Chilean producer Matias Aguayo (formerly of Closer Musik) has created a dark carnival of an album on Ay Ay Ay, a restrained event with sustained creepiness underlying the celebration. Filled with thudding drums and melodies constructed from vocal tics, tones, whispers, and asides, it plumbs disorienting depths—imagine an Audion track where the corkscrew melodies have been replaced with a choir composed of the whispers from Lost. Lead single “Rollerskate” bobs and weaves with bubbling voices, a genius track never lacking for simplicity or propulsion, while “Koro Koro” brings a Ladysmith Black Mambazo vibe. As the party closes on “Juanita,” with revelers quietly clapping and accordions taking shallow breaths, Aguayo bows out on another singular album.
In conjunction with Beats in Space radio’s 10th anniversary, Tim Sweeney will showcase celebratory events in Los Angeles, New York, Glasgow, London, and San Francisco, with the latter kicking off a new monthly residency at the city’s Triple Crown club. Additionally, the new year will mark the first release from Beats in Space Records, a 12″ from German disco-house producer Tensnake. With 10 years on air and several hundred shows archived and available for download, Beats in Space has become a major force in the music world and the culture in general, garnering 175,000 unique downloads from the site every month. For some Bay Area flavor and to get amped for Sweeney’s San Francisco residency, check out a BIS mix from the boys of San Francisco’s Honey Soundsystem, and this other exclusive download of Sweeney’s set at Horsemeat Disco’s fifth anniversary party in London.
Tim Sweeney kicks off his San Francisco residency with Brennan Green at The Triple Crown on November 13 from 9 p.m. ’til 4 a.m.
Stephen Baxter? Destiny’s Children Books 1 to 4 (Del Ray) This is a series of books that spans time, from the distant past into the distant future. In medieval times, a woman starts a women-only community, which gradually becomes a cult and later a race all its own. In another story, man travels to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. I like the feeling of being stuck in the author’s world across many time frames; in a sense I try to interpret this feeling into my music—the sense of travel through the ages.
?Siri Hustvedt What I Loved (Picador) ?What I Loved deals with the pain of loss in a very mature and inspiring way. The author writes in a way that really makes you feel, “Hey, I’ve been through that.” Feeling the most basic of human emotions, often neglected in today’s speedily produced tracks… I tried to inject that into Immune.
Greg Egan Luminous (Gollancz) ?Luminous is a collection of short stories by one of my favorite authors. He often deals with the near future, taking in developments in science that are happening now but expanding on them. In one story, an intergalactic race downloads its civilization onto the internet. Egan really transports you. I was attempting to do the same with this album, still taking into account the sound and feeling that’s currently happening but transplanting it into a future world.
??Haruki Murakami A Wild Sheep Chase (Vintage International) A curious little book into whose life I was deeply sucked! It tells the tale of a man who needs to find a sheep he used in a photo or his life will be destroyed. It was important to me, as some of its themes dealt with isolation and the world within one’s head, a theme I conjure throughout Immune.
Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter Time’s Eye (Del Ray) ??A collaboration between two of the brightest minds in science fiction, and with each page they never fail to enthrall. Again, the theme here is time travel and dilation, and once again this theme is wrapped up in Immune. Like books, music has this ability to transport the listener or reader to alternate realms of space and time.
With the advent of ringtone rap and hip-hop singles that all sound alike, it is a pleasure to hear some heavy MCs spitting over beats that are more late ’90s than late aughts. LA’s Strong Arm Steady crew has been rolling together since 2003, and this longevity is evident on “Get Started,” where the internal rhymes, political commentary, and clever roasts pop with unbridled energy. Having Talib on the piece only elevates it further, and with Madlib producing, the deal is sealed: “Get Started” is some tight hip-hop for those who are tired of the tacky electro-commercialism of what is played on most “urban” radio stations. From the upcoming Stoney Jackson album on Stones Throw, produced entirely by Madlib himself.
Legendary disco-funk group the Universal Robot Band is perhaps best known for its break-out 1976 single, “Dance and Shake Your Tambourine,” but the large URB crew produced a number of other singles before splitting up, including the epic “Doing Anything Tonight,” which guarantees a packed dance floor whenever it’s played. Part of URB’s legend is intertwined with one of the most accomplished producers and remixers of the dance music era, John Morales. A remixer whose prolific output over the past 30 years has helped many people get on the floor, Morales has a new retrospective compilation coming out, The M & M Mixes, which features his extended club mix of this one-off from URB, who got back together to record the track in 1982. Though not revolutionary in its extension of the original, Morales’ mix certainly allows Patrick Adams’ synths to shine and gives LeRoy Burgess’ voice more urgency, particularly in these times of infernal money trouble.
Out-of-control revelers at Berghain might disagree, but it seems like a lot of new techno has been greeted with a collective yawn from the dance music community in 2009. Enter Redshape, a mysterious masked man from Berlin whose debut full-length just might provide the techno world with the true north it so desperately needs. Sure, the album has its headier moments—see the slow burn of aptly named album opener “Seduce Me,” the tape-hiss clicks and clacks of “Garage GT,” or the synth-soaked trip-hop tumble of “Man Out of Time”—but The Dance Paradox never sounds aimless or without purpose. “Globe” and especially “Bound (Part 1&2)” turn up the intensity with sweaty Detroit undercurrents and sci-fi analog synths, while “Deep Space Mix (Edit)” tempers its shuffling backbone with foreboding alien squelches and a seriously sinister vibe. Many techno producers struggle with the album format, but The Dance Paradox is urgent, spooky, and absolutely essential.
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Finnish producer Sasu Ripatti (who occasionally works under the name Vladislav Delay) made an interesting step in his musical career with the release of this year’s Tummaa, an esoteric exploration of experimental music sifted through the filter of Ripatti’s jazz sensibilities. Today, we were fortunate enough to receive the video interpretation of one of Tummaa‘s darker tracks, the slow-burning and heavily percussive “Toive.” The beautifully shot video, directed by Carlonia Melis and Lorenze Sportiello, features formations of crystal and ice growing and forming new landscapes in a way that seems spurred on solely by Vladislav Delay’s powerful music.
At the heart of Philadelphia’s Chinatown lies a semi-secret art gallery and studio known as Space 1026.
From organizing events and parties to producing top-notch art from its dozens of participants, Space 1026 has built a world-class art community in Philly that’s hidden from plain view. In return, Philadelphia has nurtured the space with a hands-off approach that continues to foster a solid creative backbone.
?One of the major reasons for this give-and-take is Philadelphia’s ability to keep rent low for downtown studio spaces, a necessity considering the city’s small art market. “Art is one of the things that you don’t really make a living off of in Philadelphia,” says 1026 founder Andrew Jeffrey Wright. “It’s a good bike city, it’s a small city, and the rent is cheap. Philly has the same feel as Brooklyn, where there are lots of small, fun things going on, but Philly was cool before Brooklyn, because we were always inexpensive.”
Bill McRight, a soft-spoken 1026 artist who creates jarringly dark portraits via linoleum cuts and screenprinting, agrees with Wright’s sentiments. A traveler since birth, he lived all over the southeastern States before relocating to Philadelphia five years ago. “I’m so used to moving around a lot, but I’m definitely content,” he explains. “The affordability of the city makes it good because you can spend some time working and some time going to the studio or openings.”
?The relative smallness of the city’s art scene manifests itself in a more personal sense of community. “Everyone is interested in what [everyone else is] doing and paying attention to what’s going on around them, which is definitely important,” McRight explains. When it does come time to make some money from their work, the 1026 artists benefit from a $20, two-hour bus ride to New York City on a bus that can take them virtually anywhere on the east coast.
Thanks to its efficient infrastructure, proximity to larger cities, and its consistently affordable rent, Philadelphia is a venerable utopia for havens like Space 1026. As more people begin to realize its uniqueness, more spaces seem to open up. “There are a lot of smaller-run DIY galleries and communal spaces springing up all over the city,” observes McRight. “I haven’t seen that going on to the same degree in other cities. I think that’s pretty rad about Philly.”
As a result, the city’s artistic output is unified in tone. “A lot of people are figuring out how to make things on a shoestring, so the grittiness and hustle of Philly comes through,” McRight says. “Being around the attitude in Philly is really strong and influences what I draw. There’s a weird element to this city. There’s a very gritty, gully attitude to Philly.”
Click here to watch our exclusive interview with Andrew Jeffrey Wright.
Montreal’s Duchess Says is known for personality-driven live shows, less so for early morning breakfast conversation.
Duchess Says has long been a Montreal favorite, but should be a worldwide favorite. During a recent visit for the annual Pop Montreal festival, we caught up with a sleepy Annie-Claude Deschênes and Phillipe Clément over some senior-citizen-discounted grilled cheese sandwiches as they addressed the current state of Montreal music. Then we caught their live show and genius videos and wondered why we suffer through so many lackluster bands that pale in comparison.
One of the younger groups from Lisbon’s burgeoning kuduro movement, Octa Push has crafted a sound that makes most other bass producers look like 98-pound weaklings. With a ragga underpinning and some lyrical fire from MC Zulu, “Baila Mundo” features some gut-rumbling low-end, a bit of acid squelch, and an infectious chorus. If there’s one way to get asses shaking, it’s playing this track loud.
