While any electronic music head knows that Kode9 is one of the founding flag-bearers of the dubstep movement, it might come as a surprise that the DJ/producer also holds a Ph.D in Philosophy, and in 2009 saw his first tome on sonics released by the MIT Press. Goodman will present on Sonic Warfare: Sound, Affect, and the Ecology of Fear, and engage in a symposium-like conversation with audience members at San Francisco’s Gray Area Foundation for the Arts as part of Recombinant Media Labs‘ +DIALOG series. Theorist Erik Davis of TechGnosis will also take part in the event, which aims to “provide a forum to commune, collate and derive fresh context direct from the source.”
The evening with Steve Goodman and Erik Davis takes place March 26 at the GAFFTA galleries at 55 Taylor St. in San Francisco. For more information, visit the event site. Read more about Goodman’s book here.
Fatima‘s debut EP, Mindtravelin’, has just been released on the Eglo label, and its first single already has an excellent music video. The soulful songstress definitely pleases on “Soul Glo,” but the vid’s appropriation of analog television technologies as well as the cult of the infomercial makes us swoon. Check it out below!
Another moniker of jazzy house composer-producer Kuniyuki Takahashi, Koss‘ works exist somewhere between Stars of the Lid and the Chain Reaction discography, and “Ocean Waves” is exemplary in this respect. Featuring an insistent kick and bass rumble behind warm, soaring synth drones, echoey piano tinklings, and high-frequency hisses, the piece is the aural equivalent of a sunset, its thudding-yet-sentimental ambience perfect for a mix filled with Peter Zummo, Fluxion, and Brian Eno. Taken from the upcoming international release of his 2008 Japan-only Mule album, Ancient Rain.
Brooklyn’s Lando Kal is one half of the Lazer Sword crew, so while the bass-blap of the latter is certainly reflected in the bass tones of his solo project, the beats are more indebted to electro-house. “Fuzzy Ankles” is a slow-burning number, replete with a hypnotically glacial house beat, menacing synths, and high-frequency shimmers of sound. With its bit of squelch and a clean breakdown, the track is perfect for late-night hi-jinks, when everyone on the floor is loaded to the gills and ready to get down with some serious beats. Taken from Lando’s new split 12″ with the other half of Lazer Sword, Low Limit, out now on Numbers.
If one used producer Brian Lindgren’s debut album as the basis for psychoanalysis, it would be almost immediately apparent that under his musical moniker, Mux Mool, the man suffers from multiple personality disorder. The tug-of-war between Dilla-esque hip-hop (“Hog Knuckles”) and buzzy, electro-tinged dance tunes (“Crackers”) runs throughout the whole of Skulltaste. Occasionally, on tracks like “Breakfast Enthusiast” and “Death 9000,” the two opposing psyches combine in a seamless marriage of new sounds, though that’s not to say they are the only ideas present on Mux Mool’s debut. R&B, disco, and orchestral arrangements also color in Lindgren’s smooth edges, and help make a fresh-sounding record that could please many tastes; just don’t expect him to stick to one style for too long.
From the brilliant variety of Colorseries to the more ambient sounds of his recordings for the Mille Plateaux label, Dublin’s Donnacha Costello has been one of the most innovative producers of electronic music for more than a decade. Little White Earbuds is now hosting a podcast curated by Costello which features the most influential tracks to him and his sonic palette. From the hard Detroit techno of Neil Landstrumm to the gay house of “Love Can’t Turn Around,” the podcast is a journey through the best house and techno of the past 25 years. Check it out over at LWE. Tracklisting after the break!
Tracklist:
01. Farley “Jackmaster” Funk, “Love Can’t Turn Around” [Trax] 02. Plastikman, “Plasticity” [Plus 8] 03. G-Man, “Quo Vadis” [Swim ~] 04. Hugo Moya, “Move” [Relief] 05. Neal Howard, “Indulge” [Network] 06. Chaz Vincent, “Dream Wave” [Planet E] 07. Neil Landstrumm, “Pirate” [Tresor] 08. The Other People Place, “Let Me Be Me” [Warp] 09. Jeep Grrlz, “El Magnifico” [El Chocolates] 10. Paul Johnson, “It’s House!” [Dust Traxx] 11. Neal Howard, “The Gathering” (Club Mix) [Future Sound R & R] 12. Jacktripper, “Basement” [Jack] 13. Neal Howard, “To Be Or Not To Be?” [Future Sound R & R] 14. Rhythim Is Rhythim, “Emanon” [Network] 15. Model 500, “I Wanna Be There” (Edit) [R&S]
As one of the founding fathers of the French touch scene in the ’90s, Alex Gopher has seen his fair share of clubs, studios, and odd experiences. On the tail of releasing My New Remixes (Go 4 Music), the prolific producer, DJ, and Air collaborator took time out from working next door to Etienne de Crecy to tell us about stolen identities, live snafus, and why he fancies himself more of a ground squirrel.
XLR8R: What are you listening to right now? Alex Gopher: Etienne de Crecy doing a new track. We have just one door between our studios, and this door is often open. It gives us the opportunity to help each other and share advice.
What band did you want to be in as a teenager? Bass player of Joy Division, and so New Order…
What’s the weirdest story you’ve ever heard about yourself? Ten years ago: “Last weekend Alex Gopher played in New York City.” I was in Paris. Somebody played as a DJ under my name. He should have called me, we could have figured out a good deal together!
Favorite city to play in? These days it’s Paris, at Social Club.
Name one piece of gear you couldn’t live without. My cellphone.
Worst experience at a live show? It was in Belgium. I was supposed to play live in a club with my band for my 2007 album, which was more rock influenced. People were waiting for commercial dance music and were really disappointed, then half of my equipment broke down… I stopped the concert and ran to the DJ booth to play records. Big, big shame.
Worst experience recording in the studio? For my first album, we were recording voices with Michael Payne, who was singing on a track. He wanted to erase the tape because he was disagreeing with my manager over contracts during a break in the recording. It was horrible for me, as my manager was very [difficult] and I actually thought Michael was right! I was so happy with the track. I was very depressed, as it was horrible to think that a contract issue might prevent it from being made. But gladly, after a long discussion, they found an agreement, and we kept the track.
Of the two types of gophers in the world (pocket gophers and ground squirrels), which do you most identify with? If we talk about physical appearance, the ground squirrel! I’m tall and slim more than small and round.
What were Air like as kids? Exactly like now, without the money. They kept their hair, I did not…
What other artist would you most like to collaborate with? Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Curtis Mayfield, Jimmy Hendrix, Serge Gainsbourg, Ian Curtis. More simply, Soulwax.
If you had to listen to one song on repeat for the rest of your life, what would it be? “Things Behind The Sun” by Nick Drake.
Alex Gopher Remix of Shinichi Osawa’s “Push”
If you had to use one word to describe your tunes, what would it be? Versatile, even if I should say solid.
So you’re about to start on a remix: What’s your morning routine that day? Waking up, [eating] breakfast, taking my two sons to school, checking new emails, riding my Vespa, and going to the studio. Erasing everything that I don’t like in the original track in my Pro Tools. Switching on my MPC1000, my Future Retro Mobius sequencer, and my Korg MS-20, [then] having fun.
Of all the tracks on your upcoming remix compilation, which is your favorite? Shinichi Osawa’s “Push.” I have played it in all my sets for two years and always with the same pleasure.
If you could’ve spent your life doing anything outside of music, what would it have been? Photos. I would like to have a second life for that.
Together, edIT, Boreta, and Ooah have amassed a large number of remixes, singles, and mixtapes, but May 25 will mark the release of Drink the Sea, the debut full-length from LA’s veteran blap collective. The Glitch Mob opted to drop the album on its own imprint, Glass Air, and has also given us the premiere of the album’s first single, “Drive It Like You Stole It.” If this track is anything, it’s an anthem. Amidst a trademark head-nodding beat heavy with slap, a number of synths vie for the forefront position—like a team of buglers announcing the coming of the beat scene’s heroes—before giving way to an arsenal of heavy percussion and reverberated vocal samples.
1989’s “Do You Know Who You Are” might be one of the best deep Chicago cuts ever recorded, its monstrous kicks, bright wandering synths, and deliciously delayed guitars creating a blueprint for all true deep house to come, from the Burrell brothers to the almighty Kerri Chandler. Pile on synth buzz, near-subsonic bass, and watery harmonies, and there’s no denying the piece’s greatness, which makes it all the better that Trax and Rush Hour have just re-released Virgo’s only eponymous album. Featuring new artwork and tracks remastered for maximum loudness, the release shows that Rush Hour is fast becoming the best archival house label in the world.
After a couple of albums of drab post-rock, Chicago’s Pit Er Pat blossomed into a much more interesting proposition on its 2008 full-length High Time, and that bloom continues on The Flexible Entertainer. Similarities between Pit Er Pat and Gang Gang Dance exist, mainly in Fay Davis-Jeffers’ narcotized-siren vocals and Butchy Fuego’s lopsided, postmodern dub rhythms that push each track down unpredictable routes. After a bizarre illbient anti-fanfare, the disc shifts into its most radio-friendly song, “Water,” whose wonky, exotically whimsical dubstep lope casts an unexpectedly beguiling spell. “Emperor Of Charms” stands out here for its rampaging spaghetti-western rave-up, coming off like a Morricone score backed by the Royal Drummers of Burundi. But the bulk of The Flexible Entertainer is animated by psychedelic effects and a no-wave angularity, both filtered through 21st-century dub sensibilities. Pit Er Pat achieve a genuinely distinctive hybrid of styles and this album positions them among America’s most interesting groups.
