As the flagship act for Sub Pop’s new Hardly Art sub-imprint, Arthur & Yu’s debut, In Camera, is a solid collection of consistent indie rock played through a classic-rock lens. Seattle multi-instrumentalists Grant Olsen and Sonya Westcott recall luminaries like the Velvet Underground and Serge Gainsbourg along with modern acts like Black Mountain and Devendra Banhart. The opener, “Absurd Heroes Manifesto,” builds on subdued guitars and ethereal harmonies, while “There Are Too Many Birds” employs a full band for its driving, addictive melody. Along with the duo’s stellar songwriting, the album is strengthened by warm production that gives the record an antique vibe. Eternally laid-back, In Camera will inspire summer naps and lazy Sundays forever.
Cosmic Times
San Francisco-based blogger Modyfier has created one of the best techno resources on the web, providing an incredible volume of tracks and one of the most comprehensive collections of links out there. A couple months ago, she began collecting mixes from the likes of Chelonis R. Jones, [a]pendics.shuffle, and Guillaume Sorge for The Process Series, which not only provides killer techno mixes, but also artist statements concerning each individual producer’s approach to mixing.
Matthew Dear is not only taking iTunes by storm with his new breed of electronic-indie-whatever, he also has a new full-length set for release on Minus, under his False moniker. The label will release a teaser 12”, “Fed on Youth,” which is also featured on the recently released compilation, Nothing Much and Something More.
Speaking of compilations, Kompakt is set to unleashTotal 8, which features the usual suspects–Michael Mayer, Superpitcher, The Rice Twins–and a handful of new arrivals like Nightcats, Echo Club, and Aril Brikha. Also, Tigersushi’s Dirty Space Disco collection is a summer must-have. Paris’ Dirty Sound System delivers a choice selection of vintage Baldelli-esque, intergalactic cuts, while Roedelius, Odyssey, and Risque also make appearances.
This week sees the release of more than one anticipated techno 12”. Jeremy Caulfield’s Dumb Unit records recently dropped Lee Curtiss’ T.aint, a three-track collection of dark, moody grooves. Robert Babicz released A Cheerful Temper last month, but you may have missed the remix by techno-crossover magnate Gui Boratto.
Groove Magazine’s reader’s poll named Gabriel Ananda’s “Doppelwhipper” single of the year for 2006. Now, Tobias Becker’s Platzhirsch imprint is offering remixes of the track from Dominik Eulberg, Jason Emsley, and Supermayer. Whew.
For those who can’t get enough of this never-ending wave of Parisian dance music, read an interview with Ed Banger’s Pedro Winter (a.k.a. Busy P) on Brooklyn Vegan, where Winter discusses the founding and general execution of the label. And across the channel, the now ubiquitous Simian Mobile Disco keeps busy with a new video and a slate of confirmed tour dates. This marks the first time the duo has played live in the States.
Adult
Vivian Host gets a lesson in needlepoint by Detroit’s master dance punks, Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus of Adult. Nicola and Adam credit their prolific output of music, cross-stitching, video, photography, and knitted iPod cozies to their D.I.Y.W. (Do It Yourself, Wrong) ethic. All this, plus cult murderers and Rosey Grier!
Efdemin: Techno Tear-Jerker
“If house is a nation,” exhorts a sample on Efdemin’s Chicago-indebted “Just a Track,” “I want to be President. If you vote for me, I promise I will deliver you even more bass, even more soul, longer hours on the dancefloor, DJs who believe as we believe.”
Such brash promises seem out of character for the Berlin-based artist (born Phillip Sollmann), whose previous releases for Hamburg’s Dial and Liebe Detail labels have seemed more atmospheric than despotic. Like label peers Lawrence and Pantha du Prince, Sollmann has–on tracks like the poignant “Jean” and “Bergwein”–generally trafficked in tear-jerking techno and heart-rending house.
Sollmann’s sound is highly influenced by his studies at Vienna’s Institute of Computer Music; throughout his three years there, he made many of the field recordings that underpin the tracks on his eponymous debut album. During his first 12 months in Austria, Sollmann mainly focused on sampling the sounds of insects and small animals to generate drum-like hits. In his second year, he archived the city’s traffic noises and urban soundscapes, including the children that can be heard on the record’s closing track, “Bergwein.” Album opener “Knocking at the Grand” contains recordings of Sollmann banging on stone plates at Vienna’s Museum Moderner Kunst, an experience that will beget a series of related installations over the next few years.
Vienna’s greatest impact on Sollmann was its sense of seclusion. “I could isolate myself from social stress because I didn’t know so many people and, in Vienna, nobody cares if you don’t call them,” he says. “I had a lot of time for myself. I didn’t really finish much music during that time but I started tons of processes and concepts that I can work on during the next few years.”
Conversely, relocating to Berlin–where he’s acquired a residency at techno hub Panoramabar–has been like a shot of caffeine to Sollmann’s system. “Meeting all these people in the art and music scenes really made me wake up,” he says. “So many people from different places had moved here that when I finally arrived it felt like a strange kind of homecoming.”
Sollmann describes his sets at the near-legendary Panoramabar as “one long trip through Frankfurt, Chicago, Detroit, Hamburg, Berlin, and back to Detroit.” “House [is always] involved, even if it feels like techno,” he explains. “House will pick you up when you feel down. House got me into electronic music and I will always refer to that.”
Devil’s A Go-Go
Klaxons Are Touring Again!
Can the most hyped band in recent history maintain its ability to sell out venues across the nation? If the Klaxons‘ last tour is any indication, then the answer is most certainly “yes.” The London-based foursome hasn’t disappointed many showgoers, with its signature falsetto and instrumental maneuvering. Sharing the stage with everyone from Amy Winehouse to Excepter, Klaxons have built dance nests in some of the most noteworthy clubs across the world (Uh, Fabric).
The band’s debut album, Myths Of the Near Future, earned production credits from Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford and has been remixed by everyone from Sebastian to Van She to Soulwax. These headlining dates should solidify all of the well-deserved hype.
Tourdates
07/10 Los Angeles, CA: El Rey Theatre
07/11 San Francisco, CA: Great American Music Hall
07/12 Seattle, WA: Chop Suey
07/13 Portland, OR: Doug Fir Lounge
07/15 Chicago, IL: Pitchfork Music Festival
07/16 Minneapolis, MN: The Varsity Theater
XLR8R TV Episode 15: Crafting with Adult.
Vivian Host gets a lesson in needlepoint by Detroit’s master dance punks, Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus of Adult. Nicola and Adam credit their prolific output of music, cross-stitching, video, photography, and knitted iPod cozies to their D.I.Y.W. (Do It Yourself, Wrong) ethic, cult murderers, and Rosey Grier!
Previous Episodes
Episode 11: Pole
Episode 12: Soul Skate ’07
Episode 13: Detroit Ghettotech
Episode 14: Black Milk
Rock Steady Crew Turns 30
Hip-hop has cycled through many phases in the last 30 years. There have been tight pant-laden MCs rhyming over disco breaks, the segregation of West vs. East Coast rap during the ’90s, the rise of the South, and more violent controversy than could even be associated with black metal. But throughout, one collective has maintained the purity of hip-hop’s four elements (DJing, breaking, graff, and of course, MCing)–Rock Steady Crew.
In celebration of the crew’s purist legacy, past and present members are holding a 30th anniversary party over the course of July 23-29.
Featuring days and nights filled with panel discussions on hip-hop’s progression (or lack thereof), an insane b-boy/b-girl break battle, a graffiti and photo exhibition, and a massive outdoor concert featuring Keith Murray (post-incarceration), EPMD, Biz Markie, and Planet Asia, the party invades the city for a hip-hop July.
Check the Rock Steady Crew site for the complete line-up.
Datarock “Fa Fa Fa”
Taken from the EP of the same name, Datarock’s latest single is the best thing to happen to disco since The Rapture’s “House Of Jealous Lovers.” These Norwegian kings of the dancefloor must have been born with a 4/4 chip implanted in their brains.
Deadbeat Journeyman’s Annual
Montreal producer Deadbeat has forged a formidable body of digital dub sweetness for Stefan Betke’s ~scape, imbuing the Jamaican art form with poignancy and microscopic textural grit redolent of electronic music’s most advanced labs. His fifth album, Journeyman’s Annual, bears a richer sound than past Deadbeat full-lengths: thicker bass frequencies, more spacious high-end bric-a-brac, crisper beats, and more varied rhythms. Journeyman’s Annual is also more emotionally and stylistically diverse. “Refund Me” features MC Bubbz rapping over hectic dancehall with crushing bass pressure and rampant cowbell clatter. “Lost Luggage” incorporates dubstep’s bleak, pitch-black atmospheres, while the cavernous and metallically oscillating “Loneliness and Revelry” sounds like a collaboration between Burial and Maurizio. This is anything but journeyman stuff.
