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Kode9’s Hyperdub imprint today announced its next two releases: a debut EP from Walton and a remix 12″ from King Midas Sound (pictured above).
Hyperdub announce King Midas Sound remixes and Walton EP
by Juno Plus on 18.08.2011 at 18:23pm
German techno outfit Brandt Brauer Frick have announced details of their second album, which sees the trio expand their band into a ten-piece ensemble.
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It’s certainly no rare thing to have a producer that straddles both the more experimental world of electronic music and the instant satisfaction of pop. The real challenge comes in finding someone who makes the combination of the two seem somehow effortless. The likes of James Blake and Nicolas Jaar both have a penchant for soulful crooning which no doubt helped them win a lot of fans, but then they also decorate much of their music in avant-garde trinkets, possibly as a means of compensation for their accessible tendencies.
As a newcomer to the sound of CFCF, it’s hard to know what his legacy has foretold with an album and numerous EPs behind him, particularly for Paper Bag Records and more recently RVNG Intl. Based in Montreal (which has long been a home to weird but ultimately fun musicians), Michael Silver is the man behind the CFCF music, and it’s certainly instantly charming to the ear.
The lead track “Cometrue” warms to life on a melancholic but incredibly smooth piano hook. The beat comes in with a minimum of fuss; a conserved 2-step funk at an easy pace, while the yearning vocal hook comes not from an old R&B record but rather something more romantic. There’s something of the emotionally ambiguous feeling of 1980s synth pop about the track which makes it very easy to listen to.
“Looking So” on the flip has the same downbeat qualities, although this time Silver plumps for a helium vocal snippet alongside the almost elegiac mood of the rest of the track. Once again the beat ticks away dutifully in the background while the considered melodies do their work.
D’eon’s remix of “Cometrue” is a nice surprise, bouncing to life on the kind of chimes that early electronica in the vein of The Black Dog made such great use of. The primitive techno percussion accentuates this feeling even more, creating a rather divine slice of ambience, inducing the kind of glassy-eyed reverie that a good ambient track should.
Oli Warwick
Australian duo Canyons will release their long awaited debut album, Keep Your Dreams, via Modular Recordings in November.
To get people in the mood for The Devils’ Walk, the widely anticipated fourth album from Berlin resident Apparat, Mute have unveiled a video to accompany recent single “Black Water”.
US synth auteur Daniel Lopatin has announced details of his next album under the Oneohtrix Point Never moniker, set for release in November.
Arriving at this year’s edition of Field Day soon after the gates opened, it was possible to watch Pearson Sound’s DJ set and bask in the festival’s humongous surrounds long before the rest of London descended. Whilst the notion of catching David Kennedy at 1 in the afternoon in the Bugged Out! tent seemed odd at first, it certainly didn’t put him off running through a typically upfront selection, with Auntie Flo’s forthcoming “Oh My Days” sandwiched in between his own Night Slugs bootleg and Four Tet’s dramatic “Locked”. The bleary eyed gathering quickly grew ten fold as his set progressed, rapidly adapting to the notion of an ice cold San Miguel at midday. His performance was of the high quality expected from the Hessle boss, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he turned up much higher on the bill again next year.
The Juno Plus Podcast juggernaut gathers pace with a return to New York City, as we welcome aboard the Mister Saturday Night residents Eamon Harkin and Justin Carter.
Washington DC based label Future Times will release a second Vibes compilation showcasing its wares, with Hunee, Steve Moore and Juju & Jordash among the artists set to feature.
The award for the most inventive press release of 2011 goes to Seed Records, who just dropped news of a bespoke double CD release from Berlin dwelling synth demon Antoni Maiovvi, which is due out next month.
Avid today announced that buyers of a Pro Tools or Pro Tools MP bundle will get their award-winning drums, keys and guitar amp plug-ins for no extra charge.
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Releases from artists as varied as Mark E, Radio Slave, Move D and Prosumer make for the impressive back catalogue that is Gerd Janson’s Running Back – an imprint that has always been noted for its high standards if not prolific output – with less than twenty releases in its first eight years of existence. Since the turn of the decade, those standards have remained, but the frequency has certainly increased with last year’s release schedule dominated by the illuminating collaboration between Mim Suleiman and Juno Plus hero Maurice Fulton.
2011 has seen Running Back impress further with every arrival, as the marquee signing of Tiger & Woods was further complemented by Janson coaxing Todd Terje back into the studio for the superlative Ragysh which is odds on to feature in many an end of year poll. These headline releases have been complemented by some less celebrated, but by no means less impressive productions – Marco Passarani’s heavily psychedelic title track from Colliding Stars Pt 2 springs to mind, as does that stunning Son Of Sam reissue.
Underpinning all of these releases has been a commitment to press everything on nice heavyweight vinyl and surround them in sumptuous artwork, and their latest twelve is perhaps the best example of that to date. The focus shifts to another under-the-radar producer in Suzanne Kraft, whose Green Flash EP makes for one of this year’s most attractive releases thanks to the distinctive green and yellow patterns that adorn the cover art.
Tellingly, the music itself proves to be even better, adopting a pleasant midtempo poise on “Morning Come”, with swathes of melodies infused with the slinkiest of filter treatments and looped vocal snippets. Suzanne (a pseudonym for a man, oddly enough, but who are we to judge) maintains these joyous flushes of emotion throughout the rest of the EP, with both “Turning” and the title track sounding like Tiger & Woods performing from the deep end of the pool, with the latter track deftly incorporating a classic Teddy Pendergrass sample. “Femme Cosmic” provides an excellent finish to proceedings, unfolding from a tinnily reverberant slowed down proto house drawl into some midnight cruise through dubbed out mutant 80s disco boogie.
Tony Poland
The Numbers imprint, which has settled nicely into a monthly release groove this year, will follow up the recent reissue of Pierre’s Pfantasy Club with a hotly anticipated two track twelve from Mosca, due to drop in September.
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Omar S has always been something of a maverick, but even by his own high standards, surprise second album It Can Be Done, But Only I Can Do It is something else. For starters, it was largely unexpected, gloriously unencumbered by pre-hype (stores were given little over a week’s notice of its release) and little indication that he was prepping a new full-length (his last album was released back in 2005). Given his usual secrecy and forthright attitude towards music industry protocol, this shouldn’t come as a total shock. Even so, it’s a bold move that’s taken his usual fanatical and clued-up fan base by surprise.
So what of the album itself? Like much of his work, it’s riddled with acute contrasts: tough and aggressive on one hand (the ragging acid of “Ganymede”), soft, calming and blissful on the other (the casual jazz-flex of “Nites Over Comption”). This bi-polar approach is obvious from the very start, when bubbling acid opener “Solely Supported” makes way for the hissing, melodic futurism of “Supported Solely”. It’s like the rest of the album in microcosm. One of the Detrotian’s greatest gifts is his refusal to stick to one particular groove, or for that matter carve his own distinct niche within a trusted genre. Here, he uses that to his advantage, successfully touching on a number of his usual musical staples. The results veer from the merely impressive to the utterly mindblowing.
The deeper reaches of Detroit’s beatdown sound are visited on “Look Hear Watch”, a kind of Moodymann-on-downers exercise in sparse deepness notable for the porno groans and heart-aching pianos that run throughout. “I Wish” offers heady, melodic deep house thrills, whilst “Bobien Larkin” strips back the action to little more than an intoxicating, hypnotic techno groove. Then there’s “Over You Two”, a next generation Motor City techno jam that pays homage to the city’s original pioneers whilst wrapping itself around one of Omar S’s trademark futurist grooves.
And so it goes on, fusing the past, present and future with cautious glee. The title track offers any icy, bleep-laden analogue/digital message to his doubters; arrogance turned into unfussy electronic blues. Towering over the album’s closing moments is previous single “Here’s Your Trance, Now Dance”, a near-faultless chunk of genius-like Detroit simplicity that has rightly become an underground anthem. Very few have succeeded in making genuinely brilliant house and techno albums, but here, Omar S has. Perhaps the album title is a warning. After all, it can be done, but only he can do it.
Matt Anniss
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The latest release on Modern Love is the work of label stalwart Miles Whittaker, who has released under the MLZ moniker and as one half of both Pendle Coven and Demdike Stare. Despite the fact that he has reverted to his first name, there is no mistaking the UK producer’s production style. Leaning more towards Demdike Stare than his other dancefloor material, Facets teems with life, each track a veritable treasure trove of sounds, ideas and moods. Of course given that it draws inspiration from – and in some place directly invokes – the spirit of Whittaker and Canty’s witch-loving Demdike Stare project, it is no surprise that the prevailing mood is dark, eerie and even sometimes downright menacing.
“Flawed” sets the tone with splintered break beats scattered across an ambient soundtrack that flickers in a half-light before darkness envelopes it. Like the Demdike releases, “Lustre” suggests that the direction may be about to change and offers some concessions towards a lighter mood, as a warm bass and more plaintive chords echo and ebb across its spacious arrangement. Just like the last Demdike album, it proves to be a temporary diversion. It’s followed by “Primer”, where the kind of unquantized tribal drums that underscored Whittaker and partner Canty’s ode to the hashassins, “Hashshashin Chant”, roll in like thunder. Finally, “On The Fly” sees Whittaker focus on shifting tonal frequencies, underpinned by a rhtyhm that starts at a dead pace and speeds up to infinity. It’s a fittingly offbeat finale in this latest compelling release from one of the UK’s great techno eccentrics.
Richard Brophy
Hotflush Recordings boss Paul Rose will return with the first original material under his Scuba moniker since 2010 album Triangulation, with the three track Adrenalin EP due out in September.
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It would have been difficult to imagine an act as talented as Skudge indefinitely following the approach of their first few EPs. Indeed, as the Swedish duo told Juno Plus in our exclusive interview with them a few months back, their influences and more importantly, their ambitions stretch further than Basic Channel dub techno.
That said, “Surplus” doesn’t mark a radical change in style, nor does it herald an artistic volte face from the pair. What it does achieve rather craftily, however, is to subtly push the Skudge sound towards a more wide-ranging place. The same chugging, loopy groove is at is centre, but the use of uplifting 90s techno chords and celebratory rave whistles underscore the pair’s deep knowledge of and passion for electronic music’s recent past. “Void” is more closely aligned to modern day sounds as its insistent keys build to an acid-tinged, filtered climax. It’s Skudge’s most accessible track to date and it is likely to appeal to DJs who so far have not played their releases.
However, it is unlikely that Skudge will become the preserve of big-room house, something that is reinforced by the remix of “Void”. Ironically, Conforce’s version is the track most in keeping with the duo’s original approach. Based on robust, dubby beats and powered by driving hats, the sick, underlying acid line is a reminder that Skudge’s roots are still firmly planted in the underground.
Richard Brophy
There’s been an analogue rumbling emanating from the north of England of late, with its ruminations reaching as far as Chicago before rippling back across the rest of the world. In terms of electronic music, Liverpool doesn’t have the same steady stream of artists that neighbouring Manchester or more southern cities have. Legendary club nights such as Voodoo still remain a part of 90s techno folklore, but the scene has tended to draft in its talent from elsewhere instead of nurturing locals, leaving the ‘Pool somewhat under-represented.
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Having surfaced on Mike Sniper’s consistently excellent Captured Tracks imprint last year with the rough round the edges synth pop delights of The Cold World Melts EP, Portland duo Soft Metals grace the Brooklyn label with their eponymous debut album. Nominally presented as the “synth pop romance” of band members Ian Hicks and Patricia Hall (or Furpurse if you prefer her excellent stage name), the shared musical influences that saw a relationship blossom in the band’s early days combined with the obvious chemistry they now share as a couple makes for an illuminating listen on Soft Metals.
It would take a stern soul not to be enchanted from the moment Hall’s voice rises over the hazy synthscapes and engaging, rasping retro electro rhythms conjured by Hicks on opening track “Psychic Driving”. This winning combination lays the template for the album, yet crucially it never sounds one dimensional as Soft Metals seek to play out their influences without making them overt, instead incorporating them into the synth pop romance. Witness the brief interludes of acid tinged bass fuzz that lend “Always” a certain Chicago charm or the harsh East European cold wave tones that run throughout “Celestial Call”.
Elsewhere two of the most impressive tracks from the aforementioned EP of last year are brushed up and presented anew, offering a possible bridge in the Soft Metals story. The new sheen that surrounds “Voices” and “The Cold World Melts” ensures they shine here too, notably the former with its upward twirls of melody acting in harmony with synth stabs that tug in the opposite direction. There’s a real elation to the soaring synchronicity that occurs during the chorus.
The pure nonchalant beauty of Hall’s voice is striking throughout, though they make room for the focus to shift, albeit briefly, to the impressive analogue hardware that channels beneath. Alongside the sludgy lyricless harmonies of “Celestial Call” which sounds like a choir’s rendition of Salem, “Hold My Breath” is the one purely instrumental endeavour, allowing Hicks to implement layer upon layer of jagged analogue tones over a stringent electro beat.
Those seeking some depth to the music need only focus on the album’s lyrical content which references writers such as Sagan and Kurzweil and the documentarian Adam Curtis, whose examinations of the human psyche informs the subject matter of the opening track. As with the other influences of Soft Metals, these are not overbearing, simply another subtle element of what makes this album so captivating.
Tony Poland
Maria Minerva’s new album Cabaret Cixous has chiselled its way into our collective affections over the past few weeks, marking yet another highlight in the year of excellence that the LA boutique label Not Not Fun is currently enjoying.
