Last month, we profiled up-and-coming LA producer Samo Sound Boy as part of our Bubblin’ Up series. During the interview, Samo spoke of his forthcoming projects with fellow Angeleno Jerome Potter from LOL Boys. The first? A new label called Body High. The second? A collaborative production venture the guys are calling DJ Dodger Stadium. As of today, both entities officially exist, as the label and the project are officially introducing themselves with the release of the five-track Stadium Status EP, which can be purchased here. Unlike the relatively mellow Drake remix the boys sent over a couple weeks back, “Stadium Status” is a high-energy, acid-heavy banger that largely takes its cues from Chicago, pulling both from classic acid and ’90s ghetto house. Body High appears to be hitting the ground hustling; the young imprint’s second release, a four-track EP from the mysterious DJ Funeral, should see the light of day in a matter of weeks. In the meantime, listen to the rest of the Stadium Status EP after the jump, and also take a look at the “Stadium Status” video, which utilizes footage from the LA Riots, the O.J. Simpson Bronco chase, and other LA-centric events.
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Here is the third premiere in the series of videos documenting the Red Bull Music Academy World Tour 2011, this time from Paris. The tour’s stop in the French capital features artists like Questlove, Macy Gracy—who is apparently still alive—Amp Fiddler, and others. While the kind of soul-infused jazz music this piece focuses on isn’t exactly usual XLR8R material, we’re happy to see the Red Bull Music Academy supporting a wide range of genres and artists.
At this point, does an artist like Robert Hood require an introduction? (After all, we did put him on the cover of XLR8R last year.) All kidding aside, the man is a Detroit techno legend, although these days he calls Alabama home. A founding member of Underground Resistance and one of the first pioneers of the minimal sound, Hood is still going strong more than 20 years into his career, running his own M-Plant label and continuing to drop releases, both under his own name and as Floorplan. (As it turns out, he just released a new single, “Greatest Dancer” b/w “Dancer,” just a couple weeks ago.) On this exclusive, hour-long mix for the XLR8R podcast series, Hood delivers that which he does best: hard, driving techno. Pulling heavily from his own discography while slipping in some new cuts and a few choice classics, the veteran artist rarely takes his foot off the accelerator. The beats throb, the melodies are edgy, and the low end is thick. Essentially, it’s classic Rob Hood, and that’s a very good thing.
01 Robert Hood “Darkroom” (M-Plant) 02 Oliver Ho “Silver (Damon Wild Remix)” (Sequential) 03 Robert Hood “Superman” (M-Plant) 04 Scorp “New Energy” (Scorp) 05 DJ Pierre & Green Velvet “Acid Trax (Original 2011 mix)” (Afro Acid) 06 Robert Hood “Stereotype” (M-Plant) 07 Robert Hood “The Family” (M-Plant) 08 Ben Sims “Dollar Bil Y’all (Version)” (Hardgroove) 09 Juju & Jordash “Deep Blue Meenies (Robert Hood Remix)” (Dekmental) 10 James Ruskin “Work (Steve Rachmad Remix)” (Blueprint) 11 Robert Hood “unreleased” 12 Floorplan “Basic Principle” (M-Plant) 13 Italo Boyz “Zinga” (Get Physical) 14 Floorplan “Wall To Wall” (M-Plant) 15 UK Gold “Agent Wood” (Primate) 16 Robert Hood “Range” (M-Plant) 17 Robert Hood “Minimal, Minimal” (M-Plant) 18 Mark Broom & James Ruskin “No Time Too Soon” (Blueprint) 19 Plastikman “Spastik (Dubfire Remix)” (Plus 8) 20 Ortin Cam “Sneaker Pimp” (Roots) 21 Ben Sims “Dollar Bill Y’all (Vocal Mix)” (Hardgroove) 22 Floorplan “We Magnify His Name” (M-Plant) 23 Secret Cinema “Cartoon Clip” (SC) 24 Robert Hood “Clash” (M-Plant) 25 Armando “100% Of Dissin You” (Warehouse) 26 Kenny Larkin “War of the Worlds” (Elypsia)
Following the release of his Color Ways EP on Spontaneous Rhythm earlier this year—you may remember songs like ”Color Ways” and ”Folklore”—Atlanta producer Divine Interface has sent along a new track, “Fool Me,” a laid-back synthy number with pitched vocal clips, skittering hi-hats, and rumbling sub bass. It’s a melancholy tune, a vibe intensified by the repeated line, “I feel so sad.” Yet even with its dour mood, “Fool Me” is done so well that it’s likely to make you a little happy, too.
Altered Natives (a.k.a. Danny Yorke) does not fuck around. When the UK producer puts out an album, there’s no big PR campaign or drawn-out attempt to build hype. The man just drops tunes, and lots of them. His latest full-length, Tenement Yard Volume Two, features 15 tracks and clocks in at more than 90 minutes. For many artists, this would constitute some kind of all-encompassing anthology. For Danny Native, it sounds like just another day at the office.
An album this big runs a severe risk of bloat, but the second installment of Tenement Yard is remarkably consistent all the way through. While many producers would have been tempted by the extra runtime and foolishly delved into new sounds, Native appears to have largely put his head down and done what he does best: create propulsive, hard-edged house tunes with an unwavering eye towards the dancefloor. Per usual, the music isn’t big on melody; apart from some background atmospherics, some well-employed synth stabs, and the occasionally bouncy bassline, this record is all about the drums. The music is dark, the rhythms are sweaty, and even when the sounds are distorted, the fuzzy crackle only adds to the overall atmosphere. Tunes like “Burnout,” “Shake That,” “Earthlings,” and album opener “Loved By Few” are all particularly strong, as their clacking drums, chunky basslines, and regular nods to vintage house music are all perfectly suited for peak time on a packed dancefloor.
Yet Tenement Yard Volume Two is not a one-trick pony. While Native never misplaces the groove, several offerings on the LP do find him going a bit deeper. Songs like “Illuminate,” “Die 4 U,” and “Wasteman of Love” all employ his usual formula, but also dial down the kick drums and allow the music to breathe a bit, creating an introspective vibe and providing an interesting counterpoint to Native’s more upfront productions. Other selections on the LP take even larger departures, as the spacey synths on “Womb” and “Can’t Trust Myself to Trust You” recall Underground Resistance-style techno, while “Legendary Suffering” experiments with garage drum patterns. Make no mistake, it all still sounds like Altered Natives, but Native is comfortable enough to expand his sonic palette without losing his way. It’s something that only a veteran producer can pull off—and experience alone is no guarantee of success—but Native is clearly in top form. Tenement Yard Volume Two is incredibly solid, and undoubtedly should be viewed as one of the top albums of the year.
In advance of his forthcoming new album, Severant, Jamie Teasdale, formerly of Vex’d and now producing under the name Kuedo, has recorded a mix for FACT Magazine. Featuring tracks by Carly Simon, Vangelis, Araabmuzik, and Drake, as well as many of his own original productions, it’s an interesting overview of Teasdale’s musical influences and offers a taste of what to expect from the new album. The mix is streaming below, where the entire tracklist has also been posted. Severant is scheduled to drop on October 17 via Planet Mu.
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Oh, the joys of getting stoned in your room and making some immersive, mesmerizing dance music. Detroit’s Coyote Clean Up is certainly privy to this age-old production method, as the eight-and-a-half-minute “You X Won’t X Know” proves with its The Field-like penchant for repetition and its wealth of warbling synth melodies and eclectic percussion. Plenty more of those vibes are readily available on the outfit’s Bandcamp profile, here. (via Altered Zones)
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Back in July, synth-loving Nova Scotian duo Southern Shores released its debut EP, Atlantic, via the Cascine label. (First single “Night is Young” is still available as a free download.) Now the pair has released the first video from the EP, for the song “Meridian.” Directed by Andy Hines, the footage was actually shot during the band’s first-ever live performance in Halifax earlier this summer. Beginning with an out-of-focus shot of a drum sequence being triggered, the clip nicely personifies the blurred Balearic vibes of Southern Shore’s music. As the bassline hits and the 4/4 drums kick in halfway through the song, the camera pans across people dancing at what looks to be a perfect house party.
Last week, XLR8R‘s Glenn Jackson headed to Seattle to check out the city’s annual Decibel Festival. The first two days presented an impressive offering of international artists, and the weekend promised three more days forward-thinking electronic music. Here’s what he saw.
Day 3
Mountains
Friday’s musical endeavors began early, specifically at the Nordstrom Recital Hall, a legitimate performance hall in downtown Seattle where the first edition of the Optical showcase was set to pair the sprawling works of more ambient-leaning acts with similarly oriented visual presentations. Beginning the showcase was Brooklyn duo Mountains, whose plain-sounding name proved entirely appropriate through the course of its warm, meandering set. With a table full of various pedals and sonic manipulators accompanying a mini-modular synth and an acoustic guitar, the pair built mesmerizing masses of blissfully melodic noise which, despite the visual accompaniment, begged you to close your eyes and be drifted away.
Blondes
Considering my weekend was bound to be filled with producers staring at their laptops and DJs perched behind decks, I jumped at the opportunity to see an act coax dance-worthy tones out of actual hardware. Answering the call was Brooklyn duo Blondes, who assembled an impressive set of retro-tinged techno at the Showbox SoDo. With at least three pieces of gear per member (including a Juno keyboard off to the side), the NYC residents crafted an entrancing mix of brooding electronics anchored by classic drum-machine patterns and rich bass tones, on top of which the fluttering, at times lopsided, musings of their hardware were free to form their own glistening patterns of bleeps and bloops.
Martyn
Friday’s true highlights came towards the end of the evening, beginning with a Live PA set from one of bass music’s brightest luminaries, Martyn. At first, I was a little unsure how receptive the crowd would be to Martyn’s dark, at times intense, brand of techno-infused dubstep, particularly following the warm response the rolling tech-house of Martin Buttrich had received just prior. But after delving into a few cleansing minutes of washy synth tones and distant vocal samples at the beginning of his set, Martyn had the Neumos crowd at full energy once the very first kick drum hit. Standing behind his selected gear (which included a laptop, controller, and Monotron), the bass-music veteran moved through rhythmic patterns and sonic landscapes with mesmerizing fluidity and sparked one of the week’s most intriguing and rewarding dance parties.
Kyle Hall
Friday night would not have been complete without the weekend’s first helping of real house, and Detroit’s freshest face, Kyle Hall, proved to be the perfect ambassador of all things funky and soulful. Hopping between a set of turntables and a pair of CD-Js, Hall’s set was hands down the most unabashedly fun performance of the festival. The Detroit native (who, mind you, isn’t even old enough to legally drink yet) controlled the crowd with his infectious energy, jumping, smiling, and clapping while he laid down one deep, soulful gem after another. When the lights finally came on, it was clear Hall had made an immensely positive impression, as the whole club was happy to finally give something back to the DJ, raucously clapping and cheering for the youngest, most talented person in the room.
Day 4
Natasha Kmeto
Salva
Saturday’s schedule of events was a bit overwhelming, with an outdoor event kicking off in the early afternoon, the second edition of the Optical series, a boat party (yes, a boat party), and a slew of worthwhile showcases slated to take place throughout the evening. Being one always up for music outside the confines of a dark night club, and slightly optimistic that the Seattle overcast would eventually wear off (which it did for a few brief moments), I skipped over to the Capitol Hill district for the dB in the ParkFrite Nite showcase. The exclusively West Coast line-up was exceptional, and Portland up-and-comer Natasha Kmeto stuck out first with a helping of percussive, adventurous beat-oriented productions, which came complete with gorgeous layers of her own live—and mostly unaltered—vocals. Frite Nite label boss Salva followed shortly thereafter, tearing shit up with his simultaneously nasty and smooth repertoire. The music coming from the speakers was so enthralling that no one seemed discouraged when a light rain began to fall.
Matthewdavid
Oval
The second and final presentation of the Optical series began early in the evening with another dose of ambient audio-visual offerings. LA’s Matthewdavid delivered a transcendent set of dusty, side-chained atmospheres before glitch pioneer Oval manipulated his laptop to create an extensive set full of rich micro-textures and Entroducing-run-through-a-supercomputer-style drums. The recital hall’s comfortable seating and detailed sound system allowed the audience uninterrupted concentration on the works being presented and, in doing so, made both of the performances that much more absorbing and enjoyable.
Mike Huckaby
But what would a Saturday night at Decibel be without dancing? Well, kind of pointless, which is why I was thankful to find Detroit legend Mike Huckaby with a giant crate of time-tested vinyl behind the decks at Neumos. Although 10 p.m. struck me as a strangely early slot to put someone of Huckaby’s reputation, it eventually made perfect sense when the man put together a flawless set of irresistible Motor City dance music that ensured my night would be pretty damn good, no matter what happened the rest of the evening.
Deniz Kurtel
The soulful vibes continued at Nuemos, thanks to Wolf + Lamb cohort Deniz Kurtel. Starting her set focused on four-on-the-floor, vocal-driven house, her first 15 minutes were a little unadventurous compared to the productions she’s known for, but once she slipped into more sleek territory and began dropping electro-indebted breaks underneath it all, the party was again in full force.
Machinedrum
Neumos served as the core for my Saturday night, but I did manage to take one essential break to catch Machinedrum descend upon The Crocodile, where the man dropped nothing but juke, juke, a little bit of dubstep, and a lot more juke. There was no shortage of bubbling percussion, chopped hip-hop vocals, and frantic kick drums in his set that night, and the crowd was happy to hear it. Although it should be noted that there was little to no crazy footwork seen on the completely packed dancefloor, there was a sea of endlessly bobbing heads and the occasional fist pump, most likely inspired by Machinedrum’s manic on-stage presence. The man mouthed along to the songs, furiously shook his extremities, and occasionally replaced the crass hip-hop accapellas with his own voice for a phrase or two.
Chateau Flight
At last, the final acts of the night were upon us, and again Neumos had the most to offer with French deep-house duo Chateau Flight undertaking the closing honors. With only two CD-Js and an awesomely retro-looking mixer between them, the two Frenchmen concocted an appropriate mix of deep, synth-driven house that ran the gamut from propulsive and invigorating to vintage cheese, all brought together with that effortless French knack for finding the middle ground between fun and sophisticated.
Day 5
Kate Simko
The last day of the festival featured fewer showcases than its predecessors, making the decision of where to go for the night easier than it had been all week. The moderately sized Re-Bar club seemed ripe for a dance party, and I was quickly rewarded for my choice by Kate Simko‘s masterful set of subtle, irresistible techno. Gently swaying back and forth and beaming a genuine smile from behind her laptop, Simko unfolded her productions with an appropriate patience, building moments of potent tension until the dancefloor could barely take it anymore, then revealing her sophisticated techno, piece by irresistible piece.
dBridge
As reluctant as I was to leave before Simko’s set was complete, my curiosity took hold and I headed for the last time to the Baltic Room, where the harrowing sounds of drum & bass had been pounding all night. Exit Records head honcho dBridge was just beginning the night’s closing set when I arrived, and heads all around were already bobbing furiously to the accelerated tempo. With track after track of dark, percussive boom-bap, the Londoner proved that although his chosen genre may not be in its golden age, drum & bass can still be as visceral and invigorating as any of the electronic genres.
dOP
My last dose of Decibel came in the form of the three outlandish Frenchmen known as dOP and their brand of raucous house. While one member stood behind a giant mixing console and another behind a small gathering of keyboards (which even included a Wurlitzer), the group’s vocalist/frontman did his best to rile the crowd into a Sunday-night frenzy, utilizing hip-hop-style call and response, bringing women on stage to serenade, and very early in the performance going shirtless. Despite all the antics, the man could sing and displayed some incredibly weird and intriguing vocal control while the pair responsible for the musical side of the endeavor unleashed a slew of vibrant, jazzy house tracks. But for all that was in dOP’s favor, a good portion of the audience—myself included—had trouble looking past the group’s over-the-top, over-sexed persona, which made it difficult to simply lock into the hot tracks being offered.
For all of Decibel’s far-reaching ambition and ability to bring artists from all over the world to Seattle, the festival still has a grassroots feel to it, both in the way things are organized and especially in terms of the people it attracts. Astonishingly, the vibes were rarely off for the whole week, which is quite a feat, and one I’d like to think is accomplished because Decibel is put together by people who are passionate about electronic music for people passionate about electronic music. As one of those passionate people, I’m thankful to have a festival like this one so close to home.
Remember when we said that UK producer Mosca was not a “particularly prolific” producer? That was only a few weeks ago, when we reviewed his latest single on Numbers, “Done Me Wrong” b/w “Bax.” We don’t want to overly aggrandize our impact, but did Mosca maybe read that statement, take offense, and start unloading a backlog of material? We’re kidding of course, but in the past three weeks, Mosca has announced another new single on Martyn’s 3024 label, and, just this morning, he’s offered up a brand-new EP for free download via Twitter. The UK producer recently reached 5000 followers on Twitter, and elected to drop the appropriately titled 5000 Followers EP to commemorate the occasion. The two-song release can be downloaded here along with its accompanying artwork.
In other Mosca-related news, some clips of the aforementioned release on 3024, The Wavey EP, have been released. Check out the preview streams below. The Wavey EP is scheduled for release in late October.
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