Podcast 857: Mike Dunn

He’s a lover man who’s not shy about sharing his bedroom tips (“Phreaky MF”); he’s a guy who gives props to a higher power for his innate groove skills (“God Made Me Phunky”). But most of all, Mike Dunn is an artist who lives and breathes acid house. The Chicago vegan knows there’s something about the rubbery pings of a 303 paired with crunchy wallop of an 808 that’s almost Pavlovian in its appeal, and that’s why, 30 years after he first hit the scene via the release of “Dance You Mutha” on the Westbrook label, acid remains at his core. In 2019, Dunn released My House from All Angles, his first long-player since 1990’s Free Your Mind—and though the album lives up its name by featuring a touch of variety via tracks like stripped-down disco number “Have It 4U Babe” or the hip-house cut “DJ Beat That Shhh,” the 303 was once again the defining sound. In the last few years, Dunn has also released on Defected, Classic, and Nu Groove, and he’s recently relaunched his Dance Mutha label for previously unreleased acid jams that have been locked in the vault. To celebrate the release of Tracks From The Beginning Vol.1, Dance Mutha’s first release after its relaunch, Dunn has delivered an XLR8R podcast—which is to say precisely one hour of raw, jacking acid house.

01. What have you been up to recently?
I’ve just been doing lots of gigs and getting ready for the summer season and recording new music that I’m excited about.

02. Where and when did you record this mix?
I recorded this mix last week in Chicago in my dungeon studio.

03. What setup did you use?
CDJs and Pioneer mixer.

04. How did you choose the tracks you’ve included in it?
I just went with the flow on a Chicago, acid, jacking tip.

05. Where do you imagine it being listened to?
You could listen to this anytime, anyplace, and anywhere!

06. What’s next on your horizon?
I’m just about to launch my label, Dance Mutha Records, for some unreleased acid, house and techno tracks from myself, Armando, Hugo H, and others. And getting ready to hit Europe over the summer for some shows.

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Mike Dunn “Acid Rush” (Classic Music Company)
02. Armando “Don’t Take It” (Let’s Pet Puppies)
03. Jack Frost “Clap Me” (Unreleased)
04. Victor Romeo “Acid Rain” (Dance Mania)
05. Serge P “Acid Breath” (Mako Records)
06. Akabu “Phuture Bond” (Interface Records)
07. Cajmere & Wayne Williams “This is Acid House” (Cajual)
08. Cool McCool “World Turns Around” (Super Sound)
09 Paranoid London “Headtrack” (Paranoid London Records)
10. Unknown “Unknown” (Unreleased)
11. Mike Dunn “Release” (Classic Music Company
12. Paranoid London “Transmission” (Paranoid London Records)
13. Jack Frost & Circle Jerks “Cool & Dry” (Trax)
14 Underground Resistance “Jupiter Jazz” (Underground Resistance)

Efterklang’s New Album is Next on City Slang

Efterklang will release a new album in September.

With Things We Have In Common, the Danish trio—comprising Mads Brauer, Casper Clausen, and Rasmus Stolberg—close the circle that began with their 2019 album, Altid Sammen, and continued with 2021’s, Windflowers. These three records represent a “simpler, more inclusive” form of expression, exploring themes of human connection, the relationship between humans and nature and collective spirituality and belonging.

They’ve been playing music together as the three primary members of Efterklang for over 20 years, alongside a collective of other musicians who collaborate with them across albums.

Pianist and composer Rune Mølgaard formed Efterklang with them but left after their 2007 sophomore record, Parades. But for Things We Have In Common, Mølgaard returned to the fold, co-writing seven of the record’s nine songs.

During the years of his absence from the band, Rune fell in love with a woman who had grown up in the Mormon Church and found his spiritual side awakened. Yet as time passed, he found it difficult to keep his newfound faith and eventually his belief crumbled. Finally, in 2022, he broke with the Mormon Church.

Although Efterklang had invited Rune to work with them on Things We Have In Common before he left the church, after he left their relationship intensified. The conversations the band members had about his decision to leave the church colored the album as they worked, with the three primary members of Efterklang stepping back to create room for Mølgaard’s ideas and sonic universe.

Efterklang were also joined by Finnish drummer Tatu Rönkkö, Venezuelan guitarist Hector Tosta, and Guatemalan cellist and singer Mabe Fratti.

Alongside the announcement, Efterklang have shared “Animated Heart,” a new single.

“This piece originated in my little studio in Lisbon. In the early stages of the process, I shared numerous sketches with the others, and this one stood out,” Efterklang vocalist Clausen says. “As we began to develop it further, we often played it together with the girls’ choir, Sønderjysk Pigekor, from our hometown. Their addition brought a whole gospel vibe to the track, which I found incredibly appealing. I was struck by how their voices seemed to lift the composition into another realm, creating a sense of expansiveness that no instrument or single voice could achieve. I’m singing about being alone, clinging to the stone, kissing oneself to the bone, deep in the heart of the soul.”

The accompanying video was directed by Søren Lynggaard and the band’s Rasmus Stolberg, portraying the members of the choir.

Stolberg says: “The video is an homage to the choir who are featured on ‘Animated Heart’ and have given us so many unforgettable musical memories.

Previously, the group shared “Plant” and “Getting Reminders,” which both feature on the album.

Tracklisting

01. Balancing Stones
02. Plant
03. Getting Reminders
04. Ambulance
05. Leave It All Behind
06. Animated Heart
07. Shelf Break
08. Sentiment
09. To A New Day

Things We Have In Common LP is scheduled for September 27 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Animated Heart” in full via the player below and pre-order here.

Photo: Søren Lynggaard

Podcast 856: Shcaa

This week’s podcast comes from Shcaa, the French composer and guitarist otherwise known as Sacha Khalifé. Khalifé started music production in high school, while living in Tunisia. He had been playing guitar for a couple of years and was listening to a mixture of ’60s rock and British IDM, and eventually Burial. At the age of 18, Shcaa was born, a project for channeling his fascination for blues and its diverse iterations, electronic minimalism, and an obsession with cinematic narrative, and soon he released his first EPs on Chich Marionette, a friend’s label. “I had a rather precise idea of the sound I wanted,” he said in an interview. “I always wanted it to be organic, something living, I hated sounds that felt synthetic.” His music since then has appeared on labels including R & S Records and its ambient imprint Apollo, which is where Khalifé released No Moon at All, What A Night, his most recent album, in 2020. Sonically, his records are abstract and emotional electronic, and they’re meticulous in their use of space and time, arranging harmonies, rhythm, and texture with a sensibility. His podcast, recorded earlier this month, is layered with rich melodies and harmonies and, across its 53-minute run-time, invites contemplation and self-scrutiny.

01. What have you been up to recently?
Finding a new rhythm, both creatively and personally. I am self-releasing everything now, on Placidum, which gives me the opportunity to enjoy the moment more, and to go deeper into music. I am finalizing my next release at the moment which will be my first cover EP, songs from the amazing post-rock band Deathcrash.

02. What have you been listening to?
This week: Eric Chenaux Delights of My Life

This past year: Rod Modell & Taka Noda; Jonny Nash Point Of Entry; Raphael Roginski; a Charles Curtis compilation; Mike Cooper; Blake Mills Jelly Road / Notes with Attachments; Eddie Chacon, David Sylvain Blemish; Bill Orcutt Jump On It.

On a longer term: a lot of Paul Motion, The Beatles, Yo La Tengo, Chico Hamilton, Charles Lloyd, Loren Connors, Jon Hassell, Sam Gendel, ECM, Faitiche, and Black Truffle.

03. You’ve just put out a new EP. What can you tell us about it?
It is a composite work which is built around the first track, “Her Conscious Drift To Neptune’s Frozen Reliefs.” This track was initially produced in 2016 and 2017 for a well known Parisian microhouse label but the release never happened. Seven years later as my artistic expression has moved away from its club aspirations I felt the need to find a vessel for this track, a context, to get it out of my system. So the three other pieces are portraying, I guess, a kind of deconstruction of house music.

04. Where and when did you record this mix?
I recorded the mix in my studio in Paris, I am actually listening to version four right now as I am answering the questions on June 7. I think that you will listen to version five.

05. What setup did you use?
I used a computer, my guitar, and an effects board. I have actually used my live set up in some kind of hybrid manner. I initially made a big selection of tracks, put everything in an Ableton project along with a selection of field recordings—all recorded in New York in 2017 actually. Then I mixed a portion of these tracks in a single take, just using my mouse and keyboard. After that I played guitar and effects on the mix itself, in one take as well, and finally refined volumes and EQs. Hence version five.

06. How did you choose the tracks you’ve included?
The day I mixed it I wanted a warm mix. Also with some sense of mystery. It actually started from the Charalambides track which felt right and I built it out from there. I excluded anything feeling too artificial, or lacking in intimacy, even though I had nice things in that department. I used superimpositions to balance the emotions of some of the tracks and to improve coherence.

07. Where do you imagine it being listened to?
In an intimate environment, either with early morning light or in a quiet evening. If possible with some plants around and a good soundsystem. As summer is coming, I would totally consider an outdoor listening too if only natural noises are heard around.

08. What’s next on your horizon?
I have been working on my next album for a year now, and I guess I will need another year for it to be ready.

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Charalambides “Voice Within” (Siltbreeze)
02. Bonjour Bonsoir “Hendrickje III” (Unreleased)
03. R.I.P. Hayman “Waves for Flutes” (Recital)
04. Ora Clementi “Paradigm and Places” (Black Truffle)
05. Nino Nardini “La Planète Oubliée” (Neuilly)
06. Marsen Jules “Kayi” (Oktaf)
07. Kagami “Tori” (Root Strata)
08. Audio Werner “Warten Auf Godot” (Audigi)
09. E. Sanchillo “Solstice” (Waneela)
10. Lawrence English “The Jungle” (Room40)
11. Raphael Roginski “Naima” (Bôlt)
12. Hahmed Malek “Bolero” (Habibi Funk)
13. Etienne Martinez “l’après-midi d’un fœhn” (Editions1OF1)
14. Land of Kush “Ana” (Constellation)
15. Phonic Grafts “Drowning In Oxytocin” (The Wire)
16. Sam Gendel “Kagome (籠目, woven bamboo)” (Leaving Records)
17. John Zorn / Bill Frisell “Kisofim” (Tzadik)

TSHA Next on Ninja Tune with Second Album

TSHA will release a new album in September.

Sad Girl, due for release in September on Ninja Tune, is the UK artist’s second album, following 2022’s Capricorn Sun.

Sonically, we’re told to expect her most danceable work to date with strokes of ’00s R&B, rude electro, and techno.

It sees TSHA welcoming “a new era,” one where she’s putting her own vocal stamp on tracks and “approaching the genres she’s always wanted to.”

Beyond showcasing just the euphoric or melancholy sides of her character, TSHA “puts it all on display,” we’re told. It’s a body of work that “shows it’s OK to be sad, and you can even revel in it.”

The inspiration for the artwork came after, aged 21, TSHA had a dream that she was trapped under ice. She’d been depressed at the time, and imagined walking over a frozen lake, it cracking and her falling into the freezing water. After fighting to try and get out, she gave in, sinking to the bottom.

That dream has always stuck in her head: she linked it to feeling like she was fighting life at the time. On the album’s cover, she’s pulled herself out of the ice, and is laid atop an iceberg, in a glam shot inspired by Thierry Mugler’s fashion photography from the ’80s.

Alongside the announcement, TSHA has shared “Girls,” a club anthem “for the girls and gays” to soundtrack messy nights.”

Tracklisting

01. Sad Girl feat. Dan Whitlam
02. Girls feat. Rose Gray
03. In The Night
04. Can’t Dance feat. Master Peace
05. Green
06. Sweet Devotion feat. Caroline Byrne
07. Lonely Girl
08. In Bloom feat. Abi Flynn
09. Azaleas feat. Ingrid Witt
10. Take
11. Drive feat. Ingrid Witt
12. Fight

Sad Girl LP will land on September 27. Meanwhile, you can stream “Girls” featuring Rose Gray and “Sweet Devotion” featuring Caroline Byrne, a previously releases single below. Pre-order is available here.

Photo: Nicole Ngai, Amelia Studios

Sam Morton Releases Debut Album on XL Recordings

Sam Morton, the musical duo of singer, songwriter, and Oscar-nominated actor Samantha Morton and music producer and co-songwriter Richard Russell—the boss of XL Recordings—have released their debut album.

Over 12 tracks, Daffodils & Dirt builds a “deeply personal musical world,” with Russell’s soundscapes providing a rich foundation for Morton’s ethereal vocals. It features Alabaster DePlume, Laura Groves, and Jack Peñate.

Last year, the pair released limited edition vinyl-only singles Hunger Hill Road / Ghosts Are Dancing and Supplication / Headbouncing.

Tracklisting

01. Highwood House
02. Hungerhill Road
03. Purple Yellow
04. The Little White Cloud That Cried
05. Kaleidoscope
06. Cry Without End feat. Alabaster DePlume
07. Broxtowe Girl feat. Ali Campbell & Alabaster DePlume
08. Let’s Walk In The Night feat. Alabaster DePlume
09. Greenstone
10. Double Dip Neon
11. The Shadow
12. Loved By God feat. Alabaster DePlume

Daffodils & Dirt LP is available now. You can stream it in full via the player below.

Photo: Anton Corbijn

Skee Mask Drops Surprise Album

Skee Mask, or Bryan Müller, has shared a surprise album on Ilian Tape.

Resort is the Munich artist’s fourth solo album as Skee Mask, following the inimitable Compro, which he released in 2018, and Pool, in 2021. In 2016, he also released Shred.

Sonically, it comprises 12 tracks of ambient, breakbeat, IDM, and techno.

Tracklisting

01. Hedwig Transformation Group
02. Nostaglitch
03. Reminiscrmx
04. Element
05. Waldmeister
06. Daytime Gamer
07. Schneiders Paradox
08. BB Care
09. Terminal Z
10. Hölzl Was A Dancer
11. 7AM At The Rodeo
12. Vitamin 313

Resort LP is available now. You can stream the album in full below.

Influences 25: DJ Lag

DJ Lag—the alias of Lwazi Asanda Gwalahas—will release a new album this month. The Rebellion, as it’s called, marks a “bold evolution” of his distinctive gqom sound, we’re told, and builds on the success of his previous album, Meeting With The King, which established himself as a sonic innovator and leading ambassador of the genre, taking the bass-heavy, minimalist sound from South Africa to a worldwide audience. He achieved all this before the age of 30 and from his home in Clermont in the coastal city of Durban, which is where he began making beats using little more than FruityLoops as a teenager. Soon he was playing his tracks at local gigs and sharing them with taxi drivers who liked to use them to attract customers. Then, in 2015, following his blistering performance at the G-Star Raw x Boiler Room sessions in Johannesburg, his sound seeped out to an international audience, and a year later he released on London’s Goon Club Allstars—delivering four hypnotic originals ‘made for clubs … made for nightlife,’ he told DJ Mag. Ahead of The Rebellion’s release, DJ Lag has taken a moment to step back, digging into his record bag to find some of the key records and artists that have shaped his work, and compiled them into an Influences mix for XLR8R. A peek into DJ Lag’s past before he reveals the sounds of his future.

“Growing up I was exposed to different types of music and what you hear in this mix are some of the moments where my view of music and culture shifted.

“Msawawa is an early memory of a specific artist that got me to first love music from a very young age, and seeing someone from my own hood doing that also made me believe it’s a route I could take myself. DJ Bongz is the first DJ I saw performing and he made me want to be a DJ. Big Nuz’s “Stingray” was the biggest Durban kwaito song I was listening to when I was growing up.

“Kwaito was the style we grew up on and it’s music that was both expressive in terms of having political and resistance roots, while musically it drew inspiration from both house and hip-hop. It’s the prototype for everything that followed for my generation and shaped the whole culture, so the evolution to Gqom or any South African genre you hear out there today feels natural. It is deeply embedded in the slang, fashion and of course music that is being made today , and I guess you could say it was the Big Bang for South Africa’s youth culture.“

“I was listening to the Naked Boyz and Rude Boyz at the same time as I was experimenting with making music, which is why I’ve included some tracks of theirs. It was like listening to someone speaking your language in a foreign country and it all became a monumental part of my musical journey, which I am still on today. I’ve also included some of my own songs and some of the songs I am working on, which will give you a test of where I am going.” — DJ Lag

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Msawawa “Bowngakanani”
02. Mshoza “Kortes” (Kasi Luv)
03. Zola “Stars”
04. Msawawa “Bhibo”
05. DJ BONGZ “Sobabili”
06. Big Nuz “Stingray”
07. Naked Boyz “Hunters Gold”
08. Rude Boyz “Mitshubishi”
09. DJ lag “Ice Drop”
10. Dj Lusiman “Wamnandi Uqoh”
11. Babes Wodumo “Wololo”
12. Dj lag x Da Man “Dubula”

Podcast 855: Kessoncoda

For West London’s Kessoncoda—the collaboration of drummer Tom Sunney and keyboardist Fil Sowa—it has taken more than 12 years to craft their debut album, Outerstate, which will land next month on Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana Records. They first met in school and became the rhythm section in a heavy metal band, and in the years since—working from the shed in the bottom of Sunney’s garden—they’ve been developing a sound which “presents a vision of jazz revolutionized by developments in electronic music,” we’re told. To that end, they’ve been drawing on their array of musical interests, including rock, electronica, ambient, breakbeat, and soundtracks for film, plus artists like Squarepusher, Radiohead, and Clark. You can file their music next to label mates including GoGo Penguin and Portico Quartet in that it sits between acoustic tradition and electronica, while incorporating different themes and moods, with an ebb-and-flow of intensity. In support of the album, Sunney and Sowa have delivered an XLR8R podcast, showcasing some of their finest finds during the recording of Outerstate and since its completion.

01. What have you been up to recently?
We’ve been adapting our upcoming debut album into different length sets and for different environments. It’s been really cool making considerations that might work for festivals as opposed to club shows and vice versa. Also we’re been tackling new music which is albeit quite different from album one but pretty cohesive in mood and timbres already.

02. As you mention, your debut album is incoming. What can you tell us about it?
Outerstate is an ode to our tucked away dwelling out in West London. We wrote all of the music over the course of these past two years in our garden shed-cum-studio. It’s an instrumental record but our headspace at the time of writing was also a bit “outerstate” in the sense that we found ourselves at a bit of a remove from our personal lives and the music is a bit of a reflection of that time.

03. Where and when did you record this mix?
We just whipped it together last week in the shed after a day of working on tunes. It was a lot of fun compiling these tracks, some of which we’d only heard recently, and it sort of felt like how we might cool off after a day of work in the shed!

04. How did you choose the tracks you’ve included in it?
A lot of these have been sweet finds recently through YouTube deep dives and also hearing this stuff out and about in clubs. There are some recent record store snags in there too! Tom just started off with Louke Man and we just continued on the breaks theme from there.

05. Where do you imagine it being listened to?
Kind of pre-party for us. A lot of these are tunes we’ve been sharing between us and friends. Or even late at night; there are lots of darker themes in the music that might connect with people around that time. For us this is an anytime playlist. Who says no breakcore and Detroit techno in the morning?

06. What’s next on your horizon?
We are super excited to be touring in October around the UK and a couple of European spots too. Ahead of that we’ve got live shows here and there; With this new music we’re trying to develop the visual concept and world building around the same time we’re making this music itself. We’re really excited by the idea of shaking things up every time, not just for an audience but for keeping things fresh for ourselves. With this in mind we might experiment with wider collaborations and are interested in dirtying up the sound; this mix might give you a hint at where our heads are at the moment!

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Louke Man “Differently” (Harsh Riddims)
02. SW. “Untitled A2” (Apollo Records / Sued Records)
03. Sons of Scientist “Spartan Riddim” (Selectors Assemble)
04. Vintage Future “Dookie Machine” (Underground Resistance)
05. Kevin Saudnerson “Just Want Another Chance” (BEAT Music Fund)
06. MIA “Bucky Done Gun” (XL Recordings)
07. Nookie “T-Three” (Phuzion Digital)
08. St. Germain “Funky Attack” (F Communications)
09. Skanna & Jody Wisternoff “This Way” (Anjunadeep)
10. Skanna “Find Me” (Classic Skanna Mix)’ (Self-Released)
11. Art2Work “Lounge N Chill” (Unreleased)
12. South Street Player “(Who) Keeps Changing Your Mind” (Strictly Rhythm)
13. Shogun “Artemis” (Renegade Recordings)
14. E-Z Rollers “Toca 2 Intro” (Codemasters)

Ben Böhmer Next on Ninja Tune with First Album in Three Years

Ben Böhmer will release a new album on Ninja Tune in September.

Bloom is Böhmer’s first album in three years, following 2021’s Begin Again.

Bloom is “a reset,” we’re told, and “a confident reassertion of his own desires and more improvisational origins.’ Across 11 tracks, we’re that that we “hear and feel Ben’s growth, the joyful pursuit of newness that pulls him back to the studio day after day, season after season.”

The album features Lykke Li, alt-pop duo Oh Wonder, Enfant Sauvage (of the French duo The Blaze), and more. It features a swathe of styles and tempos that earlier tracks in his career feel like breadcrumbs to.

Alongside the announcement, Böhmer has shared “Best Life,” featuring Berlin-based singer-songwriter duo JONAH, which is “all about that rollercoaster ride of trying, failing, and a reminder of the importance of living each moment to the fullest.”

“Life is short and fast,” JONAH remarks on the track. “You try, you fail, and sometimes we lose a special person along the way who is irreplaceable, but the memories stay with us, shaping who we are.”

Tracklisting

01. Martin
02. Hiding feat. Lykke Li
03. Best Life feat. JONAH
04. Memory Cassettes
05. Beautiful feat. Malou
06. Faithless feat. Erin LeCount
07. Rust
08. Evermore feat. Enfant Sauvage
09. Rain feat. Max Milner
10. The Sun feat. Oh Wonder
11. Blossoms

Bloom LP is scheduled for September 27 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Best Life” feat. JONAH in full via the player below and pre-order here.

Photo: Harvey Pearson

Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter Releases ‘Chiroptera’ Soundtrack

Thomas Bangalter, founder of French electronic music duo Daft Punk, has digitally released Chiroptera, the soundtrack for a performance created with artist JR and choreographer Damien Jallet.

Chiroptera was realised by 154 dancers in the forecourt of the Paris Opera House on November 12, 2023.

The soundtrack—which lands on vinyl on August 30—represents merely a fraction of the music composed by Bangalter for the performance.

The full project, containing just shy of six hours of music, is also being made available today.

Chiroptera Matiere Premiere is available via all streaming platforms and as a 10xLP vinyl record box set in a strictly limited edition of 200 numbered and signed copies, exclusively at Galerie Perrotin in Paris and on Atelier JR webshop.

The album coincides with the opening of an installation in Paris called “ALETHEIA 19,” which consists of 19 “monophonic microgrooves cut on vinyl and presented in a simultaneous unsynchronised playback.”

Earlier this year, Bangalter put out his soundtrack to Mr Oizo film “DAAAAAALÍ.”

You can watch the Chiroptera performance below and stream the short version of the release here. The full Chiroptera Matiere Premiere is available to stream here.

Photo: Cedric Hervet

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