Earlier this month, XLR8Rconnected with techno producer Etapp Kyle from his home base in Ukraine to get the scoop on his forthcoming EP for Ben Klock’s Klockworks label. Now, b-side closer “Luna” has been made available for advance streaming, courtesy of Boiler Room Debuts. “Luna” is described as “stripped back, melodic and functional as you’d expect, with the producer’s natural affinity for sculpting atmospheres shining through.” Hear it below before KW16 lands on November 24.
German producer Johannes Heil is set to drop his latest LP, The Black Light, via Exile on November 23.
The Black Light presents 10 tracks aimed squarely at the darker edge of the dancefloor. From the outset, Heil douses the tracks with dense atmospherics and hypnotic synth work, building the tension throughout the album with drum-machine percussion and gliding synth work. Besides a few cuts, it’s a mostly club-driven album, which isn’t a bad thing when you’re crafting tough, absorbing techno like the tracks found on The Black Light—one of which found its way into the record bags of Rødhåd, Nina Kraviz, and Ben Klock this past summer.
Heil will release The Black Light on Exile, the label he launched this year with the Markus Suckut collaborative EP of the same name, and ahead of the November 23 release date, you can stream the full LP below.
Berlin based composer Jóhann Jóhannsson’s latest project, a nature film he directed called End of Summer, which looks at life and landscapes in Antarctica, is set for release later this year along with its accompanying soundtrack.
Jóhannsson is known for his unique blend of chamber music with electronic sounds. He has released a wealth of albums on the likes of Touch and 4AD, as well as a handful of motion picture soundtracks (including the score for last year’s The Theory of Everything, for which he won a Golden Globe). His most recent project, End of Summer, a film that he directed, is set to be released early next month, which focuses on landscapes from South Georgia and the Antarctic peninsula during the final days of the season. Along with friends and fellow composers Hildur Guðnadóttir and Robert A. A. Lowe, he has produced a detailed soundtrack to complement the release, comprised of field recordings, cello, electronics, voice and synthesizers.
On the project, Jóhann said: “I wanted to make a nature film that does not objectify nature and does not fixate upon its beauty—I tried not to romanticize it. The film tries to capture the austere atmosphere of the Antarctic peninsula, or at least my experience of it—a bleak, alien, but incredibly beautiful and fragile place.“
End of Summer will be released on LP, CD and DVD, via Sonic Pieces on December 4. You can pre-order the digital files at Boomkat.
Check out an excerpt from the upcoming film below:
End Of Summer – Part 3 (Excerpt) from Jóhann Jóhannsson on Vimeo.
Having released his third independent album, For You, this past September, English synthpop musician Frankmusik is set to play at the Golden Box in Hollywood on November 20. Frankmusik, having previously produced music for the likes of Ellie Goulding and Erasure, has embarked on a new musical direction, collaborating with artists like Art of Noise and soundtracking London based handbag designer Anya Hindmarch‘s most recent fashion week show.
You can check out more from Franksmusik by going here.
Buy tickets for Frankmusik’s show in Los Angeles via XLR8R.
Earlier this year, Nein Records label boss Neil Parnell (aka Tronik Youth) released his debut album Youth Is Wasted On The Young, featuring eleven uniquely stylized tracks of shadowy, palpitating electronic music. Despite this being Parnell’s debut album, which he recorded in his home studio over the course of a year, Tronik Youth is by no means a newcomer to the scene. With over seventy-five remixes and twenty-five singles under his belt, Parnell has established himself as widely respected member of the electronic music community over the past ten years while having fashioned his music label into a platform for some of the underground’s most promising producers.
Having recently released a single from his debut album, “Losing My Mind,” features the fluid and rhythmically talented Gabe Gurnsey, drummer from the UK post-industrial group Factory Floor. The release also includes three wild and unequivocal remixes from the likes of Nite Dub, Samuel Berdah and the Italian electronic ace, Rodion. Having just released the single two days ago, XLR8R is pleased to bring you an exclusive download of Rodion’s rework of Tronik Youth’s single, “Losing My Mind.” Approaching the remix with his usual deep, electronic disco laden style, Rodion gives the track a “chrome workover” with velvet like drums, bionic vocals, abating synth lines and a deep minimal bassline which carries the track in an aloof fashion.
You can download the track in the player below and be sure to check out more from Tronik Youth by visiting the Nein Records Soundcloud page here.
You can also subscribe to our XLR8R Downloads feed on iTunes by clicking on the feed links below.
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Additional Download: Bottin – “All for One (feat. Rodion)”
Wayne Goodlitt (aka Roska) is set to release his forthcoming album, Refresh, on November 20 through his imprint, Roska Kicks & Snares. Since releasing his last album, Rinse Presents: Roska 2, back in 2012, the British producer has kept himself busy with a handful of releases on Rinse, Simma Red, Tectonic and his own RKS label while compiling tracks for his upcoming LP.
Refresh, which will be Roska’s third full-length LP,includes collaborations with DVA and long-time collaborator Jamie George, a previous remix of the DonaeO track “I Want Your Love,” and an original production from Roska that features the UK Hip-Hop collective Problem Child. Ahead of the albums release, you can stream the tough, grime-infused track “Light Dem Up (feat. Problem Child)” exclusively on XLR8R. Keeping in line with his signature production style that employs whopping, swollen basslines, concentrated rhythms, and flashing synth cuts, the strident tone and wicked pace of the Problem Child collective adds a fierce-yet-fresh element to Roska’s sound. You can pre-order Refresh by heading to Itunes.
Check out more from Roska by going to his Soundcloud page here.
Today, Native Instruments has introduced its latest performance synth for Reaktor, FLESH. FLESH resynthesizes samples by analyzing the transients and transforming them into various curves and triggers with a streamlined control set, making it ideal for improvisation and live sets. Included in the instrument is a sampler, monosynth, polysynth, and subsynth engine with an effects section and a modulation page.
London-based producer Tim Exile, the creator of FLESH, explains that the concept behind the Reaktor instrument came to him when he was on tour. He explains “I was missing a way to make harmonic and melodic material in a live, improvised scenario. I wanted something that would empower me to create expressive and dynamic sounds which fit in perfectly with whatever was going on at the time.”
You can now purchase FLESH in the Native Instruments Store by going here.
Learn more about this exciting new Reaktor Synth by heading to the Native Instruments website here.
Laurentiu Suciu (a.k.a. Faster) is scheduled to release the Presiune EP via fledgling label Ruere Records.
The Romanian producer came onto the scene in 2011, and has been part of a wave of new minimal house and techno acts from Bucharest, releasing on imprints like Kurbits, The Rabbit Hole, Hourglass Ltd and Chelsea Hotel Records. His latest release, Presiune, is to be the first release on the newly established Ruere Records. According to the label, it is a product of Faster’s lengthy periods spent with his drum machines, and plunges into “deep hypnotic reverie.”
Ahead of the EP’s November/December release, you can exclusively stream the EP below, while the release can be pre-ordered now via Decks, Deejay.de and Technique.
Our weekly podcasts are required to be assembled specifically and exclusively for XLR8R. That’s just how it works. And because of this, we’re often forced to forsake perfectly viable submissions to the schedule, almost all of which we’d have loved to have shared and supported via our platform. Sometimes, however, the quality of those submissions are just too high to dismiss, and one such mix arrived in our inbox just a few weeks ago from Sebastian Mullaert, the Swedish DJ-producer and live performer who is perhaps most widely acknowledged for his work with Marcus Henriksson under the Minilogue alias. For two years now, Mullaert has been operating as a solo artist, an endeavor that stems from an indefinite hiatus from the collaboration, and one that has seen him tour extensively around the world both as a DJ and a live act, with a number of new releases set to surface on labels including Hypercolour, Drumcode and Mule Musiq, alongside his new release on Green which is dropping in a few weeks’ time.
Reflecting on the events of the past year, Mullaert sent across a one-and-a-half hour segment of a four-hour live set that he played at The Block, Israel earlier this summer. It was, he says, one of the “most memorable” live sets he’s played in some time, and he invited us to share it. Based on the above, we were initially reluctant—but following Mullaert’s delightful Tuesday-afternoon visit to XLR8R’s Berlin office, we decided to make an exception. The segment, as Mullaert explains, contains a mix of both old and upcoming material, alongside lengthy periods of completely improvised, unnamed material which will not be released. It was created then and there, on the spot, for the listeners within the club—and now shared exclusively here too.
This is what Mullaert said about his live set.
Where and when was this live set recorded?
The set was recorded on May 1st of this year, at the Block in Tel Aviv, Israel, which is one of my absolute favorite clubs in the world. It’s an amazing place. I’ve played quite a lot in Israel, with mixed feelings from my experiences, but every time I have played at the Block, I have had a very special time. The people who run the club really want it to be unique and put so much effort into it. They are always looking to improve it, but also they keep it simple at the same time. It has a massive old-school sound system—which is amazing—and the club feels small and intimate. It’s about the music and the art rather than the look and the hype.
How long was the set that you played?
It was a four-hour live set that I played that night—but the segment I have given for this mix is one-and-a-half hours. It was such an amazing evening—I just couldn’t stop playing. The crowd were with me, and I was just exploring different music styles and emotions, which is the dream for an artist. I wouldn’t want to publish a four-hour live segment, so I just chose this part of the mix to share.
Looking back at all the sets that you’ve played, is this one that really stands out in your mind?
Yes, it is actually. I haven’t actually recorded so many solo sets, and sometimes it is the case that when you take the recorder with you and you record, it is not a particularly good set. I think it’s something psychological because when you know it is recording then you hold back a little and it becomes hard to just let loose. But this time I was really happy with the set, and I recorded it too.
In terms of the live set, what set-up are you using?
It’s a set-up that combines Ableton with some analog hardware stuff. It’s a combination of the two which enables me to play these long sets. The core is Ableton—that’s what keeps everything in sync—and in there I have a set-up with over a hundred different sketches that are just loops. There is no arrangement or anything—they’re just short samples I did in the studio. I then have a MIDI controller so I can control all the individual samples, and decide when they’re going to be on, how loud and all that stuff. I can make a quick arrangement with these sounds and, to that, I have a drum machine, a 303, a 101, and then I also have a machine where I can add rhythm patterns and sound affects on the fly as well. All these are coming down to an Allen & Heath mixer, where I can control all the sounds from the computer. I have them on different channels, and then I have all the audio channels next to them.
Do you find yourself in an automated state when you’re playing live, or are you conscious of each action?
It goes in and out, to be honest. Regardless of whether I am on stage or in the studio, I think the really magical moments come when you’re in the flow and that normally happens when you’re together with the crowd. But the flow also contains moments where it is harder, and you’re not feeling the music and you’re searching—which I don’t see this as bad, but it’s part of the journey to making the magic happen. There are different phases during the night where different people are into it, and the same goes for me on stage. Sometimes I am in the zone and sometimes I am not. In the Boiler Room set, it took me 20 minutes to realize that I didn’t have any monitor! I think that there are lots of small things that help you get in the flow—and these things can be mental, physical or technical, of course. That’s the beauty of a four-hour set: I find that in the space of time, there will always be a period where it will be good and I will be connected with the audience. Very often in life we are restless, but if the crowd and I know that there is time, we can relax knowing that at some point there will be a connection.
01 Sebastian Mullaert – untitled live jam #1 (0-5)
02 Sebastian Mullaert “In the Blurry Mist of Yourself” (live mix) (5-12)
03 Sebastian Mullaert & Patrick Siech “GENOME1” (12-19)
04 Sebastian Mullaert – untitled live jam #2 (19-26)
05 Sebastian Mullaert & Patrick Siech “Rivers Will Turn” (26-33)
06 KAB “Trust” (Sebastian Mullaert’s live mix) (33-46)
07 Moosfibr “Secret Cinema” (Sebastian Mullaert’s live mix) (46-55)
08 Sebastian Mullaert – untitled live jam #3 (55-66)
09 Sebastian Mullaert – untitled live jam #4 (66-72)
10 Sebastian Mullaert – untitled live jam #5 (72-79)
11 Sebastian Mullaert “Direct Experience” (live mix) (79-86)
12 Brian Eno “An Ending Ascent” (Sebastian Mullaert’s live edit)
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If you had casually wandered into the U.S. premiere of the Time Warp festival last autumn, you’d be excused for thinking that the affair went off without a hitch, at least if you disregarded the frigid temperatures and that incident concerning Richie Hawtin and a monitor. After all, the fest—held over two nights in the tricked-out, mega-size, two-room South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, on the 39 Street Pier along the East River—attracted 9,500 revelers, all partying to techno and house demigods like Sven Väth, Josh Wink, Luciano, Sonja Moonear and a particularly mind-blowing Dixon, among others, along with a list of New York-based artists that included Anthony Parasole, the Martinez Brothers, No Regular Play, and Frank & Tony. But things are never as easy as they seem, and the festival had hit a major roadblock when its planned-on site—the Bronx’s massive Kingsbridge Armory—pulled out at the last minute, and the Marine Terminal was called into duty. It’s a testament to the team behind Time Warp, cofounded by Steffen Charles and Robin Ebinger in Mannheim, Germany and now an international presence, that the last-minute venue switch went so smoothly—after all, the event was founded back in 1994, and you don’t last for over two decades without being able to deal with the occasional glitch.
For this year’s edition, running on Friday, November 20 and Saturday 21, Time Warp had opted for another grand armory—specifically, the Bedford Union Armory in Crown Heights. Plans were big, production-wise: Among other things, the team would install its Cave 2.0, a set-up which promised to transform the space “from a cavernous ice cave to a menacing inferno, depending on the colors and rhythms of more than 400 lamps and lasers,” according to Ebinger. But in what must seem like déjà vu to the producers, they again hit a speed bump. Just last week, after Crown Heights residents, politicians and religious leaders called on Time Warp to find other accommodations—and rather then risk the wrath of the locals, the team (probably wisely) obliged. “Out of respect to the community of Crown Heights, we have agreed to move Time Warp US 2015 from the Bedford Union Armory to the spectacular site of Time Warp US 2014, just 5 miles away,” Time Warp announced.
So it’s back to the Brooklyn waterfront, with all the set design and lighting effects in tow—but the change seems trivial when you look at the lineup, which boasts Väth (who’s something of an international ambassador for the Time Warp brand), Luciano, Black Coffee, Tale of Us, Apollonia, Thugfucker, Recondite, Chris Liebing and a tag-teaming Jamie Jones and Seth Troxler, among many others. And in something of a coup, Time Warp has cajoled Ricardo Villalobos, who in the past has voiced objections about playing in the States as a protest against U.S. foreign policy, into joining in on the fun. With the festival so close hat we can almost feel the subwoofers, XLR8R caught up with Ebinger for a chat about Time Warp’s musical ethos and the team’s ability to overcome obstacles.
Last year marked Time Warp’s first U.S. installment. A lot of large-scale events over here cater to an EDM kind of crowd—were you confident that New York, and America in general, was ready for something with more of a purist outlook?
The core of Time Warp is techno. This music has long-standing roots in the U.S., e.g. Detroit and a list of many brilliant artists. Of course, there is this big thing called EDM, which became mainstream culture—however, with every huge culture, there is also a flourishing counterculture. With our 20-year history, sold-out venues and fans around the world, we felt that it was the right time to present our idea of a techno event in NYC.
Were you surprised by the challenges that are presented by putting on an event like Time Warp over here? Or do you face those same kinds of challenges wherever you bring Time Warp?
We have been producing, programming and marketing large-scale events around the globe for many years now. From Croatia to Netherlands and Buenos Aires, each region and market has its own peculiarities and challenges. We have been able to gather lots of valuable experiences in the past, which helps us to cope with different challenges and adjust to the local environment. Additionally, we have strong partners in each market to help us. With TCE and ID&T North America, we are confident to deliver a perfect event.
Were you happy with how last year’s Time Warp went?
Given the fact that we lost the first venue, we were still able to get a new venue in no time and delivered a seamless event—it proved that Time Warp lives up to its word. We were really grateful for the appreciation we received from our U.S. fans and the local scene alike.
Did you learn any specific lessons from last year’s experience that you’ve applied to producing this year’s edition?
It proved again that producing festivals is a high-risk industry. The environment is very complex and metrics can change very fast. You always have to be particularly vigilant.
Sven Väth is once again playing Time Warp NYC; he’s been closely associated with Time Warp for years. What can you tell us about the relationship between Time Warp and Sven?
Sven and Time Warp have been friends for many years. This friendship is build on trust and respect for each other. We are deeply connected by our passion and love for this music.
The lineup is once again amazing—you’ve even got Villalobos, who basically never plays over here. How do you go about choosing your lineup, and how do you explain the willingness of this very high level of artists to help support the Time Warp cause?
The team behind Time Warp comes from comes from the dancefloor. We are music enthusiasts and festival idealist in the first place. Our mission is to make people dance. Also, we always care about the artists and try to get them the perfect working environment. If the artist is pleased and can unfold himself, the fans are joyful.
We are real and authentic. This is something that makes a difference, and is much appreciated by the artists.
