After taking the top spot in our Best Gear of 2013 list, Ableton is getting into the holiday spirit and giving away a 500 MB sample pack full of “the finest drum loops.” The comprehensive sample pack, put together by Sample Magic, offers 410 24-bit WAV loops of beats spanning the genres of house, techno, electro, drum & bass, and more. Only available to registered Ableton Live 9 users, the massive set of loops can be downloaded for free here. In addition, a small sampling of the sounds included in the pack can be previewed below.
A pair of new mixes have surfaced today, the first of which finds Brackles (pictured above) and rising selector Madam X going B2B, while the second comes direct from Samo Sound Boy‘s recent late-night set at the Body High warehouse in LA.
As Dummy reports, Brackles and Madam X recently went in on a two-hour joint session for Rinse FM, hitting on a friendly and smooth mood and stringing together tunes from Michael Jackson, Hall & Oates, Drake, and Bobby Brown alongside others from Kingom, L-Vis 1990, Lil Silva, and more. The pair’s full B2B mix can be streamed/download below, and Dummy has the full tracklist here.
Last Friday, the Body High took over a warehouse in LA for a night, and Samo Sound Boy’s hour-long set from the party has now made it onto SoundCloud. With no official tracklist accompanying it, the set is steeped in late-night vibes, occasionally taking more cosmic turns, but always keeping its focus squarely on the dancefloor. Samo Sound Boy’s full mix from the night can be streamed and downloaded via the player below.
This week, beloved UK DJ/producer Four Tet broke 100K followers on his Twitter account, and celebrated the occasion by posting 15 unreleased and (largely) unheard tracks for free download. One of the highlights from that eclectic selection of tunes is the swinging “101112,” a simple production which sounds like the missing link from between There Is Love in You and Pink. Four Tet’s garage-indebted beat kicks and skips over funky sub-bass, hiccuping vocal chops, and a thin mist of reverb to make for an effective DJ tool with plenty of personality. The rest of the free music posted by the artist born Kieran Hebden can be nabbed here, courtesy of Death and Taxes.
The East Coast festival of electronic music, technology, and art, Moogfest has been biding its time since it announced it would take place between April 23 and 27 of 2014, only sharing news of a competition and a handful of top-notch labels which will curate showcases during the event. However, we have now gotten word of the first wave of performers set to appear in Asheville, North Carolina this spring. Among the major artists named in the first installment of Moogfest’s lineup are pioneering German electronic outfit Kraftwerk (who will perform with their renowned 3D visuals, pictured above), Italo-disco innovator Giorgio Moroder, Brainfeeder stalwart The Gaslamp Killer, Nile Rodgers’ legendary Chic band, Philly beatmaker RJD2, Chicago house icon Green Velvet, and the Boston party-starters of Soul Clap. Festival goers will also be able to catch the likes of Lapalux, Darkstar, Daedelus, Shigeto, Wolf Eyes, Sasha, Adult., Dan Deacon, Toro y Moi’s Les Sins project, and more. Tickets for Moogfest can be purchased here, and the lineup announced thus far can be found on the flier below.
The latest single to appear from Irish house and disco stalwart Shit Robot was a piano-led, Reggie Watts-featuring dancefloor cut called “We Got a Love.” Now, months after it was released, we have the details of the forthcoming album for which it serves as the title track. Shit Robot’s We Got a Love LP is a nine-song record set to drop via the DJ/producer’s longtime label home DFA on March 18. Recorded in Germany and New York, the music features a number of guest appearances—including the aforementioned Watts, Nancy Whang, Museum of Love, Luke Jenner, and others. The artist born Marcus Lambkin says of his sophomore album, “It wasn’t as tricky as I thought it was going to be. I think my first record was pretty special because there was a lot of lucky coincidences and a lot of being in the right place at the right time, so I didn’t try to repeat it. I just tricked my brain into just making stuff and not trying to follow up the first.” Before We Got a Love is released next year, its artwork and tracklist can be found below, where a free download of Paul Woolford’s dub version of the title track is also included.
1. The Secret (feat. Reggie Watts) 2. Dingbat (feat. Museum of Love) 3. Do That Dance (feat. Nancy Whang) 4. Do It (Right) (Feat Lidell Townsell) 5. Feels Real (Feat. Luke Jenner) 6. Space Race 7. Feels Like (Feat Holly Backler) 8. We Got a Love (feat. Reggie Watts) 9. Tempest
Over the past three weeks, XLR8R has dedicated itself to highlighting the Best of 2013, a process that has spawned a whole lot of year-end lists. And while we’re likely all suffering from a bit of list fatigue at this point, we’re happy to report that this year’s “Best of” process has almost reached the end of the road. In the meantime though, we’ve arrived at what is most likely the most anticipated list of them all—our favorite releases of 2013. (For the sake of clarity, we should explain that anything with two or more original songs was considered a “release.” Although most of our choices are albums, a handful of EPs made the cut. We also decided to include mix CDs in this category.) Whittling down the contenders and assembling a final list was no easy task, but these 30 records are the ones that we feel made the biggest impact in 2013. We’ll be unveiling the list in two parts, beginning with numbers 30 through 16. Come back tomorrow for the top 15.
30. The Cyclist Bones in Motion (Leaving/Stones Throw) Beyond the nostalgia of appreciating an antiquated medium, there’s a certain charm to the wooly hiss of cassette tapes. Take Bones in Motion, the debut LP from Irish-born, Liverpool-based producer The Cyclist (a.k.a. Andrew Morrison), which doubled as the first proper full-length to emerge from the newly established Leaving/Stones Throw label partnership. On it, Morrison reveals a lush, house-indebted sonic world of smeared synthesizer leads and chunky rhythms, all buried beneath a thick layer of crackling tape noise. The way he incorporates the fizz into the LP is textural, giving the record a muffled depth that allows heavy warehouse techno tracks like “Reels” to sit easily next to softer bedroom fare like “Visions.” Derek Opperman
29. Locked Groove Heritage (Hotflush) As Scuba continues to pursue his big-room aspirations, so too has his Hotflush imprint gone further into the world of peak-time anthems. For instance, this year saw Belgian producer Locked Groove offering up Heritage, a double EP of big sounds that felt like a natural complement to the label’s relatively newfound bombastic direction. That said, its seven tracks do cover a lot of ground; there’s old-school US garage (“Wear It Well,” “Nighttime at the Garage”), sparkling, arpeggio-laden trance (“Dream Within a Dream”), and even contemporary tech-house (“Firefall”). It’s all gorgeously produced, but the record’s main appeal lies in the way that Locked Groove is able to maintain a tasteful composure while constructing compelling rhythms that suit his various stylistic impulses. Derek Opperman
28. Dauwd Heat Division (Pictures/Ghostly) Considering the shallowness that marks a lot of contemporary deep house, it was refreshing to hear the depth of Dauwd‘s Heat Division, an EP that found the UK producer navigating a vibe that mixed contemporary polish with sunken atmospherics. The title track is the highlight—it’s full of sputtering LFO modulated synthesizers, detuned vocals, and colorfully warm organs that drop in and out above a simple kick-and-woodblock rhythm. Like the record as a whole, it consists of only a few simple components, but it’s what Dauwd does with that simplicity that makes Heat Division such an engaging release. Derek Opperman
27. Sandwell District Fabric 69 (Fabric) Influential techno label and DJ collective Sandwell District has called it quits a few times in the past, but its most recent dissolution feels permanent. A part of that is due to Fabric 69, its installment in the London clubbing institution’s respected mix series. Created remotely by feuding principle members Regis and Function, it feels like a piece of final punctuation in the way it neatly summarizes the imprint’s cool and carefully designed industrial aesthetic, with long stretches of shifting texture that provide a background for unusual peak moments in the form of dubbed-out anthems like Mary Velo’s “Detune” and Mark Ernestus’ “Mark Ernestus Meets BBC.” Derek Opperman
26. Autre Ne Veut Anxiety (Software) The thing that sets Arthur Ashin (a.k.a Autre Ne Veut) apart from the countless other electronic musicians reimagining R&B and ’80s pop is the sense of vibrancy and unpredictability in his music. Where many of his peers opt for sleek, minimalist aesthetics, on Anxiety, Ashin underpins his vocals with a chaotic patchwork of crisp drum-machine rhythms, potent outbursts of emotionally charged synth, and tense, dissonant electric guitars. It could almost come off as kitsch, but—both instrumentally and vocally—Ashin delivers everything with such heartfelt conviction that it’s impossible not to be drawn in by his hyper-emotional compositions. Si Truss
25. Shigeto No Better Time Than Now (Ghostly) In the world of instrumental hip-hop, few have displayed such an intrinsic flare for jazz as Shigeto. His talent, not only for the compositional tools that jazz requires, but also for the ability to perform a variety of these feats live, is at the heart of No Better Time Than Now, the Michigan native’s most accomplished album to date. Throughout the record, Shigeto uses the framework of instrumental beats to splice together immense hybrids, which at any one time can coherently bring together some combination of found-sound percussion, live drums, thumb-piano plucks, moody analog synthscapes, and dense Rhodes chords. No Better Time Than Now is bursting with ideas, but never feels overcrowded by them, as Shigeto skillfully finds ways to weave his many muses together, either by piling interlocked layers of elements or by gracefully covering fast-evolving movements within a track. With Shigeto’s hand-played rhythms and keyboard suites at the forefront, No Better Time Than Now is one of the most poignant examples of jazz-infused beats (or beat-infused jazz) that the modern instrumental tradition has produced. Glenn Jackson
24. Ben UFO Fabriclive 67 (Fabric) With Fabriclive 67, Hessle Audio boss Ben UFO solidified his shift away from bass music proper and emerged at the forefront of a hybridized, distinctly UK vein of house and techno. The nearly 80-minute-long mix is hardly an easy listen, but over its course, it’s hard not to feel like the London DJ is heading into some deeply uncharted territory. Threading together the likes of Delroy Edwards, Kyle Hall, Jam City, and Pev & Kowton, Fabriclive 67 achieves a perfect, difficult balance between being well paced and having a jittery, electric sense of frisson. Tim Gentles
23. Bobby Browser Still Browsing (100% Silk) Last year’s debut EP from Bay Area producer Bobby Browser, Just Browsing, stuck out amongst the 100% Silk crew for its effortlessly lackadaisical, disco-influenced grooves. This year’s follow up, Still Browsing, improved on the producer’s first effort with four tracks that somehow managed to be even more glamorous and breezy than his first set. The record opens with “As Far As I Know”—a song we listed amongst the Best Tracks of 2013—but the Italo-flavored “Theme from Tony’s Party” is another highlight. Built on a bed of lush synths and midtempo beats, upon which breathy vocals are layered, the track points to Bobby Browser’s deftness, not only with evocative atmosphere, but with taking the “cheesier” elements of dance music’s past and recombining them in delightful ways. Tim Gentles
22. Kyle Hall The Boat Party (Wild Oats) Considering Kyle Hall‘s diverse catalog, the young producer’s debut album could have gone a number of different ways. True to its witty cover art, The Boat Party is not the sort of thing one hears off the coast of Ibiza. Its eight tracks are caked in grit and work on a range of motifs, from surreal, ghettotech-ish workouts “Flemmenup” and “Finnapop” to the filtered euphoria of “Crushed” and “Measure 2 Measure.” Most importantly, Hall’s experimental inclination reigns over everything. It is not that the producer leaves his accidents in—rather, he twists these clips and pops to achieve a radically cracked approach. Steve Kerr
21. Logos Cold Mission (Keysound) 2013 has been an exceptionally strong year for instrumental grime releases, but even against this backdrop of stiff competition, London-based Logos‘ debut LP stands out as something truly special. Cold Mission is an album that see Logos deconstructing his influences, breaking grime down to its most basic elements and exploring the individual power of each one. Crisp synths, reverb-drenched samples, and snatches of drum machine sit against a backdrop of ominous silence, slowly building tension across the course of the album before coming together into a crescendo of energy and beauty during the album’s stunning three-track coda. Si Truss
20. Blondes Swisher (RVNG) Few acts feed off each other like New York’s Blondes. Since their earliest releases, Sam Haar and Zach Steinman have honed a sound that achieves a big-room rush via the push and pull of small, interlocking parts and the way the two artists work together to add to and tweak the music. On the surface, this basically means nothing—most dance music is like this. But for those trying to parse Blondes’ secret, Swisher is a great place to start, as its songs psychedelically magnify tried-and-true elements so that they gleam and hit viscerally before swirling back into the mix. Never before has the duo sounded so dynamic and in control. Steve Kerr
19. Akkord Akkord (Houndstooth) In some camps, 2013 will be remembered as the year when lo-fi nostalgia went big in underground dance music. It’s interesting then, that one of the best LPs released this year takes a completely opposite tack. In late November, British duo Akkord unleashed its self-titled debut, a prophetic record that’s so clean it might as well have been made in a microchip factory. Across its 10 cuts, the album draws a blueprint for some near-future club music that’s built from both the surgical precision of techno and the full rhythmic complexity of the UK hardcore continuum. “3dOS,” one of the album’s highlights, encapsulates Akkord’s vision by striking the perfect balance, placing a chunky bassline over a spastic rhythm that runs, at one point, straight off the grid. Derek Opperman
18. John Talabot DJ Kicks (!K7) Making a memorable DJ mix requires a careful approach; many recent commercially released mix CDs lack inspiration, acting more like a preview reel or business card than as a standalone listenable document. This is precisely what makes Barcelona DJ John Talabot‘s entry in the esteemed DJ Kicks series so appealing. It’s an atmospheric trip through the man’s wide-reaching sound, one carried by a narrative of sunny, sub-100 bpm Balearica that gradually gives way to a tasteful expanse of ’90s-leaning house. Though moving at a relaxed pace, the trip between those two points is exhilarating, giving the listener the feeling of being on a personal tour through the core of Talabot’s sonic aesthetic. Derek Opperman
17. The Knife Shaking the Habitual (Mute) Shaking the Habitual is by no means perfect; its 98-minute runtime is littered with failed experiments and moments of unnecessary excess. Yet it’s precisely these flaws that make the record so utterly fascinating. It’s more than just an album, it’s an artistic adventure. The LP sees the Swedish siblings challenging both themselves and their audience by creating pop songs out of a jarring and often difficult array of sounds. The result is like listening to an electro-pop record that’s questioning its own existence—it’s an album full of would-be hits that has been mixed and mangled out of shape in a commercially suicidal act of self-sabotage. Even if the music isn’t always consistent, there’s little doubt that The Knife is still light years ahead of everyone else. Si Truss
16. The Haxan Cloak Excavation (Tri Angle) Somewhat fittingly for an album named Excavation, the full depth of Bobby Krlic’s second LP as The Haxan Cloak only really reveals itself once the listener begins to dig beneath its surface. Given repeated listens, glimmers of light and optimism emerge amidst what, at first glance, appears to be a work of pure dark ambience; natural and organic timbres reveal themselves from beneath the layers of electronics; rhythmic pulses become apparent within tracks that previously seemed beatless. It’s testament to Krlic’s exceptional skill as a composer and sound designer that, some eight months after its release, the depths of Excavation still feel like uncharted territory. Si Truss
XLR8R’s Best of 2013 coverage will continue through the end of this week, so check back each day for additional year-end round-ups. In the meantime, don’t forget to take a look at the other Best of 2013 pieces we’ve posted already:
New York-based producer Lou DiBenedetto (a.k.a. Headlock) follows up his self-titled debut—from which we shared the wistful cut “High Beams” as a free download—with an ambient edit of Janet Jackson’s “Love Scene (Ooh Baby)” single from 2001. Dedicated to his “sweetheart” Total Freedom, “Love Obscene” is a breathy, reverb-drenched take on Jackson’s sensual original song, which smears the vocals and percussion together in a celestial haze of synth pads.
Fledgling Brooklyn label Fifth Wall is starting to gain some much-deserved traction, and the second EP from co-founder Divvorce is an apt demonstration as to why. The label’s releases so far—which include EPs from Physical Therapy, Clouds, Matrixxman, and label co-founder Hound Scales—have walked an intriguing line between bare-boned, stony-faced techno and gestures towards the more playful ends of the rave and bass spectrums. Consisting of two originals and two remixes from labelmates Physical Therapy and Unklone, the Vanessa (A Dreamer) EP purports to be influenced by “pretentious sources” such as Franz Kafka, Darren Aronofsky, and a solitary walk through Paris during Fashion Week, but it’s surprisingly lacking in chilly austerity. Instead, as the record’s humorous press release suggests, the EP exhibits a very self-conscious brand of seriousness that isn’t afraid to have its tongue slightly in-cheek.
The EP’s first original track, “Wander 7,” opens with ominous, de-tuned synths and a vocoded voice before skittish hi-hats and a heady bassline are introduced to the mix, giving the song an almost British rave sensibility. It’s dark techno with a playful edge, as the track borders on the theatrical, even though Divvorce always seems to be in total control. More oblique is the second original, “Roquentin’s Release,” which again deploys a monstrous bassline, this time in service of the track’s tensely drawn-out atmospherics, and ultimately dissipates into an extended, found-sound-based outro. Physical Therapy’s remix of the same track reworks the original’s near-illegibility into melancholic, rainy-day techno and blurry soundscapes; the result is unlike anything Physical Therapy has tried his hand at before and is surely one of the better things that the New York producer has turned out thus far. Unklone’s remix of non-EP track “Anny” takes things in a different direction from the rest of Vanessa (A Dreamer) with its elongated dub-techno, and as a result is perhaps the weak link on what is otherwise a playfully inventive release.
Before wrapping up its first year as a label, Long Island-based label South Fork Sound have put together a free compilation for the holidays. Featuring nine tracks which skirt the lines between leftfield and dubwise club sounds, the particularly restless “My Orchestra” from Volatil serves as one of the collection’s standout cuts. Playing to its favor, the four-plus-minute tune seems unable to sync up with one particular groove, its jumpy chords and morphing percussion enticing the listener to follow their unconventional patterns to the track’s end. South Fork Sound’s entire A Very South Fork Christmas comp—which features additional cuts from Blind Prophet, Cauto, and others—can be grabbed as a name-your-price download here.
The reissue of Glaswegian Dave Clark’s little-known “Portland” single on Numbers comes with an intriguing and drawn-out back story. Originally issued by the short-lived Stuffrecords label—an early incarnation of Numbers—under Clark’s Sparky moniker back in 2002, it was later discovered by the Numbers team that Ricardo Villalobos was a huge fan of the record, setting in motion a plan to have the track reissued with a remix from the minimal legend. The resulting release pairs the electro, Drexciya-tinged title track with an additional pair of previously unreleased tracks from the 1998 sessions that birthed “Portland” and a mammoth, 30-minute-long, two-part remix from Villalobos.
Clark was a stalwart of Glasgow’s techno and house scenes throughout the ’90s as part of the techno group State of Flux, and the aesthetic sensibilities of vintage Northern UK techno are detectable in “Portland”‘s brittle drum programming. However, the core of the track is pure, stripped-back Detroit electro, particularly with its rounded bassline, stuttering drums, and eerie, atmospheric string track. The song was allegedly a bit of an anthem at the early Numbers parties, and it’s hard not to see why. The previously unreleased “Jigsaw” takes a similar tack, although it’s slightly less immediate, pairing squiggly synths and moody drones with a repeated vocal refrain; it’s almost classicist in its approach, but for that reason, it’s also slightly unremarkable. Meanwhile, “Wilson St” takes things in ambient, entirely spooky direction.
Aside from the unjustly forgotten title track, the real highlight of this package is Ricardo Villalobos’ two-part remix of “Portland.” The remix is languid in a way that will be familiar to fans of Villalobos’ work, and while it keeps the big, crunchy bassline of the original, he also injects a limber groove to the proceedings. As the track progresses, things get weirder with the introduction of time-stretched synths and odd rhythmic syncopations. During the final 10 minutes, the beat momentarily drops out completely, and the track is reprised in a cold, crisp, almost unrecognizable form. Ambling but thoroughly exploratory, it’s interestingly suggested in the press release that Villalobos’ remix could also be played at 45 rpm to give the track a far more club-ready tempo. Coinciding with Numbers’ 10-year anniversary celebrations, the record also shows how far the label/collective—and indeed the dance-music landscape as a whole—has come since 2002. “Portland” and Villalobos’ remix are a far cry from Rustie, but this reissue serves as a pertinent reminder not only of Numbers’ origins, but of the continued diversity and wide-ranging tastes of the label.
