An event series whose roots reach back to the early ’80s, Berlin Atonal was relaunched last year, taking over a disused power plant in central Berlin for five days of performances and installations. Now, the festival has announced the initial line-up for its upcoming 2014 run. Set to take place this August, Berlin Atonal will feature performances from Tim Hecker (pictured above), Modern Love mainstays Andy Stott and Miles Whittaker (under the guise of their Mille + Andrea collaboration), as well as a rare performance from storied UK drum & bass outfit Source Direct. More artists will be announced in the weeks ahead, and the event will also feature a number of afterparties, including one curated by Bristol’s Subtext label with DJ sets by James Ginzburg and Paul Purgas (a.k.a. Empytset), PAN’s Bill Kouligas, and others.
Taking place from August 20 to August 24 in the multi-leveled, multi-staged Kraftwerk Berlin venue (a.k.a. the repurposed power plant alluded to earlier), the rest of Berlin Atonal’s so-far announced line-up can be found here, where further details of the festival are also available. (via Resident Advisor)
Following the release of his debut LP, Incursio, via the Oneohtrix Point Never-helmed Software imprint, LA producer and recent Bubblin’ Up artist Napolian (a.k.a. Ian Evans) has shared a laid-back video for aquatic album cut “Reminisce.” Directed by Ramez Silyan, the clip’s casual protagonist circulates through a number of seemingly mundane activities—bailing on a haircut, drinking a brown-bagged beer, hugging loved ones, looking out a window, and laying in bed all while Napolain’s boom-bap-influenced sonics drift along. However, this subtlety of context only escalates the captivating camera maneuvers (at one point even spinning in a complete 360-degree motion) which ultimately seem to capture the intimate act of reliving a memory; in other words, reminiscing. The full clip for Napolian’s “Reminisce” can be watched below.
Delroy Edwards‘ LA Club Resource imprint has today released the debut 12″ from fellow Los Angeles producer Delivery. For his debut outing, Delivery (real name Greg Shin, pictured above) offers up a pair of burrowing dancefloor tracks, each driven by hardware and finished off with the gritty crunch of overdriven electronics.
Out today and serving as LA Club Resource’s fourth official release, the a-side cut from Delivery’s new Drama 12″, “B.A.H.G.T.F.O.,” can be streamed in full below.
Berlin duo Local Suicide are set to issue its debut release later this month. The four-track We Can Go Everywhere EP (artwork above) will offer the pair’s original track of the same name—which lands somewhere between synth-pop, disco-house, and indie dance—along with a trio of remixes from the likes of In Flagranti, Iñigo Vontier, and Richard Rossa, whose playful rework is featured here. Minimizing Local Suicide’s vocal contributions, the Swedish producer shows just how effectively the original track’s elements can be used on a dancefloor, lacing retro chord stabs with a seemingly never-ending array of disco-minded percussion and a good deal of Moroder-indebted synth work. Local Suicide’s debut We Can Go Everywhere EP will see a full release on June 24; in the meantime, Richard Rossa’s remix can be grabbed below.
UK DJ/producer Midland has revealed the details of his next release—a lush single for Phonica White‘s 12″ series. Set to appear on vinyl from late July, Midland’s “Before We Leave” will come backed with a remix from Running Back label head Gerd Janson as well as some useful “Bonus Beats,” which will close out the record’s flipside.
While we wait for the “Before We Leave” 12″ to see its official release next month, Midland’s deep-reaching, string-fortified new track can be streamed in full below while additional snippets of the record’s other offerings can be heard here.
Funkineven first surfaced in 2009, during a time when young UK producers were often being lumped together because of a single commonality—they weren’t making dubstep. And though it’s true that Funkineven wasn’t making dubstep, it’s also true—and far more interesting—that the London-based producer never sounded much like any of his peers, either. While his contemporaries flirted with R&B, or big-room house, or abstract grime, Funkineven forged his own path, one which combined a raw, analog sensibility with the sounds of electro, ’80s funk, and acid. Initially affiliated with the Eglo camp, Julien eventually formed his own label, Apron Records, which has become a reliable outlet in its own right, not only for Funkineven releases, but also as a home base for talents like Seven Davis Jr and Greg Beato. Julien has also proven to be an avid collaborator over the years, having worked with Fatima, Delroy Edwards, and, most notably, Kyle Hall, with whom he creates the unapologetically raw sounds of FunkinEvil. Through all of these efforts, Julien has staked out his own corner of the electronic spectrum, which of course makes him a natural candidate for the XLR8R podcast series.
All of our podcasts are exclusive, but Funkineven has truly taken that idea to heart, as his mix consists almost entirely of unreleased tunes. Given his singular artistic vision, it’s no surprise that many of the tracks on offer come from Julien and his closest musical associates. Running just over an hour, the mix is heavy on crunchy, semi-distorted beats, squelchy electro-funk basslines, and soulful vocal riffs. And despite Funkineven’s known love of loose arrangements and imperfect rhythms, the podcast is a remarkably tight affair, not to mention something that’s a whole lot of fun to listen to. Julien may borrow liberally from the past, but his music sure does sound like the future.
01 Funkineven “Discipline feat. Jay Daniel” (Apron) 02 Adam Feingold “Jahkra” (Apron) 03 Kyle Hall “Our Love” (Wild Oats) 04 Seven Davis Jr “P.A.R.T.Y. (Live Version)” 05 Devin Dare “Get to It” (Stilov4music) 06 Life’s Track “It Fell Down” (Bosconi Italy) 07 Keita Sano “She Was the One” (Mister Saturday Night) 08 Jay Daniel “4 Red” (Wild Oats) 09 Greg Beato “When Monkeys Attack” 10 Adam Feingold “Rvng” (Apron) 11 Four Tet “Buchla (Seven Davis Jr Remix)” (Text) 12 Kyle Hall “Sanctuary” (Wild Oats) 13 Adam Feingold “Luust” (Apron) 14 Funkineven “Abyss feat. Jay Daniel” (Apron) 15 K15 “Yellow” (Wild Oats)
Intercity Express, the upcoming LP from German producer Maxim Wolzyn, is said in part to sonically portray “the complex networks of railways and tunnel systems that permeate the earth like artificial veins.” One can hear these sorts of interconnected sonic passageways in “Ringbahn,” a bonus cut to Wolzyn’s forthcoming record which rattles and chugs with the cyclical repetition of an underground train ride. A lengthy piece of dubby techno, the production is focused on its acute sonic details, which together invite listeners further and further into the track’s swirling groove as it makes its way through a nine-plus-minute runtime. Out next week via the SVS label, Wolzyn’s full Intercity Express LP—which includes a remix from dub techno forerunner Deadbeat—can be streamed in full after the jump.
Ron Morelli’s L.I.E.S. outfit has shared a preview for a forthcoming 12″ from French producer Voiski. The release follows last year’s IAI Movement EP for the label, and will feature three more tracks in a similar vein, veering from the smoother sensibilities demonstrated on prior releases for Construct Re-Form and Syncrophone.
The Paris-based producer, who is renowned for his hardware-oriented live sets, came to broader attention in 2012, when Joy Orbison included his track “Ad Infinitum” in a podcast for Resident Advisor, and this new record finds him employing the same thick, arpeggiated riffs that are fast becoming his calling card. Slated for release on June 15, the Culture to Trash EP’s lead track, “Wax Fashion,” is now available to preview below along with the upcoming record’s full tracklist.
Established as a sister outfit to the Ecstatic imprint founded by Kompakt-affiliated production duo Walls, the Entropy Trax label will launch later this month with a new 12″ from DFA stalwart Gavin Russom (a.k.a. Black Meteoric Star). Recording under his own name for the first time in three years, the NYC-based experimenter (also a member of avant-pop unit The Crystal Ark), is said to two “visceral and hypnotic dance floor tracks” on “Purge” b/w “Enthroned.” Before Russom delivers the Entropy Trax’s first release on June 23, a stream of the record’s a-side cut can be heard below.
Fabric sub-label Houndstooth has revealed plans to release the debut record from Norwegian duo Soft as Snow next month. With a fast-growing catalog that includes the likes of recent XLR8Rpodcast contributor Call Super, Akkord, and Throwing Snow (whose debut LP dropped via the label last week), the pop-infused electronics of Soft as Snow come as a somewhat unexpected turn for Houndstooth. Described as experimental pop that echoes “the sounds of minimal wave and early Warp releases,” the pair’s Glass Body EP will serve as its debut release. Said to have been put together by a production process that sought to avoid “laptops in favor of analog synths, drum machines and samplers, mixed with idiosyncratic vocals and heavily processed guitars,” the upcoming six-track effort will include a remix from Asher Levitas (of Old Apparatus).
Before the Glass Body EP sees the Soft as Snow debut on Houndstooth when it drops on July 21, a stream of the record’s title track can be heard below, where the upcoming EP’s full tracklist and artwork have also been included.
01 Glass Body 02 Halo Heart 03 All Our Beasts 04 Black Birds 05 Drops of Armour 06 Halo Heart (Asher Levitas Remix)
