Charlotte Bendiks ‘Moped Jacks’

Charlotte Bendiks—from Tromso, Norway—shared her Hidden Tracks EP earlier this year, releasing the first Cómeme EP produced north of the polar circle.

Charlie is a spaced out techno DJ-producer, driven to create “dancefloor pleasure and pain,” who spins records and plays live alongside Jon-Eirik Boska, who also features on this 12”.

Included on the 12″ is “Moped Jacks,” a peak time dancefloor jam that’s equally playful as it is stupid. It’s said to reflect Bendiks’ “various influences,” going from Johannesburg to Cologne and via Tromsø to Detroit.

Tracklisting—Hidden Tracks EP

A1. Hjemme
A2. Kaia
A3. Moped Jacks
B1. Tellstainnj
B2.Noir
B3. Noir (Instrumental)

Hidden Tracks EP is out now with “Moped Jacks” available for download below.

Artist Tips: The Mole

Colin de la Plante (a.k.a The Mole) recently dropped a new LP, titled De La Planet. The 11-track release is the latest addition to a quite brilliant discography that features a long and colorful list of releases—for labels like Perlon, Ostgut Ton, Slices of Life, Haunt, Musique Risquée, New Kanada, Internasjonal, Maybe Tomorrow, and longtime home Wagon Repair.

De La Planet was the Berlin-based Canadian’s third-full length, following on from Caregiver, which dropped just over four years ago. Expertly produced and energetic, the LP remained true to this ethos but felt distinctly new, too. As far as processes go, we were told that sampling was heavily used: much of the material came from “tapping into his enormous reservoir of vinyl and sampling the odd film” which “acted as a complement to the jaw-dropping arsenal of synthesizers” at de la Plante’s disposal. To support the album, The Mole kindly offered to reveal some of the key tips and tricks that he used.

“I want this group of tips to be named “Everything I Learned About Sampling, I Learned from Hip-Hop.”—The Mole

Sample in Mono for Extra Punch 

I read an interview with De La Soul where they were talking about techniques used in one of their early albums. I can’t remember who was talking but they mentioned most of their samples were in mono; they were only in stereo when they liked a certain effect. This made so much sense to me. Save space. Get some extra “punch.” Phil Spector and [Brian] Wilson were also advocates.

Most of the clubs that I went to when I was young were also mono. So even if my record was in glorious stereo, when I played it at the club, it would get munched down. Also, my first sampler didn’t have much memory ram space. Every bit was precious. I even used lower bit rates on the s900 to economize. Which turns out to have a similarly “punchy” effect.

These days I still record most samples in mono, adding stereo effects and imaging later.

Stack Layers and Layers and Layers

All I can say is Public Enemy. I used to always wonder how they got the density in their sound. Why was it so unique? And then I saw Hank Shocklee explain in his Red Bull talk how their 808 kick wasn’t an 808 at all; rather it was the sine wave that is the default startup or initial sound on the Akai S900/950 with various sounds layered on top. In effect, this recreated an 808-like kick.

Again this resonated so much with me. I still make most of my drums, and synths, hell almost everything, out of tons of layers. The clap is never just one clap sound. And when all those claps live in different parts of the spectrum and space, when they all move slightly differently, the simplest parts really come to life.

On the album, the hi-hat on “One-Sided Fool” is actually three unique samples blended and triggered together. The clap of “Sandwich Time is Coming” is the same story: three or four sounds triggered at the same time.

Sample Space

I got this one from a DJ Shadow interview. He said he sampled the quiet spaces between the drum breaks, and he used those “spaces” to fill his own patterns. I like to think of it as adding breadth. It also adds some of that sound, that rarified air that is in the studio. And in the case of sampling from vinyl, considering the needle acts as a pickup (think of the feedback), it adds a little bit of home too.

This is a tough one to illustrate, but the way the drums are pumping against each other in “So What, Don’t You” is a good example of this: one’s space pumps the other’s accent. It’s even more subtle on “River Highways Intro.” They say the devil lives in the details. I think this also means the beauty lies in the subtlety.

Use Any Means Necessary

This tip comes from everywhere. Remember when everyone was shocked that Madlib used the Sp-303 for an entire album? Or when Matthew Herbert used only samples from his body, or Dave Aju used only his voice? In the end, it’s all about originality. By any means necessary.

I love the way Madlib put it: “If I’ve got to, I’ll hook my shit up to the TV.” I love it!

I think one of the best moments was watching The 45 King sing his hi-hat part into his phone for his Rhythm Roulette piece. That and the day I asked Howie B what was the equipment he needed to take on the road with him. I think he was recording in China, and I was thinking he’d say some mic or compressor, something essential. Badass that he is, he just leaned way back and pointed his thumbs at his chest. He’s the essence. You are your own limit. Not the equipment you don’t have. Not the studio or skills or money or fame. YOU! Sample from Twitter. Who cares so long as you flip it nice.

To give an example, there are samples of Jake the Dog‘s real father from Adventure Time in “Soft Translation.” I sampled these with my phone’s voice recorder. I was playing the cartoon on my laptop. I emailed the samples to myself and converted them with Sound Forge.

EQ your Damn Samples

This one goes out to Cristobal. EQ your damn samples! Take out that rumbly ass low frequency content and leave some room for the kick and bass line. Sometimes I can hear myself stomping around the room in some samples. It’s just sub bass, but it doesn’t need to be in there. Shelf that shit!

I do this with nearly all my samples. Immediate example: all three of the first sounds in “Soft Translation” have hard low cuts on them. All between 180-200hz.

There is Something in Everything

Remember this: there is something in everything.

I have friends who listen to a part of a terrible record, terrible music, and say, “Nope, nothing in there.” But honestly, that’s where I find some of my best stuff: in the worst records. There’ll be some gems hiding in there. Maybe I’m wasting my time listening to garbage, thinking, “I should never have wasted my money on this,” and BAM, there is it, the golden moment. And maybe it’s just a snare that I end up using all the time.

I don’t like to name my samples normally, but for show, there’s a horn/siren sound in “He Frank” that I found on a Tomita record. It’s looped and pitched and basically unidentifiable, so I think I’m doing it justice. But yeah, that record is beautiful, but not something I would normally sample. And somehow this simple little line with noise became the main horn/siren in this song.

Make it Your Own

Follow the footsteps of the originals. Do like Delia Derbyshire, Pierre Henry, and Pierre Schaeffer. Slow it down. Speed it up. Play it backward. Play four together and make a chord. Change the volume envelope. Filter it. Ring modulate it. Bounce it to tape. Loop it. Play it through an amp and mic it. Whatever. Make it your own.

For example, there are some Brazilian samples in the bridge of “Braineater Returns” that have been reversed and chopped and pitched.

Northern Electronics to Release The Empire Line LP

Northern Electronics will release the debut album of The Empire Line, a collaborative project comprised of label co-founder Jonas Rönnberg (a.k.a Varg), Posh Isolation’s Christian Stadgaard, performing as Vanity Productions and half of Damien Dubrovnik, together with the hardcore vocals of Isak Hansen.

Rave is described as “a celebration of contemporary rave culture, focused on the everlasting and transcendent as the night slips out past the day.” We’re told that it fuses modern dance music and power electronics with the catharsis of punk rock and that the music ranges from “k-hole anthems to jacking, close-range sessions,” but “bears the traces of the group’s experimental background, ensuring the tension is kept up through the catharsis.”

It follows last year’s debut, Syndicat de la Couture, on Avian.

Tracklisting

A1 / 1. iPad Modernity / Powder
A2 / 2. Ø (for Vainio)
A3 / 3. Herrensauna
B1 / 4. Music for Catwalks
B2 / 5. Mirror Ball Fantasies (for Eie)
B3 / 6. Fast Forward (Intet glemt, intet tilgivet)

Rave LP will land on February 19, 2018, with “Fast Forward (Intet glemt, intet tilgivet)” streaming in full below.

Podcast 519: Setaoc Mass

This week’s XLR8R podcast comes from one of techno’s rising young talents.

Setaoc Mass is the alias of Sam Coates, a Manchester-born Berlin-based DJ-producer. The 27-year-old began DJing aged 16 before experimenting with production two years later. Following two digital releases in 2011 and 2012, his first vinyl release landed on Animal Farm Records in 2013 in the shape of a three-track EP (featuring a Jonas Kopp remix). It was the first taste of his deep, dark, and percussive techno sound.

But this was only the start. A 2015 four-tracker on Work Them Records—the opener of which saw big support from Jeff Mills—saw Coates’ profile grow, leading to a hike in booking requests. Then, in February 2016, having relocated to Berlin, Coates’ Berghain debut arrived, this time playing alongside the likes of Boris and DJ Hyperactive—and it didn’t take long for him to be invited back: he returned in July of the same year, and then once again for a closing six-hour session in October. Setaoc Mass was quickly becoming a well-known name in the German capital’s techno community.

Instrumental in this was Len Faki. The Figure label head had supported Coates’ own SK_eleven imprint and invited Coates to release on Figure having been introduced via a mutual friend. Coates’ Figure debut landed in May 2016, further drawing attention to his work. He returned to the label earlier this year with a four-track collaboration with Matrixxman, and next year he’ll release another collaboration with Cleric.

As a selector, the Mancunian’s sets draw from an expansive spectrum of material. He takes his inspiration from what he terms “light and dark”: while he includes lots of melodies, he also loves the rough low end around which techno is based. The use of three decks, two for playing drum loops, allows him to “sonically push the mood in different directions.”

His XLR8R podcast is a more direct example of his work. Featuring a wealth of unreleased material, from Coates and his friends, it’s a one-hour snapshot of one of techno’s most exciting names: brutal yet melodic techno, all weaved together with a rolling groove.

What have you been up to lately?

I guess the main event lately was spending a nice long week in the US playing shows in LA and in New York; it was a real pleasure to see the vibe there.

How has 2017 been for you? What have your highlights been?

So many highlights really, this was my most intense touring year so far, and can’t wait to push forward into 2018 already.

When and where was the mix recorded?

Recorded in my studio using a set up inside Ableton, MIDI controller, FX, and drum loops.

Could you tell us about the idea behind it?

I feel some of my previous podcasts were very club focused, this one is also, but I kind of wanted to show a more melodic rolling easy listening vibe, a sound which I’ve really been enjoying lately.

Where do you think the mix is best listened to?

Anywhere and everywhere! 😉

How did you choose the tracks that you included?

A lot of my own releases and unreleased material, I also hit up a few growing artists for unreleased tracks and then some more which I sourced out or have been playing recently at gigs. There were a few practice runs and then I came out with the final mix.

How does the mix compare to your club mixes?

This is just a two-deck mix inside Ableton, my usual set up when in clubs is three decks, and I always try to use them to the fullest, so I guess it’s a little cleaner and more structured than I’d play in clubs.

Download Two Hours of Ada Kaleh

Iulian Cuculea (a.k.a Ada Kaleh) has shared a new live recording, this time taken from a recent set at KB18 Kødboderne in Copenhagen on November 25, 2017.

The Romanian DJ-producer has made a name for his emotionally charged, exotic and minimalistic interpretation of house through techno, a sound which lends itself equally well to domestic listening as it does to the dance arena. Much of his material has landed on his own Ada Kaleh România, an avant-garde record label, home of Ada Kaleh and Anam Nesis, that releases organic compositions on vinyl, including his debut album, Dene Descris. Earlier this year, he debuted on R&S Records with Palatul de cleștar, and is set to follow this up with another EP set to be confirmed in due course. As a DJ, his sets dip in and out of various genres, often weaving together more traditional house and techno with ambient and even minimal soundscapes—the result being a trippy yet groovy continuum.

One of his most recent sets, a two-hour recording from Copenhagen’s KB18 Kødboderne, is exclusively available for download via the WeTransfer button below.

Sonja Moonear and Sepp to Play Cairo This Month

Later this month, Sonja Moonear will head to Cairo to play outs:de, a new event concept taking place on an island in the Nile.

The December 15 event will celebrate promoter Desimana’s one-year anniversary in the city, with a special performance by Moonear, with Zeina, Jorg, Aroussi, and Hassan Abou Alam on support duties. Later that night, a boat will pick up party goers to cruise the Nile for an after party headed up by none other than Romanian artist Sepp, with Ahmed Samy and Mazen warming up.

You can find more info on the event below.

outs:de w/ sonja moonear + sepp + more

The island – Cairo, Egypt

December 15 @ 1:00 pm

Hi-Five: Jori Hulkkonen

You would be hard pressed to find an artist who has contributed to electronic music as much as Finnish DJ and producer Jori Hulkkonen has. Since his first forays making music in the ’80s, Hulkkonen has produced an innumerable amount of forward-thinking records—both as a solo artist and in collaboration with his peers—under aliases including Sin Cos Tan, Acid Symphony Orchestra, and Nuclear Winter Garden. It’s under his given name, however, that he is most well known, clocking up over 50 records since his debut EP, Hot In The Heels Of Blane Tudor, dropped in 1995. His latest release, an album titled Don’t Believe In Happiness, landed on My Favorite Robot Records late last month and presented a collection of cuts that, like much of his back catalog, fuse emotional depth with masterful synth work and a knack of transcending genre cues.

For our latest Hi-Five, Hulkkonen pulls together five tracks that look to his youth growing up during the Cold War and the similarities between our current political climate. This is what he had to say:

“Being someone who grew up during the Cold War, recent developments in global politics feel somewhat familiar, so my pick for the theme for this Hi-Five chart is Cold War, and namely nuclear war.”

David Michael Cross “Nuclear War (Part 2)” [White Leather; 2003] 

David Michael Cross (real name: Edward Upton) is actually none other than DMX Krew.

Ed had recorded a Cold War-themed album, and initially, the idea for the promo was that Tiga supposedly “found” these unreleased master tapes from the ’80’s and released it on his new label back in 2002. I’m sure some people bought it at the time, even if Ed’s voice is very recognizable on the record. The album is quite funny, but with a pretty dark edge: “If you don’t put our record on / We’ll give you a nuclear war / If we don’t get to number one / We’ll give you a nuclear war / Everybody dance to the nuclear war.”

John Maus “Pure Rockets” [Upset! The Rhythm; 2008]

For me, John Maus—alongside Ariel Pink—has been one the most interesting and important new artists of this new millennium. His take on the lo-fi synth-pop genre with very engaging lyrics and incredible live performances are quite a unique combo. Also, knowing that he’s a former professor of philosophy at the University of Hawaii adds a certain aura to his productions. 808 beats, live bass, and loads of synths and reverb are the key to my heart, FYI.

Ultravox! “Hiroshima Mon Amour” [Island Records 1981]

Back in the ’70’s, mainly because of their leader, John Foxx, Ultravox! was a very different band than their commercially more successful ’80’s namesake was. On the three albums that he did with the band, he transformed the group from a late-glam / proto-punk outfit to a more electronic one, which eventually led to his departure from the band—and to the recording the synth-heavy genre-defining Metamatic album. The CR-78 drum machine heard on this track became one of Foxx’s trademarks.

This track isn’t literally about nuclear war or the Cold War; however, the word Hiroshima casts a long and dark shadow whenever it’s used. The film this song refers to is an absolute classic, too.

Oppenheimer Analysis “Radiance” [Minimal Wave; 2005]

I first became aware of this track when it was re-released on the New York-based Minimal Wave label back in ’05, although, originally it was recorded back in 1982. Not much unlike John Maus, the background of the artist adds a certain credibility to the music: vocalist Andy Oppenheimer is an expert and consultant in counter-terrorism and CBRNE (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear weapons, and explosives). Gloomy, dark, ominous, and beautiful.

Righeira “Vamos a la Playa” [CGD; 1983] 

What is this uplifting, verging-on-cheesy summery italo-disco track doing on this list? Well, the song is actually about people standing on the beach and watching a nuclear bomb exploding over the ocean. Everybody dance to the nuclear war! This song was a huge hit all over Europe back in ’83, and has become a bit of a “holiday hit”—a genre I don’t usually look kindly upon. But I remember liking this at the time for the production and its catchiness—and once I learned the true meaning, I appreciated it more for the contrast of its dark message and naive appearance.

Beat Movement ‘Entrainment’

Two years after their Anub release, Italian duo Beat Movement return with new EP on Luciano Lamanna‘s Love Blast label, titled Entrainment.

We’re told that this upcoming EP, which lands in January 2018, “envisions a new era of dynamic techno” by “dismissing the most commonly used dark frequencies which break all the usual boundaries of techno music.”

Tracklisting

A1. Entrainment
A2. Body Music
B1. Deux Ex Crepusculum
B2. Verboten

Ahead of the EP’s January 13 release, you can download title track “Entrainment” via the WeTransfer button below.

Premiere: Simone Gatto Shares Trippy Track and Video

Next month, Italian sociologist, DJ, and producer Simone Gatto will drop his sophomore album, Heaven Inside Your Frequencies, in two parts, split across his Out-ER label and its sister imprint Pregnant Void.

The new album looks to fuse Gatto’s personal and professional paths, combining music and writing that follow on from his research and experiments and both fields. The album will be released with his first essay, which will offer a “theoretical and practical analysis on the use of sounds and frequencies in diverse areas of interest, dedicating space to music therapy and primordial techniques as well as their application in the current digital and virtual era.”

The first part of the album will showcase Gatto’s electronic and electroacoustic experiments, whereas the second part will look to his dance personality and club vision—although, both compliment each other and form a stunning coherent picture of Gatto’s position as an artist.

Ahead of next month’s release, you can stream a video from part one of the album above, with a track from part two below. You can also pre-order part one here and part two here.

CUBE 40 ‘You Make Me Function’

TEMPLE TRAXX is the new label from Khan (Of Finland) specializing in material from the early days of techno and house.

The label launched back in October with the release of You Make Me Function, a raw and tough two tracker from CUBE 40—who the label refer to as “The Ramones of techno”—that laid down the label’s penchant for “sleazy-funky-machine-music.” The second release, Bad Computa, dropped in November and was another machine-driven outing from CUBE 40, who “played only one show ever: 1998 at Berlin’s E-Werk, dressed in ripped jeans and t-shirts, long black hair, and a can of Budweiser in each hand to resemble their Gabba-Gabba-Hey heroes.”

In support of the launch of the label, TEMPLE TRAXX have offered up “You Make Me Function” as today’s XLR8R download, available via WeTransfer below. You can pick up the release here.

You Make Me Function

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