Up-and-coming UK producer Submerse has shared his new “Melonkoly” tune, the title track from an EP due to drop on October 7 via Project: Mooncircle. Following his Algorithms and Ghosts EP from earlier this year, Submerse continues to twist an array of light and youthful sounds into teary-eyed jams for late-night drives. “Melonkoly” is built on fluffy touches of UK garage, and opens with filtered radio static and swelling pads before clunking along on 2-step beats and ethereal vocal samples for the rest of its three minutes. Eventually, the buzzing pads rise above the steady song structure, helping to create a sense of tension until it all breaks down into a somber field recording.
On the heels of his Move Way EP for R&S and last month’s rather impressive—if we do say so ourselves—XLR8Rpodcast, drum & bass stalwart dBridge (pictured above) has announced a forthcoming EP as dBRm, which will find him working alongside fellow UK producer Keith Tenniswood (a.k.a. Radioactive Man). Set to appear next month via London’s The Nothing Special label, the three-track EP lands more on the house side of the electronic spectrum, but not without its share of drum & bass-minded sonics squeezing into the tracks’ lower registers. dBRm’s We Are No-One You Know EP will see an official release on October 7, but before then, its artwork and tracklist can be checked out below.
01 We Are No-One You Know 02 Darnley 03 Hornsey Rise
Fearless DJ/producer Matias Aguayo is set to bring his reimagined live show—a new project we discussed at length with the man himself in a recent edition of our From Studio to Stage interview series—to North America later this month. In support of his recent album, The Visitor, Aguayo will make his way to both US coasts and Canada, with two performances at Seattle’s Decibel Festival and a stop at Icee Hot in San Francisco among them. The busy techno artist’s full list of fall tour dates are included below.
September 21 – Oakdale, CA / Symbiosis (Day) September 21 – San Francisco, CA / Public Works (Night) September 24 – Hamilton, ON / This Ain’t Hollywood September 25 – Montreal, QC / Pop Montreal (Eglise POP Little Burgundy) September 26 – Brooklyn, NY / Verboten September 27 – Philadelphia / Morgan’s Pier September 28 – Seattle / Decibel Festival (Neumos) September 29 – Seattle / dBX x High & Tight Boat Party (Day) September 29 – Los Angeles / Create Nightclub (Night) October 1 – Miami / Bardot
UK singer/producer Gang Colours is set to release his second full-length record, Invisible in Your City, later this month via Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label, and has shared multiple previews of its forthcoming music. Around a year-and-a-half ago, we called his album debut, The Keychain Collection, “cohesive” and “planned,” and from the new songs he’s shared so far, Gang Colours seems to be pushing forward into an even more cohesive place for his latest record. Invisible in Your City‘s title track sees Peterson cooing out barbershop harmonies balanced on a distant harp line, while “Led By Example” is a decidedly slow-grooving and spacious production. Before they’re released on September 16, both tracks can be heard below, where Invisible in Your City‘s artwork, tracklist, and trailer can also be found.
01. The Rhythm The Rebel 02. Invisible In Your City
03. Home 04. Up The Downs 05. Freshwater Fantasy 06. Led By Example
07. Communal Quo 08. River For Dinner 09. Why Didn’t You Call? feat. Lulu James 10. Always Crashing In The Same Car
Using his own AVA. label, German DJ/producer Damiano von Erckert will soon issue the windswept and affable Love Based Music LP, from which the soft-focus house of “Reelluv” is lifted. The soulful production is imbued with a loving sense of funk, as the artist soaks its grainy percussion loops, slinky bassline, and Tito Wun’s breathy vocal hook in a tenderly understated dancefloor vibe. Much of the same vein of tasteful sounds can be heard in the preview of von Erckert’s upcoming album embedded after the jump.
Between Serato announcing plans to discontinue Scratch Live, Ableton previewing its Live 9.1 update, The Black Dog starting its own music-tech company, Applescal launching a remix contest, and new products from Novation, Pioneer, and Korg, it was easy to get lost in the avalanche of gear-related news that surfaced over the past five days. Fortunately, we’re here to help music-tech junkies dig their way out, gathering up the most important tidbits in our latest This Week in Music Tech round-up.
XLR8R Couldn't find the embed function for type: "vimeo" and source: "<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/73431421?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="530" height="298" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>".
Serato announced that it will no longer issue updates to Scratch Live, and will instead move existing users to Serato DJ, which will now support DVS (the technology which allows turntables and CDJs to control the program). For existing SSL users, the upgrade will be free, and two new mixers—the Rane Sixty-Four and Pioneer DJM-900SRT—will be available starting next month, complete with the capability of utilizing DVS to control Serato DJ. Serato’s CEO, Sam Gribben, explains the details in the video above.
In addition to the DJM-9000SRT mixer mentioned above, Pioneer also unveiled the upcoming DDJ-SP1, a new add-on controller for Serato DJs. The unit includes six sample-trigger pads, assignable controls for Serato’s built-in FX, and more, all of which the walkthrough video above demonstrates.
Novation introduced three new compact MIDI controllers—the Launchkey Mini, Launchpad Mini, and Launch Control—this week. The introductory overview video for the Launchkey Mini is included above, while those for the other two forthcoming units can be watched below.
The Create Digital Music blog attended a preview session for Ableton Live‘s forthcoming 9.1 update and shared details of the upgrades expected to come with the new version of the program—including dual-monitor support, improvements to sample-rate conversion, and new sequencing abilities for the Push controller. CDM’s full article can be read here.
XLR8R Couldn't find the embed function for type: "kickstarter" and source: "<iframe width="530" height="398" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/machinewerks/cs-x51-usb-midi-control-surface/widget/video.html" frameborder="0"> </iframe>".
Earlier this week, longstanding British electronic outfit The Black Dog announced the opening of its own music-tech company, Machinewerks, and launched a coinciding Kickstarter campaign to help fund the development of its first product, the CS X51 USB/MIDI controller.
While the promo video above makes Korg‘s new KR Mini portable rhythm machine out to be rather lifeless, surely someone is capable of finding a cooler way to use a handheld rhythm generator that runs on batteries. The KR Mini is set to hit stores in November for a street price of $79.99.
Dutch producer Applescal and his Atomnation imprint have launched a new remix contest, offering the winner the prize of a single unit of his or her choice from Korg’s Volca Series of mini-synths and an official release on a planned remix EP. Submissions are due by October 8, and the winner will be announced on October 17. The full details of the contest, as well as the various stems and MIDI files needed to enter, can be found here.
Lastly, XLR8R recently took the next generation of Apple‘s flagship audio program, Logic Pro X, on a test drive, deeming the new version of the software the “smartest one yet.” Our full review can be read here.
Mount Kimbie‘s Cold Spring Fault Less Youth album may have found the London duo trading most of its dancefloor tendencies for something closer resembling traditional song structures, but that doesn’t mean the source material isn’t ripe for more club-oriented reworks. For instance: Premier UK mixmaster Oneman has just turned in a version of “You Took Your Time,” one of the standout singles from Mount Kimbie’s sophomore LP for Warp. The DJ/producer’s rework is decidedly beat-heavy, but he also opts to keep the syrupy tempo of the original song, enlisting the talents of Brainfeeder affiliate and recent Warp signee Jeremiah Jae to spit concentrated verses alongside King Krule’s original vocals. The whole thing can be streamed in the player below, as Mount Kimbie continues its tour through the UK and Europe.
This week’s edition of Press Play has all kinds of remixes, videos, DJ sets, and other assorted premieres from remarkably talented artists across the spectrum of electronic music. After the jump, you’ll find sights and sounds from the likes of Madlib, Moby, JD Twitch, Na of Nguzunguzu, Vladislav Delay, Outboxx, L.I.E.S. affiliate Beau Wanzer, and Joakim, among others. It’s quite a bit to take in, so we suggest that all interested parties get to clicking those play buttons ASAP.
Here’s a happy-go-lucky music video for the latest single to drop from Moby’s upcoming Innocents LP for Mute, “The Perfect Life (feat. Wayne Coyne).”
This blunted, lyrical track comes from the collaborative efforts of preeminent LA producer Madlib and MC Freddie Gibbs, and is lifted of the pair’s Deeper EP, which is out later this month.
The DJ/producers of Toyboy & Robin took it upon themselves to remix the latest Tensnake single, “See Right Through,” delivering this skipping and bubbly version of the pop-infused cut.
Longstanding French producer Joakim is premiering his new video for “Another Light,” another mesmerizing collage of bright, lo-fi imagery in the same vein of his recent clip for “Heartbeats.”
After announcing his upcoming EP last month, Nguznguzu’s Na unleashed more hard-edged clips from his three-track record for Fade to Mind.
As part of I’m a Cliché’s ongoing Edit Service series of free downloads, Optimo’s JD Twitch dropped this strange, dusty, and acid-touched dancefloor edit of “America” by Bill Callahan.
Soon after his announcement of a new label and moniker (both called Ripatti), veteran Finnish producer Vladislav Delay shared this recording of a recent live set at Poland’s Tauron New Music Festival.
Rising Bristolian production duo Outboxx is dropping an EP called The Fade via local label Futureboogie, but before it arrives next week, the pair has shared sizable previews of its four slinky house cuts.
Here’s a brand-new mix from young DJ/producer Howes, who collected choice cuts from the likes of Luke Abbot, Minilogue, Terekke, and Marshall Jefferson for his 43-minute set.
Berlin producer Kyson remixed “Bizarre” by Perera Elsewhere, smoothing out the song into a patient slice of atmospheric beat-pop.
Beau Wanzer’s self-titled 12″ for L.I.E.S. will appear later this month, and the clattering “Balls of Steel”—for which this mangled piece of video modulation was created—is that record’s closing track.
“School Bell/Treehouse” is a classic slice of leftfield dance music which Arthur Russell released under the name Indian Ocean back in 1985. It has since been remixed by disco-edit pioneer Walter Gibbons, and now, Seattle house stalwart and Vitalik affiliate Pezzner (pictured above) has given the vintage cut his own edit. The seasoned producer beefs up “School Bell/Treehouse” with thicker kicks, some extra crunchy percussion, and a few other bits of sly sonic ephemera, making the quick-bouncing track all the more appropriate for modern soundsystems. And we’re treated to this free tune today courtesy of the folks at Vitalik, who have a big event planned for this Sunday, September 8, at We Love Space in Ibiza—a night which will includes performances from the likes of Claude VonStroke, Derrick May, Jimmy Edgar, and DJ Hell, among many others. The full details of that party can be found here.
Stepping away from his role as half of Nguzunguzu—not to mention the recently announced collaborative Future Brown project—for a moment, LA producer Daniel Pineda’s solo effort as Na offers three sharp, bass-loaded club cuts that align closely with the man’s other projects.
When one looks at the catalog Nguzunguzu has built over the past few years, it seems that the driving idea behind the group’s style has remained largely unaltered. Though its sound has no doubt evolved, the group has always remained dedicated to the more esoteric strains of streetwise club music, with an ear for international rhythms and R&B flair. The Xtreme Tremble EP sees Pineda explore the same territory as a solo artist, and this ultimately seems to result in a slightly missed opportunity.
All three of the songs included here are worthwhile productions, with the title track anchoring a simple bell arpeggio and space-age FX with machine-made percussive force, while the appropriately titled “Flute Gasp” and synth-led “B Storm” hang back with more subdued, skittering beats marked by half-time 808 runs. Still, it’s hard to hear exactly what Pineda’s individual perspective really adds to the format. Other than appearing with less of the sometimes eerie atmospheres which help define the sound of Nguzunguzu, Na’s solo work is hard to differentiate from that of his usual production outfit. In the end, the Xtreme Tremble EP has some interesting audio to offer, but with a track record like Pineda’s, one wishes he could have reached a little further out of his comfort zone in order to show dedicated Fade to Mind followers a new side to his talent.
