Spanish producer Juan Rico (a.k.a. Reeko) will follow up his 2015 release La Metamorfosis—released via Mental Disorder and inspired by Franz Kafka’s novel—with Amour, a new LP under his Architectural moniker.
Highly detailed and cinematic in its approach, Amour is a beautifully towering album that ebbs and flows from dense ambient excursions through to hard-hitting techno structures. Within its eight tracks, Rico has created a monolithic sonic realm filled with futuristic synth textures, thumping machine-driven rhythms, and soaring choral backdrops, all wound together with surgical precision.
To find out more, XLR8R fired a few questions to label head Darko Esser (a.k.a. Tripeo) and Rico, who also offered a full stream of the album.
The new Architectural album, Amour, is the first release by Juan on Wolfskuil Records, how did the this collaboration happen? What’s the story behind Amour finding a home on Wolfskuil?
Juan: Well, it’s not so difficult to tell because we’re in the same collective, and when I had finished the album I felt more comfortable sending it to a label close to me, I wanted to try on a label I hadn’t released on before and I sent to Darko and he liked it! Certainly, it was good choice!
Darko: I know Juan quite well, because we are both members of Pole Group and became friends this way. I’m a big admirer of his work, so when he sent the album to me I was all ears. Amour completely blew my away when I listened to it. The record reveals its secrets when you listen to it from start to finish. Exactly what I’m looking for in this format. I didn’t have to think twice about it and (in all honesty) it’s my favourite album of 2015. I’m honored to release such a special record on my own imprint.
Juan, tell us more about the new album from your own perspective—was Amour always conceived as an Architectural release, and as an album distinct from your other work? When and how was it created? Is there an underlying theme that connect the tracks with the title Amour?
Juan: One day I saw a picture of my girlfriend’s hand with a bright white background, in that moment—I don’t know why—but I could hear the sound of my new album, bright and full of life! Of course, it’s really different compared to other albums, but that’s love! I thought that Architectural would be the best way to represent a sound like that. All this happened around early 2015. All tracks connect with the title Amour.
Darko, Amour is only the second full-length album on Wolfskuil, preceded by your own 2009 album debut as Darko Esser. Are there any more long-player plans outlined for the label?
Darko: I definitely got a taste to do more albums in the future. I’m talking to key artists from the label about their plans for albums as we speak, but I don’t have actual album releases in the schedule yet. I think this will organically change along the way and is only a matter of time.
Any other noteworthy upcoming projects on Wolfskuil or its sublabels Balans and Wolfskuil Ltd?
Darko: I’m very excited about the 2016 schedule wich includes releases from Bas Amro, Discrete Circuit, Rumah, Nettling, Shlømo, Najem Sworb, Cadans (all Wolfskuil and Wolfskuil Ltd) and ROD, Drafted, and 30Drop (all BALANS). Each and every artist has his own distinctive sound signature, wether it be industrial techno, more traditional 90’s sounding, melodic Detroit techno or even flirts with house and electro.
The short documentary Resonate explores the world of electronic music, with ADE itself as a backdrop to the film.
ADE has become one of the world’s leading electronic music club festivals and conferences over the past 20 years. Taking place during October this year, it hosted over 450 events, covering anything from tech to talks, as well as a wealth of parties. Together with a host of artists such as Joris Voorn, Dave Clarke, Seth Troxler, Armin van Buuren and Richie Hawtin, this latest production explores five key themes within the scene (creation, innovation, collaboration, consumption and celebration), all set against a background of the festival itself itself.
You can watch the film at the ADE site. For more information about the festival, head to their page.
Emmanuele Nicosia and Martino Bertola (better known as Hunter/Game) have prepped their debut album, which will be released via Kompakt during February next year.
Following on from two Speicher EPs released through the imprint earlier this year, Hunter/Game return to Kompakt for their debut album. Adaptation promises more of the same dramatic techno sound they are known and loved for, which led them to be picked up by labels like Innervisions and Last Night On Earth. It was recorded during a retreat from the hot Milanese summer to a deserted resort in the Dolomite Alps, where they found inspiration for the recording in long, lonely walks through the mountains. In their words, “It just has this profound impact on you, seeing a place that you only know bustling with human activity uncovered and naked, realizing to what extent human presence has somehow contaminated that piece of nature.”
Adaptation will be available as a double vinyl, CD and digitally. Kompakt are giving away “The Path,” a track from the album, for free until Monday.
UK DJ, producer, and party thrower Garry Todd will drop his debut album on Ellen Alien’s BPitch Control on November 27.
Growing up in the north-east of England, and inspired by Villalobos, Soul Capsule, Basic Channel, and good friends Acid Mondays, Todd has released through his own label, Contemporary Scarecrow, as well others like Illusion Recordings—pushing his left-field house sound from his UK home to his new base in Sydney, Australia, where he became a stalwart of the scene, throwing his notorious ‘Bread & Butter’ parties and playing some of the countries premiere events.
His debut album, Nora Lilian, is named after Todd’s beloved grandmother, with the tracks representing people, places, and stories from his life. That varied feature set is evident in the album’s sonic signature, which bounces around from raw, minimal, groove-led cuts to darker techno outings and old-school house—all infused with Todd’s gritty and psychedelic aesthetic.
Nora Lilian will land on the shelves on Friday, with deep and rolling LP cut “Motives and Thoughts” streaming in full below.
Earlier this year in March, Brussles-based production duo Orphan Swords released a noise EP called License To Desire, which featured three original tracks and was widely regarded as an all around head crushing release. The pair debuted this EP on Desire Records coming out of France while they were also putting in work for EPs on limited release labels like Idiosyncratics. Now, Orphan Swords are releasing a self-published remix package for License To Desire that features appearances by Prostitutes, Helm, Icon Template, Black Rain, and Svengalisghost.
For today’s XLR8R download, Orphan Swords are offering up the Svengalisghost remix of the track “Hooker” to help you work off your Thanksgiving gravy hangover. The track starts out with a sequence that sets the right tempo for an industrial banger, yet develops slowly and is sprinkled lightly with the haunting machine echoes that we have come to love from Svengalisghost. Crashing hi-hats are also added in as the song blooms into a distorted ballad that makes you feel like you have just been hit by a truck.
To receive a full free copy of the License To Desire Remixes EP when it comes out on December 14, enter your email address over at the Orphan Swords website. To pick up a free download of the Svengalisghost remix of “Hooker,” click on the media player below.
You can also subscribe to our XLR8R Downloads feed on iTunes by clicking on the feed links below.
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Some labels are intrinsically motivated by a mission. For the Portland- and Detroit-based Foundation Channel, that quest is to preserve and promote electronic music’s dub roots. They go at it with the zeal of faith healers anointing listeners with material drawing from original roots-reggae instrumentation and vocals, augmented with both analog and digital dub mixing techniques. They’ve christened their eclectic brand of bass music “subwise,” and have released compilations and EPs devoted to expanding on their sonic palette.
In 2012, label co-founder Evan Glicker, right, who records as Satta Don Dada, began reaching out to his dub producer peers to connect and trade music. But as the Detroit native’s contact list grew, his focus turned to assembling a compilation that would showcase fresh talent representing the kind of earthy, echo-drenched sounds he favored, and reintroduce reggae DNA into bass music’s increasingly aggressive, alien structure. At the time, mainstream “brostep” had reached a popular apex in the U.S.—and Glicker aimed to counter the trend.
Glicker contacted his eventual label partner, Portland resident Douglas Keeney (a.k.a. Modi Bardo), left, to contribute a track. At the time, Keeney had been working for producer DZ’s Badman Press label, and knew the ins and outs of the music business. Keeney also had a deep appreciation for all things dub, so joining Foundation Channel’s missionary activities made perfect sense. “We were both into dubstep and slow-and-low reggae-influenced bass music,” Keeney explains. “At the time, the reggae sound [in dubstep] was on its way out.”
Originally planned as a series of casual posts to Soundcloud, the project became a serious venture after the label secured tracks from U.K. talents DJ Madd and Cotti, plus American heavies Roommate, Djunya, Matty G and Dubsworth. Foundation Channel Volume 1 was released July 2013. Proceeds from the collection were donated to Street Child Africa, a conscious move to connect the label’s sounds to greater social issues. “We wanted to do the compilation as a charity-based project,” says Glicker. “The idea was to get the general gist of the label out there and tie it in with something deeper, to give back to something foundational as well.”
“Whether it’s a future-sounding track, or an expansion on the remix concept, the roots [of what we do] are always in dub.”
Things moved fast from there with the Foundation Channel Remixes collection hitting the streets at the start of 2015, followed by several new EPs, albums and remixes. Contributing to their rapid output was Glicker and Keeney’s mutual agreement on the label’s core sound and where they want to take it. Both share the view that electronic music and remix culture have their origins in dub; the Jamaican music innovation is the centerpiece for all their releases. “All our releases and everyone we sign to the label has that same idea,” says Keeney. “Whether it’s a future-sounding track, or an expansion on the remix concept, the roots [of what we do] are always in dub.”
From that base, Foundation Channel’s releases expand into diverse electronic styles, from Golden Eye’s G-funk-tinged dubstep to Tusk One’s ethereal, minimalist tracks, to Glicker and Keeney’s own low-end bass work. As Keeney sees it, although the label was set up to pay homage to everything dub, they want to keep things open to experimentation. Recently, the label has started working closer with vocalists, including Canada’s Collinjah and Jamaica’s Carlton Livingston, to name a few.
“We really want to work with the originators,” explains Keeney. “In fact, Golden Eye and myself recently just put a free track on Soundcloud called “Run Dem” featuring Ranking Joe.” A veteran of Jamaican sound systems like Ray Symbolic Hi-Fi since the ’70s, Ranking Joe lent his distinctive toasting style to the track. Glicker says the label is exploring releases with other original Jamaican icons, including Horace Andy, but they’re just as motivated to feature newer vocal talents. “We have a track that Doug made with Canada’s Clinton Sly we’re excited about and hoping to get out in the new year,” says Glicker. “I had a track in works with U.K. singer Rod Azlan, but he’s just so busy right now that it will be a while before that one comes out.”
The pair have been devoting so much energy to collaborative projects and EPs by other artists that they haven’t had time to execute their own releases recently. They’re looking to change that soon. “I would like to see a Modi and Satta album in 2016,” Keeney says. “We have a lot of tracks started, so we’re definitely moving in that direction. Ultimately, our aim is to keep exploring within in our own sound—and see how far we can take it.”
From the opening kick, your ears are thrust into an echoey universe where vocals snippets drift through spectral piano chords, with only conga and percussion as a guide rope through the foggy rhythm. Collinjah sings forlornly that there is “no love in my spirit, no love in the town” before a crisp jungle breakbeat hacks through the track’s sinewy bass notes.
Golden Eye Mutual EP The EP sees brooding reggae-fueled dubstep and brassy West Coast G-funk spread over four tracks, each revealing a varied take on the formula. “Hustlin’ and “Mutual Dub” are clean, synth-lead numbers that sound like an exquisitely stoned Dr. Dre making dubstep.”Fully Loaded” has a vintage Dub Police or Tempa quality to it, while “Saturate” is jazz chillstep reminiscent of Silkie’s R&B-tinged work. Keeney describes Golden Eye as a “really interesting guy” who lives off the grid, deep in the Northern California wilderness. “He’s got a serious analog studio with tape machines, vintage EQ units and stuff he’s built from kits,” he says, noting that the artist’s style is a culmination of things he grew up with: West Coast gangster music and reggae. “He’s got a really clear, clean sound that’s still dirty at the same time, Keeney describes. “It has that analog stink on it.”
Professor StoneBush Dubs (The Ital Collection) Spatial, minimal dub, with live and electronic instrumentation from a prolific American producer. Think Deadbeat remixing On-U Sound label.
Tusk One Rite of Passage EP Tusk One explores expansive foreign territories on sparse, moody bass tracks that blend in intricate minimal beats, ethnic percussion and atmospheric field recordings. If electronic experimentalists Muslimgauze or Pole were remixed by Digital Mystikz it might sounds like this. Tusk started his music endeavors under the guise DJ Porkchop. Keeney remembers hearing a set in ‘09 while he was “quite medicated”. “He went from super-deep dubwise to artists like Martyn and 2562, to really grimey garage, to 8-bit, to jungle-meets-world-meets-dub stuff,” Keeney recalls. “He blew my mind. I connected with him and his sound had developed a lot; it’s not restricted to any tempo. It sounds like he’s drawing from Rhythm & Sound, Basic Channel to heavier dubstep or footwork sounds. He’s an exciting addition to our family.”
Satta Don Dada & Modi Bardo The Coolie Rockers EP Dub samples get chopped, edited and radically reshaped on this essential Foundation Channel release. Imagine snippets of King Tubby reel–to-reel tapes fed into a glitchy sampler. Add echo and mix. The result is fresh take on original roots dub that captures the original’s fervent spirit and adds its own futurist twist. Label cofounders Glicker and Keeney serve various original mixes while Professor Stone, Matt Green and Golden Eye add prodigious versions of their own.
Carlton Livingston & Modi Bardo “Country Livin'” This forthcoming track features Jamaican singer Carlton Livingston, left, whose 1983 track “100 Weight of Collie Weed” is an all time ganja-smokers classic. Livingston’s soft vocals add a gentle counterpoint to Modi Bardo’s weighty, reggae-infused bass backdrop. Glicker connected with the reggae icon via Twitter, sent over some of Doug’s tracks to the now Brooklyn-based artist and the tune quickly came together. Keeney notes that when Satta eventually met Carlton in Brooklyn to shoot a video, the artists generously introduced him to the local reggae community, offered tips on distribution, and opened his network to the label.
Modi Bardo & Collinjah “Ganja Ting” This upcoming track features Jamaica-born and Canada-based singer Collinjah, right. Keeney describes him as a versatile artist with a command of dancehall lyrics, uplifting roots vocals and dub chanting. “The work we’ve done with him sounds explosive,” Keeney enthuses. “He really gets both the dub aesthetic and hip-hop and is able to join them. Ultimately dub and electronic is where we started with the label, but we’re also stretching out,” say Keeney who adds that the collaboration see his own early-90s hip-hop production ideas mixed with Collinjah dancehall and dub background. “It was just what naturally happened when we mixed our sounds.”
Follow Foundation Channel on the label’s blog, hear the tunes at Soundcloud; and buy the music via Bandcamp.
Ahead of next year’s edition running from 16-18 June, Spanish electronic music festival, Sónar, has unveiled the first part of its line-up. As with the 2015 event, both Sónar by Day and Sónar by Night, will be held at the Fira Montjuïc and Fira Gran Via, locations.
As stated by the organizers, there will be more than 150 performances at next year’s gathering that will also feature the European premiere of ANOHNI, a project by the lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons, alongside producers and collaborators, Oneohtrix Point Never and Hudson Mohawke.
Berlin-based minimal hero Manfred Koridass (a.k.a. S-Max) has kept quiet for the past few years. For much of the noughties, he sat at the helm of the revered Boogizm imprint alongside his counterpart Manutchehr Ghassemlou (a.k.a. Fym), carving out a unique niche in the scene which was set apart by its commitment to a total lack of seriousness. The colorful collage-based artwork, the nonsensical poetry of the titles, and most importantly the irregularity of the music, with its trademark freaky funk, held a special appeal for many. Now, the LowMoneyMusicLove imprint (a young team of musicians with one foot in Amsterdam, and another in Frankfurt) have tapped back into that quirky sound for their fifth release, with Dropping Acid On Your Astro Turf.
The EP sees S-Max up to his old tricks, with three tracks as whimsical as ever. Opener “Occupying Orange (We Deal With The Spirit)” bounces along, seamlessly blending weird electro-esque samples with shimmying percussion, creating magic in its most intricate details. Frequent chops and breaks punctuate its low-slung, growling bass and give it an infectious energy, rendering it the most dancefloor-ready of the cuts. “It’s More Than Black!” drops a few levels deeper: Distant jingles and moans pierce its erratic hats, with a strung-out sound that is more suited to the wee hours of the night. There is no letting up in quality as the rich textures of “Divine.Geometry.Forms.Yuri” round things off, a cut based around celestial keys that sound as if they are drifting away from the swells of its rounded bassline.
Since the early noughties, Swedish producer Sebastian Mullaert has turned his hand to a variety of different electronic styles and projects, making a name for himself alongside Marcus Henriksson as Minilogue. As ever, his latest release, You’re An Orchestra in the Cosmos, promises great variety, with four different versions of the title track — two remixes by himself (the trippy Blinkarp dub, plus a spacy Wa Wu We remix), as well as a peak time interpretation by label boss Joris Voorn.
For more of an idea about Sebastian’s style, check out the recent podcast he did for us. Ahead of the release, we had a few questions for him:
This is the first release you’ve put out on Joris Voorn’s label, which includes a one original as well as a remix by label boss himself, plus three versions from your personal psyche. How did your collaboration with Joris Voorn begin? We have known each other for many years, and I always share my new releases with Joris as he likes what I’m doing. This spring I sent my first demo to him, and as we can see now, it was a good match!
After Minilogue, you started working under your own name, as well as Wa Wu We — can you please describe your vision for each alias? As I’m behind both projects, naturally there is the Sebastian flavour in them. For the stuff I do as Sebastian Mullaert, I don’t have an exact agenda. With Wa Wu We, there are two things that drive the musical output — meditative and hypnotic effects, as well as mixing that is a bit off and different. A lot of Wa Wu We stuff I make is on the edge of being too off to release, but it’s a nice place to walk around and explore this borderline.
Can you give us one adjective to describe each track on the release? For the original, I would say “jazzydelic,” and for the Blinkarp dub it has to be “mysticism.” To describe my Wa Wu We rework, let’s say “flow,” and finally the Joris remix — “epic!”
You can pre-order the EP at Juno and Decks. Check out more of Sebastian’s work at his Soundcloud.
Saturday night, Planet Mu – the eclectic label famous for pioneering underground dance genres from house to footwork to pop – is celebrating 20 years at the London club series Clock Strikes 13. The lineup includes U-Ziq (live), Ital Tek, Ekoplekz + Kuedo, Vex’d + RP Boo.
Touch Of Class Records takes over the Electric Pickle in Miami this coming Wednesday as a warm up for Art Basel. The showcase will feature label artists and friends such as Los Angeles duo Ricoshëi, Circus Company’s Dave Aju, label bosses Signal Flow, Finley, plus live duo Ominous (aka Jonny Cruz and Ricardo Dominguez) who will give a special preview of their upcoming album. Get tickets via XLR8R here.
To find more events in your city or to submit a new event, visit our events page. XLR8R is now offering ticketing for U.S. events, promoters interested in participating during our beta-testing can get in touch here.
