Nico Walser has shared a neo-classical album as Giant Skeletons, titled Guide to the Sunken Citadel, out now via Bandcamp.
Walser, real name Norbert Walser, is a musician, composer, producer, mix engineer, and artist coach, born in Germany in 1965. With his band Weltempfänger, he gained success in Germany before releasing two trip-hop albums as Code Blue. He’s also composed and played music for radio dramas, short movies, and stage shows; while today he fills much of his time mixing and producing for other artists and bands.
His most recent release landed last week, titled Guide to the Sunken Citadel under his Giant Skeletons alias. The six-track effort is a follow-on from April’s Ghosts of Forsaken Ships LP, the first part of a trilogy titled “music of water, wood & bones.”
All six tracks sit within the realms of instrumental electronica, neo-classical, and ambient.
Tracklisting
01.frozen robotina
02. alluvial land
03. giant skeletons
04. guide to the sunken citadel
05. the enemy below
06.the deconstruction of time
Guide to the Sunken Citadel LP is out now to buy and stream via Bandcamp, with some earlier Giant Skeletons work streaming below.
Spine is the debut full-length album from Chicago-based producer Blake Skowron, launching on cassette and digital formats with Dome of Doom, October 16, 2018.
When constructing Spine, Skowron deviated from a singular end goal, setting his mind frame into different states for the creation of each song. The subconscious part of this approach glued the pieces of the album’s identity together regardless of the variations. The project was made on Ableton Live, beginning with the sprawling and cinematic ambiance of the title track.
The influences across Spine are “direct, intentional, and vast,” the label explains, adding a vital purpose to the shaping of each track. “Sound design was the biggest influencer at the time of starting the album,” states Skowron.
We’re told to expect an “intricately designed record comprised of downtempo, ambient, trip-hop, garage, and more,” that “explores an abundance of fusions in experimental electronic music.”
In advance of the album’s October 16 release, you can download “Cold” in full via the button below—here for EU readers due to temporary GDPR restrictions.
Ableton has released the Probability Pack, a set of five innovative sequencers and pattern generators.
The five devices—which were developed by Sonic Faction—are designed to give users the ability to add controlled randomization to compositions and performances. The sequencers, which each provide unique ways of adding subtle or extreme randomization, were designed for hands-on use with Push, but hardware is not necessary to use them.
Live 10 users can download Probability Pack directly from the Packs section in the Live 10 browser, or by logging in to their account at Ableton.
You can find more information about each device included in the pack here, with a video of the devices in action below.
MAYAK sub-label SVET has announced its first release, a four-track compilation featuring cuts from SCSI-9, Ivano Tetelepta & Ivo Kroeshaar, Stephan Bazbaz & Asael Weiss, and Belogurov & Orbit.
According to SVET label owner, the new imprint “explores our passion for dub house and techno music,” separating it from MAYAK’s focus on deeper and more minimalistic house. SVET—which translates to “light” in Russian—was established to explore and release influenced dancefloor tracks from the vast pool of artists who have connected with MAYAK over the last four years.
In support of the release, SVET has offered up a full stream of Belogurov & Orbit’s dubbed-out “Endless,” a six-minute exercise in swirling synth work and chunky low-slung grooves. You can stream “Endless” in full via the player below, along with snippets of the release.
MAYAK sub-label SVET has announced its first release, a four-track compilation featuring cuts from SCSI-9, Ivano Tetelepta & Ivo Kroeshaar, Stephan Bazbaz & Asael Weiss, and Belogurov & Orbit.
According to SVET label owner, the new imprint “explores our passion for dub house and techno music,” separating it from MAYAK’s focus on deeper and more minimalistic house. SVET—which translates to “light” in Russian—was established to explore and release influenced dancefloor tracks from the vast pool of artists who have connected with MAYAK over the last four years.
In support of the release, SVET has offered up a full stream of Belogurov & Orbit’s dubbed-out “Endless,” a six-minute exercise in swirling synth work and chunky low-slung grooves. You can stream “Endless” in full via the player below, along with snippets of the release.
Australian artist Kirkis has announced his sophomore album, Kirkis 2, with a wild new video “Who’s Bad???.”
According to Kirkis, “Who’s Bad???” is a three-song video collage that accompanies the sophomore album, following a “simple story of a killer on the run who hallucinates a series of unrelated events.” The video flows through hazy dreamscapes and hallucinatory vignettes that are soundtracked by Kirkis’ sleazy left-field pop—a style that harks back to golden-era Bowie—in “one final attempt to preserve our humanity by somehow finding meaning in the hallucinatory, cybernetic, hyperreal spectacles that is post-humanism.”
Kirkis 2 is set to drop on October 26 and can be pre-ordered on vinyl here, or Spotify and iTunes here.
We’re told that the Lover Chanting EP showcases the “forward-facing, pioneering spirit” that has “cemented Little Dragon’s status as one of the most universally adored outfits working today.” Self-produced by the band in their Gothenburg studio, it’s an “invigorating blend of bass-heavy electronica and R&B sensibilities that sonically finds Little Dragon exploring exciting new territory.”
This announcement comes hot on the heels of recent collaboration with BADBADNOTGOOD, as well as their feature with Vic Mensa on Christian Rich’s “Dripping Summers,” plus extensive touring Stateside over the summer which saw the band co-headline Los Angeles’ near 20,000 capacity Hollywood Bowl and Berkley’s Greek Theatre alongside Flying Lotus.
Much of Little Dragon’s earlier work has come through Because Music and Peacefrog Records.
EP Tracklist (Digital)
01. Lover Chanting
02. In My House
03. Timothy
04. Lover Chanting (Edit)
EP Tracklist (Vinyl)
01. Lover Chanting
02. In My House
03. Timothy
Lover Chanting EP will land on November 9, with “Lover Chanting” streaming below.
Vril will return to Delsin with a new album, Anima Mundi.
Anima Mundi, a 13-track LP, appeared on cassette via Giegling in 2017 but will now be re-released having been remastered, reworked and edited for a full vinyl and digital release. It will be the German producer’s second full-length on Delsin, following 2015’s Portal. He debuted on the label with 2014’s Vortekz 12″.
The label describes the release as a “deep excursion for mind and body, combining his trademark dub techno grooves with experimental ambient trips.”
Vril last appeared earlier this year with the sublime Haus EP on Giegling.
Tracklisting
01. Manium
02. Statera Rerum
03. Anima Mundi
04. Riese (Rework)
05. Infinitum Eternis Anime
06. Haus (Rework)
07. Ilojim
08. In Via
09. Spes
10. Sine Fine
11. Iustus Est
12. Eos
13. Longius Astrum
Anima Mundi LP will land on October 15, with “In Via” streaming in full below.
Derwin Dicker (a.k.a Gold Panda) and Jas Shaw, one half of Simian Mobile Disco have joined forces as Selling. The duo’s debut album, On Reflection, is available digitally now and set for physical release on Dec 14 via City Slang.
Having first met a decade ago, the two have prior history together: Shaw has mixed two Gold Panda records, including “Lucky Shiner.” In between, Gold Panda and SMD played shows together in the UK, US, and Japan. So further collaboration was a natural progression, but as Derwin notes, not an inevitable one: “We talked about ‘we should just get together and make some tunes someday.’ But you always say that with people and it never happens,” he notes.
The album ultimately grew from a series of sounds and ideas that were quickly recorded and then edited down to their purest form. It’s a record “that exists in spontaneity and quick, gut decisions rather than any sort of laboriously plotted selection of notes and sounds,” the label explains. It was made in Shaw’s studio, a converted barn at his home in Kent.
Across its concise nine tracks and 42 minutes, On Reflection “showcases the duo’s full mastery of the genre,” we’re told, “moving seamlessly from undulating, driving washed-out techno to sweet, shimmering electronics.”
“It’s the most immediate and natural record I’ve ever made,” concedes Derwin. “I never thought I would be a collaboration person, but I guess it’s finding the right person to make a record with.”
Derwin continues: “We didn’t make this for a label or something. Initially, it was just us mucking around. There was no plan to make an album. Originally I thought we were going to make a track here and there and stick them out on vinyl. But then, we had an album that sounded quite good and it was like, ‘well if we have an album’s worth of stuff, maybe we should just release it.’ It became a thing, I suppose.”
The decision to release the record immediately digitally was informed, in part, by the fact that Selling currently have no plans to tour or play live. Earlier this year, Shaw was diagnosed with AL amyloidosis, and is receiving chemotherapy treatment—which currently severely limits his ability to travel, and as a result of which Simian Mobile Disco had to cancel their touring for 2018.
Tracklisting
1. qprism
2. dicker’s dream
3. no reflection
4. mirror can only lie
5. phone call from the future
6. keeping txme
7. shimmer
8. moon in water
9. you can have it immediately
On Reflection is available digitally now and set for physical release on Dec 14 via City Slang, with “keeping txme” available to stream below.
Derwin Dicker (a.k.a Gold Panda) and Jas Shaw, one half of Simian Mobile Disco have joined forces as Selling. The duo’s debut album, On Reflection, is available digitally now and set for physical release on Dec 14 via City Slang.
Having first met a decade ago, the two have prior history together: Shaw has mixed two Gold Panda records, including “Lucky Shiner.” In between, Gold Panda and SMD played shows together in the UK, US, and Japan. So further collaboration was a natural progression, but as Derwin notes, not an inevitable one: “We talked about ‘we should just get together and make some tunes someday.’ But you always say that with people and it never happens,” he notes.
The album ultimately grew from a series of sounds and ideas that were quickly recorded and then edited down to their purest form. It’s a record “that exists in spontaneity and quick, gut decisions rather than any sort of laboriously plotted selection of notes and sounds,” the label explains. It was made in Shaw’s studio, a converted barn at his home in Kent.
Across its concise nine tracks and 42 minutes, On Reflection “showcases the duo’s full mastery of the genre,” we’re told, “moving seamlessly from undulating, driving washed-out techno to sweet, shimmering electronics.”
“It’s the most immediate and natural record I’ve ever made,” concedes Derwin. “I never thought I would be a collaboration person, but I guess it’s finding the right person to make a record with.”
Derwin continues: “We didn’t make this for a label or something. Initially, it was just us mucking around. There was no plan to make an album. Originally I thought we were going to make a track here and there and stick them out on vinyl. But then, we had an album that sounded quite good and it was like, ‘well if we have an album’s worth of stuff, maybe we should just release it.’ It became a thing, I suppose.”
The decision to release the record immediately digitally was informed, in part, by the fact that Selling currently have no plans to tour or play live. Earlier this year, Shaw was diagnosed with AL amyloidosis, and is receiving chemotherapy treatment—which currently severely limits his ability to travel, and as a result of which Simian Mobile Disco had to cancel their touring for 2018.
Tracklisting
1. qprism
2. dicker’s dream
3. no reflection
4. mirror can only lie
5. phone call from the future
6. keeping txme
7. shimmer
8. moon in water
9. you can have it immediately
On Reflection is available digitally now and set for physical release on Dec 14 via City Slang, with “keeping txme” available to stream below.
