Surrounded By Ninjas profile picture

Surrounded By Ninjas

About Me

NEW ALBUM RELEASE JUNE 2009!!!
"DISASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION"
BUY IT NOW AT CDBABY!!
or purchase it at iTunes!!
Three years in the making, 'Disassociation Association' is the 3rd full length studio release from Surrounded By Ninjas, and the inaugural release for ArtDamaged Records.
Deeply complex yet danceable, each track explores the various manifestations of collaboration vs. isolation in art, life, and relationships using sparse sampling and melodic phrasing combined with pounding bass and drums.
SBN capture the trademark sound that has thrilled audiences in their live improv sets while offering a more complex and finely tuned audial experience. Their sound touches on breaks, Drum-n-Bass, and IDM, never straying too far from their Downtempo roots.
This physical first edition will be limited to 300 hand numbered copies!
------
Producer/Keyboardist Asher Fulero and Turntablist/Art Director Joel Barber have worked together under the name Surrounded By Ninjas since the spring of 2002, alternating between self-releasing two albums, short tours of the US West Coast, and time off to maintain the many other artistic projects they both balance. Always intriguing and futuristic, the duo focused on improvisation within an deep entanglement of gear, but over the years slowly phased out many of their unpredictable toys and introduced laptops running Ableton Live, making it possible to re-visit songs more accurately. The improvisation became composition, which is really no surprise considering the pair hold degrees in Studio Art (Barber, Occidental ‘93) and Music Composition (Fulero, Oregon ‘00).
Created by pairing Fulero's liquid beats&bass production and accomplished keyboard wizardry with Barber's brilliant bin-scrounging sample choices and deep Post-Post-Modernist slant (something he calls ArtDamaged), the pieces themselves were born out of sound ‘chunks’ made in the pair's living rooms in 2006, then patiently incubated through repeated performances, self-remixing, and a growing conceptual vision over a slow 2-year production process at Fulero's home studio and at many concerts and festivals like High Sierra Music Festival, Phoenix Festival, and more. The pieces touch on many of the recognizable electronica 'sounds' without reproducing them, always tending to keep things moving; looking forward to the next idea while referencing the last. Undeniably full of banging beats and danceable grooves with a lot of hooky synths, there is also an undeniably 'artsy' feel to the record with all kinds of glitchy studio trickery and movie voices appearing and disappearing, often manipulated to relate to the topic in arcane ways (take "Remade", a fast D-n-B-styled piece about remix culture and future internet rights that remixes itself twice during its 11 minutes and features a number of appropriated and manipulated samples from a movie about sample rights and sample-based music).
Not a 'Concept Album' in the traditional sense, Disassociation Association (2009) definitely sports concepts, both song-by-song and throughout the album. Sometimes, the connection to a main ‘concept’ is obtuse or obscured, but often that’s how it is with modern art; even if you can’t identify the sources you can still experience the impact of the stimulus. These careful pieces of time-based art are pervasively emotive and create a distinct mood and feeling that references both the past and the future in a very creative way; they improve upon repeated listening, new layers popping out from under the surface.
This is the premiere release for Joel Barber's new label, ArtDamaged Records, and the gatefold eco-pack is made from 100% Recycled Paper. Joel also designed the amazing artwork and laid out the packaging as well. The first printing consists of a short run of 300 hand-numbered packages.
SBN Official Site - the official SBN website
reapandsow.com - the home of our digital distributors.
Dual Processor

Purchase it at:
The iTunes Music Store
Rhapsody Music Service
eMusic.com
BUY our first album in hard copy at CD BABY:

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/01/2006
Band Website: http://www.surroundedbyninjas.com
Band Members: Asher Fulero: Keyboards and Laptop
Joel Barber: Turntables and Laptop

Sounds Like: Downtempo meets Breaks, Drum-n-Bass, Glitch, and IDM all from within a dream state.
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

New Album 'Disassociation Association' released on ArtDamaged Records! Available NOW!

We're BEYOND STOKED to announce the release of our new album, 'Disassociation Association' on ArtDamaged Records.This is the inaugural release for the label, as well as the first physical SBN release ...
Posted by on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 20:54:00 GMT

New album imminent....

Just an early announcement to anyone checking this page... the NEW, 3rd album from Surrounded By Ninjas entitled Disassociation Association will be available really soon.... look for the official anno...
Posted by on Mon, 18 May 2009 12:25:00 GMT

New Show Added!! Sep 20th Cirquinox Festival in Selma, Oregon with EOTO, KJ Sawka, and more!

We're really stoked to announce only our 2nd show of 2008. We'll be a part of the CIRQUINOX festival in Selma, OR (south) on Saturday September 20th. Tickets are $25, and that includes camping fees....
Posted by on Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:46:00 GMT

EMRG-N-SEE FESTIVAL July 2008

We're excited to announce that Surrounded By Ninjas will be making a special appearance at the 2008 EMRG-N-SEE Festival. Taking place July 18-20 near Salem Oregon, this electronic magnet-festival dra...
Posted by on Mon, 26 May 2008 16:52:00 GMT

PATH OF THE NINJA SPRING 2008

Live dance music improvised on the spot by tech-savvy virtuoso instrumentalists who love the future. We are pleased to announce two upcoming performances with PATH OF THE NINJA, an exciting live 5-pie...
Posted by on Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:13:00 GMT

2 Shows In Portland 4/5 and 4/6!!

So we're playing 2 shows in Portland this week, both opening sets.On Thursday (the 5th) we'll be opening the show at The Goodfoot (SE 28th & Stark) for Seattle's DAS VIBENBASS. 9pm, 21+Then, on Frida...
Posted by on Thu, 29 Mar 2007 00:10:00 GMT

2 upcoming shows AND a Podcast!!

Hey everybody, we're psyched to announce that we'll be playing 2 shows with Bobby Previte and The Coalition Of The Willing. Bobby is a legendary NYC-based drummer who has pulled together the likes of...
Posted by on Sat, 27 Jan 2007 02:16:00 GMT

Dual Processor is up at iTunes!!

After being almost 3 years in the making, our sophomore release is finally available online! We partnered with reapandsow music to do a digital-only release and now you can go to your favorite online...
Posted by on Tue, 21 Mar 2006 13:43:00 GMT

SBN blows up Portland and Seattle with STS9!

Photo 2006 MeyerZooProductionsWOW, what a great time... SBN rockin 2 nights with STS9, the current world heavyweight champions of live electronic bands. We were blessed by a great crew on Friday nigh...
Posted by on Fri, 27 Jan 2006 22:53:00 GMT

SBN's new album, Dual Processor

flyer by Bradly BifulcoOur new full length album, Dual Processor is being released in digital format only (for the time being), by San Francisco-based distributors reapandsow. We are so very excited ...
Posted by on Fri, 27 Jan 2006 22:37:00 GMT