Anticipation is high for the forthcoming debut full-length from Toronto quartet Azari & III, a sentiment only boosted by this week’s release of the album’s first single, “Manic.” Apparently, Azari & III isn’t too interested in giving its fans a chance to calm down, because the group has now unveiled a brand-new video for the song. The relatively bare-bones clip features a whole lot of vocalists Starving Yet Full and Fritz Helder hamming it up for the cameras, along with images of everything from scantily clad ladies to antiquated televisions and animal skeletons. Azari & III will be released on August 30.
SBTRKT Gears Up for Fall North American Tour
Following up on the (somewhat surprising) success of his self-titled debut album, masked UK bass maestro SBTRKT is getting ready to visit American shores this autumn. Beginning in late October, he’ll be criss-crossing the continent for a couple weeks of shows, including a few dates with MPC prodigy AraabMUZIK. He’s also put together a snazzy little video to help get North American fans hyped. Give it a look and check out the full list of dates below.
SBTRKT LIVE DATES:
10/25 Vancouver, BC – Fortune Sound Club
10/26 Seattle, WA – Neptune
10/27 San Francisco, CA – 103 Harriet
10/28 Los Angeles, CA – HARDfest
10/29 Asheville, NC – Moogfest
10/30 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer *
10/31 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom *
11/1 Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall Of Williamsburg
11/2 Boston, MA – Royale *
11/3 Toronto, ONT – The Hoxton *
11/4 Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
11/5 Denver, CO – Bluebird
* with AraabMUZIK
Plaid Returns to Warp With New LP, Plan North American Tour
The seminal electronic duo of Andy Turner and Ed Handley (a.k.a. Plaid) are set to return with their first studio album in eight years for the fabled Warp imprint. Not that the pair hasn’t been active since releasing Spokes back in 2003. They’ve been busy crafting soundtracks for various films, touring, and working on an ambitious audio-visual project called Greedy Baby, but now they have officially announced a new LP to be released September 27, entitled Scintilli. You can get the first taste of what’s to come via the artsy underwater video for “35 Summers” below, where you’ll also find the artwork, tracklist, and the duo’s November tour dates.
Tracklist:
01 missing
02 eye robot
03 thank
04 unbank
05 tender hooks
06 craft nine
07 sömnl
08 founded
09 talk to us
10 35 summers
11 african woods
12 upgrade
13 at last
Tour Dates:
November 09 Montreal, QC – SAT
November 10 Toronto, ON – Wrongbar
November 11 New York, NY – LPR
November 12 Boston, MA – Paradise
November 13 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
November 15 Houston, TX – Stereo Live
November 16 Austin, TX – ND Studios
November 18 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
November 19 Denver, CO – Bluebird
November 21 Vancouver, BC – Biltmore
November 22 Seattle, WA – Neumos
November 23 Portland, OR – Holocene
November 25 San Francisco, CA – Mezzanine
November 26 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey
Native Instruments Announces New Versions of Komplete and Kontakt
Berlin-based software and hardware developers Native Instruments have announced the forthcoming release of updated versions for the Komplete and Kontakt series of programs. Komplete 8, the new version of the all-encompassing bundle of the company’s virtual instruments and effects, comes with the latest versions of 27 pieces of software (including Absynth, Reaktor, FM8, Massive, and more), 11,000 presets, and over 100 GB of samples. The company will also be releasing a product they are calling Komplete Ultimate for the first time. The “Ultimate” package is an even more comprehensive version of Komplete 8, coming loaded with 50 Native Instruments products,13,000 sounds, and 240 GB of sample content on a dedicated USB 2.0 hard drive. Both Komplete and Komplete Ultimate will include a new version of the sampling software Kontakt. The fifth update to the widely used program is said to feature “enhanced sound shaping through a host of new high-quality filters and studio-grade effect algorithms, superior time-stretching, vintage sampling modes, and more,” as well as a 43 GB factory library with eight separate instrument collections. Kontakt 5, Komplete 8, and Komplete Ultimate 8, will be available starting in September. Check the Native Instruments site for more details.
Benedek “That’s My Jam (Benedek’s Midnight Crusier Mix)”
Los Angeles native Benedek is a few weeks away from releasing his debut EP, That’s My Jam!, and has offered up this slow, G-funkin’ take on his own tune to help spread the word. Free of the outlandish Dam-Funk vocals which grace the EP’s title track, this version allows for the focus to be on Benedek’s impressive synth work, which is marked by space-age melodies and miniature keyboard pops and sizzles (not to mention some sweet—if not synthesized—sax appearances). Where the original finds Dam-Funk and Benedek teaming up for a song about a night in the club, this solo endeavor seems to be the counterpart which fits in at the end of that story, when Benedek’s on his way back after a long night of dancing, and it’s just him and some ladies and/or homies heading home—in a spaceship. The That’s My Jam! EP hits the streets in digital and 7″ vinyl formats on August 16.
Amon Tobin Adds More Dates for ISAM Tour, Prepares to Hit North America
Amon Tobin‘s ambitious live audio/visual experience (which revolves around the concepts and music of his recent ISAM album) has been garnering quite the buzz while trotting around Europe, and now the veteran sonic adventurer is set—along with his giant geometrical stage and stunning visuals (a slice of which is pictured above)—to descend on North America starting in Vancouver at the end of September. You’ll find the complete list of dates below, along with a video that explains a bit about the making of the show and gives some enticing previews as to what to expect. Sorry, LA—looks like your show is already sold out, but the rest of the North American region is encouraged to grab tickets before it’s too late.
Tour Dates:
September 28 Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre
September 20 Seattle, WA – Paramount Theatre (Part of Decibel Festival)
October 01 San Francisco, CA – The Warfield
October 16 Los Angeles, CA – The Henry Fonda Theater (Sold Out)
October 18 Boulder, CO – Boulder Theatre
October 21 Chicago, IL – Congress Theatre
October 23 Toronto, ON – Opera House
October 24 Montreal, QC – Metropolis
October 25 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Masonic Temple (Sold Out)
October 26 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Masonic Temple
October 28 Asheville, NC – Moog Fest
Matthew Dear Shares New Video, Prepares for Summer Live Dates
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Yes, it has been over a year since Matthew Dear unleashed Black City on the world, and, yes, its twisted, dark dance-pop still stands as one of the Ghostly artist’s most accomplished works to date. If you needed a reminder of this fact, then this stunning, colorless video for the album’s song “Slowdance,” from director Charles Bergquist, should do the trick. Oh, and did we mention Dear has a set of summer dates scheduled around the world? After watching the video, you can check those below.
Matthew Dear Tour Dates:
August 05 Katowice, PL – Off Festival
August 06 London, UK – Field Day Festival
August 07 Aulnoye, FR – Les Nuit Secretes
August 10 Oslo, NO – Oya Festival
August 10 Oslo, NO – Jaeger (DJ SET)
August 12 Helsinki, FI – Flow Festival
August 13 Gothenburg, SW – Way Out West Festival
August 14 Munich, DE – Harry Klein (DJ SET)
August 19 Biddinghuizen, NL – Lowlands Festival
August 20 Hasselt, BE – Pukkelpop Festival
August 21 Ibiza, ES – Space (DJ set)
October 28 Asheville, NC – Moogfest
Flume “Sleepless (Feat. Anthony For Cleopatra)”
Preceded by a ten-second dissonant fake-out intro, this track from 19-year-old, Sydney-based up-and-comer Flume is a solid piece of soulful beat work. Acting as the title track for his recently released debut EP (artwork above), “Sleepless” moves at a steady chillwave-ish pace with no shortage of lush chords or skillfully pitched vocal glitches (chops of Anthony For Cleopatra we presume) to float alongside the irresistible bassline and head-nod-worthy drum programming. The young Australian essentially manipulates the same handful of sounds throughout the course of the tune, building up and breaking down the elements to keep things moving—and we’re just fine with that. If you’ve got a beautiful concoction of warm, soulful tones, why mess with it too much? Sounds like Flume agrees.
Hudson Mohawke Satin Panthers EP
Hudson Mohawke has been relatively quiet on the production front since the release of his debut full-length, Butter, in late 2009. Although less than two years have passed, the musical landscape for bass music has certainly shifted, with many producers who were similarly weaned on dubstep and hip-hop moving in a more house- and techno-oriented direction. Even those who continue to dabble in hip-hop and R&B tempos seem to have migrated toward the increasingly abstract and experimental sounds being championed by the so-called beat scene and the extended Low End Theory family. So where does that leave Hudson Mohawke, the former turntablist with a penchant for crafting oddball, bass-loaded tunes that nonetheless slap hard in the club?
If the five tracks on Satin Panthers are any indication, it appears that the 25-year-old Glaswegian is doing the same thing he’s always done, only better. Butter was a fine effort, yet the 18-track album undoubtedly suffered from some bloat. Satin Panthers finds Mohawke operating in a similar sonic space, only now his focus is razor-sharp. From a percussion standpoint, the EP is strongly rooted in modern hip-hop and R&B with its punchy, club-ready drum patterns and thick low end. That said, HudMo hasn’t gone mainstream, as Satin Panthers is full of head-turning moments and melodic eccentricity. The beats on “Thunder Bay” hit hard, but the song is propelled by a menacing, almost-alien horn melody and filled out by dramatic synths and expertly chopped vocal snippets. “Cbat” is even weirder, a stripped-down tune with little more than standard boom-bap and a simple melody, which Mohawke repeatedly twists, turns, and tweaks over the song’s three minutes. “All Your Love” might be the best song here, a hyperactive number that flips early-’90s piano house into an infectiously percussive pop track. Opener “Octan” is the only drum-free selection, although it features some sparkling synth work, while “Thank You” closes out the EP on a similarly synth-heavy note, albeit one flanked by some frenetic beat work.
Overall, Satin Panthers is an excellent new entry in the Hudson Mohawke discography, a case in which an artist stayed the stylistic course and improved on an already-successful formula. Most importantly, while Butter tended to drag, Satin Panthers leaves the listener wanting more, which just might be Hudson Mowhawke’s biggest achievement of all.
Magda, Troy Pierce, and Marc Houle Leave Minus, Focus On Own Label
Richie Hawtin’s Minus imprint has served as a long and fruitful home for techno veterans Magda (pictured above), Troy Pierce, and Marc Houle, but now the three DJs/producers have announced they will be investing time into their own label, Items & Things, and using it as the platform to release forthcoming projects. Citing a want to take their career paths in their own hands and having complete control to “release what we want, and decide the direction of the label,” in an interview with Resident Advisor, it appears the three long-standing Minus artists are not completely cutting ties with the label, but rather moving on to a new era of output. Where exactly this change of focus will take the Items & Things label heads’ work is still yet to be seen, but we’re told, “there’s already a great deal of activity planned over the next year, with forthcoming releases from Magda, Marc and Troy, and from new acts like Madato, Danny Benedettini, Tomas More & Andy Martin, as well as past label heroes, Click Box.” You can grab a first taste of Danny Benedettini here.
