Next week, Chloé Raunet (a.k.a. C.A.R.) will drop her sophomore album, PINNED, via Ransom Note Records.
On the new LP, Raunet acts as producer, singer, and songwriter, refining her palette of glimmering post-punk-infused electronics with hazy, melancholic vocals and cold-wave synth lines. Across the album, Raunet presents her emotive range with tracks that flow through bittersweet joy, poignant introspection, and haunting gloom.
Ahead of the release, which can be pre-ordered here, Ransom Note Records has offered a full stream of “Swaggart,” one of the LP’s standout cuts, available via the player below.
“O+SOH” is a hypnotic sweeping soundscape with neo-classical allure. The release acts as a transitional opener for J Colleran (the J standing for Jack), which he explains “was always intended to be an introduction while drawing a line between what’s past and what is to come.” We’re told that the track “advances from his previous productions for a more assured direction in the cinematic ambient world incorporating a quartet into his new work.”
The release lands alongside sublime CGI visuals designed and directed by Nic Hamilton (famed for his work with Actress). “I worked with Jack’s cinematic long-form music to describe a journey across a world on the brink of change; simultaneously familiar and unsettling, innocuous and dramatic. The music’s beautiful cascading structures reinforce a steady and endless passing of time.” — Nic Hamilton
Recorded in The Meadow Studios in Wicklow, Ireland, his anticipated LP debut as J Colleran will be released on Because Music in summer 2018.
O+SOH is out today via Because Music, with the video streaming above.
It’s been barely a decade since footwork emerged out of fast, rampant, often lewd, and ghetto-house and dance-battle-rooted juke. With one of its key innovators DJ Rashad gone and no new significant artists appearing, already it felt the scene had stagnated and the youth coming up in its hometown Chicago and worldwide were getting involved in other styles of music. But Still Trippin’, DJ Taye‘s latest LP, shows that footwork is still alive and exciting.
A Chi-town native, Taye is a generation younger than the Teklife Crew founders DJ Rashad and DJ Spinn. He was originally a rapper and beatmaker, before diving into footwork production, dancing, and DJing. Since the start of the decade, he’s put out dozens of intricate and melodic tracks, digitally and on wax, and has collaborated with many of the scene’s relevant producers. But this latest album symbolises both his artistic development and the cultural growth of footwork by intersecting other forms with its own traditions.
From the opening track “2094,” you feel like you’re in the hands of a musician who’s in no rush to prove himself. It’s an instrumental piece. And though the traditional 160bpm tempo and drumming bassline are there, the half-step percussion makes a hip-hop atmosphere.
One of the standout tracks is “Smokeout,” produced with Teklife crew member DJ Lucky. It’s a style of footwork found in tunes like DJ Rashad’s “She A Go,” which has a contemporary hip-hop aesthetic with an MC and looped lyric bars, but with traditional footwork foundations. What “Smokeout” does is lose the loops and has Taye and Lucky rapping actual verses. The beatless intro, the half-stepping percussion, the stoned synth lines, and the cadence of the vocal delivery all reference the popular trap aesthetics of current hip-hop; and this bridge between footwork and trap is one of Taye’s important achievements.
Another hit tune is “Same Sound,” which features the young Montreal singer Odile Myrtil. Odile’s soulful voice dances lightly along with a dreamy synth as her partner, but this lover’s mood is counterbalanced for today’s ears and hips with raw and melodic drumming bass. For a typically sample-heavy genre, it’s great to hear live singers on the tracks.
Two more significant collaborations are on “I Don’t Know” and “Gimme Some Mo,” the first with Fabi Reyna, the editor of the celebrated women’s guitar magazine She Shreds, and the second with Jersey club queen Uniiqu3. These women between them add guitar, singing, production, and rapping to the album. They add more diversity to footwork by involving disparate styles and by including more women in a scene dominated by men (though ladies do often appear in dance battles).
There are more traditional tunes too. With their sampling and percussion arrangements, “Closer,” “Another4” with DJ Manny, and “Get it Jukin’” with Chuck Inglish, exemplify footwork’s simple but magic effect of shifting coherently from a frantic to a laid-back mood every few bars. They’re polished and versatile, for DJ, dancer, and listener alike.
With Still Trippin’, DJ Taye said he took the chance to not have boundaries with the genre and to reach a broader audience beyond the underground. He showcases the breadth of footwork and pushes the sound forward by building links with trap, R&B, and Jersey. In doing so, he reinvigorates footwork and brings it up to date with 2018 dance culture. May the album’s reception encourage DJ Taye, Hyperdub, and others to continue working in the spirit of growth and hybridity.
Tracklisting
01. 2094 02. Trippin 03. Need It feat. DJ Manny 04. Smokeout feat. DJ Lucky 05. Same Sound feat. Odile Myrtil 06. 9090 07. Another4 feat. DJ Manny 08. Bonfire feat. DJ Paypal 09. The Matrix feat. DJ Manny 10. Get It Jukin feat. Chuck Inglish 11. Pop Drop feat. DJ Paypal 12. Gimme Some Mo feat. UNiiQU3 13. Truu feat. DJ Paypal 14. Closer 15. I’m Trippin 16. I Dont Know feat. Fabi Reyna
Australian-born, Los Angeles-based artist Wons Phreely is set to release a new single.
Growing up in Perth, Australia—the most isolated capital city in the world—Phreely grew up surrounded by a thriving mining industry and little else. His artistic aspirations quickly extended past the limits of his secluded home, and in 2016 he relocated to Los Angeles after obtaining an O-1 “Extraordinary Artist” visa.
“The Night Has An Alibi” is inspired largely by Phreely’s feelings of being out of place in Perth, and subsequently finding the accepting artistic community of L.A. Simultaneously channeling the heartland rock & roll of Springsteen and Costello as well as the indie/pop of Twin Shadow, the track is driven by bouncy, ’80s-influenced synths, while Phreely’s emotive pop vocals sit front and center atop a backbeat.
In support of the release, you can download a previously unreleased remix via the WeTransfer button below.
Founded by IG Culture and Alex Phountzi, CoOp Presents looks to continue the spirit of the legendary CoOp movement, while focusing on the wealth of talent that exists within the London Bruk movement and beyond.
The first release follows last summer’s Selectors Assemble EP, released via First Word Records, which gave the world the first glimpse of the CoOp Presents crew via a selection of UK dance cuts. Selectors Assemble Volume Two presents a six-track selection taking in jazzy 4/4 club cuts, deep broken beats outings, and funk-infused soul.
In support of the release, the label has offered up a bonus remix from Entek feat. Alxndr London, a stunning, head nodding cut which you can grab via WeTransfer below. You can pre-order Selectors Assemble Volume Twohere.
Tomorrow, the crew will also be throwing a party at London’s The Jazz Cafe, which you can check out here.
MeldaProduction has announced a subscription service for its MCompleteBundle, which currently features all the plugins they’ve made, ranging from compressors, reverbs, delays and EQs to synths and drum machines.
MeldaProduction have two subscription options—monthly (49 EUR) or yearly (499 EUR)—which opens access to all plugins immediately after signup and payment. Once the sum of the payments reaches the current MCompleteBundle (1799 EUR), you get a full permanent license that will never change—this includes both subscription payments and what you have spent for regular licenses prior starting the subscription. For those eligible, there is also an EDU discount option, which will give a 50% discount off the subscription.
You can find more information about the subscription service and the range of plugins on offer here.
After working in the shadows as ghost producers in the pop music lane, anonymous LA producers Joq & Zoomy are set to step into the light with their debut collaborative project, Hold Me Up to The Light.
The album is described as a 60-minute “loop” of original electronic productions touching on ambient, IDM, and techno, all connected and intertwined to create one long piece. Joq & Zoomy cite Mark Fell and Steve Reich as inspirations, with repetition and minimalism as central concepts throughout the record.
Through Hold Me Up To The Light, Joq & Zoomy examine contemporary forces in music: the reliance on streaming platforms and the algorithm for discovery, and it’s effect on how music is consumed; the power of repetition; the flattening of music by removing time as a dimension. The record also tackles socio-political themes, such as order and chaos, power and violence, automation, and…repetition.
Tracklisting
01. Flock Of Bees 02. The Old Dog Is Back Again 03. Authoritarian 04. Brian and I 05. The Man in the Machine 06. Strange Boy 07. Dim Light of Hope 08. River In The Dark 09. A Tenuous Grip on Reality 10. Red Gaze 11. Close But No Cigar 12. Beautiful Foolish Arms
Hold Me Up to The Light will land on March 26, with “The Old Dog Is Back Again,” a warped bit of dub techno, streaming in full via the player below.
After working in the shadows as ghost producers in the pop music lane, anonymous LA producers Joq & Zoomy are set to step into the light with their debut collaborative project, Hold Me Up to The Light.
The album is described as a 60-minute “loop” of original electronic productions touching on ambient, IDM, and techno, all connected and intertwined to create one long piece. Joq & Zoomy cite Mark Fell and Steve Reich as inspirations, with repetition and minimalism as central concepts throughout the record.
Through Hold Me Up To The Light, Joq & Zoomy examine contemporary forces in music: the reliance on streaming platforms and the algorithm for discovery, and it’s effect on how music is consumed; the power of repetition; the flattening of music by removing time as a dimension. The record also tackles socio-political themes, such as order and chaos, power and violence, automation, and…repetition.
Tracklisting
01. Flock Of Bees 02. The Old Dog Is Back Again 03. Authoritarian 04. Brian and I 05. The Man in the Machine 06. Strange Boy 07. Dim Light of Hope 08. River In The Dark 09. A Tenuous Grip on Reality 10. Red Gaze 11. Close But No Cigar 12. Beautiful Foolish Arms
Hold Me Up to The Light will land on March 26, with “The Old Dog Is Back Again,” a warped bit of dub techno, streaming in full via the player below.
Dropping next week, the EP, titled Lost Souls, will be Silent-One’s debut, presenting four engrossing ambient cuts filled full of textured atmospheres, ice-cold chords, haunting synth lines, and murky sound design. Lost Souls will be the fourth release on the imprint, following stunning outings from Głós, Taapion Records co-founder PVNV, and Arsenik Records’ Dold.
In support of the release, Silent-One has offered up the EP’s ominous opening cut, “Human Border” as today’s XLR8R download, available via WeTransfer below.
Lost Souls drops on Intimate Silence on February 12 and can be pre-ordered here.
As a producer, Karmil has released on some of the best club imprints like PNN, Idle Hands, and Beats In Space; while as an engineer, mixer, and masterer he’s worked with the likes of Matias Aguayo for Crammed Discs, Kornel Kovacs for Studio Barnhus, and Talaboman for R&S. It’s his first release on Kornel Kovacs and Axel Boman’s label since 2015’s Dans-Maxi Från Nacksving.
We’re told to expect “first-class house jams from a mainstay on the dance scene.”
Tracklisting
A1. All Together A2. Meg B1. UG B2. Tell Me Why
Tell Me Why EP will land on February 23, with clips streaming below.
