Podcast 201: Robag Wruhme

When the Wighnomy Brothers announced that they were disbanding their oft-celebrated project in late 2009, the disappointment was palpable. Yet Robag Wruhme (a.k.a. Gabor Schablitzki) quickly dropped a number of singles and, just a few weeks back, followed them up with a new solo full-length, Thora Vukk, an album we thoroughly enjoyed. The record saw Robag Wruhme continuing his movements away from traditional techno, but this exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast finds him taking that idea to an entirely new level. Entitled Good Night, the mix eschews percussion almost entirely. In short, this isn’t a session for the dancefloor. Instead, Wruhme pieces together soothing, melodic pieces pulled from the far corners of the musical spectrum, be it experimental ambient works, film scores, or symphonic classical pieces. It may not be the expected offering from a man once revered for his party-friendly DJ exploits, but it’s a warm and inviting listen. We’re certainly not complaining.

01 Max Richter “Maria the Poet (1913)” (Fat Cat)
02 Danny Norbury “From the Lookout” (Static Caravan)
03 Brian McBride “Girl Nap” (Kranky)
04 Michael Andrews “I’m Not Following You” (Everloving)
05 Vangelis “Rachel’s Song” (Eastwest)
06 Erik Enocksson “II. Non Lupi” (Man Tanker Sitt)
07 Tape & Bill Wells “Fugue 2” (Immune)
08 Alejandro Franov “Micerino Tema” (Staubgold/D)
09 Modeselektor & Thom Yorke “The White Flash (Robag Spezial Version)” (Bpitch Control)
10 Bill Wells & Maher Shalal Hash Baz “Rye & Guy” (Karaoke Kalk)
11 Desolate “Escape” (Fauxpas Musik)
12 Edward Williams “Coral Larvae/Arabesque Flatworms” (Trunk)
13 Prague Symphony Orchestra & Libor Pesek “The Frog” (Supraphon A.S.)
14 The Notwist “Prayer” (Alien Transistor)
15 Origamibiro “Unravelled in Wreathes” (Inandout)
16 Rafael Anton Irisarri “Waking Expectations” (Miasmah)
17 No Accident in Paradise “Exit 9” (Freude Am Tanzen)
18 Les Enfants “Good Nuit” (Trikont)

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Download Com Truise’s DJ Harvey Remix While Supplies Last

LA-based party icon DJ Harvey will drop his long-awaited Locussolus LP—which we talked with him about just last month—next week via International Feel. We’ll be able to stream that release in full from the label’s SoundCloud page on Monday, June 13 (more info here), but before then, we’re treated to a remix of album cut “Throwdown” by Ghostly-signed bedroom producer Com Truise. Below, you can stream the solid rework, and—while it’s still available—download the synth-heavy jam for free. Once the download counter hits 999 the label is shutting things down, so get to clicking pronto!

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Caribou and Jacques Greene to Remix Radiohead

Throughout the summer, Radiohead plans to release a series of limited 12″ remixes via tbd records, in conjunction with their most recent album, King of Limbs. Due out July 5 in the US, the first record will feature reworks of “Little By Little” from Caribou (pictured above) and “Lotus Flower” by Jacques Greene. With more remixes on the way from the camp, be sure to stay tuned for more details.

1. Radiohead – Little by Little (Caribou rmx)
2. Radiohead – Lotus Flower (Jacques Greene rmx)

Five Minutes at MUTEK with Jacques Greene

Amidst the hustle and bustle of this year’s MUTEK festival in Montreal, we snagged a few of our favorite artists for a quick chat about their impressions of the festival, the city, and, of course, some chatter about their music. Here, the city’s own Jacques Greene (pictured above left) talks about his new live show and passes along some insider information about his hometown.

XLR8R: Are you originally from Montreal?
Jacques Greene: Yes I am, born and raised.

Does it mean something special to be invited to participate in MUTEK?
It does. I’ve been attending for years and years; I’m really excited. Also, this venue (Métropolis) is one of the biggest in the city. I’ve seen some big rock shows here, like when I was a teenager, so it’s really cool to get to play here finally.

What are some of your favorite MUTEK memories?
I discovered Tim Hecker, who’s another local, at MUTEK years back. He’s a really, really good noise artist, I guess you would call him. Modeselektor actually, a few years ago, was unbelievable. The first time I saw them was at MUTEK, and now we’re playing with them, which is really cool, like I can’t describe how cool that is.

So you’re playing live for the first time at MUTEK. What prompted you to do that?
Over the last two years, I started using a lot more hardware in the music I make. I really like DJing and like that template of playing stuff, but it seemed like a really cool challenge to try and make those songs happen in the club. I’m doing the set without a laptop. Pretty much my entire studio is up there. I borrowed some gear off friends; it’s a pretty elaborate thing. It was just a really nice challenge and a nice goal to set for myself.

What kind of gear are you using?
I’ve got a modular synth, like a Eurorack. It’s a mix of Doepfer and Livewire parts. We’ve got some real old Roland stuff: we’ve got a 909 and a 303 on stage, an MPC, this clone of an 808, a fully analog clone made by a German company called Acidlab. We also got some newer digital stuff, an Akai MINIAK, which is a virtual analog synth. It’s basically a mix of new and old stuff.

And who is your friend that you’re playing with? (motioning toward the guy who has been sitting next to Jacques Greene during the entire interview.)
[laughs] This is Andrew Gordon (pictured above right). He makes music under the moniker of Ango. He’s a fellow signing of LuckyMe and I’ll let him tell the rest of the story.

Andrew Gordon: There’s not that much more to tell, really. [laughs] I play most of the digital stuff on stage.

JG: We’ve rolled in similar circles in Montreal and we’re good friends with Lunice and all that.

AG: We toured together recently, and have done a lot of parties together.

JG: We realized we wouldn’t drive each other crazy if we had to tour together again, so it was an obvious choice, really.

AG: I think you realized that. [laughing]

So are you going to be taking the live show on the road?
We’re going to do it a bit. I don’t want to do it too much because… just the stress of bringing it across the city, just loading it into a cab and setting it up [at Métropolis] has been so nerve-wracking that I don’t think I would want to make that my main method of performance. I think there’s something to be said for keeping it sort of exclusive in a way, hand-picking the places that we do it so that it’s always a special thing.

Can you give us some insider Montreal information, things that only locals know about?
Don’t go to Schwartz’s. The real best smoked meat is across the street at Main. That’s the best pro tip. Don’t ever stand in line at Schwartz’s. Just go for the smoked meat across the street. It’s better and you can find a booth and it’s unbelievable.

I totally went to Schwartz’s yesterday.

[everyone laughs]

Do you really like poutine?
I love it. I have it… I hate to say it, but at least once a week. I had it with pogo (corndogs) in it the other day at Chez Claudette, this 24-hour breakfast joint. We know our junk food here.

For more about Jacques Greene at MUTEK, check out Part 1 of our festival wrap-up.

CHLLNGR “Ask For (Cubic Zirconia Remix)”

Copenhagen-based Steven Jess Borth II (a.k.a. CHLLNGR, pictured above) is set to release his debut album, Haven, due out on Green Owl in July. To compliment the release, Borth has offered up a remix of “Ask For” by Cubic Zirconia, as well as the video for the original. The rework is swaddled in lush synths, clip-clop percussion, and washed-out, pitched vocals that modulate with the rhythm. Made for the more experimental dancefloor, the remix peaks into a bouncy 808-driven beat. While you wait for the release to drop, grab the remix and check out the video, directed by Bjorn Stig Hansen, after the jump.

Ask For (Cubic Zirconia Remix)

Ask For (Cubic Zirconia Remix)

Gang Colours In Your Gut Like a Knife EP

At this point in the brief history of—excuse us—”post-dubstep,” the genre’s trademarks are already beginning to wear thin. There are only so many ’90s R&B acapellas left to sample and sun-bleached synth tones one can program before the style grows repetitious, so artists looking to mine that sonic realm should instead concern themselves with its next mutation—or at least the refining of its ideas. On his debut EP, In Your Gut Like a Knife, young UK producer Gang Colours takes a few stabs at cutting out his own niche in the post-dubstep sound, just managing to breach the surface.

“Fireworks in Pocket” is a valiant attempt at distilling the airy soul of Mount Kimbie’s Crooks & Lovers standout tracks into the kind of club-appropriate jam theirs could never be: its sampled hook is instantly memorable, its sub-bassline is thick and tasteful, its melody is subtle yet infectious, and it boasts a groove you could drop between mid-tempo house and dubstep tunes alike. The EP’s title track exists in similar sonic territory, but is noticeably more somber and sparse. It closes out Gang Colours’ four-track offering, and could be the best and most unique production available on it.

The remaining two songs on In Your Gut Like a Knife sound more like audio experiments—noisy filler to take up space between the meatier cuts. Both “Village & City” and “Dance Around the Subject” lack the human element of their counterparts, and ultimately fail when trying to make up for those soulful vibes with rubbery sound effects and faster tempos. As a whole, Gang Colours’ record deserves a few spins from any fan of the evolving UK bass sound, but its creator will certainly need a swatch of fresher hues on his next outing.

Jim-E Stack “Lemme”

New Orleans-based San Franciscan James Stack (a.k.a. Jim-E Stack) has just offered up his club-oriented “Lemme” track as a precursor to his upcoming EP, which is to be released on London label Good Years. “Lemme” bounces between 2-step and straight-forward rhythms, as syncopated vocal snippets adorn the underlying beat. The breakdown is met with a bright, modulated, pitch-bent synth which swirls around the vocals, creating a spacious atmosphere for the second drop to grab hold of. Grab the track below, and be on the lookout for the release this September.

Lemme

Bleep and Sonar Give Away Tracks From Holy Other, Offshore, and More

The excellent online music retail hub Bleep just announced it will be giving away free tunes every day this week in conjunction with the impending Sonar festival. The tracks are coming from labels such as Warp, Tri Angle, InFiné, Circus Company, and Numbers, and are all from artists scheduled to perform at the massive music gathering later this month. For the first offering, you can download a track from Berlin dark-pop producer Holy Other‘s (pictured above) new With U EP, as well as a fresh cut from Scottish tunesmith here.

Divine Interface “Color Ways”

Here, we have another deep, washed-out house tune from the forthcoming Color Ways EP by Atlanta producer Divine Interface. The title track from that release shares a few similarities with the previously heard “Folklore”: treated vocal samples inject the music with a soulful nostalgia, reverb-soaked percussion adds a particular kind of depth to the rhythms, and the sparse use of melody provides a sort of detached and off-handed vibe that is particularly fresh for this kind of music. “Color Ways” sparkles in a way that reminds of some of Teengirl Fantasy’s work from the lovely 7AM LP, but with a dash of bump and swagger thrown in to freshen things up. You can hear the rest of Divine Interface’s unique take on house when his Color Ways EP drops on June 13.

Color Ways

Color Ways

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