Our fellow electronic-music aficionados at Resident Advisor just unveiled a streaming audio player that contains the debut album by Russian DJ/producer Nina Kraviz. Nina Kraviz (artwork above) will be out on February 27 via Rekids, but you can stream the deep, 14-track techno album right now, here.
The next record on its way from the on-point Numbers imprint is the debut 12″ single from London duo Kodiak. After having floated around the UK bass scene for some time, “Spreo Superbus” will arrive as a limited vinyl and digital release on March 5 along with two remixes from Actress and Girl Unit. You can check out videos for both Kodiak’s original production and Actress’ fittingly leftfield remix of “Spreo Superbus,” below. (via FACT)
There’s been absolutely no shortage of praise for San Francisco producer Tycho‘s excellentDive LP on this website, and at this rate, it won’t be letting up any time soon. The latest reminder of that album’s sepia-soaked synths and angelic atmospheres is this remix of the title track by Grecian blog darlings Keep Shelly in Athens, which basically deconstructs the original song and reshapes it into something even more drifty and warm. Look for this one alongside another remix from electronic indie-pop outfit Memoryhouse when Tycho’s “Dive” single (artwork above) drops on April 3.
Roughly a month ago, we discovered that multifaceted UK tunesmith Lone would soon be releasing a new single and a new LP. Galaxy Gardens (artwork above) won’t arrive for another couple of months, but you can take a listen to its lead single, “Crystal Caverns 1991,” now. The tune sounds like the logical progression from the excellent Emerald Fantasy Tracks and Echolocations records, and will presumably drop sometime soon via R&S. (via Pitchfork)
Somewhere between the divergent worlds of Lone and Dâm-Funk is the music of Bristol-reared, Sweden-based producer Crackazat. The man’s forthcoming debut EP, Explanation (artwork above), will be released later this month, but we’ve been passed one of that record’s sleekest tracks ahead of time. Crackazat’s “Implication” somehow incorporates touches of new-age synths with backyard bbq-style G-funk, which altogether makes for the kind of feel-good beat that begs for you to bounce along with it.
Over the past year or so, few artists have popped up more frequently on XLR8R than Distal (a.k.a. Michael Rathbun). Part of that has to do with the 28-year-old beatmaker’s inherently prolific nature, as he’s quickly amassed a hearty discography that includes releases on labels such as Tectonic, Grizzly, Seclusiasis, and Fortified Audio, not to mention his own imprint, Embassy Recordings, which he runs in tandem with fellow Atlantan Mite. Yet Distal’s rise can be attributed to more than just the volume of his output, as his music is definitely of a high quality. He’s often associated with juke and footwork (albeit from a distance), but while his tunes certainly have their share of breakneck rhythms and rapid-fire 808 sounds, even a cursory examination of his catalog shows that his music goes deeper. Naming one of his tracks “Boss of the South” certainly demonstrated some bravado, and Distal often does inject sonic elements directly inspired by Southern rap into his music. The UK bass continuum—which currently boasts its fair share of producers taking cues from similar reference points—is another obvious influence in his work, which helps explain how a Distal DJ set can fluctuate wildly between scenes, sounds, and, most importantly, tempos. That tendency holds true on this exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series, which happens to include a number of unreleased gems from Distal and a few of his closest associates. Readers in Europe should especially take note, as Distal will be touring there in May and June; consider this podcast a preview of exactly how much dancefloor firepower he has at his disposal.
01 Powell “09” (Diagonal)
02 Matthias Zimmermann “Luther (Distal Quick Edit)” (Sound Pellegrino)
03 Skudge “Below (Boddika Acid Refix)” (Skudge)
04 Wheez-ie “Dubplate”
05 Zebra Katz “Ima Read (MikeQ & B. Ames Remix)” (Jeffrees)
06 Distal “Temple People” (Tectonic)
07 Roska “480 B.C.” (Tectonic)
08 Distal & Wheez-ie “Hard House Cheer Squad”
09 Broodlings “Rough Landing” (Embassy)
10 Locked Groove “Different Paths” (Turbo)
11 Silkie, Distal & Mite “Something Wrong With Daisy (Mite’s Daisy’s From Chicago Edit)”
12 Meati “Carmen” (Get Flavor)
13 Anti-G “Just Fresh Hip Hop” (Planet Mu)
14 Distal “Cherry Red” (Trouble & Bass)
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Today, San Francisco’s Benito is issuing a new EP of bass-minded boom-bap, I’m Busy (artwork above), and has wrangled recent Bay Area transplant Devonwho to inject some funkiness into one of the effort’s tracks, “Shakes.” Starting things off in the darker regions of skittering, futuristic beats, Devonwho eventually transforms this rework into a funky production, thanks—for the most part—to a handful of warm chords and a percolating synth bassline that runs on a playful grid as the drum programming starts to resemble a 2-step-style break. After giving the remix a listen, you’ll find a preview of the I’m Busy EP, along with the complete tracklist, after the jump.
01 Cutting Mist
02 I’m Busy
03 Solar Sync
04 Shakes
05 You Know What It Is
Chillwave’s notoriety didn’t last too long, but many of its signifiers have become an almost ubiquitous part of the independent music world. Heavy usage of reverb, sunny atmospherics, upbeat tempos, ’80s-pop inclinations—the way these elements are applied to a song can often make the difference between a vapid stinker and a contemporary treasure. The Cascine label is no stranger to the pieces left over by chillwave, having built a reputation on signing artists who can skillfully mesh those sounds with well-crafted pop. So, it’s little surprise that Cascine’s first release of 2012, the six-track Futures EP by newcomer RxGibbs, uncovers some of the best examples of how you can apply that aesthetic to ambient techno.
Producer Ron Gibbs is at the core of his EP, though he cites additional instrumentalists and vocalists as contributors. Those people undoubtedly played their part in making RxGibbs’ music while singing a melody or performing a synthline, but no sound went untreated by the Michigan-based artist. Each vocal utterance on Futures is chopped, sequenced, and dropped into an echo chamber; each instrument is filtered and compressed for maximum nostalgic effect. Only the simple and buoyant drum patterns sound untouched relative to the dense sprawl of gaseous synth tones and infinite effects trails. It actually makes for some strangely catchy tunes. “Silver,” “Proxy,” and “Split Infinity” do it well, when the music sounds something like The Field rescoring Sixteen Candles, but the title track is the strongest evidence of RxGibbs’ ability to mix the hypnotic qualities of dancefloor music with the salvageable components of chillwave—making a sound that isn’t just palatable, but also surprisingly refreshing.
Boston’s third annual Together Festival is set to take place in the Massachusetts capital this April, and the majority of the event’s line-up has been revealed. Taking place between April 2 and April 8, the East Coast festival will host performances from a number of names known to connoisseurs of forward-thinking electronic music, with Mala (pictured above), Kyle Hall, Todd Edwards, and Big Freedia making up the roster alongside Poirier, Photek, RJD2, and more (even legendary minimal pioneer Phil Niblock). You can check the complete line-up so far (we’re told there are a few more announcements slated for the coming weeks) here, and stay tuned to the Together site to grab festival passes when they become available.
San Francisco duo Psychic Sidekicks recently tried its hand at remixing Trey Songz’ “Top of the World” (artwork for that above), and although the version featuring the R&B crooner wasn’t exactly up our alley, this instrumental version makes for quite an impressive effort. “Top of the World” is a heavy endeavor, with foot stomp-inducing drum patterns pushed by massive low end while a sinister arp drives the highs. Sure, the pair isn’t forging new territory here, but Psychic Sidekicks has put together a fine piece of futuristic beat work, one that seems to have a direct relation between its increased volume and listeners’ increased enjoyment.
