The first edition of the Gem Drops compilation appeared in 2011, an extension of the Portland-based Dropping Gems crew, who tapped an impressive network of beat savvy friends and cohorts to contribute to the digital compilation. Three years on, the North West collective is set to drop the fourth edition of its annual comp, next week offering exclusive new tracks from The Range, Pixelord, Natasha Kmeto, Anenon, Marley Carroll, Devonwho, and others.
Though beats are at the core of Gem Drops Four, they come in quite a diverse array across the record’s 21 tracks. Seattle’s DJAO and LA producer Anenon start the affair off in more reflective territory, Devonwho offers some off-kilter G-funk, Marley Carroll focuses on lattice-like melodies, and The Range and Pixelord deliver works from the more glowing ends of the beat spectrum; the rest of the collection’s contributions fall just about everywhere in between.
Available in both cassette and digital form beginning July 29, the entire Gem Drops Four compilation is streaming below exclusively via XLR8R.
All week long, XLR8R will be taking a closer look at some of our favorite record shops from around the globe. Check out the entire ‘Record Store Week’ series here.
Following several days of our own selections, we figured that it was only right to close out this year’s Record Store Week by letting a few other people weigh in with their favorite haunts. In that spirit, we’ve enlisted some artists that have appeared regularly on XLR8R in recent years—Pearson Sound, Matias Aguayo, Leon Vynehall, and Gerd—to tell us about their top spots to do some digging and fatten up their record collections.
My favorite record shop in London is Sounds of the Universe. I first started going as a teenager, while hanging out in Soho on Saturday afternoons, and doing the “rounds” of the shops in that area. The staff are unfailingly friendly, and I quickly got to know some of them, as I was also bringing in my own records to sell directly. Nicole and Kris then asked me if I would like to submit music for Soul Jazz Records—their record label—and I had a few singles signed. I still love going as regularly as possible—it feels like what a record shop experience should be like: staff recommending you new music, a pumping soundsystem inside the shop, and a real community of DJs, record buyers, and music lovers.
Picking a favorite record shop is not so easy for me, given the fact that there are so many I really love. But I decided to talk about one located in Monterrey, México, right across el puente del Papa in an old centro comercial. Monterrey has this heavy fixation on music from Colombia and this secondhand record shop reflects it. You will be happy to find records from the likes of Andres Landero, Anibal Velasquez, etc.—but it’s much more than that. The owner, Jorge Solís, who always proves to be extremely friendly, enthusiastic, and helpful, sells any kind of musica tropical, Mexican psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll adventures, danzón, discomusic, and much more. He is obsessed with the Colombian band Los Graduados, and whenever he picks records for you to listen to, whether they are in front or behind the counter, he will recommend that you to listen to a specific song—something on the b-side, for instance—and it’s very likely, in the Monterrey style, that he’ll want you pitch it down to -8.
When you’ve visited many record shops, choosing a favorite is by no means an easy task. There are many factors which contribute to making a store great—the people, environment, and selection being most important.
One of a small handful of places I enjoy visiting, and a shop which has all these qualities, is Brighton’s Well Rounded Vinyl Vendors. Its owner Ashley Marlowe (a.k.a. Donga) is passionate and attentive with a hugely broad knowledge in many different genres and styles of music that his shop sells. Whenever I go in, I’m certain that within five minutes, I’ll have 20 kg of records to go through that Ashley has personally picked for me out of the goodness of his heart. That’s why it’s one of my favorite shops.
I’d also like to give special mentions to One Stop Records in Brighton and Underground Solu’Shn in Edinburgh.
In Rotterdam, we used to have a lot of record shops that specialized in all kinds of dance music. Unfortunately, there’s only one shop left that stocks the kind of new music I am looking for, and that’s Clone Records. All of the other shops are gone. Clone started around ’94, if I remember correctly, at another place and has moved twice since then. They sell everything from house and techno to (reissues of) rare Jazz, Afro, and Brazilian records. I have been buying records at Clone on and off since the start, so you could say that I am a loyal buyer. Every week, I go online to check their new stock. I listen to pretty much everything, because I like to stay up to date with most genres. The records that I like end up in my basket, and once a month I go to the shop itself to pick them up. While I’m there, I go dig in the crates. You’ll always find stuff that you overlook (or simply miss) by browsing online. There’s always something new to discover.
For secondhand records, I go to Demonfuzz. I must admit, I’m not going there as often as I used to, but Demonfuzz is a great shop with people that have a lot of knowledge of pretty much every genre: jazz, disco, Afro, island, French music, rock, hip-hop, etc.
Pulled from West Coast beatmaker Eprom‘s Halflife LP (released late last year via Rwina), “Center of the Sun” has received a colorfully menacing video treatment. Though brief in its run, “Center of the Sun”—which serves as Halflife‘s opening cut—has no problem making its presence felt. Similarly, the production’s accompanying clip, directed by Kokofreakbean, pulls no punches. Said to take shape as “an animated pseudo-documentary of the life cycle of an Olmec sun god,” the animated video bursts with color, as its virtual cameras briskly dart and spin around an unpredictable digital world.
The full clip for Eprom’s fast-paced “Center of the Sun” is premiering below. The track is also set to see a remix single release on July 28 via Rwina, with a rework from Bong-Ra joining the original production and VIP mix.
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Aashton is a burgeoning artist who has placed a number of qualitytunes in our Downloads section in recent months. Now, the UK producer has elected to give away two tracks via a new digital EP, one of which is “I’ve Had Enough.” Steeped in soulful chords, “I’ve Had Enough” is a sharp piece of low-swung club music which utilizes a good deal of playful percussion, tasteful vocal chops, juicy piano stabs, and a precise bassline during the course of its run. While this selection from Aashton’s free EP can be download below, the tune’s virtual flipside counterpart, “Status Ain’t Crooked,” can be heard after the jump.
With his In the Wild LP on its way for Ninja Tune, NYC producer FaltyDL has revealed that he will soon release a new 12″ under his given name, Drew Lustman. Set to appear on the 2000Black label, helmed by longstanding London artist Dego (who recently dropped an EP of his own via Lustman’s Blueberry imprint), the forthcoming Drew Lustman 12″ will offer two new original productions from the producer alongside a rework from the 2000Black collective.
No exact release date has been shared for the record at this time, though the 12″ is said to be “out shortly.” In the meantime, Lustman’s shuffling “Put It Out There” can be previewed below.
A1 A Thorough Study B1 Put It Out There B2 A Thorough Study (2000Black Remix)
After sharing a stream of “Raptor” along with the details of his upcoming sophomore full-length for Warp, Rustie has let loose a full stream of LP cut “Attak.” Featuring Detroit rapper Danny Brown, “Attak” is a boisterous affair built on the back of trunk-rattling 808s and a piercing series of neon synths. From there, Brown leads the effort with a sharp-witted, chorus-less performance, adding extra gruff to his voice as Rustie’s production adds on more sonic weight. “Attak” can be streamed in full below before Rustie’s Green Language LP lands on August 25.
San Francisco-born, formerly New Orleans, and now New York-based producer Jim-E Stack (a.k.a. James Harmon Stack) is set to drop his debut LP, Tell Me I Belong, next week via Innovative Leisure. In anticipation of the 10-track record’s release, the upcoming album can now be streamed in full. Said to be the result of “months and months of sketching, refining, and developing,” Tell Me I Belong presents the producer’s own diverse take on contemporary electronic music, with each track taking on a different hybrid form across a range of synth-soaked club tunes and R&B-infused productions.
While the record can be streamed via the player below, Stack has also put together a collage of surveillance camera footage to accompanying the full stream of Tell Me I Belong, aiming to “enhance the album’s overarching theme of intimacy without connection.” The producer’s full audio-visual LP experience can be seen/heard here.
Adding to a bill that already included Caribou, SBTRKT, Marcel Dettmann, and Kelela, Italy’s Alfa MiTo Club to Club festival has revealed its second wave of performers. The new announcement brings word that Warp mainstay Rustie—who recently unveiled details of his upcoming sophomore LP—Talaboman (a.k.a. John Talabot and Axel Boman), and How to Dress Well have been added to the festival’s line-up. In addition Jacques Greene, Pantha Du Prince, Visionist, and Hessle Audio co-founder Ben UFO (pictured above)—who is slated for a B2B DJ set aside L.I.E.S. label head Ron Morelli—have all been added to Club to Club’s 2014 roster.
Taking place from November 5 to the 9, the Torino, Italy festival’s so-far announced line-up can be peeped on the flier below.
Berlin-based American Juan Ramos is set to debut on San Francisco’s Friends with Benefits label (who recently dropped a 12″ from Hard Ton backed with a Matrixxman remix) next week with his The Mariner (For G.G.) EP. Here we have the record’s title cut, a swimming piece of house which offers an alluring assemblage of water-logged melodies amidst its breezy swing. Fortified by a thick kick and evolving layers of percussion, “The Mariner” patiently builds a dense atmosphere across its six-minute run, resulting in a track that is unassuming in its presence, but with a groove that is nearly impossible to escape. Ramos’ full The Mariner (For G.G.) EP will see its official release on July 29, and can be previewed via the player found after the jump.
Minimal stalwart Ricardo Villalobos will soon drop his Voodog 12″ via Frankfurt’s Pressure Traxx imprint, but before the record sees its official release, the seasoned artist has let loose a streaming preview of the upcoming two-track outing. Plainly titled “Voodog Pt.1” and “Voodog Pt.2,” the record’s pair of new efforts find the longstanding producer/DJ continuing to craft efficient, highly detailed techno excursions, with flecks of refracted vocals and granulated electronics fraying the tunes’ edges. Set to arrive in September, Villalobos’ forthcoming Voodog 12″ can be previewed below.
