Podcast 607: Linkwood

Linkwood, 41, is a fan favorite among those who know him. The UK artist, real name Nick Moore, found music through his brother, an avid record collector and member of old-school hardcore outfit Sublove with Jody Wisternoff, in the early ’90s. He launched the Linkwood project in 2003 with a pair of tracks on Firecracker Records, now a cult label founded by his friend House of Traps’s Lindsay Todd because he and Fudge Fingas “both had tracks kicking about but no label to release them on,” Moore recalls. Included on this first release, a three-track V/A, was “Miles Away,” a breathtakingly beautiful piece of deep house written by Moore with help from Colin Steele on horn and vocals from Joseph Malik.

Moore’s work since then has been slow: his discography is limited to just a handful of EPs and two albums, mostly scattered across Firecracker and Manchester’s Prime numbers, which is interesting for a self-confessed “lab-rat.” His latest album, 2015’s Expressions, required over three years to mold into a shape worthy of the public domain. “I feel no need to release records each week to get gigs over the world,” he continues. “I release records only when I’m happy with the music. It just so happens that this isn’t very often!” It’s not easy to pin a label on his music, but it’s often tinged with a lo-fi warmth, and broadly encompasses romantic disco and deep house, invariably with masterful control of melody. He bases himself in Edinburgh, Scotland, and keeps interviews to an absolute minimum.

Linkwood mixes are also rare and reveal a different side to his character. Instead of delivering a set of club classics that’s not uncommon in podcast series, Moore uses the platform to play the records he wouldn’t normally present in a club; the funky house B-side, or the easy-listening vocal-laden classic that just doesn’t have the energy to satisfy a crowd. On this particular mix, he intended to serve up some funk and soul, a soundtrack to late summer, if you will, but he found himself drawn to his dub house collection and lost himself there for much of the 90-minute mix. There are some lighter numbers, and even some reggae, but this latest chapter in the Linkwood narrative reveals a different side to an intently enigmatic artist who can do no wrong.

What have you been up to recently?

Working, a lot, holding down my day job at AOTN which has been great and working into the wee hours on my own music. I finished an LP recently with Greg Foat which is already in production so expect that soon on Athens Of The North Records. I started this mix with one of the tracks from it, and I’m nearly done with my next Linkwood album which I cant wait to get mastered and out the door. Myself and Otherlands have also recorded about 20 songs for a joint album that needs to be mixed, etc., but hopefully that will be coming soon as well.

I’ve not been playing out as much as I used to so I’ve really been able to focus on the music again and I’ve been loving it. Gigging every week can really interrupt my flow in the studio and I lose track of what I’m doing etc. It’s tough though as I love DJing just as much as making music, so hopefully all this new material will help get me back out there.

Where was this mix recorded?

Just at home.

How did you select the records that you included?

I actually thought I’d dig out some boogie and soul etc. seeing as it’s the summer, but then I found my Chain Reaction section and I haven’t played them for a while, so that sent me off on a wee dubby tangent.

Is there a wider concept to it?

No, not all really. I wanted to include one of my forthcoming tracks and other than that I just went with it, I guess.

How does it compare to what you would play in a club?

Oh, my mixes I do at home are nothing like how I play out. I’m really rough and energetic in a club! But I feed off the crowd. At home, I just like to set a mood, I guess, and try to make a mix that I’d want to listen to while working, etc.

What are your wider goals with music?

I don’t feel like I’ve even scratched the surface with my own tunes yet. I love the process, so hopefully, I get to just continue experimenting, health permitting. I’d love to work with more musicians and try out some new concepts. One day, I’d love to own a mastering studio.

What’s next on the horizon, as you look forward?

Well, as I said I can’t wait to get all my new material out so people can hear it. That’s definitely my current mission. I’ve also done a remix for Lord Of The Isles recently, which I’m really happy with. Neil [McDonald] is a good pal and he asked me to remix one of my favorite tracks of his, so it was a nice diversion from my own stuff.

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. Linkwood & Foat “Es Vedra” (Forthcoming on AOTN)
02. Central Ayr Productions “Hotter” (PPU)
03. Emerson “Sending all my love out” (Kalita Records)
04. Pole “Paula” (Matador)
05. Ever Moving “Lagoon Drive” (Get The Balance Right)
06. SVN “Untitled” (Club No-No)
07. Changez – Slownotion (Dub by DJ Sports)
08. Rhythm & Sound “Mango Drive” (Rhythm & Sound)
09. Rhythm & Sound ft. Tikiman “Music A Fe Rule” (Rhythm & Sound)
10. Vladislav Delay “???” (Chain Reaction)
11. Jack Peoples “Song 3” (Clone)
12. PG Sounds & DJ Fett Burger “Untitled A1” (Sued)
13. Tarwater ft. Tikiman “The Bridge” (Soul Static Sound)
14. DJ Guy “Basf Ferro” (Cjero)
15. Horace Andy “Let’s Live in Love” (Wackie’s)
16. Kofi “Didn’t I” (Ariwa)

Whities Welcomes Carl Gari & Abdullah Miniawy

Up next on Whities is a new release from Carl Gari & Abdullah Miniawy.

Carl Gari is a trio of German musicians made up of Jonas Yamer, Till Funke, and Jonas Friedlich. Abdullah Miniawy is an Egyptian musician and poet, currently based in France. They began collaborating in 2016, delivering Darraje, a four-track EP via Trilogy Tapes that resulted from a spontaneous studio session together in Cairo.

“We met Abdullah on our first day in Cairo and got along with him immediately. So we spent our whole time there together in the studio—we didn’t even go to see the pyramids—recording the four tracks that came out one year later as our Darraje EP on The Trilogy Tapes,” Jonas Yamer recalls.

After that, they became best friends and their shared artistic vision “grew so important to us that we could overcome all bureaucratic and financial difficulties that resulted from creating and recording new music together between Cairo and Munich,” Yamer explains. As the Al-Sisi regime intensified the oppression on artists that speak out freely against the government and religion, Miniawy was forced to leave Egypt, and, after months of uncertainty, he finally obtained some kind of legal status in France.

Since then, they’ve been operating between Paris and Munich, but they record everything in a remote house in the Bavarian Forest, in a little town called Neunburg vorm Wald.

The Act of Falling from the 8th Floor is described as “a music clash between Cairo and Munich, North Africa and Western Europe.” It’s focused around the poem in “B’aj بعاج” that forms the lyrical centrepiece of the record. In this song, Abdullah is the protagonist, jumping from the 8th floor of a building in Cairo. While falling he describes a unique scene happening on every balcony, painting a dark picture of Egyptian society. Carl Gari produced and mixed the record, providing a melancholic backbone for Abdullah’s lyrics and melodies.

“I think this whole story of how we found each other and fought for doing our thing together is an authentic example of intercultural communication simply because it was never about intercultural communication or some kind of cheesy fusion,” Yamer adds. “We are certainly not your world musicians. Our project is a living proof that artistic passion cannot merely address the absurdities of modern politics but actually overcome them.”

Earlier this year, Whities released works from Bambounou, Rupert Clervaux, and Leif, and has previously put out EPs from Avalon Emerson, Lanark Artefax, and more.

The Act of Falling from the 8th Floor lands on September 6. Meanwhile, A full stream of the EP is available HERE, via Bandcamp.

Tracklisting

A1 / 1. Zawaj زواج
A2 / 2. A’laj علاج
A3 / 3. Zyaj زياج
B1 / 4. Haj حاج
B2 / 5. B’aj بعاج
B3 / 6. Hela هيلا

FOLD with Anetha, Cio D’Or, Dasha Rush, and more

XLR8R is offering XLR8R+ subscribers free passes to the upcoming FOLD Extended event with Cio D’Or, Dasha Rush, Anetha, and more, taking place at the recently opened FOLD in London on Saturday, August 31.

FOLD opened in 2018 and has injected new life into London’s music scene with its bookings, late license, and expertly crafted sound system. For this upcoming edition they have a lineup of artists who continually stretch and reshape the boundaries of techno with French techno wizard Anetha and Russian techno Innovator Dasha Rush who will be joined by experimental DJ Cio D’OR, Neil Landstrumm (live), Kerrie, and FOLD resident Voicedrone. Expect an amalgam of unbashed techno, improvised sounds, EBM and more, all night.

We’ve partnered with FOLD to offer XLR8R+ subscribers a select amount of free guestlist passes.

For those who haven’t yet, SUBSCRIBE HERE and email your full name, subscription confirmation page screenshot, and “FOLD” to [email protected] to claim your free event pass.

For those current subscribers, simply email your full name and “FOLD” as the email subject.

The 14th edition of XLR8R+ is here, with exclusive tracks and content from Minimal Violence, LSDXOXO, Ojalá Systems, and Collin Fletcher and Lauren N. Bailey. 

London Jazz Experimentalists Ill Considered Drop New Album

London jazz experimentalists Ill Considered have shared a new album, Ill Considered 8.

Bringing together an assortment of aggressive jazz fusion and avant-garde free form jams, the new music was recorded live during the group’s tour in the fall of 2018. The band across Ill Considered 8 consists of Idris Rahman (saxophone/fx), Leon Brichard (electric bass), Emre Ramazanoglu (drums/engineering), and Satin Singh (percussion).

Ill Considered 8 follows the release of Ill Considered 7—An Ill Considered Christmas, a collection of Christmas music interpreted in an entirely new context. Since September 2017, the group have released 10 albums of original music and interpolations, selling out the vinyl prints for each release every few months. The limited-edition green and orange prints of Ill Considered 8 have sold out, but order options for the black version are still available HERE. Stream the album in full below.

Like previous albums in their catalog, the artwork was painted and digitized by Vincent De Boer.

Tracklisting

01. Covertly
02. Pork And Pickles
03. Sunday Morning
04. Take Your Love Back Home
05. Loosing Tracks Of Objectives
06. Liquid Science
07. Sorry To Hear Your Parcel Didn’t Arrive

Backwoods Studioz and Kenny Segal Launch ‘Hiding Places—The Instrumentals’

Backwoods Studioz and Kenny Segal have launched Hiding Places—The Instrumentals, out now via Bandcamp.

As the name suggests, Hiding Places—The Instrumentals is a collection of instrumentals from Brooklyn-based rapper billy woods and Segal’s collaborative album Hiding Places, originally launched in March of this year. The instrumental presentation of each track is an integral component to billy woods’ rhyme schemes and subject matter, and laces the record with an ominous tone that’s proved critical to the record’s success.

Kenny Segal adds, “People have been trying to combine rock tropes into hip-hop since the ’80s often with some pretty disastrously wack results. Once I got it in my head that I wanted to incorporate distorted guitars and psych-rock timbres into this album’s sound I was definitely conscious of that perilous legacy and hopefully was able to add something new to that conversation. And on that note a big shout out to my boy Ryan Crosby. Even though he only played on two of the tracks those two really helped me find the voice and set the tone for the rest of the project.”

Segal has become a seasoned composer out of Los Angeles, creating beats for artists such as Open Mike Eagle, milo, Armand Hammer, Elucid, Abstract Rude, Aceyalone, Hemlock Ernst, Busdriver, and many more. He is also one-third of the group Jefferson Park Boys, also comprised of Mr. Carmack and Mike Parvizi of Penthouse Penthouse, and he released his debut album, happy little trees, with Ruby Yacht last year.

Order a digital copy of Hiding Places—The Instrumentals via Bandcamp HERE and stream the track “Spider Hole (Instrumental)” below.

Tracklisting

01. Spongebob [Inst]
02. Steak Knives [Inst]
03. Checkpoints [Inst]
04. Spider Hole [Inst]
05. Houthi [Inst]
06. A Day In The Week [Inst]
07. Bedtime [Inst]
08. Crawlspace pt 1 [Inst]
09. Crawlspace pt. 2 [Inst]
10. Speak Gently [inst]
11. Toothy [Inst]
12. bigfakelaugh [Inst]
13. red dust [Inst]

Japanese Ambient Albums from Masahiro Sugaya and Inoyama Land Next on Empire of Signs

Spencer Doran and Maxwell August Croy’s Empire of Signs label will release two more transmissions from Tokyo’s ambient sphere: retrospective collections of works by Masahiro Sugaya and Inoyama Land, both of whom featured on parent label Light In The Attic’s Japanese ambient, environmental music, and new age compilation Kankyō Ongaku.

Almost completely unknown in the west, Sugaya has been composing and producing music since the 1980s in an exceptionally wide range of fields. Horizon, Volume 1 presents some of his early scores for experimental Tokyo theatre group Pappa Tarahumura.

Makoto Inoue and Yasushi Yamashita’s Inoyama Land project spans nearly four decades. Commissions: 1977-2000 collects their work as they entered the world of environmental music following the release of their 1983 release Danzindan-Pojidon. Included is music written for the Kankaku (Sense) Museum in Miyagi and their score for a Tokyo re-staging of New York avant-theatre pioneer Richard Foreman’s post-modern stage piece Egyptology.

“These collections offer an even deeper dive into the long-hidden lineage of Japanese ambient/environmental music that is now being discovered and celebrated outside of Japan,” the label explains.

Commissions: 1977-2000 and Horizon, Volume 1 arrive via Empire Of Signs on September 20 and October 11 respectively.

Tracklistings

Horizon, Volume 1

01. Horizon (Intro)
02. Future Green
03. Afternoon of the Appearing FIsh
04. Grain of Sand by the Sea
05. Straight Line Floating in the Sky
06. Wind Conversation
07. Until the End of the World
08. Horizon (Outro)

Commissions: 1977-2000

01. Hair Air
02. Cycle
03. Soushiyou To Shiteiru
04. Garasudama
05. Aa Egypto
06. Skyfish
07. Bananatron
08. Fairy Tale
09. Morn
10. Kodama
11. Ougon No Sara
12. Candy Floss
13. Watashikara Ubawanaide
14. Anatano Yushoku No Tameni
15. Candy (alt.)
16. Sekai No Owari

Horizon, Volume 1
Commissions: 1977-2000

Italy’s Urashima Reissues Merzbow’s ‘Metalvelodrome’ Box Set

Italian label Urashima will reissue the early ’90s Merzbow (real name Masami Akita) box set Metalvelodrome.

Japanese label Alchemy originally released Metalvelodrome in 1993 on a 4CD set. The album serves as a bridge between the atmospheric and bizarre landscapes of Merzbow’s first works and the hyper-aggressive power electronics that would evolve through the latter portion of his ’90s catalog. It forms the third volume in Merzbow’s Good Alchemy series, initiated in 1990 with Rainbow Electronics.

The reissue version is housed in a 4CD deluxe silver wooden box set, including laser engravings and cardboard wallets for the CDs. Merzbow has replaced live recordings found on the original version with content he captured this year at Munemihouse.

Stream an extract of “Armless” below, with ordering options for the 4CD set HERE.

Tracklisting

Disc 1

01. Armless
02. Retro
03. G-Pot In Odd Meter
04. Morbid Dick
05. Polycain Type
06. Bluedelick
07. Untitled Mix 2
08. Scraping Metal Fetus No.1

Disc 2

01. Neon Worms
02. Traveling
03. No.3
04. HGL Made A Race For The Last Brain
05. Electric Moon Tum-Tik
06. Pink Surf Nitro
07. Scum Rider
08. Hitchhike To Kill

Disc 3

01. Die Fruchtbarkeit In Der Ehe / Another Crash For High Tide
02. Outtakes1
03. Scraping Metal Fetus No.2

Disc 4

01. Metal Man Has Hornet’s Whip
02. Zero In The Scream
03. Shanty Tramp
04. Necrogrinder
05. Smelly Brain

XLR8R+ to Host HOCO Fest After-Parties

XLR8R+ will be hosting three after-parties at the upcoming HOCO Fest , taking place in Tucson, Arizona, over Labor Day weekend (August 29-September 1).

The after-parties, taking place Friday and Saturday night and Sunday day, will feature performances by LSDXOXO, DJ Nigga Fox, D. Tiffany, Roza Terenzi, Bembona, M0mmy1ssues, Shelby Athouguia, and Sonida Tambó.

XLR8R and HOCO have a limited number of free event passes for each of the events to offer to XLR8R+ members. For those unfamiliar, XLR8R+ is a monthly subscription service delivering exclusive music, content, free event and festival passes, sample packs, and more—for the next 30 days, we are also offering all members access to the back catalog of over 40 tracks. If you’re not a member, you can find out more and subscribe here. Once a member, simply email your name and party preference to [email protected]. Passes will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis, so get in quick.

The 14th edition of XLR8R+ is a special collaboration with HOCO Fest, featuring exclusive tracks and content from Minimal Violence, LSDXOXO, and Ojalá Systems, with artwork by Collin Fletcher and Lauren N. Bailey.

You can stream the below, with links to the respective event pages.

August 31 – Semiotic Sunrise with LSDXOXO and DJ NIGGA FOX

September 1 – Semiotic Sunrise with D. Tiffany and Roza Terenzi

September 1 – Pool Party with Bembona

Minimal Violence, LSDXOXO, and Ojalá Systems Land on XLR8R+

The 14th edition of XLR8R+ is here.

This month’s edition is a special partnership with HOCO Fest, an experimental music and arts festival in Tucson, Arizona, and features exclusive tracks by Minimal Violence, LSDXOXO, and Ojalá Systems. It’s also our first-ever release on Bandcamp, meaning that the tracks are now available to download from our Bandcamp page and our exclusive member area rather than via WeTransfer—we are also offering access to the back catalog (14 releases and over 40 tracks) for the next 30 days.

As per all the editions, XLR8R+014 is downloadable as a package and features all six tracks (three from Ojalá Systems!) in high-quality formats, a dedicated PDF zine featuring exclusive content and information on the artists and the works included, and artwork by Los Angeles’ Lauren N. Bailey & Collin Fletcher, which is also available as a desktop and phone wallpaper. (Those who haven’t subscribed can find more information and get the tracks here and stream them below.)

XLR8R+ will also be hosting three after-parties at HOCO Fest, featuring performances by LSDXOXO, DJ Nigga Fox, D. Tiffany, Roza Terenzi, Bembona, and more. The parties will all be free for XLR8R+ members.

All tracks mastered by Kamran Sadeghi.

Thanks for joining us on this independent movement.

Enjoy the offering,

XLR8R Team

Japanese Sound Artist Shuta Hasunuma Imagines the Manhattan of Old on New EP

Sound design artist Shuta Hasunuma has announced a new EP, Oa.

Scheduled to release on September 27 with Brooklyn, NY label Northern Spy Records, the EP is a sonic transmission of Manhattan, NY’s environments experienced through the lens of Hasunuma’s creative perspective. It was recorded in 2017 when Hasunuma relocated from Tokyo to the Upper East Side of New York. Two years would pass before Hasunuma would mix and master the recordings, building on a monolith of work completed over the last decade that includes album releases, film scores, music contained with book publishings, installation/exhibition sounds, and more.

Album title Oa stands for “Old Address,” which has two meanings: one is that of Hasunuma’s old address in Upper East Side of New York. The song title “454” refers to his apartment number, “BORO” is the “Queensboro Bridge” visible from his room, “LEX” is the nearby Lexington Avenue subway station, and “20150716” is the date of recording. “After that, I moved to Brooklyn. My production environment changed, and the works I recorded also changed,” Hasunuma explains.

The other meaning of Oa considers the history of Manhattan, where the production took place. “I produced the sounds while imagining the Manhattan of old. I considered the meaning of ‘address’ from a different perspective,” Hasunuma adds. “Through music, I tried to capture the meaning of ‘address’ on a grand timeline.”

We’re told that the sound is to be “one of a melancholy nature.”

Tracklisting

01. 454
02. BORO
03. LEX
04. 20170716

Oa will be available worldwide across digital platforms September 27 and has been pressed as a limited edition cassette. Pre-order options for both formats are HERE. Stream the new single “454” below.

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