Following the success of their recent event in the Netherlands, DGTL has announced the first wave of acts who will play at the Spanish edition of the festival this August.
Spread across four stages, the festival promises that almost 60 acts will descend on Barcelona’s Parc del Fòrum, the first of which have now been announced. Techno fans can look forward to sets from Robert Hood, Marcel Dettmann, Nina Kraviz, Truss, Paula Temple, and Oscar Mulero, as well as live performances by Vril and Surgeon. For those looking for something house-oriented, Dixon, Âme, Job Jobse, and Jeremy Underground will all perform DJ sets, as well as a back to back by Amsterdam-based Hunee and Antal.
For more information on the festival and details of the full lineup announcement, head to the DGTL site. You can buy tickets here.
Guy Brewer (a.k.a. Shifted) has announced that Swedish experimental duo SHXCXCHCXSH have an upcoming album on his Avian imprint, due out in June.
Brewer launched Avian back in 2011, and has since hand-picked material from the likes of Sigha, Pris, Peder Mannerfelt, and Simon Haydo to be released through it. First appearing on the label back in 2012, SHXCXCHCXSH have now racked up a total of two albums, as well as a handful of EPs with them. The duo are returning to the imprint later this year, following on from their last full length, 2014’s Linear S Decoded. Their new material is described by Avian as “monochromatic & wrought with tension,” promising “some of their most powerfully emotive work yet.”
SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs is scheduled for release on June 6, and can be pre-ordered here. We caught up with Shifted ahead of the release.
This will be the third full length from SHXCXCHCXSH on your imprint AVIAN. How did you come to discover the duo, and what has allowed them to call your label home for the past few years? Actually the first thing that drew me to them was the name. They had done a digital release on a Spanish label called Subsist that I had received a promo for. I saw the name and for obvious reasons it stood out. Upon listening, it was immediately obvious that they had something special. It’s almost intangible what gives an artist that “something,” but you know it when you hear it. I tracked down their email and got in contact, and it’s been fairly easy since. There’s been no pressure from either side; it’s just been natural, as it should be.
Can you tell us a little bit about their mysterious name, as well as method of naming their releases and tracks? How does this play into their abstract ambient productions? You have no idea how many times I’ve been asked this—pretty much every weekend when I travel, people ask about them. The truth is, I have no idea. Both the name and the track titles are as much a mystery to me as they are to anyone else, and I intend to keep it that way. Mystery is important in music, being that by its very nature it’s quite escapist. A lot of my favourite artists have played with this, creating a world around what they do sonically (look at Drexciya for instance). I think from the outset SHXCXCHCXSH have understood how to play with this.
With this release comes a kind of relaunching of AVIAN, with a new website where you will be releasing selected catalog numbers on cassette. The visual aesthetic of the label is very strong, with the use of dark and thought-provoking photographic imagery. What is the idea behind this concept, and who is responsible for selecting the images? What new direction are you planning to take? I wouldn’t say it’s a relaunch, but we’ve certainly stepped things up lately. We had a slow year in 2015, and some issues surrounding distribution, so this year I want to rectify that and get things moving on a bigger scale. As far as aesthetics go, it’s been something that has evolved over time, but I’m finally at a stage where I feel we’ve gained an identity of our own. There’s no strict “concept” that links everything together, but there’s certainly an attitude or spirit that I feel is present throughout the catalog, particularly the last three years or so. I curate the label entirely, so everything goes past my eyes and ears, but I’m not a visual artist, so I’m always bullying friends into helping me out. Usually I’ll find an image I like, be it something that I stumble upon or something I commission, like the work we did with Jesse Draxler for instance. Actually, almost the only exception is SHXCXCHCXSH who have been responsible for all of their LP art, but obviously this is still a collaborative process to a certain extent. As for a new direction I have no idea, we will simply mutate over time, as we have thus far.
Swedish DJ-producer Harald Björk has returned to his Kranglan Broadcast label for his second full-length album, titled Kris- & Konflikthantering. The album, which translates as “crisis and conflict management,” was created while Björk was taking a course under the same name at university that specialized in creating strategies to prevent crises’. Having broken the album up into three EP’s (part I/II/II), which also features remixes from the likes of Ada and Petter Nordkvist, Björk is set to release the third 12″ on April 22 with the full Kris- & Konflikthantering album scheduled for April 29.
Ahead of his sophomore effort, Harald Björk has graciously offered up the album cut “Vocal House” as today’s XLR8R download. The track kicks off with echoing, crunchy percussion before introducing warm chords, a hollowed out kick drum, decisive textures, and an ethereal synth pattern that is utterly splendid.
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Slated to present a well-rounded and remarkable lineup that features some of the worlds biggest names in techno, Festival Forte has returned for its third edition, set to take place between August 25- 27 inside the walls of the Portuguese castle Montemor-o-Velho.
Ben Frost and his visual partner MFO are set to kick off the ceremonies with a stimulating and exclusive live A/V show before a plethora of celebrated artists such as Ben Klock, Marcel Dettmann, Helena Hauff, and Silent Servant take to the stage and get the crowd’s feet moving and blood flowing.
The festival’s second round of announcements has added yet another layer of heavy techno excellence, announcing acts such as Vril, Kobosil, Trade (a.k.a Blawan & Surgeon), Drumcell (live), Ancient Methods (live) and many more. Check out Festival Forte’s visual report following its 2015 edition in the video above.
You can learn more about Festival Forte by heading to their website here.
You can buy tickets to this one-of-a-kind event by going here.
Ahead of his highly anticipated LP titled The Triad, slated for release on May 20 via Rough Trade, Hendrik Weber (a.k.a Pantha Du Prince) has shared an interactive and visually stimulating soundboard that allows users to trigger and weave together various sound that will be found on this long-awaited album.
You can check out the soundboard by going to the Rough Trade website here.
Pantha Du Prince will be playing festivals and headlining shows throughout Europe in May and will be announcing US dates in the coming months.
Pantha Du Prince European Tour:
May 3: Hamburg, Germany (Laeiszhalle Hamberg)
May 4: Lyon, France (Nuits Sonores)
May 5: Zürich, Switzerland (Exil)
May 6: Munich, Germany (Münchner Kammerspiele)
May 8: Berlin, Germany (Radialsystem)
May 19-21: Rome, Italy (Spring Attitude Festival)
May 20-22: Bordeaux, France (Hors Bord Festival)
June 3: London, UK (Jazz Café)
June 1-5: Barcelona, Spain (Primavera Sound Festival)
The latest release from Abandon Building is Koloto‘s beautiful track “Fay,” a beats-driven cut in the vein of Squarepusher, Daedelus, and Flying Lotus that’s out today via Bandcamp.
Based in Canterbury, Kent, Koloto (a.k.a. Maria Sullivan) has been creating music for over a decade—she was the bassist of Delta Sleep—and has, along with Abandon Building, been a regular on XLR8R‘s pages in recent times. Intricate and delicate, “Fay” is a gorgeously composed piece of electronic music that has been paired with an equally stunning animated video by Sabine Volkert, an animator, illustrator, and designer currently based in Nürnberg, Germany.
In support of the release, you can stream the video for “Fay” exclusively via the player above, with the track available on Koloto’s Bandcamp.
Danish production duo Kenton Slash Demon (a.k.a. Silas Moldenhawer and Jonas Kenton) has recently released its TT/Dok 12″ via the Australian label Future Classic.
TT/Dok is the duo’s second release on Future Classic, following its widely received Harpe/Syko 12″, which was released this past September. The duo continues to gain considerable traction following a brief touring stint with Flume for two of his sold out tour dates in London and Paris. Following the release of the two-trackEP in March, Kenton Slash Demon has shared a new music video for its track “TT.”
Kenton Slash Demon invited fans from their native Copenhagen to experience and participate in a multidimensional experience called The Twilight Communion, which would eventually lay the groundwork for the duo’s music video. Using unreleased musical material in “an immersive space of light and color for the audience,” Kenton Slash Demon and its collaborators, Dark Matters and Spektrum, aimed to “push the boundaries of music videos as an art form.” You can get a behind the scenes look at The Twilight Communion by going here.
You can watch the end product of this project by viewing the music video in the player above.
Be sure to check out more from Kenton Slash Demon by visiting its SoundCloud page here.
Cio Dorbandt is a part of German techno’s furniture. Born in Hannover, she can now be found in Cologne, while over the course of a lengthy career she has stamped her mark on cities across the country, and many other spots further afield. Made a resident at Munich’s infamous Ultraschall in 2001, she had also spent much of her youth pursuing her aspiration to become a dancer in ‘80s Berlin—a place she now frequents for gigs at the likes of Berghain, Tresor, and ://about blank, following a wave of international recognition in the late ‘00s.
With years of experience behind the decks, studio work came a little later for Dorbandt. Releasing on Prologue, Semantica and more, her sound as Cio D’Or was recognized as central in a wave of minimal, hypnotic techno producers, encompassing characters like Mike Parker, Sleeparchive and Donato Dozzy (with whom she has often worked alongside). More recently, she has turned her attention to a broader spectrum of styles, bouncing between dub and ambient soundscapes, with the focus directed on sound design. Her most recent album, All In All, was some of her most experimental work yet, diving head first into a world of piano composition and cinematic music, as well as the regular dancefloor fodder. Not prepared to confine her talents to record though, she has also orchestrated a choreography project alongside Brigitta Muntendorf entitled PULSA:RE, combining the work of an ensemble with a DJ set—yet another string on her musical bow. D’Or steps up for this week’s podcast, with a dramatic hour long mix of experimental techno sounds that gives a sense of where she is at right now.
Tracklisting:
01. Keadz “Ceremonial Dance of the White Pygmy” [Lpc] 02. Monolake “Unstable Matter” [Imbalance Computer Music] 03. Mika Vainio “Unien Holvit” [Sähkö] 04. Refracted “Plateau” [Silent Season] 05. Fldexp “Lagu” [Silent Season] 06. Dino Sabatini “Prophecy” [Prologue] 07. Powerplant “Import/Export” [Suite for Global Junk (Murcof Rmx)] [Nonclassical] 08. Cio D´Or “after and before” [Semantica] 09. Xhin “Link Tool” [Stroboscopic Artefacts] 10. Antonio Ruscito “Composte (E)” [Kabalion] 11. Cio D´Or “Unreleased” [Unreleased] 12. DJ Blackstone & Amit Shoham “Disciples of Johnny Mojo” [Tarantic Records (Black Kaspar)] 13. Elle “Haiuri” [Annulled] 14. Mike Parker “Smoke From Burning Fields” [Balans] 15. Milton Bradley “Spiral Of Silence” [Do Not Resist The Beat!] 16. Mike Parker “Lustration One” [Prologue] 17. Various Adepts (Vol III) “Void+Stars” [Hypnus Records] 18. Mike Parker “Ketos Troias” [Repitch] 19. Aleksi Perala “UK74R1408024″[The Colundi Sequence Level 6] 20. Dino Sabatini “Ritual” [Prologue] 21. Tensal “Eco 4” [Tensal] 22. Unknown Location “Relation” [Circular Limited] 23. Dorian Gray “Iceberg” [BSR] 24. I/Y “Objection” (Acronym Rmx) [DREF] 25. Antonio Ruscito “Quarto Segnale” [030] 26. Arnaud Le Texier “Synthese” (Unam Zetineb Rmx) [Affin] 27. Mike Parker “Luminescent Black” [Inkblots] 28. Mike Parker “Moisture (Treatment 3)” [Prologue] 29. Abdulla Rashim “A Shell of Speed” [Northern Electronics] 30. Samuli Kemppi “Power Of Voltages” [M_RecLtd] 31. Unknown “Unknown” [SC002] 32. Pilgrimage “Unknown” [Unknown] 33. Cio D’Or “Tomorrow Was Yesterday” [Semantica]
Lessizmore—the acclaimed agency, event series and label—has announced plans to release Forever Never More, a various artist compilation to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
For over a decade, Lessizmore has been putting on label nights at top clubs such as Fuse in Brussels, Rex in Paris and Arena in Berlin. Following this success, the party also set up a label in 2006, with a goal to explore techno and house music left-fields, producing artists who strip back the frivolous details and remain original in their work.
The compilation hosts 23 exclusively commissioned and gifted tracks from artists close to the label’s heart, intended as a way of thanking everyone who has supported its growth thus far.
Alongside the three limited edition vinyls (details below), the full compilation will be available digitally on June 6.
Full compilation tracklisting
01. Andrey Pushkarev “Protagonist” 02. Birdsmakingmachine “F For Falsas” 03. Borrowed Identity “Cambio” 04. Cesar Merveille “The Worm Up” 05. Clovis “The River” 06. D “Mediating The Classics” 07. Dave Aju “Get It” 08. Deadbeat “I Don’t Need Nothing If I Got You” 09. Doubtingthomas “Schnappchenjager” 10. Elysée “Summer Memories” 11. Fernando Costantini “Who Are We” 12. Ferro “Laura” 13. Frivolous “Little Devils” 14. Issa Maiga “Trance Tension” 15. Jin Choi “Elysia” 16. Louis McGuire “Buffeting Tuft” 17. Magda “Fidget” 18. Mathias Kaden “Anima” 19. Mike Shannon “Talking About” 20. Nathan Oye “The Other Side” 21. Pierre aka Irvin “Hold Me Tight” 22. San Proper “HandBreakTurn” 23. Steve O’sullivan “Green Diversion”
Limited edition vinyl releases: (distributed by Juno and available in every good record store)
LIZM12 (Released on April 25) A1 Birdsmakingmachine “F For Falsas” B1 Deadbeat “I Don’t Need Nothing If I Got You” B2 Louis McGuire “Buffeting Tuft”
LIZM13 (Released on May 9) A1 Borrowed Identity “Cambio” A2 San Proper “HandBreakTurn” B1 Dave Aju “Get It” B2 Frivolous “Little Devils”
LIZM14 (Released on May 23) A1 Steve O’sullivan “Green Diversion” A2 Fernando Costantini “Who Are We” B1 Mike Shannon “Talking About” B2 Clovis “The River”
A new Gerard Hanson record is always something to get excited about. They tend to pop up sporadically, making little fuss, in a manner that only adds to their cultish appeal. Having first made his mark with the refined dub techno of Convextion over two decades ago, the American producer broadened his horizons with electro productions as E.R.P., and has peppered the lot with a wealth of remixes and a handful of releases via other aliases (such as 2014’s T/O/L EP, a sun-kissed three-tracker that somehow flew under the radar). Solar One Music is next on his agenda, with Ancient Light: as the second part in a series that the label is dedicating to the Hubble Telescope, it is a record that is endowed with the same celestial character as the NASA-built craft.
The EP opens with the floaty “Ancient Light,” a gentle ride that centres around a classic Hanson bassline, undulating under a bunch of faraway keys that rise and fall like shooting stars. The title track is complimented with a remix by label frontman The Exaltics, flipping the tune on its head and transforming it into pulsating, headstrong electro—a direct style that is matched by the trance-influenced “Eagle Nebula.” It is in “Gleaning Creation” that everything comes together, striking a perfect middle ground amongst the rest. Metallic claps make way for a fidgety hook, as strange extra-terrestrial bleeps transmit from Hanson’s synths. It’s cold, angular music, yet it holds a unique appeal that few others can muster.
Ancient Light is scheduled for release on April 18.
