Podcast 117: Shlohmo

LA native Henry Laufer may be a young fella, but the 19-year-old producer, better known as Shlohmo, has rocketed on to our radar screen in recent months with his lo-fi, psychedelic mix of abstract hip-hop, dubstep-flavored wonk, bouncy synth-funk, breezy trip-hop, and what sounds like lost gems from the mid-’90s Mo’ Wax catalog. Now splitting time between San Francisco and LA, in January Shlohmo will be releasing the Shlohmoshun Deluxe mini-album, so we decided to enlist him for the XLR8R podcast series now, before dude seriously blows up. On this exclusive, hour-long mix, he puts together a sampling of his own productions with a litany of unreleased and limited-release tunes, many courtesy of his compatriots in the Wedidit collective, which Shlohmo co-founded in 2008 while still a senior in high school. As our last podcast of 2009, we’re guessing this mix will appeal to fans of Flying Lotus, Nosaj Thing, and LA’s burgeoning beat scene while hopefully whetting everyone’s appetite for more great music (and XLR8R podcasts) to come in 2010.

01 Shlohmo “Tall Grass”
02 Juj “Pomegranate Limeade Just Spilled All Over My Laptop” (Wedidit)
03 Shlohmo “Windowlight”
04 Non Epic “Cops Helping Kids” (Wedidit)
05 Ground Is Lava “Get On My Water Level” (Wedidit)
06 Joseph “Untitled” (Unreleased (Wedidit)
07 Shlohmo “7AM (Devonwho Remix)” (Friends of Friends)
08 Juj “SoulBounce” (Wedidit)
09 Shlohmo “Scooters”
10 Shlohmo “Teeth” (Friends of Friends)
11 Shlohmo “VOR/oFF”
12 Low Limit “Trapperkeeper”
13 Dem Hunger “Bathtub Birth”
14 Oscar McClure “Untitled” (Leaving)
15 Elan “I Can’t Breathe” (Wedidit)
16 Matthewdavid “You Know You’re Not Alone”
17 0 “Lover’s Defect” (Indigo Pyramid)
18 Dak “Hunch” (Leaving)
19 Abdul Alim (a.k.a. Knxwledge) “Spritzr”
20 Mindesign “Airways” (Record Breakin)
21 The Dene Road “And She Was Touched”
22 Non Epic “Untitled” (Wedidit)
23 Infinite Potentials “Escapizm” (Indigo Pyramid)
24 Teebs “Bern Rhythm Codeine Version”
25 Shlohmo “Shapes In The Dark”

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XLR8R_Podcast_Shlohmo_2009_12_24

Quantec Cauldron Subsidence

Joined at the hip, sonically speaking, minimalist producers in Detroit and Berlin subverted standard (and increasingly stale) techno and house of the mid-1990s by reducing music to architecture you can dance to. Basic Channel, Chain Reaction, and Plus 8 artists all got there first, but youngish German Sven Schienhammer (a.k.a. Quantec) was apparently doing some active listening back then. Echoes of this shift in sound design and texture are all over Cauldron Subsidence, his second full-length in two years. It includes unreleased tracks from 2001 that show Detroit-Berlin (Kenny Larkin, Rod Modell, Mike Huckaby, Vainqueur, Scion) inspiration on “Absolute Level,” “Satisfied,” “Profound Experiences,” and “Deep Rooted.” Although it’s hard to tell where the archival stuff ends and more recent work begins, a detour into current dubsteppa territory is most clear-cut on “Pandemonium,” a sexy, shuffling bass jam that would feel right at home in a mix on Rinse FM.

Ben UFO Drops New Mix, Preps Boxing Day Bash

This time of year, most people are preparing for a few days of presents, overeating, and insufferable relatives. Ben UFO has other ideas. This Saturday the Hessle Audio label head will be spinning at Why Not?, a massive dubstep and drum & bass party going down at London’s Ministry of Sound. For this special Boxing Day edition, he’ll be part of a ridiculous lineup that includes Benga, N-Type, Youngsta, Untold, Oneman, Ikonika, Dusk+Blackdown, El-B, Horsepower, ShyFX, TC, Dillinja, and lots of others. Peep the flyer at the end of this post for all the details.

Those looking to get hyped for the party, not to mention folks who won’t be in London on Saturday night, will be happy to know that Ben UFO has put together a free new mix in advance of the event. Per usual, it’s loaded with unreleased and exclusive new tracks from many of the acts the XLR8R faithful have been freaking out about in recent months. Download the mix here and check the tracklist.

1. Mosca – Nike (Forthcoming Night Slugs)
2. Lighter – Skanker vs. Work (Unreleased)
3. Untold and Roska – Myth (Unreleased)
4. Deadboy – If U Want (Forthcoming Numbers)
5. Geiom – Sugar Coated Lover (Forthcoming Berkane Sol)
6. Mr Majika – Different Lextrix (Forthcoming Numbers)
7. Shortstuff – Swine Time (Unreleased)
8. Kode 9 – Sub Kontinent (Rephlex)
9. Seven Wonders – Crazy (DJs For Life)
10. Ikonika – Space Ugly (Unreleased)
11. Lumidee – Uh Oh [Target remix] (White)
12. Addison Groove – Footcrab (Forthcoming Swamp 81)
13. Joy Orbison – She Dressed In Her Best (Unreleased)
14. Joe – Percolate (Unreleased)
15. Ramadanman – Glut (Forthcoming Hemlock)
16. Pangaea – Because Of You (Forthcoming Hessle Audio)

Untold, Pole, and More Venture to North America With Unsound Festival

The Polish music and arts festival Unsound is taking its massive event Stateside for the first time in its near seven-year history. Unsound Festival New York will take place over a 10-day stretch starting February 4, and will feature a wide array of European and US talent. Performing everything from techno to drone, classical to dubstep, and just about every electronic music mutation in between, the musicians and producers will not only undertake the average festival showcases but also embark on the live soundtracking of vintage Andy Warhol films, classical reinterpretations of music from legendary punk label SST, and electronic music workshops for children, among other unique events. Check out the confirmed line-up thus far below, and see more detailed info at the Unsound websites.

2562 (Netherlands)
ACME (USA)
Pavel Ambiont (Belarus)
Blondes (USA)
Eric Cloutier (USA)
Carl Craig (USA)
Marcin Czubala (Poland)
David Daniell (USA)
Vladislav Delay (Finland)
Ensemble LPR (USA)
FaltyDL (USA)
Groupshow (Jan Jelinek, Andrew Pekler, Hanno Leichtmann) (Germany)
Tim Hecker (Canada)
Luke Hess (USA)
Mike Huckaby (USA)
Petre Inspirescu (Romania)
Jacaszek (Poland)
Kadebostan (Germany)
Konque (USA)
Kwartludium (Poland)
Legowelt (Netherlands)
Lillevan (Germany)
Sebastian Meissner (Germany)
Moritz Von Oswald Trio (Germany)
Mountains (USA)
Neurotic Drum Band (USA)
Newworldaquarium (Netherlands)
nsi (Germany)
Tristian Perich (USA)
Derek Plaslaiko (USA)
Pole (Germany)
Barbara Preisinger (Germany)
Dave Q (USA)
DJ Qu (USA)
Radian (Germany)
Patrick Russell (USA)
Anthony “Shake” Shakir (USA)
Sepalcure (USA)
Jacek Sienkiewicz (Poland)
Spinoza (USA)
Tape (Sweden)
Tobias. (Germany)
TRG (Romania)
Bora Yoon (USA)
Xavier Van Wersch (Netherlands)
Untold (UK)
Zavoloka (Ukraine)
Zenial (Poland)

pictured Untold

Artist to Watch: Martin Kemp

Who:Martin Kemp
Where: London, UK

Although lots of folks might simply know him as Brackles‘ little brother, 22-year-old Martin Kemp has done a fine job skating the wobbly line between garage and dubstep in his own right. Citing artists like El-B, Horsepower, and Zed Bias as major influences—not to mention hip-hop demigods J. Dilla and Madlib—Kemp has been digging into leftfield beats since his teen years. He’s already released “No Charisma” on Brackles’ and Shortstuff’s Blunted Robots label, and more new tunes are on the way, including another Blunted Robots release and a Royal T remix on grime imprint No Hats No Hoods.

Listen/Download: Martin Kemp XLR8R Podcast

Listen: “No Charisma”

Listen: “Aztec”

The Juan Maclean “Accusations (Gavin Russom Remix)”

Leave it to Gavin Russom (a.k.a. Black Meteoric Star) to have one good idea and stick to it. On his version of “Accusations,” one of many stellar tracks from The Future Will Come by fellow DFA compatriots The Juan Maclean, Russom re-records the original bassline using one of his homemade synths and doesn’t falter from said melody throughout the song’s entire 7-plus minutes. The track is taken from a recent remix collection commissioned by Scion A/V, featuring other reworks from Shit Robot, House of House, and XLR8RArtist to Watch Canyons, and stands as a strangely natural pairing of one of dance music’s most pop-friendly acts with one of its more difficult to digest.

03 Accusations (Gavin Russom Remix)

Dixon Temporary Secretary

Though it’s probably the most incongruous track on Dixon‘s first official mix album since Body Language, Vol. 4, Fever Ray’s “If I Had a Heart” nevertheless provides an aesthetic and thematic foundation for the tracks that follow in its wake. Deployed near the beginning of this carefully constructed mix, the song’s vaguely tribal, low-key menace underscores similar resonances in the likes of Kiki’s “Good Voodoo (Visionquest Remix),” the Daphni version of Cortney Tidwell’s “Watussi,” and the artful juxtaposition of Precious System’s “The Voice From Planet Love” and Ben Klock’s “In a While.” Temporary Secretary is enthralling and beautifully paced.

XLR8R Annual Report: Best XLR8R TV Episodes 2K9

Keeping up with every XLR8R TV episode can be almost as exhausting as producing it week after week. So, we’ve made it easy for you—the tired, poor, huddled internet masses yearning to read end-of-year lists—and picked our five favorite episodes of Twenty-Oh-Nine.

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Episode 136: Tune in an Afternoon – Dam-Funk and Nite Jewel
Nite Jewel + Dam-Funk = Nite Funk. Two of our favorite LA producers team up to make a killer track and some funky magic.

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Episode 108: Genesis P-Orridge Is Better Than The Beatles
It’s been a longer, stranger trip for Throbbing Gristle’s legendary frontperson than it has been for probably 99.9% of the world.

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Episode 129: Freestyle 101 with Doseone and Jel
Oakland teenagers blow minds with clever, rapid-fire freestyling—a skill they learned in Doseone’s Wednesday-night class.

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Episode 118: Tune in an Afternoon – Lemonade
The Brooklyn trio took our 40 bucks, bought groceries, slapped some fish around, sampled it, and cooked up an insane calypso kid’s show tune.

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Episode 124: FaltyDL – Garage Beats and Sushi Rolls
Another culinary-themed episode found Drew Lustman (a.k.a. FaltyDL) waxing philosophical on making sushi and garridge beats.

Au Revoir Simone “Take Me As I Am (Max Cooper Remix)”

UK producer Max Cooper (pictured above) is known for his dancefloor-oriented techno—check his recent rework of Abe Cooper and Blake Baxter for proof of that—but this remix of Brooklyn’s Au Revoir Simone finds him applying a softer touch. Reducing the girls’ vocals to ghostly reverb while delicately layering tinkling keys and warm sub-bass over the song’s delicate original melodies, he transforms “Take Me As I Am” into six-plus minutes of sublime bliss. With remixes on the way for artists like Hot Chip and DJ Hell, not to mention more of his own original productions, 2010 is shaping up to be a big year for Cooper.

AuRevoirSimone-TakeMeAsIAm-MaxCooperRemix(192)

AuRevoirSimone-TakeMeAsIAm-MaxCooperRemix

Bodymovin Bodymovin

Bodymovin, the self-titled debut album combining the efforts of German producers DJ Friction and Thomilla, maintains a head-bobbing groove while avoiding unnecessary ornamentation. With patient construction, the Stuttgart-based duo weaves a subtly textured disco landscape of analog synths, buzzy basslines, pretty female vocal accents, and occasionally crooning robot voices, as on the infectious “Yeah!” and later amid the serene oscillating sunset synths of “More & More.” Halfway through the album, “Everybody” takes the funky vibe that pops up on “It Wasn’t Calf” and “Hold Back” and Bodymovin rubs it around in the dirt with some sinister keys and deeper bass. With its blissful synths and an introspective beat, “Get Down” artfully dissipates the funk and lays the album to rest.

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