Unique Beats' regulars Pandacetamol have released Mind Murders Parts I-IV through the awesome rec72 netlabel and it's not just a standard release, oh no, it's a "horror overture".  Why? Why not!

Here's what rec72 have to say about it:
"Mind Murder Parts I-VI is the feary soundscape by long time label mates Pandacetamol. Dive into a trippy and psychedelic world where your friend becomes an alien and noise takes sinister shapes! Mind Murder Parts I-VI by Pandacetamol is considered to be a horror overture with a complete length of 30 minutes. It’s Pandacetamol’s third full album release on rec72."

Pandacetamol...we love.  Please conitnue to be gloriously weird.
DOWNLOAD IT HERE

http://netlabelism.com/ has become our go to site for high quality Creative Common release reviews.  That is all.

Today Unique Beats is throwing a free event full of live electronica!

Get down to The Forest on 3 Bistro Place (near Edinburgh University) for a day of electro madness including performances from:

FROGPOCKET
ASTHMATIC ASTRONAUT
PROJECT DATALINE
GOODOVEREVIL
PANDACETAMOL
WISE MONK MC
LEKTROID
+ Lots more

It's on from midday Thursday 25th August (today!) until 3am on Friday morning and remember IT'S COMPLETELY FREE!!!

Woop woop!  Because we are generally awesome we have decided to put on a special free Unique Beats 1 day Electronica Extravaganza on the 25th of August at The Forest (where Unique Beats had our very first event!).

The event is taking place from midday until 3am (or whenever we get told to shut it down) and we have some pretty amazing acts lined up for you.  Want to know who's playing? .......check the site in a few days!  We are finalising everything for you at the moment and you'll know once everything is confirmed we promise.

Did we mention that the event is completely free to attend?

TenTracks.co.uk are holding an eclectic range of events at the Teviot Bar (Edinburgh University) as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival starting from Thursday 16th of June and running until the 24th of June. All events run from 11pm until 3am with tickets costing from £9 to £5.

On Tuesday the 21st of June they are holding the "Unique Beats Live" event featuring Frogpocket, Asthmatic Astronaut, Sink, Lamplight and visuals from the Somnie Collective. Check outwww.tentracks.co.uk and www.uniquebeats.co.ukfor more details.

We've bought Ten Tracks head honcho Ed Stack into the Unique Beats HQ to tell us more about the events and play some tracks from the artists performing at Unique Beats Live.

Get your tickets from edfilmfest.org.uk or call the booking office on 0131 623 8030. This event is not to be missed!

The legends over at Ten Tracks are running some very tasty events during the Edinburgh International Film Festival.  On the 21st of June they are holding Unique Beats Live... which will feature live electronica from some of our very favourite artists: Frogpocket, Asthmatic Astronaut, Sink and Lamplighter with some amazing visuals by the Somni Collective.

The event is being held in Festivalhouse at the Teviot - Underground and tickets are on sale from www.edfilmfest.org.uk, by phone on 0131 623 8030 and you can also grab them at the Filmhouse.

Be sure to get your tickets and we'll be giving you a taste of what you can expect in a podcast coming out very soon...

All by Myself.

In the last issue of The Dog, a case was made by Alex Marten that collaborative music making was the best form of music expression.  I am here to disagree with him… to some extent at least.

Playing music in a band is the most fun I have with making music.  We get to be creative together, drink together, laugh together, argue together, and generally share great experiences together.  Bands go beyond being just a bunch of musicians playing the same song: there are bigger things at work. To quote Malcolm Mclaren, “Rock and roll doesn't necessarily mean a band. It doesn't mean a singer, and it doesn't mean a lyric, really. It's that question of trying to be immortal.”  I’d like to think that Alex also drew upon his experience of being in a band in writing his argument; it would be a nice compliment since we play in the same band. (Asazi Space Funk Explosion, in case you’d forgotten.)

However, there is also another part of me that loves making music (or at least trying to) by myself.  Knowing that a laptop and/or any other number of gadgets and gizmos available to musicians these days (paired with some creativity, of course) are all I need, allowing me to express myself whenever I want is extremely freeing.  I don’t have to wait for a band practice, I don’t have to give up or alter ideas due to differing views, and I can create music whenever and however I want.  Maybe it’s my ego screaming for validation; to give me confidence that I alone can make something that others will enjoy. Or maybe it’s just the fact that I can do what I want without the constraints of genre or time.

Over the last 2 years, Red Dog Music and I have run the Unique Beats Electronica Festival. This festival brings together some of the largest manufacturers of recording and music making gear in the world to flaunt their stuff alongside performances from up-and-coming Electronica musicians from Scotland and beyond.  This experience has opened my eyes to the vast amount of tools which are now available to bands and solo artists. I agree with Alex in that there are literally thousands of products allowing people to create music by themselves but surely this is a good thing? To be a bit philosophical and pretentious for a minute, I believe a musician needs nothing more than an idea or a tune in their head to be a songwriter and what these companies have created are tools that allow us to take that idea and turn it into something that can be shared.  We have software that can emulate effects and processes of equipment beyond most of our financial means (such as Ableton, Pro-Tools, etc.), powerful cheap computers (such as Carillon), free software for recording, hardware to make life easier (the APC40, for example)... the list goes on, and on, and on.  Life has never been better for musicians – you can even write songs on your phone, for crying out loud.

Without musicians wanting to do something by themselves we wouldn’t have Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Four Tet, Amon Tobin... Yes, some of them have collaborated with people from time to time and featured backing bands on some tracks but on the whole, they are solo artists. They, themselves, have sat down and written and performed their music and I for one think the world of music is all the better for these musicians.

In this day and age, even if you are producing music by yourself, it can still be a social experience. Uploading tracks to your Myspace, Facebook or Soundcloud page automatically puts it into the public domain and allows you to get feedback from those around you – whether that means one of your close friends or some random from Uzbekistan! Of course, this modern form of musical socialising isn’t restricted to solo artists but it allows us all to get heard, get fans, get feedback and meet likeminded people.  There is no doubt a correlation between the rise of the internet and the number of tools available to musicians with products that are easily downloadable from the click of a mouse.  Of course, some will say that this correlation also directly relates to the decline of music sales and the abundance of home-recorded ‘pop-stars’ flooding the market with musical diarrhea, but that’s a discussion for another article.

Although writing and releasing music from your home studio is all well and good, being a solo artist should not be about being a recluse. The best way to promote yourself in your local area is still, and in my opinion always will be, playing live.  Whether it’s a small coffee shop or a club, playing live is more than worthwhile as it will focus your energies a bit more and provide you with instant feedback from the audience during the performance. Afterwards, you can reflect on what you did right and what needs improving in your songwriting after the performance. Playing live is your learning curve.

If you want to make music, go ahead and make music; whether it’s in a band or all by yourself. Making music shouldn’t just be confined to those who want to be in bands that want to take over the world and get drunk every night – it should be enjoyed by absolutely anyone, and now it can be. I strongly suggest you check out Red Dog Music’s Hair of the Dog Sundays Open Couch Session if you fancy having a bash at playing live in front of an open and friendly crowd.  For electronica musicians, check out www.uniquebeats.co.uk <http://www.uniquebeats.co.uk/>  for info about featuring on our podcasts which are heard by over 3000 listeners, as well as being in with a chance to perform live at one of our Unique Beats events.