Hailing from Lisbon, producer Random Gods (a.k.a Timóteo Azevedo) has centered his particular noise around the concept of isolationism and broken technology. Growing up with a wide-range of musical influences since the age of six, the multi-instrumentalist’s sonic seclusion and worldview have resulted in a thoroughly mystic and limitless sound. Having just released his debut EP Genezon.avi via the Swiss label Danse Noire, the release is described as “an exercise of imagining a post-apocalyptic future without the internet, where information is being gathered, and regathered, through fragmented data.”
Azevedo has offered up a cut from his debut EP titled “Malsano” as today’s XLR8R download. Fixating on an abstract, primal and ritualistic aura, the track contains a coarse, droning bass and hollow drums which navigate the rippling synth and soundscapes that besiege the tune with a contained and abated chaos.
First dropping in 2009, Teenage Engineering‘s OP1 is a portable synth, sampler, and recording device with a whole lot of quirky features to stir inspiration and have you thinking about creating music in a different way.
Following the release of the OP1 was Teenage Engineering’s line of Pocket Operators—which now includes rhythm, sub, factory, arcade, office, and sub models—a collection of micromachines that are as powerful as they are fun.
For its latest video, Point Blank invited DJ and producer Stefano Ritteri to explore the powerful synth and pocket operators and show the portable versatility that they provide. You can watch the video in full via the player above, with more on Point Blank and its courses here.
On October 29 and December 31, Minimal Effort—promoters at the forefront of the Los Angeles underground—have announced their expansion to a full-scale outdoor festival this Halloween and New Year’s Eve. The forthcoming events will continue their quest of bringing the world’s finest artists to the city’s flourishing electronic music scene following a massive 2015 for the brand which included standout Halloween and New Year’s Eve soireés that featured the likes of Agoria, Jimmy Edgar, and BLOND:ISH.
Minimal Effort 2016 will feature two sizable stages atop LA Center Studios, giving partygoers a breathtaking view of the burgeoning downtown skyline. The one-day exposés will host 5,000 attendees in celebration of more meaningful shades of rave, a burgeoning climate representative of maturing tastes in North American dance music.
You can learn more about Minimal Effort at their site here.
Building an experimental mix that really works is no walk in the park. Though there can be no set formula, they ought to tell a story, to somehow progress coherently while remaining unpredictable, and provoke deep, visceral feelings in their listeners. Earlier this year, E/Tape put together 90 minutes of music for us that exhibits just how far out the boundaries can be pushed; we are now delighted to follow that up with a similarly diverse mix from Berlin-based DJ-producer Margaret Dygas.
Born in Poland, Dygas relocated to New York to study fashion (the birthplace of her house fixation), before landing in London where she would spend her days working at the now-inoperative Eukatech record store. She relocated to her current base in the German capital back in 2007, with the aim of allowing herself the opportunity to really pursue a life in music. Things snowballed quickly, and she had soon earned herself a residency at Panorama Bar.
Berlin would also be the setting for her first crossing of paths with minimal house mainstay Perlon, picked out by label head Zip. Their relationship continues to grow stronger today, with regular performances at their label showcases, as well as an ever-expanding back-catalog of records: earlier this year, she dropped her fourth release on the imprint, Even 11, a two-tracker that melds the leftfield end of her productions with her more dancefloor-ready side. She’s also a familiar face on a number of other highly-respected labels, such as Tobias Freund’s Non Standard Productions and 50Weapons. Yet, aside from that musical output and her prolific international gig schedule, Dygas remains a fairly elusive character, shying away from media involvement on the whole; naturally, we are all the more curious for it.
This week’s podcast exposes the playful side of her personality—a clever, non-confomist mix that deploys all variety of textures and genres. It’s trippy at times, melodic at others, and constantly changing shape and style. You’ll hear Billie Holiday’s jazz classic “There Is No Greater Love” alongside breakbeat cuts, piano solos, trumpet action, and so much more. Ahead of the mix, we took the opportunity to catch up with Dygas, with a few questions about the mix and what’s coming up for her for the rest of the year.
When and where was the mix recorded? Last week on an island called Bamboo Dream.
What equipment did you record the mix on? With a mic on a tape, surrounded by musicians and their instruments.
Did you have a specific idea/mood that you wanted to express? It was most beautiful island ever.
How did you select the specific tracks that you wanted to include? Like a tribesman would, dancing around the fire in a trance like state.
How did you approach this mix in comparison to a regular DJ set? Barefoot.
You recently just released a new EP on Perlon. What else can we expect from you production-wise over the coming months? Couldn’t say even if I knew.
What else have you got coming up this year? ”Life is like a box of chocolates…”
Jimmy Edgar has shared a new video accompaniment to his recent single “Dreamz Come True.”
Edgar dropped the Dreamz Come True EP last week via his own Ultramajic, his first since 2015’s Shine. Both are a product of his new path in dance music: where he used to focus his attention on rhythm, he is now more attentive to chords and melody. Following that latest release, he has shared a video for its title track, directed by Robert Fox—a voyage into a “bright and shiny world.”
In addition to the video, Edgar has also developed the Dreamz Generator: an online portal that promises to allow visitors to “manifest your own dreams.”
Dreamz Come True is out now and can be purchased from Beatport.
Gerd Janson has mixed fabric 89, which is coming out on August 19.
“Recording mixes is always very painful for me—especially if I know that someone is going to spend money on it,” says the Running Back founder. “My self-confidence as a DJ is at gutter level, and doing one for fabric, as part of a series amongst the best of the best, is quite intimidating. Plus, it’s a club, so I shied away from my tried-and-tested mixtape method of boring people for the first 74 minutes. I ended up choosing some records that I played and enjoyed a lot over the last few months in a party context, mingled them with some exclusives and up-and-coming ones and tried to eternise the valleys and the mountains of a 12-hour-long epic journey onto one silver disc.”
Ahead of the compilaiton’s release, you can head clips over on the fabric website.
Tracklisting:
01. Todd Terje “Snooze 4 Love” (Luke Abbott Remix) 02. John Talabot “Voices” (fabric Edit) 03. Traumprinz “Love Yeah” 04. Shan “The City Never Sleeps” 05. Boddika & Joy Orbison “Severed Seven” 06. Mateo Murphy “Apex” 07. Geeeman “Wanna Go Bang” (Catz ‘N Dogz Edit) 08. Q-Burns Abstract Message “Mess Of Afros” (Glenn Underground Remix) 09. Inner Sense “MoTP” 10. Mike Ash “Return To Acid” 11. Nick Höppner “Relate” (The Black Madonna Remix) 12. HMC “Marauder” 13. Joe Claussell “Rhythm” 14. Roger Van Lunteren “Hills, I Want You” 15. Scott Grooves “Finished” 16. Caribou “Sun” (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)
Fabric Records will release fabric 89 on August 19, 2016.
Trevino (aka Marcus Intalex) is set to for a new EP on Aus Music, entitled Casino.
Intalex is widely known for making ground breaking drum & bass. In 2011 he started the Trevino alias to feed his desire to get back to his roots and rekindle his f0ur-to-the-floor spirit. This new phase of his career propelled him to move to Berlin where he’s continued to develop an impressive discography that’s included releases on Ben Klock‘s Klockworks and Martyn’s 3024.
Casino brings together three deftly structured dancefloor tracks that blur the boundary between house and techno. Ahead of its release, the title track can be streamed in full via the player below.
Nicola Kazimir is one quarter of Swiss label and arts collective Les Points, alongside Barbir, Audino and Louh. Things kicked off for the imprint back in 2014 with a minimal house-focused solo EP from Kazimir himself—one that is still earning spins today (such as in Baby Ford‘s recent Fabric mix). As a unit they’ve come a long way since then, churning out a number of genre-defying records amongst the four of them, as well as plenty more solo records on a host of other labels such as Croisière Musique and Subsequent.
The next chapter in the story is the forthcoming AnthomsLP—a 13-tracker put together by the four of them. Speaking to Kazimir, he explains that the essence of the album will be jamming, which he favours for the greater possibilities made available over simple looping: “It’s human, with all its glitches and beautiful moments.”
Today’s download, “KAZIPEWPEWPEW,” is crafted from the same mold. A four minute slice of rave techno, it’s very rough and ready—you can really hear its creator energetically manning the controls. Quickfire, heavy beats crash over one another, set off by electro-synth stabs. It’s a look into the kind of production level they operate with, but only one example from a broad range of styles that Les Points tend to indulge in.
Multi-talented producer Daniel Berman (a.k.a Red Rack’em) is set to release a new EP via n s y d e.
The title cut is a result of a Red Rack’em tour through the South Pacific, connecting with Inkswel and family. What was meant to be a Rack’em / Inkswel track instead ended up with Australian vocalist Misumami liberally sprinkling her magic throughout. With a proposed subject matter based around missing loved ones while apart, Misumami weaves an enchanting story of longing, and matters of the heart, through a signature sleek, clever Rack’em production.
Flip for “Love Beat” and here we get Red Rack’em, the funky technician and closet jazz dancer. The loose, bumping drum programming and sculpted, cubist jazz sampling weld this track together. This is a late night groover.
Tracklisting:
01. Nothing Without You (feat. Misumami) 02. Love Beat
Ahead of the EP’s August 22 release, a preview is available to stream in the player below.
