homebio about/buy album blog free mp3 downloads email listen custom song lyric
What people say about Computerization:
Battle of the Midwestern Housewives:
"Electronic indie pop. Those three words invoke visions in my mind of little hipsters bobbing back and forth to Ladytron in the back of some stuffy, overpriced club. Needless to say, I’m usually not a fan. With that being said, the new album out by Computerization completely blew me away.
Computerization is compiled (oh that’s right, dropping computer terms left and right) of just one man, Derek, who sings and makes all the beats to the songs. Sounding like the illegitimate love child between The Postal Service and Islands, but according to his bio, prefers to be thought of as a “unique snowflake”. You should probably just listen to my favorites and decide for yourself."
I'm Just Sayin Is All...
"Today's musical offering is a very special one. It comes from some optimistic place between Brooklyn and Noodles & Company on State Street where strangers do nice things for each other. Derek, who calls his music Computerization,
believes music right now is too heavily based on the performer and not enough on the audience - with bands creating music to show off how smart they are, caring more about appearing to be a good musician than making music that people enjoy.But not Derek's music. He wants to write a song about you. And me. Just below a coy self-consciousness that calls the project both a gimmick and a philosophical statement, he will gladly customize a song to your liking for only nine dollars. You choose the topic, the speed, the instruments... Derek writes your song and sends it to you. Seriously. What will it sound like? Sincerity. Hilarity. Self-Pity. Synergy. Uncomfortable Intimacy.
This is what he has to say about www.JustSayinIsAll.com...
order your own song here
."So This is What the Volume Knob's For:
Computerization = Derek, and for $9 weency bucks he will custom-make you a song all about you, and throw in a copy of his full-length album to boot!!! Tip-toeing into this musical adventure, I decided to give this a try!!! I filled out the little form on his site. Delivered as promised, I received a fantastic song all about me, custom-tailored with subjects and sounds!!! And, to my delight, in 5/4 time!!! Check it out:
Computerization - June is Totally Awesome.mp3
See/hear all this and more at Computerization's excitable, minimalist, web-2.0 Web site, where you can request your own custom song!!! I recommend you all do this!!!
Azltron:
Computerization a.k.a. Derek is a one man band from Brooklyn akin to the likes of Figurine. This comparison is particularly strong on "1Point14Me" where the artist's friend Ashley does a fantastic job of imitating Meredith Figurine. The rest of the self-titled album realizes just how low-fi an electronica project can be. Aside from the opening track there is no vocoder within earshot, instead there's an off kilter warbling whisper of sometimes too intimate lyrics. Some songs come out as straight up awkward like "MyBody" which sounds like a rejected carnie's struggle with narcissism or "Fukuwinicu" which you can decipher by looking at for a little while. It's not as eccentric and self indulgent as early Panther and Treasure Mammal releases, if you can get past the voice, there's some nice melodies and analog keyboard sounds. That opening track is particularly sweet. Check it out.
A New Band a Day:
...An antidote to slick RAWK is Today's New Band, Computerization, fresh from a bedroom in New York. Cobbled together from synths and bleeps, his songs are cheap 'n' cheerful - literally, in fact. He has a brilliant service where for a meagre $9 you can order your own song, to your specifications - subject matter, tempo, instruments etc - and he'll make it and mail it to you. The songs that he makes for himself, like Go Back, with its lovely chorus, and 1Point14Me, a slow, scattered pop song, are the sound of an abandoned computer singing to you from a skip - vocodered, slight and a bit world-weary.
Blogarhythms:
Going by the felicitous cognomen Computerization, Saint Louis-raised Brooklyn-based electronic musician Derek Dobson takes the human experience our brain filters and spits out as electrical impulses we register as emotions and filters them through his laptop computer. Not only that, but he delivers the resultant compositions via the ultimate mechanical filter of human experience, the communal nervous system we call the world wide web. His debut self-titled EP, a collection of nine nakedly emotional, uncomfortably vulnerable, creepily sentimental electronic Pop songs, is available online as a free download from the Computerization website right now.
Musically it should appeal to fans of Dntel/Postal Service, Schneider TM and the like, while fans of the caustic Pop of Aqueduct & the Incredible Moses Leroy should appreciate the lyrics, and Dobson’s huskily whispered nasally pinched vocals should catch the ear of fans of Death Cab for Cutie/Postal Service’s Ben Gibbard, Ron Fountenberry of Softlightes (formerly the aforementioned Incredible Moses Leroy) & the One AM Radio’s Hrishikesh Hirway. With such a lean tracklist there’s little room for filler but some of my favorite tunes include “1.14me” with it’s vocoded vocals and guest verse from Dobson’s ladyfriend Ashley, the cartoonish but still disturbingly violent stalker anthem “Evidence #2904″ and “Fukuwinicu” which manages to be saccharine-sweet and affectionately-but-awkwardly crass at the same time.