Berlin-based expat Xosar will issue a new EP via Luke Wyatt’s (a.k.a. Torn Hawk) growing Valcrond Video label in November. As Juno Plus reports, the four-track Immured EP will host both “propulsive, doom-laden beats and expansive drum-free dream spaces” from Xosar, who is said to have approached the record from “a darker, more Dungeons & Dragons-oriented point of view.”
Xosar’s upcoming effort on the label follows an intriguing EP from New York-based multidisciplinary artist Russo, and will continue to expand the sounds on offer from Wyatt’s Valcrond Video imprint. While no audio is available for Immured, the record’s artwork and tracklist have been included below ahead of the EP’s November 3 release.
A1 Hunt You A2 Immured B1 Bled For Pleasure B2 Bleed Into Dreams
Earlier this year, Detroit techno maven Terrence Dixon announced that, after 20 years, he would retire from producing and DJing. Though his retirement was thought to take effect immediately, Dixon has revealed plans to issue at least one more LP before he is through, which will appear under his Population One alias next month via Rush Hour. Titled Theater of a Confused Mind, Resident Advisor reports the eight-track LP will serve as Dixon’s second full-length under his Population One alias, having delivered the first, Unknown Black Shapes, in 1994.
What is possibly Terrence Dixon’s last full-length effort will arrive in September via Rush Hour. In the meantime, the full tracklist for Theater Of A Confused Mind has been included below along with a stream of the record’s lead track, “Out of Control.”
01 Out of Control 02 Code Urgent 03 For Only You 04 Battle for Space 05 Inner City Circus 06 All Together 07 My Own Shadow 08 All of a Sudden
Bay Area-based producer/songwriter Chaz Bundick (a.k.a. Toro y Moi) has revealed plans to issue his debut LP as Les Sins, a handle he’s used over the years to deliver more directly dancefloor-oriented material, including two 12″s for Caribou’s Jiaolong imprint. Now, Bundick has shared the details of Les Sins’ first full-length effort, along with a full stream of the album’s lead single, “Bother.”
Said to have been worked on over two years at Bundick’s home studio—which we profiled in an In the Studio feature last year—Les Sins’ Michael LP will take shape as a “largely instrumental album… inspired by cartoon and movie soundtracks” which also “explores classic dance and pop music traditions.” Furthermore, the record is said to see “catchy, repetitive vocal hooks gel with beats and synth work influenced by house, techno, French electronic music, and ’90s hip-hop production.”
Michael is set to arrive on November 3, serving as the inaugural release of the Company imprint, a new partnership between Bundick and his longtime label home Carpark. In the meantime, the record’s lead single, “Bother,” can be streamed in full below, where the tracklist for Les Sins’ full-length debut has also been included.
1. Talk About 2. Past 3. Toy 4. Why ft. Nate Salman 5. Bother 6. Minato 7. Bellow 8. Sticky 9. Call 10. Drop 11. Do Right
French producer Maxime Dangles delivered his Conduktion EP via the fledgling Dunsciat label earlier this month. Serving as the three-track record’s closing effort is “Unversal,” the deep and driving cut featured here. Built on the back of a pulsing sequence of thick chords, the track spends the better part of its first half simply maintaining its hypnotic cycle. Around the four-minute mark though, Dangles digs decidedly deeper with his production, laying into a heavier set of booming rhythms that add extra low-end strength to the production, and ultimately making “Unversal” an engrossing affair across its entire seven-plus-minute run. Out now, the rest of Dangles Conduktion EP can be previewed after the jump.
Following two celebrated full-lengths and a string of 12″s for labels such as Dystopian, Innervisions, and his own Plagent imprint, Recondite has announced plans to return to Hotflush in September. The forthcoming Caldera single will reportedly arrive as the sequel to 2012’s “DRGN” b/w “Wist 365″ 12”, and demonstrates the “increasing opulence” of the Bavarian producer’s recent efforts. A press release goes on to describe title track “Caldera” as “unabashed big-field decadence,” while the darker-toned “DRGN II” is said to showcase Recondite “at his most wicked.” Before Caldera sees an official release on September 1, both tracks from the record are available to preview below.
Marcel Dettmann is an excellent DJ. At this point, it would be difficult to find pretty much anyone who would dispute that notion. After all, the veteran German spinner has long served as a resident DJ at Berghain, and this week, another of the world’s most famous clubs, London’s Fabric, has put Dettmann at the helm of the latest installment of its esteemed mix series. (For those odd few that remain unimpressed by these credentials, Dettmann’s XLR8R podcast from last year still serves as concrete proof of his talents.) With two decades of experience under his belt, Dettmann has a wealth of knowledge to draw upon, which is why we inquired if he would be willing to share a bit of it for our ‘Artist Tips’ series. Often times, these articles center around artists’ work in the studio, but for this edition, we asked Dettmann to focus on how to succeed in the confines of the DJ booth. His suggestions here are more philosophical than technical, but we’re betting that aspiring DJs will find them plenty helpful all the same.
Love music.
The first and foremost reason to start to DJ should definitely be a profound love of music and the desire to express yourself by sharing music with this particular art form. If you feel this pure and honest love and the dedication to find your own artistic voice or expression, go for it, because then you can never be disappointed.
Be yourself.
You have to follow your gut feeling about the music you play. I believe that you can’t bring anything across if you don’t believe it yourself, and believing in this context means to love the music you are playing and to make it shine by playing it with passion. I truly believe that tracks can sound completely different if they get played in different situations, by different DJs with different attitudes and different intentions. The purest intention, the one of playing it for the people and for the fun of everyone in the club, is the most powerful and the most promising for a great moment and, ideally, a great set and an unforgettable night.
Have role models.
Being yourself and not trying to copy others does not mean that you can’t have idols or role models who are giving you inspiration or even a direction. I am inspired by loads of people and I have been an admirer of many other musicians, bands, and artists. I believe that this is actually helpful and healthy to a certain extent. Trying to copy others might hold you back from developing your own identity as an artist, while [benefitting] from the work of colleagues and maybe even learning from their failures or mistakes seems absolutely okay to me. Music history is full of interesting characters, so having role models seems to be a very natural thing to me.
Learn beatmatching.
As you might know, I am kind of an old-school DJ. I like to touch music and I actually enjoy beatmatching tracks. I am not disrespecting digital DJs, as I believe that it’s just a different way to express yourself, but I recommend everyone who wants to start DJing [should] at least learn the basics of this craft. Beatmatching obliges you to feel the track that is running and the one you want to play afterwards. It obliges you to feel their connection and their compatibility. It forces you to connect deeply with the music and offers loads of creative possibilities. Adjusting the velocities of the tracks and playing with volume levels, EQs, and effects is loads of fun and very inspiring as well. I also like the unpredictability of this way of mixing and even the impreciseness of certain transitions. For me, beatmatching is a technique each DJ should master, even if she or he eventually decides to DJ digitally, using a sync function to help with this part of the process.
Play regularly in a club (residency). A residency at a club is very important for learning the DJ craft. The fact that you play regularly at a venue is absolutely crucial, no matter how small the place might be. As a DJ, you have to learn how to create magic, how to take people on a journey, and how to lead them with your set.
Maxmillion Dunbar (a.k.a. Andrew Field-Pickering) wears a lot of hats. Aside from his primary production moniker, he also releases tracks as Dolo Percussion and Max D, and serves as one half of both Beautiful Swimmers (with Ari Goldman) and Zsa Gang (with Jordan Czamanski of Juju & Jordash). On top of that, the Washington, DC-based artist heads up the Future Times imprint, which has spent the past few years becoming one of the most intriguing dance labels in the US. Though he’s perhaps best known for his talents both selecting and producing left-of-center house and disco, Dunbar is someone whose musical scope goes well beyond dance music standards. Anxious to see his expansive vision in action once again, we’ve tapped Dunbar for the latest edition of the XLR8R podcast series.
The mix arrived in our inbox with the title Unwind Flex, and the 57-minute session showcases an artist who’s not afraid to get weird from time to time. Make no mistake, the podcast has plenty of dancefloor moments, but there are also detours into delicate ambience, freeform composition, and sensitive pop. Even better, Dunbar has also been kind enough to include several pieces of unreleased music, including tracks from the Future Times stable and a few productions that he himself had a hand in putting together. (Trainspotters may want to take note that Lifted is a new collaborative project that features Dunbar and will soon be releasing music via PAN.) Basically, there’s a lot happening here, but true to its name, Unwind Flex has a relaxed, exploratory, and highly satisfying vibe that is very much in the spirit of Dunbar’s body of work to date.
01 Terekke “Atba” (L.I.E.S.) 02 Autechre “Second Scout” (Warp) 03 Unknown “Untitled” 04 Dolo Percussion “Dolo 8” (Future Times) 05 Lee Gamble “Jove Layup” (PAN) 06 The Other People Place “Sunrays Acapella” (Warp) 07 Steve Summers “DX Jam” (Russian Torrent Versions) 08 Maxmillion Dunbar “Immunity” (Off Minor) 09 Protect-U “(Live Extract)” 10 Hashman Deejay “Sandfish” (Future Times) 11 Terekke “Atba” (L.I.E.S.) 12 Unknown “Untitled” 13 Lifted “Bell Slide” (PAN) 14 Maxmillion Dunbar “She” (Off Minor) 15 Mario Paint Original Soundtrack “BGM 3” (Nintendo) 16 Ethiopian Records “Qen Sew (for My Father)” (1432 R) 17 Gas “Pop 2” (Kompakt) 18 Talk Talk “Happiness Is Easy” (EMI) 19 Lifted “Mint” (PAN)
UK duo Dusky has offered up a stream of its latest production, “4T4.” Following a busy past year, which included the launch of its 17 Steps imprint, the track will appear on a forthcoming Anjunadeep mix CD, and reportedly recalls the duo’s earliest outings on the label with “dancefloor-ready groove and lush, hypnotic pads.” Before Anjunadeep 06 (mixed by James Grant and Jody Wisternoff) arrives on September 8, “4T4” can be heard below, where a tracklist for the full release can also be found. Dusky’s recent Artist Tips feature for XLR8R, detailing a handful of key techniques for crafting precise, club-ready club tracks, is also available here.
Disc 1 01 Croquet Club Only You Can Tell 02 John Monkman feat. Liz Cass Open Frontier 03 Cubicolor Soul Chords 04 Steve Huerta Say It Wasn’t 05 Danalog Click, Search (Jody Wisternoff Remix) 06 Vincenzo & Florian Kruse feat. Raquel Qui?ones If He Runs 07 Cubicolor Still Linger In My Dreams 08 Lane 8 Without You 09 Lane 8 feat. Solomon Grey Diamonds 10 16 Bit Lolitas Deep In My Soul 11 Clancy feat. Eli & Fur I Wanna Know 12 Dusky 4T4 13 Martin Roth Maya 14 Journeyman Crash Reel 15 16 Bit Lolitas Premium Emo
Disc 2 01 Aquilo Part Of Your Life (Croquet Club Remix) 02 Choir Of Young Believers Hollow Talk (Jody Wisternoff, James Grant and Lane 8 Remix) 03 Cubicolor Got This Feeling 04 Eli & Fur Feel The Fire 05 Dave Angel Quartz 06 Beckwith feat. Natalie Conway Take Me Home 07 Lancelot feat. Antony & Cleopatra Givin’ It Up (Isaac Tichauer & Nibc Remix – Jody Wisternoff & James Grant Edit) 08 HVOB Lion (Stimming Remix) 09 Shingo Nakamura vs. Jody Wisternoff & James Grant Another Tone 10 Shur-i-kan My Love 11 Ashworth Rebound 12 Meramek & Tropixx Only You 13 Jody Wisternoff Paramour 14 Leftwing & Kody Tell Me 15 Universal Solution Bandur 16 Olafur Arnalds Only The Winds (Ryan Davis’ A Letter From Far Away Variation)
High Lucia is the new moniker of Leo Marcus, a 20-year-old producer who had previously turned in some impressive work under the name Pa?le. Next week, Marcus will issue the debut effort under his new handle, the Wash EP, via the Lex label. Set to appear on the record is “Afar” a dense, moody production which wraps water-logged melodies, dark chords, and layers of airy textures around a sparse, bass-heavy beat. Despite the expanse of sonic material Marcus uses here, the track is far from murky, as each element seems to have found its own specific corner in the sonic landscape, allowing for the tune’s booming kicks and sharp claps to cut through the fog. High Lucia’s six-track Wash EP sees its official release on August 25.
Broken English Club and Juan Mendez (appearing here as Silent Servant) have revealed details for a split EP, which will see release via Minimal Wave offshoot Cititrax in September. Broken English Club is the emergent alias of Oliver Ho (a.k.a. Raudive), which made its first outing earlier this year on Mendez’s cooperatively run label, Jealous God. The forthcoming Violence and Divinity 12″ (artwork above) will reportedly present a “new breed of EBM-infused techno wave” when it arrives on September 30, drawing on the transatlantic duo’s mutual affinity for industrial, post-punk, and dance music hybrids, as well as themes of “love, death, modernity, and automobile crashes.” The EP will be issued as a limited release of 999 copies, with the first 500 pressed on milky clear vinyl. All four tracks are available to preview via the Minimal Wave website, and a tracklist has been posted below.
A1. Silent Servant – Speed And Violence A2. Silent Servant – Cut Unconscious B1. Broken English Club – Divinity B2. Broken English Club – Delays
