After first introducing himself to the XLR8R faithful with a free download earlier this month, London upstart My East-Ford Soul has returned with another offering for our Downloads section. Built around a set of gliding chords and a slightly shuffling beat, “Rain Rise Tomorrow” reveals itself to be a patient piece of hopeful house across its six-minute run, making a few occasional stops for a slow-flowing arpeggio along the way as the titular vocal sample gracefully leads the charge.
We’ve been hearing a lot about Darren White lately. The UK producer has been pumping out quality drum & bass tunes for the better part of the last two decades as dBridge, and released both his latest effort, the two-track Move Way EP, and a stellar XLR8R podcast under that moniker just a few weeks ago. The Exit Records head isn’t resting on his laurels though; August is also playing host to yet another Darren White record: The Nudge, an offering from his house-leaning side project, Velvit.
The Nudge finds White dabbling in a different genre, but his take on house utilizes a sound palette that’s essentially in line with his drum & bass output. Even at 130 bpm, his predilection for dark textures and atmospheres as well as chunky, hard-hitting, and meticulously arranged percussion manages to seep through. The meaty thump of the title track’s kick drum and the crisp, resounding strikes of its snare are a perfect examples, as they coalesce into something that sounds less like a dancefloor banger and more like a military march. Other familiar elements come into play, too, such as the buzzing synths and low-end squelches that surface in the song’s latter half. White also incorporates humbler, more stock house elements into the mix, such as the song’s melody—which has been fashioned using a simple delayed chord—along with chopped-up vocals and phased-out synths that seem to emerge from the ether. The second track on the EP, “The Act,” meditates on these house influences a little further and comes out steadier and more static than its predecessor; it’s also a bit better suited for the dancefloor. Its opening snare takes the form of a metallic clang, while its bassline, a murky, rumbling affair, churns beneath. The song also flaunts its influences—Detroit techno figures prominently here—outwardly, punctuating some of its beats with panting vocal samples and quick one-two chord stabs.
Ben Hudson and Paul Howyer, the two UK-based producers who make up Baconhead, have just unleashed a thick remix for a cut from fellow British outfit Misty Conditions‘ forthcoming LP for Planet Mu. “Drizzle (Baconhead Remix)” sees the remixers packing up the original tune’s array of hypnotic synths and rhythms in favor of its own hazy dancefloor ambience. Thanks to hard-hitting drumwork and alluring FX, Baconhead’s production unfolds patiently, eventually revealing a healthy dose of low frequencies. Misty Conditions is currently putting the final touches on its debut release, D’Zzzz, which will feature “Drizzle” when it drops on October 8.
We’ve been in the throes of archive mania for so long that when a musician who’s only just come to our attention is already diving into the vault, we hardly bat an eye. Portland’s Kevin Palmer has been making his own brand of Casio- and loop-pedal-fueled dubs for a while now, but has only recently made his presence known as Best Available Technology with releases on well-regarded labels like Further Records and Opal Tapes. Most recently, Astro:Dynamics has compiled Best Available Technology juvenilia into Excavated Tapes: 1992–1999. Now, Palmer is shoring up the distance between the polish of his Further Tracks cassette from early this year and those early, mildewy four-track experiments. The Bangers & Ash series on New York’s Styles upon Styles label is the perfect platform for prolonging our chronological confusion, as the sub-label asks artists to lead with experimental efforts on the a-side and leave the club-ready tracks for the flip.
It’s clear from BASH004‘s first three tracks that the process of dipping back into those boxes of old material has shaped Palmer’s approach here. Further Tracks‘ weirdness sounds totally anodyne next to the first side of this 12″, which nods like a junkie backpacker. Moments of coherence are interspersed with glimpses into the void, not completely unpleasantly. “Bulldozer Rituals” is a blunt opener, centered around an unsteadily ambling hip-hop break and Palmer’s DIY dub flourishes. It blossoms into full-on broken beat on the awkwardly intimate “Vulgar Geometry,” which feels like walking in on DJ Premier having a gruesome asthma attack. For someone who clearly loves hip-hop, Best Available Technology is weirdly antagonistic toward it here—or maybe he’s just been cutting his Madlib with doses of Madteo. The torpor is obliquely relaxing, though, and this quality extends to the so-called “bangers.” Palmer seemingly can’t resist exploring a spectrum of delay-pedal settings over the course of any given track, and he makes no exception on the kick-driven anomalies “Contrecoup” and “Time Tunnels.” Dub is Best Available Technology’s natural medium—but his is a very scrappy take, more akin to King Tubby than Deepchord. Palmer relishes tweaking the space between the walloping, mid-heavy kicks of “Tide Tunnels” more than sculpting it in a top-down fashion. The results are often lumpy, especially compared with the streamlined Further Tracks, although there are flashes of immediacy here that find Palmer more vivid than he’s ever been before. At the same time, these five tracks take longer to digest than Palmer’s Further or Opal releases, but BASH004 finds Best Available Technology fitfully giving us an idea of who he really is.
By now, the affection former dubstep mainstay Skream displays for disco should no longer take anyone by surprise; the man shared an extended, disco-themed mix back in May and has been taking his proclivity for funky, high-stepping grooves with him behind the decks at various clubs and festivals in recent months. With this in mind, it was really only a matter of time before Skream offered up an original tune which followed suit, and today, that single has arrived. Featuring Sam Frank on vocals, Skream’s “Rollercoaster” indulges in enough straight-up disco stylings to challenge even Daft Punk’s latest album, with a steady stream of crisp electric pianos, playful synth lines, and slap bass joining cheeky lyrics like “Shake your booty ’til the morning light,” and “Throw your hands in the air because it’s a rollercoaster ride tonight.” It even goes on to feature a particularly kitschy guitar solo. Those curious as to what the results sound like can make of Skream’s newfound disco love what they will via the player below.
Just a couple of weeks after Manchester DJ/producer Damu (pictured above) announced that a collaborative EP with fellow UK artist Thefft was to be released via his newly launched eponymous label, the “Tonight, Tonight” b/w “Chemisty” single has been made available to stream in full. A-side “Tonight, Tonight” mixes rough drum programming with glittering synths, while “Chemistry” opts for a more bass-heavy approach, which it tempers with a slinky, syncopated beat. Damu & Thefft’s two-track record will drop on September 9, but before then, both sides can be heard in the player below. (via FACT)
Ahead of next week’s release of its debut album, Hot Natured—the four-piece supergroup consisting of Lee Foss, Jamie Jones, and Ali C and Luca L of Infinity Ink—has made Different Sides of the Sun available to stream in full now. The 15-song LP boasts an impressive array of guest vocalists—including Egyptian Lover, Kenny Glasgow of Art Department, S.Y.F. of Azari & III, Roisin Murphy, and more—and over the course of its tracklist, leans towards a late-night, leisurely house vibe. Hot Natured’s album will drop on September 2 via Hot Creations, but in the meantime, can heard in its entirety here, courtesy of Pitchfork Advance.
Man of many aliases, Luke Slater has announced plans to release a new full-length album as L.B. Dub Corp via Ostgut Ton, the label which issued the first single from Slater’s somewhat irregular production handle back in 2010. Entitled Unknown Origin, the 10-song LP will include a track co-produced by techno stalwart Function, as well as a pair of tunes featuring UK dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah. L.B. Dub Corp’s forthcoming LP will be preceded by a three-track single on October 14. In the meantime, the artwork and tracklist for Unknown Origin (out on November 11) are included below; a stream of album track “Turner’s House” and a brief interview with Slater about his project can be found on Resident Advisor.
01 Take A Ride feat. Benjamin Zephaniah
02 Nearly Africa
03 Ever And Forever
04 L.B’s Dub
05 No Trouble In Paradise
06 I Have A Dream feat. Benjamin Zephaniah
07 Turner’s House
08 Generation To Generation
09 Any Time Will Be OK
10 Roller feat. Function
Veteran DJ/producer Paul Woolford‘s pirate radio-inspired 12″s as Special Request—including the Houndstooth-released Hardcore EP—have undoubtedly been making waves this year, and Woolford has now announced that he’ll soon drop his debut album under that moniker. Soul Music will be divided up into two parts; the first disc will feature 12 original tracks and the second will be a collection of more original material, Special Request remixes, and remixes of Special Request tracks by artists such as Anthony Naples, Kassem Mosse, Anthony Shakir, and Lee Gamble. Woolford is said to have constructed his new record using primarily vintage hardware, industrial-strength EQing, and an FM transmitter—basing his productions around the idea of “false memories,” in which Woolford broadcasts his own material and then samples it in order to recombine it in unorthodox ways. Soul Music will see a release via Fabric‘s Houndstooth imprint as a triple-vinyl LP on October 7, with CD and digital versions arriving on October 21. Ahead of then, the tracklist and artwork for Soul Music can be found below, and its 23 songs can be previewed here.
CD 1:
01. Special Request – Forbidden
02. Special Request – Undead
03. Special Request – Cold Blooded
04. Special Request – Body Armour
05. Special Request – Lockjaw
06. Special Request – Ride VIP
07. Special Request – Soundboy Killer
08. Special Request – Broken Dreams
09. Special Request – Black Ops
10. Special Request – Capsules
11. Special Request – Deranged
12. Special Request – Descent
CD 2:
01. Tessela – Hackney Parrot (Special Request VIP)
02. Lana Del Rey – Ride (Special Request Remix)
03. Special Request – Mindwash
04. Special Request – Alone
05. Special Request – Mindwash (Anthony Naples Aftermath Remix)
06. Special Request – Lolita (Warehouse Mix)
07. Special Request – Vapour
08. Special Request – Deflowered (Kassem Mosse & Mix Mup Remix)
09. Special Request – Mindwash (Anthony Shakir Remix)
10. Special Request – Capsules (Lee Gamble Full Length Remix)
11. Special Request – Deflowered (Hieroglyphic Being Remix)
After showing us around his studio and delivering the XLR8R Pick’d No Better Time Than Now LP just last week, jazz-trained producer/multi-instrumentalist Shigeto has shared an intensely symbolic new video for “Detroit Part 1,” a standout cut from his third LP for Ghostly. Premiered on Electronic Beats earlier today, the clip is part music video and part short film, as it follows Shigeto through a black-and-white sequence in which he seeks out seemingly random strangers, is visited by a mysterious woman, and even wields a gun. The video, directed by Rafe Scobeythal, goes deep into somewhat ambiguous symbolism, ideas which combine with gorgeous shots of abandoned landscapes and occasional flashes of color to make for a visually arresting four-plus minutes.
