Her first musical offering since 2012’s Playin’ Me album for Hyperdub, DJ/producer/singer Cooly G (a.k.a. Merissa Campbell) has dropped a half-hour mix of heavy-hitting dancefloor fare. Called Rise Up, the DJ set arrives without a tracklist, opting instead to delve into the anonymous depths of house and bass music, the sounds of which can be streamed below or downloaded for free, here. (via Dummy)
Today, East Coast producer Pursuit Grooves (a.k.a. Vanessa Smith) dropped the Broadcasting a Sensory Sequence LP, her first full-length offering since 2011’s Frantically Hopeful album for Tectonic and the official return to Smith’s own What Rules label since 2008. The eclectic artist describes her new album as “funky” and “uptempo,” which comes across in freebie single “Code Nexion” (download it here). The 11-track Broadcasting a Sensory Sequence album is available to stream and download below.
After a throng of exiciting and hype-inducing articles buzzed around the internet, and following two artfully rendered music videos for its lead singles, Shaking the Habitual, the fourth official LP by Swedish duo The Knife, can now be heard in its entirety. Courtesy of Pitchfork Advance, the 13-track, 98-minute behemoth of an album is available to stream here.
Los Angeles-based instrumental duo El Ten Eleven has enlisted a handful of remixers to appear on its forthcoming Transitions Remixed collection, one of which is New Jersey bit-wizard and Ghostly affiliate Com Truise (pictured above). On his rework, the producer replaces the original track’s interlocked layers of guitar with lattices of his own vintage-synth goodness. The sprawling mass of glittery tones and delayed melodies is given a laid back set of snapping drum-machine beats to glide along with before—just like the original—Com Truise completely reroutes the momentum midway through, eventually taking it to even grander heights. The entire Transitions Remixed record—which includes additional reworks from D33J, Slow Magic, Max Tundra, and others—can be streamed in full after the jump.
Longstanding UK label and radio station Rinse has announced that the next installment of its ongoing mix series will be delivered by Hyperdub label boss Steve Goodman (a.k.a. Kode9). Goodman’s Rinse:22 mix spans rather diverse territory, diving into both Hyperdub-related and unaffiliated material before closing out with a half-hour run of Chicago-style footwork which is spliced together with appearances by one of the genre’s foremost pioneers and the most recent addition to the label’s roster, DJ Rashad. Goodman says of his DJ set, “Things just stretched out a bit more. This style has just emerged out of me trying to fit all the stuff I want to play into a set. Generally, these sets start relatively simple rhythmically, and then get more fucked up as the mix goes on.” The tracklist for Kode9’s Rinse:22 mix can be seen below, before it drops on May 20.
1. Burial – Truant
2. Theo Parrish – Kites on Pluto
3. Morgan Zarate feat. Roses Gabor – Pusher Taker
4. Titonton – Spread
5. Alex Parkinson & Chris Lorenzo – What Must I Prove 2 U
6. Joy O – Big Room Tech House DJ Tool – TIP!
7. Funkystepz – Vice Versa
8. Terror Danjah & Champion – Stone Island
9. DVA – Chilli Burrito
10. Champion – Friday 13th
11. Jam City – Her
12. Kode9 – Uh
13. Kuedo – Mirtazapine
14. Visionist – Something Old Something New
15. Dexplicit – Change Formation
16. Faze Miyake – Burciaga
17. The Bug feat. Flow Dan – Dirty
18. Dexplicit – Wave Machine
19. Cashmere Cat – Aurora
20. Rustie – Triadzz
21. Terror Danjah – Sam Cro
22. S-Type – Flyp City
23. Kode9 – Xingfu Lu
24. RP Boo – Steamidity
25. RP Boo – Red Hot
26. DJ Manny – Work That Body
27. Kode9 – Kan
28. DJ Rashad – Rollin
29. Unconventional Science – 8 Shots Up (Bleep Bloop Remix)
30. DJ Rashad feat. DJ Earl – Freshtek
31. DJ Rashad – Brighter Days
32. Addison Groove & Sam Binga – 11th
33. DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn – Last Winter
34. DJ Rashad & Freshmoon – Everybody
35. DJ Rashad & DJ Manny – Way I Feel
36. DJ Rashad & Phil – Everyday of My Life
37. DJ Rashad – Let It Go
Southampton DJ/producer and Butterz affiliate Royal-T has shared his first installment of a new monthly mix series which highlights the sounds of his local grime scene and beyond. The series, simply named RTMIX, debuted on Butterz’s Rinse FM show this past Sunday, as Royal-T shed light on producers and sounds that inform his own musical inspirations. Grime forefather Wiley is the focus of this first installment, as the DJ explores the impact that his Eski style has had on the UK’s musical landscape. Royal-T’s first RTMIX episode is available to stream and download below, along with its 20-song tracklist.
1. Wiley – Wot Do U Call It?
2. Wiley Kat – Snowman
3. Once Was Nice – What Could I Do (Wiley Kat & Danny Weed Vocal Mix)
4. Outlaw Breaks – Dutty (feat. Gemma Fox & Sweetie Irie) (Wiley Remix)
5. Wiley Kat – Shanghai
6. Wiley Kat – Ice Rink (Tinchy Stryder Vocal)
7. Wiley Kat – Ice Rink (Kano Vocal)
8. Wiley Kat – Ice Rink (Dizzee Rascal Vocal)
9. Wiley Kat – Snowball
10. Ludacris – Roll Out (Wiley Kat Remix)
11. Plasticman – Gotcha (Dr. Venom Refix)
12. Wiley Kat – Eskimo
13. Starfox – Blink
14. Geeneus – Genie
15. Wiley Kat – Frostbite (Devils Mix)
16. Wiley Kat – Bang Bang (Scratchy Vocal)
17. Wiley – 20 Minutes
18. Danny Weed – Creeper
19. Royal-T – Glacier
20. Wiley Kat – Eskimo 3 (New Brand Flex Refix) (Live Recording from ‘Climax vs Loveshy’ (2002))
Last week, XLR8R teamed up with Sonos Studio for a very special, secret show in Los Angeles with Brooklyn-based electronic adventurers Teengirl Fantasy and Brainfeeder affiliate Teebs. While only a few hundred lucky people scored the chance to partake in the festivities—which also included DJ sets from XLR8R editor Shawn Reynaldo and free drinks courtesy of Bud Light Platinum—we did manage to snap some quality photos of the party for everyone else. We recommend that our readers take a look, process their jealousy, and start thinking up ways to get themselves into our next event.
The time between the release of Bonobo‘s accomplished fourth album, Black Sands, in 2010 and this year’s The North Borders has been fruitful for the artist otherwise known as Simon Green. The one-time Brighton producer uprooted himself from his native UK and moved to New York, having found in the US a lucrative market for his cinematic, dense, and polyrhythmic jazzy-cool aesthetic. With mega “EDM” acts like Pretty Lights name-dropping Bonobo as a central influence, Green’s popularity has ballooned, leading to steady touring both as a live act and a DJ, all with a degree of success that would have been unimaginable when his pillowy beats debuted on the Tru Thoughts label back in 2000. Given Bonobo’s new level of exposure, one might expect a commercially minded shift in his sound, but The North Borders instead plays out as a linear and logical progression of his catalog to date.
Green has continued fine-tuning his musical identity here with the same deliberateness he’s always shown. Changes to his sound are often subtle; sometimes, they’re barely even audible. Tracing the Bonobo of 2013 back to his earliest days, the biggest advances come in quality of production, not in modification of style. While guttural groans, wobbles, and whatnot could have easily worked their way into the fold, we are instead greeted with the producer’s tried-and-true Rhodes, crackling soul, soothing cinematics, and pan-global swing. On “Sapphire,” a near-weightless combination of vibraphone, beatific harp, and purring woodwinds floats through the composition’s wide-open space, anchored by nothing more than a fragment of gossamer vocals and compressed drumming. It’s pristine Bonobo and a song that embodies the azure shimmer of its namesake well.
“Ten Tigers” jitters along with a stuttered boom and bap that offers subtle acknowledgement of his music’s place in a post-chillout world. Displaying more backbone than the jazzy flightiness of Black Sands, the track nonetheless refuses to give up its ambient twilight and dusky characteristics. But this steadfast dedication to his well-honed sound also forces Green to navigate a fine line between integrity and tired rehash. Tracks like “Jets,” with its lyrical coos, bass rumble, and straight-ahead breakbeat, not only sound like an oversimplified version of Bonobo’s best work, but also like a watered-down version of Pretty Lights. The North Borders succeeds best at shedding its weathered downtempo shackles when it pushes the tempo. “Emkay” is an uplifting prance through an organic soundscape of woodblock clacks, breathy saxophones, simmering strings, and a folksy sample that recalls something from the vintage RJD2 playbook. This spry pacing is interspersed throughout the LP, most notably during the enveloping warmth of lead single “Cirrus” and on “Know You,” with the tough-yet-understated tapping of a slightly broken beat and touch of techno-funk bravado. It’s not that Bonobo has never cracked 120 bpm before, it’s just that he’s seized on a welcome forcefulness here.
When Green isn’t committing time to tracks with discerning dancefloor potential, he’s penning beats for an always diverse collection of singers, the most notable among them being a high-profile collaboration with visionary soulstress Erykah Badu. The oblique meditation “Heaven for the Sinner” is a dose of edginess Green’s repertoire could use more of. Brooding opening track “First Fires,” featuring Cinematic Orchestra talent Grey Reverend, and the glitchy “Towers” with up-and-comer Szjerdene add more of these great, moody moments, but album closer “Pieces” regresses to a lounge vibe that was best left in 2003. Overall though, Green’s ability to stay true to the sounds that have carried him this far is admirable. A cursory listen to The North Borders may give a “been there done that” impression at points, but a closer listen reveals just how much he’s carefully pushing his own boundaries.
DJ Qu is not a flashy artist. Though the New Jersey native is essentially a house-music lifer—he detailed his early days as a house dancer in our Bubblin’ Up feature a couple of years back—he continues to quietly go about his business, DJing around the globe and releasing a steady stream of quality deep house, mostly via his own Strength Music imprint. Gymnastics, his first and only full-length, dropped back in 2011, and although 2012 saw a handful of new records from Qu, we nonetheless found ourselves wondering where his creative head was at these days, which is why we invited him to put together an exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series. As one might expect, Qu remains in top form, combining his deep, soulful sensibilities with a veteran’s knowledge of what’s effective on the dancefloor. Apart from a few of his own tunes and edits, the podcast also includes tracks from two of his frequent partners-in-crime, Black Jazz Consortium (a.k.a. Fred P.) and Jus-Ed, along with a number of other choice selections. Of course, with Qu at the helm, we were never worried about the quality of the mix, but it’s nonetheless great to hear a pro simply doing his thing.
01 Nick Hoppner “Seaweed (Deadbeat’s Fireweed Mix)” (Echocord)
02 Animal Social Club “Mud Sweat” (Ibadan)
03 Black Jazz Consortium “Look to the Future” (Soul People)
04 Abacus “The Answer (Main Pass)” (Room with a View)
05 DJ Qu “Be Who You Want (Hardknock Shaker’s Dub)” (Strength)
06 Elements of Life feat. Josh Milan “Children of the World (Nico’s Night Dub + Qu’s Unofficial Edit)” (Vega)
07 Dagui Rodann & Timothee Milton “Eternal Love (Timmy Regisford Remix)” (Shelter)
08 Pittsburgh Track Authority “Strenf” (Work Them)
09 DJ Jus-Ed “Change of the Season (Unofficial Beat Edit by DJ Qu)” (Underground Quality)
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After March’s session with Nicolas Jaar, Mike Simonetti, and others, Boiler Room has announced its return to NYC with an event headlined by iconic house DJ/producer Frankie Knuckles. In addition to the veteran NY artist, House of House, Juan MacLean, and Mike Servito will also perform at the next installment of Boiler Room’s series of US events on April 4. As usual, the entire night will be streaming live from 7:00 to 11:00pm EST via Boiler Room’s website, here.
