Stream a Track from Venetian Snares’ New EP on Planet Mu

Venetian Snares (a.k.a.Aaron Funk) returns to experimental juggernaut Planet Mu later this month with a new, seven-track EP. The Canadian producer, who XLR8R tapped for our 20 Questions series last year, is frequently cited as a leading creative force in breakcore, IDM, and related microgenres. His forthcoming Your Face EP follows the 2014 album My Love is a Bulldozer, not to mention a raft of archival material recorded as Last Step.

Rather than issue a typical press release, Planet Mu has dispatched news of Funk’s latest EP with commentary by “three septuagenarians.” Quoted feedback includes: “Quite nice, sort of like dream music or something? I just can’t take all the big beats.”

Your Face lands on July 24, and EP cut “Your Face When I Finally” can be streamed below.

1 Your Face When I Finally
2 Former Eagle
3 Red Orange 2
4 Become Magic Dolphins
5 Stockpiles of Sentiment
6 Misericordial
7 Your Face When I Finally (Glass Version)

Sa Pa Debuts on Giegling Sublabel Forum

Giegling landed a top spot in XLR8R‘s roundup of last year’s best imprints, but its sister label Forum has maintained a lower profile, with only three releases out in as many years. Next month, however, that number will rise to four, with newcomer Sa Pa supplying Forum’s latest full-length. Little information has been shared as of yet, but album clips (available here via Clone) reveal atmospheric, minimal techno abstractions and dubby textures.

Fuubutsushi lands in August 2015, and its complete tracklist can be viewed below. (via Resident Advisor)

01. Deya Navigation
02. Russolo
03. Steppenwolf
04. Adelaide
05. Boss Walks
06. Womb
07. Tegularius
08. Cagean Cramps
09. Pessel
10. Underwater Rock Walk
11. Epiphanic

Hear a Track from Throwing Snow’s New EP on Houndstooth

Red Bull Music Academy

Throwing Snow (a.k.a. Ross Tones) has swiftly become a Houndstooth regular, with an album and several 12″s released since 2014 on the Fabric offshoot. The former XLR8Rpodcast contributor kicked off an EP trilogy back in April with “Lumen” b/w “Paint by Numbers,” and the second installment in the series, “Glower” b/w “Clasp,” will be rolled out next week. Stream its b-side—which features dramatic arpeggiator builds—below before the record sees an official release on July 17. (via FACT)

Helios Announces New Album, Shares Track

In September, Helios will return with his latest album, Yume, to be released on his Unseen Music imprint.

Named after the Japanese word for “dream,” Yume will feature a “warm bed of sounds highlighted by luminous guitar lines, elegant piano work, and of course the crafted rhythms that are birthed from the multitude of electronic elements.” This latest full length will be the first new Helios LP since 2012. With albums on the way under the Mint Julep moniker and a Goldmund album for Western Vinyl, 2015 is set to be a big year.

You can hear album cut “Pearls” in full below, with Yume arriving on September 11.

Mark Verbos Releases Walk The Distance EP Via The Bunker New York

Techno producer and analog synthesizer aficionado Mark Verbos has released his latest EP, Walk The Distance, on The Bunker New York.

A product of the early Midwest US underground electronic music scene, Verbos started performing improvised live shows in 1992. Since that time, he has continued to perform live using nothing but hardware, improvising the set in the moment and playing all over the world. With Mark’s latest EP, we see more of the tough, no-nonsense machine music that has made Verbos a longstanding Midwestern staple in electronic music.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time. In the beginning, there was only hardware, and it feels better to make music with physical objects. Plus, I make hardware, too,” says Verbos, recounting his production processes. Verbos not only produces music, he also produces the hardware he uses to make music—his company, Verbos Electronics, manufactures Eurorack synthesizer modules with a vintage sensibility.

The music on this release speaks for itself. The record starts in top gear with “Start Up Drive,” a devastating techno bomb centered around a throbbing, repeating bassline and a meaty kick drum that builds to a massive climax in the span of five minutes. The album was mastered by hardware connoisseur Neel, who with Donato Dozzy, is one half of Voices From The Lake.

You can buy the limited-edition red marble vinyl on The Bunker New York’s Bandcamp page by clicking here, and every purchase of the vinyl comes with high-quality digital downloads available immediately after purchase.

Nerve Leak “Hurt You”

Nerve Leak is the solo project of Brooklyn-based artist Sam Friedman. Originally used as a secret outlet while fronting indie-post-rock bands throughout the Virginia music scene, Nerve Leak has gone onto release on Bad Panda and Warminal Records and on June 23 released his debut EP, Disconnected. Sitting alongside the EP is Snow /Sun /Words, an international writing project which sees writers around the world sharing their unique poetic interpretations of EP cut, “Snow / Sun”. Also from the EP is “Hurt You,” a spacious and moody cut with deep sound design and melancholic lyrics, which you can download for free below. The full EP can also be purchased here.

Hurt You

Akai Announces MPD Drum Pad Controllers

Akai has announced three new, feature-packed drum pad controllers—MPD218, MPD226, and MPD232—to be available this summer.

The new controllers are, according to the accompanied text, the product of over six years of detailed customer research and user feedback. All three models feature new, ultra sensitive MPC pads, iOS compatibility—using the Camera Connection Kit—and over $400 of free software (Big Bang Drums and Big Bang Cinema from Sonivox, Ableton Live Lite, and Software Preset Editor). A recap of the features of all three MPDs can be found below, with more information available over at the Akai website

MPD218

  • 16 Thick Fat backlit MPC Pads with Velocity and Aftertouch
  • 48 assignable pads accessible via 3 banks
  • 18 assignable 360-degree potentiometers accessible via 3 banks
  • MPC Note Repeat and Full Level
  • iOS compatible using the Camera Connection Kit (sold separately)
  • 16 configurable presets
  • Includes Ableton Live Lite
  • USB powered, no AC adapter required

MPD226

  • 16 Thick Fat RGB illuminated velocity- and pressure-sensitive MPC Pads
  • 64 assignable pads accessible via 4 banks
  • 4 assignable faders, 4 assignable Q-Link knobs, 4 assignable Q-Link buttons
  • 36 assignable controls accessible via 3 banks
  • Classic MPC Note Repeat, MPC Swing, 16 Level, Full Level and Tap Tempo
  • 30 presets total, with configurations for most popular DAWs
  • iOS compatible using the Camera Connection Kit (sold separately)
  • MIDI In and Out jacks for controlling external gear
  • Dedicated Transport controls
  • Includes Ableton Live Lite

MPD232

  • 64-part, 32-step sequencer to control pad events
  • 16 Thick Fat RGB illuminated velocity- and pressure-sensitive MPC Pads
  • 64 assignable pads accessible via 4 banks
  • 8 assignable Q-Link faders, 8 assignable Q-Link knobs, 8 assignable Q-Link buttons
  • 72 assignable controls accessible via 3 banks
  • Classic MPC Note Repeat, MPC Swing, 16 Level, Full Level and Tap Tempo
  • Dedicated transport controls
  • iOS compatible using the Camera Connection Kit (sold separately)
  • 30 presets total, with configurations for most popular DAWs
  • Works with virtually any MIDI software or MIDI hardware
  • MIDI In and Out jacks for controlling external gear
  • Includes Ableton Live Lite

Mor Elian Announces EP for Prime Numbers, Shares Clips

LA-based Tel Aviv native Mor Elian‘s debut EP, 323 To Plaza, will arrive on Trus’me’s Prime Numbers imprint on July 15.

Making her name in the LA underground over the last few years, Elian is now set to drop her debut release which features two original tracks and a remix from rising Detroit artist OB Ignitt. Opening the EP is the chunky title track “323 to Plaza,” which glides along with splatters of acid and restless keys before b-side cut “Chocolate Almond” takes things deeper, introducing dubby elements and swirling, disorienting vocals. Rounding out the EP is OB Ignitt’s rework of “323 to Plaza,” which finds the Detroit upstart stripping things back and injecting his trademark funk for his first official outing since late last year.

323 To Plaza can be preordered over at the Prime Numbers webstore, with previews of all three tracks below.

Premiere: Hear a Track From Audiofly’s New EP

Next week, Audiofly will release its first EP in 16 months, Chiaroscuro, on Supernature.

The recent XLR8R podcast alumni deliver a storming, three-track EP which finds the duo exploring new developments in its sound: “For us, this EP was about on one side discovering new expressions of our sound, and on the other, rediscovering the classic elements of the underground that we ultimately look for in the music we love. Yin and yang, dark and light,” says Audiofly. That yin and yang is front and centre on the EP’s deep and rolling title track “Chiaroscuro.” Opening with a growling low end, the track swiftly locks you into a groove before pouring in a plethora of whirling synths and otherworldy sound design across it’s eight-minute run. “Chiaroscuro” is backed up on the b-side by the acid drenched “Shapes” featuring Big Bully, which also lands with an instrumental version.

Officially released on July 13, the EP’s title cut, “Chiaroscuro,” is streaming in full below, along with Audiofly’s upcoming tour dates.

Tour dates:

July 11 – MAMAMIA Alternative Music Club, Ancona, Italy
July 16 – Flying Circus @ Heart, Ibiza, Spain
July 18 – Alfa Future People festival, Russia (Luca)
July 18 – casa ponton baraj, Romania
July 23 – Enter, Ibiza, Spain
August 1 – Flying Circus Monasterio, Barcelona, Spain
August 13 – Flying Circus @ Heart, Ibiza, Spain
August 14 – Sunwaves Festival, Romania
August 15 – Das Merkwürdiges Verhalten, Offenbach am Main, Germany
August 19 – Hyte, Amnesia, Spain
August 20 – Publico, Stockholm , Sweden

XLR8R Podcast 394: Francesca Lombardo – Piknic Electronik 2015 Edition

As anyone who’s ever caught Francesca Lombardo in live performance knows, the music that she and her comrades play can be beautifully transcendent: Gentle, loping rhythms anchor sighing synths and soothing strings, with Lombardo’s celestial vocals adding yet more depth to the proceedings as she leads the way from behind her laptop. Her recorded work, largely released on the Crosstown Rebels label, is cut from the same cloth—and her DJ sets, though perhaps a bit more jacking, exhibit the same sort of dreamy, low-key airiness. Basically, she’s the kind of artist we like to hear on a sunny Sunday afternoon surrounded by fluttering foliage and beautiful people. And lucky for us—at least those of us within striking distance of Montreal’s Parc Jean Drapeau—we’ll have the opportunity to do just that on September 20, when Lombardo plays the long-running Piknic Electronic affair. Piknic is actually worth hitting up almost any weekend—you could catch Maher Daniel on July 12, for instance, or Iron Galaxy and Tiger & Woods on July 19th—but after hearing this exquisite, eclectic mix, boasting plenty of slinky grooves (not to mention plenty of Lombardo edits) we suspect you’ll have Lombardo’s edition on your calendar as well. And whether you can make it or not, she’s got plenty more on the way, too, including a single on Crosstown, “Perseidi,” hitting the digital shops on July 24, and an album titled Once Upon the Ether in October—followed by an around-the-world tour featuring Lombardo in live mode, accompanied by a string ensemble. Add it all up, and it looks like 2015 is her year to shine.

[infobox title=”Downloads”]Download MP3
Download M4A (iTunes enhanced)
Subscribe to Podcast (RSS)
[/infobox]

01 Four Tet “Ending” (Francesca Lombardo edit)
02 Dinky “Falling Angel”
03 Agnes Obel “Close Watch”(Francesca Lombardo edit)
04 Psychemagic “Valley of Paradise”
05 David August feat. Wanja “Hommage”
06 Brett Johnson “Lovin Life”
07 David Keller “Freedom”
08 Portishead “Roads” (Francesca Lombardo Edit)
09 Damiano Digglerelli & Philippo Ransullo “B&D”
10 Lake People “Rusty Clockhands”
11 Adam Port “E Sound Edit”
12 Francesca Lombardo “Elements”(Francesca Lombardo edit)

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