Hailing from the eastern corner of the Netherlands’ Randstad conurbation, Utrecht-based musician Beatsofreen (a.k.a. Bastiaan van der Vlist) has recently been celebrating the release of his full-length album, Full Circle. Having debuted the album on November 6 on the Canadian beat-centric label King Deluxe, the producer‘s new work was conceptualized over a four-year period, and features 14 tracks that are reminiscent of the sounds coming out of the West Coast beat scene around 2009. Quite listenable from start to finish, the production makes us feel mildly nostalgic for mid-2000’s era of Flying Lotus or Per Abdul. Beatsofreen tells us that his inspiration came from the familiar sonics of Utrecht as well as from sounds found in nature, creating a mosaic of beats through a combination of field recordings, piano, guitar, harp, flute, percussion, claps, and his own voice.
For today’s XLR8R download, Beatsofreen is offering up the new album’s “Chaos Theory” for your discerning aural pleasure. The track is produced with rich percussive layers made of pure head-nod shit, along with claps that go straight to the dome—all built upon the strength of 8-bit misaligned backbone. There are some Homer Simpson clips and other video-game samples thrown over the top for good measure—along with another sample of a video-game death at the 1:28 mark that is driving us crazy trying to remember where it came from. The artist is also sharing his new video for the track “Slowly Rising,” which was directed and animated by Hideki Inabi. You can find out more about Beatsofreen and his album Full Circle by visiting him online, and you can download your copy of “Chaos Theory” by clicking on the media player below.
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RS94109 is a record store located in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district and doubles as a cultural event space for raw experimental music and independent artists. The home of Dark Entries Records, RS is focused on “serving the Bay Area underground music community through independent distribution and hosted events.” Originally closing their doors this past May for renovations, the record store hoped to improve the space’s layout with a coffee bar, new floor, new record racks, DJ booth, listening stations and new counters.
The record store has unfortunately fallen short of its budget to complete these additional renovations and desperately wants to open itself back up to the public. Having previously hosted amazing acts such as Adam X, Mike Servito, Ben UFO, Ital, Powell, and many more, please contribute to their Kickstarter if you have a few pennies to spare. Help to make sure that this one-of-a-kind venue/record store can continue to host top-notch acts in the Bay Area and distribute music that is seldom found anywhere else.
With a surplus of dope rewards for backers and only three-thousand dollars short of their goal, help contribute to their Kickstarter Campaign by going here!
Taking place in Bucharest, Romania between November 27 and December 2, Interval Festival is being touted as “the longest musical event in European nightlife history.” With three different venues and one-hundred plus artists, the festival plans on running continuously for over 100 hours. The lineup is extensive, and quite eclectic, with a long list of glorious acts. Having already confirmed over seventy top-notch artists earlier this month, Interval has recently added an additional forty-two artists to its lineup.
Additions to the lineup include Nina Kraviz,Recondite (live), Carl Craig, Raresh, Marcel Dettmann, Petre Inspirescu, Ame, Cezar, Kozo, Leon Vynehall, Boddika, Bjarki, Eduardo de la Calle, Youandewan, Amir Alexander, and many more.
XLR8R is pleased to have established a partnership with Interval Festival and will be presenting a segment of the lineup. We are thankful to be playing a part in this monumental dance music event and wildly excited about the talent we will be presenting, which consists of some of Europe’s finest and most up-and-coming DJs and techno producers.
Composer and pianist Nils Frahm has been keeping busy this year, with a film score, piano-building project, collaboration with Ólafur Arnalds, and an album on Erased Tapes already under his belt. Now, he’s reunited with his childhood band nonkeen (comprising Sebastian Singwald and Frederic Gmeiner) for an LP on esteemed Belgian outlet R&S. According to a press release, the trio first met in Hamburg around 1989, and migrated to Berlin after the fall of the Wall. The Gamble took shape over eight years, during which songs were recorded using four-track tape recorders and microphones in various rehearsal spaces around Berlin, and then engineered back at Frahm’s studio. No official previews have been shared as of yet, but the album is due to land onFebruary 5 in 2016.
The stunning Swept EP can be streamed in full exclusively via Redbull, including a remix by Tale of Us.
Swept is due out on November 20 via Erased Tapes.
Tour Dates
12/03 Buenos Aires – Sónar Buenos Aires 12/05 Santiago Sonar Sound – Santiago de Chile 12/07 Bogota – Sónar Bogotá 12/08 Los Angeles – Echoplex 12/09 San Francisco – Mezzanine 12/10 Portland – Holocene 12/11 Seattle – Lo Fi 12/12 Vancouver – Biltmore Cabaret
Levon Vincent‘s Novel Sound label will deliver its 10th instalment in the form of a split 12″ between Vincent himself and Berlin techno mainstay Marcel Dettmann. T.Rex Edition cropped up on Rubadub’s online store with little fanfare and even fewer details—an accompanying write-up simply states, “We don’t need to tell you how good this is.” A-side solo effort “The Fear” originally appeared on Vincent’s Fabric 63 mix from 2012, while “Vengeance” on the flip marks the two artists’ first collaboration to see the light of day. The two tracks come on “retina-burning” pink vinyl, and clips are streaming here.
Dennis Kane is one half of the Siren duo (with Metro Area‘s Darshan Jesrani) and the man behind the Disques Sinthomme and Ghost Town labels. He’s back to chew the fat with dance music’s movers and shakers, the iconic house hero Tony Humphries serving as this month’s subject.
His impact has been so significant and wide ranging that it’s hard to know where to begin with a legend and giant like Tony Humphries. From his days as a radio DJ on Kiss FM, to his residency at the legendary Club Zanzibar, to his work as a remixer and producer (Roundtree‘s “Hit On You,” Fresh Band’s “Come Back Lover,” Mtume’s “Juicy Fruit” and Visual‘s “The Music Got Me,” just to name a few), or his influence on Europe via his gigs with Danny Rampling or his residency at Ministry of Sound, he’s one of the major figures of dance-music history. Norman Jay, the late Frankie Knuckles, DJ Harvey—the man they all big-up for paving the way with his unique and broad selections and pioneering contributions to “Garage style” and the “New Jersey Sound” is Tony Humphries.
Contrary to myth, Humphries is from Brooklyn, not New Jersey. He was born into a musical family: His father, Rene Grand, was a bandleader and contemporary of giants like Tito Puente, Henry Fiol, and Willie Colon. Humphries started collecting music from an early age, setting him on a path that would eventually lead him to drop a mixtape on Shep Pettibone, which led to his years of being a mixmaster DJ on Kiss FM. For those who aren’t from NYC, (or at least in range of its airwaves) it is hard to describe the impact of Humphries’s show at the time. It was where you got schooled. As a student in Philadelphia I would—if the reception was decent—tape the show, along with DJ Red Alert’s, thinking I was privately doing my homework. I was surprised and chagrined coming to NYC and seeing cassettes of his weekly mixes being sold in the East Village and on Canal Street.
I never made it to Zanzibar, but talking to those who were there, you get a sense of the magnitude of the place. Humphries’s playing, along with that of Hippie Torales and Tee Scott, ushered in a new moment. In a rundown spot in Newark, the utopian dreams of the Paradise Garage got a second—and different—wind.
I have had the good fortune to get to know and talk with Tony over the years, and although not a press- or publicity-driven person, he was kind enough before catching a flight to Tokyo to sit down and chat.
Tony, what’s the first memory you have of recorded music in your life? When I was five or six, I was fascinated by the spindle on the record player. It was just a visual. In terms of sound and being hooked, “Get Ready” by Rare Earth or “Magic Carpet Ride” by Steppenwolf. Lyrically, “You’re All I Need to Get By” by Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell. It was a great time for radio—so much good music was popular music.
When did the notion of playing records become a possibility? Well, back in Easy New York we had a lot of basement parties, and I was always the guy with 45s. I wasn’t mixing, but I loved choosing records and making people dance.
When was the first time you saw someone DJing in public with two turntables? That was in the park, and then at this upstate ski lodge in the Poconos—this guy was mixing seamlessly, and it intrigued me how he kept the groove going. Soon after I started going to Downstairs Records and getting two of everything, just so I could practice. I would work on mixing intros—I drove my Mom nuts. The mobile jocks were also around, there was DJ Jones, Flowers, etc.
Then, my first year at college, I started to get into it at Borough Hall in Brooklyn, we had student parties where you would get a 90-minute or two-hour set. It was fun and, while there I made some good pals including Lionel Rosemont who was known as LY; he did “Back 2 Zanzibar” with Jovonn. We also set up our system on a basketball court on Linden Boulevard. It was like a battle to see who could get the electricity first from the light post—you had better show up early! I remember playing [Double Exposure’s] “Ten Percent of Nothing” or [Milton Hamilton’s] “My Love Supreme”—those were some of my jams.
Those are such big powerful songs, and really a big-band sound. I was amazed at the reaction to “Ten Percent.” I really appreciated the Cayre Brothers [Salsoul Records’ founders]; they had this hybrid of soul and Latin, and it was tough and elegant. They put a lot behind it from a production standpoint.
There was a lot of hybrid sounds at the time, songs like “Yellow Sunshine” became a b-boy classic but also had this hippy vibe and lyrics like ‘”Move with the colors.…” Well, who would think Yellow Magic Orchestra’s “Computer Games” would thrive in the Bronx?
“There was this joyful explosion of technology and experience—it was a new social moment with a lot of innocence.”
In retrospect, it seems like DJs were going out of their way to experiment with a variety of sounds and genres. There was this joyful explosion of technology and experience—it was a new social moment with a lot of innocence. People were happy to have a good time; things weren’t so regimented.
So how do you go from playing in the park to “this is what I am going to do with my life”? I guess it was after Shep [Pettibone] called me. I had DJed for fun and was doing the mobile thing; you either made some money or you didn’t. I had a friend take a tape over to Shep, he needed someone to fill in on the air. Once that got going for me I could see a future. Shep started teaching me how to edit, and it suddenly was more than playing records.
That’s in ’82, ’83? Yes, and then Larry Patterson said to me, “Come check out this spot in New Jersey,” and I was like, “Jersey?” [laughs] When I walked in, though, my first thought was, I hope no one else finds out about this. It reminded me of the Garage; I was very impressed. So I was doing Zanzibar and Kiss…and it was a hustle.
You were very quickly identified for playing a broad and eclectic range of music—was that an approach you premeditated? Well, you have five boroughs, and a city made up of every conceivable type of person, and there were a legion of DJs. You went to all the different stores or perhaps you were part of a record pool; there was competition for records but also you wanted to be distinct. And also, I guess I always had a real appreciation for a whole range of music, and I thought why not have my sets reflect that?
Being at Zanzibar, did you get the feel of a distinct Jersey sound emerging? There were a number of house producers coming up; I liked quite a few of the records. there was a certain groove I would try and build, using records to bridge to others, a vocal to an instrumental and vice versa, keeping a flow—I liked how that built the dancefloor.
You were playing on Thorens turntables, right? Yes, and the first time it was rough. They are belt driven, not direct, so it takes a certain finesse and touch to line the songs up. I would look for songs that could help with a mix, that have certain parts that flowed easily. I would be going through what I could get from [East Orange, NJ record shop] Movin’ Records, and mix newer things with classics.
You were starting to spend more time in the studio as well? Actually, I had been in the studio before the DJ thing went off. The first thing I mixed was Terri Gonzalez’s“Hunger for your Love,” and then the Zafra Brothers. The studio opportunities expanded from that.
Tony, how do you see your approach as a DJ changing in today’s climate? Now, things seem a bit homogenized, I value my past, and the idea of moving through genres and creating a versatile mix that reflects all the places I have been—and also going into the new, stuff that I am just getting up on. I also believe in letting the records play; I have used overlays, and teased songs coming in, etc….but you don’t want to overmix. I liked [David] Mancuso’s feeling that a song should be good from beginning to end. Certain songs obviously lend themselves to using a break or intro, but certain songs you have to admire and let breathe, especially when they feature live instrumentation. Technique can be dramatic, but the time has to be right.
Five Tony Humphries Classics
Tony Humphries’s discography is a bit overwhelming, as are the number of classic songs closely associated with him. I suggest you spend some time at YouTube or Discogs to get a proper perspective of just how much he has done, and how many songs he helped make. Below, I pick five that always have been favorites.
Fresh Band “Come Back Lover” (Are ‘n Be) Disco as clean as it gets. Crisp and movin’ with a great smooth vocal, nice keys, rhythm guitar, bass and bongos. Tony’s mix heightens the drama and makes it even more floor-ready. Essential.
Visual “The Music Got Me” (instrumental) (Prelude) Proto-house from NYC, Boyd Jarvis and Timmy Regisford on production; Tony Humphries sure-shot mix. Spacious keyboard-driven tribal funk, it hints at where house music is going to be. I like the instrumental version—Tony’s mix shines, again crisp and modern, great breakdown. Move! Free your Body!
Cultural Vibe “Ma Foom Bey” (Love Chant Version) (Easy Street) A huge record with tremendous impact—an easy island groove, a haunting chant, all kinds of space, connecting to some elemental and nocturnal vibe. A high watermark for house music here. I like how laid-back the Love Chant version is.
LY “Back to Zanzibar” (King Street Mix) (Nite Grooves) Not actually a mix by Tony, but a song by his old pal Lionel Rosemont produced by Jovonn. A song that celebrates the work done by Tony and the Zanzibar crew. A beautiful, sparse house jam with a languid synth. “Where we hanging out tonight? We’re gonna see Tony… at Zanzibar”
Roundtree “Hit On You” (dub version) (Aria) It gets no better than this, nasty, funky, swinging, with a bad-ass bass line. Tony’s remix brings all the goodness front and center—a huge dramatic jam. If this doesn’t wake up the floor—call a cab!
The recentMangiami: La Compilation(Golf Channel) features a mix from Tony Humphries; you can catch the DJ in action at the below gigs.
Glasgow born and London-based producer Auntie Flo is set to release his latest album via the widely championed UK music label Huntleys + Palmer. Having released his debut LP, Future Rhythm Machine, on Huntleys + Palmers in 2011, Theory Of Flo will be Auntie Flo’s second full-length album and employs a well rounded and exploratory afro-futurist sound which is vividly expressed through both his live shows and his DJ sets. While using music from both West and South Africa as a huge focus of his productions, the sprawling and hypnotic LP was recorded in Havana, Glasgow, and London, and is the Glaswegian’s “first extended musical recording and body of work.” The worldly, cutting edge sound found in Theory Of Flo is packed with primal-yet-pristine rhythms and numerous sonic influences from all over the globe that fuse into one of the most all-encompassing and telluric albums of the year.
The Auntie Flo track being offered up today as an exclusive XLR8R premiere is “Su La,” featuring Ghanaian singer Anbuley and lead singer of The Noisettes, Shingai Shoniwa. Beautifully layered with surmounting rhythms, subtle rhodes riffs, and floating arpeggios, the track’s distinct vocals, which are sung in Anbuley’s original language of Ga, are overtly moving and sentient, and emit a vibe that is both weighty and arcane. You can stream the track in full below and be sure to check out more from Auntie Flo by going to his Soundcloud page here.
Jori Hulkkonen is an electronic music producer who was born and raised in the small town of Kemi in Northern Finland. Beginning in the early ’80s, Hulkkonen‘s musical influences leaned towards all things related to electronica, with a musical sensibility much more eclectic than your average ten-year-old Scandinavian kid growing up in the middle of the Cold War. Jori’s musical passion started displaying itself even more when he discovered the slightly more abstract form of electronic music in genres like Detroit techno and house music.
Just a couple of weeks ago on October 15, Hulkkonen delivered a brand new full-length LP on My Favorite Robot Recordings called Oh But I Am, and now the album is getting the remix treatment by a team of producers that were hand picked by the label. The remix package is set for release on November 13, and includes a new interpretation of “Waiting Is All We Have” by Balcazar & Sordo, a stunning remix of “Four Step Program” by Villanova, a remix of today’s download by Camea, and additional reworks by Heretic and Musumeci & Lehar.
The track that Jori is graciously offering up for today’s download is an exclusive track that was created during the original album recording process that cannot be found anywhere else but on XLR8R. The remix of the track “It’s Taken Too Long” by Camea is featured on the new follow up EP, but XLR8R is the only place that you can find the original version of this track.
“It’s Taken Too Long” is the type of focused electronica that we have come to expect from Jori Hulkkonen, built upon a synth-pop melody structure that can only come from a producer with this much experience. Jori’s haunting vocals reach out through long reverberated takes before jumping full swing into a swimming sea of electronica bliss. You can find out more about Oh But I Am and its follow up remix package by clicking here, and you can grab the exclusive track “It’s Taken Too Long” by clicking on the media player below.
XLR8R also has the official premiere of Camea’s remix, a deep and dark cut with loopy vocals, spiralling synths, and a fathoms deep low end that is sure to set fire to any dancefloor it is played on. You can stream the remix in full below the original.
The electronic music magazine RollingTuff, in association with Boombox, will be hosting the third edition of the Los Angeles party series ‘Into The Night’ with performances by Jamie Charles and the Spanish duo Animal Picnic on November 20.
This performance will be Animal Picnic’s LA debut, who just released it’s first full EP, Sinopsia on the Berlin-based label Steyoyoke. The event, which is set to take place at a private location in DTLA (RSVP required), is set to go from 11 pm till late the next day and will feature a Funktion One Sound System.
