Machinedrum has shared details of a new album due out this November, which will bring his conceptual Vapor City project to a close. The US producer born Travis Stewart initiated the project last year with Vapor City, his debut LP for Ninja Tune and 10th studio full-length, and has since delivered a clutch of EPs, remixes, and other types of content based around the fictional metropolis. According to Juno Plus, the forthcoming Vapor City Archives will present new material that amalgamates footwork and jungle when it arrives on November 17. In the meantime, clips for each of the album’s 10 tracks (posted below) can be previewed via Ninja Tune’s website, and album cut “Only 1 Way 2 Know” has been made available to stream in full below.
01. Boxoff 02. Safed 03. Hard 2 Be 04. Only 1 Way 2 Know 05. Vizion (Centered) 06. B Patient 07. More Than Friends 08. Tried & True 09. 2 B Luvd 10. Endless <3
Throughout the week, a whole lot of material gets posted here on XLR8R. And while we know—and love—that some hardcore readers will eagerly pour over every single news story, interview, podcast, video, and MP3 download that appears on the site, we also realize that for most people, it’s impossible to see everything, which means that some quality XLR8R content is likely to get missed in the hustle and bustle of everyone’s daily lives. In the interest of making it easier for everyone to catch up, every Friday we present The Lowdown, a weekly wrap-up of the top 10 tidbits from our site.
1. Real Talk is a new series of artist-penned essays on XLR8R, and the debut edition was handled by Minneapolis techno veteran DVS1 (pictured above), who spoke on respect, photography on the dancefloor, and the battle between art and entertainment.
2. An extensive new interview with Aphex Twin emerged on Pitchfork, in which the UK producer touched on his new album, gear, living in Scotland, ’90s rave culture, and more.
3. With a new LP set to drop next week, LA producer Dntel invited us into his home studio to show off his five most essential pieces of gear.
4. The latest XLR8R podcast was assembled by veteran UK duo Simian Mobile Disco, who are embarking on a North American tour this week.
5. It’s not often that Joy Orbison does a remix, so our readers flocked to hear his rework of “The Heat” by UK pair Jungle.
6. Hessle Audio co-founder and Rinse FM regular Ben UFO put together a new mix that places “an emphasis on tracks which shift the energy and momentum when they’re played during a DJ set.”
7. SBTRKT released an interactive video for forthcoming LP cut “Look Away” that attempts to follow the viewer’s eyes as they watch.
8. We put together a preview of Vancouver’s New Forms festival, naming five artists that should not be missed during the festivities this week.
9. LA label Friends of Friends announced the impending release of a new compilation for its fifth anniversary. The collection will include tracks from Shlohmo, Shigeto, Machinedrum, Nicolas Jaar, and more.
10. Tin Man stepped in for the newest installment of Hi-Five, selecting a handful of his favorite acid tracks.
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Before his debut LP lands next week via Lit City Trax, South African DJ/producer—and former In the Studio contributor—DJ Spoko has shared a pair of new tunes from the upcoming effort. Both LP cuts, “After Party” and “Mshongoville,” showcase Spoko’s trademark Bacardi house style, coming flushed with intricate percussion patterns and gliding synth tones. Set to appear on the DJ/producer’s 20-track War God LP when it lands on September 23, both new cuts from DJ Spoko can be streamed in full below.
Hailing from Los Angeles, Shiva is the latest producer to drop an effort via the Unspeakable, an all-female record label helmed by fellow LA beatmaker Dot. Serving as the title track to her recent effort, “Dark Moon” is a moody production which coyly exists along the spacier ends of the bass-music spectrum. Led by sharp, electro-indebted rhythms, the track gently sways as it unrolls thick pads, laid-back synth bass, and miniature guitar licks throughout its three-plus-minute run. Released earlier this week, Shiva’s full Dark Moon EP can be streamed after the jump.
Accomplished Los Angeles producer Jimmy Tamborello will release his latest LP as Dntel, Human Voice, next week. Before then, the eight-track effort for Leaving Records/Stones Throw is currently streaming in full. Said to focus on “computerized and disembodied voices, lost somewhere in an ether of circuitry,” Tamborello’s latest album follows a prolific career that has seen the artist contribute to a number of projects (perhaps most famously, The Postal Service) as well as under a variety of aliases. Still, his work as Dntel seems to stand as his most definitive, and the forthcoming adventurous, melody-striped Human Voice LP appears set to be a welcome addition to the catalog.
Official out on September 23, Dntel’s upcoming LP can be streamed in full via Pitchfork Advance. In addition, the SoCal producer recently walked us through the five most essential modular components and FX in his studio rig; that article can be read in full here.
The impossibly busy Modeselektor duo—who recently kicked off the first edition of our Ask the Experts series—has announced plans to put on Monkeytown Fest later this year. The one-day event comes in celebration of the Monkeytown label turning five and is said to be “not the usual club and DJ party, but rather a concert night of a different kind… expect the unexpected.” Taking place on December 5 in Berlin’s Tempodrom venue, Monkeytown Fest will feature performances from Moderat (a.k.a. the trio of Modeselektor and Apparat), longtime label affiliate Siriusmo, London trio Dark Sky, and The Notwist. The flier for the upcoming event can be peeped below; tickets for Monkeytown Fest will become available starting next week.
Earlier this year, Los Angeles producer Astronomar issued his Mutant Club EP, a four-track effort which presented a number of club-ready hybrids in the course of its run. Now, those EP tracks have been handed off to a variety producer’s for the forthcoming Mutant Club Remixes EP (out on September 23). Here, we have Fade to Mind affiliate Massacooramaan‘s contribution to the collection, which finds the Portland-based beatmaker taking on Astronoma’s “Gargoile.” A hyperactive, constantly evolving production in its original form, Massacooramaan refocuses the tune’s sonics into a more brooding effort, one where screeching tones are cut by massive kicks, industrial snares, and a bevy of machine-made percussion. The full Mutant Club Remixes EP lands next week via the Main Course imprint.
Given the results of Scotland’s independence referendum, today seems like an appropriate time for Turbo to introduce a compilation of “hardcore Scottish hooligan techno.” Curated by local outfit Clouds, the forthcoming …I Care Because You Don’t reportedly finds the hard-hitting techno duo reaching “beyond the warehouse and into the wild apocalyptic rubble of po-mo UK hardcore,” following a 2013 full-length for the label and an appearance earlier this year on respected Glaswegian imprint Soma. The compilation is scheduled to arrive on October 27, and we’ve included its tracklist below.
Clouds is also behind the latest Electronic Explorations mix, which comes loaded with tracks from the ’90s, field recordings from a recent trip to Japan, and audio snippets from film and YouTube videos. “Just wanted to do something that was quite manky and a bit mad,” the pair writes in the accompanying text. “A lot of the tunes sound quite grungy and a bit shady, but that’s what we went for on this one.” The mix can be streamed in full below, and its tracklist can be found here.
. …I Care Because You Don’t 01. DJ Hesburger – Roll Up Your Sleeves, Welcome to the Dance 02. Space Yourself – Maximum Respect Goes Out To You All 03. Pure Genius Kang – Turtleneck X 04. Dance Company – Berzerkerz (Hardcore Young Team) 05. Boa Dona An Taus – Let’s Bone 2 Drone 06. Clouds – Blood Skating 07. Pleasure Quest – Gubbed 08. General. Oscillator – Medieval Polyphonic Rington 09. DJ Bandit – MSN Hype 10. Space Runner Jp – Nissan Diesel 11. Unidentified Fleeing Object – Flesh Gordon 12. Clouds – Don’t Sweat The Technique 13. Jane – Fuck Your Alliance 14. Dance Company – Berzerkerz (10 Pound Banger Mix) 15. Space Runner Jp – Fantasy Fire Bitch 16. An Introduction To Fantasy – ¥1,100,000,000
Call Super (a.k.a. Joe Seaton) isn’t someone who makes things easy. That’s not to say that his music is overly difficult or challenging; it’s just that in an era where artists are largely expected to share every influence and willingly explain specifically what they’re trying to communicate with their music, Seaton is content to leave things purposefully vague. Obviously, he’s not alone in this, as the ranks of “anonymous” producers have swollen to a point that’s nearly comical. But Seaton takes a different approach. His face, name, and the key points of his biographical resume are all easy enough to find online, but it’s also apparent that he’s set limits as to exactly how much he’s willing to reveal. In our Bubblin’ Up profile of him last year, Seaton said, “I like that old-fashioned view of people who make electronic music, not hiding behind masks or anything, but just keeping people guessing… I think you should have the freedom to present stuff as a blank canvas, so that when people see you they don’t necessarily know what they’re going to get.” When he put together an XLR8R podcast a few months later, the Berlin-based Brit certainly did his part to maintain that idea of a blank canvas as best he could, purposefully listing nonsensical titles for a few of the tracks instead of submitting a complete tracklist. In the wake of that, it came as little surprise that the announcement of Suzi Ecto, his debut full-length, was accompanied by a dense, poem-like screed in lieu of the usual array of promotional language.
What is surprising is the actual music on the LP, which often finds Seaton abandoning the dancefloor in favor of precision-sculpted pieces that are more focused on sound design than any sort of discernible groove. In an interview that appeared last week on The Quietus, he emphasized that paranoia was one of Suzi Ecto‘s key themes and motivating factors, but that doesn’t necessarily come across in the album’s 11 tracks. The LP may not be a jubilant listen, but there’s no discernible sense of dread, either. In fact, Songs like “Dovetail” and “Sulu Sekou” are downright serene, the latter in particular sounding like an inventive take on the sounds one might hear at a high-end Japanese spa. (The song’s wandering clarinet passages, which were apparently provided by Seaton’s father, also provide a wonderfully relaxing touch.) Along those lines, the twinkling tones of “Fold Again at Last” are pleasantly hypnotic, while the druggy “Raindance” brings to mind some sort of otherworldly, late-night drum-circle jam session—in a good way, as hard to believe as that may be.
Listening to Suzi Ecto, the most remarkable thing about it may be how little techno actually resides on the album. Admittedly, Call Super’s past efforts, especially his releases for Houndstooth, have always been more nuanced and multifaceted than the average techno 12″, but those records at least paid lip service to the idea of music for the club. On Suzi Ecto, the ominously crackling “Hoax Eye” is really the only track with serious dancefloor aspirations. Beyond that, Seaton seems content to explore other ideas, and to his credit, the results are rather impressive. “Okko Ink” might be the album’s weirdest offering, its alien rhythms blending nicely with an assortment of synth swells, buzzing tones, and more bits of live clarinet. Another standout is album closer “Acephale I,” which trods along gloomily for several minutes before noisily pivoting into a melodic finale that references “Acephale II,” the b-side of his last Houndstooth 12″.
On the whole though, Suzi Ecto isn’t an LP that can be properly evaluated based upon the merits of any one track. What makes it such a powerful effort is its aesthetic cohesion; there’s a unified feel to the music, even as Seaton continually plays with various rhythmic ideas and melodic patterns. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what ties it all together, but the “omnipresent crackle and hiss” that Philip Sherburne cited in his review for Pitchfork is probably a good place to start. Suzi Ecto may be an impressively orderly creation, but its music certainly isn’t clean. And while the embrace of noise and distortion has become commonplace within the current techno landscape, Suzi Ecto never comes across as amateurish or lo-fi. Seaton’s use of what Sherburne refers to as “metallic locust buzz” is a very conscious one, yet his pinpoint implementation prevents things from becoming murky, or even messy. Early Aphex Twin is perhaps too obvious of a reference point, but Seaton’s dedication to sound exploration and song construction creates a clear parallel between Suzi Ecto and the best of Warp Records’ classic ’90s era. At their best, artists like Autechre, Squarepusher, and Plaid were evaluated in terms of creativity, not dancefloor functionality, and Suzi Ecto makes it clear that Seaton would like his work to be similarly free of restrictions. He wanted to be seen as blank canvas, and after delivering such an excellent debut album, it’s appears that he’s got his wish.
An unhurried, sun-soaked pop track in its original form, Brett‘s “Chalon” serves as the lead track to the Stateside outfit’s self-titled debut LP, which appeared earlier this year via the ever-growing Cascine label (an imprint who also welcomed the likes of Essáy and Lemonade to its roster in 2014). Now in the hands of Malmö, Sweden-based producer Bam Spacey—whose debut LP, 1998, arrives next month via Brooklyn’s Ceremony outpost—”Chalon” is reshaped into a more heavenly affair, one led by a melody worthy of the remix’s 1989 time stamp and further bathed in gradually evolving layers of airy synths.
