It’s no wonder why M83‘s music videos are basically full-fledged film productions: Only a real cinematic experience could properly match the French artist’s widescreen pop music. The fact is truer than ever with this clip for the lead single from the breathtaking, XLR8R Pick’ed Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming double LP, “Midnight City.” Directed by Fleur & Manu, the piece is apparently “a tribute to Village of the Damned, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and other akiras [meaning intelligent or ‘gifted’ children].” Kids with mystical powers, low-contrast film footage, explosive synth music… Never change, M83.
Mux Mool “Palace Chalice”
Brooklyn producer Mux Mool (a.k.a. Brian Lindgren) is offering a free download, the first real sampling of his upcoming album, Planet High School, which is slated for release on February 7, 2012 via Midwestern stalwart Ghostly. “Palace Chalice” is a glimmering cut of electro-tinged instrumental hip-hop that pairs a relaxed, old-school vibe with lurching bass tones and summery synth melodies. Grab the track below, and check out the Planet High School artwork and complete tracklist after the jump. (via Pitchfork)
Brothers
Live at 7-11
Palace Chalice
I Ruin Everything
The Butterfly Technique
Hand On the Scantron
Raw Gore
Cash 4 Gold
Get Yer Alphabets (Guns)
Baba
Listen to Burial’s Remix of “Paradise Circus” by Massive Attack
The news hit last week that two iconic UK acts in their own right, Massive Attack and Burial, had collaborated on a two-song 12″ (pictured above). We first heard the a-side, “Four Walls,” and now we can stream the record’s other tune. Below, you can hear the 12-and-a-half-minute “Paradise Circus,” which is essentially a remix of a cut from Massive Attack’s 2010 LP, Heligoland, that just so happens to feature Hope Sandoval on vocals. That’s a bonafide triple threat if there ever was one. (via FACT)
B2B: Martyn and Modeselektor, Part 2
In the wake of new albums from both Martyn and Modeselektor, we here at XLR8R thought it might be fun to initiate a conversation between the veteran artists. What began as a casual chat pretty quickly became a lengthy discussion, so we’ve elected to run the whole thing as a five-part series throughout the week. Part one went up yesterday, while the second chapter is below. Read on to see what the Dutch producer and German duo of Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian “Charlie” Szary had to say about their evolving styles, getting older, the Hessle Audio crew, and why Marcel Dettmann is the best at what he does.
XLR8R: Martyn, it seems like your music is getting a little bit closer to what could be called techno, while Modeselektor, you guys seem to be moving away from it and trying more and more new things. Are you guys jealous of each other?
Gernot Bronsert: I’m afraid of him.
Martyn: I must say, I think Modeselektor has a really strong live reputation. I’ve seen them live a few times and I think the music they make is also very, I wouldn’t say aimed, but it’s definitely very influenced by playing live. That’s also why I think it’s really quite varied. Is that right?
GB: Yeah, that’s right.
M: I’ve been playing live a little bit this summer, and I notice how big the importance is of tempo changes and switching stuff up and sort of working the music as if it were a real concert, instead of just a DJ set, where you can just sort of stay the same tempo most of the time. So I can now totally see how Modeselektor are developing musically. Because if you play a lot of live sets, then your music changes gradually as well.
GB: I think the main difference maybe between us is… I need to start from the beginning. When we started making music, we really liked the hard break stuff, the Detroit techno stuff, drum & bass, and IDM and everything. We liked everything. But we never tried to be something, we didn’t want to copy something. I could never make music like Martyn, for example. Martyn is deep. I think he has the perfect range between deepness and pop. It’s not too deep, it’s the perfect middle. We never tried to be this. I grew up in techno. When I was young, I wasn’t listening to Nirvana and punk music or hip-hop a lot. I was listening to Underground Resistance and this was my music. And I really wanted to get away from it already in the ’90s. I was always looking for new things, but I never stopped dancing to techno music and I never stopped buying techno music. For me, it’s impossible to beat guys techno-wise, like Martyn, or Shed, or Maurizio, or Marcel Dettmann, or all of the other amazing techno producers. Techno is kind of a game, like playing a game. It’s pretty Black-music influenced. It has still a little battle effect. It’s all about who makes the grooviest beat and then you have just a few guys over the years who can hold a certain level. I really like that… it’s like breakdancing.
M: You’re just a hip-hop guy, that’s why you think it’s a battle. But it’s not a battle.
GB: No, it’s not really [a battle], it’s a positive battle. That’s the good thing, that’s the difference between techno and hip-hop.
M: I must say that I don’t really look at other people all that much. I love stuff that Ben Klock is doing, or Shed, or Dettmann, or any of those people, but it’s not like when I hear a new thing I’m like, “Well, I need to make that better,” or, “I think I can do that better.”
GB: Just yesterday, Marcel [Dettmann] came to our studio, and he played us a few new songs and they were so simple but so great at the same time. I could never do this, you know?
M: Yeah, but I like it. Every time I hear something, I have exactly the same thing, like “What he does, he’s so good at it, I could never do that,” so I just leave it alone. I don’t even want to try anything in that direction, because Marcel is just the best one in that vibe. You know if you see a very dark Berghain, and you hear Dettmann’s music, there’s no way you can make that better.
GB: Yeah, I know.
M: I must say one more thing. The word that I hate most is “deep.” I don’t know, I just have a sort of negative vibe with the word “deep.” It always sounds…
GB: I don’t mean deep house and shit, I mean…
M: But I always think that if people call my music deep, it means that people think that I have thought of this music before I make it, you know what I mean? If you make “deep music,” it means that you think about something and then you make it.
GB: No, no. I see it in a totally opposite way. Totally. For me, deep techno music has always… I mean real deep shit always has a live and session character. I think your music has this. It sounds “easy.”
[both laughing]
GB: It sounds like it was made in one session, and that’s what techno is about, catching a moment and holding it and making something out of it. Techno is nothing else but making gold out of shit, you know? You have cheap equipment and you make great shit with it, you don’t need an orchestra or a band.
M: You mean it’s intuitive?
GB: Yes. For me, that’s deep music.
M: Okay. Yeah, I understand.
GB: I think that you are more into techno and house than I am. I’m really crazy, I actually hate music. [laughs] But I love music at the same time. I saw the coming of techno and then I saw the fall of techno. And then I saw the comeback of techno, and when they started celebrating in Berlin in the late ’90s, early 2000s, the new rave thing, partying for 72 hours and all these tracks with a 10-minute length. But this was all nothing new for me, you know? It was something I quit years ago, and I think it’s all about the experience we have, and maybe you are right and we are old.
[both laughing]
XLR8R: With all of you guys in your 30s, does it affect your process of making music that is so oriented around partying and youth?
GB: No.
M: No, not really. It’s weird, because I don’t think if you make music, you necessarily have to be in the same group of people that the audience is. There are lots of musicians that are very old, but then their audience is 18 years old, it doesn’t make a difference. I don’t really enjoy raving anyway. I only did when I was very, very young, but I got bored of it quite quickly. I just wanted to get into making music and DJing and organizing nights and that sort of stuff, and just bring the music further that way. So it’s really only in places like Panorama Bar that I will really stay for 10 hours and just rave, you know? There are very few clubs that I would do that at.
GB: I think we are very similar.
M: You are also old.
[both laughing]
GB: You know, when I was listening to the early Hessle Audio releases, I never thought that these guys were that young. Did you know that? Did you know how old they were?
M: I met them in the beginning because I did a [TRG] remix for them, the “Broken Heart” remix. That was on Hessle Audio. I played in Leeds and they said we should meet up and get some dinner, and then I sat there and they were all half my age. They were like 18 or 19 years old.
GB: When this record came out, we booked them all for a party in Berlin. We used to have our own night, just three or four times a year, and we booked the whole floor with Hessle Audio, and we invited them all—Ramadanman, Pangea, Ben UFO, Cosmin TRG. And the driver who was supposed to pick them up from the airport, he couldn’t find them, and then I called [the Hessle Audio guys] and they said, “No we are here, we are in front of Gate 8, but the driver is not coming.” And I said to the driver, “They are standing directly in front of Gate 8.” He said, “No, there’s just this bunch of little boys.”
[both laughing]
GB: When we were listening to this [Hessle Audio] stuff, we didn’t know, because this music, it sounded so experienced. It’s not a question of the age, it’s something different, I don’t know what.
M: Yeah, it’s strange also that nowadays you can see all these people going back to even earlier sounds, like everyone now all of the sudden is influenced by Chicago house, and by the sort of 909 thing. It’s very strange how it sort of started as a spin off of dubstep and now everyone’s making Chicago house all of the sudden, the more cheesy the better it seems.
GB: Yeah, there’s a Pearson Sound bootleg of “Deep Inside.” For me, the sample is a no-go area, I would never use a sample like this. But they can do it, you know?
M: Because they are so young, they don’t even…
GB: Yeah.
M: I was actually in the room when that tune was out and I was raving. So for me, it’s like a holy tune. I would like to play it, but I only play the original because I can’t stand playing a sort of a spin-off.
GB: I bet you smelled your past when you were listening to the sample. You know what I mean? When you are listening to music and you get all these memories and you connect to a song… I just had a listening session with Doc Daneeka and Benjamin Damage and I introduced them to Maurizio’s music and they had never heard of it before, and when I played them all the old tunes I have here on my computer, I had so many memories. For example, I have a song I grew up with, “Domina” from Maurizio, [and when I hear it] I smell my parents house. Just for a second, but I smell it. These guys, they don’t have it with this [older] music. They grew up with jungle and drum & bass I think.
Click here for part three of B2B: Martyn and Modeselektor.
Podcast 220: Rebolledo
Make no mistake, Matías Aguayo’s Cómeme imprint is a weird fucking label. While much of Cómeme’s output could be roughly described as house, that overlooks the elements of techno, disco, funk, and various Latin genres that populate its tracks, not to mention its artists’ penchant for bizarre vocals and the music’s simultaneously raw and psychedelic vibe. Perhaps no producer encapsulates the label’s spirit as well as Rebolledo, whose new album, Super Vato, offers the sound of sleazy, drugged-out Latin disco. That being said, it’s the sort of disco everyone is desperate to get into and sure as hell doesn’t leave until the party is over. Super Vato, which happens to be the very first Cómeme full-length, will be released next week, but in the meantime, the Mexican producer has put together an exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series. Relying heavily on his own productions (including selections from his collaborative Pachanga Boys project with Superpitcher), Rebolledo charts an otherworldly musical path that’s dark, funky, and unequivocally, infectiously weird.
01 Rebolledo “Aire Caliente” (Cómeme)
02 Slove “Flash (Pachanga Boys Hippie Dance)” (Pschent)
03 Burger Voigt “Bring Trance Back to Life” (Kompakt)
04 Pachanga Boys “We Can Rhyme” (Hippie Dance)
05 Philipp Gorbachev “In the Delta” (Cómeme)
06 Rebolledo feat. Philipp Gorbachev “Te Conozco Moscow” (Cómeme)
07 Green Velvet “Red Light” (Music Man)
08 Pachanga Boys “Legs” (Hippie Dance)
09 Rebolledo y Daniel Maloso “De Cierto Desierto” (Cómeme)
10 Javiera Mena “Hasta La Verdad (Rebolledo Remix)” (Cómeme)
11 Paul Simon “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover” (Columbia)
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Kuedo Severant
Much hullabaloo has been made of the role Berlin-by-way-of-UK producer Jamie Teasdale played as half of influential dubstep outfit Vex’d. It’ll be the first thing you’re likely to read in any article (this review included) pertaining to the artist or his solo debut LP as Kuedo, Severant, but that doesn’t make it the best or even an ideal vantage point from which to experience Teasdale’s latest work. The music of Vex’d is patently hard-edged to the point that it could cut through glass, if the glass wasn’t flat out shattered by the sonic intensity in the first place. Those kinds of skull-crushing electronics couldn’t be further from what Kuedo conjures on his new album. Severant is a massive step away from Teasdale’s past output, and one that is confidently sure-footed.
Crystalline synths, warm 808 thumps, and arrays of gelatinous bass tones have effectively replaced the “tower-block-debris” drum sounds (as FACT likes to call them) and distorted, sub-cooking melodic elements that marked the work of Vex’d, giving way to a sonic world that’s much more inviting. Opener “Visioning Shared Tomorrows” sounds something like a track Lex Luger would write for the opening credits of a NeverEnding Story remake, and “Whisper Fate” reps the restrained harmonious haze and drum-machine skitter that colors much of Aphex Twin’s Ambient Works. That kind of dichotomy within Kuedo’s new sound—the swagger of contemporary hip-hop coexisting with the tendencies of decades-old, sci-fi- and fantasy-indebted synth music—is a large part of what makes the mysteries of Severant still so familiar.
Another particularly interesting aspect of this LP is its distinct lack of vocals, sampled or otherwise. Unlike many, might we even say most, of Teasdale’s peers in the bass-music scene, the artist doesn’t rely on reappropriations of the human voice to connect with his audience. There are rare moments during Severant when a singer appears, like on the tempestuous “Scissors” or steadfast album closer “Memory Rain,” but Kuedo utilizes the vocal sounds as punctuation rather than infectious hooks. It’s yet another testament to the distance between where Teasdale was with Vex’d and where he’s going with Kuedo. The producer has undoubtedly severed himself from his past work, and in turn, put himself in a class that few hold claim to.
Listen to a New Mix from Funkystepz
UK funky ambassadors Renay & Stimpy and DJ Maxsin, collectively known as Funkystepz, have made quite a name for themselves since bursting on to the scene a few years back. Fresh off the release of the Trouble EP, the Hyberdub-inked trio has put together a brand-new mix for FADER. Clocking in at a little over 60 minutes, it cuts a direct path through the current landscape of UK funky, blazing through 35 tracks from the likes of Roska, Scratcha DVA, and Canblaster, along with a slew of original Funkystepz productions. You can download the mix and view the complete tracklist below. (via FADER)
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01 Funkystepz Feat Lily Mckenzie – Circles
02 Funkystepz – Transformer
03 DR Gonzo – Bust em up
04 Roska – Jackpot
05 Six D – Best Damn Night (Funkystepz Mix)
06 Funkystepz – Dirty Dutch
07 Canblaster – Clockwork
08 Friendly Fires – Hawaiian Air (Seiji Remix)
09 Funkystepz – Trouble
10 Funkystepz – XTC
11 T Williams Feat Terri Walker – Heartbeat (Mosca Remix) ****
12 Champion – Lighter
13 Funkystepz – Class A
14 Scratcha – Flute
15 Funkystepz – Anger
16 Funkystepz – Royal Rumble
17 Funkystepz – Bruk Out
18 Encore – The One (Champion Mix)
19 Roska – Roskallion
20 Funkystepz – Fizzy
21 Funkystepz – Jumanji
22 Crazy Cousinz Feat Omarion – Arch Your Back
23 Funkystepz – Fuller
24 Champion – 1994
25 Funkystepz – Warrior
26 Funkystepz Feat Lily Mckenzie – For U
27 Funkystepz – Tokyo Drift
28 Funkystepz Feat Rhian – Our Love
29 Duchess Feat Scorcher – All The Boyz (Wookie Remix)
30 Roska – Do You Believe (Ma1 Remix)
31 Favorite Flava – Heaven (Funkystepz Mix)
32 Funkystepz – You Got it
33 Roska Feat Jamie George – Wonderful day (Scratcha Soule Power Mix)
34 Funkystepz – Underground
35 Scrufizzer – Fizzy Flow
Grimes “Oblivion”
Earlier this year, Grimes (a.k.a. Claire Boucher) was everywhere, dropping a slew of light and sugary synth-pop tracks and remixes on unsuspecting ears. In recent months, the stream of Grimes-related news has slowed significantly, most likely because the Montreal-based chanteuse was working on her next full-length, which she was still putting the finishing touches on when we caught up with her back in June at NXNW. That album, Visions, has since been completed and is set to be released on January 31 via the Arbutus label. “Oblivion” is the first offering from the record, and finds the pixie-voiced Boucher continuing to refine and polish her airy synth-pop sound. It’s a sticky little number, something akin to a beefed-up take on the precious pop of ’80s groups like Altered Images. Listen to and download “Oblivion” below, and take a look at the Visions artwork and tracklist after the jump.
1. Infinite ? Without Fulfillment
2. Genesis
3. Oblivion
4. Eight
5. Circumambient
6. Vowels = Space and Time
7. Visiting Statue
8. Be A Body (??)
9. Colour of Moonlight (Antiochus) (feat. Doldrums)
10. Symphonia IX (My Wait Is U)
11. Nightmusic (feat. Majical Cloudz)
12. Skin
13. Know The Way (Outro)
Brenmar to Tour Europe, Shares Free Track
Brooklyn R&B enthusiast and prolific tunesmith Brenmar will soon be taking his brand of high-energy, ghetto-fabulous club music across the pond for a string of dates in Europe. The DJ/producer will be joined by fellow party starters Mele and Dillon Francis for the 13-date Visions tour, an excursion which includes appearances in Dublin, London, Madrid, Paris, Bristol, and beyond throughout late November and early December. To mark the occasion, Brenmar is sharing a complimentary track called “Let Me Hit Dat.” You can stream/download it, as well as check out the list of tour dates, below.
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November
15th Leeds, Mint Club
17th Dublin, Twisted Pepper
18th London, Fabric
19th Southend, Sunrooms
23rd Madrid, Sala Heineken
24th Paris, Social Club
25th Brussels, Forma T
26th Nerlin, Prince Charles
29th Glasgow, Buff Club
30th Edinburgh, Sneaky Pete’s
December
1st Aberdeen, Snafu
2nd Sheffield, DQ
3rd Bristol, Motion
Sun Glitters “There (Stumbleine Remix)”
Sun Glitters‘ “There” (from his split EP with Halls) has received the remix treatment from like-minded producer Stumbleine. The Bristol resident reels in the drama of Sun Glitters’ original a bit, and manages to soak the wistful piano, distant vocal samples, and lush pads in an even more watery substance, but not without a touch of warm R&B to make the rework a proper slow-motion head-nodder.
