Voices from the Lake to Release New 12″ via The Bunker

Italian techno stalwarts Donato Dozzy and Neel, who work collaboratively as Voices from the Lake, have readied a new 12″ for New York club institution-turned-record label The Bunker, a three-track offering which will be the duo’s first full release since 2012’s outstanding self-titled LP. The music on Velo di Maya has a particularly interesting origin, as it was born from an exclusive six-hour live performance by Voices from the Lake that took place at The Bunker in July of 2012. According to the press release, “Their tremendous six-hour set consisted of two separate live sets, and back-to-back DJ sets. None of the music from either of the hour-long live sets had been released, so we immediately got on them about their plans for the tracks. We agreed on our favorite segments, and they produced live studio tracks based on those excerpts.” The results of that process are set to drop on March 10, but before then, the tracklist and artwork for Voices from the Lake’s upcoming 12″ can be found below.

A1 – Velo di Maya
A2 – Sentiero
B2 – Respiro (Live Edit)

Sleepyhead “Untitled”

Somewhat ironically, Sleepyhead‘s bluesy “Untitled” serves as the titular track of the NYC producer’s forthcoming EP for ASL Singles Club, a brand-new label helmed by ex-LOL Boy Markus Garcia (a.k.a. Heartbeat(s)). Having released material via Trouble & Bass and Embassy in recent years, Sleepyhead’s forthcoming Untitled EP (out on February 18) appears to see the burgeoning talent delivering his most straight-up house material, of which “Untitled” falls perfectly in line. The tune is a swimming piece of deep house sprinkled with an assortment of re-pitched vocal samples, a production which cuts through its lush layers of dusty chords and spiralling arpeggios with an understated shuffle. Sleepyhead also manages to mix in a few subtle layers of looped party noises and hand claps as well, and to great effect.

Untitled

Fatima Al Qadiri Announces Debut Album for Hyperdub

Brooklyn-based producer and Fade to Mind/UNO affiliate Fatima Al Qadiri took to Twitter and Facebook today to announce that her debut album will arrive in late spring via the venerable Hyperdub label. Called Asiatisch, the forthcoming LP’s details are scarce, as the boundary-pushing artist has only shared its artwork by Shanzhai Biennial (pictured above), its release date (May 5), and that it will be available on CD, vinyl, and digital formats. We’ll share further information on Fatima Al Qadiri’s first album for Hyperdub as it becomes available.

Thug Entrancer Death After Life

Relatively unknown until last fall, Ryan McRyhew (a.k.a. Thug Entrancer) first found his footing as a budding artist in Denver’s spirited experimental scene, crafting a range of ambient synthscapes and chilly, percussive workouts for his self-released Tropics Mind EP series. In 2011, he relocated to Chicago’s south side; culling new inspiration from the city’s bubbling footwork and juke scene, he took some of that intense local energy and injected it into his own conceptual, hardware-based approach. With a fresh artistic perspective, McRyhew then created Death After Life—his debut LP for the Software imprint, a Brooklyn label driven by the meta, idiosyncratic style of its primary curator, Daniel Lopatin.

Though Thug Entrancer’s latest work may not sound much like last year’s offerings from the likes of folksy techno producer Huerco S. and the trigger-happy Slava, his addition to the Software stable is hardly a surprise. McRyhew’s signing continues the label’s patronage of niche artists with clearly defined viewpoints, which has made for an erratic back catalog of both minor classics and overblown statements. Death After Life is Software’s first release of 2014, and it’s a purist’s dream; recorded with analog hardware, negligible overdubs, and zero sampling, the album establishes tight parameters and spends 50 minutes thoroughly exploring them. By recontextualizing footwork and juke in a limited analog palette, the LP has few stylistic precedents. At times evoking a more sinister, lucid take on Aphex Twin’s early work, it also manages to remain true to Chicago’s and Denver’s recent musical history.

Death After Life is structured in seven chapters (along with two bonus cuts on the CD and digital edition) delineated by Roman numerals—an intentional choice on McRyhew’s part to link his constricted cuts together as one thematic arc. Opener “Death After Life I,” one of the record’s highlights, leads off with a swirling acid melody that laps its skittering rhythm in hypnotic spirals, establishing a haunting, dire mood for the rest of the LP. The other immediate standout, “Death After Life IV,” pairs a step-sequenced synth arpeggio with rampant percussion that worms around it like an unsettled reverie. Footwork is a huge influence on the entire record, but looms particularly large on “Death After Life V”‘s insistent clatter over glacial pads, and “Death After Life VII”‘s snare and handclap bombast. In contrast, “Death After Life II” and “Death After Life VI” present a more atmospheric, unhurried side of Thug Entrancer’s sound, summoning delayed synths to gurgle above the surface in sedate formations.

McRyhew’s debut LP remains generally consistent in quality and presentation, but there are some baffling moments. The finale of “Death After Life III,” for example, fades into almost two minutes of harsh, ambulance-like noise, providing an inexplicable and unsatisfying end to a rolling acid jam. Furthermore, when the album is consumed as a whole, its self-imposed restrictions seem to suffer from diminishing returns. At this point, it’s unclear whether Thug Entrancer will continue to adhere to such a strict aesthetic and production methodology, or if Death After Life is merely a stepping stone to other conceptual worlds, which will have their own unique rules to govern them. Perhaps McRyhew will follow a similar path as Lopatin’s Oneohtrix Point Never project, which refreshes its sonic palette for each album. Ultimately, only time will tell, but as things stand now, his Death After Life LP is unquestionably a strong and inventive first full-length.

Podcast 330: KZA

It’s not often that Japan is touted as a hotbed for disco, but those familiar with the work of KZA (a.k.a. Yotsukaido Nature) have little trouble acknowledging that the Tokyo-based producer is one of the genre’s most compelling figures. For most of the ’00s, KZA was best known as one half of Force of Nature, his collaborative—and similarly disco-minded—project with DJ Kent. But with the release of his debut full-length, Dig and Edit, the veteran artist established himself as a formidable solo act. Next week, he’ll be issuing a follow-up LP, Dig & Edit 2, once again via Mule Musiq‘s Endless Flight imprint. Given the record’s impending release, not to mention the fact that KZA is often renowned as one of Japan’s most dedicated vinyl collectors, we figured that he would be an excellent candidate to put together an exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series.

With 11 tracks over the course of more than an hour, the mix seems to indicate that KZA’s DJ stylings are just as unhurried and carefree as his productions. Basically, he lets the tracks—most of which walk the line between disco, boogie, and house—do the talking. It’s not that the mixing isn’t up to snuff; on the contrary, the blends are all well executed and rather lengthy. At the same time, KZA never puts himself in the spotlight; befitting his status as a collector and music lover, he’s content to operate in the background and smoothly move the proceedings along from one track to the next. He’s an excellent guide, and when this collection of washy melodies, funky basslines, softly glowing pads, and lightly bouncing rhythms comes to an end, it quickly becomes apparent that despite all of his subtlety, KZA has piloted an absolutely sublime journey.

01 KZA “Computerstimme” (Endless Flight)
02 Lord of the Isles “Eagle Lake” (Mule Musiq)
03 Ambrosia “Deep Guitar” (Xsign)
04 Blamma! Blamma! “Zsa Zsa feat. Kristina Train (Psychemagik Remix)” (Eskimo)
05 Tornado Wallace “Thinking Allowed” (ESP Institute)
06 Rayko “Easy Money” (Midnight Riot)
07 Hot Toddy “Won’t Let Go” (Smoke N Mirrors)
08 Toby Tobias “The Feeling (I:Cube Remix)” (Rekids)
09 Baris K “200 (Asphodells Dub)” (Emotional Especial)
10 Satin Jackets “Night Keys” (Eskimo)
11 KZA “Fallin'” (Endless Flight)

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XLR8R_Podcast_KZA_2014_02_11

My Eastford Soul “Falling Right”

London-based producer My Eastford Soul returns to XLR8R with another fresh single, the soothing house of “Falling Right.” His new production opens with a candid beat, evolving into a playful groove as buoyant synths and a brightly popping bassline add to the warm blend of textures. Near the three-and-a-half-minute mark, My Eastford Soul’s instrumentation fades out, making way for a beautiful break that features glossy keys heralding the return of “Falling Right”‘s wealth of harmonious sounds.

Falling Right

Aurora Halal to Inaugurate Mutual Dreaming Label with Debut EP

Brooklyn visual artist, producer, and force behind the city’s renowned Mutual Dreaming parties, Aurora Halal will launch a new imprint next month with her debut artist EP, Passageway. Halal’s five-track solo effort (which includes a remix from Detroit mainstay Terrence Dixon) will launch the Mutual Dreaming label—which, as Halal explained in a recent interview with Juno Plus, is not “this big statement,” but rather simply a way for the budding producer to give her work a proper release.

Passageway will serve as Mutual Dreaming’s inaugural release when it officially drops on March 5. In the meantime, each track from Halal’s debut EP can be previewed below. (via Resident Advisor)

SBTRKT Announces Upcoming 12″ Series, Shares New Track

Premiered on Mary Anne Hobbs’ BBC 6 radio show yesterday, SBTRKT‘s new “Hold the Line” cut comes with news of a forthcoming 12″ series from the producer. The patient and spacey production is said to appear in the coming months as part of a string of vinyl releases from the UK talent, each consisting of “all instrumental stuff along the lines of the music I put out on RAMP or the early Young Turks releases,” SBTRKT told Hobbs via email. “Hold the Line”‘s accompanying announcement also confirmed that the London producer will be releasing a new album somewhere down the line, with the instrumental series said to show SBTRKT “transitioning between my last album and the next one.”

Before more concrete news on the man’s 12″ series and sophomore album arrives, “Hold the Line” can be streamed in full—after some words from Mary Anne Hobbs—below.

Yør “Ritus”

German imprint Shtum has broadened its fledgling discography with a brand-new, techno-charged release by Yør, appropriately called Shtum 003. Featured here, EP cut “Ritus” finds the Hamburg-based producer creating a pattern of stimulating synth flares, pulsing four-to-the-floor surges, and carefully placed vocal snippets. Yør keeps his production clean and minimal on the mechanized tune, retooling spoken words to sound more like inorganic instruments than a human voice.

Ritus

Download a New Mix of Rough Techno from Qoso

Rising French DJ/producer Qoso might only be familiar to the pages of XLR8R through the ceaseless stream of new music that is our Downloads feed, but that doesn’t make us any less intrigued by his hard-edged brand of industrial-strength techno. His next release will be a four-track EP for home base label In Paradisum, called Jura, and with that record’s impending arrival on February 17, Qoso has unleashed a brand-new mix which seems to articulate the kinds of sounds he’s been working with as of late. The nearly hour-long DJ set runs the gamut of new and old dancefloor music, with the likes of Robert Hood, Mark Broom, and Paul Birken rubbing shoulders with John Heckle, Happa, Henning Baer, Farah, and Qoso himself. It’s a dense and uncompromising listen that—if nothing else—excites us about the release of Qoso’s Jura EP for In Paradisum next week.

Farah – Lockhead
Mechanisms Industries – Antikythera Mechanism (Henning Baer Remix)
Qoso – Laphroaig
Dualit – Thyone
Your Silent Face – A Place Where Arms Bend Backwards (Fiedel’s Rework)
NJB – Untitled
Robert Hood – Alarm
Mark Broom – Can’t Wait
Happa – Red Place
John Heckle – Birds with Vertigo
A Vision of Love – Our Education
Low Jack & Qoso – Like It Soft (Low Jack Live Mix)
Paul Birken – Big Rig Barnacle
R-Zone – 303909
Stallion – Stallion #1
Hank Jackson – Palee Hit
Rezzett – Fire Bomb

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