As part of the Sounds of Symmetry Proton Drive fundraiser for LA-based music collective and internet radio station dublab, Leaving Records label head Matthewdavid and California MC/producer Jonwayne will be hosting a remote broadcast from their front yard (the view from which is pictured above), which you can listen to/watch live on dublab.com starting 3 p.m. (PST) on Saturday, November 13. The afternoon broadcast is sure to feature some of the most exciting beats and sounds from LA, including some special guests from Brainfeeder, My Hollow Drum, Anticon, and more. If you need a little extra inspiration before tuning in, check out Matthewdavid’s recent XLR8Rpodcast and take a look at the Sounds of Symmetry Proton Drive schedule for all the live broadcasts happening for the next few days as part of the fundraiser.
XLR8R Couldn't find the embed function for type: "vimeo" and source: "<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16485036" width="530" height="298" frameborder="0"></iframe>".
We recently got passed along this short documentary from Jamie Whitby and Rachel Lob-levyt covering the state of London’s underground electronic music scene. Interviews with Roska, Scratcha DVA, Blackdown, Mark Fisher, and Lisa Blanning cover a breadth of topics including the past, present, and future of the scene as well as how the internet has changed the way their music gets heard and shared. Highlights include some clips of a SBTRKT live set and Scratcha DVA’s vision of the future of pop music. Enjoy.
This new Chromeo video will appeal to fans of the following: old cop shows, reverse sexual harassment, synchronized swimming, the girls from Robert Palmer’s classic “Addicted to Love” and “Simply Irresistible” videos, topless dudes, man boobs, and hairy shoulders. “Hot Mess” is taken from Chromeo’s most recent album, Business Casual.
It’s a somewhat novel idea: Host an event that pits a wide array of hometown heroes from the music scene against each other, and have the audience vote for their favorites. Red Bull Music Academy is bringing such an event, called Culture Clash, stateside for its first jump-off in the US on December 2 at Exchange LA. That night, four Los Angeles-based taste-making labels/crews—which include Stones Throw, Dim Mak, Smog, and Dub Club LA—will showcase some of their premiere artists across four stages, each performing a 15-minute set in a series of four rounds. Among the DJs and producers set to perform are Them Jeans, DJ Funk, 12th Planet, Peanut Butter Wolf (pictured above), Dâm-Funk, Juakali, Dungeonmaster, Brigadier Jerry, J. Rocc, and a slew of special guests. You can get tickets for the event here, and check out the event flier below.
They started together in Roxy Music, the legendary art-rock band that featured Bryan Ferry on vocals and Brian Eno on tape reels, keyboards, and effects. They’ve pursued solo careers across the years in parallel, and now they’re dropping parallel solo records (Eno’s Small Craft on a Milk Sea [Warp] and Ferry’s Olympia [Astralwerks]) that are as vital as ever. Below we examine the Brian/Bryan parallels and divergences since their mid-’70s heyday.
Musical Style
Brian Eno basically invented the modern rock producer/electronic musician hybrid, editing, playing, and making suggestions that changed the course of important records and important bands forever, while just, you know, turning ambient music from a lab experiment into an ongoing popular concern in his spare time.
Bryan Ferry created the template for the art-rock crooner: smooth, eloquent, mysterious, and cool; equally able to glide far above his music to reach for the heavens or dig deep into wistful blues; equally at home fronting a powerful original band or quietly putting his own spin on well-chosen covers.
Image
Most know him as a faceless name in the credits of every art-rock hit, critical or crossover, from about 1970 on. You probably know him as a pioneering solo electronic artist and thoughtful provocateur. He’s rocked the bald-is-beautiful look for years, making black clothes, a shaved dome, and glasses the standard-issue uniform for every serious electronic producer.
The good thing about a timeless look is, well, the fact that it’s timeless. The suits were a little shinier in the Roxy days, but, as Ferry and contemporary David Bowie have proven, a well-tailored jacket and skinny tie still work perfectly on stage or off, even into one’s 60s.
The New Record
It was practically destiny: Eno delivers a master’s thesis in concise, crafted dark ambient/IDM to Warp with Small Craft on a Milk Sea, on a label with which you’d be hard-pressed to find an artist who wouldn’t cite Eno as an influence. Tracks like “Horse” reinvigorate the jittery, minor-key mystery of early Aphex Twin and Autechre, which in turn were nods to Eno’s implacable missions into early electronics.
Good news for long-suffering Roxy Music fans: Olympia is as close to a reunion as you’ll hear, incorporating tracks from reunion sessions a few years back with Ferry’s most Roxy-ish solo work in years. It’s not all museum pieces, though, as young collaborators Scissor Sisters and Jonny Greenwood add new edge to Ferry’s classic art-rock sound, sneaking in touches of modern rock and disco, while Ferry’s croon over the original Eno and Co.’s soundscapes is as welcome as ever.
Legacy
You’re welcome, U2, Talking Heads, and hundreds of others for the direct hand Eno played in creating and guiding your most daring and successful records. Oh, and you’re welcome, the entire electronic-studio-as-instrument genre.
You’re welcome, intellectual British rockers. Ferry stamped out the original prototype of the turbulent emotional center of the genre-shifting art-rock band and made the world safe for all of you. Thom Yorke, Damon Albarn, send your thank-you cards care of Astralwerks.
Extracurricular
Festival curator, music theorist, visual artist, and outspoken political commentator. Co-creator of the Oblique Strategies deck, a series of cards with questions designed to spur “lateral” creative thought. It’s hard to name a brainy pursuit that Eno hasn’t touched on at some point, save a “grand master” rank in chess.
You might know a few of Ferry’s ex-girlfriends—most Roxy covers feature them, and model Kate Moss features on Olympia‘s cover. They’re meant to reference classic fashion-shoot styles, a world that has welcomed Ferry, making him an occasional subject as well.
Less than a month after the release of Manchester-based dubstep producer Dave Jones’ Make a Change album, which dropped under his Maddslinky name (you can read our review of it here and stream it here), we get word of another LP coming from the prolific artist, to be released under Jones’ equally seminal Zed Bias moniker. In spring of next year, Tru Thoughts will drop Biasonic Hot Sauce, a full-length record which is said to feature all-new Bias productions, including collaborations with Mark Pritchard, Skream, and others to be announced. The artwork and tracklist have yet to be shared.
On November 22, DJ/producer Leo Zero will release the first installment of a new mix series to be released on Strut, called Disconnect. The central theme for these mix albums is DJs exploring the “darker side” of their expansive libraries of music, and that’s precisely what Zero does with his selections—tunes that range from Brian Eno & John Cale to Can to Basement 5. Here, we have another example of moody dance music from the forthcoming mix, an old-school Balearic jam circa 1990 from Italy’s The Countach. “My Oasis” isn’t exactly “dark,” as the song pushes a high-flying female chorus and neon guitar licks next to its pulsing four-on-the-floor, but there are certainly some serious vibes mixed into the toned-down Miami Beach-disco motif. You can check out what other tracks make it onto Zero’s Disconnect mix after the jump.
1. Desmond & The Tutus – Kiss You on the Cheek 2. Ritual – Sore Lip 3. Kabbala – Ashewo Ara 4. The Piranhas – Vi Gela Gela 5. Essential Logic – Brute Fury 6. Basement 5 – Silicon Chip (Extended Edit) 7. The Dread Filmstone Sound – Ghetto Life 8. Wunmi – Message in a Bottle 9. Chris & Cosey – Exotica (1988 Remix) 10. Propaganda – Frozen Faces (12″ Mix) 11. Indambinigi – Zimba 12. The Unknown Cases – Masimba Bele 13. George G – Hot Lovers 14. Can – Halleluwah 15. Richy B Melodia – Keep it Moving On 16. Brian Eno & John Cale – Spinning Away 17. The Countach – My Oasis (Dance Club Version)
Riva Starr has been busy taking over the house music world lately, but not too busy to start his own label, Snatch! Records, and create a new alter ego, Starr Traxx, whose first single will be released later this month. It seems Starr will be using his new guise to release some retro-inspired house tunes, complete with ’80s/’90s-era piano stabs and drum machines. The debut single, “More,” will come with two original Starr Traxx jams, a dub of the title track, and two remixes of the title track from Bulgarian producer Kink and Italian producers Pirupa & Pigi. The single will be released on November 29 through Snatch! Records. Check the artwork with tracklist below.
Canadian DJ/producer Milt Mortez has been wowing his fellow mixmasters—and the club-goers that love them—with this excitable dancefloor smasher since it first appeared on Discobelle‘s Turned On Vol. 1 compilation earlier this year. Late last month, Finnish party-tune hub Top Billin dropped the cut, alongside three other Mortez productions, on the Pluto EP, which you can stream the entirety of here. “Pluto” is massive and overwhelming on all fronts; the beats thump with a spritely bounce despite their low-end heaviness, the myriad synths swell and squeal in your ears from all directions, and the unexpected vocal drops are often cut short to make room for another jaunt of booming dance rhythms.
Just yesterday, we posted an in-depth feature on Oberlin duo Teengirl Fantasy. Apparently, the guys have hatched some sort of nefarious scheme to take over our website, because today they’ve unveiled a new video for “Dancing with Slow Motion.” The song, which appears on Teengirl’s debut album 7AM, is a gorgeous R&B slow jam featuring the vocal talents of Light Asylum‘s Shannon Funchess. As for the video, it includes a whole lot of Funchess’ face, along with some swirly psychedelics that compliment the track’s woozy vibes. Check it out and then head over to the True Panther blog to download an mp3 of the song.
