A.M. Architect is the San Antonio-based experimental side project of Daniel Stanush (a.k.a. Magic Note, the lead guitarist for Panic Division) and Diego Chavez (a.k.a. Aether216). This Ernest Gonzales remix of their track “Next of Kin” blends ambient outdoor sounds with the din of distant conversation, giving the impression of a garden party interrupted by a complex instrumental of buzzy bottom synths, light interwoven electric guitar, and sped-up bongo and electronic hand claps.
Tim Exile used to be known as a junglist, a crafter of twitchy breakcore that could decorate a dancefloor like splattered paint. His catalog of tracks spans across labels such as Moving Shadow, Evol Intent, Distinct’ive Breaks, and Planet Mu, the latter of which issued his Pro Agonist and Tim Exile’s Nuisance Gabbaret Lounge records.
But his latest album, The Listening Tree, finds the producer (born Tim Shaw) taking a different path. “There are a few strands that run through [the album],” Shaw explains via phone from his current base in Berlin. “One of them is kinda like personal breakthrough and transcending. And another one is frustration with society and also with myself, I guess. There’s a nerve between myself, my fears, anxieties and hopes, and how they’re mirrors of how I see society.”
A meditation on humanism and technology in the spirit of Thomas Dolby’s The Golden Age of Wireless and Depeche Mode’s Black Celebration, The Listening Tree features dramatic, synth-infused introspection on “Don’t Think We’re One” and the title track, where Exile compares one’s inner conscience to a mystic tree of life. The centerpiece is the amazing “Family Galaxy,” which speeds and slows tempos, working up to a maddening breakneck pace as Exile sings, “Family galaxy wants you to come and play and change every day/Come and play in the stars/They’re all ours.”
“[The songs] also reflect a fantasy of what it’d be like if we all broke free,” he says. “I’m a big believer in the transformational power of technology if it’s put to good use.”
The Listening Tree may seem like a pagan metaphor for God, but it’s not. Shaw, a native of London, remembers singing in the church choir as a youth, but doesn’t consider himself a Christian. “I think I was there more in mind than in spirit,” he jokes. As a teenager, his girlfriend at the time converted him to a form of New Age Christianity “for about six months, until I realized how crazy it was.”
Exile professes not to practice any religion, yet definitely comes off as a seeker of some greater purpose, spiritual or otherwise. If there’s any common ground between the high-minded, song-based progressivism of The Listening Tree and the hard-stepping gabba of his prior work, it’s that both flip through musical styles quickly while retaining a melodic, accessible core.
“All I have is a conscious flow of consciousness that ties my previous albums to now. It’s quite a good illustration of how quickly the flow of consciousness changes for me,” says the 30-year-old Exile. “I guess it’s the process of getting old and wanting to do things differently.”
Krazy Baldhead’s forthcoming album, The B-Suite, will feature four movements and 49 minutes of music from the playful Ed Banger vet. This club remix of “Sweet Night,” off the new album, features the jazzy vocals of Outlines on top of a funky electro beat punctuated with tinny accents and robotic back-up vocals. Halfway through the song, the pulse trips into driving, choppy, polyrhythmic layers that speed to a serene close. Catch Mr. Baldhead on tour in Europe this spring with fellow Banger buddy, DJ Mehdi.
The B Suite comes out on April 27.
You may have surmised, from the title of this mix, that Boy in Static‘s contribution to the XLR8R Podcast has a little something to do with the Bay Area, but the S.F.-based indie-pop duo of Alexander Chen and Kenji Ross was nice enough to pass along a few words on each track in East Bay to Back Bay. “Kenji and I have been fortunate to become friends with some very talented folks over the past few years,” explains Chen. “There’s a personal story behind each track here.”
With that in mind, we’ll cease to ramble on as we sometimes do, and let the boys explain the track selection themselves. Hell, you might even want to hit the “preview” button while reading about each track.
East Bay to Back Bay:
01 Mint Julep – “To The Sea” – (Self-Released)
From a self-released CDR album by Hollie and Keith (who also record as Helios). They make shimmering pop songs suited for winter nights and keep the front porch of their cozy Portland home available for a stray cat named Emiline. (Hollie also sings on our new album.) AC
02 Her Space Holiday – “Sleeping Pills” – (Tiger Style)
Marc’s albums have kept me company over the years. I think my HSH-fanboy-nerdiness scared him when we spoke for the first time. He played accordion and Rhodes on our new album. AC
03 Boy in Static – “Young San Francisco (Montag Remix)” – (Fake Four/Circle into Square)
After I did a remix for him, Antoine responded with this ’80s electro, Soft Cell-inspired mix of “Young San Francisco.” We’ve met only once, accidently. It was in the lobby of a hotel in Tokyo. AC
04 Freezepop – “Thought Balloon” – (Rykodisc)
In 2003, I met Liz and Sean at a random birthday party in Allston, MA. Since then, we have seen many places together: Europe (Sean played keys for our tour with 13 & God), the frozen Midwest (we supported Freezepop last year), and most of Boston (we hang out a lot). Freezepop makes sugary sweet synth-pop like none other. Highly addictive. AC
05 Birds & Batteries – “I’ll Never Sleep Again” – (Self-Released)
My old college roommate from UMass recently joined this Bay Area band, playing pedal steel and slide guitars. They write sad Americana-tinged rock, drawing heavily from country and electronic music. KR
06 Cars & Trains – “The Wires From My Broken Record Player” – (Circle into Square)
On a visit to his Portland home last year, Tom saved my girlfriend and I from a threatening raccoon. He writes eloquent lyrics over beats that are somehow both frail and head-nodding. AC
07 4 Bonjour’s Parties – “Magpie Will Peck A Hole In My Plaster Cast” – (Mush)
4 Bonjour’s Parties are Japanese labelmates of ours and did the tour with Lymbyc Systym. Probably the nicest people ever – they even came to the airport at the end of tour to see us off! Reminiscent of a Japanese Broken Social Scene, if there were one. KR
08 Future Bible Heroes – “Losing Your Affection” – (Instinct)
I often bumped into Chris at friends’ bands’ shows in Boston. He is an inspiring, talented individual with an intimidating musical resume. (Google him.) AC
09 Misha – “We’re Gonna Have It Out (Modern Love)” – (Unreleased)
Tomlab artists Misha did a remix for our new album. John sent this nice exclusive just for this podcast, a quirky unreleased instrumental demo that will probably find its way onto the next Misha album. AC
10 Themselves – “Rapping4Money (featuring cLOUDDEAD)” – (anticon.)
Doseone and Jel, besides writing an insane amount of music (Dose told me the next Themselves LP will be his 20th album in 10 years), are also excellent human beings. We toured with them twice, and I watched nearly every set they played. Fucking magic, seriously. KR
11 Lymbic System – “Processed Spirits” – (Magic Bullet)
Tourmates and fast friends for a short jaunt around Japan a couple years back. They make wonderful, dramatic instrumental post-rock music, without sounding like Mogwai or Explosions in the Sky (for my money, they sound better). KR
12 The Notwist – “One With The Freaks” – (Domino)
I would not be making music if not for The Notwist. I mailed my demo to Markus Acher in 2003 on a whim, and am still flattered that he released the debut Boy in Static album. Since then, we have shared book recommendations (he enjoys Adrian Tomine), watched a Metallica documentary in the back of a tour bus, and killed time at a Midwest bowling ally. KR
13 Helios – “Fourteen Drawings” – (Type)
Keith Kenniff and I shared a practice space when we both lived in Boston. We played in the live Boy in Static band together for shows around Boston in 2007. His main work as Helios is hypnotic, meticulous, and simply gorgeous. AC
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No one flips beats like baile funk producers, no one spits crazy rhymes like Brazilian MCs, and no one curates a compilation better than Daniel Haaksman. A key figure in introducing the world outside of Brazil to the sound of baile funk, the Man Recordings boss has collected an A-list of international remixers (Crookers, Jesse Rose, Frikstailers, Stereotyp, and DJ C, among many others) and given them each a shot at reinterpreting the funk sound. The Feadz remix of “Subeu Desceu,” featuring the eight-year-old MC Wes, is a standout with its collage aesthetic, as is The Count and Sinden’s bassline rave-up “Tamborzuda” with MC Thiaguinho, and Haaksman’s own “Who’s Afraid of Rio” with MC Jennifer. The beats range from shuffle-slink to peak-hour madness, and Haaksman earns major bonus points for steering the selection away from the scene’s squeakier, shoutier vocalists.
Finally, a hip-hop album that owes as much to ’80s Saturday morning cartoons as it does U.K. grime and crunked-up Southern playalistics. From the get-go of opening track “Damaged Goods,” London-based producer Xrabit goes buck wild at the mixing console, laying down skittery Casio-esque pops and bleeps over an array of bassed-out percussion while Texan MCs Coool Dundee and Trak Bully get busy on the mics. “Ferris Bueller” and “Same Ole” are a pair of memorable ’83-era cuts that big up both Afrika Bambaataa and Art of Noise with enough breakbeats and synths to tear the roof off a house party. Word up.
Techno producer and club denizen Kate Simko can now pencil in “soundtrack composer” to that promising resume of hers. The Spectral Sound artist recently scored the PBS science documentary The Atom Smashers (137 Films), a project that Ghostly International has released as of today via iTunes and other digital outlets. For this album, Simko delved deep into her past experiences as a classically trained pianist and composer, while also keeping the electronic current in full swing. Those already familiar with Simko’s fascinating body of work can expect all the stars to be aligned on this beautiful soundtrack entitled Music From the Atom Smashers, as she excavates the deepest, darkest trenches of fuzz-addled ambient worlds with scattered touches of microhouse and experimental terrain in between. A follow-up to her 2008 Spectral single, Gamelan/Margie’s Groove, this soundtrack only adds to Simko’s already breathtaking vision.
Music From The Atom Smashers
01 “Welcome To Fermilab”
02 “Control Room”
03 “Quiet Daydream (Intro)”
04 “The Creative Part”
05 “Fear Of The Unknown”
06 “Nature Surreal”
07 “God Particle”
08 “Who Needs Science”
09 “Nature Surreal (Airport Edit)”
10 “Trouble Brewing”
11 “Sociber”
12 “Random Universe”
13 “Tevatron Dream”
14 “Quiet Daydream”
15 “Random Universe (Recap)”
16 “The Creative Part (Epilogue)”
Downtown L.A.’s Poketo Studio is known for promoting beautiful, accessible art objects, accessories, apparel, and décor, as well as supporting collaborative projects between artists of various media.
On April 24, the studio will present Bang! Bang! Draw!. The special evening of music and art will open with a performance by Her Space Holiday, at 7 p.m., followed by a moderated discussion between HSH’s Marc Bianchi and Tokyo-based illustrator and designer PCP. Lastly, a presentation of PCP’s art will round out the evening, along with more music and dancing until 10 p.m. Event attendees will also get to purchase Poketo studio’s limited edition signature wallets, a mug, and a t-shirt designed by PCP.
Poketo Studio is located at 510 South Hewitt Street, #506 (5th floor), Los Angeles, CA 90013.
click to enlarge
Kate Simko used her love of techno, her background in classical music, and her admiration for scalar elementary particles to form her latest release, the soundtrack to PBS science documentary The Atom Smashers. The film follows a group of physicists on their search for the Higgs Boson particle, otherwise known as “The God Particle” (if physics wasn’t your major, the Higgs Boson would, if found, help determine the origins of the universe). Ponder that theory while listening to Simko’s minimal-driven soundtrack.
Music from The Atom Smashers is out now.
Who:Chipmunk
Location: London, U.K.
Not many grime artists floss their time on the honor roll, but 18-year-old Chipmunk is not the average MC. Growing up in North London, he began MCing early—by age 16 he had already dropped a slew of mixtapes and performed a career-launching freestyle on Tim Westwood’s BBC1 show (YouTube views are currently in the millions). Fresh-faced and armed with a cutting rapid-fire delivery, the fiercely independent Chipmunk refuses to sign with a major label, even as his recently released first official single, the hip-hop-flavored “Chip Diddy Chip,” threatens to blast him into the mainstream.
Watch: “Chip Diddy Chip”
Watch: Chipmunk Freestyle on Radio1
