Since a number of early releases on Sabb‘s SK Supreme imprint, NTFO have risen to the top of a vibrant, highly self-referential techno and house scene in Romania. The duo’s defining moment came in 2008, when they launched their now-beloved Sintope label with a fitting tech house release from Paul Damixie. Their sound has grown increasingly more refined over the years, culminating in their forthcoming Rush Over EP, the 8th in their celebrated Sintope Vinyl Series.
In anticipation of the September 5 release, the pair have gifted XLR8R with an unreleased cut recorded during EP sessions. Entitled ‘Spatiu Uns,’ the track employs playful rhythmic elements, hypnotic vocals, and an infectious hook to deliver a thoroughly enjoyable dance journey.
Download the track via WeTransfer below, and keep an eye out for a Rush Over vinyl release on September 5.
Last week, New York-based artist Joe Williams launched his Motion Graphics project with a self-titled album on Domino Records.
Motion Graphics will be Williams’ first solo LP since his lauded Smoke, which was released nine years ago under the White Williams moniker. Recorded over two years in New York and Los Angeles, the ambitious album pulls inspirations from societal issues with technology and social media, and oft forgotten and neglected everyday sounds (refrigerator hums, car menus etc.).
Across 10 mind-bending tracks, Williams weaves together a rich metaphor for our modern lives and the never-ending, fast-paced stream of information that greets us every day. Using an array of custom randomized software instruments, Williams has created one of the most interesting electronic albums in recent times; it’s wild pop manifesto for the tech generation.
With the album out now, we sent a handful of questions to Williams to dig a little deeper into the recording process and the thoughts behind the album. He also shared with us an exclusive 360° VR video, which you can watch via the player above (to watch this 360° VR video, you need the latest version of Chrome, Opera, Firefox, or Internet Explorer on your computer. On mobile devices, use the latest version of the YouTube app for Android or iOS). Click and grab the screen to move around.
The press release states that you were inspired by things like Twitter feeds, refrigerator hums, and menu systems on cars and video games, how did these inspirations affect or inform the recording process? I guess I was thinking about attention span, my own attention span and how fragmented we experience media. To use Twitter, it’s easy to parse through 1000 points of view in such a condensed amount of time and space. It’s fun to think about how attention span affects listening, and I see this as an area to work out my ideas. I made this instrument w/ Ableton Live that scrolls through 100 different instruments at random. When you hold the notes down it freezes the instruments in pitch/time. It’s super chaotic, it never plays the same combination of instruments twice, and there are a lot of interruptions. In use, it sort of mimics that randomness we get from aggregated news or Twitter. You can hear the scrolling instrument used heavily in “Houzzfunction.”
The album has a very futuristic and forward-thinking sound and aesthetic, what were some of the other instruments and recording processes used in the making of the album? Besides the scrolling instrument described above, I was using a lot of Kontakt instruments. Instruments that are sort of designed to accompany scores for TV and video game music. It’s the type of instrumentation you might hear in the trailer to Game of Thrones. They’re not very futuristic at all actually. The instruments are very ordinary, it’s more just how they’re organized and sequenced that give them a life force. It made sense for the record to have these instruments that were made from the language of film and TV.
The Motion Graphics name, the album art, and the sound of the project all allude to a very visually-focused artist, were visuals integral in the creation of the album?
I’m working with this animation crew called CULTURESPORT on the art. Their artwork is on its way to becoming a television series. Again, I think it’s cool to be collaborating with people who are working with the language of TV and animation, in whatever abstract way. It’s difficult to imagine this record now without their amazing contributions to the LP. I think their work totally coexists with the sonics on the record and I see the visuals really enhancing the music.
We recently profiled some of the early VR adopters in regards to music, do you think that 360 video and VR is the next frontier for music? I think there are a lot of possibilities in all of it, but I haven’t seen a lot of art or video that takes full advantage of what’s possible. It might sound weird but a lot of tech related art is uninteresting to me. In a few years, it will probably be a different story. It seems like Mixed Reality is most likely the next frontier.
Do you have plans to tour the Motion Graphics project live and how will that be presented? Definitely! I think I’ll probably just use a keyboard and mouse. I’ve thought of using woodwinds and voice and my iPhone to process everything.
What else do you have coming up under Motion Graphics? Will there be more projects like the 360 video? I recently collaborated on my friend Spencer Doran’s ( Visible Cloaks ) album. It should be out soon. Beyond that, I have some more mixes on the way and a few ideas for an EP.
Berlin based musicians Sam Barker and Andreas Baumecker (a.k.a. nd_baumecker) released their first collaborative EP with the Berghain-affiliated label back in 2010, and have since released another EP (plus a remix package), and 2012’s full-length Transsektoral. The duo now return with the announcement of a new two-tracker, followed by a full-length later this year.
First up is Love Hertz / Cipher, a record that features one “blissful, uplifting, melodic and—at times—bluesy UK Bass-inspired cut,” with a “heavy, dark” number on the flip. It will arrive weeks in advance of the duo’s upcoming full-length Turns.
Love Hertz / Cipher is due out October 7. Stream snippets below and pre-order from the Ostgut store. Turns is set to follow on November 25.
Berlin based musicians Sam Barker and Andreas Baumecker (a.k.a. nd_baumecker) released their first collaborative EP with the Berghain-affiliated label back in 2010, and have since released another EP (plus a remix package), and 2012’s full-length Transsektoral. The duo now return with the announcement of a new two-tracker, followed by a full-length later this year.
First up is Love Hertz / Cipher, a record that features one “blissful, uplifting, melodic and—at times—bluesy UK Bass-inspired cut,” with a “heavy, dark” number on the flip. It will arrive weeks in advance of the duo’s upcoming full-length Turns.
Love Hertz / Cipher is due out October 7. Stream snippets below and pre-order from the Ostgut store. Turns is set to follow on November 25.
Roman Flügel will release his third solo album on Dial later this year.
All The Right Noises looks set to veer away from the Frankfurt native’s recent stream of club-ready material into more ambient, experimental realms. According to Dial, it is a record which “spreads gentle minor tones and the bass drum kicks rarely.” The producer himself explains that “the studio work is a welcome alternation from my DJ sets during the weekends. This time the opposition even goes so far, that I partially bypass obvious beats and even the classic 4/4 scheme is often avoided.”
It is the latest in an ever-expanding list of releases by Flügel on Dial: aside from 2011’s Fatty Folders and 2014’s Happiness is Happening LPs, he has also been behind several EPs for them.
Tracklisting:
01. Fantasy 02. The Mighty Suns 03. Dead Idols 04. Nameless Lake 05. Warm And Dewy 06. Dust 07. Believers 08. All The Right Noises 09. Planet Zorg 10. Life Tends To Come And Go
A Made Up Sound is an alias of Dave Huismans, used mainly for his leftfield house and techno productions; in 2009, the Dutch producer established a label by the same name, and has since put out nine of his own EPs on it. News has now broken that the imprint is set to close. Huismans explains: “Initially I started it as an outlet to freely release whatever, whenever, but as I went along, the label kind of became a purpose in itself, something I enjoyed building over time. A body of work with a beginning and an end, if you will. It was meant to be a finite thing early on.”
With the closure of the label in mind, Huismans will release one final EP—Bygones—and a retrospective compilation. The latter will be a comprehensive anthology of the imprint’s entire body of work, and also include previously unreleased cut “P.P.B.”
A Made Up Sound (2009-2016) will be available on CD and digital formats from October 21, followed by Bygones, available as 12″ vinyl from November 4.
Tracklisting:
A Made Up Sound A Made Up Sound (2009-2016)
CD1 01 Take The Plunge (First Thought) 02 Bygones 03 Sun Touch 04 Crisis 05 Havoc 06 Syrinx 07 Untitled (Original Shortcut) 08 Extra Time 09 Half Hour Jam On A Borrowed Synth 10 Ahead
CD2 01 Stumbler 02 Alarm (Edit) 03 Take The Plunge (Beat Mix) 04 Rework 05 Endgame 06 P.P.B. 07 Demons (Reprise) 08 After Hours 09 What Preset (Edit) 10 Peace Offering
Jamie xx has shared the recording of a recent back-to-back set with Jon Rust.
The set was recorded live on August 27 on the final night of Rust’s August takeover at Phonox nightclub, London. Previous guests included Secretsundaze (James Priestly and Giles Smith), Bahamian Moor, Tasker, and Fotomachine.
The mix is streamable in full via the player below.
The Bern-born DJ has strengthened her ties with Dekmantel in recent times, featuring in the Dutch music company’s Boiler Room, providing a podcast for its mix series, and performing at its recent festival in Amsterdam. On top of all that, she now features in the selector series—a set of documentaries that aim to tell the stories of DJs local to a variety of different countries and cities, “who live for music and spend most of their time behind the turntables or in the record store, always digging for that one special record to complete their five-star collection.” Previous guests include Ben UFO, Mr. Ties, Antal, and Joy Orbison.
Watch the video above, as Sassy J shares her personal musical story.
Details of the new project emerged yesterday, which comes in lieu of Other People‘s former monthly subscription service (a facility that sent out new music every Sunday for ten dollars a month). The decision was in part a financial one, and in part due to his touring schedule, which would not allow enough time to manage the weekly send-out. Instead, the imprint will be focussing its attentions on a smaller batch of releases throughout the next year.
The new website requires users to pick a channel between zero and 333, though only multiples of three will be accepted, with any other numbers being rounded up or down automatically; each resulting station has its own unique artwork and streams noise, electronic and experimental music. Jaar himself recommends starting with channels 324, 195, 108, 243, 225, 33, and finishing up with 333.
The launch of the radio service comes hot on the heels of news of a potential new album, teased by the enigmatic New York-based musician. He made this statement, addressed to fans of his Other People imprint:
Dear Opies,
First, I want to thank you for your amazing support over the past 3 years, you have allowed us to experiment and grow.
But most importantly, you’ve sustained a space for dozens of young artists from all over the world to begin or continue their paths.
Thank you Thank you Thank you
As some of you may have noticed, we have stopped our monthly subscription.
There are two reasons behind this decision. First of all, I will be playing live again and unable to be fully present on a week to week basis. But it’s also a financial decision: every release was a labour of love, and I took up DJing the last couple of years in part to finance the label.
We will now concentrate on a much smaller batch of yearly releases starting in 2017.
