Based upon the events of the past few days, we’ve come to the conclusion that Peter Van Hoesen is either an incredibly patient man or an incredibly impatient man. There’s no in between. Late last week, the Berlin-based techno auteur announced the impending release of his second full-length album, Perceiver, which was unusually scheduled to drop just a few days later. (The LP actually came out today.) Now, he’s immediately followed it up with the record’s first video, an interesting clip we’re told is full of “HD close-up and macro filming” for the song “Inspection in Solitude.” Watch the video now, and be on the lookout for more surprises from Peter Van Hoesen… we actually have something substantial in the works for tomorrow.
DJ Spookz “Turntabla (Morcee Remix)”
London-based producer Morcee has offered up his remix of DJ Spookz‘s “Turntabla,” a tune lifted from his recent release for the Four40 label (artwork above). Whereas the original version is a more old-school-slanted tune, Morcee’s remix turns the track into a stripped-down and contemporary UK bass jam with brash drum patterns and a galactic synthline that the vocal samples smoothly dissolve into.
Various Artists 50 Weapons Of Choice #20-29
It’s been a pretty prolific year for Modeslektor’s 50Weapons stable since its last label survey, 50Weapons Of Choice #10-19, dropped back in July 2011. Amidst a flurry of new roster signings that include Dark Sky, Marcel Dettmann, and Shed, the Berlin bass bastion has added an incredible six stylistically divergent albums to its repertoire. Now, the imprint is surveying its landscape once again with 50Weapons Of Choice #20-29, another testament to its unabated ascent over the past 12 months.
The comp begins where its predecessor left off, with a track off Dark Sky’s Radius EP, the label’s first single following 50Weapons Of Choice #10-19. “Neon” is a bold and immediate step into rumbling bass, the song’s garage-redolent vocals gasping between the undulating programming and scopey synth work. This seamlessly slips into Phon.o’s “Abbey Road,” which uses the same identikit set of tropes—and yet somehow falls short of “Neon”‘s impact.
Since taking his place on the 50Weapons roster, Berlin veteran Phon.o’s engagement with UK bass strata has been a little hit and miss. An impressive split debut with Anstam, “il62,” turned his dub-techno craft into punchy, brooding dubstep that has since dissolved into variations of a minimal Burial blueprint—as it does on his second offering here, “Sad Happiness,” which comes towards the comp’s close. Woodblocks gently clatter against horns and poignant strings pleasantly enough, but the overall effect is drab and a little lackluster in comparison.
Conversely, Cosmin TRG’s transition from his dubstep-leaning past has bred a pretty potent brand of swinging house and techno, and a mounting number of widely touted releases on both 50Weapons and Rush Hour. Here, he contributes “De Dans,” a particularly robust cross-pollination, which takes center stage in 50Weapons Of Choice #20-29‘s Berlin basement section, a swath of the LP that begins with Benjamin Damage & Doc Daneeka’s “Jumanji” (the comp’s sole unreleased work, and possibly the boys’ toughest Berlin-brewed effort to date) and ends with Dettmann’s strung-out “Deluge.”
Anstam (a.k.a. German visual artist Lars Stöwe) is 50Weapons’ other niche-less anomaly, although the project’s electronic experiments are far less floor oriented. Representing the volatile link between old Warp and modern-savvy techno, plugged with all the foreboding parts of the UK’s darkside (jungle, dubstep, and grime tints included), Anstam’s re-emergence on 50Weapons has continued to impress with more indefinable and rhythmically complex compounds. Here, selections from Stöwe’s first and latest EPs for 50Weapons have made the cut; Dispel Dances teaser “Carmichael” is a sinewy creep through horror film atmospheres and warbling weirdness, while “Whisky” is more of an LSD jaunt through a garish carnival nightmare.
Elsewhere, Addison Groove’s “Locked Groove”—a tune with no shortage of hypnotic potency despite clocking in at a mere 71 seconds—provides a blissful and much-needed reprieve after Dettmann’s neurotic workout. The comp concludes with the excellent “RQ-170” from Shed, a track best described as industrialized D&B through an ambient drone filter, and perfect summation of the label’s dedication to inventive genre perversions. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that 50Weapons Of Choice #20-29 is coming in around the midway point of the imprint’s supposed 50-release curtain call; if the comp is to be treated as a plumb line for the label’s next chapter, we may have to get used to expecting the unexpected.
Download Two New Tracks from Baio
Vampire Weekend bass player Chris Baio, who produces his own tunes under his last name and was recently profiled in one of our Bubblin’ Up features, has just followed up his debut EP, Sunburn, with an offering of free music. The budding tunesmith posted “The Silent” and “New You” onto Greco-Roman’s SoundCloud just today, a couple weeks ahead of a few DJ appearances he’ll be making. You can stream and download Baio’s new tunes and check out his upcoming tour dates below.
14th September: Bar Smith, Phoenix, AZ
15th September: Lowbrow Place, El Paso, TX
20th September: Library Square, Vancouver, BC
11th October: Chupiteria La Favorita, Guadalajara
12th October: Venue TBC, Puebla
13th October: Corona Capital Festival, Mexico City
20th October: U Street Music Hall, Washington, DC
Bwana “Baby Let Me Finish (Saine Remix)”
In case you slept on Bwana‘s recent Baby Let Me Finish EP for Somethinksounds (check out our review here), you can now download Saine‘s remix of the title track for free. If you are familiar with up-and-coming producer Lauri Saine, then you’ll know to expect a relaxed groove and chilled-out vibes on his rework. Specifically, the artist’s production is a house-leaning, downtempo take on Bwana’s uptempo original, and features sparse vocal chops, a smooth and funky bassline, and some delicate Rhodes chords.
Joe Readies New 12″ for Hemlock, Shares Previews
Hessle Audio-affiliated artist Joe will be changing labels for his upcoming release, the “MB” b/w “Studio Power On” single, which is set to drop via Untold’s Hemlock label. Today, we posted the ear-catching “Studio Power On” in our Press Play feature, and now, you can hear previews of both of Joe’s clattering tunes over on Surus, here. Look for the “MB” b/w “Studio Power On” 12″ when it’s released on September 10. (via FACT)
Peter Van Hoesen Preps New LP; Stream it Now
Belgian-born DJ/producer Peter Van Hoesen is set to release his second album, Perceiver, on September 3 via Time to Express, and has already posted the record online to stream and download. The record is proof that the prolific producer is continuing to explore experimental soundscapes, as certain songs—like “Spectral Participant” and “To Alter A Vector”—are even more cinematic than they are club-ready, tunes that wouldn’t be out of place in The Matrix soundtrack or at a club in his hometown of Berlin. Yet despite the record’s ambient inclinations, Perceiver also includes a few dirty, deep-house numbers, like the percussive “Inspection in Solitude” and the fuzzy, synth-laden “Decoder.” Before Van Hoesen releases the physical editions of his 11-track LP next week, you can listen to the whole thing below.
Video: Untold “Overdrive”
The UK DJ/producer, Hemlock label boss, and recent focus of our Chatterbox feature series Untold just shared a music video with Mixmag for his tune “Overdrive,” which is lifted from the third installment of the producer’s Change in a Dynamic Environment 12″ series. The piece—created by Iain Action—reminds us a bit of the Simian Mobile Disco videos we’ve been seeing recently, insomuch that its visuals are primarily pattern- and shape-oriented. But Untold’s clip for “Overdrive” certainly does its own thing, too—boasting a muted color scheme and what looks like a melange of clipart come to life.
Fur “Reverie”
Texas-based producer Fur (a.k.a. Bryce Isbell) has just unleashed a free digital offering, the five-track Yonder EP, via UNO. The record includes “Reverie,” which, as the title suggests, is a dreamy and minimalist jam with dark undertones contrasting the lighter moods evoked by the rest of Fur’s EP. And if you’re feeling “Reverie,” be sure to grab the rest of Yonder for absolutely free, here.
Review: iZotope Alloy 2
iZotope‘s Alloy 2 plug-in is the software company’s second attempt to make a one-stop shop for single-channel processing (the original version of Alloy was released back in 2010). Combining a parametric equalizer, transient designer, harmonic exciter, two dynamics modules, a de-esser, and a limiter into one plug-in, Alloy 2 covers almost all signal processing needs in one convenient package that strikes an effective balance between ease of use and audio quality.
After installing Alloy 2 (a considerably painless process that requires no USB dongle or any such nonsense), the power of the plug-in is instantly usable via an array of global presets that serve as great starting points for sonic tweaking. Depending on the preset, different components are enabled, but most utilize the EQ, at least one dynamics processor, and either the transient designer or harmonic exciter to some degree. The presets are conveniently organized by instrument—bass, drums, guitar, keys, and even special effects and utility categories—and from there, each has detailed descriptions to start users on the right foot. Considering how many moving parts this plug-in utilizes, the global presets become immensely helpful with not only learning how best to fit all of the components together, but also figuring out how each one can be individually utilized to reap desired results.
Alloy’s user interface is crisp and clean, its simple design making it easy to navigate and understand. Virtually every desired control is present on the front panel of each separate module, and further levels of customization can be found by clicking on the ever-present “Options” button found towards the bottom of the window. Furthermore, each component can be bypassed individually allowing for scrutiny of A/B comparisons, while the graphic representations of the signal and levels supply detailed visual information about how the sound is behaving. And for those who like to dig even deeper, Alloy goes so far as to offer the ability to rearrange the order in which one’s signal passes through the various components with the “Graph” function. But perhaps the smartest aspect of Alloy’s usability lies in the “History” menu, which catalogs each change made in the plug-in and makes it possible to undo or go back to a previous state—even across different sessions and different instances of the plug-in. Basically, iZotope thought of just about everything.
But as with all audio gear, the most important aspect is—of course—sound quality, and to that effect, Alloy 2 delivers the same superb sound that iZotope has built its reputation on, most notably with the Ozone mastering suite. Although the combination of elements in Alloy 2 can lead you down many paths, the overall tonality lends itself to a clean, precise, and professional quality, rivaling industry standards such as the Waves bundles or Sony’s Oxford plug-ins. Still, it’s worth noting that Alloy 2 appears to be aimed at audio engineers more than bedroom producers, and while the transient designer and harmonic exciters (which give the option of blending between “Tube,” “Tape,” “Warm,” and “Retro”) can warp and complement sounds considerably, Alloy 2 is best when used to make elements fit into a mix—enhancing, repairing, or polishing the specifics of one’s audio spectrum. Alloy 2 isn’t going to give producers biting distortions or provide their tracks with colorful vocoders or glorious reverbs, it will—when wielded correctly—just make all those things sound better.
Considering the software’s more than reasonable price point and vast range of necessary uses, Alloy 2 largely asserts itself as an essential piece of software for any digital home studio intent on achieving pristine sound—whether it be generated from inside or outside the box.
MSRP: $199 ($149 before September 6)
