Stream a New Track from Fantastic Mr Fox

After announcing his next 12″ last month, Black Acre label head Fantastic Mr Fox has opted to stream the a-side from his forthcoming single ahead of its release next month. “The Trap” is indicative of the production work we’ve come to expect from the talented DJ/producer—composed of polished drumwork, neat synths, and an array of chopped vocal samples, the slinky, feel-good track unfolds gracefully before finishing off with a steady instrumental groove. Prior to its release alongside “Jackal Youth” on August 5, “The Trap” can be streamed in full below.

Video Premiere: Comfort Fit “Worlds Falling Apart”

After sharing his heavily textured “Hatphones” tune with us last month, Berlin-based producer Comfort Fit (a.k.a. Boris Mezga) is now premiering a hypnotic video for the track “World’s Falling Apart” from his just-released full-length of the same name. Eerily mirroring Mezga’s unconventional collection of sounds, the clip introduces a string of off-kilter, nature-inspired images as it unfolds. It’s also noticeably infused with a healthy dose of psychedelia—courtesy of directors Ricky Kershaw and Jeff Metal—eventually culminating in a heavy, kaleidoscopic time-lapse segment which parallels the track’s darker undertones. Comfort Fit’s Worlds Falling Apart is available now via First Word.

Matrixxman “A Witness”*Fifth Wall*

Known for his work as one half of 5kinAndBone5, Matrixxman has recently struck out on his own, and today can be found producing beats for Mykki Blanco and collaborating with dancefloor luminaries such as DJ Haus. The San Francisco DJ/producer has also a new EP on the way, entitled The XX Files, which is said to represent perhaps his most straightforward house/techno release to date. This is not to say it’s boring, as EP track “A Witness” attests to, combining a slick garage sheen with elastic basslines and plenty of nods to vintage Detroit techno atmospheres. The XX Files will be released on July 23 via Brooklyn label Fifth Wall, but before then, a preview of Matrixxman’s upcoming EP can be streamed after the jump.

A Witness

Untold Readies New Single for 50Weapons, Shares Preview

UK bass aficionado Jack Dunning (a.ka. Untold) may have started off his career under the catch-all “post-dubstep” umbrella, but with each subsequent release, the producer seems to be veering closer and closer to sounds more informed by hard-edged techno. Fittingly, Untold has now announced a new single for Modeselektor’s 50Weapons imprint. “Targa” b/w “Glare” will be released on 12″ and digital formats on August 30, and sees Dunning exploring a kind of melodic sophistication in his production work. A preview of the record’s a-side can be streamed below.

Redinho Announces New Single for Numbers

We’re still waiting on more details regarding Redinho‘s full-length debut, though he’s given us a few stopgaps along the way—including the video for “Stinger” back in June. And now, the London producer has shared a new single, entitled “Searching.” Release via Numbers, Redinho’s latest tune finds him going further into an idiosyncratic world that fuses funk-informed cadences with lush production touches, making liberal use of sharp synth rhythms and dextrous talkbox melodies. The burgeoning UK producer’s debut album is still in the works and is due out later this year, but for now, a stream of “Searching” can be found along with some upcoming tour dates, below.

7/19 – Farr Festival, Newnham
7/20 – 10 Days Off, Ghent
8/24 – Nowa Muzyka, Katowice
8/30 – Outlook, Pula
9/07 – Bestival, Isle of Wight

Podcast 304: Kevin McPhee

Kevin McPhee may not be a particularly loud or flamboyant producer, but he is a diligent one. Since 2011, the Toronto-based producer has been turning out a steady stream of clicking, clacking, and shuffling house music, garnering fans along the way and seeing his tunes appear on a variety of quality imprints, including 3024, [NakedLunch], WNCL, Idle Hands, Brainmath, and Hype_LTD. Still, McPhee has been a bit quiet in 2013, so we dropped him a line, figuring that having him put together an XLR8R podcast just might be the best way to take his current musical temperature. As it turned out, our intuitions were correct, as he’s crafted a mix that not only focuses almost entirely on his own work, but also contains a number of unreleased dubs. Listening to the podcast, there’s a remarkable consistency to McPhee’s production, an off-kilter rhythmic sensibility that ties the various tracks together. The music is generally all within the house realm, but a sense of movement permeates the mix, as though McPhee is incapable—or perhaps unwilling—to stay rigidly affixed to any sort of grid. At the same time, there’s a diversity to it all, as McPhee proves capable whether he’s assembling a brooding cut that meanders in the lower registers or a feelgood, hands-in-the-air anthem. In short, the guy is talented, and although the songs featured here will surely get plenty of play when they eventually surface, his next batch of tunes might be even better.

01 Kevin McPhee “CSA File”
02 Anthony Naples “Bun Dem Out (Kevin McPhee Remix)”
03 Kevin McPhee & Gerry Read “Frump”
04 Eat Beat “Vol. 2”
05 Kevin McPhee “Version Six”
06 Kevin McPhee “Branch”
07 KM/DP “Crumble”
08 Nautiluss “Sunder (Kevin McPhee Remix)” (Turbo)
09 Unknown “Untitled”
10 Kevin McPhee “Version Five” (3024)
11 Kevin McPhee “Unwind” (Idle Hands)

Download MP3
Download M4A (iTunes enhanced)
Subscribe to Podcast (RSS)

XLR8R_Podcast_Kevin_McPhee_2013_07_16

Ellie Herring “Always Just OK”*Racecar *

Though only armed with a simple refrain and an occasional set of airy chords, Ellie Herring‘s “Always Just OK” is a beat steeped in contemplation. Still, the tune—pulled from Herring’s forthcoming Kite Day EP—is not without a tasteful touch of bounce, which can be attributed to the track’s melodic pattern of tuned percussion and alternating instances of reverb-washed snaps and drum-machine-born claps. In the end, it’s hard to categorize “Always Just OK”—there are flashes of refracted R&B, the slightest footwork undertones, and the familiar sheen of space-age beatmaking to be heard—but Herring’s craft is likely the better for its refusal to fit within a particular framework. Six more of the artist’s original productions will be made available alongside remixes from VHNL, Albert Swarm, and Sines + Katastrophic when Kite Day sees a release on July 23.

Always Just OK

Iron Galaxy Things We Lost Along the Way

It would take a very inconsiderate soul to mention Iron Galaxy (a.k.a. Adam Hodgins) without referencing “Attention Seeker,” his debut single from last year. The track offered a stellar cross of gooey noir chords and 808-dotted house, which unfolded diligently while passing through several movements in the course of the song’s eight minutes. Despite a few spotted collaborations and remixes since, the Montreal-based house alchemist hasn’t presented much in the way of new solo original material this year. As a result, his new EP, Things We Lost Along the Way, is more than just a new Iron Galaxy record. The four-track effort gives Hodgins the chance to further his production pedigree, and also represents an opportunity for him to clean house and move forward.

Hodgins leads off with two very different numbers. The bottomless free fall of impressive lead single “Giving You” gets the EP going properly, feeding off the cascading synth arpeggios that have become a recognizable component of his work. What’s especially engaging about “Giving You” is the way Hodgins plays with the arrangement throughout the track. Minor-key, ominous synth choirs are first cut down by a distorted R&B vocal, and before long, a fluttering keyboard riff and droning organ take over. The two elements then continue to battle it out over a steady, tenacious beat. It’s one of the most energetic and immediate cuts on the EP, something that’s highlighted even more by Hodgins’ decision to follow it up with the amusingly titled “The Attendant Army of Rats.” The two songs are total opposites, with “The Attendant Army of Rats” perhaps being the most leisurely Iron Galaxy track to date. It finds Hodgins dialing back the tempo while relying on a skipping beat and blissful chords, the latter of which begins at a mumble but gradually transitions to a whistle with the aid of a crushed, indistinguishable vocal sample.

Beginning with “Dragging Your Feet,” a tune that first gained airtime on Hodgins’ SoundCloud around the same time as “Attention Seeker,” Iron Galaxy noticeably shifts the EP’s second half toward the dancefloor. The final cut, “Why We Haven’t Left Yet,” is particularly strong, as Hodgins takes advantage of every opportunity to shake things up, swapping BPMs on the fly while littering the tune with zig-zagging synth pulses, shrieking off-kilter embellishments, and alien sub-bass. It’s a bold note to go out on; while the rest of the EP expands upon the elements that have previously made Iron Galaxy fun to watch, “Why We Haven’t Left Yet” is cut from a noticeably darker, sinister, and more dancefloor-ready cloth than the headphone-friendly fare he’s championed before. Apparently, Iron Galaxy has more than a few moods and sounds up his sleeve.

Toby Gale “Cool Car”*Tape Club*

London-based musician/producer Toby Gale has a knack for creating sunny, disco-inspired tracks, a skill apparent on his latest offering, “Cool Car.” Pulled from his forthcoming Starfruit EP, the tune sees Gale surrounding a diverse palette of synthetic elements with chopped vocal samples to form an infectious groove. While the sounds on “Cool Car” undoubtedly pay homage to the memory of funk and disco, the artist has infused his tune with a modern sheen and experimental twist, which is mostly apparent when a variety of inviting synths dance between the stereo field during the quieter moments. “Cool Car” will appear with the rest of Gale’s four-track EP when it drops on July 29 via Tape Club Records.

Cool Car

Will & Ink Fermat

Will & Ink is a new project from Amsterdam-based producers Pieter Willems (a.k.a. Presk) and Felix Lenferink and Fermat is the debut release both for the duo and its eponymous label. Individually, these artists have each dabbled in garage-flecked house and techno—records like Presk’s “Hesitate” and Lenferink’s “Bouree” are warehouse cuts infused with a rhythmic playfulness in the vein of fellow countryman 2562—but together, they’ve cast off 2-step in favor of another Dutch export—driving techno.

The pair’s sound is raw and unrelenting, recalling the live-to-tape recordings of The Analogue Cops, an aesthetic due in part to Will & Ink’s use of custom-built hardware, which forms the bedrock of the project’s studio productions and live shows. The fledgling label is being distributed by Delsin, and Fermat recalls the long-standing Dutch imprint’s releases from the likes of Conforce and Mike Dehnert, with meager elements somehow made to sound cavernous. Take the opener, which features little more than a boxy kick drum underpinning offbeat bass stabs, with piercing hi-hats pulsing above them both. It’s a formula that stays largely unchanged for the duration—the rhythm is joined at intervals by a ride cymbal, a warped bell, and jackhammer snare cracks—but a slight syncopation between drums and sub gives “First Fermat” a galloping energy that belies its spartan construction.

“Second Fermat” expands on the formula with a call-and-response playoff between the bass and the implementation of what, in Will & Ink’s monochrome world, constitutes a melody. Though the track is constructed of similarly raw elements as the opening cut, it feels funkier; the abrasiveness of the percussion has been given a touch of polish, and the introduction of an (admittedly warped and sliced) vocal makes things feel more organic. Simultaneously machine-like and human, it’s not unlike the late-’90s minimal of Robert Hood. The closer is the starkest tune of the bunch, with only chattering hi-hats and a grinding, static-tinged synth joining a bass drum that could have been plucked from a Dave Clarke record. Again, the music appears functional and tool-like, but there’s a real bounce from a rhythm that pulls slightly against the beat. It’s subtle, but when the music is this unforgiving, it’s those little touches that stand out.

Page 1640 of 3781
1 … 1,638 1,639 1,640 1,641 1,642 … 3,781