After finding a prized Moog Modular in the Philadelphia school where he taught music technology, Michael Johnson began making the music that would eventually become that of his Ape School guise. His self-titled debut album is an experimental pop offering of riffing guitars, fuzzy feedback, carefully tweaked electronics, and, of course, a few good old-fashioned Moog synth sounds.
Ape School is out now.
“I have a strong image and a strong character,” says Peaches, inadvertently making one of the larger understatements of the year. This is, after all, an artist whose last two albums were named Fatherfucker and Impeach My Bush, and promises “blinking pussy lights” to be packaged with her latest offering, I Feel Cream.
The new album—out May 5 via XL—finds electro-punk’s reigning queen again fostering her DIY aesthetic and pairing synth-pop and ’70s soul with impassioned, sharp lyrics. This time around she’s enlisted the likes of Simian Mobile Disco, Soulwax, Digitalism, and Drums of Death to lend a hand on the production end, and Shunda K of Yo Majesty steps in to MC on the track “Billionaire.”
Stream the entire album below.
The Sydney-based electrohunks constantly redefine their own poo by shaping atmospheric colors into circles. So they say.
The Presets’ accessible dance-pop seems as breezy as their sense of humor, but—they assure us—each note is labored over. Kim Moyes and Julian Hamilton chalk it up to their classical training and the fact that the older they get, the more serious their fun becomes. Or more fun their serious becomes? Something like that.
Miguel Depedro may have relocated to Berlin, but the man still knows how make a hyperactive racket. Kid 606 has been creeping into dancefloor territory for a while now, but Shout at the Döner is his first release to effectively combine the sonic mayhem of Depedro’s early glitch records with his love for the speaker-rattling sounds of bassline, electro, hardcore, and old-school rave. “Mr. Wobble’s Nightmare” transforms 4Hero’s rave classic “Mr. Kirk’s Nightmare” into a menacing wobble-bass anthem, “Samhain, California” could be an updated take on Nitzer Ebb, and low-end workouts such as “Dancehall of the Dead” and “Monsters” sound like Trouble & Bass on amphetamines. The music may be dense, but this aural assault is made for dancing.
The Berlin-by-way-of-New York electro-house maven Chelonis R. Jones talks turtles and truths!
Chelonis R. Jones writes songs about plane crashes!
“‘The cockpit’ [from Chatterton] is about the sole survivor of a plane crash, who simply has second thoughts about being rescued! [Songs like this are] always like, ‘Someone rescue me/We need a hero/We all are one/Come together/Send me an angel’—I wanted to get away from those lyrical clichés. What if someone found peace by being confronted with their final moment?! Electronic music never dealt with such a lyrical angle before… until now.”
The place belongs to Chelonis R. Jones!
“I once stopped my show in the middle of the set to offer an annoying audience member 10 Euro to get out of my face, leave the venue, and purchase a Happy Meal! He was lucky not to get his ass kicked in front of 700 fans. For one hour to 90 minutes the place belongs to Chelonis R. Jones. I don’t share my stage with attention-grabbing, talentless donkeys desperately seeking the attention of their mock-lesbian exes because they possibly had a penis complex! Get tha fuck outta here! I simply attract vaudeville!”
Chelonis R. Jones owns the spirit of Basquiat!
“I just woke up one morning wanting to paint. I was utterly shocked at the things which came out! It’s like inspecting one’s toilet bowl… but more vivid, less putrid! I do everything backwards in my life—I did 350 paintings, then went to join up for classes. They looked at my portfolio and assumed I recently escaped the nearest asylum! One nice elderly German man then whispered in my ear, ‘Forget it! Classrooms are for those in need of a compass. You’ve strangely invented your point B. You own the spirit of Basquiat!’ At that time, I had never heard of that name. He was stunned. He then decided to teach me about my tools instead!”
Chelonis R. Jones is an unpublished novelist!
“I have boxes and boxes [of writings] (5000 to 6000 pages, from age eight to the present), but I am terrified to release them. I’ve witnessed what they’ve done (or didn’t do) to my music!”
Chelonis R. Jones is part turtle!
“The R in my name is an homage to my stepfather. The Jones is attributed to my effaced/erased bio-father. Chelonis is taken in part from the Latin word for a turtle and its shell. Need I say more?”
There once was a time when the unveiling of a new Dan the Automator project promised high-quality beatmaking and interesting genre cross-pollination. Remember Doctor Octagon? Deltron 3030? Even Gorillaz had its charms. Unfortunately, those days are long gone and not even Automator himself seems that excited about Men Without Pants, an electro-blues collaboration with Russell Simins of John Spencer Blues Explosion. Naturally, the duo’s debut album, was actually shelved last summer for additional retooling, but the extra studio time hasn’t salvaged this high-gloss collection of overproduced radio rock that only bears the faintest traces of actual blues or funk music.
Miss Kittin and frequent sidekick The Hacker are back with a new full-length, TWO, and have leaked this track in anticipation of the album’s release. The title says it all. “Electronic City” is a solid offering of minimal, rather robotic techno with just a hint of melody to offset the post-apocalyptic synthesizers.
TWO is out May 19.
Photo by Vincent Flouret.
Techno’s First Lady, Ellen Allien, is taking a break from the 10th anniversary festivities of her BPitch Control imprint to promote two new lines in her ongoing fashion collection.
As is the case with previous collections, the new main line—for women only—is all about sleek lines and minimal design (not unlike the music Allien produces) in the form of jersey tank-tops, short dresses, and a very sexy catsuit not just anyone will be able to pull off (above).
Her sideline project, Quartett, takes its design inspiration from the good old-fashioned playing card, confining the color scheme to black, white, and red, and, again, maintaining an unabashedly no-frills aesthetic.
Both collections are available now via Allien’s fashion site.
In other BPitch Control news, the label is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary and has a series of parties planned in honor of the occasion, including one at this year’s Sonar Festival in Barcelona. Catch Sascha Funke, Moderat, Paul Kalkbrenner, and Allien herself at one of these European dates:
05/20 Leipzig, Germany – Distillery
05/30 Eindhoven, Netherlands – Effenaar
06/06 Munich, Germany – Registratur
06/20 Barcelona, Spain – Sonar
07/18 Gräfenhainichen, Germany – Melt! Festival
If necessity is the mother of invention, then the folks behind electronic music festival Sonar get a gold star for creatively approaching the puzzle of how to throw events during a global economic recession.
The festival is gearing up for its annual multi-day event in Barcelona this June, but for those without the means (or motivation) to fly transatlantic this year, there’s an unexpected surprise in store. Sonar will launch its first-ever Stateside event in less than a month, with Sonarsound NY.
The day-long event will, as all Sonar happenings do, combine electronic music with multimedia art, with DJ /rupture and Prefuse 73 headlining the whole shebang. Additionally, Barcelona-based DJ d.a.r.y.l. will fly in for a couple of sets, while avant-pop producer Hidrogenesse and hip-hop trio Del Palo Soundsystem will add to the entertainment.
The event is free with RSVP, and festivities start at 8 p.m. on May 12 at the Baryshnikov Arts Center NYC.
Sonarsound NY:
Marcel-lí-Antúnez
ReacTable Feat. Ikue Mori
Fibla + Árbol
Del Palo Soundsystem
Balago
DJ /rupture
Prefuse 73
d.a.r.y.l.
Hidrogenesse
No-Domain (visuals)
Photo by Ross Holland.
DJ Zinc released his Killa Sound EP via his own Bingo Beats imprint just a few weeks ago, but he’s also giving the entire thing away for free. A mashup of house, drum and bass, dubstep, and breaks, the new release should satiate our weekly appetite for snare drums and sub-bass. (Via Resident Advisor).
Killa Sound is out now.
