XLR8R always makes an effort to cover music that we think is new and exciting, but certain acts have proven themselves to be especially adept at breaking the mold. The Innovators mix series, presented by Cigna, is designed to spotlight one-of-a-kind artists that we think are particularly innovative and unique. Following our previous Innovators mixes by the likes of Kingdom and Todd Edwards—click here to peruse the entire series—we’ve tapped a legitimate legend for this week’s installment, Kevin Saunderson. Granted, Detroit’s dance-music history is essentially overflowing with artists that have been tagged as “legends,” but Saunderson unquestionably fits the bill. After all, he’s generally recognized as one of the original creators of techno, alongside similarly revered producers Juan Atkins and Derrick May. For many artists, that alone would have been sufficient, but Saunderson has made his mark in a variety of ways, including his pop-crossover project Inner City, his more underground efforts as E-Dancer, and his stewardship of the KMS label. More than 25 years after his first records changed the electronic landscape forever, Saunderson keeps on working, and in recent years has even seen his own sons follow his footsteps and join the techno game. On his Innovators mix, Saunderson delivers an hour-long session that’s essentially loaded with the same sort of brightly melodic and subtly soulful tunes that he’s been playing throughout his career.
01 Tom Taylor “Jazz Dialect” (Dessous) 02 Bicep “Vision of Love” (Feel My Bicep) 03 Felix Cage “Mascarade (Rodriguez Jr. Remix)” (Electronical Reeds) 04 PJ “Happy Days (Daniel Dubb 2013 Edit)” (DV8) 05 Copyright feat. Jody Findley “Sacrifice” (Defected) 06 Grant Nalder “Sunshine” (Freeze Dried) 07 Deep Future “Let Me Go (Dirty Channels Gruuvy Rework) (Gruuv) 08 Dantiez Saunderson & Exhale “Mercenary” 09 Gusto “Disco’s Revenge (Eric Krupper Mix)” (Hysteria) 10 Ninetoes “Finder” (Kling Klong) 11 Brandon DeCarlo “Not with Standing” (KMS) 12 Greg Gow “Rings of Saturn” (KMS) 13 Dantiez Saunderson & John Norman “Resonance” 14 Inner City “Big Fun (House of Virus Remix)” (KMS) 15 L8M8 & Damarii Saunderson “The Path” 16 E-Dancer “Velocity Funk (Joe Brunning’s Back to the Funk)” 17 Kevin Saunderson Presents Inner City “Good Life ( Pig & Dan Less is More Dub Mix)” (KMS)
Dutch producer Legowelt (a.k.a Danny Wolfers) has managed to keep up a frenetic pace for the past decade, and he’s not showing any signs of slowing down soon, as he’s just shared news of his upcoming Crystal Cult 2080 LP. Said to have been recorded mostly in The Hague, the 10-track album will reportedly expand on Legowelt’s palette of already synthesizer-heavy textures by utilizing a classic ’90s digital synthesizer, the Roland JV-2080, as well as a homemade germanium crystal compressor—both of which infuse the record with an enveloping warmth that ties the tracks together. Crystal Cult 2080 is apparently “coming soon” via Dutch label Creme Organization, but will be preceded by a four-track “album sampler” EP on November 4; that record’s artwork and tracklist can be found below.
1. Crystal Code 2080 (Extended 12″ Dub) 2. Majestic Alchemy 3. Mistral 4. Do What U Gotta Do
This week’s Labels We Lovepodcast from PAN label boss Bill Kouligas highlighted his tendency to work with artists who infuse classic techno sounds with dark, industrial details. Berlin-based producer Heatsick (a.k.a. Steven Warwick) is a longstanding proponent of that sound, relying on an old Casio keyboard and little else to create dusty, off-the-cuff dancefloor workouts that maintain a fierce rhythmic intensity. Now, Warwick has announced that he’ll soon release his next album for PAN, the 11-track Re-Engineering. Described as a “cybernetic poem” meant to indulge in “the mores of hypnotic dance music while holding a critical, and at times satirical, lens toward the culture writ large,” Heatsick’s latest LP will arrive on November 29. Warwick will support his album’s release with a string of live dates through Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, before finally making his way to the Novas Frequencias Festival in Brazil. Those tour dates, as well as Re-Engineering‘s tracklist and artwork, can be found below.
Side B: 1. SPECULATIVE 2. Après Moi, Le Déluge! 3. DIAL AGAIN 4. EMERGE 5. ACCELERATIONISTA
17/10/13 Nantes, FR Pôle Etudiant w/ Sculpture 23/10/13 Bristol, UK The Exchange w/ Shangaan Electro 09/11/13 Sydney, AU Sound Summit Festival 14/11/13 Brisbane, AU 15/11/13 Perth, AU Connections Nightclub w/ Tama Sumo 16/11/13 Melbourne, AU Boney 20/11/13 Dunedin, NZ Chicks Hotel 21/11/13 Auckland, NZ Whammy 22/11/13 Wellington, NZ Puppies 23/11/13 Christchurch, NZ Third Door Down 24/11/13 Palmerston North, NZ The Fish 30/11/13 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Novas Frequencias Festival 01/12/13 Rio De Janiero, Brazil, Panel Discussion
Following the label’s highly sought-after In the Dark: In the Soul of Detroit collection from 2005, Still Music will issue the double-disc In The Dark: Detroit Is Back compilation later this month. The 24-track release will provide an insider’s view into the current sounds of the fabled Midwest city with tracks from Terrence Dixon, Patrice Scott, Rick Wilhite, and many others. “Make It Work” is Marcellus Pittman‘s contribution to the effort, one that finds the veteran DJ/producer piecing together a loosely swung house track in which languid synthlines run free amongst beds of deep, filtered chords and slow-rising strings. Pittman’s production embodies the kind of raw, soul-steeped Detroit sound Still Music will deliver two-discs of when In The Dark: Detroit Is Back drops on October 29.
One of the most remarkable things about Joe is how pristine he’s been able to keep his discography. The press-shy producer rarely releases music at all, and when he does, it usually feels like some kind of event. Joe is a master at making his machines flex like non-electronic instruments; at the same time, he works with a rigidity that seems more derived from Bohannon or the JB’s than his “bass music” contemporaries. The producer continues the streak with “Slope” b/w “Maximum Busy Muscle,” his latest 12″ for Hessle Audio.
“Slope” transitions between a section with squiggling, rubbery sine bass and a more straight up-and-down kick-drum push, which is escorted in by swelling string pads. As is his wont, Joe does a great job separating all the parts, intermittently taking the main pieces into a “room” created by a reverberating field recording. Even if its space wasn’t so carefully constructed, one suspects it would still be successful, thanks to that trade-off between sections. “Maximum Busy Muscle,” meanwhile, does what it says in the title; it’s one of those tracks whose rhythmic gears are so tight and yet slightly wonky that it practically simulates a live drummer. Its frisky drum rolls and stabby synthesizer honks hint at any number of “live techno” acts: Elektro Guzzi, Brandt Brauer Frick, et cetera. That Joe is doing it by himself is even more impressive.
Manchester 2-step/UKG veteran Zed Bias (a.k.a. Dave Jones) has announced that his next album under that moniker will soon arrive via Loefah’s consistently impressive Swamp81 label. Featuring guest appearances from Strictly Rhythm affiliate Roy Davis Jr. and MC Chunky, the eight-track Boss LP is said to have been “recorded in various locations up in Manchester and down at Red Bull Studios in London,” and will drop on November 18. Jones has also used the occasion to announce plans to launch a new label, called Biasonic, with releases on the way from Roy Davis Jr, Lady Chann, Murlo, Terror Danjah, and more. But before any of that goes down, Boss‘ tracklist and a snippet of album cut “Boss Skank” can be found below.
1.Eingang 2.Ye 3.Boss Skank 4.We Are There featuring Roy Davis Jr 5.Tug 6.Copper 7.We’re There featuring Chunky 8.Flamm featuring Chunky
After signing to Anticon earlier this year and reissuing his Tide Songs EP in April, Gravel represents Wedidit affiliate Djavan Santos’ (a.k.a. D33J) first batch of genuine new material since he properly kicked off his production career earlier this year. This EP, however, does little to move the young producer’s craft forward, as it revisits a host of well-treaded ideas while offering a somewhat boilerplate collection of moody, trap-hinting beats.
To his credit, Santos has an undeniable knack for melody and corresponding chord structures; it is something that made his Tide Songs cassette and various pop-refitting remixes such enjoyable listens. On Gravel, D33J still very much displays this talent, but where his past work took on a more aquatic, and sometimes psychedelic or even whimsical feel, this EP has a much more serious attitude. This in itself is not a bad thing—D33J’s hazy textures and sunken progressions have always been well-fitted for lonely, contemplative electronic music—but the problem is that the sonic structures which hold these themes together do not sound as seriously constructed as the emotions they attempt to represent. The record’s accompanying literature claims that the bulk of Gravel‘s rhythms were crafted from a “blend of 808 drums and lo-fi desk claps,” and if this is truly the case, an 808 (or more likely samples of one) has rarely sounded so lackluster. With the exception of “Slow,” the EP’s appropriately titled second cut, the record’s drum programming takes a strange backseat; basically, it’s been absorbed by all of D33J’s gushy layers of fuzzy chords and reverb-washed everything, which leaves the drums ill-prepared to carry the songs with any real force or drive.
All things considered, Gravel is certainly a passable record, one which even has its share of brighter moments; the opening “Faded Creek” is an alluringly glacial beat in its more sparse sections, the closing “Empty Sunset” is certainly catchy, and the aforementioned “Slow” serves as the EP’s most inventive cut. Still, there is something that feels a bit unfinished about Gravel, both in its sonic build (which can feel oddly sloppy at times) and in the strength of its ideas, which often echo the usual suspects—Mount Kimbie and Shlohmo in particular—too transparently. In truth, D33J is showing up a bit late to the Wedidit party, and as such, his somewhat undeveloped tracks are bound to (perhaps somewhat unfairly) be placed next to those of his more experienced counterparts, which only makes it all the more clear that D33J has some catching up to do.
All week long, XLR8R is presenting its annual focus on Labels We Love. Click here to check out the rest of the series.
After putting together a few in-depth Labels We Love features about some of our favorite labels, we quickly realized that we wouldn’t be able to give all of our favorite imprints that kind of attention this week. Nevertheless, we still wanted to shine a little light on some additional labels that have been particularly strong in 2013. Although this list—which is simply being presented in alphabetical order—certainly doesn’t contain the names of every single imprint that we’re fond of, it does account for the 10 labels whose output has truly been head and shoulders above the rest of the pack during the past year. And though it was extremely difficult to whittle our choices down to just 10 selections, we couldn’t bring ourselves to end the Labels We Love list-making there. After all, a lot of impressive new imprints have popped up on our radar during the past 12 months, often out of nowhere, so we wanted to give a bit of attention to four newbies whose initial output has been especially full of promise.
LABELS WE LOVE
50Weapons Over the past few years, it’s been hard to argue with the run that Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian “Charlie” Szary (a.k.a. Modeselektor) have put together with their 50Weapons imprint. Though its catalog may not be tied to any one genre in particular, the label’s dedication to adventurous dancefloor fare with an emphasis on bass weight has made for a discography that is consistently dependable and uncommonly powerful. In recent years, the label has developed a rotating cast of regulars—including Berlin transplant Benjamin Damage, techno convert Cosmin TRG, 808 master Addison Groove, and the percussion-obsessed Bambounou—while respected veterans such as Shed, Marcel Dettmann, and Untold also pop in to make periodic appearances. 50Weapons may lack a concrete sonic image, but it more than makes up for it with its ability to continually release top-notch tracks with a low-end wallop. Given that the music has been plucked from across a wide range of the bass-music and techno spectrums, it seems that the 50Weapons catalog is essentially the result of Bronsert and Szary finding and releasing the music they like, without regard for much else. Fortunately, the pair has some fine taste and, perhaps more importantly, some talented friends to keep the tunes coming. Glenn Jackson
Clone There’s a reason that Clone has appeared on this list multiple years in a row. Quite simply, the Dutch record store-turned-label is one of the most consistently well-curated entities in contemporary dance music. What’s more impressive is that the label’s quality level has remained so high, even after Serge Verschuur, its founder, decided to filter its output through a myriad of sub-labels in 2009. That splintering has turned out to be a positive thing, and now, in 2013, many of those sub-labels have practically developed into fully fledged imprints of their own. In particular, this year has seen a lot of activity on Jack for Daze, which focuses on a tracky and hardware-driven ’80s house sound that has shined on L-Vis 1990’s Circuits and The Artist Formerly Known As 19.454.18.5.25.5.18’s “Spadesdance.” Fellow sub-label Royal Oak has also been active, releasing more straightforward house offerings like Headless Ghost’s stab-heavy Frontend EP and Space Dimension Controller’s G-funk-tinged Correlation #1. The Clone West Coast series (which references the electro music often associated with Dutch coastal towns like The Hague) remains another strong outpost, particularly with the release of Versalife’s epically paranoid Vantage Point LP. Regardless of which sub-label is doing the releasing, there’s little question that Clone can be counted upon as a bastion of quality and consistency. Derek Opperman
Houndstooth Given Fabric’s pedigree as a nightclub and record label, it’s no surprise that its Houndstooth offshoot has been a similar bastion of quality. Named for the distinctive pattern that inspired Fabric’s logo and headed up by Rob Booth of the esteemed Electronic Explorations blog, Houndstooth has been churning out quality releases at a steady clip since launching with Call Super’s The Present Tense in February of this year. Since then, the young imprint has dabbled in dub (House of Black Lanterns’ wonderfully smoky “Like A Warrior”), cavernous sound design (Akkord’s Navigate EP), and even orchestral anthems like Snow Ghost’s melancholy “And The World Was Gone.” In addition to bringing veteran techno producer Dave Clarke out of retirement as _Unsubscribe_, Houndstooth has played a key role in the recent resurrection of jungle, releasing Paul Woolford’s gnashing pirate-radio love letters as Special Request on the Hardcore EP and the exemplary Soul Music LP. It’s been a tremendous nine months for Houndstooth, and we’re hoping the prodigious output can continue to be so consistently revelatory. Aaron Gonsher
L.I.E.S. Over the past couple of years, the L.I.E.S. label has steadily gained a reputation and following the old-fashioned way—releasing an endless stream of 12″s (and the occasional LP) with almost no PR, and, more importantly, no bullshit. It doesn’t hurt that label boss Ron Morelli has assembled one of the tightest rosters in the game, one made up of friends and acquaintances with a shared desire to take house and techno back to basics. Still, L.I.E.S. isn’t merely rehashing classic house and techno; its releases rework those structures, and often undergirds them with dense layers of hiss and scree. The label’s recent output has made 2013 something of a banner year; between the polyrhythmic techno exercises of Marcos Cabral’s False Memories LP and the haunted vocal house of Florian Kupfer’s Lifetrax, not to mention reliable transmissions from label denizens such as Bookworms and Steve Summers, L.I.E.S. seems to be working within a larger range of styles than ever before. And with no sign of letting up its prolific output, it’s hard to shake the feeling that we’re seeing one of today’s most important underground American house imprints in its prime. Tim Gentles
Livity Sound/Punch Drunk
Bristol has long stood as a unique and vital hub for inventive, strong-armed dance music, and in recent years, the vinyl-focused Livity Sound label has set up camp on the city’s leading edge. Jointly run by veteran tunesmith Tom Ford (a.k.a. Peverelist) and fast-rising producers Joe Cowton (a.k.a. Kowton) and Craig Stennett (a.k.a. Asusu), Livity Sound has served as a reliable source for machinist workouts laced with efficient rhythms and expertly applied touches of space and mood. Relying on the label heads themselves to provide the imprint’s entire catalog, Peverelist (usually operating simply as Pev) and Kowton have proven be a particularly successful pairing, delivering the excellent “End Point” b/w “Vapours,” while outings such as Asusu’s “Velez” b/w “Rendering” have shown the budding talent to be fully capable of holding its own. The much-anticipated Livity Sound double-LP is set to drop next week, and looks poised to elevate the imprint’s reputation even further. At the same time, as Livity Sound’s run has ramped up, Ford’s own Punch Drunk label—a longstanding Bristol institution—has slid slightly into the background. That said, with the long-running label now building at an unhurried pace, its catalog has remained essential, as Ford’s own collaboration alongside hometown upstart Hodge, “Bells (System Mix)” b/w “Bells (Dream Sequence),” provided another triumph for the label this year. Together, Livity Sound and Punch Drunk appear to have their fingers on the pulse of Bristol, a place that continues to be an important hub of forward-thinking dance music. Glenn Jackson
Mister Saturday Night Overtly influenced by the inclusive ethos of David Mancuso’s Loft and driven by the ebullient DJing of founders and residents Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin, Mister Saturday Night was a New York institution even before the crew celebrated its 100th party last year. But once Mister Saturday Night started up a vinyl-only label around the same time and kicked things off with Anthony Naples’ Mad Disrespect EP, its reputation skyrocketed internationally. Building upon the runaway success of Naples’ dusty, sample-based house outings (he also delivered the “Moscato” 12″ for the label), MSN has shown a knack for spotting diverse young talent amongst its legions of followers, as both Alex Burkat, who produced the lush Shower Scene, and Hank Jackson, the man behind the tough techno of the Deposit EP, were both frequent party attendees. The label’s output also includes Dark Sky’s cloudy house and the casually inventive jazz of trio Archie Pelago’s self-titled EP, but even as Mister Saturday Night continues to expand its range, there’s little question that the tunes have been selected with the party’s inviting atmosphere as an ongoing inspiration. Aaron Gonsher
Ostgut Ton Resident DJs and supporters of Berlin’s Berghain nightclub are usually quite vocal in their denial of a unified “Berghain techno” sound, often arguing that the club has a more broad-reaching soundtrack than the dark, industrial techno its name has come to evoke. And while that may be true of the club’s weekend-long parties, it’s at least possible to detect a semblance of cohesion in the diverse yet surgically clean releases of its in-house label, Ostgut Ton. 2013 has been good to the imprint, with a spread of releases that includes everything from melodically driven ambiance to harder-edged industrial percussion. On the former half of that spectrum was Steffi’s Panorama Bar 05 mix, a hazy trip through moody deep house that made for one of the series’ best installments so far. Similar, though more techno-leaning, was Marcel Fengler’s Fokus, an album-length continuation of his recent ambient-techno experiments. Harder stuff was in abundance as well, in particular on LPs like Marcel Dettmann’s minimal Dettmann II and Function’s often creepy Incubation. Add in an even more varied list of EPs by the likes of Rolando, Len Faki, and Nick Höppner, and it’s not hard to understand why the German label has been one of our favorites. Derek Opperman
RVNG Intl. Matt Werth’s RVNG Intl. has always been an exacting, quality-over-quantity enterprise. Werth is an enthusiastic owner willing to put in the effort to make his catalog distinctive; as a result, the label is perhaps best known for its FRKWYS series, which pairs young, emerging musicians with older, more established ones. That series hasn’t seen an edition in 2013, and in reality, there haven’t been a ton of RVNG Intl. releases so far this year, just three LPs and a 12″. But the label’s drops increasingly feel like events, whether it’s Maxmillion Dunbar’s summery, shimmering House of Woo collection, Stellar Om Source’s crazed, discombobulated, Kassem Mosse-assisted Joy One Mile (and its accompanying “Elite Excel” 12″), or Blondes’ Swisher LP, which is easily the duo’s most accomplished set so far, not to mention an album that revives old-school motifs on a free-flowing, big-room scale. It takes a lot for a label to seem like it has a mature, dignified agenda in this day and age (especially without seeming like it hates fun), but Werth is absolutely pulling it off. Steve Kerr
The Trilogy Tapes Former Mo’ Wax visual director and frequent Honest Jon’s designer Will Bankhead has been branding releases with the The Trilogy Tapes name for years. A glance through the label’s online presence reveals everything from reggae and noise cassettes to posters and t-shirts designed by the man himself (including one for Torsten “T++” Pröfrock’s early alias Traktor), not to mention an involvement with London skateboard brand du jour Palace. This year has been as superb as the last, offering releases by known leftfield entities Anthony Naples, Tuff Sherm, and DJ Spider & Marshallito. The unique curation doesn’t stop there, as Bankhead has even made room for YouTube oddity Rezzett and a cassette by Rub N Tug’s Thomas Bullock as Tom Of England. This restless mix of upstarts and luminaries, often appearing in small runs and in unusual capacities, is more than enough to please even the most jaded record fiends. Steve Kerr
Werkdiscs Led by one of electronic music’s most enigmatic innovators, Actress’ Werkdiscs label has in many ways reflected the man’s own course as an artist over the years, consistently reporting back from the headier regions of dance music while often evolving along less-traveled sonic paths. While much of Werkdiscs’ run has seen the label look to a more regular cast of contributors—Lone and Lukid were tapped early on, while the imprint has of course continued to release the work of Actress himself—this year has seen the addition of some new names to the stable, specifically semi-anonymous Londoner Moiré and Hamburg producer/DJ Helena Huff (a regular selector at the renowned Golden Pudel club). Werkdiscs may not be a label that turns out an overwhelming volume of music, but it’s this selectiveness and seemingly organic cultivation that allows listeners an ample amount of time to process the singular sounds its artists have to offer. Emphasizing texture while coming cloaked in mystery, the veins of house and techno explored on Werkdiscs offer subdued tones and subtle movements. The impression left is often a faceless one, but it’s no less impactful for those willing to tag along with the label’s sporadic voyages into the undiscovered corners of dance music. Glenn Jackson
LABELS ON THE RISE
Argot/Tasteful Nudes Recent years have seen a surge in the popularity of classic American dance music, yet it sometimes feels like only a fraction of that music is actually being released by American labels. Enter Argot and its Tasteful Nudes sub-label, two imprints started by Little White Earbuds editor Steve Mizek that strive to at least partially reconnect the music to its geography. That said, Mizek’s approach is far from dogmatic, as he’s recently issued first-wave Detroit techno by Elizabeth Merrick-Jefferson, cheerful deep house by Bristolian producer Borai, and spaced-out hardware jams by Gunnar Haslam. Considering that he only began in 2012, it would seem that Mizek’s labels are poised to do very good things in the years to come. Derek Opperman
Fifth Wall Co-founded at the start of this year by the Brooklyn-based DJ/producer pair of Divvorce and Hound Scales, Fifth Wall has already made an impact with its outsider techno stance. With a sensibility that injects a playful, rave-inflected spin into most techno’s over-tweaked, Ableton-perfected fare, the label started off with two solo releases from the respective co-founders before branching out with the Man Out of Dubs EP from Scottish duo Clouds and a record from Irish producer Myler. It was towards the middle of this year that Fifth Wall really seemed to hit its stride, releasing The XX Files EP from San Franciso-based weirdo Matrixxman and a second EP, Femen, from Hound Scales, both of which showcased the label’s instinct for raw and unhinged techno. With a forthcoming EP from NYC genre-bender Physical Therapy scheduled to drop next week, Fifth Wall’s streak of idiosyncratic and intriguing releases looks set to continue. Tim Gentles
Proibito Anthony Naples was lauded by DJs ranging from Four Tet to Francois K in the wake of his breakthrough releases on Mister Saturday Night, but the Brooklyn producer’s Proibito imprint has traversed rougher terrain. Releases thus far from Huerco S. (operating under his Royal Crown of Sweden alias), Local Artist, and Naples himself have reveled in analog crackle while deftly sidestepping the already tired “outsider house” tag, emphasizing woozy samples, weighty basslines, and erratic percussion. With a record from rising Brooklynite (and fellow Mister Saturday Night alumnus) Hank Jackson in the works, Proibito appears to be taking on a familial vibe; moreover, there’s a casual melodicism at work on the records that suggests a crowded living room, gear strewn about, with each friend getting a turn at the controls. Aaron Gonsher
Styles Upon Styles Brooklyn imprint Styles Upon Styles opened its doors in 2012 with a bold, brave approach; essentially, label founders Cam Curran and Phil Tortoroli sought out producers they liked, and then lined up the artists’ most club-ready and experimental offerings on the opposite sides of a single slab of vinyl. The series was dubbed Bangers & Ash, and it put the young label on the map with entries from the likes of Tomlaan, Clay Wilson, kuxxan SUMM, King Garbage, and Best Available Technology. More importantly, those records laid the groundwork for Styles Upon Styles to expand its reach, a process that began with the release of a proper EP from Brooklyn trio Archie Pelago. The young label’s catalog is already a delight to dig through, and our enjoyment will hopefully keep rising as Styles Upon Styles continues its exploration of nebulous, adventurous territory. Brad Stabler
Enigmatic Berlin producer Marquis Hawkes (pictured above) has been releasing quality house music throughout the year—with an upcoming EP for Dixon Avenue Basement Jams on the way—and today we’re pleased to share the artist’s remix of “Shotgun,” by Toronto singer Rochelle Jordan. Originally enlisted to create the remix for Jacques Green’s Vase label, the acid-influenced house track is surfacing for the first time here, with collage cut-ups of Jordan’s vocals and luscious synth stabs hugging its lead rhythm. Shaking up the sullen R&B moods of the original single into a high-pressure club edit, Marquis Hawkes helps cheer up the songstress’ “Shotgun” with some dance efficacy.
Bass music’s permeable borders have provided an especially fertile ground for Rhode Island upstart James Hinton, who has racked up a respectable buzz in recent months with his musical exploits as The Range. Dabbling in jungle, footwork, stoner head-nodders, warped beats, and melodic chillout, Hinton specializes in wrangling together a celebratory pastiche of styles. His debut full-length, Nonfiction, for Brighton’s cheeky leftfield-bass-and-beats label Donky Pitch, is the producer’s clearest iteration of this compacted melange yet, a record steeped in nostalgia that still succeeds in solidifying his own particular voice.
Thoughtfully laid out, Nonfiction moves through a calculated series of peaks and valleys that balance the enterprising producer’s penchant for throwback D&B breaks and vintage rave warmth with moments of rap reflection and relative calm. “FM Myth” trills with high-pitched digital horns and foggy echoes before being engulfed in the muffled muttering of an indiscriminate grime sample and the clamor and crash of a jungle beat. One long crescendo, the track peaks out to make way for the more melodically minded “Hamiltonian.” Matching lush string arrangements and piano with an uncharacteristically subdued footwork rhythm, it in turn segues into the mellow and classically minded piano of “Postie,” which could best be described as a juke R&B ballad.
It’s this conscious ebb and flow—both within his compositions and from track to track—that makes Nonfiction such a compelling listen. A cut like “Jamie” sits relatively still, establishing an instrumental hip-hop base, shimmering atmospherics, a few sampled lines from a rap verse, and little else, only to be followed by “Seneca,” which stirs from its opening of tick-tock beats and plucked string textures to morph into a dense composition bursting with double-time drums, chimes, and rich layers of piano.
At the same time, Hinton isn’t writing every song to be his next big single. Some, like nu-jazz shuffler “Everything But” or the liquid roller “Sad Song,” sink into the mix without warranting much attention, likely by design. Even set closer “Metal Swing” freaks what sounds like a field recording of a novice rap rehearsal into a playful final diversion, but it attempts little more. These tracks add texture to the album without vying for the spotlight and make the sum bigger than its parts. Given that, and Hinton’s ability to coalesce such a broad palette of sounds into the neat package presented here, it’s certainly fitting that he’s chosen to call himself The Range.
