Admit it. You’ve also spent late evenings browsing through the vast musical offerings of Youtube. Being amazed by the talent, and shocked by the sheer quantity of awe-inspiring performances.

Now, meet the video mashup. Oskar just sent me this link: “Kutiman mixes Youtube“. It completely blew me away.

Kutiman has assembled a plethora of clips, then created new compositions based on these clips. From massive funk to spaced out dub, it’s a highly addictive 7-track tribute to music. And the mother of all music video mashups.

Watch it now »

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No Comments » Published by Pär, March 10th, 2009
Filed under Soapbox

Eight full months of silence. From 1st of July 2008 to 10th of March 2009. What’s been brewing since? Well, lots.

The majority of my bandwidth has been spent on managing the marketing efforts of VNL – the inventors of microtelecom. Music has taken the backseat during this period, out of necessity.

But there are new developments on the horizon. I had the good luck of getting to know Tanvi Shah, of Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack fame, last year. So we’re looking into some new compositions. Have also been tinkering with the upcoming Robot Princess music project. And Ashar, Oliver and myself are planning to compose new tracks for Ashar shortly.

So, to sum up, 2009 is looking to become a more musically eventful year than 2008. Stay tuned! Oh, and if you want to follow me on Twitter – head over to twitter.com/stroft.

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No Comments » Published by Pär, March 10th, 2009
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Amidst packed bags, with a glass of cold Elderberry juice, a newly potted Hibiscus resting on the terrace and Istanbul sleeping, I’m winding down for the day.

This year has so far meant finding new melodies, time compression, unimaginable beauty, massive change and countless lessons learned. And spending far too many (to be desirable) hours in the air.

We’re now in the eye of the storm. Which, for us, means moving across three continents. From Istanbul to Delhi, via Stockholm.

The studio is packed up in an old Dunderdon bag, bar the Yamaha studio monitors. Countless cables have been disconnected, carefully wound up and packed in suitable compartments. Literally, metaphorically.

Change is difficult. Letting go is equally hard, and often part of the former. It never gets easier to say goodbye, but you eventually learn that many endings are but transitions to new beginnings.

So we’re heading further east. To Delhi, where there are peacocks and huge boulevards. Where Hindi is spoken alongside English, and the Rose of Althea blossoms.

Hoşça kalın. Namaste!

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No Comments » Published by Pär, July 1st, 2008
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After a few months of blogging hiatus, we’re back!

The main reason for the break is spelled “VNL“. It’s the Indian company I’m working at since last year, doing all types of digital design & marketing.

Billions of people, mainly in rural areas in countries like India, don’t have access to mobile telephony. So we’re building an entirely new type of mobile communication infrastructure that will help them get connected. And it’s all solar powered. So there are both powerful social and environmental dividends to the whole thing.

Want to know more? Then pop over to the VNL website at www.vnl.in. I’m also writing VNL’s blog “The Microtelecom Revolution“. If you’re into clean technology, sustainability and new technology – the microtelecom revolution may be your thing.

Also want to take the opportunity to plug Velocity – hands down the best marketing agency for tech companies. They’re based in London and consist of a small team with the brain power of millions. Check them out at at velocitypartners.co.uk.

What about the music, man?

Aside from VNL, I’ve of course been producing lots of new music that will soon appear here on the site for your downloading pleasure.

My dear friend Oskar (www.dread.se) is currently sorting out some minor bugs in the music player. That should hopefully be done this week. When he’s done, I’ll add more music to the player. And blog about some of the new tracks.

So, 2008 is looking to be a quite interesting year! It’s certain off to a quick start.

Stay tuned.

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No Comments » Published by Pär, March 20th, 2008
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My friend Kristian, who’s doing marvelous things at Spotify, gave me a highly desired beta-invite to Spotify this week. And I’m amazed. Ever since Pandora shut down, I’ve been looking for a good alternative. Sure, there’s last.fm and many others. But they just don’t do it for me.

Meet Spotify. This is, hands down, the best streaming player I’ve ever encountered. The user interface is intuitive, the sound quality is excellent, the music selection is enormous. So far, I haven’t found a single bug or flaw that has annoyed me.

Sure, the genre selection is not as fine-tuned as it could be. Sometimes completely unrelated music enters your stream. But even if that’s unintended, it can be quite refreshing. To encounter something fresh and unexpected.

And that’s really what Spotify is all about: musical wandering. You make a few selections, then enter on a musical journey. A journey that looks very promising.

I’ve had Spotify open since I first downloaded the app. And I have no plans to shut it down. It’s simply too good, too addictive, too inspirational.

So, bravo Spotify! You’re on to something powerful.

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10 Comments » Published by Pär, March 20th, 2008
Filed under Inspiration, Soapbox