Bad Stream ‘Already Dark’ (Album Version)

Having grown up with and on the internet, Martin Steer (1986) has transformed its pull into a concept album that is just as immediate and intangible as the digital world. Bad Stream is guitars and machines vanishing in the spaces between Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails only to reemerge amidst techno, noise, and drone. We’re told that Bad Stream is his modus operandi—a soundtrack to the feelings of resignation, isolation, and cynicism within neoliberal cyberspace and to that strangely numbing comfort of bodies transmuting into zeros and ones in real time.

“Already Dark” is the first single and the central piece of the concept album which will be released on April 6 on his own Berlin-based label ANTIME Records. The song is distinctly post-industrial in composition, commenting in its seven minutes on our accelerating world of face recognition, big data, species extinction, mind hacks, and human uploads.

The music developed in dozens of recording sessions over a period of more than two years. It was inspired by artists like Health, Alessandro Cortini, Daniel Avery, Synthesizer Soundtracks, and countless experimental/techno nights in Berlin. The arrangement connects styles like electronica, shoegaze, and pop appeal with instruments like piano, theremin, the unique sound of the Tempest Drumsynth and Martin’s distinctive voice.

In support of the release, and ahead of the album, you can grab “Already Dark” (Album Version) via the WeTransfer button below.

Tracklisting

01. Already Dark (Radio Edit)
02. Already Dark (Album Version)
03. Already Dark (Kaigy Etix Remix)
04. Already Dark (Blurred Vision Remix) 05. Already Dark (ˆL_ Remix)

Already Dark (Album Version)

Podcast 528: Huxley Anne

LA-based Huxley Anne composes ethereal electronic music with an edgy hint of punk. Surrounded by nature as a child, she spent her formative years studying ballet, playing in bands, and working on her three forms of expression—-music, movement, and visual art. Her music fuses elements of abstract hip-hop, heavy bass, experimental electronica, and textural ambience to create a new sub-genre that plays smoothly in an art gallery or seduces you at the club.

The young artist moved to LA in 2014 and began working as a sound technician for a top-tier live sound company that exposed her to the spatial world of the touring music industry. Seeing the potential for her musical career to expand into these new environments, she left the job to pursue music professionally, releasing sparkling, club-ready tracks with artists like Woolymammoth and Noer the Boy, plus a few solo singles. She’s also known as half of the urban music duo PAINT, a side project with mind-bending beat maker Tsuruda that was announced in early 2016. The first PAINT EP, Blood, was met with support from artists such as Noisia and Ivy Lab, licensed for high fashion shows and commercials, and resulted in a loyal online following.

Huxley Anne’s live sets push the boundaries between jazz, bass, and experimental music, largely influenced by the LA beat scene. She’s taken the stage alongside some of the electronic scene’s heaviest hitters, making her Vancouver debut in 2015 with Ekali and High Klassified, her festival debut in a whirlwind b2b with G Jones, Bleep Bloop, and Sayer, and performed around the country alongside Truth, Tsuruda, Penthouse Penthouse, and X&G, while having opened for Travis Scott & Jason Bentley at the Hollywood Roosevelt in LA.

Her submission to the XLR8R podcast series, a DJ set, aims to blend Huxley Anne’s two worlds: the electronic scene of the UK and her roots in the LA beat scene. Tracks come from the likes of Thundercat, Iglooghost, Lapalux, Son Lux, and Alix Perez—plus a few lesser-known curveballs along the way. It’s a 65-minute sonic adventure from the LA beatmaker.

What have you been up to lately?

Hibernating on the Island of Rhodes. It’s studio season, so I’ve mostly been channelling the better parts of The Hermit; introspection and solitude are two of the essential components I rely on to get my creativity flowing. Working on a new record, just directed my first music video. The island bears lots of fruit.

Where and when was the mix recorded?

In the early dawn of a Los Angeles Sunday morning, when the sun is about to rise and a day of breath is given to the concrete vines that clench the city’s inhabitants.

How did you choose the records you included?

I’ve relished the endless creative exchange between the allure of the UK’s electronic scene, and my roots in the LA beat scene. I wanted to explore that connection with this mix, gravitating from the early hip-hop of the 1990’s to the nostalgic electronica circa 2010, then further to the abstract, fizzled, planetary soundscapes of today.

How does the mix compare to your club mixes?

This mix is more focused, more intent on exploring sounds born within the bipolitan void. With my club mixes, I love engaging with the audience. The ritual energy of humans gathering to dance, to make music, is so sacred; I try to honor it as best as I can through improvisation, which can bloom in all directions. Like a heavy pulse emulated outwards, rising almost like a breath.

Was there a particular feeling/mood that you’re trying to convey?

I’ve been going back in time a bit recently, reading into hauntological theories of dystopian futures. It’s helped shaped the musical aesthetic for my next record. Waves of narrative inspiration have been breaking inside me, thinking about humans in these dystopian places, walking blindly through fire. Whenever I ask myself what gives my imaginary characters hope as they face such unsettling futures, I find them going backwards in time. They draw upon ancient myths, simple pleasures, musical histories, storytelling. I hope to convey that, overall, with most of my work—don’t be afraid to believe in magic, to take within you the surreal mythology of ancient times, to turn back time. Let it bloom within.

Tracklisting

01. Snoop Dogg “Gz and Hustlas” [Death Row Records] // Mndsgn. “Adjustments” (Sonnymoon Remix) [Fresh Selects]
02. Iglooghost & Mr. Yote “サイドA” [ACTIVIA BENZ]
03. Herzeloyde “oh (wow)” [Self-released]
04. BROCKHAMPTON “JUNKY” [QUESTION EVERYTHING INC.]
05. Ebbo Kraan “Thirst” [Rwina Records]
06. Noisia “Surfaceless” [Division Records]
07. Tsuruda “a war in the jungle” [???]
08. Iglooghost “lines&lines&lines” [Error Broadcast]
09. Thundercat “Daylight (Reprise)” [Brainfeeder]
10. BROCKHAMPTON “GUMMY” [QUESTION EVERYTHING INC.]
11. Blake Skowron “10pound” [???]
12. Shabazz Palaces “Youlogy” [Sub Pop]
13. Untold “Stop What You’re Doing” (James Blake Remix) [Hemlock Recordings]
14. Son Lux “Easy (Switch Screens) [feat . Lorde]” [Joyful Noise Recordings]
15. Eskmo “Cloudlight” [Ninja Tune]
16. Silkersoft “Yama Sonne” [TAR]
17. Lapalux “Petty Passion” [Brainfeeder]
18. Woolymammoth “Mustard ft. Yokaze” [forthcoming on Alpha Pup]
19. Amon Tobin “In Your Own Time” (Eprom Remix) [Ninja Tune]
20. Havelock “Chamber” [forthcoming on 20/20 LDN]
21. Unknown “Unknown”
22. Alix Perez “Monolith (ft. Foreign Beggards & Jehst)” [Shogun Audio]
23. Mahdyar “Vow” [Kowloon Records]
24. Alix Perez “Crystals” [Shogun Audio]
25. Mad Zach “belittle no one x 1” [Mad Lab]
26. Aether & Eckle “Gloom.8” [Self Release]
27. Sega Bodega “Bush Baby” [Crazylegs]
28. Anna Wise “Precious Possession” [Self-released]
29. Clams Casino “32 Levels (Feat. Lil B & Joe Newman)” [Columbia Records]
30. Onhell “with twin peaks theme” [???]

Photo credit: Lloyd Galbraith

Hatis Noit Combines Western Classical and Japanese Folk on Erased Tapes EP

Japanese vocal performer Hatis Noit will release her enigmatic EP, Illogical Dance, via Erased Tapes worldwide on March 23.

We’re told that the four-track record “creates unique song-worlds with transcendent vocal interpretations’ that “at once deconstruct and recombine Western Classical, Japanese folk and nature’s own ambience atmosphere.” Illogical Dance also features Björk-collaborators Matmos, who were so impressed with Hatis Noit’s recordings that they volunteered to edit the title track.

Hailing from the distant Shiretoko, a small town in Hokkaido, which is the largest island in north Japan, Hatis Noit’s accomplished range is self-taught, inspired by everything she could find from Gagaku—Japanese classical music—and operatic styles, Bulgarian and Gregorian chanting, to avant-garde and pop vocalists. It was at the age of 16, during a trek in Nepal to the Buddha’s birthplace, when she realised singing was her calling. While staying at a women’s temple in Lumbini, one morning on a walk, Hatis Noit heard someone singing. On further investigation, it was a female monk singing Buddhist chants, alone. The sound moved her so intensely she was instantly aware of the visceral power of the human voice.

The name Hatis Noit itself is taken from Japanese folklore, meaning the stem of the lotus flower. The lotus represents the living world, while its root the spirit world, therefore Hatis Noit is what connects the two.

“The human voice is our oldest, most primal yet most powerful instrument. I use it to describe nature’s many sounds, a language that isn’t logical. Yet it forms a beautiful conversation that isn’t restricted to words like the human language is. I want my music to remind us of that.” — Hatis Noit

Each track is made of multi-layers of vocals, all improvised and without words, before being carefully pieced together. No samples are used throughout; even the sound of crushing leaves came from Hatis Noit’s own vocal chords.

Tracklisting

01. Angelus Novus
02. Anagram c.i.y.
03. Illogical Lullaby
04. Illogical Lullaby (Matmos Edit)

Previously only available in Japan, Illogical Dance will receive a worldwide release on March 23, including a first edition on 12″ vinyl. Meanwhile, you can stream “Illogical Lullaby” in full via the player below.

Ableton Releases Live 10

Ableton has released Live 10.

The eagerly-awaited new version of Live will include four new devices (Wavetable, Echo, Drum Buss, and Pedal), workflow refinements including an updated interface with cleaner design and optimized themes, and a re-designed sound library. The update also brings new functionality and high-res visualizations to Push, and Max for Live technology is now fully integrated into Live 10 Suite for faster, more stable performance.

You can dive deeper into the updates and purchase Live 10 here, with a selection of images available in the gallery below.

CLICK ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE AND ENTER GALLERY BROWSING

Jenny Hval and Håvard Volden Collaborate as Lost Girls

Avant-pop artist Jenny Hval and multi-instrumentalist Håvard Volden will release a new EP on Smalltown Supersound as Lost Girls.

The Lost Girls project takes its name from a 2006 graphic novel by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie. The aim is to conjure “sounds and moods displaced from specific moments in time, existing purely in the moment but tantalizingly just outside of one’s reach.”

As the project’s inaugural release, the two-track Feeling EP presents a pair of extended compositions, alternately contemplative and crackling with energy, that complement each other in sound and approach while offering a cohesive vision.

Hval and Volden have known each other for more than a decade, the latter playing regularly in Hval’s live band; in 2012, they released an album together as Nude on Sand, but instead of resurrecting that moniker, Hval and Volden opted for a fresh start.

The two compositions that make up the Feeling EP, “Drive” and “Accept,” are the results of ongoing work that took place over the past three years. The first track, “Drive,” is the final recorded version of an extended composition that’s been a staple of Hval’s recent tours over the past several years. “It kept changing because we were improvising a lot together,” she states, and that shapeshifting nature is reflected in the track itself: over 13 minutes, frissons of electricity and hand drums give way to a persistent beat and shimmering synths that are as menacing as they are strangely serene. Above it all are Hval’s vocals, delivering meditations on the nature of performance, gender, and ownership of one’s self and the material things that exist in our lives.

“Accept,” originally recorded four years ago by Volden, is quite the left turn from the lyrical interplay and relatively formal structure of “Drive”; the 11-minute composition is atmospheric bliss, with jagged guitar tremolo, free-jazz drumming, and intense synths puncturing pockets of silence as Hval’s voice wordlessly snakes in and out of frame.

Feeling EP will land on March 2, with a trailer for the release streaming above.

Príncipe Preps Thrilling Debut From P. Adrix, Shares Track

Príncipe‘s first release of 2018 will be the début by P. Adrix, a 22 year-old artist originally from Lisbon and now based in Manchester.

Titled Álbum Desconhecido, the release is “a supreme example of the innovative scenius in Angolan-Portuguese music, ratcheting the thrilling dynamics of Lisbon’s ghetto bass sound with deadly edits and pressure highly compatible with the UK’s jump-up jungle, drill, or soca grime vibes.”

Alongside the announcement, Príncipe has also shared the first taste of the album in “Zelda Shyt,” a thrilling bass-heavy track streaming below.

Tracklisting:

01. Zelda Shyt
02. Bola De Cristal
03. 6.6.6
04. Estação De Queluz
05. Ovni
06. Abertura De Roda
07. Sonhos
08. Tejo
09. Viva La Raça
10. Tornado

Álbum Desconhecido is set to drop later this month, with pre-order here.

Laarsen ‘Would U’

Laarsen is an electronic music project that aims to “develop a style that connects and creates harmony between humans and nature.” Sonically speaking, it fuses natural elements such as vocal recordings, vinyl samples, and real instrumentation, with modern synthesizers, beats and production techniques—fusing old school club music, UK garage, and jungle with modern R&B.

While Laarsen remains an enigmatic project, we’re told that the producer has a background in drum production, an advanced degree in professional musicianship, and a Masters in music media.

“Would U,” a new single, is a production inspired by the past, the present, and the future, mixing together classic elements of UK garage, Burial-esque vocal chopping, blended with a more modern production.

You can grab the single now via the WeTransfer button below.

Would U

Yila ‘Better (of) Me’

Yila will release a new EP on Supremus Records.

Yila is the musical alias of Alastair McNeil, British artist currently living in Ljubljana, Slovenia and past synths/fx/guitar player for Róisín Murphy. Here he collaborates with Mina Spiler, lead singer in cult art-rock band Laibach (Mute Records).

Better (Of) Me EP comes with remixes from Dave DK, while Rose Tinted & Anna Be (Detone Records) give the track a warehouse techno makeover; and finally, Christian Kroupa (Alleged Witches) serves a tasty plate of mid-tempo electronica.

Ahead of the February 23 release, you can grab the original—a soothing piece of indie electronica—via the WeTransfer button below.

Better (of) me

Tom Trago Connects Legacy, Family, and Commitment to Dance Music on New Dekmantel LP

Dekmantel Records will soon present Tom Trago‘s new album, Bergen, described as the “next and natural step” in the career of the Dutch producer.

A staple in the Amsterdam club scene, Tom Trago has been a familiar face at the Dekmantel events for over 10 years and their relationship allowed him the space to grow and finish his most “accomplished and honest” album to date, which connects his legacy, family, and commitment to dance music in one resplendent package.

Having relocated from Amsterdam, Trago set up his new studio in the coastal town of Bergen, located in the northern Netherlands, to record in his family house. The album was made with the aim of re-creating a global-music sound, along with the music that has influenced him throughout his life, with a new approach influenced by Trago’s immediate natural environment.

Bergen will be Trago’s first studio album since 2013’s The Light Fantastic on Rush Hour.

Tracklisting

A1. Bergen
A2. The Creation Of Lalibela
A3. Zeeweg
B1. Faith Belongs To Us
B2. Always Be With You
B3. Underwater Wings
C1. Morph
C2. The Interval Of Happiness
D1. Fari
D2. Working Machines

Bergen LP will land on April 2, 2018, with clips streaming below.

Trevor Ransom ‘It’s all been such a blur’

Seattle native Trevor Ransom will make his debut on Hush Hush Records with the six-track Spring EP, the third release in the young musician’s catalogue.

Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Trevor’s first venture into music production began during his college years in Los Angeles, before blossoming during an extended period of time split between the rural landscapes of England as well as his ancestral country of Sweden. These quiet environments helped inspire Trevor’s passion for immersive, cinematic, and meditative music, as he fused his classical piano and guitar background with his budding electronic production skills. His debut EP Glimpses emerged in October 2015 on Outset Recordings, providing an initial peek into his sound. The self-released Filaments quickly followed in the Spring of 2016 and expanded upon his instrumental foundations to start including his own ethereal vocals.

Now based back in his home city of Seattle, he’s ready to present the Spring EP. This body of work continues to utilize elements found on his previous releases—atmospheric field recordings, warm electronic production, dynamic compositions��but also finds him exploring new ways to implement his voice. Over six tracks, Spring carries an evocative and captivating aesthetic that mixes neo-classical sensibilities with subtle electronic production, recalling the works of influential contemporary artists Nils Frahm, Helios, and Jon Hopkins in the process.

In support of the EP, which lands on February 23, you can download “It’s all been such a blur” via the WeTransfer button below.

You can pre-order the release here.

It’s all been such a blur

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