John Talabot to Helm Next ‘DJ-Kicks’

It seems like Barcelona producer John Talabot just hasn’t quit since he released last year’s XLR8R Pick’d ƒIN; the producer has embarked on multiple tours, performed at a number of festivals, shared a good amount of new music, and now, is next in line to issue a DJ-Kicks mix album for !K7‘s ongoing series. The 27-track set is scheduled to drop on October 29, and will arrive complete with a brand-new original production from its creator, called “Without You,” which is described as having a “housey feeling.” John Talabot’s eclectic selections range from the likes of Andy Stott, Wraetlic, and Locked Groove to Motor City Drum Ensemble, Axel Boman, and Madteo. The DJ explains the motive behind his track choices, saying, “I thought that it would be good if people could discover what my influences are, where I’ve come from, the people that I admire, and tracks that have been important to me over the last 10 years. Plus, [there are] some tracks [from] my label that have never been released.” He goes on to explain that his DJ-Kicks entry isn’t the most danceable mix, and that it progressively “chills out.” But before we can hear exactly how it does that, the tracklist for John Talabot’s forthcoming mix album can be found below, where a “preview” is also included. More info is available here.

1. North Lake – Journey To The Center Of The Sun
2. Pye Corner Audio – Underneath The Dancefloor
3. Maps – I Heard Them Say (Andy Stott Remix)
4. Pye Corner Audio – Zero Centre
5. Michael Ozone – Hetrotopia (Young Marco Remix)
6. Madteo – We Doubt (You Can Make It)
7. Harmonious Thelonious – The Grasshopper Was The Witness (Elmore Judd & Rowan Park Remix)
8. Tempel Rytmik – Anagrama
9. John Talabot – Without You (DJ-Kicks)
10. Axel Boman – Klinsmann
11. Joaquin Joe Claussell presents Residue Part One – Eno (Melodic Dub)
12. Bostro Pesopeo & Pional – Bonus Beats
13. Mara TK – Run (Moodymann Remix)
14. Alex Burkat – Shower Scene
15. Mistakes are Okay – Night Watcher
16. Unknown – #001
17. Round – Glass
18. Max Mohr – Old Song
19. Samo DJ – Tai Po Kau
20. Motor City Drum Ensemble – Escape To Nowhere
21. Paradise’s Deep Groove – Innermind
22. Abby – Streets (Wraetlic Remix)
23. DJ Jus-Ed – Turn Of The Century
24. Genius of Time – Juno Jam
25. Kron – Silikron (Jürgen Paape Remix)
26. Talaboman – Sideral
27. Pional – It’s All Over (Locked Groove Rendition)

Hi, Doctor Nick! – How to Get the Creative Flow Going and the Importance of Being on Time

It’s hard to imagine anyone having negative feelings about Nick Hook. Not only is the guy brimming with positive energy, he also knows a whole lot about the music industry after years spent making music, touring with bands, DJing around the world, and producing records. Even better, he’s willing to share his knowledge, which is why we’ve enlisted him to stop by every Thursday morning and field questions from our readers. Want to get some answers from our resident advice columnist and street shaman? Drop him a line at [email protected].

What’s up y’all? I’m coming live and direct from LA. I’ve been having a good time here. I got some good sidework in with the gods of all gods, Salva and Thee Mike B. I’ve also been eating at my favorite Japanese restaurant in the universe, Daichan, and I had an amazing time playing music at The Do-Over. Life is okay.

Before we get into the column. I’d like to remind anyone and everyone of something. Whether you’ve put out a platinum record or you haven’t even finished your first demo, be respectful of people’s time. I could say it’s the single most important thing to be aware of in this game. Be on time. Always. It’s going to get you so much further than you could ever imagine, and if you aren’t gonna be on time, just tell someone, “Yo, I can’t make it. I’m gonna be (x amount) late.” No one wants to sit on their hands waiting for you for an hour when they could have been using that time wisely if you had just told them. People will respect you for that and more importantly, if they know you are punctual and easy to work with, you are going to be on their mind ahead of someone else who isn’t. You see the pros that come in on time and prepared and you are like, “Now I realize why you are making tons of money and have been in the game forever.” So yeah. Do that.

Without further ado, here’s this week column. Send questions and cool shit to me. [email protected]. Also, I miss New York.

Hi Doctor Nick,
Could you shed some light on your workflow and process? Do you always write on the fly to keep things fresh or do you spend time bouncing out drums and melody ideas to audio to chop later?

What does the good doctor do when he’s having a tough time getting a vibe going? Do you spend time designing synth patches or trying out different engineering techniques? What do you find most useful for you?
Ethan

I don’t really do anything always. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, but I guess that’s just how it is. I think that you should really just keep an open mind with things. I held a sample idea for two years that I always thought would be good and it ended up coming to life to start this track Doc Daneeka and I just made that’s gonna be dropped on Play It Down this month. I think it’s important to always have ideas circulating; you never know when one of them will spark something bigger.

These two questions go hand in hand for me, because I think a lot of the process of getting a vibe going is experimenting and learning. Going through some Max for Live stuff may spark a new rhythm. So could experimenting with a new effect or plug-in. Trying to recreate other people’s music can be amazing because you will take influence from something, but hopefully you will also put your own twist on it and make something new, or at least new for you. I can look back at some of the music I’ve written and remember exactly what I was trying to learn at the time I made it. There was always that cross section where I went, “Oh wow, that can go into this other idea,” and at that moment, I left the learning process and entered into a songwriting process.

Keep experimenting. Layer drums, process things through other things, put your synth MIDI into the drum MIDI, experiment with all the ASDR in your synth—there are so many options to get flow going.

Most importantly for me, when I’m not feeling it, I just listen to music. Sometimes I’ll put a record on, clean the studio, and listen. Try to just feel things. I’ve really been trying to take in different eras of music, and think about the process of how different songs were created, and how that relates to 2013. Obviously it’s different, but it’s cool to think about.

Go to a museum. Read a book. Try and take some influence from some new things. Maybe stepping away is the real key that’s going to spark some new fire.

Hi, Doctor Nick! appears every Thursday on XLR8R. Do you have a question for Doctor Nick? Please submit your inquires to [email protected]. Nick Hook can help you.

Jack the Hustler “Would I”

We last heard from Jack the Hustler a couple of months ago, when the Finnish duo dropped two new tracks as a free download, including the summery “11th Street (5AM Dub).” The pair has now returned with a tune for Parisian label Overcooked’s one-year-anniversary compilation, All You Can Eat, Volume 1. “Would I” is a heavy-hitting slice of house-infused bass music, with dark, syncopated beats that are underpinned by a menacing rumble of sub frequencies. All You Can Eat, Volume 1 is due for release on September 23, but before then, can be streamed in full after the jump.

Would I

Jackson and His Computerband Glow

Part of anticipating a “comeback” album—a new album by an artist who hasn’t released in five-plus (in this case, eight) years—is wondering how and if that artist will age with the trends. This must be especially in the minds of Jackson and His Computerband fans, because the artist sounded particularly forward-thinking on his 2005 debut LP, Smash. That record still feels like both a partner and an antecedent to so much. Its hyperactive, pop-locking style of glitchy funk fit snugly alongside its then-contemporaries Mr. Oizo and Jimmy Edgar, but in its stadium width, Smash also slightly predated the Ed Banger/Institubes axis that would dominate French dance output for years to follow—when Justice blew up, the duo widely touted the LP as an influence. A video trailer for Glow, Jackson Fourgeaud’s return to the album format, featured a track with an enticing, uncommonly sculpted, mid-range chainsaw worm, promising in some way to subvert the muck associated with Ed Banger, bro-house, bro-step, EDM, etc. This track (“Seal”) is indeed on the album, but it’s a rare moment of singularity.

Glow feels bloated from the start. Opener “Blow” is virtually the opposite of Smash‘s glorious first track, “Utopia,” as its pitch-bent singalong and stadium-rock chug come across archly. The aforementioned “Seal” fares better, even (debatably) verging on the epic, but it’s followed by a series of mind-numbing electro-rock pieces that hamper whatever momentum the album had going for it. From the lumbering “Dead Living Things,” with its neanderthal bassline and silly yelped vocal, to the high-octane pummel of “Blood Bust” or the cloying, melancholy ballad “Memory,” it would seem that Fourgeaud has totally forgotten what made people wait eight years for him. And this is only halfway through the LP’s hour-plus runtime.

One wonders when Fourgeaud wrote some of these tracks. Many of them, like the thudding “Arp #1” and mid-range-compressed “Pump,” wouldn’t have sounded out of place during the 2006-2007 “electro” heyday. Some have hooks, sure, and the sound design is compelling at times. But knowing what the producer is capable of, it’s hard not to be disappointed. In hindsight, Smash can sound a little dated, but it still hangs together pretty well; it’s meticulous, busy, and clattering, but it’s also towering with emotion. Its deft cut-and-paste construction is rarely found on Glow, though parts of “Vista” hint at it. Fourgeaud has always had a playful side, but here it comes across as a joke—possibly about making an ELO album on a laptop—taken too far. For the most part, it’s a clumsy, and frankly unnecessary effort. The hype cycle puts an annoyingly high premium on artists’ release schedules, but sometimes a record can truly spend too long in the oven.

Preview Borai’s Upcoming 12″ for Tasteful Nudes

Bubblin’ Up Bristol producer Boris English (a.k.a. Borai) will deliver his second EP for Argot sub-label Tasteful Nudes later this week. After appearing on the label with his excellent “Moonlight in Malago” record much earlier in the year, English returns to Tasteful Nudes with a pair of similarly melody-washed slices of house from the deeper end of the spectrum. Borai’s “Last Time Out” b/w “Midnight Run” 12″ is set to drop on Friday, September 6, but before then, its two tracks can be previewed in the player below.

Lewis James “Midnight (Instrumental)”

It’s been a busy year for Amsterdam-based producer Lewis James, who will follow up the Krakatoa EP with his second release of 2013, Desire For Infinity (out on September 16 via Original Cultures). Leading up to that record, the label is giving away an instrumental version of EP cut “Midnight.” James lays deep, sensual bass over entrancing guitar and string loops on his track, refitting a dance music structure with hip-hop production techniques. It’s a departure from the spastic rave bliss of Krakatoa and much more in line with the work of young beatheads like, say, Star Slinger. The EP version of “Midnight” features detuned, smoky vocals from recurring collaborator Dolor, and can be streamed after the jump.

Midnight (Instrumental)

Visionist I’m Fine EP

Few producers have done more to revitalize grime in the last year than Visionist. Alongside fellow Keysound figures such as Beneath and Wen, the South Londoner (born Louis Carnell) has helped spearhead a bit of a creative renaissance for the once-ailing genre, which is now, largely in its instrumental forms, fruitfully incorporating new influences from outside its traditional purview. In this regard, Carnell’s latest release, the I’m Fine EP, is notable for its US connection. Released on the NYC-based Lit City Trax—for which he will be releasing a follow-up to I’m Fine shortly—and featuring a collaborative track with genre-blurring producer Fatima Al Qadiri, the record speaks to increasing exchanges of ideas between the UK and a new generation of American producers.

On I’m Fine, Visionist’s productions stick to a fairly consistent sound, which is a distinctive blending of grime, UK garage, and the murky vestiges of post-dubstep. Fairly slow, bass-heavy, and full of sonic space, over the course of its six tracks the record is both immersive and suffocating to listen to, with a pervasive sense of dread that is only heightened by Carnell’s tactfully deployed use of almost ghostly vocal samples. Opener and title track “I’m Fine” sets the score straight away with mournful vocal loops placed over simple, minor-keyed melodies and deep subterranean bass. “Lost” offers a more robust variation on a similar template, utilizing irregularly syncopated beats and viscous bass frequencies, which along with the manipulated, stuttering vocal sample lends the track a sense of melancholic freefall. Things turn a bit nastier on “Escape,” which ups the tempo considerably and is propelled forward by relentless claps and an 8-bit melody that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Damu track. Unsurprisingly, the song with Fatima Al Qadiri, “The Call,” is the closest I’m Fine comes to the dystopic future-gazing music of the Fade to Mind and Dis Magazine axis that has recently championed Visionist in the States, but the seamlessness with which it fits into the EP indicates how close Carnell’s music already is to that sonic aesthetic. With its chant-like synth line, there’s a religious quality to the track that befits the darkness of the release as a whole. Visionist has had a busy past few months, having also released the Snakes EP on Leisure System in July and the self-released Crying Angels EP in June, but if anything, I’m Fine is his most compelling release yet. Seamlessly blending divergent styles and connecting the dots between ever-mutating bass-music trends on both sides of the Atlantic, Visionist remains one to keep a close eye on.

Preview Ital’s Upcoming 12″ for Lovers Rock

Following his recent solo 12″ and collaborative Zero Hour EP with Hieroglyphic Being, Brooklyn house subverter Ital is now readying a two-track record for release this fall. “Throbbing” b/w “Nodding” will be issued by the same label responsible for producer Daniel Martin-McCormick’s mesmerizing “Culture Clubs” single from 2011, Lovers Rock, though there’s currently no firm release date. In the meantime, each side of Ital’s next 12″ can be previewed below.

Machinedrum Drops New Single; Hear It Now

Following just behind the release of his XLR8R Pick’d “Eyesdontlie” single, Travis Stewart (a.k.a. Machinedrum) has shared new single “Gunshotta,” which comes just weeks before his forthcomingVapor City LP for Ninja Tune sees an official release. While the “Gunshotta” track is out now digitally, a full EP for the tune will see a release on October 14, after Machinedrum’s LP drops on September 30 (a week after it was originally scheduled). The Gunshotta Ave. EP will feature both a “Radio Edit” and an “Album Version” of the single, along with a pair of remixes and an additional non-LP track entitled “Stirrin.” The radio edit of “Gunshotta” is availiable to stream in full below, where the upcoming EP’s artwork and tracklist are also included.

1 Gunshotta (Radio Edit)
2 Stirrin
3 Gunshotta (Fracture’s Astrophonica Remix)
4 Gunshotta (AMIT’s Thug Dub Remix)
5 Gunshotta (Album Version)

Konx-om-Pax Announces Album of Unreleased Material

We last heard from Glaswegian animator/director, graphic designer, and DJ/producer Konx-om-Pax (a.k.a. Tom Scholefield) around when he released his debut full-length last year via Planet Mu, Regional Surrealism, and he spoke to XLR8R about his animation and illustration work for artists like Martyn, Kuedo, and Hudson Mohawke. Now, the multi-talented artist has announced a collection of previously unreleased material, called Selective Recall, which will be released via his own Display Copy imprint. Appropriately enough, the announcement is accompanied by a visually stunning trailer for the album, which pairs nebulous sci-fi-inflected animation with bright, relaxed synth music. Before Selective Recall drops on September 16, the short clip can be viewed below, where the artwork and tracklist for Scholefield’s album can also be found.

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1 Beach in Arran
2 Melted
3 Out of Sync
4 Bang Zylophone
5 Hint
6 Annamae
7 Paisley Centre
8 Forestry Report
9 Organ Inst
10 Jump Move
11 Grim Stuff
12 Double Dip
13 2001
14 Appleade
15 Faunauto
16 Discount House
17 Anticipate

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