Wake Up And Listen To Your Hard Drive
Bouncy New-School German Breakbeat Audio Beef Today. External Hard Drive wakes up, listens and makes breakfast in bed for 400,000.
'Why Not' and 'Happy Funk Shit' by External Hard Drive from their 2004 Self-Published CD Firewire
External Hard Drive are two DJs (Alexander Gasteiger and Oliver Wrage) from Berlin who obviously have a sense of humor. They make bouncy mostly-breakbeat music with the kind of unusual samples which bring a smile to this jaded raver's face. I first came across this album as an unnamed promo, but discovered upon visiting their site that the songs actually have names. Of course, the song names seem to have nothing to do with the content, but what do you want, they're from Germany! It's weird German shit!
Of the two tracks, 'Happy Funk Shit' is the weirder, while 'Why Not' has the sort of strapped-down funk and sample-freaking that motivates me when I'm half-awake and need to get to work. Both are a bit frantic (and could use a bit more mastering) but leave me excited about what to expect in the future from External Hard Drive.
There also seems to be some connection between External Hard Drive and Sex In Dallas, whose 'Everybody Deserves To Be Fucked' made me giggle when it was posted by blair at Music For Robots a while back. Apparently Gaga (Gasteiger) from External Hard Drive plays guitar (?) on 'EDTBF.' The association is not too surprising, as both groups play to the dancefloor while simultaneously being a bit of a piss-take.
Their web-page isn't particularly informative, but you can apparently email them for a copy of the CD. They're selling it for 10 Euros, which I think (given the current state of the dollar) is something like $27 dollars. Pricey, I know... but at least no middle-man is taking his bite. You could do a lot worse!
(As an aside, what's with groups these days and their non-googleable names? Try searching for a German group called External Hard Drive and google is suddenly defeated. Whine.)
Comments
Okay, Darwin, yr the expert & so tech-phobic. Is there a better way to put up a link to a song sample than just linking to a mp3? Can I get in trouble even if it's just a sample?
CONFUSED
Posted by: jeff | January 13, 2005 05:19 PM
I meant, I'M so tech-phobic.
Posted by: jeff | January 13, 2005 05:20 PM
It's ok, we can *both* be tech-phobic.
So, generally speaking the most accessible way to put up a song for a blog audience will be by linking to a mp3. There are various other ways that you can make the song play by clicking on an inline widget in your blog, but the only one that be gauranteed to work for everyone is a simple link to a mp3. Everyone's computer can play mp3s.. and unless you're going to have it auto-play when the page loads (annoying!) people are going to have to click a link to hear it anyway. MP3 is the defacto standard and not very large size-wise, especially for a sample or snippet.
Regarding getting in trouble, you're in better shape legally with a sample/snippet than a mp3 blogger who posts full songs. Of course, they could still send you a cease and desist. At that time, if you cease and desist (IE take the sample down) there would be no further legal proceedings.
In other words, your risk is basically nil. Don't sweat it, post that mp3 up. :)
=darwin
PS - more on the legal stuff involved - http://www.chillingeffects.org
Posted by: Darwin | January 14, 2005 05:17 PM
hi there i'm olli from external hard drive.
cool you like our stuff, if you send me your adress i would like to give you a cd for free, which in fact would cost about 12 US Dollar (10 euro).
we would love to play in usa may you could help us a little.
we're no nazis. promised.
a german.
Posted by: Olli | May 29, 2005 06:51 AM