In anticipation of his forthcoming Crystal Aquarium EP, Between You and Me sent over “Lizzarddy,” a cut from the aquatically inclined collection of beat-pop. On the production, a melancholy melody swims in sync with a rattling snare before dropping off into the layers of oceanic bass tones during the extended outro. You can stream the rest of Between You and Me’s Crystal Aquarium EP before it’s released on October 22, after the jump.
When toying with the more stridently unorthodox side of the musical spectrum, many artists run afoul of accessibility in their effort to accomplish something unique; concept can suffocate the heart of a piece, resulting in something that’s more academic than expressive. That said, Baltimore duo Matmos (consisting of M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel) seems to have no problem navigating those difficult waters; no stranger to the experimental, the outfit consistently turns highfalutin concepts into potable compositions. For The Ganzfeld EP, Matmos literally spent years conducting parapsychological experiments to create its source material; the utterances of its subjects were transcribed for later investigation and reproduction—a strategy with roots in the musique-concrète style that has pervaded the group’s sound and philosophy throughout its career. Such a lofty idea seems likely to keep the majority of listeners at arm’s length, but Matmos still manages to demonstrate that conceptual art need not be unapproachable.
A ganzfeld experiment consists of providing a subject with unified stimulation—headphones playing white noise, goggles that diffuse light into a single color—the result being altered consciousness and, oftentimes, hallucinations. Nearby, another participant attempts to guide those hallucinations by thinking about a shape or a color, the idea being to test the subject for telepathic abilities. Matmos conducted many sessions like this while trying to infuse subjects with “the concept of the new Matmos record,” garnering the duo a bevy of material to work with. (Incidentally, it also presented a marketing opportunity to sell ganzfeld goggles and headphones, which are available with deluxe configurations of the EP).
“Very Large Green Triangles” starts the EP off with a vocal from one of the ganzfeld sessions, cementing the place of the human voice as instrument, motif, and influence for these pieces. What begins as an ominous and cinematic affair quickly shifts, taking notes from the pair’s adopted hometown and aligning a stereotypical Baltimore-club rhythm with samples of prepared piano and vocal clips. Though the track never lets up on the club feel, a movie-score quality glides to the forefront as choral vocals and strings build to a frenzy with found-sound percussion. Eventually, this too finds pause, as multiple layers of ganzfeld-induced rants take over the melodic theme in a kind of sprechgesang, each channel playing different vocalizations to a disorienting effect.
Matmos calls on Sandwell District’s RRose for a remix of “You”—an eight-minute minimal-techno cut that ebbs and flows elegantly while retaining a steady, after-hours pulse. Whispers of vocals creep behind a wash of filtered textures, and a rubber-band bass (literally the sound of a plucked rubber band) clods ahead. Though eminently heady, it’s perfectly paced and the atmosphere is immersive.
The conceptual centerpiece, “Just Waves,” consists almost exclusively of ganzfeld-experiment transcripts re-read in an organic monotone by several different performers. It’s jarring to hear human voices doing their best to sound like an expressionless, robotic, vocoded version of themselves, but one has to appreciate the lack of affectation in contrast to the pop-culture abuse of the “Cher effect.” At first, all is cacophony and chaos, but as a drone of frozen tones builds a tense chord, the voices too increase in tension and butt up against each other. The piece almost imperceptibly shifts from movement to movement—guttural murmurs reminiscent of Tuvan throat singing are at one point underlining a grim dirge; at another, they serve as the basis of a churchly chorus. At this point, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for a listener to get the feeling that they were part of a ganzfeld experiment themselves, as patterns emerge at the edge of perception and the individual voices become more infrequent, leaving behind only the sustained presence of an angelic major chord.
As an idea for a record, it is easy to look at The Ganzfeld EP and ridicule the concept, imagining it will just be a jumble of nonsense in a holier-than-thou package, something that will only be enjoyed by the initiated. But to Matmos’ credit, the duo has delivered something that is listenable and enjoyable while sustaining an overarching concept with great capability. Music like this may yet mollify those who have learned to be pessimists when it comes to art with a capital A.
While not much is known about Brighton producer Laurie James Ross, who goes by the dubious moniker Eagles for Hands, we can say that we enjoy the lush production work on “Glitterall.” Syrupy textures occupy the low frequencies, droning synths melt around the middle, and smooth rhythms sweetened with just a hint of glitch drive the tune forward with help from the chopped vocals. In many respects, “Glitterall” is a sparklier version of something you might hear from Monokle’s forthcoming Saints album, and if you’re interested in more Eagles for Hands productions, we’ve included another one of his tunes after the jump.
Following a relatively busy 2011, UK producer George FitzGerald is having a comparatively quiet 2012, at least on the release front. Prior to this week, he’d only offered up a single record this year, the four-song Child EP, which found him marrying his penchant for melodics with more robust, dancefloor-oriented sonics. That said, it could be argued that Child has had the greatest impact of the ManMake Music boss’ young career, as both the title track and “Lights Out” have been getting plenty of club play in recent months. And now that the talents of Gerd and Gerry Read have been enlisted for the freshly issued Child Remixes EP—which is streaming in full here—the songs’ run is sure to be extended a little longer.
Dutch producer Gerd has been making records for nearly two decades, but it’s hard to ignore that the appreciation for his skills is quite possibly at an all-time high. He actually appears twice on Child Remixes, tackling the title cut with both his Geeeman and NY Stomp monikers. The former effort kicks off the EP, channeling Chicago house with its slightly blown-out kicks, frenetic hi-hats, darting snares, and bouncing bassline. The track’s high-energy rhythm is more than sufficient to get folks moving, but then it takes things even higher by introducing a big, ravey synth melody nearly three minutes into the proceedings. At that point, the tune ceases to be merely functional and flirts with peak-time status. As NY Stomp, Gerd hews much closer to the source material, largely keeping the garage-indebted feel of the original “Child.” His remix does beef up the drums and adds a little more swing to the song’s rhythmic skeleton, but he also keeps the original’s soulful vocal refrain and upbeat organ melody front and center.
A more dramatic transformation can be found on Gerry Read‘s rework of “Lights Out.” FitzGerald’s original was a moody house cut, one propelled by deep, lingering bass tones, polite piano stabs, and techy synth melodies. In Read’s hands, the song is many things, but none of them can be described as polite. The low end been cranked in the mix, the track’s drum patterns bolstered with loping, clacking percussive elements. Bringing in an assortment of new vocal snippets, it’s as though Read sought to foster a sonically dense, confusion-inducing production. Nonetheless, it’s all quite compelling; even when Read introduces some jazzy chords, his take on “Lights Out” brings to mind the sweaty respiration of an industrial factory at work. It may not inspire much in the way of dancefloor euphoria, but it’s also quite good, as is the entire Child Remixes EP.
Dutch producer Julien Mier (pictured above) and Canadian imprint King Deluxe have launched a remix contest which gives budding producers a chance to rework a track from Mier’s recent When Will They Wake Up EP, with the winning tune slated to land on the label’s forthcoming remix vinyl. Various stems from EP tracks “Glide, Sail, Float” and “Watercolour Sky” have been shared along with helpful hints on how to stand out from the crowd (i.e. “What we’re looking for is highly original works… Please think outside the box!”) All submissions are due by November 30, and while only the top of the crop will have his or her remix appear alongside a new original production from Mier and a pair of reworks from two “stellar mystery” producers, a handful of other worthy candidates will have their tracks picked up for the digital version of the remix EP. To check out the full details and to get your hands on the stems, head here. To get a better idea of what you’ll be working with, you can check the video for “Watercolour Sky” below.
After releasing its The Ganzfeld EP via Thrill Jockey this week, longstanding experimental duo Matmos has shared an awesome-looking music video for “Very Large Green Triangles.” The piece, which was directed by Ed Apodaca and Audrey Karleskind and produced by I.inc, is completely saturated in an array of green hues, and presents a sort of flying invasion of the emerald geometric shapes from beyond.
Though Terrence Dixon‘s From the Far Future Pt. 2 LP dropped last week via Berlin club/label Tresor, we still thought you’d like to know that you can listen the 14-track record in full online. Dixon’s latest has been described as more personal than the exploration of “art and ancestry of techno” that the first release from back in 2000 was. “From the Far Future Pt.2 is my real life drama playing out before your ears, it has everything on this album that has something to do with where I live,” the Detroit producer said in a press release. “I wanted to make this album as huge as it could be.” You can hear exactly how huge he made it in the player below. (via FACT)
Last spring, Netherlands-based producer Drvg Cvltvre (a.k.a. Vincent Koreman) released the first part of his Something Borrowed, Something Blue series, which featured edits of tracks by the likes of Jamie xx, Boddika, and Actress. The man has returned with a fresh pack of remixes for the second installment of his series, and this time around he’s worked his magic on cuts by a host of artists including Benjamin Damage and Jacques Greene. We snagged his rework of Robert Hood’s “Better Life,” which finds the Dutch producer adding jangling percussion for a more fluid, ’90s IDM-inspired version of the zippy-but-lurching original. Stream and download the whole series in the player after the jump.
Veteran LA label Stones Throw has launched a Kickstarter campaign to support the production of a feature-length documentary on the label’s history and the array of artists that have graced its roster since 1996. For years, directors have already been working with label founder Peanut Butter Wolf (pictured above) in the making of the documentary, called Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton (This is Stones Throw Records), and have already collected hours of never-before-seen footage from past shows, interviews, and candid moments. Many enticing rewards are available to those who support the project, including collectable merchandise, a Quasimoto Zoo York skate deck, and a tour of the Stones Throw headquarters and studio in LA. Before heading over to Kickstarter to learn more about and donate to the project, check out a preview of Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton below.
Kerri Chandler’s MadTech label has unveiled its new digital download imprint, MTDL, which aims to offer free tracks every two weeks (free from the constraints of budgets and promo cycles) from up-and-coming producers who haven’t had much previous exposure. The inaugural release comes from a burgeoning artist out of West Ireland named Aaron Lipsett, whose track “Know This” is a woozy number full of plink-plonk percussion and purring bass tones, which eventually collapses into a gentle and breezy house beat.
