Beginning with a minute of brooding synths and bells that could have been lifted directly from Silent Shout, then moving towards a more Jan Hammer circa Miami Vice vibe, Diamond Vampires‘ “The Mineral Room” eventually becomes a full-blown dark balearic track. Watery vocoded elements, killer kicks, and some secondary synth harmonies that scream late-night rave round out the piece, cementing the group’s place among the non-chillwave crowd of newer electronic musicians making people dance. (Via 20JFG)
The mere mention of Brooklyn-based dancehall MC Jahdan Blakkamoore‘s name is enough to get the XLR8R staff excited, so we were thrilled to see that Jahdan voiced several tracks on Concentric Circles, the new album from bass producer and fellow New Yorker Nate Mars. Also featuring guest vocals from artists such as Dub War resident Juakali and UK grime MC Nika D of Virus Syndicate, Concentric Circles finds Mars brewing up a low-end strain of dubstep that leans heavy on the dub. “Above & Beyond Dem” is a quality primer, as an AutoTuned Jahdan sings sweetly over a burping synth and low-end rumble.
Among the many Afrobeat comps out there, Strut’s reissue of Duncan Brooker’s impeccably curated Afro-Rock, Vol. 1, originally issued on Kona in 2001, is especially welcome. It doesn’t take a collector to appreciate the consistent, engaging quality of this disc, which lovingly showcases choice cuts of East African funk, soul, and jazz from the ’60s and ’70s. Particularly notable here are Orchestra Lissanga’s “Okuzua,” its guitars ringing with a delicate, delightful cadence, and the funky, infectious opening track, Ishmael Jingo’s “Fever,” an essential in this realm. This reissue tacks on another tune from Jingo, an untitled, entrancing slice of psych-soul that’s definitely worth hearing, and the digital version features three additional songs. A great way to begin your obsession.
OK, let’s get the obvious part out of the way: XLR8R loves Bok Bok. If it seems like we’re writing about the guy every four seconds, well, that’s because we are. Tell you what, let’s make a deal right now. When the Night Slugs co-founder stops doing rad things, we’ll stop drooling over his every move. Look, we know it’s embarrassing, just deal with it and enjoy the good tunes. OK??? Anyways, by now you might be (exasperatedly) thinking, “So exactly what has Bok Bok done today?” The answer is: drop another free mixtape loaded with unreleased heaters from a veritable who’s who of UK bass music—tracks from Mosca, Lil Silva, Floating Points, Girl Unit, DVA, Silkie, and T. Williams are just the tip of the iceberg. In case you’re wondering, the mix was assembled in advance of Bok Bok’s upcoming appearance at the London installment of the Stag & Dagger festival on May 21.
If you’re into Roscoe Dash and Soulja Boy’s “All the Way Turnt Up”—and who isn’t, judging by the way it’s been booming from cars for months now—you’ll truly appreciate A-Trak‘s version, which is a veritable mash of the ATL duo’s lyrics and Claude von Stroke’s “Vocal Chords.” Die-hard techno heads will frown upon this track, but clubbers who enjoy some fun, ridiculous four-to-the-floor will definitely be slamming to this track in the coming weeks. Taken from A-Trak’s upcoming Dirty South Dance 2 mixtape. (via The Fader)
The German-born DJ/producer Christoph Caominh (a.k.a. Caltrop) may release his music on the practically un-Googleable Portland-based Nude Photo Music label, but he calls the Bay Area home. His latest track for the imprint, “Good to See You,” sounds like Caltrop traveling between the three locations. The motorik churn of Kraftwerk’s “Trans-Europe Express” is invoked while Caominh’s brightly colored synths, calming melodies, and passing analog textures call to mind the beach cliffs and mountain tops seen on drives through the Pacific Northwest.
Veteran minimal techno producer Robert Hood has readied his first album to be released since 2009’s reissue of his 1994 classic, Minimal Nation. Based on the 1971 film of The Omega Man, Hood’s new record, entitled Omega, takes not only musical inspiration from the old sci-fi flick, but also its themes of a dystopian future. The techno icon explained his take on the film, saying, “It’s definitely metaphoric, and if we don’t heed the signs, this is where we’ll end up. We live in a society where we just consume. We just take. We don’t operate on the concept of giving.” Hood also went so far to compare the world in The Omega Man to the state of his former hometown of Detroit, “You had abandoned buildings during the crack epidemic and this progressive city had these ‘zombies’ walking the street. Detroit is a prophetic vision of the sign of things to come.” Omega illustrates his worldview in song titles like “Towns That Disappear Completely” and “The Plague (Cleaning Maneuvers),” in addition to Hood’s haunting, stripped-down production. A world tour will coincide with the release of Omega via M-Plant on June 21. Check out those dates, and the album artwork below.
MAY 14: Uruguay 15: Buenos Aires, Argentina, 30: Movement Festival, Detroit, USA
JUNE 4: Sub Club, Glasgow, Scotland 5: Free Your Mind Festival, Holland 11: Tanzhaus West, Frankfurt, Germany 12: Berghain, Berlin, Germany 17: ‘Omega’ album launch Sonar / Nitsa, Barcelona, Spain 18: Trouw, Amsterdam, Holland 19: M-Plant label night @ Fabric, London, England 25: Geisha, Perth, Australia 26: The Civic Undergrond, Sydney, Australia
JULY 2: The Likes Of You @ Brown Alley, Melbourne, Australia 3: Bar Soma, Brisbane, Australia 10: Source Festival, Utrecht, Holland 24: Tomorrowland Festival, Belgium
AUGUST 6: Sub Scape @ Cafe Capital, Antwerp, Belgium 7: Aquasella Festival, Spain 27: Taipei, Taiwan 28: Tokyo, Japan
SEPTEMBER 3: Beijing, China 4: Void @ the Shelter, Shanghai, China
If there was any doubt in your mind that motorik space-disco was alive and well, Parisian quartet Chateau Marmont will certainly assuage such notions. The title track from the group’s forthcoming second EP, Nibiru, is a pure Italo number, complete with arpeggiating synths, a driving beat, thick spacial electronics, and an ominous choir lurking behind it all. “Nibiru”‘s pace remains constant throughout its five-minute runtime, but big key changes, plenty of instrumentation, and epic movements in the song’s trajectory keep things fresh and interesting the whole time.
Looks like another candidate for “chillwave” act of the moment has come into view. London-based duo Visions of Trees has harnessed the blissful, reverb-soaked sonics necessary to put themselves in the running, a new sample of which is available here on the group’s remix of Memory Tapes‘ jam “Green Knight.” Dense atmosphere and plinking electronics engulf the original’s piano melody and high-register vocal performance, but the muffled house beat which eventually overtakes the track helps bolster “Green Knight” into a tune you’d expect to hear at a dance party in your dreams. (via Gorilla vs. Bear)
Apart from making music, Black Mother Super Rainbow member The Seven Fields of Aphelion takes photographs layering images of stark, abandoned commercial-industrial landscapes with more pastoral scenes of leaves and fields of wheat, a juxtaposition that provides a nice frame for listening to Periphery. This stellar debut album features ambient synth drones, hypnotically simple melodies, and an all-consuming echo that recalls empty spaces as much as wide-open nature. Additionally, there is a wistfulness expressed in tracks like “Grown,” which opens with piano lines on top of drones and builds to a swirl of piano-synth harmonies that ache in their beauty. Other highlights include the bright dustiness of tracks like “Mountain Mary” and the watery arpeggiations of “Saturdation: Arrhythmia.”
