Ireland’s Defcon is all set to release his nine-track album, In Binary Shrines, via Reset next Monday, September 17. In the meantime, you can enjoy its title track, a disjointed tune that offers a myriad of bumping beats—seemingly inspired by dubstep and hip-hop—over the top of a punchy bassline. The spaces in between are filled with sci-fi sound effects, mangled vocal samples, and a dizzying, psychedelic harp gone wild.
Unlike many full-length debuts, Transsektoral manages to reach across a wide spectrum of music while appropriately balancing the impulse for exploration with a binding consistency. The sophistication with which Sam Barker (a.k.a. Voltek) and Andreas Baumecker (a.k.a. nd_Baumecker)—together referred to simply as Barker & Baumecker—have put together this LP is perhaps a reflection of their curatorial experience as DJs and time spent behind separate labels and booking nights at Berlin’s renowned Berghain club. Still, regardless of how exactly it happened, Barker & Baumecker’s first collaborative full-length seems to have found a sweet spot between old-school techno energy and the modern underground aesthetic.
The movements of Transsektoral can be hard to follow—and that’s part of the fun. Tracks like “Crows” and “NoBody” seem to build in reverse and, along with the rest of the record, feel like polished jams, taking unexpected twists and turns that may have only happened as a result of spur-of-the-moment decisions. Aside from the intro track and a two-minute interlude, only one of the LP’s cuts dips below the four-minute mark, while the rest reach into proper instrumental techno length. Yet, the album rarely feels like it’s dragging on. This is partially due to the amount of different angles from which the pair approaches its house-inflected techno. “Trafo” starts almost ambient and slightly off kilter before landing on a funky synth groove; “Tranq” lands not too far off from Teengirl Fantasy’s brand of new-agey techno; “Spur” (the almost ten-minute closing track) stretches Kompakt-style techno-pop; and “Buttcracker” and “Silo” take on more industrial palettes, churning with a machine-made thump. Somehow, this all manages to fit together rather effortlessly.
Best yet, Barker & Baumecker offer up their share of intelligently crafted “big tunes” here. Aside from the aforementioned “NoBody”—which builds its way to an almost post-dubstep-influenced skitter—”ShlangBang” and “Transit” stand out as the most memorable efforts, with the former hitting on an deliciously slippery bassline and any number of playful rhythms, while the latter employs a dense collection of fluid synths and a stripped-down, four-on-the-floor pattern to make its point stick. Really, almost the entire record is ready for dancefloor action, and one can’t help but imagine the unique night-time scenarios or particular types of DJ sets each is best suited for.
In a genre that may not necessarily lend itself to the album format, Barker & Baumecker have found a way to extend their shorter-form successes (the Candy Flip and A Murder of Crows EPs) into an engrossing full-length. From the patient and methodical moments to the flashes of light and energetic dance music, the producers always seem to be in control, and following the path they take makes for a truly rewarding listen.
For many years, we’ve made it a point to attend Barcelona’s Sonar Festival as often as possible, but we understand that not everyone can make it over to sunny Spain for the festivities. It seems like the event organizers understand this, too, as they’ve announced that Sonar will be heading to North America for an eight-date tour this fall. Aptly called Sonar on Tour, the travelling show is scheduled to hit major cities such as Chicago, New York, Montreal, Los Angeles, Toronto, and more, bringing along with it the likes of DJs and producers Azari & III (pictured above), Tiga, Seth Troxler, Nic Fanciulli, and Paul Kalkbrenner (apparently, Die Antwoord will be there, too). Sonar on Tour will launch on Halloween in Chicago, with its last date being on November 10 in Los Angeles. You can check out the full list of events below.
10/31/2012 Chicago @ Congress Theater
11/1/2012 Toronto @ Sound Academy
11/2/2012 New York @ Roseland Ballroom
11/3/2012 Montreal @ Metropolis
11/4/2012 Boston @ House of Blues
11/7/2012 Denver @ Sonar Music Festival – Fillmore Auditorium
11/9/2012 Oakland @ Fox Theater*
11/10/2012 Los Angeles @ Shrine Expo Hall *
** Gesaffelstein will play Denver, Toronto and Chicago dates only
* Tiga will not play these dates
Ghostly, in celebration of its four-day art show in NYC, Ghostly International: Of Art & Artifice, has released a free compilation on Soundcloud in conjuction with Incase. The offering includes tunes from Fort Romeau, Tensnake, Com Truise, Shigeto, Tycho (a remix we premiered last week), and featured here, Michna‘s rework of Matthew Dear’s “Earthforms.” The NYC remixer (pictured above) maintains the predominantly indie feel of the original, while adding a horn solo into the first half of the track, leaving the musky vocals and smooth synthlines untouched, and preserving the easygoing beat of the cut from Dear’s new Beams LP. (via Pitchfork)
Chicago has a big purity streak going on right now. A close-knit circle of DJs and producers including Tevo Howard, Justin Long, Mazi (a.k.a. Audio Soul Project), Hakim Murphy, and labels like Fresh Meat Records and Argot Music are returning to earlier sounds in electronic music. Championing vinyl in their DJ sets, analog equipment in their studios, and a nostalgia for classic ’90s house and techno that furthers the music through a retrofitted framework, it’s a mantra that’s in lockstep with the work of fellow Windy City underground highlight Amir Alexander.
A quiet presence in Chicago until recently, Alexander has been steadily releasing his raw take on house, techno, and acid since 2008, but 2012 has seen a considerable uptick, with tracks on Rekids, the aforementioned Argot, and now, Hypercolour’s HypeLTD offshoot. Serving as evidence that this mindset isn’t confined to the Midwest, Alexander’s Everybody’s Beautiful EP is a perfect fit for the label. HypeLTD may favor bass-flavored house beats out of the next millennium, but it also tempers its growing catalog with retro-futuristic releases like this one.
The EP’s lead track, “Dazed & Amazed,” owes just as much to the Motor City as it does to Amir Alexander’s ties to the Second City. Sounding as if Larry Heard sat down for a session with Theo Parrish, its low-end reverberation echoes like an upright bass string plucked and then left to vibrate. A Heard-style deepness hovers under all of the track’s claps and kicks like one big, cushy pillow of bass. Warble is seldomly used in a house-music context these days, but that’s almost what’s going on here. As the techy, Detroit-style drum programming of a mechanical hi-hat jangling alongside the pitter-patter of pads and hand jive claps gives the track some bite, an ever-so-slightly unintelligible soul sample hints at the presence of the ghost of Motown past. There’s no digitized thinness here.
Maintaining the deep atmospherics but cutting down on the density of the proceedings, the EP’s title track is a sunnier affair. Birds chirp in the distance and broad-stroke atmospherics lift the mood, as Alexander’s own musings—”I feel so good right now,” “I’m lost in the music”—put the track’s sentiment into words. Ambient elements swirl around the rolling drum-machine rhythms with a cotton candy lightness, imparting a dream-like quality that drifts back in time to a different era of underground club sounds. The acid mix Alexander gives “Everybody’s Beautiful” as the EP’s closing cut may wake it from its dream state, but it doesn’t shift its underground status. Replacing the dawn-like chirping and sunrise sound palette with jacking 303 squelch and a relentless four-on-the-floor thump, the song suddenly becomes destined for peak-time play on the most dimly lit of dancefloors. The mix’s mid-track breakdown reintroduces its origins though, with warm keys and Alexander’s equally-warm sentiments returning to the fold. There’s no denying the retro flavors on display here, but it’s clearly Amir Alexander’s intent to bring us forward by looking back.
With its inaugural release and label launch party both on the way, San Francisco club night/record hub Icee Hot is having a pretty busy month, but that didn’t stop the crew—Ghosts on Tape (pictured above), Rollie Fingers, and XLR8R‘s own Shawn Reynaldo (sans Low Limit)—from putting together a fresh DJ set for LuckyMe‘s ongoing mix series. The 17-track offering was compiled by the three selectors, and features loads of exclusives and unreleased tunes (largely from the nascent Icee Hot catalog)—including cuts from Mike Huckaby, Untold, Grown Folk, Jus-Ed, Lando Kal, Anthony Naples, Contakt, and more. You can check out the mix’s tracklist below, and stream/download the whole thing over on LuckyMe, here.
1. Grown Folk “Keep Few Near” (Icee Hot)
2. TB “Invitation to Love” (HVNed)
3. Ghosts on Tape “Nature’s Law (Jus-Ed Remix)” (Icee Hot)
4. Alex Cortex “Oh Yeah” (Killekill House Trax)
5. Lemonade “Soft Kiss (Anthony Naples Remix)” (True Panther)
6. Mike Dehnert “Umlaut2 (Levon Vincent’s NY Basement Mix)” (Clone Basement Series)
7. Ghosts on Tape “No Guestlist” (Icee Hot)
8. DJ Duke “Back to the Bass” (Power Music)
9. Lando Kal “Help Myself” (Icee Hot)
10. Contakt “Nobody Else (Ghosts on Tape Remix)” (Icee Hot)
11. BDI “New Robotics #17? (Rush Hour)
12. Mike Huckaby “Basement Trax” (Tresor)
13. Bleak “Ekko” (Deeply Rooted House)
14. Anthony Naples “Moscato” (Mr. Saturday Night)
15. Untold “Caslon” (Hemlock)
16. Alden Tyrell “Tntus” (Clone Basement Series)
17. Arjuna Schiks “Mahesvari” (Gem)
Mmoths‘ ambient-leaning “Over You” is marked by brightly echoing vocal sounds, wood block percussion, and airy chimes, as well as a somewhat-muffled—albeit carefree—melody. The song’s visual counterpart, which was directed by Brendan Canty of Irish film studio Feel Good Lost (who we profiled in a recent Vis-Ed feature) and premiered by UK DJ/tastemaker/radio personality Annie Mac, is equally ethereal. Composed of pleasant, overlapping images of birds, bursts of light and color, and a young lady smoking a cigarette with her long hair whipping in the wind, the piece fits the tune nicely. Mmoths’ new production will be featured on Annie Mac Presents 2012 when it drops on October 8 via Island.
Shadowy Swedish producer 1991 will be releasing a self-titled EP later this month via Astro:Dynamics, but in the meantime, the artist has offered up “Fabric of Space,” a cut from that forthcoming record. Featuring primitive-sounding sine waves, gritty tape distortion, and murky synthscapes, the tune is something of a retro-minded experimentation with lo-fi electronics, albeit one with a refreshing beat and playful melody that help align it with more contemporary sounds. Despite the less-than-perfect production methods used in “Fabric of Space,” 1991 achieves in delivering a mellow tune, which—along with the rest of his EP—was mastered by up-and-coming Tri Angle affiliate Vessel.
Less than a month after announcing it will soon launch a new label with an EP of its own material, UK DJ/production duo Bicep has set its sights on North America for a seven-date tour. The brief stint kicks off in Toronto early next month, making stops around the East Coast and California before wrapping it all up on October 14 in San Francisco. You can check out the full list of Bicep’s scheduled performances below. (via Resident Advisor)
Oct 04 @ The Drake Hotel – Toronto
Oct 05 @ U Street Music Hall – Washington DC
Oct 06 @ Le Poisson Rouge – New York
Oct 11 @ Voyeur (Formerly Pure) – Pennsylvania
Oct 12 @ Electric Pickle – Florida
Oct 13 @ Los Angeles – California
Oct 14 @ The Holy Cow – California
Beloved UK label/radio station Rinse FM is celebrating its eighteenth birthday this month, and to mark the occasion, has launched a series of videos documenting its existence with profiles of some of its key players and stories from the annals of Rinse. The first installment in the documentary series the music hub is calling Vintage Rinse features the radio station’s boss, Geeneus. In his eight-minute monologue, the radio renegade describes the initial and primitive set up of Rinse FM, how the police attempted to shut it down, and ultimately how his and his crew’s determination to keep playing music kept the station running. Look for further episodes of Vintage Rinse to surface in the near future. (via Mixmag)
