Hiatus, the eloquent electronic project produced by writer Cyrus Shahrad, will soon release his third album All The Troubled Hearts on June 2.
Having developed a strong following through his extraordinary music videos, distinctive sound, and collaborations with Shura, the former Iran correspondent breaks new ground in what the label describes as his “most epic record yet.” Reflecting his dual British/Iranian nationality, Cyrus combines samples of Iranian music with electronic bass and a combination of live and machined drums.
The release is graced with the presence of vocalists Daudi Matsiko, who appears on the album’s title track, and Charlene Soraia, who lends vocals to “Celestial.” The lyrics were all written by Shahrad, a testament to the personal nature of his work. The album also closes with a profound spoken word piece from his father about the nature of life, further affirming its depth and introspective quality.
Ahead of the album’s June 2 release, “Celestial” (feat. Charlene Soraia) is available exclusively below for download, with pre-order available here, and a stream available below.
MAWA Festival will return to the mythical island of Gavdos, Greece, the southernmost location in Europe for its second edition later this month.
The three-day festival, running from June 30 to July 2, will feature an eclectic and forward-thinking program of both world and electronic music, from Greek and Middle Eastern traditional artists, to experimental techno and eclectic house, afrobeat, Latin groove, reggae, dub and many more international music discoveries.
While still only in its infancy, MAWA promises “an intimate festival experience in a seductive, undeveloped island in the Mediterranean, with a musical selection of both contemporary international DJs playing a range of styles, and traditional Greek artists.”
The full lineup for this year’s edition is as follows:
Good News CGB-1 Fiedel Kondaktor Stratos Bichakis with Sebastian Marteau & Christos Chndropoulos Sofia Labropoulou with Maria Ploumi (Live) Labis Xylouris (Live) with Odyseas Mavromatis & Paul Goodman Mohair Sam DJ Nomad Africaine 808 (live) Charlotte Bendiks Tasos Stamou Charlabos Aggelakis (live) Eli Pavel
This year’s edition runs from June 30 to July 2 on the island of Gavdos, Greece, with more information available here.
Following a one-year hiatus, Dancity Festival is set to return this year for its 11th edition.
Taking place in the Roman town of Foligno, Umbria, the festival will once again take residence amongst some of the most evocative and historical buildings of the town, including a fourteenth-century former church located inside Foligno’s historical center and the Arnaldo Caprai winery estate in nearby Montefalco.
The three-day festival will include gigs, live and Dj sets, audio-visual performances, exhibitions, and installations from international artists; and the lineup is a mixture of artists representing today, a landmark in the evolution of electronic music, and talented, young, emerging artists.
Notable performances include Manuel Göttsching, founder of the psych band Ash Ra Temple, considered to be one of the main figures of Krautrock and appearing in Italy for the very first time, and a new collaboration between Gigi Masin, Jonny Nash, and Marco Sterk (a.k.a Young Marco) entitled Gaussian Curve. There will also be live sets by Youssef Kamaal and Dorisburg, and further DJ sets by Blawan, Hunee, Mike Servito, and Call Super, among many other impressive names.
For this edition, a great emphasis will be placed upon both the Art Session, where fledgling artists will have the opportunity to present an original work of art (painting, sculpture, photography, video, sound, installation, performance) and also the Dancity School, which is working to initiate children to the discipline of electronic music.
The festival is also acting as a catalyst to promote the region of Umbria internationally following a number of tragic earthquakes in the province in the last year(s). A region, surrounded by nature and full of history, beauty, and art, where is also present a wide, excellent tradition of local wines and gastronomic products. A perfect occasion to discover this beautiful region inside the green heart of Italy.
This year’s edition takes place from June 30 to July 2 in Umbria, Italy, with more information here. Meanwhile, the full lineup and schedule is available to view below.
Lucas Welle is the project of 24-year-old DJ and producer Jim Lincoln. Born on the outskirts of London but currently living in Liverpool, the producer had his first release in May of this year on Bress Underground’s imprint Bress Records and there is a further release on Liverpool’s Abandon Silence Records coming out later this year with remixes from Melé and Harvey Brown.
Today he’s offering up an edit of Kellee Patterson’s “So In Tune With You,” having been inspired by labels such as Henry Street Music. Grab it now via the WeTransfer button below.
The Frankfurt label has risen to acclaim since its inception over four years ago, driven forward by label heads Martyné, Bodin & Jacob, and Patrick Klein. Most recently they released an EP from Z@P, a subject of our Bubblin’ Up series, once again proving their abilities in finding and releasing good music at the right time.
As label heads, both Bodin & Jacob and Martyné & Jacob have released on the imprint on several previous occasions, and this latest EP stems “from all three artists going crazy at Zollamt Studios.”
The Gesandt EP will be the label’s 11th release.
Tracklisting
A1 : Bodin & Jacob “Wysam” A2 : Bodin & Jacob “Temple of Kirby” B1 : Martyné & Jacob “Gesandt Sandt” B2 : Martyné & Jacob “Slowdawn”
Gesandt EP is scheduled for August 28 release, with clips streamable below.
Placed firmly at the epicenter of Bristol’s currently buoyant house music scene, Shanti Celeste (real name Shanti Maass) has proven herself as a multi-talented DJ, producer, and label head over the course of the past 12 months. The Chilean-born artist has gradually become of the UK’s finest purveyors of swung and funky electronic music—a natural connoisseur of all things house, disco, techno, and electro.
On a production front, Celeste has been releasing records since 2013, debuting on BRSTL, the label she runs with the man behind Idle Hands, Chris Farrell. Since then, she’s become a central figure in Bristol’s Idle Hands crew—her second record was released on the label—and put out records on Dekmantel, Julio Bashmore‘s Broadwalk, and her own Peach Discs, most recently. As a selector, her profile continues to grow at a rapid rate; this summer will see her travel extensively, performing at some of Europe’s most established events and traveling across the Atlantic to play alongside some of Europe’s leading names. Evidently influenced by house records from Chicago, New York, Detroit, and Germany, it’s also clear that her knowledge of this realm defies her years.
For this week’s Hi-Five, therefore, we asked her to tap into this fountain and reveal five records that inspired her to make and play the music she does today. Her chosen theme: Aaron-Carl—one of Detroit’s most interesting and loved recording artists who sadly passed away in 2010. So, below, find five of Shanti Celeste’s favorite Aaron-Carl records.
Shanti Celeste will join Youandewan, Bruno Schmidt, Valentino Kanzyani, and many more leading names at this year’s Meadows in the Mountains festival. This year’s edition takes place from June 9- 11 in the Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria, with more information available here.
In addition to this, she will also perform alongside many of electronic music’s biggest names at this year’s Into The Factory event, taking place from August 10 to 12 in Nynäshamn, Sweden. More information can be found here.
Aaron-Carl “Oasis” (AC’S Original Mix)
I really love this track, one of his slower bits that for me just has all the perfect elements of house, bongos, energetic hats some sexy sax, and STRINGS!!!!
Aaron-Carl “Sky” (Original Mix)
This one is a deeper one that I really love, the nice chords are really warming and I’m a sucker for a soulful vocal. Plus there is a subtle flute… who doesn’t like a flute?
Aaron-Carl “Make Me Happy”
The piano, snare and vocal sample in this are my fave thing about this track… he was a beautiful singer, this is just a proper skippy vocal piano banger.
Aaron-Carl “Tears”
So, I had actually never heard this before… when flicking through his back catalog on Discogs as you do, just opening tabs and tabs and tabs… I must have missed it. But my friend Alex showed it to me the other day and I was amazed. It’s so beautiful and emotional with that super energetic offbeat hat that comes in around the one-minute mark. The vocal is a bit cheesy for me but the track is so good I don’t care at all.
For such a young producer, Woodwire’s music is mature and assured, colorful and cinematic cuts that align closely with the world’s of trip-hop and LA’s sprawling beat scene. His style is enveloping and inviting, and built from tightly wound layers of instrumentation and stunning sound design.
In support of his new EP, Woodwire has offered up EP cut “Glacier” as today’s XLR8R download. Like much of his output, it’s a stunning combination of swirling synths, low-end weight, and well-chosen samples.
You can grab “Glacier” via WeTransfer below, with the EP available here.
The album is, arguably, his most ambitious to date, presenting 14 cuts that take the listener on an hour-long journey through Hell’s dramatic, kosmische world. The latest single to drop from the album, “Car Car Car,” arrives with remixes from some of the scenes most enigmatic producers, including Roman Flügel, Phil Kieran—who provides two reworks—Fango, Metropolis, and Thomas Mayr & Ken Hayakawa. Of his inclusion, Flügel says:
“Hell and I share many musical favorites when it comes to underground dance music and I’ve always been a fan of his. He just delivered his best album so far in my opinion, so I’m honored to be part of this remix package.”
“Car Car Car” and its remixes are set to drop on June 6 on International Deejay Gigolo. Ahead of that date, you can stream Flügel’s deep and dark remix in full via the player below.
Pessimist, a Bristol-based artist, first captured a wider attention with his 2016 Balaklava 12” on Blackest Ever Black’s A14 sub-label, but the young Bristol producer’s singular aesthetic had been honed across important records for the likes of Samurai and Ingredients. Since Balaklava, the experimentation has continued apace across on EPs on UVB-76 and Osiris Music, and a remix of Schiari on Ilian Tape. This, however, will be his debut LP.
According to the label, the release is one in which Pessimist “not only seals his status as one of the most innovative and consummate producers currently drawing breath, he delivers a defining work which to us represents the culmination of nearly a decade of collective research and development in underground drum & bass.”
The label describes the release as a “noir, smoked-out dubscape” full of “jungle tear-outs,” “acidic rave,” “downtempo breakbeat” and “bombed-out industrial ambience.”
Tracklisting:
A1. Intro A2. Bloom A3. Grit B1. Spirals B2. Glued ft. Loop Faction C1. War Cry C2. Peter Hitchens D1. No Matter What ft. Overlook D2. Through The Fog D3. Outro
Pessimist LP is scheduled for July 21 release, with “Spirals” streamable in full below.
Regelbau‘s DJ Sports is set to release his debut LP, titled Modern Species.
Modern Species, an eight-tracker, will be the Danish DJ-producer’s debut on Firecracker following EPs on Yield and Help Recordings.
According to the label, the release “trudges over a musical milieu of broke-beaten, ambient-driven house and techno, melancholy junglist and dubwise downtempo.”
Tracklisting
A1. World A A2. Stellar Clusters B1. Fertile Crescent B2. Entry Mode C1. Parallax C2. Ascension D1. For Real For You D2. Reluctant Memory
Modern Species LP is scheduled for June 13 release, with “World A” and album clips streamable below.
