XLR8R Podcast 827: Miki


Miki, born Michaela Inglis, is a 24-year-old DJ of Fijian, Indian, and Caucasian heritage. She was raised in Sydney, Australia but she’s currently based in Melbourne, which is where she first took a serious interest in dance music a few years ago. “I’ve always loved going to dance music events for the sake of tapping out mentally and going crazy on the dancefloor, even prior to getting into DJing,” she tells XLR8R. I” think it’s such a beautiful way of bringing together a diversity of people with a common interest that is music and dance.” She’s since become a regular around Melbourne’s clubs and parties, supporting artists including Floating Points and Alec Falconer when they’ve been on tour there. She purveys ’90s breaks and groovy baselines but for this week’s XLR8R podcast, Miki has delivered something a little different. It’s a reworked set from local party series Paper-Cuts, where she performed in September, but she’s taken that recording and sprinkled a handful of Arabic and Palestinian tracks that she’s been listening to throughout the mix. Dial in for 75 minutes of high-energy house with a twist.

01. What have you been up to lately?
I mean the past month has been super different to normal life in terms of what’s happening in Palestine. I’ve been trying to mainly focus on contributing in the ways I can to support: rallying, emailing local MPs, etc. It’s hard to go about normal life amongst such atrocities, and I think it’s super important to use our privilege and our voice to help others who lack such privileges. I will continue doing this as much as possible until meaningful change occurs beyond a ceasefire. Alongside this I’ve just been finishing my university semester, working and playing gigs here and there.

02. What have you been listening to?
I’ve been listening to a variety of stuff recently. Lots of mixes from local artists here in Australia, as well as some Arabic albums and compilations like Hurriya for Gaza album on Bandcamp, which is epic. I’m also always sporadically listening to my all-time favourites like Prince.

03. Where and when did you record this mix?
I recorded this mix a few days ago at my partner’s house. I don’t own a DJ setup at the moment so I’m a bit of a nomad when it comes to recording mixes!

04. How did you go about choosing the tracks?
I reworked a set from a Paper-Cuts gig a few months back. I really enjoyed preparing that set, so I worked on it a bit, incorporating some of the recent Arabic and Palestinian tracks I have discovered, as well as a new intro and outro with a bigger build.

05. What can the listener expect?
It’s a pretty high energy set. It definitely has a build at the start and slows back down at the end, which is something I love doing with my mixes. It’s super varied in terms of genre which I also love doing.

06. How does it compare to what we might hear you play out live?
To be honest it’s pretty similar to what I’d play out, but I’d say it is a bit more thoughtful and has a bigger build up and down than my usual sets I play out. It also has a bit more variation of genre than what I’d usually play out, as I do usually play mostly house and ’90s breaks.

07. What’s next on your horizon?
I’m going to be in New York for the first six months of next year for a university exchange so I don’t really know in particular what to expect! I am keen to explore more of the music world there and meet like-minded people and just go with the flow.

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Alexandra Spence “The Well” (Paralaxe Editions)
02. Sleep_D “From Village to Empire” (Butter Sessions)
03. A.b.u.303 “Habibi” (Paryìa)
04. French II “Hytune” (Intercept)
05. Das Bierbeben “Neigt Eure Köpfe” (Shitkatapult)
06. Chicago Transit Authority “Being There” (Rescue Recordings)
07. Gideon Jackson “Give a Little” (Teddy’s Dirtfrog Remix) (Rescue Recordings)
08. DJ Mouse “Romana” (Red Ant Records)
09. Fibre Optixx “C’est Magnifique” (KANN)
10. Al Wootton “Temple Ball” (Al Wootton)
11. Cutkachi “Bouzid” (Self Released)
12. Tsepo “Perc Track” (Intercept)
13. De Loren & Colors “Pervert” (Solar Recordings)
14. Dannii Minogue “Put the Needle on It” (London Records)
15. Carl Finlow “Blue” (Green Light Recordings)
16. Rynosaurus “Drunk at the Treedoor” (Zenobia Records)
17. Pauli Jylhankangas “nutnutnut” (Klakson)
18. Will Hofbauer “Hiccups” (The Shovel is a Shovel was a Shovel)
19. Gome “Bier & Gold” feat. Tightly (Toy Tonics)
20. The Soft Pink Truth “Locked” (Yusaid Mix) (Paralaxe Editions)
21. MC Abdul “Shouting at the Wall” (Empire)

Ryan Crosson’s New Album Has Been in the Works for 10 Years

Ryan Crosson has released a new album as Ryan Crosson and The Ridgewood Vanguard on London label FRNTR.

We Can Only Ever Be How We Are sees Crosson continuing to explore and push boundaries through his experimental musical output. Across 10 tracks, he brings together an array of friends including Ryan Cavanagh, Violeta Vicci, Emil Abramyan, Yonatan Levi, Henrik Raabe, and Greg Paulus.

“This album has been a labour of love over the past ten years,” Crosson says. “It all began with the desire to move away from the dancefloor and the pressures of putting out EPs simply to keep up ‘in the game’ that is the current state of modern dance music.”

Crosson is known for being part of the Visionquest collective, which he co-founded alongside Seth Troxler, Lee Curtiss, and Shaun Reeves, and for pushing out a fusion of minimal techno, deep house, and experimental elements.

But over more recent years he has been delving into more alternative and experimental worlds. His 2012 album, DRM, featuring Cesar Merveille introduced us to his musical curiosity, and in 2021 he founded the ambient label NFI Recordings, releasing the Notes From Isolation series. You can read more about him in his XLR8R podcast here.

Tracklisting

01. Radio Transistor
02. Izmir
03. Carter’s Jam
04. Night Train
05. Vocal Boy
06. Overholt
07. Mekub
08. Soul Starvation
09. Carys Rose
10. Boomba

We Can Only Ever Be How We Are LP is available now. You can stream it in full below and order it here.

Ableton Reveals New Features in Live 12

A new version of Ableton Live will land early next year.

Live 12 is a major update designed to spark musical creativity by introducing playful MIDI tools for generating unexpected ideas.

It includes tools that will add simple or complex variations to your MIDI clips and new MIDI tuning systems and editing capabilities. There are also new devices and sounds with surprising capabilities such as Meld, an experimental two-oscillator synth; Roar, a new coloring and saturation effect; and Granulator III, the latest iteration of Robert Henke’s granular instrument.

The update also includes workflow improvements, including a simplified cleaner look and the Stacked Detail view, which allows you to see your devices, clip editor, and automation at the same time.

Ableton has also made updates to its mixer, which was previously only available to see and use in Session view. It can now also be used in Arrangement view. It’s also easier to read and control, allowing for more detailed mixing possibilities.

Live 12 will be available in early 2024. A discount offer is running from now until the release. During the promotion, all new Live 11 editions are 20 per cent off. The purchase of any new Live 11 edition entitles customers to a free upgrade to its corresponding Live 12 edition upon release.

Live 12 will cost 79 Euros or $99 for Live Intro; 279 EUR or $439 for Live Standard; and 599 EUR $749 for Live Suite.

Existing Ableton Live owners should log in to their accounts to check upgrade pricing.

Paranoid London to Release New Album

Paranoid London, the electronic band of Gerardo Delgado and Quinn Whalley, will release a new album.

Delgado and Whalley have become synonymous with stripping acid house back down to its basics.

Arseholes, Liars, and Electronic Pioneers, their new album, follows on from 2019’s PL and a bunch of singles and edits. It’s inspired by early ‘90s British progressive house on the likes of Sabres of Paradise Records and Guerilla Records and presents “a step up on their production while the anarchic attitude remains unaltered, unadulterated, and undiluted” we’re told.

“The album has a slightly more hi-hi sound than previous efforts, but retains the urgency and punk rock attitude that we’re known for,” Whalley says.

As expected, Delgado and Whalley have recruited a bunch of special guests on vocals including Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, US house veteran Monica “DJ Genesis” Lockett, and Jennifer Touch.

Tracklisting

01. People (Ah Yeah) with Bobby Gillespie
02. Love One Self with Joe Love
03. Up Is Down with DJ Genesis
04. Steal & Adapt(or)
05. Start To Fade with Josh Caffe
06. Help
07. Fields Of Fire with Jennifer Touch
08. GRNDR
09. Touch The State Of That with Jennifer Touch
10. The Motion with Mutado Pintado
11. Fuse
12. Suck A Dick with Mutado Pintado

Arseholes, Liars, and Electronic Pioneers LP is scheduled for February 9 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Love One Self” in full via the player below and pre-order here.

Kali Malone’s New Album is Incoming

Kali Malone will release a new album early next year.

All Life Long, created between 2020 and 2023, presents the American composer and organist’s first compositions for organ since 2019’s breakthrough album, The Sacrificial Code, alongside interrelated pieces for voice and brass performed by Macadam Ensemble and Anima Brass.

Over the course of 12 pieces, All Life Long simmers in an ever-shifting tension between repetition and variation. The pieces for brass, organ, and voice are alternated asymmetrically, “providing nearly continuous timbral fluctuation,” we’re told.

The titular composition, “All Life Long,” appears twice on the album, first as an extended canon for organ and again in the final quarter, compactly arranged for voice. In the latter, Malone pairs the music with “The Crying Water” by Arthur Symons, a poem steeped in language of mourning and eternity.

“This is not music of praise, or of spiritual revelation, but it is an artistic enactment of translating the indescribable,” we’re told.

Tracklisting

01. Passage Through The Spheres
02. All Life Long (for organ)
03. No Sun To Burn (for brass)
04. Prisoned On Watery Shore
05. Retrograde Canon
06. Slow of Faith
07. Fastened Maze
08. No Sun To Burn (for organ)
09. All Life Long (for voice)
10. Moving Forward
11. Formation Flight
12. The Unification of Inner & Outer Life

All Life Long LP is scheduled for February 9 release on Ideologic Organ. Meanwhile, you can stream “All Life Long (for organ)” in full via the player below and pre-order it here.

Photo: Julien Mignot

Satoshi Tomiie Unveils New Album

Satoshi Tomiie will release a new solo album.

Over the past three years, Tomiie has dedicated himself to creating the music on Magic
Hour, drawing inspiration from a variety of sources. It’s his first solo album under his birth name in eight years.

Tomiie’s previous release as Sato, Blue, Black and Grey on Chapelle XIV Music in 2022, showcased his dub and ambient influenced interpretations. Magic Hour builds on the foundation of that release, we’re told, “further solidifying his unique and ever-evolving artistic direction.”

Tomiie has released music on several notable record labels, including Kaoz Theory, No19, Holic, Yoyaku and his own Abstract Architecture, which is where this album lands.

Tracklisting

01. You Are Here
02. No1
03. Magic Hour
04. Blast
05. A52
06. Phase Space
07. Meditation in an Emergency
08. Fast

Magic Hour LP is scheduled for November 22 release. Meanwhile, you can stream clips below and pre-order here.

Podcast 826: GiGi FM

Giulia Fournier-Mercadante, better known as GiGi FM, is a French-Italian DJ-producer who was raised in Paris but moved to New York during her teenage years after being given a scholarship by Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre. But she made her name as a fixture of South-London’s close-knit music community, DJing at the city’s squat parties as well as the old Make Me parties. She’s since established a monthly residency on NTS Radio, where she explores “inter-dimensional techno and rhythm transmissions,” while touring globally. Her sound, as her NTS profile suggests, is full of lush textures and high-energy percussion. Now based in Berlin, she’s put out music on Bambounou‘s Bambe imprint and, more recently, she’s launched Sea~rène, her own label that “takes aim at dreamlike and ethereal electronic music to reconnect the subconscious and the cosmos through immersive storytelling.” She will release Kiwi Synthesis Diary Vol.2, her latest EP, on the label in December. And, ahead of its release, she’s delivered anXLR8R podcast. Recorded live at Rural Festival in Japan last summer, it features tracks from Mathew Jonson, Man Rei, and more. Press play for swirling hypnotic techno to make your body move.

01. What have you been up to recently?
I’ve been busy with the launch of my label, Sea~rène, touring, working on artistic projects, and creating new music.

02. What have you been listening to?
Lately, my listening spectrum has spanned diverse genres. I’ve been immersed in Indian jazz, and particularly captivated by the works of Tarun Balani. Additionally, I’ve been delving into classic dub techno artists such as G-Man, Monolake, Merv, and within the techno realm the recent EP by Altinbas on Fuse. These tracks are absolute fire!

03. When and where did you record this mix?
This mix was recorded last summer at the Rural Festival in Japan. I went to this festival for the first time in 2022 and it impacted me. The atmosphere, especially the connection with the Japanese crowd and the unique way they experience music, left a lasting impression. The venue in 2022 was an extraordinary ’80s hotel in Atami City, with a main room resembling the ambience of Twin Peaks. The 2023 festival took place in the Japanese mountains of Naeba Greenland, an awe-inspiring setting with massive blue butterflies the size of my hand!

04. What made this set so memorable?
This set stands out as a profound pause in a challenging year personally. Dealing with mental health and a recent trauma, the festival felt like an essential mental reset. I poured my raw emotions into the performance, and the incredible connection and understanding from the audience made it an unforgettable, special moment.

05. Can you talk about the artists and tracks that you’ve included?
In this set I have included new music as well as many classics that I hold close to my heart. I really believe that introductions as well as endings are important. It sets the tone or leaves you where you need to be. The special introduction by Frankfurt-based artist Man Rei is called “I Don’t Want the Money” and I really recommend listening to the whole album. Man Rei’s work is woven with intricate narrative. Throughout the set you can hear amazing producers like Kombé, A Strange Wedding, Leoleoleo, and Orbe. On the more classic tones, there’s Yantra and Woody Mcbridge on Missile Records, and one of my all-time favorites: Mathew Jonson‘s “Marionette.” This song grabs your insides and flips you around leaving you in this sea of melancholy. At the end of the set there’s another all-time favorite: Robert Leiner’s “Aqua Viva,” released in 1993, my ultimate intergalactic mermaid identity track.

06. What’s next on your horizon?
I’m looking forward to releasing more music through Sea~rène and exploring other musical projects in the near future.

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Varhat Unveils Fresh Music

Varhat will release a new EP on Up The Stuss.

Varhat, real name Vincent Lubelli, is the creative mind behind an endless list of aliases, plus multiple Unknown Artist projects and mysterious labels via Paris’ Yoyaku. This is his first release on Chris Stussy’s Up The Stuss imprint, delivering “an eclectic selection of house cuts for all hours and settings,” we’re told.

We’re also told that the EP is a “celebration of all things house music.” It comes with a deep, dubby, and cosmic remix from Paolo Rocco.

For more information on Varhat, check out his XLR8R feature here, and listen to his XLR8R podcast here.

Tracklisting

01. Breaking Out
02. Nobody
03. Mopho
04. Breaking Out (Paolo Rocco Remix)
05. Backward And Forward [Digital Bonus]

Breaking Out EP is scheduled for December 8 release. Meanwhile, you can stream clips below and pre-order here.

Pianist Kelly Moran is Back with a New EP

Kelly Moran will release her first new music in five years.

Using a programmable Yamaha player piano known as the disklavier, on Vesela Moran breaks from the disklavier’s technical potential in favor of “recreating the humanity of her own playing,” we’re told.

The release is inspired by the devastation of heartbreak and Moran’s desire to venture deeper into turbulent emotions, rather than running from them. Its compositions are “tender and bare,” and meant to be a source of comfort to both hear and play.

Set apart from Vesela’s title track and its paired composition, “Soft Focus,” is “Medusa,” which expands upon a short composition by Ryuichi Sakamoto that he originally created for an augmented reality art exhibit. Moran was commissioned to expand upon Sakamoto’s initial work, and her intricate recomposition features intricate layers of softly arpeggiated raindrop chords that “twinkle and burst across a vast horizon,” we’re told.

Vesela was mastered by Telefon Tel Aviv’s Joshua Eustis and will be available as a digital release via Warp Records.

Tracklisting

01. Vesela
02. Soft Focus
03. Medusa (Variations on a theme by Sakamoto)

Vesela EP is scheduled for November 17 release. Meanwhile, you can stream the title-track in full via the player below and pre-order here.

Photo: Sophie Leetmaa

Icelandic Trio ex.girls Return to bbbbbb recors for Debut LP

Icelandic group ex.girls will release their debut album on Bjarki’s bbbbbb recors.

ex.girls, previously known as Russian Girls, consists of frontman Tatjana Dís on vocals alongside Guðlaugur Einarsson and Gylfi Sigurðsson. (Dís and Einarsson also form the rock band Skrattar, whose album, Hellraiser IV, landed on bbbbbb recors in 2021.)

The group’s sound palette paints with broad strokes of lush arrangements cemented with a lo-fi disposition. It’s a soundscape where the rumble of a crunchy bass meets a quirky sprinkle of Nordic humour, a signature style the group fondly dub as “SauerLounge.”

They released Drepa mann​/​Halda áfram on bbbbbb recors in 2021.

With Verk, we can expect a 12-track exploration of unorthodox textures and sonics, with sounds and influences spanning rock and nu-wave through to electro, drone, and ambient.

The result is an “absorbing and hypnotic trip,” we’re told, “with twists and turns across every track.”

For more information on Bjarki and Icelandic music more generally, check out his XLR8R feature here.

Tracklisting

01. Æð
02. 90 Oktan
03. Bensín
04. Vont er það venst
05. Seinni æð
06. Drepa mann
07. Hundrað í hættunni
08. Manneskja
09. Er það þrek
10. Innri-Ytri
11. Halda áfram
12. Svinadalur

Verk LP will land on bbbbbb recors on November 17, with remixes to follow in the months ahead. Pre-order is available here.

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