K-Murdock's Production Commentary

Hero Muzik Vol. 1

2012-01-31T09:42:00.000-05:00

Without a doubt my favorite Final Fantasy game EVER was number 6, which was actually the 3rd iteration released here in the States back in '94. I'll never forget how my grades tanked sophomore year of high school as i couldn't get enough of exploring the Worlds of Balance & Ruin and amassing a motley crew of characters in my party of heroes! So, it's really no surprise that after the homie Random dropped Black Materia last year, which was his tribute to his favorite of Square Enix's flagship RPG franchise, that i feel compelled and inspired to do the same...

I decided in an effort to re-spark my creation of instrumental projects to make this my new series where i could take the character themes from my favorite RPGs and flip remixes, and thus we have Hero Muzik! Volume 1 naturally had to be based on the aforementioned FF6, as one of the reasons i chose it to kick-off the series was because there were 14-playable characters and i figured that would make for a longer album- especially compared to every installment since where the hero totals max out after 6 (smh). And boy, was this a labor of love as some of the characters music (i. e. Terra, Shadow & Setzer) was WAY more ripe for sampling/remixing than others (e.g. Strago, Mog & Umaro), BUT i love a challenge and in the end i'm very proud of what i did, as my ultimate goal was to pay homage to Nobuo Uematsu's original score while still putting my "neosonic" touch on these classics...

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://neosonix.bandcamp.com/album/hero-muzik-vol-1"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Hero Muzik Vol. 1 by K-Murdock&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;
If Final Fantasy-themed beats aren't your thing, all good as its an acquired taste, but you can still download a FREE song off the album HERE! Also, if you DO manage to check out the album, i'd love to hear your feedback so please drop me a line on the Neosonic Facebook Fan page. Again, special shouts to the homie Random aka Mega Ran for encouraging me to do this album and stay tuned for more Hero Muzik!

K

2k12 Production Roll Call

2012-01-10T11:44:00.000-05:00

Salutations party people and a belated "Happy New Year"! I been pretty dormant on my production blog, and even my production in 2k11... was so busy touring with the home Random that i had my lowest beat output in 10 years! So that was my #1 new year's resolution in terms of music- make LOTS of new beats, which subsequently means MORE projects! Already, I'm off to a nice start and felt like i should share with you loyal fans what exactly you can expect from me & Neosonic Productions in 2012, so here we go...

1. Hero Muzik Vol. 1 - I came up with an excuse to do another instrumental series as i was slacking in 2k11, and the idea behind this one is flipping the themes of the protagonists of some of my favorite RPGs; The first volume will feature the music of the 14 heroes of Final Fantasy 6 (which was 3 here in the States). The title spawned from the song myself & Ran did in 2k10 called "Hero Muzik", where i flipped Link's theme from Zelda 2; Listen & download the FREE instrumental of the song below! My fave of the FF series was #6 mainly due to it having the most playable characters of all the installments (thus far), so look out for that at the end of this month dropping alongside the remixes to Random's classic Black Materia album, which will be celebrating it's 1 year anniversary on 1/31.

K-Murdock - "Hero Muzik" (Instrumental) by Neosonix
2. The "Beats From The East" EP - This FREE EP was inspired by my recent trip to Japan as part of the "More B.A.R.K. Less Bitin' Tour". It will be another instrumental project featuring me flipping songs from some of my favorite Japanese-born musicians who have influenced me and i'm releasing this in conjunction with one of my favorite music sites who is known for their promotion of dope hip-hop around the world- The Find Magazine. Look for that later this winter too ;)

3. "Net-works" - Announced last fall, "Net-works" will be another collaborative project i'm doing with yet another one of my favorite music websites- WordisBond.com. Shouts to the whole WIB staff for essentially acting as A&Rs by recruiting a glut of DOPE emcees, singers & poets which will all be featured over my production for this project that will drop top of Spring. It's similar to my album Piano-rama in that it'll showcase an array of styles, but BIGGER! The name of the project derived from the idea that the majority of indie music WORK these days is done via the interNET, plus via networking, i have been able to expand my sound globally and look forward to continue that by partnering with forward-thinking sites like WIB!

4. Panacea - Midnight Morning Africa - Yes, myself & Raw Poetic are STILL together as we are in pre-production mode for our 6th studio album after a year hiatus making music! We dropped the free track "The Prelude" (below) last fall to whet you all's appetites and also plan on hitting the road (hopefully) again in 2k12 to better promote MMA. Not much to report yet about this album as we usually keep tight-lipped but i think it'll be our best effort yet as both myself and especially Raw P have grown individually as artist, so collectively we'll be that more potent as Panacea ;) If i had to speculate however, i'd say this new album may be surfacing sometime in the summer/fall.. and on vinyl!

Panacea - "The Prelude" by Neosonix
5. Mega Ran & K-Murdock - SEGA-City - Last but not least, myself & Ran will be closing out the year with the follow-up to our 2010 collaborative project Forever Famicom as we are doing a whole album flipping some of Sega's classics that range from the 8-bit master system to the Dreamcast! We will both be holding open voting on our forums this spring to see what games you would like to hear flipped on the project and we have some pretty fresh ideas for packaging the album once it's done. Admittedly, i've always been a little more partial to SEGA (as the underdog) so i anticipate this album to be epic & a solid compliment to FF.

So that's it... for now. I do plan on continuing some of my other series in the future too, a la iMANGANAtion & the Mood Muzik series, so who knows, but i can say for sure that these aforementioned projects will all be 100% sureshot Neosonic releases this year! Speaking of which, I have made the Facebook fan page for Neosonic Productions the primary site for info on me & the label, BUT have some BIG plans for a more interactive site in the works... i call it my Kosmetropolis... stay tuned!
K

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

2011-12-28T18:42:00.000-05:00

Hey guys & gals, here's the latest episode of SS Instros... hopefully i can try and get back on track with an episode EVERY month in 2k12... fingers crossed ;)

Subsoniq "Instru-mentals" - December 2k11 by Neosonix on Mixcloud

AND to all my fellow beat-makers/producers, please make sure to join the Soundcloud group i started- "The Instru-mentalists".

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

2011-11-22T08:30:00.001-05:00

I'M BACK!!! Actually been back for a few weeks and trying to catch up after 8 weeks away is a mutha!@#$%, but one thing that happened while i was out on the road was my Soundcloud inbox was overflowing with new music! So naturally in an effort to "catch-up' on episodes, i am planning 3 more for the remainder of the year including this November one! As usual, you download the episode from the Subsoniq website HERE!

Subsoniq "Instru-mentals" - November 2k11 by Neosonix on Mixcloud

Also, i just stared a group for all my Soundcloud using producers to streamline the process of sharing songs for consideration for future episodes AND to build a community for my fellow beat-makers to share amongst themselves in hopes of stimulating more creativity! It's called the "Instru-mentalists" and anyone can join & share original instros! You can also share beats via the dropbox i added to this blog's sidebar--->

K

On Tour...

2011-09-16T15:54:00.000-04:00

Wassup yall, apologies on the lack of posts up here the last couple weeks! If you didn't know im on my first major tour since 2006 when Panacea toured with Brand Nubian... remind me to tell you stories about that some other time ;) Right now i'm in the midst of a 44-date tour along with the homie Random aka Mega Ran opening for Nerdcore artist/Adult swim voxover actor MC Chris in support of his "Race Wars Tour". Time to do anything but drive, perform and sleep is at a premium so excuse me if i i'm erratically posting while on the road.

In the world of production, i definitely wanted to let u know about myself & Ran's latest and final installment of our Forever Famicom DLC series. We released it digitally the day before we left for tour last Monday and are taking pre-orders for the CD copies- replete with exclusive artwork & the song's instrumentals! Find out more about it HERE!

BTW- i just posted up myself & Ran's first video blog update (above) so you can hear more about what the hell we been up to on the road the last week! Lastly, PLEASE keep the "Likes" comin' on the Neosonic Productions Facebook fan page so i can drop my next remix... remember the faster we get to 1,000 Likes, the sooner my FREE remix album Champlooed will be out!

See you in a city near you... http://neosonicprod.com/events

K

The Project - "The Light Feet" (Come on Feet Remix)

2011-08-31T13:15:00.000-04:00

Back in 2k7, when yours truly & Panacea were signed to our first record deal on Glow in The Dark Records, we had label-mates called The Project that consisted of 3 emcees from Harlem, NY. Their first single off their debut release The Truth Today paid homage to the dance crazy that was sweeping the country at the time, The Light Feet, which is better showcased (in the video below) than me tryin' to explain it, lol...

So yeah, i dug the song and wanted to show label love by doing this remix which i dubbed the "Come on Feet" version, replete with samples from Madlib's song of the same name off the classic Quasiomoto album!

The Project - The Light Feet (Come on Feet Remix) by Neosonix
Unfortunately, though both the fellas in the group & the label acknowledged they liked the remix, as with many of the remixes i have done, it just didn't merit release at the time, so here we are now with this as the 3rd free download of the "1,000 Likes" campaign we got going at Neosonic Productions. If you are curious as to what happened to The Project, the only one from the crew i could find who is still actively making music is emcee/producer Jah- C, who has found some success as solo artist. Enjoy and stay tuned for the next remix!

K

M.P.C. Episode #1 - "Blue Oceanwave"

2011-08-23T11:07:00.000-04:00

Cast your vote for what production will be featured in the next episode HERE! K

"The Beat Off" (Vol. 1) Promo Video

2011-08-20T17:10:00.000-04:00

One cool way myself and fellow beatsmiths DN3 & Lost Perception kept sharp production-wise while on the road recently was via the competition Random dubbed "The Beat-Off"... PAUSE! lol. Basically, Ran picked out a sample, in this case it was the lesser known instro track "Let's Get Away" from the classic Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds and each of us went to work creating our own beat out of it. The time limit was 24 hours, which sometimes is not enough for me as i'm very meticulous in my production- to the point i can spend hours just milling over whether to use ONE particular sound! But i guess pressure can be a good thing as this is what i turned out...

Let's Get Away (K-Murdock Flip) by Neosonix

This track came out so good, that Raw Poetic is penning a new Panacea song to it as we speak! Stay tuned for that and the other songs created using Lost & DN3's respective tracks; Those will be available when myself & Ran present the official release for "The Beat Off" Vol. 1 ;) Make sure to subscribe to The Neosonic News Feed to find out when it drops!

Breakadawn (Quiet Storm Remix) - A Tribute to De La Soul

2011-08-12T09:50:00.006-04:00

Back in 2009 i was asked to do a tribute remix for De La Soul by the homie J. Nota at Redefintion Records to be included on a release they were planning for the end of the year! The release was in conjunction with De La celebrating 20 years making music since their first album, 3 Feet High & Rising, dropped in '89! But unfortunately things got delayed and the project was put "on ice" till NOW as ReDef along with European-based music sites The Find Magazine & Boogiedown Breda present the Salutes EP!

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://neosonix.bandcamp.com/track/breakadawn-k-murdocks-quiet-storm-remix"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Breakadawn (K-Murdock's &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;Quiet Storm&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; Remix) by Various Artists&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;
Not only did i get to produce the above featured song on the EP, but i was asked to do a little intro for it too! As for my contribution, it's actually dedicated to not only De La but also to the man who inspired me to pursue a career in radio/music- my uncle... the late Melvin Lindsey, who pioneered nightly radio around the world in the 70s & 80s with "The Original Quiet Storm". Ironically, the song he used to open his show with was Smokey Robinson's "Quiet Storm"...

This song gives me chills whenever i hear it as it instantly conjures up thoughts of my uncle as i grew up going to sleep every night listening to him on the radio, so the fact Prince Paul used it on "Breakadawn" made it extra special.. add in MJ's "I Can't Help It" and it was a wrap!

My story is just one that makes the release of this EP so special, as I'm sure fellow contributing producers K-Def and Astronote have their own as well. Find out more about Salutes as well as download it for FREE HERE! Props to Danny at The Find, John & Damu of ReDef and of course the legendary De La Soul!

K

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

2011-08-10T17:22:00.021-04:00

Back after a month hiatus with the latest in instrumental hip-hop! Apologies on the delay, was overseas in the UK touring for 2 weeks in July and managed to thankfully get out before the riots broke out! Anyway, i think this may be my best show yet and thanx to all the artists who submitted music; As i stated in this episode, i dont have the time anymore to post individual albums up on Strictly Beats, SO please consider whatever i include in the mix as a co-sign as i don't play it if i don't like it! ;)

Enjoy & keep the beats comin' to: soundcloud.com/Neosonix/dropbox

Subsoniq "Instru-mentals" - August 2k11 by Neosonix on Mixcloud
DOWNLOAD HERE

Homecut - "Harmony" (Neosonic Remix)

2011-08-01T15:59:00.002-04:00

Ironically, as i write this, i sit in a hotel room in London, thus i felt like posting this up as remix #2 of my 1,000 Likes campaign since the featured song i flipped was from a UK artist. The opportunity to put the "Neosonic" touch on Homecut's "Harmony", which is a very personal song of his, came about via my homie Patrick from TheWordisBond.com; He's always hippin' me to dope overseas artists and via a recent connect he had established with Homecut himself, got me in touch with him and the rest, as they say, is history! It's important to note that this remix was made for an actual remix-project based off HC's original album No Freedom without Sacrifice, but life kinda got in the way for him and the project, last i heard, is at an indefinite standstill... yet i was encouraged to share the remix & so here it is...

Homecut - Harmony (Neosonic Remix) by Neosonix
I loved the way this song came out and again felt like the timing was too right not to drop it, especially with me being out in Homecut's area right now. I would definitely welcome another chance to collaborate with the brotha- this time on something original, so Andy if you out there & see this, hit me up! Enjoy the free remix yall and PLEASE make sure you "LIKE" the Neosonic Productions Facebook fan page so i can post the next one up!

K

The Ebony Bed - Lucid City

2011-07-13T09:32:00.005-04:00

Thinking about the project that is The Ebony Bed spurs a gamut of emotions in my head as YEARS went into the creation of this album's music and more time is still being spent into fleshing out the concept/story behind it visually. This album is the brainchild of myself, singer/songwriter Alona & graphic designer Aaron Hill, who have all spent over 3+ years turning an idea that started from my remixing Alona's song "The Missing" into a full-blown creative & very collaborative project. The process of creating Lucid City was so different than what i was accustomed to- mainly because the two main emcees i work with, Raw Poetic of Panacea/RPM & Random aka Mega Ran, spoil me as they write/record fast! However, this album's extensive recording really taught me patience, and though i wanted it to come out like two summers ago, i am proud of the end result and very excited about releasing the visual element to Lucid City as well later this summer/fall. We got CDs, tee shirts and more about the actual story behind The Ebony Bed concept on deck, but tide yourselves over till then by digitally purchasing the 14-track album which also features appearances from my aforementioned partner-in-rhyme (Raw P) & cuts from my favorite DJ- Damu The Fudgemunk.

K

<a href="http://theebonybed.bandcamp.com/album/lucid-city">Lucid City by The Ebony Bed</a>

The Ronin

2011-07-08T19:23:00.004-04:00

So earlier this year, i was listening through a bunch of songs on my hard drive that i had done which were literally wandering around, trying to find a home on some kind of album or project. These songs were dope but being as though i love conceptualizing everything, i decided to make a concept out of the lack of not having one and hence the reference to the masterless samurai of feudal Japan aka the Ronin. The tracks that make up this 7 song EP were recorded over the last 3 years and each feature a unique emcee and sound- much like the rag-tag but formidable group of Ronin samurai of one of my favorite stories- Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, which was adapted a few years ago into one of my fave anime series...

Its no wander this EP has such a samurai motif as i felt like the legendary sword-maker Hattori Hanzo meticulously mixing & mastering this EP the same way he'd scrupulously craft a blade! And thus i'm happy to present my latest solo project, The Ronin, which is out now on Bandcamp digitally, and will be available shortly on iTunes, Amazon, etc. Also, i got CD copies on deck featuring exclusive artwork by artist Rodrigo Pradel as well as the album's instrumentals ;)

K

<a href="http://neosonix.bandcamp.com/album/the-ronin">The Ronin by Neosonic Productions</a>

K-Os - "The Aviator" (Neosonic Remix)

2011-07-01T16:11:00.003-04:00

So this is the first free remix in my "1,000 Likes" campaign i'm doing to try and garner more attention for Neosonic Productions (aka my record label/music services company); Basically, for every 100 "Likes"/Fans we get over on the NEW Facebook Fan Page, i'll release a free exclusive remix i did that i've never made available (for free before). The goal I'm trying to get to is 1,000 Likes by years end which means 10 FREE REMIXES ;) Fair enough? Cool!

Anyhow, down to business about this gem which i made for a remix contest i entered 2 & 1/2 years ago. The winner was to appear on the official remix project for K-Os' Yes! album, and though i received mad props from fellow entrants, i was ultimately disqualified from winning because i had used a 2 sec snippet from the Transformers theme though we were asked to use NO samples... and that did me in :( Shouts to my bro Damu The Fudgemunk for the ill cuts. Hopefully i'll get to work with K-Os on something original in the future, he's a cool ass cat and one of my favorite progressive hip-hop artists of this generation!

K

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

2011-06-23T09:00:00.002-04:00

First off, shouts to the homie Chris Flocco for the fresh NEW show artwork! This episode i fall back midway through and turn the reigns over to fellow Strictly Beats blogger Beat-ape for his amazing 40 minute "Strickly Beats" mix. Check the playlist, stream & download the episode HERE!

Stay tuned July's ep is gonna be HOT... like July ;)

K

The ALL-NEW Neosonicprod.com

2011-06-22T20:28:00.000-04:00

Been crazy busy finishing production & mixes for my forthcoming EP The Ronin as well as the 2nd DLC installment for Forever Famicom, but the thing that's most kept me away from blogging the last couple weeks is the complete overhaul i did on my company's website! And when i say i did it, i mean I DID IT myself using this very dope site called Virb.com. i dont know squat about designing anythign but sound, yet somehow it came out pretty fly... at leats to me ;)

For those who wanna check out the label aspect of Neosonic Productions, i got you and for those interested in the services i offer as producer/engineer, you can explore that aspect too. Lastly, i have a full page with all the fre downloads you could dream of- albums, features & remixes! So please click go on over to Neosonicprod.com and check out my new site... i'd appreciate if you "Liked' the page too, but no pressure.

K

Saturday Night (Me & Minnie)

2011-06-11T09:41:00.001-04:00

Been on the road the last week so i been slacking on posting any new productions up, but i got a joint i wanna share that was too befitting for this beautiful Saturday here in Florida- where i currently am doing shows with the homie Random.

Saturday Night (Me & Minnie) by Neosonix
The track "Saturday Night (Me & Minnie)" is from a forthcoming project i'm producing for an emcee based out of Ocean City, Maryland named Jerrod. His debut album Love Vs. Hate will be entirely produced by me as i'm concentrating on helping to shine light on up and coming talent rather than chase established ones... as that route hasn't proven to successful (yet). Jerrod requested i flip a joint from the Stevie Wonder-produced song "Take A Little Trip" off Minnie's Perfect Angel; Then i got the homie Pee from the progressive hip-hop group Animate Objects to lay a live bass, added some live keys and the Soul Train clips you hear to complete this homage to Ms. Minnie... R.I.P.

K

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

2011-06-03T01:10:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay on posting about this yall, been beyond busy finishing mixes for future projects, preparing for some touring with Mega Ran and completing the major & (hopefully the final) update of the Neosonic Productions website! Even with all that going on, i had to make sure i got the latest episode of SS Instros up for you all to check out if you haven't already! This month i featured the homie Bob42jh's recent compilation Fallen Skies, which you can download for FREE here! Enjoy the show & spread the word...

K

Subsoniq "Instru-mentals" - May 2k11 by Neosonix on Mixcloud

DOWNLOAD EPISODE

NEW Kickstarter Campaign/Own MY MPC!

2011-05-23T19:18:00.000-04:00

So myself & Random have once again launched a Kickstarter campaign, this time with the goal to raise funds to go perform at the UK's biggest anime convention- The London Anime Con. We soft-launched the campaign last Friday and when i woke up Saturday morning after a show with Ran, to my surprise/delight, we had, via the graciousness of a backer named "Beaker" who copped our ULTIMATE FAN PACKAGE, reached our goal! However, the plan is to take an entourage of fellow artists, namely producers of Random, to the UK and thus I'm here to tell you all about one of the really cool levels of backing available which involves 1 lucky fan receiving my very own Akai MPC 2000XL!

Yes indeed, i'm giving away my beloved MPC (pictured above) which i essentially used to produce ALL the Panacea albums as well as the Forever Famicom album! I'm gonna put a protective, customized & signed Neosonic Productions skin on the sampler too and ship it out to the lucky recipient who snags the pricey $2,000 package! Don't worry about my productivity taking a hit either as i have a couple MPCs i have amassed over the last 10 years PLUS i actually use Native Instruments amazing Maschine to produce these days ;) So for those super-fans who wanna help a good cause & get some cool memorabilia in the process, this is your opportunity...

If you really wanna get your ears on my next solo project, this is the way to do it, as pretty much all levels of backing get you an advance download and/or CD of my forthcoming EP- The Ronin. Any support is appreciated! See you in London!!

K

12 Step Program (Instrumentals)

2011-05-09T10:59:00.003-04:00

Due to fan demand, we recently made the instrumentals for Panacea's 12 Step Program available for purchase. I am honored that so many people requested the instros as my approach to this album, like most other Panacea albums, was definitely to create soundscapes through my arrangements and the album is pretty fun to listen to stripped down to just the music, but couldn't have been the album it was without my partner-in-rhyme Raw Poetic's vocal contriubtions. Shouts to Rodrigo Pradel for the ill artwork; Enjoy & stay tuned for the next Panacean adventure in 2012!

<a href="http://neosonix.bandcamp.com/album/12-step-program-instrumentals">12 Step Program (Instrumentals) by Neosonic Productions</a>

A Song for Moms

2011-05-08T10:07:00.000-04:00

Was trying to find a cool song to post to show my love & appreciation to all the mothers out there today, and then it donned on me that 10 years ago i helped my homie Wes Felton pay homage to his mom (Cynthia) with the following song "Mother". So consider this my tribute to ALL the mom's out there, especially my own mom, Karen, who has been my greatest inspiration and ALWAYS encouraged me to chase my dreams... and thats why i love her! Thanx mom ;)

K

Mother (The Ballad of Cynthia Elaine) by Neosonix

"Thank YOU For Listening!" (Music Video)

2011-05-05T09:31:00.000-04:00

It only took me 2 months to edit all the footage myself & Random accrued while on the road earlier this year, but i managed to put together a cool little music video for our song "Thank You For Listening". This marks my video directorial debut, lol, and overall i'm happy with the product and actually amped to collect more footage so i can do another one soon! I'd be remiss not to shout out the following people: Storyville aka the short dude with the headphones who is a dope producer/emcee/engineer in his own right; Larry aka "The Count" for handling the camera work and being an awesome tour manager; And of course all the people we met and kicked it with in Austin @ SxSW & Chicago @ C2E2... as well as all our fans around the world... thank YOU for listening. Enjoy!

K

The Ebony Bed - The Missing (Neosonic Remix)

2011-04-29T20:20:00.000-04:00

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...

The American Gamer Remixes

2011-04-22T16:10:00.000-04:00

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...

<a href="http://megarankmurdock.bandcamp.com/album/forever-famicom">Forever Famicom by Mega Ran & K-Murdock</a>
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)

2011-04-19T08:21:00.000-04:00

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...

<a href="http://neosonix.bandcamp.com/album/ink-is-my-drink-2">Ink is My Drink by Neosonic Productions</a>

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

2011-04-15T13:58:00.000-04:00

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...

<a href="http://neosonix.bandcamp.com/album/smooth-talking-twilight-edition">Smooth Talking: Twilight Edition by Neosonic Productions</a>
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

2011-04-14T08:30:00.000-04:00

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)

2011-04-13T18:58:00.000-04:00

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)

2011-04-12T09:07:00.000-04:00

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

A Cool Story About Piano-rama

2011-04-10T09:31:00.000-04:00

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 ;)

<a href="http://neosonix.bandcamp.com/album/piano-rama-instrumentals">Piano-rama (Instrumentals) by Neosonic Productions</a>

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!

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

2011-04-08T11:08:00.000-04:00

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