The Ebony Bed - The Missing (Neosonic Remix)

This remix is essentially what spawned the idea to do The Ebony Bed project 3 plus years ago!  Shouts to visual artist Aaron Hill for being the visionary and catalyst to get myself and singer/songwriter Alona together.  Ironically, my mom and Alona's mom have been best friends/co-workers for longer than we both been alive so i think they were just as happy to see us collaborating as we were ;)  My remix of "The Missing" is, to date, still one of my favorite re-workings of a song and i think really helped show that though Alona (whose background was more rock-based) and myself had different musical paths, we could both step out of our comfort zones and make some real good music!  I can't wait till you all hear the whole album; Be sure and bookmark our album's release date (7.11.11) & make sure you download the sampler too!

The Missing (Panacea Remix) by Neosonix
Promo video by the aforementioned Aaron Hill coming soon...

K

The American Gamer Remixes

So before thoughts of doing Forever Famicom with Mega Ran emerged, my first real foray into taking video game music and re-mixing/purposing it as hip-hop songs was on The American Gamer album.

This album was one of MANY remix projects based on Jay-Z's American Gangster album, which dropped a few months before. When Random, who had the album's acapellas, asked me to take part, i was hyped as i always wanted to try something as cool as this that fused two of my greatest passions, which is probably why i ended up doing the most remixes on the whole album- i was excited to see if i could do the game samples justice as well as keep the vibe & integrity of Hov's lyrics intact.

I strategically picked Sega's NiGHTS, Streets Of Rage & Final Fantasy II as the source material for my remixes as they were all personal favorites of mine and all had dope ass soundtracks that were just ripe for the sampling ;)  And as a result of people's positive reactions to my remixes and the project in general, i got the idea to pursue making what eventually turned out to be Forever Famicom over 2 years later...


So props again to the homie Random for inviting me to get involved and the rest, as they say, is history...

K

Ink Is My Drink (The Producer's Cut)

So this year marks the 5 year anniversary of Panacea's first commercial release Ink is My Drink and due to the amount of requests we got over the years from fans about the album's availability on CD, i have decided to take it upon my myself and repress the record on CD but as a special "Producer's Cut" version.

In Hollywood whenever a re-release is done of some cult classic, it's usually the Director's Cut which is the director's original vision and execution of a film even if its drastically different than the original one from the theaters... thus i applied the same approach and am restoring ALL the interludes and audio clips i used on Ink is My Drink when i turned the album in to Glow-in-the-Dark & Rawkus Records back in 2006.  I also decided to remaster the record myself this go round since i been slowly but surely honing my audio engineering skills the last 3 years.  Lastly, i got my go-to-guy for art Rodrigo Pradel to craft an amazing new CD art design which honestly captures the spirit of the album way more (to me) than the original art did.  For those who aren't familiar with IIMD, have a listen and you can hear the progress we've made as artists since then...

The new Producer's Cut of Ink Is My Drink will be available exclusively on CD via the Neosonic Productions Merch Store beginning 4/25 aka my B-day ;)

K

Smooth Talking: Twilight Edition & Helping Japan

Earlier this week a new album called Smooth Talking: Twilight Edition, which i had the honor of completely producing for Japanese label River City Music Entertainment, dropped and so far has been getting lots of love on iTunes Japan and selling out on CD across the land of the Rising Sun ;)

Creating this project was a labor of love that started last Fall and ironically i got the green light on the project's release just a couple weeks before Japan was ravaged by the tsunami and earthquakes.  Though this is an album i did exclusively for Japan, i'm so proud of the material on the compilation that i figure i could sell it on my Bandcamp site and try and help the healing process in Japan by donation portions of the sales to the Red Cross.  This special version of the compilation features NEW songs from CYNE, Theory Hazit & my partner-in-rhyme Raw Poetic of Panacea as well as remixes of songs by groups like Bop Alloy, The Jazz Addixx & a tribute to De La Soul's "Breakadawn".  As a bonus, i also included the instrumentals which aren't even available on the import CD! Check it out...


I'm actually in talks now with some fellow progressive hip-hop artist to do some shows in Japan at the end of the year in support of relief efforts, which for me would be a dream come true!  In the meantime, any support shown is appreciated as i am glad that i have an opportunity to try and help this country that has inspired me & my music for as long as i can remember. Enjoy the music and domo arigato!

K

My Next Side Project = The Ebony Bed

Ok, ok... i know. I been talking about this fabled The Ebony Bed project for the last 3 years!!!  BUT, progress has been made, the alum Lucid City is mixed, mastered and will be ready for purchasing this SUMMER... promise ;)  Here's a preview of the cover art for the album done by visual artist Aaron Hill, who ironically was the one instrumental in getting myself and EB singer/songwriter Alona together in the first place.

I'm very excited about this project finally getting to the world's ears as we put A LOT of time & work into it, and we got some really cool marketing ideas in the works to help promote it. The album will be available thru Bandcamp.com and all the other major digital download retailers as well as on CD and some other cool formats (to be announced).  BUT, in the meantime, if you havent, download the FREE sampler of the album below, put together by the homie DJ Ragz...

  The Ebony Bed - Lucid City (Sampler) by Neosonix
BTW- i'd love to hear your feedback, so please post a comment via Soundcloud or here on the blog if so inclined... thanx!
K

Animate Objects - Axioms (Neosonic Remix)

Last fall i got into regular contact with this cat Prashant aka "Pee"- the bassist from the dope progressive hip-hop band called Animate Objects.  AO hails from Chicago and serves as a live backing band for other Chi-town artists when they arent doing their own material. Anyhow, Pee invited me to remix the song "Axioms" off their latest album High Notes For Low Lifes and below is my re-imagining of this very uplifting song...

Axioms (Neosonic Remix) by Neosonix
Hopefully this won't be the last time i get to collaborate with these guys as they are totally on the same wavelength i'm on.  Shouts again to Pee of AO for not only helping make this remix happen but also showing mad love by letting me & Random crash/take over his spot while we were recently in Chicago... next time u are in the DC area, my couch is yours homie!

K

Subsoniq: "Instru-mentals" (April 2k11 Episode)

Being a production blog it's only right i post up the latest episodes of my radio show that feature producers, so here's the latest installment of Subsoniq "Instru-mentals".  Stream below & make sure to download it HERE!

Subsoniq "Instru-Mentals" - April 2k11 Episode by Neosonix on Mixcloud

Also, the episode's playlist is available via the link too... and for those interested in submitting beats & instros for the show, do it here:

Send me
your sounds

K

A Cool Story About Piano-rama

Every now and then, i am treated to a very touching email from a fan of my music, with the most recent occurrence happening while i was on tour with the homie Random last month.  A fan from Virginia whose mom has been battling some serious health matters reached out to tell me that the music on my Piano-rama album had helped his mom show her first signs of life after being catatonic for weeks!  I didnt even know what to say when i read that; i was in awe of the power music can have... let alone my own.  Needless to say it was a very humbling and inspiring experience that i had to share as it's no doubt one of my proudest moments as a music producer/creator ;)

I have released a considerable amount of music the last 10 years, but the reaction i been getting from those who've listened to Piano-rama, whether it's the album or instrumental version, has been some of the most poignant feedback i've ever received!  And to those who have taken the time to listen, support and even offer me your thoughts on it, i in return say "thank you" back as it is stories like the one above that keep me producing even when i feel jaded about my music & its' relevance. So again, thank you all & please feel free to comment with any of your own stories regarding my music... i'd love to hear 'em!

K

Bop Alloy - "Tokyo Twilight" (Neoson-Ichiban Remix)

First off, before i get into this post, lemme say thanx to all the people who convinced me to start posting on this blog again!  I definitely appreciate the love shown to my company's site and that will continue to be the place for all the latest "Neosonic News", BUT the ability to directly inform fans on what im creating production-wise is one i took for granted so thanx for lobbying for me to get back to it! Ok, here we go...

Late last year i was approached by the homie Substantial, who i have been a fan of since hearing his distinctive vocals on some of my favorite Nujabes (R.I.P.) records from the last decade, and he asked me to remix a track off he & Marcus D's Bop Alloy project- which is DOPE BTW!  Naturally, i selected "Tokyo Twilight" because i loved the vibe and definitely felt i could put my "Neosonic" touch on it!  Shouts to Marcus D for the ill outro piano part; This is how it turned out...

  Tokyo Twilight (Neoson-Ichiban Remix) by Neosonix
Ironically, after i did the remix we were weighing our options for releasing it when i got an opportunity to use it for 2 Japanese affiliated projects...

First was as part of Hope For Tomorrow- the fund-raising tribute compilation the homies at thewordisbond.com put together for the tsunami & earthquake relief efforts in Japan.  This track made total sense to use as parts of Tokyo were ravaged by the aforementioned natural catastrophes last month and the song itself pays homage to the many sides of the popular city.

The other place to find this song for retail will be as part of Japanese label River City Music Entertainment's Smooth Talking compilation, which drops later this month exclusively in Japan and is produced completely by me.  The compilation also features exclusive, never-before-heard/released tracks i did with the likes of CYNE, Theory Hazit & more artists!  I'll definitely post it up once it drops so you import CD fanatics can grab that for your catalogs too ;)

K