Night Slugs co-founder and bass music impresario L-Vis 1990 has announced he will release his debut LP on September 26 via PMR Records. Neon Dreams is a 15-track LP featuring a slew of solo work from James Connolly and a handful of collaborative tracks produced with the likes of Para One, Teki Latex, Julio Bashmore, and Javeon McCarthy, only one of which—”Forever You”—has been previously released. Each of the tunes were composed using solely hardware (classic analog synths, a Roland TR-707, and the like), and are described by L-Vis 1990 as an attempt to “[recapture the] elements that made me fall in love with dance music all those years ago.” You can check out the full tracklist for Neon Dreams below.
01. Vague Flashes ft. Corey Black 02. Forever You ft. Javeon McCarthy
03. The Beach 04. I Feel It 05. Play It Cool ft. Samantha Lim 06. Shy Light ft. Para One & Teki Latex 07. Cruisin’ 08. Feel The Void ft. Para One & Teki Latex 09. Illusions 10. Tonight 11. Here With You ft. Para One & Teki Latex 12. Lost In Love ft. Javeon McCarthy 13. True Romance 14. One More Day ft. Javeon McCarthy & Julio Bashmore 15. Neon Dreams
Outside of a few notable exceptions (Egyptrixx and Jacques Greene spring immediately to mind), the Great White North hasn’t been particularly well represented when it comes to the whole post-dubstep/garage scene. 32-year-old Newfoundland native Matthew Hiscock is doing his part to change that, turning out impressively polished, garage-inspired productions as Hissy Fit, not to mention more eclectic offerings under his own name and glacial house music as North Atlantic. Last year saw the release of his Crosstrainers EP on Phuturelabs and the “Berry” 12″ on Swing and Skip, and Hiscock made a solid live appearance at this year’s MUTEK festival.
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About two months ago, YACHT debuted the video for “Utopia/Dystopia (The Earth is On Fire),” the new single from the group’s brand-new LP, Shangri-La, on DFA. With that album out now digitally and slated for vinyl release soon, YACHT has teamed up with fellow travellers White Rainbow, Jeffrey Jerusalem, and The Miracles Club to drop Utopia Remixes, a three-track remix EP. To whet our appetites, The Miracles Club’s predictably housey remix is being offered up as a teaser. Taking the original’s spunky Devo riffing and filtering it through an ethereal, bongo-heavy ’90s tribal aesthetic, The Miracles Club succeeds in creating a laid-back, late-morning house track.
Over the course of one proper full-length and a slew of genre-testing singles, London producer Zomby has proven, above all else, that he’s all about atmosphere. His 2008 self-titled EP for Hyperdub didn’t concern itself with the label’s strong suit at the time—dubstep, that is—nor did it revel too heavily in its cheap, 8-bit production ethos, instead drumming up a skittery vibe that was both dubwise and, maybe unwillingly, technologically didactic. The same can be said for Where Were U in 92?, a solid nod to rave’s and breakbeat hardcore’s past that didn’t take itself too seriously, while still managing to evoke the era’s euphoric feeling, albeit almost from an ethno-musicologist’s vantage point. (He’s clearly an apt pupil of pirate radio’s history, despite his rather young age.) Both records had their roots firmly planted on the dancefloor, but with Dedication, Zomby’s first release for the legendary indie label 4AD, he’s turned increasingly inward—and it’s an entirely welcome trajectory.
While Dedication wasn’t made with his recently deceased father in mind—its producer swears that he keeps his personal and musical lives separate, and that these tracks were recorded mostly before his father’s passing—its poignantly emotive sound makes it hard to listen to without thinking about in that context. “Natalia’s Song,” which made the blog rounds in recent months, takes a vocal sample from Irina Dubtzova (the winner of a Russian American Idol-type show) and makes something gorgeous as he chops it up and places it over an insistent garage-y click and layers of melodious synths. It’s by far the longest song on the record, and it’s the only one that breaches the four-minute mark. In fact, most of these 16 tracks hardly reach two minutes, and when it comes to the shorter bits, Zomby proves that he recognizes the beauty of the song—not just the track—almost like he’s dripping droplets of flavor on your tongue for a quick high, leaving you wanting so much more, especially in the case of the tribal “Salamander” (52 seconds), or the sizzling “Lucifer” (57 seconds), whose Timbaland-style synth riff burns so hot that you half expect an MC to jump on it. These song sketches and ideas come from all angles, but they always pay close attention to melody and tone.
But more to the point of atmosphere, Dedication nods to all sorts of soundscapers from UK music’s history, whether it’s R&B’s slick and sultry sounds, “Natalia’s Song”‘s contemplative underpinning (think ’90s rockers The Beautiful South), or the record’s many looks toward Olive’s club classic “You’re Not Alone” (remember those trancey but chill synths?) There’s even a somber piano number, entitled “Basquiat,” that thickens the primarily instrumental stew. The only thing holding this album back is the somewhat awkward-feeling “Things Fall Apart”, which was written and produced with Panda Bear (a.k.a. Noah Lennox), who dresses the minimalist-dubstep tune with some detached, almost childish-sounding vocals. That single misstep aside, Dedication is one incredible record from front to back, so full of feeling, forward momentum, and impeccable programming that it honors all aspects of Zomby’s past—whether musical, familial, or otherwise.
Dave Pezzner, the multi-talented house producer and Pacific Northwest regional laptop champion, has just announced that he will be releasing his next EP, One More, on RebelLion, Crosstown Rebels’ brand-new underground offshoot. This will be the first vinyl release since The Tracks Are Alive, his debut LP on Freerange. Continuing in the direction that he cultivated with that release as well as earlier singles on Freerange and OM, One More promises to deliver four tracks of the kind of carefully considered deep tech-house that we’ve come to expect from Pezzner. One More will see release on August 15, but in the meantime you can review the tracklist below.
1. One More 2. Try It Again feat. Nneka Gryffyn 3. Native Language 4. Not A Good Idea
It’s surprising that amidst all the effort in recent years to revive aspects of Chicago house and New York garage that there has not been as much of a focus on the sonics and ethos of classic Detroit techno. Granted, techno’s alien sound palette, complex rhythmic structure, and inherent stance against nostalgia make it a tough candidate for revival. That being said, there are still people giving it a shot, such as German-based producer Elpierro. Taken from his newest EP, Traralgon, “Torquato” features a blend of first-wave techno sounds with early IDM ambient exploration. The track drives along a desolate moonscape developed by freezing pads and a bassline so deep, it’s almost inaudible. Traralgon comes out August 3 on Parity.
Here, we have a patently woozy and disjointed remix by UK up-and-comer Lapalux (pictured above), this time of “Plage” by Spanish outfit Crystal Fighters. The Pictures Music cohort recently unloaded a whole mess of remixes via his SoundCloud account, and this one in particular caught our ear. Something about the way producer Stuart Howard throws everything into the mix at once to create perfectly haphazard rhythms and ambiguous melodies is enticing, even more so when they finally coalesce into a subtly infectious groove.
Summer is, for all intents and purposes, upon us, and that can only mean one thing (as far as this news story is concerned, anyway): The annual Mad Decent Block Party is about to hit the streets of the US. This year finds Diplo and his band of musical merrymakers travelling to New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles to take over designated intersections in the name of, well, partying. Performers include Gang Gang Dance (pictured above), DJ Sega, Das Racist, Paul Devro, Claude VonStroke, Nadastrom, Lunice, Sinden, Major Lazer, surprise guests, and many more, and each party is absolutely free. You can check out the full list of dates and locations below.
July 30 – New York The South Street Seaport, Pier 17 Manhattan Gang Gang Dance Zeds Dead Claude VonStroke BAIO (Vampire Weekend DJ set) The Hood Internet Bosco Delrey PO PO
August 6 – Philadelphia Starlight Ballroom, 460 N 9th Street Diplo Das Racist PO PO DJ Sega Brick Bandits Paul Devro Kito Luvstep (Dirty South Joe & Flufftronix)
August 13 – Chicago Wicker Park area, N Milwaukee Ave from N Western Ave to N Oakley Ave Dillon Francis Dawn Golden & Rosy Cross Bosco Delrey Reptar Lunice DJ Benzi
August 20 – Los Angeles Premiere Event Center, 613 Imperial St Major Lazer Lunice Sinden Bosco Delrey Death Grips Kito Derek Allen Jillionaire
About a month after we premiered the music video for Surrey-based solo act Vondelpark‘s “Camels”, the world is also treated to a full listen of his latest EP, the follow-up to last year’s Sauna EP, which is curiously called nyc stuff and nyc bags. Thanks to Pitchfork for the heads-up on this one, and sharing the stream of Vondelpark’s new record before it drops on July 18 via R&S.
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Veteran Stockholm DJ/producer Axel Boman has announced he’ll soon be releasing an EP on Hypercolour‘s Glass Table imprint. The Lucky Tiger EP features three original tunes by Boman, along with a remix of “Esteban Peligro” by UK bass patrons Appleblim & Al Tourettes, and precedes a full-length album coming later in 2011. Before Boman’s EP drops next month, you can check out the full tracklist and artwork for it below.
