Other than single-track contributions, remixes, and singles as Fabio Lazaro and Almost East, Iwata has kept a reasonably low output. He’s most strongly affiliated with Junki Inoue’s SAISEI label, where he’s been editing pioneering early Japanese techno from the likes of Suzukiski for re-release.
Now, after releasing “Acid House” on Butter Sessions’ Come Together 12” back in 2020, he’s back with his first full-length.
The 10 tracks galvanise his growing studio reputation, exploring an eclectic array of tempos and genres from ambient textures and field recordings to broken dancehall rhythms, dub, and techno.
Tracklisting
01. Crux 02. Neverland 03. Funclub 04. Humid Gathering 05. Shadow of the Rock 06. Heroes Show Up Late 07. Gamelion 08. Sundance 09. Ancient Tape 10. Time 2 L
Kaizu LP is available now. You can order the album here and stream it in full via the player below.
This week’s podcast comes from Dana Ruh and Julie Marghilano, two friends based in Berlin. Ruh, a classy DJ-producer who is obsessed by the complexities of sound, was one of the first artists that Marghilano signed to her Sol Asylum label, a “safe shelter where your mind and body can go crazy.”
Ruh’s label, Broquade, has since released a stream of records characterised by their subtle, minimal tropes and, in 2020, she put out her Time Out Of Mind album on her other label, Cave Recordings. Marghilano, a classically trained violinist and analog gear nerd, meanwhile, has evolved into an impassioned DJ-producer who has hosted Sol Asylum parties at the cherished Club der Visionäre. She’s also signed and curated records from the likes of Miss Jools and Anton Zap.
During their respective north American tours, after reconnecting through the pandemic, they decided to meet up for a couple of back-to-back gigs, including one memorable night at The Block in Salt Lake City in early April. Beyond their friendship, it’s a means of pushing each other beyond their musical boundaries, creating a musical adventure that is greater than the sum of its parts. Across its nearly-three-hour run-time, this particular set champions up-tempo house but also tougher, peak-time techno and UK garage. “We loved the openness and flamboyant vibe,” Ruh and Marghilano told XLR8R, and we think you will too.
01. What have you both been up to recently? Ruh: I’m getting back to touring. I have been traveling extensively and finally I’m getting inspired to be in the studio again. Marghilano: I have been changing up my studio to make it more live-friendly, organising Sol Asylum in Barcelona, and starting my other party, Gravity, in collaboration with Isabelle Bees.
02. What have you both been listening to? We are big R&B, new jazz, and hip-hop fans so we have been listening to RINI, Kendrick Lamar, and Robert Gasper.
03. This is obviously a B2B mix. How did you guys connect, and why do you like playing together? Marghilano: Dana and I first connected through music and, after a couple of years, especially during the pandemic, we became each other’s ride or die. We had played together at Club der Visionäre in the past and the flow was so good that we decided to try some dates together. We both had played in New York and for The Block solo, and we loved their vibe so we pitched our b2b and it all came to fruition.
04. Tell me about this set: what made it so memorable for you? We enjoy pushing each other in different directions when playing together, so that always makes for some unexpected fun. The night was memorable because of a fun, flamboyant, and music-loving crowd but also a top notch sound system. It was so nice to see people dressing up with props and costumes and not taking themselves too seriously. It was quite refreshing compared to the Berlin music scene.
05. Can you tell us some of the tracks inside? We played some unreleased tracks of both of ours, including a secret alias of of Julie’s. You’ll also hear some of our favourite older records, flowing between house, techno, breaks, and UK garage. Here are some of the artists: Thotful Spot, Brook & Trans, Jason Nevin, RP edits 01, Omega Men, Moodymann, and PengCan. Can you guess the alias?
06. What’s next on your horizon? Ruh: There will be some more releases with Cave Recordings, plus some more jam sessions.
Marghilano: I am working on a live performance and there will be more releases and parties with Sol Asylum and Gravity in the next months.
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.
Kode9 will release a new album via his Hyperdub label.
Escapology is the British producer’s first album since 2015’s Nothing.
It’s a more club-focused configuration of Astro-Darien, a work of “sonic fiction” that will be released in October on Hyperdub sub-label Flatlines. Across 15 tracks, Kode9 reshapes the soundtrack’s “tense, off-world atmospheres” into slices of high definition, asymmetric club rhythms, touching on footwork, drill, and dubstep.
The Astro-Darien universe surfaced last year as a two-week audio-visual installation on the main dancefloor at club space Corsica Studios in south London and as a multi-speaker performance at the INA-GRM in Paris
The artwork for both Escapology and Astro-Darien was produced by Kode9’s long-time collaborators Lawrence Lek and Optigram.
Astro-Darien will be the second release on Flatlines following the late Mark Fisher and Justin Barton’s audio essay, On Vanishing Land, in 2019.
Tracklist:
01. Trancestar North 02. The Break Up 03. Toxic Foam 04. Orbex 05. Angle of Re-entry 06. Freefall 07. In The Shadow of Ben Hope 08. Slim-Darien 09. Cross The Gap 10. Uncoil 11. Astro-Darien 12. Lagrange Point 13. Docking 14. Torus 15. T-Divine
Escapology LP is scheduled for July 15 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Torus” in full below and pre-order here.
This week’s Web3 Wrap includes Beatport and PIXELYNX’s partnership with Junction 2 on an NFT drop, COLORS announcing its founding member passes, 77-artist band Chaos dropping their NFT experiment with Chaos Festival, Tamago’s $1 million seed investment, and more.
Check it all out below.
Beatport and PIXELYNX Have Partnered With Junction 2 on a Derivative Synth Head NFT Collection
Beatport and PIXELYNX have partnered with Junction 2 on a new NFT drop.
The collection is a derivative of Beatport and PIXELNYX’s Synth Head collection, which dropped earlier this year. This new collection, which features 300 generative NFTs, hosts a range of new features and added IRL utilities.
All NFTs in the Junction 2 collection will grant holders a one-day festival pass, queue jumps, a Synth Heads t-shirt, access to exclusive vinyl and merch drops, and whitelist spots for future NFT drops. Four “super rare” NFTs in the collection will grant holders all the previous benefits, plus two-day festival passes, artist-bar access, Junction 2: Inner City club tickets, and a high-quality print of the Synth Head NFT. One “ultra rare” NFT holder will unlock lifetime access (with a +1) to Junction 2 festival, plus all the previous benefits.
You can register for presale access here, with further details on the drop announced soon.
COLORS Announces Founding Member Passes
COLORS has announced its Founding Member passes.
COLORS is, according to the website, an “aesthetic music platform showcasing exceptional talent” via the promotion of “the most distinctive new artists and original sounds,” which will all be realized with “editorial, IRL and URL experiences, apparel, NFT drops and more.”
Tomorrow, COLORS will open public minting for its Founding Member passes, which are essentially blank NFT canvases that will display curated artworks each season developed through grants awarded by the community. Holders will also gain access to “exclusive seasonal mints,” IRL and URL DAO event access, Founding Member Discord channel access, proposal voting rights, and more.
There is a total supply of 1700 Founding Member passes, with each selling for 0.2 ETH ($358 at the time of writing).
You can learn more and mint the Founding Member passes here.
Chaos Festival and NFT Drop Goes Live
Chaos Festival goes live today.
Chaos is a Song Camp experiment, and a headless band of 77 artists— a group consisting of 45 musicians, nine visual artists, six engineers, five radio producers, three economists, two lore masters, and seven operatives helping realize the project.
Today, at 2:23 p.m. PT, the fruits of the band’s three-month existence (experiment) will go live. The collection will feature 5000 Chaos Packs, with each pack containing four music NFTs, with the music NFTs falling under Acts, which represent two-week creation blocks of the songwriting camp. Pack holders can only listen to and see what songs have been assigned to their pack after they open it, which is an on-chain transaction that mints (randomly) four tracks out of the 45 possible songs created by Chaos. A unique cover artwork will also be generated for each NFT.
Ahead of the launch, Chaos Festival will hold a “Countdown to Chaos” hour at 1 p.m. PT, as well as a “Chaos Giveaway” at 2 p.m. PT for anyone holding a Chaos Festival ticket.
You can find out more about Chaos Festival and the drop here.
Web3 Streaming Platform Tamago Announces $1 Million Seed Investment and Upcoming NFT Drops
Web3 streaming platform Tamago announced a $1 million seed investment.
The seed funding was secured via Block0, Move Capital, Daedalus, Human Guild, and Big Brain Holdings, allowing Tamago to reimagine the “streaming platform model through a mix of Web3 and NFT technology.”
Outside of being purely a streaming platform, Tamago recently added an in-app Near wallet, which allows artists to mint and sell downloadable content as NFTs. Upcoming NFT drops include Felix Da Housecat, who is planning a succession of one-of-one drops throughout the year; Panorama Bar-resident Paramida, who will release a bundle that will include an unreleased track, vinyl dubplate, and guestlist spots to Love on the Rocks; and Tiga, who has committed to an NFT drop in July.
Brian Piñeyro, better known as DJ Python, has revived his Luis alias for a new mini-album on AD 93, formerly known as Whities.
057 (Schwyn), scheduled for release later this month, is an ode to a best friend, namely Matthew Schnipper.
Sonically, it represents the “inscrutable mix of detachment and contentment” that made DJ Python’s Mas Amable a modern touchstone, we’re told, but it also possesses the “heartfelt ’90s sheen that is Luis’s sonic signature.”
We can expect an outing of scuzzy, iIdiosyncratic rhythms and twinkling ambience that build patiently before arriving at the blissed breakbeat closer.
Luis’ previous release, Dreamt Takes, came through the now defunct 1080p label in 2016.
Tracklisting
01. timmy chalamet feat. Lis Dalton 02. or anyone said it 03. yoonito 04. we still or nah 05. jack anderson
057 (Schwyn) is a scheduled for June 17 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “timmy chalamet” and “or anyone said it” in full below, and pre-order here.
The group recorded the album sessions together at the tail end of their 2019 European tour, locking themselves away in the studio for three days of improvisation.
But with Pike marooned in Australia, and Abbott and Wylie in different parts of England, it meant an enforced gestation period. Whereas previously the band would pore over their long, uninterrupted live studio sessions and select passages that would become each track, on this record the hiatus allowed them to seek additional input from James Holden as well as producer David Pye.
Sonically, where the band’s second album, New Hymn To Freedom, had its “face tilted up to the heavens,” we’re told, Earth Patterns is a “more grounded” record.
“Moments of jazz harmony collide with cinematic soundscapes,” we’re told, “and long searching passages build into kaleidoscopic frenzies.”
“I think the record we’ve ended up with is an emotional outpouring,” Abbott says. “There’s a fluidity to it that feels like we tapped into something quite raw. The last record felt like drifting in space but I see this new record as a journey from the outer reaches of the universe down onto the earth, like a macrocosm to microcosm arc,” he explains.
Away from Szun Waves, Wyllie has been busy with Portico Quartet and his own Paradise Cinema project.
Pike, meanwhile, put out his third solo album, Prophecy, in July 2020, while Abbott has recently released Translate, his first solo album in six years, on James Holden’s Border Community label.
Szun Waves also released an EP, Three, comprised of previously unreleased tracks from the New Hymn sessions, in the summer of 2020.
Tracklisting
01. Exploding Upwards 02. New Universe 03. Garden 04. In The Moon House 05. Be A Pattern For The World 06. Willow Leaf Pear 07. Atomkerne
Earth Patterns LP is scheduled for August 19 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “New Universe” in full via the player below and pre-order here.
Sterac is one face of Steve Rachmad, the Dutch producer who has been churning out timeless classics and dancefloor gems as Black Scorpion, Tons of Tones, Rachmad Project, Scorp, Parallel 9, Ignacio, Dreg, and Sterac Electronics for more than quarter of a century.
Whereas these other aliases exist for his dub, disco, and even house records, Rachmad uses Sterac for his excursions in the no-nonsense, darker side of techno. You’ll find Sterac records sprinkled across labels like Klockworks, Delsin, and Luke Slater‘s Mote-Evolver. Over the years, these sounds have been reinterpreted, remixed, and reworked by artists like Ricardo Villalobos and Vince Watson.
For this week’s XLR8R podcast, Rachmad has delivered a live set, recorded last month at Thuishaven in Amsterdam. With such unparalleled experience, few people know how to make people dance like Rachmad, and this set is no different, except that it comprises nothing other than Sterac material and remixes, including soon-to-be-released tracks on an upcoming Token EP. Press play for a set of ferocious, brooding techno from a master of the genre.
01. What have you been up to recently? Music, music, and music. I have made large amounts of new music during the pandemic. I also had some studio time with Speedy J in April, because we are working on a new project to be launched soon. I am very excited about it. Furthermore, I have been touring again for the past months. I am trying to do a gradual take-off, finding balance between time in the studio and being on the road.
02. What have you been listening to? To be honest, I haven’t been listening to a lot to stuff lately because I am so in my own music bubble that I barely take time to listen to other stuff. I am trying not to break my own flow. I think the last thing I might have listened to was the Arpanet album from a few years ago. No beats, and very cinematic electro stuff.
03. How’s 2022 going for you so far? I have to say it’s getting better each day. The agenda is filling up again and we can all finally do our jobs again. And, in between, I’m again trying to finish some projects which are keeping me occupied.
04. When and where did you record this mix? This mix was recorded at the end of March on the techno special at Thuishaven Festivalterrein in Amsterdam.
05. What made this mix so memorable for you? For me personally, that it is a mix with only my own work which I barely do normally. Lately, I’m seeing it as a challenge to fill a whole set with my own work while keeping it interesting.
05. What do you remember of the night? I remember that people were really going for it. It was a magic evening; you could sense that people were really into partying again, and I was also totally in my flow!
06. This mix is full of your own material. Can you tell us about that? The mix is variety of new try-outs that I’ve finished over the last two years, older productions, remixes, and some edits. And I went back this time with lots of ’90s work which I haven’t played for years. I also played some music from my upcoming release on Token that is coming out at the beginning of July.
07. What’s next on your horizon? Coming soon, as I said, is a Sterac release on Token which is set to hit the stores in the beginning of July, then there’s a track for a Stone Techno compilation alongside a huge line of artists I respect, made entirely of samples extracted by Matthew Herbert from the frequencies of stones from the large collection at the Ruhr Museum, in collaboration with The Third Room. It’s a special project.
I also have a Steve Rachmad release coming up on Michel de Hey’s label. And, as I mentioned previously, Speedy J and I locked ourselves in the studio for a few days, which resulted in a few hours of material to be released later in the year. More information will come soon.
The rest is all under construction, but there is enough material for several albums!
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.
HOCO Fest has finalized its 2022 phase-one lineup plans.
The experimentally inclined festival will run in partnership with Hotel Congress, taking place once again in Downtown Tucson, Arizona, and this year running from September 1 to 4. Like previous years—due to Covid, HOCO hasn’t run since 2019—the festival will feature musical performances, daytime pool parties, art installations, demonstrations, and food and drink offerings, with this year also featuring a Sonoran Desert Sustainability Summit.
Music acts announced on the phase-one lineup include a range of acclaimed international artist and US-based fan-favorites, including West Mineral Ltd label head Huerco S, Los Angeles band Warpaint, Aurora Halal, Kush Jones, Mdou Moctar, Armand Hammer, Fucked Up, Kid Congo Powers, and many others.
Welcome, once again, to another submissions roundup—this time for April. This month, we’re delighted to present music from many new faces, in particular Rome-based producer Marco Diamubeni, whose back catalog we’ve been tuning into this month. And Italy, for whatever reason, is represented strongly on this list, with Matteo Ciccarone, better known as Sickarone, featuring too, alongside Francesco Terranova, who showcases a more techno-focused EP. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for something more soothing, then look no further than Aspetuck’s delightful mix, which captures the push and pull of changing seasons, or “Hope” by New York’s Ses, a slice of obscure and elegant electronica that we just can’t stop playing! Thanks once again for your continued support!
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 mixesto 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.
In April, Kevin Erlicher, better known as Loverground, released My Love is True, a pop-oriented EP that followed his Whatever Happens, Happens EP on Majestic Casual. The release brings together dreamy synthesizers and danceable rhythms, with the addition of Erlicher’s reverberated voice making for a sultry combination. We’re streaming “How You Feel,” the opener, here.
Matteo Ciccarone, better known as Sickarone, is a producer from Turin, Italy with a sound shaped by jungle, garage, and footwork. His productions are full of chopped breaks and pitched, hypnotic vocals. In 2021, he released a six-track EP called Rudecat on 4NCY, but more recently he’s put out an EP on Milan’s Funclab Records, which features a high-energy remix from Denham Audio, a track that is full of fierce low-end and searing percussion that hopes to bring a new urgency and vitality to the modern rave scene. We’re streaming that cut here.
Emeric Di Paolo, who created his Luxus Varta alias in 2015, is a mysterious French producer exploring the realms of electro and IDM releasing on Shipwrec, Trust, and Brokntoys. For his third release on his own label, In Abstracto, he ventures into a downtempo exploration with a bittersweet flavor. We’re streaming “Cria Cuervos,” the closer, in full here—but we suggest you check out the full release—it’s a slow-burning chugger for neon nights.
Italy’s Francesco Terranova, who during the ’90s as part the Open Mindz collective performed alongside the likes of Jeff Mills, Laurent Garnier, and Luke Slater, has now delivered his fifth EP for the Netherlands’ EPMmusic. The EP features four no-nonsense, straight-to-the-dancefloor techno tracks, beginning with this pulsating warehouse-primed opener, “Tunafish.”
Allt Är Dött, a label based in Sweden, has released the debut EP FROM HXJKT, a mysterious project. Expect four tracks of hypnotic, deep, and dubby techno with occasional tribal-like percussion and abrasive synths, such as this one, “Dom Kommer,” a rolling slice of psychedelic techno.
Gwendoline, a cold wave producer based in Rennes, France, shared Après c’est gobelet! earlier this year. Now, though, he’s returned with a remix package featuring Traumstadt, who delivers a deep krautrock version of “Voldebière,” and UMWELT, who turns “La Fin Du Monde” into a closing track for warehouse parties. We’re streaming the former here; dive into its intoxicating sound world.
SMYAH, founder of Sound in Picture, meets film lab technician Pamela Leal for yet another audiovisual collaboration focused on analogue imagery and ambient, cinematic soundscapes. “Ascension” is an atmospheric, emotive piece that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. We’re big fans of SMYAH’s work and would recommend delving into his back catalogue, it’s ripe for extended listening sessions.
Hailing from Sofia, Bulgaria, Boyan Angelov (a.k.a Boyan) is inspired by soul and funk music. In 2019, he joined the Stereofox label and shared “Morning With Her,” and now he’s back with a release of deep house and electronica, including “Valley Of Rose,” an immaculately produced low-slung house track full of stunning keys. We’re excited to hear more.
Rome-based producer Marco Diamubeni found music through his mother, who had a strong passion for soul and R&B, especially Marvin Gaye and Lionel Richie. Stylistically, he fuses theses influences with hip-hop, French touch, and UK Bass to make a style of his own. “Colombo” is one of his more recent tracks, available now on doubledoubleu, it’s a warped ride through deep bass and stoned vocal lines. “u said / now I,” released in September, is also worth your time.
After dedicating nine years to experimental electronic music and soundtrack composing, Quizzik moves into indie dance as one half of DeltaFoxx. Last year, though, he returned to his electro and IDM roots by remixing fellow Brazilian experimental producer ^L_ on a release through Berlin label Antime, and now he’s delivered a stripped-back remix of Meduna’s “Nafiltida” for 6 Plusten Records, bookending the track with a nimble bassline and skittering percussion.
Earlier this month, Wex Records, a Berlin label for introverts, released a thoughtful compilation to help Ukraine. The standout of the release was “Hope” by Ses, a slice of obscure, elegant, and calming electronica that we keep coming back to. Check out the full release here.
Aspetuck “as winter fades; a meadow of delight” Mix
Aspetuck, whom we’ve featured before, has shared with XLR8R a two-hour mix he recorded in November. Though it didn’t really have a purpose at the time, it now reminds him of the period of limbo and tension in the northeast US when winter is slowly but surely giving way to small hints of spring.
“It’s such a nostalgic feeling experiencing the dramatic change between seasons again, as tiny flowers and bulbs start popping up everywhere,” he tells XLR8R, “after living in California for so long where the seasons are more mild.” The mix represents the push and pull between the seasons and flows through tracks from Nehoki, Alex Albrecht, Martinou, Seefeel, Willow, and Aspetuck himself.
Motion:Theory, the collaboration of Katharine and Ben Abrahams, have shared with XLR8R a mix of hypnotic grooves and lush astral house. Tune in for two hours of psychedelic madness.
SMYAH again, this time with a mind-bending hour-long mix of dub, breaks, and grime, threading a hallucinogenic line through tracks from Calibre, Om Unit, FLO, Sun People, Khan, Fixate, and, of course, a few of his own.
Dion Mckenzie, better known as TYGAPAW, will release his debut album on vinyl.
The Brooklyn-based artist originally released GET FREE in November 2020 on Mexican label N.A.A.F.I., delivering an 11-track collection of hard-hitting, cathartic energy exploring Black joy, the active dismantling of imagined limitations, and the eradication of self-doubt using techno landscapes.
Upon learning that there was no plan to release the record on vinyl, they started a conversation about making that happen. Two years later, and after numerous pressing delays, it’s now on its way: expect two slabs of orange vinyl with updated artwork and a limited edition hand-printed poster for Bandcamp orders.
For more information on TYGAPAW, check out his XLR8R podcast here.
Tracklisting
01. Get Free Intro feat. Mandy Harris Williams 02. In Their Fear They Plotted Her Destruction 03. Soon Come 04. Run 2 U 05. Ownland Interlude feat. Mandy Harris Williams 06. Untitled Fantasy 07. Magenta Riddim 08. Facety 09. So It Go 10. Ownland 11 Thank You feat. Mandy Harris Williams
GET FREE LP is scheduled for June 14 release. Meanwhile, you can stream the album in full via the player below and pre-order it here.
