Archie Pelago Announces 12″ for Well Rounded, Shares Video for A-Side

New York trio Archie Pelago—who we spotlighted as a group on the rise during our Bubblin’ Up Week last month—has announced the official details of its forthcoming 12″ for Well Rounded in adddition to sharing a NYC-inspired video for the record’s a-side, “Subway Gothic.” The “Subway Gothic” b/w “Ladymarkers” 12″ is set to drop on February 25 in both digital and vinyl formats, its two tracks featuring the jazz-tinged, bass-focused stylings which the group has proven itself increasingly adept with in recent outings. You can watch the video for the “Subway Gothic”—which appears here as a “Video Edit” of sorts, cut down to four minutes from its original six-minute version—below.

Uabos “Remember”

In the opening moments of “Remember,” it’s difficult to imagine just where its creator, Uabos, is keen to take the listener. A simple, disco-touched kick-and-hat pattern begins alone, but is slowly joined by a fading vocal loop and a few bits of percussion. Then the chords hit, and “Remember” takes shape as a tender piece of R&B-flavored electronic pop, like a silkier, even more subdued take on John Talabot’s excellent “So Will Be Now…” single. Delicate melodies, a poignant bassline, and a never-ending string of appropriately chopped and arranged vocal bits make this one-off from the Milan-based Uabos a memorable tune, and one hopefully telling of more substantial releases to come.

Remember

Bloc Festival Reboots, Announces 10 Parties for 2013

There’s something to be said for “fall down, get back up,” but Bloc‘s story might be the standard definition to go by from now on. After an ill-fated, premature launch that was shut down almost immediately last year (read about that here), the London event has completely rebooted itself, turning from festival to party promoter and announcing a series of 10 events from March through June at a new studio space in London. The first party goes down on March 9, and will feature performances from Detroit techno icons Juan Atkins and Model 500. Future events, the last of which takes place on June 1, will feature the likes of Cosmin TRG, Shackleton, Omar-S, Egyptian Lover, Green Velvet, Surgeon, and a L.I.E.S. showcase, among others. You can nab tickets for the first event here, and check out details of the forthcoming Bloc events below.

Bleep Continues Green Series with Objekt and Cosmin TRG

After a relatively quiet 2012 from Berlin bass mavens Objekt (pictured above) and Cosmin TRG, both artists will release a collaborative single as part of Bleep‘s ongoing Green Series, a joint partnership between the online music retailer, design agency GiveUpArt, and photographer Shaun Bloodworth. The Green Series kicked off last fall with a single featuring Karenn (a.k.a. Blawan and Pariah) and The Analogue Cops, and will continue with the February 25 release of BLPGRN002, the first single from both Objekt and Cosmin TRG in a year. Objekt’s contribution, “Shuttered,” appears to give his signature skittering productions more swagger, tightening his signature manic drumwork. Cosmin TRG’s “Auster” is more traditional techno fare, a faded 4/4 beat masking a wall of synth feedback. You can preview both tunes in the player below, and check out further details here.

Anthony Naples “Moscato”

With last year’s “Mad Disrespect,” New York producer Anthony Naples earned himself a prominent spot on numerous end-of-the-year lists—a feat made all the more notable by the fact that it was a debut release for both the artist and the Mister Saturday Night label. It’s not hard to understand the ubiquitous praise for the track—its combination of dusty percussion, moonlit keys, and infectious vocal loops was irresistible. The release established Naples as one of the more promising newcomers in house music, yet the young Brooklynite smartly sidestepped what would have been a dauntingly anticipated follow-up by offering a handful of remixes, a self-released white-label, and a one-off track for Opal Tapes. Each production seemed like a further exploration of the producer’s already distinct voice; all the tunes were similarly washed and faded in texture, with a stuttering groove at the forefront. Though these characteristics remain on “Moscato,” Naples’ return to Mister Saturday Night, it rarely sounds as though he’s treading water. Rather, he’s taking his musical formula and seeing just how far he can push it.

Recorded around the same time as “Mad Disrespect,” it’s no real surprise that the two tracks here—both of which are titled “Moscato”—aren’t a radical departure from Naples’ hit debut. The a-side’s essential features—smooth Rhodes chords, raspy hi-hats, its chatty vocal cut—are the same classic New York-house staples that Naples previously channeled into fresh-sounding 1 a.m. workouts. On “Moscato,” however, the effect isn’t quite as instantaneous. Its awkward, sometimes jarring groove takes a little while to warm to, while the producer’s penchant for raw, non-EQ’d mixdowns sounds more evident than ever on the flip. That being said, despite not being as accessible or charming as his debut, the songs here don’t try to be either—and once listeners become accustomed to the record’s off-beat stabs, the rewards are truly uplifting. After the second breakdown on Side A, those hissing hats spiral out of control into a bona fide peak-hour moment, while the churning, cassette-techno-driven groove of Side B points toward a more rugged edge to Naples’ production. Now that he’s reportedly crafting new music on hardware, it’s possible that Naples’ future output will explore that ruggedness further; on the other hand, perhaps he’ll spin off in a different direction altogether. Whatever the eventual outcome, with “Moscato” kicking off Naples’ 2013 campaign, it’s hard not to feel optimistic about what he’ll be unveiling in the year ahead.

Bodhi “Culture (Bambounou Remix)”

After Bodhi (pictured above) shared its video for “Culture” earlier this week, we have a remix of that track from 50Weapons-affiliated Parisian producer Jeremy Guindo (a.k.a. Bambounou). From the sounds of it, Guindo’s remix may as well be an original production, as none of the original production’s components are immediately recognizable. Where a rumbling low end once existed now stands a hollowed-out, four-to-the-floor beat, and rousing atmospherics rapidly spin around in the upper frequencies while sashaying handclaps and pounding bass help complete the hypnotic production. Look out for the rest of Bodhi’s 12″—including another remix from Welsh artist Ifan Dafydd—when it drops via Sinden‘s Grizzly label on February 4.

Culture (Bambounou Remix)

This Week in Music Tech: The Most In-Depth Look at Ableton’s Push Yet and More NAMM Updates from Livid, Numark, Akai, and Korg

Now that the dust has settled following the absolute music-gear overload that was NAMM 2013, a few more interesting pieces have made their way onto our radar—including a new line of controllers from Livid, a designed-to-order mega analog synth, and the most in-depth video overview of Ableton’s Push yet to appear.

XLR8R‘s day at NAMM:

– XLR8R spent a day at NAMM perusing booth after booth of mouth-watering new toys (such as the gold-plated Moog Voyager pictured above) while attempting to evade the ever-present mass of guitar wanking heard throughout the Anaheim Convention Center. We left with mixed feelings, and decided to tally up what we thought were the essential highlights and lowlights of this year’s NAMM conference. You can read our full Best and Worst of NAMM 2013 article here.

More pieces announced at NAMM:

– Known for making rather unique MIDI controllers (along with a handful of DIY kits), Livid Instruments unveiled Base, a forthcoming unit which features eight responsive touch strips and 32 LED-backlit pads in a package that is only about an inch thick.

– In addition to the MS-20 Mini synth that had the convention abuzz, Korg also used NAMM to unveil updated versions of its Kaoss Pad and Kassilator, now each with a new look and new features as the KP3+ and new Kaossilator Pro+. In addition, the Japanese company introduced the KingKorg, a versatile, analog-modelling synthesizer featured in the video above.

– Akai was showing off the compact MPX-8 SD sample pad controller at its NAMM booth. The extremely portable unit comes with eight velocity-sensitive pads and allows users to load samples directly to the unit using an SD card, making no computer necessary for this little guy to make noise—though it also utilizes standard MIDI and USB capabilities, as well.

– Numark introduced updated versions of its various controllers, adding MPC pads to its higher-end NS7 II controller as well as new pads (not MPC though) and features to its forthcoming Mixtrack Pro II and Mixtrack II DJ controllers.

– And just because the NAMM conference is a wonderful place to drool over gear most of us can’t actually afford, we thought we’d share this video of the Schmidt Polysynth, which caught our eye during our time in Anaheim. Essentially, the piece is an all-analog megasynth that—at this point—is only made to order, meaning it is rather expensive. Still, it’s hard not to gawk at this eight-voice-, four-oscillator-, five-filter-toting behemoth of a synthesizer.

Ableton gives a deeper look at Push:

Although Ableton didn’t have an official booth at NAMM, they invited a number of producers and members of the press to sit in on an in-depth demonstration of its still forthcoming hardware controller Push. Fortunately, Future Music Magazine was smart enough to bring along a camera, and has posted this informative video in which an Ableton represntative takes viewers through almost the entire range of functions the Push appears to be capabale of.

Press Play: Todd Terje, Nubian Mindz, Krystal Klear, Kid Smpl, and More

We’ve got plenty of fresh bits from the week’s bounty of streaming audio and video for you today, a veritable recap of the cream of the musical crop. Among the artists featured in the players embedded after the jump are Krystal Klear, Nubian Mindz, SFV Acid, Mmoths, Kid Smpl, Natasha Kmeto, and many more.

If you remember the video for Todd Terje‘s excellent “Inspector Norse” tune, then you’ll recognize the focus of this documentary, Marius Solem Johansen, “a failed musician living in a small town, producing dance videos and drug recipes for YouTube.”

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In the vein of Ulrich Schnauss’ XLR8R podcast, Drift to the Centre: Deep Atmospheric DnB from the Golden Age, here’s the new EP from legendary drum & bass DJ/producer Nubian Mindz.

Krystal Klear remixed internet pop sensation Sky Ferreira’s breakout single “Everything is Embarrassing” into a deep and funky house jam.

Bubblin’ Up Seattle producer Kid Smpl shared this slick, animated video for “Promise” from his Skylight LP.

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Nokia’s Music branch is behind this short documentary about Southern California’s acid-obsessed, experimental producer SFV Acid.

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The latest taste from Natasha Kmeto’s Dirty Mind Melt EP is the shuffling bounce of “Contranym.”

This ethereal beat-pop track is the new tune from Irish producer Mmoths, “All These Things (feat. Holly Miranda),” from his forthcoming Diaries EP.

Listen to the haunting a-side from Sleep ? Over‘s forthcoming 7″ for Hippos in Tanks.

Speaking of Hippos in Tanks, here’s the first taste of The Redeemer, the new solo album from Hype Williams’ Dean Blunt.

After hearing the ’80s OST-inspired sounds of Umberto‘s “Night Fantasy,” you can stream his entire Confrontations LP for Not Not Fun in full.

“Strobes” by Editions Mego signee Locust (a.k.a. Mark Van Hoen) is the first track to surface from the veteran electronic artist’s forthcoming You’ll Be Safe Forever album.

Submotion Orchestra “Thinking (Maths Time Joy Remix)”

Following his three-track Hideaway EP for Live For The Funk‘s newfound Our Sounds label—from which the bass-heavy “Always” track was lifted—London producer Maths Time Joy (a.k.a. Tim Worthington, pictured above) is back with his take on “Thinking” by seven-piece UK ensemble Submotion Orchestra. While the young artist strips the original song of its wobbly flavor in favor of brightly shimmering synths and smooth-sailing bass tones, he leaves its sensual vocals intact to shine through the production.

Thinking (Maths Time Joy Remix)

Motor City Drum Ensemble Send a Prayer EP

Back in March of 2011, Motor City Drum Ensemble (a.k.a. Danilo Plessow) told Resident Advisor, “Yeah, definitely. I’m not going to do Raw Cuts seven and eight, or nine and ten, or just stick to a cheap formula to generate money or interest. When you do this, you will be forgotten so soon; you’re just a one-trick pony.” Since those days, Plessow has tried to push away from the sound of his early success by retiring the sampladelic series from his MCDE label in favor of a more diverse set of releases. 2012 was a fairly quiet year for him, but now he’s back with Send a Prayer, an EP that seems like a successor to Raw Cuts in everything but name.

The common element is sampling; this is music that demonstrates Plessow’s long love affair with the art of creative appropriation. “Send a Prayer Pt. 1” kicks things off with his signature combination of lo-fi jazz chords, gritty 909 percussion, and black American vocal snippets. The vibe is moody and churning, with a loosely played trumpet solo in the middle to break up the track’s near-constant drive. All told, it’s a mostly solid cut, but there is a fundamental weakness in his choice of vocal samples. Ignoring the song’s title, running a preacher’s exhortations over gospel wails seems a rather easy and uncreative choice, particularly given Plessow’s demonstrated sampling chops and alleged library. By contrast, “Send a Prayer Pt. 2” does much the same thing, although it buries its samples much deeper in the mix, a choice that lets the instrumentation shine. Listening, it’s hard not to hear a faint interpolation of Moodymann’s “The Day We Lost the Soul” occasionally reflected in Plessow’s chord progression. Given the brilliance of the source, that’s hardly a bad thing.

The odd track out is b-side opener “The Stranger,” which lives up to its name by sounding like nothing else on the EP. Here, Plessow seems to reconfigure the bassline from his “bassline dub” remix of DJ Sprinkles’ “Grand Central Pt. 1” for rather alien ends. Instead of re-exploring the terrestrial environments traversed on both a-side cuts, he goes on a melodic tangent into old-school bleep techno by way of Casiotone spirals and a rhythm seemingly engineered for apocalyptic raving. He’s explored these kinds of themes before, though never so directly.

The release finishes on its highest note with “SP 11.” Reference-heavy like both a-sides, it’s an uptempo collage of a song that’s built around finger snaps and tasteful vocal scatting. Those nearly trademark-worthy Fender Rhodes chords are back, but this time they hover over the rhythm with extended sustain. Beneath them, an almost inaudible disco bassline sample plays out, practically pulling the ears into the hypnotic rotations of the stabs above. The vibe is live, with a structure that owes more to the logic of feeling than any kind of calculated programming—it’s loose without coming across as amateurish, a refreshing combination considering the two are usually mutually exclusive. It might be vintage Motor City Drum Ensemble, but as the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

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