Venice Calypso “Drifting”

UK bass imprint Senseless recently celebrated five years of dropping club-ready tunes from the likes of Warrior Queen, Pacheko, Jack Sparrow, and Kanji Kinetic, and continue with the festivities with impending release of a five-part, limited-edition music and art series called Synesthesia. The first installment comes on July 25, a three-track 12″ with hand-screened artwork and an exclusive insert, not to mention fiery cuts from The Phantom, Rossi B & Luca, and, featured here, Venice Calypso. The London-based artist’s “Drifting” kicks off that slab of vinyl, and is a prime example of the skittering, next-level club music you can expect from Senseless’ forthcoming series, which is apparently all about the “marriage of art and music” and “the five senses.” Look for the other four parts of this endeavor in the following nine months or so.

Drifting

Drifting

Throbbing Gristle Reactivate Industrial Records, Plan Reissues

After the untimely death of founding member Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson late last year, the future of pioneering industrial outfit Throbbing Gristle was thrown into question. Thanks to a new post on the band’s website, that question has been partially answered. Most importantly, the remaining members have elected to no longer perform live as Throbbing Gristle, following the sentiments of a statement made by Christopherson prior to his passing, who remarked that it would not be “possible for any changed band or variation of personnel to perform live as Throbbing Gristle without all the original four of us on stage.” While TG diehards might be disappointed by that news, the group has not gone completely dormant. As detailed on their website, the band’s contract with Mute Records expired last year, and the group has now chosen to reactivate its dormant Industrial Records imprint, which will be the sole representative for selling Throbbing Gristle’s music. Furthermore, on September 26 the label will be releasing a series of remastered, deluxe vinyl reissues of TG albums The Second Annual Report, D.O.A. The Third & Final Report, Heathen Earth, 20 Jazz Funk Greats, and Throbbing Gristle’s Greatest Hits. The remastered albums will also be available digitally and on CD.

Podcast 203: Fred P. a.k.a. Black Jazz Consortium

Although it seems like his name has only risen to prominence in the past few years, New York City’s Fred P. (a.k.a. Black Jazz Consortium) is no newcomer. After quietly logging time and paying his dues in the New York DJ circuit, the man began turning out deep, thoughtful, jazz- and soul-infused house that eventually caught the ear of artists like Move D and DJ Jus-Ed. Most of Fred P.’s output has been released on his own Soul People Music imprint, although he’s also dropped singles on labels such as Underground Quality, Strength Music, and Esperanza. We here at XLR8R have actually been pestering Fred P. to put together an exclusive mix for our podcast series for quite some time, so we’re thrilled that he’s finally delivered. His mix goes deeper than many of our previous offerings, but that’s the idea. It’s a wonderfully curated, impeccably mixed, and intrinsically soulful listen that is nonetheless well-suited for the dancefloor. Essentially, it’s a perfect example of what Fred P. is all about.

01 Urban Soul “Alright” (Polar)
02 XDB “Sotarin” (Sistrum)
03 Tazz “Lost” (Underground Quality)
04 Damon Wild “Avion Return (Marcel Dettmann Mix)” (Synewave)
05 Marcelus “Perception” (Planet E)
06 Efdemin “Plenum” (Kann)
07 The Martinez Brothers “The Causeway” (Objectivity)
08 Agnes “You Did Naughty?” (HuddTraxx)
09 Paris Underground Trax “NYC Underground” (MILU)
10 Kink “Leko” (Burek)
11 Fumiya Tanaka “Ring Bell” (Sundance)
12 DJ QU “Everybody’s Dark” (Soul People)
13 Session View “Orange” (Enypnion)
14 Fred P. “In Between Gates (Fred P. Reshape)” (Soul People)

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XLR8R_Podcast_Fred_P_2011_06_21

Kidnap Kid “If (Jamie Grind Remix)”

UK producer Matt Kidnap (a.k.a. Kidnap Kid, although his given name seems to be enough on its own) recently released an EP for the Squelch and Clap imprint entitled The Great Confusion, which featured the original version of “If.” Somewhere down the line, Kidnap tapped fellow Leeds-based producer Jamie Grind (pictured above) to work some remix magic on the track and it appears that Grind has taken to the task swimmingly. Leaving behind the traces of juke that characterized his last EP (aptly titled Footwork), Grind instead locks “If” down further into its rolling house vibe with an army of slow-moving chords and an irresistible shuffle. He also manages to hone in on a few of the vocal samples sprinkled throughout the original version, utilizing them for both rhythmic and melodic purposes and placing them just outside the tune’s dazzling array of swirling synths. We’re not sure how this syrupy reimagining didn’t make it onto the EP alongside remixes from Tête de Tigre and Arcade, but we’re certainly glad it still found its way to us.

If (Jamie Grind Remix)

John Tejada Parabolas

The pairing of John Tejada and Kompakt is not a surprising one, with both parties holding arguably legendary status within the techno world. Tejada is a prolific chameleon of sorts, having releases to his name on a number of respected labels (Plug Research, Immigrant, ~scape, Poker Flat) over the past ten years while also running the excellent Palette imprint, where he’s often found crafting adventurous 12″s along with the likes of Josh Humphrey, Justin Maxwell, and more. Yet the LA-based producer remains most widely known for his 2004 tech-house anthem “Sweat on the Walls,” a stellar track that nonetheless only highlights a small section of the man’s talent, as proven by his newest full-length, Parabolas.

The LP jumps in without hesitation, kicking into gear with the bouncing “Farther and Fainter,” a tune with the familiar Tejada sound of crisp chord progressions paired with glistening, percussive techno. Then Parabolas begins to stretch its ambitions, first passing through a sparkling ambient interlude before handing us off to the more customary stylings of the veteran producer. Tracks like “Mechanized” and “Hollow Hemispheres” really show off Tejada’s melodic flair as he flawlessly weaves syncopated bleeps and bloops around the songs’ driving core, effectively blurring the line between melody and percussion. The album really seems to click on tracks like “The Living Night” and “Hollow Hemispheres,” where we find Tejada aligning himself with the tried and true Kompakt aesthetic, exploring pockets where straightforward techno fuses with pop sensibilities to create poignant, moving electronic music. As in any Tejada-related project, the sound quality of the album is superb, showcasing how this veteran producer has truly refined his sonic palette over time to create stunningly clean, intense music densely populated with fine aural details. That said, Parabolas is not a genre-defining or boundary-breaking outing, but Tejada has done that before. Now it seems he’s intent on honing his craft, chipping away at his earlier ideas and making ever more mesmerizing, efficient techno with every release.

Listen to Clams Casino’s FACT Mix

At the risk of sounding like complete and utter fanboys, we have yet another piece of Clams Casino music material for you to aurally imbibe. This time it’s a DJ set that the New Jersey producer crafted for FACT, and quite a solid one, might we add. We knew Michael Vople was into hip-hop, but the Tri Angle-signed tunesmith really went for it this time with a 47-minute podcast made up of mostly Top 40-friendly rap tunes from the likes of DMX and Gucci Mane. You can stream that mix below, and check out the original feature, which comes with a decent Q & A, here.

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Southern Shores “Night is Young”

The up-and-coming “experimental-pop” label known as Cascine has recently added a fresh band to its slowly growing roster, Nova Scotian duo Southern Shores. Producers Jamie Townsend’s and Den Dalton’s debut EP for the label is scheduled to drop on July 12, but before then, we’re treated to the lush sounds of “Night is Young.” The track firmly roots the band in musical territory among the likes of Delorean, Air France, and labelmate Chad Valley, as we hear Southern Shores mining the blissful sounds of Balearic dance music and soulful vocal samples to great effect. You can catch this upbeat tune amongst five other tastefully ecstatic dance-pop productions when the pair’s Atlantic EP is released.

Night Is Young

Star Eyes “Ride or Die”

Brooklyn’s Star Eyes unveiled a new EP entitled White Gloves (artwork above) earlier this month on the Trouble & Bass imprint, of which she is a founding member. Building upon the haunted-house vibe of her last EP, Disappear, this cut from Star Eyes’ newest release is straight-up sinister. With catastrophically giant snares leading the charge, the evil bass line is not far behind, accompanied by distant vocal glitches and Star Eyes’ own vocal refrain, “You make me loose my mind.” Existing somewhere between the worlds of grimey house and utterly demonic bass music, “Ride or Die” is more of a stomper than a stepper, and definitely something that leans more towards the late-night tip, as only the baddest of badmen could even imagine playing a tune this heavy early in the evening.

Ride or Die

Listen to SBTRKT’s Debut LP Now

If you’ll remember with us back to the beginning of May (it’s difficult, we know), we were head over heels for the first single to leak from UK DJ/producer SBTRKT‘s forthcoming self-titled album for Young Turks, and not much has changed since then. Now, you can hear why, because the blog-aggregating music hub Hype Machine has the whole thing streaming online. The embedded player below holds the 11 tunes that make up SBTRKT, and you can listen to them all before it drops on June 28. We think you’ll be happy you did.

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John Tejada “Subdivided”

This slice of incredibly sophisticated techno comes to us from veteran producer John Tejada‘s new full-length, Parabolas (artwork above), which sees its release today via the renowned Kompakt imprint. Although he’s done his share of experimentation and folded any number of new characteristics into his productions over the years, “Subdivided” still sounds quintessentially Tejada. The intricately composed melodies, the meticulous building of elements, and the crisp, futuristic sheen—it all sounds so wonderfully familiar and still like something that only he would be able to conjure up. Said to have approached the album with a want “to experiment with some longer phrases again and to step away from the analog sequencers more and get back to using my hands to create the melodies,” Tejada’s latest LP can officially be branded as “hand-crafted” techno, and “Subdivided” is just one fine example of the intriguing balance he’s found between artistic expression and time-honed craftsmanship. You can hear the whole thing for yourself, as well as read some comments from Tejada about his new record, here.

Subdivided

Subdivided

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