Juan Atkins, Pantha du Prince, and Juju & Jordash to Close MUTEK 2013

Montreal’s MUTEK festival has made a small handful of further announcements regarding the last of its 2013 series of events, naming the likes of Pantha du Prince and Juan Atkins (pictured above) as its final performers. On June 2, two special showcases will take place: German minimalist Pantha du Prince will perform selections from his Elements of Light LP with the help of partners in crime The Bell Laboratory at the renowned Montreal Symphony House, and Juan Atkins will join forces with Moritz von Oswald inside of The Society for Arts and Technology to present the world premiere of their Borderland project. Dutch duo Juju & Jordash will also be in attendance at the latter of the two events, delivering an improvised live set. Furthermore, Boiler Room has also been tapped to deliver its first-ever Montreal event, but the lineup itself has yet to be announced. More details for the final night of MUTEK events can be found here, and presale tickets can be purchased until April 15, here

Various Artists Traxx: The House That Garage Built

It’s a daunting task to try and track the permutations of garage that have appeared during the past two decades, from early-’90s pitch-shifted pop vocals to the post-millennial snarl of grimy 2-step textures. 2013 finds UK label Needwant taking a shot at recording the latest iteration of the genre with its 16-track compilation, Traxx: The House That Garage Built, a collection that harkens back to the sound’s New York and New Jersey roots while taking subtle cues from the worlds of dubstep, techno, and house.

HNNY‘s “For the Very First Time” sets the scene nicely, sporting ’90s New Jersey-style organs and a swinging bassline thump that owes Kerri Chandler a royalty check or two. The song bleeds into Harry Wolfman‘s tactfully paced remix of Ben Pearce‘s “What I Might Do,” a production ripe with synth dollops that updates the source material in satiating fashion while leaving its sampled vocal bits largely intact. It may not be much of a departure from Pearce’s original, but there appears to be no effort to reinvent the wheel here, a trend that continues throughout Traxx.

The compilation covers its fair share of familiar ground, most notably via the inclusion of some of 2012’s biggest garage-house anthems, including Dusky‘s “Flo Jam,” the Medlar remix of Disclosure‘s “Boiling,” and the NY Stomp remix of George Fitzgerald‘s “Child.” Granted, these tracks have all become floor favorites for good reason, but it doesn’t take long for similarities between them to become clear—there are more than enough breathy vocals fluttering over organ-grinder basslines. At the same time, Ejeca‘s “Horizon,” a song which has received plenty of rinses since its release last year, still sounds invigorating and retains the buzzing charisma of early-’90s MK dubs, even after repeated plays.

Traxx is at its most compelling when it’s showcasing newly emerging artists. The Real Connoisseur‘s hypnotizing “Faux De Beaux” is perhaps the album’s best example of how a classic garage aesthetic can be merged with stuttering bass manipulation. Rhythm Operator‘s “Anytime” also stands out, as it offers up a dreamy, clanking percussive pattern, perhaps in tribute to Nu-Birth’s 1998 jam of the same name. In a similar nod to the past, Rhode & Brown & Mark Schegg‘s “Joyride” draws out a sustained synth note amongst ballooning bassline pulses; there’s such an unwavering dedication to early New York house that it calls into question what decade the track was produced in.
Though effortlessly propulsive from start to finish, Traxx‘s relative commitment to straightforward revivalism saps some of the energy that made garage such an unhinged—and fun—undertaking the first time around. Though it’s an alluring compilation for those looking to familiarize themselves with the interplay between vintage garage and contemporary house sounds, those already well versed in the malleable genre’s history may be left wanting more.

Hi, Doctor Nick! – Tips for Becoming a Better DJ and the Dangers of Dating Mothers

Nick Hook is a modern-day jack-of-all-trades, a man who somehow finds the time to produce, record, engineer, DJ, travel the world, party, and just be a genuinely rad guy. Amidst all the chaos, he amazingly finds the time to answer questions from the XLR8R faithful, popping in every Thursday morning to shell out nuggets of wisdom he’s picked up over the years. Doctor Nick is a veritable gold mine of information, which is why our readers shouldn’t be shy about hitting him up at doctornick@xlr8r.com. Our resident advice columnist is here to help, and more importantly, he’s happy to do it.

Hi. I don’t have too much to say this week. Spring regressed in New York and that’s pretty wack. The questions have actually been getting better and better, and I salute everyone who been writing in and showing love.

Follow me on Twitter and stuff. @nickhook

Anyways, yeah. Keep the questions coming to doctornick@xlr8r.com. Here goes.

Hi Doctor Nick,
What’s good? I just started DJing a few months ago, and I’ve been practicing almost every day, but I just don’t feel like I’m making that much progress. What are some tips and/or tricks to help me progress and become a pro?
Timleezy

Yo. Chillin’. Everything is good. Off the top of my head…

Pro is a loose term. Starting tomorrow, pretend you are a pro and try to live up to that every day. Name it and claim it. I think the bar has been set so low that being a decent DJ makes you great these days. It’s unfortunate, but hey, it’s 2013. If you’ve actually been practicing for a while, I would bet some money that you are already a better DJ than half of New York City, and that’s like four million people, cuz everyone is a DJ here.

Are you having problems beatmatching?

Kicks on kicks and snares on snares. That sounds obvious, but make sure you match the kick on the one with the other song you are playing, and then the snare should match too. Pay attention to song structure. Don’t be one of those dudes that loops one bar on Serato and then you mix out and you have to wait for another 45 seconds for the song to drop. Most dance music is made so that you mix 16 bars of one track with 16 bars of another, so try and think of that when you drop the new song—drop it after the sequence of 16 bars ends. It’ll all make sense, and then you can have fun pulling EQs in and out and filtering and so forth. It’s kinda all math.

The way I learned to beatmatch when it didn’t make sense was that I had two A Tribe Called Quest records and I was like, “These things have to go together.” I just kept trying to do it over and over until it worked.

If you are playing rap, don’t fucking mix that shit. Drop it. Never underestimate the element of surprise.

The real tip is to actually go get some gigs. This is my personal opinion, but practicing DJing in your house during the day doesn’t equate to actually going out to a club, being in a room with a bunch of people partaking in activities, and how it’s different every time. Everyone does it differently, but being in that situation is like 10,000 practices. Go suck—we’ve all done it (I’m still doing it), but at least you can analyze it faster and learn how to do better next time. And obviously, keep practicing,

Use your ears, don’t use the screen. Trust me. It might take a little bit longer, but it’ll pay off.

Listen. Think about who’s your favorite DJ and why. It’s simple, but studying is amazing. Make live mixes. Record yourself. I think that’s it. Maybe. Hmmmm.

Hi Doctor Nick,
Have you ever dated a legit mother? Any words of advice?
Anonymous 😉

I myself have not.

My advice is to steer clear. I was talking to some rappers about this (that I will leave unnamed), but they agreed, for several reasons.

1. The good guy reason:

She’s got kids. Unless it’s real, I don’t think its good to build an attachment to some kids that you don’t plan on taking in.

2. The slimeball reason:

The kids get in the way and interrupt the end game, which is the pussy.

And just in case you fell in love with the girl and she never told you she had the kids, you just gotta be ready for one thing—to be called Dad.

Hi, Doctor Nick! appears every Thursday on XLR8R. Do you have a question for Doctor Nick? Please submit your inquires to doctornick@xlr8r.com. Nick Hook can help you.

Andy Cato “Sundown Sant Agnes (Biosphere Remix)”**

Norwegian ambient-techno maven Biosphere has turned in a rare and unsurprisingly spacious rework of Andy Cato‘s “Sundown Sant Agnes.” The original track comes from Times and Places (artwork above), the forthcoming solo record from Cato—who also makes up half of the long-standing Groove Armada outfit—which gathers lost and forgotten tracks from the producer’s prolific career. While it’s hard to tell exactly what the original version of “Sundown Sant Agnes” might sound like, there’s no denying that Biosphere’s icy touch is a welcome addition to any tune. Times and Places will see an official release on May 14 via R&S sub-label Apollo.

Sundown St. Agnes 898 (Biosphere Remix)

Sundown Sant Agnes (Biosphere Remix)

Bobby Browser Still Browsing EP

It’s been over a year since Bobby Browser‘s debut EP, Just Browsing, appeared on the fashionable 100% Silk imprint. From the sound of Still Browsing though, it seems the Bay Area producer has changed very little about his approach in that time—he’s still keen to take cues from classic house and disco, still dedicated to vintage hardware tones, and still sounding damn good.

Still Browsing leads with its strongest cut, “As Far as I Know.” Built around a set of cool electric-piano chords and a jacking groove, the tune stretches its handful of elements for a fully enjoyable five-plus minutes. Between the extra loops of hand percussion, string-like synth melodies, diva vocal chops, rolling snares, and walking bass, Browser has plenty of arrangement possibilities to toy around with and he does so, dropping the bass here or shortening the vocal snippets there to create the track’s various sections. It’s these constant arrangement tweaks that give the tune its dancefloor momentum, always hinting at what all the elements are capable of together, but only allowing them to line up for a few chorus-like moments.

The EPs other three efforts do not disappoint. “Airplane Mode” sneaks a bit of acid into its mellow, afternoon-house feel, and the following “Theme From Tony’s Party” is a thick disco cut led by floating string samples and just a touch of breathy melody. The closing “Baby Dre” brings the tempo down to a breezy 100 bpm, leaving Browser some extra room, which he uses to lay into his synths and land on a few poignant melodic themes that, combined with the track’s slow shuffle and field recordings of the ocean, give the song an unexpectedly relaxed and contemplative character.

On both of his EPs as Bobby Browser, the Oakland-based producer has shown an ability to take inspiration from a few different veins of vintage dance music without simply lifting ideas directly from them. While he may not be forging ahead into uncharted or perhaps “forward thinking” sonic territory, that is likely because he doesn’t really have to; Browser has managed to find a distinctive voice amongst what continues to become a crowded field of Johnny-come-lately producers obsessed with the classic house sound. What exactly Browser does differently is not easy to quantify, but part of it may lie in the fact that the soulful undercurrents and hardware roundness of Still Browsing are not the ultimate focus, but are rather simply part of the patchwork which makes the man’s disarmingly inviting tracks.

Marcel Lune “Spy Glass”**

Marcel Lune is a UK upstart whose shapeshifting production style will see a proper release this May via London’s Studio Rockers imprint. For the time being, Lune has offered up bonus cut “Spy Glass,” a track more focused on steady head nodding than the party-ready productions available on his forthcoming EP. The tune nonetheless makes a good case for the young Brit’s worth as a budding producer, wrapping a bevy of interwoven textures and micro-samples around a set of heavy-handed and slightly stuttering drums. Marcel Lune’s upcoming Intergalactic Dancefloor Massacre EP is set to drop on May 6.

Spy Glass

Rory Phillips Mixed Fortunes #4

Eclectic Londoner Rory Phillips is better known for his DJing and remix work than his solo productions, which have only begun seen the light of day in the last year or so. In spite of this reticence, a glance through those remixes is enough to prove that he knows his way around a studio. Besides lending his touch to a long list of high-profile artists, from Franz Ferdinand to The xx, he’s also taken the time to rework cult heroes like Units and Alexander Robotnick. His Mixed Fortunes series attempts to showcase the chops that have made him so in-demand for such a variety of camps, and in this respect, the clear-headed fourth edition surely succeeds.

“Tunnel Vision” rides in on a confident, bongo-laden disco stomp that’s laced with a frisky hi-NRG arpeggio. Using an arsenal of glassy synthetic twinges, Phillips builds the track to an exhilarating climax, which is led by a big-room-ready piano hook. The producer’s pop instincts are abundantly clear here, though his touch harkens back to mid-1980s excess more than anything currently doing the club rounds at the moment. “Silicon Island,” on the flip, is comparatively low-key. Produced with Night Slugs’ co-chair L-Vis 1990 (a.k.a. James Connolly), it has a spiky, slow grind that’s underlined by a pointy, grooving bassline and faintly glowing pads. Its midsection, however, is all about a volatile main arpeggio, which flares up without warning. It’s a fair bet that this is Connolly’s contribution, as it calls to mind the raw, spasmodic house he has been investigating of late. Combined with Phillips’ melodious flourishes, it neatly finds a midpoint between the producers’ styles. Neither track goes too far into uncharted territory, but “Silicon Island” reinforces the idea that Phillips is at his best when his music is infused, however slightly, with the work of another.

Watch Giorgio Moroder Talk Synths, Disco, and Collaborating with Daft Punk

Disco pioneer, renowned Donna Summers producer, and all-around synth/dance music genius Giorgio Moroder recently sat down for a rare video interview to discuss his roots as a proudcer, the early days of disco, and his experience collaborating with Daft Punk on the French duo’s anticipated Random Accesss Memories album. As it turns out, Moroder is just as engaging and bubbly as his legacy of inspiring dance music would have you believe. The clip shows the veteran artist jovially discussing his first encounter with a synthesizer, working with Summers and others in the heyday of disco, his newfound preference for digital equipment, and the painstaking lengths Daft Punk take to make its records. The full interview can be watched below, courtesy of Creators Project.

Video: The Cyclist “Bones in Motion”

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Following in the wake of the release of his debut LP last week, young Irish producer The Cyclist has offered up a ’90s-tinged visual companion to the album’s title track. In our recent review of Bones in Motion, we described the track as “one of the album’s brighter and livelier cuts […] It’s a lengthy track—over seven minutes—but its inviting beauty never fades.” The lo-fi video accompaniment is directed by Jesselisa Moretti, Leaving Records‘ visual director, and is the second video to accompany the record, having had album cut “Visions” premiere on XLR8R back in February.

Flubba “Tell Me”*ADD Cat*

NYC-bred night stalker Flubba (a.k.a. Aaron Lifton) favors the long game on his new Black Velvet EP. The broken-techno producer makes tracks that simmer like a cigarette in the dark, as they offer disquieting takes on building atmosphere that is all attack, no release. The approach works wonders on “Tell Me”: For the most part, Flubba keeps his tracks hollow, letting his screwed vocal samples and muted, clangy percussion taunt and threaten the listener. Even if the dark, sensual vibes are the most obvious thing to ponder, “Tell Me” is a fine club track, too, minimal and more than generous with its low end. Before “Tell Me” is released with the rest of Flubba’s Black Velvet record on April 8, previews of its tracks are available to stream after the jump.

Tell Me

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