s m i l e c o l d a n a t o m y

monday moods - zooloft

2012-02-13T03:00:00.009-06:00

it's been a while, but it's time for some fresh monday moods. today, i'm simply passing along two excellent recordings from the zooloft duo of obtane and giorgio gigli, in action in barcelona last month.

first up is a two hours of ambient, 'modern classical' and related rhythmic electronics. expect dramatic sounds from zooloft alongside the likes of murcof, clock DVA, iori and raime. you can find it here at clubbingspain (scroll to the bottom for the download/'descargar' link) and of course, if you're fluent in spanish or able to use a web translator, please be sure to check out the accompanying interview with both giorgio and obtane. stream the set on soundcloud.

and now here's a treat. later that night in barcelona, both artists played sets at moog club... and here's obtane's live session, downloadable at the zooloft homepage. as usual for obtane, it's a menacing trip, full of his trademark growls and deep, sexy sci-fi terror.

kudos to giorgio, obtane and clubbingspain, discos paradisos and moog for three hours of zooloft sounds... enjoy! and look out for zooloft 00I (that's the record art at the top of this post) - it's another dark techno journey featuring an excellent remix from orphx. keep up with zooloft at facebook and the new westilltry! tumblr.

friday funk

2012-02-10T18:00:00.016-06:00

it's gonna be a slow weekend for me here in chicago. so this is what's in my ears (rick wade) and on my mind at the moment:

MOOMIN MORNING IN THE WINDY CITY i'm really excited about this one - an excellent booking for chicago. moomin's LP the story about you was one of my favorite albums from last year, and the german dj obviously has classy tastes (like just about everyone from the smallville label/family) as evidenced by this clubberia mix, which has been stuck on my playlist for months now. moomin will be playing an early morning party next sunday, alongside a fine group of local dj's. nice one. check out the details on facebook and/or RA.

MONOLAKE SHOWS HIS GHOSTS robert henke is back in action with a new album, ghosts. the announcement is old news, sure, but it will be released at the end of the month. i'll be keen to pick up a vinyl copy or two as soon as possible; silence from two years ago already commands 'collectors' prices on discogs. anyway, ghosts seems like it should meet with plenty of anatomy approval here, especially given such an openly abstract album name (compared to prior titles like hongkong and polygon cities). go read the words at monolake.de: "Some kind of monotonous moans that seem to come from nowhere." looking forward!

THE BEAN VERSUS LUMINOUS FIELD this looks like a classic chicago public art spectacle. millennium park's 'cloud gate' - aka that big huge bean-mirror - will get bathed in psychedelic light and rhythms over the next 10 days. check the picture to the right, read all about it at the trib, go!

and now, for a change of pace (and dj skirt)...

THE OCTOPUS! that's a cool-looking exclamation with all caps and all italics, right? anyway you may wonder why i diverged from my usual cosmic imagery at the top of this post. it's because of this very interesting story about octopuses. under the sea, under the sea!

DEADMAU5 TO LEAD TERRIFYING GRAMMY-NIGHT PERFORMANCE COLLAB all on one stage: deadmau5, david guetta, the foo fighters, lil wayne, and others... whatever the grammys are smoking this year, i will *not* be trying to grab from their stash. we live in a crazy, fucked up world.

okay, that's it from my end. i'll have some monday moods to serve up next; until then, have a radical weekend.

new chart (january)

2012-02-03T13:29:00.003-06:00

2012 has started off with lots of excellent new music. check out my chart from last month, and keep your eyes peeled for my february picks.

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that's right, i threw in a proper song from the doors - created before their atrocious, reputation-ruining collaboration with skrillex.

oh, and tune in to my latest RA review - this one is for gianluca meloni and dino sabatini (aka modern heads) on dino's new label, outis. excellent stuff, methinks. coming soon: my first album review on RA, and a new mix or two...

thirsty thursday techno

2012-01-26T22:00:00.003-06:00

it is thursday evening (somewhere-near-chicago time), i am drinking beer and listening to these tunes.

giorgio gigli - kana broadcast 025 as usual, giorgio comes through with the goods, in the form of a deep techno session that just barely simmers above 120bpm. delicious! and a short but abstract interview piece as well.

shifted - dj set - unsichtbar 10 12 11 pitching things up to club tempo, dig this three-hour recording of shifted in action in mannheim germany in december. this one kicks into gear with a recent cio d'or track on prologue - a pleasant way to slip into a few hours of techno madness. sadly, this one is stream-only for now; the alternate download link is now gone because my fair government decided to take down megaupload.

TR-101 - RA.292 quick! only a few days to grab this before it's archived. here's dj pete and sleeparchive in action as TR-101, live at berghain in berlin. expect raw, rolling beats and plenty of bleeps and other sci-fi intangibles, and hold on to your butts. one of RA's best techno 'casts since O/V/R's effort last year. now if only some of this stuff was put to vinyl...

northern structures - TEA podcast #17 i've been following this denmark duo since their first EP dropped on sonic groove just about a year ago. this is an ableton mix done right, bunching together tons of percussive bits into a tough hour of power... and it comes with a nice extended interview with the two artists about their connections with sonic groove (which has definitely been on a roll lately) and their approach to live jams. northern structures is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

okay, that's it for now. obviously, i'm in a techno mood. and i know some of these are a bit 'old' (well, not really) but i take my time listening to mixes and the six hours of stuff here has gotten plenty of repeats in my soundsystem over the past few weeks. so, enjoy!

smilecoldanatomy's top 10 of '11

2012-01-05T17:00:00.025-06:00

behold! my top 10 albums of 2011. if it comes a few too many days into the new year, consider this an even more carefully considered list.

for me, 2011 was more about the track, or the label, and i'll readily admit that my scope at times was quite narrow. still, there were a handful of albums that gripped me either because they seemed so charmingly accessible that i'd tune in repeatedly, or because they were challenging journeys deserving of attentive but more occasional listens, or because they were so surprisingly different. or it was a combination of all that. anyway, my picks... read on:

10. margaret dygas
margaret dygas | perlon

it's hard for me to explain what draws me to the music of margaret dygas. she has a way of creating slinky, vaguely funky tracks with percussive riffs that are often tense and frustrating, but always crisp. from the piano angst of 'missing you less', to 'country way of life's far-away synth lines, to the bizarro vibes of 'ocbinh's groove' (perhaps the most appropriate title of the six tracks), dygas' self-titled LP for perlon was one of my most listened-to albums of 2011.

9. kangding ray
OR | raster-noton

of kangding ray's three albums, stabil still is my personal favorite - those sounds felt like they were gently pulled from bits of sonic fabric - but it's obvious to see how OR is a natural progression for the experimental producer. compared to his delicate, idm-ish forays of yesteryear, there's an underlying strength in OR that is hard to resist. it starts from the beginning with 'athem,' whose muscular low end provides a perfect anchor for some sensual female whispers. while the penultimate 'monster' feels a bit out of place, the warm glitches and sonorous drones of 'leavalia scheme' and 'le belle' finish the journey with one final emotional arch. kangding ray's prior albums have proven him to be an adept storyteller - maybe the best on raster-noton's label roster - and OR continues that trend.

8. moomin
the story about you | smallville

i've heard dismissive opinions (not entirely unjustified) that there's nothing special here, but i love smallville, and i'm a sucker for deep, emotive house music, so the story about you sates both of those desires. it opens on the beach (i think) with some sea-swept sounds and the devices that, for me, set moomin apart from similar artists: the melodies. they shine like no other. sure, there's a bounty of delicious analog percussion to chew on in tracks like 'sundaymoon' and 'you,' but it's the starry-eyed riffs of 'raw like 97' and 'watermelon' that will likely twinkle in your ears long after the final fade-out. moomin's full-length debut is my favorite deep house album of 2011.

7. alva noto
univrs | raster-noton

now, let's switch gears back to another raster-noton release. univrs was carsten nicolai's second album this year as alva noto (he produced another with ryuichi sakamoto) and if you were looking for 2011's best album for testing out the frequency response of your speaker system, this would be it. a semblance of accessibility is created in an obvious highlight, 'uni acronym,' which features the robotic voice of anne-james chaton, but contrasted with OR, univrs is a difficult journey. it won't appeal to many, but that doesn't mean it's not worth at least an hour of your time.

6. perc
wicker & steel | perc trax

i'm used to perc's more immediate techno work but the UK producer's debut full-length effort is worthy of plenty of praise. listening front to back, it's a cinematic experience that perfectly realizes the dark, uniquely textured world of sound, especially in centerpiece tracks like 'you saw me' and 'pre-steel,' that's hinted at in the best material offered on perc trax previously. full of low-lying, gothic atmospheres and drums that growl, moan, hiss and collapse, wicker & steel sets a new standard for the artist and the label.

5. echologist
subterranean | steadfast

one for the late nights when the beat blurs too much to matter. i couldn't even really recite more than the title track's name from memory; subterranean just keeps moving, slowly but insistently, and with no kicks. it recalls the more abstract works of basic channel, but does so in a definitively modern way. the album is, essentially, an endlessly modulated series of dub chords, and it is a triumph - easily among the most hypnotic pieces of music i've heard in 2011.

4. xhin
sword | stroboscopic artefacts

i've already said enough about this album. lucy's wordplay for working bees was a strong effort, but it's remarkable how fast music evolves, especially within an open-minded techno label like stroboscopic artefacts. released just eight months after lucy's album, xhin cut even further into the future with the exceptionally lush sword.

3. surgeon
breaking the frame | dynamic tension

a psychedelic masterpiece, surgeon proves with breaking the frame that after more than 15 years in the biz, he's still at the top of his game. even though a lot of these tracks could work on a dancefloor, as an album it's a perfect combination of contrasts, starting with an ambient intro that leads to the hybrid rhythms of 'transparent radiation' and achingly blurry melodies of 'remover of darkness.' the B and C sides of the vinyl version offer up pummeling techno and spaced-out introspection, respectively, while the album's final moments seem to point straight into the cosmos. there's a constant tension between light and dark throughout breaking the frame, and it's easily one of the most emotional techno albums of the year.

2. planetary assault systems
the messenger | osgut ton

as planetary assault systems, luke slater's affiliation with ostgut ton continues to be a successful one. after releasing 2009's excellent LP temporary suspension, the label has brought the veteran producer to create another PAS masterpiece. compared to the study of contrasts in surgeon's album, the messenger is all about pacing, starting with the ethereal 'railer (further exploration)' and moving into progressively more sinister moods through the cunning, 5/4 techno of 'bell blocker'. 'call from the east' and 'motif' show slater's ability to circle over the dancefloor like a vulture, and 'black tea' ends the album on a typically tough (albeit abrupt) note. it's all put together with a strong, detailed approach to production, and it's further proof that luke slater continues to rank among the world's most exciting techno producers.

1. nuel
trance mutation | further records

sometimes, great things come as a surprise. nuel, often alongside his friend and fellow italian producer donato dozzy, has spent the last few years creating a form of techno that could certainly be described as deep and atmospheric, but the best descriptor might just be organic. nuel's material is simply bursting with warm, earthy textures. with that point made clear, maybe trance mutation shouldn't have been such a surprise for me: while dozzy's full-length K on further was a meditative journey across the realms of ambient techno and downtempo, nuel's effort for the label goes even (ahem) further, eschewing *any* techno sensibilities. as described here, it's a collection of seven songs made over seven days with an emphasis on acoustic instruments, and as an album it stands almost completely removed from its time. if anything, trance mutation recalls the acid-tinged folk albums of the '60s and '70s, with its heavy dose of reverberated, occasionally fuzzy guitars (most favorably for me on 'rhythm') and plenty of uncommon time signatures. when album-closer 'gender' seems to hesitate as it winds things down, you probably won't want it to leave. trance mutation is a wonderful expansion of nuel's sound. it has quickly become a personal favorite, and if it's not one of the best LPs to come out of 2011, it's at least one of the year's most pleasant surprises.

... and that's all folks. happy new year, and i'll be back with more very soon.

sirens

2011-12-27T01:15:00.007-06:00

a new mix from me to you:

i'd been in the mood to record a mix using my 'new' pioneer cdj-100s, which lets me play digital stuff and promos without staring at a computer screen. about a week ago i recorded this 90-minute session, after a day of hearing sirens go off nonstop outside my window. i used two technics 1200mk2 turntables (with whitelabels) along with that cdj-100s, all blended with a vestax pc-175 mixer in one take. it was recorded into audacity, and i made some minor level adjustments and exported it to mp3@320.

(stream and download via official.fm)

shifted - avian 001 b1 | avian
nax_acid - aconito 007
giorgio gigli|obtane|milton bradley - escaped from the dark (zooloft remix) | zooloft
milton bradley - numerical analysis | do not resist the beat!
nax_acid|claudio prc - aconito 007
shifted - structure | mote-evolver
variance III (marcel dettmann edit) | sandwell district
xhin - key | stroboscopic artefacts
giorgio gigli|obtane - transmission | zooloft
surgeon - those who do not | dynamic tension
LADA - indust | fullpanda
milton bradley - desperation | do not resist the beat!
cio d'or - magnetkreis (shifted's C.I.S. remix) | prologue
scuba - from within (marcel dettmann remix) | hotflush
dino sabatini - modulation B | outis
endless - clearing | electric deluxe
perc - BCG (milton bradley critical level mix) | perc trax
mike parker - GPH17 a2 | geophone
function - inter | sandwell district

i hope the sounds find you well this winter season. interested chicago heads can also use this as a warm-up to my two upcoming gigs here in the windy city.

anyway, my gratitude goes to the usual suspects, and special thanks to andrea and claudio for providing some nice new material from the upcoming aconito record. do it to it...

tuesday tunes - mixes

2011-12-20T19:00:00.006-06:00

hello again all and happy holidays, if that's your thing. i've been in limbo as i sort out new music, indulge in the cdj-100s i've set up next to my turntables (i should have my own fresh mix up soon), and work on other writing. some more anatomy mixes are on the way, along with my top music picks of the year, but until then here's some 'recent' mixes that have been stuck in the player. these aren't brand new and i couldn't care less. to me, each of these mixes definitely holds up under multiple listens, and as my hard drive fills up with way too many mixes, that's what's most important.

xhin - RA.286 kudos to xhin for a nice addition to resident advisor's podcast! a fairly far cry from what he collected for his anatomy mix, xhin still puts together some unlikely combinations of tracks - including a few of my absolute favorites from 2011 - to make a truly abstract techno journey. the mix is archived at RA, but have no fear, you can get the 320 mp3 at xhin's soundcloud.

nuel - smoke machine podcast 32 this one has been on repeat ... with an amazing full-length album released just a month ago (it's already sold out!), nuel gets back into techno mode on smoke machine. i love the vaguely tribal sound that he conjures with such interesting track selection, and this mix is full of emotional moments.

hubble - kana broadcast 017 i cannot hide my adoration for hubble. he's made some of the best records of the year, and his ability to construct long, hypnotic grooves is basically unmatched. he uses plenty of material from deepchord/echospace in this story for the kana broadcast, and fits it together perfectly, building to an blissed-out finale. i'm happy to say that hubble will be joining the anatomy action here... stay tuned!

lars hemmerling - surf the waveform podcast 05 it might be obvious how much i'm a fan of lars' work. even if he hasn't released many tracks, he still puts together an excellent live set. raw, slow-burning and loosely industrial... if you're new to his sound, this set gets my highest recommendation.

that's it for me for now. stay tuned for more music opinions: later this week i'll get to smilecoldanatomy's top 10 of '11.

monday moods - raster-noton

2011-11-21T18:00:00.003-06:00

from kangding ray's emotive OR, to summvs - a delicately triumphant collaboration between alva noto and ryuichi sakamoto, to alva noto's powerful, cerebral experiments on his solo album univrs, 2011 has been another excellent year full of advanced electronics on the raster-noton label. now wrapping up its 15th year of operation (with vladislav delay's first album on the label set for release soon), i think it's as good a time as ever to do a dive into raster-noton's back catalog...

and so i highly recommend you check out this beautiful mix from secret thirteen, aka S13, created earlier in the year. it's called R∞N, and it's a 15-track, 52-minute collection of raster noton material dated from 1996 to 2009. listen and download here. i've given R∞N multiple regular listens over the course of the past half-year or so, and the level of depth and texture in all of these sounds never ceases to amaze me. perfect stuff for late nights. if you are looking for a reason to check out what raster-noton has been up to recently, or to dive into the music of byetone, mika vainio and others who have been associated with the label (or to check out the very nice sounds at S13), this is a very persuasive statement.

slydex - live at sub:conscious [anatomy 17]

2011-11-17T01:59:00.013-06:00

surprise! the 17th anatomy is another live recording of a dj set, this time from slydex.

(visual artist: simek)

slydex hails from athens, greece. as a dj he's shared the bill with sandwell district, milton bradley, claudio prc, nina kraviz and many others. his contribution to the anatomy series comes in the form of an hour-long recording pulled from a recent sub:conscious party at six D.O.G.S, where he opened for andy stott. this set is a bit different from the usual anatomy fare... but read on first:

Who are you?
I am George Papageorgopoulos, a restless young guy from Athens, Greece also known as Slydex when I am DJing.

How did you find techno and what made you want to DJ?
I was collecting CDs and generally music since junior school and I used to play them in early school parties actually without mixing them, just changing tracks from one discman to the other. Its actually cliche i guess but this is the true story. I already had some friends with professional gear so i thought it would be a good idea to start collecting money and take my own professional mixer. I started mixing mostly disco and vocal house music until the time some older friends of mine put me to listen a Richie Hawtin mixed set, actually the BBC Radio1 mix. I still cant forget how socking that was... I made my transition.

What are some of your all-time favorite records?
Having a classic rock background I would say that A Night At The Opera from Queen and Led Zeppelin IV from Led Zeppelin are two of the albums that shaped my aspect in music. From the electronic dance music I would say everything from Prodigy, Daft Punk and Plastikman. These last years some of my favorite albums had been Feed Forward from Sandwell District and Omega from Robert Hood..timeless Techno music.

What have been your favorite records or albums from 2011?
As I see it, 2011 has been a really interesting year for electronic music so far. I got to like many different styles and that something I also try to show in my dj sets. I would easily suggest the whole Blackest Ever Black catalogue so far, it has been my favorite label this year, many different styles of music but always in the same dark aesthetic. Some of the albums I really enjoyed this year were from Kangding Ray, Andy Stott, Instra:mental, Sawf and Emptyset, all of them gave something fresh to the scene. Watch out also for the forthcoming Glacial album on Hotel Costes, a really unique blend of dub techno and jazz sounds.

Tell us about the parties you've thrown. Is there a philosophy to the party?
So far this year has been really busy for me and for our small techno scene in general. I organized alone and with my crew several parties with local and international guests and the main philosophy behind them is the improvement of our local scene and the promotion of a contemporary techno sound that was really missing from the night life of Athens. Of course having fun with friends is also a big factor for me and this year we had good times with great music from DJ's like Delta Funktionen, Milton Bradley, Sandwell District, Sawf, Claudio PRC and many other. Just have to say that I dont consider my self as a promoter, I am just a clubber and DJ hungry for quality electronic dance music in my beloved city.

What has been your favorite party or set recently?
With no doubt the most intense clubbing experience I had lately was the 5h hours set Sandwell District did for our party. Proper techno non stop until 10 in the morning, I think it will be memorable moment for those who witness it. Another great set that i really have to mention was a 6h set from Delta Funktionen last March here in Athens..he played like everything he had in his bag with flawless mixing and structure, has to be one of the best djs ever heard.

What do you think of the techno culture in Athens?
Its really sad to say but techno culture in Athens for years now is mainly based on drugs. Most of the people dont care much about what the hear, they just want it fast and pumping, sometimes they dont even care if its techno or psychedelic trance.

Our scene is quite small right now but used to be bigger and stronger some years ago. Actually I would say that what we have now is not a scene but a small group of people who are trying to build one. All these years ignorant and selfish djs along with irrelevant promoters and club owners took us to the point we are in now but some times I think that only from the point zero you can understand and appreciate some things in life.

At the same moment,the economical and political situation in Greece is quite shitty and rough the last two years but that somehow helped the improvement of all art forms as I see it from my point. People are hungry for new things, a lot of great young producers are rising and more people are getting interesting to techno music probably because its a way to burst your hard feelings and get away from the reality even for some hours or minutes. As for Athens, I would say is one of the most underground places around Europe at the moment and if we work and fight altogether now we can have results that we dont even imagine, not only in music but also in our every day life.

Tell us about the mix. How was it recorded?
This mix is the last hour of the 2.5h set I did for Sub:conscious party at Six D.O.G.S (Athens,Greece) on Saturday 12 November. My friend Theo Lazos who hosted the party invited Andy Stott for a live set and I had to do the opening set for him. I was actually really anxious about what I should play but after talking to Andy I felt comfortable to experiment with my set and deliver a peak hour party atmosphere in the last hour of it. I really wanted to play something different than most times by mixing many different styles, actually I was really bored of the so called droning techno sound those last weeks and I want to give a more party meaning to my set. To record the mix i used a Allen & Heath DB4 mixer, Traktor Pro 2 and a pair of Native Instruments X1 controllers. That night the club was full packed and Andy Stott did one of the best live sets ever witnessed using dirty, filthy techno grooves...never heard something similar like this before, so fresh and unique.

What is next for Slydex?
Well a lot of present and future plans I would say. In 2012 I am going to launch my new record label called Modal Analysis along with my good friends Hiori and Alxp. Its going to be a conceptual thing focusing in every style of modern techno, from industrial and electro to experimental and dub but always with a dark techno aesthetic. Our main goal is to highlight and promote the new techno sound of Greece with major Greek artists and many other friends from around the globe. While focusing on my label I am also preparing a new party series in Athens with a lot new faces,good friends and main target the promotion of quality electronic dance music, it doesnt matter if it will be techno,house or dubstep. If it happens for you to be in Athens during November you can find me DJing with Subjected and Hiori at Astron Bar on 19 november and with AnD (Live) and Zorz for the Habeat Records Night at Six D.O.G.S on 26 November. Habeat is a brand new record store that will soon open downtown Athens with much respect and love for the vinyl and local artists, something that was really missing from our city.

slydex - live at sub:conscious [anatomy 17] (stream and download)
slydex soundcloud link (stream and download)

no tracklisting for this one, but i think george is spot-on in his attempt to create a unique sort of "peak hour party atmosphere" that's definitely unlike previous anatomy mixes - there's tons of delicious low-end workouts so this one might be better at high volume. keep up with slydex via his RA page - and athens heads, be sure to check out that party with subjected and hiori this weekend. thanks again to george for keeping it real. enjoy!

xhin - sword

2011-11-10T13:01:00.008-06:00

so, it is finally upon us: xhin's sword. it's the singapore artist's third long-player, and the second stroboscopic artefacts LP after lucy's fine debut album wordplay for working bees from earlier this year. xhin has plenty of experience in the world of pulsing, cutting-edge techno, but sword is without a doubt his deepest dive into uncharted waters yet.

the shivering tones of 'the secret closet' begins the journey, leading to the angular interplay of kicks and glitches on 'fox and wolves' - you'd be forgiven if it takes you a minute to wrap your head around the rhythm. next up is 'teeth', undoubtedly a highlight of the album with a charmingly melodic middle section.

next, 'insides' and 'wood' reveals xhin's affinity toward classical music and minimalism, with 'wood' sounding like an ultra hi-fi resurrection of an old, regal piano score. it's a pleasant surprise that still somehow feels like a logical tangent away from xhin's more club-ready material.

the album jumps back into rhythmic chaos with 'medium', which positions a mysterious sequence of tones against more pummeling drums and glitchy tracers. what follows is sword's final section of clinical techno workouts: the urgent sirens of 'you against yourself', the tripping atmospheres of 'vent', and then the final rhythmic piece, 'foreshadowed', which offers a bit of respite with its glacial chord movements.

things wind down with the perfectly-titled 'this is what you drew while you were half asleep', a beat-less collection of emotionally charged textures. it's a fitting end to an album that blends together chunks of techno, glitch, and IDM into one comprehensive, futuristic vision. dadub's steely mastering work, which has played an important role in sculpting the 'sound' of stroboscopic artefacts, only enhances the effect. after an album like sword, perhaps the most appropriate question for xhin and SA is this: what happens next?

tr nch - live at artmospheric festival 2011 [anatomy 16]

2011-10-31T14:00:00.003-05:00

the 16th anatomy has arrived: a two-hour recording of dave twomey's dj set as tr nch, at artmospheric festival 2011!

dave is a man of many hats: a world traveler (currently residing in the UK after living in japan for years), a DJ and producer otherwise known as tr nch (earlier this year, his collaboration with iori was released on the time to express label), a party promoter... he is also battling cancer, and doing it in an unconventional yet determined way while raising money for his treatment.

today, we're sharing dave's dj set as tr nch, recorded live at the fifth annual artmospheric festival in sofia, bulgaria on july 23rd, 2011. we also have a rough tracklist, but please read on, as dave and i trade words about his music, his mariana party concept, his travels, and his treatment fundraiser.

Tell us about how you connected with Time To Express and Iori for 'Barreleye'.
I met Peter at Labyrinth 2008 following email contact beginning with streams of praise from me for his T2X debut 'Trusted' EP, which is still in my record box today. That year at Laby we cemented our friendship on the dancefloor over a bottle of tequila, bad dancing (speaking for myself only of course) & air punches, which we try to continue every year at Labyrinth. Anyway, I dropped the demo of Barreleye in 2009 at my Mariana event in Tokyo right at the end of my set, at which Peter was guest DJ. I had built the crowd up as I love to just right & to be fair the crowd did go pretty wild. Peter came up to the booth & signed it pretty much on the spot! To be honest I didn't really believe him at the time so was very nice when we got it out. Iori I met in 2009 on a Mariana tour with Cio (D'Or) & Mike (Parker); it didn't take long before we were swapping ideas to and fro & 'Barreleye' was born. Talented guy.

You've played gigs across the world: Europe, South America, and Asia (and hopefully the US soon!). Can you name off any particularly memorable events you've been part of? Do you have a favorite place to play? How does travel affect you as a musician?
I can't really beat playing my own events in Tokyo to be honest. The crowd just go wild for the deep sea stuff when I play as Tr nch even if I am dropping something beatless! I was in Japan for 8 years so I guess I have some good (or maybe just noisy?) friends. The best gig I had outside of Japan was probably in Argentina back in 2006 at a place aptly named Octano in (crazy) Cordoba. I was playing angry electro tech at the time & they just went berserk. I promptly responded by staying up the whole of the next day to the detriment of the large thing in the centre of my face. Oops. Which brings me to the final part of the question: traveling makes me TIRED, mostly, but inspires me on so many levels at the same time. My father was a pilot so I guess its in my blood.

Early last year, you were diagnosed with cancer. Please talk about about your holistic approach to treatment, and please tell us about your fundraiser.
Well I was already at Stage 4 (i.e the cancer had already spread via my lymph nodes to my liver and my lungs) when I was diagnosed (over 5% survive beyond 5 years on the UK National Health Service), chemo still seems just totally counter-intuitive to me and having started doing acupuncture in Japan a few years before holistic was always going to be my approach. I am also fucking sceptical about conventional medicine in general & the pharmaceutical companies in particular. Whats the point treating a symptom if once you have got rid of it (the tumours) it comes roaring back? So, I gave up booze, late nights, all the so-called 'food' aka JUNK we eat like processed or refined (aka zero nutritional value) foods and embarked on a whole bunch of whole body treatments: healthy nutrition to flush the body with antioxidants, regular exercise, supplement programmes to boost the immune system, etc etc. You can read all about it on my fundraiser blog. Feel free to add to the donations if you can: so far my friends and family raised over 19,000GBP at last look. The money is going fast on these damn expensive treatments though…

Tell us about Mariana.
Inspired by David Attenborough's Blue Planet 'The Deep' episode we started Mariana in 2008. The concept of deep sea trench fitted perfectly with how I was feeling a year on from my first Labyrinth musically and spiritually. I realised both something that had a more outdoors than indoor vibe, that touched on nature even if not actually in it. The concept is still to immerse the crowd into the experience though the Mariana Limited parties have taken over to some extent. Mariana Limited (past guests Ben Klock, Kirk Dediorgio and next Peter Van Hoesen live) is big brother to the main Mariana event series (past guests Cio D'Or, Mike Parker, PVH, Pendle Coven, MLZ) which fully embraces the deep sea concept with multi screen deep sea visuals both analogue & digital, music, plus there is also littler sister Mariana Dub Session for the housier, etcher or dubber guests (Kassem Mosse, Delta Funktionen, next Conforce). The Tr nch DJ set & productions very much represent the Mariana sound, with my DJing as Dave Twomey the more eclectic selection based on my wide ranging love of house & techno and all things in between. As much as I am still devoted to Mariana & the Tr nch sound, in many ways my cancer diagnosis in 2010 changed so many things, including the context for me to listen to music, especially the deep stuff so I listen to less and less techno. I get up at 6 or 7am, go to bed at 10pm and rarely go to clubs. So the music is changing for sure…

What other sorts of music do you listen to?
These days I actually don't listen to that much music and when I do its chilled stuff: ambient, world music, etc. Toumani Diabate is the man! Since I can remember, whenever I walked into a room I immediately put music on, much the way so many people do with TV or these days with Facebook. Instant gratification. These days I see the concept of mindfulness as being so important to my recovery (and the future of mankind actually!!!) that in general silence gets a fair old run and music gets put on less and less, which of course makes me enjoy it all the more when I do.

What's next for Mariana?
I'd reeeeeally love to get a label going, but at the moment I have to focus on my health. If I write music for fun it's all good, and some days the creative juices really get going as a result of my healthy lifestyle I think… BUT, the minute I start trying to finish things I am such a god damn amateur that it immediately becomes a stress, which is the big no no. Acceptance & patience are the only way for me right now, though both those and a bunch of Tr nch tracks continue to be works in progress! Next year???

Finally - your anatomy mix. It was recorded live this summer at Bulgaria's Artmospheric Festival. Tell us about the festival, and what you were aiming to do with this set.
The festival is the brain child of a bunch of creatives/djs/experimentalists from Sofia & I followed Donato Dozzy, Natural/Electronic.System & others before me as guest so I put a lot into this gig, aside from the fact that for obvious reasons I haven't been playing out much this last year and half. Misho, the lovely guy who booked me has been a big Tr nch fan since I started it so the set was for him really, and the crowd who got onto the floor to move their asses. The set was my 3rd or 4th using Ableton so was interesting for me to see how things would develop in a festival situation, but I have to admit the second half after i switched to trusty old vinyl and serato that things started to really get going.

tr nch - live at artmospheric festival 2011 [anatomy 16] (stream and download at official.fm)

Souyan - Perfect Tundra
Hironori Takahashi - Medue (Obtane Puppetmachine remix) - sadig005
Shackleton - Fireworks - Honest Jon's
Terence Fixmer - Electric City (Function remix) - EDLX
Ryan Elliott - Abatis - Ostgut
Convextion - Salmo - AW
T++ - Storm - Erosion
Monolake - Excentric - Monolake
Mike Parker - Minos - Geophone
Tr nch - Challenger Deep ft. Jacques Picard - Unreleased
Donato Dozzy & Neel - Voices From The Lake (drop 2) - Prologue
Cio D'Or - Pailetten - Prologue
Mathew Johnson - Learning To Fly dub - Minus
Mike Parker - Caesura - Geophone
Shackleton - Next To Nothing - Crosstown Rebels
Iori - Dial - PRGDIG003
Redshape - Nightshade (Tribute To Ramin) - Styrax
Ness - Diagnostic Sequence - Prologue
Go Hiyama - Waru - Stroboscopic Artefacts
Marcel Fengler - Thwack (Norman Nodge remix) - Mote
Peter Van Hoesen - Side Hope In Honesterror - Time To Express
Mike Parker - Ringing Bass - Prologue
Kangding Ray - Or - Raster Noton
(no ID)
KV2X - Sequential - Field
(no ID)
Nick Dunton - Between Worlds (Sandwell District)
Mike Parker - (no ID)
Nuel & Dozzy - Aguaplano 1111?
Revolt - The Tone - Choo Choo
Sandwell District - Immolare (Function version?)
Sleeparchive - Hospital 06 - Sleeparchive
Trybet - Nautical Two - Geophone
Stamp Series # ?
Ness - Imaging - Prologue
Iori -Lapis - Prologue
Alva Noto - Berlin - Raster Noton
Michaelangelo - Om69 - Labrynth / Moby - Go
Jacopo Carreras - 4temp4 - Orange Mistake
(incomplete tracklist, feel free to add in any missing ID's!)

i believe this is the first anatomy mix extracted from a 'live' performance, and i'm happy it's coming from a deep techno head like dave. big thanks to him for sharing it. if you like the music and/or if you like dave's story, please consider making a donation - however small or large - to his treatment fundraiser to support him in his inspiring fight against cancer; you can follow his quest at his mindlessfullness blog. for dave's musical pursuits, the mariana page is under construction for now, so check out MYM tokyo and his myspace pages for more info. enjoy!

october chart

2011-10-23T10:30:00.002-05:00

new chart! nuel's album trance mutation (stream and buy it here) is splendid, as is the new planetary assault systems album... the rest, well you'll just have to check out my shiny RA chart:

and stay tuned: i should have a new anatomy mix to share very soon.

monday moods - mathew jonson

2011-10-17T22:00:00.006-05:00

tonight i suddenly got in a mathew jonson mood. if you don't know, you should: mathew jonson is from vancouver, canada and has been making some of the best 'minimal techno' in the world for about ten years. his tracks have dropped on labels like itiswhatitis, wagon repair (which he helps run) and probably most notably minus. using just a few percussive elements and an endlessly-looped melody or two, his tracks just keep going and going and going...

he plays an intense live set as well, according to my one experience seeing him jam out barely a dozen tracks over the course of three hours... enough jibber-jabber. a bunch of his music is on youtube, so i've selected a few of my own personal favorites. five tracks, 50 minutes:

'freedom engine' a nice relaxed jam to start off this survey. the other side of the vinyl is 'she is he,' also an excellent track that's sadly not on youtube. easily one of my all-time favorite records...

'marionette' classic - maybe his most well-known track. i'm pretty sure when i saw him play live, he let this one go for about twenty minutes.

'love letter to the enemy' this one is all about rapid-fire synth stabs and those deliciously blissed-out chords...

'symphony for the apocalypse' dark and dripping with psychedelia. incorrectly named on youtube - oh well.

'ball of light' i conclude with this, a particularly bright and shiny vision of the future.

there's plenty more of mathew jonson's material on youtube to check out. if you don't know, or even of you do know, do it to it!

casual violence - dasein is [anatomy 15]

2011-10-12T15:00:00.015-05:00

smilecoldanatomy is finally back in action with a new mix, and i'm really excited to share this, the 15th anatomy: daisen is, from casual violence!

put simply, casual violence creates abrasive, cerebral electronic music. i first discovered his music in a mix whose identity i cannot at all recall, to be honest. but i then stumbled across this record (you can stream for free here), and have been following him since. i first contacted steve, as he's casually known, almost exactly a year ago; it's been a long time but we're both happy to present his mix, a 90-minute collection of slow, strange techno. to accompany the set, steve opened up with some extensive responses to my interview questions, so please read on:

Hello, Casual Violence! Tell us a bit about yourself. Where do you come from? How did you discover techno music, and what made you want to start producing your own music?
It's not so easy to pinpoint really how or where I discovered Techno music. When I was young (lets say in the 80's), and was for the first time developing my own taste in music (aside from what I was exposed to from my parents and older sister), Hip Hop, Electro, House, Acid House, and Techno were just developing. I think popular music was much more diverse. Margins were blurred, and genres didn't feel as strict, they were all one and the same to me. I was listening to music of all shapes, and in my mind there was no real difference between Chart music, Punk, New Wave, House, Techno, Electro, Hip Hop, or whatever.

I still pretty much think on this wavelength in some way, however, as I became older my taste shifted much more towards strictly electronic music, and then on to something more cerebral, dense, and abrasive. I became well aware that my city (Manchester, where I was born and still live) had this kind of musical identity and attitude of its own that was somehow dark and serious.

Rave/Hardcore happened pretty big over in the UK and Manchester, and a bunch of us at school got into collecting flyers and trading bootleg tapes from all the big party's we were too young to go to. I discovered Manchester based 808 State, who had their own radio show at the time playing all this great independent electronic music, and through this a more singular taste matured. I moved on to Jungle (which developed in to drum and bass), then became quite obsessed with the more caustic and aggressive sounds of hardcore techno for a while, from there I found Industrial, Rhythmic, Noise, and Drone. Then I got into turntables and started buying house, techno, and trance. Oliver Lieb's, 'LSG - The Black Series EP' pushed me in a more 'intelligent' direction, and then the records that were coming out on labels like Downwards, Tresor, Zhark, E-COM, and Seico Corp showed me that techno could have a more industrial aesthetic that I could totally connect to.

Man I could go on forever on the subject and still not be able to say, "I found techno here" - I guess my taste just developed very organically until I realised that 90% of my record collection was Techno music, and that Techno and all other genres had grown so much more apart.

I started producing my own music as soon as I had the tools to do so. I knew a few people who had small studio set up's and were using Atari ST's and such to create music, but I couldn't really afford the equipment needed to do so myself. My housemate at the time had just got this PC (they were pretty expensive back then), and he had a cousin who worked as a sound engineer. His cousin was saying, "you know you can do all this on a PC now". He knew about and had access to all the software, and installed us a bunch of music programs.

My early creations were pretty rudimentary, just rhythms really, but in time I developed and learned to be more expressive and how to get closer to the sound I wanted. Music is such a great abstract platform for expression of thoughts, ideas, and feelings. I suppose I got addicted, and from that point all my time and focus was channeled in to that process. I lost quite a few jobs, and it pretty much became standard behaviour for my housemate to be waking up at 4 am with me sat at the end of his bed still making music. Eventually he moved out and was nice enough to leave me the PC, I’m not entirely sure if I’ve slept since then.

Which musicians have made the biggest impact on you, as a listener and as a producer? Which musicians excite you right now?
Vromb, Orphx, Huren/Foster, The Klinik, Sonar, Ministry, Trent Reznor, Pan Sonic, Haus Arafna, Geistform, Imminent Starvation, Whitehouse, Throbbing Gristle, Portishead, Public Enemy, 808 State, Depeche mode, Oliver Lieb, Joy Division.
For more techno orientated music: Iesope Drift/Ostia, Porter Ricks, Monolake, Mike Parker, Surgeon, Voidloss, Kareem, Regis, Cristian Vogal, Sleep Archive, British Murder Boys, Inigo Kennedy, Makaton.

I’m very much stimulated by industrial, rhythmic, and noise type music. It’s not just about the aggression and the sonic extremities, it’s also got something to do with this kind of aesthetic that seems to speak about something very real - It's difficult to put into words and articulate what I mean. For me music and sound must have a feeling of texture and depth, and I have a preference for more hypnotic music. I like when something takes it's time to develop. I just can't connect so well with instant gratification within most things. Even music that may seem quite harsh and powerful can still remain subtle and restrained.

I also find interest in film and game music/sound design. For example, the work of Akira Yamaoka, who did the music for the Silent Hill games, which have this almost overbearing mood and atmosphere. I have a huge interest in sound and sound design in general; to me it goes side by side with music.

Most Recently, I've been listening to (as ever) lots of Orphx (Their latest Album, 'Radiotherapy' is on heavy rotation) - Lots of music from an American duo, 'Lapse', who have this wonderfully textural and hypnotic style of techno - I’m constantly listening to, and inspired by Vromb (who I listen too possibly more than I listen to anybody else) - And right this very moment, as I type I’m listening to Haus Arafna's album, 'Butterfly', which is an amazing album. Additionally, I’m liking the current sound that’s been coming out of Italy these past few years via the Zooloft and Prologue camps.

If you had to choose your three all-time favourite records or songs, what would they be, and why?
That’s very difficult, and it changes constantly. Right now I will go with (in no particular order):

'Vromb - Episodes'
It’s hard for me to choose just one Vromb record. I was going to say 'Rayons', but I've basically gone with the highly scientific approach of, "the one that I think has the best packaging", and that’s 'Episodes'. Vromb is a total master. To try to explain his music, it's this kind of deep, dark, hypnotic, minimal, rhythmic, ambient, technoid, industrial hybrid. His albums energies flow perfectly, with each track effortlessly breathing in and out of each other as one. When I stated above that I like when something takes it's time to develop, this is a perfect example. I would maybe suggest that if you haven't really explored or heard Vromb, then listen to the Rayons album, and if you enjoy it, then listen to Episodes.

'Porter Ricks - Biokinetics'
Extremely filthy and deep, with sounds sucking in and out of each other from all directions. The Biokinetics album has masses and masses of texture, and this amazing production style that I’ve always found to be really quite inspiring.

'Orphx - Insurgent Flows'
Again it's very tough for me to pick just one Orphx album, but this is the one that introduced me to them (and still I think my favourite). Finding Orphx for me was like a reversal of the aforementioned discovery that techno could work so well with industrial and noise elements. Orphx, in balance, are like an industrial/noise project that perfectly incorporates techno elements. Very powerful and intense music… Always inspiring.

'Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back'
I know you said three, but this one's real important. Public Enemy was the first music I actually chose for myself and the first real 'group' that I ever followed. Another reason for their importance is it's the first time I understood that there was music that had a message of some real weight and importance, it’s also the first time that I understood music to have a culture of its own (Hip Hop).

Aside from techno and 'electronic' music, what else do you listen to?
I listen to a pretty broad range of music; I just haven't really had the chance recently. I’ve been spending so much of my time writing music, which means lots of listening to myself… which is as much a curse as it is a blessing.

You have a full-length album due out next year. Can you tell us about it? How have you changed (or not changed) your production approach for the long-player format? How did you go about picking the album's artwork?
Indeed, it's a (possible double) CD entitled, 'Ashes These', limited to 50 physical copy's (then after that digital), due February 2011 on my own forthcoming label, 'Maieutics'. I’m not entirely sure anymore if I’m writing an album for the label, or if I’m creating the label for the album. It's turned out that they are feeding into and inspiring one another in a very natural way.

It originally started out as an EP intended to launch Maieutics; however, it reached a point where it was eight tracks long and still didn't feel as though the narrative had fully reached its potential conclusion. I had to admit to myself that it was becoming an album, and that if that was to be the case then it wasn't anywhere near finished.

That was back in January this year, and its shape and form at the very start has now totally changed, with tracks being stripped down and rewritten, some being dropped, and new ones being created. It’s an extremely organic process where if, for instance, a new song is added then it changes the whole flavour of the other tracks, along with the entire flow of the album as a whole, and everything needs to be re-evaluated. Like I say, it’s very organic and I’m just going with the flow.

The most notable way that my approach has changed, I guess, would be that I’m freer to experiment and write whatever pleases me. I can be more creative with tempo and form, and I'm free to focus less on the dance floor than I normally would, which has been my desire for a few years now. The fact that I’m self releasing also adds extra freedom, as I only have to answer to myself. It can be pretty hard going as things are never good enough, but I’m almost there, and it’s almost finished (minus some final details). The sleeves are to be handmade, and individually numbered (both by my own hand), so there is still that manufacturing process, and yet more possible creative obstacles to fight with myself about. It's been quite an involving and reflective experience, and very different to any other musical project I’ve ever taken on before.

I’m glad you ask about the artwork as its hugely important to me. I was playing with ideas for the look and feel of the label for quite a while. I had the musical direction, label concept, and visual design nailed, yet was struggling to find an art style that tied in with it all. The main theme behind Maieutics is enlightenment and the marriage between art, science, and philosophy. With the design being very definite and precise to represent science, and the music representing philosophy and existentialism: It made perfect sense that the art direction should of course represent (visual) art itself. I researched the classic paintings and the masters, as I felt these represented a time of enlightenment and discovery in connection with the labels philosophy, and I came across the stunningly epic looking 'Sacred And Profane Love' by Giovanni Baglione, which had this real fascinating story attached to it. I decided this second interpretation of the painting was to be the artwork for the album, and that the basis of the Maieutics artwork thereafter was to be centred mostly around the powerful and most beautiful work of Michelangelo Caravaggio.

I think I first came across your music by way of the gold-plated Why So Few release. So if I may ask, where do the vocals for 'Briefly Sexual' come from?
There are a few good reasons why I probably shouldn't say where they come from. It’s no secret, but it’s best I don't mention it here. Let’s just say that I 'borrowed' them in a creative manner.

I manipulated them slightly from their original form into something new to match the needs of that particular track, so the original source is not entirely obvious. I never intended for the vocal to be such a prominent feature (or expected Briefly Sexual to generate any kind of interest), and it was used purely on the merit of its tone and feel, as is any sound that I use. I chopped it up into single syllables, played with its rhythm and order, duplicated, double tracked, manipulated, and mistreated it in general. I’ve been asked quite a few times what the vocals are saying, and where they are from. The fact is, that the vocals don't say anything tangible whatsoever, and where they are from is a question best asked some other time perhaps.

Do you have an overall 'philosophy of music'? Aside from the musicians and sounds we talk about above, what keeps you inspired as a musician?
I do, and I would hope that's apparent from my (painfully long) answers so far. I’m interested in mood, colour, texture and feel, music has to have this to move me, it has to express something that can be felt, it has to have depth - real depth, where something further can be found beneath the immediate surface… Different layers to explore. I don't mean layers as in how many sounds are there. Music can be stripped down to a stark cold minimum and still have depth and layers inherent within the texture and feel of the sound.

It may sound cliché, but music can be a language and means to communicate ideas, feelings, thoughts, and questions that cannot be expressed so easily with words. It's a way to articulate who we are, what we experience, and a way to question or try explain those things that are perhaps beyond our comprehension. It's very much open to interpretation, a musician for example may try to express one thing with a piece of music, and the listener may interpret it completely differently in his or her own individual way to meet his or her own individual needs at that point in time.

I also believe in music that follows a more organic path, in the way that sounds are introduced, and the way in which energy and intensity flows. I like these things to develop at a natural pace and to require a little patience. Many natural things in the universe move through their own slow and organic cycles. Nature has its cycle and it develops and changes over time. I like this state to be reflected within sound, music, and the process.

Lastly, to briefly expand on a previous point about the blurring of margins. I do understand that there is a need for separate genres, and I'm not saying that it's a bad thing to categorise. Just that a little cross pollination, and a little individuality, are both highly important elements of musical progression.

Aside from the album, what is up next for Casual Violence?
Well, there is of course the label. I’m excited about how that will develop, along with the freedom it will bring. I’m also planning on a second label, 'SELF', which will come from a slightly different angle than Maieutics. There's some releases on the way too, with a 10" on Sect due sometime very soon, following that, I have an EP on Duality due the 16th this month (October), a CD compilation of various artist's that's also on Sect, an EP for Singularity, plus a few other things that I'm yet to start working on.

I have fair number of collaboration projects planned for next year also: some that are still at the idea stage, and some that are already in progress. I can't really say with whom yet as it's best to wait for the music - plus some of these projects are to remain anonymous. For my last booking of the year I’m making a trip to Madrid to play for Geométrika FM and Scrypard at Specka club on the 25th of November, that should be fun, and then finally, In January there is the small matter of my wife and I expecting our first born child.

Finally, tell us about your mix, Dasein Is.
I wanted the mix to be deep, textured, intense, and hypnotic. The tempo is slightly restrained to help enforce this idea, and once the groove is established I believe this makes total sense. There’s some pretty dense and drawn out layering, as my intention was for it to feel like this organically shifting rhythmic whole. The layering, I feel also brings some interesting textures and energies as the sounds wash in and out of each other from time to time. There is a slight dark mood also present throughout that feels and acts like the binding theme for the whole mix. Perhaps all that’s just my own romantic view - I’m sure it is. Ultimately, it's best left open to the interpretation of others ;)

casual violence - dasein is [anatomy 15] (stream or download at official.fm)

01 Vromb - Premier Générateur - ant-zen
02 Derlich - Hoax - Singularity
03 Lapse - Blowback - Unreleased
04 Lapse - Kin - Unreleased
05 Orphx - Density Current - Sonic Groove
06 Orphx - Apparition - Sonic Groove
07 Svreca - Seda Muerta - Female Remix - Semantica
08 Heiko Laux - Hangin - Kanzleramt
09 Mike Parker - Ringing Bass - Prologue
10 Mike Parker - FWD - Donato Dozzy Remix - Prologue
11 Allan Nonamaka - Birth Is Suffering - Labrynth
12 Obtane - This Town Is A Rotten Morgue - Sonic Groove
13 Claudio PRC - Clear Depths - Obtane Remix - Prologue
14 Lucy - Triad - Stroboscopic Artefacts
15 Surgeon - First - Outline Mix - Tresor
16 Thurisaz - fram niwiht æt niwiht - Rune
17 Robert Pain - Black Queen Chapter VI - Black Queen
18 Casual Violence - Burn It All Down - Maieutics
19 Robert Pain - Scena III - Transporta
20 Mike Parker - Night Of 21 Hours - Geophone
21 Timothy Alexander - 12 - Diacope
22 Robert Pain - Black Queen Chapter III - Black Queen
23 Casual Violence - Objet petit a - Maieutics
24 Porter Ricks - Biokinetics 2 - Chain Reaction
25 Porter Ricks - Redundance 4 - Force Inc. Music Works
26 Orphx - La Nebuleuse - Huren Remix - Hands Productions
27 Orphx - La Nebuleuse - Hands Productions
28 Nuel - Untitled - Aquaplano ltd
29 Vromb - Interférence - Ant-Zen

thanks again to steve for the nice sounds and nice words. if you wanna keep up on his art, check out the casual violence blog and the maieutics blog. more of his music can be found via his soundcloud. please enjoy his set! it's been fun getting to know him, and for a sort of 'anniversary' mix, i think his contribution works perfectly. be patient, and stay tuned, there will be more anatomy mixes soon...

NYC adventure #2

2011-10-05T18:30:00.006-05:00

hello! i'm back... and i'm off on another adventure to new york city this weekend:

the centerpiece of my visit is gonna be that party on friday, with eight hours of donato dozzy and nuel (and an otherwise stacked lineup).

next up on saturday - if my legs are still working - is oktave's second birthday party at national underground with edit-select. read up on the news here. happy birthday, oktave!

sunday has an all-day bash with kate simko and delano smith.

and finally, to end the long weekend, a deep space night with francois k and dozzy. i've heard strange things about the venue but i'm down for new things...

who knows if i can make it to everything but meanwhile, i promise i'll finally be able to reveal anatomy 15 in the next few days. it's a weird one, so hold on to your butts. see you on the other side!

happy birthday, happy 5000, thank you!

2011-09-21T02:00:00.001-05:00

my, how the time has passed! two years ago - late september, 2009 - i launched this humble blog with the goal of sharing my (mostly musical) obsessions. around that same time i jumped into the world of dj'ing when my awesome friends elly and andrew lent me their old pair of technics 1200's...

since then, i've tried to push a specific sound through my own approach to dj'ing, and (primarily) through the anatomy series of mixes. so far, some of my favorite artists - 14 so far, from around the world - have graciously shared their sounds and their words with me and with anyone who's taken the chance with what i (we!) have tried to do here. and since i fired up my own official.fm page last year to store those mixes, that page has now accumulated 5000 downloads, and even more listens.

and aside from the honor of hosting some of those fine sounds, i've also been able to do some awesome things around chicago: take over the decks at the coolest spot in my neighborhood, play on WLUW and WNUR radio, and then make my debut at the best techno club in the city, smartbar.

so, i offer my sincerest thanks to some top-notch chicago people - elly, andrew (yeah, both of you!), josh, lisa, nate, and many many others - for helping to push me along, as well as andrea, claudio, juho and every other artist who has decided to join in the anatomy fun here. and i offer up just as much gratitude to everyone out there who has read, listened, and otherwise interacted with whatever it is i am doing here. kudos to all of you!

on a related note, i'll be playing at the morseland tonight with andrew solomon and lokua. as usual: good music, free music, check here for some more details. see you soon!

qbot and patty take over wnur!

2011-09-06T23:00:00.003-05:00

in need of some anatomy action on your radio? the techno melodrama will play out later this week, in just over 24 hours - wednesday late evening, thursday early morning - at WNUR radio in chicago! fellow chicago techno fiend qbot will be hosting me on the freeform segment in the very early hours of thursday morning.

you can listen at 89.3 FM if you are in the chicago area, or online at wnur.org - here's a download link for the .pls file to stream. find more info and start times according to major time zone at the facebook event page here. this is my third time on the program; as with prior engagements, i'll be pushing my techno onto the airwaves for a few hours at the start of the program before qbot does her thing to finish off the morning. tune in if you can!

monday moods

2011-08-29T00:30:00.011-05:00

happy weekend-end, here now are some collections of tunes i've been enjoying, including excellent sets from a few anatomy affiliates...

artmospheric sessions #13 - alan backdrop @ artmospheric festival 2011 lucky #13 in a very nice mix series for the artmospheric festival, here's a recording of alan backdrop in action at the 5th annual edition of the bulgarian festival earlier this summer. sounds like alessio treated the festival to a very nice 2.5+hour set that builds through ambient and downtempo into deliciously deep house and techno. as usual, alessio's amazing selection is on display for our aural pleasure - and this recording is available in mp3@320 or flac (cd-quality) - so do it to it.

smoke machine podcast 023 - obtane a recent addition to the excellent smoke machine series, and it's another excellent set from obtane. sometimes, he crafts sets that are *perfect* techno journeys, and this is one of them. hypnotic, forward-thinking, suspenseful stuff. nicely done, obtane!

szare (live) @ headrush here's something unique for you: a szare live recording. if you've heard their tracks, you'll have a great idea of what's up: a funky sort of sparse techno with heavy doses of dark moods. but watch out for the surprise in the middle...

clr podcast 128 - dadub (direct download) the anatomy alumni make a live set for chris liebing's podcast. marcel dettmann was at the controls of the CLR 'cast the prior week, but (and pardon the bias) i like this one even more, maybe because dadub's set nails a specific mood for one whole hour: rolling techno steeped in dub'd-out, emotional atmospheres, with that chunky stroboscopic sound signature. with sigha and donor/truss in recent weeks, it seems like the CLR podcast is on a roll right now.

slash dot dash podcast 006 - kenneth christiansen this was the perfect soundtrack to a hazy day at the beach recently: kenneth christiansen, the mind behind the echocord label family, pushing out almost three hours of grooves for this recording. deep, dubby, bla bla ... what matters is the excellent track selection and fine mixing.

enjoy, and have a happy monday!

friday funk

2011-08-19T12:00:00.014-05:00

the air & water show will fill the skies over chicago this weekend, but come fly with me at these events:

TOMORROW: JOHN HUGHES AT NOON the hefty records boss will play a live set at noon - for FREE - at the pritzker pavilion downtown, together with a drummer and a vibraphone player. check out this youtube video, which hopefully gives us an idea of what to expect. the music will only last a little over an hour, so be sure to arrive on time!

TOMORROW NIGHT: TAMA SUMO & MARCEL DETTMANN AT SMARTBAR a lethal one-two punch of berlin beats: tama sumo should keep it more on the house-y side, and if dettmann's set last year at smartbar is any indicator, he should be bringing a pile of intense techno back to town. get pumped up with this recent mix from tama sumo, and this set for CLR from dettmann (direct download). gramaphone DJ tyrel williams does opening duties - i'm very excited for a no-computer no-nonsense night of techno and house in the windy city!

and now, onto a few mixes i've been caning. a little bit of deep house; a mysterious, oddly funky live set; a warm serving of laboratory techno... read on:

kassem mosse - RA.272 i've only recently become a casual fan of gunnar wendel, aka kassem mosse - it probably started with this laid record last summer - but i had the privilege of seeing him perform live a few months ago and enjoyed his slow, smoke-filled take on house music. and that's basically what he serves up for RA: deep and loose. do it to it!

milton bradley - LWE podcast 91 one of my absolute favorite producers right now, milton bradley shares a live set with little white earbuds. while his records betray an affinity for broken beats, this recording sticks mostly to 4/4, which is fine with me. funk music for ghosts, i say.

dino sabatini - outis podcast 01 not only does our anatomy friend have a new label with its first record modulated waves out at shops, he's offered up the screams of outis - a new 'hybrid' mix blending together dino's own material. it's deep, dark, clinical and dangerously hypnotic. and to sweeten the deal, he's offered up full streaming versions of both modulations from outis 001. go dino!

okay, that's it for now. fans of the anatomy mixes, fear not: i'm arranging the next few mixes, and otherwise plotting a few appropriate sets of sounds for the fall and holiday seasons later this year. stay tuned, and have a good weekend!

this week in chicago!

2011-08-10T10:00:00.001-05:00

hello all, i'm still alive, and preparing for this week/end in the windy city:

TONIGHT: MORSELAND/SMARTBAR DOUBLEHEADER lokua oversees a night of live sets and the release of a new album on his momentsound label from kollage. leo123 and radius join the fun together as lagos - it's FREE as usual, so read all about it here. simultaneously, rogers park gets some representation at smartbar, with the local gramaphone shop hosting dj's from podval as well as little white earbuds... this one is also FREE! check out the lineup here.

FRIDAY: ONUR OZER the turkish dj comes stateside for a bunch of parties around the country, and chicago gets him friday night. it's a graffiti party, underground, late night - go to the RA event for more info.

SATURDAY: DANIEL BELL the detroit veteran will play smartbar, and there's another reason to rejoice saturday night: my awesome music friends elly and andrew - aka kiddo and antiphase - will be playing their first set together to celebrate their recent marriage. congratulations, elly and andrew!

should be an action-packed end to the week in chicago. next up i'll have some more recommended mixes to check out - stay tuned!

patty on RTS.fm 2011-06-23

2011-07-12T06:00:00.010-05:00

finally! the recording of my set on RTS.fm last month is ready to share. this three-hour collection of long soundscapes and dark rhythms was realized on thursday, june 23rd with vinyl records on two technics 1200mk2 turntables (with shure whitelabel cartridges), blended with an allen & heath xone:62 mixer and fed into my friend oleg's laptop in order to stream live online (at 192kb/s) from his apartment. no editing besides an attempt to boost the levels; overall it's a bit quiet, so feel free to turn it up. the set was originally supposed to be two hours, but oleg graciously let me have more time to stretch out, so i tried to go on an even deeper journey...

(stream and download via official.fm)

Ø (mika vainio) - heijastuva | sahko
mohlao - ambrose | meanwhile
the gods planet - from the core | TGP
dino sabatini - step 2 | sonic groove
panasonic - aines | blast first
lawrence - just like heaven | smallville
hubble - floating souls | haknam
giorgio gigli|obtane - psychological scene of the imagination | zooloft
monolake - fragile | monolake/imbalance computer music
samuli kemppi - no one can hear your echo in space | prologue
rossella - herbie | cyclical tracks
o/v/r - post-traumatic son | blueprint
dino sabatini - stheno | prologue
giorgio gigli|obtane|nax_acid - the child that was watching the moon | zooloft/aconito ZAltd
szare - document | horizontal ground
northern structures - plus minus | sonic groove
iori - lapis 1 | prologue
ben klock - before one | ostgut ton
nax_acid|ink - a jarvik ax 7.1 | aconito
smear - transect (broadwave execution mix) | forward strategy group
cub - C U 1 | cub
perc - BCG (forward strategy group remix) | perc trax
marcel dettmann - screen | ostgut ton
dino sabatini|donato dozzy - in vaders | prologue
reality or nothing - b1 (function mix) | RSB
milton bradley - the path to mathematical truth | do not resist the beat!
planetary assault systems - temporary suspension | ostgut ton
giorgio gigli - self-reflection | prologue
fabrizio lapiana - unusual dynamics | attic music
alex pili - dgt is shit (nax_acid edit) | aconito
lucy - tof (tommy four seven remix) | stroboscopic artefacts
tr nch|iori - barreleye | time to express
hubble - sand | haknam
obtane|giorgio gigli - chemistry of human life (abstract narrative edit) | zooloft

thanks to my music friends and affiliates around the world for their beautiful music and inspiring messages. extra thanks to RTS.fm for hosting me, and to oleg for the hospitality. and more info on my chosen visual artwork can be found here. enjoy!

july chart!

2011-07-01T13:01:00.001-05:00

welcome to the future, with my new top 10 chart! mostly new stuff, and then some brand new stuff. hubble's new release for haknam will probably be one of my favorites of the year, and mika vainio's heijastuva EP as Ø is 30+ minutes of ambient goodness. check it out...

midpoint 2011

2011-06-30T00:01:00.003-05:00

hello all! and thanks to those who patiently tuned in to my set on rts.fm last week ... i started a bit late and was preparing for a 2-hour set, but with approval from my gracious host oleg, i decided to dig deeper and play for three hours... i hope to have an mp3 recording of my set from the site soon and i'll be sure to share it with everyone!

in a related matter, my friend andrew solomon also has a spot later today at the rts.fm studio here in chicago - same starting time as my set last week, 2pm central (US). check out the rts.fm link here, and the facebook event page here. furthermore, andrew will be playing with m50 (for free!) at downtown bar and lounge tomorrow/friday night... not much you need to know about that party, but click through to the RA event for more info.

and, in more anatomy-associated news:

XHIN DEBUT US MINI-TOUR: LOS ANGELES, SAN FRANCISCO, NEW YORK huzzah! another anatomy mixer makes it stateside. unfortunately no chicago date, but i hope the heads in california (this weekend) and nyc (next friday) give xhin a warm welcome for his first appearances in the country. more precise details at xhin's RA page. he's also returned to stroboscopic vinyl, with a track on SA's 10th wax release. give it a peak here.

NEW FORWARD STRATEGY GROUP VINYL COMING SOON smear and patrick walker join forces with some corporate affiliates for a new vinyl release on dynamic reflection. find the rest of the revealed details here and stay tuned... go FSG!

NEW ZOOLOFT VINYL IN STORES another update from the zooloft collective: 00G, the dark thoughts of fate's manufacturer, is out now on delicious vinyl and probably at a store 'near' you - for example, at juno. kudos to giorgio, obtane and milton bradley for a tasteful dose of darkness and as usual, zoom to the zooloft blog for more dystopian audio/video.

okay, that's all for now. coming soon: july top 10 chart, more record discussion and yes, finally... anatomy 15!

patty LIVE on rts.fm tomorrow!

2011-06-22T14:00:00.005-05:00

that's right: yours truly will be playing live for your listening and viewing pleasure at rts.fm tomorrow from 2pm to 4pm central time in the united states - that will be 5 or more hours later in the evening for my european friends. you can find a bit more information here on the site and join in the facebook event fun (and figure out the right time for your location) here. since it's a video stream, you'll be able to listen and watch me perform, if you're feeling voyeuristic.

thanks to rts.fm and my friend oleg for hosting me! i'll be bringing a crate of records to swim in, so tune in if you want to dive deep with me...

this weekend: FUNCTION and PETER VAN HOESEN at SMARTBAR

2011-06-10T08:00:00.004-05:00

chicago techno heads, take note if you haven't yet... the nyc/chicago oktave crew (yes, the same people who hosted cio d'or and traversable wormhole last weekend) will host function and peter van hoesen as as they make their chicago debuts tomorrow at smartbar!

both of these berlin-based artists should be at least vaguely familiar to anyone who follows this blog (i hope!) - function (also known as dave sumner, originally from new york) is a long-time techno veteran and one of the minds behind sandwell district. he has a penchant for a type of techno that could maybe best be described as 'angular' but other keywords could be deep, dark, droning... he's helped to curate a series of 'variances' on sandwell, including this edit from regis:

and check out his remix for traversable wormhole on CLR:

peter van hoesen, a native of belgium, pushes a similarly hard and raw sound, with his own music and though his time to express imprint which has featured tracks from donato dozzy, cio d'or and samuli kemppi among others. here's one of my favorite productions of his, 'continued care':

and here's the slow-motion intro to last year's acclaimed entropic city LP:

oktave resident and perc trax artist jeff derringer will open the night with some deep cuts, so there's no reason not to camp out for 7 hours within the friendly funktion 1 confines of smartbar tomorrow. on top of that, word is that function's live+dj setup includes a 909, and initial reviews from his set last weekend in montreal during mutek have been quite positive. should be a good one... see you there!

going to new york city!

2011-06-03T17:00:00.004-05:00

that's right, yours truly is heading east to pop his nyc cherry this weekend! i leave in 12 hours, and return tuesday...

a big reason i'm going, besides hanging out with my detroit techno friend sibin, is to go to the oktave party tomorrow night with cio d'or, traversable wormhole and jeff derringer. even with a technical difficulties, cio played a gorgeously deep set of techno in detroit last weekend, and traversable wormhole (an nyc native) was impressive as well so i'm excited to see what both artists do for this party. jeff will start and finish things... can't wait to try out the nyc techno scene!

then sunday i think i'll try out this mister sunday party with space dimension controller. a $12 outdoor afternoon party: sounds like a good time.

come say hi, i'm hoping this will be the first of many new york adventures!

anatomy news

2011-06-03T12:00:00.007-05:00

lots of things happening in the smilecoldanatomy galaxy. read on to see what some anatomy mixers are up to lately:

STROBOSCOPIC ARTEFACTS SHOWCASE in BERLIN TONIGHT last minute alert! berlin club suicide circus will host lucy and pfirter for a showcase of SA sounds. look it up on RA then go go go!

NAX_ACID in LONDON TOMORROW curator of the first anatomy and the mind behind aconito records, nax_acid and his label-mate bioni samp will be playing the fluid bar in london tomorrow. it's either cheap or free, and i'm sure nax will be banging out some new aconito jams. go check it out!

PERC and FSG in LONDON (NEXT SATURDAY) perc and the lethal corporate duo of smear and patrick walker will join forces with truss at an underground party in london next saturday to celebrate the release of perc's LP wicker and steel. check it out and get tickets at RA.

PROLOGUE in JAPAN THIS SUMMER claudio prc, dino sabatini and iori will all play the rural festival next month in shizuoka, japan! unfortunately the rest of the details are announced in japanese... via this flyer. but this sounds awesome and i hope to hear some reviews of this one later.

DINO SABATINI'S NEW LABEL speaking of dino, he's started his own label, outis music. go check out the official homepage, where he explains the inspiration behind the label: odysseus, the ancient greek hero, whom i studied extensively in school. also get on the label's new podcast. the first release drops later this month on digital and - yes! - vinyl.... go dino!

NEW MIXES from GIORGIO GIGLI double your pleasure with two new studio sets from giorgio: first, a low-bpm deep techno journey for smoke machine. and for the true romantics, this two-hour collection of dramatic atmospheres for speedy j's electric deluxe podcast. and just for the hell of it, check out this youtube clip of giorgio's recent zooloft epic. ciao giorgio!

XHIN GETS THE CURSE another new studio set from an anatomy mixer, as xhin puts one together for get the curse (direct DL here), and check out the intriguing (as usual) tracklisting here. and what's more: xhin is set to tour the US in july! stay tuned...

anatomy picks: movement 2011!

2011-05-25T20:00:00.006-05:00

it's finally upon us... detroit's movement festival!
movement, or DEMF or PEMF, depending on how you ask, hosts five stages of music from noon to midnight, saturday/sunday/monday, and as usual there's plenty of options to choose from. there are the obvious picks - ricardo villalobos will return to the US for the first time in years; richie hawtin and sven vath will draw the usual mass jubilation; adam beyer's festival-closing set on monday could be fun - but smilecoldanatomy likes it even deeper, so here's my recommendations for must-see artists at the fest.

CIO D'OR charmingly abstract productions... warm, endlessly hypnotic studio mixes... cio d'or is, to me, a real artist. if you need a teaser, check this collaborative mix with donato dozzy that i've already praised. her set at the festival will be her first visit ever to detroit, and i have no doubt that it will be special. torino stage, saturday 6-730pm

MONOLAKE another anatomy favorite, robert henke aka monolake obviously has a fan in cio d'or, who uses his tracks frequently in her mixes. long story short: monolake created the ableton live audio program, and his austere, bass-heavy techno (try out this youtube) should roll over quite perfectly in the torino underground where he'll play a live surround set with visuals provided by his VJ. i'll check out visionquest upstairs beforehand, but i'll probably be missing hawtin in order to close the festival with monolake. torino stage, saturday 1030pm-close

MARGARET DYGAS a resident DJ at the infamous panoramabar in berlin, dygas is clearly doing something right. check out her deep, dubby mix for lwe... a smooth dj who has a slim output as a producer, last year saw the release of her debut full-length album, how do you do, which is definitely worth a listen or two (or for now, just check out this track from the album).... pretty spaced out 'house' music that keeps a dark, cerebral edge. also worth noting: one of my favorite sets last year came from fellow panoramabar resident cassy, who stormed the beatport stage before hawtin's sub-in for the cancelled villalobos appearance. this year, dygas gets two hours on the big stage to get things going before villalobos; i have high hopes for her set. vitamin water stage, sunday 5-7pm

TRAVERSABLE WORMHOLE otherwise known as adam x, who is also known as the boss of sonic groove, the long-established nyc techno label that seems to be really hitting its stride right now (killer 12s by northern structures, dino sabatini and realmz). as traversable wormhole, adam performs live, jamming dubstep and techno to create something dark and fierce... here's this youtube video of function remix a TW track. i'll probably miss the first bit of dygas' set in order to get my wormhole traversed. torino stage, sunday 5-6pm

BEN KLOCK and MARCEL DETTMANN it's probably worth pairing these two. they both call berghain (the berlin club connected to panoramabar) their home-base, and are prolific producers for berghain's ostgut ton imprint, both having released their debut albums via o-ton. both also run their labels (klockworks and MDR) and stick to a tough, raw techno aesthetic - i'll admit, i usually prefer dettmann's more clinical approaches. and both will be doing the business underground at torino sunday night with klock leading the way for dettmann's closing set. this is probably how i will end sunday at the festival. torino stage, sunday 9-1030pm (klock), 1030-close (dettmann)

... so, those are my festival picks. where's monday, you say? monday will be everywhere after a weekend of dance music around detroit. if i make it back to the festival (which i plan to do!), i intend to catch PEARSON SOUND/RAMADANMAN and SCUBA at the red bull stage- two dj's with a similar penchant for taking dubstep sounds, pitching them down a bit, and adding elements of house and techno. should be a pleasant final-lap change from strictly 4/4 beats.

that's all for now. and yes, those picks mean i plan on spending a lot of time underground at the torino stage. my friends and i begin our journey to detroit in 10 hours. i plan on checking out the smartbar party at tv lounge friday night, the RA CLR party at elysium saturday night (probably followed by the 'i love you but' party), and probably the monday old miami party, and who knows what else. look for the tall skinny guy with glasses and you've probably found me. cheers, and happy memorial day weekend!

tonight at smartbar: BEN KLOCK

2011-05-21T13:00:00.004-05:00

tonight is the night! i make my smartbar debut here in chicago alongside qbot, ryan elliott and ben klock. it's klock's first time in the windy city so let's make it special! i play 10 to 1130, qbot plays next until 1230, and then ryan and klock take over (2-hour sets for both, i believe). hopefully klock should need no introduction as a resident DJ at berlin's berghain club, a fixture on the club's ostgut ton imprint, and manager of his own klockworks label project. ryan elliott has less of production output but plenty of skills behind the decks, as evidenced in his recent LWE podcast.

for hints on what i'll play, here's my RA chart for the month of may... slow and deep will be my order for the night:

techno transmissions

2011-05-09T18:00:00.008-05:00

hello! thanks to all who have tried out any of the jams from the SA anatomized mixes. now, onto new news for new techno and other new stuff...

NEW ZOOLOFT anatomy affiliates obtane and giorgio gigli are at it again, with zooloft 00G: the dark thoughts of fate's manufacturer. as usual, it's a combination of rhythmic and beat-less abstraction, with a blistering a-side to go along with two ultra-deep tracks on the flip: milton bradley's slow, pulsing reverberations, and the howling ambience of a zooloft edit. samples and more words at the zooloft blog. further kudos for a nice review of the incredible tale on LWE. go zooloft!

PERC PREPS WICKER & STEEL another anatomy mixer on the move: perc prepares to release his debut full-length album, wicker & steel on his perc trax imprint next month, june 10th. the first single, my head is slowly exploding, is a real mind-bender, with a properly twisted edit from ancient methods. read more about wicker & steel in the RA news, and london heads take note: the album's launch party goes down saturday june 11th with help from another anatomy-approved duo, forward strategy group.

RA.257 - O/V/R james ruskin and regis go live for RA's podcast in what will probably be one of my favorite picks from the series in 2011. just under an hour long, and turning out to be bit of a tease (as part of a longer live set), the duo do it deep, dark and intensely angular, balancing mechanical precision with a bit of cinematic warmth. blade runner techno!

AMBIENT TECHNO FOR JAPAN in the wake of the tragedy that struck japan two months ago, one positive thing to take away from the situation (apart from the heroism exemplified in the workers who are venturing into stricken, irradiated reactor plants in order to stop a brewing nuclear disaster) is the artistic reaction, as creative minds around the world lend a supportive hand. the minds behind japan's celebrated labyrinth festival are banding together to create composure, a compilation of sounds from some of the more notable names in the ambient/techno spectrum including convextion, donato dozzy, sandwell district... more information can be found here. slated for digital release at some point this month, and cd release in june. and if you haven't yet, donate a few units of your local currency and show some love!

CIO D'OR AND DONATO DOZZY PRESENT 'J' speaking of dozzy and japan, the deep-diving wizard joins forces with cio d'or for 40 minutes of ambient, tribal jams on the mnml ssgs blog to celebrate the island nation. note the delightful placement of monolake's 'void' as the set approaches the halfway mark... don't need too many words for this other than it's definitely 'worth a listen'.

YUGOSLAVIA - 25 MONUMENTS FROM THE FUTURE well maybe not the future; these structures were built in the 1960s and 1970s, but they sure look like relics from somewhere forward in time. those will be the days!

SMOKE MACHINE PODCAST 012 - ALAN BACKDROP last but not least, one more anatomy friend in the mix! almost 90 minutes of seriously lush deepness from alan backdrop... stream and download at the smoke machine soundcloud.

that's all for now! stay tuned for my top 10 may chart, and my preferred picks for this year's movement festival in detroit.

anatomy 14 - modern heads

2011-04-28T12:00:00.007-05:00

(click on image to enhance)

the final chapter of 'stroboscopic artefacts anatomized' comes from modern heads, who have been weaving deep, dark strands of techno for five years via labels like elettronica romana, dozzy records and prologue as well as on SA, including one of my favorite tracks from last year. up until recently, modern heads was a collaboration between two italian producers, dino sabatini and gianluca meloni. now, with gianluca still living in italy and focusing on his new notfromearth concept, modern heads is primarily dino's project, based in berlin. tracks and sketches from both producers feature in this anatomy mix, which builds to a curiously blissful 'peak' before the set recedes back into darkness.

anatomy 14 - modern heads (stream and download via official.fm)

Aria # 1 – Dino Sabatini
Sense of Latent Power – Jana Winderen
A1 – Nuel
The Origin Soundscape – Notfromearth
Untitled – Gianluca Meloni
Nocturnal – Dino Sabatini & Donato Dozzy
Telectro – Philus
Plastic star – Byetone
Confusion 2 – Leo Anibaldi
Step 2 – Dino Sabatini
Gliding hipnotic vers. – Modern Heads
Untitled – Modern Heads
First Contact – Robert Henke
Cantazzo – Jeff Mills
Slow Ice, Old Moon – Brian Eno
Introspective Intelligence – Rossella
Das Zahnrad – Claudio PRC & Svart1

as we bring this 'SA anatomized' project to a close, i just wanted to say thank you to lucy and the entire stroboscopic artefacts crew for joining in the fun here, and i hope everyone is enjoying the sounds that xhin, perc, dadub and modern heads have shared with us. the anatomy series is going to go on vacation for a bit to give everyone time to digest these mixes... so please, enjoy!

anatomy 13 - dadub

2011-04-24T12:00:00.002-05:00

(click on image to enhance)

finally! the third chapter of our 'stroboscopic artefacts anatomized' series comes from one of the more dub-oriented artists on the SA roster, dadub, who also handle the label's mastering. the italian duo (now living in berlin) has only been active for a few years, with tracks on SA as well as on the aquietbump netlabel (including this recent free EP). lucky curators of anatomy 13, dadub grinds together broken beats from the SA label with new and old tracks from across the dubstep spectrum.

anatomy 13 - dadub (stream and download via official.fm)

Øe - February_Seek - Unreleased (Farmacia 901)
Alva Noto - T3 (For Dieter Rams) - Line
Arrogalla - [)[)[)[)[)[)[)[)[) (Dadub Remix) - Mime
Plaster - Program Q_nex - Kvitnu
Sepalcure - No Think - Hotflush Records
Lucy - Lav - Stroboscopic Artefacts
Shed - Atmo-Action - Ostgut Ton
Shed - 44A (Hardwax Forever!) - Ostgut Ton
Lucy - Bein - Stroboscopic Artefacts
Pangaea - Inna Daze - Hessle Audio
Aoki Takamasa - Rn5-09 - Raster Noton
Burial - Street Halo - Hyper Dub
Instra:mental - Thomp - Nonplus Records
Shed - My R-Class - Ostgut Ton
Xhin - Arrival (Lucy Twofold Remix) - Stroboscopic Artefacts
Donor - Remainder - Stroboscopic Artefacts
Plaster - M2d - Brainstormlab
Pfirter - Supraventricolar - Stroboscopic Artefacts
Frank Martiniq - Dark Star - Stroboscopic Artefacts
Øe - Sad_Jitter - Unreleased (Farmacia 901)
Øe feat. Inner8 - Waste Land (Version) - Unreleased (Farmacia 901)
Lucy - Mas - Stroboscopic Artefacts
Shackleton - Deadman (The Bug Crackle Remix) - Honest Jon's
Shackleton - Deadman - Honest Jon's
Ramadanman - I Beg You - Hessle Audio
Elemental & 3d - Attack - Runtime Recordings

... and one final bit of news: congratulations to lucy and dadub, who are set to provide an SA showcase at barcelona's acclaimed sonar festival this summer!

fresh mixes

2011-04-20T00:01:00.010-05:00

we're taking a break from our regularly scheduled programing - the 'SA anatomized' project - to talk about a few other mixes making their way around the internet. dadub's anatomy mix is coming soon but for now, check these out:

yuka - heart of darkness [nu podcast 027] moscow-based artist yuka serves up a deliciously dark brew of slow-burning techno. no tracklist, but check out the accompanying text on soundcloud, where yuka offers a bit of insight into her approach to music.

forward strategy group - CLR podcast 111 yes! anatomy mixers smear and patrick walker join forces as FSG for an excellent set of twisted, relentless techno for chris liebing's mix series. it's basically a live set, with tons of unreleased stuff from the corporate family. check that first link for a direct mp3 download, and head to mixes db for the full tracklisting.

jan kruger - CB 076 i've been paying attention to jan kruger for some time now. he barely ever produces music (check out his slim discogs page) but as a dj he has very good tastes, as seen in this set for clubberia. the theme here is house music pitched quite sensually around 120bpm, so be patient: the tracks are given time to stretch out and breathe as the mix digs into a deep groove, culminating in an excellent blend between basic channel's 'quadrant dub' and luomo's 'class' and ultimately leading to an emotional finish.

irakli - night will fly you there i met irakli in barcelona in june of 2009 during sonar week. we managed to stay in contact and it turns out he's also a vinyl addict, as well as being quite the intriguing visual artist (he created the image at the top of this blog post). check out the tracklisting: tons of abstract techno gems. for more info on irakli, check out his homepage design provocation.

hubble - mixture 2 last but not least, a remarkable set of sounds from a promising new mix series at the brussels-based mixture blog. born in italy but now living in berlin, hubble takes a pleasantly abstract approach to both his productions and his studio mixes. for nearly 100 minutes here, he plunges into a steady, driving groove, forming long, hypnotic loops into an organic whole. for dancefloors or headphones... very nice.

okay, that's all for now... but if you need a stroboscopic fix right away, you're in luck, with lucy in the mix for RA255! otherwise, stay tuned: lucky anatomy 13 will go live very soon....

anatomy 12 - perc

2011-04-13T02:00:00.003-05:00

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the second chapter of 'stroboscopic artefacts anatomized' comes from perc. the UK producer has spent the last decade blending techno and industrial sounds while also operating his own perc trax imprint; his contributions to stroboscopic artefacts include a vinyl collaboration with the modern heads, as well as a monad EP. his anatomy mix is dense collection of rhythms and atmospheres, both (very) old and (very) new.

anatomy 12 - perc (stream and download via official.fm)

1) Vagon Brei - The Dark Corridors - Further
2) Cabaret Voltaire - If The Shadows Could March - Rough Trade
3) Emika - Count Backwards (Marcel Dettmann Vocal Edit) - Ninja Tune
4) Francesco Tristano - (Tantra Development by Moritz Von Oswald) - Deutsch Gramophon
5) Emika - Count Backwards (Marcel Dettmann Remix) - Ninja Tune
6) Ed Davenport - More Red Lights (Dub) - NRK
7) Rumenige & Loktibrada - Kulenty (Sandwell Mix) - Antidandruff
8) Sigha - The Politics Of Dying - Our Circular Sound
9) Perc - Wooden Art (Modern Heads Jumplex Remix) - Stroboscopic Artefacts
10) Kassem Mosse - Workshop 12 A1 (Vocal Tool) - Workshop
11) Peter Van Hoesen & Donato Dozzy - Elekra - Time To Express
12) Frozen Border - FB07 A1 - Frozen Border
13) Mike Dehnert - Teilfolge - Delsin
14) D'Marc Cantu - No Control - Creme Organization
15) Sawf - Unrhythm (Marcel Fengler Remix) - Perc Trax
16) Exaltics - Creep Over - Bunker
17) Perc - Porter - Blank Records
18) DJ Koze - Don't Feed The Cat - Kompakt
19) Forward Strategy Group - Tayo Olowu - Perc Trax
20) Endless - 00165 - Electric Deluxe
21) Perc - Tokyo Blank - Blank Records
22) Karl O'Connor & Peter Sutton - Guiltless - Tresor
23) Casual Violence - Maybe We Are - Aftertaste Recordings
24) Abstract Souls - Subway (Claudio PRC Perspective Remix) - Stroboscopic Artefacts
25) Anodyne - Talon - Earwiggle
26) Cabaret Voltaire - Partially Submerged - Rough Trade

anatomy 11 - xhin

2011-04-06T02:00:00.012-05:00

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based out of singapore, xhin is responsible for producing the second record on the then-fledgling SA imprint at the end of 2009, and has contributed an EP to the label's monad series, among a handful of sharply cerebral techno cuts he has in his production catalog. he occasionally curates diverse sets of music away from the 4/4 spectrum, which is what he has provided here; so please enjoy this mix of intriguingly subdued sounds as we begin the first chapter of 'stroboscopic artefacts anatomized'.

anatomy 11 - xhin (stream and download via official.fm)

01. Nurse With Wound - Disposition Two
02. Omega Code - Warmth (Bleed)
03. Phillip Glass - Vanessa and the Changlings
04. Steve Reich - Sextet: 5th Movement
05. Coil - Original Chaostrophy
06. Nurse With Wound - Echo Poeme: Sequence No. 2
07. Black to Comm - Hotel Freund
08. Ryuichi Sakamoto - Bachata
09. Lisa Gerrard - Space Weaver
10. Shigeto - Embrace The Cold

stroboscopic artefacts anatomized

2011-04-03T08:00:00.003-05:00

happy april! and with the new month comes a new experiment here on smilecoldanatomy...

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if you haven't been paying attention, stroboscopic artefacts was born in late 2009, and has since carved out a reputation for dark, dubby, abstract electronic music under the guidance of lucy, the label's founder who recently released his debut full-length album (and the first SA album) wordplay for working bees. i had contacted lucy last year about contributing to the mix series here but for now he's just helping to coordinate things. ultimately we arrived at the idea of stroboscopic artefacts anatomized, a 4-mix, 4-week showcase of some of the label's artists: xhin, perc, dadub, and modern heads.

for more information about the label, check out the SA homepage. we've all agreed to keep the words to a minimum here. for each mix, i'll provide the artwork (courtesy of SA visual artists oblivious artefacts) and tracklist if possible, an official.fm player and download link, and maybe a sentence or two about each artist. otherwise, we shall let the art speak for itself.

thanks in advance to lucy and his SA crew. the fun starts this week! stay tuned...

end: march, begin: april

2011-03-31T21:45:00.003-05:00

i hope everyone has been enjoying tom bonaty's mix! something very big is coming up as we launch into the month of april... but until then, here's some stuff that brings pleasure to smilecoldanatomy's ears and eyes:

TIN MAN is LOST IN LA new track by tin man? new, free, 320mp3, 10-minute-long track by tin man? yes! xlr8r is hosting a free download of 'lost in LA', a wondrous piano jam fleshed out with acoustic percussion and handclaps, brewed quite nicely with a dreamy vocal narrative and discreet acid lines. the track is from tin man's newest album perfume, which as RA has reported should be released (in 2xLP) at some point very soon... and look! tin man has just contributed a mix to the little white earbuds series, do it to it!

JUNO PLUS TALKS DARK TECHNO, TALKS WITH JAMES RUSKIN always nice to see another perspective on the more abstract strands of techno that have gotten attention lately (especially on this blog) - richard brophy considers lucy's new album and the recent ostgut ton compilation and their use of field recordings while discussing techno experimentation. also on juno plus, blueprint boss james ruskin talks about his many collaborations, including his ongoing O/V/R project with regis.

ROBERT HENKE DISCUSSES ABLETON, GEAR, SURROUND SOUND the mind behind monolake chats with the passionweiss magazine about his role in the development of the venerable ableton music production software, as well as his self-designed monodeck controller hardware. he also talks about how he does live surround sound... speaking of which, monolake will be playing a live surround set along with detroit's echospace duo at smartbar saturday april 23! it's part of the avant_mutek weekend in chicago... check out the story on RA.

ACONITO 006LTD last but most definitely not least, a new collaborative release on aconito records, the achromorphe, is scheduled for release next week. nax_acid and his brother ink on one side, obtane and claudio prc together on the flip... watch the preview video here on youtube, and click on that picture if you want to see the hand-writing on each sleeve. 250 copies, vinyl only, highly mechanized, coming this monday, april 4! more info here at the aconito blog.

that's all for now. oh, i've also started the anatomy twitter, under the name patty anatomy, for those looking for more techno-related social media. and stay tuned! more exciting news (the least exciting of which is my april chart) will be coming very soon.

tom bonaty - fear remains [anatomy 10]

2011-03-28T04:14:00.014-05:00

it is time for the 10th anatomy, and i could not be more pleased to host one of the minds behind one of the deepest techno labels in the world. please welcome, from prologue music: tom bonaty!

if you're not familiar with prologue yet, check out the label's discogs page and click around to find some samples. since late 2008, the label has been diving into "the hazy shade of techno", and releasing a consistent stream of deep, modernized sounds from a growing family of producers, both young and old. i discovered prologue in mid-2009, and long-time readers should be aware of my appreciation for this sound; several of the label's producers have contributed to the anatomy mix series, with a few more slated to appear in the future. but for now, let's talk with tom:

Hi Tom! Prologue was launched in late 2008; the label is now in its third year of operation, with a catalog of more than twenty releases (vinyl and digital). How have things changed - or have they not changed - as the label has expanded?
3 years in December 2011 yes :-). Basically from your philosophy nothing have changed since Prologue is established end of 2008. We still have our big passion for techno music and we try to make every release unique and as best as we can. Of course some things changed. I think we go back now 3 years and I would say we are in the meantime very good friends and a global label family. This is a very positive aspect. And we are more established in all what we do and recognized as in innovative imprint in the scene. Further the people outside feel that we have a big passion for the music and we get a lot of positive feedback about our releases and work. This support is really such a great feeling. And recently we extend our artist profile with Mike Parker, Adam X and Terrence Fixmer, which is also a little change compared to the beginning. Finally we build up our own booking agency and we got Alexandra as our booking agency leader. So it seems we growing in a good sense in some directions :-) In all, I am personally totally happy about the development and situation of Prologue at the moment.

If you had to choose your three all-time favorite records or pieces of music, what would they be and why?
OK this is a real difficult question. I can't mention three 12" milestones... I have two much after 20 years collecting vinyl. I think about CD's like LFO Frequencies or Kraftwerk which was also extremely important to me to mention but I will try to give you some CD;s which was for me a new dimension in that particular time.

I want to mention two techno albums. I would say these are the two first techno album CD's I bought and they are both extremely important to me. Both was released on Sven Väth's label Harthouse 1993.

First is Hardfloor - TB Resuscitation, the first Album on Harthouse as well. This CD is for me still today the quintessence of Acid. One of the best CD's ever and every serious techno head should have this in his collection. For me one of the most important milestones in techno and acid. Deepest acid in his archetype.

Second is SpiceLab (Oliver Lieb). Just 4 tracks on this CD but every track is an unbelievably long journey over 15 minutes. Today you must pitch it down little bit but basically there are so much different elements of electronic music (trance, acid, ambient and techno) combined and this album is a fantastic journey overall. By the way, Oliver Lieb mastered the first 12" of Prologue and we were pretty proud to met him personally.

Third CD is a mix CD which is still for me the best mix CD ever: Richie Hawtin & John Acquaviva - X-Mix-3 - Enter: Digital Reality! All tracks were unbelievable and at this time (1994) it was miles away from the rest of the world - from a mixing perspective and from the selection of the tracks. I have this CD 2 times and also the vinyl release which was a 3x12" release. The same is valid like on Hardfloor. Every who listens to techno should try to have it in the collection. Some of the tracks was recently re-released. That say all about timeless music. The youtube link below shows you the first complete part of the mix. Remember 1994! And still so much deepness and feelings!

Last CD is a mix CD as well and pretty unknown and rare I guess. It's not techno, it's Austrian easy listening. Klangwirkstoff Scheibosan & eMU - Black Coffee Chapter 2: Potpouri Fusique. The whole Black Coffee series is very good but number 2 is my choice in this case. All are mixed by Scheibosan, an Austrian DJ which is strongly connected to the complete G-Stone and Kruder and Dorfmeister community. Its really a fantastic series and fantastic music for your mind beyond electronic music. Pretty hard to give you a impression of this CD but I found some tracks on youtube just to get a impression. If you have chance to get a CD from this, buy it...

To those readers and listeners who might not yet be familiar with the Prologue sound, which release do you think would be the best introduction?
Probably I am not the right person for this question. Every Prologue is for me an introduction to our label and every release has its own Prologue character. For example listening to Milton Bradley's EP is a completely different experience compared to Dino Sabatini Daughter Of Phorcys/Recall E.P, Lucy's Kalachackra or Claudio's Clear Depths concept. In the end there was a reason to release all these fantastic EP's on our label and all are a kind of introduction to Prologue with the right touch of our artists' own individually. If this question rise up with some readers, I would recommend the complete catalogue, and listening to our podcasts...

When you are not working on Prologue projects, what are you listening to these days? Outside of the Prologue collective of artists, are there any artists or labels in particular who excite you right now?
I am listening to children CD's with my two kids. :-) Beyond label and regular work my kids need some attention as well and I am enjoy this. But from a music perspective still one CD is from James Brown Greatest Hits and one of the Public Enemy albums are in my CD changer in the car. SAY IT LIKE IT REALLY IS... To be honest one slogan on Prologue comes from here. Powerful like real techno... Michael (my partner) and I are still massive Hip hop fans and I am a massive fan of Public Enemy. Coming to the second question I would say the usual suspects like Sandwell, Ostgut, Blueprint, Aquaplano, Time 2 Express just to mention a few and I always try to find pearls on small unknown labels. Further off course I am following Stroboscopic Artefacts. We have a very close relationship to Stroboscopic Artefacts and me and Lucy talking a lot about daily label work, problems, common ideas and we always try to help each other.

What is next for you and Prologue? Can you share with us some plans for the label in 2011?
Yes sure... We have several finished projects and a couple are in progress. Closest milestone is Iori's first vinyl release called Lapis EP very soon. We also plan a remix release with this EP and you will find some really nice names there, but the release date for the remixes EP is not fixed. Further we have a new digital EP with a new project called Not from Earth coming out in April. Not really new names behind this project with Gianluca Meloni from Modern Heads except Carlo Alfano... I am sure we will see some more stuff on Prologue from this duo. Then we will have a new EP from Donato Dozzy together with Neel. Also Dino Sabatini comes out with a new EP which is nearly finished. Still in production is a new Cio D'or considered this year as well and Cassegrain as a new member will come up with a new EP before summer. Also Mike Parker, Terrence Fixmer and Giorgio Gigli is working on new separate EP's. And I have another EP with Donato Dozzy and Giorgio Gigli finished and I am waiting also here for a final remix. This is our 12" plan and this looks very busy to me. Beyond that 12" plan there are also some albums and a another project in progress but before I have it on my disk I can not talk about more details.

And I will not promise to much due to my limited time situation but we thinking to start with a second label this year. The decision is already passed in my head and its more as a reflect. The first EP is almost finished and fixed and signed... we just need the time and power to start.

Finally tell us about your mix, Fear Remains.
With this mix my thoughts were really more in Japan than on the mix. Even I was not sure if I wanted to do a podcast at this time. All these homeless children without parents makes me so sad and the complete situation is uncontrollable so far, as we can see this from Europe. This was the reason to call this mix Fear remains. I will not say this mix shows directly my feelings but the selection of some tracks was surely influenced by this event. For example i used this very very old track from Astral Pilot - Electro Acupuncture released in 1995 called 'The Day After'. The track is very sad in my opinion and I did not even listen to this track 10 years ago. But in this case it came to my head suddenly to use this. Beyond these thoughts, there are also some new demo tracks in, therefore I will not provide a complete tracklist. Off course if somebody is interested on a track ID we are reachable over email and facebook.

In the end we (artists and label) want to say thank you to all who support us and help us to keep our vision of Prologue alive. And also thanks to you Brian for the opportunity to share this podcast on your wonderful blog and your support. Take care all...

tom bonaty - fear remains [anatomy 10] (stream and download via official.fm)

like tom said, no tracklist; what you get is about 90 minutes in tom's world, starting with a gloomy, emotional ambient introduction. the set slowly turns towards deep-black techno, and midway through we march triumphantly through the magnetic field of a classic prologue track before pushing into the ringing bass of a more recent release on the label...

huge thanks to tom for sharing his thoughts and his sounds from the past, present and future on smilecoldanatomy. i'm a big fan of what prologue has done, and what the label continues to do, and with this anatomy project entering its second year of existence, i'm happy he wanted to be the 10th contributor to this mix series. there is more to come on this blog very soon, but until then, thanks to those who tune in and support this blog's mission... enjoy!

alan backdrop - anecumene [anatomy 09]

2011-03-14T15:58:00.013-05:00

i'm very, very happy to celebrate the one-year anniversary of this blog's mix series by introducing the ninth anatomy... anecumene: three hours of deep techno travel from italy's alan backdrop!

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in a rare twist of roles for this blog, it was alan backdrop - casually known as alessio - who found me first. fortunately, it turns out that alessio is a very nice guy, and a great selector: he's got what sounds like quite an enviable vinyl collection along with the ability to put records together and create intriguing adventures... so i posed to him the challenge to construct a long, deeeeep mix to share on smilecoldanatomy, and i certainly think he succeeded with this set. let's let alessio introduce himself:

It's a great pleasure for me to take part in this gorgeous forum about electronic music.

I was born and I'm living in Veneto in the north Italy, a region with a massive presence of water: rivers, small streams, the sea and the lagoon. Fortunately there are many places where you still can listen to the sweet song of nature, where you can take a time to pause and ponder, marveling at the magic in which we are immersed and we are part.

On the contrary it is sufficient to move just a few kilometers to find large industrial areas where the pace is hectic and the noise is deafening, the fumes make gray atmosphere and tarnished mind. It's full of old rusted and decayed plants painted by the time, divided by narrow streets with asphalt that looks almost white and by rails where the freight trains move slowly. They seem to belong to another time.

These contradictory aspects have always fascinated me. The life that is present in every element of nature and the absence of life that we find in all that man builds. I especially love to see places where there is the presence of both elements, where the nature takes over on the abandoned buildings and feel like they are slowly enveloped and swallowed up by life.

All this is total inspiration for me!

I am also very inspired by the space, by the extraterrestrial and by the mystery that hides it.
Naively, I often imagine that there are other planets with a nature similar to ours (especially big and strange forests), but that it could appear dark and menacing to us.

My selection of electronic music is dictated by these factors. My research is focused on songs that make me mentally travel and that make me imagine to the natural elements, terrestrial or not.

In this mix I tried to bring my imagination to the reality. An atmospheric journey that starts slowly with ambient/drone music and fades into a frantic techno gear. It evolves constantly, scoring several moments of wonder, suspense, fear, peace, frenzy and mystery. I hope that listeners can feel strong emotions, equal or different from mine.

I warmly thank all the artists who composed the music contained here for giving me the opportunity to travel and to express myself through it. And a BIG thank you to Brian for giving me this space and the opportunity to share my work with other enthusiasts.

Alessio.

alan backdrop - anecumene [anatomy 09] (stream and download via official.fm)

no tracklist, but we can tell you that aside from a few ambient tracks (sadly never pressed to vinyl), alessio made this mix almost entirely from vinyl records... at three hours, and in mp3@256, this mix weighs in at 340mb, but those who are patient should find that it is definitely worth the download.

to learn more about alan backdrop, go to his homepage. and for more mixes, as well as his own ambient creations, check out his official.fm page. thanks to alessio for sharing his story about where he comes from as an artist, and big thanks to him for creating this truly excellent set of long, tripping techno. this helps commemorate a year of mixes here at smilecoldanatomy, so please... enjoy!

news! mixes!

2011-03-11T23:52:00.013-06:00

time for some news and updates about things that matter in the world of smilecoldanatomy...

ANATOMY MIXERS IN ACTION i'll try to post regular updates on events and things happening with the awesome folks who have contributed mixes to this site. i had already mentioned the upcoming mini-techno-market aconito/prologue party with nax_acid and giorgio gigli coming up in a few weeks, but before then - actually tonight/saturday march 12th - giorgio teams up with obtane for a zooloft showcase in rome, more info here... you can maybe consider it a celebration of their brand new record. and later this month, claudio prc plays a local basstation party also featuring ellen allien; listen to a mix claudio made for the occasion here. meanwhile, the forward strategy group guys just put out another perc trax record, and last but certainly not least, nax_acid preps a collaborative record with ink, obtane, and claudio prc, to be released next month.

SHACKLETON AND BEN KLOCK INTERVIEWS experimental/whatever producer shackleton talks with the quietus about, among other things, his live set and his focus on quality control. meanwhile, little white earbuds interviews ben klock about how he came to berghain and ostgut, and gets his perspective on the culture behind the music.

NEW ALBUMS FROM BRUNO PRONSATO AND KATE SIMKO exciting news on the house-ier side of this writer's tastes. bruno prepares lovers do, a work that has been in progress for two years, and one that will be released in late may, on the eve of movement weekend in detroit... check out this ibiza voice interview with bruno and his girlfriend ninca leece; looks like a public lover album is in the works as well. meanwhile, chicago's own kate simko gets ready for lights out, her first solo full-length album, which will be released in may as well. tonight in the windy city, she'll celebrate the release of the album's first single at darkroom; details here.

... and, yes, finally, more recommended mixes!

if you are in the mood for some deadly techno funk, try out this set, tcdp026 by dead sound. i guess this dude does stuff for perc trax... makes sense: this strays nicely away from strict 4/4 to incorporate tons of punchy, syncopated beats. more info here.

hey! some fresh dasha rush jams: lada, a live collaboration with lars hemmerling. lean, stripped-back percussion, swirling melodies, and barely-controlled blasts of noise, with a raw improvised feel... hell yeah!

if you're still reeling from obtane's terrordrome mix, try out another fresh mix (direct download), this time one full of rhythmic techno (and a few record skips, unfortunately). an italian interview (which i can't understand) accompanies this mix for the soundwall music website. on the italian tip, check out another mix of deep dark stuff from claudio prc, fwd0121.

and a new mix from prologue boss tom bonaty for the smoke machine podcast. it weaves together a bunch of new stuff, including some new deep tracks from prologue, and brings it all home with plastikman's 'marbles'... very nice.

finally, check out this mix by dj kiddo - frozen molecules (winter 2010). my friend and local chicago dj has great taste in techno sounds, so give it a try!

i think that's all for now. oh also: i'll be making my debut on the friendly funktion ones of smartbar in may (the weekend before movement in detroit), doing a 90-minute opening set in front of my fellow local qbot as we support berghain dj's ben klock and ryan elliott! check out the RA event page here, and why not become a fan of my dj page as well. also, i should be dj'ing on qbot's wluw radio spot the monday of that week.

okay, have a good weekend, and come back in one piece in a few days when i'll be sharing the next anatomy mix!

obtane - terrordrome [anatomy 08]

2011-03-03T17:14:00.015-06:00

the 8th anatomy comes from the other half of the zooloft duo, obtane!

i discovered obtane's music through a prologue sampler EP in 2009 (discussed here)... his dark, noisy, intense techno has been released via synewave, sonic groove, and stroboscopic artefacts, but his recent focus has been his own zooloft imprint, which he operates with giorgio gigli. obtane's dcast mix from a few months ago is an excellent story of rhythms from techno's future, but like giorgio's anatomy mix, obtane has even more abstract ideas in mind for his mix here, which he has named terrordrome... but more on that later. first, some discussion:

Hello, Obtane! Tell us a bit about yourself. What musicians have made the biggest impact on you? What made you want to create your own music?
Hello Brian! I'm from Italy, I was raised in a little harbour city on the Ligurian Sea, that's the north-western part. Brian Eno, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream, for sure, made the biggest impact on me. Also, some things from Jean Michel Jarre (Equinoxe and Oxygene). Later I felt a huge influence from industrial bands like Throbbing Gristle and Clock DVA. Minor influences also from EBM bands like DAF and Liaisons Dangereuses. From the Italian scene, the only band that totally captured my attention were Goblin.

I first started listening and playing records when I was 14, and after 10 years (almost always at my home), I thought I learned something so I tried to build my own first track. The result wasn't really bad, at all.

You've described your music as 'cinematic' and 'sci-fi'... what are your favorite films? How have they inspired you as an artist?
Yes, I love sci-fi and horror movies. My favourite movies ever are Metropolis, Blade Runner, The Omega Man, Deep Red and The Omen (the original one from 1976). But I'm also a big fan of so-called violent cinema. My preferences here are for Kubrick and Abel Ferrara. Also big fan of fucking weird movies and Alejandro Jodorowsky (Santa Sangre) is the master, in my opinion. I also love Pasolini films (Uccellacci e Uccellini), Blow Up by Michelangelo Antonioni...

When you are in the mood for non-electronic music, what do you listen to?
I generally listen to late 1970 disco, 80's funky, oldschool electro. As you see my preferences are still in the electronic side. I usually need synths, haha... Also, classical music, Schonberg and Stravinsky, and some Italian experimental music like Luigi Nono.

Tell me about Zooloft. How did it start, and where did that name come from? How is Zooloft different from the other labels you have produced for?
The name Zooloft is derived from the antidepressive Zoloft and the child isn't random since children have the most humour and the best mood. Zooloft initially started as a platform for my productions. After meeting Giorgio Gigli, I wanted him in my label as half-part. We totally changed the Zooloft design and concept to make something unique. Everything is done with precision and passion, every release that comes out is like a piece of heart from Giorgio Gigli and Obtane. Zooloft has a romantic but dystopian philosophy and it's focused on the true underground spirit of techno music. Every record tells a story and comes with a special packaging. This union between design and music is the main engine of Zooloft. Our policy could be: quality, not quantity. And here the choice is doing limited edition vinyls.

Aside from your collaborators, do you have a specific philosophy of music?
What captures my attention is dark sounds, tight, mechanical rhythms, and dystopian ideas. As I have said before, I'm very inspired by artists like Surgeon, Regis, Adam X, Function and Marcel Dettmann. I like the industrial vein in techno music and, for sure, one of my favourite synthesis is FM.

Every track of mine is constructed thinking of visions, scenarios. I can't imagine my music without a vision. When I do a track I think what I want to explain first, not the opposite. A concept, an idea behind it. Like a short movie, every sound is like a frame.

Some of your fellow Italian producers have also contributed mixes for smilecoldanatomy, and many of you have collaborated together somehow. Do you sense a unified approach to these sounds coming from the Italian underground?
Yes, definitely. I like this breed of new Italian artists and that's why I'm still in Italy. I could move outside my nation but I wanna see what will happen first. Maybe something very important is moving around... Apart from the collaboration with Giorgio Gigli, I recently did a track with Claudio PRC for Aconito Records. He's very talented and I was really satisfied of the result. I'd like to produce some tracks also with Dino Sabatini in future, his musical tastes are very close to mine.

If you had to choose your favorite records or pieces of music, what would they be, and why?
I like to play long tracks so my choices go to 2-tracker EP's. A perfect track for myself would be like Face of Smoke by Peter Van Hoesen: it's solid, powerful, dark and vengeful.
Every track I select tends to be 'sinister'. As sentimental and emotional favorites, I can tell the 154 album on Delsin. It's very touching, a true masterpiece. As tearjerkers I also have to mention the Forever Delayed album on Islands & Islets. Then the Philip Jeck album An Ark For The Listener.

Zooloft's output has been primarily through vinyl, but digital versions have been released when the records sell out... and I always like to ask artists: what do you think of the vinyl/digital debate?
I think releasing the digital version when the vinyl sells out is a good idea. I'm not a big fan of digital but it can be good if you make your digital music available on good shops like Boomkat. Of course, if you spread your releases on every mp3 store of the planet... Your music get confused, there's no target anymore, your music is sold together house and dance music: Beatport is a total mess. Too many labels, too many genres, like a record supermarket. That's a real catastrophe.

Are there any producers or labels that you are watching closely in 2011? What is the last record or track you bought?
I'm ever more into Sandwell District, I love what they're doing. But there's no a label I'm following with precise interest. I like what I hear at the moment. Some Ostgut records are great and some not for me. I bought the Einoma EP on Shipwrec, then an acidic techno vinyl named Titrology, then The Great Traitor (with Monolake remix) and the latest Oscar Mulero album.

What are you doing in 2011? I know you have a few releases coming up soon, would you like to elaborate on your plans for this year?
After the Obtane/Claudio PRC track on Aconito Records, I have a remix coming on Stroboscopic Artefacts, a track for a V.A. on a new Italian label, an Obtane/Giorgio Gigli EP on KRD Music, the new Sonic Groove EP coming in September, then I'll work on the Zooloft album with Giorgio. In the meantime, continuing with Zooloft releases. Then there will be a special collector item coming on Zooloft for Christmas 2011, but you have to be good ;)

Finally, tell us about Terrordrome.
I tried to take the thrilling perspective of some electronic tracks. I think the mood is very frightening and sinister. I was inspired by a Dario Argento movie where the character is getting stalked by a strange man. I think the music speaks itself. I alternated dark soundscapes with more rhythmic tracks. Some moments are also very noisy. Other moments are more romantic...

okay! and now, for a 100-minute walk through obtane's dark, dramatic, musical cityscape...

obtane - terrordrome [anatomy 08] (stream and download via official.fm)

thanks again to obtane. i really appreciate the thought that went into this set of sounds, as well as his enthusiasm in sharing his story. to keep track of the man, check out his RA page, as well as the zooloft homepage and blog. the next zooloft record comes out in a few weeks, followed by his collaboration on aconito, to be released next month; i highly recommend checking out both. until then, enjoy this mix... terrordrome!

news!

2011-02-26T13:44:00.006-06:00

hope everyone has been enjoying the fresh mixes by suspect and patrick walker. now here's some things i deem news-worthy...

DETROIT'S MOVEMENT FESTIVAL: INITIAL LINEUP ANNOUNCED the excitement for another memorial day weekend in detroit grows with paxahau's initial lineup announcement, here at their official facebook page. smilecoldanatomy's quick picks are cio d'or, echospace, and marcel dettmann... can't wait to see what other goodies are in store for that weekend!

LISTEN TO LUCY'S NEW ALBUM FOR FREE the stroboscopic artefacts head has offered a free stream of his debut album, wordplay for working bees, via fact magazine. check it out here! a very nice EP featuring remixes for the album has also been put out in anticipation of the LP release next week, march 4.

NAX_ACID AND GIORGIO GIGLI PLAY LONDON the two anatomy mixers will join forces with prologue records boss tom bonaty (making his london debut) and aconito artist bioni samp for a night billed as a showcase for prologue and aconito... friday, march 25! a group of audio-visual artists should make this party especially interesting. if you're in london late next month, you gotta go! check out the RA event page for more info.

AMON TOBIN'S NEW ALBUM TO BE RELEASED IN MAY finally! it's been four years since foley room's release, and now it's just an agonizing three months until ISAM drops, may 23. the art involved in the album project will be on display in london following its release. go to RA and amon tobin's website for further details.

that's all for now... more news and new music soon!

anatomy 07 - patrick walker

2011-02-22T23:51:00.010-06:00

a new mix, so soon? you're damn right: the seventh anatomy comes from the UK techno purveyor, patrick walker!

patrick is part of forward strategy group, together with smear (who previously contributed a mix for this site); he also summons more experimental sounds through his (i)sodyne project. compared to smear's set of slow-moving chaos, patrick has made something a bit... faster. but more on that later. first, an interview, where patrick was kind enough to provide some words to introduce himself and his music. read on:

So, Patrick. How did you get 'into' electronic music? What musicians have made the biggest impact on you, as a listener and as a producer?
An interest in Science Fiction and the Esoteric is probably why I got into electronic music. I think I'm equally as influenced by the writing of Frank Herbert, the artwork of HR Giger or Max Ernst and the philosophy of people like Gurdjieff as I am by musicians like James Bernard, Jeff Mills, Fluxion, Steve Bicknell and Autechre.

Tell me about the Forward Strategy Group 'corporate family'... How did you first meet Smear, and what made you two decide to create a label and put out your own vinyl?
I met Smear through listening to his music online, I got in touch with him and we've been making music together in one form or another ever since. I'm not 100% sure we had even met in person before we put our first record out, we are both quite anti-social and elusive creatures.

As to why we started a label, sometimes I say as a joke "we took techno - because you didn't want it" people can make of that what they will...

Another individual project of yours is (i)sodyne. Can you tell me about that?
(i)sodyne or isodyne is closer to the stuff I used to make when I originally began making electronic music and in general, it represents my more experimental and reflective side.

I always like to ask, especially for artists involved in multiple projects: do you have a philosophy of music?
My most basic principal with music is that no art is higher than creation. If I'm lucky, I might be able to use my music to convey certain aspects or feelings evoked by the wonderful gift of a seemingly endless universe, the possibility to traverse it and the mind to try and comprehend it, but my efforts will always pale into insignificance when compared to the natural wonders we enjoy every day.

If you had to choose your favourite records or pieces of music, what would they be, and why? Do you have any favourite and/or new producers that you're watching now?
Some of my favourite pieces of music would be :

Bitcrush : 'Epilogue in Waves'
Epic shoegaze / droning guitar stuff of the type Ride, Swervedriver or Chapterhouse would be proud of.

Brian Eno : 'Prophesy Theme' (from the Dune Soundtrack)
Visceral, cinematic and timeless.

Murcof : 'Camino'.
Not many electronic artists can truly get under the skin emotionally, but Murcof does it consistently.

Rhythm & Sound : 'Mango Drive'.
Deeper than the Pacific, this is simply amazing.

James Bernard : 'Mars Rain'.
This is from an album on Rising High called 'atmospherics' which is one of my all time favourite ambient albums.

Burial : 'Fostercare'.
Haunting, melancholic, a bit depressing really, but an example of how it is possible to convey a full range of complex emotions through electronic music.

Steve Bicknell : 'Inchoate Form'
There's not much I can say about this, you either like it or you don't, it's obtuse, stripped down to the bare bones and to me; it is hard techno in it's purest form.

As far as producers or artists I have my eye on at the moment, I could fill a page and don't want to bore your readers, I update my charts on Resident Advisor each month and we try to do the same as FSG, if people want to know what we're into right now as regards techno and electronic, that or one of our DJ mixes is the place to look.

What are you and Forward Strategy Group up to next?
We have 2 new EPs on the way as Smear / Walker and FSG on Dynamic Reflection and Perc Trax respectively. These will be followed by a remix for Donor on Prosthetic Pressings alongside Silent Servant and also a remix of Dave Miller & Paul Boex on Labrynth alongside Pacou. I'm also currently working on a 'Monad' release for Stroboscopic Artefacts with Inigo Kennedy and a solo EP as isodyne on TVO's new label; broken 20.

Finally we're going to start working on an album in the next couple of months for Perc Trax, this will hopefully be followed up by some more releases on our own label which has been put aside due to demands for remixes, releases, live shows and podcasts.

Would you like to share some thoughts on this mix?
Hopefully people will like it! I guess it's perhaps interesting to note that it's 100% live mix with no tweaks or edits, and it was created using Ableton live with 2 control interfaces, one to control the individual channels and one to control effects and overall EQ. The tracks are all in wav format, either sent by the labels / artists in question or digitised from vinyl to 48k 24bit resolution.

... and now, we move to the audio portion of our presentation! like smear, patrick shows how it's gotta be done when you do it digital: dense and layered, driving and rhythmic, and as he told me, "it goes a bit heavy by the end". in a larger context, i think it's a nice chapter in this mix series, picking up the pace after suspect's mix and leading into darker places...

anatomy 07 - patrick walker (stream and download via official.fm)

plastikman & thomas brinkmann // concept 1_07 // m_nus
tvo // bc7 memory // broken 20
skirt // ikaros // horizontal ground
ness // diagnostic sequence // prologue
wireman // distance // ism
horizontal ground 07 // mas // horizontal ground
jolka // five // silent servant mix // sect
marcel dettmann // plain // beatstreet
sandwell district // feed forward test session // a // sandwell district
sandwell district // immolare (main) // sandwell district
mike dehnert // md // fachwerk
truss // obasten // perc trax
paraphonic // vitalic // wireman mix // load and clear
martyn // vancouver // 3024
ness // diagnostic function // prologue
mike parker // subterenean liquid // prologue
claudio prc & svart 1 // black moon part 2 // mono
rob alcock // traces // mike parker mix // geophone
milton bradley // derealization // do not resist the beat
marcel dettmann // corebox // mdr
donato dozzy & giorgio gigli // real love // wagon repair
reality or nothing // silent servant mix // rsb
pacou // modular // cache
acrid abeyance // dynamic twin // remix // important
the subjective // tremmor // rotation
counterpart // decoded // warm up recordings
jeff mills // it went westward
hu // untitled // surface
sebastian kramer // arts // steve bicknell remix // content

for more information, head to patrick walker's RA page, and his isodyne soundcloud ... then check out forward strategy group's RA page and facebook page. thanks again to patrick for joining in the fun here. like all the previous artists, it's been a pleasure to talk with him, and it's easy to sense his enthusiasm for the music. enjoy!

suspect - traveling through without [anatomy 06]

2011-02-13T23:15:00.011-06:00

let's bring in the new year (albeit a bit late) in style, with a lush, atmospheric live set from berlin-based man of mystery, suspect!

(click on photo to enhance)

suspect has been around for a while. i first discovered his music through a release on dasha rush's fullpanda label, and later learned about his earlier dark network project. anyway, suspect was kind enough to write an essay about himself and his music, so get informed before checking out the mix at the bottom of the page:

Brian asked me to do a little rant about what got me into music and my interests. I don't like overdone bio's or cold anonymity so I hope this small rant is interesting to some of you :)

When I was 15 I was a computer hacker and started to make music using Octamed and Impulse Tracker. I made my own cheap Digital Analogue Convertor with serial port as I couldn’t afford to have a proper soundcard. There was no internet (as we know it now) and at the time music, data and codes were swapped via Bulletin Board dialup sites or private government run networks. These were also seminal days for Techno. With other collaborators we ran free open air parties in eerie pine forests - forests not meant to be there. This was Australia.

I moved onto analogue studio setups and shortly after relocated to US later in the 90s where I was influenced more by the swing hat sounds and lighter chord/melody arrangements of Chicago/Detroit than the (predominantly) Dutch and German Techno I had been listening to before.

I have been living in Berlin for a number of years now. Times have changed so much. Techno is on the radio, is a massive industry and along with it comes politics. I don’t have much time for politics or exclusive relationships with venues, labels, promoters or boys clubs. What keeps music fresh for me is openness. I am blessed to have a wonderful music community around me in Berlin and connections in many of the cities I go to and this supports and inspires me as I continue to express and connect.

Last year I released a triple vinyl album on Thug Records which has had a John Tejada remix out, and Tevo Howard remixes out sometime this month. In a month or two will be a Creepy Autograph (Jimmy Edgar) and Suspect split 12”. We had other ‘bigger’ artists on the remix shortlist but decided to go with people we respect as individuals and were good people to deal with instead of people who were not on the same wavelength. All these releases are vinyl only. The record label, Thug Records, has been super supportive of the creative aspects of these projects.

This mix is comprised of tracks that are new and up to 10 years old. I played this mix live in Berlin - last set - I knew I was going to use it for smilecoldanatomy so I took the opportunity to make it a deep, atmospheric techno mix for lounge room travel. I have mastered it a little bit because the sound system was a bit messy. Probably I was too.

Thanks to Brian for the spot. Enjoy.

Timothy Sage
Suspect

Blog / info - http://suspect808.tumblr.com - current info on events and releases
Legacy site 1995 -2005 - http://www.suspectsystems.com - in French, Spanish, German, English, Russian
Soundcloud - http://www.soundcloud.com/suspect - excerpts from releases and unreleased goodies
Twitter - http://twitter.com/suspect

suspect - traveling through without [anatomy 06] (stream and download via official.fm)

TRAVELING THROUGH WITHOUT (love your head)
Track list::
00:00:: partsofus - (cc) [melbourne- 2001]
04:32:: forwhat? - on the way EP, fullpanda records [russia/berlin - 2009]
08:06:: gran - (cc) [melbourne2000]
14:20:: 38000 feet high - passport EP, platinum page [made in an aeroplane -2007]
19:00:: racetobass - (cc) [berlin 2009]
21:01:: coast - traveller EP [paris 2006]
25:21:: sky_lounge - passport EP, platinum page [bahrain, 2006]
31:29:: anila [london2005] 34:36 :: stretched - unfinished business (album), thug records [berlin 2008]
40:02:: shditch - (cc) [london2007]
44:02:: australwerks - passport EP, platinum page [sydney, 2008]
49:10:: bricklay - (cc) [berlin 2006]
52:16:: obedient - soundtrack for 'obedient' war documentary by joseph ramirez [london2007]
62:14:: fin--->
creative commons trax marked with (cc)

thanks again to suspect for his contribution. it took us a while to put everything together to share this, but i think it was worth the wait. i have planned some fairly abstract mixes on the way for smilecoldanatomy in 2011, but i think this is a classy way to start things off: deep and dynamic, but never too intense... "lounge room travel", indeed. enjoy!

february chart!

2011-02-09T00:59:00.009-06:00

here's some music i've been enjoying lately. mostly new stuff as usual, including a very special upcoming collaboration on aconito...

i promise to have a new anatomy mix up very, very soon; the mixer is not on this chart, for the sake of mystery, but i've got a handful of mixes to share soon, and anatomy 06 should be a classy start to things here in 2011. anyway, until then, check it:

1. claudio prc|svart1 - black moon part 1 & 2 | mono records
2. giorgio gigli - skulking in the shadow ep | zooloft
3. tin man - nonneo | absurd recordings
4. skirt - in the meadow under the stars | horizontal ground
5. jeff mills - what was it | something in the sky
6. dasha rush - 64 dreams | hunger to create
7. mike parker - subterranean liquid | prologue
8. justin berkovi - backshredding (forward strategy group remix) | perc trax
9. lucy - tof (tommy four seven remix) | stroboscopic artefacts
10. achromorphe ep | aconito

star dimmer

2011-01-26T16:07:00.018-06:00

new mix by yours truly...i wanted to create a sensual situation that moves through dark places and into a blissful, cozy warmth... at least, i hope these emotions shine through. it was spontaneously assembled in one take; overall it's more raw and dynamic than my previous mix (with a few rough blends), but i think there's an interesting sort of tension and depth because of it, balanced nicely with the dust and pops of the vinyl. something for bedtime, something for lovers...

(stream and download via official.fm)

cv313 - subtraktive | echospace
dimi angelis|jeroen search - nausea | figure spc
rossella - logistic intelligence | elettronica romana ltd
marcel dettmann - drawing | ostgut ton
giorgio gigli|obtane - psychological scene of the imagination | zooloft
milton bradley - uncontrollable desire | do not resist the beat
silent servant - regis edit | sandwell district
hironori takahashi - outgass (nax_acid edit) | aconito
dino sabatini - my second life | prologue
smallpeople - before leaving for paris | laid

49 minutes long, and created, (like all my mixes) with vinyl records in one take. i used shure whitelabel cartridges, technics 1200mk2's, and a vestax pc-175 mixer interfaced with audacity 1.3beta; then i applied a simple boost to the levels (it's still a bit quiet, oh well), and converted to mp3@320.

thanks as always to those who understand and inspire! extra hugs to elly and andrew, and my music friends around the world... enjoy!

this saturday at smartbar: DONATO DOZZY

2011-01-13T11:29:00.007-06:00

happy 2011! and what better way to start a new year of dance music in chicago than a collaborative, chicago/new york city effort bringing italian techno legend donato dozzy and some choice national talent to smartbar this weekend!

donato dozzy has been a leading figure in italy's deep, hypnotic techno scene for most of the past decade, with an impressive, collaboration-heavy production discography as well as a beloved selection of studio dj mixes, such as this 'anonymous' set of beats for mnml ssgs, or this ambient set for modyfier. one major highlight of 2010 for dozzy was his limited-edition cassette/vinyl album, K, a cozy journey through warm downtempo and ambient techno soundscapes; 2011 sees dozzy collaborate once more with fellow abstract-techno enthusiast mike parker for a release on prologue records.

the prelude to saturday's chicago shenanigans took place in new york city last week, where dozzy headlined the 8-year anniversary of the city's acclaimed bunker party series, from beyond booking. beyond/bunker are one of the sponsors of this chicago event, with founder spinoza dj'ing alongside fellow resident eric cloutier (another prolific podcast mixer, including two mnml ssgs mixes) to warm things up before dozzy's set; preview the 2 bunker dj's in action on the lwe podcast here. starting off the night is another figure in the collaborative effort, jeff derringer, who heads the chicago/nyc promotion concept oktave (which hosted silent servant and dvs1 at smartbar late last year) and recently signed on to UK techno label perc trax.

with dozzy's penchant for long tripping grooves and with all dj's having a preference for forward-thinking sounds, jeff says to expect a night of deep, experimental dance music. personally, i think this is one of the better bookings i've seen in the city in some time. anybody in chicago looking for something fun and new to do on saturday night: go to smartbar!

smilecoldanatomy's favorite 9 of '10

2010-12-31T17:33:00.007-06:00

figured it was about time to put together some sort of list commemorating some of my favorite pieces of music from 2010. of course, this list will stick to the style that i feel myself aligning with lately (as readers of this blog may note), and so it shouldn't be considered any sort of ranked or 'best of' survey regarding the overall realm of electronic dance music, and it's definitely not reflective of my favorite full-length albums for the year. it is simply a look into the specific sorts of things i've been (really!) enjoying this past year. i'm sure there's some stuff that i'm missing, but as the moment is fleeting, so is my memory. coincidentally, i've chosen nine tracks to discuss, which is a nice enough number to deal with. so here it goes... smilecoldanatomy's favorite 9 of '10.

giorgio gigli|obtane|nax_acid - the child that was watching the moon | zooloft/aconito ltd
it would be hard to choose favorites among the excellent (if small) output of these producers in 2010: notable tracks include the sprawling cerebral architecture of nax_acid's 'dgt is shit' edit, and the zooloft duo's 'psychological scene of the imagination', with its thundering chords and ethereal minor-key swooning. but combined, the trio put together what was to me a defining moment for deep techno in 2010 with the a-side (well, both sides) of this record, environmental radiation dose on the moon. pitched barely above 120bpm, anchored by a softly-padded 4/4 pulse and a never-ending droning bass riff, layered with abrasive sustained tones, and punctuated with huge transitory splashes, this was a favorite when i first got my hands on it, and it's still a ton of fun to play with and listen to.

marcel dettmann - drawing | ostgut ton
it took a while for me to succumb to the charm's of marcel dettmann's debut long-player, and while i'm still unsure of the album as a whole, there are a bunch of great tracks (and i find the cover art to be perfectly appropriate). 'drawing' is probably my favorite from the album, a soundscape of softly-clashing chords with nothing underneath but a lone bass kick. hard to describe, but considering dettmann's new material like this, as well as his mind-bending remix on cyclical tracks, it seems like the producer is starting to apply a careful coat of cosmic radiation to his raw, sand-blasted textures... which is a good thing.

perc - BCG (milton bradley beyond the silence mix) | perc trax
having only really dived into perc(trax)'s sound this past year, i think this milton bradley remix is my top pick from the label in 2010, even if it does diverge a bit from their usually raw, harder aesthetic. on a record alongside perc's original track, forward strategy group's remix, and another milton bradley remix - all of which are more physically intense - this interpretation drops the bpm's and smooths out the original's shotgun-blasts of noise. all that's left underneath the haze is a slow clickety beat and a noir-ish dub stab, instantly recognizable as milton bradley's sound. the shadowy producer has had a low-key but prolific year: an excellent EP on prologue, more stuff from his own do not resist the beat! imprint, and a dramatic new project, the end of all existence, on top of a handful of remix duties. bradley seems intent on getting deeper and darker in 2011. i can't wait to see what's next.

silent servant - regis edit | sandwell district
adding emotional depth to their distinctly clinical techno through a series of edits has been a great move on the part of the sandwell district guys. this track sums up all that is right with this sound in about 5 gorgeous minutes: the trademark sandwell sonar ping and punchy percussion is nothing new, but then a slowly evolving progression of chords fades into the mix, adding delicate beauty to an otherwise uncompromising sound. the label/collective's new album set finally dropped, i can't wait to hear it and see where these guys go next year.

shackleton - man on a string part 1 & 2 | woe to the septic heart!
gone are the (relatively) accessible, dj-friendly tracks from skull disco and perlon, in are the new, and even more insane sounds of woe to the septic heart! it's not just a good thing, it's a GREAT thing, that shackleton seems to stay far away from the beaten, bloody corpse that is 2010's dubstep/pop genre in order to summon entirely new and quite unconventional visions of sound. no more words... just go listen.

claudio prc - last corner | prologue
another anatomy mixer, with a digital track that should not be forgotten in favor of his vinyl-ized efforts with the gods planet and prologue. the last track on his digital EP vacuum substance, claudio injects a bit of steppy syncopation (it's still my blog, i can invent words) into a rolling arrangement of bass growls, low hums, and a bunch of darkly-shining high frequencies. now i just wish i had it on vinyl...

modern heads - 1969 | stroboscopic artefacts
another digital release that i wish was put to wax... it's been a breakout year for stroboscopic artefacts, with a patient pace of vinyl releases as well as a relative storm of digital works that tended towards futuristic depth and experimentation. but this track on the gamma sampler is, well, what its name implies: it's all about those retro keyboard riffs, with heaping amounts of atmospheric pressure. 8 minutes of instantly-recognizable boogie that sound like it would kill most any proper dance floor. too bad i don't hear this one out more often.

obtane|giorgio gigli - the different perception of silence (smear remix) | zooloft
one of my favorite remixes of the year, and worthy of a bit of discussion with smear to accompany his anatomy mix. you would be hard-pressed to find many similarities between the original version and this. smear kept the tempo low, but took that insistent bass drone and turned it into a fearsome beast covered in layers of sharp teeth... in other words, completely fucking mental.

john roberts - navy blue | dial
at this point you can perhaps see that 2010 wasn't a very house-y year for this writer. but my go-to label, dial records, has satisfied my needs with a consistent output of high-quality house. and hooray for the midwest-born john roberts! whose debut album glass eights has caught the hearts and minds of many around the world with its classy take on an aging yet classic house aesthetic. the album has a few really really good goodies, but the instant romance of the backwards piano in 'navy blue' is probably my favorite. later in the track, a quick, twisting synth flourish reminds us that even if the original ideas seem covered in years of dust, we are still here and now in 2010. but there's also the warm, low-key riffs of an acoustic bass... be still, my beating heart! this is shining, emotional, deep house at its most brilliant.

okay! i think that's it for now; check discogs and/or youtube and you should be able to find streaming audio for most of these picks.

i hope to have a new anatomy mix prepared to share soon in anticipation of a busier year here, and i hope you all have a safe new years celebration and a happy 2011!

giorgio gigli - room of secret memories [anatomy 05]

2010-12-17T10:05:00.016-06:00

i am really, really excited to share a very special set of sounds with you all, from a very interesting artist...

(click on photo to enhance)

giorgio gigli hails from rome, italy, and over the past few years he has developed a distinct style of deep, hypnotic, darkly romantic techno. more recently, he has been busy releasing his music through limited-edition vinyls alongside obtane on their label, zooloft records.

no interview for now, and no more explanation... about this set, giorgio only had this to say:
"shadows never sleep"

giorgio gigli - room of secret memories [anatomy 05] (stream and download at official.fm)

for more info about giorgio and zooloft, check out the zooloft blog. it's been a pleasure to get to know giorgio, and as the 5th contribution to this blog's mix series, i could not be more pleased. his unique, reflective selections are exactly the sort of things i've come to expect from these anatomy mixes; thanks again to each artist for contributing, and thanks to those out there reading and listening... enjoy!

news for yous

2010-11-17T17:31:00.007-06:00

hey all! i hope people have been enjoying smear's mix; thanks to the 150+ people who have downloaded. and if you're looking for more stuff from smear, check out this excellent set of deep, intense techno from him and patrick walker as forward strategy group. now onto some fresh news:

my review for hatikvah's synchronicity is up at bleep43. not exactly news because it's been a few weeks, but check it here if you want. my quick opinion: it's a solid deep-house album marred by an overload of usually-confusing lyrics. also check out a recent review (not by me) of john roberts' debut album glass eights at bleep43 here; see how that compares to a glowing review at RA, and more praise at test industries. personally, i think it's a very good album; i've been following john roberts since he put out his first record with dial, and i think the album is a warm, cozy realization of his sound.

fucked-up-bass-music producer shackleton is back in the news with the launch of his new label, woe to the septic heart. you can hear samples from the debut 12", man on a string part 1 & 2 here at juno. shackleton will also release a fabric live mix next month!

have you heard about ostgut ton's 5-year anniversary compilation, funf? it just released earlier this month in 2xCD and ... get ready... a limited edition 7xLP box set. anyway, every track on the compilation borrows sounds from a set of field recordings of the label's home-base, berghain/panorama bar. read this interview with emika, the UK producer charged with the recording duties.

remember dj sprinkles? s/he created midtown 120 blues, hailed by many as one of the best deep house albums of last year. now under his/her real name, terre thaemlitz, the trans-gender dj/producer has put together a whopping 8gb compilation of mp3-based sounds, titled soulnessless. quite the intellectual, and quite the atheist, the album comes from thaemlitz's "openly non-spiritual and anti-religious perspective" and ... as usual for the producer, it gets complicated, bringing up issues of faith, commercialism, and genre. get some quick info from RA or head to thaemlitz's label website, comatonse for the full read.

and in one final exciting chunk of news, check out this interview with luke slater, aka planetary assault systems, aka LB dub corp. the techno veteran discusses his different aliases, his approach to playing live, his work with ostgut ton... and also plans to release a new album in 2011!

okay, that's all for now. next up will be putting together a november chart and figuring out who is next up for an anatomy mix...

anatomy 04 - smear

2010-11-04T07:24:00.007-05:00

get your ears ready for a new set of twisted sounds for this blog's mix series... anatomy 04 comes from UK techno producer/dj smear!

i first learned about smear earlier this year through his excellent remix for giorgio gigli and obtane on their record, contextualized in monochrome. he is one half of forward strategy group, and also works on a few other projects, with the emphasis usually on aggressive, industrialized techno.

i approached smear to see if he'd be interested in a mix. as it happens, he was in the process of putting something new together and was happy to share it through smilecoldanatomy, as well as talk a bit about his music.

Who is Smear, and how did he discover electronic/dance music?
While growing up, this (http://www.mediafire.com/?kywzxdmnlic) was one of my favourite tapes. It had a big influence on my early Element Abuse releases. I went in and out of phases listening to techno, but i was mainly into noise, industrial and hardcore, that kind of thing. I was never keen on 'music', in fact there wasn't a band I liked until I was 18. Music to me has always been a means to arrange and present sounds rather than tell a story, and obviously being young I was attracted to more extreme, more immediately gratifying music.

What musicians have made the biggest impression on you? Are there any artists in particular who excite you right now?
Stella & Poka Michelson, Vromb, La Peste, Yb70 Records, and the "Harshkoc'h" guys are the main ones in terms of electronic music I guess. Archae & Grovskopa and British Murder Boys were responsible for me getting into producing techno. It seemed a natural step to take at the time as I was making music along the lines of BMB's Fist/Splinter EP. It had a sense of craft and attention to texture that I felt was quickly disappearing from the industrial/powernoise scene at that period. It was inspiring to hear just how much potential there was in techno, it was refreshing having spent several years working with styles of music where exploring potential was increasingly being frowned upon.

At the moment I love what Milton Bradley does, especially on his new label. Blackest Ever Black looks like it's going to be fantastic, but my favourite techno record this year is Friendship Connection's debut, I really hope those guys carry on with that project.

If you had to name your three most favorite records/songs/tracks, what would they be and why?
La Peste - Techniques Illégales De Juxtaposition Des Angles
Hiroaki Iizuka - Fr
Both of these for similar aesthetic reasons, both squelchy, propulsive and constantly evolving. The whole Iizuka EP is massively underrated in my opinion. It's also quite handy for techno sets that the La Peste record about 260bpm, but I only play it when I feel I can get away with it.

Integer - Integer
I've only worked up the courage to play this out fairly recently and went down surprisingly well. It's basically a never-ending loop of 808 rumble and noise, but it's very intense and effective, almost like a very violent Plastikman track.

What do you think of the never-ending debate between vinyl DJing and digital DJing?
It's not really important to me, I prefer playing vinyl but I've started to DJ digitally recently. They both have their pros and cons. I think some people look at digital DJing the wrong way. There are endless possibilities with what you can do with it, but many don't properly explore it, the options available can be crippling and ultimately constrictive. The limitations that come with vinyl are a good thing, they're there to be worked around.

Your remix on Zooloft is one of my favorite tracks of 2010; I think it is a delightfully aggressive counterpart to the droning, hypnotic original mix. How did you connect with Giorgio Gigli and Obtane?
Giorgio got in touch a few years ago with a demo for FSG. We don't take demos but we still get some, and his was by far the best we've ever received. His music is quite different to mine in a lot of ways so he seemed like someone worth working with. The 3 of us have talked about working on a record together but I've not been able to do much recently. Hopefully we'll do something soon.

You employ a few different aliases, and operate your own record labels as one half of Forward Strategy Group as well as Retail & Leisure. Are there specific motives in mind for each project? Do you have a general philosophy of music?
Retail & Leisure is a bit of an experiment in composition where I set up systems for elements of tracks to largely compose themselves, either randomly or algorithmically. If the system produces something worthwhile, I'll use it as the basis of a track. If not, I clear it all and start again. There's an element of chance to it, but I always have an idea of what a Retail & Leisure track should sound like, it's not total chaos.

FSG is more than just a cross between myself and Patrick, it's a seperate entity that we spent some time developing before we started properly making tracks. We have definite idea of what we're doing, so we trust each other to often not work together too closely. Sometimes 90% of a track will be the work of one of us. We have some different ideas as to what FSG means to us, and we use that to our advantage, it allows us both to entertain ideas we wouldn't on our own.

There's also Adrian Ross, the new third member who will be contributing more in future. He joined us at the last minute to do a live set a few months ago. We gave him an MS-2000 at 6pm, he had an hour to learn how to use it. It turned out great. We always like to take risks with live shows, and quite often we'll try to surprise and shock each other. I can be quite mischeivous with some of the things I spring on Patrick. It's good, it keeps things exciting.

What is next for Smear?
It's been a bit of a slow year for me while I've been settling down in a new city, but we have an FSG remix for Dave Miller & Paul Boex should be out soon. As well as that we've got some new stuff on Perc Trax over the coming months. Patrick and I are DJing at Perc's new night in London this month, I'll still be playing regularly at Detatched in Leeds, and any other place I'm wanted.

Would you like to share any thoughts on your mix?
It's quite gloomy and a little bit strange at times. There's some stripped down versions of unreleased FSG tracks in there and a few loops and live edits. With Ableton there's scope to play around with proportion and dynamics more than you could with 2 turntables, so you can be more nuanced with how you present the music.

... now, time for the mix! all i really ask out of those who i contact for mixes is whatever it is, please just make it deep and intense... and this is exactly what smear has done. check the tracklist, or ignore it and approach this with a completely open mind. at 70 minutes in length, smear really took advantage of digital technology to create a dense, challenging work.

anatomy 04 - smear (stream and download via official.fm)

Ammo - Kaleinoiscope Part 5 - Falling Elevators
Substance P - Ingrates - Killout
Cio D'or - Organza (Milton Bradley Remix) - Prologue
The End Of All Existence - A2 - The End Of All Existence
Raime - Retread - Blackest Ever Black
Psi Performer - 1972 - K2 O
Senking - Wind Up - Raster Noton
Zyrtax vs Sudden Infant - Aloka04 - Dead Mind
Go Hiyama - Mathematical Accuracy (Norman Nodge Remix) - Perc Trax
Invisible Men - Winter Night - Livejam
Giorgio Gigli - Spazio - Prologue
Clock DVA - Bitstream (Hafler Trio Remix) - Contempo
Benny Liberg & Johannes Wikstrom - Untitled - Maracas
Adrian Ross - Untitled - Unreleased
Pub - Screw - Ampoule
Planetary Assault Systems - Surface Noise - Peacefrog
T++ - Audio1995#8 - Apple Pips
Ritchie Hawtin - Concept 12.a - Concept
Ben Gibson - Possess - Perc Trax
Charlton - Slow Down - M_Rec
Forward Strategy Group - Tokyo Stress Test (Smear Dub) - Unreleased
Miller & Boex - Relevance (Forward Strategy Group Remix) - Labrynth
Tevatron - Dark Energy - Re-Load
Donato Dozzy & Cio D'or - Limone - Time To Express
Modern Heads - Mooger - Prologue
Nuel - Untitled - Aquaplano
Nommo Ogo - Geletec
Autoerotic - 06 - Unreleased
TV Victor - 130509 - NSP
Donato Dozzy & DJ Say - Your Eyes - Attic
Shackleton - Let Go - Perlon
Inigo Kennedy & Isodyne - Lagrange Point - Stroboscopic Artefacts
Mist - Through Tongue & Skin - Cosmic

check out smear's myspace, as well as forward strategy group's myspace, to learn more about his sounds. thanks again to smear for his excellent contribution to this blog's mix series. it was a pleasure to get to know him, and i all hope you enjoy this set as much as i do!

mid-week blues/news

2010-11-03T07:03:00.010-05:00

hello all! i've been busy doing some off-blog writing/reviewing, and also recruiting some more artists to contribute to the anatomy mix series here. more on that very soon but for now here's some quick news...

PARTY PICK OF THE WEEKEND: silent servant and dvs1 at smartbar friday night! chicago welcomes the debut of oktave, a promotion group originally from new york city that is now trying to expand and bring better techno things to the windy city. check out this mix by oktave man jeff derringer, who will help open the night along with karl meier... AND be sure to check out the new little white earbuds podcast featuring both silent servant and dvs1. looks like the two headliners will get 4 hours to tag-team at smartbar... should be tons of fun!

and if you can keep your shit together, saturday night sees some sexy slow-house sounds descend upon the city with an underground loft party with soul clap and art department. more info at the RA event page.

on to some quick music tips:
been really enjoying a few mnml ssg special mixes lately. check out the classy sounds of steffi, the harder techno stuff of patrick walker (forward strategy group), and the deep 'live' microhouse of kettenkarussell.

it's been dormant for a little while, but nax_acid's aconito records will be back in action later this month with the release of a new record, gaia's archetype, by hironori takahashi. the record features two original mixes by takahashi, 'serv' and 'outgass', along with an extremely atmospheric edit by nax. while the main aconito website is still under construction, get more info here. release date: monday 11.22!

another anatomy friend, claudio prc gets his first vinyl release under his own name ... on prologue records! the clear depths EP will feature claudio's 'clear depths' original mix, a 'variant', and remixes by silent servant and obtane. stream the tracks at prologue's soundcloud... super deep stuff here. the record hits stores next week, thursday 11.11!

that's all for now. stay tuned...

lookin' out

2010-10-20T18:43:00.008-05:00

heading out for some heartbeats later but for now, here's some news and music and music news. sorry, no pictures for now - i guess blogger is sick right now.

magda's new album drops friday, via richie hawtin's m-nus records. get on it!

on a related matter, check out this interview with richie's visual artist, ali demirel. if you've paid attention at all to what richie's been doing with his plastikman project, you've probably seen this guy's work.

take a look at this guy's artistic depiction of the berghain experience: partying at the world's most (in)famous dance music club. on a more objective note, check out this building profile of berghain. neat blog, that one.

on to some music: check out these two mixes by the forward strategy group guys. i've been really enjoying smear's jam, raw but deep.

back to berghain, check out this fwd mix by xhin, a live recording of him in action at the berlin club. (register first, to get the download link) intense, twisted, loopy... very nice stuff.

keepin' it deep, tune in to this all-vinyl mix of abstract, atmospheric sounds by alan backdrop. alan found me online after listening to my mix (posted below), and it seems like we have similar tastes when it comes to techno... go listen!

oh, and chicago locals, don't forget: stroboscopic artefacts label-head lucy will be in chicago this friday at the migrashun party in the lair in vision's basement. any self-respecting techno head in chicago needs to make it to this one!

lost in a hallucinated romance

2010-10-12T00:56:00.021-05:00

new mix by yours truly. for me, chicago winters bring out particularly introspective feelings in the face of frozen, snowy cityscapes. this year, as the weather begins to turn for the cold, i've decided to start a personal series of sounds to reflect my moods, as well as my growing record collection. i'm not sure how it will work, but the mixes will probably follow a loose theme, starting with 'lost in a hallucinated romance', a hazy story full of long hypnotic grooves and tense noises...

(stream and download via official.fm)

tin man – birds | white denim
monolake – swamp | monolake/imbalance computer music
perc – bcg (milton bradley beyond the silence mix) | perc trax
giorgio gigli|obtane|nax_acid – the child that was watching the moon | zooloft/aconito ZAltd
the gods planet – no nation | thegodsplanet
xhin – link | stroboscopic artefacts
ben klock – czeslawa | ostgut ton
obtane|giorgio gigli – the different perception of silence | zooloft
darko esser – onmacht | perc trax
nax_acid – synthetic nature | aconito
marcel dettmann – reticle | ostgut ton

i had been wanting to record a new mix for a few months, but only recently did all the pieces come together to get a good quality recording. this mix is made completely with vinyl records in one take, on two technics 1200mk2's with shure whitelabel needles and a vestax pc-175 mixer, connected to my computer via an external rca/usb interface box. audacity 1.3beta was used to capture the sounds and do some minor editing (mostly boosting the levels), before converting it to mp3@320.

thanks to everyone i know - people/friends/musicians - who are constant sources of inspiration. extra hugs to elly and andrew, as well as andrea, claudio, and giorgio, and all friends from around the world who don't mind a bit of darkness...

october chart!

2010-10-10T16:28:00.008-05:00

figured i'd keep any readers out there busy with some more stuff to stroke your chin at... so here's my top 10 tracks for october, in no particular order:

1. perc - BCG (milton bradley beyond the silence mix) | perc trax
2. giorgio gigli|obtane|nax_acid - the child that was watching the moon | zooloft/aconito LTD
3. the gods planet - no nation
4. marcel dettmann - drawing | ostgut ton
5. hironori takahashi - outgass (nax_acid edit) | aconito
6. giorgio gigli|obtane - the psychological scene of the imagination | zooloft
7. xhin - link | stroboscopic artefacts
8. monolake - ionized | monolake/imbalance computer music
9. darko esser - onmacht | perc trax
10. anders ilar - unfold | yard rec

one year!

2010-09-29T06:37:00.012-05:00

hey hey! looks like today is smilecoldanatomy's first birthday. oh, how the times have changed! well, not really... i do have a fancy new phone now, but that's about it. it's also been about 6 months since the birth of this blog's anatomy mix project. there's only been three mixes so far but i think each one is special in its own way, and there's definitely still more to come. stream and download the mixes at smilecoldanatomy.official.fm.

i've been late with my sonar chicago review and i'm really not sure if i'll get around to finishing it. i've had a lot to write about lately; i just finished a review of anders ilar's new album stories of old for bleep43. read it here! my quick final thoughts on the album: while i wasn't terribly impressed with it, i grew to admire ilar's warm sound design, especially on some of the more gorgeous tracks.

anyway, just a few notes this wednesday morning:
early warning, friday 10.22: migrashun will have lucy, the head of stroboscopic artefacts, return to chicago to play in the lair, the basement room of the vision megaclub. both adam and myself are very excited about what should be an intimate night of techno. if you haven't done it yet, read RA's label of the month spotlight for stroboscopic, as well as a sick mix by lucy (direct link), made entirely of tracks from the label's 'monad' digital series; he'll also be releasing a record on prologue soon as well. there's a lot going on that night but this is my priority... $6 presales - a steal! - are still available at the RA event page.

here's this excellent new ambient mix by black dog ... much respect to these guys for sharing their musical thoughts with the world, besides their excellent album from earlier this year.

and a lot of mixes have popped up lately that i'm about to jump on. no reviews yet, but i think/hope these will be good:
iori - modyfier process234 (soundcloud link)
sandwell district radio mix 2 (tracklist at where next?)
ancient methods - FACT mix 188

that's it for now. more mixes to come soon, including one by yours truly!

fresh jams

2010-09-15T22:31:00.010-05:00

hello! i'm still kickin'.... been busy as always. last weekend's inaugural sonar chicago festivities went pretty well (more on that later), and i am working on a review of anders ilar's new album for bleep43. so until my next essay, here's a bit of what i've been tuning to lately...

dasha rush live act, berghain berlin 2010 - dasha just put this up last week, a 1.5hour extract of a 2.5hour live set at berghain club in berlin earlier this year. this is deep and dirty, with dasha throwing down tons of nonstop hypnotic rhythms and noisy effects. if you want a good introduction to the sound of dasha rush and her fullpanda record label, i'd recommend this.

graphite north mix volume 5 - now, here is a mix series with potential. dj identities are kept hidden, but you can see the tracklists which all look intriguing. this one is an absolute banger: rough, hard, industrial, as the 'unseen selector' slowly tightens the noose and drops a twisted vocal track right smack-dab in the middle... check out the graphite north blog for more mixes. i think i found out about this a while ago but - my fault - got distracted elsewhere... now i'm definitely keeping my eye on this project.

clyde drexler september 2010 promo mix - made in anticipation of opening for a show on marcel dettman's australia tour (as well as a smashing debut here in chicago), clyde drexler throws down 50 minutes of slinky, slow-burning grooves. i really like how long the tracks blend together on this one, as well as the dirty ending. (EDIT: i am an idiot, and just realized that this is not dettmann, but clyde drexler, who provided dj support for dettmann at his tea party in australia)

go go go! expect my sonar review soon, as well as a new anatomy mix...

my tips for sonar chicago 2010

2010-09-08T23:57:00.007-05:00

it is upon us! for the first - and hopefully not the last - time, sonar, barcelona's premier international music and arts festival, will descend upon chicago with a set of free public events backed by a variety of after-party options. there's a lot to choose from, and i may not be aware of everything, and i may not be familiar with every artist involved. but for now, here's my thoughts about the upcoming weekend...

first off, check out the official sonar chicago page and get informed about the venues involved. click here for more information about millennium park. it is the shiny, silver-green jewel of chicago's downtown loop area, and the jay pritzker pavilion is, in this author's mind, the best outdoor venue in chicago. besides the sheer beauty of the place, entry is free; the park is surrounded by amazing views of the city; and visitors are usually allowed to bring alcohol (and, in fact, entire picnics) onto the pritzker's lawn which stretches behind the seating bowl and which features impressive acoustics. capacity is 10,000+.

in contrast, the friday and saturday events (also free) will be held in much smaller rooms in the chicago cultural center. the building is more than a hundred years old and is chock-full of artistic and architectural goodies, but the main event spaces for sonar - the preston bradley hall, and claudia cassidy theater - can only hold a few hundred people. it may be a good idea to arrive early. and don't forget: besides the music noted below, the cultural center will host sonar cinema, which will be playing experimental films both friday and saturday.

another important venue for the weekend will be smartbar, located under the metro (concert venue) near wrigley field on the north side. as always, thursday and friday will have 4am closing times, while saturday night will close at 5am. if you don't know much about smartbar, click here to find out. the club is the best in the city for providing good electronic dance music in an relaxed, inclusive environment, and its program for the weekend is stacked. now, on to the music...

.thursday
sonar in the pritzker pavilion, millennium park - what better way to start off a weekend of music than a night under the pritzker's arches, nestled against the city skyline? dutch dubstep maestro martyn will headline the festivities, and it should be interesting to see how the venue handles his bass-heavy dj set. i'm also looking forward to jimmy edgar; his recently released album xxx continues to push the young artist's erotic take on synth-heavy electro and glitch. he'll play a live set earlier in the evening. click here for set-times.

faltyDL at smartbar - the beginning of what should be an excellent trio of nights for smartbar... with a strong set of local support dj's (fun fact: dj warp oversees the city's public music program), the headline set goes to new york city's faltyDL, who has been producing some classy garage/2-step jams lately.

jimmy edgar at juicy wine co. - to those who are particularly turned on by jimmy edgar's set, he will also be playing an afterparty later that evening, just northwest of the downtown area. not sure if i'll make this one, but hey - it's free!

.friday:
sonar in the chicago cultural center - friday sees the festival move indoors to the elegant confines of the chicago cultural center. my pick for the day activities is nosaj thing's audio/visual live set. i don't know much about the visual side of things, but i know nosaj thing has been winning over fans lately with his melodic take on glitchy dance music. i understand oval's live set is worth catching as well... click here for set-times.

sonar club night at smartbar - this is a very eclectic lineup... lush electro and weird disco seem to be the main course before things turn more dubstep-y with cosmin TRG and appleblim. each artist gets an hour to do their thing before appleblim takes over at 2am to close the night. i'm most excited about appleblim's set; hailing from the UK, the dude has been crafting cut after cut of forward thinking dubstep. click here for the lineup and set-times. and don't forget: only $5 cover for smartbar all night!

.saturday:
sonar in the chicago cultural center - the last day of formal sonar activities, with one last healthy dose of experimental sounds. my pick for the day is definitely ben frost; i've grown quite fond of last year's album by the throat which showcases frost's unique take on dark, distorted aggression... and i'm expecting his live set to fill the cultural center with a dense cloud of noise. also, chicago's own benn jordan will oversee a performance under his flashbulb moniker, featuring the new millennium orchestra (more info here). and keeping with the hometown love, barcelona's own bRUNA and huan show off their stuff as well. and then there's la chambre des machines rounding out the bill that should leave you certifiably insane by the end of the evening. aaaand back to sonar's website for set-times.

marcel dettmann at smartbar - fuck yeah! after some initial skepticism, smilecoldanatomy has grown quite fond of the berliner's eponymous album debut... mostly because the individual tracks are simply fantastic dj tools. dettmann is known as a musician without compromise (surely seen in the rough, repetitious nature of his music), so it should be interesting to see what and how he plays at smartbar, but the club will no doubt be filled with techno all night long. after missing him in barcelona last year at sonar, and having him cancel his detroit appearance earlier this summer, i'm looking forward to seeing what dettmann will do. go back to smartbar.com if necessary.

secret son@r gallery featuring roman flugel - a very recent addition to the weekend's festivities sees edm-chameleon roman flugel headlining a loft party *somewhere* on the north side that should go into the wee hours of sunday morning. not quite familiar at all with the guy's work (i know. i suck, right?), but a squad of chicago dj's and what should be a relaxed afterparty setting sounds like a good idea if you need to clear your head a bit after smartbar. check out the RA event page here.

.sunday:
hi five mobilee! at green dolphin - after a long weekend of all sorts of electronic and experimental sounds, wind down at green dolphin and celebrate 5 years of operation for berlin-based dance music label mobilee. last year label co-owner anja schneider helped provide an excellent soundtrack to the 'varsity all-stars' day party at moretti's. this time around, she's joined by another mobilee artist: and.id, who will be performing a live set. the action takes place on green dolphin's back patio, which has seen a handful of excellent day parties already this summer; this looks to be a proper way to 'celebrate' the change of seasons. more lineup info and advanced tickets at the RA event page.

... and, from my current point of view, that about covers it for the weekend. i'll be busy all weekend with music, but expect some reviews and final thoughts sometime within the next week or two. let's all hope for a successful debut of sonar in chicago... cheers!

after labor day...

2010-09-07T07:24:00.008-05:00

hello! i'm still alive and kickin'... i've just been busy with work as well as tons of live music around chicago lately. here's some quick bits for your tuesday morning:

new RA podcasts - resident advisor has been on a bit of a roll lately with its podcast series. last week featured a set from bruno pronsato, as well as an interview revealing his upcoming releases (a new public lover single is out very soon, with public lover AND bruno pronsato albums seemingly ready to be released later this year and early next year) . this week's featured mixer is superpitcher. the guy has made a name for himself pushing dreamy, melancholy dance music that often (and purposefully) borders on the pretentious. i'm not a big fan of his own material... then again i haven't dived too deep into his catalog. i might have to change that after this charming mix of 'voodoo' house music. he has just released a new album on his 'home' label kompakt, entitled kilimanjaro.

music for falling asleep to - check out this list of 10 ambient albums to doze off to. with albums by artists like brian eno, sigur ros, and wolfgang voigt on the list, i think i approve!

todd burns interviews plastikman - first done in july (in the midst of the plastikman world tour), RA's todd burn features the full transcript of his interview with richie hawtin on his own blog. one big topic of discussion is the challenge for hawtin to recreate his plastikman sound as well as the challenge to make something new.

and if you need some more new tunes, here are my quick picks...

juho kahilainen's new all-analog live project 'mind over machine' - juho told me a bit about this idea when he was working on his anatomy mix, so i'm excited to finally get a taste of what he was talking about. he goes in a bit more depth at this facebook event page for the live debut of the project. expect disorienting bleeps and cerebral acid lines in this short but tasty set...

smear - process part 231 - another excellent collection of sounds from one of the guys from forward strategy group. i don't even know how to describe this other than to say that smear brings the noise here. very interesting set; download now!

that's all for now. up next i'll preview this weekend's SONAR festivities!

shed - 'the traveler' FREE stream!

2010-08-24T01:48:00.007-05:00

thanks again to fact magazine for another free album preview! this time we get to try out the highly-anticipated new album by berlin's multi-faceted dub dreamer shed: the traveler. it's being released on ostgut ton at the end of the month, and is the first 'sophomore' artist-album on the label. i am withholding judgment until i give this a few detailed listens, so join in the fun:

EDIT: looks like it's all gone, sorry folks!

Shed: The Traveller by factmag

weekend eve

2010-08-20T04:40:00.007-05:00

hello all: hopefully juho's pleasant little mix has perked some of your antennae. for now, there's tons of stuff to talk about as quick as i can... been on an awkward sleep schedule lately so this message comes to you courtesy of that magical time: 5 o'clock in the morning...

cio love - looks like mnml ssgs has helped out a bit with cio d'or's excellent RA podcast, offering up an extended version (and in higher bit rate!) of cio's set here ... right-click save because it's a direct mp3 file, and check out the tracklist here. do it to it!

tea (and psychic stuff) with perc - UK-based techno producer perc sits down to talk about music and tea. he just produced a monad for stroboscopic artefacts, and i just picked up a few records from his perc trax label... good stuff, i am especially diggin' the recent tracks/remixes by milton bradley and forward strategy group. here's a direct download (right-click + save) of perc's recent set of really weird sounds, with tracklist, for allez-allez.

sex with jimmy edgar - ...well, not really. check out his interview with bodytonic, where he talks about his new music. don't forget: jimmy edgar brings his steamy live set to chicago next month for sonar! here's a recording of a recent set from berghain, again courtesy of allez-allez.

and finally,
this weekend is chock-full of good live music in chicago. take a look at the events listing to the right for the big picture... you might see me at one of these musical get-togethers:
-sts9 will be playing the house of blues tonight, the aragon saturday night, and an intimate acoustic show on sunday to end the weekend. i'm not nearly as big a fan of this band as i used to be, so my expectations are low for these shows...
-autolux, another smilecoldanatomy favorite, will be performing at the bottom lounge tonight (which means i will be leaving the sts9 show early to catch this)
-seth troxler will headline the annual varsity all-stars day party this sunday. the weather forecast is looking favorable for what should be a fun day out under the sun! if you need some motivational reading, check out his lengthy recent interview on ibiza-voice.

listen! party!

anatomy 03 - juho kahilainen

2010-08-14T05:35:00.018-05:00

huzzah - a new addition to the anatomy mix series! this compact set of diverse techno comes to us from finnish dj/producer juho kahilainen.

calling his music 'depressive trance' (jokingly), juho has been DJing since the late 90s, and has a small catalog of dark, melancholy dance cuts to his credit. most recently, and perhaps most notably, are his two excellent EPs from early last year for the then-fledgling experimental techno imprint, prologue: 'prophet without a vision' and 'kuolonkellot'.

i tracked down juho through the internet a few months ago to see if he would be interested in contributing to this mix series and talk about his music. he was game (and happy that his music had reached the other side of the world), but he had something to take care of first: getting married! in response to a series of interview questions i sent him (regarding, among other things: his path to dance music, fellow finnish noise-makers pan(a)sonic, etc), juho sent back a rather long essay... he discusses his past, present, and future, including plans for a full-length album on prologue. to the impatient, scroll to the bottom for the mix. for those who want to know more about juho and his music, take a look at what he has to say:

I come from a small town called Pihtipudas. I was born and raised there - the nearest city was 130 kilometres away. There was not much so called scene there, but a few older guys than me were into electronic music. Luckily the atmosphere in Pihtipudas - although it's very rural Finland - was quite open. One of the first punk bands of Finland came from Pihtipudas in the beginning of the eighties . It might be that this phenomenon still had an effect on people. They knew that music has many shades and weren't laughing to you if you were making weird stuff. I felt I got support from the community. This was very important for a teenager. Obviously Pihtipudas lacked the industrial setting that is essential for techno, but I had it built in my imagination. This might not be authentic, but it was my interpretation.

I was introduced to electronic music by the national radio. A special show hosted by Tapani Ripatti was on the air every Saturday from 1 AM to 6 AM. I was listening to it and recording those shows on cassettes. Ripatti was playing a lot of Finnish stuff and probably that influenced me a lot. I could sort of relate myself better to Finnish tracks even though they were interpretations of something happening outside Finland. Especially Marko Laine's distorted and jacking techno sounded fat on a cassette. Also DUM Records run by Mono Junk was really into something (Disclaimer: No idea where that video is from – I am against this kind of driving).

Mika Vainio's stuff (known as Philus or Ø on Sähkö) didn't hit me right away. I was more a fan of Jimi Tenor, but Tenor kind of pulled me to Sähkö's back catalogue. I was open to interesting music and naturally Panasonic (later Pan Sonic) and Ø were really interesting – more like an antithesis of pop. I bought Ø's album to my little brother because I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. Nowadays I've stolen that album from him.

In 1997 me and my friend arranged a party in Pihtipudas and we asked Jori Hulkkonen to dj there. I was 16 and Jori must have been around 24 or something, but he came and played for three hours. After that it was all about house music. Jori himself claims that he "never was the thing", but I must say that between 1998–2001 he was the best from my point of view. Besides Jori, Tuomas Salmela (aka Phonogenic) and Sasse were making quality house music.

I'm listening music on a relatively wide scale. High Violet by The National, Black Noise by Pantha du Prince, Origin by Villa Nah, Atom / Document by Robert Henke, Dettmann by Marcel Dettmann, Black Telephone of Matter by Mika Vainio, No More Stories Are Told... by Mew, In And Out of Control by The Raveonettes... For me techno and pop go hand in hand. They might be parallel universes, but both exist and don't block each other out. Warping from one universe to another is actually quite nice sometimes.

My three favourite records of all-time... Quite hard to say since some day one record sounds better than the other and vice versa. Today my top-3 of all time looks like this:
1. Drexciya: Black Sea
2. Surgeon: Atol
3. Maurizio: M5

About the debate between digital and vinyl... It doesn't matter what format you are playing if you can get the right feeling and the people sense it too. Personally I prefer vinyl and stick to it. When I see someone playing vinyl I get more out of it than seeing someone staring at her/his laptop. CD-r's are cool for playing your own edits or new pieces here and there. A lot of my friends have gone into digital deejaying, but so far I haven't been even planning to do that. I love to go through my records and pick some of them for my bag for the night. It's part of the deal.

I call my music 'depressive trance' because it's a total opposite of uplifting. 'Depressive trance' also states that I'm not aiming to produce club-bangers for Ibiza or even Berghain. On the other hand I want to step aside from categories. I don't want any labels in my forehead. The music has to reflect me – not a label or a genre or a club. Naturally the techno side of things are in-built, but it's more important to get the idea "he comes from techno" than "this is techno".

My strength and my weakness lies in this thing: the music doesn't pay my mortgage loan. I'm working as a journalist as my day-job and making music as my hobby. I don't have much time to produce new tracks, but every track is important to me. There is no commercial need to compromise.

What I'm about next? I've just finished my debut album for Prologue Music. I guess Tom from Prologue is trying to figure out how to sell it... It's a mixture of techno and pop, but only slightly stirred – not shaken. Techno tracks on the album are real techno tracks and pop is pop. I'm quite sure most people won't get it, but in my world it makes sense.

The other project is my new live-set that I'm building. It will consist of TB-303, TR-606, SH-101, MFB-502 and an fx-unit for some reverb and delay. Very stripped-down hardware-only setup. I might use also some circuit-bend stuff on the side, but the core is always the same. I got a bit bored of Ableton Live and at least this way my live set will sound totally different from laptop-sets.

...
okay! thanks to juho for sharing his story with us. now, on to the mix. juho had this to say:

"It's not the perfect take, but recorded on one shot. I added my own field recording in the beginning to add some special atmosphere to this mix. All the tracks (except for the first and last) are played straight from vinyl and it was mixed using an Allen&Heath Xone:32 mixer. I added a little bit of compression to the overall sound to keep the volume more stable.

It's all European techno - old and new stuff blend together. I'm a fan of U.S. techno too, but for this mix I wanted to promote this European sound."

anatomy 03 - juho kahilainen (stream and download via official.fm)
(sendspace download link)

01. Thunder – field recording by Juho Kahilainen
02. Marko Fürstenberg: 070120 (A.r.t.less)
03. Schermate: 001B (Schermate)
04. Giorgio Gigli, Obtane & nAX_Acid: The Child That Was Watching The Moon (Zooloft/Aconito LTD)
05. Ellen Allien: MM (Bpitch Control)
06. Peter van Hoesen: Quartz #1 (Time To Express)
07. Samuli Kemppi: Dark Matter (Mote Evolver)
08. Conforce: Intimidation (Meanwhile)
09. Terence Fixmer: Things Are Over (Electric Deluxe)
10. Basic Channel: Q1.1 (Basic Channel)
11. Tron: Kumi Putki (Function)
12. Surgeon: Atol (Downwards)
13. Pehr Henrik Nordgren: Vesipisaroita (On Off / Like Kustannus)

thanks again to juho for the words and for a nice, raw, spontaneous mix of deep, dark, and dubby sounds... and congratulations on his recent marriage! check out his homepage and his myspace for more info and updates. enjoy!

wednesday night notes

2010-08-11T19:45:00.007-05:00

a few thoughts before i'm off to perform an opening dj set at this week's heartbeats at morseland...

check out nax_acid's abstract archetype for the modyfier mix blog. scroll down a bit for nax's thoughts. it's a patient, meditative blend of techno, ambient, and acoustic sounds. it definitely sounds like he put a lot of thought into this set... respect! andrea has said he's on a bit of a break from producing, but expect some new stuff from his aconito records in a few months...

speaking of thought-provoking sets, check out RA podcast 219, courtesy of german tripping-techno master cio d'or. the mix is an excellent example of what someone can do with "digital dj'ing"... cio takes a bunch of deeeeep, introspective tracks and loops to form this work of art. i've been told it took her two months to create this, and it definitely shows.

after cio melts your brain a wee bit, relax with RA.219 from peverelist. i've grown pretty tired of dubstep, but i still trust peverelist to put out quality, forward-thinking stuff. this is a really nice vinyl mix, featuring some rootsy dub as well as dense percussive sections and some dirrrty tracks. it definitely works as a soundtrack to a day at the beach, cough cough....

looks like amon tobin is going back on tour soon, hopefully to showcase the new album (described as an 'auditory space walk') that has been in the works since at least earlier this year. uniting drum n bass aesthetics with cinematic film score flourishes and transcending both styles, the guy has been creating unique stuff for 15 years. he's also released some free music on his site so go check it out.

onto some quick local news, there's been more announcements surrounding the Sonar Chicago festival, coming up in just a month. a few very interesting off-sonar events have been announced. thursday night will see a dubstep-oriented afterparty at smartbar with falty DL. saturday, berghain/ostgut ton superstar marcel dettmann will headline the festival's 'closing party' at smartbar. sunday, there will be the hi five mobilee day party at green dolphin street, with anja schneider and and.id celebrating 5 years of operation for the berlin-based label.

that's it for now. i've updated the events list on the right with even more danceable chicago goings-on. looking forward to an excellent transition into fall with tons of good music coming up...

doing it to it

2010-08-04T01:41:00.013-05:00

more news and interviews:

brian eno on warp records?!
the internet is abuzz over the announcement - on both brian eno's website as well as warp record's website - that brian eno will be 'coming soon on warp records'. the label that sprouted huge releases from artists like aphex twin, boards of canada, and autechre, now appears to be the launching pad for new material from the master of ambient music. i guess we'll all just have to stay tuned...

interview: ben klock
check out this (relatively un-edited) transcript of a conversation with ben klock. the guy talks about his home-base, berghain, as well as some of his favorite tracks.

another interview: marcel dettmann
another berghain artist, dettmann talks with rhythmism.com about his upcoming new york city appearance, as well as his approach to music production and his love for his home club in berlin.

the black angels & black mountain: new albums/tour/chicago show
the black angels are set to release their third full-length album, phosphene dream, on tuesday, september 14. smilecoldanatomy has loved the retro-psychedelic styles of the texas-based band since their first album, 2006's passover, and their 2008 album directions to see a ghost is excellent as well. the band will be doing a u.s./canada co-headline tour with fellow psych-rock group black mountain, whose new album wilderness heart's release date will coincide with that of phosphene dream. awesomely, the two bands kick off this 'dropout boogie' tour right here in chicago, at the metro, thursday, october 28! check out more info at the black angels myspace page.

that's it for now. it's been a while since i've posted up some interesting new mixes to check out, so i'll try to do that next... happy wednesday!

matthew dear - 'black city' FREE stream

2010-08-02T20:09:00.005-05:00

enjoy this FREE stream of matthew dear's new album black city, courtesy of fact magazine. black city will be released physically in two weeks on august 16, via ghostly international. until then, you have one week to let your ears digest the album via this free media player...

EDIT: sorry, looks like the free stream is all gone!

Matthew Dear: Black City by factmag

music n news n shit

2010-07-30T02:11:00.008-05:00

if you need stuff to hear/see, i suggest this:

brand-new super-fresh bruno pronsato live set
stream it or download it... either way, just get on it because this is definitely good stuff. this is a recording from bruno's set at watergate club in berlin just a week ago... some of this sounds like new material, and with a new album due to be released at some point later this year, i wouldn't be surprised if some new studio stuff shows up in this diverse set of playful jams.

this weekend in chicago: wicker park festival
chicago's hipster community gets taken over this saturday and sunday by the annual wicker park festival. with 3 stages of non-stop music in exchange for a $5 suggested donation, there's plenty of indie-oriented variety going on: electronica, jam, rock, metal... smilecoldanatomy's top pick is the live-band-electronic stylings of holy fuck, who will headline the south stage saturday night. check out the facebook event page and myspace page for set-times and more info.

also this weekend in chicago: vroom vroom techno day party
come ham it up at pour's backyard beer garden with some dance music from dj's reppin' chicago, detroit and milwaukee. this will go on from 2 til 10pm rain or shine and is free! check this facebook event page for more info.

efdemin comes to chicago
berlin-based deep house dj/producer efdemin will make what i think is his debut appearance in chicago this fall, in support of the album named after our fair city. tune in to the warm vintages of chicago, and get ready for some dial-style jams at smartbar on friday, september 24.

shed and his second skin
on the eve of the release of his second album, fact talks with shed about techno, breakbeats, and his various production aliases. a very honest, informative read, and it makes me even more excited to hear the traveler, due to be released via ostgut ton in exactly one month!

hear, see, learn, enjoy your weekend!

sonar chicago: more details, initial lineup announced!

2010-07-29T00:41:00.003-05:00

finally, we have more info on the chicago version of the spanish/international festival sonar!

due to take place thursday september 9 through saturday september 11, the large-scale daily events will take place thursday at the magnificent pritzker pavilion (pictured at right), followed by two days right across the street at the chicago cultural center.

the festival has also announced the timetables for those three spots here, with apparently plenty more night events to be announced soon. so far, the small initial lineup features martyn, jimmy edgar, and ben frost, among other electronic and experimental musicians.

get all the info straight from the source at sonar's website. read all the way to the bottom of the page, where it says that all festival events will be FREE... can't wait to see what else happens when sonar pays a visit to the windy city!

album review! monolake - silence

2010-07-25T14:29:00.011-05:00

it's been a while since i've discussed/reviewed a full-length album. why not start with a work from one of smilecoldanatomy's favorite producers? so, here are my thoughts on monolake's silence, from late last year.

for 15 years monolake, which at this point is headed solely by robert henke (but has previously featured gerhard behles and more recently, torsten profrock), has been on the cutting edge of electronic music. using the power of computers to unite aspects of techno, ambient, and dub(step), monolake has created a distinctive style that sounds immediately unique. the last monolake album, polygon cities, was released in 2005 and presented a relatively accessible collection of longer, dancefloor-ready tracks. five years later, silence shows henke embracing his meditative side (as well as interesting sound design decisions, according to his website), stepping away from straight 4/4 techno to craft some of the most intriguing soundscapes he's ever produced.

the album begins with the aptly-titled 'watching clouds,' as far-away bass thumps make way for a uniquely monolake-style storm of metallic clicks, clings, and clangs, sounds and effects that are featured throughout silence. the track leads into a pair of low-slung dubstep-ish tracks, but it's the melodies here that are the most captivating: listen to 'infinite snow' with its flurry of piano-sounding notes singing out a captivating tale of lush eastern expressions with subtle hints of pentatonic blues music. 'null pointer' employs a familiar tool to monolake fans: a computerized female voice. here it discusses "lab safety" and is used to cerebral effect, with the final instructions rising up to an almost psychedelic crescendo of pitch modifications.

the pace picks up a bit with 'far red' and 'avalanche', both of which anchor rapid-fire clicks to broken-beat rhythms under foreboding atmospherics. 'avalanche' is a slice of dub techno from the future, with its abominably deep chords. it fades away to make space for 'void', a gorgeous ambient piece featuring soft, dreamy synth tones paired with a wandering female voice submerged in reverb.

'internal clock' is next, with another unique melody; this time, it sounds like some sort of eastern stringed instrument plucked from the future and processed in way that only monolake can do. things get darker with 'shutdown', an aggressive track with squealing, disorienting flutes anticipated by last summer's 'atlas' 12". 'shutdown' transitions into 'reconnect', which features the voice from someone's answering machine surrounded by robotic hand claps. the album ends with 'observatory', its vocal samples lost in a cloud of thunderous dub chords.

overall, i find silence to be an excellent album from start to finish; each track is abstract and thought-provoking. it shows that monolake has not stopped growing and evolving, and continues to lead in the world of intelligent electronic music. much respect to robert henke and monolake for their forward-thinking approach to sound design!

stuff to read!

2010-07-20T07:17:00.007-05:00

happy tuesday morning! before i jet to work, check out this stuff to read:

RA says 'italians do it better'
check out this featured article at resident advisor, discussing the history of techno in italy as well as some young producers today who continue to push deep, hypnotic sounds. cheers to smilecoldanatomy's friend claudio PRC, who is discussed along with the likes of giorgio gigli and donato dozzy!

lucy and his artefacts
speaking of italians, enjoy this very informative interview with lucy, the italian-born dj/producer who now runs his stroboscopic artefacts imprint out of berlin.

tea with xhin
on the other side of the world, singapore's xhin briefly enjoys some tea and talks about his music (some of which has been released through stroboscopic artefacts) and his homeland.

efdemin talks chicago...
but has he ever even been to our fair city? pardon my ignorance; i only ask because i'd love to have him make an appearance, because from my first listen, efdemin's new LP chicago on dial records sounds like a pretty good one. check out this interview where he talks about the new album.

matthew dear's black city
on the eve of his new album release (and just after this weekend's day party set here in chicago), matthew dear talks about dance music vocals and new york city's vibe... both of which dear claims as influences on black city.

read on, friends! coming up next is my first full-length album review in a looong time...

thursday night mixes?

2010-07-15T22:14:00.010-05:00

yes - thursday (late) night mixes!

clr podcast 070 - edit-select
another great clr techno podcast. this set rides a steady, driving, upward gradient that sets up an ultimately glorious meltdown. don't mind chris liebing's ever-optimistic interludes - this mix burns relentlessly. check that last track: a new ZAltd single by giorgio gigli, obtane, and nax_acid. scroll down a bit to find the tracklist here.

wax treatment podcast #011 - dj pete
dj pete serves up another helping of deep, intelligent dubstep sounds. not much else to say other than the guy has great track selection with a nice mix of aggressive grooves and gorgeous melodies. check the tracklist here.

RA podcast 212 - elektro guzzi
this is a pleasant surprise: a 'rock' power trio - guitarist, bassist, drummer - performing live techno. i had never heard of elektro guzzi before but this is very interesting. i'm really impressed at how tight the band is, each allowing the other time to really get spaced out before getting back to the beat... all in all, this is some pretty dark stuff. clocking in at 50 minutes, it sounds great on its own but i do wish it were (much!) longer. i would very much like to see this band perform live...

listen and learn!

random early monday morning news

2010-07-12T01:39:00.007-05:00

just a few thoughts about music and chicago...

caribou plays the pritzker pavilion tomorrow, monday, for FREE
the city of chicago does a better job each year in hosting unique music talent from around the country and world at various free public functions. as part of the 'downtown sound: new music monday' event series, psychedelic pop artist(s) caribou will grace the big stage of the pritzker pavilion in millennium park tomorrow evening, with budos band opening. show starts at 6:30... and it's FREE!

matthew dear to headline saturday's green dolphin's 'bbq and beats' day party
an at-capacity nightclub prevented me from seeing matthew dear earlier this year, so i'm hoping for good things on green dolphin's outdoor patio this saturday. dear headlines the festivities, with kate simko and a few other locals supporting. check out the RA event page for more info.

'are podcasts the new rave?'
the concept of dj podcasts and mix series has gained tons of popularity as a way to promote artists, events, and promotions groups... and as a (usually) free way to socially connect with other dance music enthusiasts. read this article at the UK's guardian for more thoughts about the phenomenon.

read about the east-coast 'nitrous mafia'
allegedly, there is a highly-organized crew of drug dealers aggressively pushing nitrous all over the east coast. the laughing gas, which is transported in pressurized tanks and sold by the balloon, is a pretty fucking annoying occurrence outside music concerts: the hissssing sound is unmistakable, as our the discarded balloons and over-indulgent users blacking out and falling limply to the ground like a sack of potatoes. check out this lengthy article on the drug and its culture.

first photo of a planet outside our solar system confirmed
science! according to this article at space.com, a celestial mass initially found in 2008 has finally been confirmed as a young planet orbiting a correspondingly young star. the star system, 1RXS J160929.1-210524, is located about 500 light-years from us and is 'only' about 5 million years old (our solar system is about 1000 times older). the planet is about 8 times the size of jupiter, and muuuuch hotter.

chicago music, podcasts, drugs, outer space... happy monday!

fresh music reviews

2010-07-09T23:42:00.019-05:00

here's my thoughts on some new deep sounds coming from the italian front:

giorgio gigli, obtane, & nAX_acid - environmental radiation dose on the moon
released barely 2 weeks ago, only on (solid silver) vinyl, i've been looking forward to this record for some time. three of my favorite techno producers join forces as a ZAltd (zooloft/aconito) trio to push deeper into uncharted depths... both sides of this record build slow, hypnotic grooves over the course of nearly ten minutes, featuring the producers' love of sudden transitional splashes and seemingly-random atmospheric noises. 'the child that was watching the moon' is an epic slice of techno noir, with a warm, droning bassline endlessly laying the foundation for frighteningly exotic slashes of noise. on the b-side, 'the moon that was watching the child' is a bit more aggressive and distorted, with bass growls and fuzzy acidy squelches balanced with a series of bells chiming almost lazily around tightly syncopated drums. all in all, this is serious, avant-garde techno made for forward-thinking dancefloors. 200 vinyl copies only, no digital. get on it!

claudio PRC - diving point (w/ rossella 'dark room' remix)
from another anatomy mixer and his fellow italian, rossella, comes this digital single, to be released later this month on elettronica romana. the italian deep techno label (with alumni like donato dozzy and giorgio gigli) has seemingly sprang back to life. here, claudio continues to make forward-thinking techno that cuts deep; with 'diving point', he jumps right into peak-time space, with a sustained, shivering electric tone that becomes the main theme of the track. distorted percussive riffs and reverb'd hand claps drive the track forward, with atmospheric noises floating in and out of the mix. rossella's aptly-titled 'dark room' remix takes energy from the original and sends it into more introspective (and, perhaps, more headphone-happy) spaces. restrained, and at the same time haunting and psychedelic, the remix is anchored by a plaintive piano melody, while harsh rays of light are discovered among looping echoes of vocals and chimes. two good tracks for different situations. digital release date is july 22; until then, stream the tracks at elettronica romana's myspace.

more music-related food for thought

2010-07-06T01:14:00.007-05:00

chomp on these delicious bits of music stuffs:

john roberts to release debut LP in fall: glass eights
resident advisor is reporting that midwest-raised and now berlin-based john roberts is set to release his debut album on october 11 via dial records. over the past two years, the producer has released only a few records, albeit well-received ones, that have been published through dial and its sub-label, laid. his sound fits into the dial/laid deep house aesthetic while still remaining uniquely smooth and relaxed, so it should be interesting to see how his LP compares to dial's venerable album catalog.

'vinyl is back!'
check out this feature on wax.fm, which links to a bunch of articles and essays about the resurgence of vinyl records as a preferred music medium. read a few, then go out and buy some wax!

xlr8r interview with scuba (and deadbeat)
peer into the minds of two of the more popular producers who blur the lines between techno and dubstep at xlr8r. the two guys discuss their respective moves to berlin, where scuba (aka paul rose) has been an integral part of the berlin dubstep scene, featuring a regular night of the music at the infamous berghain. the canadian-born deadbeat (aka scott monteith) compares berlin to his old scene in montreal... interesting discussion!

gushing about sandwell district
take a look at this 'open letter' to one of the most popular techo labels right now, sandwell district. the essay is meant as a bit of a joke, but scroll down to the comments to see some serious discussion about the label, which has been doing very, very good for itself despite a nearly non-existent commercial presence. speaking of which, sandwell recently put out a pair of 'sampler singles', which have received tons of praise; seems like the next thing on the label's agenda is a series of full-length albums... smilecoldanatomy is not alone in impatiently awaiting the arrival of these LPs!

that's all for now... and hopefully soon, there shall be another anatomy mix to present to you all...

detroit, briefly (or not)

2010-06-29T23:09:00.020-05:00

it's been a month already since that memorial day weekend, so i figured i should finally get around to finishing this, my final thoughts (with pictures courtesy of my friend ivo and RA) on movement aka DEMF aka my first detroit experience.

i wasn't really sure i would even be doing this until just days beforehand. but for the most part, this worked out fine. saturday morning, i hopped in my buddy ivo's car. after a long drive and extensive traffic delays, we got into detroit that early evening, and stumbled upon sibin, a friend of a friend and a fellow DEMF first-timer, in need of a ride into the city. long story short, sibin ended up staying with us for the duration of our 48-hour stay in the city, and we had a blast.

due to having work tuesday morning, we reluctantly left detroit monday evening, but we packed a bunch of music into those 2 days. i did miss a few acts i really wanted to see, including the basic channel/chain reaction showing of mark ernestus, scion, and the moritz von oswald trio... but it was hard to get too upset when there was plenty of other great music. in general, i approved of the crowd: young or old, everyone was there simply to have a good time. perhaps the 'run-down' image of detroit acted as an obstacle only fit for only the most devoted of dance music fans. anyway, here's my thoughts on the weekend.

SATURDAY early saturday evening was a pretty casual affair, with fun sets by jamie jones, paco osuna, and claude vonstroke. it was josh wink, though, who opened nicely in front of richie hawtin's plastikman set. moving back and forth across the festival grounds, we caught the ovum label head working the main stage crowd with anxious, reduced, acid-inflected tracks of foreboding techno. perhaps we made one mistake in leaving him to check out marco carola for a bit. if you 'get it', marco can be a lot of fun with his amped-up minimal techno, but i just couldn't buy into his hype tonight.

check out this picture, showing the crowd looking on as josh wink works under a single light in the middle of a darkened stage...

and then check this one, as the amphitheater is immersed in richie hawtin's dark, introspective world of plastikman. look up the pictures and video elsewhere if you want... starting with an abominable bass drone, hawtin took off, launching wave after wave of polyrhythmic acid riffs, supplemented by booming kick drums and snare hits. familiar melodies, drum rhythms, and vocals popped up all over, and in a variety of tempos. at times, the set went into downtempo, hypnotizing the crowd with slow, funky rhythms accented by huge hand claps. hawtin ended the hour-long set with an all-too-brief drum machine jam, and grabbed the mic to say thanks as the crowd roared in thunderous applause... but i know i wasn't alone in hoping that he would have played for (much) longer.

regardless, the night had only just begun, as we headed to the centre street social party. this was originally billed as a sort of showcase for the ostgut ton record label, with 3-hour sets by ben klock and marcel dettmann (as well as daniel bell and a pile of other american talent), but things started to turn sour just a few days before the festival, when dettmann had to cancel due to the much dreaded 'visa issues'. the show went on, with ben klock ready to throw down a 4-hour set... which was stopped an hour in. sometime after 4am, the sound was cut off as the party organizers announced the music would resume after a police check of the venue space; then, we were told the music would have to stop until 6am; then, we were told the party was shut down completely. seems like a shooting nearby scared the police into shutting down a number of clubs and afterparties. while sibin headed to the 'i love you but i've chosen techno party' (and later reported it was a great time), ivo and i were tired from our drive and called it a night. what a bummer, and definitely the biggest disappointment of the weekend.

SUNDAY after enjoying a leisurely meal at a small french diner (i think?), we made our way back to the festival for day 2. earlier that week, a HUGE lineup change occurred. the much-anticipated ricardo villalobos, due to break his near-decade-long absence from the U.S. with a 3-hour set at the festival followed by a boat afterparty, had to cancel due to... you guessed it, 'visa issues'! taking over his spot would be a richie hawtin dj set.

this lineup change created some interesting dynamics. seeing hawtin dj outside to a 'hometown' crowd was intriguing, as was the idea of skipping out for an hour in the middle to see robert hood's live set. but one thing was for certain: berlin-based cassy did a magnificent job opening for hawtin, putting together one of the absolute best sets of the weekend. it was interesting comparing her set to claude vonstroke's just 24 hours previously: whereas CVS played to the crowd, cassy took control. revealing a discrete smile and little else, the adorably zen-like panoramabar dj fed the audience a hypnotic blend of hard-hitting techno. a friend referred to her mixing as very 'casual': the transitions weren't perfectly precise, but they didn't have to as tracks swirled hazily in and out of each other. i did not expect her to bring that type of intensity, but maybe that was the 'hawtin effect' ... either way, i was thoroughly impressed.

rumors circulated that maybe villalobos was in town; indeed, a familiar-looking dj strolled behind cassy as she played. but no, it was just someone else (adrian from dj duo masomenos, i've been told)... and so hawtin took over with typical fanfare. to his credit, the man seemed to be filling in very well for the (hugely) missed villalobos, splicing together loops of digital beats and dropping atmospheric breakdowns, but we knew we had plenty of time to see him later...

so, then - robert hood! the contrast between the two techno masters was easy to see. whereas hawtin created sleek, precise music with computers hooked up to high-end midi controllers, hood took a truly simplistic analog approach. his set was all about weaving fast, harsh, skeletal rhythms together, over and over and over, even if things didn't sync up 'perfectly'. i've read that he encountered problems early on his set, but having arrived late, i only saw an excellent set of raw, authentic, hyper-rhythmic techno.

after hood blew out our ears, we finished the festival with a final hour of hawtin. after hood's live set, i felt a bit underwhelmed, but hawtin grabbed my attention one last time by ending his set on a suite of plastikman loops. as the crowd gave him one final round of applause, we left in order to grab a bit of rest in order to make it through the late night and early morning...

MONDAY after what i guess was a few hours of sleep, we awoke, showered, and headed for the resolute party/vakant vs. dumb unit showcase at tv lounge. confused set-times meant we arrived near the end of camea and alexi delano's tag-team set... but, the vakant 1-2 punch of alex smoke's live set and dario zenker's dj'ing more than made up for it. alex smoke was particularly interesting, crafting a weird, noisily melodic set supplemented by his own (fx'd) vocals. then around 6am, the attention turned outside, as chicago favorite, kate simko, started up in the bar's outdoor area. as the sun crawled higher into the sky, kate kept it simple, slow, and groovy, with just the right amount of depth. then elon took over with a set of seriously deep house music. our new friend sibin thought it a bit intense, but i thought it was nice seeing a dj push the limits with some really scandalous tracks. at 9am, with the party still going strong but realizing we needed one last nap before the push into daytime, we retreated once more to our hotel...

before heading to old miami. we had heard a lot of tradition surrounds this old biker/veteran's bar, so we had to check it out. the music takes place on a shaded patio on the back lawn of the property, and when we arrived there around 1pm the entire place was fairly packed as the UK's matt tolfrey finished a (relatively, at this point) high-energy set to a crowd that was finally starting to slow down after a few days of nonstop partying. after tolfrey, it was time for a few detroit kids: matthew dear and ryan elliott.

bad weather threatened to end the fun early: just as dear and elliott began their tag-team set, rain started coming down hard, and even as the PA speakers were covered with tarps, seth troxler, another detroit darling and ringleader of the event, got on stage to announce that the music would stop. with his word, the party started clearing out, leaving only a fraction of us left wondering what to do. but the guys found a happy medium to keep us dancing: keeping the larger, outside speakers off, but turning up the monitors under the tent (and as you can see from the picture, using a blanket to cover up wires and cables). having created a solution, dear and elliott playfully responded to the weather (it was still raining) with a slowly-developing set of warm, gentle dance tracks, enhanced by the duo's geeked-out fx accents. soon, the sky cleared enough to turn on the main speakers, and the slim crowd was rewarded for their faith with looser and funkier jams.

with just a few hours left in detroit, we decided against taking the time to get back to the festival, so we stuck it out as long as possible at old miami. dear and elliott brewed up an addictive stew of slow-burning tracks for hours... with a few solemn pauses for observances by the military veterans on site. as we slowly cruised through the 5th hour of their set, reality began creeping up into the back of our minds, and we ejected ourselves from the party, dropped sibin off at another hotel, and started the drive back to chicago.

to conclude, i had a great time and i think we did a good job for being first-timers. next year, we know to leave earlier, and plan on having tuesday off in order to stay monday night, and really trying to soak up as much music as possible, no matter what. there weren't too many problems that weekend; missing some music is to be expected, but what we saw was consistently good. with particularly excellent festival sets by plastikman, cassy, and rob hood, as well as some great afterparty action, i think our weekend in detroit was a success.