Brooklyn DJ/producer and Fifth Wall label co-head Hound Scales will release a new EP next month via the fledgling White Asega label. Serving as the imprint’s second release, the forthcoming Sabbath Lillie Hawks EP is said to find Hound Scales continuing his “exploration into the darker midnight reaches of house and techno, finding influence in African rhythms, chugging train lines, Kate Bush, and UK jungle.” Furthermore, the EP and its title are said to be inspired by the Sabbath Lillie Hawks character from Flannery O’Connor’s haunting classic novel Wise Blood. Fortunately, White Asega has provided us with a taste of what that all means in terms of actual music, offering a preview of the four-track EP (which also features a remix from UK outift Forward Strategy Group) before Hound Scales’ latest effort drops on February 10. That stream and Sabbath Lillie Hawks‘s tracklist can be found below.
The steadily diversifying L.I.E.S. label has picked up French producer Low Jack (no stranger to XLR8R‘s pages), who—following a live performance commissioned by the Quai Branly Museum in Paris—has been given access to the museum’s vast library to use for crafting his forthcoming Garifuna Variations LP. The original commissioned performance focused on the music and culture of the Garifuna people of Honduras, which the artist used as inspiration and source material for his live set. And though Low Jack had no intention of releasing the music, once L.I.E.S. caught wind of the live project, he headed into the studio to recreate the experience for an LP release. Mastered and cut by Matt Colton at Alchemy, Garifuna Variations is set to drop on February 18; the record’s artwork and tracklist available to view below.
A1. Punta A2. QB Untitled 1 A3. Crickets Dance A4. QB Untitled 2 B1. Abaimahani B2. Punta II B3. New Life B4. Free People V2
Japanese DJ/producer KZA (half of Force of Nature) is prepping the release of his sophomore album, the first official follow-up to 2009’s acclaimed Dig & Edit LP, via Mule Musiq imprint Endless Flight. Known for being the greatest record collector in the Japan, KZA has built his name on music made up of material sampled from his massive collection. This trend continues with Dig & Edit Vol. 2, which is said to be full of studio artifice cut and arranged with the help of Mule Musiq boss Kuniyuki. The record is also described as evoking “sweaty disco nights” and “sunset soundtracks,” making for a seemingly evocative 10-track collection. KZA’s second LP is due for release on February 27, but until then, its artwork and tracklist can be perused below.
01 Vous Dansez 02 Schritte 03 Computerstimme 04 Taking It 05 Let’s Go 06 Want No Other 07 The Beginning 08 Two More 09 Fallin’ 10 Le Troublant Acid
Following the release of last year’s Secret Angles LP from Seattle dream-pop outfit Cock & Swan, the pair has solicited a number of remixes for the album’s tracks. November’s Recess Tangle Vol. 1 collection (the Braxton/Plamer remix from which we shared before its release) was the first result of this project, and Cock & Swan’s remix gathering has now yielded a second volume of Recess Tangle, which will see a release on January 28 via the Hush Hush label’s Bandcamp. Nestled among the forthcoming compilation’s 12 eclectic efforts is this rework from Portland producer Graintable. The artist morphs “Looking Out” into a loping, filter-heavy house workout featuring miniature guitar blips, wordless vocal chops, and a restless bassline—all helping to render the production into an interesting sort of dancefloor-minded collage. The remix also comes with its own video full of shape-shifting geometrics and morphing greyscale patterns, which can be viewed after the jump.
Hessle Audio co-owner and forward-looking DJ/producer Pangaea is set to issue his installment of Fabric‘s ongoing mix album series next week, and will follow it up with a launch party a month later at the London music hub’s famed club. Amidst all of this activity, the busy artist born Kevin McAuley was kind enough to craft another mix for our listening pleasure, a 30-minute excursion quickly and aptly described as being “pretty raw.” Pangaea’s 30-Minute Radio Mix boasts selections from the likes of MGUN, Hound Scales, Demdike Stare, and Jon Hopkins, among others, and can be streamed in full via the player below, where the full tracklist is also available.
The Parisian label owned and operated by DJ/producers Teki Latex and Orgasmic, Sound Pellegrino has shared the details of its next compilation, a star-studded release featuring solely original collaborative tunes. SND.PE Vol. 02: Crossover Series follows roughly six months after the solid first installment of the label’s compilation series, and features such quality team-ups as L-Vis 1990 & Sinjin Hawke, Helix & Hrdvsion, Dexter & Gant-Man, Matthias Zimmermann & SCNTST, and Feadz & Orgasmic, among others. As FACT reports, Teki Latex said of his label’s impending release, “We have nothing against keeping micro-genres pure and visions unaltered: we are music lovers and humble specialists, but we also do love mixing things up and finding unexpected common threads between styles. Because guess what? That’s what DJs do.” Before SND.PE Vol. 02 drops on January 27, its tracklist can be perused below, where a full stream of Crystal & Ikonika’s freestyle-inspired “Dream Incubation” is also available.
1. Matthias Zimmermann & SCNTST “Tommy” 2. Crystal & Ikonika “Dream Incubation” 3. Eero Johannes & Teki Latex “Things That I Do” 4. Crackboy & Jean Nipon “Ligne Onze” 5. Dexter & Gant-Man “Ur Booty Soft” 6. L-Vis 1990 & Sinjin Hawke “The Pit” 7. Feadz & Orgasmic “Throw It Up” 8. Nicolas Malinowsky & Tommy Kruise “Disstopia” 9. Truncate & TWR72 “Frame” 10. Helix & Hrdvsion “Gmail”
It was early 2012 when XLR8R first profiled Visionist (a.k.a. Louis Carnell) in our ongoing Bubblin’ Up series, and even then, the London-based producer seemed like an incredibly busy guy. Over the past two years or so, he basically hasn’t stopped working; the latter half of 2013 proved to be a particularly fruitful period, as Visionist records popped up on Leisure System, RAMP, and Lit City Trax, solidifying the young producer’s position as one of the leading figures in the resurgent grime scene. Of course, what makes Visionist’s music so interesting is the fact that he’s not a classicist; grime may be at the center of his artistic vision, but his tracks often bare traces of hip-hop, R&B, footwork, and other urban sounds from across the Atlantic. Now that the calendar has flipped to 2014, he appears poised to properly stake his claim, not just as a grime producer, but as one of the UK’s most intriguing beatmakers. As such, we figured that there would be no better time to enlist his services for the XLR8R podcast series.
While official grime releases are gradually becoming more commonplace (thanks in part to the success of artists like Visionist), much of the scene continues to unfold online, with producers often tossing new tracks up on SoundCloud at a blistering pace. Given that reality, it’s little surprise that this exclusive mix contains so many unreleased and self-released tracks. Still, what the mix lacks in familiarity, it more than makes up for with the quality of the music on offer; moving through 25 selections in less than 45 minutes, Visionist demonstrates just how vast the grime landscape has become, as he’s as comfortable dealing in ambient-flavored abstraction as he is dropping bass-loaded bangers and rapid-fire snare rolls. With such a diverse palette of sounds to explore, grime is potentially more fascinating than ever, and it’s hard to think of a better guide than Visionist to lay out exactly what’s going on.
01 Oneohtrix Point Never “He She” (Warp) 02 Visionist “The Regret” 03 Acre “Dek U” 04 Estilence “Monastery” 05 Gho$tman “The 25th Hour” 06 Paul Marmota “Colapso” (N.A.A.F.I.) 07 Acre “Switchblade/Ridcage” 08 Road to Shaanxi “Who Am I” (True Panther) 09 Sudanim “Midrift” (Her) 10 Visionist “Solace” 11 Filter Dread “Speaker Plank” 12 Visionist “Your Eyes Were Green” 13 Future Brown (feat. Rapid, Dirty Danger & Roachee) “World’s Mine” 14 Dot Rotten “Voices” (Rotten) 15 Saga “Trails” 16 Da Gee “Gasp” 17 SD Laika “Triple Nine Volt” 18 Dot Rotten “There’s Only 1” (Rotten) 19 Mikey Dollaz “On My Mama” 20 Suicideyear “Birdie” 21 Island “Sony” 22 SD Laika “Sketch 2” 23 Suicideyear “Gleetchie” 24 SD Laika “Two Tracks” 25 Visionist “Something Old Something” (Lit City Trax)
Pulled from the forthcoming edition of Red Bull Music Academy‘s quasi-annual Various Assets compilation is a one-off collaboration from Atlanta man-of-many-talents Distal and rising Spanish producer Astroboyz, who was breifly profiled in our Bubblin’ Up Weekfeature on Barcelona’s emerging electronic scene. While both attending last year’s RBMA session in New York, the producers had a chance to collaborate for a few hours in the studio, and the fast-paced, appropriately titled “Acid Sketch” is the result. That session seems to have provided both Distal and Astroboyz with their first chance at tweaking a real TB-303, and their enthusiasm for the silver unit’s classic sound is heard all over “Acid Sketch,” as sharp and propulsive rhythms are laid down with the sole purpose of serving as a bed for the active filter tweaks which run throughout. RBMA’s full Various Assets compilation will see a free digital release tomorrow, conveniently on the same day that the academy will begin accepting applications for its 2014 session in Tokyo.
After a slow and steady 2013, Paul Rose’s Hotflush label is set to begin its run in the New Year with a single from The White Lamp, a collaborative effort between longtime UK producer/DJ (not to mention former Underworld member) Darren Emerson and vocalist Peter Josef. The “Ride With You” 12″ will offer four versions of The White Lamp’s bluesy, soul-burning vocal-house tune, with its original mix and a “Darren Emerson’s Dub Extravaganza” version of the tune joined by remixes from Berlin trio ItaloJohnson and Mike Dehnert. The White Lamp’s single for Hotlfush will arrive on January 27.
From our vantage point across the pond, it would appear that the Parisian electronic music scene is primed to continue flourishing in 2014, with labels like ClekClekBoom and Sound Pellegrino leading the charge, while a rising number of up-and-coming labels and artists begin to stake their claim as well. One such producer is D.K., whose debut release—the All Day Everyday EP—is set to drop via fledgling Parisian imprint Get the Curse later this month. The slow, boogie-laced “All Day Everyday (Part II)” cut serves as XLR8R‘s first look at D.K., which finds him laying into bits of patient, synth-soaked funk and hardware-formed house across the tune’s three-plus-minute run. After giving his swimming freebie a spin, the Parisian producer’s upcoming EP can be previewed after the jump.
