Perc Announces ‘The Power and The Glory’ Album Tour

To support his forthcoming LPThe Power and The Glory, London artist and Perc Trax founder Ali Wells (a.k.a. Perc) has announced a string of European and North American tour dates, as well as one appearance in Singapore. With his sophomore record set to drop via Perc Trax on February 17, Wells will begin his tour at Rome’s Goa Club this Friday, sharing his brand of punishing, textural techno on the road through the spring months. The full list of tour dates can be found below, and Perc’s recent video for the “Take Your Body Off” single can be viewed here.

Vaghe Stelle “Duemila Kilometri”

Recently featured on the Kode9-curated A Great Symphony for Torinosound-design project, Italian producer Vaghe Stelle (pronounced ‘vag-he stel-lay’) will release new LP Sweet Sixteen via UK label Astro:Dynamics next month. To tease the upcoming record, Stelle has sent along “Duemila Kilometri,” an unsettled production which cuts through layers of brooding atmosphere with erratic drum programming—an apt preview of the man’s production style, which is said to be “as loose as possible in its approach… utilizing vocal samples to craft bass and lead sounds, coupled with repeated use of Poly-800 and Juno 106 synthesizers.” Sweet Sixteen is out on February 17, but before then, its artwork and tracklist can be seen after the jump.

01 My Birthday
02 Sweet Sixteen
03 Artificial Intelligence
04 Libitum
05 Duemila Kilometri
06 She Sometimes
07 Sorry I Don’t Know Where I Am Now
08 Thanks for the Conversation

Duemila Kilometri

Listen to a New Remix from Factory Floor

London trio Factory Floor has been coasting on a wave of critical acclaim since the release of its XLR8R Pick’d self-titled debut LP, even landing the eighth slot in our list of 2013’s best albums. And for the band’s first outing of 2014, its three artists have remixed fellow UK outfit Wild Beasts’ latest single, “Wanderlust,” into a classic electro-inspired jam that disorients as much as it grooves. Factory Floor largely eschews singer Hayden Thorpe’s falsetto vocal melodies on its production, infusing the slowly evolving track with snippets from the original song that are rendered more or less atonal. Lifted from a bonus 12″ that comes with the deluxe LP version of Wild Beasts’ upcoming Present Tense album, “Wanderlust (Factory Floor Remix)” will arrive alongside a remix from The Field via Domino on February 24.

JETS featuring Jamie Lidell Midas Touch

This is only the second release from Jimmy Edgar and Travis Stewart (a.k.a. Machinedrum) as JETS following their superb self-titled debut EP from 2012. Despite both artists residing in Berlin in the time since (Stewart has very recently moved back to the US), it’s not surprising that they’ve found limited opportunities to get together and record a follow-up. Demanding tour schedules, getting a new label off the ground (their co-curated Ultramajic), and recording one of last year’s best albums (Machinedrum’s Vapor City) would take up a lot of anyone’s time, and in many ways, this enjoyable cover version of Midnight Star’s much-loved 1986 synth-funk hit “Midas Touch” is a neat embodiment of the limited time both artists presumably had to devote to its creation.

Almost everything about the song—it being a cover of a minor classic, it being released on a limited run of vinyl, and a press release noting that it came about as a result of “serendipitous recording sessions”—lends the enterprise an unplanned, spur-of-the-moment feel. In lesser hands, a precipitous dip in the quality of the end product would be an inevitable addition to this list. However, Edgar’s and Stewart’s take is assured and well-executed, and should probably be treated as a fun little bonus rather than the true follow-up to their debut, which comprised four tracks and was clearly the product of a time-consuming writing process and serious studio time.

The serendipitous aspect of the creation of “Midas Touch” obviously extended to getting a third leading light of electronic music’s recent epoch—Jamie Lidell—into the studio as well. His inclusion on vocals takes JETS into (temporary) supergroup territory, and he belts out his lyrics in the hearty, full-fat way that’s become his trademark since 2005’s Multiply LP saw him morph from heads-down knob-twiddler to white-soul whirlwind.

As with their debut, “Midas Touch” feels like a natural and seamless melding of the talents of both Edgar and Stewart, rather than a foregrounding of one of their styles. The a-side achieves a considered, slow-burning quality, with Lidell’s periodically stretched and warped vocals running up against staccato percussion and deliberate, rubberized bass. Adding to the in-house, hurried-but-not-rushed feel, is Stewart exchanging his JETS hat for his Machinedrum hat to contribute the only remix on the package. It alights on punchier territory, with a bubbling bassline and more linear, clattering percussion conspiring to create something that falls close to the tree while taking far squarer aim at the floor. In the end, this record may be the fruit of snatched interludes of studio time, but when such interludes involve producers of this caliber, the end product will always be worth paying attention to.

Locals Only – Todd Osborn Lists His Favorite Spots in Detroit and Ann Arbor

Perhaps known best by his Ghostly-affiliated Osborne handle, Todd Osborn has long been a fixture of electronic music in Michigan, following a number of musical muses over the years to form a catalog that is as deep as it is diverse. Most recently, Osborn has delivered the Michigan Dream EP for FaltyDL‘s fast-growing Blueberry label, a four-track record that covers a wide range of sonic territory reaching “from hip-hop to jacking vocal house, from druggy techno to braindance.” In light of his new release, we’ve tapped Osborn to give us a taste of the Michigan experience, enlisting the veteran producer (and former record store owner) to take us through his favorite spots in Detroit, Ann Arbor, and his current hometown of Ysplanti for a list that includes a bar whose best-selling drink bears Osborn’s own name as well as an apologetic conceit that Detroit’s live music scene has had better days.

Restaurant: Beezy’s
20 N. Washington St., Ypsilanti
Opened by Bee Roll (and I have to give a shout out to her husband, producer/musician Jim Roll), Beezy’s is the best place to eat in Ypsilanti. Amazingly fresh and delicious food, they have something for everyone. Whenever out-of-towners come to Michigan, they invariably get taken to a well-known joint like Zingerman’s or Slow’s, but I always take my friends to Beezy’s. I’d eat there more often but they’re usually closing around 4 p.m.—right as I’m waking up. Tip: If you order a “BBQ Bacon Chicken Salad Sandwich,” say it five times as fast as you can without screwing up, and you’ll get some sort of discount on it.

Bar: The Last Word
301 W. Huron St., Ann Arbor
The closest bar to me that’s worth going to is The Last Word, a place my pals Robben Schultz and Giancarlo Aversa opened a couple of years ago. They make some of the best cocktails around and to top it off, they brought in another friend of mine, Scott MacInnis, to do a ton of amazing appetizers. In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that it also doesn’t hurt that their best-selling drink is named after me: The Osborn.

Club: NOTHING
It’s sad to say, but right now there really isn’t a good place for music in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area. Nearly any decent show right now is just a one-off at a random bar. Even most of the after-hours spots are gone now after police crackdowns started a year or so ago. If I really had to name a place, I’d just pick The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, only because they have a long history and I sometimes get to sneak my son in to see rock shows, like Ty Segall, there.

Record Store: Hello Records
1459 Bagley St., Detroit
I almost never go to record stores nowadays. I still collect and love records, but lately I end up just trading rare records with other people instead of digging at stores. That said, whenever someone from out of town wants to hit a record store, I always take them to Hello. It’s not a gigantic place, but everything they have is quality. Owner Wade Kergan has continued the aesthetic I enjoyed about (the now-defunct) May’s Records and Encore Records (back when Peter Dale ran it). They still find the most amazing old tunes, whether it’s hip-hop, soul, psych, electro, techno, whatever. I’ve taken some seriously jaded collectors there and they always walk out with a stack of records that they’re amazed to have found. Same goes for me—I can’t helping buying stuff there because the prices are so great and the selection is always top notch. Another tip: Be sure to check their Instagram account, which regularly posts original content in the form of photos from Detroit’s musical history.

Unique Location: The Ugly Mug
317 W. Cross St., Ypsilanti
This is the place in Michigan for coffee. I first visited them when my friends Zak Rye and Miro Lomeli were managing/roasting there. It turned out to be the only place in the area that roasted their own coffee and pulled espresso exactly how I love it. Ever since, I’ve helped in any way I can: I’ve built digital timers for the grinders, modded equipment, etc. Zak has gone on to open Gaslight in Chicago, and the current Ugly Mug manager, Eric Mullins, has ramped up the quality and consistency more than ever (plus, he and I now do secret B-movie nights there). They are constantly supporting local musicians, showing local artists, and fundraising for things like WCBN and 826michigan. They’ve recently done a special coffee roast exclusively for Ghostly International too.

Leon Vynehall Preps Mini-LP for 3024

Increasingly prolific Brigthton-based DJ/producer—and former XLR8R podcast contributor—Leon Vynehall will deliver seven new tracks on the Music for the Uninvited record this spring. Seeing Vynehall return to Martyn’s 3024 label, the collection of fresh productions is said to be partially inspired by the artist’s trips to school as a youth. There he would listen to a varied range of music on tape and in a more continuous format than most listeners are accustomed to today, leading Vynehall to record his forthcoming record’s cuts directly to casette in an effort to “thread them together.” Furthermore, the mini-LP’s accompanying press release emphasizes that Music for the Uninvited is “a record without skip or shuffle buttons, asking the listener to remember when the consumption of music was an altogether more romantic experience.”

Serving as Vynehall’s first record of 2014, Music for the Uninvited is slated to drop on March 17. Before then, the record’s artwork and tracklist are included below.

01 Inside the Deku Tree
02 Goodthing
03 Be Brave Clench Fists
04 Pier Children
05 It’s Just House of Dupree
06 Christ Air
07 St. Sinclair

Adultrock “Clear”

Adultrock‘s “Clear” is anything but what its title suggests. Pulsing steadily below 120 bpm, the slow-brewing track marches its way through five-plus minutes of murky electronics, covered at all angles by the cyclical sweeps of filtered noise and bubbling arpeggios. Though, the real gem of “Clear” waits a minute (well, just over three minutes to be exact), when Adultrock elects to strip back the production’s haziest layers before hitting on a new, analog-tweaked bassline and dropping us off in the murk yet again. In the end, “Clear” makes for an intriuging introduction to the work of the Irish producer, and boasts well for Adultock’s upcoming Chants EP for Dublin’s Bodytonic label; especially when one considers that the upcoming five-track effort (out in March) comes backed by remixes from Naum Gabo and Ghost 202 (a.k.a. L.I.E.S. boss Ron Morelli and Svengalisghost).

Clear

Cooly G Hold Me EP

Cooly G (a.k.a. Merissa Campbell) has always been a difficult producer to pin down. Between her self-released Dub Organizer EPs and early singles for Hyperdub, the South London producer was one of the first to effectively blur the boundaries between UK funky, garage, house, and dubstep, injecting an ineffable quality into the mix with her simultaneously icy and emotive voice. Campbell’s releases have often had one foot firmly situated on the London dancefloor and the other in deep, dubby, and sometimes decidedly song-based territory. Her Hyperdub debut, “Narst” b/w “Love Dub,” is an excellent example, as it paired the aggressive, grimey a-side with the slower, 2-step-inflected balladry of “Love Dub.” While her music has always balanced between these poles, what has made Cooly G so compelling to listen to over the years is the way these two sides consistently worm their way into the same tune—even at its most insistent and tracky, Campbell’s music is suffused with a smokey ephemerality that is entirely her own.

It’s interesting then that her latest release for Hyperdub is billed as a return to tracks “built for the dance floor and DJ.” While 2012’s Playin Me album certainly marked a shift towards a softer sound, and brought the influence of classic soul and R&B closer to the surface than it was in her previous releases, it was hardly free from the pulse and clattering rhythms of UK funky that had consistently informed her work. The Hold Me EP consists of three tracks that, perhaps more so than any Cooly G release so far, are relatively consistent in style and tempo.

Opening track “Hold Me” features syncopated rhythms that are kept locked to the floor by steady, bouncing subs and jazzy organ chords. As usual with a Cooly G track, “Hold Me”‘s most distinctive quality is the presence of Campbell’s ghostly, minor-key vocals, which float above the mix, thick with dub-echoing reverb. “Oi Dirty” features Hyperdub labelmate DVA, and the tune’s opening moments—in which Campbell, MC-like, announces herself and her collaborator—aligns it with the slapdash nature of her Dub Organizer-era material. The tune itself is full of slyly lopsided beats and skittish, squelching synths, with a dizzying sense of vertigo and seedy, stepping rhythms. Final track “Molly” is the most overtly dancefloor-friendly fare, despite featuring plenty of Cooly G’s trademark microprogrammed digital scree amidst its rolling bassline and lush 4/4.

In retrospect, the arrival of Cooly G on the Hyperdub stable in 2009 could be argued for as a pivotal moment in the shift the label has undergone from purveyor of London’s finest dubstep and forward bass sounds to its current diverse incarnation. While Campbell has always been somewhat tentatively aligned with UK funky, and many of her tunes contain that relatively short-lived sub-genre’s sonic signatures, her music is largely irreducible to any genre, and is the product of a period where the forward momentum of London dance music was starting to collapse in on itself, producing a seemingly boundless sense of productive possibility. By going ‘back to basics,’ the Hold Me EP reveals that simplicity was never part of Cooly G’s M.O., and while this is a challenging, compelling record from a singular producer, it is a less exploratory effort than we’ve come to expect from her.

CB-R “Hologram”

“Hologram” by Brooklyn artist Bret Winans (a.k.a. CB-R or CB Radio) comes from the producer’s recently released Inside Existence EP, an offering which he issued via his own S//P//A label. The song is a fitting introduction to his techno-focused style, as it’s led by the thrust of dubby soundscapes and mechanical beats. The rest of CB-R’s EP features a solid balance of lighter tracks and heavy club fare, and can be previewed in the player embedded after the jump.

Hologram

Disclosure, SBTRKT, Moderat, Julio Bashmore, Jamie xx, and More to Play Primavera Sound 2014

Set to begin on May 29, Barcelona’s eclectic Primavera Sound festival unveiled the full list of artists scheduled to perform during this year’s events, including a large number of XLR8R favorites. In addition to the massive headliners (i.e. Arcade Fire, Pixies, Slowdive, Nine Inch Nails, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Kendrick Lamar, among others), a special “electronic music program” was also announced. Artists such as breakout brotherly duo Disclosure, veteran French artist Laurent Garnier, Modeselektor’s and Apparat’s Moderat project, SBTRKT, The Haxan Cloak, Nicolas Jaar’s Darkside band, DFA mainstays Holy Ghost!, acid-obsessed Londoner Daniel Avery, Demdike Stare, Jamie xx, frequent John Talabot collaborator Pional, and Julio Bashmore are among the eclectic DJs and producers set to perform.

More information on Primavera Sound’s dates, tickets, and full line-up can be found here, and a short film which reveals the list of names performing is included below.

Page 1444 of 3781
1 … 1,442 1,443 1,444 1,445 1,446 … 3,781