LA based singer, songwriter, and producer Harriet Brown released his debut EP, New Era, last October on LA imprint Feel So Real. On April 20, EP cut “Stop Think” will get a remix package in the form of Stop Think Remixes, featuring a cast of rising Los Angeles musicians including Sage Caswell (who XLR8R featured in Bubblin’ Up last year), Suzanne Kraft, Coolwater and the man in question here, Cooper Saver. Heading up LA based party FAR AWAY, Saver has hosted the likes of Tim Sweeney, Permanent Vacation, Beautiful Swimmers, and Museum of Love, all playing at his monthly, DIY, event. For “Stop Think,” Saver has turned in an acid soaked, dancefloor focused, rework of the original; complete with entrancing, floating, vocals and sharp pads. It’s easy to imagine this track feeling right at home at one of his FAR AWAY events, sitting pretty amongst the crew of high level artists he hosts. You can grab “Stop Think (Cooper Saver Remix)” below, before the remix package sees full release April 20, which can be preordered here.
Jordan GCZ (a.k.a. Jordan Czamanski) is a busy man. Not only is he part of two freewheeling and experimental live outfits (one with Gal Aner as Juju & Jordash, another with Gal and deep-house darling Move D as Magic Mountain High) but so too does he run his own label. Sure, producers of just about any standing run their own outlets nowadays, but Czamanski’s Off Minor, in the space of just two years and after only a handful of releases, already stands proud of the rest because of its refreshingly different, gently challenging output.
And it’s the same story with Czamanski the solo producer. He has branched out only twice since 2013, but on both occasions he managed to do so with a rare sense of melodic intensity and subtle experimentalism that made for some of the best house tracks of the year. Following those efforts on his own label as well as Future Times, Rush Hour’s No ‘Label’ series have tapped him up for a third solo release, and once again the results confound expectation.
This EP finds the Amsterdam-based man in his most reflective, pensive mood yet. And if you follow him on Twitter, you will know that is saying something, because he is a notorious stoner, (over)thinker, and worrier. “Lushlyfe Slap,” though, is the sort of track that encourages you to forget your worldly woes. Proceeding nowhere in particular with golden chords, pixel-thin synth lines and blurts of bass guitar, it is cosmic and jazzy, retro but futuristic, and evokes the superbly sumptuous instrumentals of David Axelrod. “Lushlyfe” then starts as a sparse and worldly bit of ambient with bird calls and menacing drones. Eventually, it evolves oh-so slowly into a transcendental bit of jungle-tinged, bubbly synth work that is weird and wonderful but, most pleasingly of all, seems to serve no real purpose. Casting himself further free of any sense of conformity, closer “Lushlyfe Birds” is a cavernous and atmospheric affair that drifts and floats on a number of different chords and pads. There’s a subtle sense of eastern charm and yet more soothing bird calls here, but far from coming over like some whack-ass Enya tackle, this is prime mind music executed in eqsuite fashion. For Czamanski, then, it seems there really are no rules.
As pointed up over on Resident Advisor’s Feed section, prolific Bavarian producer Recondite has quietly announced that he has a new album in the works, this one for Absurd Recordings / Acid Test. The announcement comes less than half a year after his last full-length effort, Iffy, dropped on Innervisions. It seems the new album, named Placid, won’t be out for a while—very sparing notes on Recondite’s Soundcloud mention that it will appear sometime in the fall—but in the meantime the slow-mo atmospherics of a track from it called “Pass Up” can be streamed on the player below.
London jock Lucy Monkman (a.k.a. Monki) has been tapped to mix Fabriclive 81. Monkman initially made her name on radio rather than in clubs, moving up the ranks of local and online stations to a three-year residency on Rinse FM and now her own show on BBC Radio 1. Her Fabriclive mix is bookended by old-school classics by FPI Project and Golden Girls, features exclusives from bass music producers Mella Dee and Bot & Tony Quattro, and gets a housey tint via tracks from the likes of Danny Daze & 214, DJ Haus and Adesse Versions. “Fabriclive 81 definitely represents my style,” she explains. “High energy with some breaks in there to catch your breath. Everything has a groove.”
Track snippets can be heard over at the Fabric website now, and there will be a launch party at the London club on May 1, for which Monki will be joined by Melé, Cause & Affect, Mickey Pearce, Mella Dee, Champion and Toyc B2B Zulu. Fabriclive 81 will get its full release on May 18; ahead of that we’ve included the artwork and full tracklist below.
01) FPI Project – Rich In Paradise (Going Back To My Roots) [Just Entertainment] 02) Arma – Vex [Quadrants] 03) Deapmash & Raito – Stop (Strip Steve Remix) [Clubwerks] 04) DJ Dealer & Groove Junkies feat. Chezere – My Day Has Come (DJ Dealer Prime Time Vocal) [MoreHouse] 05) DJ Haus – I Can Feel It [Unknown To The Unknown] 06) Bot & Tony Quattro – Guess Who [unreleased] 07) Doctor Jeep feat. TT The Artist – Bang [unreleased] 08)Sly One – Cowbell [Black Butter] 09) Melé – Angorra [Quadrants] + Additional vocals by Chimpo 10) DJ Spen presents DJ Technic – Gabryelle [Defected] 11) FCL – It’s You (San Soda’s Panorama Bar Acca Version) [Defected] / Adesse Versions – Pride (Dub) [Numbers] 12) Eddie Mercury – A Lo Mejor [Nervous] 13) Floorplan – Baby, Baby [M-Plant] 14) DJ Haus – Helta Skelta [Clone Jack For Daze Series] 15) Kalyde – Infected Ear [Zoo Music] 16) Melé and Mak & Pasteman – Do You Rex [Quadrants] 17) Mella Dee – Rude & Deadly [unreleased] 18) Callahan – Fallacy [Quadrants] 19) Tony Quattro – Zulu Carnival [Enchufada] 20) Gage – Telo (Sudanim Remix) [Crazylegs] + Additional vocals by Slick Don 21) Danny Daze & 214 – Las Caderas [Omnidisc] 22) Golden Girls – Kinetic (Frank De Wulf Remix) [Kudos]
As we reported in January, Spanish techno producer Oscar Mulero is due to release his fourth album, Muscle and Mind, through his own PoleGroup label later this month. Ahead of that, Mulero has graced XLR8R with the premiere of the video for album track “Mentally Induced Action,” a Stanislav Tolkachev remix of which also appeared on Mulero’s Dualistic Concept EP in March. The video, which was made by Greek director Andreas Miro, is a rushing, monochrome array of fast-motion scenes from cities and countryside that fits in well with the track’s balance of subtle base ingredients and booming techno thump. The video for “Mentally Induced Action” can be viewed on the player below ahead of Muscle and Mind‘s full release on PoleGroup on April 20.
Sónar+D is the international conference for creativity and technology, which aims to act as a catalyst for interaction between the two. In it’s third year, the 2015 program will focus on the role of the creators in the context of technological innovation, as well as the rise of digital platforms as key tools in the generation and distribution of content. The conference is divided into four areas—Exhibition, Congress, Networking, and Live Performance—with an exhibition space, an auditorium for conferences and workshops, plus zones for product demonstration, hands-on interaction, and networking.
Already confirmed for this years event are Kickstarter, Vimeo, Pinterest, littleBits, and Arduino, as well as a master class by Indy Saha on Google Creative Lab, the Google ideas incubator. Sónar+D will also take over Sónar stages and spaces, showcasing 14 shows that are relevant for their dialogue between music, audiovisual creation and technological aspirations. Some of the acts already named include Arca & Jesse Kanda, Flying Lotus, Evian Christ, Holly Herndon, Nyloïd by Cod.Act, Squarepusher or The Chemical Brothers. For more information, including tickets and venues, head here and check out the Sónar+D video below.
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Released in March, “Round One” of the El Rudo Del House 12″ series from Matias Aguayo and Cómeme returns with this colorful, dance-laden, video for one of the series standout tracks “Bay A Sali Bolando 121 BPM.” Matias describes El Rudo as “a series of dancer and dj friendly rhythms that consciously trigger different elements of your body mechanics and are accompanied by masks, costumes, and videos featuring special choreography,” and this is manifested perfectly in this latest video from the master of the weird and wonderful.
Round two of El Rudo is set to drop imminently, with three and four in May and June. The four “Rounds” will total 16 tracks altogether, including locked grooves of El Rudo field recordings and life-size El Rudo masks. You can check out the video for “Bay A Sali Bolando 121 BPM” below.
“Vermillion” is the lead single off the forthcoming album by Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons, Message From the Other Side. The album is said to be inspired by a career spent DJing across the globe and the famous sunrise parties the pioneering artist is known for. Channelling those sunrise sets and the globetrotting influence of Message From the Other Side, “Vermillion” will be released with a huge remix package, seeing reworks from some of the house scene’s biggest names including Agoria, Jamie Jones and Deniz Kurtel.
In his remix, Agoria focuses heavily on the vocals, propping them up with a deep, minimal inclined, backbone. The track throbs and grows in waves throughout it’s six and a half minute runtime and crescendos with soaring, bass heavy, synths. “I’m doing very few remixes at the moment, but when Damian sent me “Vermillion” just before christmas I immediately fell in love with the vocals,” Agoria says. “I had no other choice but to cut my holiday short to make this remix. We exchanged a few tracks and ideas in the past but the timing never fit. I’m happy that we finally found the time to collaborate with each other.”
The “Vermillion” single and remix package will see release April 27 via Crosstown Rebels, with the full album landing May 18. You can pre-order Message From the Other Sidehere, with a full stream of the Agoria remix of “Vermillion” below.
Over the course of the past eleven years, Scuba’s musical output has curved through various spheres of bass, techno, and house. The U.K. artist will release his fourth album, Claustrophobia, on his own Hotflush imprint next month, but before it’s arrival he took some time to answer our questions on production process, touring, and life after SUB:STANCE.
1. Where were you born and raised? North London, I was born just off Highbury Corner and grew up not far from there.
2. Are you still based in Berlin? I’m splitting my time now between a few different places in Europe. I’m still in Berlin a lot but not all the time.
3. Describe your surroundings right now. Just now I’m in Copenhagen, where the weather is absolutely miserable but the food is pretty good.
4. You formerly ran the SUB:STANCE night at Berghain, how did that come about and what were some standout moments from the time it existed? I was new in Berlin and wanted to do something distinctive with the dubstep-techno crossover movement which was happening at the time. Somehow we managed to hook up a meeting with Berghain about it, and to our amazement they were immediately interested in giving us a quarterly Friday night. It was a bit of a risk for them, and I am incredibly grateful to this day that they took a chance on us. Gilles Peterson’s Panorama Bar debut was pretty memorable—also a Monolake 5-way surround set, and Mala at the first party where he managed to shatter a window in Berghain.
5. Why did SUB:STANCE come to an end? We wanted to go out on a high and the fifth birthday seemed a good time to do it. The last one was a really amazing party with people like Shackleton, Dillinja, Marcus Intalex, George FitzGerald and many others playing.
6. I read that this record arrived after a “period of calm,” and that the starting point was the preparation for your set at Labyrinth Festival in Japan. Can you expand on that? I wouldn’t really call it a period of calm—I’d been seriously ill for 2 months before I started writing the record and was on a period of enforced absence from touring. I insisted on making the trip to Japan for Labyrinth though and it was quite a profound experience for me. I was unable to drink or do anything else at the time, or for a few months afterwards, but I did more dancing that weekend than for probably the five previous years combined. When I came home and got back in the studio the album came together within a few weeks.
7. When did you begin making music? I recorded my first original tune, using a 4-track tape recorder, when I was about 13.
8. What is your starting point when making a track? It varies, I don’t really have a set way of doing it. Sometimes I can hear exactly what I want the track to sound like before I even get to the studio, and sometimes I have no vision whatsoever.
“If you need to ask someone if a track is any good then it’s probably not.”
9. How do you know when a track is complete? It just feels right. If you need to ask someone if a track is any good then it’s probably not, and you should spend more time on it. Or just start something else.
10. Can you describe your studio set up? A computer, a mike, a Dictaphone, a Marshall guitar amp, a controller keyboard, and a very good interface.
11. What is your favorite piece of studio gear currently? My amp which I’ve had for about 20 years and sounds absolutely amazing.
12. What have you been listening to so far this year? Taylor Swift, Paranoid London and Len Faki.
13. What is next in store for Hotflush? We want to release more albums, and we’re working on that. My one is the first we’ve had out for a couple of years, and hopefully there will be one more this year.
14. You said recently that Hotflush would be “in pretty serious trouble without Spotify right now.” Why is that? Because of the money they pay us.
15. Did your recent break from touring affect your outlook on DJing or production? It improved both.
16. What is your favorite record of the past five years? The last Bat For Lashes album.
17. What do you look for when signing new material to Hotflush? Long-term potential in the artist.
18. Your sound has changed over the years—was that change organic, or a more calculated decision? I get bored easily, it’s really as simple as that.
19. Do you have any pre- or postshow rituals? Before shows I don’t tend to get nervous as such, but I do kind of withdraw into myself and get very concentrated. Afterwards I have about half an hour of adrenaline before crashing out. The adrenaline part can either be positive or negative depending on how many mistakes I made during the show.
20. How do you entertain yourself when touring? I’m not sure that I do.
The 50th edition of the DJ Kicks series will be headed up by Pampa label boss, DJ Koze, and is a sublime presentation of his influences and slightly melancholic take on the world. The landmark release for !K7 steers away from the dance floor with Koze approaching the “mix” format from a different angle: “During the day, I don’t need to hear anything that’s mixed on the beat. I put the focus on making sure that it works harmoniously – the idea is more to create the impression of a radio show, like people such as John Peel did so uniquely. There is a giant cosmos of music and it runs through my filter”.
Koze’s instalment features a diverse, multi-genre tracklist, including Boards of Canada, Frank and Tony, Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, and Marcel Fengler. As is the case with DJ Kicks, Koze offers up an exclusive track, “I Haven‘t Been Everywhere But It‘s On My List,” as well as numerous “kosi” edits.
The compilation will see release on June 15 via !K7 and can be preordered here, with a full tracklisting below.
Tracklist:
01. DJ Koze – I Haven‘t Been Everywhere But It‘s On My List (DJ-KiCKS) 02. Dimlite – Can‘t Get Used To Those? (Kosi Edit) / Efdemin – Ohara 03. cLOUDDEAD – Dead Dogs Two (Boards Of Canada Remix) 04. Strong Arm Steady – Best Of Times (Instrumental) 05. Homeboy Sandman – Holiday (Kosi & Fink‘s Edit) 06. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Shame (Instrumental) 07. Mndsgn – Camelblues (Kosi Edit) 08. Broadcast – Tears In The Typing Pool 09. Daniel Lanois – Carla 10. Hi-Tek / The 2 Bears – Come Get It (Tekstrumental) / Modern Family (Kosi Kos Mélange) 11. William Shatner – It Hasn‘t Happened Yet 12. Marker Starling – In Stride 13. Session Victim – Hyuwee (DJ Koze Remix) 14. Frank & Tony – Bring The Sun feat. Gry (Kosi Edit) 15. Marcel Fengler – Jaz (Kosi Edit) 16. Portable feat. Lcio – Surrender (Kosi Edit) 17. The Gentle People – Superstar
