Following a couple of his singles and EPs released last year, not to mention our own podcast from the veteran UK DJ/producer, MJ Cole will drop a brand-new EP via his own Prolific Recordings label. The Satellite EP will feature four tracks of the UK garage/funky sounds and styles Cole is renowned for, and will be available to purchase on March 7. Though the artwork is not yet available to share, we’ve posted the EP’s tracklist, along with a couple brief audio snippets, below.
Marklion is the new project of Vincent Thierion, a former member of French electro trio Dat Politics. Here we have a track from his new EP, You, and it is an absolute marathon through a delicious variety of analog synthesizer tones, from the square-wave to the acid-soaked and all the rest in between. Thierion skillfully blends and manipulates his rich array of sounds for over eight minutes, employing some classic techno drum work to help move the whole thing along and ensuring that even if you get lost in the shuffle (which you probably will) of pulsating synthesizer rhythms, you’ll still be able to find the back-beat and keep your feet moving. If you’re interested in taking a trip down XLR8R‘s memory lane, this MP3 reminded us of the first ever XLR8R TVepisode, which featured Thierion’s former group playing at Oakland’s now-defunct 21 Grand performance space. Oh, 2007! Marklion’s debut EP, You, is out now.
Another fine DJ/producer doing the damn thing in London, Blawan has moved on from Ramadanman’s burgeoning Hessle Audio label to the illustrious R&S Records roster for the release of his next 12″. The slab of vinyl will hold three tracks from the low-end lover, including title track “Bohla,” “Kaz,” and “Lavender,” and is set to drop on February 28. On the sound and style of Blawan’s new tunes, the press release states: “You can’t pigeonhole this as ‘post-‘ anything—it’s pure, stripped-down club music. Sometimes drums, bass, and acid is all you need.” You can check out the artwork for the Bohla EP and a snippet of its lead single below.
Sony TC-D5 Portable Recorder Field-tested, mother-approved. NPR still uses it. If you’re going to make field recordings, this is a great reliable way to do it. We used two of these to dub the EP and some of “And Six Dark Hours Pass.” We still use it to play back loops (live-to-tape) in the studio.
Casio SK-1 Sampling Keyboard (MIDI-converted) We all know about this neat little guy, with its low-res sampling potential, but ours became a mutant weapon! Our friend Pat converted it to be MIDI. It’s the shit… fuck software! Between this guy and handmade cassette tape loops, we created the backbone of over a hundred tracks. Not joking! It has a very unique sound when overmodulated. [Our song] “Puget” is all SK-1, MidiVerb, and voice.
Handmade Yangqin Dulcimer My bandmate Pablo got a kit to build one, but he kinda put it together all crazy-like. It looks like that time Homer Simpson built a BBQ but created post-modern art. It’s not easy to tune, so we just do it to some broken chromatic tuning. We use some contact mics—the shittier‚ the better—and we don’t use the hammers… we play it with our fingers.
“Wind Pipe Machine”
Alesis MidiVerb Effects Processor (non-rackmount) We love it for its simplicity and its glitches. Sometimes it does what it wants, so when you want, say, gated reverb, it says “…em, no!” Instead, you get (insert a strange unlisted effect). This was used tons on the first EP and on A Cassette Tape Culture.
Scotch Tape and Razorblades …for making tape loops. We have used old-school loops on almost every track we do. We know it would [be] easy to just cut and paste in Pro Tools, but the sound and manipulation (or lack thereof) is not the same. It’s challenging and that’s a big part of experimental music… at least to us.
Brixton-based producer PhOtOmachine got his start working with garage legend MJ Cole, but his Technicolour EP, which just came out today, demonstrates a more profound love of house music. The title track is armed with a pulsing 4/4, bleeping synths, a snappy vocal sample, and a predilection for vintage 808 samples. Oddly enough, this remix from fellow Brit Throwing Snow is a lot more in line with the country’s garage lineage, as it swaps in a skittering, off-kilter drum pattern and runs the vocal snippet through layer after layer of ghostly filters. It’s less suitable for the dancefloor than the original—those looking for maximum floor-filling effectiveness should check out the Optimum remix—but it’s a warm, gentle listen that’s nonetheless quite enjoyable.
After the midwestern creeps and former XLR8Rcover stars of Salem shocked and awed the mass of music fans worldwide with their monolithic King Night LP, they’re now set to take that show on the road with a tour of North America in the latter half of March. The band’s trek starts at the Empty Bottle in Chicago, and ends at Branx in Portland, making select stops in Canada, Detroit, and a few West Coast and East Coast locales. Let’s all cross our fingers now in hopes that Salem’s infamous SXSW gig isn’t revisited at those performances. The dates for the tour are listed below.
03-15 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle 03-16 Detroit, MI – Magic Stick 03-17 Toronto, ON – Wrongbar 03-18 Montreal, QC – Le Gymnase 03-19 New York, NY – Santos Party House 03-20 Washington, DC – Rock and Roll Hotel 03-21 Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brendas 03-28 San Diego, CA – Soda Bar 03-29 Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex 03-30 San Francisco, CA – 103 Harriet 04-01 Portland, OR – Branx
Both reppin’ hard here for the Bay Area, SF’s massive Still Flyin’ ensemble—who, incidentally, win the long-and-funny website address game—meets Oakland’s Elephant & Castle on this remix of the former’s “Bull Riff” tune. The East Bay beatmaker flips the band’s busied instrumentation and vocal choruses into almost unrecognizable sounds for his tricked-out remix, an equally eclectic version of the track. Bulbous grooves, floating guitar plucks, warbling horn melodies, classic drum breaks, disembodied voices, and otherworldly frequencies comprise the bulk of “Bull Riff (Elephant & Castle Remix),” and make the track the excellent beat-centric alternative to the indie-pop original.
Well, folks, if live performances, music videos, and Feist covers weren’t enough to hold you over until February 8, you can now indulge your curiosities of what 2011’s first truly anticipated LP might sound like, and listen to James Blake‘s self-titled debut album. Over on Pitchfork, we caught the news of James Blake streaming in full on a Netherlands-based website we’ve never heard of. You can head here to listen to the 11 soulfully minimal, R&B-inspired, vocal-centric electronic compositions that make up Blake’s debut LP.
Our resident stylist Andrew Porter waxes casual on men’s and women’s must-haves.
Casio G-Shock Watches I’ve been feeling a real pull towards technical gear these days. The heritage trend that has dominated fashion for the past couple of years is putting me to sleep. In line with that whole vibe, you have the Timex military watches J Crew released a few years ago. Cool indeed, but I want something more futuristic. Casio G-Shock watches have always been a favorite of mine. Bright colors, lights, alarms, stop watches, and tons of buttons that I can’t figure out how to use. It’s like wearing a spaceship on your wrist. Next thing you know, they’re gonna invent a phone you can carry in your pocket.
Quaker Marine Supply Co. Hats Quaker Marine is an old company from Philadelphia that has been making hats here in the States since 1949. Now located in Portland, Maine, they continue to produce some fantastic headwear on fine American soil. I’m particularly partial to long bill hats, and the good people at Quaker offer quite an array of them—from the Original Swordfish Cap to the patent leather brimmed Original Oysterman Cap. If the long bill is not so much your thing they also offer a few suede brimmed wool baseball hats that look quite fly. Come summer, I’m going with the Classic Sailing & Tennis Hat. Sort of Gilligan meets Cappadonna circa The Pillage.
Jil Sander Milton Slim Trouser Jil Sander really did it right with the spring/summer 2011 colors. It’s mid-winter and I’m feeling pretty much like the human embodiment of dirty New York snow. I want to be feeling like a nice saturated blue. Is that too much to ask? With that out of the way, I’ve gotta say that these trousers are the tops—minimalist, simple, and classic. Jil Sander doing what Jil Sander does best, but this time with a burst of brights. Pardon the high price tag—I sell used clothing for a living so I can’t afford these either. Apparently nothing screams wealth like pink pants.
It was just last month that we gave word of the forthcoming EP from the exciting young producer making jams under the name Canblaster, and now we can share with you the first track to leak from the tunesmith’s Master of Complications EP. After a few spins of the fiery “Clockworks,” one specific word comes to mind: big. From the get-go, Canblaster unleashes a massive dance beat, which he quickly pairs with bubbling sonics and, whaddaya know, the tick-tick-ticking sounds of a clock. But it’s after the first drop that “Clockworks” really takes off. The Frenchman alternates between a stuttered rhythm and a smooth house groove adorned with crisp percussive noises—switching between those hyped-up and classic vibes for most of his frenetic song. That mix of refreshing, club-ready sounds is further proof of the strengths in Canblaster’s schizophrenic production style, and speaks even more to why we love his work the way we do. (via RCRD LBL)
