Bad Taste mainstay Walter Ego is set to release his newest EP, Radio Bits, on September 25.
Walter Ego hails from Sheffield in the UK, but all you have to do is listen to his tunes for you to tell that this producer is distinctly British. The release is an assemblage of tracks which are loaded with laudable rhythms and colorful percussion, while the deeply rooted sub bass propels each track further and further onto the dancefloor—where it belongs. It is clear that Ego borrows from all of the UK’s best native genres (UK Garage, Bass, Grime) making Radio Bits a true-blue British club joint that is bound to shake floors across the country and beyond.
You can listen to the title track “Radio Bits” below and check out more tunes from Walter Ego and Bad Taste here.
Veteran techno producer Regis and artisanal eyewear company KUBORAUM have come together to curate a limited edition CD of unreleased tracks, melding a sound and style that strikes at the very heart of the Berlin techno scene.
Hailing from Birmingham, Downwards label head and mainstay of the late Sandwell District collective, Karl O’Connor (aka. Regis), has played an instrumental role in shaping the underground techno scene since the early 1990s. Despite this fact, he has largely kept to the shadows. The release of The Immortal Eye, which features five rigid and industrial soundscapes handpicked by Regis, is shrouded in darkness, featuring tracks from Oake, Autumns, Talker, Grebenstien_Bauner and Antonym, all who seem to possess a knack for the dark and the experimental.��The release of the album coexists with KUBORAUM “mask C7” (which can be seen below).
Regis and KUBORAUM will also be premiering a sound installation at Berlin Atonal Festival at the KUBORAUM flagship store. The exhibition, “where sounds and masks share a unique space and vision,” will run from 5:30 – 7:30 on August 21. You can check out some snippets of the album below and take a look at the radically modish and unique masks made by KUBORAUM here.
Ivan Sokolenko (a.k.a Wisdom Water) is a 20 year old artist originally hailing from the Ukraine. His passion for music started when his parents enrolled him in a classical piano training program from the age of six years old. As he grew into his own creative space, he started experimenting with different musical genres and was particularly drawn to dub and deep techno. “Tremble” personifies this perfectly, with beautiful, melodic synth work, tightly wound percussion, and a deep and rolling low-end. Being a multi-talented artist, he does most of the artworks for his tracks himself. You can find more artwork and tracks over on the Wisdom Water Facebook page, with “Tremble” available as a free download below.
Following last year’s highly successful halloween event at Tobacco Dock, Adam Beyer’s Drumcode will once again return to London for a massive lineup of techno and house.
Spread across three rooms, this year’s soiree will be headed up by a cast of Drumcode regulars—Alan Fitzpatrick, Ida Engberg, Nicole Moudaber, Dubspeeka and Reset Robot—alongside friends of the label such as Dense & Pika, Boddika, Maetrik, and Trevino. Also on the lineup, Pan Pot will be celebrating the release of its new album, The Others, which is out on September 24 on the duo’s label Second State.
In addition, XLR8R has partnered with Drumcode Halloween and Beatport Guest list to offer one lucky punter two VIP tickets to the event, accommodation, and two return flights to London for the event. The prize is open to residents of United States, the United Kingdom & Ireland, Germany-Austria-Switzerland, Denmark, The Netherlands and Italy.
Despite being from sun-soaked Malibu, California, dream-pop duo High Tides bear close sonic resemblance to chilly Scotland’s Boards of Canada, with both pairs creating densely saturated synth melancholia. But if Boards music were a color palette, its hues would be cold cobalt blues and greys—High Tides’ music, on the other hand, glitters like warm red, orange and yellow sunset beams resting on ocean waves, almost too bright and beautiful to stare at for long.
Warren Kroll and Steven Lutes have chosen appropriately-dated vintage synth and drum-machine gear to produce what feels like the soundtrack to a lost ’80s surf movie shot on a cheap camcorder. Their distressed gear seems to be laboring and overheating as it creates golden chords and simple, brittle drum rhythms—but this production approach suits this clever Balearic/chillwave fantasy, steeped as it is in nostalgia and gossamer melodies. Tracks like “7 Mile Beach,” “Sunware” and “Blurring My Day” seem to be explicit references to the mood here: long, hot days spent drifting in and out of daydreams, lying on baking sands, cooled by gentle trade winds from the west.
That’s not to say High Tides’ compositions lack any mystery. The vocals on “Psychic Love Damage” evoke loss and longing, but are utterly buried under undulating synth pads and eerie vocal effects. A bit less elusive but still intriguing, “Ripped Tide” uses filters to a nearly psychedelic degree, pulling and shaping the instrumental analog waves into a voluminous churn, just listening feels a bit like being pulled effortlessly out to sea.
“Coastal Cruise ‘86” is a bit more obvious, the title hinting at a top-down-convertible-Karmann Ghia ode to John Hughes high-school days. Only “Face Breakout” takes the sun-exposure, summer-break concept a little too far—t’s an awkwardly arranged synth-pop melange with a saccharine aftertaste. But that’s only a minor detour in this otherwise smooth and satisfying journey.
It’s hard to ever imagine Boards of Canada putting out a romantic album. But we don’t have to imagine it, because High Tides have made it. Their conceptual self-titled album perfectly evokes teenagers in the throes of love on an endless summer afternoon. Who wouldn’t want to be there?
The Italian duo Hunter/Game have recently announced the Landside collaboration with the popular Icelandic band Kúra.
Kúra’s electronic dub work and Hunter/Game’s techno and house roots form deep, melancholic ambient music with an intense central groove, as Fanney Osk’s vocals interweave with melodic synths.
The Landside Part 1 EP is a visionary journey into ranges of uncharted soundscapes, merging abstract atmosphere with boundless emotion. Max Cooper’s remix of “Still There” is an eclectic vision of a deep flow, with vocals floating over a strong, dark baseline. Benjamin Damage’s remix of “Silence Before the Storm” is a straight techno tool, digging groove lines into ambient melodies and mellow vocals.
Landside recently announced two forthcoming EPs (released August 28 and September 11) debuting on Hunter/Game’s label, Just This, with incredible remixes by Max Cooper and Benjamin Damage on the first EP, Avatism and Extrawelt remixes on the following EP.
In advance of the collaboration’s stunning Landside Part 1 EPrelease on August 28, XLR8R spoke with Hunter/Game to learn more about the project, with the EP streamable in full below.
Talk to me about the background behind the Landside Project. Where did you guys all meet and when did you decide to start up the Landside Music project together?
We actually first discovered Kúra through YouTube. We were a big fans of Lulu Rouge‘s work, and we heard their remix for the band. We wrote on Kúra’s fan page and we just started chatting. It looks like nordic people are really open-minded.
We then went to Copenhagen for a gig and met eachother face to face. It was the start of an amazing friendship. Since then, we have been working together on lots of things as Brynjar (one half of Kúra) actually has his own project Primal project on our Just/This Label.
What’s the motivation behind the project?
It started out as just a collaboration between Hunter/Game and Kúra, but than we spent a long time in studio together in Copenhagen. We were just so inspired by what each of us were doing; we loved their their nordic sounds and they appreciated our techno roots. The result is something new for both of us, so we decided to start a new band project together.
Is there any particular reason for the name Landside?
Simply by spending a lot of time in Denmark and Iceland, we got really inspired by nordic atmospheres and Icelandic landscapes. The Landside sound is really coming through the nature, and that is why we came up with this name.
As a collaboration, you’ve already produced two EPs. How long have you been working on this material?
Producing in a band project is a completely different than for techno. You have to sit down and take your time to get inspired to write down the Lyrics, record the vocals and sing on the track, and then you have to arrange it. It is also important to find the right mixing/mastering approach, and so everything takes literally ages. Plus we have been working between Italy, Denmark and Iceland. We actually almost have the album ready. It took around two years to have everything done properly.
You’ve got some wonderful remixers working on the project, including Max Cooper, Benjamin Damage, Extrawelt and Avatism. How did you choose which remixers to work with?
We were big fans to all of these amazing producers, and we really have been looking to them for the remixes. Every single track have its own vibe, and so we tried to select the originals for each producer to get more closer to their mood. The result is really more than what we could ever have expected. Everyone made something really special.
This new project will be titled: la demeure; il y a péril en la demeure, and will be released in two separate parts. As reported by Resident Advisor, the first part of the release will focus on the concept of “la demeure” translating to “the joy of being withdrawn from economic, temporal or social restraints in the confinement of a home” and will be getting released as a CD and 3 vinyl EPs this coming fall.
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Raster-Noton will release la demeure; il y a péril en la demeure on September 25, 2015.
Pop the cork! Strike up the band! But most importantly, strap on your headphones—XLR8R is celebrating its 400th podcast. And we’re pretty darn proud of the series, too. Our very first installment, from 2006, came courtesy of the Plug Research label—and we haven’t let up since, with mixes coming courtesy of everyone from Ellen Allien, Kevin Saunderson, Laurent Garnier and Anthony Parasole to Untold, the Orb, Mr. Scruff and Anti-Pop Consortium. (And exactly 391 other labels and artists, too.) For this milestone, we’re more than happy to host a great set from a clubland stalwart, one who’s got something to celebrate herself: Mobilee’s Anja Schneider. Founded by Schneider and partner Ralf Kollmann in 2005, the Mobilee label—known for its steady output of solid-steel, four-to-the-floor material, much of it from a core production group that counts Rodriguez Jr., Pan-Pot, Sebo K, And.Id and Schneider herself among its members—is in the midst of it’s tenth-anniversary celebrations, no easy task in today’s trend-driven, financially-iffy music-business world. (To what does Schneider attribute it’s staying power? “Don’t take yourself too seriously,” she explains.) Her mix is a beauty, heavy on tracks from the Mobilee discography (including a few newies), weaving from driving to deep, from tough to emotive, and back again. If you’re into teched-up house (or is that housed-up techno?), we think you’ll love it as much as we do. And stick around—with any luck we’ll be bringing you another 400 podcasts, if not more, in the coming years. And we can’t wait.
VIDEO: Anja Schneider discusses her XLR8R podcast.
[infobox title=”Downloads”]Download MP3 Download M4A (iTunes enhanced) Subscribe to Podcast (RSS)[/infobox] 01 Mirko Loko “Kolor” (Carl Craig remix) (Cadenza) 02 Geddes “On The Streets” (Truesoul) 03 Ben Aus “Circus Dub” (Alphahouse) 04 Jey Kurmis “Hodgeheg” (Red Lunar Records) 05 Burnski “Divison” (Mobilee) 06 Clio “Brotherhood” (Red Lunar Records) 07 Gel Abril “Carpet Sneak’ (Mobilee) 08 Anja Schneider “The Squaring” (Mobilee) 09 Kevin Over “Face Off” (Mobilee) 10 Rodriguez Jr. “Etoile Du Nord” (Mobilee)
After having established their rule over the 12″ format and turning the run-of-the-mill dance EP into a miniature opera in its own right, Blond:ish have now announced plans for their debut album, entitled Welcome to the Present.
Flexing the psychedelic and spiritual influences that already informed their previous works, this new material presents itself not so much as the collection of DJ-ready peak-time bangers that some would have expected, but more of an adventure. It sees the duo embark on a universal journey, departing from the club comfort zone and exploring the deeper shades of world electronica. Here, each track is part of a bigger story, accomplishing its role in a vibrant, colourful mix of electronic moods, field recordings, traditional instruments and polyglot vocals.
In advance of the album’s October 23 release, a club version of lead track “Endless Games” can be streamed in full below.
Tracklisting:
01. Shy Grass 02. Los Pensamientos 03. Lucy’s Affair (Album Version) 04. Endless Games (Album Version) 05. Nada Brahma 06. Moonvalley 07. Velvet Wave (Album Version) 08. Myein Caravan 09. Jupiter & Jaguar 10. Inner Jungle 11. It Starts Now
It’s hard to get much more Los Angeles than being in the thick of the Low End Theory Festival, held on August 8 at the Shrine in Los Angeles. For years, the Oscars were held in these hallowed halls at the northeastern tip of the University of Southern California. Some old-school ravers may remember Sasha & Digweed played a monumental Fourth of July party there in the summer of 2000. But when Flying Lotus took the stage somewhere around 1am for his headlining festival set and the words “You’re Dead” flashed on the screen, he just may have been addressing any of those past relics—and proclaiming himself the future. Five thousand head-nodders roared in agreement.
It’s been a slow burn for the weekly Lincoln Heights party that grants its name to this festival of Los Angeles-based artists, now in its second year. Produced in partnership with Goldenvoice—the Goliath behind Coachella and many, many other shows in the LA area—it’s clear that after nine years, the surrealist, psychedelic and highly experimental aesthetic honed by Low End co-founders and residents Daddy Kev, the Gaslamp Killer, Nocando, Nobody and D-Styles, and propagated far and wide by the likes of Flying Lotus, Daedelus, Thundercat and the Odd Future collective, has struck a nerve.
Of course, in the big moments, that’s easy to see when like FlyLo gets decapitated by his own accompanying visuals, or when Earl Sweatshirt, mid-performance, somberly pays respects to a friend who had just passed mere hours ago, or when Nosaj Thing demonstrates his utter mastery of the crowd. But the Low End crew is known for their jokes and anecdotes during set changeovers, and one from the night stood out.
After his set, the Gaslamp Killer took to the microphone while the equipment for Thundercat’s performance was being set up. Gaslamp regaled the crowd with a story about the legendary bassist’s recent travels: Having flown in that same day, the airport staff (not knowing the importance of this divine instrument) insisted that Thundercat check his bass. To his horror, when he opened up the case, his bass had been utterly disrespected, mishandled and straight-up broken.
While many musicians would have replaced the instrument, Thundercat’s instrument is one of a kind—and therefore irreplaceable. So he had his bass repaired that same day, and came out on stage to execute his customary musical spectacle, involving sweeping arpeggios that gracefully complement his distinctive piping vocals.
As expected, both musically and emotionally, the big guns delivered. But as the crowd discovered, the cult of Low End Theory filters down to all of the small moments and details as well.
Although the festival officially began at 4pm, the doors opened several hours earlier for a series of technical workshops. Longtime Low End stalwart Daedelus, looking like a grown Oliver Twist holding a TR-8, gave a brief overview of alternative beat structures to the standard 4/4. Dr. Strangeloop walked through some of the software he uses for visuals, and Daddy Kev gave a truly down-in-the-weeds Ableton tutorial. The crowd was captivated. That’s the norm for any Low End Theory Wednesday, however, not just the festival. These guys enjoy interacting with their community and it has cultivated a dedicated following that made it standing room only not too long after the workshops began.
The large early crowd made for some huge smiles and earnest moments, as each of six hand-picked winners of a “beat invitational” were invited to play five or six minutes of original music for their peers after an introduction from Nocando. They were all genuinely geeked. Whereas most DJs and electronic music performers create more barriers between themselves and fans as they gain notoriety, the Low End crew is hanging out on stage spouting good-natured barbs to the up-and-comers, a group that may very well contain the next Flying Lotus.
This cultivation shone through in a chance conversation outside with Cazal Organism, one of the early-afternoon undercards playing on the outdoor stage. He spoke with glowingly about the Low End core crew for believing in him and giving him the chance to play his music. He said it with reverence—as if he was describing a meeting with the Dalai Lama. This was his world, his life and he was at his temple of worship. This was serious.
Seriousness abounds, actually. There isn’t a ton of dancing as much as there is varied head movements. You won’t find any glow sticks, or candy-raver light-glove nonsense, in the corners. The V.I.P. area was strictly for press to get a good vantage point for pictures. There was no bottle service.
That’s not to say that people weren’t having fun, as there were plenty of grins outside in the pitch-perfect LA weather. But by allowing an 18-and-up crowd, Low End’s engendered a level of musical fanaticism that only a foundation of teenage fans can bring. Any one of them, man or woman, would probably kick the shit out of Justin Bieber if they saw him walking down the street. By this measure, they’re not self-serious as much as they just take this music and their scene seriously—which is an interesting contrast to the looseness and general stage antics of the residents.
As for the music, the hip-hop leaning sets from Nocando and Daddy Kev, and the sheer force of nature that is the Gaslamp Killer, were personal favorites. Alix Perex & Eprom still had an obvious rawness to their evolving collaborative live show, but it’s clear that the two are professionals with a clean, defined sound that stretched the wall of subs to their limits, finding that perfect head-bobbing half-tempo groove with plenty of production flare (check the song in the above video for a sample of their new EP).
Playing week in and week out has given all of these guys a noticeable mastery of their craft, despite the playful and deep-crate origins of their musical selections. It’s remarkable, actually, what the residents and the regulars have been able to accomplish by championing music that’s anything but 4/4 and accessible. Some of the earlier sets didn’t quite translate—but that’s to be expected from a culture that encourages experimentation. Laptops are the weapon of choice and no one expects smooth transitions. There’s not much vinyl-purist snobbery to be found among the Low End crowd.
So many scenesters claim to be “all about the music” as they pile on the drugs. If it’s not that, they criticize every single minute technical error, to the point of making how well someone can ride a fader the singular focus, as opposed to what’s coming out of the speakers.
But that’s not what Low End Theory is all about. Even with 5,000 plus in attendance at the festival, there was plenty of camaraderie, greetings and commiserating that was borne of a familiarity that existed long before Low End was doing events of this size. The incredible, singular novelty about Low End Theory is that they just really fucking like each other, and love the music they all make. In this respect, they are LA’s standard bearers.
