Korg‘s invention of the Kaoss line of products over a decade ago changed the effects game for musicians and producers both in the studio and on stage. Through the years, Korg continued to innovate such institutions as the DJ mixer and video/audio samplers; now Korg introduces its first touchpad-based synthesizer, Kaossilator Pro (MSRP: $460). The synths soundbank contains sounds suitable for genres ranging from electro to hip-hop to reggae and house, with plenty of acoustic instruments available as well. Using the high-quality samples along with a built-in arpeggiator, octave and key control, Kaoss’ trusty touchpad proves to be as simple and innovative as Korg has ever been.
Though Steve Reid may not be a household name, nearly anyone born before 1990 has heard the percussionist’s recordings—from Martha & the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street” to James Brown’s “The Popcorn” to Fela Kuti’s Africa One album, Reid’s intense, crisp drumming is present. Sadly, Reid passed away on April 13 after battling throat cancer, but his legacy will undoubtedly live on, and Gilles Peterson along with Kieran Hebden (a.k.a. Four Tet) have created a podcast memorializing the legendary musician. Trading off between personal reminiscences of Reid and his recordings, the podcast is a loving tribute that all music fans should get their hands on—especially if they want to hear Reid’s and Hebden’s massive version of Derrick May’s “Strings of Life.” Download the podcast here.
UK drum & bass head Zero T has just finished up his own contribution to the illustrious Fabriclive mix series. The DJ set comes comes nearly 10 years after DJ/producer Cian McCann hit the scene with a string of singles for the Irish Bassbin label, and features 29 tracks from T’s bass-loving peers and cuts from his own Footprints label. Though, this isn’t a mix solely for D&B heads. McCann said of his Fabric set, “I also wanted for it to be a CD for people that aren’t into drum & bass. It goes from dark, to more musical, to vocal, to properly minimal and deep stuff. I’ve managed to get all the artists I wanted, who are either heroes of mine or the current people to watch.” Check out artwork and tracklist for Fabriclive 52: Zero T, released June 14 in the UK and July 27 in the US, below.
01 Paradox – A Certain Sound (Alaska & Paradox Lost DAT Mix) [Paradox] 02 Kabuki feat. Jeru the Damaja – Watch Your Step (Need For Mirrors VIP Mix) [V] 03 Ulterior Motive – Seven Segments [Unreleased] 04 Slam – Positive Education (Zero T Remix) [Soma] 05 Lynx&Kemo – You Are Being Lied To [Detail] 06 Icicle – Ocular [Shogun Audio] 07 Zero T feat. Script – Guessing Games [Footprints] 08 System – Speed of Light [Footprints] 09 Lemonde – Heaven [Valve] 10 Jubei – Distrust [Shogun Audio] 11 Break – Wine [Symmetry] 12 All Thieves – Stars (Zero T Remix) [Footprints] 13 Need For Mirrors – Sick In The Head [Footprints] 14 Rockwell – Everything (& U) [Darkestral] 15 Artificial Intelligence & Krust – Audio Assault [V] 16 Fracture & Neptune – The Limit [Astrophonica] 17 Dillinja – When Love [Valve] 18 Zero T feat. Steo – Walk Away (Zero T Reprint) [CIA] 19 Genotype – Dubsoca [Unreleased] 20 Commix – Japanese Electronics (Instra:mental Remix) [Metalheadz] 21 SP:MC & Joker D – Down [Unreleased] 22 Icicle – Xylophobia [Shogun Audio] 23 Compound One – Pum Pum Beat [Compound One] 24 Sia – Little Man (Exemen Remix) [Long Lost Brother] 25 Ation – Missing You [Unreleased] 26 Equinox – Space Dub [Scientific Wax] 27 Marcus Intalex – 21 [Soul:r] 28 Calibre – Reach [Unreleased] 29 Reds feat. Tehbis & Fee Lups – Green Lanes [Footprints]
A wealth of percussive sounds and samples are minced into a finely prepared dish of beat music on Shigeto‘s “Baker Blunt Basics.” The track, taken from the Michigan producer’s latest solo EP, Semi Circle, moves along an even-keeled trajectory, and only stops momentarily through its journey to allow brief harp and string samples to take the spotlight. By the time “Baker Blunt Basics” is over, Shigeto’s crunchy beat has come full circle through a land of familiar synths and samples all the way back to the wobbly melody that started the whole thing off.
Barcelona bliss-house producer John Talabot likes to linger in the shadows. “Sunshine” has been making waves since last summer, but still no one really knows exactly who he is. Yet that hasn’t stopped him from making some cool friends, as the Hivern label is reissuing “Sunshine,” this time with remixes from current XLR8R cover dudes Delorean and Brooklyn upstarts Blondes, who are currently wrapping up their short West Coast tour. Check out the new remixes below, and delve back into the washy good times of the original while you’re at it.
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Two years following their last album and not much longer after a move from San Francisco to Baltimore, the experimentally inclined pair of Martin Schmidt and Drew Daniel (a.k.a. Matmos) have finally put the finishing touches on their collaborative work with Brooklyn’s So Percussion. The album, called Treasure State, was conceived in Whitefish, Montana (hence the album’s title), tweaked into oblivion by SF noisemaker Wobbly along with Schmidt, with the final sounds fine-tuned by producer Lawson White. The resulting album is said to explore and study the sonic properties of common-place and not-quite-so-common materials, like ceramic planters, pails of water, aluminum beer cans, and cactus needles. For such avid found-sound archeologists like Matmos, making music out of botanical materials and bar trash should sound as second-nature as humming the birthday song. We’ll know for sure when Treasure State is released July 8 via Cantaloupe.
The pairing of Southern California beat maker Teebs with the UK’s Jackhigh has yielded some decidedly mellow sounds, as heard on this track from their collaborative seven-song EP, The Tropics. As Teebs & Jackhigh, the duo crafted “Clutch,” a song which seems to borrow more from Teebs’ penchant for ambiance than Jackhigh’s sample-heavy beats. The song’s atmosphere is laid thick as a London fog—allowing only particularly shimmering elements and low register rumbles to break through the swirling haze. It’s perplexing to think how that sound came about given the duo’s creative process; each song on The Tropics EP was crafted by manipulating a single sound file, instead of the usual arrangement of stems tweaked within computer software. Such unique approaches, sound experiments, and hand-painted art work by Teebs (shown above) make for one of the more interesting beat records to come out as of late.
Buenos Aires-based three-piece Tremor have been blurring the lines between traditional and digital musics for quite a bit now, and so it’s no surprise that one of the kings of digital cumbia, El Remolon, has done a fantastic job in remixing the late 2009 piece. Though he strays from the saya rhythm of the original, El Remolón keeps the cross-cultural sonic textures of “Viajante” relatively intact, allowing both native South American music as well as Balkan melodies to weave in and out of each other in a seamless fashion. Ideal for an international dance party—or just any party. Taken from the just-released Caracol EP, which also features remixes from Clorofila of Mexico’s Nortec Collective and fellow ZZK artists King Coya and Chancha Vía Circuito.
For her debut solo album, Ninca Leece throws small organic touches (think: babbling child) and quirky glitches into a melodic dreamland that alternates between subtle Télépopmusik-era house and bouncy electro-pop. The playful French producer’s vocals could easily go bitchy à la Miss Kittin, but tend to end up cheery and sweet, as exemplified by the infectious, funky-bass-inflected single “Sitting on Top of the World.” Where Leece opts to croon in her native tongue (“The Beast”), her simple lyrics suddenly become mysterious and sensual. She makes a pretty but unexciting pass through familiar territory with a cover of The Cure’s “Love Song” (she should have done it in French!), but provides a compelling mess of her own texture on “Aseptique.”
XLR8R favorites FaltyDL and Ikonika have featured remixes on Ital Tek‘s upcoming EP, Moment in Blue. Ikonika’s remix of “Moment in Blue” takes the somewhat dark atmospherics of the original and turns it on its head, crafting a breezy, near-tropical funky track that is perfect for summer, whereas FaltyDL keeps some of the original’s shadows in place. With a June release date, these slices from young UK producers are certain to be blasting from speakers once warm weather arrives.
Ital Tek’s Moment in Blue comes out June 21 on Planet Mu.
Tracklisting:
A1: Moment in Blue (Ikonika Remix) A2: Crush Horizon B1: Moment in Blue (FaltyDL Remix) B2: Infinity
