Gear Alert: Way Out Ware KikAxxe Virtual Synthesizer

Despite its slightly humiliating name, Way Out Ware’s KikAxxe virtual vintage analog synthesizer is one of the few software instruments that measures up to the original. This 16-step sequencer is a direct emulation of the ARP Axxe, a lightweight, monophonic beast that rivaled the MiniMoog back in the day. In addition to replicating the ’70s crunch of its analog peer, the Kik Axxe–which just so happens to be PC and Mac compatible–also features a drum machine that can be assigned to a separate MIDI channel (which can make for some serious live potential).

But it’s not the authentic vintage sounds or convenient compatibility that make the KikAxxe a step ahead of many virtual synths–it’s the effects (and the $70 price tag). By using the tape-delay-styled effects with tremolo and reverb presets, leads can either become cosmic journeys or sharp, percussive accents to any track. Just try not to tell your producer friends that you use a synth called “KikAxxe,” and you’re on easy street.

The Way Out Ware KikAxxe is available now through M-Audio.

Mashed Up: Thrash Crew

After three years of dedication from co-directors and videographers Mike Martin and Gabe Morford, San Francisco’s fixed-gear mafia MASH SF will finally release their MASH DVD this month. As Martin’s and Morford’s guerrilla-style camera work (two cameras on scooters, skateboards, cars, and bikes) and the riders’ talent rapidly improved throughout filming, the two cut out early footage in favor of superior newer scenes–as a result, the project took longer than anyone expected. “Everything kept getting better and better,” Martin explains, “and we wanted it to be epic so, in that process, we ended up spending a lot of time on it.”

The crew will spread the gospel worldwide at mid-September premieres in Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo. In the meantime, check these snaps from MASH rider Dirt, who shot his co-stars on the streets of San Francisco.

Various Artists Chrome Children Vol. 2

Chrome Children Vol. 2 won’t convince people to watch more Adult Swim shows (it’s co-produced by the Cartoon Network), but it proves that Stones Throw’s vitality is still strong after more than a decade. Chocolate Star’s lovers’ funk has beats that hack a drum kit to death on “Stay with Me,” and The Jazzistics float to the moon under Madlib’s loving hand. More highs come in the form of Clifford Nyren’s antsy, blue-eyed soul number “Keep Running Away,” and Roc C and Percee P’s utopian hip-hop. But the downers–namely ex-N.W.A. rapper Arabian Prince’s electro oldie “Strange Life”–will likely only be half-remembered by the stoned, Frylock-worshipping souls out there.

Various Artists Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label

The Numero Group’s latest archival dig, from Columbus, Ohio’s Harmonic Sounds Studio’s Prix label, contains 19 tracks of forgotten, soul-driven gems. Atop these dusty demos are quiet croons by Marion Black (“Listen Black Brother”), Joe King (“Speak On Up”), and Soul Ensemble (“Melon Jelly”). The project’s highpoint is “You Are Mine”, a skeletal demo by Eddie Ray, which bleeds affection, sadness, and charm. The recordings here are dynamic, down-to-earth, and come with insightful liner notes detailing their unique histories. Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label is a time capsule that remains just as loud and spirited as when its contents were recorded 30-some years ago. Wonderful stuff.

Booka Shade Preps DJ-Kicks Mix

Arno Kammermeier and Walter Merziger–alias Booka Shade, founders of the Get Physical imprint–are a production duo, not DJ tag team, and the two have solidified this image by eschewing the usual hum-drum laptop sets in favor of more “hands-on” performances. But now, the duo switches gears with its DJ-mix debut for !K7’s acclaimed DJ-Kicks series.

Rather than focusing on hot contemporary club tracks and rising stars for their mix, the veteran producers have compiled a classic set of old, new, obscure, and accessible tracks, from John Carpenter to The Tubes to Matthew Dear. It’s a hybrid of cinematic spook, jangling punk, and poppy tech-house, and it’s as danceable as a mix can get.

The Shade is also including two brand-new exclusive tracks with the release, one of which features vocals (a rarity for Booka Shade tracks). It remains to be seen whether or not these dudes will take to the decks any time soon while on the road, but this release will definitely keep heads scratching and feet moving.

DJ-Kicks: Booka Shade is out October 22, 2007 on !K7

Tracklisting
1. Passengers “A Different Kind Of Blue”
2. Nôze “Slum Girl” Circus Company
3. Cerrone “In the Smoke”/ Ben Westbeech “Hang Around”
4. John Carpenter – The Bank Robbery – Silva Screen Records
5. Booka Shade “Estoril”
6. Yazoo “Situation (US 12″ Remix)”
7. Akiko Kiyama “The Misida Monarchy”/Karel Fialka “The Things I Saw”
8. Lopazz “2 Fast 4 U”
9. Quarion “Play Your Part”
10. John Carpenter “Arrival At The Library”/ Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia “Far Away”
11. Aphex Twin “Alberto Balsam”
12. Heaven 17 “Geisha Boys and Temple Girls”
13. The Tubes “Drums”
14. Brigitte Bardot “Contact”
15. Booka Shade “Numbers”
16. Quarion “Karasu”
17. The Streets “It’s Too Late”
18. Amir Ad Fontes “Virtual Nature“
19. Carl Craig “Landcruising”
20. Matthew Dear “Tide”
21. Matthew Dear “Don & Sherri (Hot Chip Remix)”
22. Richard Hawley “Last Orders”

Oliver Mak’s Favorite Things

Steps from Newbury Street and the Christian Science Plaza in downtown Boston is an unassuming bodega, with toilet paper stacked in the windows and coolers full of water and pop. But inside, a metal door slides open to reveal a hidden streetwear emporium, stocked with North Face’s Purple label, Acronym, Ms. Claw, and Schwipe, as well as the usual crop of special releases from Nike, Puma, and Adidas. This is Bodega, opened in May 2006 by Jay Gordon, Dan N., and Oliver Mak, a trio obsessed with secret societies and cults, records, and listening to digitized tapes of the Stretch & Bobbito radio show (check konstantkontakt.blogspot.com). We caught up with Mr. Mak–sippin’ on “shorty juice” and still recovering from the melee caused by the Vans x Simpsons release (which sold out in 20 minutes)–and asked him what’s hot in Beantown.

Bodega is at 6 Clearway St., Boston.

Hearthrob DVD ($10)
Hearthrob is one of the best parties on the east Coast right now and it’s right here in Boston! Redd Foxx, Baltimoroder, Morgan louis, and company drop original edits and bring top talent to this bi-monthly banger, which gives revolver and Misshapes a run for their money. A true face-melter for all seasons.

Kenji Nakayama
Photographs of Kenji’s pieces rarely do them justice. Ranging from installation to canvas work, Kenji’s ominous visuals are the product of hundreds of had-cut stencil layers. His art hits street-art fetishists and city dwellers on an emotional level.

If Pursuit Bike ($10,000)
Handcrafted in Somerville, MA, independent Fabrication’s are some of the finest concept bikes in the world. The bike pictured, which is on display at Bodega, was voted “Best Track Bike in the World” according to the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Two wheels good, four wheels bad. R.I.P. Gordon Riker.

Bonde Do Role With Lasers

Edu K’s baile funk-rock anthem, “Popozuda Rock ‘n’ Roll,” must be one of the touchstone songs of the young century. And to prove it, here’s the Diplo-produced album by Bonde Do Role, a trio of hipsters from the Brazilian town of Curitiba: An entire album of funk laced with the kinds of gritty guitars and gang-bang vocals that made Edu K famous. But there’s more to Bonde Do Role than just baile‘s rolling rhythms and call-and-response chants. New-wave synth stabs and boppy vocals, dance-punk, and indie influences abound-there’s something almost studied about Bonde’s baile that makes With Lasers simultaneously deeper and, perhaps, less cathartic than the anonymous ghetto funk we’ve fallen for.

Various Artists Now-Again Re:Sounds Volume One

There’s something about the vintage sound of the ’60s and ’70s that remains inimitable, a fact not lost on this comp’s slew of producers charged with remixing old and new gems from Stones Throw sub-label Now-Again. No generational gap here: The L.A. Carnival’s soulful “Blind Man” gets a hip-hop update from Cut Chemist; Percee P spits fire alongside Koushik on “Cold Beats”; and Edan shines on the muddy, analog “Sagittarius Rapp.” If the Kashmere Stage Band’s old-school rendering of Stevie Wonder’s “I Wish” has a bit more juice than the last time you heard it, thank Todd Terry for the poignant remix-as well as J. Rocc, who cuts up their take on Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.” Re:Sounds‘ 17 tracks take you beyond any particular era, to a place where furious congas and saxophones mesh with the cries of broken vocalists seeking a fix through their microphones.

Tour: Marissa Nadler with Peter Bjorn and John

The newest signing to New York-based Kemado Records is no Swedish prog-band or tech-metal outfit. Rather, it’s a woman with an acoustic guitar and lungs of steel–Marissa Nadler. With recent releases on Peacefrog and a cover of Xiu Xiu’s “Clowne Towne” on last year’s Xiu Xiu: Remixed and Covered (5RC), Nadler has earned her place among the Nina Nastasia-esque (albeit way darker) set. Now signed to Kemado, the new face of folk is hitting the road with hype-pop trio Peter Bjorn and John, along with The Clientele, for a taste of the big venue lifestyle. If you like your folk fuzzy and melancholic, Nadler is your girl.

Songs III: Bird On the Water is out now on Kemado.

Tour Dates
08/29 San Francisco, CA: Hemlock Tavern
08/31 Portland, OR: The Artistry
09/01 Seattle, WA: Sunset Tavern
09/04 Minneapolis, MN: 331 Club
09/05 Chicago, IL: Ronny’s Bar
09/06 Grand Rapids, MI: DAAC
09/07 Toronto, ON: Sneaky Dee’s
09/08 Buffalo, NY: Soundlab
09/09 Bennington, VT: Bennington College
09/10 Portland, ME: Space Gallery
09/11 Boston, MA: Middle East Club
09/13 Brooklyn, NY: Union Pool
09/14 New York, NY: Highline Ballroom
09/15 Philadelphia, PA: Side Chapel, First Unitarian Church
09/17 Los Angeles, CA: Wiltern Theatre*
09/18 San Francisco, CA: Warfield*
09/19 Portland, OR: Crystal Ballroom*
09/20 Seattle, WA: Showbox*
09/21 Vancouver, BC: Commodore*
09/24 Minneapolis, MN: First Avenue*
09/25 Chicago, IL: Riviera Theatre*

*With Peter Bjorn and John

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