XLR8R’s Best of 2015: Tracks

It’s hard to pin down exactly how many individual tracks are put out each year, but our best estimate is…oh, let’s go with a gazillion. As production and distributions becomes ever easier, that number is bound to rise even further, especially in the dance/electronic realm—making it harder and harder for the truly astounding cuts to stand out. Still, within that sonic tide there are plenty of pearls for the taking—and lots of them landed in XLR8R’s playlists this year. Below are our top 25 tracks of 2015; you can also check out this cornucopia of music on XLR8R’s YouTube page.


25. Mild High Club “Windowpane” (Stones Throw)
Alexander Brettin is the man behind these four minutes of charming, chiming, stone-soul-picnic psyche-pop. He’s previously worked with the likes of Ariel Pink and Silk Rhodes—and it shows.

24. Trust Image “Doing You Wrong” (1080p)
This pensive bit of drum & bass heaven makes us a bit nostalgic for 1997.

23. Siren “A/Way (Faze Action remix)” (Compost)
Epic, windswept house from Metro Area’s Darshan Jesrani and Disques Sinthomme’s Dennis Kane, laced with a sprinkling of deep-disco magic from brothers Robin and Simon Lee.

22. Romans (Tin Man & Gunnar Haslam) “Delmenium” (The Bunker New York)
Angular, squelchy bleeps laced over a moody, poignant melody make for a stretched-out session of oddly affecting techno.

21. Nicolas Jaar “Swim”
Melancholy, undulating, and near-epic in scope, Jaar’s widescreen kinda-house track is a subaquatic wonder.

20. Etapp Kyle “Luna” (Klockworks)
By Klockwork standards, “Luna” is a gentle lullaby of a tune—but Ukraine’s Etapp Kyle manages to pack plenty of feeling into its delicate framework.

19. Binh “Buyout” (Cabaret Recordings)
The Club der Visionäre resident conjures up a percolating track that’s simultaneously effervescent and heartbreaking.

18. Artefakt “From Our Minds To Yours” (Delsin)
Drifting synths float above a propulsive, bustling drum pattern, courtesy of Artefakt’s Robin Koek and Nick Lapien.

17. P-Sol “Hooked” (Love Tempo Records)
New York’s Love Tempo label released this shimmering, woozy, boogie-wonderland of a number, with Wall of Fame’s Patrick Sullivan at the helm.

16. Rote “Rote 2” (BleeD)
“Rote 2” is the second track from EP1, the debut 12″ from Rote, the mysterious collaborative project between Daniel Avery and Volte-Face. “Rote 1,” the EP’s opener, is a stunner—as are the remixes by DJ Nobu and Svreca—but “Rote 2” is a special production that fully deserves its place within this list.

15. Melodie “Acid Sunday” (Metereze)
Romania’s Cristi Tudorache serves up a subdued (but hardly sober) 303 dub-jam, perfect for your next late-night love-in.

14. Nick Höppner “Mirror Image” (Ostgut Ton)
The Berlin veteran melds lushly muted keys, a efficiently hooky synth lines, and spoken-word vocals into a gorgeous whole.

13. Howling “Signs (Rødhåd Remix)” (Monkeytown Records)
Dystopian label head Rødhåd takes the already atmospheric original and molds it into a exquisite piece, one that pulls off the neat trick of being both dynamic and meditative.

12. Konrad Black “Silene Dust” (Meander)
On his first solo release in over a decade, the Berlin-based Canadian rocks a pitched-down d&b groove to breakbeat nirvana.

11. Virginia “Fictional” (Ostgut Ton)
Old-school house vibes + swelling washes and cascading arpeggios + Virginia’s always on-point melodic sense = one deeply groovy gem.

10. DJ Fett Burger & Jayda G “NYC Party Track” (Freakout Cult)
Adapting the bassline GQ’s boogie classic “Disco Nights (Rock-Freak),” the name of this hard-to-find, vinyl-only basically says it all.

9. Kassem Mosse & Simone White “Flowers In May” (Honest Jon’s Records)
It’s been an amazing year for the Honest Jon’s squad—tunes like this whimsical, weird, stripped-down charmer are the reason why.

8. DJ Richard “Savage Coast” (Dial)
From September’s richly rewarding Grind LP, this slightly foreboding analog-synth workout is, as the name implies, evocative of a fiercely windswept shoreline.

7. Donato Dozzy “Cassandra” (Claque Musique)
Well, we couldn’t have a Top 25 list without a track from the Italian techno innovator, could we? Especially when it’s a cut that’s as crisply hypnotic as this one.

6. Jack J “Thirstin'” (Future Times)
The rat-a-tat of military drums, smooth Rhodes piano work, and Jack Jutson’s own jaunty vocals join forces for a sparkling, spacey and swingy little jewel of a tune.

5. Thundercat feat. Flying Lotus & Kamasi Washington “Them Changes” (Brainfeeder)
Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner, joined by sax guru Washington and the almighty Brainfeeder boss FlyLo, lays down a loping groove that recalls the left-field funk of Rufus, peppered with a touch of Rotary Connection’s psyche-soul. In other words—it rules.

4. Cobblestone Jazz “Northern Lights” (Itiswhatitis Recordings)
The matter-of-fact story of this track’s creation (“done in one pass over a three-day period in 2013, and edits were culled this past winter”) hardly does it justice: “Northern Lights” is a winding jazz-tech journey, its eleven minutes passing by like a hazy, sublime dream.

3. Petre Inspirescu “Delir 4” (Mule Musiq)
Will 2015 be remembered as the year that the Romanian scene, and the DJs and producers within it, broke through? Time will tell—but in the meanwhile, we’ll keep enjoying releases like this elegant and muted cut from one of that scene’s leaders.

2. DJ Koze “XTC” (Pampa)
“Is the drug like the lie and meditation the truth, or am I missing something that could really help me?” We don’t get a definitive answer from Koze to the question posed—the Hamburg-based producer has deployed his tactics on the listener by forcing them to turn within and find the answer, with this gorgeous atmospheric track shimmering onwards. Chris Burrell

1. Floating Points “Silhouettes (1,11,111)”
With the release of his debut album, Elaenia, we knew we would be blessed with a surge of transcendent sounds from the mind of Sam Shepherd. Still, nothing quite prepared us for the rich, meandering and ultimately beautiful slice of galactic jazz.

XLR8R’s Best of 2015: Releases

Sure, it’s individual tracks that drive the dancefloor and keep clubland humming. But sometimes—when you’re at home, driving your car, or otherwise engaged in some personal-headspace listening—you want to experience an artist’s oeuvre in a more holistic manner. That’s where EPs and albums come in, and 2015 had as many top-tier such releases as any we can remember. Below, find 25 of the year’s absolute best, as chosen by the XLR8R staff.


25. Binh & Onur Ozer Treatment 02 (Treatment)

Little over a year on from their debut EP together, Binh and Onur Özer return with Treatment 02, an LP that is on first listen almost unrecognizable as the work of that same production team. The tripping, minimal beats that rolled throughout their first outing are substituted in favor of dark, breaks-heavy electro, without even a moment for reflection. Yet to anyone who follows the artists, or has been fortunate enough to attend one of their label parties, this progression will seem totally natural: Alongside Nicolas Lutz, Binh and Özer sit at the vanguard of a Berlin-centric movement of DJs that are as much dependent on old sci-fi electro and Detroit techno as they are the minimal sound more traditionally associated with the scene.


24. DJ Stingray Cognition (Lower Parts)

Revered by most for his skills behind the decks, Cognition was testament to the fact that Sherard Ingram really can piece together productions as skillfully as he can floor-moving mixes. “Acetylcholine” and “Dendrite” mirrored the kind of jacking, spacey electro and techno typical of those sets, but the subtle grooves of “eRbB4” waded into deeper waters, casting light on a more emotional side to his music.


23. Aris Kindt Floods(Scissor and Thread)

Floods is the debut album from the team of Brooklyn producer Francis Harris and guitarist Gabe Hedrick. Dropping in November this year, the eight-track release was created using a vintage TR-808 drum machine, Eurorack modular system and two guitars, and was inspired by W.G. Sebald‘s interpretation of Rembrandt’s 1632 master work, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp. Listened to as a whole, Floods is an intensely captivating and cinematic piece of work; tracks of particular note include “Blue Sky Shoes” and “Now Grey.”


22. DJ Richard Grind (Dial Records)

One of the best techno long-players of the year definitely has to go to DJ Richard and his album, Grind. With this full-length release landing on Dial Records, DJ Richard presents a cohesive series of tracks that all individually build before slowly diving into drum-machine madness. Each track on the album could stand on its own as a single, but you can let the album play from beginning to end if your interested in a serious techno journey.


21. Dauwd Jupiter George (Kompakt)

A couple of years ago, we tipped Berlin-based Welshman Dauwd as one to watch in our Bubblin’ Up series. Gentle bubbles they may be, but with his only release this year, Jupiter George, he proved his quality once again with three tracks of well-crafted, groovy house. Arguably his best yet, its appeal lies in its variety: the upbeat funk of the title track is set off by the playfulness of “Ritter Sport,” and the depth of “Take Four.”


20. Paranoid London Paranoid London (Paranoid London Records)

Unrefined acid rhythms are the name of the game on the London-based duo’s long-player. One could argue that it’s not the most original sound around, and one would be right—but it’s pure in intent, authentic in form and relentlessly powerful in execution. Paranoid London, above all, is an reminder of the the fun and the feeling—the pure jacking joy—that house can bring.


19. PLO Man Stations Of The Elevated (Acting Press)

A much sought-after EP by those who missed its low-key release, PLO Man’s first solo outing does live up to that hype, with a sound far more mature than that debutant status may suggest. B-side “Type Damascus” was the standout, a patient slow-builder that mixed light percussion with old-school rave samples. “Rare Plastic” and “Nearly Invisible” weren’t far behind though, and are perhaps best explained with a reference to Hard Wax’s description: “outstanding left-field breakbeat house business.”


18. Heathered Pearls Body Complex(Ghostly International)

A vague sense of unease comes close to the surface on Heathered Pearls’ Body Complex, released this year on Ghostly International; the Brooklyn artist has replaced some of the shimmer of 2013’s Loyal with something a bit murkier, adding an layer of emotional resonance to the looped swells and drones. Still, Body Complex never strays far from the elegant beauty of Alexander’s best songs—this is spine-tingling music of the highest degree.


17. Dave DK Val Maira (Kompakt)

Having submitted a number of EPs and completed the odd remix, Dave Krasemann (a.k.a Dave DK) is no stranger to the Kompakt family. Val Maira, however, is the German producer’s first long-player on the imprint—his third in total—and it marks a sonic shift from much that has come before. Blissful and beautiful throughout, Val Maira‘s ambience and ability to evoke emotion is something that should be taken from 2015.


16. Daze Maxim Rising/Falling (Hello? Repeat)

The release of Rising/Falling was German producer Daze Maxim’s first release in over 15 years. The 11-tracker, which dropped in November following a string of EPs on the Hello?Repeat imprint, gained its title from meditation exercises that Daze Maxim adopted around the time of the album’s conception. Sonically speaking, Rising/Falling does not stray from the confines of a minimalist framework, but the mature, ambient tones and their progressive nature mark it out as one to remember from the last twelve months.


15. Marquis Hawkes Sweet (Houndstooth)

2015 was a stellar year for the mysterious Berlin-based producer Marquis Hawkes. Having released four EPs this year via Aus Music, Mistress Recordings, and Fabric-affiliated label Houndstooth, it is our humble opinion that his Sweet EP takes the cake. Sweet emits a pulverulent, old-school, Detroit-influenced groove and funk that is consistent with his repetitive, disco-infused style. The modish, funky loops that set the groundwork for his production are given considerable spark and flux when put alongside Hawkes’ brawny analog drum work.


14. Rival Consoles Howl (Erased Tapes)

Ryan Lee West’s (a.k.a. Rival Consoles) Howl is a deep and haunting collection that explores a wide range of emotions, from the dissonance eruptions and primal rhythms in “Howl,” to the mournful improvisations of “3 Laments.” Featuring mostly bespoke recordings conjured from West’s instrument collection—which includes Moog, Prophet, guitar, and various pedals—it’s the London-based artist’s most personal and poignant work yet.


13. Nick Höppner Folk (Ostgut Ton)

If you’ve been the manager of Ostgut Ton, one of the foremost techno labels of the day, it is clear you know what sort of records make a club tick. Couple that with ten years plus of production experience and a DJ diary that would be the envy of anyone, and what you have is the recipe for Nick Höppner and his debut full-length album, Folk. Given the amount of time he has spent in clubs over the years, it’s refreshing that Höppner stayed true to what he knows, and delivered a dynamically progressive proto-house album that is fantastic from beginning to end.


12. DJ Sotofett ‎Drippin’ For A Tripp (Tripp-A-Dubb-Mix) (Honest Jon’s Records)

The prospect of a Sotofett album on Honest Jon’s caused quite a stir. The product, Drippin’ For a Tripp, is superbly far-out: Afforded the space of a double-pack, he really spread his creative wings, spanning his already broad compass of experimental styles in a way that his earlier releases hadn’t. With a host of collaborators to boot, the tracks range from warm Sex Tags UFO type house (“Drippin’ For 97 Mix” and “Nimbus-Mix”), through reggaeton-influenced bits (both versions of “Nondo”) to mad synth jams (“Space Dub” and “Spaced Outtro”).


11. Kode 9 Nothing (Hyperdub)

After scrapping almost all the warmer synth material he had made in the last year, Kode9 began working on a new album, trying to channel everything that had happened in 2014 into music that reflected how he was actually feeling—something icier. In his most recent interview with XLR8R, the forebear of Hyperdub explained… “I have to start with some sort of concept, and the one I came up with on New Year’s Eve was nothing—nothing as a placeholder, an anti-concept. But when I started to research the concept, I started to realize what ‘nothing’ really was.”


10. Fatima Yamaha Whats A Girl To Do (Dekmantel)

Dekmantel made a very astute decision in lifting “What’s A Girl To Do?” from Fatima Yamaha’s 2004 release on Irish techno imprint D1 Recordings, and throwing it back into the spotlight this year: An insanely catchy tune with cross-genre appeal, it was everywhere. Though the title track might have overshadowed the rest of the EP, the electro-pop of “Between Worlds,” and the beatless “Plum Jelly” (an unusual harp-driven tune that oozes optimism) should not be overlooked.


9. Project Pablo I Want To Believe (1080p)

Serving as Project Pablo’s first full-length outing, I Want to Believe is an effortlessly groove-focused affair, its many walking basslines and loose-swung house and disco beats meeting an array of breezy chords and tastefully bright melodies along the way. Initially beginning in a bit more hazy territory with album opener “Sky Lounge,” the record quickly starts letting the sun shine through, with cuts like “Follow It Up” and “Movin’ Out” dipping into sections of relaxed funk, while—later on—another album highlight, “Always,” digs a bit deeper beneath its woozy synth chords and crunchy layers of percussion. Glenn Jackson


8. Matrixxman Homesick (Ghostly International)

Charles McCloud Duff has spent the past few years refining his sound, distilling it down to a style that fuses the dystopian feel of sci-fi electro and Detroit techno to the joyful jackability of Chicago house, laced with a charming wide-eyed innocence that emanates from the producer himself. He’s capped off that run with Homesick, which sees him taking his electronic explorations into new territory.


7. DJ Koze DJ Kicks (!K7 Records)

To celebrate its 5oth release, the landmark K7! compilation series DJ-Kicks appointed the wickedly talented DJ Koze to compile a versatile, fluid, and masterful assemblage of music. Peppered with an amalgam of Kosi edits, Koze makes his way from outlandish singer-songwriter tracks to the hip-hop influences of Stones Throw, until eventually digging into an astounding and chimerical electronic sound.


6. Mathew Jonson Fabric 84 (Fabric)

Fabric 84 ranks as the highest mix-CD in our poll this year, and rightly so. Recorded live at the London club’s 15th-birthday party, it captures a moment from the latter hours of the event, the end product of which was unlike anything any artist in the mix series has produced before. Twisting through techno, breaks, plenty of synths and some funkier stuff too, it catalogs many of his works from over the years, all the while maintaining that special precision which puts his live show in a class above the rest.


5. Vilod Safe In Harbour (Perlon)

Safe In Harbour, the first full-length album from Ricardo Villalobos and Max Loderbauer under the Vilod moniker, is a trippy, heady, avant-jazz masterpiece. Released via spiritual home Perlon, it finds the minimal masterminds doing exactly what they do best—crafting intricately woven rhythms and unearthly bass workouts for the heads.


4. Dasha Rush Sleepstep (Sonar Poems For My Sleepless Friends) (Raster-Noton)

In addition to her long-standing relationship with techno, Dasha Rush is no stranger to experimental electronic music—and Sleepstep is an impressive and highly conceptual culmination of her various talents and past projects. Its intention is to create a dream-like state that explores the liminal space where the waking world overlaps with sleep (and vice versa). The album’s production and sound design is on a level with the likes of Pole, as well as Vladislav Delay, Alva Noto, and the rest of Raster-Noton’s past and present roster; silence, noise, spatial awareness, and sonic decay are used with a meticulous finesse that brings Rush’s slumberous hinterland to life. Zara Wladawsky


3. Levon Vincent Levon Vincent (Novel Sound)

Levon Vincent’s self-titled debut album emerged out of a furor of free downloads in the days leading up to its official release (orchestrated by the man himself), and was in his words “music for the ugly ducklings of the world.” Drenched in bold synth lines, he took a slightly more melodic path than past releases, and also showed his softer side with cuts like “Launch Ramp To The Sky.” The New Yorker’s grittiness still remained though, with tougher cuts like “Woman Is Angel” and “Small Whole-Numbered Ratio” rounding off the album.


2. Floating Points Elaenia (Pluto)

Having received his doctorate in “The Neuroscience Of Pain,” the result of five years’ hard graft, 29-year-old composer-producer Sam Shepherd marked 2015 with the release of Elaenia, his highly anticipated debut album via Pluto (UK) and Luaka Bop (US). Interestingly, the release, which was finished in July 2015 but contains sketches that can be traced back to the summer of 2010, sees the former Plastic People resident draw himself even further away from convention. His earlier EPs, the majority of which were released through Eglo Records (the imprint he founded with Alexander Nut), were all blessed with the Floating Point stamp; Eleania, however, sees him almost abandon the traditional club format all together, tapping in his roots in classical music to produce seven blissfully soothing tracks, all of which blend seamlessly together to form a 43-minute piece of art that transcends genres and will exceed even one’s wildest expectations.


1. Petre Inspirescu Vin Ploile (Mule Musiq)

It was around October that Vin Ploile appeared in the XLR8R inbox—and what a welcome gift it was. Vin Ploile is Petre Inspirescu’s third album, and his first on Mule Musiq. His first two long-players, 2009’s Intr-o Seara Organica and 2012’s Grădina Onirică, were released through [a :rpia:r], the revered imprint he co-runs alongside Raresh and Rhadoo. The album, which was almost entirely crafted using live instruments, sees the Romanian DJ-producer explore more ambient, experimental pastures, marking a significant shift away from the hypnotic groove-laden techno for which he has been a leading ambassador over the last decade. As with all the leading albums, the beauty of Vin Ploile really does lie within the sum of its parts, rather than any particular track.

Apparitions Festival Announces Phase One Lineup

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Apparitions Festival, a new four-day event taking place in Mexico next year has recently announced the first phase of its DJ lineup. With legendary Detroit artists like Juan Atkinsa, Kevin Saunderson, and Terrence Parker showing up on the first wave of acts to headline, a huge deal of chatter has started revolving around the upcoming festival and next announcement of artists.

The event will take place at the end of March in 2016, and will see the establishment of a new, lively open air festival at the entrancing San Pedrito beach in Todos Santos, Mexico. Taking place on the beach by day, and migrating up to the mountains by night, the festival is determined to make the most of the various beautiful landscapes that are available to them for an electronic undertaking that is simply one-of-a-kind.

Phase-one of the festivals lineup includes:

–Derrick May (Transmat Records)
–M.A.N.D.Y. (Get Physical Music)
–Kevin Saunderson (KMS Records)
​-Doc Martin (Sublevel Records)
–Juan Atkins (Metroplex Records)
–Francesco Tristano (Get Physical Music)
–Terrence Parker (Parker MusicWorks) + Merachka (Live Vocals)

You can watch the official trailer for Apparitions Festival in the player above.

You can now purchase your tickets via XLR8R.

Download a DJ Dodger Stadium Edit of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U”

Having recently wrapped up their North American tour, Jerome LOL and Samo Sound Boy who make up the celebrated Los Angeles Electronic duo DJ Dodger Stadium (DJDS), are back with a new free edit. Following up from their previous giveaway of the Timmy Thomas track “Why Can’t We Live Together (DJDS Edit),” the head honchos of the Body High collective have decided to give away a fresh edit of the Prince track “Nothing Compares 2 U.” You can read their reasoning behind the edit that Jerome posted on his Facebook a few days back.

Last year, Sam and I made an edit of Prince’s live version of “Nothing Compares 2 U” for our Resident Advisor mix and for our live shows. I was originally unaware that Prince had anything to do with the song, but Sam taught me its interesting history. Prince wrote and composed the song for one of his side projects, The Family. The song was released on their first and only album in 1985. Sinead O’Connor, then, made the song ubiquitous with her cover in 1990. Our edit was of a live version that Prince performed in 1993. We decided to go back to the edit and create a finished version that we wanted to share with you for the holidays as a token of our appreciation. We hope you enjoy and happy holidays.

You can stream/download the track in the player below and be sure to check out more from Body High and DJ Dodger Stadium by visiting their Soundcloud page here.

Mike Shannon: “For me, techno has always been a faceless thing.”

Nowadays, he’s one of the most respected guys in techno; as a kid growing up in Ontario, however, it’s a safe bet that dance-music greatness was probably the last thing on Mike Shannon‘s mind. It was time spent in an all-ages spot in his hometown of Kitchener that set him on the path to clubland glory (more on that below). But glory is probably the wrong term to use when talking about the Shannon, now based in Berlin. Though he’s the proverbial DJ’s DJ, a talented live artist, and a great producer of musically rich techno and house—since 2000, he’s slowly built up the kind of small yet selective discography, with releases on Force Inc., ~scape, Plus 8, Wagon Repair, and his own Cynosure and Haunt labels, that’s the envy of his peers—he’s the kind of guy who’s content to let the music do the talking. (And with music like his, why not?) Along with his frequent parnter DeWalta, as well as Dauwd, Clovis, Roam, Rob Garza and Blond:ish, Shannon will be playing at the rapidly approaching XLR8R Festival 2016 in Tulum, so we figured this would be the perfect time to catch up with one of our favorite artists.

Do you remember your earliest experiences with electronic music?
Absolutely. The very first experience was at my local club, a place called Club Abstract in Kitchener, which had an all-ages night. I was around 12 or 13, and I would lie to my parents and tell them that I was staying over at my friend’s house, so I could go to this thing. That was where I first heard this stuff.

They weren’t playing real-deal techno there, were they? That sounds pretty advanced for an all-ages club in Kitchener.
Well, it was cheesy techno, but they played some things like LFO and other early Warp artists. That really stuck out for me; I was freaking out over that music. So I started searching around, and discovered a radio program that was Chris Sheppard and Terry Kelly doing this live-to-air broadcast of Toronto rave parties. I was really into that, so I started to try and find the records that they were playing.

And so it begins.
Yeah! Then, about a year later, I actually got a job where I was bussing tables at another place that also had an all-ages night. I would pressure the DJ to play these records that I would bring in—I would give him a handful of records, and early in the night when there was nobody there, we would just freak out and dance up on stage.

Do you remember what the songs were?
This was the beginning of when XL Recordings was happening, so things like John + Julie, T99’s “Anasthasia”…and a lot of Warp, of course. It was the beginning of the hardcore-rave sound that was really in your face. That was the gateway for me. I liked it because there was nothing else going on like that.

How did that morph into DJing?
It was at that same place. The DJ was a complete fuck-up, and would sometimes show up an hour late. I’d be there, and I kind of knew how to operate turntables and a mixer, so I would just start playing. It turned out the guy was cool with me doing that, and he’d take hour-long breaks and I would have my techno moment.

And the crowd was accepting of what you were playing?
They were loving it. They definitely weren’t screaming at me or throwing bottles. It probably helped that I had a lot of friends there, backing me up…but it was really working.

How old were you at that point?
I was 13 or 14—it was around ’92 or ’93.

So you’ve actually been DJing for most of your life. Did you think you would make a career out of it when you were fourteen years old?
I never would have guessed in a million years that this was going to lead to everything that happened. But we did have this attitude that we were on the cutting edge of the future—that we were of the generation that was going to change everything. Everybody involved in that little scene had this utopian attitude towards the future. We thought we were making a big difference; there seemed to be some kind of movement behind this music. But I never would have thought that it would progress to where things are now for me.

Speaking of being on the cutting edge, weren’t you one of the first Canadian techno guys to make the move in Berlin?
There were a couple of guys that came over before me, like Jeremy Caulfield—he was one of the very first, I think, and Konrad Black was pretty early. But there eventually was this serious migration that happened, and a lot of people realized, all around the same time, that there was really something happening there. People saw how much easier it was to do what we do in Berlin.

It wasn’t just Canadians who realized that—a lot of electronic-music people from the States migrated in a massive wave sometime in the ’00s, as well.
Definitely; it was a worldwide wave. But in terms of the Canadians, there was an awful lot of them, and I knew a quite a lot of them. It was kind of like this group of friends who all followed each other; before Berlin, we all went to Montreal together, too. Like Deadbeat—he comes from my hometown, and he was there during that time I was talking about at the all-ages club.

Having been there for about a decade, do you consider Berlin to be your home?
Yeah, things are really comfortable here. There are some issues…like, just in terms of communication, I still have a long way to go. But I have a family here, and it’s definitely home—at the same time, I can’t take the Canadian out of me, as much as I try and as embarrassing as it is!

“Techno was never about how cool your haircut was; it’s the opposite of that.”

This is probably an extreme overgeneralization about producers from your own country, but one of the Canadian traits that you may have retained is that you’re not necessarily the flashiest person around, but you always seem to keep your head down and do good work.
It’s the school that I came from. For me, techno has always been a faceless thing. Techno was never about how cool your haircut was; it’s the opposite of that. We didn’t want people to know about us. Everything was in the shadows. It’s the Underground Resistance ethic, which a lot of British producers followed as well. It’s was a more humble, almost samurai way of doing things. Now, it’s different—you have to play the game, at least to some extent. But I still like that faceless ideal of the early ’90s. Techno is meant to be faceless. That was part of the magic, and that’s part of what made it better than pop music—it was something different, something beyond that.

You’ve been releasing music for the past decade and a half. How do you think your sound has evolved over that time?
I think it’s largely been an evolution based on the technology that I’ve been using. In the beginning, I was working with a guy named Jason Hunsberger, and we had a studio where we put all of our machines together. We were using all hardware, including the sequencer. Then a couple of years later, things really shifted to being in the box—and you can really hear that shift in sound. I was more or less using the same formulas, but the actual quality of that sound changed. I think it was diminished, really. The other day, I was listening to one of the first tracks we put out, which was all-analog and done the old-school way—and it had this certain sound that you can’t get when you are in the box. But now things are evolving back, at least for me, and the quality of the sound in the evolution of things has gotten a lot better.But as far as the formula goes, I think that’s been pretty steady.

Your output tends to have an innate musicality to it. Do you have much in the way of musical training?
No, not of any kind. I just kind of feel my way through things. I work with DeWalta a lot, and he’s really trained—so sometimes he’ll hear me do something and say, “No, you can really do that.” We’ll get into these arguments about which notes are correct, or what key something should be in.

“There are certain directions that you might not think of going in if you know you aren’t really supposed to.”

Do you think there’s some advantage to not having that kind of training?
I do think that’s true. There are certain directions that you might not think of going in if you know you aren’t really supposed to—and that might stop you from getting an interesting, unique, warped sound, which is what I’m drawn to.

What’s up with the Haunt label? It seems to have been a bit quiet over the past couple of years.
It’s still there, but it’s a real ghost of a label. [laughs] I like to take my time with what I put out there. It’s been like that with Cynosure, too. We’ll only put out a few records a year; we don’t like to flood the market and put out a digital release every week or anything. It seems like there’s been a real emphasis on quantity over quality lately, but I’m more interested in just exposing the music that I’m really into. Having said all that, there is music in the pipeline for Haunt.

You be playing our XLR8R Festival 2016 in Tulum in just a couple of weeks. Have you ever been down there before?
I’ve actually played down there before; the Mole and I did a showcase at the BPM festival just a few years ago. I absolutely love that place—it’s really beautiful.

Will this be a DJ set, or will you be hauling your gear with you?
This one will be DJing. I figure that at the beach, it’s probably a good idea to keep the sand out of the gear! I’ll be playing records.

Your frequent partner DeWalta will be down there as well; will you two be spinning back–to-back at all?
These are solo sets, but hopefully we’ll be able to do a little bit of both, really—we’ll have to see if we can work that out. I do really feel comfortable playing with each other; we’ve done entire nights where we’re playing records together. We’ll have to see! Whatever happens, I’m really looking forward to it.

What else do you have coming up?
The big thing is a new album that’s coming up from me and DeWalta. We’ve been working on this for quite a few years, and I have to say that it takes things to another level. I think it’s really special—I’m very proud of it. It should be coming out on March, and then we’re going to do a big tour in support of it. It’s licensed to a label from Barcelona called Indigo Raw.

Indigo Raw is a great label.
Yeah, they really are. It’s an amazing group of people. and they’ve been doing a lot of great stuff lately. Working with them has given us more momentum, but we’ve been able to retain the same sort of creative control that we would have if we put it out ourselves. I can’t wait to get it out there—I’m really excited.

It sounds like 2016 is going to be a big year for you.
I hope so! I think it will be a lot of fun. As long as you don’t get jaded, and as long as you keep having fun, then it’s good. There’s no looking back, really!

All photos: Intissare Aamri; clothes: Aurelia Paumelle

Tiga Kicks Off 2016 at Lights Down Low in San Fransisco

Here at XLR8R, we have been covering a number of New Year’s Eve celebrations all over the globe. From Percolate in the UK to Flying Circus in Playa Del Carmen and Twelve 31 in Los Angeles, all the biggest names in electronic music will be playing somewhere to help usher in the New Year. While the upcoming New Year’s celebrations are bound to take its toll on many a party goer, those who refuse to slow down and wanted to keep the celebrations pumping can join the magnanimous Montreal DJ and producer Tiga for a set at Monarch in San Fransisco from open to close to help keep the dance vibes moving well into 2016. The show will mark the beginning of Tiga‘s global residency with the celebrated California nightlife fixture, Lights Down Low.

You can now grab your tickets via XLR8R.

Jeremy Underground Announces Second My Love Is Underground Compilation

Jeremy Underground, the Paris-based boss of the My Love Is Underground, will release the My Love Is Underground Part. 2 compilation on January 18 via Favorite Recordings.

Jeremy Underground is one of France’s most respected record collectors and his vinyl-only imprint has been responsible for an abundance of sought after club gems since its inception. With only 300 copies available, My Love Is Underground Part. 2 will feature twelve cuts on 3x vinyl of “rare, underrated or unknown tunes from the golden days of house music.” You can find the tracklist below and listen to clips from the release by going here.

You can get more information regarding the release by going here.

Tracklist: 

A1. Groovestyle – Love (Underground Mix)

A2. Mindchime (Feat. Isi Samuel) – Disco Boogie (Tokyo Dub Mix)

B1. Sublevel 3 – Someway, Somehow (Zack Toms Dub)

B2. The Groove Monster – Think About It

C1. Dj Tools & Co. – Hey Mr Shy One (Not Too Shy 2 Sample Mix)

C2. Richard Purser Featuring Daniel Double – To The Sky (Club Mix)

D1. Dionne – Feel Da Rain (D’pac Dub) (Edit)

D2. Techno Soul – Expectations

E1. Granite – Even Deeper (Part 2)

E2. Sanjay – Untitled

F1. The Unknown – Get On It

F2. Instinct – Mindsearch

Listen to Joris Voorn’s 2015 Year End Mix

In the spirit of giving and in celebration of an incredible year for music, Joris Voorn has provided fans with a mix that features forty-two top-notch tracks in just over an hour. This velocious and profound mix does a wonderful job of showcasing Voorn’s talent and the robust nature of his musical influences while simultaneously demonstrating the fact that 2015 saw an enduring and abundant output of electronic music that will not soon be forgotten.

You can stream the mix in full below and be sure to check out more from Joris Voorn by visiting his Soundcloud page here.

Tracklist:

Leandro Fresco – Los Aos Que Vivimos En Peligro – Kompakt

Fink – Pilgrim (Paula Temple Remix) – Ninja Tune

Howling Signs (Matom Remix) – Monkeytown

Sailor & I (Disorder) – Ultra

Scuba – PCP (Audion Remix) – Hotflush

DJ Zinhle & Busiswa Gqulu – My Name Is (Thabzen Bibo Intro Mix) – Nulu Music

Josh Butler – Snake Skin (Dub Mix) – Avotre

Fluida – Mellifluous – Southern Fried Records

Mr V & Zepherin Saint – Dance Release (Manuel Tur Remix) – Tribe Records

Agoria – Alluvion – Innervisions

Ellen Allien – Freak The Night (Radio Slave Remix) – Bpitch Control

Sable Sheep – Rise Of The Fallen – Moon Harbour

Seth Troxler – CZ – Tuskegee Music

Pryda – Snaz – Pryda

Dave DK – We Mix At Six – Kompakt

Jamie XX – Loud Places (Barnt E-Remix) – Young Turks

Christian Löffler – York – 2020 Vision

Kölsch – Moonface – Kompakt

Terranova – Kepler 186F – Kompakt

Sven Tasnadi – My Groove feat. Gjeazon (Doorly Remix) – Moon Harbour

Guy Mantzur & Roy Rosenfel – Epika – KX

Sailor & I – leave The Light On (Joris Voorn Remix) – Ultra

Nobody Home – Sonata For Henrietta – Nobody Home

Lapti – First Date – Gost Zvuk Russian Federation

Royksopp – I Had This Thing (Joris Voorn Radio Mix) – Green

&ME – Woods – Keinemusik

Jimmy Edgar – Let Me Tell U – Ultramajic

KiNK – Diversion – Running Back

MFS Observatory – Observatory Y3 – Alphahouse

Patrice Baumel – The Vanishing – Kompakt

Nils Hoffmann – Rivers feat. Chloe (Fat Sushi Remix) – Poesie Musik

DVS1 – Electric – Ostgut Ton

Whyt Noyz – Fairground – M_nus

Steve Rachmad – Disturbance – Drumcode Limited

Dusky – Skin Deep – 17 Steps

Eric Prydz – Opus (Four Tet Remix) – Pryda

Sebastian Mullaert – You’re An Orchestra In The Cosmos (Joris Voorn Remix) – Green

The Acid – Ra (David August Remix) – Infectious Music

Dialect – Ghost Of Red Hook – 1080p

Architectural – Sentir – Wolfskuil Records

Ólafur Arnalds & Alice Sara Ott – Written in Stone

XLR8R’s Best of 2015: Podcasts

This year saw our long-running podcast series, which since 2006 has featured everyone from Ellen Allien, Kevin Saunderson, Laurent Garnier and Anthony Parasole to Untold, the Orb, Mr. Scruff and Anti-Pop Consortium, hit a milestone—our 400th installment back in August. (And it was a great one, with Mobilee’s Anja Schneider at the helm.) But more importantly, 2015 was possibly the series’ strongest 12 months yet, featuring an array of talented DJs and producers sharing sets that covered an immense spectrum of what dance music has to offer. From the classical-meets-electronic musings of Francesco Tristano to the elegant romanticism of Kollektiv Turmstrasse, and from the skewed songcraft of JETS to the emotive tech-isms of Function, it’s been an amazing ride. You wouldn’t go wrong by revisting all of them…but that would take you close to two-and-a-half days of nonstop audio monitoring, by our calculations. So we’ve made it easy for you: Below, check out the XLR8R staff’s favorites, along with 2015’s ten most-viewed editions.

Top 10 XLR8R Podcasts of 2015 Editor’s Picks

10. YokoO

Students of deep house, at least those who do more than skim the surface of what the sound has to offer, know that the French-born, Berlin-based man known as YokoO is a talented purveyor of the four-to-the-floor arts, making and playing the kind of material that hits you right in the heart while moving the rest of your body to the dancefloor.

9. Dauwd

The US–born, Wales-raised, Berlin-based artist’s superb mix of four-to-the-floor rhythms featured cuts ranging from the classic house of “Tonight I’m Gonna Love You” from Pal Joey (in his House Conductor guise) to hot-off-the-press chuggers like Voiski’s “A Sad Party,” all culminating in the sinuous, haunting, and utterly gorgeous Traumprinz version of Efdemin’s “Parallaxis.”

8. Francesco Tristiano

“I have long held the belief that ancient (hence acoustic) music shares a lot of aspects with techno”: Francesco Tristiano’s XLR8R podcast was an eclectic sonic journey that connected the dots between the Barcelona-based musician’s classical pianist roots and his more club-driven sounds.

7. Audiofly

Luca Saporito and Anthony Middleton (a.k.a. Audiofly) have been working together since 2002—and for most of that time, they’ve been firm favorites among the world’s right-minded clubbers. The duo’s XLR8R podcast presents a sound that is still Audiofly to the core, but it’s a progression that Saporito and Middleton attribute—at least in part—to playing in Romania, where they feel the crowd encourages experimentation rather than a reliance on formulas.

6. Function – Decibel 2015 Festival Edition

Function’s podcast is comprised entirely of tracks that he’s had a hand in—whether via production or remixing—and with tracks dating from 1996 (“F3”) to the present day (his version of Abstract Division’s “Metropolis”), the music is rigorous and the vibe is moody, with stretches of dark-hued contemplation shot through with moments of joyful transcendence. And, we might add, it’s utterly gorgeous.

5. Dekmantel Soundsystem – Dekmantel 2015 Festival Edition

Thomas Martojo and Casper Tielrooij—better known as Dekmantel Soundsystem and the men behind the beloved Dekmantel label and the festival itself—provide nearly three hours of house, disco, techno, soul, and everything in between. “What all music we love does have in this in common: It’s outspoken in some way,” is how the pair explained their musical ethos. “We prefer music to be a bit in-your-face—and we guess what it comes down to in the end is the character in music, really.”

4. Alex Smoke

While recording his forthcoming studio album, Love Over Will—coming out via R&S on January 22—Smoke took to his Glasgow studio to record his XLR8R podcast, reflecting his artistic transformation and showcasing his spectacular musical talents with an hour of gorgeous, mostly ambient music.

3. Virginia

The Panorama Bar resident and Ostgut Ton mainstay provided us with a sumptuous, melodic collection of tunes anchored in syncopation and oozing with emotion. “I always ask myself what I love to hear” when creating a podcast, she said about this set,”maybe records that I’m not able to play in a club.” As it turned out, we love to hear it, too.

2. Mathew Jonson’s Cobblestone Jazz Mix – MUTEK 2015 Festival Edition

XLR8R has had a longstanding love affair with anything that Mathew Jonson touches. He’s always walked a musical tightrope that’s few others can match with his grace and style and this podcast is no different—it’s an utterly breathtaking set of tunes from start to finish.

1. Kollektiv Turmstrasse

Kollektiv Turmtrasse’s podcast is pure class. It’s an elegant, even romantic affair, one that manages to convey a wide swathe of emotions despite (or, perhaps, because of) an overarching aura of restraint. It’s a sometimes stately, always impassioned selection of tunes—a brilliant mix from one of the most beloved duos in the modern dance-music pantheon.


Top 10 Most Popular XLR8R Podcasts of 2015 by View

1. Lena Willikens

2. Laurent Garnier – Nuits Sonores 2015 Festival Edition

3. Kowton

4. Kollektiv Turmstrasse

5. JETS – Sónar 2015 Festival Edition

6. Anthony Parasole

7. Dauwd

8. Stephan Bodzin

9. Helena Hauff

10. Veronica Vasicka – Dekmantel 2015 Festival Edition

Sacred Ground Festival Announces Second Edition

Following the wonderful success of last year, that saw curators RY X and Frank Wiedemann of Âme blend a beautiful array of artistic talent with a setting of intimacy and community, Sacred Ground Festival has announced plans for its second edition, due to take place from July 29-31 in Brüssow, an hour’s train from Berlin.

Very little is known about this year’s event besides the fact that it will once again be curated by RY X and Wiedemann, both of whom have decided to adjust parts of the festival’s concept. Extending the event to span two days is one example of these changes. At the same time, Sacred Ground will remain true to its character with a very limited capacity and an atmosphere of community.

Very limited early bird tickets can be bought here.

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