Podcast 796: Gold Panda

In November, Gold Panda, the alias of Derwin Dicker, released The Work, a musical mélange of emotive electronics that sits somewhere between Jon Hopkins, Mount Kimbie, DJ Shadow, and Four Tet. Recorded over a six-year period, it was the British electronic artist’s fourth album as Gold Panda, following on from 2016’s Good Luck and Do Your Best. Before that, he put out Half Of Where You Live on the mighty Ghostly, and Lucky Shiner in 2010—the culmination of an adolescence defined by electronic experiments where he would chop up pop songs on his uncle’s sampler. By his late 20s, Dicker was remixing tracks for Bloc Party and Little Boots, and turning the ears of tastemakers with his original hip-hop and trance-laced compositions.

Dicker’s sample-based approaches have underpinned his impressive discography, which spans garage, post-dubstep, ambient, electronica, and even minimal techno. (In 2018, he teamed up with Simian Mobile Disco’s Jas Shaw as Selling; and as DJ Jenifa he’s even put out straight up club bangers.) The Work, which spans 11 tracks, evokes the same emotive qualities as Dicker’s early works whilst simultaneously feels more bold and playful, and his podcast—recorded last week—ploughs a similar path. Across its one-hour run-time, Dicker weaves tracks from some of his favorite artists (Burnt Friedman, Fennesz, and Anchorsong) into a mix of wistful electronica and sweet, shimmering ethereal beauty.

01. What have you been up to recently?
I have two young daughters so I’m mainly being a dad. One is starting school this year and the other will be starting nursery next month. So yeh, I’m just trying to work out how to have enough money to raise them and then enough time to work to make that money to send them to nursery to have time to have money and so on. I must use all my willpower to not spend it on expensive clothes from Antwerp.

02. What have you been listening to?
The things on the mix and some post rock and math rock. The final rock taboos. I’m really enjoying the new James Holden album and I’m really excited about the upcoming Patten AI one. I’ve just bought Notes On Listening by Suki Sou.

03. Where and when did you record this mix?
In my living room while the kids were asleep using my laptop with the files in Ableton. Most of my vinyl and CDs are in storage at the moment. Actually, I’ve sold a lot of my vinyl!

04. How did you go about choosing the tracks you’ve included?
Long time favorites and a couple by people I know like Masaaki Yoshida (a.k.a Anchorsong) and Sarathy.

05. What can the listener expect?
Music I love that they may or may not know.

06. How does it compare to what we might hear you play out?
I wouldn’t play out, but if I did I’d probably play the same old shite everyone else plays that makes for good social media fodder so promoters would book me and I could make the most amount of cash possible for playing audio files made by other people. I’d probably wear sunglasses, too. Bah, I couldn’t live with myself!

07. What’s next on your horizon?
Fuck knows. The world is fucked isn’t it? I’m just trying to enjoy today!

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. The Human League “Toyota City” (Virgin)
02. Karl Biscuit “Hierophone” (Crammed Discs)
03. Sarathy Korwar “Kal Means Yesterday & Tomorrow” (Leaf)
04. Anchorsong “Windmills (Salamander Remix)” (Tru Thoughts)
05. Burnt Friedman “Sorcier” (Nonplace)
06. Dedekind Cut “American Zen 1&2” (Hospital / Ninja Tune)
07. Akira Yamaoka “A World Of Madness”(Konami)
08. Fennesz “Before I Leave” (Mego)
09. Alexander Tucker “Shirts Give Pleasure To Those Who Wear Them” (U-Sound Archive/ Thrill Jockey)
10. Pharoah Sanders “Japan” (Impulse!)
11. Benoit Widemann “Tsunami” (Ballon Noir)
12. Equiknoxx “Fly Away” feat. Gavsborg & Alozade (Swing Ting)
13. Ravi Shankar “Tala-Tabla Tarang” (Liberty)
14. Joseph Shabason “Aytche” (Western Vinyl)
16. Masakatsu Takagi “Fore” (Karaoke Kalk)
16. Pentagon “Heal” (SME)
17. Tortoise “Four-Day Interval” (Thrill Jockey/Warp)
18. Susumu Yokota “Gekkoh” (Leaf)
19. Yo La Tengo “Saturday” (Matador)

Levon Vincent Unveils Fifth Album of “Club-Ready Jams”

Levon Vincent will release his fifth studio album on his own Novel Sound label.

Work In Progress, which follows on from 2022’s Silent Cities cassette release, sees the US DJ-producer throw away any overarching concept, apart from the idea that “it must move you,” we’re told.

The album comprises 13 club-ready jams, made specifically for his DJ sets. Rather than his previous albums which present “a finished story,” Vincent tells XLR8R, his fifth presents “a diarist’s work in progress, his latest club constructions.” Many of them are above 140 BPM.

“The previous albums I have made are all meant to be heard from start to finish, where it takes the listener on a voyage,” Vincent says. “You were meant to listen to them from beginning to end.

“With Work in Progress, I set out to break the pattern of writing albums with an arc. I wanted to make something that more closely reflects my DJing. This is an album for DJs….My only rule for this album was ‘you have to be able to play each track in your own sets.'”

You can read more about Vincent in his XLR8R studio feature here.

Tracklisting

01. Greetings and Salutations
02. Sweat To Enjoy Life
03. Stereo Systems III
04. You Bliss Me
05. Regarding Love
06. Longing
07. Carena
08. Strut Beats
09. Driving
10. Jomox TrackV1
11. The Funk
12. Sunday Mornings
13. Greetings And Salutations (Full Length Vinyl Mix)

Work in Progress LP is scheduled for June 11 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Regarding Love” in full below and pre-order here.

Podcast 795: Tom Trago

For more than two decades, Tom Trago has been an integral part of the fabric of the Dutch electronic music scene—a producer, DJ, and label owner renowned for the depth and variety of his work. While Trago was once regularly touring as a DJ, on top of his residencies at Trouw and De School, he focuses most of his time today on making music alongside his semi-regular forays into radio broadcasting on NTS, BBC, and EchoBox. Since 2006, Trago has released six albums, two of which (Tom Trago x Patta ’18’ and Trembala) came out in 2022. (These were his first full-lengths since Bergen, a low-key selection of house and disco, on Dekmantel in 2018.)

More recently, though, Trago has started a new chapter into his artistic career. He’s always enjoyed digging into a wide variety of musical styles and translating these influences into distinctive club cuts, but now he’s taking it even further, fired up by a desire to challenge himself.

Taking these new inspirations back into his studio, he has produced Deco, his first album for Amsterdam label Rush Hour in over a decade. He recorded it following a long absence from dancefloors, and when he returned to the studio he struggled to get back into the groove. Instead, he found himself drawn to what he calls “electronic lullabies,” meaning trippy electronics and lush atmospheres. To accompany the release, Trago has delivered an XLR8R podcast from which, typically now, you can expect one hour of warm, vibrant chill-out cuts, coming from Satoshi, Drexciya, and himself.

01. What have you been up to recently?
Relocating my studio from Amsterdam to Alkmaar. Releasing my Deco album and preparing the live show for it. I’m also back on the road again doing gigs. Rediscovering music in my collection and digging for new inspiring stuff. Music. Movies. Art. I’ve also been enjoying family time more than ever.

02. What have you been listening to? 
I’m really into the new Satoshi, Ambivalent Selected Works. And I was just listening to some stuff on Ekster Recordings, The Exo Compilation. I just rediscovered the Elektroids Elektroword album. Also, the last: Pusha T It’s Almost Dry.

03. You’ve just released an album of “electronic lullabies.” What’s the reason behind the change of course? 
I don’t really consider it as a change of course. It’s still synth-based Trago music, made by me. Only on this album there’s not so much drums!

04. Where and when did you record this mix?
I recorded it at home so I could get into the vibe to create a listening set, instead of a club-heavy set. Although it highlights that my roots are in dance music, I tried to focus on atmosphere and vibe.

05. How did you go about choosing the tracks you’ve included? 
The aim was to create an electronic atmosphere while staying warm and gentle. I tried to make a selection of electronic songs instead of club tracks and I made sure there is still a futuristic feel to it.

06. What can the listener expect?
Some trippy electronics, and some wavey lush synthesizer atmospheres.

07. What’s next on your horizon? 
I’m really curious to see what comes out of my new studio in Alkmaar. Also, I’m releasing my seventh album at the end of 2023! I’ll also be playing the live show of the Deco album that is about to drop on Rush Hour.

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Satoshi “Sazanami” (Sound of Speed)
02. Unknown “Unknown” (Unknown)
03. Tom Trago & Tracey “A Dark Oak” (Rush Hour)
04. Fingers Inc “All Over” (Alleviated Music)
05. Drexciya “C To the Power of X + C to the power of X=MM=Unknown” (Tresor)
06. Mega Wega “Fool Around” (PIP Records)
07. Tom Trago “Ode” (Jong Nederland)
08. Âme “Erkki” (Rush Hour)
10. Hermen van Veen “Ben jij het?” (A Good Christian Edit) (Harlekijn)
11. Alexander Robotnik “Dance Boy Dance” (Yellow Productions)
12. Glass Domain “Interlock” (Pornophonic Sound Disc)
13. New Musik “Warp” (GTO)
14. Sandy B “Amajovi Jovi” (Invisible City Editions)
15. Masarima “Freak Like U” (Clone Royal Oak)
16. Tyree “Acid Over” (Piano Mix) (Underground)
17. Tom Trago “Blue Dope” (Rush Hour)

EVA808 to Launch Label with New Album

EVA808 will release a new album, ÖÐRUVÍSI, in May.

Over 20 tracks, EVA808 (real name Eva Jóhannsdóttir, from Iceland) crafts a distinct sound “to tell a story of being different,” we’re told. All this is delivered in a “rich cinematic aesthetic” but also a “dark, brooding, and bass-heavy sonic tone.”

ÖÐRUVÍSI will be Jóhannsdóttir’s debut release on GLER (translated as “Glass”), which puts out “cold records” with a “warm sound.” What it provides is a portal to a world of “deeply organic music, unbound by genre but with an indisputable ice-cold aura.” All records will be pressed on clear vinyl to “represent the ice that inspires it.”

Jóhannsdóttir has been a staple of the bass music scene for some years, having started making grime and dubstep around 2011. Her sound took shape around 2016 with her Psycho Sushi EP. It’s not easy to categorize the music under one umbrella, but much if it sits close to dubstep, although often with more driving, attention-grabbing beats; it also tends to be jagged and broken, with obscure samples and rhythms.

ÖÐRUVÍSI, which means “different,” follows on from Sultry Venom, which EVA808 released on Innamind Recordings in December 2020.

Tracklisting

01. Something from nothing (Intro)
02. ConCreteMerMaid
03. BIRTH
04. GENDER
05. ÖLDUKALDI
06. AACID SHOWER
07. When the MIRROR is STEAMY i can see ME
08. WHY ME
09. ROK&RIGNING
10. REALIZATION
11. REYKJAVÌK
12. HLAUPBANGSI (SOPHIE TRIBUTE)
13. The WAR in MY HEAD
14. U + ME
15. GARPUR KVEDUR
16. GLEYMMÈREI

ÖÐRUVÍSI LP is scheduled for May 15 release.

Wata Igarashi’s Debut Album Coming on Kompakt

Wata Igarashi will release his debut album, Agartha, on Kompakt.

Named after a mythical secret kingdom, understood as a complex maze of underground tunnels, Agartha is a “similarly mystical, perhaps even cosmic trip,” we’re told. “Beautifully detailed and bustling with rich incident,” it takes Igarashi’s music “to new places,” while retaining his “unique sonic imprimatur.”

Each of the album’s 10 tracks visualises specific scenes from an imaginary film, and Igarashi created soundtracks for those scenes. He produced them during the pandemic in his studio, using his background in creating music for television and advertisements.

He also drew on a rich palette of musical influences: techno is in there, of course, but you can also hear the smoky, improvised jazz of the likes of Miles Davis (to whom the album’s title is an indirect nod), and the minimalism and systems music of Steve Reich.

Igarashi, from Japan, has been releasing techno for 11 years now, appearing on such imprints as The Bunker NY, Delsin, Midgar, and Time To Express, plus he has also self-released his productions via his WIP label. You can read more about him in his XLR8R podcast here.

Tracklisting

01. Abyss I
02. Searching
03. Subterranean Life
04. Ceremony of the Dead
05. Floating Against Time
06. Abyss II
07. Burning
08. Agartha
09. Darkness
10. Eternally

Agartha LP is scheduled for May 25 release. Meanwhile, you can stream clips over at Kompakt, where you can also pre-order.

Salami Rose Joe Louis Next on Brainfeeder with New Album

Lindsay Olsen, better known as Salami Rose Joe Louis, will release a new album on Flying Lotus‘ Brainfeeder.

Drawing from her studies in planetary sciences, Olsen explores ideas of multiverses and climate change through the lens of jazz, rock, and hip-hop, and vocals. She signed to Brainfeeder to release 2019’s Zdenka 2080 and 2020’s Chapters of Zdenka, which were packed with short bursts of experimental pop, abstract beats, and bedroom R&B songs that described a future dystopian Earth in the year 2080 that has been mis-managed by unethical governments and corporations.

As on previous releases, Olsen primarily worked alone to write, record, produce, and mix this record on her beloved Roland MV-8800 music workstation, but she did bring in some of her favourite musicians: Soccer96, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Juuwah, Brijean, Sergio Machado Plim, Danalogue, Jason Lindner, Dakim, and Dan Nicholls.

“I am a very introverted producer which has sometimes hindered me from pursuing collaborations in the past as I am shy to work with others in person,” Olsen says. “Having the opportunity to collaborate via the internet was a wonderful experience and led to some beautiful connections and new friendships.”

The title track, “Akousmatikous” featuring Soccer96) comes with an animated video directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Carlos López Estrada.

The album artwork is by Winston Hacking, best known for his collaborations with Flying Lotus, Run The Jewels, Animal Collective, Andy Shauf, and BADBADNOTGOOD.

Tracklisting

01. Akousmatikous feat. Soccer96
02. Dimensional Collapse
03. Always on my Mind
04. Fireflies
05. Dimcola Reprise
06. “Propaganda” with Brijean
07. Zee Complex
08. The Giddy Aquatic
09. Sugar Coating
10. Proof is in the Pudding
11. Cathartic Interlude
12. Pushing Me
13. Gradients
14. Losing Steam
15. Zaza Flip
16. Exhaustion and the Open Mind

Akousmatikous LP is scheduled for May 19 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Akousmatikous” feat. Soccer96 and “Propaganda” with Joe Louis and Brijean in full below and pre-order here.

Podcast 794: Alfa Mist

Since the release of his first EP, 2015’s Nocturne, Alfa Mist—the musical project of Newham, London producer and multi-instrumentalist Alfa Sekitoleko—has established himself as one of the UK’s most distinct musical voices. He has worked with the likes of Jordan Rakei and Tom Misch, drummer Richard Spaven, producer Lester Duval, and singer Emmavie. His discography spans everything from hip-hop beat-making to producing for artists such as rapper Loyle Carner, composing neo-classical works for the London Contemporary Orchestra, and reworking tracks from composer Ólafur Arnalds and jazz label Blue Note.

More recently, he’s announced Variables, his fifth solo album (following 2021’s Bring Backs) and his second release for ANTI-. Across 10 new tracks, he builds on the success of his debut album, Antiphon, which has amassed over 10 million views on YouTube, as he traverses yearning melodies, emotive piano lines, and intuitive grooves. “The whole album is more uptempo and influenced by the freedom of returning to gigs,” Sekitoleko explains. “It feels like I’m coming back to my early days of making grime beats and creating tracks that make me want to bop my head fast.”

In support of the album, which lands at the end of the month, Sekitoleko has prepared an XLR8R podcast. Recorded earlier this week in London, it’s a glimpse into Sekitoleko’s mind, filled with his favorite tracks right now (plus some favorites from Sekito, his label.) What you can expect is just over an hour of free-flowing jazz improvisation and head-nodding boom-bap rhythms.

01. What have you been up to recently?
Getting ready for tour. I’ve got a lot of shows this year!

02. What have you been listening to?
Two extremes at the moment, either instrumentals or podcasts.

03. Your new album is on the way this month. What can we expect with it?
Expect a lot of questions and very few answers.

04. Where and when did you record this mix?
I recorded it last night at home.

05. How did you choose the tracks you’ve included?
I chose some tracks I’ve been listening to recently as well as some tracks from my label, Sekito.

06. What’s next on your horizon?
Touring, and when I get back I’d like to write music for something visual.

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Esperanza Spalding “Coming to Life” feat. Lalah Hathaway (Concord Records)
02. Bill Evans “A Sleepin’ Bee” (Gambit Records)
03. JSPHYNX “SHHH” (Sekito)
04. Waldo’s Gift “Climbing Trees” (Black Acre)
05. Seravince “U Love” (Wicked Wax Amsterdam)
06. Stanley Clarke “Future Shock” (Epic)
07. Dornik “Patient” (Self-Released)
08. Alfa Mist & Emmavie “No Need To Wait” (Sekito)
09. Rudi Creswick “Sometimes” feat. Emmavie (Sekito)
08. Jamie Leeming “Champion” (Sekito)
09. 2nd Exit & IF “TWDC” (Unreleased)
10. TURTL “Total ’90s” (Unreleased)
11. Eklipse “Wait For Me” (The Loosies Project)
12. The Greg Foat Group “Have Spacesuit Will Travel (Part 2)” (Jazzman)
13. JSPHYNX “Palmers” (Sekito)

Laurent Garnier Announces He’ll Step Back from Touring with First Solo Album Since 2015

Laurent Garnier will release a new album in May.

33 Tours Et Puis S’en Vont is the culmination of two years living in “an era of doubt and uncertainty,” Garnier says, referring to the pandemic. It’s the French artist’s first album in eight years and his most dancefloor-oriented yet, a “total mastery of house, techno, and beyond is on full display,” we’re told.

In a statement, Garnier likened the album to his first, Shot In The Dark, “except that this time around, I have a much better idea of the direction I’m heading in.”

“It’s a return to my roots, a tribute to the dancefloor and to techno music, in all its forms,” Garnier continued. “Even though I like to tag my music #UncontemporaryTechno, I think this is probably the most dancefloor and most contemporary album I’ve ever made because it looks straight ahead, and it also looks back over my shoulder at my entire career, something that I’ve always been keen to avoid up until now.”

Alongside the album, Garnier has announced that he will discontinue regular touring. You can read parts of his statement below.

“March 2020, the world came to a complete standstill. For the first time in my 33-year career, my Saturday nights were reduced to playing DJ sets in the garden to entertain the neighbours, stuck at home like me. Overnight, the world switched to a dystopian era. For me, this primarily manifested itself in a visceral rejection of techno! This music, which, in my eyes, had always embodied the sound of the future, no longer made any sense in these uncertain times. I then slipped into an oh-so-fun period of self-doubt and overthinking: would I be able to go back to DJ-ing when everything returned to normal? Would I still be relevant? At my age? What did I have left to say, to build, to stand for, to contribute? for whom? why? how?!

“After months of questioning, I went cold turkey: missing loud noise, missing massive sound systems, missing sweaty night clubs, missing sharing my music with others, missing crowds of people, missing human contact, missing everyone! But as working nights with no sleep became a distant memory, the constant chatter in my brain gradually loosened its grip. I began to feel the need for techno, and I was starting to get itchy feet. It was the right time for me to switch my machines back on.

“The global situation made me reassess what’s important and helped me face up to some truths: becoming a dusty, old jukebox has never been an option, and so as my “swinging” sixties draw nearer, the time has come for me to consider my life as a touring DJ differently. But that doesn’t mean abandoning the decks for good. And so, after the next few months, which I’m hoping will be full of excitement around the release of this album, the end of 2024 will mark an important turning point in my career where you won’t see me playing the same weekend in three different cities anymore.

“Although I might start visiting some countries, cities, and festivals for the very last time sometime soon, I would like to make things clear: I will remain a DJ for the rest of my life, because being a DJ is, above all, a visceral need for me to share the music I love, no matter what, in one way or another.”

Garnier is one of electronic music’s best-known acts. You can read more about him in his XLR8R feature here, and check out his XLR8R podcast here.

Tracklisting

01. Tales from the real world feat. Alan Watts (vocal version)
02. Liebe grüße aus Cucuron
03. In your phase feat. 22Carbone
04. Reviens la nuit (original mix)
05. Saturn Drive Triplex feat. Alan Vega
06. Sado miso
07. Au clair de ta lune
08. Sake stars fever
09. Multiple tributes (to multiple people, for multiple reasons)
10.…et puis s’en va!

33 Tours Et Puis S’en Von LP will land on May 25. You can pre-order here.

Volruptus Next on Herrensauna with Album of Mutant Electro

Volruptus will release an album on Herrensauna.

Moxie, filled with six tracks of “euphoric tension and mutant electro,” is Volruptus’ first album on the Berlin label. His previous full-lengths, 2020’s First Contact and 2016’s self-titled outing, came on Bjarki’s bbbbbb recors and Sweaty Records respectively.

We’re told to expect unruly drums, erratic arpeggios, glitchy bass, and high speeds.

Alongside Alex the Fairy and Rachel Lyn, Volruptus forms 3Ddancer. Their latest album, New Exciting Toys, came out last year.

Tracklisting

01. Anima Mundi
02. Lodestar
03. Propel
04. Exist Dance
05. Wizardry
06. Moxie

Moxie LP is scheduled for April 15 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Propel” in full below and pre-order here.

Scotch Rolex and Shackleton Reveal Collaborative Album

Scotch Rolex (a.k.a Shigeru Ishihara) and Shackleton (together known as Scotch Egg) will release a collaborative album on Silver Triplet, a new label.

Death by Tickling is filled with wild and unpredictable changes, we’re told, “incorporating odd time signatures, cosmic synth freak outs, and dubbed-out space vibrations.” At times the album “lulls the listener into a zoned-out trance, whilst at other times it startles with its ferocity.”

Across all 10 tracks, both artists’ sonic signatures can be recognised. Scotch Rolex is best known for his work with Kampala-based artists MC Yallah and DUMA’s Lord Spikeheart. He has released on Nyege Nyege’s Hakuna Kulala label, drawing on dancehall, trap, Japanese traditional music, gabber, grindcore, gqom, and kuduro. The same energy “permeates this new release but with new elements of shamanism and deconstructed rhythms,” we’re told.

Meanwhile, the founder of Skull Disco, Shackleton, has been carving out his brand of esoteric ritual trance music for the best part of two decades on labels such as Honest Jon’s and Perlon. This record is his first since 2022’s The Majestic Yes, which included a collaboration with Mark Ernestus. It sees him taking Rolex’s raw beats and “exploding them into outer space.”

The artwork is courtesy of Zeke Clough.

Tracklisting

01. The Blue Sun
02. Asterids (Enter Life)
03. Five Butterflies
04. Deliver the Soul
05. Final Spasm
06. Love Songs
07. Opium Vibration
08. Shattered
09. Serotonin
10. The Eleventh Voyage

Death by Tickling LP is scheduled for March 31 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Opium Vibration” in full via the player below and pre-order here.

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