Shoot

"Level One" by Test Shot Starfish

Good afternoon everyone... I hope your Saturday is treating you well. I need to get some lunch, so here's a little something.

Aside from an unfortunate band-name, Test Shot Starfish is quite an interesting little band. Sound designer and producers Kyle Schember and Ryan Stuit met on a film set in 1999 and started working together as TSS. The project evolved over time, and by 2003, when they released their first EP, they had built up a reputation for their elaborate multimedia shows in Dallas and LA, that include video projections, lasers and lighting, along with their live music performance.

The band cite the Orb, Plaid, Orbital, Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada as some of their influences - groups that range from harsh and abrasive, to ambient and sensory. This particular track sounds like ambient Aphex and one of my favorite female electro producers, Andrea Parker. I guess its the deep buzzing bass that's nestled up against the mid-tempo scattershot drums pattern and the light synths.

The duo's sound design and music studio, which would seem to have quite a lot of fans, has allowed them to produce music and do sound design for numerous short films, television specials, and tons of commercials. Their reach has allowed them to do a number of remixes for artists such as Snoop Dogg ("Beautiful"), Gus Gus, Lenny Kravits and even Coldplay ("Clocks"). Weird right? I'm trying to imagine what they'd do to Coldplay to try to make it listenable (seriously), or to Snoop to make it more fun than the original.

You can buy their self-titled album, out now on Kanpai/Domo Records, from the label or on iTunes. Its good stuff, and varies from delicate ambient tracks to big, cut-up crunchy electro workouts - also check out their site to hear a couple of their remixes (the Gus Gus one is online and is fun).