Thomas Fehlmann “In the Wind”

Electronic producer extraordinaire Thomas Fehlmann moves easily between many genres, but is perhaps best known for his serene ambient works. “In the Wind” hums with warm synth washes, delayed bells, and intentional clips that bring rustling twigs to mind. Taken from Pop Ambient 2010, the latest installment of Kompakt’s ambient compilation series, the track proves Fehlmann’s staying power in all fields of electronic music. And to celebrate ten years of the Pop Ambient series, Kompakt is also giving fans a special anniversary gift: a mix from Popnoname featuring his favorite pieces from the history of the compilations, which can be downloaded here and includes choice selections from DJ Koze, Triola, and Pass into Silence.

11 In The Wind

Owen Pallett Heartland

Filled to the brim with ambitious, orchestral arrangements and an army of instruments, it’s easy to forget that Heartland is the work of one musician. Owen Pallett, the man formerly known as Final Fantasy, builds his live violin-and-vocal setup into a serious wall of sound on his third full-length. Dense and detailed yet never overstuffed, Heartland thrives on nearly every track with a theatrical sense of melody and a keen ear for layering elements into stunning blasts of sound; even on the sleek pop of “Lewis Takes Action,” Pallett inserts surprising melodic twists and ornamentation into his compositions. Impressive in both scale and execution, Heartland succeeds not just due to Pallett’s sizable talents, but his belief in his even larger ambition.

Ghosts on Tape, Lazer Sword, and Bersa Discos Team Up for Icee Hot, Offer Free Mix

San Francisco is about to get a whole hell of a lot cooler. Put together by a solid group of taste-makers and beat-makers (many of whom are closely associated with XLR8R, we’ll admit), the Tenderloin’s newest club night, Icee Hot, will make its debut this Saturday, Jan 23 at the newly renovated 222 Hyde. Icee Hot’s inaugural jump-off features resident DJs Disco Shawn (Bersa Discos/Tormenta Tropical), Ghosts on Tape (Wireblock/Numbers), Low Limit (Lazer Sword/Numbers), and mysterious newcomer Rollie Fingers all throwing down the choicest of jams from the realms of 2-step, UK funky, house, bass music, and Lord knows what else. To get all of y’all stoked on this upcoming banger fest, Ghosts on Tape put together a free mix highlighting the kind of music you’ll be immersed in at Icee Hot (playlist is down below). Thou shalt not miss out.

Ghost on Tape’s Icee Hot Mix – January 2010

1. Spoonface – My Soun’ (Faada)
2. Baobinga & ID – Tongue Riddim (Build)
3. Boris Dlugosch – Bangkok [Roska Remix] (Phantasy Sound)
4. Marcus Price & Carli – Mat, Bira, Kvinnor, Weed [Dubbel Dutch Remix] (unreleased)
5. Lighter – Skanker (???)
6. Zinc – Killa Sound (Bingo Bass)
7. Laidback Luke & Diplo – Hey [Dre Skull Remix] (Dim Mak)
8. KS-20 – Fun-Key (unreleased)
9. L-VIS 1990 – United Groove [MJ Cole Remix] (Mad Decent)
10. Ghosts on Tape – Predator Mode VIP Remix (unreleased)
11. Royal T – 1UP [Martin Kemp Remix] (No Hats No Hoods)
12. Bok Bok – Citizens Dub feat. Bubbz (Blunted Robots)

Memory Tapes Preps for US/European Tours

New Jersey’s Memory Tapes (a.k.a. Dayve Hawk or Dad to his kid) is setting aside the large amounts of remix work he’s been doing to tour on behalf of his debut album from last year, Seek Magic. The tour is broken up into two parts: a quick run-through of the US before moving on to his European dates. A couple choice performances will feature Memory Tapes sharing the stage with Atlas Sound and Hot Chip. Tour info is listed below.

February 03 – New York – Bell House [with Atlas Sound]
February 16 – Las Vegas – Hard Rock Hotel
February 19 – Philadelphia – TBC
February 20 – New York – Tribeca Grand FREE SHOW
February 26 – Los Angeles – Spaceland
February 27 – San Francisco – Bottom of the Hill
March 04 – Paris – Magic magazine @ Club Point Ephemere
March 05 – Brussels – Botanique
March 06 – Amsterdam – Paradiso [with Hot Chip]
March 07 – Berlin – TBC
March 09 – Brighton – Freebutt
March 10 – Sheffield – DiScover the Harley
March 11 – Manchester – DiScover @ The Deaf Institute
March 12 – Glasgow – Captains Rest
March 13 – London – Cargo

Mad Decent Announces Major Lazer Tour, L-Vis 1990 Remix EP

The folks over at Philly’s Mad Decent label just love hooking up their fans. Only a week ago did they give out an entire Gucci Mane mixtape, and now they’re handing out even more free tunes. In celebrating the release of UK-based DJ/producer L-Vis 1990’s United Groove remix EP (which features re-works from Buraka Som Sistema, Cosmin TRG, Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team, and more), the Decent crew is hooking you up with a free sample of the album—a remix of “United Groove” by Brooklyn-based Kingdom. Check out the track and more info on United Groove Remixeshere. In other news: label-head Diplo and his good buddy Switch (a.k.a. Major Lazer) gave us the heads-up on where to snatch pre-sale tickets for their upcoming Lazers Never Die Tour. The tickets are available here. Check out the dates below.

March 28 – Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
March 30 – Cat’s Cradle – Carrboro, NC
March 31 – Bourbon St. – Baltimore, MD
April 2 – Starlight Ballroom – Philadelphia, PA
April 3 – Terminal 5 – New York, NY
April 4 – The Middle East – Cambridge, MA
April 6 – BoMa – Columbus, OH
April 10 – Metro – Chicago, IL
April 11 – First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN
April 13 – Cervantes – Denver, CO
April 15 – The Knitting Factory – Reno, NV
April 16 – Mezzanine – San Francisco, CA

Poirier “Marathon”

The latest in DJ/producer Poirier‘s series of EP releases for Ninja Tune, all of which are leading up to his forthcoming full-length album Running High, Low Cieling is said to be inspired in part by his early years in the underground rave scene. The booming 808 kick which leads in and carries “Marathon,” not to mention the playful synth melodies, lay testament to that, but it’s the track’s dancehall and bass inclinations that make this tune a real part of the Poirier sound.

01 Marathon

Dibiase & P.U.D.G.E “Smoke it Over”

Kicking off a set of collaborative 10″ releases highlighting acts from LA’s beat scene, a series oddly enough curated by the Irish All City label, Dibiase and P.U.D.G.E‘s joint production, “Smoke it Over,” seems to encapsulate their Southern California hometown in total, as elements of Stones Throw-style hip-hop, FlyLo-esque bass music, flashy electro-house, and even some experimental noise all make their way into this jam. The song is flanked by a few solo tracks from each producer on the 10″, the first of 10 scheduled for release in 2010.

Smoke It Over

Smoke It Over

Smoke It Over

RJD2 The Colossus

If you never got “Ghostwriter” out of your head, you’ve probably been waiting for RJD2 to return to his beatsmithing roots. But instead of straight hip-hop, The Colossus is an omnibus record, swallowing brass-wielding collaborators, live instruments, hand-aged beats, and its creator’s voice—all in service of a mission to unify RJ’s pet genres via horn-blasted statements of intent fit for rollicking arenas (“Let There Be Horns”), menacing synthesizer pit traps (“A Spaceship For Now”), and intricate instrumentals. Besides the closing faux-Beatles “Walk With Me,” RJD2 drops the emo that tainted The Third Hand and swings for the fences when he takes the mic himself, rocking like a British Invader on “Gypsy Caravan.” Even when he’s channeling his inner Lionel Ritchie, it’s not so easy: the smooth façade of “The Glow” hides lyrics clowning the yacht-rock yuppie he briefly threatened to become. Welcome back, Ramble John.

Plastikman, Fever Ray, The xx to Play Coachella

Chances are we don’t need to tell you about the upcoming Coachella festival, but, heck, we’re going to anyway. The massive music and arts gathering (but really, who goes for the art?) just announced its equally massive line-up today, and boy if there aren’t some great names on it. Throughout their three days spent in scenic Indio, CA, ticket-holders could potentially see LCD Soundsystem, Grizzly Bear, Erol Alkan, Wale, Fever Ray, Grace Jones (?!), Little Dragon, MGMT, 2Many DJs, Hot Chip, Devo (!!), Major Lazer, The xx, Flying Lotus, Deadmau5, Beach House, Thom Yorke???? (??!?), Orbital, La Roux, Plastikman (his first live appearance in who knows how long), Owen Pallett, The Glitch Mob, and The Whitest Boy Alive, among many, many more. Tickets for Coachella 2010 will go on sale Friday, January 22 at 10 a.m., and can be purchased here.

pictured Richie Hawtin (a.k.a. Plastikman)

Javelin “Me Thing Drawing Me”

On today’s episode of XLR8R TV, Brooklyn cut-and-paste duo Javelin added another chapter to our ongoing Tune in an Afternoon series. Using some thrift-store cassettes they picked up while on tour in San Francisco, the boys crafted another pleasantly warped slice of leftfield fun. Grab the track and, if you haven’t done so already, watch how the guys’ creative process unfolded here.

Me Thing Drawing Me

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