Rapper and Slum Village cofounder Baatin (ne Titus Glover) died on Saturday night in his Detroit home at the age of 35. Cause of death is still unknown at this time. Check back for more updates here.
Themselves’ New Album Arrives in October
Not too long ago, the Bay Area experimental hip-hop group Themselves announced their return to the game with a mixtape called theFREEhoudini. Always hard at work, the duo, comprised of beat crafter Jel and whirlwind MC Doseone, has announced the upcoming release of a new full-length, entitled CrownsDown, on October 20 via Anticon. The album’s press release reports that on CrownsDown, “Themselves hold back nothing, welding brute skill to a concrete set of tracks that represents an essential ten commandments of rap.” The record’s tracklist is below.
1. Back II Burn
2. Oversleeping
3. The Mark
4. Gangster Of Disbelief
5. Daxstrong
6. You Ain’t It
7. Roman Is As Roman Does
8. Skinning The Drum
9. Deadcatclear II
10. Gold Teeth Will Roll
Warp20 Celebrations Abound in September
Warp, the independent music world’s number-one label synonymous with IDM, experimental hip-hop, choice indie-rock, and just about any other awesome subgenre of electronic music you can imagine, has just turned 20, and boy, are they celebrating. In addition to their release of a massive box set featuring new songs, previously unreleased material, personal favorites selected by label co-founder Steve Beckett, and the top ten Warp songs voted for by fans, the Sheffield-born record and film label is putting on a series of live events, and then will broadcast them (and some previously broadcast films) on the independent mobile and web content platform Babelgum. Kicking off the series are videos of Flying Lotus, Seefeel, and Pivot performing at Cité de la Musique in Paris, as well as previews for a forthcoming full-length film about Warp. Warp’s celebratory videos are available here for your viewing pleasure. And check out the massive events list below as well.
Warp20 (New York) September 3-6, 2009
Friday September 4
Warp20 (New York) Concert 1 / Presented by Bowery Presents and Warp Records
Battles (only N. American show of 2009, previewing brand new material)
!!! (only NYC show of 2009)
Prefuse73
Pivot (first N. American show)
Warp DJs
Venue: Terminal 5
Tickets on sale here
$27.50 adv / $30 on the door
Saturday September 5
Warp20 (New York) Concert 2 / Co-Presented by Arts>World Financial Center, Wordless Music and Warp
Clark
Hudson Mohawke
More to be announced
Warp DJs
Venue: The Winter Garden
7PM doors / 8PM show
FREE ENTRY
Thursday, September 3 – Sunday, September 6
Film screenings at New Museum Theater Presented by Wordless Music and Warp Films
Programme:
WarpVision: The Videos 1989-2004
Selected Warp Films / Warp Records music videos
Dead Man’s Shoes
Selected Warp Films Shorts
Cinema16 Shorts (selections from all Cinema16 releases)
Venue: The New Museum
Continuous screenings during museum hours
Warp screenings are free. Admission to New Museum galleries must be purchased separately.
Warp20 (Sheffield) Saturday, September 19
Warp pays homage to their birthplace on September 19 at two British architectural landmarks. Squarepusher headlines a night event at the RIBA Award-winning Q Park, alongside Andrew Weatherall and a reformed incarnation of Nightmares on Wax together for the first time since 1991. Before that, Warp Films present a free cinema event at the iconic Park Hill Flats—the largest listed building in Europe and currently being refurbished in a unique collaboration between Urbansplash and English Heritage. Both events are supported by Creative Sheffield.
Saturday, September 19
Warp Films Cinema
English Premiere of ATP (All Tomorrows Parties)
Warp Films / Warp X Features, shorts and music videos, full programme TBA
Venue: Park Hill Flats
7 pm – 11 pm
FREE ENTRY
Saturday, September 19
Warp20 (Sheffield) Q Parks
Squarepusher (Bass and DJ show)
Andrew Weatherall (Classics set)
Nightmares on Wax (Featuring EASE & Boy Wonder)
Clark Live
Hudson Mohawke Live
Harmonic 313
Venue: Q Parks
10 pm – 5 am
Tickets on sale 12:00 noon on Friday, July 31 here
pictured Andrew Weatherall
Martin Eyerer, Namito, and Stephan Hinz “Seven Lives (Butch Remix)”
What at first sounds like a new song by African likembé group Konono N°1 is in fact a remix from German tech-house producer Butch, an artist recently featured in XLR8R. Butch’s re-work of the collaborative track “Seven Lives” by Martin Eyerer, Namito, and Stephan Hinz is a subtle-but-strong tech-house experience that relies heavily on it’s repetitive percussion loop and the occasional dip into a bath of filtered synths. The track was pulled from Namito’s new Eleven Remixed EP—go here to check out the rest, including remixes from Marc Romboy, Daniele Papini, and more.
Reichmann Wunderbar
Back in 1978, one of Krautrock’s more electronically minded artists, Wolfgang Riechmann, was tragically killed in a random knife attack a mere three weeks before the release of what would sadly be his first and only album. Wunderbar, now being reissued by German label Bureau B, is a hauntingly beautiful snapshot of the early days of electronic music that sits perfectly between Kraftwerk’s Autobahn and Brian Eno’s Ambient series. Shifting from slow-moving, ambient tracks like “Abendlicht” and the delayed synths of “Silberland” to more driving pieces like the title track and the 8-minute “Himmelblau,” Wunderbar is a valuable piece of lost history, something suitable for both Krautrock obsessives and those simply looking for a slice of antique electronic music.
Pollination “Sinister Skies (Zoomzip Remix)”
On this remix of “Sinister Skies,” the opening track from noisy beat-smith Pollination’s forthcoming Inca Orange EP, Southern California’s Zoomzip brings the tempo down with a style reminiscent of the kaleidoscopic tracks found in Boards of Canada’s catalog. A head-nodding beat and floating flute loop act as the centerpiece for Zoomzip’s hazy remix, while indiscernible field recordings fill the gaps in the rhythm.
Grab Derrick May’s Mixes While You Can
Detroit’s pioneer of early techno, DJ and producer Derrick May, was commissioned by BBC Radio to contribute to their 6 Mix series. What May created for the innovative radio program is an eclectic collection of energetic and classic songs spanning three separate mixes. The mixes, “Hi Tek Soul Mix,” “Influences and All Time Favourites,” and “Mayday Club Mix,” feature songs from Miles Davis, Boards of Canada, D’Angelo, Karizma, Cadenza 34, Los Hermanos, and just about everything in between. The whole shebang is available to stream for only a couple more days here.
Kid Koala Presents The Slew “You Turn Me Cold”
A few days ago we debuted a track from the tour-only album, 100%, by Canadian mix-master Kid Koala and members of retro-rock outfit Wolfmother. Dubbed The Slew, this touring performance is a beat-heavy amalgamation of crunching guitars and by-the-book hip-hop. Our second installment of The Slew’s debut, “You Turn Me Cold,” sounds like a kid playing around with his dad’s Led Zepplin records, but in a way that rules and won’t get you grounded.
Ellen Allien’s Fall/Winter Line Revealed
After being premiered at Berlin Fashion Week, electronic renaissance woman Ellen Allien’s fall/winter collection for 2009 has been revealed! Reflecting the neon glow of rainy city streets, the unisex City Lights t-shirt and dress line features mirrored, brushed lines of vibrant, moving color. Allien also keeps with the trend of recycling denim in her 24 Hour Jeans collection, featuring well-cut yet patchwork versions of the latest in women’s denim. Fortunately, the entire collection is available for purchase online, just in case you can’t make it to Berlin this fall.
Podcast 97: Brackles
Something interesting is brewing on the fringes of dubstep, and 24-year-old Rob Kemp, better known as Brackles, is right in the thick of it. The London-based DJ has been spinning garage records and wowing crowds with his insane turntable skills since he was 15 years old, but it’s his next-level production work that has truly thrust him into the limelight. Singles on Planet Mu, Applepips, Berkane Sol, and Pollen, not to mention high-profile remixes for the likes of Kid Cudi vs. Crookers, Tempa T, and MSTRKRFT, have showcased Brackles’ love for skittery, leftfield garage and his ability to make refined dancefloor tunes—you certainly won’t find him resorting to cliché bass overloads that have all the subtlety of a chainsaw to the head. Between making music, DJing regularly at places like FWD, and running the Blunted Robots label with partner-in-crime Shortstuff, Brackles isn’t exactly long on free time, but we somehow convinced him to put together this exclusive mix for XLR8R. Full of unreleased gems and a few underground classics, the results are absolutely thrilling.
01 One Tribe feat Gem & MC Nuts “What Have You Done” (Red Rose Recordings)
02 Greena “Tenzado” (Applepips)
03 Shortstuff “See Ya” (unreleased)
04 Martin Kemp “Aztec” (unreleased)
05 Brackles & Shortstuff “Pipey D” (unreleased)
06 Aardvarck “Nosestep” (RH)
07 Joy Orbison “GR Etiquette” (unreleased)
08 Alley Cats “Cover Me” (Locked On)
09 TLC “No Scrubs (Todd Edwards Remix)” (I Records)
10 Jamie Lidell “Another Day (Rustie Remix)” (Warp)
11 Wiley “Freeze” (white)
12 Untold “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” (unreleased)
13 Mark One “The Greatest” (Boka)
14 Geiom & Spamchop “Cave Rave” (Berkane Sol)
15 Brackles “Rawkus” (Planet Mu)
16 D1 “Crack Bong” (Tempa)
17 SBTRKT “Loving You” (Planet Mu)
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