Sabina Plamenova first released records under the name Subeena—most notably for Planet Mu—before the Berlin-based producer/vocalist shifted into the more experimental Alis project. Lifted from her forthcoming Things Next Door EP for Astro:Dynamics, “Leslape” is a granular and warped tune that recalls a number of Andy Stott’s heavily textured soundscapes on Luxury Problems. A steady groove pushes along a stream of sighs and gasps while a thinly shrouded lead vocal pierces through the fog. The simplicity and off-the-cuff nature of Alis’ song keeps it from veering too far into experimental indulgence, as she reigns in “Leslape” to make for a quick-but-immersive experience.
Throughout the week, a whole lot of material gets posted here on XLR8R. And while we know—and love—that some hardcore readers will eagerly pour over every single news story, interview, podcast, video, and MP3 download that appears on the site, we also realize that for most people, it’s impossible to see everything, which means that some quality XLR8R content is likely to get missed in the hustle and bustle of everyone’s daily lives. In the interest of making it easier for everyone to catch up, every Friday we present The Lowdown, a weekly wrap-up of the top 10 tidbits from our site.
1. Four Tet (pictured above) surprised everyone this week by appearing a new video where he samples Michael Jackson’s classic Thriller album and makes a track in 10 minutes.
2. German piano virtuoso Nils Frahm unveiled a new video of his own this week, a meditative clip for the song “Says.”
3. Gear aficionados everywhere were talking about Roland’s announcement that it would soon be reviving its revered 808 line with a new device that has been dubbed Aira.
4. UK pop-house pair Disclosure debuted a new video for LP cut “Grab Her.”
5. Experimental Warp artist Patten gave away a free collection of edits that reworked tracks from Burial, FKA Twigs, and more.
6. This week’s XLR8R podcast was delivered by UK producer and new-school grime leader Visionist.
7. Ahead of its release via Crosstown Rebels in early February, XLR8R had the chance to debut a stream of a new remix from Hotflush boss Scuba, who reworked a track from Seattle producer Pezzner and Italian vocalist Amina.
8. This week’s contest offered readers the chance to win a pair of stylish sunglasses from Shwood. Enter now before it’s too late.
9. The Red Bull Music Academy officially opened its enrollment for 2014. Interested artists have until March 18 to submit their application for this year’s academy in Tokyo.
10. JETS, the collaborative project of Machinedrum and Jimmy Edgar, will soon be releasing a Jamie Lidell-voiced cover of ’80s funk hit “Midas Touch.” After the track was completed, Machinedrum took the pieces and made his own version, a stream of which surfaced this week.
An expanded version of the The Lowdown is also available via a weekly email newsletter. Those interested in an even more in-depth round-up of XLR8R content, including a complete listing of all the free downloads we’ve offered in the past seven days, should sign up by entering their email address below.
Planet Mu label boss Mike Paradinas has announced a new EP from his Heterotic project, a collaborative outfit helmed by the veteran artist his wife Lara Rix-Martin. Following the group’s debut album from early last year, Heterotic next record will be a four-song EP. Title track “Rain” features French singer Vezelay, who “lends a tender falsetto” to the duo’s retro-minded synthscapes. Heterotic’s new single is due out on February 25 via Planet Mu, but before then, its artwork and tracklist can be perused below.
Heading into its ninth edition, Croatia’s The Garden Festival has revealed this year’s line-up for the summer event series. Among the long list of internationl DJs and producers set to perform are UK house duo Bicep, Berghain regular Prosumer, Wolf + Lamb, Hessle Audio co-founder Ben UFO (pictured above), Midland, Hackman, Bostonian party-starters Soul Clap, and New York house mainstay Levon Vincent, among many others. Leading up to The Garden Festival’s run between July 2 and 9, tickets for the events can be found here, and the full list of artist set to perform is available here.
Following last week’s appearance of a previously unreleased remix of Glasgow beatmaker Soosh by Shigeto, a new collection of similarly locked-away reworks comissioned by the Scottish artist have now surfaced. Included amongst those selections is fLako‘s (pictured above) remix of “Too Soon,” which shifts Soosh’s original work into a more peaceful excercise in boom-bap. Gliding melodic patterns and layers of incomprehensible (and generously manipulated) vocals provide the sort of unique sonic details which makes one almost want to lean into a production. fLako’s previously unreleased remix of Soosh can be downloaded below, and others from likes of Greenwood Sharps, Sekuioa, and Mieux can also be nabbed for free from the player after the jump, courtesy of UpMyAlley.
Moderat, the trio of German artists Modeselektor and Apparat, has been busy over the last year, coming off the release of its sophomore album II and a slew of subsequent singles. The group’s latest 12″ to drop focuses on album cut “Last Time,” which is also treated to a moody video today. Directed by Pfadfinderei, the piece shows a series of events occuring between dusk and nighttime. Everything suggests the romance of youth and speed as a group of motorcyclists weave between cars and suburban teenagers brazenly chug beer on the streets, while Moderat’s pop-leaning tune piles crooning vocals onto its jumbled toms. The video for “Last Time” (as well as its making-of companion) can both be seen below.
With news of the first album to come from Motor City Drum Ensemble‘s and Marcus Worgull‘s collaborative Vermont project just a coupe of days in our rearview, the Kompakt-signed duo has elected to share its first single, the patient and synth-soaked “Majestät.” The practically beat-less production is lifted from Vermont, the outfit’s 14-track debut album which is set to appear on March 17. Ahead of the “Majestät” single’s release on January 27, the song can be heard in its entirety via the player below.
With NAMM around the corner, the gear world was abuzz this week with teases, leaks, rumors, and the like. Among them was Moog, who shared the news that it will introduce two new synths at the annual NAMM conference, and Roland, who halfway introduced the Aira TR-08 (a.k.a. the “next step” in the lineage of the 808). Along with news on those two fronts, the latest This Week in Music Tech gathers videos from Four Tet and Swedish outfit Minilogue in their respective sutdious, checks out an app that turns images into experimental sounds, and shares a video profile of a renowned synth repair shop in Berlin.
Somehow, without much of the internet taking notice, Moog revealed that it would introduce two new synths at the upcoming NAMM conference in Southern California. One of the two synths, the Sub 37, had its front panel uploaded as a PDF to the Moog Forum, revealing that it will be a “paraphonic analog synthesizer” with a built-in arpeggiator. Create Digital Media who shared further details on Moog’s forthcoming Sub 37 synth.
Earlier in the week, Roland teased the forthcoming Aira TR-08 unit, which the company claims represents “the next step” in the evolution of Roland’s legendary 808 drum machine. At first, only the leaked image above was revealed, but now, further speculation has all but confirmed that the unit will not be a purely analog piece as many had hoped, but instead an “emulated, digital 808 synth” that will likely utilize Roland’s “SuperNATURAL synth” technology. More specific details about the TR-08 are expected to start coming in as NAMM approaches.
London mainstay Four Tet became the latest artist to be featured in Don’t Watch That TV‘s Beat This video series, sampling portions of Michael Jackson’s classic Thriller and manipulating those sounds in Ableton Live in order to make a beat in just 10 minutes.
NYC-based production school Dubspot will be opening a new Los Angeles location in June of this year, and this week, it began early registration for its first West Coast classes, offering a 35% discount for students who sign up for one of the nine different courses in the next few weeks. More details can be found here.
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VOSIS, a new app for the iPad which can translate images and live video into playable sound devices, surfaced this week. The $1.99 app is described by developer Ryan McGee as “an interactive image sonification interface that creates complex wavetables by raster scanning greyscale image pixel data.” The VOSIS app is currently available to purchase from the iTunes store.
Ableton shared a new set of videos featuring Swedish duo Minilogue and its drool-worthy live setup, which incorporates Ableton Live within a sophisticated matrix of outboard synthesis and digital control. The video above details the pair’s setup for live performance (which, interestingly enough, includes two laptops that are not MIDI-synced), covering how both audio and control signals are routed and used within the setup. In addition to the clip above, a second video which delves more into the philosophies which drive Minilogue’s creations can be viewed here.
In the latest episode of its ongoing Slices video series, Electronic Beats profiled PhilSynth, a Berlin synth shop that specializes in bringing old, broken synthesizers back to life. The 12-minute mini-doc is equal parts gear porn, synth nerdery, and a touching love story about a man and his many synths.
After a year-long bout of silence, Barcelona-based label Disboot is “planning a resurgence” for its fifth anniversary. This resurgence includes “Found,” a beautifully textured track from Dr. Res‘ upcoming Lung Kidnapping EP, which will mark the label’s return when it’s released on January 30. The production opens up with a subdued, pulsing beat, and emerges into a delicate-yet-upbeat soundscape constructed from uplifting synths. Dr. Res doesn’t let his tune stay in a single place for too long, allowing subtle elements, like a soft vocal loop, fade out as quietly as they come in. In addition to “Found,” Dr. Res has crafted a mix in honor of Disboot’s return, which can be found after the jump.
Brighton upstart PVC (an acronym which stands for “Purple Velvet Curtains”) is a little more than a week away from dropping his “She Can Get It” b/w “You Know My Man” single for DJ Q‘s fledging Q Recordings imprint. To spread the word, PVC has sent along “Our Reason,” a sharp bonus cut from the rising garage/2-step producer. Across its five-plus-minute run, “Our Reason” showcases the budding talent’s adeptness within the genre, opening with a series of choice chords and an expertly locked shuffle before dipping his hand—and the tune’s carefully chopped vocal samples—into a deep bassline. In the end, “Our Reason” is a fine piece of modern garage, and we’d expect no less from a producer who comes backed by one of the genre’s most prolific veterans—DJ Q, of course.
