Described as an “ultra late-night and streetlit collab,” Portland producers Magic Fades‘ and Soul Ipsum‘s Zirconia Reign casette is set to touch down via Vancouver’s 1080p label on April 8. In the meantime, the pair has provided us with “Dumb Wrist .obj,” a brief taste of the brand of smoky, R&B-touched electronic sounds the two craft together. The track effortlessly rolls from the opening moments, its fuzzy arpeggio and sparse drums entering with a laid-back swing, and—after only a few bars—exiting with the same ease with which they first appeared.
Over the past two years, the Chicago duo of Ike Release and Hakim Murphy (a.k.a. Innerspace Halflife) has quietly built an incredible arsenal of hardware-driven house releases, dropping records for labels like Skudge, M>O>S, Latency, and others, including Murphy’s own Machining Dreams imprint. Next month, the cosmos-minded pair will be making a bit louder of a statement with Astral Traveling, its first full-length album. The LP is scheduled to appear in mid-April via Synapsis Records, another Windy City label that Murphy has a hand in running.
Astral Traveling comes right on the heels of Orbital Maneuvers, a four-track EP that Innerspace Halflife dropped just a few weeks ago. As for the album, it’s described as coming “straight from the universal psyche,” with nine songs that have been “articulated with the tools of human perception through waveforms.” On a more practical level, it’s said to “take a listener on a journey of spacey pads, longing melodies, electronic bass notes, and jacking drum programming.” No music from the record has been shared yet, but the artwork and tracklist for Astral Traveling are below.
1. Teardrop from Nebula 1122+22 2. Particle Burst 3. Breaking Lights 4. Ionic Transport 5. Starfields 6. Galaxy Dreaming 7. Magical Rings 8. Acid Dust 9. Escape System
For those who don’t keep close tabs on how long their favorite labels have been around, 2014 marks the 10th year since Steve Goodman (a.k.a. Kode9) started the bass-focused Hyperdub label by releasing his collaborative “Sign of the Dub” b/w “Stalker” 12″ with Daddi Gee, who would go on to become the MC we all know as The Spaceape. (Fun fact: Kode9 and The Spaceape were featured on the cover of XLR8R‘s last print issue.) Obviously, a whole lot of excellent music has since been issued from the venerable electronic music institution, and Hyperdub plans to release a series of compilations which highlight some of the biggest moments from its discography, as well as share brand-new material from the label’s many affiliates.
Hyperdub 10.1 is the first of four installments set to arrive, and features 33 tracks spread across two discs. Unreleased material will arrive from Kyle Hall, Helix, Mala, Kuedo, DJ Spinn, Flowdan, Kode9 & The Spaceape, and more on the compilation’s first disc, with the second disc showcasing classic singles from Burial, Terror Danjah, Ikonika, Funkystepz, Mark Pritchard, LV, and many others. Hyperdub 10.1 is set to drop on May 19.
Ahead of Hyperdub’s first 10th anniversary compilation, a series of label showcases are planned to take place around Europe from April through June. This will only be the first string of many club nights scheduled throughout the year, and will jump from Glasgow to Milan, Rome, and beyond, with a massive takeover of London’s Farbic club scheduled for May 23. The entire list of those upcoming performances is listed below, where the artwork and tracklist for Hyperdub 10.1 can also be found.
Disc One 01. DVA – Mad Hatter 02. Kyle Hall – Girl U So Strong 03. Mala – Expected 04. Kuedo – Mtzpn 05. Kode9 – Xingfu Lu (Helix Remix) 06. Morgan Zarate – Kaytsu 07. Flowdan – Ambush (produced by Footsie) 08. Taso & Djunya – Only The Strong Will Survive 09. DJ Spinn – All My Teklife 10. DJ Taye – Get Em Up 11. DJ Earl – I’m Gonna Get You 12. Heavee – Icemaster 13. DJ Rashad & Gant-Man – Acid Life 14. DJ Earl – Bombaklot ft Rashad & Taye 15. Kode9 & The Spaceape – Chasing A Beast 16. Quarta 330 – Hanabi
Disc Two 01. Burial – Spaceape ft Spaceape 02. Cooly G – It’s Serious ft Karizma 03. Champion – Bowsers Castle 04. DVA – Natty 05. Funkystepz – Hurricane Riddim 06. Ill Blu – Clapper 07. Walton – Aggy 08. Ikonika – Idiot 09. Kode9 & The Spaceape – Am I 10. Morgan Zarate – Hookid 11. Mark Pritchard – Wind It Up ft Om’mas Keith 12. Terror Danjah – Dark Crawler ft Riko 13. DOK – East Coast 14. Terror Danjah – Bruzin VIP 15. LV – Sebenza ft Okmalumkoolkat 16. Kode9 – Xingfu Lu 17. DJ Rashad – Let It Go
Friday 18th April @ Glasgow – School of Art w/ Kode9, Ikonika, Scratcha DVA, Terror Danjah
Friday 16th May @ Milan – Dude Club w/ Kode9, Rashad & Spinn, Cooly G, Scratcha DVA
Sat 17th May @ Rome – Warehouse w/ Kode9, Rashad & Spinn, Cooly G, Scratcha DVA
Fri 23rd May @ London – Fabric w/ Room 1 – Kode 9 & Flow Dan, Cooly G, Rashad & Spinn, Laurel Halo (LIVE), Scratcha DVA, Ikonika, Okzharp // Room 2 – Mala, Fatima Al Qadiri, Terror Danjah & Riko, Morgan Zarate, Champion, Videeo & Nitetrax // Room 3 – Ossie, Ill Blu, Walton, Funkystepz
13th June @ Berlin – Berghain w/ Kode9, Laurel Halo, Cooly G, Scratcha DVA, Kuedo and more special guests
14th June @ Barcelona – Be Cool w/ Kode9, Rashad & Spinn, Cooly G, Scratcha DVA, Ikonika
Early next week, Moscow producer Dmitry Drozdov (a.k.a. Maguett) will issue a new album via Russian label Fuselab, a nine-song excursion into dark soundscapes and warped beats called Mediawind. Kicking off that release is “Milk Shake,” an incandescent track that subsists largely on gelatinous pads, airy textures, and barely there drum patterns. Maguett’s ideas seem simple enough, but it’s the depth and nuances of his production that really make “Milk Shake” an engrossing listen. The rest of his Mediawind release will be out on April 3, but before then, its creepy, avant-garde teaser video can be seen after the jump.
Longstanding London DJ/producer and house music firebrand Danny Yorke (a.k.a. Altered Natives) has announced that he’ll soon return from the hiatus that followed 2012’s solid Tenement Yard Vol. 3—save the one 12″ he dropped this past fall—with a brand-new LP of “dancefloor-orientated tracks to get sweaty to.” Called Sin Elevated Art, the 11-track record is said to follow in the same vein of Yorke’s previous albums, as it’s “cloaked in dirty, house-based, devil-may-care London stylings.” The artist also says that his new full-length is “loosely based and built around the seven deadly sins,” and has described his upcoming tracks in a press release with references to lust, pride, greed, wrath, gluttony, sloth, and envy. Furthermore, his message alludes to a second Altered Natives album arriving in October of 2014, with plans for a release from his Dr. Cockbloctopus alias in the works for next year.
Altered Natives will release Sin Elevated Art on May 2 via his own Eye4Eye label. The record’s artwork and tracklist can be perused before then, below.
1. The Void 2. Callaloo 3. Cold Infinity 4. Dominator 5. Big Black Dildo 6. Majestic Pussy Purrrr 7. The Broken Promise 8. Ass & Titties 9. Intensive Care 10. Hello Kitty 11. Feel Good
Time-tested DJ/producer and one of Detroit house and techno’s most active ambassadors, Mike Huckaby has turned in a new, soul-drenched mix to stream and download for free. “I play tried-and-true records,” Huckaby tells THUMP, who is hosting the mixmaster’s latest set. Covering exactly an hour and sadly arriving without a tracklist, the Detroit icon’s new mix stays focused on deep-end grooves which come topped with jazz-touched chords and heaps of soul.
Huckaby’s session for THUMP can be streamed and downloaded in full below, and an accompanying brief interview with the man can be read here.
The original version of Philip Grass‘ intimate “All I Need” appeared on XLR8R last month, but now that the Portalnd outfit’s Find EP has seen its full release via Dropping Gems, a new version of the tune has surfaced. Handed over to seasoned San Francisco producer Devonwho, “All I Need” comes imbued with a good dose of purple haze in its fresh form, with a West Coast swing and plenty of warbling synths added to Philip Grass’ soft pianos and fuzzy textures. In other words, this rework is just the latest example of the kind of funk-filled goodness we’ve come to expect from Devonwho over the years.
A mainstay of James Holden’s Border Community label, UK modular synth specialist Luke Abbott has shared the details of his forthcoming second album, unveiling its 12-and-a-half-minute lead single in the process. As Resident Advisor reports, Wysing Forest (artwork above) is named after Cambridge’s Wysing Arts Centre, where Abbott spent six weeks of 2012 recording the album as part of his residency. The producer says of his nine-track LP, “The record is mostly made up of live recordings. Some were recorded at a performance at Wysing in front of a very small audience and some were recorded in a temporary studio I had set up during my residency.” Abbot goes on to add, “There was a large emphasis on improvisation during the whole process. A lot of what has ended up on the record was originally recorded as first-takes or sketches of ideas.”
Arriving nearly four hears after his debut LP, Holkham Drones, Wysing Forest is said to be influenced by “lots of spiritual jazz,” and the artist describes his new music as “the second-cousin of dance music. Once removed. You can dance to it if you want, but you don’t have to.” Abbott’s second album is scheduled to appear on June 23 via Border Community, and is preceded by its tracklist and a full stream of the ambling “Amphis,” all 12-plus minutes of which can be heard below.
01. Two Degrees 02. Amphis 03. Unfurling 04. Free Migration 05. Highrise 06. Tree Spirit 07. The Balance Of Power 08. Snippet 09. Amphis (Reprise)
RVNG is quickly expanding its archival series of releases. Having shared details of its plans to reissue three classic synthesizer albums from Craig Leon earlier this month, the label announced today the forthcoming A Period Of Review collection, which gathers unreleased works from undersung ambient composer K. Leimer.
Known for crafting generative compositions—that is, pieces of music that arise from a predetermined system, rather than exact notation—Leimer launched his own label, Palace of Lights, in 1979 while living in Seattle. Following its launch, the label served as the home to all of Leimer’s work until 1983. This is largely the period RVNG’s collection is concerned with, collecting the composer’s unheard material from that era.
With the full title A Period Of Review (Original Recordings: 1975 – 1983), the forthcoming collection is said to incorporate compositions marked by “saturated fields of percolating beats, stark razed spaces, and grave and gently developed glimpses of beauty.” Furthermore, Leimer’s loop-based work is described as “hypnotic, arcadian terraces [with] nearly narcotic glacial beauty,” a fact RVNG hopes will help Leimer and A Period of Review gain their “rightful place in the canon of pioneering ambient music.”
K. Leimer’s A Period Of Review (Original Recordings: 1975 – 1983) will see a full release on May 13. In the meantime, the collection’s tracklist is included below along with a video for the piano-based “Gisella” composition.
01. Ceylon 02. My Timid Desires 03. From My Common Center 04. Explanation of Terms 05. From One To Ten 06. Entr’acte 07. Bump In The Night 08. (aka accident) 09. Facing East 10. At Daybreak 11. A Spiritual Life 12. Honey To Ashes 13. Stop It! 14. Two Voices 15. Lonely Boy 16. Practical Demonstration 17. Commercial 18. Gisella 19. Archie’s Dub 20. Ikumi 21. Reassurances 22. Assemble and Diffuse 23. Eno’s Aviary 24. Almost Chinese 25. Agfa / Lupa 26. The Phonic Chasm (feat. Dawn Seago) 27. Acquiescence 28. Malaise 29. All Sad Days 30. Porcelain (feat. Nancy Estle)
A coupe of choice remixes have hit the internet today, coming from an eclectic selection of artists. Namely, we have a version of Ghostpoet’s “Dial Tones” single—which was Guy Andrews, in addition to a fresh production from New York artist FaltyDL (pictured above), who transforms “Her Ghost” by Woman’s Hour into a jumpy-yet-atmospheric house jam. As for “Dial Tones (Guy Andrews Remix),” the production is a heavier excursion into growling low end and punchy drum patterns, with Ghostpoet’s verses and singer Lucy Rose’s breathy chorus adding a bit of sullen humanity to the music. Both remixes from FaltyDL and Guy Andrews can be heard in their entirety below.
