Astrophonica label head Fracture has shared a title track stream from his latest EP, Loving Touch, due out next week on drum & bass producer dBridge’s Exit label. The London-based artist has been making music for over a decade, both solo and in collaboration with longstanding production partner Neptune, and has released on labels like Goldie’s pioneering Metalheadz as well as via his own Astrophonica, also home to artists like Machinedrum and Om Unit. Streaming below, Fracture’s “Loving Touch” centers around Ralphi Rosario and Xavier Gold’s early Chicago classic “You Used To Hold Me,” kicking up the pace up to a frenetic 160bpm and adding footwork hi-hats, breaks, and a “killer reese bassline.” The full EP is due out on June 30, and a tracklist has been posted below.
01. Loving Touch 02. Werk It 03. Grippin’ Grain w/ Sam Binga 04. Overload
A former Bubblin’ Up artist under his Bobby Browser alias, Brooklyn transplant Bobby B has opened up the door to his compact loft studio. Coming off the recent release of his History / So True EP for Icee Hot (a label which we should again point out is co-run by XLR8R editor Shawn Reynaldo), Bobby B (real name Andre Ferreira) is the latest artist to be featured in Attack Magazine’s ongoing My Studio series, showing off his very compact loft studio with a set of photographs accompanied by the producer’s own colorful commentary—and yes, that is a Sequential Circuits Studio 440 sequencer/sampler sitting on top of a mop bucket in the picture above. Bobby B’s full My Studio feature can be seen/read here.
The ever-expanding R&S label will release the debut 12″ from Shanghai Den early next month. Though a producer who seeks to remain behind a bit of anonymity, some may recognize Shanghai Den as a collaborator of FaltyDL, having been featured on the b-side cut of the New York producer’s “Danger” b/w “King Brute” 12″, released earlier this year via Ninja Tune. Now, Shanghai Den is set to strike out on his own with the “The Sun” b/w “Vale W. Group,” a single containing music which the artist himself describes as representing “the fear inside of all of us mixed with a constant stream of chemical self-medication.”
To give us a better idea of what exactly that means, R&S has provided a full stream of a-side cut “The Sun,” which can be streamed in full below before Shanghai Den’s debut solo outing drops on July 1.
Renowned synth designer Dave Smith (the man behind the Tempest drum machine and the Prophet line of synthesizers) has unveiled his latest creation, the Pro 2. Deemed the “most powerful mono synth ever” by Smith’s company, Dave Smith Instruments, the Pro 2 features four high-resolution digital oscillators and an additional sub oscillator (similar to DSI’s behemoth Prophet 12 synth), while also boasting dual analog filters, a comprehensive 32-step sequencer, and a wide range of modulation and FX controls. Furthermore, the Pro 2 can also be utilized as a four-voice paraphonic synth, allowing users to control each of the instrument’s four oscillators individually and with their own envelopes.
The Pro 2 synth is expected to become available sometime next month, though no pricing information has been made available yet. In the meantime, the video below finds Dave Smith himself explaining the ins-and-outs of the new unit, while those in search of further information can head here.
Earlier this month, budding English pair 2ndSun issued the four-track Bespoked EP via Ben Pearce’s fledgling Purp & Soul imprint. Here, 2ndSun has offered a bonus cut to that record, the chord-soaked “Intentions,” which finds the duo crafting a garage-indebted affair which leans heavily on the back-half of its swing. Led by a delayed vocal sample and a handful of floating melodies, “Intentions” is a bluesy house production fitting for an outfit who has released on a label so unabashedly focused on both “purp” and “soul.”
Due out June 30, Will Saul‘s upcoming “Pedal Power” b/w “Valhalla” 12″ for his own Aus label is now streaming in full. Following on the heels of Saul’s contribution to !K7’s esteemed DJ-Kicks mix album series (released earlier this week), the new 12″ finds the London resident turning to hardware to craft a pair of percolating house tracks. Said to have been born from live jam sessions, both “Pedal Power” and “Valhalla” come with an adventurous side, their sci-fi and sometimes gritty tones endlessly tweaked through a set of pedals and FX units, but still never allowed to disturb the loose-swung groove Saul places at the productions’ core.
Officially out at the end of this month, both cuts from Will Saul’s “Pedal Power” b/w “Valhalla” 12″ can be heard in their entirety below.
Berlin-based techno stalwart and longtime Berghain resident Marcel Dettmann will take the helm for the next installment in the acclaimed Fabric mix series. Following preceding editions from Deetron and Maya Jane Coles, Fabric 77 includes a few remixes of tracks from Dettmann’s Ostgut Ton catalog, but was largely assembled with unreleased material from his own imprint, Marcel Dettmann Records (a.k.a. MDR). “I mixed it at home with two CD players, as most of the tracks are not available on vinyl yet,” Dettmann commented. The tracklist names a solid corps of established artists like Answer Code Request and Norman Nodge, as well as some new recruits, such as emerging producer Wincent Kunth. According to the press release, the mix “may surprise some listeners with its vibrancy, delicacy, and range that reaches far beyond the sound you would expect in a dark sweaty club at 6am,” and is “a perfect personal reflection of Marcel’s love of all music and techno in particular.”
Marcel Dettmann’s Fabric 77 lands on August 18, and until then the artwork and full tracklist can be found below. A launch party is scheduled for August 30 in London at Fabric, with another at Berghain the following week.
01. Ryan James Ford – Arthure Iccon [MDR] 02. The Persuader – Sun Position [Concrete Music] 03. Terence Fixmer – Inside Of Me [Planete Rouge] 04. Marcel Dettmann – Apron (PAS The Rhythm Remix) [MDR] 05. Answer Code Request – Transit 0.2 [MDR] 06. Dario Zenker – Nearlin [MDR] 07. Monobox – Film [M-Plant] 08. FBK – It’s Not The Point [MDR] 09. Marcel Dettmann – Radar (Byetone Remix) [Ostgut Ton] 10. Rod – RSPCT [MDR] 11. Paperclip People – Country Boy Goes Dub (Marcel Dettmann Remix) [Planet E] 12. Norman Nodge – BB 1.0 [MDR] 13. Francois X – Rising [MDR] 14. Marcel Dettmann – Lightworks (Phase Remix) [Ostgut Ton] 15. Lockertmatik – M_Lock 4 [MDR] 16. Wincent Kunth – Carlre [MDR] 17. Joey Anderson – Repulsive (Marcel Dettmann Edit) [Dekmantel] 18. Marcelus – Flash [MDR] 19. Vril – Torus XXXII [Forum]
Argentinian artist Chancha via Circuito (a.k.a. Pedro Canale) has unveiled an otherworldly new video to accompany the release of his “Coplita” single earlier this week. The retrofitted cumbia track finds the Buenos Aires-based producer and ZZK affiliate blending folk rhythms with electronic sounds, offset by the vocals of singer Miriam Garcia, who also appeared on his critically acclaimed 2010 full-length, Rio Arriba. The animated video plays off the neon-surrealist illustrations that have accompanied his past releases, and can be watched below.
“Coplita” was issued via Brooklyn-based imprint Wonderwheel on June 17, and Chancha via Circuito’s upcoming album, Amansara, is due out in late September.
Founded in 2010, Dresden, Germany’s Uncanny Valley has put together a small but certainly respectable catalog in its time, passing the 20th release mark earlier this year. For its recent 21st release, the label tapped frequent contributor Break SL to deliver four restless hardware-born house tunes for his Atlantic Ocean Road EP. Closing that record is “Malström,” a track which utilizes a friendly dancefloor beat on top of which thick analog lines and percolating synth glitches are placed and manipulated throughout. Out now, Break SL’s Atlantic Ocean Road EP can be previewed after the jump.
LA producer Groundislava has shared another unreleased track from his upcoming Feel The Heat EP, due to drop next week via Friends of Friends/Wedidit. The artist born Jasper Patterson distills the influences of ’80s nostalgia and pop culture into meandering electronic compositions. His brief EP cut “October Acid” is built on a modulated lead line coiled around the vocals of future pop duo Rare Times, which feature throughout the record, and can be streamed below.
Feel The Heat officially lands on June 24, ahead of Groundislava’s third full-length effort, Frozen Throne, scheduled for release in September.
01. Feel The Heat ft. Rare Times 02. Reflex Engine 03. October Acid 04. Feel The Heat (Dub)
