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Photo Gallery: The Life and Death Party, Off-Week
Photo Gallery and Review: Meadows in the Mountains
Watching a festival grow from inception is like watching your kids grow up. Now in its seventh year, Meadows in the Mountains has finally come of age. While the youthful innocence and exuberance have faded somewhat, it can now legitimately be considered among one of the most unique festival experiences the world has to offer.
No one, its founders included, ever imagined that this rugged guerrilla operation would grow by word of mouth into the event that it now is. Taking place high in the Bulgarian mountains, the logistical operation needed to get this festival is unique: the festival site is only accessible by 4×4, adding to the challenge but making the experience that much more exceptional. The preferred mode of transport for previous years was actually donkey and cart. Adding to the charm is the fact there are no hotels in the nearby village; rather, locals rent out their spare rooms and summer houses to the incoming festival goers. With camping the other option, stay away if you’re after home comforts.
On the musical side, the festival has three stages: The sunrise stage, with amazing views over the valleys below, the main stage for live acts, and the newly added woodland stag deep in the forest.On the electronic side, Berlin-based Bruno Schmidt curates part of the lineup, and the event has welcomed Jane Fitz, Francesco del Garda, and Binh in previous years. Highlights this year saw extended sets by Brian not Brian, Youandewan, and Shanti Celesteon Friday night, followed on Saturday with Valentino Kanzyani and rising Irish DJ Saoirse. The highlight at the woodland stage was a marathon b2b2b by Bulgarian DJs Garo, Bosha, and Laylla Dane. Inexhaustible, their session was cut short by the plug being pulled when the speakers were required elsewhere.
For those wishing for a true cultural immersion flavored Bulgarian, then this isn’t the right festival for you: it’s much more Secret Garden Party than Sunwaves. And despite the organizers’ best efforts, it still has the feeling of a UK festival superimposed on a foreign landscape. However, don’t let this diminish from the fact this festival is a very welcome addition to the European circuit; thanks to a well-chosen lineup and gorgeous surroundings, this is a special event that is sure to be enjoyed by those electronic music fans who seek a little bit of adventure, too.
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Photos:
Joro Panchev
Jack Pasco
Aron Klein
Photo Gallery: All Day I Dream Barcelona 2017
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Photography by Khris Cowley and Josh Hiatt for Here & Now.
Hi-Five: DJ Haus
London’s DJ Haus has issued a seemingly endless string of reliable house, techno, and UK garage records via his labels, all with an insatiable taste for cheeky bombast and dancefloor theatrics. His own production output is no less unstoppable: both as DJ Haus and in his Trumpet & Badman project with DJ Q (not to mention the now-defunct Hot City duo), he has built a sizable body of jacking, bass-loaded club music with an ear for classic sounds, all of which reaches as far back as 2008. Having contributed to the XLR8R podcast series in March of 2015, we now we welcome him back to our pages as he picks some of his favorite records for a beach party.
DJ Haus will perform at this year’s Hideout Festival alongside some great names, including Leon Vynehall, Robag Wruhme, Ryan Elliot, to name just a few. This year’s edition takes place from June 26 to June 30 on Zrce Beach, Croatia. More information, including tickets, can be found here.
Cliff Lothar “Tool Tyme”
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I’ve been playing this every set for months, records like this for me are hard to come by, by when they do they stay in my sets forever. I love the simplicity of the idea and it’s just a great DJ tool to let everyone know shits about to get poppin’.
Redlight “City Jams”
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Classic house sounds with the impeccable production that comes with any Redlight release. This is just a summer burner straight up, he sent it to me ages ago and I just can’t go a show without playing it.
Mall Grab “Pool Party Music”
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All these three tunes, so far I pretty much mix together one after the other. Mall Grab’s on another level and this is definitely his biggest club track to date, be nice to see what he comes up with after this!
HNS-X “Towel Dance Department”
One of my favorite labels HNS-X, all their release are guaranteed club hype, and this one is probably the one I play the most. When the bass kicks in your are set on a ride into detuned mayhem!
Hugo Massien “Swerve 2”
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Another go-to track for my sets, I’ve been playing Hugo Massiens’ tracks for years and he’s developed a great middle ground between effective dancefloor drops and super freaky sound design. This one out super soon, I believe!
Photo Gallery: Indigo Raw Off-Week 2017
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Photos:
Ruben 242 Photography
Pablo Bustos Photography
Watch a Live Performance Masterclass with Sandunes
Earlier this week, former Point Blank student Sanaya Ardeshir (a.k.a. Sandunes) hosted a live performance masterclass for students and graduates.
Following a UK tour and ahead of her upcoming show Bonobo, Ardeshir presented an interactive masterclass showcasing her live set and sharing some essential tips for live performance, including processing individual layers from her productions with different pieces of hardware; modifying sounds and automating on the fly; and syncing hardware together to work seamlessly with Ableton.
You can watch the video via the player above, with more on Point Blank and its courses here.
Download a New Mix From Lamache
Back on April 23, XLR8R, Cyclone, and Roam Music hosted Discobar head Lamache for his first ever appearance in Los Angeles. The party also featured ReSolute‘s Maksim—who is set to play ReSolute’s LA debut tomorrow—alongside WXC (John Wander b2b Luke Cheadle) and Cyclone residents Haas and Highkin.
Playing an early midday set due to a flight later that day, Lamache patiently wove together three hours of stripped-back house and beat-driven oddities with the finesse of an artist at the top of his game.
You can stream and download the mix below, with more on Lamache here.
Premiere: Hear a Deep New Track From Arnaldo
Berlin-based Argentinian Arnaldo is set to drop his latest release, A Folk In The Path, on his own Naturist Recordings imprint on June 30.
Presenting three airy, groove-led cuts, A Folk In The Path is the third release on the newly minted imprint, which “aims to release stripped back and soulful music, focusing on the journey rather than the destination.” The 2017 launch of the label and its three EPs follow a 2016 EP on Greta Cottage Workshop and 2015 releases on Smallville and UntilMyHeartStops.
In support of the release, Arnaldo has offered up a full stream of the EP’s opening cut, “Urgent Soul,” which, like its name and the mission statement of the label, is a soulful house cut filled with rubbery rhythms and smooth, dubbed-out synth lines.
You can stream “Urgent Soul” below, with A Folk In The Path available for pre-order here.
Photo: Anjelica Jardiel
Weekly Selections: Galcher Lustwerk at LDL, Praslesh at ReSolute LA, Hideout Festival
The weekend is looking bright for lovers of quality underground sounds in Los Angeles. Kick off the marathon at Light Down Low, the veteran West Coast promoter with recent bookings from the likes of Simian Mobile Disco, Discwoman, Red Axes, and Bwana. On Friday night, the LDL party crew will return to the warehouse district of Downtown LA, this time recruiting techno vanguard Karizma and Ghostly contributor Galcher Lustwerk for headlining DJ sets. Also on the bill are LA techno hero and Black Lodge resident Force Placement, as well as LDL residents Richie Panic and Corey Sizemore. Tickets and more info can be found here.
On Saturday afternoon, make sure not to miss the highly anticipated West Coast debut of one of New York’s top parties, ReSolute. With the minimal scene flourishing right now in Los Angeles, the arrival of the ReSolute crew marks the legitimization of a genre of electronic music that has been operating under the radar for years. For this special occasion, ReSolute organizers have locked in the heavyweight Romanian duo of Raresh and Praslea (a.k.a. Praslesh) for an extended headlining performance. Also set to play are ReSolute’s own Maksim and the rising selector Lauren Ritter, as well as LA native and Cyclone resident Clovis. The party will last from the late afternoon until the early hours of the morning, with a special afterhours collaboration with Dialogue also planned. A very limited number of tickets remain for the party; get them here.
And starting on Monday, Hideout Festival returns to Zrce Beach on the island of Pag in Croatia for its seventh and best edition yet. The popular destination event is known for putting the Croatian electronic scene on the map, and this year organizers have locked in by far the best musical programming to date. Highlights include an intimate beach party with AUS contributor Paul Woolford and Basement Jaxx, and several boat parties with heavyweight selectors from the likes of Alan Fitzpatrick, Darius Syrossian, Eats Everything, Skream, and Artwork. Make sure not to miss sets from Pampa Records head DJ Koze and Gerd Janson on Wednesday, or Bicep, Leon Vynehall, and Mind Against at Noa on Thursday night. The festival is now completely sold out, but you can find more information here.
FRIDAY JUNE 23
LPR Presents at Knockdown Center: VISUALS VISUALS Video Art + Music Residency
The Knockdown Center – Queens, NY, US
GOETHE HCMC + HEART BEAT FEAT. ALEX BAU// CREDO, COCOON [GER]
The Observatory – Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
June 23 @ 9:00 pm – June 24 @ 4:30 am
Hip Hop Vs Reggae Yacht Party
Jewel Yacht – New York City, NY, US
June 23 @ 11:00 pm – June 24 @ 4:00 am
One Night Affair feat. TIM GREEN
LOCATION TBA – Los Angeles, US
June 23 @ 11:00 pm – June 24 @ 5:00 am
Birgit’s Midsommer Rave
Birgit – Berlin, Germany
June 23 @ 11:00 pm – June 25 @ 11:00 am
SATURDAY JUNE 24
808 | COLETTE, SAGOTSKY, TURTLE BUGG // THE ROOF AT OUTPUT
The Roof at Output – New York , NY, US
ReSolute Goes LA with Praslesh (Raresh + Praslea), Lauren Ritter, Maksim & Clovis
Secret Location – Los Angeles, US
June 24 @ 3:00 pm – June 25 @ 3:00 am
Along the river pt. 2 (Electronic Music Event)
Alla Foce, Ristorante – Lugano, Ticino, Switzerland
ZHU | BLACKLIZT NEW YORK
Secret Location – London, United Kingdom
Patterns with Shanti Celeste
Patterns – Brighton, United Kingdom
June 24 @ 11:00 pm – June 25 @ 4:00 am
The Wine & Cheese Warehouse ft. Special Guest (dirtybird), Rinzen + More
Private DTLA Location – Los Angeles, CA, US
Crewdson ‘Children’ (Sultan Shakes Remix)
Next month, Crewdson will release his sophomore LP, TOYS, via Slowfoot Records.
TOYS arrives five years on from his debut album, Gravity, which garnered the UK artist wide-spread acclaim with its inventive ideas and inspired sound design. Much of Crewdson’s singular sound can be attributed to his musical inventions: weird and wonderful hardware instruments such as The Odd Box, The Concertronica, The Eggiophone, and The Sonic Bonnet. Via these vehicles, Crewdson crafts skewed sonics that, frankly, boggle the mind; although, somehow, his music is as accessible as it is weird. On TOYS, Crewdson presents a matured sound, one that fuses pop elements with tumbling rhythms and mind-bending sound design.
Crewdson is also set to perform alongside Bambooman for their joint album launch party on August 10 at Total Refreshment Centre, London. With Crewdson’s idiosyncratic live setup of self-built instruments and Bambooman’s distinctive sonic pallet, it looks set to be an evening of palpable auditory treats.
In support of the event and TOYS, Crewdson has offered up the Sultan Shakes remix of the album’s closing cut, “Children,” which refits the laid-back original with a club-based framework for five minutes of colorful beats.
You can pre-order TOYShere.
