Ahead of his Egomodal EP, due out via Traum on Monday, London-based techno producer Max Cooper has unveiled this clip for “Micron” from animator Dmitry Zakharov. In the video, human body parts grow, multiply, and fuse to the beat of Cooper’s dreamily soaring composition, an idea, Zakharov says, that stemmed from Cooper’s frequent use of science as an artistic motif.
Mieux “Wild”
Austrian producers Minor Sick and Feux have teamed up as Mieux, releasing a white-label 12″ (artwork above) on Cologne’s Up My Alley imprint. The b-side from that 12″ is “Wild,” a jazzy piece of downtempo beatwork. Starting with a delectable jazz drum sample, the track warps into fidgety, hip-hop-sampled mayhem anchored by a sinister, decomposing chord wash. The track is markedly different from what we heard from Minor Sick last month, the more upbeat “Techno Hearts.”
Balam Acab Announces North American Tour
Pennsylvania’s preeminent purveyor of watery beats and high-octave vocal repitching, Balam Acab, has announced plans to travel across a good deal of the American landscape for a two-month tour with co-headliner Active Child beginning late next month. Only making one West Coast appearance in Southern California, Balam Acab and Active Child will wind their way along the States’ southern border before making stops across the East Coast, Canada, and the Midwest. The full list of dates is below.
Apr 27 Pomona, CA – Glasshouse
Apr 28 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
Apr 29 Tucson, AZ – Club Crongress
Apr 30 Santa Fe, NM – Sol at Santa Fe Brewing Co.
May 02 Norman, OK – Opolis
May 03 Dallas, TX – Sons of Hermann Hall
May 04 Austin, TX – Fitzgerald’s
May 05 Houston, TX – Fitzgerald’s
May 07 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
May 08 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
May 09 Washington, DC – Black Cat
May 10 New York, NY – Bowery
May 11 New York, NY – Mercury Lounge
May 12 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
May 14 Montreal, QC – Il Motore
May 15 Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
May 16 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
May 17 St. Louis, MO – Firebird
May 18 Lawrence, KS – The Jackpot Saloon
May 19 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
May 20 Fort Collins, CO – Aggie Theatre
Video Premiere: Soul Clap “The Clapping Song feat. Baby Prince & The Fam”
In this video, Bostonian party-starters Eli Goldstein and Charles Levine (a.k.a. Soul Clap) take the form of puppets as they pick up a pink and fuzzy girl at a pool party, speed away on a boat, go clubbing, and eventually meet the human versions of themselves while DJing a gig on Mars. The muppet-style characters are appropriate for the tune, as the only sung lyrics, “Listenin’ to that music makes everybody clap and/listenin’ to that music makes everybody dance,” sound as if they could have come from an episode of Sesame Street. The clip is part of a larger wave of videos from Scion A/V called Video Installment 7, which is set to appear on Tuesday along with videos from Codes & Craze, Munchi, and Hudson Mohawke & Lunice.
Montgomery Clunk “Faerie Fire”
The European purveyors of adventurous beatwork at Error Broadcast are set to deliver a second EP from Romanian producer Montgomery Clunk (a.k.a. Silviu Badea), a five-song effort of intriguing, oddball bass music titled Mondegreen. Like much of Clunk’s work, EP cut “Faerie Fire” is chaotic and aggressive, but the song retains an obvious structure and rhythm despite the furious interaction of myriad percussive and somewhat atonal elements. The young producer, who has drawn comparisons to Hudson Mohawke and Lazer Sword, will be releasing Mondegreen next month, but until then, check out the record’s artwork and tracklisting, which can be found after the jump.
X01 Problem in the Machine
X02 Green Tower
X03 Enter the Wardrobe
Y01 Faerie Fire
Y02 Muvies
Listen to Chromatics’ New Double-LP Now
We’ve been hearing a lot from the long-awaited new album by Portland’s Chromatics over the past several months, so it’s something of an understatement when we say that we’re very pleased to finally report that Kill for Love has arrived. And you can listen to it all right now. The 17-track, Johnny Jewel-produced double-album has been uploaded to SoundCloud in its full, hour-and-a-half splendor. Stream Chromatics’ Kill for Love below, and check out further album details here. (via Gorilla vs. Bear)
Milinal “Forest (Monokle Remix)”
As spring begins to sweep across the contiguous United States, winter seems to be holding fast in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the place producer Milinal (a.k.a. Valentine Yakovlev, pictured above) calls home, and where this week’s weather forecast includes snow, rain, and more snow. A silver lining to the harsh Russian winter is perhaps its limiting effect on distractions outside of the studio, which may have aided in the completion of Milinal’s new 10-song record, Forest, released via Jumble earlier this month. The album is less experimental than his earlier post-rockish efforts, but retains the atmospheric iciness of previous material. Here, on Forest‘s finale, fellow Saint Petersburg resident Monokle gives the title track a laid-back, glitch-hop feel, swapping out chilling plucked strings for mellow piano chords and entirely removing the cold, lo-fi vocals. Take a look after the jump for a full streaming preview of the album, as well as its artwork and tracklisting.
1. Forest
2. Gratitude
3. Faults and All
4. Monmil Jet
5. First Date
6. Inner Vibrations
7. Sawdust
8. Animal Rescue Force
9. Brighten
10. Forest (Monokle Remix)
Watch Photek Talk About His DJ-Kicks Mix
You may have heard that drum & bass icon Photek is the latest contributor to !K7‘s long-running DJ-Kicks mix series, having just dropped his addition this week. !K7 recently caught up with the DJ and producer at his Los Angeles studio, where he spoke about his approach to mixing, the differences between creating a DJ set versus an original production, and his first time playing out. Watch and listen in the player above.
Video Premiere: DVA “Why You Do”
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Last week, XLR8R posted its review of Pretty Ugly, the debut full-length from UK producer and Rinse FM veteran DVA. Although we had some definite issues with the album, one of its undeniable bright spots was “Why You Do,” the sonically stripped-down, A.L.-voiced tale of a woman who discovers that her man is cheating with another man. Now, Hyperdub has unveiled a video for “Why You Do,” and the clip proves to be as arresting as the music itself. In truth, there’s not a lot to the video, as it focuses on A.L. soulfully emoting and robotically moving as animated hearts float by and the color palette rapidly shifts from one neon color to the next. Nonetheless, there’s something almost hypnotic to the piece, not to mention the music. If “Why You Do” is an indication of the territory DVA plans to explore moving forward, then he’s certainly on the right track.
Mak & Pasteman “Lost (Youandewan Dub)”
Youandewan‘s remix work has impressedus over the years, so we’re happy to share another successful effort by the Leeds producer. He recently contributed to the Do the Same EP from UK duo Mak & Pasteman (pictured above), which is out now via UK label Shifting Peaks. Youandewan crafts a slightly off-kilter piece of deep house on this extended rework of “Lost”—it’s an aerated, funky take on the original, itself a quality piece of melodious, atmospheric house.
