Who doesn’t like a good party? Nobody, that’s who! Especially not Resident Advisor, who will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this year by throwing not one, but 10 parties in 10 locations around the globe. Each party is set to contain a solid roster of supporting artists, plus one secret headliner. Already, the list of announced names is looking pretty enticing. The series opener in London will feature artists such as Kyle Hall (pictured above), Ben UFO, Lawrence, Trevor Jackson, and Onur Özer, while the second party—during Sonar in Barcelona—will feature Prins Thomas, Mark E, and Soul Clap. No word on the other lineups yet, but check out the tour dates and flyer art below to see if Resident Advisor will be celebrating near you.

Jun 11 Cable London, London
Jun 18 BeCool, Barcelona
Jul 23 D-Edge Club, Sao Paulo
Aug 20 TBA, New York
Sep 10 Arma 17, Moscow
Sep 17 Civic Hotel, Sydney
Sep 30 Brancaleone, Rome
Oct 09 eleven, Tokyo
Oct 14 Berghain/Panorama Bar, Berlin
Oct 22 Trouw, Amsterdam

The sunny, outdoor, Montreal-based weekly event known to techno revelers as Piknic Electronik has just announced its 2011 schedule. Visitors to the annual MUTEK festival will know the Piknic as one of MUTEK’s most highly anticipated events of the week, as crowds gather in Parc Jean-Drapeau, on an island in the St. Lawrence River, to catch the likes of Wighnomy Brothers, Ricardo Villalobos, Richie Hawtin, and tons of others over the last eight years. The lineup for this year’s events, which happen every Sunday from the end of May until the end of September, will feature the likes of Julio Bashmore, Jamie xx, Girl Unit (pictured above), Untold, dOP, Luke Abbott, LOL Boys, Dominik Eulberg, Appleblim, Addison Groove, Dam-Funk, Egyptrixx, Claude VonStroke, and tons more. Check out the season’s full list of performances here.

Bristolian purple pusher Gemmel Phillips (a.k.a. Gemmy) has just announced the launch of his new imprint, W.O.W. (a.k.a. World of Wonders). With releases on Punch Drunk and Planet Mu, Phillips has garnered a reputation for creating floor-heavy tracks, so it’s likely that World of Wonders’ first release, Gemmy’s own (due out May 23 on vinyl, and digitally on May 30), will push bass cabs to their limits. Have a listen to “Jah Know” and “They Live Under the Stairs” below.

Charlton Heston and techno: Two words that, until recently, would not have been associated with one another. Yet, nevertheless, minimal techno originator Robert Hood (who was featured on XLR8R‘s cover last year) managed to make the connection with last year’s stunning Omega—a musical transliteration of the post-apocalyptic 1971 thriller, The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston. Now, Hood returns with the imminent release of Omega: Alive, on his own M-Plant label, an album that captures the Omega live experience. Featuring raw and alternate versions of the album’s now classic cuts, Omega: Alive extends the story that Hood has created. The album won’t drop until June 20, but you can check out the tracklist and album art below.

1. Bells At Dusk
2. Run
3. Alpha: Alive
4. Omega: Alive
5. Minimal, Minimal
6. Who Taught You Math?: Alive
7. Unix: Alive
8. Side Effect: Alive
9. Minus: Alive

BONUS TRACKS

10. Alpha – James Ruskin Remix (from M.PM11)
11. The Family (from M.PM11)
12. Atomic (unreleased)

How can you get from Milli Vanilli to Drexciya? This is a question that techno producer Tobias Freund may be set to answer with the release of Leaning Over Backwards on Ostgut Ton, the debut LP from his new moniker, Tobias. With his label, Non Standard Productions, and working as a sound engineer for the past 20 years, Freund has had the opportunity to work and collaborate with artists as disparate as Milli Vanilli and Ellen Allien. Leaning Over Backwards takes advantage of his experience and long-cultivated technical know-how to forgo the ubiquitous computer-based sequencing in favor of classic drum machines and hardware synthesizers. The resulting album is a jammy, live-influenced exploration of underwater techno in the Drexciyan mold. Leaning Over Backwards doesn’t come out until July 4, but in the meantime you can check out the tracklisting and album art below.

01. Girts
02. Party Town
03. Voices Told Me To Do That
04. Skippy
05. Zero Tolerance
06. Free No.1
07. Leaning Over Backwards
08. Observing The Hypocrites
09. The Key
10. She Still Calls Me Mister
11. We Stick To The Plan
12. Now I Know

XLR8R-featured design mogul and Ghostly International visual artist Michael Cina recently sat down with Ghostly/Spectral Sound‘s label head Sam Valenti IV for an in-depth talk about the artist’s history, process, and future direction. Check out the interview here on Ghostly’s blog, where you can also snag limited-edition prints from the artist himself.