Podcast 757: Quimbie

There’s little we can say about Quimbie, other than that he’s a mysterious artist who forms part of Janx Records, based in Germany. He crossed onto our radars last year with Sunday Fiction, a riot of warm chords, dusty samples, booming bass, and infectious rhythms. Earlier this year, he shared via XLR8R+ “Gloria Fake,” a refined sketch from the album’s sessions, alongside exclusive tracks from D:fferent Place and Ana Helder.

In terms of background, all we know about Quimbie is that he was introduced to music through his father, who’d pull him away from playing with LEGO to show him his favorite records. He currently works as a sound engineer and makes music on the side. Towards the back end of 2020, he reached out to Philip from Janx, whom he’d known for a while, and told him that he had a concept album filled with music that he’d made over the last few years.

“I kinda like that I am not a professional musician,” Quimbie tells XLR8R. “Most of my life time I am doing other things than sitting in the studio modulating bass drums or chopping samples, but somehow I am ending up a few weeks a year and trying to express everything that’s in my head.”

For this week’s XLR8R podcast, Quimbie has compiled a podcast featuring a collection of emotional tracks from some of his favorite artists—so you’ll hear Radiohead, Squarepusher, and The Postal Service. Much like his own productions, Quimbie’s selections across this 60-minute mix are wistful and engrossing. Press play for a heartwarming mix of “hopeful love songs,” that’s imbued with a charisma and vibrancy that appeals as much to the mind as it does to the body.

01. What have you been up to recently? 
Two days ago I finished a remix for Carsten Jost to be released on the fabulous Dial Records. And I’ve been doing a lot of glitchy and dreamy trance house bits on my computer recently, though I’m not really sure if they will ever see the light of day!

02. What have you been listening to? 
I’ve been re-listening to a lot of emotional music I’ve been feeling over the past 15 years. A lot of them actually made it into this mix! It was a kind of a spontaneous inspiration just before I recorded this mix.

03. Very little is known about you. What can you tell us about your route into electronic music? 
It was through this CD I got from my parents around 2000, when I was nine years old.

04. Where and when did you record this mix?
I recorded a lot of old CDs and had a closer look through my hard-drive and the music folders that have been laying there for years. As I mentioned above, I recorded it just after re-discovering a lot of stuff I’ve been emotionally attached to.

05. How did you go about choosing and sequencing the tracks that you’ve included? 
All the tracks combine a certain sad feeling, but they are also hopeful love songs. I chose them quickly and recorded them right away.

06. How does it compare to what we might hear you play out live?
I can’t really tell. I am always struggling to strip music I have collected down to a certain selection. It will always depend on my mood and the atmosphere of a place and time and people. 

07. What’s next on your agenda? 
Deleting or saving the trance house bits I’ve been working on! And catching a lot of sleep in the next months.

Tracklisting

01. Cut Copy “The Waves” (Modular)
02. Future 3 “The Boy from West Bronx” (April)
03. Radiohead “Bloom” (XL Recordings)
04. The Postal Service “Natural Anthem“ (Sub Pop)
05. Flying Lotus “You’re Dead!” (Warp)
06. Squarepusher “Tommib” (Warp)
07. Boards of Canada “84 Pontiac Dream” (Warp)
08. Destroyer “Kaputt” (Merge)
09. Washed Out “All Over Now“ (Sub Pop)
10. Midnight Sister “Shimmy” (Jagjaguwar)
11. Sakamoto & Scott “The Left Bank“ (Epic)
12. The Radio Dept. “Pet Grief“ (Labrador)
13. OTTO “Rain Jacket and Shorts” (PLZ Make it Ruins)
14. The Week That Was “All Gone Quiet” (Memphis Industries)
15. Smagghe & Cross “Le Soleil Levant” (Offen)
16. Sun Kil Moon “Beautiful You” (Caldo Verde)
17. The Blue Nile “Broken Loves” (Confetti)

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to hear the podcast offline you will need to subscribe to our Select channel to listen offline, or subscribe to XLR8R+ to download the file. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

Full XLR8R+ Members can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R+ member, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Los Angeles Rapper The Koreatown Oddity Next on Stones Throw with New Solo Album

Dominique Purdy, better known as The Koreatown Oddity, will release a new solo album on Stones Throw.

ISTHISFORREAL? is Purdy’s first full-length on Stones Throw since Little Dominiques Nosebleed in 2020. Across 11 new and original raw hip-hop tracks, the Los Angeles rapper and film-maker reflects on the news we hear about or receive through social media that sometimes you can’t help but wonder whether it’s real or not.

Alongside the announcement, Purdy has shared “Misophonia Love,” a tongue-in-cheek love song about him and his girlfriend who has misophonia, a condition where repeated sounds become so annoying that you feel enraged. Purdy recommends that you listen to the song after researching the condition.

Purdy began his career in music by selling mix-tapes across Los Angeles, and he’s since collaborated with Mndsgn, as Vivians, and the late Ras G, as 5 chuckles. You can read more about him and his work his XLR8R podcast here.

Tracklisting

01. Opening Confession
02. Fundrazors
03. Misophonia Love
04. Indifferent
05. ISTHISFORREAL?
06. Homeboys in Outerspace
07. History Tension
08. Something or Nothing?
09. Hellooo???
10. Existential Landlord
11. An Endless Run

ISTHISFORREAL? LP is scheduled for July 22 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Misophonia Love” in full below and pre-order the album here.

Label Co-Founder Ian Wyatt Next on Mood Hut as Local Artist

Mood Hut will release the debut album from Local Artist, the alias of Ian Wyatt.

Wyatt is one of the co-founders of Mood Hut, but he’s also released his music on Proibito and Rhythm Section. As Slow Riffs, he put out the Gong Bath 12” on Mood Hut in 2015. 

He’s also a spatial sound artist at Lobe Studio, where he regularly holds space as a creative mentor. His goal is to offer support for your stress cycles in our “chronically over-stimulated world.”

On his Expanding Horizons album, Wyatt takes us further towards the intimate end of the radio dial, recording music as a way of processing the emotions of watching his father and partner battle cancer before the pandemic. We’re told to expect themes of love, loss, and life emerge “in a moody brew to help you through.”

Tracklisting

01. Head Right
02. Expanding Horizons
03. Without You
04. Neo Wise
05. Rif Kibdani
06. Self Healing
07. Good Enough
08. Give You My Love
09. Distance Calling

Expanding Horizons LP is scheduled for August 19 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Head Right” in full below and pre-order here.

Podcast 756: Ron Trent

Last month, Ronald Lee Trent Jr., better known as Ron Trent, released What Do The Stars Say To You, a new solo album. It was his first full-length outing in more than a decade, and it arrived more than 30 years after he broke through with “Altered States,” a raw, futuristic techno anthem that he produced in high-school.

Off the back of the track, Trent established himself as a classy purveyor of soul-infused deep house, while running the mighty Prescription Records, one of the most influential house imprints of the ’90s. When he wasn’t making or curating music, Trent would be playing playing it out, becoming a staple in clubs across Chicago, Detroit, and New York, where he would host his own events at the legendary Manhattan nightclubs Vinyl and Shine. The foundations for his success came from his father, who ran a record pool in the late ’70s, and inspired Trent to diligently study, collect, and eventually produce records.

On What Do the Stars Say To You, though, Trent looks back to a time before “Altered States.” Before dance music became his life, he would indulge in the adventurous albums from the ’80s, and appreciate how, with a rich musicality and a smooth flow, great musicians could make seemingly sparse genres acquiesce. This is a side of an artistic repertoire that he’s rarely shown so, instead of making more music to make you move, Trent veered towards an album that prioritized collaboration, creating frameworks for some of his favorite musicians like Gigi Masin and Khruangbin to express their creative energies. The result is an album that traverses jazz-funk, new age, Balearic, Latin rock, and much more.

In celebration of the album, Trent has recorded an XLR8R podcast, on which he underlines his rich musical knowledge and skills in curation. Across its two-hour run-time, you’ll hear some of Trent’s favorite tracks from Larry Heard, French singer Isabelle Antena, and American pianist Rodney Franklin, plus several of his own works from the album. Expect a captivating sonic adventure designed to soundtrack a sunset drive, where hot nights cool down into slow cinematic moments.

01. What have you been up to recently?
I have been consumed in everything surrounding my new album project that was just launched, so lots of interviews like this one and verbal engagements. I am working towards my record release party set in Brooklyn.

02. What have you been listening to recently? 
I have been listening to a wide range of music that includes revisiting my own album. In between my two radio shows, on NTS and WorldWide FM, I am consistently keeping my ear out for inspiration.

03. Your new album, What Do The Stars Say To You, has just landed. How are you feeling about it? 
I must say I feel great about the release. My team and I did a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure everything about the project represents the quality of our intentions. The responses have been great and people are receiving the project with open arms. There’s more work to do though.  

04. When and where did you record this mix?
This mix was recorded in my sound room in Chicago about a week ago. I normally like to record my radio shows at night. This mix was done at night and into the early morning hours. 

05. How did you go about choosing the tracks you’ve included?
The tracks are designed for the theme “sunset drive mix tape.” So there are sonic selections that go well with city life, sunset drives, and the rhythm the city. You can insert a bit of Miami Vice in there if you like.

06. How does it compare to what we might hear you play out?
Though most of what I play out is based on my own taste, every situation is different. There is not some sort of comparison to be made. Playing out is more based on the energy of the people and the room itself. Creating in my own space is an entirely different approach and sentiment. Two different worlds.

07. What’s next on your horizon?
The continuous mission of creativity. More projects that deal with sonics and other forms. Most definitely my live show. Stay tuned!

Web3 Weekly Wrap: Water & Music’s ‘Music and the Metaverse’ Playbook, Refraction’s Creative Grants Program, Vic Mensa and Keyon Christ, and More

This latest Web3 Wrap includes Part One of Water & Music’s ‘Music and the Metaverse’ research series and playbook, which looks at the key principles used to build a metaverse strategy; Refraction Festival’s creative grants program; Vic Mensa and Keyon Christ’s new music NFT release, which presents a new format and stems player; and Dequency, a new music rights and licensing platform.

Check it out below.

Water & Music Releases Part One of its ‘Music and the Metaverse’ Research Series

Water & Music has announced its Season 2 series, Music and the Metaverse.

The series will dive deep into the buzz-filled metaverse concept and find out exactly what the metaverse is and music’s relationship to it to develop a “more actionable roadmap for what truly innovative, digital-native music metaverse experiences could look like.”

Part One dropped today and features nine design principles for building musical metaverse experiences. The principles were based on “theoretical readings plus over 25 interviews with artists and music-industry professionals” and are designed to act as a playbook for forward-thinking artists and builders looking to explore new territory. 

Coinciding with the release of part one in the series, Water & Music is releasing a collection of membership NFTs, priced at 0.1ETH and 0.3ETH (around $120 and $370, respectively). The 0.1ETH NFT offers annual access to Water & Music’s research and community, with the 0.3ETH NFT offering lifetime access.

You can read the first part in the new series here.

Keyon Christ and Vic Mensa Release New Music NFT and Stems Player, Powered by Zora

Keyon Christ and Vic Mensa have teamed up to release Ying Yang Twins, a new music NFT.

Ying Yang Twins presents a new music NFT format, offering an open edition that allows the owner to remix the track via a “spore” player, a Kaos pad-like interface. There is also the ability to unlock loops that expand the song.

The “spore” interface offers a range of functionality, such as the ability to loop sections of the track and adjust its attributes; pitch up and down; stutter and space, a control the effects and stutters sections; and wobble or noise gating. 

The Ying Tang Twins release is powered by the Zora protocol and is currently on sale for 0.0888ETH ($108 at the time of writing).

You can check out the release and play around with the “spore” here.

Refraction Launches Creative Grants Program

Virtual music and arts festival Refraction has launched a creative grants program.

Running across Season 2 and 3, the creative grants program will be awarded across three funding tiers, totaling up to 100k $USDC, which will be divided between event and commission submissions. 

The respective funding tiers available to pitch for include micro-grants, which are artist-managed projects looking for up to 1k $USDC in funding, such as written editorial contributions and radio programming; mid-weight, which include Refraction-assisted projects looking for up to 5k $USDC in funding, such as one-off IRL or metaverse events and NFT collections; and heavy-lift, which include projects looking to run “multi-event series’ incorporating both music and visual arts” that would work with established Refraction guilds (Curatorial, Editorial, Community, etc) to realize the project.

Refraction’s Curatorial guild will assess applications and select those to bring to the Community Snapshot for voting and selection.

There is an open call for submissions running until July 31. You can read more about the grants program and apply here.

Music Rights Portal Dequency Launches 

Earlier this week, music rights portal Dequency launched.

According to the platform, Dequency is the “first-ever decentralized music sync licensing marketplace” that offers music licenses for “digital art and virtual worlds,” directly from the artist or rights holder. The platform is currently in Beta, so many features are still not live yet, including user upload functionality. Dequency has a small selection of artists already live, selected from their close network of artists.

Dequency sync licenses are smart contracts on the Algorand blockchain, which allows instant payment to creators with very low fees. Although Dequency licenses live on the Algorand blockchain, the rights and licenses are not blockchain-specific.

You can check out Dequency here.

Brainfeeder Welcomes Terence Etc. for Debut Album

Photo: Alima Lee

Terence Nance, better known as Terence Etc., has signed to Brainfeeder for a new album.

Nance introduced himself into the public eye as a filmmaker with his 2012 Sundance Film Festival debut, “An Oversimplification of Her Beauty.” He produced V O R T E X, his debut album, along with the help of long-time friends and collaborators Solomon Dorsey, Nick Hakim, and Nelson Bandela.

Most of the songs on the 11-track album are arranged as diptychs that “swell and fold in on themselves in a dizzying oscillation,” we’re told. Nance highlights Stevie Wonder as a major source of inspiration.

Sonically, we’re told that the record defies easy categorisation but is forged with the same spirit of experimentation as Andre 3K, Solange, Serpentwithfeet, Nelson Bandela, and Moses Sumney. And also, Brainfeeder head Flying Lotus. 

V O R T E X also draws on the literature of Louise Erdrich and Toni Morrison, as well as the drawings of Ruby Amanze, whose voice is featured on the album.

Tracklisting

01. V O R T E X
02. Terence’s — Love
03. In Contemplation of Clair’s Scent
04. Stay
05. Infinince or Infinity?
06. Dragon
07. I Miss Things I Never Had
08. Sanity Envy
09. A Moment of Disguise
10. The Merchant of Flatbush
11. (S)he Forgets

V O R T E X LP is scheduled for August 19 release. Meanwhile, you can pre-order here and stream “In Contemplation of Clair’s Scent” in full below.

Artwork: Kirby Griffin 

IMOGEN to Drop Debut Solo EP on Voitax

Imogen Richmond, better known as IMOGEN, will release her debut solo EP on Voitax.

What? spans breaks, electro, IDM, and hardcore across five new and original tracks. Richmond wrote them all during a five-day isolation period following a lengthy bout of writer’s block.

We’re told that there is a “roughness and edginess” to the entire EP that reveals a “strong connection” to her 808 and modular system, which has helped her to create unique textures and granular soundscapes. With these machines, she manages to fuse the punky style of ’90s rave culture with futuristic sound processing.  

What? comes after Richmond’s recent collaboration with TripSixVivo and Paàl on Neosynthesis, released via Club Qu. In March, she joined forces with Ben Pest for Tunnel Vision, an EP on her own label, Wigs.

Last year, Richmond contributed to XLR8R+32, which also featured tracks from Sweely and Galaxy Lane.

Tracklisting

01. Up to No Good
02. Running
03. Beneath
04. Look What You Made Me Do
05. Granular Tears

What? is scheduled for July 25 release. Meanwhile, you can stream clips below and pre-order here.

Sarah Davachi to Release New Album, ‘Two Sisters’

Los Angeles experimental artist Sarah Davachi will release a new album in September.

Two Sisters is a collection of nine extended compositions that abide by the same harmonic language that has occupied Davachi’s solo and chamber writing for the past several years. 

Perceptions of suspension and resolution are in some cases severely extended over a long period of time and in other cases are made to be circular, so as to undo the more typical sensations of sonic progression and pacing. The album combines rare acoustic instruments, such as an Italian tracker organ from 1742 and the third largest carillon in the world, with sin tones and electronic drones.

Conceptually, there is a loose thread that runs through each composition, in that they’re influenced by the perpetual balance of restraint as delight and necessity. 

As a composer of electroacoustic music, Davachi’s work is concerned with the close intricacies of intimate aural space, utilizing extended durations and simple harmonic structures that emphasize subtle variations in texture. You can read more about her in her XLR8R Influences podcast here.

Two Sisters follows Davachi’s 2021 album, Antiphonals, also released on Late Music.

Tracklist:

01. Hall of Mirrors
02. Alas, Departing
03. Vanity of Ages
04. Icon Studies I
05. Harmonies in Bronze
06. Harmonies in Green
07. Icon Studies II
08. En Bas Tu Vois
09. O World and the Clear Song

Two Sisters LP is scheduled for September release. Meanwhile, you can stream “En Bas Tu Vois” in full below and pre-order here.

Dan Snaith Returns as Daphni for New Album

Dan Snaith will release a new album as Daphni, titled Cherry.

Cherry is the first new Daphni music since Sizzling, an EP he released in 2019. In the years since, Snaith has been putting his energy into his Caribou project, releasing the album Suddenly in 2020.

Snaith recorded all 14 tracks of Cherry over a prolonged period and incorporated new gear into the production process. “As is often the case when you’re working quickly and intuitively, new pieces of equipment played a part,” Daphni explained. “It’s weird that when the tracks were put in what felt like the right order it took on a new coherence where it pings quickly from one idea to the next and, at least for me, hangs together in way that feels unified.”

Speaking about “Cloudy,” the album’s lead track, Snaith explained: “The essence of this one is keeping it aloft, like occasionally nudging a balloon that’s only just heavier than air to keep it afloat.”

Last year, Snaith released a Caribou song called “You Can do It.” He released Joli Mai, the last Daphni album, in 2017. 

The album land’s on Snaith’s own Jiaolong label.

Tracklisting

01. Arrow
02. Cherry
03. Always There
04. Crimson
05. Arp Blocks
06. Falling
07. Mania
08. Take Two
09. Mona
10. Clavicle
11. Cloudy
12. Karplus
13. Amber
14. Fly Away

Cherry LP is scheduled for October 7 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Cherry” and “Cloudy” below and pre-order here.

Music Submissions Roundup: May

With July upon us, we’re ready to share with you the latest list of our favorite XLR8R+ submissions, this time coming from May. What we’ve been digging for this particular edition have been some hard-hitting tracks from Alonzo, whose album on Cultivated Electronics draws influence from bleak urban landscapes and old city ruins, but there’s also “Section 30” by CSV, which is almost certain to have you jumping around. For the softer touch, you might head towards Adam BFD’s “Sonar,” taken from the French producer’s latest release on Lost Palms, or “Thick Of It,” a taste of the debut album from Boy With Boat. In terms of mixes, the bass-heavy, warped out sounds of Erica Van Berger’s podcast caught the attention of the entire XLR8R team, so do, please, dig in, but there’s much more. As always: thanks for all your submissions. We’ll be back with our latest picks soon.

For those unfamiliar, XLR8R+ is a member-supported music community and curated music experience. Every month, you will get three exclusive tracks—sometimes more—by a wealth of amazing artists that XLR8R has supported over the years, as well as access to the member’s area where you can submit tracks and DJ mixes to be showcased in this feature series and to the XLR8R+ community. There’s also exclusive editorial content, mixes, FREE passes to music festivals and events, playlists, and more. You can find out more here.

^L_ “LONER”

^L_ is the moniker of the Brazilian producer Luis Fernando, who started making music as a teenager, citing bands like My Bloody Valentine or Nine Inch Nails as the inspiration for his first shoegaze-leaning excursions. In 2014, he released his debut album, Love Is Hell, through the Berlin label Antime, the same place he released a more dancefloor-focused EP called The Outsider in 2016. The older he has grown, the more eclectic his tastes have become, and his output now oscillates between film score-inspired sounds, acid techno, and noise. “LONER,” an acid techno track, is taken from Luis, his fourth full EP for Antime.

Listen/Buy

Alonzo “Animal Control”

Originally from Miami and now based in Brooklyn, New York, Alonzo has previously released on W.T. Records, Zement, Phormix, and Lost Soul Enterprises. He also forms part of Lithium Parasites alongside Vidrio. Earlier this month, he put out They Come In Twos, a new album on Cultivated Electronics, the London based Electro label headed up by Sync 24. Across eight hard-hitting electro jams, Alonzo drew influence from bleak urban landscapes and old city ruins, turning in a must-have album for fans of bass music.

Listen/Buy

CSV “Section 30”

With “Section 30,” CSV—an alias of Chris Speed Visuals—has released another genre-bending cut into his garage-infused collection that spans labels like Sheffield’s Off Me Nut, Human Error, and The Games We Play. The London artist’s dark sound comes from his teenage years spent immersed in dingy east London club nights. Nowadays, he draws on a myriad of influences including grime, jungle, and dubstep, plus algorithmic compositions, to make boundary-pushing results. “Section 30” pulls in samples from around his home, which he combines with intense bass, bullet casings, sword slashes, and pitched down vocal chops.

Listen/Buy

Boy With Boat “Thick Of It” (Original Mix)

Will Olsen, better known as Boy With Boat, is an Australian producer based out of Brisbane. His dynamic take on melodic techno, progressive house, and electronica has attracted the attention of labels like Recovery Collective, Interfonic, Ballroom, and Open Records. “Thick Of It,” scheduled to land on Open Records in late July, is the first taste of Olsen’s debut album, which is filled with “14 stellar tunes across the full spectrum of his sound,” we’re told. Olsen wrote each one of them while juggling working on the frontlines of the pandemic as a pharmacist and studying for his PhD.

Listen/Buy

Sensitive Golgoth “SwingPool 84”

Guillaume Marie, better known as Sensitive Golgoth, is a scientist in ecological modelling by day and musician by night. Based in Avignon, France, he releases a breed of house music that’s smooth and warm, and in March he released the beautiful “SwingPool84” via his Bandcamp. If you like that, we’d also recommend “Echoes in the Storm,” which you can stream here.

Listen/Buy

Anthony Manning “#38”

https://soundcloud.com/germstore/38a

The career in music of Anthony Manning, from France, dates back to the ’90s but his new music represents a departure from anything he’s released before: it makes no use of synthesizers. There is no plan to this project, besides Manning’s desire to reconnect with the joy of interacting with a physical instrument. “#38,” the first track from this collection, started as an experiment, and a first attempt at using microphones. 10 months passed between the first notes being struck and this version emerging, but we can’t wait to hear more.

Listen/Buy

Marcio McFly “Portofino“

Marcio McFly is an electronic artist based in Italy whose music is based around the intelligent use of his vintage analogical synthesizers. “Portofino,” a dreamy synth-pop track, is taken from Conservare le Macchine è un Dovere (meaning To Preserve Machines is a Must), an ambitious release where dancefloor tracks are with techno-pop songs. It’s almost eight years old but it still sounds good today.

Listen

Adam BFD “Sonar”

Originally from Normandy but now residing in Paris, DJ-producer Adam Boufeldja (a.k.a Adam BFD) has made a name for himself with his emotional breakbeat productions that fuse tear-jerking melodies and cinematic euphoria. In March, he put out an EP on Lobster Theremin but “Sonar,” with its assertive kick-drums that punch beneath a wistful melody, is the standout cut from his debut on Shall Not Fade’s Lost Palms label. Innervisions, the release, is Boufeldja’s fourth EP of the year.

Listen/Buy

SMYAH “XLR8R Guest Mix”

Yavor Zografski (a.k.a SMYAH) is a music producer based in Bulgaria whose sound draws from broken beat, left-field bass, and movie scores. Earlier this month, he submitted a mix that he recorded especially for XLR8R, exploring the depths of dubstep and grime, and featuring a lot of his own material. We highly recommend.

Erica Van Berger “Phormix Podcast #232”

Erica Van Berger is a researcher of experimental electronics and, earlier this month, he delivered a podcast filled for Phormix, a Greek platform. Filled with bass, beats, and tribal sounds, it’s a warped out mix that we highly recommend.

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