Late last year, London artist Oceaán (pictured above) dropped Grip, a four-track EP that melded together the worlds of futuristic soul music with detailed electronic production. Here, we have NYC producer Photay‘s take on EP cut “Candour.” A shape-shifting, soul-strewn pop affair in its original form, Photay (who dropped a record of his own last year via Astro Nautico) imbues the track with a new glow, lacing the rework’s steady pulse with a series of bright, swelling chords while repurposing the original’s many melodic flares and harmonizing vocal layers. Photay’s warm and inviting take on “Candour” can be downloaded below, while Oceaán’s Grip is out now via B3SCI/Chess Club.
Today Ableton has released OSCiLLOT, a Max for Live device which brings modular synthesis to the Live realm. Designed by Max for Cats, the OSCiLLOT offers 100 patchable modules (including oscillators, filters, processors, mixers, modulators, amplifiers, shapers, sequencers, utilities, and more) which can freely connected together to build custom signal paths to create and manipulate sounds. Furthermore, the virtual modular device boasts six-voice polyphony, a rarity in real-world/hardware modular systems.
A detailed explanation of the functions and uses of the OSCiLLOT device can be found in the video below, while the virtual instrument’s full list of features and specifications can be read here; the OSCiLLOT is available now from Ableton’s web store for $99.
A Danish producer currently based in Amsterdam, Uffe Christensen (who produces simply under the name Uffe) will release his debut long-player, Radio Days, in March. Marking his return to the Tartelet label (who issued Uffe’s Straess! EP in 2012), the forthcoming album appears set to find the producer expanding a bit on the jazz-strewn house constructions with which he has built his existing catalog, as a press release for the LP explains, “On Radio Days, you’ll hear shades of hip-hop (Uffe’s first musical love, he says), smoky soul, generations of jazz styles and, of course, a distinctly Detroit strain of grooving house music.”
A 15-minute preview stream of snippets from the LP accompanies the record’s announcement, and seems to signal that Uffe has taken his craft in a number of simultaneous directions on Radio Days, taking his focus off the dancefloor from time to time while also incorporating some of his own vocals into a handful of productions. The album preview can be heard below ahead of Radio Days‘ official release on March 23; the full tracklist for Uffe’s forthcoming debut album has also been included below.
A1. Curtains A2. Die For You (I Won’t) A3. My Luv Was Reel A4. Space Loop A5. I Can Show You High B1. Your Reality B2. Saw You Laughing B3. Lemon Nights B4. Those Insecure Designers (Skit) B5. For A While I Can Show You High (Fernet dub) (Digital Bonus Track) Saw You Laughing (Instrumental) (Digital Bonus Track)
A soulful track steeped in classic R&B traditions, “Gold” (which stems from Triana’s upcoming Giants LP for Counter Records) is transformed into a subdued house affair in the hands of Fort Romeau. At the base of his rework, the London producer makes use of a procession of foggy chords, which are cut by a bouncing four-on-the-floor and a driving synth bass. From there, the rework builds in gradual steps—extra hats and claps fly in the from the sides, echoed chords rise to the top, and snippets of Triana’s vocals are sprinkled throughout.
Fort Romeau’s floor-minded rework of “Gold” is premiering below, while the first single from his upcoming debut LP, Insides, can be heard here.
Berlin-based UK producer BNJMN and Portland artist Best Available Technology (who has previously released with labels such as Opal Tapes and Left_Blank) will together issue a collaborative LP, De/Re-Contructions, via Astro:Dynamics next month. The 11-track record is said to be “a document of a musical dialogue between the two artists that has been ongoing for a number of years… the passing back and forth of ideas and snippets in the pursuit of feedback gradually grew into a body of work that eloquently moulds each artist’s sonic palettes and approaches.”
Our first glimpse into the musical world BNJMN and Best Available Technology have together created is beatless LP cut “022,” which dives into a stream of dubby chords, pulsing static, and scattered electronic spurts that intensify across the track’s two-plus-minute run. The video for “022” can be watched below, where the complete tracklist for De/Re-Contructions has also been included ahead of the album’s official release on February 23.
1. Wired 2. Things Go 3. Ghosting 4. 022 5. Tred 6. Raw Idler 7. Bolt 8. Bed Cult 9. Rift 10. Slake 11. Lair
Just last week, Helena Hauff revealed that her first release of 2015 would take the form of a 60-minute cassette for Texas label Handmade Birds. And while the Hamburg-based techno producer and Golden Pudel resident’s A Tape won’t see an official release until February 24, the effort’s b-side opener, “tape 7,” can now be streamed in full on XLR8R.
True to form, the nearly nine-minute track finds Hauff trading in the sort of extended, acidic hardware jams found previously on releases for Lux, Solar One, Panzerkreuz, and PAN (as one half of Black Sites). Further details of Hauff’s forthcoming A Tape can be found here, while the stream of “tape 7” can be heard below.
Fledgling Australian label Cult Trip has enlisted Brooklyn producer J. Albert to deliver the second record in its discography, the Vertigo Contracto EP. The upcoming two-track effort will also serve as Albert’s official debut outing, and from the sound of the previews included below, it appears set to be an impressive one. Further bolstering that statement is “Intimate Setting,” a bonus cut Albert has sent along to serve as an additional preview to his upcoming debut. Spanning over nine minutes, the track is a forceful expedition into hardware techno, as the production’s gritty rhythms and brooding synth lines are sent through a stream of cycling phasers and saturated manipulation. “Intimate Setting” can be downloaded below before the NYC artist’s debut EP lands via Cult Trip on February 2.
With a back catalog spanning 30 years and more than 300 releases, Dance Mania is a label with few peers. Beginning in Chicago back in 1985, it began as an answer to the sleek, polished sound that ruled the Windy City at the time. Dance Mania aimed to offer an alternative, and eventually became known for its frequent pairing of raw sounds with unforgettably filthy and humorous lyrics. 808 kicks and outrageously infectious hooks also became a key part of the label’s signature aesthetic, and once the Dance Mania release schedule slowed in the ’00s, its records quickly became collectors’ items.
Of course, there’s a good chance that even semi-serious fans of dance music already know this history. Even those who weren’t around (or simply weren’t paying attention) during Dance Mania’s peak output period in the ’90s have likely heard the folklore, and present-day artists such as Jackmaster and Nina Kraviz have spoken extensively about the label’s influence on their DJing.
Given the label’s rich history, it’s natural to wonder exactly how its essence can be properly captured in a compilation. The task becomes especially difficult when one recalls that Ghetto Madness is the second Dance Mania collection to arrive via Strut Records in less than a year, which means that many of the label’s most recognizable tracks have already been covered (e.g. “House Nation,” “7 Ways,” “Feel My M.F. Bass,” “Hit It from the Back,” and “Video Clash” all featured on last year’s Hardcore Traxx: Dance Mania Records 1986-1995.) That being said, Ghetto Madness ultimately proves that there was still plenty of ground left to cover.
In truth, this second installment delivers almost as strongly as the first, with the pitched vocal of DJ Milton’s “House-O-Matic” losing none of its hypnotic traits and the piercing claps of DJ Funk’s “Computer Sex” still ringing with the same effect as when it first dropped in 1994. Over the course of the compilation, label heavyweights like DJ Deeon, Parris Mitchell, Tyree, and Paul Johnson all make an appearance, but it might be Jammin’ Gerald who steals the show—anybody whose face doesn’t break out into a daft grin upon hearing either of his offerings here is a liar.
Still, the real charm of this compilation lies in the fact that it offers something for almost everyone. Newer fans will be exposed to lesser-known tracks, while seasoned listeners will have the chance to fill any Discogs-pricing-war-shaped gaps in their collection with something other than a YouTube playlist. Ghetto Madness is an expertly constructed effort showcasing one of the most energetic and recognizable outputs in dance music, and after hearing it, we wouldn’t be surprised—or disappointed—if a third Dance Mania compilation was already in the works.
Actress (a.k.a. Darren Cunningham) has remixed a track from grime statesman Wiley‘s recent Snakes and Ladders album. “From the Outside – Actress’ Generation 4 Constellation Mix” is due out as a limited-edition white label 12″ on Big Dada—the Ninja Tune offshoot responsible for releasing four Wiley LPs to date—and while no official release date has been shared, the record can be pre-ordered here with an expected delivery date midway through March. Cunningham’s rework features ominous bass, hissing, alien electronics, and distorted vocal snippets and can be streamed below. (via FACT)
In other news, Wiley has also been included in the first round of names announced today for Outlook Festival 2015 in Croatia; more info on the event can be found here.
The ocean has always been there for John Daly. “The house I grew up in, our first house, was literally 100 meters from the ocean. Our door, the street, and the beach,” he says. Growing up in a small town in Ireland, it was the main source of entertainment for him and his friends as teenagers. “Only for one year, when I lived in London, it wasn’t there. I was definitely an edgier person—I wasn’t myself,” he adds. To this day, the sea is a constant presence in the life of the Irish producer, a place he returns to multiple times everyday with his dog in Galway, Ireland.
Its influence can be heard in his music. The chords and pads in his house tracks—whose titles regularly reference water—are often calming, as they hypnotically wash over listeners like endless tides. Sumptuous synth tones evoke mental imagery of deep bodies of azure water, the ripples on the surface echoed in the delay and reverb effects Daly applies to his various sonic elements. There are more aggressive moments as well, with synth progressions churning and crashing in ways that delight dancers and DJs alike.
Daly’s musical education began in local pubs, where his father performed in amateur folk bands. Perhaps in response, his youth was spent binging on heavy metal. But as house tunes like 2 Unlimited’s “Get Ready for This” found their way onto Irish radio and dance-adjacent rock bands like Stone Roses and the Happy Mondays received praise in the pages of NME, Daly’s tastes widened as a teenager. “I remember buying [The Orb’s] UFOrb, The Prodigy’s Experience, and The Charlatans’ “Up to Our Hips” in the same weekend with my Christmas money,” he recalls. In college, the music of Super Furry Animals and Grandaddy inspired him to incorporate synthesizers and a sampler into his musical repertoire, opening the door toward purely electronic music.
Daly spent the next eight years honing his craft, working through a hip-hop phase but keeping the genre’s love of sampling at the core of his sound. “All my drums are samples, always have been,” he attests. “There’s something about taking a sample and pushing and pulling it until it sounds right. When you work with samples, you have less of a preconceived idea of where the music’s going to go. There’s only so much you can do with a drum machine.”
After a few attempts to shop his tracks to record labels went nowhere, Daly and a friend decided to start their own label, Feel Music. His first release, Birds, arrived in 2006. Cooking at a local restaurant to pay the bills—which he still does today—Daly spent much of his time in the studio exploring the possibilities of his sound, writing four albums and more than 30 singles and EPs to date. He’s recorded for a who’s who of the world’s top house and techno labels, with multiple releases on Secretsundaze, Drumpoet Community, International Records Recordings, Plak Records, and Wave Music, and has also penned notable outings for Mule Musiq, Further Records, and Tanstaafl Planets.
However, Feel Music and Daly’s more recently launched imprint, One Track Records, continue to be the most consistent homes for his music. The latter, which started after Feel Music went dormant due to creative differences between Daly and his label partner, showcases multiple versions of a single track. “I really like it because it forces me to stretch my creativity,” Daly enthuses. “I could spend three-four months working on the a-side, but I could have the b-side done in an afternoon. The other versions are often better than the original!” Daly also intends to reboot Feel Music this year, and already has a clutch of new records scheduled for release in the months ahead.
In the midst of issuing all of this music over the past several years, Daly has naturally evolved as an artist, gradually expanding the boundaries of his sound. After finishing his Sunburst album for Drumpoet Community in late 2011, making more house music wasn’t as appealing. “[I was telling myself], ‘This is shit, this is formulaic.’ I’d just had an overdose,” he says. “So I decided to lash down the tempo and see what’d come out of it.” This was the birth of his new alias, The Smoke Clears. “These tracks just came together incredibly quickly because I was having so much fun with them.”
Running the musical gamut from pensive downtempo to eccentric IDM and gorgeous ambience, and drawing upon Manuel Göttsching’s kosmiche explorations and Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works as influences, the tracks eventually became the album Listen for Further Records. “I have a second The Smoke Clears album sketched out, demo-ed. I’m not really ready to go back to it yet,” Daly notes.
Nevertheless, Daly’s forthcoming releases do suggest that he continues to enjoy getting out of his comfort zone. The 11 51 26 41 2 EP for Running Back contains five 135-plus bpm techno tracks, while an as-yet-untitled One Track Records single offers both hip-hop and banging techno mixes. But as the Shine EP, which dropped this week via the Love Fever label, reminds us, Daly has no plans to leave deeper house behind. Like the ocean, these timeless sounds will likely be with him always.
