The man behind Hercules and Love Affair, Andy Butler (pictured above), and SF DJ/producer Jason Kendig have announced the follow-up to their original collaboration, last year’s vintage-house-inspired ““And I’m (So in Love With You).” The initial collaborative track, which served as the inaugural release for Butler’s Mr. INTL imprint, has stood as the only audio the two had collectively produced for over a year, but now they’ve passed along word of a brand-new track called “Give It To Me,” which, according to the press release, “effortlessly evokes the golden era of the Chi-town box jam.” A tall order, but one we’re sure they’ll have no trouble fulfilling. No preview of “Give It To Me” is available yet, but the forthcoming single (with a b-side remix from the German Snuff Crew) is set to be released digitally via Beatport in September with a vinyl release following shortly thereafter.
Joel Karlsson and Henrik Markstedt, the 29-year-olds that comprise Swedish pop duo Air France, and I are talking about their fans’ mounting anticipation behind the band’s forthcoming, as-yet-untitled LP. “I think it’s a little bit too late,” says Karlsson. Like the momentum from their last gloriously breezy EP, 2008’s No Way Down, has died? “Yeah, a little bit,” he says. “We will see.”
“There’s always rumors,” Markstedt interjects. “There’s this big thread on a forum on the internet [discussing the new album], and it’s like, ‘I heard it’s coming this winter!'”
Karlsson jumps back in: “But everyone is like, ‘I fucking hate that band! I hate them so much! Why can’t they fucking release the record?!’ People are so angry. We went to Poland, and I saw on a forum that people were like, ‘Don’t come here before you release your fucking record!’ That makes me feel welcome!”
Truth is, this conversation happened six months ago (on the tail end of a trip to Scandinavia for Oslo’s By:larm Festival), and now even more time has passed—still with no LP. But last week, a track from the pair finally surfaced, which, Markstedt tells us by email, will hopefully be the lead single from this elusive debut full-length. “It would be wonderful if we do manage to finish the record without killing each other, though!” he adds. Ironically, the track is called “It Feels Good to Be Around You,” but presumably it’s not about their appreciation for one another.
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But, who knows? Markstedt and Karlsson have been known to pull their fair share of jokes. In fact, on the day that they met me at Hotel Royal in their home base of Gothenburg back in February, they arrived wearing matching cream cable-knit sweaters with chambray shirts buttoned up to the neck, which they insisted—deadpan—was unintentional. And when we sat down to lunch at a nearby Indian restaurant, as some random fusion-jazz track played from the speakers above, Markstedt kidded, “Obviously, someone has illegally downloaded the new Air France album.”
Not that people probably aren’t trying to, even if said record doesn’t exist yet. To be sure, if the web release of “It Feels Good to Be Around You” is any clue, the band has grossly underestimated its own popularity. To date, Air France, after being together for five years now, has only put out two EPs and a couple of singles, all on Gothenburg label Sincerely Yours, run by The Tough Alliance’s Eric Berglund. The band’s blissed-out, Balearic pop sound, which the duo has admitted is strongly influenced by St. Etienne and other British dance and R&B acts (they even yanked lyrics from Lisa Stansfield for their sunny “Beach Party” tune back in 2006), seems to appeal equally to indie rock fans and post-ravers looking for a calming antidote to beat-oriented tracks. And it’s hardly surprising given what they’re into.
“Beach Party”
“I’m really into the music that you hear today at clubs and on blogs,” says Karlsson, who’s recently taken a liking to Jamie xx and xxxy. “I spent the years between 17 and 23 just listening to the history of rock music, and I think I just wanted something else,” he says of his interest in electronic music. But raves were never part of the equation. “We had this friend who always went to raves up in the woods,” Markstedt explains. “And he took Viagra and had sex all night, but I was too sensitive [to go]. He asked me a bunch of times to come, and I wanted to so bad, but I was too scared.”
That said, they do see the new album, which, as of February, had about eight tracks completed, as a bit of a departure. “The other one sounded more organic, with flutes and things. I think the new record will sound more ravey, like plastic,” says Karlsson. “I wish we could be faster with it and the writing process,” he continues. “We are quite slow. I don’t know why.”
In true Air France form, one always has a witty quip when the other trails off: “Because we are quite bad!” Markstedt finishes. “We don’t know any chords so we have to, like, build it. Like, make maps for different chords [laughs].
“That’s not true,” Karlsson objects. “We can play if we want, but if someone said to us, ‘Play A,’ we don’t know what A is. I think the new record is quite a bit like we are. We’re trying to experiment with new rhythms, because we’ve been listening a lot to music from England, like dubstep and garage. I don’t want to do a record like before. I want a new sound, but have Air France in it. I don’t want to repeat myself.”
The new record, which is being produced primarily with Cubase and Reason, is said to feature a couple of vocalists, and the single, “It Feels Good to Be Around You,” was mixed by Manchester producer/remixer Star Slinger. “Hopefully it will be more aggressive, but still pretty,” Markstedt offers. “The sensitivity must remain, but I hope we can be more direct.” There’s also a plan to tour at some point, though that seems even further into the future than the record’s actual release.
“We played live once,” says Karlsson. And how did it go? “Bad! The electrical guy pulled the plug after a song and a half… It was at a festival; it was really small and indie, with little kids running around. We invited our friends up, and after two songs it was like chaos.
“It’s so strange that you have to be a good live band and a good band on record, too,” Karlsson muses. “I think one of the reasons why we don’t do live concerts is to try to make people think that we don’t really have to do concerts, but people don’t reflect in that way.”
“I think it comes down to [the fact that] we’re not that good of musicians,” admits Markstedt. “We don’t want to do this playback thing, and just press play and sing over top… which is what we’re gonna have to do anyways [laughs], because I don’t see how we can do it otherwise.”
Karlsson’s plan, if he has to have one, is a bit more whimsical. “I want to have a painter sitting on the stage painting a picture, and I want someone trying to connect with the audience in some way… a very psychedelic concert [laughs]. I want people to be like, ‘Was that a concert? Like, have they played?'”
“‘When are Air France playing?'” Markstedt asks in a mock tone, before his partner responds: “‘They just played!’ We are an arty band!”
Air France’s LP is expected sometime later this year. To celebrate the release of their new single, they’ll be serving breakfast sandwiches this Saturday, August 13 at noon at Gothenburg’s Skansen Kronan. Thanks to VisitSweden and Hotel Royal in Gothenburg for assistance in making this piece possible.
Big Dada recently released the third EP (and second for the label) from burgeoning London-based producer Offshore. Here we have a track from his new EP, Pacer, which brings together massive bass, menacing percussion, and a sparse, string-like melody for a mechanically driven outing that exists somewhere in the ever-growing regions of bass music. This tune is a little uncharacteristic of Offshore’s output to date, which usually finds the Londoner diving into more chord and melody-popluated territory, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing to have the focus put on the young man’s drum programming for a change. Who knows what evil pieces of machinery inspired, or perhaps were sampled to make, the intensely percussive layers? And are those tuned timpanis we hear firing off in the background? Nice. The Pacer EP is out now, and will be followed by another EP and an eventual LP in early 2012.
Mysterious UK IDM pioneers and noted Autechre cohorts Gescom have announced the impending release of their first musical offering since 2007’s A1 – D1, the five-track Skull Snap EP. The Skam-affiliated Skullsnap imprint will drop the limited-edition record on August 22, but you can check out the artwork and preview each track before then, below. (via FACT)
About midway through last year, we profiled the up-and-coming London four-piece Trailer Trash Tracys, who at the time were preparing to release their debut album the following fall. Well, it’s been well over a year now and although an LP has yet to surface, we finally have a new slice of gooey, shoegazey goodness in the form of “Dies in 55,” which is said to serve as a taste of things to come on the group’s—drum roll please—debut full-length for Domino sister-label Double Six. We’ve got a good while before that release hits the streets (no official date has been set by the label, just a promise of “early 2012”), but we’re not complaining, as this cascading piece of blissfully melodic art-pop is enough to hold us over for the time being. (via Pitchfork)
A little over a month ago, the Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team (a.k.a. Sound Pellegrino label heads Teki Latex and Orgasmic) dropped a single for their percussive burner “Bassface” (check the video here). Now we find Ben Westbeech reworking the tune under his Breach handle, which means an even darker, more propulsive version of “Bassface” is at hand, complete with rolling tuned toms, brimming synth work, and even more low end than its orginal counterpart. Mr. Westbeech’s version of the track can be found on the recently released Bassface Remixes EP (artwork above), which also includes remixes from Aquarius Heaven, French Fries, and Ardalan. Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team is about to kick off a tour throughout North America, check the dates after the jump.
Tour Dates: August 11 Los Angeles CA – The Central August 12 San Francisco CA – SOM Bar August 13 New York City NY – Good Peoples Summer Sail August 18 Baltimore MD – Posh Cavern (a.k.a. Red Maple) August 19 Montreal QC – Blue Dog August 20 Toronto ON – Wrong Bar
We’ve been enjoying the steady stream of remixes coming from Radiohead’s latest LP by the likes of Pearson Sound, Lone (pictured above), and Jacques Greene, so you could say we’re happy to see that there are plenty more on the way. On October 11, TBD Records will release the culmination of the musical giant’s remix series with a double-disc compilation of 19 versions of songs from The King of Limbs. The tracks are presented in chronological order from the time they were originally released on vinyl, starting with Caribou’s version of “Little by Little,” ending with “Lotus Flower (SBTRKT Remix),” and filled out by tunes from Four Tet, Shed, Jamie xx, Modeselektor, Blawan, Mark Pritchard, and more. You can check out the full tracklist of TKOL RMX 1234567 below.
Disc One: “Little by Little (Caribou Remix)” “Lotus Flower (Jacques Greene Remix)” “Morning Mr. Magpie (Nathan Fake Remix)” “Bloom (Harmonic 313 Remix)” “Bloom (Mark Pritchard Remix)” “Feral (Lone Remix)” “Morning Mr. Magpie (Pearson Sound’s Scavenger Remix)” “Separator (Four Tet Remix)”
Disc Twp: “Give Up the Ghost (Thriller’s Houseghost Remix)” “Codex (Illum Sphere Remix)” “Little by Little (Shed Remix)” “Give up the Ghost (Brokenchord Remix)” “The King of Limbs (Altrice Remix)” “Bloom (Blawan Remix)” “Morning Mr. Magpie (Modeselektor’s Good Evening Mrs. Magpie Remix)” “Bloom (Objekt Remix)” “Bloom (Jamie xx Rework)” “Separator (Anstam Remix)” “Lotus Flower (SBTRKT Remix)”
It’s no secret that Gavin Russom is an “out there” fellow. After all, he’s the same guy who littered the early DFA catalog with lengthy, often beatless, psychedelic synthesizer jams that had more in common with the celestial explorations of Tangerine Dream than the early-’00s NYC dance-punk scene. In the years that have followed, he’s proved to be a sort of shape-shifter, releasing more dancefloor-inclined work—that was often still quite out of the ordinary—under the names Black Leotard Front, Black Meteoric Star, and The Crystal Ark. Now, he’s come back to his own name and released “Night Sky,” an effort that takes his weirdness to a whole new level.
“Night Sky” begins in unassuming fashion, with a gradually swelling analog-synth melody that could have been lifted from an old Nintendo game. About two and a half minutes into the song, some Bono-esque vocals enter the mix, surprisingly delivered by Russom himself. From there, things go downhill, particularly when some cringe-worthy classic-rock guitar licks are added to the proceedings. Worst of all, the song just keeps going… and going, eventually passing the 13-minute mark before reaching its finale. Along the way, the track just becomes more and more ostentatious with a pulsing techno beat, assorted organic percussion, and a ridiculous shouted “We are the night!” vocal refrain. The whole thing is like an acid trip—a bad one, the kind that you just want to be over.
The b-side fares much better, as Mutant Beat Dance—a collaboration between Beau Wanzer and Melvin Oliphant III (a.k.a. Traxx)—strips out the bombast and cuts “Night Sky” down to a much more manageable eight-plus minutes. There’s barely a trace of Russom’s vocals or psychedelic flourishes, as the Chicago-based duo instead builds an edgy, workmanlike techno number that leans heavily on a litany of vintage drum-machine and synth sounds. In all honesty, the “Mutant Beat Dance Adjustment” bears little resemblance to the original “Night Sky,” which is probably why it’s the far superior offering on this 12″.
With a trail of blown-out speaker cabinets and shocked dancefloors in his wake, UK-based producer and one third owner of Hessle Audio, Pangaea has had a solid string of releases since he first started dropping tracks in 2007. Now, he’s back with a brand-new single, “Hex” b/w “Fatalist,” on Untold‘s Hemlock Recordings. Channeling the sound of jungle in ’92 through the filter of today’s broken rhythms, Pangaea allows the West Indian aspect of his music to emerge and assume the form of manic toasting, ‘verbed-out rimshots, and deep, bowel-affecting bass. “Hex” b/w “Fatalist” drops September 12, but in the meantime check out the album art and tracklisting below.
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Toronto house revivalists Azari & III, who we featured late last year in this piece, have just announced that their new self-titled album is streaming via Modular’s SoundCloud. Check it all out after the jump.
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