Brooklyn’s HOMAGE Records has teamed up with Umbro to help in addressing mental health issues in the music industry.
The partnership helped HOMAGE launch HOMAGE FC, an NYC-based football club in the Bowery Premier co-ed league, which will provide an outlet for artists to find physical and mental release. The label will also be selling the official rave-inspired Umbro x HOMAGE FC collaboration jerseys through its Bandcamp page, with all profits going towards supporting the musicians and DJs that are so deeply affected during this time. The “Fútbol es Música” long-sleeve Umbro jersey, designed by Italian designer Superexpresso, is a nod to seminal rave aesthetics and NYC iconography that helped define the very scene that’s hanging on so dearly at this moment.
The collaboration with Umbro will be part of a sustained effort by HOMAGE to find new ways for artists and music lovers to express themselves through opportunities that assist in balancing their health.
Max Graef and Julius Conrad, a fellow Berliner known for his work in Acoustic Funk, have teamed up as Ratgrave for Rock, their second album. The album is available now via Black Focus, drawing inspiration from ’80s funk, soul, rock, and electronic, and comprising 13 tracks recorded over the past year. It’s the fourth official album on Kamaal Williams’ London label.
Behind the release is a certain “energy and vibration” that the pair, friends since childhood, recognized across different styles of music, “like a parallel component connecting all things we like,” Graef explains. “In the process of recording the new album, we kept coming back to this essence no matter what style the original idea was.”
Through the recording process, Graef and Conrad found themselves digging into their old records, revisiting the work of Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, and Jimi Hendrix, and with this came a realization of how much their early musical preferences have impacted their music of today, shaping the recording techniques and energies they were working towards.
To learn more about the music behind Rock, XLR8R asked the pair to record an Influences mix, and the result is as wild as you’d expect, rich in memories and personal moments—Embryo, for example, is a band that has accompanied Graef “through all sorts of situations.” And Jimi Hendrix reminds him of his childhood.
“I first encountered his music through my dad in my early teens and since then he is the greatest of all time for me. I feel like there is no other musician that can put so much passion, so much hearable emotions in the creation of sound and music without sounding even a tiny bit cheesy, predictable, or over the top in any way,” Graef explains. “The first time I was able to let the full potential of a Hendrix solo stimulate my mind and body was the best experience of my life, and he continues to blow my mind.”
Included also are the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a big influence on the Ratgrave project, and the Live Version of “Vulcan Worlds” performed by Return to Forever with Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea, Al Di Meola, and Lenny White.
“I remember when Julius showed me this clip back when we went to school together and we both freaked out about the way they would shorten each solo passage with each round; first everyone had a couple of bars, at some point one bar each, half a bar, and so on,” Graef says. “Truly magical nerdiness that influenced us both in a continuing way.”
“All tracks featured in the mix have influenced our work as Ratgrave in some way or another. I feel like productions and recording techniques of songs in this mix have been a major influence for us working on the new record. And the urge to produce music with one hundred percent raw energy and power, the expression that rock music contains, and the free spirit of that music was a goal. For ‘Rock,’ we combined studio techniques, painstaking arrangements, and the science of harmony with a more “feeling”-driven and spontaneous, live-energy element, I think that’s what gives it life and that’s something we learned from the music we listened to.” — Ratgrave
Tracklisting
01. Embryo Excerpt from “Vagabunden Karawane” 02. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Blackeyed Blonde” 03. Jimi Hendrix “Pali Gap” 04. Captain Beefheart “Abba Zaba” 05. Alice Coltrane “Excerpt from ‘Divine Songs'” 06. Jeff Beck “Blue Wind” 07. Blue Cheer “Gipsy Ball” 08. Frank Zappa “Inca Roads” 09. Stanley Clarke / George Duke “Dont Judge a Cover by its Book” 10. Return To Forever “Vulcan Worlds” (Live) 11. Patricia Escudero ”Excerpt from ‘Satie Sonneries'” 12. Jaco Pastorius “Okonkole y Trompa” 12. Galaxy Force II (OST) “Thunder Blade” 13. Stanley Clarke “Hot Fun” 14. Sade “Mr. Wrong” 15. Mix.Man “Dub to Zion” 16. Mark Egan “Ocean Child” 17. Jimi Hendrix “Voodoo Chile” (Slight Return) (Live) 18. John Frusciante “Untitled #11” 18. Fugazi “Shut the Door” 19. Günter Schickert & Peter Unsicker Excerpt from“Die Mauerharfe” 20. Pat Metheny “Unquity Road” (Live) 21. Marconi Notaro “Antropologica”
Hidden Spheres is the alias of Manchester’s Tom Harris, who first made his name with Waiting on Lobster Theremin offshoot Distant Hawaii. Earlier this year, he put out an EP on London label Church, and he now joins Scissor and Thread with 1985, comprising five tracks blending house, broken beat, ambient, jazz, and other elements into a heady brew.
Scissor and Thread is the Brooklyn label of Francis Harris, who you can read more in our in depth interview here. This is the label’s first release of 2020.
Tracklisting
A1. King Tutt A2. My Names A3. Karl B1. 1985 B2. Soon We’ll
1985 EP is available on vinyl and digitally now. You can order here, with a full stream below.
Recorded in Rasmussen’s studio in Reykjavík, Iceland, Jörd draws on his experience with Kiasmos, except this time, rather than having Ólafur Arnalds’ classically informed contributions, Rasmussen fills in the gaps with his own piano experimentations.
The single name, Jörð, is borrowed from the goddess of earth in Norse mythology—a tribute not only to Rasmussen’s Faroese roots, but also to Iceland, the country he has made home for the last years.
“I’ve always wanted to write a piano-driven club track that was made to fit perfectly for the sentimental yet crazy parts of my live set. After many attempts throughout the years, I finally think it sounds the way I imagined,” Rasmussen explains.
All eyes were on Rasmussen when he announced he was going solo last year. The Faroese had made a name for himself as part of electronic pop quartet Bloodgroup and of Kiasmos. Rasmussen’s solo debut, Vín, landed last year, also on Ki, and this is his first music since.
Tracklisting
01. Jörd
Jörd is available digitally now on Ki Records, with a stream below.
To help artists and fans during these unprecedented times, XLR8R is offering 60 days free ofXLR8R+ for the next week.
From today, Thursday, March 26 to Friday, April 3 (5 p.m. PST), all new subscribers will get their first two months for free when they subscribe to XLR8R+. New members will input their details and subscribe, and after 60 days on June 9 will be refunded for these first two months.
What you get when you join:
The latest three monthly editions, featuring at least nine exclusive tracks from a range of producers, as well as a zine with artist profiles, visual art, and editorial, wallpaper art for both phone and desktop, and more;
Access to the XLR8R+ member’s area on XLR8R.com where you can submit your music to be showcased across XLR8R’s channels and to the XLR8R+ community;
Giveaways and discounts from select industry partners;
Every monthly edition moving forward.
Joining XLR8R+ is easy and only costs the price of a coffee a month ($5). Head here to join.
Roger and Brian Eno have joined forces to make their first ever duo album, Mixing Colours.
Mixing Colours explores the nature of sound, its colours and textures, and the subtle variety of moods they inspire. It evolved from individual pieces that Roger began recording in late 2005, and he began sending these to Brian as MIDI files, like aural snapshots of his work at the time. His older brother responded by manipulating their contents and matching mood to particular sounds. The exchange of ideas gradually gathered momentum until it developed into a full body of work.
“We weren’t directing this towards an end result—it was like a back-and-forth conversation we were having over a 15-year period,” recalls Roger. “The idea for a full album emerged as the number of pieces continued to increase. It’s something that neither of us could have arrived at alone.”
The titles of all but one of the album’s 18 tracks are associated with colours, from “Celeste” to “Desert Sand,” “Obsidian” to “Cerulean Blue,” and the music is augmented by an accompanying series of short films made by Brian Eno in partnership with collaborator Peter Chilvers. The first Mixing Colours video for “Celeste” was released in February, with further films for “Blonde” and “Slow Movement: Sand.”
Roger and Brian Eno first worked together in company with producer, musician, and songwriter Daniel Lanois on the soundtrack to Al Reinert’s documentary feature about NASA’s Apollo programme, “For All Mankind” (1983). The brothers have since worked in tandem on soundtracks to everything from David Lynch’s “Dune” (1984) and Dario Argento’s “Opera” (1987) to Danny Boyle’s “Mr Wroe’s Virgins” (1993).
Tracklisting
01. Spring Frost 02. Burnt Umber 03. Celeste 04. Wintergreen 05. Obsidian 06. Blonde 07. Dark Sienna 08. Verdigris (Album Focus Track) 09. Snow 10. Rose Quartz 11. Quicksilver 12. Ultramarine 13. Iris 14. Cinnabar 15. Desert Sand 16. Deep Saffron 17. Cerulean Blue 18. Slow Movement – Sand
Mixing Colours LP is available now on CD via Deutsche Grammophon, and you can order it here.
Bicep have put out a new single, Atlas, available digitally now and on 12” from April 3 via Ninja Tune.
Atlas is the duo’s first new music since 2018’s Rain EP. The Irish duo, real names Andrew Ferguson and Matthew McBriar, recorded it in their new studio space, inspired having returned from a two-year tour. It was conceived on the road, learning and experimenting, often on-the-fly, with how the elements of each track work in a live setting, and this gave them a new way of approaching their workflow back in the studio.
They describe it as their “attempt at summing up some of the euphoric moments we experienced on that tour across those two years.”
They continue: “It would’ve been unthinkable to foresee the circumstances this track would be released in when we were making it. Our frame of mind was so positive then, fresh off the back of our live tour, full of excitement for the next phase…. It feels like those moments are very far away for all of us right now, but we hope this serves as some form of distraction amidst all this chaos.”
Tracklisting
01. Atlas
Atlas is out now on Ninja Tune, and will arrive on 12″ on April 3. You can stream the single below and order here.
ELLES recently popped up on Naive with Summers_Of_Love, her first full release on the Lisbon label comprising four wonky, off-kilter cuts. She’d previously released on Naivety, Naive’s digital-only sub-label, with an EP of predominantly beatless dreamscapes, but this latest outing marked a significant step in a career that’s taken her from the UK capital’s dancefloors to a position as one of its exciting and original musical talents.
Many Londoners in the know, of course, will already be familiar with ELLES’ through Rinse FM and Netil Radio, where she’s a monthly resident, and through her sets across the city. But ELLES has also long held close ties to the Lisbon scene, her “spiritual home,” she says, in part because she’s one of only a handful of foreigners to have put out music on labels based there.
Her first official release came as a celebratory string of female-only covers of acid house classics with Violet for International Women’s Day in 2016, and her experimental take on house and techno—with emotive vocals, oneiric pads, cascading harps, and arpeggios—sits comfortably within the burgeoning pool of artists who call the Portuguese capital home.
As word spreads of ELLES’ skills, now seemed a good time to have her capture them with an XLR8R podcast, recorded in an empty London apartment as she prepared to move. At just over an hour in length, it’s a demonstration of her a breadth as a DJ, ranging from experimental and ambient to post-punk, UK garage, and acid, all with the gentle, emotional undertone that underpins her work. You’ll hear several of her own tracks plus some contributions from Dark Entries, a label that sits close to her heart. Eris Drew, Björk, and Octo Octa all feature, resulting in a mix that’s sure to have you coming back for more.
What have you been up to recently?
Musically, working on lots of new stuff—a couple of remixes and EPs plus another collaborative project. Apart from that, moving house, which has been a bit of a drawn-out process. Every time I move in London I question every record, book, and clothing purchase I’ve ever made. That said, I’m also totally grateful to have stuff to move and a roof over my head and it’s all worth it once you’re in the new place though, right?
Talking broadly, what was your route into electronic music?
I guess it started from parties and going to clubs, which is where DJing occurred as an idea. I’d always wanted to make music and DJing seemed like it could be a route in—and after that, because I didn’t really have resources to do anything else but had a burning desire, I started making stuff with a cracked copy of a well-known music-making software. Which evolved into a paid-for copy in the fullness of time, because there’s only so much crashing and lost work the nerves can take.
Which records, artists, or labels are impressing you right now?
Artist-wise, there are so many amazing people in my second spiritual home of Lisbon at the moment, like Shcuro, Odete, BLEID, and the whole mina crew. On a more UK tip, Loraine James is excellent. I love Fantastic Twins. I really like this band Deep Tan that I saw lately. Pepe and gayphextwin, who are also on naive, are incredible. I could go on all day. DJ-wise there are also too many great people at the moment. I love to be able to invite folks on the Rinse show and have been so fortunate to have so many favorites on over the past year or so.
As far as labels go, I’m clearly biased but Naive is a dream and also Dark Entries is incredible. Ines [Coutinho, founder of Naive] and Josh [Cheon, founder of Dark Entries] respectively have an unreal work ethic and unrelentingly great taste.
How are you finding London at this time of the year?
Wet, mainly! Actually I like this time of year in general, with the promise of spring in the air, and it feels hopeful and full of possibilities with the year still stretching out in front.
Where are your favorite places to find new music?
I’m a massive Bandcamp fan. It’s great for so many reasons and especially as the money you pay goes directly to the artist and label. I like that you have every conceivable genre there too, which I enjoy. I like a very eclectic approach in most things. Otherwise, a rummage in a good record shop is always a joy; the guys behind Netil Radio have just opened a new place, Hidden Sounds in Hackney, which is worth a check for sure. And I began my record collection from charity shop buys so they always have a dear place in my heart too.
You’ve just released on Naive. How did you connect with Violet?
I met Ines kind of via her boyfriend some years ago, and we became Twitter friends initially, then moved it onto DMs, then in real life. She has always been super supportive and encouraging in all senses, not just related to music, and she is my go-to for advice for many things. We have always been on the same wavelength about stuff musically and collaborated on a few tracks a couple of years ago. She invited me to be part of the International Women’s Day cover series she was doing and then we did some original tracks together too, and the rest is history more or less!
When and where did you record the mix?
At my (now) old house, amongst the boxes. In fact, the decks were set up on the floor because a bunch of stuff was already in storage, like their Ikea shelf, so I was sitting cross-legged like I was doing a jigsaw puzzle or something. So it certainly was a unique, albeit not unpleasant experience.
How did you select the tracks that you’ve included?
It’s mainly just tunes I really love and artists I super admire, including several naive and naivety label-mates. I tend not to ever play a single style or genre, which is why I love radio so much: there’s an opportunity to go far and wide. I think the tunes are a fairly accurate representation of the ideas present in my past two EPs: emotional, ravey, bittersweet at times, and bumping at others.
Do you think carefully about your ambitions in music?
I definitely have a lot I want to achieve, if that’s what you mean? I think because it was a desire I had for so long but never thought I would be good enough to do or whatever, and now I’ve made the decision to believe in my work and ideas in general, it feels like the flood gates have opened as far as what I’d like to do with it. I’ve written a bunch of tunes that are bit more like new wave and post-punk which I’d like to put out on an indie label rather than just a straight dance imprint or whatever; also I’m very inspired by things like art, film, and fashion and I would love to design a soundtrack for a runway show or work collaboratively with a designer for example. So I guess, in answer to your question, yes!
What are your broader plans for 2020?
Broadly, create even more music that I love, develop the live show into something that is much more of a performance, continue working with amazing people, be kinder to myself, and wherever possible use my “powers” for good.
XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to download the podcast you will need to subscribe to our Select channel. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.
Tracklisting
01. Machine Woman “Have You Ever Been To Salford Shopping Centre, Have You Seen Argos?” (Take Away Jazz Records) 02. Borusiade “Follow” (Dark Entries) 03. Hassan Abou Alam “T44” (naivety) 04. Jeff Milf “Now you know my name” (self-released) 05. Ariel Zetina “So Meaty!!” (Circa A.D) 06. Amrint Keen “Transient Loss Of Response” (Uncanny Valley) 07. Pépe “Palink Hammer” (gayphextwin remix) (naive) 08. Octo Octa “Can You See me” (T4T LUV NRG) 09. Sepehr “Coup D’etat” (Dark Entries) 10. Loraine James “Gays with me” (I’m good) (New York Haunted) 11. Björk “Hyperballad” (The Hyperballad Fluke Mix) (One Little Indian) 12. LCY “U” (SZNS7N) 13. Shy One “Lads” (Astral Black) 14. ELLES “put on our classics” (naive) 15. Eris Drew “So Much Love To Give” (Interdimensional Transmissions) 16. Anna Wall & Corbi “DATs 1&2” (Escape Earth Remix) (Ritual Poison) 17. ELLES “IF U LOVE ME” (Unreleased) 18. Xao “Hydroxyapatite” (Astral Black) 19. Aphex Twin “Avril 14th” (Warp) 20. ELLES “dreamed u again” (naivety) 21. Special Request “QIUET STORM” (self-released)
Bvdub has a new album on the way, titled Ten Times The World Lied.
Ten Times the World Lied is the fifth album Brock Van Wey has released on Glacial Movements, and nearly his 40th in total. We’re told to expect the best album he has released on the Italian ambient label—10 songs “impossible to describe in words but which will breach the heart of all those who lose themselves in this sonic wonder,” the label explains.
The album is completely devoid of vocals for the first time ever, as Van Wey spins “layers upon layer of divine clouds, gradually darkening, gradually closing in,” the label adds. Van Wey mastered it himself.
01. Not Yours to Build 02. Not Yours to Say 03. Not Yours to Give 04. Not Yours to Know 05. Not Yours to See 06. Not Yours to Find 07. Not Yours to Keep 08. Not Yours to Take 09. Not Yours to Rule 10. Not Yours to Break
Ten Times The World Lied LP is out digitally on April 6. Meanwhile, you can pre-order here, where you can also stream “Not Yours to Build” and “Not Yours to Say.”
Kizas do Ly is the first EP of DJ Lycox, but he is released an album on Príncipe in 2017. It comprises four tunes that “float above us,” celebrating the the popular style of kizomba. “So if actual proximity seems to be ill-advised this spring, let’s temporarily move to another realm and see what happens when mind does away with body,” the Lisbon label explains.
Príncipe has already released a digital version of the EP via Bandcamp, and a 12″ vinyl will follow when coronavirus has died down.
Tracklisting
A1. Jam A2. Red Lights B1. Babygirl B2. Hábitos
Kizas do Ly EP is available digitally via Bandcamp.
