German producer Zombie Nation (a.k.a Florian Senfter) is stepping away from his aggravated, riot-inspiring footie jam status (à la “Kernkraft 400”) with this twisty, mod-funk techno offering. Fortunately, this one calls for more than just jumping up and down in a raucous group embrace while trying not to spill your lager.
Off ZN’s forthcoming album, Zombielicious, out in March on UKW.
If you didn’t wake up this morning ready to rave, this synth-drenched track oozing with handclaps, from Exploited boys Malente&Dex, should ramp you up for some weekend mayhem.
Stay tuned for the boys’ upcoming mini-tour with Exploited boss Shir Khan. Check the Exploited Records MySpace page for details.
No one appreciates the art of the remix like Zion I, and in preparation for their upcoming album, The TakeOver, MC Zumbi and Amplive are sharing their enthusiasm for the practice by holding a remix contest.
The track in question is “DJ DJ,” which was leaked last month on the web and finds the hip-hop duo exploring some electro territory.
Fans are urged to visit an “innovative new widget,” where individual track parts are currently living. Remixers are to create a new version of the song and upload it to the widget. Not a professional remixer? Not a problem. Amp and Zumbi have provided a basic production interface for users who don’t own remixing software. They’ve even provided this to aid in the process.
Prizes thus far include autographed discography, track placement on the Zion I website, and Zion I merchandise. Check the Zion I site for more details.
The TakeOver is out February 17 on Gold Dust Media.
The comma of a warm, undulating chord wash, the semi-colon of a synthesized energy pulse; there are no full stops or harsh question marks imposed by the Balearic bounty of Midtown 120 Blues. I’d imagine that Sprinkles (a.k.a. ambient mastermind/raconteur Terre Thaemlitz) would see anything more than an ellipsis as vulgar within house music. And it’s within that open-ended territory that Midtown’s beauty lies. Where house went wrong, Thaemlitz seems to say, is in filling speakers with activity rather than possibilities. A track like “House Music is Controllable Desire You Can Own” is the kind of song that reminds us that house music subtly changed the world.
It’s odd to tout the driving force behind Control Machete, one of Mexico’s biggest hip-hop groups ever, as an up-and-coming artist, but Toy Selectah (a.k.a. Toy Hernandez) has been championing a new-school take on classic cumbia colombiana. The rhythm has been on blast in Latin America for decades, but Toy’s bootleg cumbia remixes of artists like Lil Wayne, Justice, and Boysnoize have perked up ears on both sides of the equator. With 2009 releases planned for both Mad Decent and Bersa Discos, both Toy and cumbia are about to blow up.
Listen: “Half Colombian Half Mexican Bandit”
Watch: Lil Weezy – “El Milli (Toy Selectah Cumbia Remix)
Is there any contemporary band that hasn’t been influenced by dub? Ex-Fink signer/songwriter/producer Finn Greenall’s new outfit, Sideshow, certainly has. Not that it’s a bad thing; endlessly reverberating layers of bass waves and spacey textures can connect a lot of musical ideas. There are straight-up dub tracks (“Sequential Dub,” “Youth of Today,” “Admit One”) on Admit One, but also interesting diversions into New Wave/indie (“Television,” “French Model in Dub,” “Bottletop Dub”) and broken-beat dancehall (“If Alone,” featuring Paul St. Hilaire). Think of this as an indie rock album that substitutes a Quadraverb unit for a jangly guitar and a spliff for a pint, and you just about catch Sideshow’s drift.
P.O.S.
Never Better
Rhymesayers
Release Date: Out Now
If you must file this album under some genre, hip-hop would be most applicable, but P.O.S.’ latest full-length is really just one giant catharsis in which he raps about boredom, recession, oil, Guantanamo, former (underscore that) president Bush… you get the idea. Our man is angry and he lets us know it, while an amalgamation of hip-hop beats and punk-rock guitars wails in the background. This is what happens when an artist writes most of his album from a moving car.
MP3: “Goodbye”
Lars Horntveth
Kaleidoscopic
Smalltown Supersound
Release Date: Out Now
On a mellower note, Jaga Jazzist member Lars Horntveth has unveiled another album, and this one is essentially a 37-minute track recorded with 41 members of the Latvian National Orchestra. Meticulously constructed musical arrangements—rife with flutes, strings, harps, and pianos—that could be fitting for a movie soundtrack, or even something like a ballet.
King Roc
Chapters
Process
Release Date: March
Not quite fit for interpretive dance, but no less conceptual, is this album from former techno/deep-house producer King Roc. So the story goes, Roc gave 4/4 dance music the figurative middle finger a couple years back, then joined forces with Drunkpark’s Seb Godfrey. The two released a series of 12″s, and after that, chopped up and reconstructed those tracks and threw them on this album. Variety reigns here, from luxuriant downtempo to razor-sharp trip-hop beats.
Top Billin
Vice x Bloc Party Mix
Download
Don’t let the title fool you. This isn’t actually a bunch of Bloc Party remixes. While the Top Billin’ crew did rework (quite cleverly) a little bit of the British indie rockers’ music, tracks on the mix are, according to TB member Nenis, “all related [to] Bloc Party, influences and tracks they’ve covered, and of course, cool tunes that are named ‘block party.'” So woven in between Bloc Party are songs by Delta 5, Pylon, La Roux, and others, all of which have been turned inside out on the remix tip.
Mr. Oizo
Lamb’s Anger
Ed Banger
Release Date Out Now
Given that we put Mr. Oizo on the cover of the latest issue of XLR8R, it’s safe to assume we liked the album. Lamb’s Anger marks Quentin Dupieux’s third full-length, and the 17 tracks here are as much rooted in old-school rave as they are in the contemporary electro style Ed Banger is known for.
Last Days
The Safety of the North
n5MD
Release Date: March 9
Since n5MD’s mantra is “emotional experiments in music,” it follows that most releases on the label are electronic compositions both musically challenging and emotionally stirring. The latest album that Graham Richardson has made under his Last Days guise follows this trend, telling the story of Alice as she and her parents journey to the far north (presumably to some Nordic landscape). The album’s narrative arc unfolds over a blend of warm acoustics, cold electronics, breathy female vocals, and melancholy pianos.
Madlib
Beat Konducta Vol. 5 – 6: A Tribute to…
Stones Throw
Release Date: Out Now
I recall attending a J Dilla tribute show in 2006—just days after the legendary producer’s untimely death—and watching Madlib sit against a wall with his head bowed in his hands most of the night. Interestingly, the aura that Stones Throw’s most prolific producer emitted that evening was more one of reflection than sadness—something he expresses again on this 42-track offering. With the help of J. Rocc, Madlib sees to it that this tribute album celebrates, rather than mourns, the life, work, and friendship of the late Dilla.
Lorenz Rhode
Motor Cortex EP
Exploited
Release Date: February 11
The title Motor Cortex rolls off the tongue quite nicely, but that’s hardly the biggest reason to buy this EP. Düsseldorf, Germany-based Rhodes delivers a hypnotic electro-funk concoction in the form of nine tracks, dominated by repetitive hooks and stripped-down synth lines. Remixes by Ben Mono and Minimow&Solo, as well as an instrumental and one cut cleverly titled “Kinky and the Grain,” complete the package.
Efdemin
Carry On, Pretend We’re Not in the Room
Curle
Release Date: Out Now
This is Philip Sollman’s debut mix CD under the Efdemin name, and it showcases his taste for minimal beatscapes and refreshingly off-kilter house music. It’s difficult to obey the title of this release though, because, with names like Photek, Minilogue, and Surgeon cropping up on the tracklisting, not to mention Sollman’s skilled mixing, the compilation and its cast of characters is pretty much all you’ll pay attention to.
Glass Candy
Deep Gems
Italians Do it Better
Release Date: Out Now
From the disco-punk-obsessed minds of Ida No and Johnny Jewel comes this collection of b-sides and rarities, a follow-up to 2007’s full-length, B/E/A/T/B/O/X. Rarities discs often mean scraping pieces off the cutting-room floor to form some semblance of a release, and while Deep Gems doesn’t entirely escape that fate, there are nonetheless some very worthwhile moments here. Alternate versions of B/E/A/T/B/O/X‘s “Poison or Remedy” and “Stars & Houses” appear, as well as a cover of Bell Epoque’s “Miss Broadway.”
Pictured: P.O.S. Photo by Dan Monick.
In a world addled by recession, unemployment, and nose-diving album sales, only the most resourceful indie labels shall survive, and Philly-based imprint Flamin Hotz has gotten creative in its efforts to sell records in 2009.
The label—you’ll know it from releases like Força Kuduro! and the Trouble & Bass crew’s Bass Bandits comp—just announced the launch of the Flamin Hotz Record Club. Over the course of the year, 10 limited-edition records will be released as part of a collectors’ series any good fan of electro, B-more, and ghettotech would be wise not to miss.
The gist is simple: sign up, fork over the cash, and the 12″s will be delivered to your door. Digital files will be available two weeks before the vinyl ships, and club members will be privy to demos, outtakes, remixes, stickers, and lots of other schwag (that’s rumored to include t-shirts and trading cards).
Singles are limited to 1,000 pressings each, and the whole set goes for $120 up front or 11 monthly payments of $11.
Though no release schedule exists for the program as yet, we do know that club members can expect music from kuduro master Frederic Galliano, Canadian duo Bonjay, Bird Peterson, Ninjasonik, and other disco and electro offerings.
Full info here.
When Mary Anne Hobbs agrees to make a DJ mix, one thing can be counted on—that said mix will be packed end-to-end with bangers in which the beats are dirty, the basslines earth-shattering, and the MCs spit lyrics faster than you can say “big ups!”
Such is the case on this live mix, which was recorded at last Thursday’s West Coast Rocks event in San Francisco and coincidentally marks the first-ever podcast the Britain-based DJ, journalist, and Radio1 host has made.
Any fan of the dubstep, grime, and drum and bass genres will recognize old friends on the tracklisting, from Hyperdub founder Kode9 to garage and broken-beat producer Zed Bias. For those new to the concept of all things bass-heavy, the mix is an excellent primer, and finally, for the truly fanatic, producers are welcome to drop tunes in Ms. Hobbs’ Soundcloud box on her MySpace page. May this mix inspire you to do so.
Tune into her Radio1 show at 2 a.m. GMT on Wednesdays.
Mary Anne Hobbs Live in S.F., January 29
01 Durrty Goodz vs Taz Buckfaster – “Destruction” (Dubplate)
02 Joker & Ginz – “Purple City” (Dubplate)
03 Martyn – “Elden St” (3024)
04 LD and Benga – “Yes Yes” (Dubplate)
05 Reso – “Octacon” (Dubplate)
06 Kryptic Minds & Leon Switch – “Six Degrees” (Swamp81)
07 2000F and JKamata – “You Don”t Know What Love Is” (Hyperdub)
08 DJ Pinch – “Teleport” (Planet Mu)
09 Kode 9 & LD – “2 Bad” (Dubplate)
10 Zed Bias feat. Ghost 1 & Jay Electronica – “The Cauldron” (Sidestepper)
11 Boxcutter – “Sidetrak” from the upcoming “Arecibo Message” (Planet Mu)
12 Pangaea – “Memories” (Dubplate)
13 Joker – “Digidesign” (Hyperdub)
14 RSD – “Forward Youth” (Tectonic)
15 Goth Trad – “Cut End” (Deep Medi)
16 Gatekeeper feat. Grilza & Dread MC – “Ignite” (Dubplate)
Photo by Shaun Bloodworth.
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Two words come to mind upon hearing this track—’80s and electro, and those elements are combined with some truly lo-fi camera work on this video from L.A.-based duo Nite Jewel.
“Artificial Intelligence” is off Good Evening, out March 17.
