SECURE SHOPPING
Barcelona based producer John Talabot will release his debut album through Permanent Vacation later this year.
John Talabot to release debut album on Permanent Vacation
by Juno Plus on 15.06.2011 at 18:03pm
International Feel has announced its second Studio release, a two track EP that includes a re-imagination of seminal krautrock outfit Popul Vuh’s score for the Werner Herzog film Aguirre, The Wrath of God.
Hot on the heels of releasing Stone Breaker, Mark E’s debut album which included some real gems alongside plenty of machine funk house music filled with chug and bump, Spectral Sound have announced details of a new EP from the producer that includes the tantalising prospect of a Prins Thomas remix.
Canadian house act Azari & III have announced their latest single, “Manic”, which will come with a host of remixes from the likes of DJ Sneak and Tiger & Woods.
Hailing from Montreal, Jacques Greene is a name already well known to those of you who follow the neon-tinged end of the underground music spectrum, with releases on Glasgow’s LuckyMe and London’s Night Slugs in 2010. Breaking through with The Look EP – which earned him fans from the UK’s go-to men and women on the tastemaking front – Greene showcased a unique style that was rooted in house – with deep Chicago hooks and acid synths – but also incorporated a garage swing and undisguised love for R&B. “(Baby I Don’t Know) What You Want” meanwhile was one of the standout tracks on the Night Slugs All-Stars Vol.1 compilation, capping a fine year for artist and label alike. The fact he’s been chosen to remix Radiohead’s “Lotus Flower” as part of a series that also sees Caribou and – probably – Flying Lotus retweaking the UK band’s new album highlights the esteem in which he is currently held. Juno Plus writer Helen Luu caught up with him before his live set at the recent MUTEK festival in Montreal to talk about his hometown, R&B and his new live show.
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German analogue synthesis manufacturer MFB is the brainchild of Manfred Fricke, who has successfully designed and realised an impressive array of small drum machines and synth modules. Now they update their existing analogue step sequencer with the Urzweg Pro.
Punch Drunk boss man Peverelist has launched a vinyl-only white label imprint, with the first 12″ – a split release with Kowton – due out shortly.
After causing ripples of excitement at this year’s Musikmesse conference, Steinberg have announced the long awaited fourth incarnation of their Halion software will hit the stores this week.
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The small Australian town of Mildura probably doesn’t rate on any lists of global disco hotbeds, yet it was here that the Carter Brothers story began, in the dusty farmland of regional Victoria. Upon relocating to Adelaide, South Australia, Gavin and Tim released an album on local imprint Cuckoo Music (2009’s Metropolitan) before falling under the global gaze of Dutch imprint Rush Hour, who subsequently snapped up the duo’s latest single “Full Disco Jacket”. Those who have heard the tracks on Metropolitan will be well aware of the Carter Bros style – analogue grooves ridden with aplomb from start to finish. While some producers like to take tracks on two or three tangents, these guys pick a simple-but-addictive loop and nail it.
There’s not much to either the original or the dub version, but to use this as a basis for criticism is to miss the point entirely. In this respect “Full Disco Jacket” brings to mind the best stripped back house tracks, like Kerri Chandler’s “Bar A Thym” – because what it does, it does brilliantly: locking into a filtered loop and driving it along for the track’s duration, with uplifting synth sweeps and deliciously addictive brass arrangements. The dub version keeps the same catchy hook and buries it beneath a tougher kick, with some shakers brought to the fore, again adhering to the ’simple but effective’ school of thought. British producer Nebraska meanwhile does a sterling job on remix duties, chopping up the beat and adding occasional vocal snippets, extra layers of percussion and slightly comical brass farts, thus succeeding in presenting a viable alternative to the two original cuts.
Aaron Coultate
We’ve got two tickets to give away to next month’s Society party featuring Chicago house legend Marshall Jefferson in London.
The MUTEK festival is a finely tuned, absorbing experience that the initiated wait for all year long. One just doesn’t simply ‘attend’ MUTEK, one becomes MUTEK. The communal vibe and carefully curated showcase were on display again this year as 95 per cent of the acts played live. The North American premiere of Amon Tobin’s larger than life ISAM project, Plastikman’s astounding live show and Elektro Guzzi’s bass/drums/guitar brand of techno were just some of the many highlights experienced during MUTEK’s crazed 12th edition. We sent Juno Plus contributors Steve Phillips and Helen Luu along to witness the action.
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Hype is a funny thing. Sometimes an artist can go from unheralded underground producer to much-discussed dancefloor hero in the blink of an eye. That’s what’s happened to Jacob Korn. Less than a month ago, the Uncanny Valley man was being described by deep house nerds as one to watch; now, he’s widely regarded as one of Germany’s most talented exports. So what’s changed? This release, that’s what. The Dresden-based producer had already built up a bit of a reputation thanks to some seriously good releases on Dolly, Left Of The Dial, Running Back and, of course, Uncanny Valley, but these still left a sense that the best was still to come. This EP, his first solo set for Uncanny Valley, contains arguably his best work to date. Bring on the hype.
“She” takes a satisfyingly detailed and musically complex approach to deep house. While it boasts some notable hooks – like the best dancefloor music – the production is far more intricate and densely layered than your average Germanic deep house cut. The groove itself as a case in point; at various points throughout the composition, there are hissing jazz cymbals, bongos, fuzzy snares and thick kicks, alongside a bassline that changes shape and form several times in seven minutes. Add in beautiful marimba melodies, cascading pianos, rising strings and foreboding chords, and you have something remarkable. It’s arguably his most musically advanced composition yet – and that’s saying something. “Once Love” repeats the trick, building from a dark and atmospheric opening into something almost blindingly bright. By the time it drops into a snappy mix of drunken horns and quietly uplifting melodies, you’ll be lost in its delightfully woozy, undulating groove.
To compliment Korn’s superb originals, there are two remixes of “She”. Iron Curtis is up first, turning the intricate original into a delightfully melancholic slab of tear-jerking warm-up house. It’s a touch more soft focus and dreamy than the original, but nevertheless packs the required amount of punch. John Talabot rounds off the package with an excellent interpretation of his own, that strips back the crowded original before building into an intoxicating late night stew of spiralling organs, heady melodies and spooky stabs. It’s arguably the better of the two remixes, and caps a near-faultless release.
Matt Anniss
Vladislav Delay Quartet – Vladislav Delay Quartet review
by Juno Plus on 13.06.2011 at 09:26am
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There are moments on Quartet, where Vladislav Delay manages to capture the sound of humanity laid bare and humbled, the feeling that follows on from the breakdown of modern society. Unsurprisingly then, the comparison to Cormac McCarthy’s desolate novel The Road are apposite for tracks like “Minus Degrees, Bare Feet, Tickles”, where Delay, ably accompanied by fellow Finnish experimentalist Mika Vainio as well as Derek Shirley and Lucy Capece, delivers a fin de monde wall of drones, barely restrained feedback and, as an outro, a death march stomp. A similar approach is audible on “Hohtokivi”, but here the mood is even tenser, with a humming bassline trailing off into abstraction thanks to a noisy interference.
However, unlike McCarthy’s opus, Quartet also shows that the human spirit can overcome disaster. “Santa Teresa” for example, which follows “Minus Degrees”, is almost upbeat by comparison, its double bass groove augmented by atmospheric pads and squealing sax lines. “Killing The Water Bed” adopts a similar tact, but nudges the foursome further away from their experimental bent and towards the dance floor thanks to its pounding drums and heavy bass. Then Delay and his collaborators focus their energies on redemption and healing rather than doom and desperation. The muffled keys and lumbering bass of “Presentiment” suggest that there are hints of light in their canon, while the clipped beats and squealing sax – this time more celebratory than the nightmarish world painted out by “Hohtokivi”. That’s not to suggest that Delay and his collaborators have flip-flopped between themes or moods. While there are some flirtations with optimism, the overall mood is sombre and downbeat, as captured on the somnambulant finale, “Salt Flat”. Gloom rarely sounded so compelling.
Richard Brophy
Somewhere along the line we coined the phrase Mosse Is Bosse in reference to the all round house brilliance of Kassem Mosse so naturally two releases in the same week from Gunnar Wendel can only described as a good week here at Juno HQ.
Dial Records will release a full length album from one of Germany’s most respected producers, Roman Flügel. Read the rest of this entry »
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Given the broad remit of sounds that have permeated the Tigersushi catalogue to date, it’s understandable that the Parisian label has remained the vanguard of those with more refined tastes whilst fellow Gallic labels, with an obvious example, have fallen foul to the harsh realities of today’s hype driven ADD generation. Overseen with aplomb by Joakim, also the label’s most feted member, a Tigersushi release is almost always doused in sonic and visual quality.
In a year where Joakim himself is readying a fourth and highly anticipated album as well as delivering full length players from junior members DyE and Nakion, Tigersushi add to their international roster with the South American flavours of Yes Wizard. Most Tigersushi releases are accompanied by grandiose press releases (with perhaps Tiga’s Turbo the only label who put more effort into them) and the verbal context provided with Elephant & Castle is no different – introducing Yes Wizard as a mystical musical urban legend Joakim unsuccessfully pursued on a recent holiday in Ubatuba, Brazil, only to arrive back in Paris and find a number of Yes Wiz tracks at Tigersushi HQ.
As humorous as this is, what is important is the music, and the two tracks from Yes Wizard are revelatory, unveiling a devilishly deranged appetite for raw drums, jagged synth stabs and less than salubrious London landmarks on “Elephant & Castle”. Staccato programming and schizoid electrified flourishes permeate the beginnings of a track that swerves in several rhythmic directions with a hint of the sounds of the Akira OST included. Thrillingly an almighty arpeggiated melody drops in and lends the track a delightful quality amidst the cacophony of turbo charged chaos. Alongside this is the macho Miami pump of “Heaven Black” where some rough and ready drum machine antics positioned at an almost UK Funky angle are offset by a parping tropical rhythm that drunkenly slips out of place in a stumbling through Carnival loaded on Jaeger and absinthe fashion, before descending into mechanical oblivion.
Adding a dash of intrigue is a remix of the title track from the lesser spotted Duke Dumont – a producer whose rise amidst the hype filled glory years of Justeece et al has been followed by a mere drip of remixes along with an undervalued entry into the Fabric mix canon. The producer’s take on “Elephant & Castle” is superb, focusing on a tweaked version of that heavenly arpeggio which is dipped in magical lightness. In addition, some of Yes Wizard’s crazier programming excesses are straightened out in favour of brilliantly crafted drums which lend the track an almost Tropicala infused funky flex. If this a clue as to how the much promised future material from Dumont might sound we are all very lucky.
Tony Poland
San Proper has followed up his Juno Plus podcast with a starring role in this golden little video put together by the people at Amsterdam’s finest club, Trouw.
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When Mike Taylor’s first 12” dropped on Love What You Feel in 2009, a lot was written about his distinctly DIY approach to music-making. Like the early pioneers of house and techno, the Austin, Texas-based bedroom producer known as the Disco Nihilist makes raw and uncompromising music using analogue sequencers and various other bits of hardware kit. For that first release – and his subsequent vinyl outings on Construction Paper – Taylor recorded his tracks straight to cassette before submitting demos, given them a faithfully fuzzy, low-fi quality. It’s an old trick, but one that helped to give his homemade jams a genuine old skool feel.
Whether he’s used the same approach on this first 12”/digital release for Running Back is unknown, but it certainly sounds that way. Like his previous releases, Running (Far Away) is full of instrumental experiments that sound both authentically old and vacuum-packed fresh. The six tracks here offer a neat round up of Taylor’s talents and inspirations. “Greasy Grind” opens proceedings with a swift punch to the kidneys, combining brain-melting acid tweakery with impressively fuzzy industrial beats; think Cabaret Voltaire jamming with Phuture, recorded on a battered old eight-track, and you’re close. “Keep It Simple” continues the stripped-back acid theme, offering a floor-shaking concoction that is little more than heavyweight beats and bubbling 303-trickery. There’s a clue in the title. “A New Career In A New Town”, meanwhile, veers off into hypnotic dub-house territory. The composition is a little more complex and the aural palette more sophisticated, but it still retains that pleasing simplicity and lo-fi charm that marks out Taylor’s work.
“December 5th” sounds like an amalgamation of the EP’s first two tracks, this time recorded on the Starship Enterprise after a crash-landing on a planet made entirely of ice. Then there’s “Sci-Fi On Tape”, a surprisingly warm concoction that stumbles into Mr Fingers/Bobby Konders territory, like early Virgo Four after a fistful of little ‘uns. “Coffee & A Warm Paperback” continues this theme, wrapping sugary electric piano chords around a brilliantly simple groove. Taylor clearly has talent, and his dedication to the original DIY ethos of house music is admirable. Of course, style is nothing without substance, but Running (Far Away) has that in spades.
Matt Anniss
Listen: Space Dimension Controller live at Movement 2011
by Juno Plus on 09.06.2011 at 13:49pm
Word on the street is Belfast’s outer galactic funkateer Space Dimension Controller was a certified highlight of the recent Movement Festival in Detroit, which is real mark of the somewhat eccentric producer’s talent given the rest of the line-up and his relative youth.
