Electro superstar Zombie Nation is a true veteran of the studio, having been generating gritty analog hits since his career-defining stadium anthem, “Kernkraft 400.” Next week, Florian Senfter will be releasing his fifth studio album, RGB, on Montreal’s legendary Turbo imprint. To mark the release, ZN stars in the first edition of Turbo’s new Studio Sessions video series, which shows Senfter hanging with studio pro Spaceman as he works the vintage Roland System 700 analog synth. Things get groovy once the track that gets going and the in-studio disco lights come on. Watch the video and read Zombie Nation’s breakdown of his own home studio set-up after the jump.

ZOMBIE NATION HOME STUDIO BREAK-DOWN

Teenage Engineering OP-1 synthesizer

Don´t hate on this toy! This little synth is to music production what the iPhone was to cellphones. While it´s difficult to make a whole song with it, I use it a lot to collect ideas on the road. I have used it on as many as five songs on my new album.

My favorite feature is the internal FM radio receivcer, where you can grab samples and they are instantly laid out over the keyboard in bite size pieces.  The other day I sampled radio stations while I was on a plane!  Be fast, each station will only appear for about 8 seconds.  

Roland System 100m modular synthesizer 

This early ’80s modular synth is less complicated than it looks. I used it quite a lot with Tiga on our ZZT project, with Tiga on the right block and me on the left — we we are ready to jam. This leads you to unique places and into situations that you can´t get in the virtual world. Enjoying the process is very importand the the final result. 

Vertigosound VSC-2 Quad Discrete Compressor

This compressor represents the outboard section in my studio. I have a bunch more stuff but this is my favorite, not only because of it´s blue metallic shine. I use it all the time because it is so subtile and glues the mix together with a bit of a magic. It´s a pro machine and the pricetag is very high, but it´s arguably the best modern compressor around. My tip: there is a plugin by Brainworx which is 90% as good as the real thing at 5% of the price. 

AKAI MPC 1000 Sampler/sequencer

I am a decided MPC addict since 1997 – when I bought my first electronic instrument  — a MPC 2000. It´s my tool of choice to work out patterns and beats. I have made almost all my music on MPCs. Recently I am working more on the road and there is no usable battery powered version (yet). I have even dragged the 4000 around for live shows for five years, every weekend. That beast weighs 14 kilos! The main advantage of an MPC: you dance while you work on it. 

Quested V3110 speakers

Speakers are the most important part of a studio setup, followed by good studio acoustics. Whatever instrument you use, if you can´t hear how it sits in the mix you are taking the risk that only you will hear what it’s about. And it gives you a sense of purpose if you can listen to your stuff loud! 

www.facebook.com/zombienation

Turbo Recordings is offering a second set of remixes of Tiga/Zombie Nation’s Work, the most recent single from their Partys Over Earth LP. Check out the mindtrip of a video above for Torontonian’s Gingy & Bordello’s take on the track, due out February 21^st along with remixes by The Advent & Spiriakos and Norman Nodge.

Perhaps that’s why this new video from ZZT, the collaborations between Tiga and Zombie Nation, gets me so excited. Particularly the quick fame at 1:31. Or maybe it’s the squelching melodic acid lines that get my blood pumping. “Partys Over Los Angeles” is the first video from ZZT’s debut album, Partys Over Earth, which is due out Nov. 7 on Tiga’s Turbo Recordings.

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URB Presents: Zombie Nation TRACKLIST

01. Evil Nine – It´s You

02. DJ Godfather – All The Players Represent

03. Lone – For Ed

04. Djedjiotronic – The Invisible Landscape

05. Etienne de Crecy – No Brain (Paul Chambers Remix)

06. Zombie Nation – Chickflick (Boris Dlugosch Remix)

07. Harvard Bass – Blitz

08. TWR72 – Future Tool Dub

09. Japanese Popstars – Kid Roppongi

10. Misk – Frog March

11. Juan Atkins – Marz

12. DJ HeCan – MickyFicky

13. Tagteam Terror – Flashin pt. 2

14. Zero Cash – Wake-Up Call

15. Zombie Nation – Day of Many

16. Ado – Plugged

17. Breakbot – Hades of Black

18. Punks jump up – Blockhead (Zombie Nation Remix)

19. La Riots – The Drop (Duke Dumont Remix)

20. Lars Moston & Ben Mono – Can´t Stop

21. Love Money Music Body fr. Aaron Smith (Polymath Remix)

22. Johanna Knutsson – Heavy Baby (James Creed Remix)

23. Max Bett – Red Pigs

24. Royksopp – Forsaken Cowboy

- Pedro Winter [http://busyp.coolcats.fr/2011/01/let-the-children-techno-4/]

Compilation CDs tend to be one of the following: a mix of tracks that cater solely to the tastes of the person that created it (though sometimes, just sometimes, proving to flow better than expected), or plain bad. Why not listen to your own playlist? You can finally figure out how to work iTunes DJ for Christ’s sake.

Let The Children Techno does none of the above. This twenty track CD, compiled and mixed by Busy P and Dj Mehdi of Ed Banger Records, is actually worth the listen. And by that I mean worth taking the time to try a million passwords before you can sign into your old MySpace account to stream the mix. And not be disappointed. The compilation is made up entirely of new, unreleased music from artists such as Siriusmo, Brodinski and Tony Senghore, L-Vis 1990, Flying Lotus, Mr. Oizo, SebastiAn, Breakbot, Feadz, Cassius, Skream, Gesaffelstein, Para One & Tacteel, Zombie Nation, Discodeine, Bobmo, Riton, Dumont, Mattie Safer, Duke Dumont, and Djedjotronic.

Needless to say, for any techno-electro fan, this is like the birthday party of the millennium that you desperately want to be invited to. The crew from Ed Banger Records was able to gather friends and family and rally – to take time off of their own individual projects and each create something fresh.

As Pedro Winter aka Busy P, creator of Ed Banger Records, says himself, there’s down, up, warm, cold, love, and dub – a little bit of something for everyone, and a whole lot of goodness all around. The workings of each track are particular to the artist who made the contribution, and if anything have you listening closer to see what each really wanted to bring to the plate on the all star mix. Breakbot gets you moving with a hand clapping “Shades of Black,” Gesaffelstein’s “The Voice” gives you chills like a Michael Jackson “Thriller,” Feadz does 80s synths like a pro on “Far From Home,” Flying Lotus’s “Caravan of Delight” is beyond entrancing, and SebastiAn and Cassius bring it on home with “Enio” and “Shark Simple.” Oh, and it’s safe to say that DJ Mehdi’s “Tragicomehdi” and Busy P’s “Procrastinator” alone could have you pulling out that credit card and making an online purchase of the whole compilation.

Bravo Ed Banger!

Available for purchase at coolcats.fr.

STREAM:: Let the Children Techno (Compiled and Mixed by Busy P and DJ Mehdi)

Tracklist:

1 Mr Oizo – Let The Children Techno
2 Busy P – Procrastinator
3 Duke Dumont - Hipgnosis
4 Siriusmo – Idiot
5 Para One & Tacteel – Infinity Riser
6 Breakbot – Shades of Black
7 SebastiAn – Enio
8 Mattie Safer – Is that your girl ?
9 Gesaffelstein – The Voice
10 Cassius – Shark Simple (L-VIS 1990 & The Neon Dreams remix)
11 Djedjotronic – The Invisible Landscape
12 Discodeine – Grace
13 Feadz – Far From Home
14 Brodinski & Tony Senghore – Anagogue
15 Bobmo – Control
16 Zombie Nation – Relax
17 Riton – One Night Stand
18 Skream – Boart Party
19 DJ Mehdi – TragicoMehdi
20 Flying Lotus – Caravan of Delight

LA was one big rave last Halloween weekend, as HARD Haunted Mansion and Monster Massive took over the city and with crazy lineups of electronic bliss. URB had the pleasure of spending Halloween night at HARD, which took place at the Shrine Auditorium. An estimated 18,000 people came out over the course of the two days, according to the 9,000 capacity that was reached according to organizer Gary Richards (as reported by LA Weekly). There were gatecrashers, counterfeit tickets and the like, but overall the event was very well-managed and under control.

Good thing, since Friday headliners Deadmau5 and 2 Many DJs were surprise guests at the Saturday show. Everyone was able to make their way between the smaller indoor stage and outdoor mainstage quite easily, making it easy to catch a bit of every act’s set if you so desired.

One of the most energetic sets of the night was undoubtedly the unstoppable Major Lazer. The brainchild of Diplo and Switch, Lazer got the crowd grooving with their insane energy and audience interaction. By the time “Pon de Floor” was blaring from the speakers, it was game over–the crowd erupted into a frenzy of flailing limbs and shaking asses.

video by Glenjamn2

Basement Jaxx brought it, as expected, mixing old classic favorites with newer gems, and throwing in some dubstep to the crowd’s delight.

video by Glenjamn2

The crowd patiently waited for Justice to set up, anticipating the treasured cross lighting up in all its glory. Gaspard and Xavier smoked their cigarettes and coolly navigated their set, never flinching or breaking their French je ne sais quoi attitude in the face of the cheers from their crowd. They dropped some surprise tracks (including Duck Sauce!), as well as well-known faves. Deadmau5′s surprise set was well-received, but left something to be desired in our opinion. Overall, “go hard or go home” seemed to be the operative motto of the night; Zombie Nation later wound the party down as the Lady Gagas and LA pixies shuffled their way to the exits…

This double-whammy comes care of Mixmag, and they hooked us up with two slammin’ mixes. First, Tiga’s has Zombie Nation’s “Worth It pt. 1.,” ZZT’s “The Worm” (Original Munich version), and Tiga’s own “Shoes” (Mr. Oizo remix). On Fanciulli’s mix, you get The Mole’s “Acadian,” “Sebo K’s “Sax” (Reboots twisted First rework) and Joris Voorn’s “We’re All Clean Test,” among others.

Download: Tiga Mix and Fanciulli Mix

Related:
Feature :: Tiga: Last Comic Standing
Review :: Tiga, Ciao!

We wanted to give a sincere congrats to New York’s Crooklyn Clan for surviving 15 years in the game. In ’93, DJ Riz and DJ Sizzahandz released their first single on Nervous Records and a year later, blew up New York with “Be Faithful” a track still heard at virtually every social event imaginable. (See below.) In addition to gigging around the world, producing, and running the remixing service The Vault, DJ Riz is the official DJ for the NFL. We tapped his brain to get his Top 10 party-starting anthems.

“I like to listen to songs with different energy, some are up-tempo, some are feel-good songs, and some just classics I grew up with. I could probably have a legit top 100 to list. These are what I would listen to for getting pumped up (in no particular order).”

1) “So Wat Cha Sayin” – EPMD

Another one of my all time favorite old school hip-hop songs.

2) “Be Faithful” – Crooklyn Clan Ft. Fatman Scoop

Not because we produced this record, but to me, this might be one of the all-time biggest party records ever. You know it’s a bona fide classic when it’s in rotation at weddings with songs like the “Electric Slide”, I Like It Like That,” “Don’t Stop Believing” etc.

3) “Zombie Nation” – Kernkraft 2000

A huge sport stadium anthem that gets anyone and anywhere pumpin.

4) “Song 2″ – Blur

“Woo Hoo”

5) “Why” & “You Belong To Me” – Carly Simon

In no way do these songs have the energy of the other ones. These are just two personal favorite 80′s jams with great instrumentation and the amazing voice of Carly.

6) “Summertime” – DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince

Feel-good song that I always loved when I was coming up as a DJ.

7) “Represent” – Nas

A cut from the classic Illmatic album produced by good friend DJ Premier. Love this record.

8) “Smooth Operator” – Sade

Cause this is what I consider myself. Great song.

9) “Shadows” – Pryda Ft. Eric Prydz

House song that I never get tired of.

10) “900 #” – Mark the 45 King

Even though it is just a looped horn sample with added drums, it is straight, dope, classic old-school hip-hop energy.

For the best, and really only, representation of this track, go here. It’s worth it. Trust us.

Zombie movies May be at an all-time creative high, but there's so many of them that the zombie nation is being threatened with an over-exposure of the Kanye West degree. Zombies here, zombies there, zombies everywhere….but wait, pause on that, and just think about how absolutely terrifying it'd be if zombies were, in fact, here, there and everywhere. Look to your right, they'd be eating the brains of your co-worker. Turn around, at least one zombie would be inching towards your brain, licking his chops and ready to wild out like your dome was a Pinkberry. Peanut Butter Wolf isn't scared, but he has some serious disdain for zombies. After you watch the video above, check out the exclusive interview with the Stones Throw head-honcho.

URB: Would zombies make better basketball players or rappers? Why?
Peanut Butter Wolf: Probably basketball players because they're forced to dress like zombies (in suits) when off the court. Who wears suits nowadays? I read an interview that said that people who work at high tech computer firms like IBM don't even have a dress code anymore and can come to work wearing jeans, yet basketball players have to wear suits? Whoever's enforcing that rule are the real body snatchers. Lighten up guys.

* The zombie invasion is impending. They are eating the brains of your friends, who are thus, turning into zombies and trying to eat your brains. What's your five song playlist and why?
Did you ask for five cuz that's how many players are on a team? Either way, top five old school hip-hop basketball songs are:

1. Dr Jam-Men At Play
2. Keep It On-G Five
3. The Unbeatable Dream-Akeem The Dream
4. NBA Rap-Hurt Em Bad
5. NBA Allstars-Ultramagnetic MCs

These are my favorites because they're the only five old school basketball songs I own (besides Basketball by Kurtis Blow). If anybody has others, hit me up on crackspace. Seriously.

* What's the best zombie movie?
Gary Wilson would be the one to answer this. He's a big horror film buff. He loves the old black and white classics as well as the Twilight Zone episodes. I can't think of any besides the “Thriller” video. Does that count?

* Will the second Madvillain album come out before or after the impending zombie invasion?
The zombies are upon us now, but I'm confident that it'll be over soon.

* Who's contributing more to society: Ringtone rappers or zombies?
You know, we signed a deal with a ringtone company as well, but our royalty statements from them so far have been between $3-$5 per quarter for the whole Stones Throw catalog. Another $15 a year in extra income! Maybe I should've called the album, “B-ball ringtone accounting statement war.”

* Anything else before we go eat some brains?
Friends…I, like many of my fellow Americans, have had a disdain for zombies my whole life and I'm just really thankful that 2K Sports has realized the seriousness of this moral, political and economic issue, and agreed to come to the aid of myself and potentially millions of others around the country who deal with zombies in some form or capacity on a weekly (and sometimes even a daily) basis. The beauty of this nation is that we can all take a stand together in this time of crisis and win the battle.

Many of our freedoms are protected, like free speech and the freedom of owning a firearm in case a zombie invades our property. Let's love each other and instead take out all of our anger and aggression on the zombies.

Although in pagan folklore, all zombies had red hair, these statements are not directed at Alexander The Great, Christopher Columbus, George Washington, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson, Winston Churchill, or Cyndi Lauper. Furthermore, these statements made by Peanut Butter Wolf (with the help of google) do not necessarily reflect the views of 2K Sports, the National Basketball Association, nor Decon Media.

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