At this point, how much more can we say about young LA beatmaker Teebs? We like him. Flying Lotus likes him. Pretty much the entire greater Los Angeles area seems to like him. His debut full-length, Ardour, comes out on October 9 via the Brainfeeder label, but those of us who can’t wait that long can happily dine on Teebs’ half of the recently issued sixth volume of All City’s ongoing LA series. (The other half was contributed by Daedelus; check out “Fates Say” for a sample of his contributions to the record.) “Anchor Steam” finds Teebs reaching into his usual bag of tricks by employing varied percussion and washed-out melodies, but the song also sports a Balearic vibe and a sped-up tempo that’s more indicative of house and techno than the LA beat scene. Yet he handles the increased bpm deftly; it’s always been evident than Teebs’ music sounded great in headphones, but “Anchor Steam” leads us to believe that he might also have a future on the dancefloor.
Like most people we now read about and listen to on a regular basis, matthewdavid was experimenting with music and sound well before anyone knew who he was. We’re sure most producers wouldn’t be the least bit interested in sharing those ‘experiments’ with their fans, but thankfully, the Leaving Records boss isn’t most producers. Back in 2008, matthewdavid was working with warping audio using processes influenced by the LA beat scene and subsequently releasing the sounds on made-to-order CD-Rs through his Myspace. That project just got an official re-release through Leaving, and although the physical copies (pictured above) quickly sold out, a free download of the work has been made available. From matthewdavid: “This collection serves as a document of my first explorations into tape-based field recordings and the integration of this with computers, compression, and electronic music—both beat and non-beat related.” He’s also called the Disk Collection “a sonically dynamic, personal immersion in electro-acoustic experiments.” You can download it all here.
We certainly don’t want to overuse our modicum of music-appropriate adjectives here, but we can’t help but call this song from Texan producer Spencer Stephenson blissed-out. Our first introduction to Stephenson’s Botany project (he used to be called Abacus) is the ecstatic “Waterparker”—a lush and vibrant number immediately bringing to mind the sounds of Bibio and Air France. The song begins with a chopped-up and hollow sample that builds to a climax before releasing the flourish of harps, bells, chimes, and drums in front of its densely ambient backdrop. Like his equally blissed-out peers, Botany has a love for rhythms that’ll send you running through a grassy field, but its the uplifting melodies and twinkling sounds that garner him that certain descriptor. (via Pitchfork)
Remember that nasty volcano in Iceland a few months back? Well, on top of the destruction it wrought, it also managed to postpone the US tour of recently reunited UK shoegaze heroes Chapterhouse. So today, as they embark on their rescheduled tour with Ulrich Schnauss, we check in with head man Andrew Sherriff for some (really) breezy chitchat about, well, you know… stuff. Hey, did we mention Chapterhouse is on tour starting tonight?
Where did you get the name Chapterhouse? It always sounded like a publishing company to us. Andrew Sherriff: Didn’t expect to ever have to answer this one again! It came from an appendix to The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley called ‘Heaven and Hell,’ which explores different routes civilization has taken in obtaining similar effects to his Mescaline experiments but without drugs. He suggests that the ornate gothic architecture of the Chapterhouse at Southwell Minster is capable of inducing a transcendental experience purely by looking at it. Back then, we had things that were a little more efficient than a building, but have to agree that it does sound like a publishing company.
What are you listening to these days? No specific genre or scene. This and that.
How about as you type this? Nothing. I quite enjoy silence nowadays.
So, that volcano whole thing… sucked, eh? Yep, amazing how much disruption it caused.
What had to happen before Chapterhouse could reform? We needed to make sure that when we played together again, it didn’t sound like we were going through the motions. It didn’t, so here we are.
Did you guys ever have beef with other shoegazers? Not really. I’m sure there probably was a healthy rivalry; there is between all bands.
Okay, who wins in a fight (and why)? You, Kevin Shields, Neil Halstead, or Alan McGee? We’re not into violence.
What have you been doing these last few years? Making audio for media.
What can you never leave home without? My shoes.
The last three books you read were. . . William Boyd – Any Human Heart Bob Dylan – Chronicles (to my children) Enid Blyton – Five on a Treasure Island
Say Chapterhouse were to make a new record today. What would it sound like? Abstract and jagged.
And who’d remix it? No one.
What do you miss from the ’90s days? Being in my 20s.
And what are you happy is long gone? Being skint.
Chapterhouse tourdates
October 1 – Chicago – Lincoln Hall (with Ulrich Schnauss & Airiel) October 3 – New York – Bell House (with Ulrich Schnauss & Dead Leaf Echo) October 4 – New York – Le Poisson Rouge (with Ulrich Schnauss & Soundpool) October 5 – Boston – Middle East Club (with Ulrich Schnauss & 28 Degrees Taurus) October 6 – Toronto – Lee’s Palace (with Ulrich Schnauss & Fjord Rowboat) October 8 – Los Angeles – Troubadour (with Ulrich Schnauss & The Meeting Places) October 9 – San Francisco – Mezzanine (with Ulrich Schnauss & A Shoreline Dream)
It’s been a long time coming, but the debut full-length record from Brooklyn-via-Ann Arbor beatsmith Shigeto will finally drop on November 9 via Ghostly. We’ve got the first leak to trickle from that 10-track body of work here, called “Relentless Drag.” The song is only the third selection on producer Zach Saginaw’s Full Circle album, and already things are quite moody. Plinking synth bits à la Oval’s latest sound palette, lumbering beat work, and yes, dragging melodies all darkly shade in the nod-worthy composition. It would be a stretch to say this is a cheerless moment in Shigeto’s forthcoming LP, but if it’s any indication of the path that Full Circle follows, things might get a bit gloomy before he makes his way back to the light.
You know we love Space Dimension Controller. We’ve featured him in our Bubblin’ section, we exclusively hosted his inaugural live set from Sonar, and have basically sang the praises of the Belfast-based DJ/producer as best we could, so you can bet we’re going slightly gaga over his forthcoming EP for R&S. On October 18, the Temporary Thrillz EP will be available at retail locations courtesy of SDC and the aforementioned record label. That record features six songs of futuristic-yet-‘heavy on the ’80s vibes’ boogie/funk/house from 20-year-old producer Jack Hamill, and like we said before, we’re kind of totally into it. You can check out the artwork and tracklist for Space Dimension Controller’s Temporary Thrillz EP below.
News of Terror Danjah‘s forthcoming full-length album for Hyperdub was pretty big in and of itself, but now we’ve got a taste of the massive tunes to back that hype up. Danjah’s production work is in top form on his shuffling grime beat for “Undeniable,” and D Double E of Newham Generals adds the tongue-twisting flows of a seasoned pro. While “Undeniable” starts out with a sort of melodic lament, it quickly changes gears into the steady groove of a head-knocking club tune with only a short return to that sullen melody toward the track’s end. It’s certainly impressive that Danjah can nimbly straddle such disparate vibes, so much so that we can’t help but wonder what other sounds he’ll coalesce once Undeniable drops on November 2.
The conversation comes in intense waves, along with the roar of rush-hour traffic and pedestrian squawks near Manhattan’s Madison Square Park, where Alexis Georgopolous, the composer/songwriter/sound mixer/producer who calls himself Arp, has stopped for a bite to eat and a long-distance chat about his life and work. The background is busy and chaotic, but Georgopolous’ focus on the music he makes remains steady and razor-sharp.
“There’s a thread coursing through all my work, a search for a musical identity that just feels right,” he says, cutting through the din. “It’s a nebulous space where I find my inspirations. It doesn’t come from any one place.” Some of that searching and inspiration no doubt began in early childhood, when he split time between northeast Ohio, where his father taught philosophy at Kent State University, and Greece and France, where his family on both sides originates. He went through the cultural studies program at Ohio’s Antioch College before spending 10 years in San Francisco, where he was a member of funky post-rock experimentalists Tussle from 2002 to 2006.
After leaving the group, Arp was initially conceived as a sound installation at SF’s New Langton Center for the Arts (a show curated by Matthew Higgs of New York’s White Columns art space). But it also developed into an ambient song cycle made with electronics and additional strings, released as the full-length In Light in 2007.
“High Life”
Georgopolous moved to New York the following year. “The first three years in San Francisco felt magical. But it eventually lost its verve for me,” he says. “New York is so vast, with so many things going on that interest me—classical music, dance, electronics—that I can hardly keep up with it all.”
More importantly, the frenetic pace of the city’s arts scene has quickly found a way to keep up with Georgopolous, who was commissioned to compose a score for a duet between Merce Cunningham and Trisha Brown dancers, has done more sound installation and other collaborative gallery work, and was also selected to be part of The Boredoms’ 88-drummer live performance spectacle in Los Angeles in 2008. As a member of the Alps, a trio that blends soft French and Italian psychedelia with harder elements of German cosmic rock, he’s released two acclaimed LPs on Type. And earlier this year, he collaborated with Slapp Happy co-founder Anthony Moore.
Arp’s new release, The Soft Wave, recombines all his influences into a highly addictive package that recalls groundbreaking art rockers like Eno, Bowie, Cale, Wyatt, and Cluster, while steering clear of mere copyism.
“White Light”
As Arp, Georgopolous dares to enter the established canon and finds its contents timeless, ripe and ready for the re-shaping. But he doesn’t stop there. On “High Life” he adds melodic Juju guitars and West African rhythms; “White Light” borrows fuzz and Fender Telecaster strum from the Velvet Underground; and then there are classic analog synth sounds strewn about as well.
“I’m constantly moving around in the music I love,” he says. “I’m learning I can make different kinds of records, none of which I hope are an escape into the past, but a continuation of experiments begun by great artists.”
London duo Walls is one of those acts that kind of snuck by XLR8R. We really enjoyed their self-titled debut full-length when it dropped earlier this year, but then we kind of forgot to, you know… write about it. Whoops. Well, at least now we have a chance to redeem ourselves, as Sam Willis (who also does time in Allez-Allez) and Allessio Natalizia (a.k.a. Banjo or Freakout) are set to release a new EP, Gaberdine Remixe, on October 18. The pair’s Balearic-tinged psychedelia and low-key electronic pop proclivities have always been a bit odd for Kompakt, but this Nathan Fake re-work does add some crunchy techno thump to the original’s laidback feel. The EP also offers an ambient Nathan Fake remix along with a few other re-works.
The much-anticipated debut album from Bay Area beat manipulator Eskmo is set to drop on October 19, but before it sees the light of day, this Lorn (pictured above) remix of his song “Come Back” has shaken loose. The Milwaukee-based Brainfeeder member has dropped Eskmo’s vocals way into the background, and fully cranked the “menace” knob on his mixing console. The beats don’t so much bang as they do lurch, as though the song is some kind of boogeyman that crawled out of the netherworld and wants to eat your ass up. Yes, it’s a bit scary, but fun scary, like watching a good horror flick. Grab some popcorn and turn it up.
