As announced, New York trio Son Lux have unveiled Tomorrows II, the second instalment in a far-reaching three-volume body of work. We’re offering “Molecules,” the album’s second track, as one of today’s free downloads to full XLR8R+ members.
This series’ second volume, following August’s Tomorrows I, sees a more introspective, stripped-back facet to the Tomorrows world. It arrives at a time of uncertainty in the world and aims to remind us of the necessity of questioning assumptions, and of sitting with the tension.
Son Lux began as a solo project for founder Ryan Lott but expanded in 2014 thanks to a kinship with Ian Chang and Rafiq Bhatia. The group honed their collective intuition while creating, releasing, and touring five recordings, including albums Bones and Brighter Wounds. The band remains audibly indebted to soul, hip-hop, and experimental improvisation.
Tomorrows II LP is scheduled for December 4 digital release on City Slang.
For those unfamiliar, XLR8R+ is a member-supported music community and curated music experience. Every month, you will get at least three exclusive tracks—sometimes more—by a wealth of amazing artists that XLR8R has supported over the years, as well as access to the member’s area where you can submit tracks and DJ mixes to be showcased in this feature series and to the XLR8R+ community, as well as exclusive editorial content, mixes, FREE passes to music festivals and events, playlists, weekly downloads such as these, and more. You can find out more here.
Tracklisting
01. Warning 02. Molecules 03. Prophecy 04. Yellow Leaves 05. Out of Wind 06. Apart 07. Bodies 08. Weight of Your Air 09. Live Another Life 10. Borrowed Eye
Not only an homage to Bach’s work, InBach aimed to illuminate the extraordinary instruments housed in the Musée de la Musique (Philharmonie de Paris) with vivid, contemporary music. It was composed with help from illustrious guests Vanessa Wagner and Petra Haden.
The remixes should be viewed as a continuation of the album. The package comprises five takes that reshape and reimagine the core ideas of the original album’s tracks, which themselves were re-imaginations.
Opening the package is Toh Imago, who takes the bubbling “Ces Mains-Là” and drags it into Drexcyian submarine-electro territory. It’s unsettling, immersive, and utterly compelling.
“Bodyline,” a centerpiece of InBach, is remixed by King Britt and Eris Drew. The former, a Philadelphia native, reimagines the original as a modern minimal house tune. Eris Drew, meanwhile, takes the track in another direction entirely, creating a ’90s trip-hop version which nods to ex-Public Enemy member Terminator X, whose first solo album was titled Terminator X & the Valley of the Jeep Beets.
The last two remixes come from La Foudre and Bumby, who take on “Crab Canon” and “Hysope” respectively—one becoming a dark, techno roller, the other a bittersweet, arpeggio-driven house track.
InBach Remixes is scheduled for November 20 release. Meanwhile, you can pre-order the release here and stream King Britt’s rework of “Bodyline” in full below.
Today, we’re launching the 26th edition of XLR8R+, in partnership withSHAPE, a platform for innovative music and audiovisual art in Europe.
In terms of music, after the minimal groove of Romania in October, we’re broadening the net into dub, electro, and club-ready IDM from Greece, Ukraine, and northern England.
On opening duties is Dimitris Papadatos, whose Jay Glass Dubs alias leans on dub techniques to explore an array of sonic tapestries. “Arbitrary Dub” is a reverb-drenched excursion from his 2016 archives. We then move onto Sasha Zakrevska, or Poly Chain, with “Sad Electro,” a meditation on the corruption in Ukraine, closed borders, and not enough time to see her beloved ones. We close the package with “Image Breaker” from Rian Treanor, the Rotherham-born man’s latest excursion in skittish, body-shaking rave music.
As an addition, Jay Glass Dubs has also delivered a sample-pack of dub-wise sounds, including arps, beats, textures, drones, and affected loops, all tied together with his gritty sonic signature.
Artwork comes from c / a, an anonymous performing arts duo based in London, with mastering by Kamran Sadeghi.
Moreover, as announced, XLR8R and SHAPE will be sharing a series of 16 live streams and audio mixes from a selection of SHAPE artists in something of an online festival.
Beginning today, we’ll be presenting either a live video stream or exclusive audio material from a different artist each day through November. The live video streams will be accessible via XLR8R and SHAPE’s Facebook pages at 19:00 CET and will be archived on the XLR8R website afterward. You can check out the full lineup here.
As part of the package, you’ll be able to exclusively download all the audio content in advance of its streaming.
Thank you for your continued support.
The music, PDF zine with artist profiles and design, and wallpaper artwork can be downloaded once you SUBSCRIBE HERE. If you’re already a subscriber, head to the member’s area to download the package.
You can stream the tracks on the release below, along with a preview of this month’s zine.
For those unfamiliar, XLR8R+ is a member-supported music community and curated subscription service. Every month, you will get three exclusive tracks—sometimes more—by amazing artists that XLR8R has supported over the years, as well as access to the member’s area where you can submit tracks and DJ mixesto be showcased across XLR8R’s channels and to the XLR8R+ community, as well as exclusive editorial content, mixes, FREE passes to music festivals and events, playlists, and more.You can find out more here.
Arriving almost three years after the release of Live 10, the latest version of Ableton’s flagship software includes five new devices, a new comping tool and workflow, advancements in MIDI Polyphonic Expression, live performance improvements, new sounds, and much more.
The new devices include Hybrid Reverb, which combines convolution and algorithmic reverbs; Spectral Resonator, a device that breaks down incoming audio to stretch, shift, and blur; Spectral Time, which transforms sound into partials and feeds them into a frequency-based delay; Inspired by Nature, a group of six instruments and effects made in collaboration with Dillon Bastan that use nature and physics as their inspiration; and PitchLoop89, which was created in collaboration with Robert Henke to create jittery glitch effects, delayed digital shimmers, and outlandish vibrato.
Arguably one of the most interesting new features is the new comping tool and workflow, which allows users to organize multiple passes of an audio or MIDI performance into individual takes. The new workflow allows the user to easily select and stitch together the best parts of these takes. There is also a new linked-track editing feature to edit track content simultaneously.
The advancements to MIDI Polyphonic Expression (MPE) will undoubtedly please countless users with MPE-compatible hardware. The MPE support will allow users to record in touch expressions such as bends, slides, and pressure, and edit envelopes for each. Users without the hardware can simply draw in the changes, which will allow for interesting experiments. Wavetable, Sampler, and Arpeggiator will all support MPE
Live 11 will also improve live performance capabilities, including Live Tempo Following, which listens to and adjusts its tempo based on incoming audio in real-time. There are also a wealth of new sounds, made in collaboration with Spitfire Audio.
This is just a small selection of the notable updates. You can head to Ableton for a deep dive into what’s new in Live 11, which is out today.
Brijean, the Oakland, California-based duo of Brijean Murphy (left) and Doug Stuart (right), have unveiled their new album, Feelings, scheduled for February release on Ghostly. It follows “Moody,” released on the Brooklyn, New York label in July, and included on the full-length.
The album draws on Murphy’s experience growing up in a family immersed in jazz, Latin, and soul music. In 2018, she began recording songs with Stuart, a multi-instrumentalist with a background in jazz and pop in bands such as Dougie Stu, Bells Atlas, and Luke Temple.
After the duo’s first sessions, which resulted in the mini-album Walkie Talkie, released in 2019 on Native Cat Recordings and again by Ghostly, they continued to collaborate on a full-length recording, inviting friends Chaz Bear, Tony Peppers, and Hamir Atwal to contribute.
The leap from Walkie Talkie to Feelings is marked by a “notable expanse in range and energy,” we’re told. Brijean’s sound, a golden-hued dream pop, is elevated with the addition of live drummers, strings, and synths.
Musically, we’re told that the record “wants you to move, physically, mentally, dimensionally.” It also cultivates a specific vibe, a softness Murphy calls “romancing the psyche.”
Ahead of the album’s release, the pair have shared “Day Dreaming.” The track is guided by a lush mix of charismatic keyboard chords, grooving bass lines, and radiant conga-driven rhythms. It’s produced by Stuart with vocals and percussion by Murphy, and it also includes Chaz Bear, who played keyboard.
The accompanying video was shot in Los Angeles by Murphy and Stuart and then transformed by flatspot _• into an immersive and psychedelic world.
Tracklisting
01. Day Dreaming 02. Softened Thoughts 03. Pepe 04. Wifi Beach 05. Feelings 06. Ocean 07. Paradise 08. Lathered In Gold 09. Chester 10. Hey Boy 11. Moody
Feelings LP is scheduled for February 26, 2021 release. Meanwhile, you can stream opener “Day Dreaming” below and pre-order the album here.
Seb Gainsborough is back with Passion, a new EP as Vessel.
Passion is inspired by Brazilian writer Claire Lispector and looks at the complexities of the mind and mental health, which includes Gainsborough’s own battles.
“The music came from, or was a response to my long-term, on-again off-again relationship with depression and anxiety,” Gainsborough tells XLR8R. “It’s not intended to be a conclusive or literal statement about mental health, but a personal expression of the messiness of the mind; the awful, strange, and sometimes oddly wonderful experiences I’ve had whilst feeling unwell.”
Gainsborough read “The Passion According to G.H.” by Lispector around the time he was making the piece, and the “mundane, mystical, cryptically repetitive language” felt like “familiar territory to me,” he recalls. And so he decided to use some of these words in this music.
“For me they are abstract enough to avoid laying out a concrete narrative, but, in themselves, are concentrated units; islands of intimacy, pain, fear, anguish, joy, and love that the sound could wash over.”
The release was originally commissioned by Somerset House and co-produced with violinist Rakhi Singh. All proceeds will go to Mind, a mental health charity in England and Wales.
“Given the nature of the piece and what it draws from, it felt right to offer something back to people that are there for others when things turn bad,” Gainsborough tells XLR8R. “Mind have helped me a lot in the past. We live in difficult times, and services like theirs need support.”
The record lands on Paplu, a new record label launched with Singhi following the closure of Tri-Angle Records, where Gainsborough put out three albums.
Alongside the announcement, Gainsborough has shared the first single, “Movement III (if the telephone rings I’ll be saved),” which is streaming below with a video directed by Pedro Maia.
Tracklisting
01. Movement I (love is before love) 02. Movement II (trust) 03. Movement III (if the telephone rings I’ll be saved
Passion EP is scheduled for November 18 release on Paplu. Meanwhile, you can stream “Movement III (if the telephone rings I’ll be saved)” in full below and pre-order the full release here.
Norwegian artist Niilas, real name Peder Niilas Tårnesvik, will self-release his debut album, Also This Will Change next month. We can expect a 50-minute journey into his uniquely eclectic and emotional musical universe.
In support of the record, we’re offering “Mesa,” with its gloriously open sound, lurching drums, and expansive pads underpinned by a killer bassline, as a free download to full XLR8R+ members.
Tårnesvik makes bass-oriented beats with melancholic undertones. His work is defined by glittery details and a blending of genres, and he’s quickly become one of Norway’s most exciting electronic producers. His early work has come through Balsa Wood and Vibbefanger.
Also This Will Change represents a new path for Tårnesvik, in that it’s colorful, fun, bouncy, and emotional, but also with influences from UK club music. The mix of British grooves and a tension between technological innovations and more natural melodies makes this such a “thrilling album from start to finish,” we’re told.
Full XLR8R+ members can download the track via the link below, and pre-order the album here.
For those unfamiliar, XLR8R+ is a member-supported music community and curated music experience. Every month, you will get at least three exclusive tracks—sometimes more—by a wealth of amazing artists that XLR8R has supported over the years, as well as access to the member’s area where you can submit tracks and DJ mixes to be showcased in this feature series and to the XLR8R+ community, as well as exclusive editorial content, mixes, FREE passes to music festivals and events, playlists, weekly downloads such as these, and more. You can find out more here.
Rita Mikhael’s latest album as E‐Saggila is the Iraqi-born sound artist’s first release on Dominick Fernow’s Hospital Productions, having appeared at the label’s legendary Hospital Fest event in New York last year. Each of the record’s 11 tracks explores a different facet of sound, moving through breakcore, ambient, and gabber.
Mikhael relocated to her home of Toronto, Canada with her family when she was four. She became enamoured with punk, dancehall, and particularly industrial while in school, and taught herself to make electronic music through YouTube tutorials, before releasing as RM, initially through her own Summer Isle label.
Launched in 2014 alongside Max Klebanoff, the limited edition cassette imprint became an anchor of the local noise and avant-garde scene. With over 60 releases across six years, its discography serves as an acute demonstration of Mikhael’s sound palette, rich in claustrophobic techno and otherwise brutal electronics.
It wasn’t until 2015 that Mikhael presented her own sounds as E‐Saggila, before dropping her debut album on Opal Tapes. She’s since moved quickly, releasing three more albums, most recently on Northern Electronics with My World My Way. Constructed out of her live works, it was her most thrilling record to date—as danceable as its predecessor, Dedicated To Sublimity, but more lucid and free-flowing. Against a backdrop of aggressive-sounding techno, Mikhael’s work can feel warm and personal, transcending the realms of pure dancefloor functionality.
Recorded last week in her Toronto bedroom, Mikhael’s XLR8R podcast is a one-hour ride of exhilarating electronics. She combines E‐Saggila edits and unreleased originals with music from artist friends. Instead of using the mix to exhibit a more cerebral side to her repertoire, Mikhael has gone full-tilt, delivering a wickedly ominous mix drenched in club flare.
01. What have you been up to recently?
Making more music and trying to stay busy.
02. How has the lockdown period been for you?
I’ve been getting used to it recently which I don’t like. I pretty much just chill out at home with my drinks and my PlayStation.
03. Which artists and labels have you been listening to?
A lot of Saint Abdullah, Gunna, Sarah Davachi, and Lussuria.
04. How are you feeling about the Corporate Cross album and its release?
I really like how it turned out. It’s different and incomparable in my eyes to other things I’ve done.
05. What can we expect with the record?
It’s the best country album you’ll hear this year.
06. Where and when did you record this mix?
At home on my laptop, a few days ago.
07. How did you go about finding the tracks that you’ve included
Most of them are friends and artists I admire. A few original and edited tracks of mine are in there as well.
08. How does it compare to what we’d hear you play in a club?
I rarely DJ in the club, but in general my live sets have the same energy.
09. What’s up next on your agenda?
Trying to be in another country soon if the world allows it.
XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to hear the podcast offline you will need to subscribe to our Select channel to listen offline, or subscribe to XLR8R+ to download the file. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.
Full XLR8R+ Members can download the podcast below.If you’re not an XLR8R+ member, you can read more about it and subscribe here.
Vagamundo is the Mexican singer-songwriter’s first album since 2017’s Aire, and it finds him deviating from the lush multi-instrumental arrangements that account for a majority of his recorded output. He performs the record on a favorite spanish guitar, onced owned by Paco de Lucía.
The record stems from a life-changing experience battling a terminal illness in 2015, and it was captured during the recovery process.
“After a second chance of being alive, when a liver transplant I received in 2015 saved me from succumbing to a terminal illness, I spent the time of my recovery absolutely immersed in finding a real concept of what is life all about,” Gamboa Patrón explains. “So every morning I used to write poetry, thoughts of appreciation, and started to convert those thoughts into songs.”
The majority of his writings have been about histories of love, but on this album he started to work with deep messages pertaining to his own existence as another source for the lyrics.
Born in Mérida, Yucatán and residing in Los Angeles, Gamboa Patrón’s professional career releasing music under his name began in 1982. He’s since composed more than 350 unpublished and published songs, mainly using the guitar and the piano as his tools.
Tracklisting
01. Sembrando Amor 02. Vagamundo 03. Yo Lo Sabemos 04. Coqueta 05. Distancia Y Ausencia 06. No 07. Almas 08. Quién Las Entiende 09. La Locura Es Una Fortuna 10. Rebozo
Vagamundo LP is scheduled for November 20 release. Meanwhile, you can stream the title-track below, and pre-order the release here.
Bristol drum & bass legend Krust has announced a new remix EP featuring four new reinterpretations from Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez and Little Louie Vega, better known as Masters At Work and KenLou.
The release is set to arrive on November 20 on vinyl and digitally and will feature two remixes from Gonzalez and Little Louie Vega’s Masters At Work alias, plus two under their KenLou moniker.
All four tracks are reworkings of Krust’s “Antigravity Love,” a track from The Edge Of Everything, his first album in 14 years, which was released earlier this month on Crosstown Rebels. On the original version of “Antigravity Love,” Krust collaborated with director Michael Williams, who wrote the monolog which Krust composed around.
The remix EP continues a creative exchange that dates back to 1997, when Krust sampled “Nautilus (Mawtilus)”/”Mind Fluid,” a track from Gonzalez and Vega’s Nuyorican Soul project, on his single “Soul In Motion.” In 1998, Nuyorican Soul also remixed “Watching Windows” by Reprazent, of which Krust was a key member. They were also label mates Gilles Peterson’s Talkin Loud label.
