Once upon a time, there was a video game called "Rock Manager." In it, you made bands and tried to write and record hit songs. This included using 15 second sound loops and trying to make them work together. The songs were fairly catchy, and the different choices available to you meant that each song could go in a very different direction depending on your choice of instruments, singer, and playing styles.
As an experiment back in those heady days of the mid-aughts, I decided to pull all of the different samples out and try to create "full" songs from them. These are the few examples that survived. This included using multiple sample takes and re-producing them, adding new instrumentation at times, and generally turning a 15-second jingle into a perfect slice of pop and beyond.
As a further joke, I gave each song its own band name. I'm like my own Robert Pollard.
But even 15 years later, I still hum almost all of these tracks, so here they are for you.
Argentinian producer XNIDA makes dense experimental techno that burbles with nervous modular synth lines and churns with industrial rhythms. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 21, 2021
Created to accompany a film about a bicycle trip from London to Edinburgh, “Heading North” is full of plaintive, whispery atmospherics. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 23, 2018
A collection of tracks from the singer and multi-disciplinary artist's 111 collaboration series, featuring KMRU, Laraaji, and others. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 25, 2024
Canadian producer and multi-instrumentalist galvanizes bowed guitars, cellos, and synths into an off-kilter exploration of heat and desire. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 25, 2024