Our friend and contributor Philip Sherburne recently tipped us to the fact that, damn, record-cover designers sure are loving them some triangles of late. Right?
Triangles… So Hottt Right Now
Lorn “Cherry Moon”
It’s a little strange that “Cherry Moon” comes from the final quarter of the debut album from FlyLo compadre Lorn; the track opens with a distant intro that slowly revs into a full-frontal assault of warped beats, thick motorik bass, and glowing synth and string melodies. The song could easily lead off an album. However, its more sullen—dare we say lovelorn?—tone fits the track’s resting place as the beginning of the end on Lorn’s forthcoming Brainfeeder release, Nothing Else.
Q+A: The Interview Issue
This month, nearly every feature within the issue takes the shape of an interview. Whether it’s our scribes getting the scoop from the likes of Trailer Trash Tracys and DaVinci or Warpaint sitting down with cover star Ariel Pink, the Q+A Issue gets up close and personal with a slew of the summer’s most blogged-about artists. The Juan MacLean quizzes Chicago house legends Virgo,Flying Lotus talks drugs and drums with new London dubstep queen Ikonika, Berliner Deadbeat meets Scuba, and even the boys of Blunted Robots go head to head. So get curious and read it all here, or view online at Issuu.
So Percussion and Matmos “Treasure”
Once we heard of the forthcoming collaborative album from groundbreaking duo Matmos and the experimental orchestra So Percussion, we assumed it would most likely be something as equally beautiful as it is strange. If “Treasure,” the first ‘single’ taken from Treasure State, is any indication of what the rest of the full-length holds, it seems we were right. Amidst a cheerful melody put together with bells, chimes, xylophone, guitar, synth, and piano, high-pitched squeals take center stage along with a sitar to balance out the classical orchestration with some of Matmos’ trademark noisemaking. Treasure State will be released on July 13.
Ninja Tune Celebrates 20 Years in a Big Way
Come September 20, one of the UK’s premiere forward-thinking, independent electronic labels, Ninja Tune, will celebrate 20 years of releasing music. This is no milestone to let pass by unnoticed, so the two Ninja Tune founders, Coldcut‘s Jon More and Matt Black, have planned out a big celebration. First off, for each of the 20 weeks leading up to the label’s actual birthdate, Ninja Tune will be premiering exclusive materials on its special Ninja Tune XX website (no porn, however). Along with the free content, announcements of new videos, friendly competitions, and more details on the whole of Ninja Tune XX will be unveiled. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Also in the works for Ninja Tune’s 20th is a 192-page book full of exclusive interviews, illustrations, original photographs, and fliers culled from their archives. A massive three-case boxset—which features, along with a hardback edition of the aforementioned book, six CDs and six 7″s of music from the likes of Amon Tobin, The Bug, Bonobo, Zomby, Switch, Autechre, Gold Panda, Toddla T, and Modeselektor, to name a handful—will be released on September 20. Live performances are also in the works for the dates surrounding Ninja Tune’s birthday in Paris, London, Berlin, and Brussels, in addition to the Ninja Tune Video Showcase—a screening of the label’s favorite music videos in a proper film theater—coming November 12. It’s hard to be sure exactly what else will bubble up amidst the large amount of party favors and celebratory shindigs, but whatever the weeks hold leading up to September 20, it’s sure to be purely awesome.
pictured Coldcut
Watch Illum Sphere Break Down His New EP on Martyn’s 3024 Label
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Before yesterday, almost the entire discography of Martyn‘s 3024 label was dedicated to his own work. Apparently, all that is about to change, as Martyn is expanding the label’s scope to include more boundary-pushing artists, starting with Illum Sphere (a.k.a. Ryan Hunn). The Manchester-based DJ/producer previously released a few things on his hometown’s Fat City imprint and remixed Martyn’s “Brilliant Orange,” but the release of his new Titan EP on 3024 should take the mild-mannered beatmaker to another level. Check out this exclusive video, which finds Hunn talking about his music and how he originally hooked up with Martyn. The video also features snippets of tracks from his new EP.
Listen to the New M.I.A. Song “XXXO”
Earlier today, M.I.A. officially unveiled “XXXO,” a track from her much-ballyhooed forthcoming new album, ///Y/. It’s a surprisingly pop-electro ditty, especially after hearing the Suicide-sampling rawk of “Born Free.” You can stream the song over on the website for her N.E.E.T. label, and “XXXO” is also available for sale on iTunes. ///Y/ was originally slated for release on June 29, but it has now been pushed back until July 13. It’s a safe bet that we—and seemingly everyone else on the internet— will be closely monitoring all of M.I.A.’s activities and utterances between now and then.
Podcast 136: Ikonika
As the sounds emanating from London continue to morph faster than people like us can slap a proper genre name on them, and the number of producers and DJs involved in this funky/garage/bass music movement continues to grow, it seems like there are very few constants in the UK’s electronic music scene. As a result, a label like Hyperdub—which has only been around for a shade over five years—serves as a pillar of stability, even as its roster and sonic output exist in a state of semi-permanent flux. So when Ikonika (a.k.a. Sara Abdel-Hamid) dropped Contact, Love, Want, Have, her debut album and one of only a handful of full-length efforts on Hyperdub (the others belonging to Burial and label head Kode9), it qualified as a genuine big deal. Later this month, Ikonika will be following up that big deal with another big adventure—a brief North American tour that includes a stop at this year’s MUTEK festival. In the meantime, she’s put together this exclusive XLR8R podcast that was mixed live and includes all kinds of dubplates and unreleased goodies. We recommend that you listen repeatedly and find yourself a way to get to one of those North American shows in the weeks ahead.
01 Jahcoozi “Read the Books (Ikonika Remix)” (BPitch Control)
02 Martyn “MiniLuv”
03 Braiden “The Alps”
04 Optimum “Storm Riddim”
05 Ikonika “Dckhdbtch”
06 DVA “New World Order” (DVA)
07 Kingdom “Pathfinder” (Scion)
08 Endgames “Ecstasy (Jam City Refix)” (Night Slugs)
09 Lil Silva “A Million” (Night Slugs)
10. Blondes “Spanish Fly (Brenmar Remix)”
11. Ikonika “Aqueous Cream” (Hum&Buzz)
12. Ramadanman “Glut” (Hemlock)
13. Optimum “Chaos”
14. Ikonika “Psoriasis” (Hyperdub)
15. Pony Pony Run Run “Walking On A Line (French Fries Dub)”
16. Caribou “Leave House (Ikonika Remix)” (City Slang)
17. Guido “Mad Sax” (Punch Drunk)
18. Girl Unit “Wut”
19. Addison Groove “Nautilus”
20. J.O.H vs. The-Dream “J.O.H Is A 10”
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Roska Rinse Presents Roska
For all the ink devoted to the rise and seemingly endless mutations of UK funky, the genre is notably devoid of full-length albums. Granted, the lightning-quick pace of London bass music doesn’t exactly lend itself to thoughtful, drawn-out masterworks, but other than Geeneus’ tone-setting 2008 LP, Volumes: One, there has been a parade of virtually nothing but singles and EPs, even from the biggest names in the scene. One of those names has undoubtedly been Roska (a.k.a. Wayne Goodlitt), whose steady stream of drum-heavy production, not to mention his ubiquitous “Roska Roska Roska” drop, bridged the gap between bottle-service clubs and the underground and played a huge role in putting funky on the map.
Now he’s released Rinse Presents Roska, and although it does include a few recycled tracks (“Hey Cutie,” “Wonderful Day,” and “Love 2 Nite,” the latter two with vocalist Jamie George), most of the album is new material, and not all of it is proper funky. DJs will undoubtedly gravitate toward the potent strings and big-room percussion of “Time Stamp” and “Tomorrow Is Today, the infectious synth squelch of “Burn in Flames,” and the whistles, stop-and-start beat, and oddball squawks of the already anthemic “Squark.” But those are matched with the compellingly chilled-out “Energy” and “I Need Love,” where respective guest vocalists Nikki and Aneesha lend the tracks a soulful garage feel, not to mention “Messages,” whose clicks, pops, and chirping synths chart a course that’s deeper than many funky artists are willing to go.
Dave Nada “Punk Rock Latino (Moombahton Dub)”
Well, that was fast. Two months removed from the unveiling of his first moombahton EP, DC’s Dave Nada has assembled Punk Rock Latino. As expected, it’s another potent collection of tracks combining screwed Dutch house beats with party-starting (and often Latin-flavored) acapellas. And yes, the entire EP is also available for free download. We’ve gone ahead and thrown up the Moombahton Dub version of “Punk Rock Latino,” which actually chops up vocals from Puerto Rico’s Calle 13 and layers them over some thick, stuttering beats. The end product sounds like some seriously beefed-up reggaeton and whether you speak Spanish or not, this tune is going to be one hell of a potent dancefloor weapon this summer.
