Was experimenting with electronic music and these are some tracks I made in the early 1990's with some friends in San Francisco, as well as some remix projects for early on-line music communities.  

90's Sampler Phase

Side A features a rare, never released Todd Kushnir original composition “Lonesome Long Distance Lover.”  Recorded in 1974, and originally to be issued as part of a retrospective, the pining ballad was thought to be lost when Record Plant Studio C was destroyed in an electrical fire on January 10, 1978.  The master tapes were found years later in the trunk of Kushnir’s dilapidated car that sat on cinder blocks rusting in the yard.  “I wrote recorded the song late in the sessions for the label's retrospective,” recalls Kushnir. “I remember leaving the studio late that night. I parked the car in the yard and when I woke up I heard the devastating news about the fire. What I didn’t know was the intern had put the master recordings in my trunk thinking that’s what I wanted. The shifty intern was the last one to leave that night, and he was never heard from again.”  Kushnir said he couldn’t make it to the studio the next day to see what happened to the recordings because the car died suddenly and he never drove it again. While prepping the beater for sale after many years of neglect, he opened up the trunk and beneath three boxes of unsold tour merchandise were the long lost tapes.  Miraculously the tapes survived though in order to be played, they had to be baked. Kushnir and Columbia Records are finally releasing these songs after a decades long, protracted legal battle for the rights to the recordings, which over the years were sold to the Jackson camp, followed by the McCartney Camp, followed by the Fleetwood Mac Camp, and then finally back to Kushnir.  No one in the Kushnir inner circle knew this was coming. Secrecy was imposed as Kushnir felt like album releases had lost meaning as a significant, exciting event in the face of hype created around singles and he wanted the album to be released unexpectedly. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Computers, approached Kushnir, a Cupertino native, in the lead up to the iPhone 6 release asking the elusive artist to partner with the trendy electronics company. “He wanted to force this music into everyone’s iTunes account free as some publicity stunt for his new phone. I told Cook to take a hike,” laughed Kushnir, adding “I think different.” 

Side B is a cover of Donovan’s ‘The Mandolin Man and His Secret.’ “I first heard this as a 
camp song at @The Mountain Camp, where we would sing it around the campfire,” says Kushnir. “ @Brian Eric Stuckey learned it from @Joel Hawley and I learned it from one of them. Now I’m passing it along so that others can sing it as well.  It’s a really pretty song with a nice message of tolerance and peace.” It was originally released on Kushnir 1975 Double LP Mandelbrot (Columbia).  Mandelbrot was to be groundbreaking for using the first ever Mobius Strip shaped LP, essentially unplayable at the time on any record player but said to have the highest fidelity of any system to date, and would allow the record to repeat seamlessly.  Kushnir regrets that the concept album didn't reach a wider audience. "It was inaccessible because nobody promoted me," he feels. "I wasn't given any opportunity to sell. There was no promotion, there was no tours, there was nothing. I didn't get to get out and play. Total mismanagement; no agent, no gigs, no nothing. Just my music. I gave it all. But I was not given in return what my music deserved.  And I don't play songs that I don't like to play. But sometimes audiences come to sort of re-live that soundtrack of your life experience. Not always, but sometimes. If that's what's going on, then I'm more than happy to lay part of that soundtrack on them so that they will maybe take a little time and listen to one of my new songs."   Recorded over the course of a few days during the change of seasons, The Mandolin Man captures Kushnir in an especially reverent mood.

Credits:
Lonesome Long Distance Lover
Words/Music: Todd Kushnir
Drums, Guitars, Bass, Vocals: Todd Kushnir
Recorded, Mixed, Produced: Todd Kushnir
Production Advice: @Chad Johnson

The Mandolin Man and His Secret 
Words/Music: Donovan, arr: T.Kushnir
Drums, Guitars, Bass, Keys, Vocals: Todd Kushnir
Recorded, Mixed, Produced: Todd Kushnir

TK would like to thank: @Carole Kushnir, @Alan Kushnir,  @Brian Kushnir, @Gideon Marken, @Eric Rosenberg, @Matty Sol, @Brandon O’Connor, @Prince, @Asher Fulero, @Brett McConnell, @Matthew Ryan, @Michael Wilson, @David Hughes, @Paul Benoit, @Matt Butler, @Chris Haugen, @Shelley Doty, @Mike Sugar, @TheWOWHall, @Steve Baran, @Annette Willsey Liebhardt, @Burning Spear, @Donovan @Brian Eric Stuckey, @Joel Hawley, @The Mountain Camp, @Bill Bottrell, @Simon Babbs, @Angelo Bundini, @Chris Heumann, @Daniel Trumm, @Brett Shuler : The Truck, always keeping it real, tasty….and of course, my wonderful Wife and kids who are not on Facebook, for putting up with all this.

#music #acoustic #bluegrass #country #folk #recording #TheMountainCamp #Cupertino #Apple #iPhone6 #RollingStones #Donovan #camp #songs #CampSongs #x32 #studio 

Mandelbrot

Casual vs. DJ Shadow - That Bullshit / Scale it Back

I remixed the ENTIRE ALBUM: 'The Heist', by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Each track was remixed live.  Most of the tracks are the first and only take. This remix was done in a new genre that I created called 'Slayed and Tekked'. Slayed and Tekked is derived from the Chopped and Screwed genre. 
   
The Heist is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. Independently produced, recorded and released by the duo, the album reached number 1 on iTunes within hours of being released on October 9, 2012 with no mainstream promotion or support. 

Chopped and screwed (sometimes called screwed and chopped or slowed and throwed) refers to a technique of remixing hip hop music which developed in the Houston hip hop scene in the 1990s. Today it is still common to see screwed and chopped versions of mixtapes and albums released alongside the regular speed versions, sometimes in a double disc format with one disc screwed and the other regular speed.

heist (hīst), informal, 
noun 1. a robbery. "a diamond heist" ;  
verb 1. steal. "he heisted a Pontiac".

This lengthy release represents one small aspect of my music playing and music production.  I hope to continue the Slayed and Tekked series, incorporating other genres besides hip-hop to Slay and Tek.  I’m also posting a link to the individual tracks in both MP3 and FLAC format, as well as the ‘FULL ALBUM’ in one file. The full length file can also be download directly from the Soundcloud page.

Link to MP3s and FLACs: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B1S8FVFLm5O1SHpiblEyb0kwc0E&usp=drive_web


The Heist Slayed And Tekked FULL ALBUM Macklemore

Fast and Slow 'Slayed and Tekked' Remixes of Fancy by Iggy Azalea. Remixes by Todd Kushnir performed Live.

IggyAzalea Fancy SlayedAndTekked Slow

A remix project, here are the first few tracks that are 'ready'. If I don't put these out there, it may never get out.  I'm remixing these live, and then overdubbing other content including my own playing, etc.  I've also included the 'ALL SLAY, NO TEK' version, which is basically the live performance of the track minus the overdubs. DUB.  VERSION. 

That Bullshit Vs Scale It Back (feat DJ Shadow)

The Gravity Bong

008 NoirMix

Circular Motions (I-Brow Mix)

Raveon

Side A features a rare, never released Todd Kushnir original composition “Lonesome Long Distance Lover.”  Recorded in 1974, and originally to be issued as part of a retrospective, the pining ballad was thought to be lost when Record Plant Studio C was destroyed in an electrical fire on January 10, 1978.  The master tapes were found years later in the trunk of Kushnir’s dilapidated car that sat on cinder blocks rusting in the yard.  “I wrote recorded the song late in the sessions for the label's retrospective,” recalls Kushnir. “I remember leaving the studio late that night. I parked the car in the yard and when I woke up I heard the devastating news about the fire. What I didn’t know was the intern had put the master recordings in my trunk thinking that’s what I wanted. The shifty intern was the last one to leave that night, and he was never heard from again.”  Kushnir said he couldn’t make it to the studio the next day to see what happened to the recordings because the car died suddenly and he never drove it again. While prepping the beater for sale after many years of neglect, he opened up the trunk and beneath three boxes of unsold tour merchandise were the long lost tapes.  Miraculously the tapes survived though in order to be played, they had to be baked. Kushnir and Columbia Records are finally releasing these songs after a decades long, protracted legal battle for the rights to the recordings, which over the years were sold to the Jackson camp, followed by the McCartney Camp, followed by the Fleetwood Mac Camp, and then finally back to Kushnir.  No one in the Kushnir inner circle knew this was coming. Secrecy was imposed as Kushnir felt like album releases had lost meaning as a significant, exciting event in the face of hype created around singles and he wanted the album to be released unexpectedly. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Computers, approached Kushnir, a Cupertino native, in the lead up to the iPhone 6 release asking the elusive artist to partner with the trendy electronics company. “He wanted to force this music into everyone’s iTunes account free as some publicity stunt for his new phone. I told Cook to take a hike,” laughed Kushnir, adding “I think different.” 

Side B is a cover of Donovan’s ‘The Mandolin Man and His Secret.’ “I first heard this as a 
camp song at @The Mountain Camp, where we would sing it around the campfire,” says Kushnir. “ @Brian Eric Stuckey learned it from @Joel Hawley and I learned it from one of them. Now I’m passing it along so that others can sing it as well.  It’s a really pretty song with a nice message of tolerance and peace.” It was originally released on Kushnir 1975 Double LP Mandelbrot (Columbia).  Mandelbrot was to be groundbreaking for using the first ever Mobius Strip shaped LP, essentially unplayable at the time on any record player but said to have the highest fidelity of any system to date, and would allow the record to repeat seamlessly.  Kushnir regrets that the concept album didn't reach a wider audience. "It was inaccessible because nobody promoted me," he feels. "I wasn't given any opportunity to sell. There was no promotion, there was no tours, there was nothing. I didn't get to get out and play. Total mismanagement; no agent, no gigs, no nothing. Just my music. I gave it all. But I was not given in return what my music deserved.  And I don't play songs that I don't like to play. But sometimes audiences come to sort of re-live that soundtrack of your life experience. Not always, but sometimes. If that's what's going on, then I'm more than happy to lay part of that soundtrack on them so that they will maybe take a little time and listen to one of my new songs."   Recorded over the course of a few days during the change of seasons, The Mandolin Man captures Kushnir in an especially reverent mood.

Credits:
Lonesome Long Distance Lover
Words/Music: Todd Kushnir
Drums, Guitars, Bass, Vocals: Todd Kushnir
Recorded, Mixed, Produced: Todd Kushnir
Production Advice: @Chad Johnson

The Mandolin Man and His Secret 
Words/Music: Donovan, arr: T.Kushnir
Drums, Guitars, Bass, Keys, Vocals: Todd Kushnir
Recorded, Mixed, Produced: Todd Kushnir

TK would like to thank: @Carole Kushnir, @Alan Kushnir,  @Brian Kushnir, @Gideon Marken, @Eric Rosenberg, @Matty Sol, @Brandon O’Connor, @Prince, @Asher Fulero, @Brett McConnell, @Matthew Ryan, @Michael Wilson, @David Hughes, @Paul Benoit, @Matt Butler, @Chris Haugen, @Shelley Doty, @Mike Sugar, @TheWOWHall, @Steve Baran, @Annette Willsey Liebhardt, @Burning Spear, @Donovan @Brian Eric Stuckey, @Joel Hawley, @The Mountain Camp, @Bill Bottrell, @Simon Babbs, @Angelo Bundini, @Chris Heumann, @Daniel Trumm, @Brett Shuler : The Truck, always keeping it real, tasty….and of course, my wonderful Wife and kids who are not on Facebook, for putting up with all this.

#music #acoustic #bluegrass #country #folk #recording #TheMountainCamp #Cupertino #Apple #iPhone6 #RollingStones #Donovan #camp #songs #CampSongs #x32 #studio 

The Mandolin Man and His Secret

Lonesome Long Distance Lover

10 TheHeist Slayed and Tekked JimmyIovine

U Half 2 Go Slo 2 Go Fast

Jambay, band from the 1990s, lives on in cyberspace. 

The Changing

As I Unfold

Thrillseeker

Science

Ceremony

For Instance

Three Night Stand

Silence

Free Harmony

Senses

Skunk

Pieces

Crossroads

Acoustic guitar meditation based on a riff I would play anytime I picked up my friend Michael's guitar, or maybe any guitar, that's what Michael said. So this is Michael's song. I think of him when I play the main riff, and like to play it at quiet moments, or when I'm in the meditative state. I think back on our shared history and smile.

Michael's Song

My Opus 01 - Intro

Three remixes of twenty one pilots Heathens Ride and Stressed Out

Heathens TEK Remix

Jambay all original quartet debut album recorded in 1991. Remastered in 2019.

Mother Scolds The Twins

Relentless Cactus

Dragon

Bad Coffee

Morning Ritual #4

Slowly

Name This Song

Thorn

Mercury

Dead In The Grass

Highlander

VIDEO HERE: https://youtu.be/Gg8XyZ9qvOw

It is  2120, 102 years from now, a space traveler awakens in orbit around a planet following a long journey.  It is a cold and barren land, called Earth, and little is known about this place the traveler once called home, except for what can be found in a few old books left behind. The traveler doesn't know the language in the books as it is now long forgotten. Destruction was,  to put it mildly, total.  

What is left only resides in the mind of the traveler. Forever.

and the traveler sings:

I live in a heavily gated fortress. 
In the fortress are my things.
I live in a dystopian future
you only read about in books 
or see in movies.  
It wasn’t always this way. 
There was a time of prosperity,
at least it was written about 
in the remnants of texts 
taken years to decode 
since there were no more
schools making ignorance
the accepted norm. 
Oral stories 
passed down
from generation to generation 
suddenly challenged. 
Suspicion, superstition 
bred defensiveness and 
sideways glances from 
neighbors even relatives. 
The texts decoding 
did little to make 
this any better.
No, it only made it worse.
---------------------------------------
Dystopian Future
c.2018
Todd Kushnir, words/music
Lead Guitar: Mike Sugar
VIDEO HERE: https://youtu.be/Gg8XyZ9qvOw

Reel

Dystopian Future

Sound engineer, producer, multi-instrumentalist, archivist, and collaborator since 1970.

kush

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