Tales from the dOgbOx

Monster, Monster...that's what they're yelling

2012-02-13T16:00:00.000+10:30

..it's not about a salary, it's soon to be reality.

3 more tracks to edit and mix - two weeks tops...then master, then press. Fact.

Chris Bass Bandcamp site + Sayonara

2011-09-27T19:13:00.002+09:30

Sayonara by Chris Bass

No I'm not dead (or undead)...I've had life keep dragging me into it's industrious jaws. The LP is progressing and I have some new tools to help me out.

I've started a Bandcamp site - I'll be moving all tracks there as Fairtiliser has started track limiting. If any tracks start disappearing from here or don't work they'll eventually be posted at Bandcamp. There are only 200 free downloads per month so get in while you can.

First track is Sayonara...It's an amalgamation of old verses that I've been performing since way back then when QLD hip-hop artist CoXster sent me the beat. I polished it up for the LP but it doesn't sit with the newer tracks or the theme...so you get it gratis.

B.O.M.B. with Ev-Omega -Triple-J Unearthed

2011-05-10T21:33:00.004+09:30

Back when I first started hanging with Ev (and he was calling himself Verse1 not Ev-Omega) we recorded a few tracks with his brother Visionz who was in a group called Headstrong Company. Ev and I decided to work together as a production/rhyme duo under the name Soundbombers and we recorded another track for the Battlehoggs mixtape Hype City with Visionz which you can download elsewhere on this blog.

Headstrong started taking off, Ev became their producer and Soundbombers took a backseat. There are still a few tracks in the can including this one: B.O.M.B. I was going to put it on the LP but instead it's up for streaming and download on the Triple J Unearthed site...get it HERE. While you're there feel free to drop a comment.

...and of course DL on the cut...

One Last Drop w. Jekl

2011-05-04T01:58:00.005+09:30

I'm not a big drinker (pause) but when I'm chilling with my mates occasionally I do like to tie one on...it's the Irish in me.
Jekl is a fearsome drinking partner because when the good stuff has run out he will sometimes raid your cupboards looking for any alcohol to drink and failing that maybe even a sip of hand-wash (nowadays only if previously approved by the poisons hotline). Anyhow this track was written on one of those nights...nuff said...if you want to download it click the cover-art in the player.
As always teh turntables by DJ DL

Chris Bass Solo LP update - MONSTER

2011-05-03T22:37:00.008+09:30

I've been threatening to put out a solo hip-hop LP for more than ten years now...it's gotten real tired. I'm a fickle person when it comes to my music (or any music for that matter)-I'm one way on something...then I'm another.

I had a bunch of tracks recorded (but not edited/mixed) for an LP called Monster. Some of the tracks fit the theme others didn't. I'd got to the stage of mocking up the artwork...the front cover...

Then last year Perth legend Hunter collaborated with old school king DJ Vame and brought out an album called Monster House...

...(which also happens to be the name of a 2006 3D animated movie with Steve Buscemi's voice). I thought I don't really want to ride on the coat-tails of that project...I'll hold off for a while...then I got sick of the tracks - dropped a few - recorded a few more...

To make matters worse, later that year my brother dropped the zombie-infused concept DVD Parade of the Dead for his group the Hilltop Hoods with artwork along similar lines (well at least too similar for me).

So I asked one of my mates to spray up a nice piece for the cover. I spent a long session with him looking at ideas and selected a general direction. I picked him up the following week and we went and spent over $100 on paint at Cold Krush. But alas, months later, still no piece and no cover art.

Anyways... I have decided to drop a few of the tracks that now won't be on the LP on the Web for download soon including a Soundbombers track (Ev-Omega and Chris Bass) and a track with the infamous Jekl.

As for the LP...see what happens over the next month. It may even become an EP just to get the project wrapped up. Monster! Monster!

HIDE! instrumental

2011-05-02T13:31:00.005+09:30

Uni is over for now so it's time to get busy again. Another loose night at the dOgbOx last week with Integer, Hamish, Biz and Jekl. I made this beat before they came round for pizza night for Jeks, who is apparently getting prolific with the pen. It needs a Bass bassline but here's a taste for now...

Roadside Distractions

2011-02-08T01:12:00.005+10:30

Another night of fun (do you know fun?) at the dOgbOx was had on Saturday night. My friends Jekl and Integer1 (and also Hamish) came up for a few lazy drinks and we ended up working on a track with the loose(!) theme of Roadside Distractions (Integer and I are good at finding ways of not doing what we are supposed to be doing - in my case finishing the solo LP).

The beat was made on the spot - having "trumpets and glockenspiels" was the request from Jeks. During the session we got a call from Solid MC so some of that phone call is in the intro. His obsession with all things robot inspired this cover art. We also tried to call up Visions to come for a drink but after twenty minutes of continuous ringing we decided that 3AM is obviously a busy time for him and that we should get on with writing our verses.

I was the only one who put anything down. I didn't hear Hamish's verse at all...he didn't seem well and went for a walk at about 5 and never came back. I heard Jeks' verse many times.
I'm posting up a rough mix of the beat tomorrow and you boys better come with the heat...

Free Mixtape: Old Skool Vibe

2011-02-01T03:02:00.003+10:30

I got a real gift for ya. I didn't intend to be posting mixtapes on this blog (unless it was all original tracks) but I remember putting some work into this and enjoying it. It was originally a mix I made as a present to my brother Matt from Hilltops back in 2000

It's Old school hip-hop with a few 80's and early 90s artists and a smattering of newer stuff but with a funk vibe...it's all flavor. A continuous 54 minute mix with a bit of mashing...great tracks (levels jump a bit). Grab it and holla back.

If your idea of hip-hop is what you know off the radio or if you are a youngster with not much idea of your roots, well... some of the tracks are well known, others aren't but they all take you back to the essence in some way. Funk flavour.

Crazy In Love - Chris Bass Remix

2011-02-01T01:01:00.007+10:30

To make it look like I'm more productive I dusted off this remix I did back in 2003 when I was newly in love with B. She can still sing sweet like an angel but the later songs are commercial rubbish -she needs a rootsy soul producer to bring the funk and grit back and let her shine.

Soundbombers - Hype City

2011-01-03T20:07:00.003+10:30

Yeah I know, I know...a blogs supposed to be regular right? What can I say?... life is hectic.

This track originally appeared on the Battlehoggs Official Mixtape Vol. 2 hosted by Brad Strut and distributed by Shogun records, mixed by DJ Juice.

Soundbombers is the production/rhyme duo of Ev-Omega and Chris Bass…but MC Visionz of Headstrong Company is almost always along for the ride, as he is in this track.
Soundbombers took a backseat when Headstrong started getting their ish together, but the occasional collab is not out of the question. Enjoy.

Mind The Gap...

2010-07-29T06:45:00.002+09:30

Yep it's been a long time I shouldna left you without a fat beat to step to...

Work and study and a small amount of socialising have eaten up all of my time over the past couple of months...that and a small trip to the Great Barrier Reef for my birthday.

...regardless I'll try get something new or 'old but new' up soon. In the meantime check out my DJ dL's blog. He has a bunch of awesome mixtapes for free download at the downlow.

Over.

Nod to Kolaps: Propaganda 2010

2010-05-05T21:51:00.002+09:30

It's been awhile - here's something for April.

This is a re-work of the classic track Propaganda by Adelaide MC Kolaps. Some tracks are so gold they should be left alone...but when Integer got me to rip this off an old DAT I couldn't resist. The original track is on the Culture of Kings LPs.

Mad March

2010-03-30T12:10:00.004+10:30

Hey folks. I've uploaded/linked a lot of my music in March but the well is far from dry. Lots more tracks (released and otherwise) that I will finish and post in the months to come. I'm sorta busy at the moment with work/study and now that my computer woes are solved, trying to finish my solo LP...Mad March is over but there are more hot-rocks from the dOgbOx to come.

PS. Being a Lewis Carroll fan I did catch Tim Burton's version of Alice In Wonderland at the movies the other week in 3D. Considering it's a Disney joint, it still had enough of Burton's edginess to be enjoyable...although I don't think I'd dig it as much in 2D, but worth watching.

Ghostwriters

2010-03-23T01:11:00.003+10:30

Just to keep the ball rolling...This track has been up as a fan-only track on my reverb nation profile. It's a track with fellow CH member Subway Suds, a mad artist from QLD. Sudsy has his own blog if you want to see just how good he is - he also chucks up the occasional work by other artists.

The beat is by Johnny G currently in the U.S. It's in 3/4 which makes for interesting flows - so shouts to Johnny.

Social Change - Phat Tape

2010-03-15T07:33:00.003+10:30

This mixtape has just gone off to cd press as we speak, but in true SC style they don't leave you hanging. It's been put together by the musical miscreants Funkwig and DJ Snair, the beat maestros behind Social Change.
For those that don't know DJ Snair was the DJ in my old crew Defenders an incredible turntablist, who placed consistently in the local and national DMC/ITF comps both locally and nationally while those comps still ran (on occasion the obvious winner). Funkwig is ...well...from another planet. Check his history with F&D and the Mnemonic crew - A multi-instrumentalist (drums/percussion/bass/guitar/keys etc) and also one of the finest exponents of live destruction of the AKAI MPC that you could ever hope to see.

As for my contribution, it's a collaboration track recorded last year with Aus. hip-hop heavyweights Cross Bred Mongrels, a track about our hometown, good ol' ADL.

If you're so inclined you can listen to the entire mixtape streamed on Soundcloud by clicking the link below...or if your lucky enough you can wait to cop it on CD.

The Phat Tape on Soundcloud

Free Social Change E.P. and single download

2010-03-12T16:48:00.002+10:30

My mates Social Change have kindly donated their stellar E.P. V. High P. for you to download. All you need to do is click the below links and sign onto their mailing list. Also available for free is their single The Real which I mixed for them. Grab it...you won't be disappointed.

V.High.P. Download

The REAL Download

Staen1@Jive

2010-03-09T12:41:00.003+10:30

A short clip of DJ Staen1 one doing some spun out tech juggle -ish @ Jive Nightclub circa 2003. The audio is off the little still-cam so pretty distorted (no gain control). Part 1's still on the camera.

Chris Bass - AlphaBeta-A Tribute to Loco

2010-03-08T21:03:00.005+10:30

In the early 90's in Adelaide hip-hop lovers were in the minority. Run DMC, Buffalo Gals, Countdown breaking and Blondie was the only mainstream exposure in the late-80s, but the media was being forced to recognize groups like Public Enemy, NWA and Cypress Hill thanks to the negative press from the PMRC in the U.S. and the magic of the video clip. My mate Andy's drum teacher Lawrie Kennedy had brought back tapes from New York of DJ Red Alert's show with groups like Triple Threat on it. I was hooked - I wanted in...

I had a hard time finding people to collab with, I had no access to a sampler or recording gear. Then along came Loco. He was the singer of a group that had just disbanded called Hoot McKloot. They were signed to the punk label Dominator and were the first band that I know of to have the ska/punk thing going on (outside the DC Rasta punk group Bad Brains). They would go from Reggae to hardcore to thrash ska in an instant and the screaming cider-fuelled madman at the forefront was Steve 'Loco' Lowe. They put out a great self-titled Vinyl and also appeared on the Dominator compilation "Are We Still Here?".

Loco and a guy called Pat (DJ Triksta) were looking for people into hip-hop to make music with and I fit the bill. Loco started getting up and rhyming along with the funk band I had going at the time. Together we put together the group 9th Circle with Tim "T-Style" Wyatt. We recorded a lo-fi demo in the basement of Triksta's flat in 1992 and did a few shows before I started concentrating on more live stuff and those guys continued on without me.

Born in England, raised in Brixton and having lived in the States, Loco was a big influence on me in the early days. We could talk politics, conspiracy theories, history, hip-hop, protest etc. which I didn't have with anyone else at the time. He was incredibly eloquent and self-educated and we later worked on some spoken word stuff under the name SNAFU. Because of geography and his love of being off the grid we went our different directions.

He still has my respect and this is a track he wrote the lyrics for that I re-recorded and remixed last year. In true Loco fashion it is total stream of consciousness from Alpha to Omega. This one's for you L.

Javí Martín Bass Solo

2010-03-08T18:37:00.001+10:30

Saw this bass monster at WOMAD last night. The whole band is incredible.

Defenders & Staen1 -Now Lets Start

2010-03-08T18:04:00.003+10:30

From 3 x Aus. DMC Champ Staen1's release 'Certified Dope'. This is a big-up track featuring killer turntablism from DJs Staen1 and Snair. Nuff said.

Once again...if you want to download it click the down arrow icon on the player.

Chimera#9 - Pollen

2010-03-05T03:40:00.000+10:30

I mentioned Chimera#9 in my opening post. Yes I'm a hip-hop artist but this is experimental instrumental mind music. If you're not open-minded in your tastes this is not for you. Go play a Primo beat - you'll feel better.

Adam Ritchie on guitar/MIDI guitar, Dave Hopgood on drums and myself on bass.

Chimera#9 was a very original band I haven't heard much like them then or since. If you are into John Zorn, Industrial Music, Laswell's Last Exit, Tool, Sun Ra then you may have some idea of where this lies…only it's a power guitar trio.

The songs were created by session after session of jamming and are mostly improvised, so the songs are different every time they're played. Sometimes we would come with structured ideas and in some cases I had a whole song structure. Ritchie brought in the occasional one also. We all chucked in ideas and the result was songs which were jams but at a nod, or a look, or a musical cue we would come in on things together…and after 6 months it was really magic.

I was living in a fibro house in Blackwood at the time and the fellas would come over and we'd jam, then go mountain biking, then maybe down a Coopers or two and jam again. We made the most hideous noises at the most intense volume and my neighbours never complained, although they did look at us different afterwards…actually I think we may have scar(r)ed them.

Anyhow, this album was recorded live at Mixmasters studio with one or two overdubs. The room there has a nice high ceiling with mud-brick walls and timber-in fact the same materials are all through it courtesy of the owner/gear guru/master builder Mick Wordley.

Mixmasters Live Room

It was produced by us and Steve Fieldhouse and mixed at Krell Studios, which is now an even more mind-blowing facility in its current incarnation: Chapel Lane Studios - a converted stone church in Hindmarsh. At the time both studios ran off 2" tape and as there was no desk automation at Mixmasters we went to Krell to mix. Now both studios are fully-automated running Pro Tools. It was mastered by Neville Clark at Disk Edits, who I've had the pleasure to work with on several occasions and who also does my brother's tracks for Hilltop Hoods.

Control-room A @ Chapel Lane

This track is one of the easier Chimera#9 tracks to listen to. The Eastern start and sunny melody thing in the middle is Ritchie's idea and the second half of the piece is based on a 13/8 Flamenco rhythm with the accents counted like this: 1231231212123 then 10/8: 1231231212…I know it hurts my head to this day. That's all Dave's fault-a highly technical and rhythmic drummer.

It's called Pollen and if you like the whole Eastern vibe that the Velvet Undergound or Tea Party had on some of their tracks you'll feel it.

...and semi-related here's Mick Wordley waxing lyrical about pro-audio gear at a trade show - it's the first time I've ever heard a compressor called recalcitrant [grins].

Capital F - (Mer)manic De(com)pression

2010-03-05T00:32:00.001+10:30

Capital was a live funk-rock-crossover-blues-jazz-metal-etc...band that I was in through most of the 90's. Guitarist Jules Butcher and I were the core members with many exploding drummers (Andrew Brownsword, Steve Rooney, Dave Watkins, Paul Deeble etc.), other guitarists (Greg Gillot, Simon Edwards) and various other floating musicians including Jason Dred and Chris Soole on sax.

This is a latin-rock instrumental from the limited-edition Life-Cycle (1995) which if nothing else gives me the opportunity to post up the freaking awesome cover artwork by Simon Follet (click on the image and check it out full size).

...oh and it also gives you an idea of what a guitar-god Jules was then (and probably still is).

...and while we're at it - that's not a drummer and a percussionist...that's just Paul on the kit. It was an honour to have played with them all.

This is ME playing with a F#cking symphony orchestra

2010-03-04T21:08:00.001+10:30

...well sort of...not really

It's my bassline that they are playing along to @ the Hilltop Hoods Re-strung concert @ Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

I was seated way at the back with my family. When the bassline kicked in on Breathe the hair stood up on the back of my neck. A full house going mental to the ASO and Hoods over my bassline - it was sorta magic.

Breathe - Hilltop Hoods and A.S.O.

This one has both me and my brother Nick playing on it also. The guitar you hear at the intro - that's him. Of course they are only simple loops and in no way reflect his sheer virtuosity - he's truly talented...but it's good having the three brothers on the one track.

City of Light - Hilltop Hoods and A.S.O.

Album Artwork - Jesse Proverbs

2010-03-04T14:37:00.000+10:30

OK while I'm waiting for my music account to verify I'm posting some album artwork that I did some years back for my homeboy big Jesse. He is a Jamaican-born Australian reggae artist. These designs were for his Vinyl/CD release Chapter & Verse. You can check some of the tracks at http://www.myspace.com/jproverbs.

Here are some of the original ideas...

and...

and here are the final designs

CB.

Wotup

2010-03-04T12:15:00.000+10:30

The dOgbOx is my studio space.
Who? Chris Bass - music producer, musician, hip-hop mc, lover of B-movies, audio engineer and all-round music fanatic.

The intent is to post up things I am/have been involved with - musical & otherwise...and stuff from collaborators, friends -unreleased tracks, art, video, photos-and not just hip-hop.

Hip-hop is my main focus and is all-important but I love all music. In high-school I played bass in a funk band and my musical diet consisted of Funkadelic, Schooly-D, Peter Tosh, Jimi Hendrix, Black Flag and Bob Marley. After that I played in punk bands, rock bands, Capital F, a reggae band, even a dance band and at one point I was subbing on bass in a grrl band called Helga [grin]. In the early days I played bass in a live version of the Hilltop Hoods called the Hooded Puppets. One of my favourites was an experimental instrumental band called Chimera#9 which I formed with Dave Hopgood on drums and Adam Ritchie on bass, both of which were in punk noise band Hobson's Choice and who did stints in Adelaide's original Black metal legends Martire.

...and I don't want to do another 'hip-hop blog-this is dope- download this album'. I love those blogs but there are folks out there who have pretty much got that covered. The focus will be original content...maybe the occasional mixtape.