Ryan York, the man behind the Non Projects-signed Asura moniker, recently shared a free collection of tracks he dubbed Unreleaseables (pictured above), as the tunes are made up of “a bunch of music [he ‘s] never going to put out due to legal/artistic/motivation issues” (download it all for free here). Many of York’s nine tracks sport an unusually heavy influence from juke/footwork music, including the hyperactive joint “Wink Wink.” While 808 drum patterns establish the song’s hot-footed tempo, loads of vocal snippets add both melodic and atonal layers to the jam, and the occasional percussion loop works out a head-twisting polyrhythm. It’s a minimalistic whirlwind of a track, especially for a melodically focused artist such as Asura, but it’s nonetheless enjoyable. So, we’ll cherish it for now, since apparently, York says we “won’t be hearing much else like this in the future… from these quarters.”
The oft-reliable bass music imprint run by David Kennedy (a.k.a. Ramadanman, Pearson Sound), Pangaea, and Ben UFO, Hessle Audio, has unveiled its next release, a two-song 12″ by Bristol dubstep mainstay Peverelist. The Punch Drunk label boss will drop the “Dance Til the Police Come” b/w “Fundamentals” record on April 4. Before then, you can check out the label artwork below.
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Here’s another slice of archived (though unreleased) “vintage” electronic music, courtesy of producer Rasmus Folk and the creative minds at the Dramatic label. Called “Dinner in Trieste (With Rasmus Folk),” the track starts with a recording (presumably from Folk) inviting you to dinner, and ends with another voice memo thanking you for the wonderful evening. In between the messages, we’re treated to some understated analog synthscapes and subtle drum-machine rhythms, as a voice quietly sings from the bottom of the mix about this dinner in Trieste. It all sounds like a retro-futuristic idea of the kind of moody lounge music people might listen to while enjoying some fine cuisine about, say, 50 years after the song was supposedly written. It seems Rasmus Folk wasn’t really too far off.
We’ve been keeping our ears homed in on UK producer Gold Panda since before he dropped the lovely Lucky Shiner LP via Ghostly last year, so we’re pleased to see he’s compiled some early material and rereleased it through the same label today. The 13-track collection is called Companion, and brings together Gold Panda’s self-released material from 2009—the Before, Miyamae, and Quitter’s Raga EPs—and a “non-EP track” called “Police.” Along with the artwork and tracklist for Companion, you can check out a short tour/profile film about the producer, appropriately called Ghostly Presents: Gold Panda, and some forthcoming tour dates, below.
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01. Quitter’s Raga 02. Fifth Ave 03. Like Totally 04. Back Home 05. Mayuri 06. Long Vacation 07. Lonely Owl 08. I Suppose I Should Say ‘Thanks’ Or Some Shit 09. Heaps 10. Bad Day Bad Loop 11. Triangle Cloud 12. Win-San Western 13. Police
03.22 Vancouver, BC @ FORTUNE SOUND CLUB 03.23 Seattle , WA @ NECTAR LOUNGE 03.24 Portland, OR @ ROTTURE 03.25 San Francisco, CA @ 103 HARRIET 03.27 Los Angeles, CA @ TROUBADOUR 03.29 Chicago, IL @ SCHUBAS 03.30 Toronto, ON @ THE DRAKE HOTEL 03.31 Philadelphia, PA @ THE ARCH 04.01 Washington, DC @ RED PALACE 04.02 Brooklyn, NY @ GLASSLANDS 04.20 Laval, FR @ LE 6 PAR 4 04.21 Lille, FR @ LE GRAND MIX (LES PARADIS ARTIFICIELS FESTIVAL) 04.22 Nancy, FR @ L’AUTRE CANAL 04.23 Paris, FR @ POINT EPHEMERE 04.27 Copenhagen, DK @ RUST 04.28 Malmo, SE @ DEBASER 04.30 Bergen, NO @ BERGENFEST 04.30 Stockholm, SE @ STRAND 05.06 Krems, AT @ DONAUFESTIVAL 05.13 Bucharest, RO @ FRATELLI 05.19 Berlin, DE @ MELT WEEKENDER 05.26 Barcelona, ES @ PRIMAVERA FESTIVAL 06.08 Belfast, IE @ AUNTIE ANNIES 06.09 Galway, IE @ ROISIN DUBH 06.10 Cork, IE @ THE PAVILION 06.11 Dublin, IE @ THE WORKMAN’S CLUB
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Finnish duo Femme En Fourrure just dropped the brand-new Bronco EP on the club-loving Top Billin label, the title track of which we shared a music video of with you not too long ago. Included on that new, five-track release are remixes from of Teeth, Square Mode, and, feautured here, LA duo Nguzunguzu, who injects the brooding production with a bit of dark West Coast swagger. The combination of slow-bouncing drum machine patterns, ominous low-end melodies, and obscured vocal utterances make the duo’s remix of “Bronco” sound something like a distant relative of witch house, one who prefers uppers to downers and would rather spend its late nights on the dancefloor than skulking about a graveyard.
Veteran DJ/producer DJ Harvey has been amassing his arsenal of disco-tinged house productions for over two decades, but is only now preparing the release of his first full-length artist album. Locussolus is an 11-track LP scheduled to drop on June 13 via the International Feel label. The record is made up of a handpicked selection of previously released singles, remixes from Andrew Weatherall, Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas, and Emperor Machine, and one new song called “Bloodbath.” You can check out the artwork for DJ Harvey’s debut LP, along with the full tracklist, below. (via Resident Advisor)
01. Gunship 02. Little Boots 03. Gunship (Andrew Weatherall Remix) 04. I Want It 05. Throwdown 06. Bloodbath 07. Tan Sedan 08. Next to You 09. I Want It (Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas Remix) 10. Throwdown (Harvey’s Dub) 11. Little Boots (An Emperor Machine Special Edit Version)
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Ever since the day we found out that New York cyborg-rock trio Battles was weeks away from dropping its sophomore album, Gloss Drop, we’ve not only wanted to hear what music it holds, but also see what kind of crazy visual art it will be packaged in. Now, we have a taste of both. The band just released the cover art for its second LP (pictured above), which is a photo of what looks to us like a massive blob of already-been-chewed bubble gum, though we welcome other suggestions of what it could be. And below, you can stream the first single from Battles’ new album, a manic, quasi-tropical pop explosion called “Ice Cream” that features singer/producer Matias Aguayo front and center on vocal duties. If you pre-orderGloss Drop on Bleep now, you can also download the track immediately.
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The UK’s Ben Westbeech isn’t the most likely candidate for the XLR8R podcast series, as the classically trained musician and producer is often recognized for his skills as a crooner. Next month, he’ll be releasing a new album, There’s More to Life Than This, via the venerable Strictly Rhythm label. (Check the first single, “Falling,” to hear Westbeech‘s vocal chops.) That said, the man also knows his electronic music, previously producing drum & bass and other gully sounds as Lean and, more recently, digging into proper house music under his own name. Last year, he unveiled a new moniker, Breach, a highly percussive, UK funky-inspired project that happened to turn out the massive “Fatherless” tune. In all honesty, it’s that direction that has us most intrigued at XLR8R, although we’re undeniably curious about what There’s More to Life Than This will have in store. In tribute to his penchant for split personalities, Westbeech has put together a massive mix that explores both of his personas. The podcast begins with soul-infused, mature house sounds before eventually transitioning into more upfront, bass-infused territory. Thankfully, his song selection, not to mention his mixing skills, shines throughout.
Ben Westbeech Section 01 7fingers “Let My Key Be C” 02 Agoria “Simon” (Infine) 03 Marlow “Intro” 04 Manik “White Motif (Shur-i-kan vs Miton Jackson Mix)” (Vector Mode) 05 Kornel Kovacs “Baby Step” (Studio Barnhus) 06 Frederico Malinari “Chucking Express” (Oslo) 07 DJ Jus-ed “I’m Coming (Levon Vincent Remix)” (Underground Quality) 08 Kink “E79” (Ovum) 09 Ben Westbeech “Falling (Deetron’s Paradise Vocal Remix)” (Strictly Rhythm) 10 Peven Everett “Bangin (Kay Alexi Edit)” (Studio Confession) 11 The Martinez Brothers “Issshhh” (Objektivity) 12 Black Box feat. Lonnie Gordon “Bad Mood (MK and Masters At Work Dub)” (SBK) 13 Soul Purpose/Nuyorican Soul “Nervous Track (Let’s Dance Reprise)” (Nervous) 14 Bama “Ghetto of the Mind” (Aware)
Los Angeles bass outpost Low End Theory, in addition to their popular club night, puts out a regular podcast series split between a resident Low End Theory DJ and a special guest. This week Low End Theory features UK producer Jon Hopkins alongside LA’s The Gaslamp Killer. The mix is a preview of what’s to come when, on April 1, Low End Theory will bring Hopkins and the crew to San Francisco for another edition of their recent Bay Area expansion. Download the mix here, and after the jump check out a preview of Hopkins’ forthcoming collaborative album with King Creosote, out at the end of March.
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Berkeley duo Jed and Lucia (real names Emma Lucia and Mark Reveley) is only a week away from the release of the follow up to its Super Human Heart LP for the Ubiquity label, a four-track EP called Helium. The title track is the only non-remix production on that offering, which we have to share with you here. Distant synthscapes, broken piano melodies, hushed vocal coos, and herky-jerky drum loops are at the heart of “Helium,” and effectively help the song straddle the many fences that stand between genres like beat music, chillwave, ambient, synth-pop, and other electronic sub-strands. We expect it will sit nicely next to a remix from UK producer Letherette, and two new versions of tracks from the pair’s Super Human Heart record by Lucia and Reveley themselves.
