Set to appear on his forthcomingIffy LP for Innervisions, Recondite has shared a new video for album cut “Levo.” Directed and starring Recondite himself, the five-minute clip finds the Bavarian producer returning to his roots as he traverses a wooden landscape, walking along trails before arriving at a secluded cabin of sorts (and even cutting down some weeds while he’s there). “The idea was to visualize the beginning of the connection between something grand and something modest,” Recondite tells Groove in an interview about the video. “In addition, the deep connection to nature comes into play,” he continues, “We wanted to remain authentic, unvarnished, and especially close to reality.”
The full video for “Levo” can be watched below ahead of Iffy‘s official release on November 10.
Earlier this year, Strut dipped into the archives of legendary Chicago house label Dance Mania to deliver the retrospective compilation Hardcore Traxx: Dance Mania Records 1986-1997. Now, the crew behind the London-based label has detailed a follow-up outing, which will focus on output from Dance Mania’s core artists in the mid-’90s, among them Steve Poindexter, Tyree Cooper, and Parris Mitchell.
Ghetto Madness will see an official release on January 26 in double-LP, CD, and digital formats, and features illustrations from James Wilson. Until then, a selection from the compilation—Paul Johnson’s “Give Me Ecstasy”—can be heard below, where we’ve also posted the forthcoming collection’s full tracklist.
1. Jammin’ Gerald – Pump That Shit Up 2. DJ Deeon – The Freaks 3. DJ Deeon – 1112 4. Steve Poindexter – Computer Madness 5. Darien – Hit It 6. DJ Rush – The Reactor 7. Wax Master Maurice – Bounce That Body 8. Tyree – Nuthin’ Wrong 9. Jammin’ Gerald – Pump On The Floor 10. Paul Johnson – Give Me Ecstasy 11. Parris Mitchell – Ghetto Booty 12. DJ Milton – House-O-Matics 13. DJ Funk – Computer Sex 14. DJ Funk – Bitches 15. Houz’ Mon – The Groove
Veteran Los Angeles-based techno producer John Tejada will return to Kompakt early next year to deliver his third full-length album for the label, Signs Under Test. Set to arrive in February, the 11-track outing is said to find Tejada delivering a collection “dreamy” techno excursions. “There’s a bit more dreamy tape wobble going on throughout,” the producer explains in a press release, “as I’ve gone quite analog tape with my delays and patches—on the verge of actually being broken, which gives them a nice character.” Furthermore, Tejada goes on to say, “Everything is built from the ground up using hardware synths—mostly analog, but that’s a bit annoying to say nowadays. It’s not a record that fits in with any current stuff, but something that hopefully holds up as it ages.”
Tejada’s Signs Under Test LP is slated to see its official release via or Cologne institution Kompakt on February 2 of next year. In the meantime, a full stream of album cut “Y 0 Why” can be heard below, where the record’s complete tracklist has also been included.
1. Two 0 One 2. Y 0 Why 3. Beacht 4. R.U.R. 5. Vaalbara 6. Cryptochrome 7. Rubric 8. Penumbra 9. Endorphins 10. Meadow 11. Heave in Sight
“Break Osaka” serves as the b-side to French pair Kuage‘s recently released A Part of You EP. Lined with a touch of tropical textures and dub underpinnings, “Break Osaka” lands on the more delicate side of techno, its focus placed on detailed sound structures and generously manipulated layers of percussion which ride atop the track’s full-bodied low-end. Released at the tail-end of last month, the a-side effort from Kuage’s recent EP for the Combien Mille label can be streamed in full after the jump.
Floating Points (given name Sam Shepherd) has helped to design a high-end mixer with music gear company Isonoe. As reported by Resident Advisor earlier today, the company is recognized for producing DJ accessories such as grade-A tonearms and feedback-isolation feet for Technics 1200s. Shepherd approached Isonoe about manufacturing a standalone DJ mixer of similar quality because—according to a product spec shared via Eglo—”in comparison with the quality of equipment employed to record and mix much of his record collection, the DJ mixer represented a bottleneck.” The so-called FP mixer addresses this issue using a two-channel rotary design with an isolator section and single-ended, class-A circuitry, with other features falling under the class of “world firsts” for DJ mixers.
While Isonoe hasn’t shared any details of release date or price, a version of the FP has apparently been “lurking” at London club Plastic People and will become more broadly available soon. Furthermore, the mixer’s complete specifications can be found here.
Nestled between the likes of Machinedrum, Omar-S, Dorian Concept, Martyn, and Todd Edwards in the line-up for the upcoming seventh annual Brooklyn Electronic Music Festival (a.k.a. BEMF) is Alessandro Cortini, an Italian modular expert who has turned in the latest mix for the festival’s ongoing series.
A member of Nine Inch Nails’ live band, Cortini’s set of live electronics caught our ear at this year’s Decibel Festival (our review of which can be found here), and as such, we were curious to see just what the synth specialist would turn in when it came to a proper mix. As it turns out, Cortini’s hour-long session for BEMF incorporates much of the immersive, often celestial, tones which have marked his own work, incorporating wide-reaching ambient selections from the likes of Simian Mobile Disco, Lawrence English, M. Geddes Gengras, and even Aphex Twin.
Alessandro Cortini’s full BEMF mix can be streamed below, while the 2014 edition of the festival is set to begin tomorrow night; more info can be found here.
1. Simian Mobile Disco – Dandelion Spheres 2. SARS 3. Not Waving – Two-Way Mirror 4. Belong – October Language 5. Lawrence English – Another Body 6. Aphex Twin – Aisatsana – 7. M. Geddes Gengras – Threshold 8. Aphex Twin – #19
After dropping a string of hints, revered Detroit selector and producer Theo Parrish has finally shared details of his first new album in seven years, entitled American Intelligence. News of the album follows from a year of touring with his live band and lead single “Footwork,” which surfaced online back in March and arrived as a 12″ in June. As Juno Plus reports, the album lists fellow Three Chairs member Marcellus Pittman and The Rotating Assembly guitarist Dumunie Deporres as contributors, and will arrive via Parrish’s own Sound Signature label.
A nine-track version of American Intelligence is set for a triple-vinyl release on November 17, with a double CD that compiles 15 tracks dropping that same day. Tracklists for both versions have been posted below (along with the LP’s artwork) and sound clips can be heard here.
Vinyl A1. Footwork A2. Cypher Delight B1. Ah (feat. Marcellus Pittman, Ideeyah & Duminie Deporres) B2. Creepcake C1. Make No War C2. Drive D1. Fallen Funk E1. Be In Yo Self (feat. Ideeyah & Duminie Deporres) F1. Helmut lampshade
CD1 1. Drive 2. Life Spice 3. Welcome Back 4. Tympanic Warfare 5. Fallen Funk 6. Ah feat. Marcellus Pittman, Ideeyah, Duminie Deporres 7. Make No War
CD2 1. Cypher Delight 2. …There Here 3. Thug Irony 4. Creepcake 5. I Enjoy Watching You feat Sass & Ruby 6. Helmut Lampshade 7. Be In Yo Self feat. Ideeyah & Duminie Deporres 8. Footwork
The music of Luke Wyatt (a.k.a. Torn Hawk) is many things, but perhaps the easiest way to describe it is complex. A press release for his forthcoming full-length offering, Let’s Cry and Do Pushups at the Same Time, suggests the Berlin-via-Brooklyn producer and video artist is after a “reconciliation of aesthetic irony with compositional sincerity and emotional vulnerability,” a description that could just as easily be applied to the catalog of ’80s-era British rock group Dire Straits. Ahead of his album release next week via Mexican Summer, Wyatt has assembled a sort of primer that lists—in no particular order—five Dire Straits songs worth a serious listen.
Torn Hawk: I don’t know why Mark Kozelek is throwing around Dire Straits as a pejorative, comparing them to The War on Drugs. I do agree that The War on Drugs is kind of just pleasant, white-guy guitar pap, also heavily derivative of Tom Petty, but they will never be in the same league as Dire Straits, a truly accomplished group of musicians with a couple of admittedly dumb (mostly cuz of the lyrics) songs. But the good songs are really good.
This is not ironic. I believe these are great songs. And Mark Knopfler is one of the greatest guitarists of all time. His playing (fingerpicking on a Strat) is so inventive and fresh and never resorts to wanky blues cliches. He really cares about melody, not just the jam. His tone and lines are so elegant, especially in the pre-“Money for Nothing” days. I’m also obsessed with his sadcore soundtrack for the Irish film Cal.
“Down to the Waterline”
A taut piece of work. Luling tones fog into a rubber-band solo at the opening, and from 2:45 to 3:12 we have possibly the best guitar music ever made. Weirdly reminds me of Maurice Deebank’s work with Felt. This whole record is amazing, with “Sultans of Swing,” of course, and “Wild West End,” and “Lions.” This record is so solid. Elegant, minimal bar rock. Nice spare use of delay and volume pulls throughout.
“Tunnel of Love”
Has one of the most epic, eminently tasteful (no extra notes) Knopfler solos starting around the six-minute mark. The solo goes from gentle to acrobatic but is always intensely emotive, with Roy Bittan from the E Street Band picking up on piano at the end. Good to run to; take a run while listening to this and it will help you make tough decisions or solve problems.
“On Every Street”
The rest of this record is kind of fluff with some dorky joke songs thrown in, but this one track is sweepingly beautiful. Broad, cinematic melodrama. At around 3:00, this loping inspirational guitar figure starts. Borderline schmaltz.
“Your Latest Trick”
Goosebump factory if you stop being uptight and surrender to the sax. Safe sleaze for moms. Conjures a foggy alley, Ridley Scott-lite, rom-com noir. Does this play over the credits or when the spurned guy is walking around full of regrets?
“So Far Away”
Lush keyboard pads came to the foreground on Brothers in Arms, nowhere more than on this classic. Heard this on so many bad car stereos from age six on and it’s never not gripped me. Sort of a lazy, gooey grip. Before I’d ever had a girlfriend—when I was like 10 or something—I imagined this was what it was like to miss somebody. I paid tribute in this ragged version where I played over top of a destroyed loop here.
Back in September, we were introduced to the work of Barcelona-based producer Pedro Vian, who offered a hypnotically percussive free track for our Downloads section. In addition, we were also introduced to Vian’s fledgling Modern Obscure label, which today releases its second effort, a four-track compilation simply titled Various Artists. Said to lay out the label’s musical aesthetic going forward—one focused on “repetitive patterns, calmness, and dark and elegant melodies”—Barcelona-based producer and (according to the label) synth collector Lloyd closes out the EP with “Antra.” Spanning four minutes, “Antra” lives up to Modern Obscure’s aims, taking shape as a calming expedition through atmospheric club music, and lined with a number of vibrant synth melodies. The rest of Modern Obscure’s digital Various Artists EP—which features tracks from Vian, Sunny Graves, and Defled—can be streamed after the jump.
As we reported a few weeks back, English producer Joe McBride (a.k.a. Synkro) is set to issue a new EP via Apollo, the sister label to Belgium’s esteemed R&S imprint. Ahead of the record’s arrival, McBride (who also serves as one half of the Houndstooth-affiliated Akkord duo) has shared a stream of b-side cut “Contact.” As a testament to the exaggerated emotive quality said to characterize his forthcoming EP, McBride’s loose, D’Angelo-inspired slow jam traffics in organic percussion and low-slung synth riffs, and can be heard in full below before Transient arrives on November 25.
