Detroit MC Black Milk is getting to release his new full-length, Album of the Year, in a couple of weeks on the Fat Beats label, but he’s shared this video to kickstart our appetites in the meantime. “Deadly Medley” is just that, as the song also features verses from fellow Motor City rappers Royce da 5’9″ and Elzhi. The clip is pretty standard hip-hop fare, but the song is the real star here, with the three MCs dropping knowledge over what sounds like a dusty ’70s funk loop. With songs like this, maybe Album of the Year can actually live up to its name.
Parisian tunesmith Manaré finishes out his recently released Quiet Riot EP with this hyperactive, UK funky-ish club tune, “Blitzkrieg Riddim.” The booming production is an extremely clean, well-made track whose pristine sounds were tailor-made for the world’s dancefloors and the brilliant soundsystems that power them; this isn’t headphone music. Manaré’s bass tones are full and bone-shaking, and his melodies cut like gems through every thickly layered sound effect; each sound on “Blitzkrieg” hits with a biting punch, forcing the listener to pay attention. You’ll find that the rest of the producer’s new release, which includes three original tunes and remixes from folks like L-Vis 1990 and French Fries, follows suit. You can preview the Quiet Riot EP here.
It seems like the sounds coming from Bristol’s purple dubstep scene are working their way stateside. From the Battle Hues EP by Vermont’s Guttstar (out now on a new label also based in Burlington, VT, Party Guy), Kastle‘s remix of “Not Money or Show” injects the original’s sound with an extra dose of soulful hip-hop and R&B influence, effectively changing its aura to a royal hue. The Pittsburgh-based producer (pictured above) piles melody upon melody to help characterize his remix, and does so with a handful of buzzing synth tones, some low-rent piano samples, and a bassline you can feel more than you can hear. You can check out more of the Battle Hues EP, which includes another remix by Dev79, on the Party Guy website, here.
For the fourth volume of RVNG‘s FRKWYS series, the New York label corralled a group of seemingly disparate musicians and producers to pay homage to Brooklyn experimentalists Psychic Ills. The artists selected to work on the project—a list which includes Detroit techno icon Juan Atkins (pictured above), Faust’s Hans-Joachim Irmler, and Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers—are considered to be innovators and pioneers in their own right, and were each allowed a song from Psychic Ills’ discography to reinterpret as they see fit. Atkins does his electro/techno thing to the song “Mantis,” Irmler gives “Witchcraft Breaker” an industrial-tinged once-over, and Haynes gets weird with synthesized rhythms on “I Take You As My Wife Again.” You can check out the artwork for FRKWYS Vol. 4, before it’s released on September 21 in a variety of limited-edition packages, below.
This previously unreleased slice of street bass heat from Philly native Starkey premiered the other day on FACT, and we just couldn’t resist sharing it with our readers as well. “Gasping for Air in this Void” is introduced with a sample-based orchestral melody that sounds like it was lifted from one of hip-hop’s strongest beatsmiths, but is quickly traded out for Starkey’s trademarks: dirty bass synths, razor-sharp beat work, and intergalactic noise. The producer’s hot new tune switches between a slow-grooving shuffle that could soundtrack a head-nodder’s wet dream and a grimy breakdown that Three 6 Mafia ought to consider for its next mixtape—all before Starkey finishes “Void” off with skittering hi-hats and staccato synth melodies riding a booming 808 off into the distance.
Berlin-based house and techno label Ostgut Ton is nearly half a decade old. In that time, the imprint has dropped releases for the likes of Marcel Dettmann, Ben Klock, Shed, and Scuba, among many others. Those well-regarded releases helped solidify its place in the world of dance music, a position equally bolstered by Ostgut Ton’s Berghain/Panorama Bar affiliations. So, label head Nick Höppner (pictured above) decided that the best way to ring in his imprint’s fifth year of releasing quality electronic tunes would be to keep at it and drop a brand-new Ostgut Ton compilation. The two-disc Fünf will be released on October 25, and features 24 previously unreleased songs from Berghain residents and affiliates, including DJ/producers Dinky, Luke Slater, Cassy, Ben Klock, Shed, Marcell Dettmann, Prosumer, Ryan Elliott, Substance, and Höppner himself. You can check out the full tracklist for the forthcoming compilation below, and read an interview with the the Ostgut Ton owner about his label’s birthday release on Resident Advisor.
CD1 01. Emika – Cooling Room 02. Marcel Fengler – Shiraz 03. Prosumer – Daybreak 04. Substance – Gestalts 05. Ryan Elliott – Abatis 06. Nick Höppner – ISP 07. Marcel Dettmann – Shelter 08. Fiedel – Doors To Manual 09. Shed – Boom Room 10. Steffi – My Room 11. Dinky – Twelve To Four 12. Len Faki – Kraft Und Licht
CD2 01. Barker & Baumecker – Drin 02. Marcel Dettmann – Scourer 03. SCB – Down Moment 04. Tama Sumo – Iron Glance 05. Murat Tepeli feat. Elif Biçer – Hold On 06. Soundstream – Wenn Meine Mutti Wüsste 07. Cassy – Never Give Up On A Mood Swing 08. Ben Klock – Bear 09. Norman Nodge – Start Up 10. Luke Slater – Boom Tang Shwuck 11. Boris – Rem 12. Margaret Dygas – Qunitet
DJ Spoko is a South African DJ/producer who came up under the tutelage of Shangaan Electro mastermind Nozinja, and, consequently, mentored DJ Mujava, eventually helping produce the massive “Township Funk” song. Lately, he’s been working on a new style of dance music he’s calling bacardi house, and this track is one of his latest experiments. “Mzansi,” which is a local slang term used to refer to South Africa, is a sharp, bouncing kwaito mover produced with a distinct ear for old-school synth and drum machine sounds. Whether the effect is inadvertent or not, DJ Spoko’s track invokes the spirit of another time when simple production techniques paired with a strong groove were all you needed for a good tune. He forgoes the plug-in-obsessed production tactics of most contemporary electronic music, aiming for a stripped down, straightforward, hardware-based house aesthetic, which effectively bolsters the soul of “Mzansi” more than any glossed-over computerized sound ever could. (via Altered Zones)
Austrian music, art, and politics get-together Elevate Festival is all set to go down in the town of Schlossberg this fall. The festival will host not only innovative and established musicians and artists, but politically and socially active speakers and organizations ready to join open panels and deliver thought-provoking lectures on the hot topics of the day (i.e. environment, economics, etc.). On the music side of things, ticket-holders will be able to enjoy brilliant live and DJ sets from bands and producers like Girl Unit, Altered Natives, Merzbow, DJ Sprinkles, Robert Hood, Actress, Joy Orbison, Hudson Mohawke, Emeralds, Oneohtrix Point Never, and many more. Elevate will be in full effect between October 21 and 26, and you can score tickets, which start at 115 euros for two days and a single room at Hotel Etap, here.
UK dubstep producers Peverelist and Hyetal (pictured above) are bringing together their unique styles of percussion-heavy, low-end-laden electronic music for a collaborative 12″ to be released on Punch Drunk. The two-song release features the joint productions “The Hum” and “rrrr,” and will be available at retailers in both vinyl and digital formats on October 18. You can listen to clips of both of those songs, and check out the release’s label artwork, below.
“The Hum”
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“rrrr”
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The term has been floating around XLR8R HQ for a good while now, but maybe the forthcoming Future Bass compilation will solidify the genre title across the board. On September 27, the UK’s Soul Jazz label will drop a 13-track release that investigates the wide spectrum of electronic music primarily focused on beats and bass. The compilation’s songs will be entirely new and exclusive, produced by the likes of Four Tet (pictured above), Untold, Distal, Ramadanman, Coki, and more, and the whole thing comes packaged in a limited-edition plastic casing with a set of free postcards. As the press release states, Future Bass is “an album that can only be defined as future music.” You can check out the artwork and full tracklist below.
1. Mala – Don’t Let Me Go 2. Four Tet – Nothing To See 3. Untold – Fly Girls 4. Coki – Ransom 5. Ramadanman – Bass Drums 6. Black Chow – Air 7. LD – Mastermind 8. V.I.V.E.K – Talking Shadows 9. Randomer – Puzzled 10. Ginz – Boss 11. Harry Craze – Gone 12. Distal – Grape Donut 13. Sub Version – Free To Funk
