Ricky Adam is a non-conformist photographer. Born and raised in Bangor, Ireland, Adam’s Urbanite is a collection of photos showing people in different spots around the globe moving through cities. A staff photographer for Dig BMX Magazine (and BMX rider himself), Adam applies subculture to his work (tattoos for days). His work has been featured in Vice, Sushi, and Heckler; and dude is pretty damn punk.
See Urbanite at XLR8R‘s Peepshow.
Hailing from Aarhus, Denmark, 22-year-old Peter Dahlgren (a.k.a. Puzzleweasel) is a ball of metallic fire. Canada’s Sublight imprint is cooking up a mass of releases this summer, and Dahlgren’s Exo-Grid is an anomaly–even for all of the weird shit the label pushes. Not unlike labelmates Venetian Snares, Nick Forté, and Ebola, Dahlgren fuses chopped-up breakcore with evil, scratchy, experimentation (think Richard Devine working under Mozart’s ghost on several forms of speed) that can cause migraines within seconds of any tracks.
Over the past four years the metal-master has also produced records for Violent Turd, Healthy Boy, and Jenka Music–all of which are noisy, IDM-infused visions of post-rave, pro-distortion destruction. Not to mention, Tigerbeat6 just released Weasel’s track “Taliban Terrorist Training” on its Let’s Lazertag Sometime compilation. The ball is officially rolling.
Puzzleweasel’s Exo-Grid is out May 29 on Sublight.
Tracklisting:
1. Cvon
2. Shrtwv Ikage
3. FODHOVL
4. Acancia
5. Deslxtiks
6. Techk
7. Ecct
8. Hackspett
9. Lakse Farvet Pyjamas
10. Fst-Fuk-Ledr-Sofaa
Scott Herren kicks back, droops his eyes, and never bothers to get up for 52 minutes on Golden Pollen. That can seem odd for a fella known for cramming leftfield idea after idea into a glutted MPC sampler. The latest joint from his Savath & Savalas project goes further into psychedelic Barcelona soul and delivers many fine, pillow-side guitar ballads and sunset-hazed textures-namely on “Paisaje” and “Olhas.” The best S&S tracks always sounded like wet putty in Herren’s impatient hands on the mixing board. Here, he takes an unplugged route that often grows listless, despite much beauty. Just don’t mix this record with cheap wine and Valentine’s Day loneliness.
At age 28, Berlin-based producer and DJ Jesse Rose has already established himself as a staple in the ever-blossoming house scene. His slow-building, bass-heavy, and minimally melodic tech-house has been released on labels like Get Physical, Simple, JBO, and his own Made to Play and Front Room imprints. Add that to his residency at Berlin’s Panorama Bar, and a palate of remixes for Radio Slave, Solid Groove, and Claude VonStroke, and it’s evident that Rose is a machine. A very busy machine.
In 2007 alone Rose has signed to Dubsided, released a collaborations album for Front Room, and is in the midst of planning a world tour. Not bad for a dude who’s been putting in work as a DJ for nearly fifteen years.
Next up, Rose tackles the latest installment for Get Physical’s Body Language mix series, and showcases an amalgamation of crisp techno synth-lines and lively (but minimal) house percussion that’s as mellow as it is banging. But this is maturity that will make dancefloors at each stop on his brief U.S. tour go completely fucking burzurk.
Body Laguage Volume 3: Jesse Rose is out now on Get Physical.
Tour Dates:
3/25 Miami, FL: Pawn Shop Lounge
5/17 Toronto, ON: The Social
5/18 Denver, CO: The Shelter
5/19 Montreal, QC: Diskho @ Main Hall
5/24 San Francisco, CA: The End Up
5/25 Chicago, IL: The Smart Bar
5/26 Brooklyn, NY: Studio B
When the name “Flying Lotus” is conjured verbally, visions of completely cliché ‘90s rave imagery (neon lights, the ecstasy, and oh, god, the accessories) arises within us all. But Flying Lotus, known to his inner-circle as Steven Ellison, is no rave producer. As shown on last year’s 1983 LP (Plug Research), this L.A. futurist (and nephew of jazz-revolutionary Alice Coltrane), makes gritty hip-hop that would work quite well as a soundtrack to The Jetsons if they were a little more pissed (a fitting comparison, since he’s already banged out a series of beats for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim promos).
Ellison recently became the first L.A.-based artist to join Warp Records’ celebrated roster, and dude is psyched. The legendary UK imprint–home to undisputable production kings like Boards of Canada, Prefuse 73, Aphex Twin, and newcomers Battles–will release Ellison’s four-song, vinyl-only EP in June, giving the label yet another wind.
Get a taste of Lotus’ “Spicy Sammich,” from the new EP on his Myspace.
U.S.-based reggae labels are once again heating up. In the 1980s, labels like Nighthawk–home to The Itals, The Gladiators, etc.–and Shanachie–with artists like Augustus Pablo and Culture–were among a healthy crop of American imprints offering consistently excellent releases by Jamaica’s best. Now, operations like VP Records handle mainly bigger releases, but several young 7” boutique labels are making their mark. Oakland’s four-year running Lustre Kings had success recently with their Red Razor riddim (Luciano, Norris Man, Natty King), and now New Jersey’s Upful One Records presents their latest, The Scalawag Riddim. Produced by Jillian Wess, Luciano’s “When Music Hits,” along with other tracks on the version, sounds well nice!
The always-insightful Yard Flex.com hits us with an excellent commentary exploring the history of betrayal in dancehall music culture. From Supercat and Ninja Man’s falling out, to Bounty Killer and Vybz Kartel, Flex breaks down the history of how dancehall is a fractious business.
Speaking of betrayal and envy–is this also a growing trend among female dancers and club attendants? The Jamaica Star reports on the x-rated dance-and fashion competitions captured under the ever-present glare of dancehall-party videographers’ “video light.”
More related dancehall business: the latest on clubs, street dances, dance moves, videos, and mixed CDs at one of the web’s most devoted ragga one-stops–Dancehall Reggae.
The word “dark” gets thrown around as loosely as “deep,” and “lush,” and we’re sick of it. When a truly dark act like Motor comes around, what term do you affix to their name? Super-dark? Spooky? Hell, no.
Motor is the definitive dark electro duo–, and last year’s Klunk (Novamute) was proof– gaining them infamy for their gritty, sheen-heavy techno. The U.K. producers-on-the-rise get even more chaotic with their follow-up, Unhuman: a stark, metallic sledgehammer of harsh synth lines and scattered tech-percussion destined to join industrial kids and techno enthusiasts at the hip.
Releasing the first single, “Bleep #1,” (featuring the Whitey Clean Machine’s Mix), Mr. No and Bryan Black reintroduce the world to their lust for sharp, industrial sounds. The rest of Unhuman is no exception, keeping pace with the same anthemic vocal howling and percussive minimalism that’s made Skinny Puppy and Sisters of Mercy top-shelf DJ burners.
The duo has already toured extensively with warlords (and bros) Nitzer Ebb and played landmark venues and fests like London’s Fabric and I Love Techno (with acts like Daft Punk and Kraftwerk). Add that to their slate of remixes for Throbbing Gristle, Marilyn Manson, and Depeche Mode, and then the word “dark” is truly applicable.
Unhuman is out May 22 on Mute.
Since the boom of philosophic, politically conscious rap in the late ‘90s, many members of the hip-hop intelligetsia have gone in different directions. With Anticon. MC Sole moving on to production under the Mansbestfriend moniker, Atmosphere’s Slug pushing a more cynical approach to his relationship neuroses, and Mos Def acting alongside Bruce Willis, it seems as though the wave of intimate-rap has taken a new course–or lack thereof.
Sage Francis, however, has staid the course. One could say the only change that’s taken place in this artist is that he’s become more poetic–especially with the release of his sophomore release for Epitaph, Human the Death Dance. Sure, he’s on the same label that pushes post-Fall Out Boy haircut-core, but that hasn’t stopped Francis’ urge to dispel his demons.
On HTTD, the bearded MC delves into topics as broad (and extremely personal) as sex addiction, his classic-contempt for the 9-to-5 cubical lifestyle, and the always-classic relationship drama. But Sage has never been known for indulgence. It’s safe to say he’s more focused and honest on this album, mixing in lyrics on the impact hip-hop has had on his life and having a little less contempt than what’s present in his back catalog.
Starting with two dates at Boston’s Middle East and two at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City, Francis, with fellow beatniks Buck 65, Alias, and Buddy Wakefield, hits the road, in search of introspective blood.
Human the Death Machine is out May 8 on Epitaph.
Tour Dates:
05/23 Boston, MA: Middle East
05/24 Boston, MA: Middle East
05/25 New York, NY: Bowery Ballroom
05/26 New York, NY: Bowery Ballroom
05/27 Long Island, NY Crazy Donkey
5/29 Philadelphia, PA: Trocadero
5/30 Baltimore, MD: Ottobar,
5/31 Washington, DC: Rock and Roll Hotel Theater
6/01 Chapel Hill, NC: Cat’s Cradle
6/02 Atlanta, GA: Masquerade
6-04 Orlando, FL: Firestone
6/06 New Orleans, LA: House of Blues
6/07 Houston, TX: Warehouse Live
6/08 Dallas, TX: Granada Theater
6/09 Austin, TX: Emo’s
6/11 Albuquerque, NM: Launchpad
6/12 Phoenix, AZ: Clubhouse
6/13 Tucson, AZ: Congress Hotel
6/15 Los Angeles, CA: Henry Fonda Theater
6/16 Pomona, CA: Glass House
6/17 San Diego, CA: Soma
6/19 San Francisco, CA: Fillmore
6/20 San Francisco, CA: Fillmore
6/22 Portland, OR: Roseland Theatre
6/23 Seattle, WA: Showbox Showroom
6/24 Bellingham, WA: Night Light Theater
6/25 Bend, OR: Pavillion,
6/27 Boise, ID: The Venue
6/28 Salt Lake City, UT: In The Venue
6/29 Denver, CO: Gothic Theater
6/30 Denver, CO: Gothic Theater
7/02 Omaha, NE: Sokol Hall
7/03 Iowa City, IA: Picadero
7/05 Chicago, IL: First Ave
7/06 Chicago, IL: The Abbey
7/07 Chicago, IL: The Abbey
7/09 Grand Rapids, MI: Intersection
7/10 Detroit, MI: Magic Stick
7/11 Pittsburgh, PA: Mr. Smalls
7/12 Providence, RI: Lupo’s
German producer Stephan Bodzin is ready to destroy every single club in the world with his first full-length Liebe Ist, out this spring on his own Herzblut label. Bodzin spent years composing pieces for several respected European theaters, but now he generally spends time crushing techno-dork skulls with sludgy bass, Moog textures, and ear-piercing melodies. His tracks have been released on labels such as Get Physical, and he regularly collaborates as part of Elektrochemie with Oliver Huntemann.
Bodzin’s music owes a great debt to both Depeche Mode’s dark electronics and James Holden’s fluttering polyrhythms. Born in 1969, Bodzin’s age shows, and thank God for that. While far too many skinny British art students are busy pretending that Klaxons have anything to do with groups like Orbital, Bodzin isn’t afraid to spit out real fucking rave anthems.
For those who have no fear of long, repetitive grooves that propel as much as they perplex, and hurt as much as they hug, find solace within.
Liebe Ist is out in early May on Herzblut.
Tracklisting:
1. Mondfahrt
2. Planet Ypsilon
3. Liebe ist …
4. Fahrenheit
5. Turbine
6. Luka-Leon
7. Kerosene
8. Sonnenwind
9. Meteor
10. Leuchtkraft
11. Vendetta
Upon Quique‘s original release in 1993, Seefeel was widely perceived as an imagined collaboration between their then-recent predecessors The Orb and My Bloody Valentine, seemingly drawing on the space of the former and the bliss of the latter. Though generating sounds from an ostensibly orthodox palette of guitar, bass, drums, and voice, the quartet’s rapturous music nevertheless appeared dislocated from the strictures of the “rock song.” Preceding Seefeel releases on Warp and Rephlex, Quique sounded so immersive that the listening experience was frequently related to the womb, to suspension in amniotic fluids. Re-issued 14 years on (with a bonus disc of rare remixes and archive tracks), Quique retains this sense of wonderment, naïveté, and bliss.
