A Winged Victory For The Sullen Debut on Ninja Tune with New Album, ‘The Undivided Five’

Credit: Jónatan Grétarsson

A Winged Victory For The Sullen‘s new album will come via Ninja Tune, titled The Undivided Five.

The nine-track album is inspired in part by the artist Hilma af Klint, whose spiritual influences shaped the duo’s work in light of the death of Jóhann Jóhannsson, a close friend. Within weeks of the funeral, band member Dustin O’Halloran found out that he would be expecting his first child, and it was soon after that a visit to see the art of of Klint brought home a profound realisation of life, death, the afterlife, and the spaces in between. She belonged to a group called “The Five,” a circle of five women with a shared belief in the importance of trying to make contact with spirits, often by way of séances. This chimed with the duo’s unspoken approach to collaboration, and nudged them to return to their writing process centered around the harmonic perfect fifth; the five senses, the divine interval—The Undivided Five.

The album was also shaped by the breadth of locations in which it was created. In addition to O’Halloran and Wiltzie’s respective Berlin and Brussels studios, the record took shape across six different sites. They recorded orchestral samples in Budapest’s Magyar Rádió Studio 22, re-recorded album parts in Brussels’ Eglise Du Beguinage’s unique, reverb-heavy surrounds, experimented with overdubs in Ben Frost’s Reykjavik studio, and recorded grand piano parts in a remote woodland studio in northern Italy. And it’s in Francesco Donadello’s studio in Berlin, where all of the previous AWVFTS material has been mixed, that the album was run through the studio’s analog board, binding the record’s different parts together.

Their connection to Jóhannsson also partly shaped the direction of the album. They were asked to create a remix for him, which he heard before his death in 2018, where they unlocked a new process in terms of how they work. They recomposed the strings, using modular synthesis, old synths, and string and piano arrangements, a method they applied to album opener “Our Lord Debussy.” “It’s about going into the DNA of music and taking different strands,” they say.

A Winged Victory For The Sullen is made up of Dustin O’Halloran—a pianist who has notably worked with Sofia Coppola, Jill Soloway (for his Emmy winning theme song to “Transparent”) and been Oscar-nominated for his score to the film “Lion”—and Adam Wiltzie—a one time big tennis prospect, who is one of the most respected composers in his field, particularly as a founding member of lauded ambient-classical groups Stars of the Lid, The Dead Texan, and Aix Em Klemm. Discounting the two major scores they were commissioned for, this is really only their second album, written on their own terms and timeline.

The art for the album has been created by Davy Evans, who has worked with The xx and Karen O.

Tracklisting

01. Our Lord Debussy
02. Sullen Sonata
03. The Haunted Victorian Pencil
04. The Slow Descent Has Begun
05. Aqualung, Motherfucker
06. A Minor Fifth Is Made Of Phantoms
07. Adios, Florida
08. The Rhythm Of A Dividing Pair
09. Keep It Dark, Deutschland

The Undivided Five is out on November 1, with “The Rhythm Of A Dividing Pair” streaming below, and pre-order HERE.

Circle of Live Curates ‘XLR8R+015’ with Exclusive Tracks from Amp Fiddler, Mathew Jonson, Sebastian Mullaert, and Vril

Photo: Nick LeTellier

XLR8R+15 is here, and there’s reason to celebrate: it’s our second on Bandcamp, meaning that your music will be more easily available than ever before; and it’s curated by Circle of Live, the latest project of Sebastian Mullaert, who delivers various goodies and editorial on top of the regular three-track offering.

We begin this month with a track from Mathew Jonson, the Canadian-born , Berlin-based producer, who delivers “When I think about Detroit,” written especially for his live set at Movement Detroit 2012. Up next is the inimitable Amp Fiddler, a Detroit native, whose “Know Your Way” is a brooding and grooving vocal-laden cut. Closing the release is Vril, who returns to XLR8R+ now a member of the Circle, this time with a more ambient jam that’s never been shared before.

What ties these artists together, you ask, besides their inclusion in Circle of Live? Well, members of the circle perform in different constellations, and this lineup—Mathew Jonson, Vril, and Amp Fiddler, plus Sebastian Mullaert—is from Movement Detroit 2019, one of the project’s stand-out sets.

In tune with this, there’s also a bonus track from Sebastian Mullaert himself, called “Ever Closer,” which is a fully-improvised live jam recorded specifically for XLR8R+.

As for extras, we have two to announce. Firstly, we have a two-hour segment of the Circle of Live Movement jam, the first time it’s ever been heard outside of the moment; and, secondly, each artist has written a ‘Live Essentials’ piece, detailing the gear they used in Detroit.

The package, including the tracks, zine, artwork, and live recording, is downloadable via Bandcamp once you SUBSCRIBE HERE.

You can stream snippets of the release below, along with a preview of this month’s zine, which features the exclusive content.

Explore Circle of Live.

All tracks mastered by Kamran Sadeghi.

We hope you enjoy the offering.

XLR8R team

Yann Novak Explores the Queering of the Mid-West on New Room40 Album

Yann Novak‘s new album is coming via Lawrence English‘s Room40.

With Slow Dismantling, Novak, a Los Angeles-based sound artist, problematises understandings of ambience as homogenous and static. Reflecting on his formative experiences as a queer youth in middle America, he delivers a series of dense sonic fields that reflect on how the past can be decoded and utilised as a device for contextualising the future.

The album cover features the remnants of Hotel Washington, home to the LGBTQ+ community in Novak’s hometown of Madison, Wisconsin from the ’70s until 1996 when it burned down. It housed a restaurant, a barber shop, a cafe, and an assortment of gay bars that served as a gathering space for the community. “I was 17 when the hotel burned down and had only gone to the cafe a handful of times,” Novak recalls. “What I expected to be the formative site for exploring my newfound queer identity was suddenly lost to the past, and I was left wondering how such a space would have influenced me.” What remained in Madison after the fire was only “the mainstream version of gay culture,” Novak continues. “The expressive camp of cinematic cult classics, drag shows, and quotes from pop culture was the language, and I didn’t speak it.”

As he adds, art and music are often identified as “queer” when they share these same core aesthetics, tropes, and character stereotypes. “This further taught me that, though I was queer, what I was making was not,” he explains.

Because of this, he withdrew, and the alienation that came with his introversion made it hard for him to take up space in the world. “As my work as an artist and composer progressed, this lack of self-confidence became part of my practice,” he continues, and he began using field recordings as a way to limit his decision-making. “I could shape and mould this source material to an extent, but there was always an external structure,” he explains. “While this allowed me to create work that was autobiographical, I was never totally in control of what I was making; thus, I was never fully visible in the work.”

This all changed following a transformative experience at a queer music gathering in the spring of 2019. He was finally immersed in a queer community that existed outside all dominant cultures, finally allowing him to feel seen as queer without any of the shortcomings the mainstream culture had led him to believe. “The acceptance and community I found there showed me the importance of identifying my work as queer—even if it does not deploy any of the codified tropes mainstream culture would be comfortable with—in order to make another version of queer visible,” he adds.

As he worked through Slowly Dismantling, it became “a liberation from and a reinterpretation” of himself, allowing him to shed his insecurities. He chose to use digital and analog synthesis, recorded at his studio in Los Angeles, and he then reprocessed recordings captured at MESS in Melbourne and EMS in Stockholm. “Using pure synthesis allowed me to make decisions that were totally my own and present an album that is more personal and honest than any before it,” he explains.

Earlier this year, Novak released Stillness, his latest album, via 901 Editions.

Tracklisting

01. All Things End, Sometimes in Fire
02. Accumulation
03. We All Disappear
04. The Metaphor of Party
05. Again and Again Until We Feel Nothing

Slowly Dismantling LP is out November 1, with “All Things End, Sometimes in Fire” streaming below, and pre-order here.


Galcher Lustwerk Signs to Ghostly for New Album

Galcher Lustwerk will release his new album on Ghostly.

Information is described by the label as “a clandestine rendezvous of half-dreamt nightlifes and smudged club dossiers, redacted like faded memories.” Stylistically, the tracks are certainly in the same realm as Lustwerk’s previous output, but “a noted inclusion of more live drums and jazz saxophone create a new dynamic,” the label adds.

As does a pivot in mindset, he explains: “Being from the midwest and with Ghostly putting it out, I think it’s fitting to cull together my most midwest-minded, ‘hookier’ tracks. I wanted to capture a bittersweet quality that I hear in a lot of other Cleveland producers.”

Since the emergence of 100% GALCHER, his first mixtape in 2013, Lustwerk, a Cleveland-raised, New York-based producer and DJ, has operated in his own lane of low-key hip-house music. Deep, smooth, psychedelic, equally cut for the club, after-hours, night drives, and headphones. He runs the label Lustwerk Music, a home to friends’ work and several of his releases, including the collaborative project Studio OST. In 2017, he issued his debut album, Dark Bliss, via White Material, and the following year shared a 20- track sprawl, 200% GALCHER.

Tracklisting

01. Left In The Dark
02. I See A Dime
03. Another Story
04. Overpay, Overstay
05. Plainview
06. Bit
07. Thermonics
08. Cig Angel
09. Fathomless Irie
10. Been A Long Night
11. Speed
12.Cig Angel (Dance Mix)

Information LP is out November 22, with “Cig Angel” streaming below.

DVS1 Launches S.O.S. (Support Organize Sustain) to Promote Community and Artistry in Electronic Music

DVS1 has launched S.O.S. (Support Organize Sustain), an independent initiative to promote community and artistry in electronic music.

“Electronic music is no longer a fledgling enterprise—it’s a global industry that generates billions in revenue each year, and even the genre’s more niche corners, which once shunned overt commercialism, are awash in money,” the American artist explains. “Amidst this boom, conversations have increasingly shifted toward notions of ‘industry’ and ‘business,’ prompting concerns that many of electronic music’s foundational values (e.g. community, respect, music) are being shoved aside.”

With the project, DVS1, who has long been an outspoken advocate for electronic music culture, will focus not only on protecting many of the values that underpin the collective scene/industry, but also on creating needed change as it moves into the future. Joining him in the effort is a diverse group of DJs, producers, label owners, promoters, booking agents, political activists, academics, cultural critics, and more.

S.O.S. will officially be kicking off on October 18 at Tolhuistuin in Amsterdam with a full day of panels, presentations, and roundtable discussions featuring the likes of DJ Stingray, Dasha Rush, Juliana Huxtable, Josey Rebelle, representatives from Honcho/Hot Mass and Bassiani, and many others. The entire day will also be recorded and later shared online, as S.O.S. has been created “with an eye toward creating an ongoing resource for the electronic music community,” the press release explains.

All of the events are free and open to the public, with RSVP.

More information on the Amsterdam launch can be found on the official S.O.S. page HERE, including a breakdown of the individual programme sessions. You will also be able to sign up to attend.

Los Angeles’ Free The Robots Unearths the Lineage of his Ancestry on New Album

Photo: Brendan Goco

Los Angeles’ Free The Robots will release his next full-length album, Datu, via Astral Travels in November.

The road to Datu‘s creation goes back almost a decade, with the first seeds planted during a tour in Manila. Since then, FTR, real name Chris Alfaro, has been going down wormholes trying to learn the history of a culture so foreign and stripped away from the 21st-century viewing lens. Behind the album is a powerful psychedelic experience.

“I watched as my body vaporized into another dimension,” FTR explains. “Like a cannonball, my consciousness shot through my bloodline and I found myself amongst an indigenous tribe in a rice field/jungle where I was able to spend time communicating with strangers who may or may not have been my actual ancestors. Without words, what I took from the experience, I can’t explain.”

In light of this, FTR moved to the island of Siargao, Philippines four years later, staying there for a few months. Datu was then conceived in a hut across three days, utilizing a barebones studio setup with the beach right outside.

Aside from added drums, all of the melodic and rhythmic samples used across Datu are sourced from native Filipino albums and field recordings. FTR blended his compositions around these sample frameworks, and then named each track according to the samples used and the many languages of the Philippines.

Alfaro, a Filipino American musician, producer, and entrepreneur from Santa Ana, California, started Free The Robots as a side-project in 2003 while also playing with different bands, producing MCs, and DJing. With the use of samples, controllers, and other live instruments, he creates a balance between the sounds of the past, present, and future. Infusing jazz, hip-hop, and psychedelic sounds, he has released six albums and 12 EPs.

“‘Datu’ is the name given to the ruling head of a clan or tribe during ancient, pre-colonial times of the Philippines. Colonization, cultural amnesia, and the reshaping of Philippine culture throughout generations have me and countless others almost completely disconnected from our roots. With no knowledge of what stories exist in the physical reality of my bloodline, the concept behind this album is my way of reconnecting with my ancestry in the spiritual realm of the creative flow state.” — Free The Robots

Tracklisting

01. Maranao (Southern Version)
02. Bamboo Buzzer
03. Forest Sound
04. Garo Dai Maagod
05. Magarib
06. Kalinga
07. Kulilal
08. Ulibao Jaw Harp
09. Nose Flute Jam
10. Manisi Song
11. Kagul
12. Pastas Post

Datu will release across digital platforms November 7 via Astral Travels. Meanwhile, you can stream the album’s lead single, “Magarib,” HERE.

Podcast 611: Boo Williams

Boo​ ​Williams​ ​has​ ​been​ ​a​ ​part​ ​of​ ​Chicago’s​ ​house​ ​music​ ​entourage​ ​since​ he first​ ​stepped​ ​up​ ​to​ ​the​ ​turntables​ ​in 1981. Born Willie Griffin in 1967, he grew up listening to blues,​ ​jazz, and​ ​disco,​ ​all before he began spinning records under the watchful eyes of the city’s legendary house music originators, among them Frankie Knuckles, Gene Hunt, and Ron Hardy. Through the ’80s and ’90s, Williams found himself a regular at local spots such ​​Mendel​ ​High​ ​School,​ ​The​ ​Humming​ ​Bird,​ ​Gentle​ ​Persuasion,​ ​The​ ​Bismarck​ ​Hotel, and​ ​The​ ​Congress​ ​Hotel, all before he’d even stepped foot into production.

If playing music established Williams’ artistic reputation in Chicago, making music cemented his reputation beyond it. Introduced by Glenn Crocker (a.k.a Glenn Underground), the founding member of the Strictly Jaz Unit and one of Chicago house’s most revered names, Williams began experimenting with production in the early ’90s.

Williams learned of Crocker’s music-making one evening at local spot the Power House. With Williams behind the decks, Crocker handed him a tape, which he played, and the room went off: “From that point, I was smiling because the crowd was slam dancing,” Williams recalls. “That’s a Chicago thing! I was amazed because I didn’t know that Glenn [Crocker] made music like that.”

Sometime later, Crocker borrowed Williams’ tape deck to show off some more of his new material, and this formed the basis for a fruitful and longstanding relationship. Under Crocker’s instruction, Williams learned the ropes of music-making before releasing his first EP, A New Beginning, in 1994 on Relief Records. “….I would go over to his [Crocker’s] house almost every day until nightfall to work on music, then I would start to spend the night over his house making music all day and night,” Williams recalls.

These early experiments formed the basis for a long and ever-growing discography. In there, you’ll find a collaborative record with Crocker himself, 1995’s Boo Williams vs Glen Underground, concealed somewhat by an almost unfathomable number of solo EPs, DJ mixes, singles, and compilations, plus two albums, 1996’s Home Town Chicago and 2001’s Universal Limits. He also released as Willie Snickers, Moon Man, and Strictly Jaz Unit.

Much of this material, an authentic and soulful strain of house music, serves as the bar to which modern producers in these genres try to reach; and, while it’s nearly three decades old, it’s as popular among house DJs today as it was back then. (“Mortal Trance,” released in 1997 on Residual Records, then by Amsterdam’s Rush Hour, is one of several stone-cold classics.) As more releases come, and his tours continue, Williams etches himself deeper and deeper into house music history.

Williams’ XLR8R podcast comes straight from his Chicago studio, recorded just recently at XLR8R‘s request. It’s slick, smooth, and deliciously soulful, formed of records old and new, joined by one common purpose: “I select the records that make people dance and move, you have to dig for it,” he says. Download it now via the button below.

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.

01. What have you been up to recently?

I’ve been taking it easy post-summer so I can find a way to make my music better and keep the industry going.

02. Where was this mix recorded?

At home in the place I call the Lab.

03. How did you select the tracks that you included?

I select the records that make people dance and move, you have to dig for it.

04. How does the mix compare to one of your club sets?

Can never really compare, in the club it’s live and upfront in your face.

05. Where do you do your record shopping these days?

Anywhere and everywhere.

06. What’s next, looking forward?

Heading to Brazil this weekend and Europe in November to give the masses a great service!

Tracklisting

01. Dj Fudge “Ponta Negro” (Kif)
02. Glenn Underground “Mystic Futuuristic” (Strictly Jaz Unit)
03. Souidynaamic “Nyirit” (Purple)
04. Glenn Underground “Vision” (Remix (Strictly Jaz Unit)
05. Doza “The Nautilus” (Hunt & Gather)
06. Pirahnahead “NGTVNRG” (Whasdat)
07. Glenn aka C.V.O “Protoype” (Strictly Jaz Unit)
08. Boo Williams “TST Wreck” (Strictly Jaz Unit)
09. Unknown “MAS” (Unknown)

Max Richter Shares “To the Stars” from ‘Ad Astra’ Soundtrack Starring Brad Pitt

Photo: Heiko Prigge

Max Richter has shared “To the Stars,” the first single from his soundtrack to Brad Pitt’s new movie, “Ad Astra.”

A sci-fi thriller set in the future, “Ad Astra” stars Brad Pitt as an elite astronaut who travels to the outer edges of the solar system to find his missing father and unravel a mystery that threatens the survival of our planet.

Richter’s ambitious score, informed by detailed conversations with Pitt and the film’s director, James Gray, brings together strings, electronics, and vocals to create an “epic soundscape that underpins the emotional power and scale of the movie,” Deutsche Grammophon, the label, explains. He began writing the music almost two years ago, in the initial phase of the film’s production.

“I first saw a rough-cut of the film in early 2018 and was immediately intrigued,” Richter recalls. “I knew I wanted to be part of the world James was inventing in ‘Ad Astra.’ After James, Brad, and I had discussed some initial thoughts, I began by making sketches away from the picture, exploring the themes and psychology of this material in musical terms. These ideas evolved through a collective process of experimentation. James has excellent musical taste, and a refined sense of how sonic and visual objects can inform one another. He’s also fascinated by the expressive possibilities of experimental music production, so was an ideal fellow traveller on this musical voyage of discovery.”

The composer was inspired by the NASA Voyager probes that left Earth in the ’70s, destined for the outer planets, a journey similar to that of Pitt’s character in the film. He incorporated sounds transmitted from Voyager 1 and 2 into the fabric of his music.

Richter actually created two iterations of his score. The first material, derived from the Voyager data, was written in early 2018 and recorded in January 2019 at Air Studios in London, while the second recording took place in the summer of 2019. The key components of Richter’s score are created through the use of strings and electronics, with added warmth from a female chorus.

“Ad Astra” is out now, with the soundtrack coming soon, and “To the Stars” streaming below.

For more information on Max Richter, and the processes behind his work, read our full-length interview here.

Teebs Returns with First Album in Five Years

Photo: Brent Waterworth

Teebs (a.k.a Mtendere Mandowa) will return with his first album in five years next month, titled Anicca.​

The release, out via Brainfeeder, features a host of Teebs’ musical friends including ​Panda Bear (Animal Collective), Sudan Archives, Ringgo Ancheta (a.k.a Mndsgn), Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Anna Wise, daydream Masi, Former Boy, Pink Siifu, Jimetta Rose, and Thomas Stankiewicz. It’s said to fuse Teebs’ “signature bright and fluid productions with the grounded and colorful elements of his collaborators.”

Reflecting on his five-year hiatus from releasing music, Teebs says: “It feels like it [the music] comes from a different place now. My inspiration to work has changed and my choices with it. I’ve explored more with what tools and instruments I used and tried to be more open to collaboration.”

Much of the album’s inspiration comes from Teebs’ family. “My daughter was born the year after ‘Estara’ and taking time to watch her grow meant everything to me…,” he explains. “Also my relationships with my wife, mother, brother, and the friends around me, and the mistakes I’ve made through my life have all inspired Anicca.”

Teebs also cites the American poet David Antin and his 1976 work “Talking at the Boundaries” as a notable read and a quote about art, nature, and form from Hans Arp’s “Notes from a Dada Diary” that struck a chord with him during the making of the record.

As for the title, Anicca, it describes the impermanence of all being in Buddhism. “It’s a reminder to myself that nothing is permanent,” Teebs says.

Teebs created the artwork for Anicca just as he has done for his previous albums. “I’m using the two disciplines [music and art] together to explore the worlds of communication and semi abstractions,” he explains. The artwork for Anicca started as a drawing about his wife and mother and evolved into an enamel pin that transformed again as he collaborated with his friend Megan Geer-Alsop to make a stained glass replica. That work later got photographed and digitally enhanced to make the cover.

Tracklisting

01. Black Dove (feat. Sudan Archives)
02. Shells
03. Threads (feat. Anna Wise)
04. Studie (feat. Panda Bear)
05. Mirror Memory
06. Prayers I
07. Prayers ii
08. Universe (feat. Daydream Masi)
09. Marcel
10. Mmntm (feat. Ringgo Ancheta and Former Boy)
11. Daughter Callin’ (feat. Pink Siifu)
12. Slumber
13. Muted (feat. Thomas Stankiewicz)

Anicca is out on limited edition purple/black marbled vinyl LP, standard black LP, CD, and digital formats on October 25 via Brainfeeder. Meanwhile, you can stream Studie (feat. Panda Bear) in full below.

Learn Creative Drum Mixing Techniques With Funk Ethics in New Video

Point Blank‘s latest tutorial video teaches creative drum mixing techniques.

Point Blank invited expert lecturer Danny Linton (a.k.a. Funk Ethics) to explore how you can transform your drum grooves into exciting and professional-sounding patterns, whilst showing how to turn a simple drum loop into a full song idea using just a few simple steps.

In the video, Linton details a range of techniques, including the art of parallel processing using drum buss tools, supercharging your loops with a combination of EQ, compression, and creative modulation, and gluing everything together and adding variety with subtle tweaks and automation.

You can watch the video in full below, with more on Point Blank here. Point Blank also has a range of one-shot drums to download for free here.

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