Tweaking Trays brings you our 1st single!!

Our favorite knob-twister Kohwi just finalized his first single release with "The Otter Twice." We could not be more excited to bring you this work that incorporates field recordings, glitched loops, and guitar drones. These techniques combine to form a chaotic mesh that slowly dissipates and evolves into a bed of warm synthetic textures and a driving backbeat that carries the song through to the end.  Kohwi is currently working on his debut full length (as of yet, untitled) which is due to drop sometime in late summer / early fall 2010.


Kohwi - The Otter Twice (TT002)











And, as always here at Tweaking Trays, we have it for you fo' free!! That's right. We don't believe in money:

>>>>>>Download via Bandcamp
>>>>>>Download via Mediafire


(these links are also on our releases page. Ch-ch-ch-chch-checkitout!)

Oh ya, and stay tuned for our COMPILATIONS EP!!! (artists and songs tba, but we have a bundle of tracks that we're excited about--just ain't quite finalized yet)

With much tweaking love, pride and joy,
Pacman XD

WCBN's Post Fundraiser Bash

Hey all,

Just a quick plug here for tonight's Freeform Cabaret Post-Fundraiser Bash at the Blind Pig tonight.  Should be a crazy night, so make sure to get there early & stay late.  If you're not in town, don't worry!  The entire show will be broadcasted live over the radio-shmadio airwaves via WCBN (88.3fm) and on WCBN's online stream @ www.wcbn.org

8pm doors (yes that's 8:00pm even though the blind pig website says 9:30 doors...they lie!)

8:30-8:45 Legendary Creature

8:55-9:15 Mellows

9:25-9:45 Uh-Ohs

9:55-10:15 Lawn Care

10:25-10:45 Looking for Mammoths

10:55-11:15 Tokyo Sexwhale

11:30-12:00 Secret Twins

12:15-12:45 Old Soul Quintet

1:00-1:30 City Center

Support your 100% volunteer operated freeform radio!

All Hail Bedroom Production: Primary 1 + Boas

Got some more lovelies for you all.

PRIMARY 1

UK bedroom producer Primary 1 has recently gotten picked up my major label (not to be confused with Major Lazer) Atlantic Records, but that doesn't stop him from releasing Mess Detective, a full continuous 41 minutes of british bedroom pop-funk demos, for free via his website.  Check out the video of the album's closer below, and download the whole 15 track Mess Detective straight from his site, here!  I see this guy as a more honed and accessible Max Tundra (who's cut and paste pop album, Parallax Error Beheads You, was one of my favorites of '08) but Primary 1's clear funk/soul influences are what really make him standout as a bedroom electronic producer.

 

Boas  

On a much smaller scale than signing for Atlantic, here we have Boas, a solo project of Richmond, VA's Tyler Newbold. Just got word of his debut s/t album via Richmond bloggers Ongakubaka, which you can also download for free via Boas' bandcamp site. Finding a place somewhere nestled deeply in between today's overhyped chillwave/Animal Collective stylings and more traditional ambient / IDM, there's something strangely fresh about Boas' sound. Maybe it's the in your face crisp drums overlaying droney vocals on tracks like Imagine Fire juxtaposed then with the ambient bliss in the middle of Reaching.... Either way you'll find that the sounds draw you in and never let your attention span draw you too far away from your headphones. The fifth track on the album, Dipole seems to be a turning point from more vocal centered songs to the world of acid-synths and spliced and diced breakbeats, but it never seems like he's taking you too far from home. Listen to Five Trees below and be sure to check out the whole album on bandcamp as well.

west michigan dubstep scene is born!!

hey y'all, this is your palzy subvader (cuz the pacman let me use his account to post this meself) and i am proud to say that west michigan finally has the foundation for a killer dubstep scene!

the peeps behind this movement are known as DUBSTEP-G.R. (That's right, they're based in Grand Rapids, MI!) AND, they've been kind enough to not only feature my mixtape in their myspace player, but also write a little blurb and have me as a featured artist! BIG UPS Y'ALL!!

ben steele (aka B-sKID) and cody madison (aka trip) got this entertainment group together not even a month ago and they already have some super-rad plans. a little bird told me they are planning on blasting their soundsystem to celebrate 4/20 this year, and it sounds like i'm going to be making some appearances on their bills later this summer--i couldn't be more stoked!

i'm sure pacman will continue to post about these guys, SRSLY STAY TUNED!!!

-SUBVAYYYYDAAHHHH

A Little Something to Tweak out to...

Ever wanted to hear the song of the solar system?

White Vinyl Design has created quite the music box, but unlike modern planetary scientists, they don't discriminate against Pluto.

Check out and manipulate the SolarBeat here.

For those who cried in bed wishing they were at SXSW.....

So you probably deserve some sort of medal if you managed to get through the last week without being bombarded by massive amounts of tweets, RSS'es, and blog-posts about SXSW....

It sure seems like every 5 minutes, whether intended or not, I found myself reading about whats going down in Austin, and wishing I was there...Lucky for me I had the Shake Some Action Samplers to keep me alive!  This 3-day show last week, curated by Weekly Tape Deck, Transparent Blog, Indie-Verse Radio, Yours Truly, Underwater Peoples, and Friendship Bracelet had by far the biggest number of awesome bands that I'd never heard of in one show (granted it stretched over 3 days...but who's counting?).


How do I know how awesome these bands are, seeing that I wasn't at SXSW you may ask??? Because in addition to throwing together a showcase of godly proportions, these folks created 2 (yes count them, TWO) zip files of 17-18 tracks each featuring songs from the bands to be featured during the 3 days that were posted online FOR FREE via mediafire.

Needless to say, I've found countless new bands to be looking out for this year thanks to these guys. A bunch of my favorites are available for streaming below, but be sure to download both full zips and SHAKE SOME ACTION!

SHAKE SOME ACTION SAMPLER PART 1

SHAKE SOME ACTION SAMPLER PART 2

As for the tracks on my "favorites" list below, MillionYoung is a guy I've been aware of for quite a while (I've been waiting for a chance to post some of his material on here!) but the other 5 bands were all new finds for me thanks to the folks that put this party together!

News on the Tweaking Horizon!

Don't know what's going on wherever you are, but the weather in Ann Arbor has gotten soo nice recently.....I think we can say it's spring?

So HOOORAYY FOR SPRING!


Lots of sweet news on the Tweaking front....


1.  Mellows @ UMMA!

Mellows will be performing @ UMMA (Univ. of Michigan Museum of Art) in the commons this Thursday at 8:00pm alongside local folk hero Nathan K.  The commons is the glassed in area facing the diag (not the glassed in area with the rotating art exhibit).  It's usually filled with tables and chairs, but those will be cleared out for the show.  The show is part of UMMA's monthly Third Thursday performance series.

RSVP on the facebook Event HERE!

2.  Subvader single to be released on Trenchant next month!

We've just gotten word from Trenchant Dubs that their compilation EP feat. Subvader's "Y'all Can't Handle Me" will be released sometime next month (April)...so mark your calendars.  Pete (subvader) has also been working diligently on finishing up the rest of the tracks for his Arctica EP, which is due to drop sometime this summer.

Y'all Can't Handle Me by Subvader


3.  Kohwi remixes Seams + more...

Introducing Tweaking's most recent addition to the crew:  I bring you Kohwi.

Seams - Nightcycles (Kohwi Remix)  by  Kohwi


Unfortunately, the final product wasn't finished in time for it to go on Seams' Nightcycles + RMXS 12" release (set for April 26th on Tough Love Records), but if you subscribe to Seams' email list, you do get the Kohwi remix as a bonus free download.

Aside from the Nightcycles Remix, there are a couple other great tracks worth checking out if you head over to Kohwi's new and revamped myspace-home.  Future plans for Kohwi include a couple free singles TBA in the near future, and a stellar mixtape that should be hitting the tweaking site within the next two weeks.

4.  WCBN Fundraiser!

That's right.  We all here at tweaking sure as hell love WCBN, and from last Friday through next Sunday marks WCBN's official annual Fundraiser.  So remember, if you're a local, to proudly show your support  for your favorite 100% Volunteer Operated FREEFORM MAYHEM radio station.

On a personal note, I've got a special Fundraiser edition of DjDr Cornmuffin's Magical Mystery Hour lined up for Tomorrow/Tonight.  That's this Tuesday from 11pm-1am.  Should be a really great show, so be sure to tune in 88.3fm or stream it online!