Norway’s Serena-Maneesh are preparing to release their follow-up to their critically acclaimed self-titled debut album. Entitled S-M 2: Abyss in B Minor, the eight-track album, which was appropriately recorded in a cave on the outskirts of Oslo, marks the quintet’s label debut on 4AD, and is said to mesh the seemingly disparate worlds of My Bloody Valentine-inspired shoegaze with the more sinister tones of true Norwegian black metal. It’s an interesting and visceral combination to say the very least. The album hits retailers March 23, and its artwork and tracklist are below.
1. Ayisha Abyss 2. I Just Want To See Your Face 3. Reprobate! 4. Melody For Jaana 5. Blow Yr Brains In The Mourning Rain 6. Honeyjinx 7. D.I.W.S.W.T.T.D. 8. Magdalena (Symphony #8)
It’s nice to see New York’s Michna taking a stab at remixing a Joy Orbison track that’s not “Hyph Mngo.” That song’s breakout has threatened to completely overshadow the producer’s other brilliant tunes, and, here, Michna gives “BRKLN CLLN” its due by pumping up the bass and percussive elements—making his hometown-referencing version a sort of laidback banger. Hopefully we can catch this track live during Michna’s short jaunt around middle-America with Rusko.
The creative impulses of Cameron Mesirow, the woman behind Glasser‘s dream-like folk-pop visions, are irrepressible, even when she’s under the weather. She intended to be in the studio on the day of our phone interview, but with her voice shot, she’s instead crafting puffy pieces of jewelry, origami, and tiny sculptures around her Los Angeles home. “I’ve been bored out of my mind!” she exclaims with a laugh, sounding anxious to resume her work.
Lately, she’s been recording with Ariel Rechtshaid, producer for Cass McCombs and bass player for Foreign Born (whose frontman, Matt Popieluch, is Mesirow’s boyfriend and joins Glasser for most live shows) and “expanding Glasser horizons exponentially” in the process. Working in an actual studio is a new development, as she used GarageBand to record her earlier material. “It’s a lot more exciting and kind of scary, too… Suddenly, I don’t know how it’s gonna turn out,” Mesirow admits. GarageBand still plays a part in developing beats and basic tracks, but for her album, she says, “I’m starting out with re-recording all the vocals that I’ve done, and then collaging over what I’ve done musically—new sounds, new beats, new interruptions.”
Glasser: “Apply”
Although unsure when Glasser itself began, Mesirow says her first show occurred in late 2007 after about a year of songwriting. Her debut EP, Apply, was released last year on True Panther Sounds, and it features three originals with remixes by Tanlines, Lucky Dragons, John Talabot, and Delorean. Each track pulses with an eerie, psychedelic energy, as Mesirow employs her voice’s Kate Bush-like elasticity as both melody and a key rhythmic device, infusing her already mesmerizing beats with quivering life. Bringing Glasser to life on stage has varied with the setting. Donning one of several costumes designed by LA-based designer Ida Falck Øien, Mesirow has been variously accompanied by Popieluch, Brooklyn duo Tanlines, and, at her EP release, a nine-piece band. One of the most intriguing Glasser-related performances thus far was Mesirow’s ongoing Auerglass collaboration with visual artist Tauba Auerbach, which recently brought her out to New York. For several weeks, the two performed daily at the Deitch Projects gallery on a bifurcated wooden pump organ that they conceived and designed over the last six years, musically acting out the interdependency of their friendship. “I had every other key in a four-octave scale, and [Auerbach] had every other key that I didn’t have,” explains Mesirow. The pumps at each artist’s feet provided wind for the keys of the other. In performance, they wore Øien-designed costumes that required each other’s help to wear, including wooden shoes that fit together “like jigsaw puzzles” back to back.
Auerglass performance at Deitch Projects Gallery
There’s an Auerglass editions show on the way, and Glasser’s “Tremel” single is soon to be released on Young Turks, featuring a remix by Jamie Smith of The xx. The Apply 12-inch has sold out, but available now are “songboxes” she’s fashioned: little treasure-chest sculptures filled with beads, bells, scraps of fabric, and digital downloads. Such inventive repackaging reflects both Glasser’s ornate aesthetic and that restlessness so inherent to her work. “I have to have a lot of visual stimuli in order to feel creative!” she explains.
Characterizing Martin Dosh’s music has never been easy. Take “Subtractions,” which features scatting vocals, arpeggiating bass synths, stabbing string sections, and an entire roll call of percussive instruments. It could fall into the realm of Tortoise-esque, jazzy post-rock, but there is hardly enough “rock” in Dosh‘s sound palette to fit such a genre. It’s the lead track from the Minneapolis musician’s upcoming album for Anticon, Tommy, which will undoubtedly be filled with plenty more unusually pleasant sonic juxtapositions.
The beginning of Michael Fakesch‘s remix of “D-Tron” sounds like the revving of some over-sized futuristic train engine, and once the motor starts running the track happily chugs along. The original was produced by Denver’s Scaffolding, but gets a rework here by Fakesch of Funkstörung fame. The resulting track is a carefree slice of techno that could put a grin on any dancefloor enthusiast.
As The Bug, dub master Kevin Martin invites flame and fury into his studio, employing dancehall MCs to invoke poison darts, murder, pain, and insanity, as displayed by his brilliant 2008 LP, London Zoo. He dials down the temperature with King Midas Sound, a dream-dub project featuring poet Roger Robinson and vocalist Kiki Hitomi, with no loss of killer effect. The two share the microphone on the hazy, hypnotic “Goodbye Girl,” the ethereal stomp “Outta Space,” and the dread-filled environmental polemic “Earth a Kill Ya.” Martin weaves subtle production touches throughout, increasing and reducing sonic pressure, adding snares (“One Ting”) and crispy crackles and pops (“13 Miles and Miles”) atop thickening layers of tasty, melodic bass vibrations.
Planet Mu has always carried a roster of tuneful yet disparate sounds, but the London label’s two newest releases show this curatorial ethos going to the next level. First up is the latest effort from Kuedo, better known as Jamie from (sadly defunct) dubstep heroes Vex’d. Continuing in the same vein as his former collaboration, the Starfox EP features four tracks of complex yet dancefloor-friendly beats. In contrast, the label’s next release comes from The Internal Tulips, a California-based project (so shady they don’t even have a MySpace!) revolving around a healthy obsession with the Kranky Records catalog, with a bit of Akron/Family thrown in for good measure. The group prominently features Brad Laner, formerly of seminal alternative band Medicine. Tracklistings after the jump!
Kuedo’s Starfox EP comes out January 22. Details on the The Internal Tulips record remain hushed.
Kuedo Starfox EP Tracklisting:
1. Starfox 2. Glow 3. Shutter Light Girl 4. Joy Construction
The Internal Tulips mislead into a field by a deformed deer Tracklisting:
1. 1/2 retarded tuner of hurricanes 2. bee calmed 3. 9 tomorrows 4. arlie 5. dead arm blues #b150 6. talking hoshkazi blues 7. mr. baby 8. songbird 9. parasol 10. fixed confidence 11. long thin heart 12. invalid terrace 13. we breathe
The eclectic punk sounds of San Francisco’s Mi Ami have been getting tighter and tighter over the years, and the group’s upcoming Thrill Jockey album is sure to showcase this evolution. Steal Your Face is more compact than previous efforts, but keeps true to the plethora of aural assaults that Mi Ami is known for. With the new album’s release on April 9, the trio will do a mini-tour of select US cities, travel to Europe for a more lengthy run, and then return to North America for yet another tour. Check out some tour dates after the jump!
UPCOMING TOUR DATES
Jan 23 Los Angeles, CA- The Smell w/Lucky Dragons, Foot Village Feb 6 San Francisco, CA- El Rio w/ 3Leafs, Sands (Dame Satan) Apr 9 Chicago, IL- The Hideout w/Forest Juziuk (DJ) Apr 10 Detroit, MI- Lager House w/Forest Juziuk (DJ) Apr 11 Pittsburgh, PA- TBA Apr 12 New York, NY- Cake Shop Apr 13 Baltimore, MD- TBA Apr 14 Philadelphia, PA- Danger Danger Gallery Apr 15 Washington, DC- Velvet Lounge Apr 16 Ann Arbor, MI- Ann Arbor Vitae Loft w/Peaking Lights
Yes, we know. In recent months XLR8R has been on London overdrive. Normally, we try to avoid endlessly stoking the hype machine, but these Brits are just making it so damn hard. It seems like every week a new producer magically pops up out of the London underground and breaks our brains with a mind-melting new spin on UK garage, funky, 2-step, house, and whatever other urban sounds are bubbling over there. This week, you can go ahead an add Greena to the list of artists to obsess over. On this exclusive mix, the 23-year-old Londoner and Night Slugs cohort whips together the usual assortment of dubplates and unreleased tunes from scene heavyweights like Untold, Brackles, Bok Bok, and Roska, but he also stretches his musical boundaries further than many of his contemporaries will dare, slotting in vintage techno, ghettotech, upfront house, and even some grime-flavored R&B. It may sound a bit schizophrenic, but Greena weaves his way between genres with ease, resulting in one particularly potent XLR8R podcast.
01 Omar S “Flying Gorgars” (FXHE) 02 Carl Craig “Sandstorms” (Planet E) 03 Mosca “Nike” (Night Slugs) 04 Ghosts on Tape “Predator Mode (Roska Remix)” (Wireblock) 05 Afrojack “Cheese” (Wall) 06 DJ Funk “Dik Work” (Funk) 07 Geeneus “Ultrafunkula” (Warp) 08 Jam City “Let Me Bang Remix” 09 Major Lazer feat. Nina Sky “Keep It Goin’ Louder” (Mad Decent) 10 Julio Bashmore “Um Bongo (Deadboy Remix)” 11 DJ Mystery & Natalie K “Speechless” (white) 12 Untold “Bad Girls” (Fabric) 13 Terror Danjah “Acid” (Hyperdub) 14 Kingdom “You” (Fool’s Gold) 15 Martinez Bros “My Rendition (Bonus Beats)” (Objektivity) 16 Mya “Free (Brackles bootleg)” 17 Karizma “33rd Street Anthem” (ITH) 18 DJ T “Dis” (Get Physical) 19 Villalobos “Chromosul” (Perlon) 20 Apple “Dutty Dance” (white) 21 Bok Bok “Ripe Banana VIP” 22 Mosca “Square One (Greena Remix VIP)” (Night Slugs) 23 L-Vis 1990 “Untitled” 24 Ikonika “The Idiot” 25 Claude VonStroke “Monster Island” (Dirtybird) 26 Electrik Red “Freaky Freaky” (Def Jam) 27 Davinche “Megadrive” (white) 28 Low Deep “Down Like That” (white) 29 Terror Danjah feat. Sadie Ama & Kano “So Sure” (white)
Brooklyn’s Tanlines will see their debut EP released on True Panther Sounds in March. The six tracks on Settings display the duo’s penchant for polyrhythmic tropical beats, over-produced (in a good way) pop vocal sounds, and truly anthemic synth lines. Featuring a mellow collaboration with gold-throated label-mate Glasser, the EP will be perfect way to heat up during those first weeks of spring.
