Today, Cardiff upstart Bradley Albertides (a.k.a. Bluredism) drops his debut LP via the fledgling Teng label. The 10-track Beautiful Ugly Collection showcases the budding artist’s knack for patchwork electronic production, a talent heard in spades on album cut “Dots in Patches.” Built around a set of repurposed chords, “Dots in Patches” is an introspective tune that fuses together what would at first seem to be disparate elements—delicate chords, a semi-industrial break, a 2-step indebted kick-and-rimshot skip, and alternating layers of noisy percussion—but which Albertides has no trouble making sense of. The resulting production is a unique hybrid of textured dance music, one that is bound to take many different forms across the man’s just-released debut full-length.
In just a few releases as Vessel, Bristol resident Seb Gainsborough has proven to have multifarious interests. It figures that he’s still fairly young—his music has the openness expected from someone who, having recently unlocked the possibilities of his machines, finds an expansive world to operate in. The same experimental quality that grants him his exciting quirks, however, also means that each new release is a potential left turn—the possibility of incoherence looms over his work. Misery Is a Communicable Disease, his first release for Mute’s Liberation Technologies offshoot, isn’t a disjointed effort, but it does find the innovative producer driving his music in new directions.
The title track’s drums are rendered in shrill, distorted halftime; its brassy pads provide the best Vangelis impersonation since Kuedo’s Severant, and they’re at first bathed in so much reverb that they seem to be glowing. It’s also the finest piece here, and one in which the stirring atmosphere does much of the heavy lifting. “VMI” furthers that track’s sense of corrosion; its rhythm bangs on iron, and it has a cheekily deranged sense of melody. “Not for Design” is more purpose built, though the song takes its time making its intentions clear. Its introductory shuffle, laced with aggressively growling bass and a whistling teapot tune, eventually makes room for a sinister, acidic synthline that could have been plucked straight off a new-beat record. It’s all a far cry from Vessel’s earlier work, which earned him more than a few comparisons to Actress, but it maintains the same spatial values, and the same slightly creepy idiosyncrasies. Feral overdrive is in vogue, but Gainsborough generally manages to keep his use of it in check, countering the blunt force with detail.
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. It’s not often that a track from our Downloads section nabs the top spot on The Lowdown, but it’s not every week that we can offer up a remix of Moby (pictured above). This week, the veteran artist allowed us to give away a rework of “The Perfect Life” by Toronto-based darkwave outfit TRUST as a free download.
2. Four Tet took over the Rinse FM airwaves for eight hours last weekend, and shared a previously unreleased collaboration with Burial, which quickly found its way online.
3. This week’s XLR8R podcast was delivered by garage-loving UK house producer Huxley.
4. It was a big week for the Downloads section of XLR8R, as we also shared this Slow Magic remix of Gold Panda’s “Brazil.”
5. Last week, XLR8R headed down to Mexico City for the 10th annual MUTEK.MX festival, and our review spelled out 12 reasons why this year’s edition was an unforgettable event.
6. Leftfield hip-hop veterans Dan the Automator and RJD2 have both resurfaced with new albums recently—the former as part of the Deltron 3030 project—so we decided that now would be a good time to get the two together for a conversation in the latest installment of our B2B series.
7. Next week, LA beatmaker Knxwledge will be releasing a new full-length, Kauliflowr, via Dublin’s All-City label. Ahead of that, we’ve been streaming the LP in full here on XLR8R.
8. Another quality album that surfaced online this week was Cosmic Machine: A Voyage Across French Cosmic & Electronic Avantgarde (1970-1980), a 20-track compilation of classic French electronic music. The record is streaming in full.
9. The second chapter of our four-part Innovators mix series went live this week, and came courtesy of LA producer and Fade to Mind bossman Kingdom.
10. FaltyDL has been busy in 2013, and elected to keep his activity level up by giving away a free EP of edits under the name Donna Chambray Loren.
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.
The knowledgable crew at Strut have put together a comprehensive retrospective of legendary Chicago house label Dance Mania for the forthcoming Hardcore Traxx: Dance Mania Records 1986-1997 compilation. Set to drop early next year, the 24-track collection will cover the seminal label’s evolving sound from Chicago’s exploding house scene of the ’80s into the the roots of ghetto-house in the ’90s—including standout cuts from Parris Mitchell’s Rhythm II Rhythm alias, DJ Funk, and recent XLR8Rpodcast contributor Paul Johnson, among others. No exact release date for Hardcore Traxx has been shared yet, but the compilation’s full tracklist is included below.
CD1: 01 Hercules – 7 Ways (Club) 02 Victor Romeo featuring Leatrice Brown – Love Will Find A Way (Club) 03 The House Master Boyz And The Rude Boy Of House – House Nation 04 Duane & Co – J.B. Traxx 05 Vincent Floyd – I Dream You 06 Da Posse featuring Martell – Searchin’ Hard 07 Club Style – Crazy Wild 08 Jammin’ The House Gerald – Black Women (Club) 09 Tyree – Nuthin’ Wrong 10 Strong Souls – Twinkles 11 3.2.6 – Falling (Armando’s House mix) 12 Rhythm II Rhythm – A Touch Of Jazz (Lifestyles Of The Rich mix)
CD2: 01 DJ Funk – House the Groove 02 Paul Johnson – Feel My M.F. Bass 03 DJ Funk – The Original Video Clash: Video Clash II (Street mix) 04 Parris Mitchell Project feat. Wax Master – Ghetto Shout Out!! 05 DJ Deeon – Da Bomb 06 Houz’ Mon – Fear The World 07 Vincent Floyd – I’m So Deep 08 Tim Harper – Toxic Waste (Club mix) 09 Robert Armani – Ambulance 10 DJ Deeon – House-O-Matic 11 Traxmen & Eric Martin – Hit It From The Back 12 Top Cat – Work Out
CFCF‘s new video for “Beyond Light” is the latest sampling of his soon-to-be released sophomore effort Outside. The literalizing video acts on the song’s title with strobing images of laser-baked orbs and molecular structures, images which seem to materialize the song’s synth-guitar mediations. As the arpeggios unfold around the thin, barely there guitar licks and doomed drum cadence, the lighted figures of the visuals follow their example—undulating, cramming together, and feeling out the distance between each other. Outside is set to drop on October 21 via Paper Bag. (via Dummy)
San Francisco-based producer Aria Rostami is interested in more than just music. Pulling inspiration from the “interlocking communities and climates” of his greater surroundings, Aria crafts visceral, IDM-touched productions like the astral “Ankou,” a cut from his hypnagogic Decades/Peter LP for Crash Symbols (available now on Bandcamp). The track rushes in with ambient field recordings and aquatic soundscapes before giving way to a heavy sub frequencies. Patchy, twinkling synths apply a sensitive and convivial touch to “Ankou”‘s loosely plotted skitters and wisps.
New York label L.I.E.S. is forever a strange bunch, prolifically releasing house music seemingly tied together by some deranged, industrial aesthetic, and it continues the streak with records on the way from two new roster additions. First up is a two-track 12″ called Siamese Connextion by Connecticut-based artist Entro Senestre. Streaming below, a-side cut “Root Canal” is a cut of blistering electro which displays Entro Senestre’s acidic approach to techno. Parisian producer Voiski‘s three-track, self-titled EP is also on the way; the “From White to Red” track streaming below is a cyclical and self-contained techno production which seems to deconstruct hip-hop as it swirls around its glassy milieu. Both releases are do out next week, but before then, their tracklists and previews can be found below. (via Juno Plus)
South East London duo Howson’s Groove might be a new name to most, but its upcoming Blithe EP for UK label Chasing Unicorns already demonstrates a wealth of well-executed ideas. Featured here, “I Wonder…” is a particularly liquid track from the release which manages to split the difference between the wrinkly funk of Letherette and the stop-start rhythmic lurching of fellow newcomer Jaw Jam. Howson’s Groove subjugates a deep, um, groove with cowering synths that spin with just the right amount of wobble and a vocal sample that is always just slightly out of earshot.
Moog announcing the launch of its Minifooger series was perhaps the biggest news to arrive in the gear world this week, but there is still plenty more to catch up on in the latest This Week in Music Tech—including reviews of new Novation gear, a look at the Blueboard Bluetooth MIDI Pedalboard, a discussion on found sound with Will Saul, and an in-depth look at techno’s evolving, hardware-driven live sets.
Earlier this week, XLR8R‘s gear department reviewed a slew of new Novation products, including the company’s Mini suite of compact controllers (pictured above) and a reboot of its classic Bass Station analog synth. Our full review of the Launchkey Mini, Launchpad Mini, and Launch Control MIDI controllers can be read here, while our complete thoughts on the powerful Bass Station II synth can be found here.
Moog officially announced its forthcoming Minifooger series of FX pedals this week. The new collection of FX will be available for under $200 each, making these some of Moog’s most affordable products. The five new stompboxes—the MF Delay, MF Drive, MF Ring, MF Boost, and MF Trem—are shown in action in the demo video above.
IK Multimedia released its iRig BlueBoard Bluetooth MIDI Pedalboard this week. The compact, $99 controller transmits its signals over Bluetooth and is made to be used with any MIDI-accepting app. The ridiculously cheesy promo video above explains the process and various uses of the BlueBoard, but we recommend finding better uses for this cheap, ultra-portable foot controller.
In the latest edition of its Found Sound series, Dummy enlisted Aus label head Will Saul (a.k.a. Close) to highlight a found sound used in his track “Wallflower.” A combination of recorded keys and pens being dropped on a metal surface, slowed-down, and ran through a ’50s-era plate reverb resulted in the audio shared in the player above. Dummy‘s full interview with Saul about the process behind this sound and his approach to using field recordings in his productions can be read here.
Attack Magazine shared an intriguing article this week, covering the rise of hardware-driven live sets within the world of techno. Speaking with outfits like A Guy Called Gerald, Skudge, Juju & Jordash (pictured above), and others, the article discusses the setups of each group and what philosophies drive their performances. Attack‘s full article can be read here.
There’s a load of reasons to be excited about this week’s edition of Press Play. Specifically, we’ve got sights and sounds from the likes of Four Tet, Mosca, Breach, Kyle Hall, Autechre, Legowelt, Anthony Naples, Gerry Read, and Pilooski, among others—including quality remixes, full record streams, engrossing music videos, DJ mixes, and more. It’s quite a bit to take in, so we suggest that everyone gets to clicking on those play buttons after the jump.
Though it happened this past weekend, Four Tet’s eight-hour, marathon set for Rinse went live on the internet this week.
Vintage footage of Autechre performing in Manchester circa 1991 appeared seemingly out of nowhere recently, quickly making its way around the blogosphere.
Fast-rising UK DJ/producer Breach dropped a slick video for his new Andreya Triana-featuring single “Everything You Never Had (We Had It All).”
“Wallflower (Kyle Hall Remix)” is the latest version of Close’s recent single with Fink to hit the web.
The same week Mosca’s latest record drops via Delsin’s Ann Aimee imprint, his A Thousand Years’ Wait EP can now be streamed in full.
Legowelt’s new “Teen Romance” tune for L.I.E.S. is on its way next month, but can now be heard in its entirety ahead of its release.
Brooklyn house experimentalist Anthony Naples was tapped to remix !!!’s “Californyeah” track for Warp.
Gerry Read’s new 12″ for Fourth Wave is out this coming Monday, so we get to hear another one of its tracks, “Andy Asteroids,” before then.
Aussie duo Gardland let loose with another track from its upcoming Syndrome Syndrome LP for RVNG, the moody “Magicville.”
It has been a while since we’ve heard from recent Brooklyn transplant Jim-E Stack, but he changed that this week by dropping his new “Is It Me” single.
Brownswood signees Owiny Sigoma Band just shared Pilooski’s buoyant remix of its “Sunken Wrecks” tune.
We’re not entirely sure why this video for a track called “Prove You Exist” by Claude Speeed appeared, but we’re glad it did.
File this one under totally unexpected remixes: Seattle tunesmith Kid Simpl transformed DJ Khaled’s “No New Friends” into a heavy smear of atmospheric beats.
This video for “The Gorge” by newcomer ALAK is the latest taste of the producer’s upcoming Guardian Petted release for the Kaleidoscope label.
