The Download Munkey : Tracking the Treasure Down …

© Ben Stokes

A look at some of Ben Stokes’ creative outputs, who’s probably better known as Dimensional Holofonic Sound or D.H.S to techno fans. His track House of God or one of its many remixes has been played by DJs for two decades now, check out its music video at Youtube, also directed and animated by Ben Stokes himself. Or listen to the track itself at Junodownload.

© Ben Stokes

Also check out the music video for Steel Pulse and Damien Marley’s No More Weapons directed, shot and animated by Ben Stokes. Look for the video labelled Music Videos Part 1 at the Video section of his official website at holofonic.com or at YouTube – you definitely can’t miss the reggae vibes or the animated silhouettes of soldiers moving onscreen (reminds me of the Massive Entertainment animated production logo in the game World at Conflict).

© Massive Entertainment

My favourite work from Ben Stokes is definitely the ultra funky Drum Attack video released in 2003 consisting of multiple video clips of drummers doing their thing and expertly chopped and spliced together into a delicious two and half minute mini-mix, not unlike how hip hop DJs mix in different records at lightning speed like DJ Spinbad (or Aquasky for that matter, who crammed in 150+ records for a 5 minute mini-set for Annie Mac’s show on BBC Radio One in Jan 2006).

© Ben Stokes

Karate chops! Wait, have those got anything to do with drumming?

© Ben Stokes

Ends with a visual of Clyde Stubblefield who played the drums for James Brown’s Funky Drummer.

The quality of the Drum Attack video posted at Youtube is rather crappy so you might want to check out a clearer version at the website for Ben Stokes’ label Tino Corp or the Video section of holofonic.com where a longer 3 minute version of Drum Attack awaits in the Other Works video (fast forward to 2:34 mins).

Enjoy!

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Audiotool – Virtual Music Production Studio
Links to Direct Downloads for Selected Annie Mac 5 Minutes Mixes
Promo Video for Gayle San’s .Network Audiovisual Livemix Compilation
Tony-B Machine – Flash Toy for Creating Early 90’s Techno/Electro
Be Your Own One Man Band

A promo video for a new CD + DVD release titled .Network from techno producer/DJ Gayle San. Hailing from sunny Singapore, she moved to Europe to further her DJing career many years ago (and probably won’t come back since there’s hardly a techno scene here – hell, over here people even confuse rave and eurohouse with techno ).

I won’t attempt to bore anyone by posting her bio here as you can check out her official site at www.gaylesan.com where you can preview five of her tracks in their entirety, including the very funky The Sell Off forthcoming on her own label, Equator.

The CD contains a live mix (or half mix since Discogs lists it as partially mixed) and the DVD contains a feast for the eyes and ears (supposedly, since I don’t have it in my grubby hands yet ) I’m actually surprised at the utter lack of electronic music releases featuring a similiar combination of audiovisual experiences out there – the two that immediately come to mind is Jeff Mills three deck wizardry on 2004’s Exhibitionist and the other by minimal master Richie Hawtin on DE9 : Transitions.

Gayle San contributes two unreleased tracks to this release with the rest of tracks from techno producers around the world including Cari Lekebusch (Sweden), Jay Denham (America), Oscar Mulero (Spain) and DJ Boss (Slovakia). Tracklist as follows:

1. Cari Lekebusch – Psyphonic
2. Gayle San – The Sell Off
3. Jay Denham – Strings Of Madness
4. Oscar Mulero – Clava
5. Gayle San – Sanmonsaks
6. DJ Boss – Brain Damage
7. Space DJz – Black Mantis
8. Cristian Varela – Mentaloide
9. Eric Sneo – Interrupt
10. Glenn Wilson – Removal

Snapshots of the videos exclusively produced for each track in the 1:11 mins long promo video (arranged in the same sequence as they’re played in the video).

Jay Denham – Strings Of Madness

Cari Lekebusch – Psyphonic

Gayle San – The Sell Off

Oscar Mulero – Clava

Gayle San – Sanmonsaks

DJ Boss – Brain Damage

Space DJz – Black Mantis

Cristian Varela – Mentaloide

Eric Sneo – Interrupt

Glenn Wilson – Removal

Heading down to the local HMV soon to see if they’re bringing this in, otherwise I’ll probably have to order it online from the ever reliable folks at Juno Records (no, I’m not paid for recommending them but they do have free worldwide delivery for this item as I’m writing this )

Check out the promo video for .Network on YouTube.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Why I Love Techno – Takuya Kashiwada @ Under Water Bar Praha
Audiotool – Virtual Music Production Studio
Tizzy Bac! Wallpapers
10 Favourite Mods (Music, Not Games)
Jeff Mills Exhibitionist Mix (2004) Video Excerpt

© Tizzy Bac

Official promotional wallpapers for Tizzy Bac, a Taiwanese indie rock band comprising Chen Hui-ting (vocalist / pianist), Hsu Che-yu (bassist) & Lin Chien-yuan (drummer) and my bro’s band of the moment. The couple of wallpapers above feature artwork from their recently released 3rd album I’m Not Afraid of Demons If I’d Seen Hell (如果看見地獄，我就不怕魔鬼), which you can preview to at their official site. (I’m not really a fan of rock music so no comments on the music ). More info at Taipei Times.

© Tizzy Bac

These three wallpapers come from their music video for the first track 鐵之貝克. (Youtube link)

Download these wallpapers from Tizzy Bac’s official website.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Elphonso Lam – Artist / Toy Designer / Punk Rocker
Android Jones – Musical Art & Much More
Ken Ishii – Extra MV
Audiotool – Virtual Music Production Studio

Namco-Bandai’s Japanese drum simulator Taiko no Tatsujin stands out from the usual Japanese game simply for the amount of goodies provided for its fans – the official sites for most Japanese games that I have encountered don’t even have a single promotional wallpaper for download

© Namco-Bandai

Last year I wrote about Taiko no Tatsujin’s monthly wallpaper series which revolved about the festivals celebrated in Japan for each particular month (featuring the game characters of course – the main characters which not suprisingly happen to be a pair of taiko drums)

© Namco-Bandai

This time round, the publishers have outdone themselves and actually released a free board game in PDF format at the official site to download, print out and play. While the play instructions are only in Japanese and primarily intended for a younger audience, it’s the thought that counts Wouldn’t it be great if more games came with extras like this?

© Namco-Bandai

the board game eevn comes with its own DIY dice

Download the Taiko no Tatsujin board game. (Look for the image below and click on the orange button)

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Learning About Japanese Festivities with Taiko no Tatsujin
Audiotool – Virtual Music Production Studio
Tony-B Machine – Flash Toy for Creating Early 90’s Techno/Electro
Be Your Own One Man Band
Orange Mixer

Capcom has teamed up with digital music download site Trackitdown.net for …

where you stand to …

Here’s what you to have to do …

What’s more, it’s … (*)

(*) :  Internet charges apply. Check with your ISP for prevailing rates.

Enter this competition is as easy as 1-2-3!.

1. Register for a free Trackitdown account (if you haven’t)
2. Download the whopping 152.7 MB(!) Sample Pack (also free as mentioned above)
3. Unleash your creativity with the 29 music tracks and 290 sound FX from the classic 8-bit Street Fighter II contained within. OK, maybe this part isn’t that easy

Do note that all participants must submit their tracks in MP3 format by Monday, 02 Feb 2009 in order to qualify.

More details at Trackitdown.net.

MORE @ THE DOWNLOAD MUNKEY:
Marvel vs Capcom 2 FE (Free Edition?)
Street Fighter IV AOU 2008 Amusement Expo Trailer
Tony-B Machine – Flash Toy for Creating Early 90’s Techno/Electro
UFS Wallpapers – Darkstalkers, Soul Calibur III, Samurai Shodown V, Street Fighter & King of Fighters 2006