Take the Detroit sound, dip it in chocolate, then smother it in grit, blues, and a sprinkle of dubstep swing. The result would be “Hihatspectations” by 14KT. As a notable hip-hop producer and a core member of Michigan based hip-hop act The Athletic Mic League, 14KT holds a well-versed knowledge of ambient beats and smoothed out melodies on this down-tempo track. Influenced by J-Dilla, his soulful and minimal approach to his music is well accounted for in this first of many solo efforts. Courtney Freeman
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, which formed in early 2007, is known for its sweet boy/girl vocals, fuzzy melodies, and hard-hitting drums. Having just released a 10-song self-titled debut album and completed a tour of Sweden, the New York foursome will take on the rest of Europe and return Stateside just in time to make numerous appearances at SXSW.
TPOBPAH with play a dizzying 10 shows in four days during the festival, ranging from a lunchtime in-store at Waterloo Records to an afternoon gig at the famous Emo’s Main Room, to a nighttime jaunt on South Salinas Street. Following Austin, the band will make its way down the East Coast and jump over to London for the European part of the tour. Catch them at one of the following stops:
Tour Dates: 03/13 Brooklyn, NY – Bell House 03/18 Austin, Texas – Red 7 (4:35 p.m.) 03/18 Austin, Texas – Ms Bea’s (8:30 p.m.) 03/19 Austin, Texas – Radio Room (1:00 p.m.) 03/19 Austin, Texas – Malverde (3:45 p.m.) 03/19 Austin, Texas – Opal Divine’s (10:00 p.m.) 03/20 Austin, Texas – Emo’s Main Room (2:00 p.m.) 03/20 Austin, Texas – Fader Fort (3:45 p.m.) 03/20 Austin, Texas – South Salina Street (6:30 p.m.) 03/20 Austin, Texas – Emo’s Jr. (11:00 p.m.) 03/21 Austin, Texas – Waterloo Records Instore (1:00 p.m.) 04/24 Wallingford, CT – Wallingford American Legion 05/03 Atlanta, GA – Earl 05/04 Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506 05/05 Baltimore, MD – Talking Head Club 05/14 – Great Escape Festival @ Pavillion Plan B 05/15 – London – TBA 05/16 – London, England – Brixton Windmill 05/17 – Leicester, England – The Firebug 05/18 – Wrexham, England – Central Station 05/19 – York, England – The Duchess 05/20 – Glasgow, England – Captain’s Rest 05/21 – Leeds, England – Cockpit 05/22 – Manchester, England – Chorlton Irish Centre 05/23 – Bristol, England – Dot to Dot Festival 05/24 – Nottingham, England – Dot to Dot Festival 05/25 – Antwerp, Belgium – Trix 05/26 – Paris, France – Batofar 05/27 – Toulouse, France – Le Cri De La Moutte 05/28 – Montpellier, France – Rock Store 05/29 – Barcelona, Spain – Primavera Feeestival 05/31 – Ravenna, Italy – Hana Bi 06/01 – Milan, Italy – La Casa 139 06/02 – St Gallen, Switzerland – Palace 06/03 – Munich, Germany – 59 to 1 06/04 – Koln, Germany – Blue Shell 06/05 – Berlin, Germany – NBI Club 06/06 – Hamburg, Germany – Knust 06/07 – Utrecht, Holland – Ekko 06/08 – Amsterdam, Holland – Paradiso 06/09 – London, England – Madame Jojos – Whiteheat 06/11 – Oxford, England – Jericho Tavern 06/12 – Cambridge, England – Soul Tree 06/13 – Southampton, England – Joiners Arms 06/14 – UK Isle of Wight Festival – Big Top Stage 06/18 – New York, NY – Cake Shop
He might not be lying on a bearskin rug, but there are undoubtedly elements of sexy about music’s self-proclaimed sex guru, Sebastien Tellier, in this video. The sandy beaches, sensual lips, and white piano here may or may not be tongue-in-cheek.
“Roche” is off Sebastien Tellier’s album Sexuality, out now.
Horace Andy & Ashley Beedle Inspiration Information Strut Release Date: Out Now
Just released today is the second installment of Strut’s Inspiration Information collaborative series (the first saw Amp Fiddler paired with rhythm masters Sly & Robbie). This time, Studio One legend Horace Andy teamed up with producer Ashley Beedle, for a rhythm-heavy roots-meets-club reggae collection of tracks.
Inspiration Information 01 “When the Rain Falls” 02 “Watch We” 03 “Seek It” 04 “Rasta Don’t” 05 “Hypocrites” 06 “The Light” 07 “Angie” 08 “2 Way Traffic” 09 “Babylon You Lose” 10 “Hot Hot Hot” 11 “Festival Song”
Generally intrigued by all things from the Netherworld, Gigolo Records boss DJ Hell has unveiled his latest album, and its title, Teufelswerk is German for “devil’s work.” So, naturally, the release is a brooding mass of angry electronics and ominously building compositions that dart between dark and light (as evidenced by the title of each disc) and channel moods fit for dreary Berlin winters.
Teufelswerk Disc One – Night 01 “U Can Dance Feat. Bryan Ferry” 02 “Electronic Germany” 03 “The DJ” (Featuring P. Diddy) 04 “The Disaster” 05 “Bodyfarm2” 06 “Hellracer” 07 “Wonderland” 08 “Friday, Saturday, Sunday”
Disc Two – Day 01 “Germania” 02 “The Angst” & “The Angst Pt. 2” 03 “Carte Blanche” 04 “Nightclubbing” 05 “I Prefer Women To Men Anyway” 06 “Action (Interlude)” 07 “Hell’s Kitchen” 08 “Silver Machine” (Hawkwind Cover)
Tim Hecker An Imaginary Country kranky Release Date: March 9
Next week, we’ll get another offering from Montreal-based producer Tim Hecker, and if Hell’s the authority on sinister, Hecker is most definitely one of the masters of drone-ambient tunes. As with Hecker’s previous efforts (which span nearly a decade), An Imaginary Country combines lush electronics with abstract sound art and further lives up to the “cathedral ambience” label his work often garners.
An Imaginary Country 01 “100 Years Ago” 02 “Sea Of Pulses” 03 “The Inner Shore” 04 “Pond Life” 05 “Borderlands” 06 “A Stop At The Chord Cascades” 07 “Utropics” 08 “Paragon Point” 09 “Her Black Horizon” 10 “Currents Of Electrostasy” 11 “Where Shadows Make Shadows” 12 “200 Years Ago”
K’NAAN Troubadour A&M/Octone Release Date: Out Now
Putting many a gangster rapper to shame is Somalian-born K’NAAN, whose lyrical tales—which naturally concern his experience growing up in a civil war-torn country—border on heartbreaking at times. Troubadour is his sophomore release and sees guest appearances by Damian Marley, Mos Def, and Chali 2na.
Featured Artist Odd Nosdam T.I.M.E. Soundtrack anticon. Release Date: Out Now
Under his Odd Nosdam guise, David P. Masdon has crafted yet-another album for the anticon. catalog. He’s also used the release to share his love of skate culture, as T.I.M.E. is both his latest full-length and the soundtrack to Element Skateboards’ This is My Element film. Madson tailored each track on the new album to fit the style of its respective skateboarder, and subsequently dabbled in all manner of styles, boom-bap, rock, and folk among them.
Masdon recently gave us some words on the process of scoring the film:
“The T.I.M.E. tunes were tailored to fit by watching the raw footage of each skateboarder. Kirk Dianda, the film’s director/editor, would give me basic notes on the style of music he wanted, stuff like “folksy & flowing boom bap” (for what became “Fly Mode”) or “fast and fun rock n roll” (“We Bad Apples”). While watching the raw footage, I [would] get a feel for the skater’s style and how to match it.
Tempo and melody were really important, and I was determined to keep everything sonically cohesive by strictly using the SP1200 sampler. Once I got the basics of a track down, I’d pass it on to Kirk, who loosely edited the raw footage to my music. I’d further tweak and embellish my tracks based on his edits. We went back and forth quite a bit, until I felt my tunes could stand on their own.”
Additionally, he laced us with a few clips from the film:
Switzerland-based duo Larytta released Difficult Fun last year, and with that album proved its love of pairing eclectic sounds together (African chants meeting ’80s synths being one combination). Nathan Jonson (a.k.a. Hrdvsion) has turned the track “The City Walls,” off the album, into a leftfield electronic playground, in which nearly every element of the music was cut, sliced, and diced.
The Whip had a world of expectation on its shoulders upon releasing this album, and, cutting straight to the marrow of the matter, the Manchester, U.K.-based foursome more than delivers with X Marks Destination. More importantly, they’ve given us an album that, while steeped in New Order-esque influences and hybrids of the dance/rock variety, bubbles with its own personality and endless energy. Between the tenebrous synths, relentlessly hard-hitting drums, and lead man Bruce Carter’s lyrical hysterics (which are often times quite poignant), the 10 tracks here make for a very solid debut album.
Music obsessive Mary Anne Hobbs has the power to make and break emerging artists on her influential BBC Radio 1 show. So when she takes a profound interest in a new music scene, you know it’s something special. Lately, she’s been so tapped into the what she calls West Coast Rocks—L.A. and San Francisco bass-heavy producers such as Flying Lotus, Daedelus, Lazer Sword, Ghosts on Tape, Samiyam, and Gaslamp Killer (just to name a few)—that she made a special pilgrimage to see it with her own eyes. Here, she discusses the impact this scene has had not only on her, but on music globally.
In addition to following in his activist parents’ footsteps as an attorney for a national civil rights organization, San Antonio-born DJ Diego Bernal cuts a juicy blend of Latin American-influenced hip-hop beats. This Mexicans with Guns remix of his song “Bring it Home,” off of For Corners, makes the most of a solid horn section.
Jazz fusion always sounded ahead of its time, so it’s no surprise that this album, which echoes that genre, has such a futuristic sheen. Dâm-Funk (the first word is pronounced “dame”) goes for an electro-funk-boogie fusion of his own, crafting a skittering, kinetic amalgamation on this fourth installment of Stones Throw’s Rhythm Trax series. For all his forward-looking playfulness, though, he still uses analog synths and older drum machines. If ’80s funk had skipped a couple of decades into the future, it just might sound like this. To Dâm-Funk’s credit, the eight tracks on this all-instrumental effort might sound deceptively simple, but multiple listens quickly reveal a multitude of dense layers to unpeel. Future funk, right now.
This issue we take you around the globe in search of the perfect mixtape. Electro-pop princes Junior Boys tell all about their new record before lacing us with a 10-song tribute to those who most impacted Begone Dull Care. Pop Levi does up a quick half-side of Sparks hits for your listening pleasure. Over in Baltimore, Dan Deacon gets crazy with his new record, Bromst, before delivering “10 Poorly Juxtaposed Pieces.” Also: Pan/Tone, Butch, Circlesquare, and Black Milk.
