It’s been quite some time since we fell in love with the second LP by Buenos Aires DJ/producer Matias Aguayo, 2009’s Ay Ay Ay, but we more than welcome this late-coming clip for his bouncing “Ritmo Juarez” tune. Donning a variety of festive outfits, Aguayo and multitudes of his likeness dance about on screen while colorful, hand-drawn images of city skylines, stormy weather, and Nickelodeon-esque dancefloors rapidly alternate in the background. As it says in the YouTube description, director Julia Kasprzak transports Aguayo “into a world where Sesame Street meets tropicana,” and those images compliment the playfully boisterous, Latin-inspired techno of “Ritmo Juarez” ideally.
Jimmy Edgar “New Touch (Jimmy Edgar’s Hard Makeover)”
Keeping hard at work after releasing his second solo album in four years, 2010’s XXX, Jimmy Edgar just dropped a brand-new single via !K7, called “New Touch.” That 12″ holds a few remixes of the track, including one from Montreal’s Jacques Greene and an alternate version by Edgar himself. “New Touch (Jimmy Edgar’s Hard Makeover)” is just about exactly what its title implies: a dark, sharp-edged rework à la the producer’s usual proto-techno, ’80s sex-jam style. Chilly synth arpeggiations dance around low-octave basslines and smashing dance beats while the auteur waxes robotic every so often, delivering tinny, vocoded hooks, sounding not unlike much of his recent output. Edgar might as well have called the track “New Touch v2.0.”
New Touch (Jimmy Edgar’s Hard Makeover)
James Blake, Pantha du Prince, Oneohtrix Point Never, The Field, Tim Exile, and More to Play 10th Annual Ether Festival
This Spring, London’s Southbank Center will embark on its 10th year of hosting the always-innovative Ether festival, cramming loads of audio, visual, and other culturally relevant experiences into over a month-long stretch of concerts, exhibitions, and workshops. Artists such as Tim Exile (pictured above), James Blake, Micachu and The Shapes, Pantha du Prince, Wolfgang Voigt, Oneohtrix Point Never, The Field, oOoOO, and Apparat, among many others, will perform between March 24 and April 28 in the midst of flim screenings of 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Passion of Joan Arc (complete with live performances of the film scores), discussions with drummer Steve Reich, and the return of Killing Joke. But that’s all just the tip of the iceberg. You can get full information on Ether’s extensive list of various goings-on and check out ticket prices here.
Matthewdavid “International feat. Dogbite”
Matthewdavid just gave word that he’ll be releasing his first proper solo effort, the International EP (pictured above), this March via Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label, and all we have to say is: It’s about damn time! Well, that’s obviously not all we have to say, especially after listening to that record’s title track, a warbling and dense beat composition with a perfectly understated vocal performance from Atlanta’s Dog Bite. As we suspected from the artist’s long foray into tape-driven noise and ambient music, Matthewdavid has inundated his scattershot beat patterns with the hiss and glow of his beloved cassettes—also tossing in bits of bucolic field recordings and underwater ambiance to fill whatever sparse blank spaces are left in “International”‘s soundscape. And while the instrumental of the song lurches along with each muddled boom and bap, Dog Bite’s low-slung vocal melodies give Matthewdavid’s music a distinctly human element never before heard in his work. Like we said, it’s about damn time. (via Altered Zones)
Listen to Ghostpoet’s Debut Full-Length Now
We’ve been following the sad-sack vocal talents and understated beat work of UK artist Ghostpoet for a while now, so we’re particularly pleased to see the talented musicmaker finally drop his first full-length album via Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label. And what’s more, we’re happy to see it available for free streaming over on Spinner. If that happens to excite you just as much as it does us, you can head over here to listen to the 12 tracks that comprise Ghostpoet’s Peanut Butter Blues & Melancholy Jam, now. Enjoy!
Watch Jacques Greene Make a Live Track
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Canadian house producer Jacques Greene may not be too keen on sharing his given name or a clear image of his visage, as he displayed in our recent piece about him, but he will apparently let you watch him make tracks live. In preparation for the Destination Tokyo! Tour, a trek across Canada that features producers like Ango, Lunice, Greene, and others, the folks over at Red Bull Music Academy and Exclaim have put together this cool video of the Montreal-based artist doing his thing live and on the fly. Watch as Greene quickly and precisely crafts the sounds pumping through the speakers with each flick of his machines’ many knobs and buttons, eventually turning some loose musical elements into an intricately woven house groove. It kind of makes us wish all live shows were this up-close-and-personal. You can check out the dates for the Destination Tokyo! Tour below.
Thursday, February 17 – Winnipeg, MB – Ozzy’s
Friday, February 18 – Golden, BC – The RockWater
Sunday, February 20 – Fernie, BC – Bulldog’s
Tuesday, February 22 – Banff, AB – HooDoo
Wednesday, February 23 – Calgary, AB – HiFi
Thursday, February 24 – Edmonton, AB – The Common
Friday, February 25 – Saskatoon, SK – Scratch Club
Saturday, February 26 – Whistler, BC – The Village
Sunday, February 27 – Vancouver, BC – The Waldorf
Monday, February 28 – Victoria, BC – Touch Lounge
Wednesday, March 2 – Kamloops, BC – The Commodore
Thursday, March 3 – Kelowna, BC – Doc Wiloughby’s
Friday, March 4 – Quebec City, QC – Le Cercle
Saturday, March 5 – Ottawa, ON – Ritual Nightclub
Sunday, March 6 – Toronto, ON – WrongBar
Monday, March 7 – Halifax, NS – Tribeca
Tuesday, March 8 – Montreal, QC – Le Belmont
Salva “40 Karats feat. Zackey Force Funk (Lando Kal Remix)”
The only track closely resembling a pop-friendly single (if only because it has a singer on it) from Salva‘s just-released Complex Housing LP (read our glowing review of it here), “40 Karats feat. Zackey Force Funk,” is twerked into frenetic oblivion here by one half of multinational duo Lazer Sword, Lando Kal. Berlin-based producer Antaeus Roy turns the sultry slow-jam on its head for his remix—chopping vocal hooks into half-utterances, cranking drum patterns into double time, scrawling sinister bass tones onto every dark corner of the track, and dropping it all into a bubbling bath of textural audio. So, if it’s a little too early in the night for the smooth-and-sleazy version of “40 Karats,” now you’ve got a slick and spacey one to sweat it out to.
Optimum to Release Second Hum + Buzz 12″ This March
London-based DJ/producer and co-owner (with tunestress Ikonika) of the Hum + Buzz label, the Bubblin’-featured Optimum will soon release his imprint’s second record, a 12″ featuring two hottly tipped productions. The double a-side slab of vinyl will feature the tunes “Light Year” and “DS10,” and will be available in both physical and digital formats on March 7. You can check out the artwork for Optimum’s new record and preview the tracks below.
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Games Start New Imprint, Change Name to Ford & Lopatin
Though the particulars weren’t exactly clear, the production duo of Joel Ford and Daniel Lopatin (whom we’ve had the pleasure of speaking with not long ago) recently came into some sort of legal battle over their band name, and have since decided to change it from Games to the even more practical moniker Ford & Lopatin. But that’s not all the pair has been up to. In addition to the name change and working with Prefuse 73 on their debut full-length, Ford & Lopatin started their own label, an imprint of Mexican Summer called Software. That new endeavor will release the duo’s own LP first off, and plans to drop records from Demdike Stare, Autre Ne Veut, Oneohtrix Point Never, and others are already in the works. (via Pitchfork)
Gang Gang Dance Signs to 4AD, Announce New Album
Gang Gang Dance, the internationally influenced psych-noise-pop quartet from Brooklyn, just announced it will be moving from its longtime label, The Social Registry, onto the illustrious roster of 4AD for the release of its next LP, entitled Eye Contact. May 10 is the scheduled release date for the band’s new album, of which we have no album art or tracklist yet, but, apparently, Gang Gang Dance will be playing a few concerts in the near future. You can check out those dates below.
April 9 – Dazed Live, London, England
May 13-15 – Animal Collective-Curated ATP, Minehead, England
May 26-28 – Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, Spain
