If you are anything like us over here at the XLR8R office in Los Angeles, you are sitting in front of the computer thinking to yourself about how much you wish you were with all of your mates in Amsterdam for Dekmantel 2015.
The next best thing to actually being there is to watch it on the live broadcast over on Boiler Room. You can stream all three days live on their Youtube channel, and you can bet that XLR8R will have more updates about the festival and the stand out performances as they come along. For now, tune in and drop out. [row] [column size=’1/3′]
Rough Year is a young trans artist from Philadelphia who crafts haunting compositions characterised by themes of dispossession, alienation and forced assimilation.
Following on from the politically charged Mongreal EP, Rough Year’s “Arch,” and the rest of their body of work for that matter, is “focused toward the resurgence of civil rights protests around the world.” With “Arch,” Rough Year paints an evocative picture, laying gritty field recordings and spoken word snippets underneath menacing drones, knife-edged percussion, and bone-shaking kicks, flowing like a stream of consciousness across its 11-minute run. It’s an affecting piece of story telling from a talented newcomer.
You can stream “Arch” in full below, with Rough Year’s previous work available here.
A lot has happened since 2009. Dubstep, for instance, jumped into the mainstream pool with both feet—only to be ushered out rather quickly by the tidal wave of 4/4 EDM. Concurrently, Low End Theory and Alpha Pup Records went from one of L.A.’s best kept secrets to full-blown, experimental, intelligent and sometimes jazzy prominence, courtesy of Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Kamasi Washington and the entire stable of artists that label boss and Low End founder Daddy Kev has nurtured for well over a decade.
Even so, it’s hard these days to come by music that’s not only a legitimate full-frontal assault in the same vein as tunes from that golden era of gluttonous bass and synths, but that embraces that ethos while giving it a more polished feel. However,when West Coast mid-tempo bass meets half-step U.K. jungle/drum & bass, somewhere around 85 bpm—with a generous helping of hip-hop tossed into the mix—that’s exactly what you get. Specifically, that’s what you get with Shades, the new EP from Alexander “Eprom” Dennis and Alix Perez, slated for release on Alpha Pup on July 31st.
The release’s music is heavy, without being serious; playful, without meandering. It’s tightly crafted bass music for 2015’s sentimentality, put together by two guys who are clearly having fun making music with each other—and it’s a surprisingly fertile middle ground between each artist’s roots. We caught up with the pair for a quick chat about the EP, their recording process and what they hope to bring to their performance together at the Low End Theory Festival, coming up on August 8.
Shade’s tracks feel like a throwback to the Glitch Mob when they had Kraddy, or some of the Megasoid and Lazer Sword stuff from around 2009. Is that something you guys were going for? Eprom: I come from that world. Alix comes from a different world but for me, I went to college with the Glitch Mob dude Justin, and we did some projects together—so there’s definitely some crossover and influence from those guys. Megasoid were a big influence on me early on, people doing that sort of hard beat music at hip hop tempo with super heavy basslines and weird drum sound design. To me, those guys were definitely an early influence. We share some aspects of the sound, but I think Alix definitely arrived at that sound through different avenues.
Perez: I come primarily from more jungle and drum & bass, but I’ve kind been following the whole Low End Theory and L.A. beat scene for quite a few years now. A lot of my original influences in music are from hip-hop, and I got drawn to that scene because it’s the merging of electronic music with more classic hip-hop things; that’s what really caught my ear. You mentioned Lazer Sword, which is someone that I followed quite a lot back then—and obviously, like I said, all the Low End things.
I became aware of Sander’s music quite early on as well. It’s always been something I’ve been drawn to, and there’s been a natural shift in my solo stuff which we call half-time, which is halving the tempo of drum & bass—so around 85 bpm which naturally stands within the kind of tempo that the whole beat scene was working around. Maybe a bit higher, maybe a bit lower. And that’s a natural thing for me and with Sander, I feel we’re both aware of each others’ music and we met actually in person at a festival in New Zealand a couple years ago and we got on and chatted and talked about making music. I feel the whole thing’s kind of natural, it’s not forced, we’re not trying to make it a certain sound, we’re just having fun blending what we both do together.
Both of you came up within fairly strict genres, whether it’s the mid-tempo West Coast camping-party scene or U.K. drum & bass. Is the fact that the Low End scene doesn’t have the same type of strict boundaries or genre expectations part of the appeal of releasing on Alpha Pup for both of you? Eprom: Definitely. To me, Low End Theory in particular has always been this sort of proving ground for tracks and it’s kind of like…I make a lot of tunes for the DJs at Low End Theory to play, and for myself to play when I go there. And you can make these crazy, experimental DJ-tool banger tracks and people eat them up. It’s cool to have that petri-dish, testbed thing of Low End Theory, so we’re really looking forward to playing at the festival.
“That’s what I like having: creative freedom and being able to do whatever I want.”
Perez: For me, same thing. I got to play Low End Theory for the first time last year, and it was one for the books for me. I was mad nervous. It was interesting to see, because Daddy Kev has always represented jungle and that side of things and other interesting things going on, from footwork to the half-time thing and the kind of rave element of things, with Mentasm coming back in. Like you said, there’s no kind of barrier—it’s really open. And that’s what I like having: creative freedom and being able to do whatever I want. Kind of keeping it within a sort of comprehensive sound, I guess,—but having no barriers is definitely a bonus for me.
Tell me about your process and what kind of equipment you’re using to squeeze such massive sound into these tunes, and how these tracks ultimately came together in the studio. Eprom: Well I use Ableton Live, and Alix mainly uses Logic, but we’ve started shifting things toward mostly using Ableton Live. But he does a lot of sound design in Logic ,and I do sound design in Ableton or analog synths. I think the first couple tracks, what did we do? I think we just loaded up some drums & bass sounds, and just went from there.
Perez: Yeah, the “Minotaur” track was basically you jamming with the drums on Ableton and me jamming with the Virus live, I think. We recorded a session of maybe 15 minutes of jamming on different bass patches, distorting them, filtering them, not MIDI or anything, just really loose—and sort of chopping things up and putting them together, and developing from there. It was really just like fun.
Eprom: That’s the way I like to work a lot. Just set up a little loop and play it through some analog synths and mess with different settings. Chop them up. We did that in the Red Bull Studio, too. We took a drum loop and ran it through a Lexicon delay unit, where you can modulate the delay times so that’s how we did that crazy, flangey drum breakdown in “Minotaur.” I’m too ADD to sit there and just dial in every little sound, so it’s more fun to set something up where we can jam and pick the best bits after that. Just keep it kinda loose and flowing.
There’s a lot more freedom today with all of the different performance tools and with how hardware interacts so seamlessly with software. Perez: We’re both quite big fans of analog as well and I’ve got quite a few synths myself—Moog, Virus, JP8000 and a few more – and I think that’s maybe something that’s a little bit different about our sound. I’m still stuck with the analog-think, even though I do have soft synths and like using them sometimes. Rut just doing something really raw is the basis behind it for me.
“Low End Theory is probably my favorite place to play in the whole world because the crowd is so up.”
You two are performing together at the Low End Theory festival. What does that mean to you, and what do you plan on bringing to your performance there? Eprom: Low End Theory is probably my favorite place to play in the whole world because the crowd is so up for it and they’re so into what I’m doing—they know me and it’s just a really great feedback loop. For this festival, we’re basically building the set from scratch; we’re still working on it, but it’s going to be two Ableton laptops and possibly some other gear. We’re really looking forward to it.
Perez: Ableton kind of syncs things so we’re playing against each other with our own music and we’re working on new stuff, too, that we’re going to bring into the set and really push exactly how we represent our collaboration and how to embody the whole sound. We’ll incorporate a few tracks from other people here and there but it’s mainly about pushing and defining what we’re doing. And like said, we’re really looking forward to it. I already said how nervous I was last year before playing Low End for the first time, as nervous as I’ve been in a long time. I’ve played big crowds before but it wasn’t the crowd, it was about Low End Theory itself, a staple night and something that’s really important. I feel quite comfortable that people are going to understand where we’re coming from with this project and that it’s something they’ll be able to relate to. I’m really looking forward to seeing how it goes down.
Catch Alix Perez & Eprom Present Shadesat the following:
You’ve got to admire All Day I Dream‘s consistency. In its three and a half years of existence, Matthew Dekay and Lee Burridge‘s label has perfected the kind of hazy, mid-tempo house that’s become de riguer for a certain subset of summertime open-air party—including, of course, the All Day I Dream shindigs themselves. You could make the argument that the label’s releases tend to follow established templates rather than break new ground; you could contend that its music tends to be skew towards the pleasant, peaceful end of the dance-music spectrum, rather than provide a gut-punching thrill. And you’d be right, but you’d be missing the point: All Day I Dream’s mission is to provide emotive, melodious soundtrack to swaying in the breeze or hugging your pals on the dancefloor, perhaps while alternating waves of melancholy and joy (or just plain old head rushes) sweep over you. Crash Landing On Laputa, the new EP from Paul “Powel” Chriske, accomplishes that mission in thorough, and quite beautiful, fashion.
Starting off with a thick kick, doubled on the four, with nicely subtle hi-hats adding to the laid-back rhythmic feel, the title track—named for the flying island inGulliver’s Travels—is quickly defined by a floating, four-note synth line that’s pure bliss. Drenched in reverb, warm pads shimmering in the background with just a low-frequency bassline (along with that kick) to provide propulsion, it’s the kind of music Orbital might have made back in the early ’90s—had the Hartnoll brothers been in a permanent dream state while in the studio. “Feels Like Earth” is cast from the same mold—drifting synths abound—and, if anything, has ever fewer sharp edges; the releases’ final cut, “The Tale Of Crime Solving Sheeps,” is probably the most delicate of the bunch (and that’s saying something), its stately melody plunked out by a celestial piano while pizzicato strings provide counterpoint. Does Crash Landing On Laputa break new ground? No. But the terrain it travels over is gorgeous, and for All Day I Dream, that’s what counts.
Opening with slightly frayed strings and a fragile melody, CloZee makes her intentions clear early, keeping in with the haunting vibe of Random Rab‘s original, the French producer twists the laid back cut into more majestic territory. CloZee’s glitchy production style melds perfectly with “39 Circles,” with her snapping snare rolls and rolling drums complimenting Random Rab’s instrumentation. “39 Circles” is pulled from Random Rab’s forthcoming LP which is slated for release in September on Abandon Building. Ahead of the release, you can download the CloZee remix for free below.
Following Azari & III‘s final split and last performance in 2014, former band member and producer Alixander III returns to the Toy Tonics label.
Heavy Friends 2 is a 4-track collaborative endeavor featuring multiple guest vocalists and producers from Alixander III’s hometown of Toronto, Canada. Inspired by the motor city of Detroit, the EP delivers a tight package of vintage, old school and soulful techno.
Listen to a preview of the track “Broken Promises” below. Toy Tonics will release Heavy Friends 2 on September 14, 2015.
Tracklisting:
1. Alixander III & Marsupials – Broken Promises
2 .Alixander III, Saytek & Dave DeValera – Don’t Trust Me
3. Alixander III & Tuxxedo – Go On Use Me
4. Alixander III feat. Kim E and Gingy – (She’s So) Young
The Bunker New York has been consistently releasing strong records this year, with recent releases by Mark Verbos, Romans (a.k.a. Tin Man & Gunnar Haslam), and LØT.TE all in constant rotation at the XLR8R office. Next up for the Brooklyn-based label is Clay Wilson‘s brand new four-track EP, Skandha,coming out on September 1. This is Wilson’s second go-around on the label, previously dropping BK002 back in February of 2014. Clay is an incredible producer who is constantly honing his craft, and it’s easy to tell that his hard work has been paying off when you hear Clay performing one of his improvised live hardware sets.
You can pre-order the limited-edition orange vinyl right now on The Bunker’s Bandcamp page, and you can catch Clay performing one of his infamous live sets next month at The Bunker LTD, and in October in Denver for GATF.
Following on from its debut release—Kollaps’ GTi001—vinyl-only UK label Grade 10 will drop the latest release from LooseWomen on August 10. GTi002 is a three-track EP that explores the sound of the late eighties and early nineties, backed by a remix from fellow Grade 10 artist ClassicCoke. B-side cut “Slides” is a low-slung, Balearic-tinged affair driven along by floating pads and groovy, muted drums; whispered vocal phrases slide in and out across the sun-soaked five-minute run, giving it a vibe that would fit perfectly with a hazy summer afternoon. You can download “Slides” for free below, with the EP available for preorder here.
“The goal is only that we all return home after Sacred Ground full in heart and lungs from the time together,” says the festival mission statement.
It’s a beautiful Saturday morning in Brüssow, a serene country village situated 100 kilometers north of Berlin. The sun is shining and the locals are out, from the young children to the town elderly, all watching in amazement as music lovers arrive from far and beyond to enjoy the first edition of Sacred Ground Festival. The grounds, a luscious field with aged farm buildings around the outside, is scattered carefully with low-lying beds, Persian rugs and home-made benches, all placed to promote a relaxed and care-free atmosphere —a welcome contrast to the hustle and bustle that surrounds the common festival.
With a line-up that included David August, Âme and Howling, it would be easy to go on and on about the music — but to do so would serve as a great injustice to the magic of Sacred Ground. Reflecting back, while the tremendous art installations and performances provided a focal point for all those fortunate few in attendance, it is this sense of harmonious community that must be captured in this review. As RY X alluded to in an interview leading up to the event, Sacred Ground is more akin to a gathering than a festival. Absent are the queues and overpriced refreshments, replaced instead with fresh local catering and a sense of togetherness, captured most perfectly as the artists mingle with the crowd, dancing in unison under the stars and indulging in the moment all together.
The music, as expected, was spectacular. Though initially a questionable ploy, the lack of confirmed set times actually worked in such a small setting, encouraging a sense of unity and collaboration. Notable midafternoon performances by Dream Koala and Kalabrese & Rumpelorchester came and went, but it was when Howling graced the stage that the party really began. As the locals began to drift off to there homes as the skies darkened, the intimacy gave the feeling of a private showcase for which one had won tickets rather than a festival open to the public. Stunning sets from Dauwd and Âme set the tone for David August, a special talent who delivered once again with a spectacular early morning performance before going back to back with Wiedemann and RY X as the sun began to rise over the ancient barn that formed a perfect backdrop to the festival.
Inevitably for a festival in such remote location, the accessibility of Sacred Ground could certainly deter some folk from making the journey. Although the train ride is easy and shuttle buses are provided between the station and the festival site, it’s a long way to travel for an event that spans only one day. However, this is only a minor point, and based on this it is hard to brand the first edition of Sacred Ground anything other than a grand success. The challenge, however, comes now. As the demand for the event grows as will the temptation to expand the size, and the scalability of the Sacred Ground “community” formula is dubious, at best.
As for Edition One, however—it is certainly mission accomplished.
Electro pioneer Der Zyklus will drop his latest EP on Zone Records in September.
Der Zyklus is the long standing project from Gerald Donald—Dopplereffekt producer and one half of legendary Electro duo Drexciya. Filled with his renowned drum-machine grooves, chilly synth tones, and squelchy acid lines, the four-track EP will land on Zone Records on September 15 and will be available digitally, and as a limited edition vinyl release in partnership with The Vinyl Factory.
