San Francisco outfit Exray’s is just about two months from the release of its second full-length, Trust a Robot, and has enlisted West Coast beatmaker Devonwho for a pleasantly disjointed remix of one of its cuts. The Bay Area-via-Portland producer stripped the original song of pretty much everything but its rounded bass and synth tones, which he expertly applies to a stuttering rhythm and some sporadic vocal samples on this herky-jerky version of Exray’s “Ancient Thing.”
The last few years have witnessed UK DJ/producer Jamie Jones rise to the top of the house and techno scene using a signature formula. Jones’ tunes are characterized by funky basslines in an exceptionally low register, hypnotic and often dissonant synths, and a dark, minimalist aesthetic. While this method has netted Jones quite a collection of high-caliber dancefloor successes, the pieces don’t quite come together on “Our Time in Liberty,” which ends up feeling entirely too dissonant and lacks his typical groove.
The centerpiece of “Our Time in Liberty” is its bassline, which, in typical Jones fashion, is constructed of pitches so low that one seems to feel the vibrations as much as hear them. That said, the bassline doesn’t have an engrossing rhythm, instead hiccupping along in an irregular, unharmonious scale. Art Department‘s Kenny Glasgow speaks the line “I know this time” over the introductory bass, and adds the similar, but sung, line “I know it’s the time” after chilling synth pads have crept in. The lines are echoed continuously over the course of the song’s nine minutes, but don’t add a distinguishable melody to the song, and become tedious after the first dozen or so repetitions. Synth chords make up the song’s primary melodic component, but they progress in a dissonant and awkward fashion, which, combined with the vocals, feels off-key. Furthermore, the rhythmic pattern of the stabs seems rushed, and stutters about in a similar manner to the bassline.
Brighton’s Russ Yallop improves the tune on his remix, most notably by giving the bassline more bounce and forward momentum. Yallop’s leading synth stabs are also an upgrade, and the songs’ first drop, which arrives three minutes in, has the potential for emotional resonance. Both versions of “Our Time in Liberty” are sure to get extensive club play, but transition options for DJs will be limited, as neither tune mixes particularly well with more melodic pieces. At any rate, the song will likely be a hit among those who crave more of Jones’ tried-and-true recipe, but overall serves as a weak introduction to Jones’ forthcoming sophomore LP, Songs From The Crypt, on which the tune will also appear.
Blunted Robots co-founder and resident Rinse FM mixmaster Brackles is exactly one week away from dropping his debut LP, but has shared one of its choice cuts ahead of the official release. “Never Coming Down” is a heavily percussive, garage-centric tune that features UK singer Lily McKenzie crooning smooth melodies between the producer’s massive bass swells and punchy rhythms. You can stream the cut below, and make sure to keep your eyes and ears open for when Rinse Presents: Brackles is unleashed on May 7. (via Playground)
Sounding a bit like something we might’ve heard from the Tri Angle imprint last year, this remix of Lianne La Havas’ “Lost and Found” from British house DJ/producer Maya Jane Coles (pictured above) is a slow-grooving and soulful piece with just the right touches of club-ready rhythms and poignant vocal hooks. Sparse synth blips and piano chords occasionally adorn La Havas’ soft performance, while the garage-y percussion carries the whole thing to its understated conclusion—making for a nice companion to the percolating version of her “Forget” tune that Shlohmo delivered at the beginning of the year.
Not long after we profiled the brotherly duo as part of our Bubblin’ Up series and a month or so before the release of its new EP, The Face, the UK’s Disclosure has given FACT a nice little mix. Guy and Howard Lawrence spend 46 minutes dropping bits of new music from the pop, R&B, and dance spectrums, including some unreleased jams of their own. You can stream the whole thing, as well as check out the tracklist, below.
Medlar – Terrel (Bicep’s Brooklyn Shuffle)
Paleman – Hunt
Leon Vynehall – Homage
Kerri Chandler – The Invoice
Audiojack – Stay Glued (FCL Weemix)
Disclosure – Flow
Jordan Peak – Don’t It Feel Good
Dusky – Flo Jam
Disclosure – Untitled
San Soda – Kaizen (Payme Edit)
Disclosure – My Intention Is War (Fig II)
Ting Tings – Hit Me Down Sonny (Eats Everything Reting)
Thefft – Jungle Out There
Jessie Ware – Running (Disclosure Remix)
Jai Paul – Jasmine (Demo)
We’ve mentioned the icy synth escapades of WOLS before, and although the former duo has now been whittled down to a solo act, there’s still a new EP forthcoming via FUSELab, and the Moscow-based producer has offered up “Red Ways,” one of the record’s finer selections. A dancefloor jam utilizing a brisk, half-step pace and fraught with starry, drama-filled piano lines, the song serves as a suitable showcase for the type of precise, iron-plated electronica WOLS has made its calling card. Although the track is undeniably modern, one gets the feeling that “Red Ways” could only have been made by an artist with a deep understanding of Soviet culture and Russia’s unique history. The seven-track Outgunned EP (artwork above) will be available in a few weeks time on FUSELab, but check the cover art above and have a listen to a full stream of the entire release now, after the jump.
By now, even casual readers of XLR8R have likely noticed that we’ve taken quite a shine to Anenon (a.k.a. Non Projects label boss Brian Simon). Back in March, we streamed his excellent Acquiescence EP. Earlier in April, we went inside his studio to examine his Monome manipulations and find out exactly how this RBMA 2011 grad crafts his hazily atmospheric music. Tomorrow marks the beginning of May, and will also see the release of Inner Hue (artwork above), the debut Anenon full-length. This may not come as a surprise, but we think it’s quite good, so we’ve twisted the LA artist’s arm and convinced him to stream the entire LP here on XLR8R. Give it a listen, after the jump.
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We’d like to introduce you to another new XLR8R feature, called Chatterbox. Seeing as how online communications such as AIM, Skype, and the like are basically commonplace in everyday life, we thought it’d be advantageous to catch up with some of our favorite artists in that setting and share those exchanges. We expect Chatterbox to be a place for somewhat informal discussions, though we fully intend to bring you as many of the juicy details and illuminating facts behind the work of top producers and musicians with each conversation.
The work of Atlanta producer Drew Briggs (a.k.a. Divine Interface) has cropped up on XLR8R on more than one occasion, as he’s been kind enough to share a number of tracks, including last year’s “Fool Me.” Today, we have an addendum to that particular jam, “Fool Me Pt. 2,” which oscillates on a similar wavelength with a repeating R&B chirp, dense clouds of chords, and a crisp, distinct percussion line that allows Briggs’ ATL origins to shine through. Whereas the original “Fool Me” sampled more of Southern rap’s skittering beats and laid-back flavors, the sequel is a more melancholy exercise in high-tempo juke that sees Divine Interface exploring a brand of dance music similar to that of his fellow Atlantans in the Embassy crew. The effect is one of a lazy Sunday afternoon, albeit one in which the mind fixates on the energy of Saturday nights gone by.
“Most Europeans think ‘deep house’ means shitty, high-energy vocal house.” So goes the opening rant of DJ Sprinkles’ 2009 masterwork Midtown 120 Blues, where the artist arraigns New York’s house scene for exporting a commercial, all-frills product to the world, among other things. While Sprinkles’ work acted as a singular answer to NYC’s blighted deep-house sound, Fabric 63 serves to document the re-emergence of a credible scene in the city over the past decade.
Levon Vincent fled New York for Berlin several years ago, but he developed his now-renowned style in the city with fellow NYC-area veterans like DJ Jus-Ed, DJ Qu, Fred P, Anthony Parasole, and Joey Anderson. These five producers, plus Vincent (and JM De Frias, a NYC newcomer) supply all 15 tracks for Vincent’s Fabric 63 mix. While Vincent doesn’t take the route that Villalobos, Omar-S, and Shackleton famously chose for their all-solo Fabric mixes, his specific portrayal of a tight-knit scene’s sound offers a unique approach to the mix series.
Vincent paces his work elegantly by playing with tone color. Often, Fabric 63 feels like an indulgent techno mix, as Vincent spends minutes subtly blending gray, toneless tracks to the point where their assorted elements weave together anonymously. But these meticulous blocks are bookended by spurts of tonal brilliance, notably via the tinkering piano loop on JM De Frias’ “Intrinsic Motivation” and the funky, garage-house-on-its-head bassline that appears halfway through Vincent’s own “Fear.” The mix ranges from the whimsical to the brutally minimal, several times taking breaks from its colorful flutters by resting on simple transitions that consist entirely of a kick drum.
It’s not until the final lap of Fabric 63 that Vincent introduces perhaps the most talented of his NYC deep-house cohorts, Fred P (a.k.a. Black Jazz Consortium—who, incidentally, give us his own stellar mix last year). “Blacklight,” which dropped last year via P’s own Soul People Music imprint, kicks the mix into overdrive, sending hi-hats into double time and clearing a path for Vincent’s two most inspired productions, 2009’s “Early Reflections” and the unreleased “Rainstorm II,” both of which serve as centerpieces of this superb mix.
“Rainstorm II” is particularly exceptional. In addition to being a sequel of sorts to one of Vincent’s most-appreciated tracks, last year’s “Impressions on a Rainstorm,” the song also shares its name with a brand of air rifle. Perhaps it’s a coincidence, but Vincent leads into the track with “Early Reflections,” a tune that casually uses gunshot samples to help express its four-to-the-floor rhythm. For all of the dark, percussive squelches this 75-minute mix offers, the gunshots on “Reflections” are the most jarring and unprecedented timbres to be drawn. In case the mix’s minimalism lost your attention, the gunshots refocus it just in time for the startlingly melodic “Rainstorm II.” Anchored by a fuck-it-all Detroit synth lead and a mechanically funky bassline, the dazzling track is not only a success on Fabric 63, but also a step forward for Vincent as a producer, leading him into more three-dimensional territory.
Some of Fabric’s most successful mixes have ended with an emotive left turn, from the heart-rending inclusion of “Set It Out” on Omar-S’ Fabric 45 to the extended “Heartbit”/“Heartbeat” jam-out of Optimo’s Fabric 52. Vincent enters that pantheon by driving us off of the cliff that “Rainstorm II” climbed, directly mixing into Black Jazz Consortium’s beatless “Far Away (Atmospheric Pass).” In a recent interview, Vincent described how his Sundays were often spent in bed due to his ears tiring from long weekends at clubs. His choice in closing Fabric 63 seems to reflect the end of that weekly cycle, leaving us cathartic and disoriented after a successful journey into a brutally rewarding world of deep house.
