The electro-fied sonic adventurers of Adult. have been quiet for sometime now, with the pair’s last full-length effort appearing way back in 2007. But now, the Detroit duo is beginning to stoke the flames of resurrection with the announcement of a reissue of its debut album, the now appropriately titled Resuscitation, as well as plans to drop a new 7″ of cover songs next week. While existing Adult. fans will be excited to hear that Resuscitation will be available in vinyl format for the first time, Ghostly and the group are likely hoping that the band’s sterile, synth-soaked productions can find fresh ears that may have missed them, or had not been around to appreciate the album when it was originally released back in 2001. The reissue will be available on November 26, which will be preceded by the aforementioned 7″ of covers of A Number of Names’ proto-techno tune “Shari Vari” and The Screamer’s “122 Hours of Fear” on November 6. And best yet, new and original Adult. material is promised for sometime in 2013. For now, though, you can stream both cover songs and check out the artwork and tracklist for Resuscitation below.
A1 Lost Love A2 Hand To Phone (Cordless Mix) A3 Minors At Nite (Still Sick)
B1 New Object (Edit) B2 Contagious B3 Mouth To Mouth B4 Nausea (Restructured) C1 Pressure Suit C2 Dispassionate Furniture (Reupholstered) C3 Human Wreck (Radio Edit) D1 Side-Swiped (Extended Mix) D2 Your Lies D3 Skinlike (Equation Mix)
Rave-obsessed UK house duo Hot City (a.k.a. DJ Haus and Benz) has just released two original tracks for free download, which happened to arrive at the same time as a new video interview with DJ Haus. The duo has apparently been keeping busy these days, with DJ Haus recently dropping his Tales from the Darkside mix on Just Jam (you can check that out here) and the pair working on its new album. Ahead of that record, Hot City churned out “E.S.P.” and “I Like It Raw,” a couple of throw-back, techno/acid-leaning jams that will transport anyone who listens straight into a ’93 warehouse rave. Like DJ Haus mentions in his interview, there is a noticeable difference in the quality of sound when a DJ transitions from an old house tune to a new house tune, and, owing to his commentary, it seems like these tunes were born out of a void of high-quality-but-classic-sounding “bangers.” You can preview both tracks and watch DJ Haus’ interview with FACT below; head over here to download the acid-heavy “E.S.P.” and get your hands on the bright and trancey “I Like it Raw” here.
Brooklyn house experimentalist Ital will soon have two full-lengths under his belt, once he releases the seven-track Dream On LP via Planet Mu. The album will follow producer Daniel Martin-McCormick’s intriguing Hive Mind record from earlier this year on November 13, but is available to listen to in full today. The stream of Dream On arrives via Dazed Digital, where you can also read an interview with Ital and his visual collaborator Aurora Halal, but is embedded below for your convenience.
Next month, London bass-music standout Mickey Pearce (a.k.a. Richard Attley) is releasing two new tracks as a 12″ for Swamp81. Following this year’s “Tempted (F+ck Tonto Edit)” b/w “Softly Softly” record for Ten Thousand Yen, “Numb Nut (Soft Brain)” b/w “Socks Off” sees Attley furthering his avant-garde inclinations that are paradoxically just as club-ready as they are weird. Though both tunes are lead by a fleet of fluttering percussion and heavy bass, it’s “Socks Off” that seems to be the more accessible of the two, with its use of faint R&B vocals and spooky, swelling synths. You can stream both sides of Mickey Pearce’s forthcoming record before it drops on November 12. (via FACT)
Set to drop next week via the Bitsquare label, the Poland-born, New England-based sound artist Derek Piotr has put together an EP of new compositions “inspired both by late-night experimental radio programs…and by [the] Sublime Frequency’s release Radio Java.” Alongside the three original pieces featured Radio Mantras, remixes of Piotr’s “Radimantra,” a song which first appeared on his Airing LP before serving as the point of inspiration for this forthcoming release, are also included. Here, we have a glowing, bouncey rework of that track from Safety Scissors, who we’re told has a new record of his own coming in 2013.
For all the debate over the merits of Scuba‘s stylistic shift over the past year or so, there’s no denying one thing: the man isn’t going about it in a half-assed fashion. More than a year removed from the release of Adrenalin, it’s clear now that the record marked an important turning point for the UK-bred, Berlin-based artist. Where he was once known as a purveyor of dark, brooding beats—a reputation earned on the back of both his own output and that of his Hotflush imprint—Adrenalin found him heading toward lighter sonic pastures, and doing the seemingly unthinkable by toying with trance. The change was surprising at the time—and not appreciated by everyone (although we here at XLR8R quite liked the record and ultimately named it the third-best track of 2011)—but what’s perhaps even more surprising is how Scuba has subsequently stayed the course. If anything, he’s moved even further into pop territory, first with his Personality LP, and now, with a one-sided single, “Talk Torque.”
Plainly said, there’s nothing particularly subtle about “Talk Torque.” While its breakdown isn’t quite as epic as the one found in “Adrenalin,” it’s still prominent, and when a song’s key vocal refrain is an endlessly repeated loop of a diva wailing, “I’m your fantasy,” it quickly becomes apparent that the artist isn’t making something for those seeking nuance. Bouncing along on a bassline that wouldn’t be out of place on a Crosstown Rebels record, “Talk Torque” is essentially a pop-dance cut, one with bright synths, big builds, and clear allusions to late-’90s/early-’00s trance and progressive house. In truth, there’s not a whole lot to the song—it’s light, euphoric, and undeniably functional, but it’s also eminently forgettable, which is perhaps why it works so well. Like most pop music, “Talk Torque” isn’t meant for the long haul; this is music for the masses, something that will rile up dancefloors for a few months before being cast aside and largely forgotten. Oddly enough, what is interesting about the song is that its creator is someone who once seemed to be more or less devoid of big-room aspirations. Without question, Scuba has changed—at least from a stylistic standpoint. (His notoriously curmudgeonly public persona appears to be intact.) Only time will tell if the transformation is permanent, but in the meantime, he’s making tunes that are undeniably fun, even if that’s all they are.
It’s only been a month since UK singer/producer Chris Ward (a.k.a. Tropics) announced he would drop his next EP, the heavily house-influenced Popup Cinema, via Svetlana Industries. We’ve since been treated to a remix of that record’s title track from fellow Svetlana signee Kelpe, and now, before Ward’s new offering drops this coming Monday, you can hear the whole thing. Courtesy of Dazed Digital, we’ve embedded the player for Tropics’ three-track Popup Cinema EP (the Kelpe remix is tossed in there, too) for your listening pleasure, below.
It’s that time again, when XLR8R gathers up the most essential bits of gear-related news and downloads. This week we’ve got the word on two new pieces from Keith McMillen Instruments, some iPad-related goodness, and a pair of extensive free sample banks from techno producer and noted sonic explorer Legowelt.
Keith McMillen and his many toys:
– Earlier this week we shared our in-depth conversation with the decades-experienced electronic instrument designer Keith McMillen (pictured above) to learn more about his latest creation, the “3-D multi-touch” QuNeo controller. You can read the full interview here.
– Yesterday, Keith McMillen Instruments showed off a brand-new product still in production, the QuNexus. The proposed mini-controller appears to have lots of useful features, not the least of which is its ability to take and send MIDI, USB, and CV signals (not to mention serve as a CV-to-MIDI converter). To get the project off the ground, the company has launched a Kickstarter campaign, seeking to raise $20,000 for the development and prodcution of the unit. You can watch a video detailing all the cool things the QuNexus will do below.
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Some more developments in mobile audio production:
– The audio software developers at Audulus released a modular iPad app earlier this week, allowing users to build their own patches with a number of modules and create snythesizers and signal processors within one’s tablet while utilizing real-time, low-latency processing. You can watch a quick video explaining how the app works (although you do have to sit through some pretty deplorable music) below, and grab it from the iTunes store for the agreeable price of $9.99.
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– Imageline released an update to the iOS version of its popular Fruity Loops program. The video below details the new features and the upgrade, which is free for current iOS users with FL Studio Mobile, can be found in the iTunes store.
Legowelt wants you to have some of his synth sounds:
– Dutch techno producer and connoisseur of exotic and sought-after production hardware Legowelt shared a new sample pack earlier this week, gathering up 300 WAV files culled from the depths of his vintage Korg Mono/Poly analog synth. Although, technically, the sample pack can be downloaded for free, Leogwelt has encouraged downloaders to help pad the funds of his PayPal account if they enjoy the plethora of sounds he has to offer. You can donate to the man here, grab the Mono/Poly sample bank here, and if you happened to miss it a few months back, pick up a similarly in-depth sample bank of Legowelt’s Juno-106 here.
The fledging Lost Codes label is set to drop its second release tomorrow in the form of the six-track Hyper Lost EP (artwork above) from UK producer Filter Dread. To spread the word, the always inventive Visionist was brought in for remix duties, shoving some extra low-end strength into the tune and generally roughing things up a bit with some tough London flavor. As this rework doesn’t come packaged along with the rest of the record, we’ve gone ahead and dropped a preview of Filter Dread’s soon-to-be-released effort after the jump.
In the Nordic constellation of space-disco personalities, Lindstrøm, Todd Terje, and Prins Thomas represent a sort of Orion’s Belt—three main players linked not only by proximity, but also by the interchangable nature with which they collaborate and disseminate their distinct brand of cosmic dance music. This co-mingling makes it easy to lump them together, but when each is considered on his own, differences do appear, even if they are subtle. This has become especially apparent as the trio grows up and out of the confining musical box into which they were initially corralled. While Todd Terje has maintained a relative consistency throughout his career, Lindstrøm has been almost schizophrenic in his attempts to break any molds forming around what he should or should not sound like. Thomas Moen Hermansen’s latest full-length as Prins Thomas is similarly defiant, but in less dramatic fashion. While many of the intergalactic signifiers typically attributed to his music still apply, Hermansen’s latest batch of quirky discoid techno is a far cry from his 2010 self-titled debut, his two albums with Lindstrøm, or any space-disco typecasting.
The one track on Prins Thomas II that most closely resembles his earlier work is “Tjukkas Pa Karussel.” With the oompa-oompa of its marching-band tuba, the layered splats of MIDI horns, a jangling cow bell, and its folky vocal chanting, the song holds up to anything on his last record and could even be mistaken for being from those same recording sessions. But for all its similarity to previous standouts like “Wendy Not Walter” or “Nattønsket,” “Tjukkas Pa Karussel” is without the lush denseness that characterized Hermansen’s first solo outing. This is true of Prins Thomas II across the board. It’s more minimalistic in its approach, doing away with much of the Kraut and prog overtones—and the organic instrumentation—in favor of delicate techno drum programming, elongated and repetitious movements, and gossamer atmospherics that serve more as musical hues than full-blown colors or textures.
“Bobletekno” is easily the centerpiece of Hermansen’s leaner sound. Rolling out a static-fuzz beat that remains unencumbered for two of the song’s opening minutes, there’s a Plastikman spirit here as each element takes its time emerging and evolving. A new-age melody slips into the mix with such ease that there’s never actually a concrete arrival; it’s the antithesis of the proverbial drop. Instead of knocking the listener over the head, the tension and release of “Bobletekno” could go completely unnoticed by those who don’t invest themselves in the track. Somewhere near the 10-minute mark, the growing collection of rippling synths comes to a head and then disappears as quietly as it came, fading out of earshot and leaving nothing behind except whispers and plucked strings. It’s angelic techno that’s just as deserving of the term cosmic, but not in a way Prins Thomas fans are likely used to.
The stripped-to-the-bone nature of the music here is such that many tracks feel incomplete on their own. “Bobletekno” reappears as “Bobletekno (perkmiks),” which is nothing more than a drum track addendum to the original. “Flau Pappadens 1” and “Flau Pappadens 2” also play out this way, with the second version serving as a skeleton framework of the original’s padded-drum disco funk. “Bom Bom,” though entirely percussive, can at least stand alone in a beachside drum-circle jam-session sort of way. Album opener “Symfonisk Utviklingshemming” begins with all the promise of a song that’s going to blossom into something as subtly epic as “Bobletekno,” but ultimately fails to do so on its own.
All of these seemingly fragmented entries would be rather disappointing were it not for the fact that they are all brought together in one final movement—a continuous DJ mix. It’s like an ‘aha’ moment; without it, Hermansen’s concept wouldn’t successfully come together. Not only does it communicate Prins Thomas’ commanding skill as a DJ, it gives meaning to tracks that flounder by themselves. Given the circular nature of Hermansen’s DJ style, tracks like “Bobletekno (perkmix)” and “Flau Pappadens 2” make sense when they surface in the mix to revisit the themes of their more fully realized counterparts. As such, it’s a disservice to Prins Thomas II to listen to the individual tracks before diving into the full mix. The mix is clearly how these tracks were meant to be heard, especially considering that one of the album’s highlights, a chugging acid trip that surfaces at the three-quarter mark of the mix, is the track DJs are likely to come clamoring for. For now, the identity of this gem remains a mystery. Of course it does. Like fellow sonic cosmonaut Lindstrøm, leave it to Prins Thomas to buck any conventions before they start to get, well, conventional.
