Heaven Noise Recordings is an independent music label based in Portland, Oregon, founded in 2009. Though the artist wishes to keep a low-profile, “this is a standout release,” the label explains.
The story behind the release is as follows:
Heaven Noise recently received a scratched CD-R in the mail with the words “Jisatsu no otōsan [DEMO]” hastily written in blue sharpie. Brushing aside an instinct to translate these words, we instead embraced the strange compelling force to listen immediately. As it turned out, this blissfully melancholic collection of lo-fi instrumentals was perfectly capable of translating itself.”
Jisatsu no otōsan is out now, with a full stream available below.
Barbados festival Vujaday has released the phase two artist announcement for this year’s inaugural event, adding Cassy, Atish, YokoO, Nathan Barato, Mark Knight, Behrouz, and Danny Howells, Darren Emerson, and Dave Seaman (the latter three will play a rare B2B2B set) to the lineup.
Taking place from April 4 to 8 in a variety of unique locations around the island, Vujaday will also feature performances by Art Department, All Day I Dream founder Lee Burridge, Green Velvet, Justin Martin, DJ Tennis, Wolf + Lamb, Lonely C (Soul Clap), Nick Monaco and The Fitness & Pony, Lee Foss, Bedouin, Peggy Gou, Francesca Lombardo, Lauren Lane, UK duo Solardo, and Latmun, among others.
The five primary events will run from Wednesday through Sunday on the Southern, Eastern, and Western coasts of the island. Tickets for Vujaday are currently on sale and can be purchased here—this includes options both for general admission and VIP.
The Norwegian-born, Berlin-based duo Soft as Snow—comprised of members Oda Egjar Starheim and Øystein Monsen—deliver oblique leftfield pop that recalls the forward-thinking experimentation of artists such as Cabaret Voltaire, Fever Ray, and Throbbing Gristle, while touching on Detroit techno, ’90s IDM, and cold wave. The album follows on from two EPs for Houndstooth and pushes further towards a rawer, jam-style process, as the duo explains:
“We’ve been experimenting with arrangements and production. The sound is rawer, more experimental and noisy. What maybe differs most from the other releases is that we decided to keep a lot of recordings from the raw material and initial jams. Several of the tracks are more or less kept in the original form.”
Ahead of the release, Houndstooth has shared a menacing remix from Liars, available to stream in full via the player below.
New York composer and guitarist Rafiq Bhatia will release a new album, Breaking English, via ANTI-Records in April.
Bhati is an American composer, guitarist, and producer, who has recorded two solo albums Yes it Will (2012) and Strata (2012). He’s the first-generation American son of Muslim immigrant parents who trace their ancestry to India by way of East Africa. Early influences such as Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, and Madlib—as well as mentors and collaborators including Vijay Iyer and Billy Hart—prompted him to see music as a way to actively shape and represent his own identity, not limited by anyone else’s prescribed perspective. In 2014 he joined Ryan Lott and Ian Chang as members of the band Son Lux, and he’s also worked with musicians Olga Bell, Sam Dew, Marcus Gilmore, Billy Hart, Heems, Helado Negro, Vijay Iyer, Glenn Kotche, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Moses Sumney, and David Virelles.
“”Hoods Up” was the first track I started on Breaking English, and one of the last ones I finished,” explained Bhatia. “Years in the making, with multiple discarded versions littering the path to completion, the piece is the result of me trying to push myself beyond my limits. That required wading into uncharted territory, but it also meant accepting myself for who I am. I think the music carries some of the struggle of its creation with it.”
“I started sculpting “Hoods Up” in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s senseless killing and the subsequent smear campaign against him: the systematic dehumanization of a young black teenager walking home in a hoodie. As I worked away at the song, escalating current events began to add layers of meaning to it. The white hoods from our country’s past kept coming out of the woodwork, reminding us of the horrifying influence they continue to exert in the present.”
Breaking English will land on April 6, with “Hoods Up” streaming in full above.
Back in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, alongside a handful of his peers such as Ricardo Villalobos, Thomas Franzmann, Alexander Kruger, and Markus Nikolai, Marc LeClair ushered in a new style of stripped back dancefloor music most famously known as microhouse. His most known alias, Akufen, was at the helm of this movement, releasing a dizzying array of cuts as likely to move the body as they are to twist the mind—these early releases landed on, among others, Perlon, Trapez, and Oral. His debut Akufen album, My Way, which dropped in 2002 on Force Inc. Music Works, could itself be a literal embodiment and representation of microhouse with its unfathomable amount of intricately cut samples and bent dancefloor grooves. It’s also still regarded as one of electronic music’s most inventive LPs.
Pigeonholing LeClair as a microhouse artist, however, would fail to express the breadth of his output. Look a little deeper and this wider musical universe presents itself via the haunting jazz-like instrumentation of his work as Horror Inc. and the ambient experimentation presented on Musique Pour 3 Femmes Enceintes under his given name. His live and DJ sets, too, subscribe to this wide-reaching approach; you’re as likely to get bumping minimal house as you are deeper and moodier strains of techno.
Notoriously elusive, LeClair has mostly been absent from the limelight following his initial outpouring in the early ‘00s, only popping out every few years for a release or tour under one of his many monikers, the latest of which saw him drop a four-tracker on Karat Records—he also joined the celebrations for Perlon’s 20-year anniversary, with his set at Funkhaus Berlin a noted favorite.
With a wealth of new material and represses of classics such as My Way on the way, we thought it was time to host LeClair for an XLR8R podcast, and across 90 minutes he delivers a set of funk-filled house cuts full of insatiable grooves.
How was 2017 for you?
Challenging but very constructive.
When and where was the mix recorded?
In my home sweet home, during the coldest days of December.
On what equipment did you record the mix on?
Two CDJ 900 Nexus, an Allen & Heath Xone:92 mixer, a Yamaha Promix 01 studio board, an Asus Desktop computer, and Sound Forge mastering software.
Was there a particular idea you were looking to convey?
Not particularly. I never plan a set ahead, I rather let the music speak to me. One song leads to another.
You’re about to re-release your debut album, My Way—when you produced it, did you think it would enjoy the respect and longevity that it has?
Absolutely not. I’m still clueless, to be honest. I didn’t think one second about what I was doing at the time. I withdrew myself for a month in a cabin in the woods, far from civilization, without any means of communication. Outside it was snow storming incessantly. Snowmobiles were racing on the lake in front of my eyes, and “Skidoos” revealed itself. I was just so excited that Achim Szepanski at Force Inc. was willing to release my first long play. I’ll always be grateful to him and my manager at the time and good friend Jon Berry for believing in this record. I always say it was a mix of good timing and good fortune. And as for the longevity of the record, I’m glad that my efforts had found a public and the respect of the latter. Appreciation is the most rewarding aspect of creating.
You also have a new live set in the works—what can we expect?
I always say, expect the unexpected. I cannot say, as I am too close to the music. Let’s say it’ll be diversified. I like when an album takes you in various directions and surprises you when you least expect it. An album shouldn’t be just a double EP or a compilation of club tracks. You have to embrace it as a whole.
What else do you have coming up this year?
There is a new Horror Inc. LP and a new Akufen LP in the making. An EP called Music 2Wiggle2 is about to be released on a Berlin-based Italian imprint named Telharmonic Texture. I’m planning the launch of a new record label, with re-releases of some back catalog early releases, such as My Way, Architexture 1, and more. Also, I was introduced to Isis who runs the Toi.Toi. agency, which is a major move, meaning I’ll be travelling the earth quite a bit.
Mount Kimbie have today shared a previously unreleased track.
2017 saw Mount Kimbie reach new heights. They released their critically lauded album Love What Survives and took their newly formed four-piece live show to sold out venues across the world, including stand out shows at London’s Roundhouse and Paris’ Trianon where King Krule joined them on stage. 2018 is set to follow on this theme, with newly announced festivals and North American tour dates.
To coincide with this announcement, the duo have released “Turtle Neck Man,” taken from the same sessions as Love What Survives. It’s a song of contradictions; the sweet sound bed created by Mount Kimbie rubbing against the thickly painted strident tones of King Krule’s vocals.
“Turtle Neck Man” feat. King Krule is available now, with a stream available here.
North American Tour Dates:
05-11 – Arcosanti, AZ – FORM 05-12 – Los Angeles, CA – Echoplex # 05-13 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel # 05-15 – Portland, OR – Holocene # 05-16 – Seattle, WA – Neumo’s # 05-17 – Vancouver, BC – Imperial # 05-19 – Toronto, ON – Velvet Underground > 05-20 – Sainte-Therese, QC – Santa Teresa Music & Arts Festival 05-22 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s > 05-23 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s > 05-24 – Washington, DC – Black Cat > 05-25 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel > 05-26 – Boston, MA – Boston Calling Festival
Ryan Lee West (a.k.a Rival Consoles) will present his expressive new album, Persona, set for release on April 13 on Erased Tapes.
The title Persona was inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s film of the same name, specifically a shot in the opening credits of a child reaching out to touch a woman’s face on a screen, which is shifting between one face and another. This powerful image struck Ryan and it inspired the album’s main theme: an exploration of the persona, the difference between how we see ourselves and how others see us, the spaces in between; between states, people, light and dark, the inner persona and the outer persona.
Recorded at his studio in south-east London, Persona benefits from Ryan’s exploration of a dynamic production process that combines analogue-heavy synthesizers, acoustic and electric instruments with a shoegaze-level obsession with effect pedals. We’re told that a “greater depth of emotion and confidence can be heard across the album.” It follows the success of a series of releases the Odyssey and Sonne EPs, long player Howl, and 2016’s Night Melody.
Tracklisting
01. Unfolding 02. Persona 03. Memory Arc 04. Phantom Grip 05. Be Kind 06. I Think So 07. Sun’s Abandon 08. Dreamer’s Wake 09. Untravel 10. Rest 11. Hidden 12. Fragment
Persona LP is set for release on April 13 via Erased Tapes, with “Unfolding” available to stream below.
Following the success of his widely-acclaimed album, The Elvin Jones Project (2012), Michael Feinberg is gearing up to release his brand new album, Whatever Possessed Me, on March 23.
Whatever Possessed Me is said to demonstrate everything Feinberg loves about jazz. It’s described as “eclectic yet specific,” swinging yet searching, deep and rich, but all the while full of emotion, spirituality, and conversation between brothers. On it, Feinberg showcases the mature sound he has already cultivated during his short time on the New York City jazz scene. As a bassist, he exemplifies total control and comfort with his craft. As a bandleader, he pushes himself and his quartet sound to dizzying heights, playing with rhythms and textures. The result is something that is at once both polished and edgy.
The album also serves as a journey through some of his biggest influences. It includes selections from icons such as John Coltrane (“Compassion”) and Thad Jones (the dynamic “Lycra, Too?” features Grammy award-winning tenor saxophonist, Kebbi Williams).
Tracklisting
01. Compassion (Live in NYC) 02. Crescent 03. Lycra, Too? 04. Mr. Syms 05. Whatever Possessed Me 06. Meditation 07. Sweet Mama (Live in NYC) 08. Mr. Syms (Live in NYC) 09. I Want To Talk About You (Live in NYC)
Starting music production at the age of 14, Luca’s sound is mostly influenced by old school hip hop, R&B, jazz, techno, and experimental electronic music. This melting pot of sounds and ideas can be heard on Luca’s debut, fusing seemingly disparate elements from various styles into a stunning cohesive sound signature.
In support of the release, Luca has offered up the EP’s b-side cut, “Thing” 9feat. Anothr), as today’s XLR8R download. With its bass-heavy groove, stunning vocal work, and shimmering synths, “Thing” is a perfect introduction to Luca’s sonic universe.
