Another Posthumous J Dilla Record to Drop this Spring

Just yesterday, a documentary highlighting the life of late iconic hip-hop producer James Dewitt Yancey (a.k.a. J Dilla) surfaced, and today, we’ve received word that yet another posthumous record will appear later this spring. Entitled Dilla Lost Tapes, the collection will be the third posthumous Dilla record, following 2009’s Jay Stay Paid and last year’s Dillatroit. As we reported last month, a different posthumous Dilla album, the vocal-oriented The Diary, is already in the works, with first single “Anthem” b/w “Trucks” scheduled to arrive via the Dilla-founded Pay Jay imprint on April 15. As for Dilla Lost Tapes, it will be released by Moodymann’s Mahogani label on April 10; the artwork and tracklist are below, and previews of all of the tracks have been made available here. (via Juno Plus)

A1. I’m Back Nickl
A2. Dilla Beats 2
A3. 73 Soundtrack
A4. Slow as Trick
A5. Monkies N Car
A6. Token Jazz Hour
A7. Videogame 1
A8. Aahhh
A9. Still Laffin
A10. Session 4
B1. Licking
B2. Here We Go Again
B3. 3 Round Da Corner
B4. Me2
B5. Get Da Negga
B6. Havn Some Fun

Fjord Morrison “So Mad (Druid Cloak Remix)”*Hush Hush*

The somewhat anonymous tunesmith known as Druid Cloak has turned up again with an impressive remix, this time around adding his touch to a track from a new project with a similarly unspecific background story, Fjord Morrison. Morrison’s debut effort, Old Tendency (artwork above), will see a release next week via Seattle’s Hush Hush label, offering three originals and three remixes, including this one of “So Mad.” In step with his work of the past several months, Druid Cloak here wraps the original up in his own brand of hybrid soundscapes, meshing real-world sounds—clattering percussion, found-sound vocals—with a wide array of synth-born and computer-processed bits of audio. The full tracklist for the Old Tendency EP, out on March 26, can be found after the jump.

01 Late After Dark
02 So Mad
03 She Make Me Feel So Good
04 She Make Me Feel So Good (Domokos Remix)
05 So Mad (Druid Cloak Remix)
06 Late After Dark (Kid Smpl Remix)

So Mad (Druid Cloak Remix)

Bobby Browser Preps EP for 100% Silk; Hear the A-Side Now

Oakland-based producer Bobby Browser is set to return to the 100% Silk imprint next month with a new four-track effort, his first since the Just Browsing EP officially debuted the solo project early last year. The forthcoming Still Browsing EP is said to again find the Bay Area artist exploring the more soulful sides of hardware house, as the stream of lead cut “As Far as I Know” confirms below. Still Browsing will see a release on April 2, and its full tracklist can be found beneath the streaming player. (via FACT)

01 As Far As I Know
02 Airplane Mode
03 Theme From Tony’s Party
04 Baby Dre

Hi, Doctor Nick! – Proper Email Protocol, Production Schools, and the Truth About RBMA

After a hectic week at SXSW, most people require some major down time, simply to recharge their batteries. Luckily for us, Nick Hook is not most people. Our resident street shaman and advice columnist is always moving, always hustling, and always willing to lend a hand. That’s why anyone with a question about music, DJing, production, travel, romance, or just about anything should feel free to hit him up at doctornick@xlr8r.com. The good doctor is always on duty, and he’s especially lively this morning.

What’s good y’allllllllllllllllll?

Okay. This might be a long column. Before I get too long winded, I just copped this free plug-in from Soundtoys, one of my favorite plug-in companies, and I suggest you do the same.

I just got back from SXSW. It was really fun this year. Shout out to Ableton for putting me up. I think the thing I took back from it is that WAYYYY more people read this column than I thought. I got a hot dog and this dude was like, “I fuck with you, Doctor Nick.” Ahhhh. I can’t decide if I should take this more seriously or not. Hahaha. Anyways, yeah. It’s dope. I’m glad everyone likes it. I’m having fun. Keep sending me questions. doctornick@xlr8r.com.

SXSW was crazy, but I’m super proud of all my crews from NYC to LA to London. I feel like the hard work we’ve put in over the years has finally paid off, and we are just here doing it. I got to see an amazing panel with Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, Arthur Baker, and Sly Stone’s daughter. The boat party that I mentioned last week was one of my other highlights, and so was seeing Kendrick Lamar, even if he did play 500000 times.

Anyways, before I get started, I have to say something, just because I got this one email that made me say, “Wow, I need to write about this.”

Here are some basic rules if you are gonna write to someone about working together/reaching out/etc.

1. One fucking paragraph. I don’t need you to write me a Bible about this, that, and the other. We all got the internet. Tell me four to five sentences about what you want, or your person, or whatever. Do an elevator pitch. Less is more.

2. Don’t send me a ZIP file with 258 songs in it. That means I have to download it, unzip it, import the shit into my iTunes, listen, delete them out of my iTunes after if they aren’t dope, and then empty the trash. That’s way too much. Make a SoundCloud. If you want someone to hear 10 songs, make a megamix with 30 seconds of each track. Honestly, I’d prefer to get one song that’s amazing so I can wonder what the rest would be like. I can usually tell if I want to work with someone after 10 seconds. Sometimes, after one. So again, keep it short. The same goes with DJ promos.

3. Don’t boast about weird business shit. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care if you are starting a label with God, or you have 23 million dollars. If the stuff sucks, I’m not down. If it’s great, I’ll probably end up working on it for free cuz I really love it that much.

4. Did I mention keep it short? That opens things up to more dialog if the music sounds cool, which also helps everyone learn how potentially working together would go.

Okay. Here goes. And before we go any further, just remember—it’s me that’s giving you advice, so don’t take it that seriously.

xo

Hi Doctor Nick,
We met at SXSW at the Dub Academy thing. I just wanted to say I really appreciated talking to you, and that I got a lot out of the lecture you gave. I’m going to upgrade to Live 9 as soon as I have the money. The Push is next on the list too, that thing is nuts.

Anyways, I would love it if you could talk a little bit about production schools. I have a producer friend who is thinking about going to another city to do a nine-month course in production and he wants me to come with him. Money is a factor, but I think I could scrounge and bum enough to swing it. The question is whether or not going to special production courses is worth it, or if you can mostly learn what you need to know on your own. I would love to hear about your RBMA experience too.

Max

Yo man. Thanks for coming to that, it was mega fun. Live 9 all the way. Haha. I’m dying to get my hands on the Push as well.

Production schools. To be honest, I’m all for it. I originally went to college for audio engineering, but I quit after one semester, cuz I thought it was bullshit and they were trying to steal my money. But that was awhile ago, and I think that a lot of these places are hiring dudes that pay attention to what’s going on on a sonic level. I kind of look at it like a Pilates class or something. I could do it at my crib, but if I pay 10 bucks to go to a class, I’m there and I’m going to be focused for the whole time. I can’t get up and check my Facebook or wander around. I know a bunch of people that have pretty amazing success stories where they’ve met completely random strangers in production class and have gone on to do amazing things. The thing that makes your situation the most alluring to me is that it’s in a different city. Unless it’s a really shitty city, it’ll be also great for you to get out of your comfort zone and hopefully be inspired by new surroundings. I say go for it.

Okay. Red Bull Music Academy. Fuck. It’s deep. I don’t really know where to start or begin, but I can honestly say that I was completely blown away by every single aspect of what it was. It was definitely the greatest two weeks of my life.

If you don’t know what RBMA is (which I guess is getting rarer and rarer by the day), it’s an event that’s been held in different cities for the past 15 years by a crew of people that loves music as much, if not more than us. The only reason I applied was because it was in Tokyo and at the time, I thought that was the only possible way on Earth that I could accomplish one of my life-long goals—going to Japan. Unfortunately, the tsunami happened, so they moved RBMA to Madrid in Spain, which in retrospect was one of the reasons I think our term was so amazing. I’ve since been to Japan and I feel like we would have all been trying to run off and experience Japan and not focusing on what we were actually there for—the music.

Basically, you fill out this INSANE application that’s about 15 pages. There are drawings, Rorschach tests, etc., etc., etc. It really makes you look at yourself, and I suggest that everyone fill it out, even if you don’t send it in.

Once we got there, it was a musical dream. For two weeks, the 30 of us became a giant family, maybe a family of 60 with all the workers and stuff. We ate breakfast together, and after that, were lectured by the most amazing people. Bootsy Collins, Nile Rodgers, Mannie Fresh, Trevor Horn, RZA, Tony Visconti, John Talabot, and more. We wrote music with Bootsy, we were Tony’s band after the lecture. After that, we went into the studio and made things. There were no rules or pretense, and people worked with whoever they gravitated towards. I think my favorite and the most unique part of it was that it was the first time I’d ever collaborated with someone on a blind level. Usually your friend says, “Hey, yo, fuck with X person, I think you guys would work well together.” At RBMA, we were all just airlifted down and they were like, “GO.” I’ve collaborated with a lot with people and it was pretty amazing to let yourself be vulnerable and open to all that comes with that.

After that, we went to more lectures, ate more food together, and at night we all played and went to crazy shows. I opened for Modeselektor with Doc Daneeka, Chic played, Aphex Twin, all sorts of shit. We even had “teachers” that were Marco from Tiger and Woods, Roman Fluegel, and Dorian Concept.

I still get the chills when I think back on RBMA, and I still talk to everyone almost every day. I had Salva sleeping over at my crib like we were 13 years old last week when he had a few days off from tour. Doc Daneeka is on his way over. Half the squad lives in Berlin and we’ve hung out there. I’m talking to Jesse Boykins about mixing his record. Tonight, Andrea Balency is singing with Kilo Kish. There are a million things that would have never happened had we not gone.

Really, I can’t say enough great things about it. I’ve been signed to every kind of label, from tiny ones to Fool’s Gold-type ones to Warner Bros.-type ones, and I think what’s so special is that, yeah, these people might be corporations, but they are fucking with us to be US. When you sign to Warner, they are fucking with you to sell things and sometimes for you to be something you aren’t, and that’s not tite. I know what I’m great at—being me. People might not understand it, but that’s who I am, and RBMA is actually enabling pure creativity. I could keep going on and on, but Shawn might kill me. Just apply. Really. And if you don’t make it, keep applying and keep working hard.

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.

Peverelist “Livity (Winter Son + Jozef K’s Intricate Restructure)”**

Manchester producer Winter Son (who also operates as one half of Ghosting Season and is pictured above) recently sent over his and Jozef K‘s take on Punch Drunk label boss Peverelist‘s “Livity.” While the duo has decided to leave the original’s eccentric melody in place, the percussive elements have been overhauled in favor of punchy bass kicks, echoing handclaps, and delicate cymbal strikes. The addition of solo piano notes also gives the tune a cinematic feel, and helps the repackaged song stand on its own. Looking ahead, Winter Son and Jozef K will release their debut EP sometime this summer via Last Night On Earth.

Livity (Winter Son + Jozef K’s Intricate Restructure)

Brandt Brauer Frick Miami

At first glance, Berlin trio Brandt Brauer Frick‘s acoustic, classically derived techno can be overshadowed by its novelty. The concept that three accomplished classical musicians are crafting intricate dance rhythms entirely from scratch, without the use of synthesizers, drum machines, or computers, tends to dominate the conversation about Daniel Brandt, Jan Brauer, Paul Frick, and their music. Such a unique quality should not be taken lightly either. Brandt Brauer Frick’s form of organic dance music goes well beyond commissioning an orchestra to bring an already-composed electronic piece to life—something we’ve seen many times before—and as the trio presents a moodier and more experimental vision of itself on its third album, Miami, it’s time for the conversation to go deeper.

This seems to be a sentiment that Brandt, Brauer, and Frick have internalized. Allowing themselves deviations from their own formula for this record, they’ve added vocalists like Emika, Jamie Lidell, and the sultry Nina Kraviz, and even elected to plug in from time to time. On the video for Miami‘s kinetic lead single, “Plastic Like Your Mother,” the trio appears in stripped-down opposition to the ensemble it assembled on 2011’s Mr. Machine. Working with nothing more than a Nord keyboard, a simple mixing board, and a drumkit, the group’s decision to shake things up hasn’t affected the overall aesthetic. With Sa-Ra vocalist and in-demand production talent Om’Mas Keith settling into the track with his jazzy, spoken-word incantations, a long-winding intro of near whispers, dramatic piano chords, and pitter-patter percussion gives way to a galloping rhythm, racing heartbeat bass, blasts of baritone brass, and a skittish string plucking that exemplifies the trio’s penchant for turning all of its instruments into new forms of auxilary percussion.

These avant-garde techniques, not to mention the prominently featured 28-person modern-dance troupe tapping and clapping its way through the video, call to mind Brandt Brauer Frick’s appreciation of artists like John Cage and his influence on the fluxus art movement, which the three have said is a big influence on Miami. Listening to the record through this filter, it becomes apparent that Brandt Brauer Frick is especially concerned with highlighting interdisciplinary interplay this time around. On “Skiffle It Up,” synthesized sub-bass features more prominently than in any compositions past, and the result offers a glimpse of how well more traditional electronic-music production methods marry with the trio’s clattering, highly syncopated style. “Broken Pieces” and “Empty Words,” which see Brandt Brauer Frick joined by musical kindred spirit Jamie Lidell, cozy up to tight pop structure rather than sprawling techno evolution. Sharing a penchant for leftfield cacophony, Lidell and the band are peas in a pod, especially on “Broken Pieces,” the former’s blue-eyed soul and beatbox embellishments offering a perfect complement to the group’s big-band horn riffing, diced-up string section, and fuzzy bass undertones.

Though Miami displays a jazzier, looser, and often darker side of Brandt Brauer Frick, it doesn’t overshadow the classical techno-ensemble sound the trio first introduced on You Make Me Real. “Ocean Drive (Schamane)” faithfully continues the band’s earlier qualities, letting layers of bold grand piano take center stage over the punch of stiff upright bass and Brandt’s tightly-wound drumming. The album’s breezy, Floridian motif manifests itself across “Miami Theme,” “Miami Drift,” and “Miami Titles,” each of which attract comparisons to Cinematic Orchestra’s epic jazz drama and Herbert’s stuttering style. The latter of the three serves as a succinct closing statement of where Brandt’s, Brauer’s, and Frick’s collective head is at. The fastidiousness that has typically characterized the ensemble’s organic techno methodology has relaxed here, and as the sweeping piano melody of “Miami Titles” carries the album towards its final moments, it’s clear that Brandt Brauer Frick has found a space where its members can more freely explore, and just as masterfully, they’ve arrived without forgetting the qualities that got them here.

Eskmo Offers New Mix

Shape-shifting Los Angeles producer Eskmo uploaded a new mix to his SoundCloud yesterday, weaving together 40 minutes of original material for free download. Most of the selections included in the Earth and Words mix come from releases on the man’s own Ancestor imprint, save for a single unreleased Eskmo remix of Florida outfit Hundred Waters, which sneaks its way in towards the end of the set. Earth and Words can be streamed below, where we have also included the complete tracklist. A download of the mix can be grabbed over on Eskmo’s website, here, for the price of an email adress.

01 Many P Hall “Jacobs Ladder “
02 Eskmo “Oh In This World of Dread, Carry On”
03 Eskmo”Rose”
04 Eskmo “Buffalo”
05 Eskmo “We Are All Terrestrial”
06 Eskmo “1996”
07 Eskmo “Soul Music”
08 Eskmo “Push and Pull”
09 Eskmo “I Just Want”
10 Eskmo “Giants”
11 Eskmo “Lifeline”
12 Eskamon (Amon Tobin & Eskmo) “Fine Objects”
13 Eskmo “Shadow”
14 Hundred Waters “Boreal (Eskmo Remix)”
15 Eskmo “Deep Sea”
16 Many P Hall “Jacobs Ladder”

Lakker “Preset NUMB”*Love Love*

Dublin-based production pair Lakker has shared this aptly titled track from the upcoming Deathmask EP. “Preset NUMB” finds the duo manically brooding over distorted techno, with various bleeps and blips appearing as the tune hovers over glacial soundscapes, the entire affair somewhat reminiscent of Autechre’s space-age sound design. The Deathmask EP is slotted for a vinyl and digital release the second week of April via the LoveLove imprint. Meanwhile, Lakker is also currently prepping a vinyl-only release of its Coal Bath EP (artwork above) for the Candela Rising label, which will feature a remix by UK producer DJ Skirt. A video preview of the Coal Bath EP can be viewed after the jump.

Preset NUMB

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Emptyset Material

When Bristolian duo Emptyset (a.k.a. James Ginzburg and Paul Purgas) released Medium last spring, it simultaneously marked the producers’ first album created outside the studio environment and their first study of a sonic atmosphere’s signature reverberant characteristics. Collecting source material and composing entirely inside an old, unfinished mansion in the Cotswolds, the pair attempted to capture the specific sound emitted by the location’s interior, in hopes of creating a sort of personal sonic blueprint. Emptyset’s latest album, Material, finds the UK outfit revisiting these aims and exploring three distinct locations in the process: a decommissioned nuclear power plant, an underground concrete testing bunker, and a 22-mile medieval mine.

Given that Material marks the continuation of Emptyset’s digression from techno-based music, it’s somewhat unsurprising that album opener “Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station – Snowdonia, Wales 17.12.12” is composed of alarmingly sheer noise that swells and then falters into near silence. Listening to the track, it’s important to remember that the goal of Material is to explore the dynamics of each location’s infrastructure through sonic projection and to then capture its inevitable decay. With that in mind, the wavering flutter of noises begin to manifest into something beautifully sensible. Much in the same way bats use echolocation by emitting a chirp and listening for its echo, the track cycles through various sounds, dropping out completely to record its lingering resonance and collect its architectural information.

However, the interesting process and philosophy behind Material simply can’t carry the weight of its overall poor listening experience. The sounds become mostly repetitive, as the frequencies and patterns are only negligibly different on each track. The distortion that comes with listening through anything other than a professional studio will tamper with its sound quality, erasing its minute characteristics and altogether ruining the ultimate point of the recording. Even with a quality listening environment, it’s difficult to notice any substantive difference between the resonance chambers in tracks two and three, which respectively take their sounds from the former concrete testing bunker at Ambika P3 and the labyrinthine mining shaft at Chislehurst. In the end, Material is an album that makes for a better discussion piece than a listening one. There’s no denying that it’s the product of an adventurous, incredibly focused effort and offers listeners a challenging listen, but the challenge doesn’t seem to pay off.

Raffertie Preps EP; Stream a New Track Now

Though London beatsmith Benjamin Stefanski (a.k.a. Raffertie) has been steadily releasing EPs since signing to Ninja Tune two years ago, his forthcoming EP, Build Me Up (artwork above), finds the producer shifting focus, showcasing his talents as both vocalist and pianist. Incredibly enough, the slow and emotive “Build Me Up,” the title track and opener to the record, has some likening it to a rendering of Mariah Carey’s “Dreamlover.” Simply put, it’s a noticeable transition from Stefanski’s previous synth-driven work, which was mostly marked by frantic, space-age noodling. Stream “Build Me Up” here, and look below for the complete tracklist and audio clips of the entire EP. Build Me Up officially drops on May 20.

1. Build Me Up
2. Benediction
3. Trust
4. Known

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