instrumental hip-hop (samples+live instruments in a blend); head nodding sound collage meets catchy songs. Lots of melody plus chunky beats.

10 MP3 Songs
HIP HOP/RAP: Alternative Hip Hop, ELECTRONIC: Breakbeat/Breaks



Details:
Karlophone formed from music and recording experiments started in 1996 by Karl Koch. Originally inspired, like many, by a combo of the sample and sound collage work of early 90's hip-hop, the crazy creations of DJ Shadow and his ilk, and particularly by the newfound affordability of samplers and musical gear, a quest was started to make songs out of a blend of samples and freshly recorded music.

After a few hundred rather repetitive hours of tape was laid down, and a few thousand recrds were dug into, the first Karlophone album "Press Any Key To Begin" took shape, finally seeing release in fall 2002. It was perhaps a bit premature, but anyone hoping to release a CD must recognize the 'no time like the present' rule - you could keep refining what you got forever, or you can finish it and start new songs. In any event, "Press" was released to a small appreciative audience, and gained some positive reviews, notably a nice write up in France's Rock Sound magazine, and an A- review at In Music We Trust, in 2003.

After a period of online promotion and sales, New Karlophone material really started taking shape in mid 2003. Simultaneously, the Swiss DJ Kid Chocolat contacted Karl and proposed a mutual re-mix project. Karlophone went first, creating a remix (the "Num Num Mix") of Kid Chocolat's "Dr.Strangelove Sings The Beatles" track, which eventually saw release on the Kid Chocolat Remix album "Hello Children: The Peter Sellers Remix".

Then Kid Chocolat tackled "Desire" from the "Press..." album, and his remix eventually saw release on vinyl, on the b-side of the 7" single of "Desire".

The "Desire" 7 inch single was released in 2004, and featured the album track 'Desire' on one side, and 2 songs on the B-Side. One was Kid Chocolat's Desire remix (played on the "Soul Strut Radio" Podcast later in '04), and a new track "If You Listen", which was co-produced by "Franklin Mint", who also provided the shredding jangly guitars on the track.

The next Karlophone releases were small and obscure, but cool. In early 2006, a 30 second long track "How Many Minutes" was submitted and released on YYY Records' "Amazon Grace" compilation, whose purpose was to subvert the Amazon.com 30 second sound sample system by releasing a compilation cd that consisted only of 77 30 second long songs. While the CD is yet to show up on Amazon.com, it was in fact released.

Also in early '06, the micro-indie label Lap Records of the UK released a compilation called "Beetbox 2: Electric Boogaloo" which was a promo give-away only. This CD included the only CD release of "If You Listen" from the 'Desire' 7".

By Spring 2006, the new Karlophone album was taking shape. Several new songs popped up at this time which finally gave the album its shape, and the process of refining and remixing proceeded thru the summer and into the fall, with recording finally completed by November 2006. The Album is called "I Must Find This Karlophone..." and was originally slated for release right after X-mas '06, but some small last minute delays have pushed it to early 2007.

The album is available on CD and for the first time for Karlophone, an LP, in a limited edition of 150 copies. Prohibitive production costs have prevented it being a 2 disc set, so one song had to be trimmed so it would fit on one LP. The LP sounds very good for how much music is on it, thanks to one of North America's leading mastering experts paying very close attention during cutting and manufacture.

Next up is working to spread the word about the new album, and eventually continuing the recording process towards making even more new tracks.