Edmondson “Junot”

While listening to “Junot,” the second cut from London producer Edmondson‘s new EMF: 003 EP, it seems easy to forget that there was ever a human involved in the track’s creation; its sharp percussion and perfectly aligned rhythms sound more machine than man. Still, the tune is far from lifeless. The moving parts of “Junot” create a constant pulse that keeps it lurching forward until Edmondson injects just a touch of emotion into the proceeding, laying down a thick bassline and rising chords that make for a particularly moody breakdown. But it’s only a tease, as the budding artist snaps us right back into mechanical mode moments later, not letting us forget that on “Junot,” the machines are always in control.

Junot

Deep’a & Biri Emotions, Visions, Changes

There appears to be no shortage of deep, chunky tech-house in Israel these days. The growing scene has found fertile soil in Tel Aviv, the home base for artists like Guy Gerber, Gel Abril, and Shlomi Aber, whose Be As One imprint has become a hub for Israeli producers. However, few have managed to cultivate a following outside the country. Yaron Amor and Itai Biri, the beatmakers behind Deep’a & Biri, have garnered one of the biggest profiles in the field thanks to ample support from DJ stalwarts like Derrick May, who included one of their tracks on his We Love Detroit compilation earlier this year and chose another for an upcoming Transmat collection. The duo’s output of dubbed-out techno EPs and singles also piqued the interest of DJ Hell, who is releasing the pair’s debut full-length via his International DeeJay Gigolo label. Although it’s their longest release to date, the two producers didn’t take the opportunity to reach for new heights or explore fresh sonic territory; Emotions, Visions, Changes finds Deep’a & Biri entrenched in their comfort zone.

All 10 tracks on the LP are composed of the same elements—dramatic dub chords, taut kick drums, full-bellied basslines, and clicking percussion—which leaves little room for differentiation. On “It’s Make Sense,” one of the more energetic cuts, moody chord stabs whip around a bone-deep beat, but it’s similar to “Fractal,” another relatively hard-hitting tune. The flickering chords on “Fractal” are lighter and overlaid with long, sweeping strings, but both tracks roll out fluttering keys and crisp drums to achieve dense, psychedelic atmospheres. They also resemble some of the softer songs on the album, like “Thetawaves” and “Last Chance Chasers.” Both of those are moodier, quieter tracks that focus more on undulating basslines and gliding extended pads, but their crunchy beats and velvety chords don’t break out of the mold of throbbing dub techno. Deep’a & Biri have a firm grasp on their chosen style—all the tracks are effective, hypnotic, and pretty—but it seems as if they’ve caged themselves inside one particular sound.

The opening track, “Fade to Nothing,” and album closer “Tears” stand out the most from the pack. “Fade to Nothing” bucks the mold by employing a barely there broken beat that refuses to coalesce into a four-on-the-floor rhythm. The song’s dub chords similarly take shape as a swirling ambient fog instead of flickering stabs. “Tears” uses snappy percussion, lustrous chords, and voluptuous sub bass, but it taps into a lighter energy and a more jacking momentum than its peers; the elastic kick drum bounces between crisp claps while a pretty melody oscillates blithely overhead. As these tunes demonstrate, Deep’a & Biri are certainly capable of composing solid and seductive tracks, but the rest of Emotions, Visions, Changes doesn’t do justice to their talent. Instead of experimenting or taking risks that could have made their work truly compelling, the pair has delivered something that is simply safe and effective.

The Lowdown – This Week’s XLR8R Top 10 with Four Tet, Delroy Edwards, Delorean, and More

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. The latest XLR8R podcast was put together by LA up-and-comer Delroy Edwards (pictured above), who put together an exclusive mix in advance of his appearance at this weekend’s New Forms Festival in Vancouver.

2. A new mini-documentary surfaced this week about Four Tet. Entitled Looking Backward, Moving Forward, the piece features an in-depth look at the UK artist’s career and is adorned with some lovely animation.

3. The top tune from our Downloads section this week came from rising Bristol producer Phaeleh, who offered up the 2-step-referencing “Make You Feel.”

4. Before veteran producer Nightmares on Wax issues his new LP next week, he passed along a Jameszoo remix of album cut “Be, I Do” for free download.

5. SCNTST has a new EP ready to drop, and sent us the distorted, thumping “Basement Structure” to give away to our readers.

6. Luxembourg producer Sun Glitters donated “Only You,” a texture-heavy cut from his forthcoming new LP, for our Downloads section.

7. The respected synth makers at Moog announced that they will soon discontinue production of the Little Phatty, one of the last units designed with the help of company founder Bob Moog.

8. Cleveland native RUMTUM offered up the psychedelic boom-bap of “Ritz Bitz” as a free download.

9. Andy Stott was recruited to remix “Valentine,” a cut from Tricky’s False Idols LP from earlier this year, and a stream of his rework surfaced this week.

10. We kicked off the week with a new installment of In the Studio, which took us inside the production lab of Barcelona dance-pop outfit Delorean.

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.

Subscribe to the XLR8R Lowdown

Shed “The Dirt” b/w “Fluid 67”

The pairing of Rene Pawlowitz (a.k.a. Shed) and Modeselektor’s 50Weapons imprint again proves to be a fruitful one, as the German producer checks in here with two powerfully percussive sides on his first 12″ of the year under his most frequently used moniker.

In the past, Shed has been a project rooted in the dark and dubby ends of techno, usually resulting in tracks that were more concerned with exploration than thundering sonics. More recently though, Pawlowitz has moved Shed towards deeper, warehouse-minded sounds, and both “The Dirt” and “Fluid 67” see this evolution continue. The a-side cut is simple and brief by Shed’s standards (clocking in at just over four-and-a-half minutes), but neither of these factors do the effort a disservice. Repitching a single fuzzy chord to create a two-bar pattern, Pawlowitz works an increasingly heavy-handed beat underneath, pushing loose hats, enormous kicks, and an up-swung snare to serve as a bed for the chorded pattern as it runs through loads of refracted processing. The tune flashes by and, despite its simplicity, it’s initially a bit hard to get a handle on; that said, it’s a track that has little trouble standing up to repeated listens.

The record’s b-side falls somewhere between “The Dirt” and Pawlowitz’s ’90s-obsessed Head High production moniker (a handle the producer has himself referred to as his “power house” alias). A bit deceiving from the start, “Fluid 67” begins with a shuffling set of drums that easily could have led to a more relaxed and spacey affair. But after a bit of careful building, Shed loops a short fragment of the Amen break, which immediately sends the tune off into vintage techno territory. The effect is especially amplified once the rhythm meets up with a four-bar organ loop, which itself has been filtered and delayed to give it an interesting texture and space. Much like its a-side counterpart, “Fluid 67” is a bit simple by Shed’s standards, but again, this does nothing to compromise the quality of the track. Whether he’s exploring the outer reaches of dubby techno or crafting efficient yet powerful pieces of warehouse dance music—as he does here—Shed sounds equally at home.

Sampha “Without (Bodhi Remix)”

Ahead of its as-yet-unannounced EP for Future Classic (which is apparently coming “very very soon”), garage-indebted UK duo Bodhi (pictured above) has shared a bootleg remix of “Without,” a standout single from frequent SBTRKT collaborator Sampha‘s debut solo EP, Dual. The original version of the song was a head nodding and percussive R&B affair with strung-out guitar licks, but Bodhi’s remix takes the track to a less emotive place, placing it firmly on the dancefloor. The hand drums and whorls of incandescent synths fill in the space behind Sampha’s croons while the ever-present and plushy house groove keeps the tempo lively.

Without (Bodhi Remix)

R.I.P. Audio Pioneer Ray Dolby

Though his many contributions to the audio world rarely found their way to the pages of XLR8R in name, it’s hard to imagine the current state of audio without Ray Dolby, the San Francisco-based engineer and inventor who founded Dolby Labratories in 1965 and pioneered decades of advancements in audio technology. After battling with Alzheimer’s disease and being diagnosed with leukaemia earlier this year, Dolby passed away this week at the age of 80. Perhaps best known for his many contributions to the field of noise reduction in audio recording (i.e. the Dolby Noise Reduction buttons found on many tape players), and, more recently, pushing the field of surround sound to its current status, Dolby was a tireless innovator with an endless urge to better shape the way we all hear and record audio. In light of his passing, Dolby Laboratories has shared a brief video to help remember Ray Dolby’s legacy, which can be watched via the player below.

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Download a Wildly Eclectic Mix from The Range

East Coast producer The Range is about a month from the release of his “uniquely crafted” debut LP for Donky Pitch, Nonfiction, and has opted to drop a wildly eclectic, jam-packed DJ set to tide over his fans in the interim. And when we say “wildly eclectic,” we certainly mean it: This 34-track mix takes on everything from Boyz II Men and Brandy to Hudson Mohawke, Synkro, dBridge, Squarepusher, DJ Koze, and ?-Ziq to The Books, Nick Cave, Múm, and The Beach Boys—not to mention The Range’s own never-before-heard tunes. What’s perhaps even more mind-boggling, though, is how the artist born James Hinton crammed all of these insanely varied selections into a seemingly effortless 51 minutes. For those curious how exactly he pulled it off, The Range’s new mix for Thump can be streamed and downloaded below, where its lengthy tracklist can also be found.

DJ Koze feat. Apparat – Nices Wölkchen
Hudson Mohawke – Overnight
Lil Chris – I Got
The Range – New Low
Friendzone – Always
Pepperboy – D’s Ride
?-ziq – Brace Yourself Jason
F.L.Y. – Swag Surfin’ Instrumental
The Books – A True Story of a Story of True Love
Gummybear ft. Friendzone – Can’t Go Wrong
No I.D. – State to State Instrumental
Stray – Timbre VIP
Fallen Angels – Hello Lover (DJ Hype Remix)
Omni Trio – Renegade Snares (Foul Play Remix)
Young Buck – Get Buck Instrumental
The Range – No One
Boyz II Men – Can You Stand The Rain Acapella
Synkro and Indigo – Guidance
Dexter Wansel – Theme From The Planets
The Range – Jamie
The Beach Boys – God Only Knows Acapella
Supreme Cuts – Lessons of Darkness (The Range Remix)
Nick Cave – There Is a Light
DMZ – Catz Don’t Know Acapella
Imogen Heap – Last Train Home Instrumental
dBridge and Instra:mental – White Snares
Múm – We Have a Map of the Piano
Baka – All the Time
The Range – The One
Squarepusher – Theme from Ernest Borgnine
Brandy – Where Are You Now
The Range – Postie
Crooked Lettaz – Trill
The Range – Seneca

Silk 86 “Aviation Blonde”

Silk 86 might be a new name to most, but the UK duo of Finn Casey and Thomas L has been DJing and throwing parties in its native London for over a decade now. So it’s to be expected that “Aviation Blonde,” a new track Silk 86 is giving away to celebrate the imminent release of its Pleasure Venture EP (out on October 28 via Sneaky), shows no signs of the two producers being out of their element. The cut is a smooth, expansive ride through a few decades of dance music history, as funky hi-hat patterns mingle with a delay-soaked vocal sample and ’80s-indebted synth pads float over a taut ’90s-era kick drum. And the steady build of “Aviation Blonde” never peaks too early, demonstrating Silk 86’s implicit understanding of how to tease and energize a dancefloor.

Aviation Blonde

Video: FKA twigs “Papi Pacify”

In a similar vein to her recent video for the excellent “Water Me” track, FKA twigs‘ brand-new clip for “Papi Pacify” entrances the viewer in strange and beautiful ways. The piece—directed by Tom Beard and the singer herself—is disorienting and almost disturbingly sexual, and comes off as a sort of black-and-white study of bodies moving in erratic, glitchy slow motion. Though the visuals don’t directly evoke the powerful churn of “Papi Pacify,” they do seem to correlate with the lyrics sung by FKA twigs’ airy voice. In any case, this is an enticing precursor to the release of her EP2 record on September 17 via Young Turks.

Preview Marquis Hawkes’ Upcoming EP for Dixon Avenue Basement Jams

The DJ/producer known only as Marquis Hawkes kicked off 2013 in a strong way—dropping the solid Higher Forces at Work 12″, issuing an intriguing mix for Juno Plus, and landing a profile in our Bubblin’ Up feature series. But after those first few months, the artist seemed to take a few steps back, and—save for a couple of remixes—he’s been more or less silent until today, when we caught a preview of his next record for Dixon Avenue Basement Jams. According to Juno Plus, the four-track Sex, Drugs & House 12″ is set to arrive in mid-October via the Glaswegian label. And Marquis Hawkes explained to Juno Plus why he doesn’t mind his sparse release schedule, saying, “I’m just concentrating on making the best music I possibly can rather than trying to rack up the releases like notches on a bedpost.” We can decide for ourselves if he’s done just that, as previews of each track from the artist’s next EP can be streamed below.

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