Michael Mayer Heads Stateside

Cologne-based producer and Kompakt Records founder Michael Mayer is due to arrive Stateside this Thursday, with Brazilian superstar Gui Boratto in tow. Producing under his own name, Mayer’s work–characterized by his lush arpeggios and minor-key melodies–compliments Boratto’s pop experimental music, which is influenced by everything from Madchester rave bass to the starker, more dance-friendly sound of the K2 sub-label. These guys should keep the dancefloor full until early in the morning.

Tour Dates
05/24 San Francisco, CA: Mezzanine
05/25 Denver, CO: Shelter*
05/26 Los Angeles, CA: Avalon Hollywood†
05/27 New York, NY: Cielo
06/01 Chicago, IL: Smart Bar
06/02 Montreal, QC: Metropolis

*With Booka Shade
†With Ladytron, Reuben W, and Mira Aroyo

Gui Boratto: Brazilian Architecture

You may be familiar with the saying (often attributed to Elvis Costello) “writing about music is like dancing about architecture”–the idea being that words aren’t able to capture the essence of music any better than moving around in a club captures the essence of a building. But dancing and architecture have more in common than one might think, especially when Brazilian techno producer Guilherme “Gui” Boratto is involved.

Boratto graduated from college with a degree in architecture and urban planning in the early ’90s. He had been a music fan for most of his life, reared on Black Sabbath, Kiss, Whitesnake, and Led Zeppelin as well as the canon of ’80s synth bands (Echo & The Bunnymen, New Order, Depeche Mode).

In 1993, Boratto ditched blueprints for his first love: making music. He didn’t unleash his techno straight away, embarking instead on a career writing commercial jingles and handling production and engineering duties for the like of Manu Chao, Gal Costa, Kaleidoscópio, Desiree, and Garth Brooks. Harsh deadlines kept him in check; up until relatively recently, he made techno “just for pleasure.” “Three or four years ago, I sent a CD to Kompakt, containing ‘Arquipélago’ and ‘Simetria,'” Boratto explains of his change of heart. “Michael [Mayer, Kompakt’s cofounder] just loved those songs.”

In late 2005, Kompakt‘s sub-label K2 released “Arquipélago” to widespread critical acclaim and DJ praise. Suddenly, Boratto was a rising star, getting even more attention when that song, and his 2006 single “Like You,” were included on Kompakt’s annual compilation of their best releases, Total 7. The label asked for a full-length and got it; Boratto’s debut, Chromophobia, was released at the end of February. It’s an important milestone for Brazilian techno and is already vying for a spot in many Top 10 of 2007 lists.

Chromophobia boasts 13 tracks that range from delicate, almost-ambient techno to electro-pop to full-on hand-raisers, the one constant being subtlety. Boratto uses multiple time signatures in many songs, a tactic especially evident on “Terminal,” “Gate 7,” and the mind-warping “Mr. Decay,” where multiple drum patterns, synths, and sub-bass fight for your attention. Besides being fierce and rhythmic, Chromophobia is always melodic, which keeps the club bangers from being too harsh, and makes the gentle tracks even prettier. And with repeated listens–on headphones, the home stereo, and the club system–each song shows layer upon layer of detail and a precise construction that suggests Boratto is still putting his degree to good use.

“I think math is really present in both [music and architecture],” says Boratto. “The point of view of spaces, full and empty, is pretty much the same.” Hell, if you were to count and time some of these polyrhythms, you could probably calculate the volume of some dance club in downtown São Paulo. Then again, you could just dance.

The XLR8R Office Top Ten Album Picks, May 21

To My BoyMessages XL
First of all, James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco) helped produce this piece of gold. Second, Messages is the best thing to happen to pop music since Tears for Fears. Possessed by the spirit of MTV circa 1989, To My Boy has manipulated the synthesizer into a tool of mass destruction. Andrew WK is tame compared to this pop action.

Cagesan I Love MachineBeaubrun
The Cagesan is a small finch from Australia and I Love Machine revolves around a group of French producers cranking out an album with Cagesan’s unique chirp standing in for vocals. These aren’t just some field recordings of bird sounds–producers like O. Lamm, David French, and Fashion Flesh actually compose atmospheric laptoppery with a bird vocalist. How is this not amazing?

VariousPrins Thomas Presents: Cosmo Galactic PrismEskimo
When people hear the name Prins Thomas, disco is probably the first thing to that comes to mind. But Cosmo Galactic Prism is beyond disco. It’s two discs of prog-psyche-dance-stoner rock from the distant past and far-out future. The collection features Hawkwind, Zombie, The Paper Dolls, Closer Music, and, of course, Lindstrøm. Get high, listen to all 36 tracks, and become empowered.

Various Kitsuné Maison 4 Kitsuné
The French really love their electro-house. Just when we thought we’d had enough, here comes another comp from Kitsuné that completely destroys our brains with new (and previously 12”-only) material from Crystal Castles, Passions, Guns N’ Bombs, and other purveyors of dance-punk-electro-rock heat.

DJ /rupture vs. Filastine Shotgun Wedding Vol. 6Violent Turd
Following the last Shotgun Wedding battle between breackcore titans Bong-Ra and Sickboy, Volume 6 gets really sadistic. DJ /rupture and newcomer Filastine exudes dub-core with a gypsy swagger. While /rupture relies on folks like Busta Rhymes and Vybz Kartel for his bass-haven, Filastine blazes Balkan horns over panned female vocal snippets.

Coltrane MotionSongs About Music datawaslost
’60s psych, shoegaze, Kraut-rock–there’s plenty of musical influences swirling around in this Chicago-based duo’s debut. Songs About Music is a pulsing romp of a long-player, with just enough meta-music intellect, drones, and guitar fuzz to keep our synapses firing and our toes tapping.

AntenaVersions Spéciales: Camino Del SolPermanent Vacation
Antena’s new remix album takes last year’s re-release of its 1982 classic, Camino Del Sol, from the sultry beaches to the 4/4 dancefloor. The remix talent speaks for itself: Joakim, Todd Terje, Escort, and Disco Devils all take a shot at Antena’s tropical-samba-disco, and with enormous success.

Glass CandyDemoItalians Do It Better
Glass Candy used to be a band that loved its Blondie and The Rolling Stones. Yet somewhere within the past few years, this Portland-based duo made an incredible switch over to swanky, soulful, lo-fi disco. Driven by maximal horn samples, dirty basslines, and Ida No’s distinctive high-pitched vocals, GC has made power moves into our hearts.

MishaTeardrop SweetheartTomlab
We can’t explain it, but Tomlab is really doing the right thing as of late. First, there was Von Spar, now Misha. While VS purveys Kraut-noise, Misha brings pop perfection. These pretty faces shamelessly unfold muffled rhythms à la Ariel Pink. Then, within a blink of an eye, acoustic guitars are humming alongside super-produced, bass-heavy breaks. Misha has something for everybody.

Betty BotoxVoodoo/Fade AwayRVNG
As one-half of Optimo, Twitch has stampeded the percussion front–and Betty Botox is Twitch’s mega-percussion moniker of destruction. If a tribal version of Sal P jammed with those gnarly guys that play thousands of buckets on the street, it still wouldn’t sound as rhythmic as this Twitch off-shoot. This is a 12” for the geeks that beg DJs to play post-punk hits.

Minus Releases New Comp

Berlin-based techno imprint Minus is set to release Nothing Much, the first collection of the label’s work since last year’s exceptional min2MAX.

Label founder and minimal progenitor Richie Hawtin started Minus back in 1998, but recently decided the time to re-brand the label’s image had arrived. Nothing Else acts as something of a document that tracks the label’s progress since inception. In a literal sense, it’s a sort of greatest hits compilation.

One such evolutionary progression is that Nothing Much illustrates how minimal isn’t really so minimal anymore. From Marc Houle’s “Bay of Figs” to Loco Dice’s “Seeing Through Shadows,” the general techno sound has become increasingly influenced by those compositions and melodies found in progressive and electro house. The album reflects these changes in the genre while still keeping the musical focus where it should be–directly in line with the dance floor.

The release also includes a second disc, which features Troy Pierce mixing the tracks together into one big, not-so-minimal techno fest.

Nothing Else is out June 15, 2007 on Minus.

Daily Download: Vladislav Delay “I Saw a Polysexual”

It’s been ten years, and Finnish-born, Berlin-based Vladislav Delay is still cranking out experimental dance destruction. “I Saw a Polysexual” is a dub-heavy sound collage that could light up any soundlab or club-ready crowd in seconds. Responsible for an array of monikers, including Uusitalo, Luomo, Conoco, and Sistol, this guy has done it all–house, noise, glitch, and collaborations with the likes of Black Dice and Massive Attack. Whistleblower is another nice treat from an always challenging production kingpin.

Download this song as an MP3, or preview a week’s worth of tracks at the XLR8R Podcast. Subscribe using iTunes, or with an RSS reader of your choice.

Vladislav Delay “I Saw a Polysexual”

It’s been ten years, and Finnish-born, Berlin-based Vladislav Delay is still cranking out experimental dance destruction. “I Saw a Polysexual” is a dub-heavy sound collage that could light up any soundlab or club-ready crowd in seconds. Responsible for an array of monikers, including Uusitalo, Luomo, Conoco, and Sistol, this guy has done it all (seriously– house, noise, glitch, and collaborations with Black Dice and Massive Attack,). Whistleblower is another nice treat from an always challenging production kingpin.

Vladislav Delay – I saw a Polysexual

Mogwai Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait

The greatest instro-rock band on earth soundtracks a film about one of European football’s infamous titans, and the result is a win for all. Not just because Mogwai remains one of the most cinematic musical groups in existence, but also because, astoundingly, they’ve never officially scored a film before. Although they can bring the noise, Zidane is a mostly mellow affair, hearkening back to their early EPs. “Black Spider,” “Terrific Speech 2,” “Half Time,” and “Wake Up and Go Berserk” are meditative soundscapes, spare with loose arpeggios and shimmering distortions. “Terrific Speech” itself is a mounting pleasure, while “7:25” is a sparkling stream of plucked melodies. But it wouldn’t be Mogwai without an experimental noise epic, and that comes in the form of the half-hour opus “Black Spider 2,” an ambient mash of feedback, synths, and guitars that unspools into static-soaked riffs. Mogwai shoots, Zidane scores.

Various Artists Bob Marley and the Wailers: Roots, Rock, Remixed

Roots, Rock, Remixed is hardly the first attempt at remixing of Bob Marley’s classics. But even the most reputable of producers (Bill Laswell for one) have had trouble stepping up to bat, so this collection will likely be greeted with a bit of suspicion. With a decent-enough track selection, Remixed offers some standards without being too cheesy; Afrodisiac Sound System provides the handclap riddim remix to “Soul Shakedown Party,” while DJ Spooky turns out a not-so-illbient version of “Rainbow Country.” Jimpster ups the tempo with a deep house version of the Peter Tosh-penned “400 Years,” and does the most to recontextualize the source, but Cordovan’s mellow closer, “One Love,” seems to lack Rasta power.

Various Artists Bullwackie All Stars: Free for All

One of the first dub albums ever issued in the US, the impossibly scarce Free for All has been a holy grail for followers of Wackies and devotees of Lee “Scratch” Perry alike. Issued in minute quantity on Aires with a stenciled cover as minimal as its foreboding rhythms, Free for All was part of the Tafari Records/Bullwackie axis, which saw a number of Scratch’s stockpiled rhythms appearing in altered form on releases in New York. Thus, this album has wonderfully sparse dubs of Little Roy’s “Tribal War” and “Blackbird,” The Heptones’ “Meaning of Life,” and Jubie’s rude “Action Wood,” along with three dubbed-out cuts of an odd interpretation of Jackie Mittoo’s “Autumn Sounds”-a truly awesome listening experience.

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