This is minimal techno the way it should be done–understated, precisely arranged, and with a few touches of melody to give the track an ethereal touch. For the video, U.K.-based producer Max Cooper enlisted Whiskas fx, who directed the trance-inducing visuals.
Broken Spindles “Beatdown Breakup (Cassettes Won’t Listen Remix)”
What better track to get a remix than one entitled “Beatdown Breakup?” Jason Drake, otherwise known as one of Brooklyn’s busiest remixers Cassettes Won’t Listen, splices up Broken Spindles’ no-wave original of this cut and turns it into an off-kilter hip-hop number here.
Broken Spindles – Beatdown Breakup (Cassettes Won’t Listen Remix)
Intrusion The Seduction of Silence
Far from a routine exercise in dub techno, The Seduction of Silence slowly reveals itself as a warm and wonderful place to be. Crafted by Stephen Hitchell (half of Deepchord), the album is defined by its warmth, space, and strong, slow builds. Muscular, dubwise basslines coil around the tunes, weaving distant African percussion, sub-bass kicks, melodica, and dub-chord waves into timeless, pulsing grooves. At times recalling Pole’s and Rhythm & Sound’s best work, the music culls from those artists’ best aspects while still maintaining a fresh and unique sound. Seduction looks outside the standard Maurizio cohort, as Hitchell prefers to channel King Tubby swimming alone at night.
The Whip’s Guide to Manchester
A musical trip through Manchester isn’t all just Smiths and Stone Roses nostalgia. Nathan, Danny, and Bruce of electro-rock outfit The Whip turn us onto some of the lesser-known gems of life in this northern town.
1. Oldham Street, Northern Quarter
This is where the whole “northern quarter” thing started, and is an important place for us. Loads of bars like Matt & Phred’s, the old Planet K (which is where Nathan first met Danny 11 years ago), and Night & Day Café. Lots of record shops and lots of fond memories for everyone in the band!
2. Butterfly Music
Originally a record shop, Butterfly is where we all used to rehearse (on the top floor), although in different bands at different times. It doesn’t sell records anymore but still lives on as a proper rehearsal space, which is a shame because we used to pick up some secondhand classics downstairs during breaks from rehearsing.
3. Kingfisher Fish & Chips
Ahhhhh, the Tib Street chippy, just around the corner from Butterfly Music. It’s where many a hungry band member found themselves before, during, or after a rehearsal. It’s the best chippy in the northern quarter—FACT! My favorite was a chip balm (sandwich) and a sausage.
4. Haçienda Apartments
This is all that is left of our most famous musical landmark, the Haçienda Club. It was owned by New Order, and was one of the most important piles of bricks in house music. Recently the building was flattened and replaced by over-priced, cheaply made apartments for terrible people who think they live in a piece of history. They just sleep on its grave!
5. Night & Day Café
Directly across from Piccadilly Records, the Night & Day is one of the most famous music venues in Manchester. During the day it’s a great bar; at night, it’s a venue that gives new bands a place to play whilst also hosting full-on touring bands from around the globe.
6. World’s First Stored-Program Computer
The world’s first stored-program computer was made at the University of Manchester. It ran its first successful program in 1948. This marked the beginning of the computer revolution. You could say that if this baby hadn’t been made we wouldn’t be making the music we make today!
7. IRA Bombing Site
On June 15, 1996, an IRA bomb went off in Manchester causing widespread devastation. The only thing left undamaged was a red postbox, which is still there today. As a consequence, and I suppose in a positive way, Manchester has gone through massive regeneration making the city into what it is today.
8. GMEX Arena
An old railway station that was used as a venue in the early ’90s, the GMEX saw all the Manchester greats. It closed down for a while but is now back up and running. This is one of the places that we would love to play. Another piece of Manchester music history.
9. The Black Lion Pub
This is the pub in Salford where Danny and I got the ball rolling with The Whip. We had a studio in the cellar—really dirty and damp, and none of the barmaids would go downstairs, as they thought the place was haunted. It was the perfect sleazy environment. Parts on the album have a faint karaoke crooner’s voice—that was from the pub above us.
10. Piccadilly Records
This is the record shop of choice for The Whip. It has always been a supporter of new music from all genres—a true independent that has survived!
MP3: “Dubsex”
Taylor Deupree & Kenneth Kirschner May
Recorded live in May 2008 at the OFFF Festival in Portugal, May. is the premier live release for these two Brooklyn-based ambient experimentalists. Laptops at the ready, they “explore” the grand piano from the inside out (literally), digitally processing their findings on the fly and subsequently creating a supremely mesmerizing and perpetually morphing soundscape. Rich acoustic tonality disintegrates into waves of manipulated antimatter, spreading outward to embrace subsequent ivory transmissions in what becomes a cyclical push-pull of organic and synthetic textures. Fans of Taylor’s 12k and line labels will find all the subtle, shoegazing fragility they can wrap their egg-like heads around, although any inkling of this being a “live” recording will elude even them
Sky And Sand
When Paul and Fritz Kalkbrenner were asked to score Hannes Stöhr’s film, Berlin Calling, they delivered a minimal techno-centric soundtrack that was recently released via BPitch Control. Peep clips of the film—about a jet setting electronic music composer and his many clubland adventures—with this video.
Tigersushi Launches Fashion Line
If you have 70 Euros to spend on clothing (that’s $88, according to today’s currency converter), the Paris-based mecca of all things cool is a good place to go, particularly since Tigersushi Records recently announced the launch of its own fashion brand and already has a few items on sale.
Label boss Joakim, whose drawings have been previously seen on XLR8R.com, took his inspiration from Throbbing Gristle’s famous lightning bolt logo. Meanwhile, Paris-based designer Fafi gave a nod to English art-rock band Roxy Music.
Both shirts are limited to 200 copies each. For those who can’t make the trip to Paris, fear not. Colette’s lovely (and recently redesigned) online store has the shirts, along with other Tigersushi gear, in stock.
The Whip “Dubsex”
The Whip‘s X Marks Destination will finally hit the U.S. in less than two weeks. To gear up for the occasion, check out the final track off the album, in which electro and rock ‘n’ roll go head-to-head.
X Marks Destination is out March 3.
Mi Ami “New Guitar”
As we’ve previously seen, S.F.-based trio Mi Ami likes its music loud, and the pileup of post-disco noise, screeching guitars, and ear-splitting vocals on this track, off the band’s album Watersports, proves that point.
Watersports is out now via Touch & Go.
Mi Ami Watersports
A Rorschach drawing of D.C. noise-punks Black Eyes’ musical oeuvre would surely prompt a slew of one-word responses—from standards (“fiendish,” “misanthropic”) to the made-up (“bloodfugue,” “seminalstained”). One that few would offer is “focused,” and that is why San Francisco noise-groove trio Mi Ami, which includes two ex-Eyes, is such a revelation. On Watersports, squeal-screamed vocals and melodic randomness remain from the Black Eyes aesthetic, but here we find an aggressively consistent rhythm—a dubby drum-and-bass tandem that harkens more to Fela main-man Tony Allen than the Reverb Motherfuckers. Single “Echononecho” sets course along this road, with the rhythms aided by guitars that recall pedal-laden likembe (á la Konono N°1), occasionally veering towards noisy rock outbursts. Watersports is a concise start to an already unconventional career.
