Podcast 613: Circle of Live

Born in the European summer of 2018, Circle of Live is the work of Sebastian Mullaert, the beloved Swedish artist known for his cerebral techno soundscapes. Looking to take his sonic improvisations a little further, and recognizing the untapped beauty in the sounds that artists create in the comfort of their own studio environments, he wished to transfer this to the live environment. “We, as artists, can create our personal paradise to find a way to express ourselves, and then we go out on stage and it becomes separate to that. The idea came to create that also on stage,” Mullaert told Resident Advisor earlier this year. “I truly believe that if an artist feels comfortable on stage and they can relax into it, it helps the audience to do the same.”

Recruitment began soon thereafter. Calls were made to friends, and several—Âme (Live), Johanna Knutsson, Leafar Legov, etc.—signed up, and many more have joined. The Circle now comprises 19 artists, all identified and selected by Mullaert. The list, which now includes Peter Van Hoesen, Dorisburg, Steffi, and Neel, features artists from a diverse set of backgrounds and with different ways of expressing themselves, but what glues them together is an appreciation for spontaneity and improvisation.

On stage, Circle members jam in different constellations; Muallert curates a different lineup for each performance. Mullaert himself, the one constant, begins with some ambient soundscapes, before inviting the other artists to begin interacting as they wish; it’s an unhinged, freeform experience, unhindered by formal structure so as to allow both the performers and audience to explore the boundaries of electronic music improvisation in its raw beauty. These recordings, which can exceed eight hours, are then reviewed, and segments—those which best capture the essence of the project—are released through the record label of the same name, offering a snapshot into the weird and wonderful world of collaborative live performance.

Circle of Live club performances have quickly become a “must-see” in the electronic music community. These sets are reasonably frequent, remarkably so given the logistics of transporting such a large team and their hardware setups across the globe, and they’re also singular in their ability to stimulate your mind and body. In the past year alone, Circle of Live has performed at Freerotation (festival founder Steevio has been a member from day one), Portugal’s Waking Life, Mutek Montreal, and, of course, the legendary Movement Detroit. Mullaert and his team are also now working on a concert-show, Circle of Live: In Concert, having already performed at Berlin’s Funkhaus and Malmö Live. Completing the project is Circle of Live: In Dreams, a sleep concert series premiered at Intonal Festival 2019 and coming to ADE Amsterdam next week.

This week’s XLR8R podcast is a two-hour segment of Circle of Live’s jam at Movement Detroit 2019, which took place on a little pop up stage placed in the middle of the festival area. Alongside Mullaert were Amp Fiddler, Mathew Jonson, and Vril, for his first ever show.

“I love to start with ambient music, but here there was no opportunity to play music at low volume as sounds from the other stages were throbbing through the air. And there wasn’t much time to either contemplate or sync between us; we had to press start and go! Mathew [Jonson] picked a tempo—90bpm, I picked a key (G minor, what a surprise!), Vril picked a badass gangster groove, and Amp [Fiddler] just smiled, spread his love, and started to spread the chords from his synths. How the next four hours took form no one knows, but it was an amazing journey to be part of, and listening to the first two hours, that we are sharing with you now, brings back many warm smiles to my face. Be prepared for the most jam-y and Detroit-y Circle of Live jam so far!” — Sebastian Mullaert

Editor note: The podcast is available for stream only. The download is available exclusively for XLR8R+ members, where you can also download exclusive tracks from Mullaert, Vril, Amp Fiddler, and Mathew Jonson. In there too you’ll also find a ‘Live Essentials’ feature detailing the gear used in the jam. DOWNLOAD HERE.

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to download the podcast you will need to subscribe to our Select channel. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Stenny’s Album Debut Next on Ilian Tape

Photo: Nika Andelic

Stenny will release his debut album on Ilian Tape next month.

Upsurge is the fifth album on Ilian Tape, following Skee Mask’s Compro of last year. It’s described as the “musical journey of a sensitive soul.” We’re told that it “flows through ups and downs” and “reflects the highs and lows we all go through.”

Over the last eight years, Stenny, an Italian artist, has become one of the core names on the Munich label, continuously evolving his own style and exploring new territories. Earlier this year, he released Stress Test, a four-track outing that explored breakbeat, electro, and UK garage.

Upsurge‘s artwork is by Anja Lekavski.

Tracklisting

01. Water Maze
02. Detraction
03. Sensitive Habitat
04. Blind Corners
05. BFRB
06. Swordfish
07. Whyrl
08. Psygraph
09. Fast Fade
10. Dew
11. Cursed
12. In A Distant Light

Upsurge LP is out November 19 on vinyl and digital. Meanwhile, you can hear clips below.

HTRK’s Jonnine Presents Solo Debut, ‘Super Natural’

Jonnine will present her solo debut EP, Super Natural, later this month.

We’re told that the release carries the refinement of the Australian vocalist’s work with HTRK, regulars on the Ghostly International label. With this EP, a creative block was overcome after years of being urged by her therapist to forge a solo musical identity. It began with a first attempt to play her brother’s broken stringed guitar, unused since 2001, and became these four songs. She wrote and recorded it in Puerto Maldonado, Peru, Big Island, Hawaii, and Dandenong Ranges, Australia

Jonnine’s songs swim in part-spoken, part-sung suspension, and sophisticated wordplay amid languorous instruments. She imagined the album as a soundtrack to the surreal Venice-set feature film she and Zebrablood “are destined to one day make together,” and it’s a testament to eight years of friendship and musical collaboration. We’re told that it has a “chimeric” quality, and “like any good thriller,” it’s “pulsing with potential but paced with restraint.”

Tracklisting

A1. You’re Wanting It To Go This Way
A2. I Don’t Seem Myself Tonight
B1. You Can Leave The Vampires
B2. Scorpio Rises Again

Super Natural is out October 24 on Good Morning Tapes.

Improvisational French Trio France Sauvage Next on In Paradisum

France Sauvage will release a new album on In Paradisum.

France Sauvage (“Wild France”) is Arno Bruil, Johann Mazé, and Manuel Duval playing electronics, synths, and drums. They’ve been working together for more than 10 years and there aren’t many stones in the European DIY venue circuit that they’ve left unturned as a band or under their other monikers, such as Descendeur, Le Cercle des Mallissimalistes, Rien Virgule, Ensemble UN, and Lord Rectangle.

They describe themselves as a “an actual electronic live music band” because they make music with no repertoire and no rehearsals, using a wide range of custom-built electronic instruments. Sonically, their music has strong ties to outsider art, sound collage, and dark wave.

Much of the band’s output has been live outtakes, sometimes including audience noise, but this release “feels recorded straight from a garage studio,” the label explains. “Surprisingly, it sounds more like a ‘proper album,’ a notion they would probably laugh at.”

In Paradisum, founded by Guillaume Heuguet and Paul Régimbeau in 2011, was inspired by a performance of France Sauvage in the legendary experimental music venue Les Instants Chavirés in Paris. “France Sauvage’s imagination probably and subconsciously helped define the lines of direction around the music which we’ve been publishing on our label since then,” Heuguet and Régimbeau explain.

Tracklisting

A1. La folie chez les animaux
A2. Brex me down
A3. Les grandes heures du temps
A4. Un trou inacceptable
A5. Mec mec
B1. Azi Danza
B2. Un visage excessif
B3. L’or des nazes
B4. Parle-toi de nous
B5. Je suis sorti de ma maison

L’homme à zero is out October 14, with clips below.

Bjarki, Bambounou, and Pessimist Rework Francois X on New Album

Francois X will presents Irregular Passion Reshape, an 11-track LP that re-works his album of the same name, due for release in November on his own Demented XXX.

The original full-length LP, released in 2018 explored themes of euphoria and melancholy. With “Blade Runner”-esque soundscapes and bass-y club tracks, the French producer played with a variety of genres and references, holding the piece together with cinematic and hedonistic atmospheres.

For this new album, Francois X has invited an accomplished list of friends and artists, both established and newcomers, to re-imagine the album tracks, aiming to build a community of like-minded producers that boldly represent what XXX is all about. These include Bjarki, Anthony Linell, Bambounou, and Pessimist.

“I wanted a complete rework of my album, containing a wide range of musical directions. A good representation of what XXX is all about. The important thing for me was to have some real transformations on my original material, in a way its a complete new album.” — Francois X

Tracklisting

01. Blurry Youth (Elise Reshape)
02. Slave No Slave (Bambounou Reshape)
03. Falling For Her (Prequel Tapes Reshape)
04. Blurry Youth (Bjarki Transformer’s Reshape)
05. Absolute Therapy (Pessimist Reshape)
06. Down Under (Anthony Linell Reshape)
07. Shamefaced (Valentino Mora Cosmic Trance Rephase)
08. Absolute Therapy (In Aeternam Vale Alternative Reshape)
09. Absolute Therapy (Redshape’s Dusty Dub)
10. Dirty Chat (Yotam Avni Interpretation)
11. Absolute Therapy (In Aeternam Vale Interpretation) Digi Only
12. Dirty Chat (Yotam Avni Mon Frere Interpretation) Digi Only

Irregular Passion Reshape LP is out November 25 on digital and vinyl. Meanwhile, you can stream the original album in full below.

Echologist and TM404 Team Up for Debut Album

Echologist and TM404 (a.k.a Brendon Moeller and Andreas Tilliander) have teamed up for Kynant Records‘ 14th release, Telomic Ghost.

The 10-track album is described the “natural peak” of the duo’s transatlantic collaboration. Since their first release together in 2017, Bass Desires, Tilliander and Moeller have explored their subaquatic, techno sound on a further EP, Infiltrated, and now this album broadens the scope with ambient cuts, slo-mo acid, and dubbed-out house.

Both Tilliander and Moeller have renowned discographies of hazy electronics, under a number of aliases and with numerous collaborators. Their records as TM404 & Echologist have struck on a powerful synergy, pairing the glitchy, Roland-indebted sound of TM404 with Moeller’s dub-wise headspace and striking sound design.

Tracklisting

A1. Divided We Fall
A2. High Plains Drifter
A3. Cap It
B1. Ground Clouds
B2. Evidence
C1. Vintage
C2. Sword Of Damocles
D1. Flutter
D2. Dozo
D3. Tincture

Telomic Ghost LP is out on vinyl on November 15, with previews below.

Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto to Release New Album Recorded Live at Sydney Opera House

Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto will release a new live album next month.

TWO captures the duo’s 2018 performance at Sydney Opera House, which saw them performing new improvised work and key collaborative compositions from their joint catalogue, which has now reached five albums, one major film score, and an EP.

Last year, the duo undertook a series of live events entitled TWO at Berlin’s Funkhaus, Barcelona’s Theatre Grec (closing Sonar Festival’s 25th Anniversary), London’s Barbican Centre, and Melbourne’s Hammer Hall, before culminating at Sydney Opera House, where their two-hour set was recorded and edited down, forming this album.

We’re told that “at points melodic, atmospheric, gently rhythmic, textural, and spatial, audio headspaces range from intimate and serene womb-like flotation, infinite fathoms of dark metaphysical expanse, and moments of devastatingly poignant beauty.”

Noton, the label adds: “At all times the album maintains a calm poise, and despite its improvised nature withholds an innate harmony and graceful order. Like two aural architects free-drawing, this is sound design for better living.”

The 15-track album is the duo’s first collaborative release since Glass, out last year.

Tracklisting

01. Inosc
02. Propho
03. Trioon II (Live)
04. Scape I
05. Berlin (Live)
06. Scape II
07. Morning (Live)
08. Iano (Live)
09. Emspac
10. Kizuna (Live)
11. Gitrac
12. Monomom
13. Panois
14. Naono (Live)
15. The Revenant Theme (Live)

TWO LP is out on November 15 via Noton, with pre-order available here, and “The Revenant Theme (Live) streaming below.

Rhye, Daedelus, and Madame Gandhi to Play Secular Sabbath in Los Angeles

Secular Sabbath has announced plans for its sonic bathing experience, going down October 19 to 20 in Los Angeles.

The event will focus and present a range of sensory experiences that “invite you to drop into your sensory selves: the way you hear, smell, taste, touch and see.” Musically, the event will feature specially crafted performances by Rhye, Joel Shearer, Daedelus, Ooah (of The Glitch Mob), Illangelo (The Weeknd), SIMIHAZE, Blake Mccleod & Friends (Foxtrails), Kassia Meador, Madame Gandhi, Guy Blakeslee, and more surprise guests. Although the artists come from many different genres, with varying sounds, according to the organizers, “each musician is someone we see that remains curious and always wants to keep exploring new frontiers, with the understanding that music can heal.”

You can find out more information on the event and its interactive experiences here.

Influences 16: Kevin Saunderson

Born in New York but raised in Detroit, USA, Kevin Saunderson joined Belleville High School where he befriended two like-minded students: Derrick May and Juan Atkins. As teens, they bonded over music, citing the pop, disco, and funk records spun by DJ Charles “The Electrifying Mojo” Johnson as a profound influence—and they went on to create the Detroit techno sound, shifting the global music landscape in an unprecedented way.

Starting off as a DJ and under the technically-focused guidance of Atkins, Saunderson began producing, and he put his early work on the Atkins’ legendary Metroplex. Following this period of discovery, Inner City, arguably Saunderson’s greatest achievement, came to be. The result of an accidental pairing with Paris Grey, Inner City established itself as one of the world’s most influential dance acts. Discovered by UK music entrepreneur Neil Rushton, Grey and Saunderson shot to stardom with “Big Fun” and the adored follow up “Good Life.” This immediate success was propelled by their debut album, Paradise, which cemented Inner City’s role as prime-time movers in the house and techno revolution of the late ’80s and early ’90s.

Elsewhere, Saunderson has released music as E-Dancer, an alias created to satisfy his more underground leanings. Since its inception, E-Dancer has created seminal techno in its purest form culminating in the album Heavenly, released on Carl Craig’s iconic Planet E imprint.

In this month’s Influences podcast, Saunderson reflects on his summers in New York, where he went to visit his father, at a time when the legendary Paradise Garage—known as “The Garage” or “The Gay-Rage”—was in its prime. These were some of Saunderson’s earliest memories of club music, learned from no other than Larry Levan, whose decade-long residency at the New York venue shaped it into an institution that we still talk about three decades after it closed its doors forever. Although he was unable to frequent Paradise Garage on too many occasions, the club had left an indelible mark on him, and went a long way into shaping him into one of electronic music’s most pioneering artists.

Above all else, Saunderson believes that the world needs to be uplifted, and Inner City is an outlet to make uplifting music; he believes this is why “Big Fun” and “Good Life” have withstood the test of time. He says that all his successes lead back to Paradise Garage. These are just some of the records that remind of his time there.

“I’m originally from New York, and moved to Detroit at the age of 12. Each summer I’d go back to New York to see my family as my father still lived there. When I got to around the age of 17, I started to go to the Paradise Garage with my cousin Berry and some of his buddies. I think I went about five or six times before it closed.

“It was some of my earliest experiences of clubs, going in at 1 am, and leaving at 12 pm the next day. I used to wait until the music stopped. Watching Larry Levan and seeing this wonderful atmosphere, you just couldn’t leave until the music stopped. Some of these records are in my record crate and I play them out now, and some remind me of memories and moments of seeing people just really loving and embracing the music. Some tracks have a message behind them, and some were just about enjoying the vibe at the time. As I started my path of creating music, I would think about how the tracks I was making would sound on a sound system like the Paradise Garage, and what people would vibe like. Whether it was instrumental or vocal, my inspiration definitely came from there.” — Kevin Saunderson

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to download the podcast you will need to subscribe to our Select channel. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Tracklisting

01. Loleatta Holloway “Love Sensation” (Dimitri from Paris DJ Friendly Classic Re-Edit) (2017 – Remaster) (Salsoul Records)
02. Chic “I Want Your Love” (Dimitri From Paris Instrumental 2018 Remaster) (Glitterbox Recordings)
03. Chic “My Forbidden Lover” (Dimitri From Paris Remix) (Glitterbox Recordings)
04. Avon Stringer “Get A Move On” (Original Mix) (Play It Down)
05. Funkatron “Second Choice” (Original Mix) (Cut Rec)
06. First Choice, Dr Packer “Let No Man Put Asunder” (Dr Packer Rework) (Salsoul Records)
07. Aspen Bizarre Disco “Love Will Fix It” (Original Mix) (Nothing But)
08. DJ Mes “Amour Est Libre” (Main Mix) (Guesthouse Music)
09. Double Exposure “Everyman” (Late Nite Tuff Guy Rework) (Salsoul Records)
10. The O-Jays “I Love Music” (Joey Negro Sweet Music Mix) (Z Records)
11. Chic “Dance, Dance, Dance” (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah) (Intro Clean) (Atlantic)
12. First Choice “Doctor Love” (Late Nite Tuff Guy Hypnotizin- Groove) (Salsoul Records)
13. Chic “Everybody Dance” (Intro Clean) (Atlantic)
14. Di Saronno, Gangs of Naples “The Payback” (Original Mix) (Dafunk)
15. MONYQ “Feel All Right” (CYFI)
16. Sister Sledge “He’s the Greatest Dancer” (Cotillion Records)
17. Sister Sledge “We Are Family” (Clean) (Extended) (Atlantic)
18. Sister Sledge “Lost In Music” (Atlantic)

Melbourne Duo HTRK Strip Away Vocals for First Film Score

HTRK have released their soundtrack album to Jeremy Peixoto’s Scientology documentary “Over The Rainbow,” out today via Boomkat Editions.

The release is Melbourne duo Jonnine Standish and Nigel Yang’s first-ever soundtrack commission, and their first instrumental-only album; across 13 tracks, they strip away their signature vocals to fit the mood of Peixoto’s feature. It’s available in a limited-edition run of 500 copies only.

Earlier this year, HTRK released Venus In Leo, their first album in five years, via Ghostly International.

Tracklisting

01. Flower And Fruit
02. Over The Rainbow
03. Department Store
04. Unselving I And II
05. Unselving III
06. Pressed In Glass I
07. Pressed In Glass II
08. Wonders Of New Technology
09. Antitwilight I
10. Antitwilight II
11. Aboard The Apollo
12. Light
13. Bio

Over The Rainbow is available now here, with the title track below.

https://soundcloud.com/htrk/over-the-rainbow
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