Sensitive Chaos Holiday Music 2008

Hi Folks!

I performed my first 3-hour-plus set at the Academe of the Oaks Sparkle "N" Splurge Benefit Auction yesterday.

If you enjoy chillout, downtempo, holiday-tinged electronic music and would like a copy of the live recording I made or would like to share it with friends, you can download an mp3 copy here:

http://www.sensitivechaos.com/secretpage.html

Scroll to the bottom of the list and you'll see three links; Academe Holiday 120608 Pt1 - Pt3, each links to an approximately hour long segment of the performance. Right Click or Option Click to download the mp3s to your computer.

A short word about what you'll hear (or what you heard). All the music was composed spontaneously, on the fly, emerging as I was sitting there over in the corner of the room. Nothing was prerecorded.

As I was supporting a holiday event, the music uses alot of sounds associated with the holidays, namely bells, strings, organs, pianos, and drums, with some synth sounds and a kalimba thrown into the mix. I was playing off the energy in the room, so tempos, volumes, and dynamics were created to complement the vibe during the event. The music is intended to be ambient, so playing quietly in the background is recommended. Think "a slightly less cheesy Fresh Aire holiday" album.

There's no charge for these downloads, Happy Holidays! Read more!

City Skies 08 Electronic Music Event December 13, 2008

The City Skies 08 Electronic Music events showcase the region's best electronic musicians at our favorite venue, Kavarna, for listening to a great range of electronic music styles in a chillout environment with a crowd of appreciative musicians and fans.

The next City Skies 08 event will be held on Saturday, December 13, 2008, with shows starting at 8pm. Confirmed performers include:

Sensitive Chaos
Michael Thomas Roe
Masik (from Florida)
Earthgirl (from Indiana)

Future show dates include (shows start at 8pm):

January 10th, 2009, The Synthetix, Klimchak, Kevin "KalimbaMan" Spears, Sensitive Chaos
February 14th, 2009, Sensitive Chaos, Diskeyes-SaNa-Positron, Don Hassler, Burning Artist (Sale)
March 14th, 2009, Sensitive Chaos, Mi.T-Richard Coker, The Subliminator

More information on the events can be found at cityskies.com and the City Skies MySpace page. Tickets for all events can be found at Brown Paper Tickets here.

And if you can't attend in person, all City Skies performances are broadcast live on StillStream.com (on iTunes radio, look under Ambient). Read more!

Sensitive Chaos News

Jim Combs has been hard at work at Common Sound Studio in Decatur, GA on the new Sensitive Chaos CD, currently scheduled for an early 2009 release. The as-yet-untitled effort looks to feature six new tracks expanding upon the palette established on Leak, the first Sensitive Chaos CD released in 2006.

"There are a few songs on the new CD that date from the Leak sessions, and a few that were created and refined over the past year," says Combs. "This new set of tunes represents a broader range of electronic music influences, and brings in elements of electropop, Berlin-school space prog, and even a bit of avant jazz/reggae/dub." Combs re-enlisted soprano saxophonist Brian Good for two songs, and also recruited Finnish musician extraordinaire Otso Pakarinen (Ozone Player) for synth, synth guitar, and synth percussion work.

While waiting for the new CD to appear, Sensitive Chaos continues to receive continuous airplay on internet radio stalwarts Space Station SomaFM, cliqhop IDM, and StillStream.com. It should be noted that Space Station SomaFM and cliqhop IDM have kept the Leak CD in constant rotation since its release in August of 2006. Many thanks to Rusty Hodge and the SomaFM crew!

Sensitive Chaos Leak is available at CDBaby.com and iTunes.

Sensitive Chaos will be performing twice before the end of the year, first on Saturday morning, December 6, at 11pm at the Old Decatur Courthouse as part of the Academe of the Oaks silent auction benefit, and then at 8pm on Saturday, December 13th as part of the City Skies 08 Electronic Music Event at Kavarna in the Oakhurst section of Decatur, GA. Read more!

The Good Graces Rock!

Photo of The Good Graces at Java Monkey by Michelle Friedman.

The Good Graces debut "Sunset Over Saxapahaw" is getting lots of reviews at blogs around the world. Including these from Toronto, Iceland, Germany, UK, and around the USA:

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/544796
http://todiebyyourside.blogspot.com/2008/11/go-blame-someone-else.html
http://thetruthenlightensme.blogspot.com/
http://egillhardar.com/music/?p=731
http://www.culturebully.com/the-hub-friday-november-14-2008
http://elbo.ws/artist/the-good-graces/
http://hypem.com/track/681999/The+Good+Graces-Over+It+MASTER
http://indiedancefloor.blogspot.com/

The Good Graces will be continuing their CD promotion tour by performing around the Southeast at the following venues:

Dec 19 2008 at 9:00P Kavarna, Decatur, GA (with Hope For Agoldensummer and Night Driving In Small Towns)
Jan 22 2009 at 8:00P The Cave, Chapel Hill, NC
Jan 23 2009 at 8:00P The Flat Iron, Greensboro, NC
Jan 24 2009 at 8:00P Evening Muse, Charlotte, NC
Feb 6 2009 at 6:15P Atlanta Brewing Company, Atlanta, GA

The Good Graces Athens Popfest set was posted on this blog:

http://www.theflatresponse.com/2008/11/the-good-graces-8142008-athens-popfest/

It was their first gig in their current configuration.

The Good Graces' "Sunset Over Saxapahaw" CD can be found at the Eskimo Kiss Records web site here, as well as iTunes and Emusic.com. Read more!

The Happenstance

The Happenstance is a yearly musical event in Atlanta, Georgia. They select 30 musicians, make them meet early in the morning at a local rock club, randomly divide them into 5 piece bands, and send them off to create a 20 minute set of music which they will perform that evening. It's thoroughly entertaining, entirely random, and more than a little bit insane. Oh yeah, it's for a good cause. Past charities include The Atlanta Community Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity and The New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund.

Come watch some of the best independent musicians in Atlanta create something unique, fun, and for a great cause. The Happenstance is organized by Brian Fletcher (Luigi) and Jeff Holt (Silent Kids, Georgia Fireflies) with help from various other local musicians. Learn more at thehappenstance.com.

The past four years of performances can be heard and downloaded here:

http://www.thehappenstance.podomatic.com/ Read more!

Devine Sound Launches!

DevineSound (DEVSND) is a new company created by Richard Devine and Joshua Kay specializing in creating utterly unique and uncompromisingly high resolution sound effects and sample library content.

They specialize in the creation of custom sound design environments and sound effect packages for projects of almost any nature. They provide audio content and conceptual realization for film, television, gaming, audio hardware/software, interactive web-based environments, and everything else in between.

DevineSound is currently building a online sound library database and store from which free samples will be offered regularly. Check out free samples of a modified Arp-2600, Circuit Bent TR-808, and Broken Santoor. Link to the site here: http://www.devinesound.net/ Read more!

eSession Releases Virtual Glass v1.2.1

eSession.com has announced the release version 1.2.1 of Virtual Glass, a "zero configuration" networking plug-in for RTAS, AU and VST host applications that enables peer-to-peer audio and video streaming, discrete talkback, and Rewire sync over the Internet in real-time.

In a commercial studio the engineer operates the equipment in a control room while the musicians, separated by a glass partition, perform their parts. Virtual Glass uses the Internet as the high-tech equivalent to the glass partition between engineer and musician. Its 3D design depicts a recording console and a "virtual glass" partition that functions as a video screen, so even the least tech-savvy user feels right at home using the plug-in for real time sessions.

See esession.com for more info.
To use Virtual Glass, you need a recording program, a high-speed Internet connection, a Web camera, and an eSession user account. Installation is simple, and there's no copy protection. The software works with any Mac-compatible Built-in, USB or FireWire camera for real-time video; the camera mic enables voice communication with the talent.

You can connect to other users and stream audio in real time from your RTAS, AU or VST host application to any other RTAS, AU or VST host over the Internet. You can use any Core Audio input device as a discrete talkback channel (for example web cam mic or your Mac's built-in mic). You can sync the connected machines via Rewire sync. This enables everyone around the world to collaborate in real time.

Virtual Glass is available for Mac OS X in RTAS, VST, and AU plug-in formats. Windows versions will be released in the first quarter of 2009. Virtual Glass version 1.2 adds Latency Compensation so that new tracks are recorded and monitored in sync with existing tracks, as well as accurate Rewire synchronization for linking two workstations' timeline playback. Read more!

Holiday Music From Doubtful Palace

Tim Walters and his Doubtful Palace crew have been putting out mp3 versions of slightly mangled holiday tunes for many years.

Here's the link to this year's installment.

And here's where to find past year's tunes.

Happy Holidays! Read more!