With the release of its Reachy Prints LP today via Warp, veteran production pair Plaid (a.k.a. Ed Handley and Andy Turner) has shared a new video for album cut “Wallet” along with details of an upcoming US tour.
Directed by Sabrina Ratté, the new video for Plaid’s dreamy production revolves around bright colors and fast-changing patterns. “All the images are made from electronic signals,” Ratté explains of the clip, “from which were created a reproduction of a sun, different landscapes, and cities.” The video’s director goes on to explain that “The video is inspired by the idea of creating a world based on memories, where things seem real but they are in fact a construction of the mind”—a fitting set of imagery to accompany Plaid’s richly detailed, melodically flushed production.
In addition to sharing the clip for “Wallet,” Plaid has also unveiled plans to tour the US throughout the month of July. Both the new video and the longtime Warp duo’s upcoming tour dates can be found below.
July 3 Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL July 4 TBA July 6 The Roxy – Los Angeles, CA July 10 The Parish – Austin, TX July 11 1015 Folsom – San Francisco, CA July 12 Fortune Sound Club – Vancouver, BC July 18 Le Poisson Rouge – New York, NY
Longstanding London duo Basement Jaxx has revealed details of Junto, the upcoming seventh studio album from the UK pair. “With this album, we wanted to do something that felt more at one with the world,” Felix Buxton of the group explains in the album’s press release. In that spirit, Junto (which translates from Spanish as “together”) is said to aim to “unify people with [Basement Jaxx’s] music,” with cuts like “Power to the People,” “Never Say Never,” “We Are Not Along,” and “Love Is at Your Side” included in its tracklist.
Basement Jaxx’s forthcoming LP of uplifting, pop-streaked club excursions is set to see a cooperative release via the group’s own Atlantic Jaxx label and the PIAS imprint on August 25. Before then, a full stream of album cut “Unicorn” can be heard below, where the complete tracklist for Junto has also been included.
01 Intro 02 Power to the People 03 Unicorn 04 Never Say Never 05 We Are Not Alone 06 What’s The News 07 Summer Dem 08 Buffalo 09 Rock This Road 10 Sneakin’ Toronto 11 Something About You 12 Mermaid of Salinas 13 Love Is At Your Side
“Crown Chakra” serves as the opening effort for Los Angeles producer/visual artist Jesse Pimenta’s (a.k.a. Dreams) latest EP, a collection of three club-wise tracks self-released as a free EP and an online web experience. Said to be made using a combination of sampling and sounds culled from an ’80s-era Korg DW-6000 synth, “Crown Chakra” spends as much time chopping up its space-age chords and FX as it does running through a series of potent variations on its jacking rhythms—resulting in an efficient but effective club track. Also serving as the head of the fledgling Private Selection label, Pimenta’s latest EP can be heard/scene as part of an interactive web experience here, where a link to download Dreams’ full three-track record can also be found.
Body High co-heads Jerome LOL and Samo Sound Boy have revealed details of the upcoming debut LP from their collaborative DJ Dodger Stadium project. The pair’s Friend of Mine LP will see its release in July offering 10 tracks of “hypnotic techno that tell the story of a wounded soul’s search for redemption and peace.”
Providing the first taste of the record is the video for “Love Songs,” a slow-brewing club track that oozes with emotion thanks to the lonely vocal refrain which remains the focus of the production throughout its six-plus-minute run. Accompanying the downtrodden, acid-touched tune is a similarly slow-paced video, which gradually moves in from its bird’s-eye view of Los Angeles to eventually land its gaze on some particularly apt street-level signage. The full video for “Love Songs” can be watched below where the complete tracklist for DJ Dodger Stadium’s Friend of Mine LP is also included; the album is set to see a release sometime in July via Body High.
01 The Bottom Is As Low As You Can Go 02 Love Songs 03 One Who Lost 04 Memory Lane 05 Never Win 06 Trouble 07 By Your Side 08 Sit Down, Satan 09 The Dust 10 Friend Of Mine
Set to drop next week via Moshi Moshi, the forthcoming third LP from Andy Butler’s shape-shifting Hercules & Love Affair collective can now be streamed in full ahead of its release. Chocked full of guest vocalists, the 10-track The Feast of the Broken Heart LP has been described as another “reinvention” of Hercules & Love Affair’s ever-evolving sound, with Butler himself stating his aim to present “nasty basslines, stormy, bleary-eyed sounds, fiery, rough, tough and ragged old school house productions” on his outfit’s third LP. Before The Feast of the Broken Heart drops on May 26, the record can now be heard in full via Pitchfork Advance.
Earlier this year, storied Detroit DJ/producer—and former XLR8Rpodcast contributor—Omar-S issued the 16-track FXHE 10 Year Mix Compilation, a collection that aimed to highlight the singular vision for house and techno Omar-S’ FXHE label has displayed over the past 10 years. Now, word has come that a second 10th anniversary mix album is on the way comprised entirely of the veteran artist’s own productions. Simply titled FXHE 10 Year Compilation Mix #2, Juno Plus reports that the upcoming mix is the result of an all-vinyl session which pieces together 16 highlights from Omar-S’ catalog, with more recent cuts sitting alongside a number of effort’s from the man’s 2005 LP, Just Ask the Lonely.
Slated to drop on June 1, the full tracklist for Omar-S’ FXHE 10 Year Mix Compilation #2 can be peeped below, though no official artwork for the mix has been shared at this time.
01 Omar S – Unitarian 02 Omar S – Churchill 03 Omar S – You Heard What The Man Said Muthafukka 04 Omar S – Strider’s World 05 Omar S – Track#8 06 Omar S – Flying Blind 07 Omar S – Techy Alexander 08 Omar S – Columns 09 Omar S – Three Blind Rats 10 Omar S – Force Fed The Meds 11 Omar S – Mayall Il 12 Omar S – It Can Be Done But Only I Can Do It 13 Omar S – Got The Drop On Dem 14 Omar S – Untitled 15 Omar S – Gunup Runup 16 Omar S – Over You Too
Last week saw dependable London producer Tim Green release his Helpless Sun EP. Marking Green’s first release for Canadian outpost My Favorite Robots, the four-track effort saw the UK artist deliver two originals along with a pair of remixes from Detroit resident Ryan Crosson. Taking on the EP’s title track, Crosson reshapes “Helpless Sun” into a more rolling dancefloor effort. Built around a solid rhythmic core, Crosson’s production focuses on thick bass tones and an ever-so-slightly swung shuffle, both of which keep the momentum steady as the remixer drapes a bevy of refracted guitar swells and vocal samples atop its shuffling pulse.
Bristol veteran Pinch (pictured above) will combine forces with rising UK talent Mumdance on a forthcoming collaborative mix album for the former producer’s Tectonic imprint. Spanning 19 tracks, the mix is said to act “as a musical snapshot of the sound the two artists have been building,” as well as featuring “a host of forthcoming Tectonic material alongside a selection of their collaborative works.”
“In my opinion the dance music climate in the UK is enjoying a healthy and extremely interesting transitional period, one which I would draw parallels to the ’93/’94 ‘Proto’ era when people were literally making up the rules as they went along.” “This mix is a ode to that time and is our attempt at throwing some ideas out there,” he continues, “with the hope of sparking some imaginations and pushing things further forward.” Incorporating tracks from Logos, A Made Up Sound, and Alex Coltoun—alongside those contributions from Pinch and Mumdance themselves—the Pinch B2B Mumdance mix album will see a full release on June 30 via Tectonic. In the meantime, the upcoming set’s artwork and tracklist can be found below.
Bristol’s Livity Sound label continues its ongoing series of remix 12″s with two new reworks from Kassem Mosse (working alongside Mix Mup) and Dresvn (a.k.a. Dynamo Dreesen and SVN). Set to drop next month, the upcoming record’s a-side finds Mosse and Mix Mup (together operating as MM/KM) taking on Kowton‘s “More Games,” while the flipside sees German producers Deesen and SVN reshaping Asusu‘s “Too Much Time Has Passed.”
The fifth in the label’s ongoing series—which has already enlisted remixes from the likes of Pangaea, A Made up Sound, Surgeon, Nick Höppner, and others—Livity Sound’s upcoming 12″ can be previewed below before is sees an official release in both vinyl and digital form on June 9.
01 Kowton – More Games (MM/KM More Names Remix) 02 Asusu – Too Much Time Has Passed (Dresvn Remix)
Although three years have passed since the release of his last solo EP, Bok Bok has managed to remain a permanent fixture of XLR8R‘s ever-growing interests, and not just because he’s a co-founder of the Night Slugs label. He’s also a talented and accomplished graphic designer with his own hyper-stylized aesthetic, a collaborative producer who regularly works with the likes of rising LA vocalist Kelela and Dutch house stalwart Tom Trago, and a consistently in-demand DJ traveling from gig to international gig—that is, when he’s not helming Night Slugs’ monthly show on Rinse FM. Taking all of that into consideration, it’s actually quite impressive that the artist born Alex Sushon could even find the time to finish his follow-up to 2011’s excellent Southside EP; nevertheless, on May 26, Bok Bok will release Your Charizmatic Self, his second official solo outing. The record’s seven tracks still offer the hallmarks of his restless, bass-centric sound—each heavy riddim jumps and slices with precision, synths are used as much as delicate adornments as they are opulent centerpieces, and song trajectories reserve the right to drastically change direction at any time—but there have undoubtedly been some changes made in the sonic landscape. Curious to ask Sushon about his upcoming record, not to mention what else has been going on with him recently, we sent over 20 quick questions for the busy artist to answer. He shared some thoughts on life in London, what his label wants to do with its new Club Constructions Community project, how he first discovered graphic design, what records he started out DJing with, and much more.
1. Where were you born? Odessa, Ukraine.
2. What do your family and close friends call you? Alex.
3. How did you first become interested in art and design? As a kid looking at my mum’s books and watching her work all night designing buildings.
4. Why name yourself DJ Bok Bok? I dunno. It’s a percussive sound.
5. What was the last thing you Googled? “Astral People”—that’s the name of the promoters who are putting on my upcoming tour of Australia with L-Vis 1990. I needed their site real quick. Before that, it was videos of plants singing.
6. Name the best and worst things about living in London. Worst: Seems this city is becoming only for the rich and squeezing out everyone else, or trying. The cost of living and working independently is crazy and it’s only getting worse.
Best: Despite all of that, it’s still a hugely mixed and multicultural place. That might sound like a cliche about a big city, but I honestly can’t imagine not being amongst that, and really monocultural places make me miss home.
7. How does producing for a singer like Kelela compare to making your solo tracks? It’s not too dissimilar, because I just do what feels right. In Kelela’s case, it’s different because she has ideas to contribute towards production herself. Most singers aren’t going to want to be in the studio with you working on your arrangements. It’s also just generally having a huge expressive factor like the human voice to react to, so even if a singer isn’t getting as involved as her, it’s still this big element of collaboration.
8. When was the last time you saw a movie that blew your mind? Definitely not recently enough.
9. Your next EP, Your Charizmatic Self, is something of a departure from previous Bok Bok releases. How did those stylistic developments come about? Really? I don’t think it’s a departure at all! It’s the same riddim logic, this time being applied to/against songs. Since “Silo Pass,” I got really into sampling, and then did “MJT,” which led me directly into making this record.
10. Have you always had an interest in ’80s funk and boogie? Yeah. I guess having been born in the mid ’80s, it’s in the blood or something.
11. What is your most essential tool in the studio? My mind! Only joking. The Yamaha DX7, I couldn’t live without it.
12. Name an artist you think is criminally underrated. Not that he’s lacking in love whatsoever, but like, why isn’t Kingdom producing the whole Top 40 yet?
13. Name an artist you think we might be surprised you listen to. LOL, not playing that game. Blink 182.
14. Which is your favorite: breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Breakfast, definitely.
15. What was the first album you ever purchased? I dunno, but the first single was Mr Oizo’s “Flatbeat.” I was a late bloomer, so it’s kind of a weird first single for my age, but I’m also kinda proud of the selection.
16. What was the first 12″ you bought specifically for DJing? I was buying all these battle records because I was learning to scratch, as well as old-school electro and stuff like that. But then I bought “What” by Wonder and didn’t look back.
17. Night Slugs’ new Club Constructions Community is a fairly innovative idea, as far as record labels are concerned. What, if anything, do you hope to change about sourcing and releasing music with this fresh approach? We get a lot of demos sent to us, all up until now unsolicited. So we thought it would be a good idea to try to introduce some structure to that. I doubt the way we go about doing things will drastically change, but this is about creating the opportunity for a new entry point for some people. We’re not even sure yet, to be honest. We’ll have to see what happens and what gets submitted.
18. What’s something you’ve never done or tried that you’re curious to experience? Google Glass.
19. Read any good books lately? Yep. Although it’s often Instapaper instead these days.
20. What’s the first thing you’ll do after answering these questions? Smoke one.
