Since his first release in 2014, Levi Verspeek has been a name to watch in house music circles. Championed by artists such as Raresh early on in his career, it wasn’t long until more than just those in the know knew his name.
Outside of his solo productions, which have landed on BodyParts, Ruis, and Lyssna, Verspeek has a very healthy collaborative relationship with Makcim. Under Makcim & Levi, the pair have released insatiable, groove-led records on Raum…musik, Apollonia, and, most recently, Lazare Hoche Records.
In support of his single on Lyssna and the Makcim & Levi EP on Lazare Hoche—both of which dropped earlier this year—Verspeek has pieced together an hour-long mix of jazz, experimental ambience, and left-field beats, as he explains:
“This mix consists of my favorite music I like to listen at home when I’m either working, chilling or having dinner. It’s a blend of music from my childhood, from the record collection of my grandma, soundtracks from video games and movies, tracks ripped from skate movies I couldn’t find the title of, music from a friend who is too introvert to release it, and of course music that just fits the mix. I tried to make a blend of both beats and ambient to make it diverse. Enjoy this mix, and try it during a fancy dinner!”
No Blood Without is the third full-length album from UK producer Graham Luckhurst (a.k.a. Greymatter).
The album follows his acclaimed 2014 LP for WOLF Music, titled Visions, and is inspired by the work of artists such as Mr. G, Leon Vynehall, Mike Dehnert, Martyn, Anthony Naples, Ame, Shed, and Theo Parrish. The LP presents a more advanced expression of his love of sampled, lo-fi sounds and a step up sonically from previous material. Ranging from the slow-mo, heavily-swung beats on “Kensho” to the house and techno of “FCRL” and “Argon Lover” and the broken beats textures of “Only A Fraction,” “In Shade,” and “Burning 4 U.”
In support of the album, Luckhurst has offered up a secret club weapon as today’s XLR8R download, a track that was written for select artists to use as a DJ tool but never released or posted online.
You can pick up “Operator 8000” via WeTransfer below, with No Blood Without dropping on April 28—you can pre-order the record here.
We’ve been targeting Nathan Fake for an XLR8R podcast for a considerable time—and he has respectfully declined on a number of occasions. So it was with real surprise, albeit a welcome one, when Ninja Tune, the label behind his latest album, then approached us to see if we could fit something in.
The album, titled Providence, has been a long time coming—landing fives years after the Norfolk-born artist’s previous LP—namely 2012’s Steam Days on Border Community. And it was this label, founded by James Holden, that sits at the center of much of Fake’s work: he debuted on the label with his first single, 2003’s “Outhouse,” before 2004’s seminal “The Sky was Pink” and 2005’s Silent Night two-tracker—both of which led to his beautiful debut album Drowning In A Sea Of Love. Released in 2006, this breakthrough LP saw the realization of Fake’s early musical promise and provided a perfect platform for two further albums through the Border Community imprint—in 2009 and 2012 respectively. In 2014, Fake then established his own label Cambria Instruments alongside former Border Community associate Wesley Matsel. Their collaborative single Black Drift / Bismuth was followed by Fake’s solo Glaive EP in 2015.
Since then, Fake has been silent on a production front—and the reasons have only now become apparent. “Creative block,” Fake says. “I didn’t write any music at all for about two years,” he explains. “Overall there was roughly a three-year break from writing.” It’s evident, too, that Fake’s approach to music has changed during this period: though not distanced too far from Fake’s trademark “electronic” style, the tracks feel different—and also see him collaborate with vocalists for the first time. The label describes it as Fake’s “most personal and profoundly emotional work to date.”
As for the mix, it’s a diverse and eclectic recording encompassing many on Fake’s favorite records both past and present. Kicking off slow with a selection of smooth ambient cuts, the mix builds steadily, satisfying with a blissful range of range of textures and aesthetics. It’s the sort of mix only an artist like Fake could compile.
Could you tell us about the idea behind it—was there a clear concept?
I basically wanted to do a mix of two parts—but something which kind of built up steadily throughout. The first part is ambient but quite rhythmic in an abstract way, and the second part is danceable but not really clubby; I wanted it to be versatile basically. I’m really happy with it anyway.
How did you choose the records to include in it?
It’s a mixture of things I’m currently into plus a couple of older tracks that I still listen to a lot. I basically just kind of went through my music collection for stuff I’m into at the moment—ha!
You don’t do too many online mixes–what made you do this one?
Yes, I don’t DJ much at all but I do really enjoy it. I guess I just listen to a load of music all the time and it’s really nice to have a reason to just make a mix, I don’t think I’d do it otherwise. It makes nice listening for me, too, as it’s basically just a bunch of music I really like!
Where is the mix supposed to be listened to?
I guess at home. I like listening to it in the kitchen which is a where I listen to most stuff aside from the studio, I dunno why but there’s just a nice vibe in there! Also, it would work really well to listen to in the car, I think. There’s a good range of textures and aesthetics in the mix which would feel good when driving for a couple of hours or something. Also on headphones walking through the city.
How does the mix compare to one of your club mixes?
I think my more clubby mixes aren’t that different really, as I think my idea of club music isn’t really straight up house or techno music I guess, even though I do love a lot of that kind of music. I like to throw other stuff in there which I know a lot of DJs like to do, but I don’t know how good I’d be at a kind of peak time set as maybe my sets are a bit too all over the place for that.
Providence is described by the label as your “most personal and profoundly emotional work to date.” What do you mean by this?
Yeah, I suppose a lot of my music is quite emotional but making Providence was really emotional, just on a personal level. It was quite visceral really, I can’t really describe why. It feels like a really special album. It’s cool to feel that way still after four albums because I suppose there’s that danger of things getting a bit stale after a while. Obviously, a debut album is always gonna be super special so then how are you going to feel after, say, five albums—but this album feels really good so it’s really encouraging for myself I think.
What is the inspiration and concept behind the release?
Kind of a mixture of tunes I’d made in a pretty short space of time with a Korg Prophecy and also kind of the catharsis of making an album. Again, it’s all pretty personal stuff, not very interesting to talk about in an interview, but yeah that’s pretty much what brought the album into existence.
The album was recorded in the wake of a “crippling” spell of writer’s block. Did you ever fear the block was going to end, and what do you think caused it?
I guess I’m no stranger to writer’s block, as with any artist I guess, but yeah writer’s block feels more serious the longer it is, really. And it wasn’t a total block, I was actually making music the last couple of years, I just didn’t feel ready to make an album for a while and I guess I was concerned I wouldn’t feel ready for a long time. I remember suffering some writers block after my first album in 2006, it felt like less of an issue then though. I think I’m more aware of the world around me these days.
Musically speaking, how does it compare to your earlier work?
I think melodically there’s a thread running through all my work—i.e. my melodic compositional style—but I think the instrumentation and production sound pretty different from my older stuff. So I think it has a pretty different appearance, and the context feels quite different. It kind of has a broader sound palette I think; my older stuff kind of relied on classic analog style subtractive synthesis a lot, mostly saw and pulse waves and not a lot else. This album has way more sides to it I think.
What inspired you to work with vocalists for the first time?
It was mostly chance really, I befriended Dominick and Raphaelle and just decided to work with them for an experiment more than anything, it was just fortunate that the tracks ended up being really good, but obviously, I expected the results to be good as they’re both amazing artists.
Besides the album, do you have anything else planned for 2017?
Lots of touring, and hopefully another record out by the end of the year.
Tracklisting
01. Pedrodollar “Endless Yamaha” [N/A] 02. Steve Roach “Time For Time” [Domino Records] 03. Eric Vann “Dancing Plankton” [Coloursound Library] 04. Red Electric Rainbow “LSD Sunshine aa2 [905 Tapes] 05. Amun Dragoon “Secret Whispers from the Tatame Box [Self Released/Not on Label] 06. Clearing “Keepsake Side B” [No Kings] 07. Mads Emil Nielsen “Glow” [Plant Migration] 08. Prurient “I Understand You” [Hydra Head Recods] 09. Orbital “Tranquilizer” [Internal] 10. I-liner “S-Bahn” [Parallel Recordings] 11. Rhythm Invention “Chronoclasm” [Warp Records] 12. Ital “Culture Clubs” [Lovers Rock] 13. Jay Daniel “Shake it Down” [Technicolour] 14. Tyondai Braxton “Amlochley” [Nonesuch/Beat Records] 15. Autechre “acdwn2” [Warp Records] 16. Samo DJ “Beeps” [The Trilogy Tapes] 17. Clark “Shadow Banger” [Houndstooth] 18. Overmono “Lockner Union” [XL Recordings] 19. Huerco S -“Marked for Life” [Proibito] 20. NF “jpsubdr1” [N/A]
Hailing from Southern Italy, Mininni’s influences run to kraut, post-rock, new wave, and electronic amongst others, a long time DJ he manages to condense his influences into beguiling productions.
Rave Oscillations arrives after a debut on release on Curle Recordings, Optimo Trax, and Le Temps Perdu.
Tracklisting
01. Rave Oscillations 02. Vortex Stasi
Rave Oscillations EP is scheduled for May 27 release.
Fango is set to debut on the Life and Death label with “Nung.”
Recently cited by Kompakt boss Michael Mayer as “The hottest thing in the 4/4 business right now,” 2016 was a busy year for Fango, the mysterious Venetian DJ-producer. His releases to date have been on Hell Yeah records, Kompakt, 50 Weapons and his main home Degustibus Music, with more set to come over the next year.
The track will be released on May 19 via DJ Tennis’ Life And Death label as part of a compilation called Displaced Soundtracks. The track will also feature on Fango’s new album, which is due towards the end of the year.
Displaced Soundtracks is scheduled for May 19 release, with “Nung” streamable in full below.
Jesse Siminski’s (a.k.a Heartthrob) ISNISNT label is set to release Intersection, an EP featuring cuts from Berlin-based Red Rack’em and Brooklyn-based Justin Cudmore— the first outside artists to contribute to the imprint.
Heartthrob’s title cut is sweeping and melodic, “a sophisticated take on electro and a nod to early Detroit techno, Warp records and Miami bass,” explains the label.
Red Rack’em’s track “Wonky Bassline Banger” was one of last year’s biggest selling house records, and he follows up a successful 2016 with the remix for “Intersection.”
With Justin Cudmore’s debut release Crystal airing last year on Honey Soundsystem, the ascendant producer and Bunker NY affiliate’s track “Bagel” (Bite Mix) is “a house cut rooted in Chicago’s raw, hypnotic roots,” the label continues.
Back to finish the EP, label head Heartthrob provides a bumping acid house interpretation of “Bagel.”
The vinyl release features artwork by celebrated New York artist Billy Sullivan.
A leading proponent of a collective of rising French DJs, Lamache is steadily becoming one of the most exciting selectors in the house scene. With residencies and regular appearances at Paris’ Rex Club and London’s Toi Toi and Fabric, it won’t be long before his name becomes more widely known internationally—check out XLR8R’s recent profile of Lamache here.
For his first ever appearance in Los Angeles, Lamache will head up the Sunday party at the multi-level Liquid Frequencies Pool and Terrace from 12 pm to 10 pm. On support duties will be Resolute’s Maksim—who will also play for Cyclone on Friday night—alongside WXC (John Wander b2b Luke Cheadle), and Cyclone residents Haas and Highkin.
New Yorks’s Halcyon has today relaunched its E-Commerce site, revamped its distribution arm, and expanded its services in-store to include record maintenance services and one-on-one DJ lessons.
Halcyon has been Brooklyn’s hub for music since 1999. As one of New York’s long-standing vinyl shops, it is known as the central hub of the city’s underground music scene, selling a large selection of music including world, soul, rock, and hip-hop among other genres as well. Halcyon offers various LP-related services as well, from LP flattening and cleaning to one-on-one DJ lessons.
Aside from a makeover, Halcyon’s new E-Commerce site features a new player with adjustable volume and pitch so users get to sample music before buying it. The site also employs a hyper-targeted search function that allows users to search within genres and subgenres for the sounds that they crave while also discovering new music they would enjoy.
The record maintenance service includes professional record flattening and cleaning services. Halcyon charges a flat fee of $9.99 per record to flatten and professionally clean a record. The store also offers turntable repair, with pricing on a case-by-case basis.
Also among Halcyon’s latest offering are one-on-one DJ lessons that take place at Halcyon the shop with veteran staff DJs. The price for a one-hour DJ lesson is $50 where aspiring DJs learn the basics about turntables, mixers, vinyls, and other skills such as beat matching.
In recent months, Halcyon has also revamped its distribution arm to service record shops around the globe.
Samuel Rohrer, the multi-faceted forward-thinking percussionist and producer behind the arjunamusic label, the AMBIQ trio, and a wealth of other musical projects, will soon release a new LP, entitled Range of Regularity, as a double vinyl set.
The LP is constructed almost entirely upon electronically-treated recordings of acoustic instrumentation, with a bare minimum of synthesizer voicing. The press release describes it as one of “ultra-modern improvisational music,” revealing Rohrer’s well known “percussion-driven” musical techniques.
Jeff Mills‘ Spiral Deluxe band has a new EP on the way.
Spiral Deluxe is an improvised electronic jazz quartet consisting of Mills on the drum machine and percussion, with Gerald Mitchell on keyboards, Yumiko Ohno on Moog synthesizer, and Kenji “Jino” Hino on bass guitar and vocals.
Tathata, the upcoming release, follows the group’s Kobe Session EP, released back in 2016. It is a three-track EP pressed on vinyl from 32 bit/48kHz digital files and launches a new range of vinyl releases called the Axis Audiophile Series.
Tracklisting
A. The Cosmos B1. Four Ways Of Knowing B2. Without A Doubt
Tathata is scheduled for April 28 release on Axis.
