Page 35 – XLR8R

Isolee Launches Label with New Album

Isolee, born Rajko Müller, will release a new album.

Resort Island is the first album that Müller, a German minimalist house producer, has released in 12 years. He recorded all 10 tracks over the past two years, working night after night at his home studio in Hamburg. “Most nights I would work until I simply couldn’t hear anymore,” he says. “One by one, the tracks came together. Eventually I had a feeling, like, ‘Ah, the puzzle is starting to show its picture.’”

Conceptually, the release explores the morality of escapism and the tension between beauty and superficiality. It moves through minimalistic house, dub, disco, and ambient textures, and will land through Müller’s new label of the same name.

“In my early years, I was listening to lots of records and going out clubbing a lot,” Müller says. “I had a clear reference for what I was contributing to. Nowadays this is less the case. Also, for many years I felt I was competing with the expectations set by my early records. I don’t feel that anymore. But I still have the dancefloor in mind as a place where music happens, with the aim of triggering people’s emotions and imagination.”

Resort Island follows 2011’s Well Spent Youth album on DJ Koze‘s Pampa.

In the years since, Müller has released various EPs on labels such as Pampa and Tamed Musiq. His music has also appeared on Playhouse, Lawrence‘s Dial, Mule Musiq, and Maeve.

Tracklisting

01. Coco’s Visa
02. Canada Balsam
03. Pardon My French
04. Con O Sin
05. Let’s Dence
06. Modernation
07. Rumour
08. Clap Gently
09. Tender Date
10. 7eleven2

Resort Island LP is scheduled for May 19 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “rumour” in full via the player below.

Podcast 790: DJ Lag

In less than a decade, DJ Lag—the alias of Lwazi Asanda Gwalahas—has established himself as a sonic innovator and leading ambassador of gqom, taking the bass-heavy, minimalist sound from South Africa to a worldwide audience. (Its name stems from a Zulu word meaning drum or hit and Hyperdub label head Kode9 described it as “like being suspended over the gravitational field of a black hole, and lovin’ it.) He’s achieved all this before the age of 30 and from his home in Clermont in the coastal city of Durban, which is where he began making beats using little more than FruityLoops as a teenager. Soon he was playing his tracks at local gigs and sharing them with taxi drivers who liked to use them to attract customers. Then, in 2015, following his blistering performance at the G-Star Raw x Boiler Room sessions in Johannesburg, his sound seeped out to an international audience, and a year later he released on London’s Goon Club Allstars—delivering four hypnotic originals “made for clubs … made for nightlife,” he told DJ Mag. He released his debut album, Meeting With The King, in 2022, and following that he’s recently embarked on his Alpha-Zulu tour, which will take him to every continent this year. (Alongside the shows, he’ll be collaborating and recording with local artists to drop tracks monthly.)

In support of the tour, which is currently in South Africa, we’re delivering DJ Lag’s much-anticipated XLR8R podcast, which as you’d expect is dark, heated, and raw. Expect an hour of bubbling club rhythms, chopped vocals and powerful drums.

01. What have you been up to recently?
I’ve been making new music mainly and playing some really great shows. I just launched the Alpha-Zulu tour which will be a world tour combined with recordings along the way. I started in India and there are two great tracks coming up with some amazing local producers and rappers. More on this very soon we are mixing next week!

02. What have you been listening to?
I’ve been listening to amapiano, gqom, and hip-hop. It is a great time for South African music!

03. Where and when did you record this mix?
I recorded the mix in my home studio in Durban. I had just returned from India where I had two amazing weeks of music. I felt very inspired.

04. How did you choose the tracks you’ve included?
I have included mostly new music. There is a new style of gqom that’s been made in Durban right now.

05. How does it compare to what we might hear you play out live?
My live show is very different because there is so much going on when I play. I mix samples, effects, and vocals into instrumentals. This is more of a selection of great tracks.

06. What can we expect?
Hard gqom!

07. What’s next on your horizon?
Travel the world and make music with artists from everywhere. I will be releasing the songs along the way so stay in touch for this. I also want to start releasing some new artists through my label. Ice Drop, I have been wanting to do this for a while but there hasn’t been enough time!

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. DJ Lag “Destiny” (Black Major / Ice Drop)
02. Deep Narratives “Hard Cong” (Maluka Records)
03. Dladla Mshunqisi “Woza Uzizwele” (Afrotrainment)
04. Omagoqa “Njengenja” (Other Side Recordings)
05. Babes Wodumo “No No” fear. Que DJ, Skillz & Zuri (West Ink Records)
06. DJ Lag “Intongayazi” (Black Major / Ice Drop)
07. DJ Lag “Lucifer” (Black Major / Ice Drop)
08. DJ Lag “Khehla” (Black Major / Ice Drop)

Nabihah Iqbal Returns with New Album

Nabihah Iqbal will return with a new album on Ninja Tune.

DREAMER, a 10-track album, lands five years on since the London-born artist’s debut, Weighing Of The Heart. We’re told to expect her “rawest and most reflective work to date.”

The record sees Iqbal reflect on her experiences during the early months of 2020, when her studio was burgled. All her work was lost, including the album she was working on. While the forensic police looked for fingerprints in her studio, she received a call from her grandmother telling her that her grandfather had suffered a brain haemorrhage. Iqbal got on a plane to Karachi, Pakistan the next day.

“Going to Pakistan turned into a blessing in disguise,” she says. “It affected my perspective on music. At the time, being forcefully removed from the whole scenario of the burglary felt frustrating, but it was the best thing that could have happened.” She spent those months remembering why she made music in the first place. She went back to basics and bought an acoustic guitar and a harmonium.

Back in the UK, she embarked on residencies in Scotland and Suffolk to finish the album where she switched off from the internet, discovering “all my emotions and feelings.”

We’re told that the album is “more introspective,” because it’s about things Iqbal has been through over the last few years. Conceptually, it delivers snapshots and memories of her life, “exploring personal identity and grief through the soft-focus lens of melancholy.”

“For the first time ever, I’ve made music where I’ve been more patient with it,” Iqbal says. “Normally, when you’re an electronic music producer, you go into the studio, switch your computer on, and start working on Ableton or Logic and then build up from that. Whereas I decided not to go near all that for ages, and I was also forced into this approach in a way, because of the studio burglary and then being in Pakistan, away from all my equipment. Instead, I had to let the ideas develop in my head.”

Alongside today’s announcement, Iqbal has shared her shoegaze-inspired single “This World Couldn’t See Us,” which is the first track to be released from the album.

Tracklisting

01. In Light
02. Dreamer
03. This World Couldn’t See Us
04. Sunflower
05. Lilac Twilight
06. Gentle Heart
07. Sky River
08. Sweet Emotion (lost in devotion)
09. A Tender Victory
10. Closer Lover

DREAMER LP is scheduled for April 23 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “This World Couldn’t See Us” in full via the player below and pre-order here.

SBTRKT Announces Third Album with New Track

SBTRKT will release his third studio album in May.

Seven years in the making, The Rat Road signifies a “pivotal period of evolution” for the British producer, real name Aaron Jerome Foulds, we’re told. Musically it’s an “expansion” on his previous records, including 2014’s Wonder Where We Land on Young and 2016’s Save Yourself, which he self-released.

The album has a “purposefully wider” and “more layered” sound and features the previously released track, “FORWARD” featuring LEILAH.

“This album has been my most sonically ambitious record to create, following my own musical path, which isn’t based on others’ perceptions of what SBTRKT should be,” SBTRKT says.

The album’s title is a play on the concept of the rat race. It’s partly based on SBTRKT’s own challenging experiences within the music industry.

Alongside the announcement, SBTRKT has shared “Waiting” featuring Teezo Touchdown, which you can stream below.

SBTRKT emerged in the early 2010’s, going onto release two albums on Young. He has worked with the likes of Little Dragon, Sampha, and Drake.

The Rat Road is scheduled for May 5 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Waiting” below and pre-order the album here. We’ll add a tracklisting as it becomes available.

Simian Mobile Disco’s James Ford Next on Warp with Debut Album

James Ellis Ford, one half of Simian Mobile Disco, who has worked with the likes of Arctic Monkeys to Depeche Mode, will release his debut solo album on Warp.

On The Hum, Ford has deftly side-stepped the obvious choice of flicking through his contacts to produce a press-worthy pop album with a galaxy of A-list feature appearances. Instead, the release is as much an homage to the tender and eccentric English pop music of Brian Eno and Robert Wyatt as it is a love letter to his wife and son’s Palestinian roots. We’re told to expect a “madcap voyage into the cosmic unknown” and a “successful experiment into writing classic heartbreaking anthems.”

The album has been in the works for several years. In 2017, Jas Shaw, his Simian Mobile Disco partner, was diagnosed with a rare disease which meant that the band was now on hiatus. “The lack of having Simian Mobile Disco as an outlet to make music for myself probably forced my hand to make a solo record,” says Ford.

He confesses that initially the temptation to scroll through his iPhone and call on a lot of his previous collaborators for help was strong: “I was making tracks and thinking, ‘Maybe I’ll send this to Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys).’ It genuinely did cross my mind that I could make an album with a lot of guest features, but it just felt braver for me to do it on my own.”

Across all 10 tracks, Ford played everything live, with no sequencing, no soft synths, and no DAW. Music was recorded straight to tape on first or second pass, giving it “vital immediacy,” we’re told.

But playing everything himself was easy compared to having to sing: “I’d never sung in public before. I’d never done karaoke. I don’t even sing in the shower! I’m always telling artists to lean into their vulnerability [in the studio] and suddenly I had to apply some of these ideas to myself. I ended up with a taste of my own medicine!”

Alongside the announcement, Ford has shared “I Never Wanted Anything,” which concerns the middle-years realisation that most of life’s opportunities are starting to retreat from view, but being comfortable with it.

“I feel incredibly lucky that I’ve managed to keep doing what I do,” Ford says. “When I play music and I get the feeling that it’s going to be amazing? That’s literally the buzz that I chase every day.”

Tracklisting

01. Tape Loop #7
02. Pillow Village
03. I Never Wanted Anything
04. Squeaky Wheel
05. The Yips
06. Golden Hour
07. The Hum
08. Caterpillar
09. Emptiness
10. Closing Time

The Hum LP is scheduled for May 12 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “I Never Wanted Anything” in full below.

Upsammy Debuts on PAN with Second Album

Upsammy will release her second album, Germ in a Population of Buildings, on PAN.

In 2020, Upsammy, real name Thessa Torsing, released her debut album, Zoom, which was praised for its careful reimagining of IDM. On Germ in a Population of Buildings, the skeletal trace of IDM is still present but it’s been “trapped in amber,” we’re told, “allowing her unique sonic landscape to develop organically.”

Across 10 tracks, Torsing layers her contorted voice in rickety patterns beneath a lattice of fragile rhythms and faintly melancholy synths. The album is rooted in her interest for ambiguous environments in constant shift, and the feeling of discovering strange patterns in different ecosystems.

The album adds to what already a busy schedule for PAN, after Evita Manji’s debut album landed in January. Tzusing‘s second full-length is out at the end of this month.

Tracklisting

01. Being is a Stone
02. Constructing
03. Ergo Dynamic Tree
04. Green Lung
05. Germ in a Population of Buildings
06. Patterning
07. Asphalt Flows
08. Soft Sand
09. Square to Sphere
10. Metro Snake Whispers

Germ in a Population of Buildings LP is scheduled for May 5 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Being is a Stone” in full via the player below and pre-order here.

Laksa and re:ni Launch New Label

re:ni and Laksa will release a label called RE:LAX.

RE:LAX is an extension of the pair’s party series and NTS Radio show of the same name. It will explore “music at faster tempos,” we’re told, and “try to continue the lineage of jungle, dubstep, grime, and UK techno.”

On the label’s mission, the pair say: “Now more than ever it’s easier for you to create and put music online. This can be a good thing, but it’s also easier for it to get lost, and we’re looking to expand the contribution of RE:LAX. Hopefully we can poke our heads out, create some narrative, and do something that feels personal, engaging, and energizing to a listener, no matter where they’re listening from.”

To launch the label, Laksa, the alias of London’s Callum Ross, will deliver Body Score, on which he traverses the same 150bpm territory as his releases for Hessle Audio and Batu’s Timedance.

“As a social worker as well as a DJ-producer, I’m into the idea how music, and especially dancing/raving, can be therapeutic and/or cathartic,” Ross says. “Just think about those nights which leave you on a high and can help carry you through the week. It’s why emotion and feeling in music is very important to us, and the label.”

For more information on re:ni, the chosen alias of Lauren Bush, check out her XLR8R podcast here.

Tracklisting

01. Soulz
02. Bodies
03. Mind

Body Score EP is scheduled for April 21 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Mind” in full below and pre-order here.

Podcast 789: Francis Inferno Orchestra

Francis Inferno Orchestra, born Griffin James, is a talent originating from Melbourne, Australia but based in Los Angeles, who around 2010 turned his back on his industrial design degree to focus on music. In the years since, he has kept heads spinning with a stream of eclectic, multi-genre releases on labels like Drumpoet Community and Superconscious Records, the label he heads up with Mic Newman (a.k.a Fantastic Man).

But those sorts of brutal sonics are a long way from his work as Francis Inferno Orchestra, which pursues a more mellow, downbeat sound. You can hear this on his debut album, A New Way Of Living, an outing in melody-rich house and disco laced with rich samples and raw drum machine rhythms. In 2017, James returned with Veranda Culture, on which he shifted direction once again with 10 percussive pulse rides with echoing synths. As a DJ, he fills his sets with rare oddities from beyond his years, crossing contemporary and electronic music with ease—and all this has enabled him to establish himself as a key voice in Melbourne’s house community, alongside the likes of Tornado Wallace and Fantastic Man.

Ahead of a new album coming in May under his Sans Merit guide, James has delivered a live mix for this week’s XLR8R podcast. He recorded it last month, from a live show in Melbourne—and what that translates to is nearly two hours of upbeat house and techno primed for the dancefloor.

01. What have you been up to recently?
I just got back to Los Angeles after doing six weeks of shows in Australia. I was here for a stint pre-pandemic, but when the world shut down I got caught in Australia and I ended up staying there for two years. I ended up losing my US visa so I had to go through the whole rigamarole of getting that again before I could make my way back. Being forced to stop and chill was the best thing to happen to me, to be honest. I realized that I didn’t want to be part of the full-time dance music machine anymore so I focused on working in music in a way that made me happy. I still play shows, and I love how much fun it can be, but I’ve found allowing breaks between tours is more spiritually ideal, and it allows time to focus on the other projects I have going on. I enjoy being a studio goblin and growing more in that environment, so giving myself reasons to focus there is something I’m enjoying the most right now.

02. What have you been listening to?
Being in Los Angeles means a car is the primary mode of transport, and listening in the car is my favorite way to digest music. Lately I’ve been enjoying Eternal Dust’s new album, Spiritual Healers, Defence Lawyers; LSW Mir tut alles weh; and Satin Doll A Model Within. If I am feeling a wildcard energy I’ll see what’s playing on the always faithful Dublab.

03. Tell us about this mix. Where and when did you record it?
The mix is a recording from a show at Sub Club in Melbourne that happened in January. I played some music alongside Fantastic Man, Floss Dogg, and DJ Niamh. It was also the last show of the run and was hosted by friends so it was a pretty wholesome affair.

04. What can the lister expect?
Listeners can expect a couple of hours of uptempo club-driven music. I cut the recording from a bigger recording so instead of jumping straight into hard “doof,” I threw in some antiques roadshow banter to ease the journey in and out.

05. Why did this set in particular stand out?
It’s been a while since I’ve given a mix away on this kind of platform so I thought it would be a nice opportunity to present an honest representation of what the late night club mode of Francis Inferno Orchestra is. I’m aware that for the last while listeners might have heard me doing the thing for my monthly Hardcore Positive show on Dublab LA, which is more eclectic. So I just wanted to let them know that the little dancer boy within is still alive and kicking!

06. What’s next on your horizon?
I have a new album due in the next couple of months via Los Angeles-based label Zen2000. It’s for my project Sans Merit, which currently has two tracks out there. The album is a bedroom pop and rock kind of thing: live instrument tapings with odd vocals and attempts at singing and all that kooky stuff. It’s been on the burner for a while. Besides that, I’ll be putting out Francis Inferno Orchestra material including a 12″ and some remixes, as well as helping the Superconscious Records train keep on chugging along. I’ve also been composing music for the fashion and commercial sphere, so in the midst of all this my two Australians friends and I decided to start an agency for our work.

Tracklisting

01. Age “Time’s Up” (Timeless Mix) (Virgin)
02. Elliptical Headz “River of Trance” (Transmigration)
03. Weird Weather “Leather Chair” (Going Good)
04. Youngtee & Joe Hart “Invisible Men” (World Unknown)
05. Das Ding “H.S.T.A.” (Minimal Wave)
06. Lhasa “Ray-D-8” (Music Man Records)
07. Headman “It Rough” (Chicken Lips Trax Dub) (Gomma)
08. Cut Copy “Son God” (Andrew Weatherall Remix) (Cutters)
09. Cosmo Vitelli “Fish Liquor” (Edit Service)
10. MBG Presents New Latin Age ‎”Italian Voice” (Kinki Groove) (MBG International)
11. H.A.N.D. “Unknown) (HAND)
12. Factory Floor “~(Real Love)” (An Optimo (Espacio) Mix) (DFA Records)
13. Nathan Fake “Clifford 2” (WordandSound)

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

Francis Harris’ Scissor and Thread Welcomes JVXTA for Debut Album

Scissor and Thread, the Brooklyn, New York label of Francis Harris and Anthony Collins, will release the debut album of JVXTA.

JVXTA is a DJ-producer based in London, born Charles Field. Since 2017, he’s been running his own label, Hardmatter, in collaboration with Andres Zambrano Bravo, also known as Zapata.

Euston Blues is a collection of moods and textures, from woozy soundscapes like opener “No One Needs to Know” and “Voyager,” to grooving, dusty house tracks like “Hold On,” “Water Temple,” which you can stream below, and “Lost in Place.”

We’re told that each track develops from ambient textures into left-field beat excursions and incorporates thoughtful samples such as the spoken word poetry in “The Stolen Child.”

“Euston Blues synthesises deep chords, classic house rhythms, and jazz-laden influences to chronicle an intimate journey of physical and psychological isolation,” Field says.

Tracklisting

01. No One Needs To Know
02. Hold On
03. Water Temple
04. Voyager
05. Lost In Place
06. Beyond
07. The Stolen Child
08. Euston Blues

Euston Blues LP is scheduled for March 24 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Water Temple” in full below and pre-order here.

Nathan Fake to Release New Album

Nathan Fake will release a new album on his own Cambria Instruments imprint, featuring collaborations with Clark and Wizard Apprentice.

We’re told that Crystal Vision is music for music’s sake, “recorded without angles, agendas, and themes,” so Fake was free to simply continue honing his craft and express himself. It strikes the balance between the rave and contemplative introspection.

“There’s plenty of rawness evident, with spiky sonics keeping ears on high alert, full of endorphin-flooded rave energy,” we’re told.

Alongside the release, Fake has shared The Grass featuring Wizard Apprentice. On the track’s guest, Fake comments: “I fell in love with Wizard Apprentice’s ‘I Am Invisible‘ and felt our musical styles were similar. Their vocals are smooth and clear and sharp at the same time. They’re like a calm within the storm.”

In 2020, Fake released the album Blizzards. You can read more about him in his XLR8R podcast here.

Tracklisting

01. Arrival
02. The Grass feat. Wizard Apprentice
03. Vimana
04. Boss Core
05. Crystal Vision
06. CMD
07. Bibled
08. Hawk
09. AMEN 96
10. Outsider feat. Clark

Crystal Vision LP is scheduled for April 7 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “The Grass” in full below and pre-order here.

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