Over on UK rag The Independent, you can read a new interview with Detroit techno veteran Mike Huckaby (who also just so happened to give XLR8R an excellent podcast back in August). The artist talks about his production experience, offers some tips to artists looking to hone their skills, and chats about the current electronic-music scene. The lengthy conversation with the seasoned auteur can be found here.
The man behind our third-favorite track and our fourteenth-favorite release from 2011, Scuba (a.k.a. Paul Rose) has announced he will drop his third full-length album on March 6 via his own Hotflush imprint. Personality is said to “[feature] 11 brand-new tracks, [taking] in a wealth of genres across contemporary dance music,” and will be preceded by its first single, “The Hope,” on February 6. Before all of that, you can read a brief Q&A with Rose about his new album, here, listen to a preview of “The Hope,” here, and check out the full tracklist for Scuba’s Personality LP, below. And if you would like to catch Scuba live, he’ll be doing another US version of his Sub:stance party on March 10 in New York, and will also perform at this year’s SXSW.
1. Ignition Key
2. Underbelly
3. The Hope
4. Dsy Chn
5. July
6. Action
7.Cognitive Dissonance
8. Gekko
9. NE1BUTU
10. Tulips
11. If U Want
One of 2011’s best new artists and New Jersey’s premiere ballroom DJ/producer, MikeQ, is set to launch a tour of Europe, but before that, he’s treated his fans to a fresh mix. Below, you can stream and download the NEXX Guest Mix 002 – MikeQ, which the artist crafted for Dublin club night Nexx and blends together choice bits of the mixmaster’s beloved vogue-house sound. As for his European tour, it begins this weekend and runs throughout much of January. More dates will be announced in the days ahead, but the list of confirmed shows can be found after the mix.
1.6.12 @ Social Club – Paris, FR w/ ClekClek Boom, Bok Bok, and more
1.10.12 @ Rooms Club – Florence, IT (Vice.com Launch Party)
1.12.12 @ East Village Club – London, UK w/ Kingdom (Night Slugs Party)
1.14.12 @ Mount Strive – London, UK
1.18.12 @ Prince Charles – Berlin, DE (Vice Fashion Week Party)
1.21.12 @ TBD – Stockholm, SE
With his mix for Fabric set to drop on January 16, Tectonic label boss Pinch is offering up a different 30-minute mix of house and techno to tide you over until Fabriclive 61 officially sees the light of day, or at least until the release party happens on January 13. Unfortunately, there is no tracklisting for the mix, which he’s humorously titled Oh No Not Another Dubstep DJ Playing House Music, but according to Pinch, “it’s mostly quite new techno white labels.” As for the Fabriclive 61 launch party, Pinch will be DJing alongside Pearson Sound, Kode 9, Ben UFO, Kowton, Om Unit, and others at Fabric in London. Pinch’s Oh No Not Another Dubstep DJ Playing House Music mix can be streamed below, where we’ve also posted the official promo video for his Fabric mix.
Barcelona-based DJ and producer Bitcode (pictured above) is set to release a new EP early next month via Spanish imprint Tracy that will feature two originals and three remixes, including this one by Warp alumnus Jimmy Edgar. The original “Bark” is a piece of club-ready electro that emphasizes heavy bass while cool short vocal snippets and synth stabs drive the melody. On his version, Edgar adds considerable flair to the tune by syncopating the bassline and drum pattern, playing with pitch shifting and delay, and chopping the already short and heavily effected vocals into a more complex arrangement that is somehow even more dancefloor-friendly. Check out the artwork and tracklisting for Bitcode’s upcoming Some Bass EP after the jump.
01 Bitcode “Some Bass”
02 Bitcode “Bark”
03 Bitcode “Some Bass (Los Salvadores Del Ritmo Remix)”
04 Bitcode “Bark (Jimmy Edgar Remix)”
05 Bitcode “Bark (Bobmo Remix)”
The UK’s Nightwave isn’t an artist who’s shy about goofing around. After all, her latest EP, Festivus, takes its name from an invented holiday that was first introduced to the masses via Seinfeld. That being said, its four tracks, while playful and upbeat, do display some real production chops.
At this point, Nightwave isn’t an artist who can be pinned down to any one genre in particular, a trend that continues on Festivus. Although she does hail from the world of “bass music,” her recent output has incorporated elements of house, techno, grime, dubstep, juke, and more. Whether she’s suffering from a case of stylistic ADD or is simply still looking for a sonic niche to call her own, her evolution remains interesting to document. The EP’s title track is probably the strongest of its offerings, a simultaneously woozy and propulsive dancefloor cut that pairs hyperactive drum programming and shuffling rhythms with soaring synth melodies and the requisite chopped R&B vocal bits. While the drums are a bit mushy and “Festivus” may not be the most original tune, it does have a real sort of dreamy charm.
A similar sense pervades “Jazz312,” another EP standout that finds Nightwave upping the tempo and delving into juke. While many bass-music producers tend to create overworked and unnecessarily complex tracks when experimenting with footwork, Nightwave smartly keeps things simple, constructing a straightforward beat and peppering it with dreamy Rhodes melodies. A horn lead and chopped vocal snippets also find their way into the proceedings, but things never sound too busy or anxious.
“Jeff the Dolphin” is an interesting creation, a track that utilizes tropical drum sounds and a wonky sort of walking bassline. This type of leftfield grime exploration is to be encouraged, but the end result, while more than passable, isn’t the most memorable. “Heart Bit” suffers a similar fate while traversing a hybrid territory incorporating crunchy 8-bit melodies and a stop-and-start dancehall beat. Again, the track is inventive, but lacks enough hooks to stick in the listener’s head.
Overall, the Festivus EP is a solid effort from Nightwave. As she continues to release music, there’s not much question as to her talent and capacity to come up with playfully creative ideas. If anything, it’s her execution and songwriting that are still developing, and, for now, we’re willing to keep listening until they fully blossom.
While many artists slow their touring schedule to a dead halt in the winter months, French tunesmiths Canblaster, Myd, Sam Tiba, and Panteros666 (a.k.a. the Club Cheval posse) will be bringing their varied club-ready sounds across the United States throughout January. You can check out the full list of dates—which kick off on January 6 in Miami and hit Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Philadelphia—on the flier below.
The Sacramento-based Waaga label is starting the year off right by delivering 24 Beats, a free record from Greek producer Larry Gus (a.k.a. Panagiotis Melidis). As all of Melidis’ biographical information appears to be in Greek, and XLR8R‘s in-house Greek-to-English translator is still out for the holiday vacation, we know very little about the artist other than that he is currently based in Milan, Italy, and that he appears as a remixer on Yacht‘s recent DFA single, “I Walked Alone.” “The Written Word” is a short and pretty piece of instrumental hip-hop punctuated by some oddly sweet pitched vocal snippets. The song is taken from the expansive 24 Beats, which can be downloaded in its entirety on Waaga’s Facebook page for the price of a simple “like.”
Swedish Balearic psych-pop duo Studio, together since 2001, has disbanded and also put an end to its record label, Information, according to group member Dan Lissvik’s website. Studio, composed of Lissvik and Rasmus Hägg, released the highly acclaimed full-length West Coast in 2006 and two EPs, Yearbook 1 and Yearbook 2, in 2007 and 2008, respectively. While the duo is no more, both members have numerous solo production credits, and Lissvik’s enigmatic posting of “see you in another shape and form” suggests this is not the end of output from these two Swedes. (via Pitchfork)
With a single already prepped to drop via Night Slugs, fresh-faced DJ/producer Helix seems poised to stake his claim on 2012’s dancefloors, and this new mix he just turned in to LuckyMe only further solidifies the notion. The DJ set, entitled Rapid Mixtape, mixes bits of gossamer ambience, churning techno, and ramshackle rhythms into a particularly entrancing 46 minutes. You can stream the whole thing here, and download it here.
