Adesse popped up last year with Adesse Versions, an EP that placed old tunes by Theo Parrish, Richie Hawtin, and Nick Holder in bassy, dubstep-informed frameworks. This month, the producer dropped a sample-heavy original for Prime Numbers’ PN17 sampler, which skewed more toward those producers’ North American roots. This cross-pollination is nothing new, of course, and Adesse’s tracks find easy company in the likes of Hessle Audio’s catalog. The variety they have presented so far, however, makes Untitled Love, the artist’s proper solo debut, a murky proposition.
As it turns out, the record is situated at the midpoint of the producer’s interests. Adesse’s knack for sampling abounds, something that is particularly highlighted on “Supernal,” which aligns the telltale vocoded “ha” from Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman” with stepping, off-kilter drums and buzzing bass. That song’s synth crescendos are intact as well, dropped in at points for melodramatic accent. “Metachemistry” blends foggy horns, woody bass, and emphatic hand drums—a recipe for so much deep house—with a purring, propulsive groove. The title track, meanwhile, focuses on a garage rhythm while echo-chambered vocal snatches float on top. As on “Metachemistry,” stock genre elements are interspersed—there are tightly woven organ stabs, fluttering chords, and a restlessly funky bassline. Throughout the record, Adesse exudes spatial awareness, as each part is crisply dialed in and primed for dancefloor effectiveness. But it’s unclear what the artist represents exactly, as the record drifts between ultra-recognizable sampling and genre facsimile.
Throughout the week, a whole lot of material gets posted here on XLR8R. And while we know—and love—that some hardcore readers will eagerly pour over every single news story, interview, podcast, video, and MP3 download that appears on the site, we also realize that for most people, it’s impossible to see everything, which means that some quality XLR8R content is likely to get missed in the hustle and bustle of everyone’s daily lives. In the interest of making it easier for everyone to catch up, every Friday we present The Lowdown, a weekly wrap-up of the top 10 tidbits from our site.
1. A new documentary surfaced this week about late hip-hip icon J Dilla (pictured above). The 30-minute film examines his life and career, using his immense record collection as a guide alongside commentary from his friends, family, and associates.
2. This week’s XLR8R podcast was delivered by up-and-coming UK talent Bobby Champs.
3. Resident Advisor launched a new video series, Between the Beats, focusing on the life of traveling DJs when they’re not behind the decks. The first installment featured Russian chanteuse Nina Kraviz.
4. XLR8R‘s In the Studio series always provides a fascinating look into the lives of producers, but the latest edition, featuring DJ Spoko, was truly special, as it found us going all the way to South Africa and taking some truly excellent photos in the process.
5. It seems like more and more producers are taking the “anonymous” route these days, and the latest to grace our website was Friend Within, who offered up bouncy house cut “The Cause” as a free download.
6. Monkeytown mainstay Siriusmo announced plans to drop a new album in June. The LP is called Enthusiast and the first single, “Itchy,” is available to stream.
7. Ahead of her new EP for Culprit, Swedish artist Adeline gave us “What You Got (Tobia Coffa Remix),” a sultry rework of the forthcoming record’s title cut, for our Downloads section.
8. Sónar unexpectedly cancelled the upcoming São Paulo portion of its extensive 2013 festival activities.
9. This week’s chapter of Hi, Doctor Nick! found our resident advice columnist doling out wisdom about proper email protocol, production schools, and RBMA.
10. As he tends to do, Submerse inserted some videogame flavor into his warbling remix of Emufucka’s “Xanadu,” which was given away as a free download on our site.
An expanded version of the The Lowdown is also available via a weekly email newsletter. Those interested in an even more in-depth round-up of XLR8R content, including a complete listing of all the free downloads we’ve offered in the past seven days, should sign up by entering their email address below.
Berlin-via-South Africa producer Portable (a.k.a. Bodycode, pictured above) has kept his Süd Electronic imprint relatively quiet since 2007’s Power of Ten LP, but now the label has announced a forthcoming 12″ that features remixes from Kowton and Anthony “Shake” Shakir. For the upcoming release, both Kowton—the busy Bristol producer who recently wrapped a collaboration with Julio Bashmore—and Detroit veteran Anthony “Shake” Shakir have taken on Portable’s “Albatross,” a tune which originally served as the opening track to the producer’s aforementioned Power of Ten album. The Albatross Remixes 12″ is due via Süd Electronic on May 1; its artwork is included below. (via Juno Plus)
Veteran producer Kelpe released a string of EPs on Serbian imprint Svetlana last year, and will soon be issuing the new Answered EP on his newly formed DRUT label (which we talked about in last week’s Press Play), but right now, he’s sharing this one-off composition, “Rolly Devore.” Kelpe’s signature space-age synths provide a flowery melody, which operates within a framework of acoustic drums, mellow pads, and watery atmospherics. A series of other effects are continually tuned to the point where one could imagine the producer joyously turning knobs on his controls during the production process. Nonetheless, the non-demanding nature of the tune is enjoyable and gives us something to play with until Kelpe’s upcoming record is ready to see the light of day.
Glasgow’s Numbers night/label celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and—aside from adding new releases by Rustie, Deadboy, Redinho, and others to its catalog—is set to mark the occasion with the launch of a new collaborative festival, Pleasure Principle, which will take place towards the end of next month. FACT recently caught up with two of the six label co-heads, Jackmaster (pictured above) and Spencer, to see what all the label has in store for its 10th year and to discuss the goals for Numbers new festival endeavor in an extensive interview posted to its site today. To read the full article, head here.
The title track of the Flo Jam EP from London duo Dusky—whose new effort for Aus we reviewed earlier today—was a tune that saw plenty of rinses in 2012, as its deep groove, machine-made synths, and Aaliyah vocal samples made it an easy choice for the dancefloor. Now, news has come that Dogmatik (the label responsible for putting out the four-track record last year) will issue a Flo Jam Remixes EP next month. Each EP track gets its own remix, with an outfit by the name of Mange Tout getting the honors of taking on the title track while Kris Wadsworth, Laura Jones, and James What have been tapped to rework the record’s other offerings. The remix EP will drop on April 18. Previews of all four reworks can be found below.
Broadwalk head Julio Bashmore (pictured above) and Young Echo affiliate Kowton—himself fresh off of a collaboration with bass deconstructionist Peverelist—have teamed up for a new single, “Mirror Song.” The pair’s effort will see a very limited 12″ run as part of Record Store Day on April 20, followed by an official wide release on May 5. Appearing on the flip will be a solo Kowton venture in addition to the duo’s own “techno” edit of “Mirror Song.” A radio rip of the tune from Jackmaster’s Radio 1 show can be streamed below, where the full tracklist is also included. (via FACT)
A1 Kowton vs. Julio Bashmore “Mirror Song” A2 Kowton “And What?” B1 Kowton vs. Julio Bashmore: “Mirror Song (Techno Remix)”
Bristol-based production trio Forget Me Not recently released its Stronger EP, and now, the crew is offering up “Faded,” an upbeat track tinged with elements of deep house and garage. The group—only known for now as Adam, Geoff, and Alex—heavily toys with the song’s vocals, stretching them across many registers. While the approach might seem silly in isolation, it doesn’t subtract from the smoothly polished drumwork and elegantly cascading bass, leaving the bouncy tune with a vibe that’s as equally suited for an upscale club as it is a sweaty warehouse.
New software from iZotope, a new sound bank from Native Instruments, a sophisticated looper pedal from Electro-Harmonix, a look at DJ Spoko’s South African studio, studio tips from sonic adventurer DJ Sprinkles, and more to catch up on in the latest edition of This Week in Music Tech.
A visit to DJ Spoko’s home studio:
Earlier this week, we posted our interview with Bacardi-house pioneer DJ Spoko after paying a visit to Atteridgeville, the South African township where the veteran producer has long been putting together his brand of sharp, percussive tracks in a small studio behind his house. The full interview and picture set—which is unquestionably one of the series’ best so far—can be found here.
iZotope introduces a new vocal processor, Native Instruments’ leftfield Maschine pack, and a new generation of looping pedal from Electro Harmonix:
Plug-in developer iZotope has released a new vocal processing plug-in, Nectar Elements, which aims to give users ready-made signal paths based on their desired style of vocal sound. While the company’s intention—and the overview video above—is clearly aimed towards more traditional vocal work, we think the XLR8R faithful would no doubt be able to find a few ways to use the software for more creative means. A free trial of Nectar can be found here.
Earlier this week, Native Instruments introduced the Helios Expansion Pack for Maschine, which offers an array of what the company has deemed “leftfield” sounds and rhythms. More info and previews of the sounds offered in the pack can be found here.
Pedal builders Electro-Harmonix released a new powerful looping pedal earlier in the week, the 45000 Multi-Track Looping Recorder. The new unit not only allows for sophisticated live looping, but also allows users to pre-load files, MIDI sync, and all other sorts of useful functions that have been missing from looper pedals for too long. A video of comedian/performer Reggie Watts explaining how the 45000 works and showing off some of its features is above and full details can be found here.
A new development in musical APP connectivity:
Digital audio company Crudebyte has developed Jack, a new iOS app aimed at connecting all audio and MIDI ins and outs between users various musical applications with a simple, open-ended tool. Although details are still emerging, Jack seems likely to provide some relief from the headache of connecting apps at the moment, and it’s free. The full details can be read here. Those interested in gaining further insight should also check out Create Digital Music’s piece on the app, here.
Studio tips from DJ Sprinkles:
Over on RBMA, house experimentalist Terre Thaemlitz (a.k.a. DJ Sprinkles) offered up a quick list of studio tips, including using record clamps while sampling from vinyl and utilizing keyboard expression pedals for more dynamic performances. Read the producer’s full list of tips here.
As it is known to do, the internet filled up with a plentiful array of streams and downloads over the course of this week, offering new music around almost every corner. And while we did our best to present the most pressing of new tunes on a daily basis, a handful are bound to slip by, which is why we gather the remaining pieces of noteworthy audio here on Press Play. This particular offering of streams and downloads covers everything from soulful house to dreamy beats and a whole lot in between, including tracks from Juan Maclean, RxGibbs, and Buraka Som Sistema, remixes from Girl Unit and How to Dress Well, and a pair of mixes from Theo Parrish and Kyle Hall B2B Funkineven—all of which can be found/heard below.
DFA mainstay Juan Maclean will drop his 19th effort for the label early next month. The driving, spacey “You Are My Destiny”—which features Maclean’s long-running vocal collaborator Nancy Whang—will serve as the a-side, with a remix from Nic Fanciulli on the flip.
RxGibbs shared another dreamy cut from his forthcoming LP for Cascine, Contact, which is set to drop early next month.
Spanish producer/vocalist Bflecha dropped a new video for “B33,” a vocal-led cut set to appear on her debut full-length, which will see a release later this year via the Arkestra imprint. The “B33” single drops sooner though, and will see a release on March 26.
The Enchufada label’s Upper Cuts series has been doling out some impressive free tunes during the past few months, the latest being “Zouk Flute” from Portuguese outfit Buraka Som Sistema. The party-starting Portuguese outfit has been experimenting with slower tempos as of late, and this track is a prime example of what the group is calling Zouk bass.
Para One’s silky, Cam’Ron-featuring “Every Little Thing” has received a rework from Night Slugs luminary Girl Unit as part of the Every Little Thing remix EP, which is forthcoming on the Marble label.
Another live edit from Simian Mobile Disco found its way into the world this week; the glistening “Wooden” can be streamed or downloaded for free via the player above.
This ghostly, slightly overdriven remix of Polly Scattered’s “Wanderlust” from lo-fi R&B maven Tom Krell (a.k.a. How To Dress Well) appeared online, spreading the word for the outfit’s LP, which is due in July on Mute.
Belgian DJ/production outfit GoldFFinch recently turned in a mix in anticipation of Dirtybird Players, an upcoming compilation for the Claude VonStroke-helmed Dirtybird imprint which features a new production from the pair.
Hip-hop-producer-turned-house-head Mr. Beatnik has shared a visually entrancing video for the intricate “Savannah,” which also happens to be the title cut from his forthcoming EP, out next month via the Don’t Be Afraid label.
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Revisiting a track from his excellent debut LP, Glider, elusive American producer The Sight Below shared a new version of album cut “Life’s Fading Light” for free download.
Naulot is a young producer from Lyon, France who will soon be releasing the Leave EP via the Bebup label. In the meantime, he’s unveiled this dramatic clip for “Gedon”; directed by Aurel Rotival, the piece is packed with hooded figures and stark, vaguely medieval imagery that nicely complements the song’s chunky techno rhythms.
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Kompakt’s latest signee, Coma, has shared another single from its forthcoming LP, this time offering a stream of the heavenly, melodically rich “My Orbit.”
As always, a few new Boiler Room sessions appeared on SoundCloud this week, our favorites coming from Motor City legend Theo Parrish and a special B2B session with Detroit wunderkind Kyle Hall and UK producer Funkineven.
