Recorded live and without edits in Austin, Texas, D:Fuse’s People 2: Both Sides of the Picture is an outstanding double-album of house and ambient, chill and trance music. Disc 1 is entitled People Chilling and is nothing but chill music from D:Fuse and some of his favorite artists. Subtech’s “Piano Heaven” is a particularly good downtempo track that is still danceable. Joy’s “Timewave Zero” is over ten minutes of slow groove house that turns into an acid lounge track. Kaskade’s “Be There” has a sweet xylophone and hand percussion groove. D:Fuse plays three of his own tracks on the “Chilling” half of the album. The first is “Indecision,” on which he teams with Blueletter to bring a funky house dance mix that doesn’t get too heavy. The second is the club mix of “Everything with You,” and the third is a great chill-out version of “Blue Skies.”
Disc 2 is People Clubbing and starts with a grade fade-in on Scanners’ (featuring D:Fuse, no less) “Music Is About You.” “Is it trance? Is it house? Does it matter?” they ask. The answer: It doesn’t. Just get out there and shake your groove thing. Abraham Bam Boogie’s “Deep Satisfaction” is a sharp house mix. D:Fuse returns, along with Joy, on “House Sound of the Future.” It has a great classic rave vibe to it that takes me back to the early 1990’s and dancing in an abandoned high school gym. Liam Kennedy’s “dirtbag remix” of “Evaporate” has some sweet synth bass that kicks in about a third of the way through the tune. D:Fuse and Shane Howard’s “Wash” has even more of it. The hand percussion on Nathan Profitt’s “There Is Hope” is wicked and brings a tribal urgency to the song.
It’s a good double album. One side is good for making out, the other for dancing. One can always lead to the other, right?
“They’re poised to attract a ton of attention stateside.”
– NYLON (“The 7 Breakout Stars Of Summer 2016”)“a pleasant and fluid pop tune that blurs lines between R&B and two-step”
– Pitchfork“a velvety, warm, and comforting soundscape”
– The FADER
Melbourne duo Kllo’s much anticipated new EP, Well Worn, came out back in August on Ghostly International (North America), Different Recordings/PIAS (UK/Europe/Japan) and Good Manners Records (AU/NZ/ROW). In just 3 months since release it has amassed over 10 million Spotify plays and established the group as one of the most exciting new electronic prospects. Today the band shares Mall Grab’s rework of “Walls To Build,” one of the lead singles from the EP.Handpicked by Kllo, up-and-coming Australian producer Mall Grab adds a driving bass beat while altering the pace of the original, injecting some space into the song to emphasize its depth. He’s effectively managed to turn Kllo’s smart pop into low light R&B, showcasing the duo’s wide, cross-genre appeal.
Guided by the ghosts of UK garage and like-minded strains of underground dance music, the original “Walls To Build” melds Simon Lam‘s synth lines with Chloe Kaul‘s vapor-trailed verses; “Bolide” sets a skittish beat against a clipped chorus: and the one-two punch of “Sense” and “On My Name” build a couple piano-laced ballads from a pillowy sound bed of laid-back loops and lovelorn melodies. “Don’t Be The One” is deceivingly simple as well, bringing the record to a close alongside a rubbery, elusive rhythm and a growing sense of tension and release. Catchy, yes, but also compelling enough to leave us all longing for the pair’s inevitable LP.
Things happen so fast these days that Kllo barely had a Facebook page or a proper song before a wave of interest began to build around their breakthrough EP, Cusp. What a telling record title; in the year since its release, cousins Lam and Kaul have played sold-out shows and festival slots throughout Australia (Dark Mofo, Splendour in the Grass and Melbourne Music Week among many others) and overseas (The Great Escape, Primavera Sound), racked up millions of plays on Spotify, and landed on several Artists to Watch lists.
The duo is currently on their first ever world tour taking them across Europe with RÜFÜS DU SOL and NAO and North America with RÜFÜS DU SOL again later this month. To cap off the year, they’ll make their New York City live debut at Baby’s All Right on December 8th. A full list of dates is below.
KLLO TOUR DATES:
Wed. Nov. 16 – Hamburg, DE @ Knust (w/ NAO) Thu. Nov. 17 – Berlin, DE @ Berghain/Panorama Bar (w/ NAO) Thu. Nov. 24 – Vancouver, BC @ Imperial (w/ RÜFÜS DU SOL) Fri. Nov. 25 – Seattle, WA @ The Neptune (w/ RÜFÜS DU SOL) Sat. Nov. 26 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom (w/ RÜFÜS DU SOL) Wed. Nov. 30 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore (w/ RÜFÜS DU SOL) Thu. Dec. 1 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore (w/ RÜFÜS DU SOL) Fri. Dec. 2 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern (w/ RÜFÜS DU SOL) Sat. Dec. 3 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box (w/ RÜFÜS DU SOL) Sun. Dec. 4 – Los Angeles, CA @ Multiply Thu. Dec. 8 – Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right
Widely heralded as one of the most innovative albums of 2015, Public Service Broadcasting’s (J. Willgoose, Esquire – banjo, guitar, sampling, Wrigglesworth – drums, piano, electronics) The Race for Space is an amazing concept album about / tribute to the space race of the 1960’s.
Beginning with the title track of an angelic chorus behind JFK’s speech calling for the exploration of space, the album moves into “Sputnik.” The electro beats and bleeps are perfect for a song about the first satellite to round the Earth. The first sample you hear is a man saying, “This is the beginning of a new era for mankind.” It was. We weren’t the same after it. The song builds in synth grandeur, not unlike something from a John Carpenter film score.
“Gagarin” is a funky electro-lounge jam and salute to Yuri Gagarin. The funky guitar and drums make him seem more like a super spy than a cosmonaut. “The whole planet knew him and loved him,” says one man in a sample before a brass section puts down a great groove. “Fire in the Cockpit” is lonely and cold, despite the title. The soft bleeps seem miles away, and the synths sound like a car engine trying to start on a cold winter morning as a man reads aloud a news release about the cockpit fire on a test flight of the Apollo 1.
“E.V.A.” brings us back to a sense of wonder with building guitar work, snappy drums, groovy keyboards, and samples about weightlessness and walking in space. “The Other Side” samples real transmissions from the Apollo 8 mission control about the inevitable loss of signal when the satellite rounds the moon. The synths build as you imagine Apollo 8 getting closer and closer to somewhere no one has ever gone. What’s great is that all music stops during the loss of signal. It’s silence until the synths return at the moment a signal is received from the Apollo 8, and burst loud when the Apollo 8 crew calls back all the way to Houston.
“Valentina” is a beautiful song you could put on a St. Valentine’s Day mixtape and a wonderful tribute to Valentina Tereshkova – the first woman to fly in space. “Go!” is a fun ride that builds from soft synths to rock drums to transmissions from the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. The calls of “Go!” from all the mission control members become a stadium chant, and you can’t help but tap your toes and cheer on the mission that you know was a success.
The album ends with “Tomorrow,” an uplifting song about the Apollo 17 mission and the future of our exploration of space and of mankind. The xylophone gives it a cool “space-lounge” feel, and the fade-in is heavenly. I hope someone has sent it to the international space station for the astronauts’ wake-up music.
I hope this whole album has been sent there. It’s wonderful. The Race for Space would easily have been in my top ten albums of 2015 if I’d started this blog last year.
I’d been looking for this album for a long time since hearing parts of it on a National Public Radio show that was highlighting techno and house music from Mexico made by Nortec Collective – a group of Mexican DJs and producers who often worked together. I found The Tijuana Sessions vol. 1 in a used CD bin for about three bucks last year. It was worth the wait.
Bostich’s “Polaris” gets the compilation off to a good start, mixing rapid snare beats with synth bass. Bostich has two other tracks on the album – “El Vergel” (which includes street band accordion and tuba to good effect. Yes, really.) and “Synthakon” – a fun dub track.
Fussible, Bostich’s frequent collaborator, has three tracks as well – “Casino Soul” (with fun electro bleeps and a swanky synth horn section), “Trip to Ensenada” (a great acid house track with cool reverbed synths), and “Ventilador” (his trippiest contribution to the record).
Another triple threat DJ on the record is Terrestre. He starts with “Norteno De Janeiro,” which is a great tune for late night lounging and make-out sessions in a nightclub on the Yucatan Peninsula. Second is “El Lado Oscuro De Mi Compadre,” which belongs in a Bond film or at least a cool 1960’s Euro-spy movie. Third is “Tepache Jam” – an accordion and tuba-heavy jam saluting Mexican buskers and house parties.
Plankton Man gets a double shot, first with “Elemento N.” Like Bostich’s “El Vergel,” it blends house music with traditional Mexican street music (bold horns, parade drums, and touches of Spanish style guitar) and mixes them well. His next tune is “No Liazi Jaz,” which brings in a bit of psychedelic fuzz to his house stylings.
Other DJs on the record include Panoptica, whose “And L” is a slick acid house track with trippy reverbed percussion, Clorofila (bringing us the super-loungy “Cantamar ‘72”), and Hiperboreal – whose “Tijuana for Dummies” is a good house track with no muss and no fuss. It’s just dance beats layered upon dance beats.
The Tijuana Sessions vol. 1 is a good house / lounge / dub record and well worth investigating if you’re on the hunt for such music. Just don’t take eleven years to find it like I did.
I’m not sure if there’s a current band that does songs about sex and the dangerous side of love better than The Kills (Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart). Ash & Ice is certainly about both, and it’s also a hip journey into electro-rock that I didn’t expect.
The album begins with electro beeps on “Doing It to Death,” but Hince’s squawking guitar is close behind. The mix of Hince’s as-always fine guitar work with the electro touches is interesting, as is the reverb on Mosshart’s vocals during the bridge. Synth-percussion then mixes with a traditional drum kit on “Heart of a Dog,” which is a sexy showcase for Mosshart’s bad ass-ness as she sings about coming back yet again to a lover she knows is bad for her. It also has a sultry bass groove throughout it that gets into your bones.
“Hard Habit to Break” isn’t a cover of the sappy Chicago song, but instead a near drum and bass track with Mosshart dressing down her lover as he tries to control her. Ash & Ice is firmly into electro-rock territory by the time we get to “Bitter Fruit” and its programmed beats and synth bass. It’s a wicked groove, and Hince and Mosshart’s co-vocals are outstanding. “Days of Why and How” is minimalist guitar, a drum machine, some bass, and Mosshart singing into what sounds like an old microphone. Don’t worry, it all sounds good.
The opening of “Let It Drop” is so quirky that it almost sounds like the track wandered in from another record until Hince’s guitar walks into the room. “You give me the shakes. You give me the cold sweats,” Mosshart sings, making us swoon. The song could be a pop-dance track with a bit of remixing. “Hum for Your Buzz” has an interesting title and an even more interesting sound. Mosshart’s vocals are clear as Hince’s guitar sounds like he’s playing in the back of a forgotten highway bar. It reminds you that the Kills could (and I wish they would) make a great blues record.
“Siberian Nights” has Mosshart singing, “I could make you come in threes. I’m halfway to my knees. Am I too close for comfort?” No, Ms. Mosshart. The answer to that is a definite “No.” Beware the Psycho shower scene soundtrack-like synths on this, however, for I feel they reveal wickedness behind Ms. Mosshart’s seductive lyrics. She’s just as good on “That Love,” which is a pure torch song.
“Impossible Tracks” sounds like “classic Kills.” The programmed beats are minimized in favor of Hince’s panther-prowl guitar work. “You get what you give. I don’t regret what I did,” Mosshart sings. I don’t know if she’s singing about leaving someone or shagging him (and not feeling guilty about either). “Black Tar” keeps up the guitar-driven sultry rock the Kills do so well. Hince’s guitar on “Echo Home” sounds like it’s from a warped record of a spaghetti western soundtrack, and his vocals mesh well with Mosshart’s. The electro-rock comes back to finish the record with “Whirling Eye,” and it’s a sharp track that sounds like they teamed up with Metric or listened to a lot of krautrock before they recorded it (and how about that psychedelic guitar solo from Hince?).
As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, I didn’t expect so many electro touches from the Kills, but it all works. I suppose the “ash” in the album’s title could refer to the gritty guitar work and tough lyrics, while the “ice” could refer to the cool synth touches and loops featured throughout the record. It could also refer to Mosshart’s love of cigarettes and how both she and Hince like to kick back a few cocktails now and then. Kick this album back with them. It’s smoky and cool.
Keep your mind open.
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[above image by Per Erik Adamsson]
It’s a match made in dancefloor heaven: Swedish house maestro Mr. Tophat and pop phenom Robyn have come together for “Trust Me,” a three track EP of dark disco and luscious grooves. With each track going well beyond the nine-minute mark, “Trust Me” is the artistic culmination of two artists joining together in the studio and putting pure inspiration to tape, resulting in some of the loosest and most intriguing music either has made in their careers. Further strengthening the EP’s disco bonafides are contributions by Abba’s original drummer, Per Lindvall, and his brother, bassist David Lindvall.
Although Robyn and Mr. Tophat have known each other personally for nearly a decade, the first time they professionally crossed paths was last year, when the latter contributed a few remixes of material from Robyn’s “Love Is Free” EP with La Bagatelle Magique. “I wasn’t making my own music at the time, so he forced his way into my studio and said, ‘We’re going to make music now,’” Robyn recalls the beginnings of the pair’s creative process. “It was really nice for me to be submerged into his world and lose myself in something that wasn’t my own.”
“Trust Me” is certainly situated in Mr. Tophat’s world. The Stockholm-based Junk Yard Connections owner and Karlovak co-founder has spent most of this decade releasing a brilliant stretch of side-long singles with production pal Art Alfie. Those singles’ dense, lovingly handcrafted club vibes are perfectly realized on this EP, with some subtle tweaks to the winning formula—a rich intricacy embedded within a deeper-than-deep sound perfect for peak-hour dancing and 3 AM comedown communions alike.
The Occult Architecture of Moon Duo’s fourth album – a psychedelic opus in two separate volumes – is an intricately woven hymn to the invisible structures found in the cycle of seasons and the journey of day into night, dark into light. Occult Architecture Vol. 1 will be released February 3rd on Sacred Bones with tours throughoutNorth America and Europe to follow (all dates are below). Details of Vol. 2 will be announced in the coming months. Today, the band, led by guitarist Ripley Johnson and keyboardist Sanae Yamada, share “haunting, exhilirating” (FADER) debut single, “Cold Fear.”
Offering a cosmic glimpse into the hidden patterning embedded in everything, Occult Architecture reflects the harmonious duality of these light and dark energies through the Chinese theory of Yin and Yang. In Chinese, Yin means “the shady side of the hill” and is associated with the feminine, darkness, night, earth. Following this logic, Vol. 1 embraces and embodies Moon Duo’s darker qualities — released appropriately in the heart of winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
Written and recorded in their hometown of Portland, Oregon, the two-part epic reflects the hidden energies of rainclouds and sunshine and the deep creep of Northwest forests along with their effect on the psyche, inspired by the occult and esoteric literature of Mary Anne Atwood, Aleister Crowley, Colin Wilson, and Manly P. Hall.
Sonically the new records represent a dimensional shift in perspective for the band. Just as the season of autumn represents letting go in the form of trees shedding leaves, so Occult Architecture is a shedding of genre tropes, and an inviting in of new textures and soundscapes reflective of the album’s shimmering Yin/Yang qualities.
Stream Moon Duo’s “Cold Fear” — https://soundcloud.com/sacredbones/moon-duo-cold-fear/s-0k477Occult Architecture Vol. 1 Tracklisting:
1. The Death Set
2. Cold Fear
3. Creepin’
4. Cross-Town Fade
5. Cult of Moloch
6. Will of the Devil
7. White Rose
Moon Duo Tour Dates: Wed. Feb. 22 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Don Quixote’s Fri. Feb. 24 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo Sat. Feb. 25 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah Fri. Mar. 3 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern Sat. Mar. 4 – Vancouver, BC @ Cobalt Wed. Mar. 15 – Newcastle, UK @ Northumbria University Thu. Mar. 16 – Manchester, UK @ Band On The Wall Fri. Mar. 17 – London, UK @ Heaven Sat. Mar. 18 – Paris, FR @ Le Trabendo Sun. Mar. 19 – Nancy, FR @ L’Autre Canal Mon. Mar. 20 – Zurich, CH @ Mascotte Thu. Mar. 23 – Budapest, HU @ A38
Fri. Mar. 24 – Graz, AT @ Orpheum Extra Sat. Mar. 25 – Vienna, AT @ Chelsea Mon. Mar. 27 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz Tue. Mar. 28 – Berlin, DE @ Bi Nuu Wed. Mar. 29 – Copenhagen, DK @ Pumphuset Thu. Mar. 30 – Oslo, NO @ Bla Fri. Mar. 31 – Stockholm, SE @ Kagelbanan Sat. Apr. 1 – Gothenburg, SE @ Pusterviks Mon. Apr. 3 – Groningen, NL @ Vera Club Tue. Apr. 4 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Noord Wed. Apr. 5 – Eindhoven, NL @ Effenaar Thu. Apr. 6 – Brighton, UK @ The Haunt Fri. Apr. 7 – Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club Sat. Apr. 8 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo Fri. Apr. 21 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle Sat. Apr. 22 – Detroit, MI @ El Club Sun. Apr. 23 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern Tue. Apr. 25 – Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa Wed. Apr. 26 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott Thu. Apr. 27 – Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade Fri. Apr. 28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s Sat. Apr. 29 – Washington, DC @ DC9
Sun. Apr. 30 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
Rock / industrial / new wave / no wave / electro legend Gary Numanis putting together his 21st record. He’s chronicling the entire writing and recording process through a PledgeMusic campaign, and he’s asking for fans to help him through the creative process.
Numan plans to keep contributors updated through videos, music clips, and campaign updates. He admits he has no preconceptions for the record, according to the campaign’s page: “I have no idea how I want it to sound, or who will work on it with me, if anyone. It doesn’t even have a working title as yet. It’s as blank a canvas as I’ve ever had and everything that happens will happen with you as part of it.”
Most of the perks are already sold out, and there are still over 200 days until the album’s scheduled release date. It will be worth the price of the download alone to watch his creative process…or pitch in a grand for a private listening party!
Mom+Pop is excited to welcome Jai Wolf to their label family and release his debut EP, Kindred Spirits, due out November 18th. The EP release also marks the first time Jai Wolf’s music will be released on vinyl come mid-February. Coming off a pair of massive singles, “Indian Summer” and “Drive (feat. Chain Gang of 1974),” for ODESZA’s Foreign Family Collective, Jai Wolf is poised for success. Today he shares the latest single from the Kindred Spirits EP, “Like It’s Over (feat. MNDR),” via Billboard. The new track strikes a balance between the big room sound of “Indian Summer” and the arena-sized scope of “Drive.””MNDR has such a raw voice and when I heard her on the Flume record I instantly knew I wanted to work with her. My EP explores themes of human connections and ‘Like It’s Over’ highlights the vulnerable side of those themes, how you need someone when you’re at your lowest,” explains Jai Wolf.
Jai Wolf quickly established himself as a force in the electronic world in 2014 with a string of official remixes for established artists including Melanie Martinez, Dirty South, Alesso and ODESZA – each remix landing the #1 spotonHype Machine. His biggest break came later that year when Skrillex re-issued Jai Wolf’s bootleg remix of “Ease My Mind” as an official release. Soon after, Jai Wolf began to perform across the country, including a debut festival performance at Coachella.
In Summer 2015, Jai Wolf released his debut single “Indian Summer” through ODESZA’s Foreign Family Collective. To date, “Indian Summer” has sold over 50,000 singles, racked up 30 million streams, hit #1 on Spotify’s US Viral Chart, #2 on iTunes’ Electronic Chart and earned a spot on Triple J’s Hottest 100 in Australia.
Released this spring on ODESZA’s Foreign Family Collective, “Drive” dropped prior to Jai Wolf’s completely sold out Somewhere In A Forest North American Tour and quickly shot to #1 on the Hype Machine popular chart, racking up over 950K Spotify and796K SoundCloud streams in a month.
Beginning next month, Jai Wolf will embark on the Kindred Spirits North American Tour. He’ll headline his biggest venues yet including a hometown show at Terminal 5 in New York City, cementing him as a bright young star and future heavyweight. Tickets are currently on sale at jaiwolf.com. A full list of dates is below.
JAI WOLF TOUR DATES:
Wed. Nov. 2 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount
Thu. Nov. 3 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House
Fri. Nov. 4 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre
Sat. Nov. 5 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
Sun. Nov. 6 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
Thu. Nov. 10 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
Fri. Nov. 11 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Sat. Nov. 12 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory Concert House
Wed. Nov. 16 – Vancouver, BC @ Venue
Fri. Nov. 18 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox
Sat. Nov. 19 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
Wed. Nov. 23 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
Fri. Nov. 25 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
Sat. Nov. 26 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo
Sun. Nov. 27 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park
Wed. Nov. 30 – Austin, TX @ Vulcan Gas Company
Thu. Dec. 1 – Dallas, TX @ Trees
Fri. Dec. 2 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Inside Downstairs)
Sat. Dec. 3 – New Orleans, LA @ Republic New Orleans
Sun. Dec. 4 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Wed. Dec. 7 – Boston, MA @ Paradise
Thu. Dec. 8 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Fri. Dec. 9 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Sat. Dec. 10 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5
KINDRED SPIRITSEP TRACKLIST:
1. This Space In My Heart Is For You
2. Indian Summer
3. Gravity feat. JMR
4. Like It’s Over feat. MNDR
5. The World Is Ours
6. Drive feat. Chain Gang of 1974
“This duo look set to take dance music in some exciting directions.” – Wonderland Magazine
“It feels like the future” – Indie Shuffle
“Follow along with Punctual, it’s sure to be a promising journey.” – Earmilk
Continuing their love of old-school House music, Punctual officially release “Eva” and reveal B-side “Fix” for the first time today via Juicebox Recordings. Having recently remixed the latest HONNE track “Good Together” as well as “Feet On The Ground” by Fono, Punctual are keen to showcase their latest material.
On “Eva,” Punctual are further enhancing their reputation for producing rich and textured sounds that bring a fresh new approach to traditional House music. B-side “Fix” is a layered, genre-defying journey calling upon influences such as Floating Points, Todd Terje, Robert Glasper, Lone and Max Graef. The preacher sample perfectly conveys the overall emotions that the song manages to impart upon the listener.
Punctual are songwriter / producer / DJ duo Will Lansley and John Morgan, based out of Bristol. The duo have been immersed in their rich local scene making music together and playing DJ sets to road-test their creations. “Eva” has received radio plays from industry heavyweights such as BBC Radio 1’s Pete Tong, Monki, Phil Taggart and Huw Stephens as well as multiple plays from Zane Lowe on Beats 1 Radio.
