Download a New Live Set From Maymind

Maymind has shared a new 45-minute live performance, available to download via WeTransfer below.

Recorded in Downtown LA earlier this year with three synths and a drum machine, it’s a meditative mix full of deep, low-slung grooves and warm ambience, and a perfect representation of the live improvisational methods Maymind has employed on this year’s Wait For Me Out Front EP and Cheap Storage album for DC label Atlantic Rhythms. 

Ahead of a new LP for Kid606’s Tigerbeat6 imprint, we sent Maymind a handful of questions to find out a bit more on the mix, his recording processes, and what’s on the horizon.

You can stream and download the mix below.

When and where was the mix recorded?

While DJing has been a big part of my life in the past five years, making music live and in the moment has been a part of my daily activities for much longer. This mix is actually a live show I played in Downtown LA, earlier in the evening. I tried to follow the advice of one of my mentors long ago—keep it raw, keep it funky.

Can you describe the atmosphere and vibe of the party?

It was a warm, late summer night. I distinctly remember the smell of tacos hanging in the air. At one point, I looked up and a group of children were dancing in front of me. It was a very joyous moment.

What equipment did you record the mix on?

Whenever I see an artist I admire mention a piece of gear, I have the tendency to immediately research that tool and see what it’s all about. Because I also write about and review gear as part of my day job, I’m constantly inundated with new music but also new musical tools. It’s very easy to become convinced you need the latest “thing” to make music, whether it’s a drum machine, sample pack, or plugin, and I must admit I have been a victim of that mindset in the past as well. So I’ll just say that this was recorded with one drum machine, one FM synth, one analog monosynth, and one analog polysynth, all running to a 12 channel mixer. Use the tools you have!

Your recording process favors a limited set-up focused on live and improvised performances—what led you down this path and what draws you to this way of working?

At first, I started working this way out of necessity. I had moved to LA from NY, and in the process sold most of my old analog synths that had lived in my studio, including a Sequential Circuits Pro-One that had an amazing custom purple case, a Roland SH-101, a Korg Polysix, and others. Shortly after arriving in LA, my main recording computer died, and I was left with an old Macbook and a few cheap drum machines. I decided to take a completely different approach than the Ableton-centric approach I had been taking, and bought an MPC-1000 on a whim. Using just the MPC as my main sequencing and sound tool really focused my recording sessions.

Ironically, the recordings that became Illumina, Cheap Storage, and Wait For Me out Front were all made around the same time, more so as just sonic explorations while I was biding my time till I could get back to producing more “proper” house and techno. One thing I quickly learned in LA is that the walls are very thin! Making anything with a big kick was really tough in my living situation, so I naturally gravitated towards making more ambient and experimental tracks. It wasn’t till I went back and listened to a bunch of bits I recorded that a new world appeared to me.

How was 2018 for you?

It was a really eventful year. I must admit that I’ve been making music for a very long time, but it wasn’t until the past year or two that I’ve really figured out how I want to say what is inside of me. The distractions of social media and the careerist approach of many made me think I had to make a certain kind of music, and those fears and doubts have been pushed aside as I’ve gotten a little older. My album Cheap Storage and a follow-up EP, Wait For Me Out Front, both came out on Atlantic Rhythms, a label in DC that is doing some great things and that I’m happy to be a part of. I know they have a few pretty exciting things coming out in the months ahead as well.

What’s on the horizon for 2019?

The pendulum has swung back in the other direction, and I’m finally back to working on tracks with a bit more focus in the box. I’m going to be going out to Joshua Tree in a few weeks to finish up a more club-focused EP. My next full-length album, Contoured Euphoria is finished and waiting to be mastered; that will be out on Kid606’s Tigerbeat6 in Spring 2019. Besides that, finding time to connect with my friends and family, devoting more time to design work, and stepping further away from the distractions of social media. And practicing my jazz chords. 

Due to issues regarding the GDPR, EU readers can download the mix here.

Photo: AM Gordon

Premiere: Hear a Deep Minimal Cut From Marc Houle

Marc Houle will release his latest EP, Under The Sand, on his own Items & Things imprint today, December 7.

Under The Sand caps off a busy year for Houle, who has dropped outings on Innervisions, Octopus Recordings, Embassy One, International Deejay Gigolo Recordings, Curle Recordings, and Items & Things, among many others. In true Marc Houle style, Under The Sand presents three low-slung minimal weapons built for the dancefloor, from the psychedelic grit of “Like LSD” to the title track’s transfixing dubbed-out grooves and the tough, chugging rhythms of “Veranda.”

In support of the release, Houle has offered up a full stream of the EP’s title track, available via the SoundCloud player below, and a YouTube clip, which Houle recorded via VHS live in his living room.

You can purchase Under The Sand here.

DJ Deeon ‘Who-U-Wit’ (AJ Christou Edit)

AJ Christou began in music with a weekly residency at the renowned Sankeys in his hometown of Manchester. He briefly relocated to New York in 2016 to focus on producing and was signed to The Martinez Brothers’ Cuttin Headz within a year. AJ has also teamed up with Caleb Calloway to release their Sweet Senses EP on Rawthentic and featured on The Martinez Brothers’ album series Remixed Part 3. He also heads up Celesta Recordings. 

More recently, AJ made an edit of DJ Deeon‘s “Who-U-Wit” and has made it available to download below, or here for EU readers due to temporary GDPR restrictions.

“I’ve always been a big fan of DJ Deeon and I have a lot of his records! One of my favourites was always “Who-U-Wit.” I made this edit because the original is around 138BPM and with music being a lot slower now days I wanted a version I could play in in my sets that kept the raw gritty vibe of the original track. When it was finished, I sent it out to a handful of DJs and everyone seemed to dig it. There’s a video of Dice dropping it at Awakenings.”— AJ Christou

Xosar Reveals ‘The Possessor Possesses Nothing’ LP

Xosar will release The Possessor Possesses Nothing LP next year on Bedouin Records. 

The album’s inspiration stems from a passage from the Tao Te Ching about one girl’s quest to liberate herself from oppressive forces. The making of it is described as “an “exercise in decisiveness, action, and liberation”; it’s music-making as self-therapy, with Xosar cleansing herself “from my own fears” and embracing “self-acceptance, self-trust, responsibility for oneself.” It’s founded on research into the ideas of alchemy, kundalini yoga, fractals, DNA structure, the golden ratio, biofeedback, quasicrystals, visualizing higher dimensions, the human energy field, psychedelic medicine, stand up comedy, sound healing, and much more. 

Xosar self-released Xymeria, her last album, in 2017.  She’s previously appeared on Rush Hour, Creme Organization, and, Ron Morelli’s Long Island Electrical Systems [L.I.E.S]. 

Tracklisting

01. Transmogrification 07:19

02. A Heart Encircled by a Serpent 06:48

03. Fantasmagoria 04:46

04. Vibration Acceleration 05:45

05. Pikachu Police State 04:20

06. The Possessor Possesses Nothing 06:09

07. Heavens Gate 09:01

08. Realm ov Chaos 04:52

09. The Video 03:47

The Possessor Possesses Nothing LP will land on February 1, with “Vibration Acceleration” below. 

Merzbow Celebrates 40 Years with New Live Album, ‘MONOAkuma’

Japanese artist Merzbow has released MONOAkuma, a new live album, released via Lawrence English’s Room40 to celebrate his 40th anniversary as the influential noise project. 

The set was recorded live in 2012 at the Institute of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia. Room40 has pressed the album onto limited edition monochrome CD, with streaming available across all platforms. The release is described as “a summarization of what has made Merzbow such an engulfing and enigmatic artist,” collating some of the most extreme tones you’ll hear in music. All of the proceeds from the record are going towards the preservation of the Tasmanian devil. 

From Room40’s founder, Lawrence English:

“In the mid-2000s, I had the chance to meet Masami Akita (a.k.a Merzbow) and present him live when I was co-producing the Brisbane leg of the What Is Music? Festival. It was a pretty special event, in fact the first (sonic) meeting of Merzbow and Keiji Haino took place here in Brisbane. For me, Merzbow’s solo performance was as transformative an experience as hearing his music for the first time. Following a switch to digital electronics, in the early 2000s, his powerbook performance was literally like having someone run a razor blade across your eardrum, whilst pummelling your body. An exquisite, and beautiful, unease.

“MONOAkuma is a live recording made in Brisbane in 2012 at the Institute Of Modern Art. This was the second time I had the pleasure to present him live in Australia. To me, this performance epitomises the physiology of Merzbow’s sound work. He creates in absolutes; sonically he generates a tidal wave of frequency that sweeps across the spectra with tireless frenzy. Merzbow’s capacity to conjure a massive swirling mesh of analog and digital sources is without comparison. His work is one of physiological and psychological intensity; a seething, psychedelic and utterly visceral noise-ocean.“

MONOAkuma is available here now. 

Zita Molnar “Ah Yeah!”

December 17 will see the release of Hungarian producer Zita Molnar‘s debut album, Dimensions.

To be released via her own Zettabyte Records, Dimensions follows a set of releases on plunk!, Loob, Baroque Digital, Fierce Animals, and Ostfunk, and features 11 tracks that run the gamut of club-based sounds, from crystalline tech house to rolling sci-fi techno and big-room warehouse weapons—a testament to her wide-reaching, versatile sound. 

In support of the release, Molnar has offered up album cut “Ah Yeah!,” a six-minute slice of deep and driving techno aimed squarely at the floor.

You can download “Ah Yeah!” below and pre-order Dimensions here.

Due to issues regarding the GDPR, EU readers can download the track here.

Premiere: Hear a Searing EBM Cut From Kris Baha

Kris Baha‘s latest EP, In Your Arms, will drop via Berlin-based Italian label She Lost Kontrol on December 20.

Following 2018 outings from Black Merlin, Aktion Mutante, and Blind Delon and Black Egg, In Your Arms will be the label’s eighth release and its last of 2018. Via six stark brutalist tracks, the EP deals with a dark period of loss and what it means to have “lost to love, lost to lust, and lost to death.” Musically, In Your Arms presents a collection of raw and hard-hitting tracks that dance around in the murky confines of industrial, wave, and EBM in a beautifully sleazy manner.

To give you a taste of what’s to come, Kris Baha has offered up a full stream of gritty EP cut “Revolting,” available via the player below.

You can pre-order the EP here.

Apollonia, Zip, DeWalta, and Axel Boman Announced for the Return of SXM Festival

SXM Festival has announced its phase one lineup.

Returning to the Caribbean Island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten, SXM will take place from March 13 to 17, with the first artist announce including Apollonia, Atish, Enzo Siraguza, Francesca Lombardo, Audiofly, Fumiya Tanaka, Axel Boman, Be Svendsen (live), Marco Carola, Cristi Cons, DeWalta, Zip, Sammy Dee, Matthew Dekay, Molly, Oceanvs Orientalis, Archie Hamilton, and Dj W!ld, among others.

The event’s return follows a difficult couple of years for the island of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten, which was hit by a devastating series of hurricanes in 2017, causing SXM Festival organizers to make a difficult decision to postpone the third edition in 2018, while concentrating their efforts to create the Two Bunch Palms Foundation to raise funds to help those affected by Hurricane IRMA and as a future vessel to give back to causes important to the development and health of the community. The festival will also provide support to the local community, as SXM founder Julian Prince explains:

“Like every precious moment in life, SXM Festival is not to be taken for granted as it was almost taken away from us right before our eyes. It is with this thought that we have taken more steps to ensure that our event is giving direct aid and support to the people of Saint Martin/Sint Maarten without whom the event would not be possible.”

You can find the full phase one lineup below, with more on SXM here.

Premiere: Hear a Fierce Drum & Bass Cut From Monty

Later this week, Alix Perez’ 1985 Music will release Monty‘s latest EP, Spatia.

Following on from outings by Submarine, label head Perez and Monty himself, Spatia wraps up the year for 1985 Music in mind-melting style with four devastating dancefloor cuts full of immaculate, forward-thinking production—there’s also a bonus cut on the digital release. Keeping in tune with the winter months, the tracks on Spatia are dark and heavy bombs, ranging from the smoldering title track to the wall-shaking bass of the warped halftime cut “I Know.”

Spatia drops on vinyl and digital on December 7 and can be pre-ordered here, with the title track streaming in full below.

Premiere: Hear a Fierce Drum & Bass Cut From Monty

Later this week, Alix Perez’ 1985 Music will release Monty‘s latest EP, Spatia.

Following on from outings by Submarine, label head Perez and Monty himself, Spatia wraps up the year for 1985 Music in mind-melting style with four devastating dancefloor cuts full of immaculate, forward-thinking production—there’s also a bonus cut on the digital release. Keeping in tune with the winter months, the tracks on Spatia are dark and heavy bombs, ranging from the smoldering title track to the wall-shaking bass of the warped halftime cut “I Know.”

Spatia drops on vinyl and digital on December 7 and can be pre-ordered here, with the title track streaming in full below.

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