Music is Variable.

Checking In

Kaushik — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:25:18 +0000

I’ve been neglecting this website/blog while getting distracted by Facebook and Twitter. Soon I’ll be bringing everything together and making Music is Variable the main attraction. Twitter feeds and a Soundcloud player are coming soon. In the meantime check out my Twitter feed and Soundcloud page. Thanks for dropping by!

Change is Here

Kaushik — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:25:52 +0000

Special Inauguration Edition: Here’s looking forward to 4+ years of the change we really need. From ObamaIcon.Me.

Updated: KG Originals Remixed

Kaushik — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:44:43 +0000

An update to an earlier post: Remixes from KidGusto’s debut album “KG Originals” are available worldwide now on 12″ vinyl on the TrueGrooves label.

The LP includes five remixes, with two remixes from yours truly (Kaushik M. in case you were wondering). My two contributions are the blissed-out “Trip to Alborz” and the dubby and funky “Fed Up.” The latter is a collaboration with Rusty B. of All Good Funk Alliance, with vocals from See-I (Rootz and Zeebo of Thievery Corporation).

Check it out at the following outlets, both in-store and online. Thanks for listening and for your support!

USA:
Groove Distribution (Chicago)
DJ Hut (Washington DC)
Turntable Lab (online)
Turntable Lab (NY and LA)

Canada:
Beat Street Records (Vancouver)

UK and Europe:
Fat City (Manchester)
HHV Music and Clothing (Berlin)
Juno Records
Phonica (London)

Japan:
Calamel.jp
Hi Hat Records

Tracklist:
A1 KidGusto - Mini Joop (Marc Hype & Jim Dunloop Remix)
A2 KidGusto - Sonic Conducer (DRM Remix)
A3 KidGusto - Fed Up (Kaushik M. & Rusty B. Remix)
B1 Mustafa Akbar - Stop, Drop & Roll (KidGusto Remix)
B2 KidGusto - Trip to Alborz (Kaushik M. Remix)

Jazzanova - I Can See - Kaushik M. Edits

Kaushik — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 20:10:35 +0000

Here’s a little something to warm up your ears in this cold December weather. These are my reworked versions of Jazzanova’s “I Can See.” The Berlin-based jazz, soul and broken beat crew have a brand new album “Of All The Things.” Here’s a taste:

I love the raw soulful sound of the original track. Out of about 16 parts (including a glockenspiel!) I picked out my favorite bits for these versions. Enjoy and happy holidays!

Download audio file (Jazzanova_ICanSee_KaushikM_Edit.mp3)

Jazzanova - I Can See - Kaushik M. Edit (330) - 5.31 MB

Download audio file (Jazzanova_ICanSee_KaushikM_Instr.mp3)

Jazzanova - I Can See - Kaushik M. Instrumental (315) - 5.3 MB

January 2009 Updates: The “I Can See” edits have been popping up in a few places, on radio shows and online. The weekly podcast Friday Favecast included the instrumental edit in its Best Albums Roundtable 2008 podcast… it passed the SoulBounce sniff test in December… Pathaan gave it some warm rickshaw love on his BBC Asian Network show… and finally the edits got the noodle treatment on the Beane Noodler Hotpot show… thanks to everyone for the support!

Making Peter Gabriel’s “Security”

Kaushik — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 03:19:20 +0000

One of my all-time favorite albums is Peter Gabriel’s “Security” (sometimes just known as Peter Gabriel IV). Here are segments from an almost 50 minute long, behind-the-scenes look at the making of the album. This comes from the long-running British TV program The South Bank Show.

Haunting Ethiopian flutes… field-recorded audio fragments from a local junkyard… the outrageously expensive Fairlight CMI sampler… Gabriel brought together all these elements and much more over an 18 month period. The process of writing and producing the album is truly eye-opening. Lesson learned from Gabriel: Less is more. The often tortuous process he went through resulted in hundreds of hours of studio recordings, which were often stripped down to only a few minutes of material for each track. But the journey he undertook is inspiring.

Friction Reproduced special

Kaushik — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:47:11 +0000

Greets… BBC Asian Network asked me to do a special mix for the Friction radio show hosted by Bobby Friction. It’s for a producer showcase called Reproduced. It was on today at 10:00 PM GMT (5:00 PM EST). They’ll also have the show archived on the Friction website if you want catch it later. Downloadable podcast available too (UK listeners only).

Friction on BBC Asian Network

Get my 20 minute Reproduced mix here (link goes away in a week):
http://www.yousendit.com/download/Q01HQk14ZEtJMHRFQlE9PQ

KAUSHIK - FRICTION REPRODUCED TRACKLIST - August 19 2008

Artist — Track
1. Brown Sounds - Panchgani
2. Kaushik - Song of the Valley
3. Karsh Kale - Manifest (Kaushik Ambient Remix)
4. Steve Spacek - Dollar (Kaushik Remix)
5. Temple of Sound - People’s Colony No. 1 (Kaushik Dub)
6. KidGusto feat. See-I - Fed Up (Kaushik & Rusty B. Remix)
7. Karsh Kale feat. MC Napoleon Solo - Manifest (Kaushik Alternate Remix)
8. AR Rahman feat. Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan - Gulfisha (Kaushik Remix)
9. Outro/Credits

Thanks for listening!

Update: Just heard the Reproduced segment and had to share Bobby’s reaction. He was heavily medicated due to a neck injury of some sort. Here’s what he had to say after he heard my set:

“Wow that was like a meditation, it was like a dreamscape he managed to mold from his beats and music. We just shut up and closed our eyes and nodded our heads… If he treats women like how he treated that music in terms of having an eye for beauty and the right sort of vibe, he’s going to be a very lucky man.”

I think Bobby needs to hurt his neck more often! Thanks to BBC Asian Network, Bobby and Meera for the opportunity to do the mix.

AR Rahman Remix

Kaushik — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:04:38 +0000

Here’s a brand new remix I just finished up. It’s a breakbeat version of “Gulfisha” from the upcoming Bollywood production “Ada - A Way of Life.” It’s an A.R. Rahman composition — supposedly he’s one of the top 25 biggest selling artists in the world (based on sales of CDs and cassettes of his soundtracks)?? I believe it, I’m a huge fan of his work; the man is a genius.

The vocals by Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan come courtesy of the Nokia India sponsored AR Rahman remix contest. Bobby Friction and Nihal were kind enough to include my remix on two BBC Radio shows (their Radio One show and Bobby’s BBC Asian Network show) just a day after I sent it to them.

Here it is… enjoy!

Download audio file (gulfisharemix.mp3)

AR Rahman - Gulfisha - Kaushik M. Remix (548) - 7.2 MB

January 2009 Update: AR Rahman just won the Golden Globe for his work on the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack [Amazon link]. Congratulations to Mr. Rahman, MIA [MySpace, website], and all the other immensely talented people who contributed to the score!

Honey - Seiji Remix

Kaushik — Sat, 03 May 2008 05:41:06 +0000

Although the Seiji remix of Erykah Badu’s “Honey” has been circulating in blogland for a bit now, it might be new to you as it was to me. The Honey vocals (and some others) have been floating around for the last few months and I see remixes popping up regularly. The Seiji rework stands out — it’s a familiar break that I can’t recall, with a massive bassline. I picked this up from Diplo’s Mad Decent blog. Anyways here it is once again.

Download audio file (honeyseijiremix.mp3)

Erykah Badu - Honey (Seiji Remix)

KidGusto Remix

Kaushik — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:52:48 +0000

Kicking things off on the new site, here’s a dubby remix I just did with Rusty B. (of All Good Funk Alliance) of KidGusto’s “Fed Up.” Taken from the “KG Originals” release on KidGusto’s own True Grooves label, the track features vocals from Rootz and Zeebo of DC’s roots reggae crew See-I, who’ve also provided vocal flavors on Thievery Corporation albums and live shows.

Rusty took a dubbed out approach to the remix with loads of effects over his Funk Weapons style beats, and I added in bass, keyboard and guitar bits. Frank Cueto from AGFA mastered the remix for added punch. This is a sneak preview of the official release which hopefully should be out on 12″ vinyl later this year.

Be sure to check out KidGusto’s KG Originals available through Groove Distribution (CD) and Turntable Lab (download).

Download audio file (fedupremix.mp3)

Fed Up (Kaushik and Rusty B. Dub Remix)
Feat. Rootz and Zeebo of See-I
Remix and additional production by Rusty B. (AGFA) and K. Mukerjee

Almost ready to launch

Kaushik — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 08:08:29 +0000

It was time for some housekeeping with my old websites. The Web has changed a lot in the last 2-3 years and it was time for an update. So, thanks to Wordpress and various plug-ins, I’m getting ready to launch Music is Variable.

I definitely didn’t do this alone — my coding skills are pretty limited so I depended on easy-to-use tools that I strongly recommend. They include:

Wordpress 2.5.1 by Automattic
Wordpress Cutline theme by Chris Pearson
Random header image generator, also by Chris Pearson
Audio plug-in by Martin Laine at 1 Pixel Out