As previously announced, Mule Musiq‘s Endless Flight label will release Sascha Funke‘s Lotos Land LP—the Berlin-based DJ-producer’s first solo album since 2008.
The album takes its title and artwork from Alfred Tennyson’s 1833 poem, “The Lotos-Eaters,” a work that has taken on a particular relevance and fascination for Funke in light of the turbulent world events of 2016. The artwork, by Mule Musiq/Endless Flight and Smallville’s regular illustrator Stefan Marx, is itself an interpretation of a 1901 Lotos-Eaters-inspired illustration by British painter William Edward Frank Britten.
Despite spending significant moments of his early career in Cologne, Sascha Funke is resolutely a product of the city of his birth, Berlin. It is with one of the city’s most famous techno labels, Ellen Allien’s BPitch Control, that Funke released his previous two solo LPs, with the last Mango arriving nine years ago. Since then, Funke has been largely focused on the Saschienne project alongside Julienne Dessagne, which issued its debut LP Unknown through Kompakt in 2012 and has been a regularly touring live act in the years since. The past year has, however, seen a renewed focus on Funke’s solo productions.
Tracklisting
01 Pogo Logo 02 Comala ft. David Junto Club & Emily Evans 03 Purple Hill 04 Lotos Land 05 Twirl 06 Saint Seven 07 Amber Light 08 Im Feiern Und Feuer ft. Autarkic 09 Shepherd’s Crook 10 O, Rest Ye, We Will Not Wander More
Lotos Land is scheduled for June 9 release, with the full release streamable in full below.
2017 sees Dekmantel celebrating its 10th anniversary. A decade ago, the Amsterdam crew threw their first party in the Dutch capital; two years later Dekmantel Records followed. And for their decennial anniversary, Dekmantel Records are releasing ten, EPs over the course of 2017. For this series, Dekmantel invited producers who are close to their hearts, have been with them since day one or made a big musical impact on the crew. These artists include the likes of Gigi Masin, Levon Vincent, and Call Super, who all graced the first three EPs released earlier this year.
Along with seasoned names, the series will see the indoctrination of newcomers to the label including Burnt Friedman, Ectomorph, and Donato Dozzy. It will also feature the addition of a couple of stone cold geniuses, including Motor City Drum Ensemble, Ricardo Villalobos, Joy Orbison, and Tony Allen.
Tracklisting
A1. The Egyptian Lover “This That Old School” A2. Syracuse & Epsilove “Scubatomic Love” B1. Palms Trax “Honey Lemongina” B2. Interstellar Funk “EFX Harmonix”
Dekmantel 10 Years 04 is scheduled for June 19 release, with clips streamable below.
Launched in 2007, the London-based Cultivated Electronics label has been delivering quality electro and electro-influenced music from the likes of E.R.P, The Hacker, JTC, Marco Bernardi, Scape One, and its own Sync 24 among others. Having recently celebrated a decade with Ten Year Electronics, the label will now start a new series, Split Excursions, with Split Excursions Vol 1.
The release sees Sync 24 team up with rising Berlin-based artist Privacy, with Dublin’s finest DeFeKT rounding out the flip. Together they deliver “a true exercise in bottom heavy computer funk and Drexcian-style adventures,” says the label.
Tracklisting
A1. Sync 24 x Privacy “Hard To Tell” A2. Sync 24 x Privacy “General Data Standard” B1. DeFeKT “MG1” B2. DeFeKT “MG2”
Split Excursions Vol 1 EP is scheduled for June release, with “Hard To Tell” streamable in full below.
Govor has come a long way since playing in a military band and is now a foremost house and techno name who has released on labels like Cocoon, akkult, and Second State. Now she returns with the United EP, a three-tracker consisted of “heady house and techno that will find favor with connoisseurs all over,” the label says.
In advance of the EP’s June 16 release, a dark, unreleased XLR8R edit of “Parallelepiped” is available for download below, with snippets of the entire release available, too.
This Saturday night, veteran party crew ReSolute returns in top form for another Brooklyn warehouse shindig. Following the exciting announcement of their LA showcase on June 24, the minimal-leaning series will host one of their best lineups to date; the party will feature headlining sets from two of the most coveted minimal producers of the Parisian scene: Yoyaku’s Varhat and Perlon mainstay Cabanne. The event marks one of the first stateside appearances for Varhat, whose Yoyaku brand (consisting of a vinyl outlet, several labels, an agency, and even a distribution arm) continues to rise to the top of the ranks as one of the most popular and reliable sources of cutting-edge minimal (check out Rex Club resident Molly’s forthcoming release on Yoyaku label AKU, for instance). It’s not often that minimal pioneer Cabanne comes to the USA either, and with Melliflow mainstay Spacetravel also on the lineup, this one’s not to be missed. Tickets and more info can be found here.
Also on Saturday night but across the continent, Othersound will touch down in LA’s warehouse district for a special all nighter featuring an extended set from Poker Flat founder Steve Bug. And to sweeten the deal even more, organizers have also locked in London deep house master “Evil” Eddie Richards for support. A limited number of presales remain for the event; get them here.
And back in NYC, Output’s rooftop continues its dominance of Sunday fundays with a special daytime party featuring Crosstown Rebels mainstay Serge Devant, melodic house star Nico Stojan, and All Day I Dream contributor Öona Dahl (who will also be celebrating her birthday). The event is free before 2PM so make sure to get there early. Tickets and more info can be found here.
Last week, Point Blank released a tutorial on Arturia’s ARP 2600 plugin, a brilliant emulation of the much-loved piece of hardware. Now, course developer and instructor Dan Herbert looks to Arturia’s Moog Modular.
In the above video, Herbert gives an overview of the plugin, showing us its features and functions as well as showing us the basics of modular synthesis and how to begin to work with sound in the plugin.
Upon arriving at Lighting in a Bottle Festival, the annual Do LaB-produced weekender, one can immediately sense the liveliness of the event, as well as the sheer abundance of activities offered. Driving into the campsite, our car is forced to stop to allow attendees participating in the festival’s 5K marathon to cross the street. Later down the road, we pass by the ‘Kidz Village,’ an area full of small children and their parents playing on swing sets, with teens practicing their hula hooping skills under the guidance of a hippie-looking instructor dressed from head to toe in fur garb and feathers. Even further towards the campsite, we notice a group starting their day with a peaceful meditation session followed by Vinyasa Flow yoga.
These first scenes were a testament to the transformative nature of the festival, which aims to combine cutting-edge musical performances and DJ sets with seemingly countless panels, workshops, and activities that encourage consciousness, personal growth, and sustainable lifestyles. In the past few years, we’ve seen the West Coast become inundated with more and more of these types of events, from Desert Hearts to Symbiosis, Lucidity Festival, Enchanted Forest, Sunset Campout, and more. The proliferation of these Burning Man-influenced festivals have made it increasingly difficult for organizers to differentiate their vibe from the rest, but with this year’s Lightning in a Bottle, LA-based production house Do LaB proved that despite the saturation, transformational music festivals can still be done in a fresh, mature, and truly inspiring way.
CLICK ON A PHOTO TO ENTER GALLERY BROWSING
What really sets Do LaB and their LIB lovechild apart from the rest is the production team’s acute attention to detail. This is first and foremost seen in their one-of-a-kind structural aesthetic, lead by the organizers’ goal to create “experience through architecture.” Famous for their curated stage at Coachella, which over the years has increased in both size and popularity, DoLaB’s structures have put the company on the map, attracting global festival clients such as Portugal’s Boom Festival, as well as corporate-leaning sponsors like Peet’s Coffee and the trendy beverage producer G&T’s Kombucha. With the debut of at least ten stunning new designs at this year’s LIB, including the shrine-like, indie-dance focused Pagoda, the elegant “Bamboo DNA Structures” by Gerard Minakawa, and the Woogie Wonton Structure (built in collaboration with LA design studio Vita Motus), we were not surprised to see an expanded presence of larger brands at the festival. And while some early LIB collaborators, especially those that lead the event’s efforts on consciousness and sustainability, frown on the “mainstreaming” of Do LaB (read about the recent lawsuit filed by Dream Rockwell of Lucent Dossier Experience), the notoriety and financial success of the company has undoubtedly resulted in more impressive structures and a higher level of musical sophistication.
Although LIB officially kicked off on Thursday afternoon, the bulk of performances began on Friday, and this was when Do LaB’s curation and programming strengths really started to shine. The house and techno-focused Woogie stage was consistently impressive; superbly eclectic performances on Friday evening from Keinemusik mainstay Adam Port and British selector Leon Vynehall set a stimulating and musically developed tone for the entirety of the weekend. The highly anticipated closing set from Nic Fanciulli seemed to be met with widespread feelings of mediocrity—a clear sign that the tastes of LIB attendees are becoming increasingly seasoned with each edition. Across the bridge at the bass-oriented Thunder stage, Soulection star Sam Gellaitry delivered an epic trap set that was completely soothing yet still upbeat. At the Favela Bar—a favorite afterhours spot curated by LA-based DJ Patricio—Public Works resident Rachel Torro proved her ability to dominate the dancefloors of packed San Francisco clubs as well as festivals like LIB, and Shawni finished off the night with an emotional slice of melodic house and techno.
On Saturday, with festival activities in full swing and the arrival of perfect weather, LIB’s magic became readily apparent. Festival attendees happily took advantage of the newly filled Lake San Antonio, with renegade parties on floating temples and families relaxing on inflatable cupcakes and unicorns aplenty. The musical offerings on Saturday were particularly awe-inspiring as well. German selector tINI delivered a relentlessly groovy two hours of party-starting tech-house at the Woogie, which was followed by a stellar performance from Innervisions-supported duo Eagles & Butterflies and a massive back-to-back session from progressive house icons Guy J and Hernan Cattaneo. Over at Lightning, Weval was a clear highlight, and Kaytranada closed out the stage with an even more exciting and diverse set than his phenomenal Coachella performance last month. But perhaps the most surprising set of the evening came from LA-based duo Dance Spirit, who closed the Favela Bar with a live, four-hour masterclass in evolving minimal techno.
Things felt more relaxed on Sunday; higher temperatures lead most to laze in the lake until later in the afternoon. Manjumasi co-founder Mark Slee, with his ethereal melodies and percussive backdrop, provided the perfect soundtrack to a chilled-out start to the final day—Retza’s remix of DOPPEL’s “Melt” especially stood out within the set. The energy of the day shifted when Russian up-and-comer Julia Govor stepped up to the Woogie decks, showcasing her sultry brand of emotive yet driving techno to a packed dancefloor. The crowd seemed to really appreciate her sound and charismatic stage presence, and Govor noticed: speaking to her after the set, she seemed very pleased, and explained that despite the outdoor festival environment, her set “was not much different from what she would play in a dark club”—we can only hope that the crowd’s overwhelmingly positive reception to her performance will mean more Julia Govor bookings at future American festivals.
This was also the case with the live set from Stephan Bodzin, a true master of epic melodic techno. The Woogie stage erupted in emotion in the final stretch of his performance, which contained signature elements of the track “Wir,” taken from his critically acclaimed album Powers of Ten. Also impressive at the Woogie was Christian Smith, whose propulsive style of deep house and techno was an ideal transition from Bodzin into the closing act, minimal techno pioneer Richie Hawtin—not much needs to be said about his performance…as always, it was incredible. The Thunder stage was also top-notch towards the end of Sunday: Machinedrum’s live set and melodic drum & bass trio Ivy Lab were a perfect break from the addicting house and techno at Woogie.
Now in its 12th year of existence, Lightning in a Bottle has swiftly grown into one of the most popular and renowned transformational festivals in America, now hosting over 25,000 at its Bradley, CA site. The festival’s trademark structural aesthetic, when combined with the countless yoga classes, lectures, panels, meditation sessions, local vendors, diverse food options, and family friendly activities, always make for an immensely fun and playful experience. But while some transformational events with similar offerings can tend to feel unrefined and even immature at times, LIB’s superb musical programming, innovative design sense, and commitment to sustainability not only points to the sophistication of Do LaB itself, but also to LIB as a real site for personal growth and celebration of life.
Henrik Schwarz‘s latest release will be a four-track mini-LP titled Works Piano.
Works Piano will be released on Schwarz’s new label, Between Buttons, which is part of the 7K! label network, the recent launched hub from !K7 for new classical music. The release will showcase the fusion of acoustic sounds, computer programming, and modern technology that will define the label.
When recording the album, Schwarz’s aim was to write acoustic compositions in new, innovative, and exciting ways, with his main instrument the Yamaha Disklavier, an automated piano that can be played manually but also automatically via a programmed script once it is connected to a computer.
Works Piano will be released on June 30 and can be pre-ordered here. Ahead of the release, you can watch the video for “Confirm Humanity” in full via the player above.
Last Song will follow last month’s brilliant four-tracker from label head Red Pig Flower—XLR8R also released a download of the Dubphone remix on that release. This new three-track EP will be the third under The People In Fog moniker, following on from 2014’s Deep and last year’s Higher EP, both of which dropped on Sound of Vast.
In close relation to the serene blue color presented on the record sleeve, Last Song is an all round smoother collection of cuts than the tripped out grooves of Red Pig Flowers’ previous outing. Across the three cuts on the EP, The People In Fog shows off his musicianship with stunning chords, cloud-like pads, well-chosen vocal chops, and tightly programmed grooves.
Ahead of the release on June 12, you can pre-order the EP here, with the EP’s closing cut, “Alright,” streaming in full via the player below.
Alessandro Parlatore and Marcello Giordani (a.k.a Marvin & Guy) will release a new EP on Life and Death.
Superior Conjunction will be the Italian duo’s first release on DJ Tennis’ label, and is described as a four-tracker that “explores parallel worlds through expert synthesizer sequencing and cavernous vocal features.”
Tracklisting:
A1. Superior Conjunction A2. Arpadia B1. The Train Of Fantastic feat. Fantastic Twins Digital exclusive: The Train Of Fantastic feat. Fantastic Twins (Fantastic Twins One More Ride)
Superior Conjunction EP is scheduled for June 16 release, with the title track streamable in full below.
