Tuesday, October 30, 2012

stream brian eno's new album 'lux'

brian eno, that prolific purveyor of ambient and experimental sounds, has a new album due out on warp records next month. it's called lux, and it's his first solo effort in almost seven years. you can read more about it at the warp website. (check out the cover art at right.)

thankfully, SPIN has a free stream of the entire album - go there to give it a try. interestingly, both SPIN and warp reference music for airports, one of my sentimental favorites from eno's extensive catalog, in their description of the new album. i can see a similarity; either way, i'm almost through my first listen and lux sounds fantastic. warm, cozy and endlessly evocative... perfect cold weather stuff, i say.

Friday, October 26, 2012

friday funk: sleeparchive

here's something certainly worth an hour of your ears: a 2006 live set from minimal techno maestro sleeparchive, found via soundcloud. now, no more talk, just bleep. happy friday!


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

stream the new british murder boys

the new CUB record from regis was my jam last week... now here's this: where pail limbs lie, the upcoming two-track EP from british murder boys, aka regis and surgeon. (if you're not familiar, get yourself educated with FACT's handy guide on the industrial techno super-duo.) the record is due out next week on the new mute sub-label liberation technologies, but before then we get a pre-release youtube stream of each track in full - a very nice move from the label, methinks. of the pair, i currently prefer the b-side "in another country" which is more sneaky and cerebral than "dead sun." overall, pretty cool stuff, so do it to it!



Thursday, October 18, 2012

CUB - C U 1 / C U 2

my current jam is C U 1 / C U 2... the second and most recent CUB record produced by karl o'connor (aka regis).

while the four tracks across this and the prior release use a generally similar supply of sounds, the versions on the new record are noticeably faster-paced when compared to the first record. if i had one gripe about that one, it was that those sub-120bpm tracks sometimes felt too slow. that's less of a problem here on C U 1 / C U 2: each side's bpm measures in the mid-120s, which should make them much more workable for club dj's.

"C U 1 (original mix)" holds its own as a high-grade workhorse track that's more closely aligned to the sound of the previous record. but the clear winner - the best thing yet from the project - is "C U 2 (UST funk mix)" on the flip. buzzing, sinewy riffs abound, and that track's last section is layered with subtly soothing psych-out drones. overall, premium stuff from regis as expected, and certainly one of the year's more impressive techno records. hear for yourself:




Monday, October 15, 2012

tomorrow oct 16! dino sabatini and rodhad on K1971 broadcasting

berlin techno heads and ustream watchers around the world, take note:

K1971 label management will be hosting, and broadcasting live via ustream, an event at the spacehall record shop in berlin tomorrow evening. called K1971 broadcasting, it's a monthly endeavor focusing on proper live sets and vinyl dj's, and the tomorrow's edition has two techno aces atop the bill. dino sabatini - the veteran italian artist (and anatomy mixer) whose album shaman's path was just released on prologue - will play live. rødhåd - a berlin DJ with a penchant for powerful extended sets who also helps run that city's dystopian party series- will take a turn on the decks. (if you need to familiarize yourself, check out his d-node podcast from a few months ago.)

according to the flyer, the event kicks off at 19:00 local time, which means 12:00 (pm) chicago time. find more details on facebook. and if you're like me and you don't live in berlin, you can tune in to the action at the K1971 ustream page.

monday moods: wagon christ - sorry i make you lush (ninja tune, 2004)

happy monday and time to hype one of my all-time favorite albums: sorry i make you lush from wagon christ, aka luke vibert.

vibert has crafted more than a dozen albums under a bunch of different names. but from what i'm familiar with, sorry i make you lush, released on ninja tune in 2004, has always stood out. it's just so easy to return to, over and over again - and not just because of the lovely cover artwork. warm ultra-nostalgic moments abound from the very first track "saddic gladdic," which is followed by one of my personal favorites from the LP, "i'm singing."





later on, "shadows" samples a crucial moment from the james bond flick diamonds are forever, pulling it back down to earth with moody female vox and fitting it between some smart drum work and fuzzed-out acid. check out the official video on youtube... it's fantastic:



but for me, the album's best track is "sci-fi staircase" - a seven-minute flight over vast expanses of spiraling musical architecture. it's the stuff dreams are made of, way off in some exceptionally euphoric future. (probably.)



advanced pop and trip hop vibes, gnarly acid riffs, and dramatic employment of acoustic-sourced samples - sorry i make you lush has it all. a timeless album, i say, and time to (re)visit...

Friday, October 12, 2012

friday funk

for now, just a handful of tracks that i've been feeling recently, arranged in a somewhat clever order, i hope. some new, some old, all tilted a bit towards the dark side...









Monday, October 8, 2012

monday moods: VC-118A (live)

seeming to fly a bit under the radar, VC-118A is the new alias of samuel van dijk, a dutch producer perhaps best known for the short but sumptuous supply of deep, dubby techno he's crafted as mohlao. hints of a more dynamic, 'electro' sound have shown up in van dijk's work before - shining brilliantly through one of the first mohlao tracks, "individual", for example - and VC-118A now embraces that aesthetic with open arms.

check out these *two* *free* live sets recorded last month. raw analog percussion; emotional, otherworldly atmospheres; and spooky, sticky effects - it's all awesome stuff, i think. go for the first, newer set if you need to pick between the two; there's certainly a lot of common material between them. and click through to soundcloud for a download link if necessary.

be on the lookout for the recently released VC-118A 2xLP international airlines on the very nice imprint lunar disko records (that's the artwork at above/left - sample the album here) and check the artist's multi-purpose facebook page for future updates. huge thanks to van dijk and lunar disko for sharing these extremely dope sets!




Friday, October 5, 2012

mike parker tours europe

attention, experimental techno heads overseas: mike parker is embarking on a brief DJ tour of europe over the next two weekends. the buffalo-based artist and geophone label boss (check the geophone logo at lower right) played an excellent set at GATF in denver a few weeks ago, and now he'll take on five gigs across europe. tonight mike is on a bill with donato dozzy and arpanet in london; tomorrow he'll be in budapest for a gig with stanislav tolkachev from the ukraine (another anatomy favorite); and sunday he gets a four-hour set at berghain in berlin. parties in nice, france and in riccione, italy wind down the mini-tour next weekend. an abbreviated set of listings is below, along with a few of mike's tracks on youtube. check his RA page for more details. safe travels, mike!

friday, october 5 - london - arpanet, donato dozzy, mike parker, etc
saturday, october 6 - budapest - mike parker, stanislav tolkachev, etc
sunday, october 7 - berlin - alva noto, ame, dixon, rodhad, mike parker, etc
friday, october 12 - nice - mike parker
saturday, october 13 - riccione - mathew jonson, mike parker, etc








Tuesday, October 2, 2012

finally - raime preps debut LP

gloomy industrial/ambient/techno/whatever duo raime have finally revealed details regarding their debut LP, quarter turns over a living line.

you may recall my RA review for their EP hennail back in january, in which i hinted at hopes for a proper full-length from raime - and so it is upon us, almost, with the release date set for november 19th. check for further information, including the predictably strange track titles, at the blackest ever black blog, and if you haven't a clue what i'm talking about, the news at FACT offers up some pretty decent background knowledge on the duo. otherwise, take a gander at the lovely lady in the accompanying artwork and stream album track "soil and colts" below. looking forward!