Brandon Coleman has unveiled a video for new track “All Around The World,” lifted from his forthcoming album Resistance, released September 14 via Brainfeeder.
We’re told that Resistance is a “powerful statement” from an artist who is passionate about hybridity and innovation—stitching together threads from jazz, disco, boogie, R&B, electro, soul, and funk. “I’ve been in the studio a lot in recent years, writing with this or that artist and I always felt constrained… like I had to compromise and submit to a ‘pop’ sensibility,” he explains. “This time I just wanted to create something that was really free… something original… to incorporate all the styles that I represent, because often when I’ve tried to do that in the past it’s been met with resistance.”
The list of artists with whom Coleman has collaborated ranges from Ciara to Mulatu Astatke and Childish Gambino to Shuggie Otis—but one of his most consistent studio partners during the last decade has been R&B icon Babyface. “I’ve learned a lot from him… working on countless projects… he would just call me at any time and say: ‘Hey man, I’m in the studio with Aretha Franklin at the piano and I want you to come in and help us arrange some songs.’ And I would be like: Erm ok, I’m on my way,'” he says. “Those experiences shaped the way I hear and appreciate music”.
Coleman has previously worked with Flying Lotus on music for Bladerunner, FlyLo’s directorial debut Kuso, and he also plays keys on “Until The Quiet Comes” and “You’re Dead!”
Working Class Woman is the Montreal-based producer’s fourth and “most self-reflective record,” the label explains, describing it as “a document of her state of mind, of operating within the spheres of dance music and club culture.” Drawing on her experiences, as well as an array of writers, thinkers, and filmmakers who’ve influenced her, Davidson explores her reaction to them and “pokes fun.” “It comes from my brain, through my own experiences: the suffering and the humour, the fun and the darkness to be Marie Davidson.” As she puts it, “It’s an egotistical album—and I’m okay with that.”
The sound, we’re told, is “more direct than any of her previous outings.” She still mines the same influences, from italo-disco to proto-industrial and electro, but “leadens them with a gut-punching weight, making for a record that’s more visceral than any she’s released before.” This industrial heaviness is balanced by Davidson’s spoken text.
The record builds upon the dancefloor-minded trajectory charted by her last solo album, Adieux Au Dancefloor [Cititrax / Minimal Wave], and is informed by a career which has spanned an ambient-influenced album as Les Momies De Palerme for Montreal’s Constellation label, her synth-disco styled duo DKMD with David Kristian, and Essaie Pas alongside husband and collaborator Pierre Guerineau.
The album’s first single, “So Right,” comes with a John Talabot remix.
Tracklisting
01. Your Biggest Fan
02. Work It
03. The Psychologist
04. Lara
05. Day Dreaming
06. The Tunnel
07. Workaholic Paranoid Bitch
08. So Right
09. Burn Me
10. La Chambre Intérieure
Working Class Woman will land on October 5, with “So Right” plus the Talabot remix streaming below.
Omar McCutcheon has been producing music as Batu for almost half a decade, but his most recent release—a four-track debut on XL Recordings—has exposed his sounds to a much wider audience.
McCutcheon spent his childhood in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, and found a connection with music after his uncle set up Streamizm, an online streaming service for dubstep—the first reference point, he says. He soon began purchasing records and spending hours on Dubstepforum, an online forum that inspired some early dubstep experiments. Enrollment in Music Production at Bath Spa University helped him shape his sound and served as a gateway to the exploration of the bubbling nearby Bristolian scene. It was here that he first crossed paths with the likes of Peverelist, Bruce, and Pinch with whom he worked to shape his dubstep, grime, and broken-beat influences into the bass-heavy brand of club music he’s been pushing ever since.
Having debuted on Pinch’s Cold Recordings back in 2013, McCutcheon has since appeared on the likes of Livity Sound, sister-label Dnuos Ytivil, Hessle Audio, and his own Timedance. The latter of these labels only surfaced in 2015 but has quickly established itself as a leading, forward-thinking imprint in these singular aesthetics. Lurka, Laksa, Ploy, and Bruce have all appeared.
In support of McCutcheon’s XL debut, we caught up with him to learn more about it, Timedance, and the man himself.
1. Where in the world are you right now?
I’m in my bedroom/studio. Unfortunately right now both making music, finding music, and sleeping all take place in the same little box for me. I’m planning on getting a studio space but I get the feeling it’s going to be a pretty stressful process. Getting a studio in Bristol is easier said than done as far, as I understand..
2. What have you been up to lately?
I’ve been trying to balance writing some music alongside a pretty hectic touring schedule this summer. I started some tracks earlier in the year when I had some time off and now I’m trying to finish them in the week and basically going away every weekend. Playing loads of festivals this year has been fun, it definitely opens your DJing up to some new contexts that you don’t come across when playing clubs… Different times and settings have definitely helped me develop my DJing, I am definitely taking it all a lot more seriously than I was a couple of years ago
3. You’ve just signed to XL Recordings. How did your relationship with the label come about?
Will, who works there as an A&R, reached out a while back. I knew of him a bit already ‘cos he used to live in Bristol and also used to be a dubstepforum regular like myself back in the day. We got chatting and eventually things progressed, I really liked the vibe of everyone who works there. They really value underground talent, but not in a way that is at all manipulative or exploitative as it maybe would be with other labels. It seems like a very honest project.
4. How does the A&R work with Timedance? What are you looking for?
I think now I’ve been running the label for a few years, there are a few different narratives running through the label’s work. There’s kind of a web of concepts and sonic ideas alongside a network of influences and relationships which the artists I work with share. In a lot of ways because of this, I don’t feel in control. The decisions often make themselves, I’m kind of a vessel for where everyone else wants to take it. I guess this is a contradiction though because ultimately it’s all about my tastes ultimately, but I do feel like everyone’s ideas play into it. Playing the tracks in clubs is always an important part of the process, hearing things on a dancefloor will usually make up my mind if I’m on the fence about something.
5. Can we expect a longer format release anytime soon?
I don’t think so. I would like to do it one day. Right now I don’t have the time or any kind of conceptual idea that would suit a longer form. I like with EPs that you have 2 to 4 songs which are all individual statements, snapshots of experimentation or development; when you finish a release it’s kind of like that chapter has been finished and you can start again. I don’t know how my process would work for an album in this sense, and I’m not in a rush to change this formula.
6. What advice would you give up and coming DJs today?
Good question.
I feel like more than ever it’s difficult to get noticed establish yourself in this scene unless nepotism is involved. The amount of money involved in dance music has made it has become a real industry; we kind of have a tier of “safe-investment” name DJs now who play the same festivals again and again and it’s pretty difficult for new names to break through sometimes. Very little space is left for younger people, who are definitely some of the most creative. Because of this I think ultimately doing your own thing and taking control of your own destiny will give you so much more control and pay off in the long run. There’s so much polite, unimaginative music—try and do something different and honest to yourself. That and get some good earplugs.
7. What are some of your favourite lesser-known records in these UK aesthetics?
I think the early No Symbols white labels really paved the way for a lot of things that came later, in my opinion. I was still trying to solidify my ideas in terms of combining my influences of dubstep with house and techno and at that time Beneath really hit the nail on head in a way that no else did, for me.
Croydon House from Pinch and also Mega Drive Generation from Martyn were also massive game changers too.
I do, I’m not really sure why though. There are some reviews of my music I love, when I feel like someone has really got what I was aiming for. Ultimately, I think reviews (rating systems especially) can cloud producer’s judgement of their work though. Reviews and criticism are important for sure, journalists should be able to slate someone’s music if they make constructive points, but from an artists point of view, I don’t know if taking note of that side of things helps you make better art?
10. Where do you find yourself digging for new music — and do you have a clear process?
No clear process really. I collect notes of stuff I want to check and then start googling pretty much. If I come across something I like, I’ll probably skip through the artists or labels back cat. and see what comes up. I love Bandcamp for digging, got to give a special shout-out to them!
11. Who do you show your music to before you release it?
Lurka, Via Maris, Bruce, Ploy, my girlfriend, and my housemate. I trust them all and all of them will have different things to say.
12. If you could go B2B with anyone dead or alive who would it be?
I’m not massively into b2bs apart from with a few friends, to be honest. This year I’ve played a fair bit with Simo Cell which is always great and also played with Objekt at Field Day Festival in London. By far the biggest crowd I’ve ever played to, at first I was really nervous but it ended up being amazing.
13. How did you first become involved with the Hessle audio boys?
I met Ben UFO at Motion in Bristol on my 18th birthday haha! In terms of releasing music with them, it first started with me playing “Marius” at Freerotation, I think David asked Larry (Bruce) if he knew what the track was and then I got an email a few days later…
14. How do you feel your new XL release differs from your earlier work, in terms of sound and the idea behind it?
I made an effort to write music at a few tempos which I hadn’t used before. The process of writing that EP was a interesting one. All the tracks came from quite wild experimentations, and then it was a case of trying to fix them into tracks slowly. It took a while and was something new for me definitely. Ultimately I was hoping to have four tracks that would stand up to repeated home listening but also work in more adventurous club situations. I wanted to make something that would maybe not be an instantaneous hit but something which you could keep going back to and hopefully get more from it each time.
15. Are you now at a point where you’re looking to show your work to a wider audience?
Kind of, I have started thinking a lot more about other projects I’d like to do. I feel like my mind is way more open now to other creative ideas, I don’t really want to just DJ and make down the line club tracks forever. Right now it’s all pipe dreams and notes on my computer but I definitely want to try different things and continue to learn! I kind of feel that most dance music producers have a certain shelflife, same with labels too. There are lots of exceptions to this but it’s really important to me that I feel like what I’m doing is worthwhile and not just adding to the noise. I think about that constantly nowadays, it’s definitely made releasing my own music more difficult.
17. How do you push yourself in terms of experimentation?
New VSTs and sounds helps a lot. I also impose limitations quite often of what I’m allowed to use which can make for some nice accidents. I just try to be as free as possible, you never know what’s going to work.
18. What’s the last thing that made you laugh and why?
Probably something from Benjamin Mendy on twitter, if anyone knows how I can make him my friend I would love to know…
19. Do you believe that the accessibility of producing music has been of detriment to the electronic scene or is it helping to find more artists and better music?
I think its making things better for sure. What’s so exciting to me is the music coming out of other parts of the world, South America and Mexico, China, South Africa, and loads of other places have young scenes of amazing imaginative bass music. It’s so exciting that dance music is now no longer a thing that only middle-class western people are contributing to. For years, it kind of felt like that to me.
20. What are your top three albums that you are listening to at the moment?
The EP will be Cardopusher’s second of 2018, following on from his Mental Jobs EP for Super Rhythm Trax, and two efforts released last year, the Zone Records’ five tracker Left to Believe In and the New Cult Fear album on Boys Noize. Regular readers of XLR8R will be familiar with his raw, wide-reaching sound, one that puts an inspired spin on rave, electro, techno, house, and acid. His latest continues this trend with four gritty dancefloor bombs, ranging from neon-lit, sleazy electro (“All Fall Down”) to chugging paranoid post-punk (“The Power to Forget”) and industrial drone (“Existentialist Diatribe”).
Ahead of the release, Cardopusher has offered up a full stream of “Return to Forever,” the EP’s wild acid cut, available via the player below.
The 10-track album arrived four years after the duo’s first release with Ghostly International, and sees a “change in direction,” the label explains. Together they—Thomas Mullarney III and Jacob Gossett—embarked on open-ended sessions, adopting a more linear style of songwriting compared to their previous loop and texture-driven method.
We’re told to expect an album that slices through “dense and foggy dance and electronic music apparatuses to create something familiar but unique, melodic but cathartic.”
Tracklisting
01. Don’t Go Looking
02. Be My Organ
03. Losing My Mind
04. Fields
05. On Ice
06. Marion
07. The Road
08. Bending Light
09. Over My Head
10. The War You’re After
Gravity Pairs will land on November 2 via Ghostly, with the video for the new single “Be My Organ”—a track that elevates on a percussive build, reaching its peak in the final strobe-lit minute—streaming below.
FAT FAT FAT Festival took place from August 3 to 6 in Grancia di Sarrocciano, hosting performances from house legend Larry Heard aka Mr. Fingers (live), Floating Points, Ben UFO, Egyptian Lover, Detroit’s Marcellus Pittman, Sadar Bahar & Lee Collins, GE-OLOGY, Volcov, Bradley Zero, LTJ XPERIENCE, Dego & Kaidi (live) Nu Guinea, Baby G, Molinaro, and FAT FAT FAT Soundsystem, among many others.
Last week, My Favorite Robot Records dropped a new LP from German production duo Rework—made up of Daniel Varga and Michael Kuebler.
The album, titled Heat, is the first LP from the pair since 2014’s You Play album on Visionquest and follows a 2017 EP on My Favorite Robot titled Talk It Off. The duo describe their sound signature as “new wave tech-house,” an apt description for Heat, which flows through skeletal minimal grooves, catchy wave-like vocal tracks—delivered by the girls from She Lies—spacey italo outings, and sleazy dub disco.
In support of the release, Rework have offered up “And It’s Fun,” a cosmic synth-laden cut beamed from space, as today’s XLR8R download, available via WeTransfer below.
re:ni is the chosen alias of Lauren Bush, a Birmingham-born, Dorset-raised, and South London-based DJ. Her musical roots stem from her father, a DJ himself who exposed his daughter to an array of records and hosted parties where he and his friends played sets incorporating soul, hip-hop, drum & bass, and house, among other genres. She found a connection to drum & bass soon thereafter, from partying and via her older friends in her orbit, and began DJing; encouraged by a friend, she bought a pair of decks and spent many months mixing her Dad’s old house records.
Over time, her sound has transitioned to a bass-heavy, rhythmic sound, informed by off-kilter rhythms and her teenage years spent listening to drum & bass, dubstep, and garage. A move to London has accelerated an immersion within the scene and provided her with a steady stream of bookings at the likes of Find Me In The Dark and Make Me at London’s Corsica Studios, plus an array of international events.
More recently, re:ni played Portugal’s Orbits Festival, playing between Burnt Friedman and Shackleton and delivering one of the finest sets of a tremendous debut edition. The set, just over 90 minutes in total, is absorbing from the first minute—starting with dark and atmospheric rhythms but building slowly, coming to life about halfway through with some breakbeat, dub techno, and jungle records. Grab it now via the WeTransfer button below.
What have you been up to recently?
I just got back from Bristol having played a really fun b2b set with my good friend Darwin, an amazing DJ who runs the label SPE:C and the awesome REEF parties at Griessmuehle, Berlin. We were playing for the Happy Skull guys who are a lot of fun. There are so many lovely and talented crews in Bristol so it’s always a pleasure to be invited to play there.
You recently played Orbits festival—can you tell us about the festival and the set?
Despite the focus being on deep techno, Orbits is definitely a festival where you can shape your own experience, whether that be raving under the stars to hypnotic 4/4 or listening to dubbed-out ambient while you sunbathe (I did both).
It was amazing to be able to see bigger names play in such a small and intimate setting with just one stage, and I feel this attracted a welcoming and open-minded crowd. From a DJ’s perspective, it was a confidence boost to have people from both crew and crowd approach me and be so positive about my set afterwards. It was good vibes; Jacopo and crew are a wonderful team.
How did you find it playing in between two legends like Burnt Friedman and Shackleton?
Of course, I was a little nervous about being sandwiched between such esteemed artists, particularly Shackleton as I’ve been obsessed with his music since I was at college. Ultimately though, I was really comfortable with the programming as it enabled me to go deep and dubby which is never a problem for me!
How did you prepare for the gig; was there a particular idea you were looking to convey?
I’d actually planned on playing harder and straighter than I usually do as I thought I was playing later on in the night, but it turned out I was on at 4 pm, so it was still around 30ºc and most people were looking pretty languid (including me) at that time. Being on stage with my records almost burning my hands made it clear it was too hot to dance and without much shade on the dancefloor I guess I wanted people to be able to connect with my music without needing to dance, so I started with lots of dreamy <100 bpm vibes before raising the tempo and bringing in straighter rhythms in the second hour.
Can you name some of the tracks in the mix?
The first track I played is “Dervish,” a beautiful record by Elektro Baboushka, who makes really cool dubby/loungey ambient.
I like to have a folder of transition tracks to easily switch up the tempo during sets and Peter Van Hoesen’s “Objects From The Past” is excellent as it’s basically beatless but is 130bpm which makes it ideal to move into faster sections and loop against beats, as I did here (32 mins).
I don’t usually play a lot of 4/4 techno but my friend JAY released her debut track “Balsam Drum” on Intergraded this year and I found the perfect place for it during this set (76 mins), it’s a classy roller! Really excited to see her progress after a great first release.
How do you dig for records—do you have a specific process?
No different from any other DJ with an office job: going down labyrinthine Discogs wormholes when I should be doing work.
What do you look for in the music you play?
Aside from having a preference for broken beats, polyrhythms, and bass-orientated sounds, I don’t think I consciously know what I’m “looking” for. Jane Fitz said something in a recent interview about her taste: “there’s a thread connecting everything I’ve ever played, which is basically: you are listening to my taste. I’ll only ever be me, and I’ve only ever been me in what I play.” That resonated with me: your taste is defined by you naturally gravitating towards certain records and not others. It might not be as organic for everyone but that’s pretty much how I see things.
What else do you have coming up this year?
I’m just about to join a new booking agency and have a busy Autumn with gigs coming up across the UK and Europe, as well as a new residency for 2019 which I’m extremely excited about. More radio shows with Laksa and some b2b gigs together in the new year too.
Due to temporary issues regarding the GDPR, EU readers can download the podcast here.
Lucy and Rrose will release a collaborative album as The Lotus Eaters, titled Desatura.
Lucy and Rrose have established themselves as leading contemporary techno artists and label heads of Stroboscopic Artefacts and Eaux respectively. Their first collaboration took the form of mutual remixes. Lucy remixed Rrose, taking on modern classic “Waterfall,” while Rrose remixed Dadub for Stroboscopic Artefacts, and shortly thereafter contributed an extended EP as part of SA’s Monad series.
We’re told that “the idea of working together became inevitable.” Several intense sessions in Lucy’s Berlin studio followed, giving birth to a new project, starting with two EPs signed Lucy and Rrose, called The Lotus Eaters (SA) and The Lotus Eaters II (Eaux). With the Desatura album, the first release signed under the project name The Lotus Eaters, their common work is “refined further,” we’re told. The album sees them explore themes of physical density, emptiness, and space, creating sonic objects “which can be rotated and viewed from multiple perspectives,” the label explains.
Rrose and Lucy will also form a live act which will debut at ADE (Amsterdam) 2018.
Tracklisting
A1 / 1. Anchor
A2 / 2. Marrow
A3 / 3. Diamond
B1 / 4. Decanter
B2 / 5. Eat Eat Eat
B3 / 6. The Idea of North C1 / 7. Under the Benches C2 / 8. Foul Winds
D1 / 9. A Third Man
D2 / 10. And Then There Were None
Desatura LP will land on October 5 via Stroboscopic Artefacts, with “Anchor” streaming in full below.
Following his release with Vladimir DJ earlier this months, the Lotss Records co-founder Tim Söderström (a.k.a. Happy Mr. Fontex) steps up for his first solo outing with a two-track release, titled Wine Magic.
The title track features harmonic layers of bells that create a contagious melody with an off-kilter beat built up with textures, white noise, and a steady bassline. Meanwhile, “Blind Spot” is a real oddball displaying a broad spectrum of styles that inspired his productions: a footwork-inspired beat with a Gabber kick drum, dramatic pads, and something that sounds like rhythmic morse code.
Wine Magic is out everywhere digitally August 31, and in support of the release, you can download the title track in full via the WeTransfer button below—or here for EU readers due to temporary GDPR restrictions.
