Each month, UK grime imprint Butterz offers up a free ZIP file of goodies, usually stuffed with unreleased b-sides and remixes. It was hard to pick a favorite from the recently released April edition, but we settled on this tune from Butterz acolyte Mr. Mitch (pictured above), who you may remember from this post at the end of last year. He recently turned in a remix for Canadian grime MC Tre Mission‘s “Maxin Everything” tune, which is good in and of itself, but just to keep things interesting, the imprint is now giving away this instrumental of his remix. You can probably tell immediately after hitting the play button that things are a bit slower and a touch more sparkly on Mr. Mitch’s instrumental, at least when compared to what we’re accustomed to hearing from his high-energy label. Nevertheless, the production quality and audio intensity are very much still intact: The producer’s beats punch and crack immensely, the bass vibrates the space between your ears, and the deep synth melodies swirl around your head. It’s a refreshing change of pace, but if you’re after the usual Butterz goodness, you can grab the rest of the label’s free monthly giveaway, here.
Once an integral force in helping solidify Montreal as an electronic music hub, and now an expat living in Berlin, minimal dub producer Deadbeat (a.k.a. Scott Monteith) was last in XLR8R‘s pages for an interview he did with fellow expat and techno-inspired producer Scuba. Nearly a year later, it seems that Berlin’s musical hotbed has begun to work its way into a new chapter in Deadbeat’s already-illustrious career. On June 20, Deadbeat will launch his BLKRTZ imprint with a new full-length, Drawn and Quartered, from Deadbeat himself. Monteith cites the closing of Pole’s legendary ~scape label as a major inspiration for BLKRTZ, saying, “I always saw ~scape as the natural home for a very important part of my work. Not necessarily the more listening side of things per se, but certainly the most unconcerned with genre or function… Though I’ll be concentrating on my own work for the first few releases, it’s my hope that BLKRTZ can serve a similarly honorable purpose in the years to come.”
No matter where you look, Japan and its national crisis is ever-present. The same goes for the opportunities to donate to what is, and will continue to be, a colossal recovery. Among the many music-related fundraising campaigns, this effort from Finland’s Top Billin’ imprint has intrigued us most, partly for the serendipity of its back-story. Top Billin’ had been working on a compilation exclusively for the Japanese market, with some Tokyo-based friends including producer Eccy. The comp was scheduled for an April release date, a time-frame that was turned on its head earlier this month by the 9.0 earthquake. As a result, Top Billin’ has thoughtfully decided to go ahead with the release, only now they will be donating 100% of the proceeds to Red Cross Japan. Make sure to check out Top Billin’s Bandcamp player below, and consider a donation that fits best, both for your wallet and your peace of mind.
Although SónarSound Tokyo decided to keep this year’s festivities in the aforementioned location despite the recent natural disasters, the 2011 Red Bull Music Academy has gone another route, and will not be hosting its 2011 workshops in Tokyo. The new location will be announced on April 11, so the Academy has decided to extend the application deadline until April 26. Regardless of which city will host the illustrious program, its workshops will still take place between October 23 and November 25. You can find more info about the location change here.
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There is no question that Los Angeles label Hippos In Tanks has emerged as a remarkably consistent supplier of next-generation artists reinventing ’80s and ’90s synth soundscapes. On April 19, the label will release Dark Bloom, a split 12″ shared by Montreal artists d’Eon and Grimes. Each side will contain roughly an EP’s worth of material from each artist (the complete tracklist is posted after the jump). On this cut from the d’Eon side, glittering gospel-organ chords introduce what could be ’90s-era Brandy, but instead accompany d’Eon’s equally captivating and effeminate voice. The rest of the track’s production is no less rich, as the song is expertly executed to sound both vintage and disarmingly fresh. If the rest of d’Eon’s contibutions are anything like this piece of throwback perfection, the growing contingent of male R&B vocalists will have a serious contender in its ranks. (via Altered Zones)
On May 13 and 14 at London performing arts venue Roundhouse, iconic record label Mute will partner with the Short Circuit Electronic Music Festival for two days of eclectic live music from a long list of veteran artists and fresh, exciting projects. Among performances from the likes of Moby, Nitzer Ebb, Recoil, Thomas Fehlmann, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher of Depeche Mode, The Residents, Liars, Pole, Richie Hawtin (pictured above), T. Raumschmiere, and many others, you’ll find music workshops, film screenings, art installations, and talks from some of the festival’s performers. Pre-sale tickets for the two-day event are available here.
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Finding music was different before the Internet: Maybe a receptive record-shop owner let you listen to everything, or you picked up anything related to a good magazine article. Now, imagine your tastes run to experimental electronic music, it’s the early 1990s, and—oh, yeah—you live in Sofia, Bulgaria.
“When I got interested in the electronic sound in 1992, you could hear one, two techno tracks in some late-night radio show,” explains Strahil Velchev (a.k.a. KiNK). “I discovered experimental electronica and downtempo through a small record shop near the center of Sofia. The owner used to import CDs and cassettes by imprints like Warp and Ninja Tune… but I hadn’t gotten the chance to buy many records, so when my friend told me that it’s possible to make tracks on a cheap home PC, I thought that if I can’t buy much new music, I can make some!”
Velchev came to producing out of pure necessity, transforming a trickle of leftfield electronic records he was exposed to and a copy of early production software Jeskola Buzz into a burgeoning career as an experimental techno producer and DJ. He developed his skills like a painter copying the old masters, attempting to replicate the classic sounds of the Roland TB-303 and drum machines. “I got an old Vermona analog synth in 1998,” he explains. “The only thing I could do with it was simple subtractive synthesis, so I learned about waveforms and filters with my hands on the knobs. When I got my PC in 2000, and the modular software Buzz, I learned the rest mainly with experiments and reading some theory, but without knowing how other artists do it.”
Velchev found demand as a remixer through his experiments, at first for local and then more international acts, including some of the Bulgarian pop variety. “I loved the fact that I could turn a Top 40-style track into something with a totally different context,” he says. “I’m always happy when I can find a leading element in the original, like a good vocal or a nice melody, so I can build a track with KiNK sound aesthetics that still refers to the original.” That aesthetic is a nicely recognizable stamp that takes more straightforward techno and house tracks into the twistier, slightly abrasive perversions of beats and synth tones like on those early Warp records, then embraces the glitchy aesthetic of mistakes. That doesn’t mean Velchev has forgotten the poppier, housier records that filled Sofia’s late-night airwaves. KiNK’s “Existence,” from last year’s Rachel EP, with its canned snare rushes and relentless piano riff, is a straight-up, fist-pumping homage to Jeff Mills’ original piano house epic, “Changes of Life.” On his new 12″, “Leko,” Velchev imagines the same house pianos joyfully refracted through a funhouse mirror, computer loops showing defiantly; “Yako,” on the flip, showcases KiNK’s genre facility by turning the same tune into dissonant, trunk-rattling dubstep.
While Velchev is fast becoming Eastern Europe’s go-to guy in a new generation of leftfield acid techno and house creators, he’s also sought the assistance of collaborators Craig “Eviljack” Birmingham and Neville Watson, who’ve helped do the job that little shop in Sofia used to do: fill in the gaps he missed between disco and early Chicago and Detroit sounds. “Getting ‘in’ was a slow process, and it still continues,” he says. “If I stand out now, it’s because I’m faithful to this vision and I was patient enough to develop skills so I can reproduce any idea I have in my head.”
Maryland-based DJ/producer Maxmillion Dunbar has a new three-track 12″ ready to drop on the Future Times label, called Max Trax For World Peace, and even though the smooth jam we have to share with you here won’t be found on that release, it’s still a fine example of the kinds of deeply soulful house music the record will offer. The artist completely takes out the rap vocal on his rework of “Ride” by Alabama hip-hop outfit Dirty, and leaves only the laid-back bass grooves, soft synth pads, guitar strums, chilled-out string melodies, and playfully off-handed mutterings of the background instrumental. It sounds awesome to begin with, though Maxmillion Dunbar takes it another step further—tossing in his own bubbly drum-machine patterns, and turning the whole thing into a definite dancefloor gem.
For many, it may seem like the golden era of dubstep has past—those earth-shaking low frequencies exchanged for ones as high as a scream—though nothing could be further from the truth. Refusing to forget these roots is broadcaster and instrumental dubstep supporter Rinse FM, who, alongside seminal label Tempa, will release the 14th installment of their ongoing mix series, mixed by pioneering dubstep DJ Youngsta (pictured above). Having mixed two volumes of the famed Dubstep Allstars series, and working as a radio DJ since the age of 13, Youngsta has proven himself to be a touchstone selector for the genre. His compilation for Rinse, out March 30, will feature a collection of up-and-coming producers, as well as work from stalwarts like Distance, Youngsta himself, and Kryptic Minds. Check out the rest of the tracklist below.
1. Down – SP:MC & LX ONE 2. Foreseen VIP – Freeze & LX ONE 3. Judgement – SP:MC & LX ONE 4. Xylophobia VIP – Icicle 5. Hidden – Matt U 6. Organic Step – Icicle 7. Manhattan Blues – Cyrus 8. Momentum – Icicle & Youngsta 9. Venom – Verse 10. No Respect – DJ Madd & Chris SU 11. Dark Star – Verse 12. Can’t Sleep feat. Alys Be – Kryptic Minds 13. Secrets – DJ Madd 14. Arcane – Kryptic Minds & Youngsta 15. Pitch Black – DJ Madd 16. Give It Up – LX ONE 17. New Reality – DJ Madd 18. Empty Inside – Matt U 19. Mind Control – Distance 20. Wilderness (Youngsta Special) – Verse
As juke continues to rip through underground music hubs around the world, more and more interesting interpretations are rising to the surface. Out now on Prague imprint and Czech go-to blog Meanbucket is this bass-buzzing piece of unruly music, an unexpectedly eerie ode to the troubles of finding a worthy female suitor in Los Angeles’ Crenshaw neighborhood on a Sunday night. Produced by Meanbucket crew member DJ Tuco, the comedy of this track may perhaps be lost underneath the serious weight of Tuco’s bass and handclaps. As such, the song may not illicit laughter, but it will certainly inspire plenty of head bobbing and waist dropping.
