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Takka Takka
Migration
Ernest Jenning
Release Date: Out Now
A comprehensive sampler of many different styles of music (everything from psychedelia to future-folk), Migration finds this Brooklyn-based band turning the indie-pop sound on its head, experimenting with rhythms, tempos, and the like, proving there's more than one way to strum a guitar.
HEY! How come none of you guys told me about this? No matter, I’m on it now. Download a free tour mix CD from El-P entitled WeAreAllGoingToBurnInHell. A fan of punctuation and correct spelling is El-P. 65 minutes, 16 songs. Quality mix.
Sample a Modeselektor-led track and another highlight ‘Krazy Kings’ right here.
FYI: If you download it from Def Jux you have to register with their store.
Patrice Bäumel's referred to his techy dance music as "mutant pop" in the past, which fans of the Amsterdam-based DJ and producer can interpret as they see fit with Get Physical's new remix contest.
What we all woke up to on Sunday morning…
It never hurts to have the right friends in the right places. Inara George takes full advantage of an old family friend on her new album An Invitation, out now on Everloving Records. Lucky for her, and us, the friend she's collaborated with on this album is Van Dyke Parks, the arranger of the last forty years. Haven't heard of him? Certainly you've heard him. Suffice it to say he arranged songs and wrote lyrics with Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys' ever elusive Smile album. His work with Ms. George is quite different however. Parks arranged airy, playful compositions for a large orchestra to accompany George's rich vocal performance. The album is an organic foil to Inara George's work with her electronic work with Greg Kurstin as The Bird and The Bee. I love the loose, improvised feel to these tracks. It's as if I'm watching Inara on stage in a musical, a love story, and I've suspended every shred of disbelief to the point that I'm sure she's in love with me. And it takes days to chase her voice out of my head and shake those floaty feelings the have left me giddy.
"Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA," is what the virtual mixtape's site currently states. No information as to what exactly the issues are is known, though anyone familiar with the site, which hosts more free music than a large record shop, could take a guess. Muxtape's blog has also posted a note that says, "No artists or labels have complained. The site is not closed indefinitely. Stay tuned."
Balls. More knee-jerk reactionism from a company representing the voice of the endangered. Did anyone tell them that you can’t download songs from Muxtape?
No artists or labels have complained. The site is not closed indefinitely. Stay tuned.
See Muxtape blog for more info.
As I was in London on Friday so I missed The Death Set that night in Crawdaddy. As did most of you it seems as friends told me there was 30 to 40 people there. Such a shame. The Baltimore band play on the floor a la Dan Deacon which is fitting because they sound like a punk band playing his tunes. Their album Worldwide comes highly recommended from me for its frantic electro/punk energy.
The Death Set - Around the World
The Death Set - Impossible (Dan Deacon remix)
I bought the album from eMusic.
Though it sounds sweet and innocent, the name Hand Held Heart is a literal interpretation of a gruesome H.R. Giger painting used as brutal album art by grindcore legends Carcass. It’s an apt name choice for L.A.-based designer Brian Roettinger, whose work can be heartfelt, hardcore, and everything in between.
DISCO-NOT-DISCO
Where have you heard the name Matt Helders before I hear you ask? If you’re a fan of a certain Sheffield four-piece, you’ll know the name by the drummer of, yes, Arctic Monkeys. Turns out Alex Turner isn’t the only Monkey with a side project. Helders has recently remixed We Are Scientists and has a couple coming using the source material of Duran Duran Duran and The Hives as well as an impressively tracklisted Late Night Tales, the greedy bugger.
This remix takes Roots Manuva’s second single from the highly recommended Slime & Reason (Great title that) and messes it up nicely. Impressive.
Roots Manuva - Again & Again (Matt Helders remix)
The connection between Ethiopia and Jamaica dates back to the 1930s, when Jamaican Leonard Howell founded the Rastafarian movement. Inspired by Marcus Garvey’s teachings, Howell propagated that Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I was the black Messiah. Selassie visited Jamaica in 1966 and the Ethiopian Amharic language has been taught on the island for decades.
Sure, we're always curious to know about an artist's upcoming release, most recent tour, or arsenal of analog gear, but XLR8R's also got a curiosity for quirk. Thus, each week, we sit down with a different artist and find out what makes them tick, in the studio and in life. First up: He's got a thing for Wisconsin and miniature golf and gets the grade school teachers hot and bothered. We shot Black Moth Super Rainbow's head honcho, Tobacco, an email to get the inside scoop.
The ever-prolific beatsmith Madlib will join the ranks of Pete Rock, Jazzy Jeff, and the late J Dilla on September 30, when he drops the latest Beat Generation compilation. WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip also marks the final installment of BBE's acclaimed series. Hip-hop and R&B rule here, with plenty of samples, vocal snippets, and beats from the likes of Guilty Simpson, Prince Po, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and, of course The Beat Konducta himself.
King of Wigflip
fluo kids
Not to be confused with Detroit's DEMF festival, over and done with for the year, DEAF electronic music festival is revving up for its seventh year running. The Dublin, Ireland-based party, whose 2008 edition takes place October 22 - 27, is an event independently run by Irish lable D1, and features music, art, and film into one place for five days.
Squarepusher will be releasing a new record on October 27th entitled Just a Souvenir. Listen to the distorted fuzz bass guitar of ‘Delta V’ on the Warp MySpace. Album tracklisting below.
01. Star Time 2
02. The Coathanger
03. Open Society
04. A Real Woman
05. Delta V
06. Aqueduct
07. Potential Govaner
08. Planet Gear
09. Tensor In Green
10. The Glass Road
11. Fluxgate
12. Duotone Moonbeam
13. Quadrature
14. Yes - Sequitur
Sure, we're always curious to know about an artist's upcoming release, most recent tour, or arsenal of analog gear, but XLR8R's also got a curiosity for quirk. Thus, each week, we sit down with a different artist and find out what makes them tick, in the studio and in life. First up: He's got a thing for Wisconsin and miniature golf and gets the grade-school teachers hot and bothered. It's Black Moth Super Rainbow's head honcho, Tobacco.
What are you listening to right now?
This post marks my return from "The Last Frontier," Alaska. Yes, I've spent the last couple weeks far removed from what I consider civilization, cavorting with cohos, bears, foxes, moose, and mosquitoes. And the hot-fudge milkshake at Lucky Wishbone in Anchorage (oh man, they'd burn the hot-fudge just a bit for a palate pleasing punch. Heaven!). We did spend a few days in the wilderness, about fifteen miles north west of Willow where I mostly hung around the banks of the Deshka River with a fishing pole, coaxing those silver salmon onto my hook. Don't mistake me for an outdoorsman though. My idea of the outdoors is the not-so-desolate stretch of the Pacific Ocean where I'm never too far from the Ahi Steak Sandwich at TK Burger. Once home, I stopped by the over-flowing post office box to begin catching up on music. The Laureates lured me in first with their brightly packaged advance of their debut album There are No More Gentlemen. I was easily hooked by their raw, '60s freakbeat sound and their jerky, syncopated rhythms. A couple early Laureates fans beat me to some apt descriptions like "equal parts paisley and punk" and "Interpol produced by Phil Spector." Absolutely right up my alley. You can also download their first EP off their site.
Dancefloor Mayhem
Wow. 9.69. Flippin amazing.
fluo kids
Slug, Ant, and their live band are in high demand, it seems. Atmosphere's Paint the Nation tour was already extensive when we announced it earlier this month, but the group has tacked on several more U.S. dates that will keep them traveling through the month of November, before heading to Australia for a few post-Christmas shows. Check the full set of dates here:
08/09 Reykjavik, Iceland: Tunglid
08/12 Berlin, Germany: Cassiopeia
08/13 Cologne, Germany: Stadtgarten
Benny Boeldt, the 24-year old 8-bit wonder-kid otherwise known as Adventure, will head out of his hometown Baltimore for his first-ever set of tour dates, bringing his warped videogame music to dancefloors around North America this fall. Dates are with EAR PWR and Future Islands, as well as a few with Dan Deacon's Round Robin extravaganza.
08/16 New York, NY: DCTV
08/27 Richmond, VA: Rumors*
08/28 Washington, DC: The Velvet Lounge*
Troublemakers and fans of techno will have the chance to celebrate Labor Day weekend with the inaugural installment of Made's Sunday School for Degenerates party.
The two-day event will take place August 31 and September 1, with some of techno's notables, like Kate Simko, Dominik Eulberg, and Steve Bug, hosting the musical side of things. The main event will be preceded by a boat party and followed by an all-day open air party at the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.
A pass to all three events is $105. Pick it up, along with other details, here.
fluo kids
Dernière étape du crescendo, on a gardé pour la fin une espèce de ghetto-house (avec toujours une pulsation kuduro evidement) complétement flippée, suffoquante façon Bleep to bleep des Micronauts pour DJ Malcom ou la sirène hardcore en l'air pour Dj Nedwyt-Fox. Âmes sensibles s'abstenir, il y a de quoi suer jusqu'à l'infarctus, c'est la musique pour accompagner le sacrifice de poulets qui nous sauvera de l'apocalypse.
Dj Malcom - Pa Nhos
DJ Nedwyt-fox - Mama do funge 2007
fluo kids
About 25 years ago, Arnold Schwarzenegger told Playboy Channel viewers that the “ass” is the best thing about Brazilian women and their nation’s culture. Such stereotypes of Brazil are exactly what São Paulo-bred “tropical mutant punk funk” group Tetine explores, critiques, exploits, and ironically salutes.
Dancefloor Mayhem
They've been hailed as the band to revive Kraut-rock, and now that they have a fourth addition to the crew, in the form of drummer Lee Adams, the boys in Fujiya & Miyagi will head Stateside for a few tour dates. The shows are in support of the band's forthcoming third full-length, Lightbulb, which will drop September 16.
Dates
10/22 New York, NY: Mercury Lounge
10/23 New York, NY: Webster Hall
10/24 Boston, MA: Paradise
10/25 Chicago, IL: Bottom Lounge
10/27 Seattle, WA: Chop Suey
10/28 San Francisco, CA: The Independent
Time for bands and artists to descend on New York for the annual CMJ Music Marathon. This year's five-day event will take place October 21 - 25, with performances and panels galore scheduled to take place during that time.
Although New York City is no stranger to music festivals, from live events in Central Park to the annual CMJ Music Marathon, few recent events have put dance music and technology in the spotlight. A new one called Minitek looks to change that and bring top techno performers, digital art installations, and green business practices together. Minitek–co-titled The New York Electronic Music and Innovation Festival–takes place September 12-14, with day events in venues to be announced and night events at Penn Plaza Pavilion on Seventh Avenue
I'm kind of busy right now watching Canada vs. Cuba in Olympic baseball on CBC, but I will say this: Chad VanGaalen's trembly, trippy, falsetto-ed pop makes a lousy soundtrack for watching athletics on television. (For the most part: the rocking "Graveyard," available for free download below, might fit in during the half inning breaks where t-shirts are tossed into the crowd.) VanGaalen, of Calgary, crafts stylish and hip songs with a strong D.I.Y. vibe. With these tracks below, borrowed from VanGaalen's three ablums, all your lo-fi friends will be wanting to know what you're spinning. Tell them you're busy — water polo's on in ten minutes.
If you are familiar with the latest podcast, you will have heard a wonderful tune from Minotaur Shock’s new album Amateur Dramatics out on digital download through 4AD. The album is so good, it deserves a post all on its own. Most interestingly, you can purchase the album through his website - which has the most entertaining liner notes of an album I’ve ever read. I will now demonstate by offering two MP3 tracks alongside choice quotes from his notes, which are under various ratings like technical difficulty, computer crash rating, musical difficulty, extra musicians, live instruments played by me and fun/replay rating. Using these criteria, Edwards has deduced that his album is worth £6.41. My review, which appeared in State is also below the jump.
Track 1Track 2Trivia: I decided to give this track a 4/4 disco-dance beat at the very last minute, and wondered why I didn’t do that in the first place.
Extra musicians rating: 8 out of 10
Alto saxophone, flute & clarinet (i); Violin (ii)* Come on, Emily makes this track with her pipes. As the melodies were all originally played using dodgy MIDI sounds, she had to do a lot of mystical writing on her lined paper to get it to sound right. This was recorded at Emily’s old house in Brislington, and I think we upset her housemate by making too much noise. I had to edit out the sound of stomping footsteps and the volume on the telly being angrily turned up.
* James played the stabby one-note violin that crops up. It’s worth a point or two, but (and no disrespect to James) I could have played it if I wasn’t scared of breaking the violin. I’m sure James won’t mind, besides he contributed far more to other tracks. Still, I thought you should know.
Fun/replay rating: 16 out of 20
In it’s own way, this is a ridiculous riot. You know it. Would I dance to it? Hell yes. And when those chiming synths come in at 2m20s, I’d go nuts.
Trivia: I just googled “my burr” and was astounded that there is a blog called that. I hate the internet. The title was meant to refer to my gentle, sexy West Country accent. Not some guy’s blog.
Technical difficulty rating: 9 out of 10
This track is going to score highly on all of these. It was hard work. But rewarding, like stonemasonry, I imagine.Computer crash rating: 9 out of 10
My computer did not like this at all. I kept thinking I should buy more RAM but then I figured that sometimes in life we need constraints.Musical difficulty rating: 9 out of 10
I wanted to create melodies that snaked in and out like dancing cobras, creating patterns with their swaying scaled bodies as their eyes transfixed like sparkling emeralds. This kind of thing does not come easy to me.
See? He’s a sound bloke. BUY HIS ALBUM. Need more convincing? Read his introduction. Incidentially, he’s also playing Crawdaddy on October 25th.
ReviewMinotaur Shock – Amateur Dramatics
4AD
After remixing songs from Hard-Fi, Stars, Holy Fuck and Halfset’s Jeff Martin to impressive effect and secretly recording techno under the name Principal Participant, Bristol’s David Edwards returns to his own material in the shape of a third album as Minotaur Shock. The album starts with a woozy piano and violin tune-up on ‘Zookeeper’ before bass and drums kick in lending creed and direction to the first fluttering minutes. It segues directly into ‘Am Dram’ where the electronics are introduced in the form of squelching synths, gradually outflanking its more organic cousins until a full on Kraftwerk-esque euphoric breakdown. And that’s just the first 8 minutes of the album.
From there on in, the boundaries between genres become more blurred as electro, orchestral chamber music, 8-bit sounds, acid and growling techno come together and have a fascinating orgy. It shouldn’t really work so well as it does but by exercising restraint in the mixing of such disparate parts, Edwards succeeds in taking the listener on a genuine musical journey where one occasionally notices new elements on a familiar old road.
If you are looking for reference points, ‘This Plane Is Going To Fall’ is a bouncy dance number with violin parts which recalls The Avalanches’ sense of bliss, ‘Accelerated Footage’ is Analord acid while ‘My Burr’ sounds like Prefuse 73 playing with lush instruments. Amateur Dramatics is available as a digital download from minotaurshock.com with suggested price for each track (total £6.41) using criteria ratings such as technical difficulty, computer crash, musical difficulty, live instruments played by me and fun/replay factor. A wholly modern and unique release.
Heathers kick off their Irish tour tonight in the Project Arts Centre. It’s €6 in, all ages and show starts at 8.30pm. The band were a recent guest on Aoife’s excellent Indie Hour radio programme. Listen to the podcast which has loads of Heathers songs and two live tunes. Wahooo, say wha wha!.
The Middle Distance Runner caught this new song at a Bon Iver show last week. Sounds like a logical progression from For Emma, Forever Ago from a guy who is shackled up in a log cabin on his lonesome no more.
Another new song ‘Babys’ (intentional spelling) can be heard at My Old Kentucky Blog.
A one-console solution? A no-console solution? The future of game delivery remains untold.
Dancefloor Mayhem
If you don't know Bay Area-based outfit Triclops! yet, get thee to one of the band's upcoming shows. An extensive tour kicks off today in support of the group's debut album, Out of Africa, and these psych-noise makers are said to put on quite the live show, full of thrashing guitars, nervous drums, and lots of aggressive energy.
Dates
08/13 Portland, OR: Kenton Club
08/14 Tacoma, WA: Hell's Kitchen
08/15 Spokane, WA: The Blvd
08/16 Missoula, MT: The Palace
08/18 The Aquarium Fargo: Dempsey's Upstairs
Sami Koivikko
Sapphire
Spectral Sound
Release Date; Out Now
Three tracks of house and techno that find this Finnish producer combining the energy of big-room dance music with intricate and emotionally wrought musical arrangements.
With two solid full-lengths under his belt, Milosh is gearing up to release a third. iii is set for release September 23 via his longtime home at Plug Research and through !K7 in Europe.
Just in time for the start of Holiday Season madness (which seems to get earlier and earlier every year) is the fifteenth anniversary of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, for which, it's being reported, Walt Disney Records gathered a collection of recordings inspired by the movie. The resulting compilation, titled Nightmare Revisited, will be released September 30 and features a pretty diverse lineup of artists.
Moses Davis’ star-studded Beenie Sizzle concert, held at Jamalca Sports Complex in Clarendon, was reportedly a major success, although the namesake headliner only performed for a little over 14 minutes before the police shut the concert down, just after 6 a.m.
Friday sees the launch of You’re Only Massive and Queen Kong’s rather good collaborative mixtape Dot Dash in the Project Arts Centre. Doors are at 8pm and the show begins at 8.30pm. Admission is €12 which includes a free silver 12″ record. Oooh fancy. To further encourage you to go to the gig, YOM’s Maebh has shared this undeniably cute video of a 3 year old reciting the chorus from ‘Do A Runner’. Explanation and flyer after the jump.
Here be the original track from Dot Dash:
MP3: You’re Only Massive - Do A Runner
Says Maebh of the video:
That child is Oscar White. He is the son of Willie White. Willie White is a kind like uncle figure who runs the Project arts centre. He tells me his son was singing this song the drive down to Wexford for their summer holidays. This made me so happy I could have exploded, though I didn’t tell him it’s a song about shoplifting…
fluo kids
En 2008, je ne sais plus quoi penser de Dj Sneak que j'ai pu trouver surestimé par moments, mais qui revient méritant avec son remix du classique de Heller and Farley et ce Acid Talks presque - oh horreur, oh délice - PRESQUE PROGRESSIF oui presque comme dans "mental, minimal, progressif", aux bons souvenirs de Psychic Bounty Killaz. En 2008, je pense que le second semestre est prêt pour un revival grosse house straight à l'anglaise, en 2008 il se passe aussi des choses bizzares comme la poignée de main de la vieille école ghetto-house et de la techno à la mode, comme Dj Sneak qui fait un set en back to back avec Ricardo Villalobos, qui lui en profite pour jouer le petit tube d'Afefe Iku - à oser pitcher pour un joli effet township funk.
Afefe Iku - Mirror dance
Dj Sneak - Acid Talks
On fait tous des erreurs. Je confesse avoir écouté l'intégralité de la discographie d'Afrojack pour la simple homophonie avec mes favoris Audiojack. Mais parfois la religion nous apprend que si l'on s'amende correctement, la faute peut devenir une chance. J'en ai la preuve avec Hard Love, qui fait exception à leur médiocrité et représente, avec sa guitare rise-up reggae et ses tambours, Le Plaisir Coupable ; la volupté du sacrifice ; faire de l'amour du vice. Je ne vais pas prier pour autant, j'ai arrêté depuis le dernier cil qui a glissé sur ma joue, depuis que Radio Slave, en mettant sa maitrise de l'hypnose au service de la house oldschool, a comblé mon dernier voeu.
All the way from Fantasy Island and with a strong penchant for unicorns comes Chris and Dexy aka Magic Wands. They used to play punk separately 2000 miles apart but the duo hooked up in Los Angeles and moved to Chris’ hometown of Nashville and now play dreamy pop music. And it’s niiice.
‘Black Magic’ is a simple psychedelic tune with an undeniable guitar hook and it can only help that they sing in a MGMT-style falsetto while ‘Teenage Love’, (the song which started their friendship after Chris heard it on Dexy’s Myspace) a slow paean to young love which totally reminds me of something else. Anyone? Anyway, 7″ singles of ‘Teenage Love’ and ‘Black Magic’ are available now.
Youtube channel | More info @ Ark Recordings
If you’re reading XLR8R you probably already own ’nuff albums on XL or Domino, Def Jux and Lex artists have repeatedly rocked your headphones, and you know what’s coming out on Minus or Stones Throw before we do. So this year–our seventh time loving on labels–we focus on labels we’ve (mostly) never quizzed before. For the next six weeks, we'll catch up with brash new dancefloor igniters Fool’s Gold and Dress 2 Sweat, techno champions Mobilee and Traum, and the dubstep damage squad: Hyperdub, Tectonic, Hot Flush.
Norwegian singer Annie is back with a new album titled Don't Stop. Its lead single, I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me has be remixed by the spool of artists. The best coming from french DJ Feadz. Look out for Don't Go in stores now.
Dancefloor Mayhem
Shot Callin'
With a new drummer in tow, Swedish four-piece Dungen will head Stateside, for its first tour across the pond in three years. Johan Holmegard joins guitarist Reine Fiske, bassist Mattias Gustavsson, and Gustav Ejstes, and these guys' psych-jazz tunes are well worth catching in the live setting. The band will showcase material from its most recent release, 4, due out this fall.
Dates
10/24 Brooklyn, NY: Music Hall of Williamsburg
10/27 Hoboken, NJ: Maxwell's
10/28 Philadelphia, PA: Johnny Brenda's
10/30 Boston, MA: Great Scott
