CS + Kreme are Conrad Standish and Sam Karmel—two experimental Australian musicians. Over the past decade, they have released a series of disparate records on DIY labels that share their ethos: Total Stasis, Wichelroede, Efficient Space, Latency and The Trilogy Tapes, where they issued the Snoopy and Orange LPs in 2020 and 2022 respectively. On their third full-length, The Butterfly Drinks the Tears of the Tortoise—landing in September—the pair delve deeper into the meticulously designed rabbit hole of their combined psyche. Transcending style and space, CS + Kreme don’t follow a philosophy of making music, what they do is more fluid, taking in dub processing, sweeping post-punk, and chamber soundscapes. In Karmel’s words: “Inherently, there are influences that come through without us even realizing. It’s kind of that cliché where people put their two cents forward for what our influences are, but I don’t think we’ve set out to be like anyone or anything.” Ahead of the album’s release, they’ve recorded a long overdue XLR8R podcast, filling it with low, hallucinatory experimental tracks from some of their favorite artists.

01. What have you been up to recently?
I’ve been busy getting a new live set together for upcoming European tour.

02. What have you been listening to?
It’s mostly covered within this mix, but some other stuff that hasn’t made it onto here: the new Howard Thomas record, Skin Breaker, on Sound Signature; Nidia & Valentina; Ilaiyaraaja specials on NTS; PLO Man’s show on NTS (lots of NTS really); Covco mixes; new Klein; the latest The Trilogy Tapes cassettes.

03. You have a new album coming. What can you tell us about it?
Yes, on The Trilogy Tapes. It’s called The Butterfly Drinks the Tears of the Tortoise and it also features Yuki Nakagawa of KAKUHAN and Teguh Permana of Tarawangsawelas as special guests.

04. Where and when did you record this mix?
I recorded it in bed last night. In Australia.

05. What setup did you use?
One laptop and a cat.

06. How did you choose the tracks you’ve included?
It’s just stuff I’ve been enjoying lately. Mostly newer stuff with some older bits in there, like Klaus. There’s no theme at all or DJ wizardry going on; it’s just nice music for you.

07. Where do you imagine it being listened to?
I would say in transit? Probably on the subway or driving at night.

08. What’s next on your horizon?
We both like to work and keep quite busy. We’re looking forward to the European tour next week and then there’s possibly some stuff in Japan a little later in the year. We will probably recharge a bit over the Australian summer, and then who knows?

XLR8R Subscribers can download the podcast below. If you’re not an XLR8R subscriber, you can read more about it and subscribe here.

Tracklisting

01. Monolake “Global Transport” (Unknown)
02. Specter “The Spirit” (Sound Signature)
03. CO/R “Dripback” (Hinge Finger)
04. Time Is Away “Turn On Arabic Radio Oscura” (Self-Released)
05. Sylford Walker “I Can’t Understand” (EBT Rock)
06. Cornell Campbell “You’re No Good” (Lee)
07. Stephen Chang “Always Together” (Dub Store)
08. Chico Mello, Helinho Brandão “Improviso II” (Black Truffle)
09. Gray/Smith “Verrazzano Tile” (Blank Forms)
10. ccAATHOLIC CHURGH “RENATALOOP” (CDR)
11. Obscuress “Nemesis” (Spencer Dobbs)
12. Zbigniew Preisner “Effroyables Jardins par Leszek Mozdzer” (2ème Version Piano) (A Colourful Storm)
13. Klaus “Cry Tuff” (Tanum)
14. Milan W. “Days In My Arms” (Stroom)