Podcast 495: Best Available Technology

Best Available Technology is Kevin Palmer, an Oregon-based producer and sound artist originating from Southern California. Having debuted the project in 2012 as part of the BAT & OND TON split release on Opal Tapes, he has since gone on to release on various other imprints, including, most notably, Further Records and Astro:Dynamics, and his extensive discography includes over 10 LPs and a similar number of EPs, encompassing a vast array of sounds and styles—from abstract techno and house to dub, trip-hop, moody lo-fi, and instrumental. It’s a wonderfully eclectic collection of music.

His latest LP, Exposure Therapy, dropped last week and is “as expansive as it is intensely personal,” the label explains. The album arrived on Styles Upon Styles, and the Brooklyn-based label “provides the perfect canvas for B.A.T.’s brush strokes on the LP,” which Palmer describes as “a complex meditation on the golden age of New York hip-hop.” It juxtaposes “ambient, dub, hip-hop beats and left-field techno,” while simultaneously celebrating “the sonic triumphs of the NYC boom-bap sound and mourning its passing temporality through morphed and decayed productions.”

To celebrate the release, Palmer offered to compile a mix for the XLR8R podcast series, consisting entirely of material drawn from his catalog of unreleased work—and all blended together to make one delightfully experimental sonic journey.

Your first release came in 2012. Talk to me about your route into electronic music production.

I guess it probably goes back to junior high, hearing rap/hip-hop/electro and whatever KDAY was blasting out of the boomboxes that the breaker kids had out in the playground.

The press release for the new album says you’ve been “experimenting with how to express a deep affection for a sound that was always thousands of miles away growing up, and this is said to be his distinctive vision of that era.” Which era are we talking about?

I guess like late ’80s early ’90s. Let’s be clear: I am not a scholar or anything approaching an authority on the subject (way too ADD to be scholarly or authoritative) I just know that when I heard those sounds and voices I was profoundly moved and have been a bit obsessed with trying to recreate the feeling I get when I listen to it.

What were the inspirations behind the Best Available Technology alias? How long were you producing beforethis project?

You have to ask my friend Max Sympathy, he gave me the name when we started doing stuff together. Max is a poet and has very similar ears for sonics that I do, we met by chance because our daughters were in the same class at a very small school in a very small town. We met and discovered that we have much in common, one thing leads to another and we start doing sonics, Max on voice me on machines. We recorded a few things and did a couple shows (this happens btw 2008-2010) we will work together again. Before I met Max and he gave the name I had been doing sonics since 1992, by myself or with my brother and partner in BOA Gary Geiler (records as Ovis Aurum).

When and where did you record the mix?

The mix was recorded at home between 4 am and 6.15 am over a couple days about five feet from my amazingly patient and understanding, sleeping wife.

How did you select the records that you included?

The tracks that I used are unreleased examples of my other projects BOA and BATIILAB (a project I do with my friend Nate Forest who also records as Lab Matix and White Peak).

How did you compile the mix?

Loaded some tracks and sounds into a couple machines, screwed around and recorded it. then put it all together with an ancient copy of Vegas

How do you feel your latest LP compares to your previous material?

Totally natural progression, especially in the context of doing it for Styles Upon Styles as the record we did earlier suggested and informed the sonic direction.

What else is coming up in 2017?

More tour stuff has been discussed, release on 12thIsle, more Excavated Tapes, more Working Nights, more BOA, more BATIILAB.

Tracklisting

01. BOA “Droga Luna”
02. BOA “Three”
03. BOA “War P”
04. BOA “Plate Tectonics”
05. BOA “Guilt of Excess”
06. BOA “Scouring Light”
07. Best Available Technology “B16”
08. BATIILAB “Lucha”
09. BATIILAB “Ungarded” (wastelands v1)
10. BATIILAB “Shimmer 83”
11. BATIILAB “Splint”
12. BATIILAB “Decilinear”

Terence Fixmer Lines Up Next Ostgut Ton EP

Terence Fixmer will release a new solo EP with Ostgut Ton.

Fixmer has been active under various guises (such as Eisbär, Cyborg, Gemini 9, and Scanner) since the early ’90s, occupying his own niche that combines industrial, electro, techno, and EBM sounds into one cohesive whole. He’s also well-known for his collaborative work with Nitzer Ebb‘s Douglas McCarthy.

Having remixed Depeche Mode and DJ Hell as well as releasing a new Fixmer/McCarthy single with McCarthy, 2017 has already proven to be a productive year for the French techno producer. With the new Force EP, the Berghain resident follows up on 2016’s Beneath The Skin EP by offering “four stylistically different but congenial techno scenarios for club use.”

Tracklisting 12“ / Digital:

A1.Force
A2. Sidewalk
B1.Melting Planets
B2.Striking Patterns

Force EP is scheduled for July 28 release, with clips streamable below.

Blank & Jones ‘Wishing’

Piet Blank and Jaspa Jones formed their production duo back in 1997. After dancing at KU in the late ’80s they went on to play trance in the big room clubs in Ibiza at night, and in the day, they played at Café Del Mar. They headlined Amnesia and Eden but were also well known for their chill out sets at El Divino. Together, they were “part of the beginning of trance” alongside Paul Oakenfold and Tiesto, and they have names including The Cure‘s Robert Smith, New Order‘s Bernard Sumner, Sarah McLachlan, and the Pet Shop Boys.

Now, for the 10th Edition of the RELAX series, which started back in 2003, Blank & Jones present 20 tracks of warm acoustic sounds and subtle electronica. One of these tracks, titled “Wishing,” is exclusively available to download below.

Wishing

Horse Meat Disco Ready Debut Single

Horse Meat Disco will soon release their debut single, titled “Waiting For You To Call.”

Horse Meat Disco is a UK-based DJ collective formed of James Hillard, Jim Stanton, Luke Howard, and Severino Panzetta. Together, they’ve been have been running their popular queer party for 14 years and have also put out a series of compilations. Via their label, which opened in 2009, they have released four EPs of disco edits, and are soon set to release their first original recording, “Waiting For You To Call.”

The single sees the group work with various collaborators, including Darren Morris, ROY INC, and Luke Solomon—who provides additional production.

The release will arrive as a one-track, single-sided record and as a limited three-track 12″ with alternate versions.

Tracklisting

A. Waiting For You To Call feat. ROY INC

“Waiting For You To Call” is scheduled for June 30 release, with samples available here. 

Aphex Twin Rolls Out New EP

Aphex Twin has released a new 12″, titled 3 GERALD REMIX / 24 TSIM 2.

The two-track 12″ surfaced in Technical Equipment Supply shop in Ypsilanti, Michigan, around an hour’s drive from Downtown Detroit. The shop is run by Todd Osborn and his son.

Each track, namely “3 GERALD REMIX” and “24 TSIM 2,” comes from the Aphex Twin demos that first appeared in an online SoundCloud dump back in 2015. The record is the fourth record on the Technical Equipment Supply label is only available for sale at the physical store itself.

The news comes just weeks after Aphex Twin released his last limited-edition release, London 03.06.17, at London’s Field Day festival

Tracklisting

A. 3 GERALD REMIX
B. 24 TSIM 2

GERALD REMIX / 24 TSIM 2 is available now via Technical Equipment Supply.

Zu Dobson Next on Andrew Weatherall’s Bird Scarer Records

Zu Dobson will release a new EP on Andrew Weatherall‘s Bird Scarer Records label, titled Apple Knife / Wisdom Of Rumi.

According to a note shared with news of the release, the story behind the EP is as follows: little known Zu Dobson approached Weatherall at a gathering and gave him a CD with nothing but a P.OBoxx address on it. Having corresponded by letter for a while, the veteran producer offered to elease “Apple Knife” and “Wisdom of Rumi” via his vinyl-only label, even though he has met Ms. Dobson “fleetingly.”

Tracklisting

A. Apple Knife
B. Wisdom Of Rumi

The EP is out on July 14, with clips available here.

franskild ‘Flotta Runt’

Earlier this month, Trunkfunk dropped its 40th release, the Isted Grill Nights EP from franskild.

franskild is a collaboration between Love Ojensa and Tim Soderstrom, two Swedish artists who are carving a name for themselves on the electronic scene. As franskild, Ojensa and Soderstrom craft weird and warped house music that touches on broken beat, garage, and pop-influenced pastures. Their latest EP follows releases on Sweat It Out! and Lotss Records with two sun-tinged originals and remixes from Aron McFaul and Shakarchi & Stranéus.

In support of the release, the duo have offered up a bonus cut titled “Flotta Runt” as today’s XLR8R download. Like on the release, franskild inject “Flotta Runt” with a myriad of influences for a groove-led five-minute ride.

You can pick up “Flotta Runt” below, with the EP available here.

Flotta Runt

Delta Funktionen Preps New Album, Shares Track

Delta Funktionen is back with a new album, titled Junior High School Excursion To The Parallel World.

The LP follows 2015’s sprawling Wasteland project with eight tracks of sci-fi-infused techno and electro that are presented as a double 12″ on his own Radio Matrix outpost. For its inspiration and theme, the album looks to soundtrack a school excursion to “The Parallel World” where the kids can choose from three activities that include sneaking “into the offices of the corrupted leaders,” participating in the scams of the corrupted leaders, or “For those of you who already gave up on humans, there’s the chance to take care of the last surviving animal; the hyena!”

Musically, the release is split into two differing sides: the first disc focuses more on melody and classy grooves, whereas side two looks to the more abstract, experimental side to Delta Funktionen.

Ahead of the release, which can be pre-ordered here, you can stream opening cut, “scitiloP,” via the player below.

Premiere: Hear a Menacing Techno Cut From phile

On July 3, Sydney’s phile will debut on their own Deep Seeded Records with a self-titled EP.

Comprised of Hannah Lockwood and Gareth Psaltis, phile have been operating within the tight Sydney scene for years now, delivering their dynamic live techno across the city in support of some techno’s biggest names, including Rodhad, Container, Gunnar Haslam, and DJ Pete, to name a few.

The duo’s debut follows suit with five hard-angled cuts of varying intensity. From the gritty broken beats of opening cut, “Found In Blood,” to the harsh and menacing “Abhor,” which features the vocals of Karina Utomo, and the poignant closing cut, “Deadzone,” phile deliver a standout introduction to their visceral brand of mind-bending techno.

Ahead of the release, which can be pre-ordered here, you can stream the post-punk-esque “Marauder” via the player below.

Will Saul and Tee Mango Present Primitive Trust

Will Saul and Tom Mangan (a.k.a Tee Mango) are set release a series of EPs as Primitive Trust.

After losing contact for many years, the two reconnected at a festival in Morocco before deciding to spend some time in the studio together. Using only the gear they had (MPC 2000, Ableton, Roland 101, Juno, Fender Rhodes, various FX pedals), they set about to work to create tracks with “a commitment to trusting their instincts and to go with their feelings.”

The result is a series of three EP’s to be released over the course of four months. Each EP will feature two or three original tracks and one fresh remix, with unique artwork and an illustration by visual auteur Geoff Mcfetridge.

The first, titled Power On, is scheduled for July 14 release via Aus Music, with the title track streamable in full below.

Tracklisting

01. Power On
02. Time To Love
03. Power On (Skatebard Remix)

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