REKIDS Launches REK’D

Techno fans have no doubt heard the buzz on a new tune called “Stranger (To Stability)” by techno producer Dustin Zahan. Said tune, which is also in Beatport’s Techno Top 10 chart, is just one of the many we’ll hear courtesy of REK’D, a new imprint from the duo behind REKIDS. James Masters and Matt Edwards (a.k.a. Radio Slave) created the digital-only label specifically for, according to a press release, “bringing you dancefloor destroyers.” Check a recent performance of the aforementioned “Stranger (To Stability)” for proof.

Future releases will come from Paul Harris, Brendon Moeller, Richard Seeley, and, of course, Radio Slave. We should be well and truly REK’D by the end of the summer.

Inbox: Moderat

In this chapter of Inbox, XLR8R talks shop with two-thirds of Berlin-based techno unit, Moderat. Cohorts Sascha Ring (a.k.a. Apparat) and Gernot Bronsert (one half of Modeselektor) discuss performing for a Sheikh’s daughter, escaping the city on a motorbike, colorful socks, and Johann Sebastian Bach, among other tidbits. Moderat’s self-titled debut full-length is out now on Bpitch Control.

XLR8R: What are you listening to right now?

Sascha Ring: I’m lying on my couch being sick ‘cause the first tour weekend was already a bit too hard. I’m not really listening to anything right now, but I just watched Burn After Reading—good movie for a sick couch afternoon.

Gernot Bronsert: Animal Collective! Great band.

What’s the weirdest story you ever heard about yourself?

GB: That we recorded the Moderat record at the legendary Hansa [Tonstudio], where David Bowie and Depeche Mode recorded their best stuff!

What band did you want to be in when you were 15?

SR: I was already into techno and I thought bands sucked big time. I grew up at the countryside, and the coolest thing was when the 12” arrived that I ordered from Hard Wax in Berlin.

GB: Underground Resistance!

Worst live show experience?

GB: When we played in Dubai for the eight-year-old daughter of a Sheikh!

Favorite city to play in?

SR: Moscow? Any city in the East. People really know how to party there. They know how to drink, too.

GB: Berlin, Glasgow, San Francisco.

Moderat combines Modeselektor and Apparat. Which musical elements does Moderat borrow from each of its two unique constituents?

GB: Next!

What is your favorite thing you own?

SR: I own an old East German motorbike. I’m seeing all kinds of cities all the time, so, whenever I find some time, I take a ride out to the countryside.

GB: My little son.

Name one item of clothing you can’t live without.

SR: My very colorful socks.

GB: My hat!

If you could reduce your music to a single word, what would it be?

GB: Berlinstep.

What did you always get in trouble for when you were little?

SR: I tried all kinds of crime, but I always got busted. I decided on a career as a musician.

GB: Weed.

What other artist would you most like to work with?

SR: Modeselektor, haha—just kiddin’.

GB: Johann Sebastian Bach?

What’s the last thing you read?

SR: Heinz Strunk’s Fleisch Ist Mein Gemüse—very funny German writer. It’s probably not available in English. The last international book I read was Kill Your Friends by John Niven. I laughed my ass off. Gernot recommended this one.

GB: Slumdog Millionaire

Complete this sentence: In the future…

SR: No one will probably buy music anymore.

GB: In the future you will find out: in the past the future was better too.

Stupidest thing you’ve done in the last 12 months?

GB: To work with Apparat!

What’s next?

GB: On the occasion of the international financial crisis, me and [Sebastian] Szary decided to found a record label, Monkeytown Records. We wanted to create a platform for befriending artists. Check it out! We will release a new Modeselektor DJ mix in autumn.

SR: I’ll take a lot of time for my next album. No rush. I’m gonna try to have a life or something like that.

The Jacka Tear Gas

Boasting enough ‘hood credentials to make studio gangstas wear Depends, Jacka wields the Bay’s turf-rap torch stronger than anyone right now. Singles “Glamorous Lifestyles” and “All Over Me” are guilty pleasures for those of us who know better and soundtracks for those who don’t. The big payoff isn’t in Traxamillion’s or Rob Lo’s slap-you-up tracks or collabos with Devin the Dude, Planet Asia, E-40, and Freeway, but in Jacka’s inspired cadences and slightly slurred deliveries, which elevate his crime sagas to legendary status. It’s not bragging if you can back it up, and the Jacka delivers quite possibly the most bangin’ street album of ’09—so far.

WhoMadeWho The Plot

Does the world really need another nth-generation dance-punk album? Danish trio WhoMadeWho apparently thinks so. The Plot is the band’s sophomore record, and all the familiar post-post-punk elements are in place. Angular Gang of Four basslines? Check. Deadpan ’80s vocal melodies? Yup. Synth flourishes, pounding electro workouts, and the occasional vocoder? Definitely. WhoMadeWho may put their own spin on things with the inclusion of the occasional oboe and nods to ’60s psychedelic pop and ’70s stadium rock grandiosity, but all in all, The Plot is an impressively unoriginal effort that adds little to a genre that was already creatively tapped out.

Watch: Kero One’s Guide to S.F.

We can’t dispute rapper/producer Kero One‘s picks as he leads us through his favorite San Francisco spots in this video. He covers music, burritos, ice cream, fashion, booze, and picturesque views in under 10 minutes. It’s not quite a well-rounded look at the entire city (where’s the part about lackluster public transport and temperamental weather?), but if you read XLR8R and are planning a trip to the Bay, this will serve as an excellent guide.

Buju Banton “Regular Ting”

Joining the likes of TOK, Spragga Benz, and others, our man Buju Banton tries his hand at Truckback Records’ Clutch riddim on this track, off his recently released Rasta Got Soul. He made the bulk of that album in 2004, when his visa was confiscated, thereby putting a stop to travel for a while. Time alone was, it seems, well spent, and roots revivalists should be all over this one.

Buju Banton – Regular Ting

Squarepusher: Just a Bass

Hold 2008’s Just a Souveniragainst him if you will, but one thing that’s not lackluster about Tom Jenkinson is his ability to put on a live performance. From bass guitars to a legendary cameo by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, an evening with Squarepusher is usually a memorable one, so his announcement of a live album is more than welcome.

He’ll release Solo Electric Bass 1 on August 17 via Warp. The album is a recording from his 2007 performance in Paris, where Jenkinson took the stage armed with a bass guitar, amplifier, and nothing else. Bring on the abstract sounds. Warp is pressing a limited number of copies, so throw that release date in the iCal.

Photo By Donald Christie.

Hecuba Paradise

At least no one can accuse Hecuba of not striving for greatness. The debut album from this artsy Los Angeles duo certainly sounds important, but it doesn’t take long to realize that Paradise doesn’t pack a whole lot of punch. Constructed on a skeleton of sparse synth pop, the album is full of dramatic pauses and sonic white space, but even the inclusion of en español lyrics (“La Musica”), sleazy saxophone (“The Magic”), or a tweaked vocal choir (“Extra Connection”) fail to lend the music any real weight. The modern doo-wop of “Suffering” and the stop-and-start pop of “Tom & Jerry” are welcome respites from the pretentious preening, but when it comes to Paradise, there’s simply not much there.

Yuksek Away From the Sea

In 2009, it’s simply baffling why artists like Yuksek elect to sign with major labels—even boutique imprints like Cherrytree. There’s nothing patently wrong with Away From the Sea, the French producer’s debut album, other than an overwhelming sense that all this music has already been done—to death. Yuksek hits all the right blog-friendly electro, disco, and house notes, while cleverly cribbing from Daft Punk, Justice, and Soulwax, and enlisting the help of hipster-certified acts like Amanda Blank and Chromeo, all of whom would have made a hot record—about a year ago. It’s hard to shake the feeling that the record simply moldered on the shelves while the execs hammered out a marketing plan.

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