motion Graphics Festival!

In its 6th year, MGFest stands as the premier US event showcasing creative motion picture design. The festival presents a year-long, regionally focused program of events focusing on motion design, sound design, and interactivity by hosting: art showcases, workshops, classes, panel discussions, studio tours, theater screenings and industry mixers.

Moment Sound artists will perform at the festival opening after party at the Burlington as well as the Installation Art Showcase (see the events section on the right)

$7 gets you entry to all MGFest events (RSVP on MGFest.com required for each event)

Download the whole release: Hi Rez ZIP or a smaller VBR ZIP

Yet another Chicago artists with a very unique style of his own, Blackdaylight cooks up a deep dish of trip-hop grooves. Sonically heavy, Black’s infusion of gritty vocals and acoustic samples over a sort of 808 purism is cosmic-tribal. The live recordings have sometimes have a rough, raw sound, resulting in very warm and personal feel. It is “deep in the sheets” music – sensual, throbbing and grimy. And while there is certainly a fair amount of “daylight”, the larger portion of this album is dark and serious. Imagine yourself standing on a rooftop watching the city burn as tracks like Quicksand bang relentlessly. This is mood music – intoxicating.

visit Blackdaylight on Myspace

you can download individual songs here: release on archive.org

if for some reason that doesn’t work, then here

…a downtempo set (for the most part) from april 2007 performed with an electribe es1

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later we’ll fire up the percolator

A mix of hot stew – cut up, edited and mashed – from Noleian!
Dark, dirty yet soft and warm at all at once.

links:
black tekno
myspace
audio hosted by infinite state machine

Out of the blue a band called The Bees Knees have emerged and left every dance-floor they’ve played soaked with the sweat of able bodies. Be it a hard core hip-hop crowd, gay stand-up comedy fans, or electronic music geeks such as myself, everybody goes ape shit (just when I thought hipsters couldn’t dance any more retarted). This kind of crowd response is usually reserved for die-hard fans of super-status acts, yet The Bees command the same sort attention from complete strangers. They are the total package of talent, originality, fun, good looks (a marketer’s dream), and while the people shake their goods I can’t help but think it’s only a matter of time before they are signed, sealed, and delivered. I’m almost scared to see what they’ll sound like after some weathering. The lovely Billi D on vocals, S2 on sax, Wizabee on Guitar, and the one Scottfree holding down beats, synths, and other scapes are doing the damn thing. Keep an eye out and if you live in or near Chicago be sure to catch one of their performances (they only play like, every week). Peep the demo and links below for more info.
-Lokua

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Last month my good friend Ari AKA Release celebrated his debut LP. Four years in the making, Release From Within is a 23 song labor of love featuring many Chicago based MCs and singers, as well as instrumentals often maintaining a unique air of humility (like my personal favorite “Young Sun”). The entire album can be downloaded for free at Cypher Infinitum (be sure to check out Lord 360′s weekly comic strip Anti-Pop Gun while you’re there).

-Lokua

Hi, everybody! It’s me, Uncle Garo, and I’m doing a series highlighting some of my favorite electronic musicians. There are many here in Chicago and abroad, but I guess I’ll just have to start one by one…
This is Ipaghost:

Ipaghost is one of the most creative and hard working musicians in Chicago. His style is one of my favorites. Think IDM, Electro, video game music on amphetamines and steroids. I’ve watched Ipaghost play many times, and I must say, he has a serious command over his machines and performance. Here are some links to his music and related projects:

An excellent Live PA he did at our Darkroom night:

Some more songs.

MySpace.

Iron Chef of Music event series.

You know, my friends, it warms my heart when an electronic musician is working hard for the people; an artist who presents their improvisation, ideas, and machinery in a cohesive, enlightening and well crafted manner. Stay tuned for part 2 of “These are a few of my favorite things.”

Here is a two part mix of classic hip hop instrumentals featuring some of my biggest inspirations like DJ Premier, Pete Rock, RZA, Large Professor, J-Dilla, Molemen, Diamond D, etc. Most tracks are from the mid to late 90s but there quite a few from the late 80s and 00s. I apologize for not providing a track-list but if you want to know what’s what, email me (lokua@momentsound.com) with the time the track occurs and I will do my best to honor your request.

Download: 320 kbps ZIP (hi rez) or VBR ZIP (lower rez, smaller file) *if the links don’t work try the ones at the bottom of this post

A Waveplant is a union between different elements that combine to create a singularity with hybrid vigor. Rather than keeping strictly with any genre, Waveplant extends this idea into tracks and scores that share this blend of approach: fresh and forward, human and resonant.

The music featured on this release was created by taking fragments of live improvisation sessions, and combining them into new tracks in realtime. In essence, it is an album about using the studio to boil down the best aspects of live performance to a concise whole.

There are 2 sets, downtempo (1 – 5) and minimal house (6 – 8), each with different scenes, or tracks that are meant to be listened continuously.

Waveplant website: www.waveplantstudios.com

you can download individual songs here: www.archive.org/details/moment_004

***if the above download links do not work you can also download the ZIP file here as well as individual songs here: http://momentsound.com/releases/moment_004_waveplant/

I’ve been listening to The Opus (Mr. Echoes and The Isle Of Weight) for well over a decade. They were the first hip hop producers I’ve seen bring all their hard-ware to a show and improvise live on the spot, causing heads and bodies to violently sway as if possesed. The world’s greatest beat-makers all have their signature. Dj Premier mastered the chop, Pete Rock brought a lot of soul, J-Dilla brought that bounce, the wompy bassline. The Opus’ sound is most recognized by their use of hard-hitting drums and intense break-like patterns. Moods ranging from war-like to enlightened are all spoken for. To put it simply, they are DOPE AS HELL. On top of being underground heroes here in Chicago, The Opus has also worked with an impressive list of world reknown artists such as DJ Krush, Aesop Rock, and Murs to name a few. This live-set is from Moment 8. For more about The Opus visit www.theopusonline.com
-Lokua

download the release:
high quality zip | slightly lower quality zip

Moment Sound celebrates the release of “Sunflower”, a diverse collection of songs from one of our primary founders, Slava. For the past several years Slava has been playing and organizing events throughout Chicago focusing on the advancement of live electronic music and art culture. Like his many performances, Sunflower spans a wide array of styles while maintaining a certain atonement that is uniquely “Slava”.

Beyond the use of complex harmonies and unpredictable yet familiar melody lines is an almost obsessive approach to texture and timing. This is what happens when you put a jazz-man on a beat machine. His coolness transcends the temporality of trend and the artistic result is well-rounded music. Simultaneously ingenious and humble, the overall sound of this release can be described as contemplative, ambient yet attention grabbing, aromatic. Stay tuned for more release and live recordings from Slava in the near future.
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Yet another blast from the past live set, this time accompanied by an in depth (and up-to-date) interview…

Slow Children: What was the sky like when you were young?

Lokua: The sky was a visual soundtrack for imagination. Even now i still go to the park and lay down and pretend that I’m hanging from the universe’s ceiling looking down on the sky, something like reverse gravity, the sky is a bottomless pit. Before I had thought about things like an ever-expanding universe or infinity it was all right there in front of me. I didn’t need to think to experience wonder, just had to look.

SC: Bubble helmet ah? …And what about colors?

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Below you will find live recordings from the Intimate Ambiance party we hosted at El Dorado. The event turned out to be quite amazing and all together lasted about 12 hours. There were pillows blankets, stuffed animals relaxed people, a mysterious script, a few spills, a missing jacket, bags full of bags, a box of games, a very strange puzzle, stretches, an amazing massage, a record player that plays slow and weird, a waterphone, candles, sleepers, and lots of great ambiance.

Intimate Ambiance pt2 is 0A03 (live) ~ 30m | Miles Tilmann (live) ~ 1h | Polyfuse (live) ~ 10m
Intimate Ambiance pt1 is Mama Sonic (dj) ~ 40m | Dreamlogicc (live) – 45m
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Live set by Garo from Moment 8 (April 2007) The audio quality is not the best and the recording drops out for a few seconds in the middle as a result of a disconnected power cable. At the end of the recording you’ll hear Coyote DG making some announcements followed by the first song from his set, the rest of which unfortunately did not get recorded.