oOoOO’s Debut EP Announced for September

As of late, there’s been much ado about the so-called “witch house/drag house” genre (think Creep, Balam Acab, and triangles and other mystic shit), and yet half the artists mentioned in the same breath have nary a single release to their names. Breaking away from the pack this September is San Francisco’s oOoOO (a.k.a. Christopher Dexter Greenspan, who pronounces his stage name “oh”), and he’s set to release his self-titled debut EP on the new Kompakt Records offshoot Tri Angle.

oOoOO is out September 27, but for the time being, you can download Greenspan’s remix of Lindsay Lohan’s “I Live for the Day” (from the recent Tri Angle-approved mixtape Let Me Shine For You) here. And then check out the tracklist for the forthcoming EP below.

oOoOO tracklist:
1 Mumbai
2 Burnout Eyess
3 Sedsumting
4 Hearts
5 Plains Is Hot
6 Burnout Eyes (Visions of Trees Remix)

Christopher Willits “Light Into Branches”

OK, maybe we’re a little biased when it comes to Christopher Willits. The guy is from our town (SF pride, wooo!!!) and happens to be a studio wizard—check all those episodes of What You Talkin’ Bout, Willits? on XLR8R TV for proof—but he also happens to make some downright sublime pop music. Maybe not pop in the Top 40 sense of the word, but certainly in the sense that “hey, I could definitely see myself humming this later.” “Light Into Branches” comes from his just-released Tiger Flower Circle Sun album, and finds Willits blending his soft vocals and acoustic guitar notes with some warbling electronics and hazy melodies. It’s a mellow track, the sort of thing that sounds perfect when the sun is going down and you’re wrapping up a lazy summer afternoon.

13 Light Into Branches

No Lay/Silkie “Unorthodox Daughter (Kingdom Refix)”

In celebration of his recently released EP for Night Slugs, That Mystic, which we previewed last week and is on sale now, NY’s soulful bass music patron Kingdom (pictured above) hooked us up with this unreleased refix of the ’05 grime tune “Unorthodox Daughter,” by London MC No Lay and producer Silkie. The burgeoning DJ/producer tweaks the track a bit, tossing in some new sounds to Silkie’s rhythm, adding a few extra dollops of bass frequency, and trading out No Lay’s rapid-fire vocal delivery for snippets of soulful crooning from an entirely different song. It’s not that it’s better than the original, but Kingdom certainly transformed the song into something slightly more club-friendly and managed to make a five-year-old production sound like it was made last week.

Unorthadox Daughter (Kingdom Refix)

Podcast 153: Wolf + Lamb

NYC duo Wolf + Lamb is best known for its long-running series of underground parties, but the pair’s label continues to churn out a steady stream of quality music that walks the line between techno, house, and disco, and the boys—born Gadi Mizrahi and Zev Eisenberg—recently unveiled their debut full-length, Love Someone. We’re guessing that they’re gearing up for their annual trek to Burning Man, where the guys can hopefully bring an oasis of good tunes to the awfulness that populates the playa, but in the meantime they’ve put together this exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series. As one might expect, the Wolf + Lamb dudes bounce from one genre to the next, juxtaposing the funky sounds of J. Dilla and Georgia Anne Muldrow with Move D’s deep house and a bevvy of selections from their own label, all without sacrificing the groove.

01 Deniz Kurtel “Won’t Do (Edit)”
02 Georgia Ann Muldrow “Wrong Way” (Stones Throw)
03 J. Dilla “Bye” (Stones Throw)
04 Piniflow “Body Motion (Wolf + Lamb)
05 Mr. Flash “Domino” (Ed Banger)
06 Michael J. Collins “You Washed Away My Faith (Gadi Mizrahi Remix)” (Wolf + Lamb)
07 Nicolas Jaar “Come And Get It (Edit)” (W+L Black)
08 Zev “Don’t Break It” (Wolf + Lamb)
09 Jimmy Edgar “Seven Mile (Soul Clap & Sergio Santos Beantown Edit)” (No. 19)
10 Tornado Wallace “Paddlin'” (Delusions Of Grandeur)
11 Greg Paulus “Slide Away (Zev’s Endless Summer Remix)” (Wolf + Lamb)
12 Move D “Between Us” (Shanti)
13 Nightmares On Wax “You Wish” (Warp)

Download MP3
Download M4A (iTunes enhanced)
Subscribe to Podcast (RSS)

XLR8R_Podcast_Wolf_Lamb_2010_07_27

Kode9 DJ-Kicks

Kode9’s relationship with dubstep has always been an uneasy one, but with this latest DJ-Kicks installment, his avoidance of the genre is as much a political statement as it is an issue of taste. Only three tracks in the mix even somewhat resemble the one-drop cliché the genre has settled into: Ikonika’s “Heston,” Digital Mystikz’s “Mountain Dread March,” and The Bug’s “Run”—and even those seem like brilliantly fringe elements compared to the cartoonish wobble most often heard in the trenches.

People often throw around the term “bass music” to describe all the cross-sections between UK funky, bashment, grime, and whatever other London-centric styles are currently in play, and that seems like a decent starting place for where this mix ends up going. The first half in particular, which listlessly runs through the clattering bongos of Aardvark’s “Revo,” touches on some of Kode9’s own productions (“Blood Orange” sounds especially good in this mix), and then somewhat precariously ends with the rainy-day R&B of Rozzi Daime’s “Dirty Illusions.”

The second half is more predictable, and perhaps a better example of what bass music actually sounds like on the dancefloor. In particular, Addison Groove’s “Footcrab” and Ramadanman’s “Work Them” explore a sort of double-time torrent of kick drums and vocal samples that works especially well in juxtaposition to the seemingly slower stuff. Finally, The Bug and Flowdan’s murdered-out “Run” closes out the mix; it’s total anthem material and case in point as to why dubstep’s best moments have never really been “dubstep” to begin with.

Ghost Hunter “Island Barbados (Jimmy Edgar Remix)”

Oh, Jimmy Edgar, how we can’t get enough of you. Your chilly aesthetic, your oversexed persona, and your unflinching dedication to form and style shine through on every tune you craft, whether original or remix, and we can’t seem to satiate our appetite for everything Edgar. And even though your barren, monotone vocal delivery is nowhere to be heard on this remix of Ghost Hunter‘s “Island Barbados,” we can still hear you speak to our nether regions with your hypnotically pulsing rhythms, chopped synth melodies, subtle bass frequencies, and sparkling ambience. Basically, Jimmy, what we’re trying to say is, we’re glad you’re back on the production grind, and we can’t wait for you to drop that new record of reliably austere dance jams.

Island Barbados (Jimmy Edgar Remix)

Watch Holy Ghost!’s New “I Know, I Hear” Video

There’s no denying that making your music video on VHS—or making it look like it was recorded that way—is a trend that’s growing fairly tired, but at least this new piece for Holy Ghost!‘s “I Know, I Hear” single also fits the aesthetic of the song. The NYC disco-inspired duo pairs its funky, infectious, ’80s-pop-referencing tune with black-and-white footage of their new live band performing in a well-lit practice space that grows increasingly dark as the video progresses. Director Ben Fries subtly adds some visual effects to his lo-fi camerawork, occasionally giving the musicians’ movements a visible, lingering trail or rendering them translucent for brief moments. It’s enough to demand repeated viewings—not to mention Holy Ghost!’s upbeat number, which is worth a handful of plays itself.

Los Massieras “Rumores”

As the second release for both Berlin’s Los Massieras and the Bananamania imprint, the recently released Better Than Italians EP—an obvious reference to Mike Simonetti’s Italians Do it Better label—might wear quite a boastful title, not to mention an amusing Neu!-inspired record sleeve, but it seems the disc has the tunes to carry such a claim. On “Rumores,” the DJ/production duo runs with its idea of revamping Italian pop music circa 1970, crafting an exuberant, disco-referencing dance tune full of funky guitar licks, pulsing bass lines, and dusty samples of horn sections and choral vocals. Los Massieras’ track rides a fine line between being an edit, a remix, and an original, but will undoubtedly render such labels inconsequential when dropped in the middle of your next vintage disco DJ set.

02 Rumores

Robert Hood Delivers the Latest FACT Mix

In another bit of free music from FACT today, Detroit’s minimal-techno godfather and XLR8R‘s current cover star, Robert Hood, put together an outstanding mix for the website’s podcast series. Technically, the set itself comes from a live performance the veteran DJ/producer delivered in Barcelona during Sonar, but Hood agreed to publish it as his official FACT mix. It’s actually a welcome change of pace from your average podcast, as we get to experience the artist within his element, controlling the energies of a dancefloor live and on the fly with old-school, bare-bones techno. The feeling can’t be accurately captured with just turntables and a recorder in a DJ’s studio; this is action and reaction each minute through. Download FACT Mix 170: Robert Hoodhere.

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