seth troxler - live at wolf+lamb showcase, keeping whores off the streets - january 2009 i hadn't listened to this one in a while but i'm definitely interested in hunting down more mixes by seth, especially after his brilliant performances here in chicago a few weeks ago. given the name, it's no surprise that seth is working with mainly wolf+lamb material... a nyc-based imprint creating their own distinct take on deep house with plenty of funk and weirdness.
natural/electronic.system. - mnml ssgs mx49 besides other references on the mnml ssgs blog, i have never heard of this italian duo, but this is a pleasant introduction. nice, deep ambient techno soundscapes that waver between light and dark. i really like how these guys keep the tempo a bit slow and under control the entire time, and the track selection is top-notch (check that killer 5/4 tune by odd machine a few tracks in). peep the mnml ssgs blog post for more info and check the tracklisting here.
nax_acid - aconito records mix nax_acid is another italian-born dj/producer, now based in london. this mix is a steady journey through darkness, showcasing a few of nax_acid's tracks on his aconito records label, including the roaring 'synthetic nature'. hope to hear more from him soon...
some sexy seth, some slowly-evolving ambient sounds, and some techno in a darker hue... enjoy!
after last year's monolake 'atlas'/'titan' release, as well as the recent LP silence, here we have something extra fresh from the mind of robert henke: intersection.
over the course of about fifteen minutes, robert takes us on a dense, chaotic journey through the city of hanoi, vietnam. sounds twist and weld together, as "reality is step by step replaced by more abstract sounding events," according to robert. there is definitely a dark vibe spread out across the entire piece.
i won't bother describing it much more. in my opinion, robert henke has created a beautiful work of found-sound/abstract art, and has generously offered this as a FREE download as a preview for the live performance of the work. i highly suggest heading over to the monolake website to get more information and give intersection a listen!
mathew jonson's pummeling 2.5+ hour live set last night at smartbar took my legs away tonight so i'm staying in and listening to these mixes...
appleblim - apple pips label showcase @ mary anne hobbs experimental show 2009-12-17 as one of the heads of the now-defunct skull disco imprint, laurie osborne, aka appleblim, has made a name for himself carving out deep cuts of militant, tribal dubstep and bass music. here he showcases the sound of his new(er) label, apple pips. compared to skull disco, this material seems a bit lighter and more playful, but still has the depth of appleblim's previous works. nice little 30-minute set... tune in, and hop over to appleblim's myspace for some more info.
matthias tanzmann - CLR podcast 051 2010-02-15 here's a heater from a smilecoldanatomy favorite. if you're familiar with tanzmann and his moon harbour label (which celebrates 10 years of operation in 2010), you might know the drill: super repetitive, hypnotic house with some vocals/spoken-word passages and a touch of funky, soulful swagger. i could gripe about chris liebing's brief interruptions, or the fact that this sounds like it should have lasted longer... but it's still a very good mix. dance over to the CLR podcast page for more info/tracklisting and other mixes, and the moon harbour myspace for more sexiness.
modern heads - process part 184 part of the modyfier blog's mini-showcase of the prologue imprint, this mix comes courtesy of dino sabatini and gianluca meloni, aka modern heads. it's prologue, so of course it's gonna be deeply rhythmic and atmospheric. lots of dubby droning chords on this one... something to turn on and just let it wash over you. you can find the musicians' thoughts and a tracklisting for this mix at the modyfier blog.
so - a little bit of dubstep, some sexy house music, and a thick slab of deep techno... enjoy!
while richie hawtin was melting dark rooms in the 1990s with his intense, cerebral techno, his brother matthew was manning the 'chill out room,' playing ambient music to heads that needed a break from the main event. the concept of the dance party chill space lives on to this day, offering a chance to rest and relax in the middle of a storm of high-intensity dance music.
to celebrate these chill grooves, m-nus is set to release once again, again by matthew hawtin. the release will come in two forms: one downloadable 3-hour mix, or a 75-minute cd version. the mix will be almost exclusively mid-90s material, and is set to be released in early march.
go to matthew's website for more information on this project as well as his other artistic pursuits, and check out more happenings in the m-nus world here.
here's a pair of mixes i've been enjoying, particularly in the darker hours of this winter...
suspect - ambient mix 1995-2005 here's an interesting collection of slow grooves and evocative atmospheres to go with the deep, intense techno of the live set i discussed here. nice tracks with lots of echo, and the whole thing picks up a bit of steam towards the end of the mix. not much background info at all on this one, but check out suspect's homepage for more music.
silent servant - isolation mix courtesy of mnml ssgs, here's an excellent dub-focused mix by silent servant, whose recent productions on the sandwell district imprint have been mostly no-bullshit techno affairs. this mix starts with some killer dub tracks, then gains some momentum and adds more techno elements to build this into a hypnotic journey. check out the mnml ssgs blog for more info and a tracklisting in the comments... and take a look at one of the few online traces of sandwell district's existence, where next? .
long-time electronic mainstays the black dog are preparing an album in response to brian eno's seminal ambient LP, music for airports.
citing "disappointment" in eno's original 1979 concept, the group intends to create a more realistic portrayal of airports, calling the upcoming album music for real airports. sourced from 200 hours of field recordings, the album sounds like it will be mostly drone based. the goal, in the group's words, is to "capture the spectrum of emotions stirred by airports," and if the pessimistic track titles are any indicator, it should stir up more contrasting emotions than the calming loops of eno's album.
click around the album's website for more information and tracklisting. and if you are unfamiliar with brian eno, you should change that soon. here's a taste of music for airports:
music for real airports is to be released on april 24. smilecoldanatomy looks forward to this response/update to eno's 30-year old work.
let's take a look at some live music that will be warming up our snowy city this week:
monday - 'rebel rave tour' @ boom boom room, green dolphin
some of the guys from the crosstown rebels label will be making a monday appearance here, after fellow rebel seth troxler's excellent showing last weekend. guests for what should be an intriguing night at green dolphin will be label boss damian lazarus and jamie jones. check the facebook event page for more info.
tuesday - daedelus & nosaj thing @ lincoln hall
an intriguing group of los angeles-based producers. expect daedelus to deliver nostalgic acoustic samples and frenetic drum loops via a monome and fancy suit, while nosaj thing should drop some slow, bass-heavy hip hop. fellow LA producer jogger and dj's from the local abstract science collective will also be making appearances. lincoln hall is a relatively new venue in lincoln park trying to build up some steam with lineups like this. more information at their website, and check out the event flyer here.
wednesday - 'heartbeat - palpitations' @ morseland
come check out my first dj appearance ever! i'll be workin' an opening set for slowerson, m50, and lokua, a group of dj's who run this weekly event at morseland, a small club here in rogers park. no cover and chill environs for some sophisticated dance music. i'm still not sure what i'll be spinning, but it will probably be something on the slower, sexier side of things to get rid of the post-valentines day blues...
friday - four tet & nathan fake @ empty bottle
a pair of UK producers touring the states together... four tet will be playing in support of his new LP; his set should be a slower, more melodic work of electronica, compared to nathan fake's more up-tempo dance-floor beats. the pair will be playing both an early and late show, so maybe you can make the trek afterward to see...
friday - mathew jonson (live) @ smartbar
mathew jonson has compiled an intriguing output of music over the past decade, producing tracks for perlon, m_nus, and wagon repair (his own label), among others, and he has a knack for getting the most out of repetitive yet slowly-evolving melodies and progressions. check out this recent track on wagon repair:
this friday, the smartbar soundsystem shall boom with the experimental stylings of mathew's live set, with local dj sassmouth supporting. reduced early admission, including a $5 holler before 11pm with smartbar's text message special. looking forward to this one!
saturday - klectik + souvenir birthday party @ vision
a bunch of dj's representing local label klectik as well as party people souvenir will take over vision's penthouse room in celebration of a few birthdays. manning the decks will be jason patrick & frederick zahm, birthday boys hernan sanchez and phil stone, and max jacobson. check this flyer for more information. it's a saturday night event at vision, so expect the music to go past 4am.
stay rested and fed, as we dance in hopes of warmer temperatures soon!
staying in tonight, so let's see what we can hear...
audion - minitek 2008 livePA matthew dear performing a live set at new york city's minitek festival in september 2008. while the rookie festival received mixed reviews at best, at least we got a few quality recordings from the experience. here matthew does a razor-sharp set as audion, nailing his noisy melodies and chopped-up, effected vocal samples to a pummeling 4/4 beat. abrasive, yet hypnotic.
dj pete - wax treatment podcast #006 dj pete, aka substance and one-half of scion, was a part of the chain reaction label/collective of dub-techno founding fathers. for this podcast series, he takes on dubstep and other bass-heavy sounds, with excellent results. podcast #006 is especially intense, with tight mixing and wave after wave of truly deep dubstep. check out the podcast page for more mixes and tracklists.
simon flower - melbourne deepcast 006 another 006, but this one's not nearly as tense... and comes courtesy of a neat mix series from australia. the aim is to allow the guest mixers space to get deep and do something interesting, and i think simon flower does that here. the new zealander has produced tracks for moon harbour and poker flat (appearing on steve bug's album collaboratory from last year); for this mix, he uses a choice collection of atmospheric yet danceable tracks. nice and hazy: i dig it... check out the melbourne deepcast blog for more information, a tracklist, and other intriguing mixes.
the don of minimal has updated his plastikman website with details of the forthcoming world tour, accompanied by some reverbing, ping-ponging sound effects and extra eye liner. what do we know so far? the new show will be an audio-visual, "highly concentrated one-hour experience" that aims to take a modern interpretation of the plastikman catalog, which stretches back almost 2 decades. the last plastikman live show, from 2004's mutek festival, received mixed reviews as richie tried to control the entire audio-visual experience - this new tour seems to be an updated attempt at a similar immersion into "visual, audio, and interactivity". one thing not made explicit is the creation of new plastikman material...
the show debuts march 27, at london's timewarp festival. stay tuned!
hi all. don't worry, it's still me, and i'll be trying to post more as i change some things around here behind the scenes...
just wanted to share this youtube video of a short film made by portishead, one of smilecoldanatomy's long lost loves. after almost a decade of silence, the uk-based trip-hoppers returned with their third album, third, in early 2008. it's an excellent continuation of their dark, intense film noir sounds and beth gibbons' stunning vocal delivery. i have been anxiously waiting a full u.s. tour for years; until that happens, we americans will have to be content with various concert footage and intriguing old projects like this:
this free download comes courtesy of digital music webstore halcyondigi. it's a collection of tracks collected from artists taking part in new york city's ongoing unsound festival.
the tracklisting encompasses a range of electronice styles, but perhaps most intriguing is the official production debut of nyc dj derek plaslaiko.
it's free (all you have to do is create an account on halcyondigi), so grab it up quick!
to the tuned-in american edm geek, ghostly international should need little introduction. i've discussed some ghostly artists (as well as its sublabel, spectral sound) here - matthew dear/audion and kate simko, for example, but i'll admit i haven't dived too deeply into their discography, but this free compilation should be a good introduction.
as a gift to its fans, that now number 6000+ on its facebook page, the label has decided to share a previously-limited edition cd entitled, break-a-way planets.
i'm just tuning in now - the first track is a matthew dear track remixed by dj koze, so of course my attention has been grabbed. big thanks to ghostly international for sharing this compilation, and for being a platform for intriguing, forward-thinking musicians!
tonight, chicago welcomes seth troxler to his first appearance at smartbar, and according to local press, his first legit set in the windy city!
seth's star is a rising one, as he has blown up from his michigan roots to international acclaim, with multiple residency spots in europe. his production output is young, but varied: his tracks and collaborations have been released on wagon repair, wolf + lamb, and spectral sound, among other well-known edm labels. his production and dj'ing style reflects his youthful swagger, incorporating weirdly-effected, soulful lyrics and tight nocturnal grooves.
if you need to be convinced, check out this collaboration with tiefschwarz:
and this melancholy little ditty with matthew dear:
smilecoldanatomy looks forward to seth bringing the heat tonight at smartbar!
smilecoldanatomy is a huge fan of bruno pronsato's work. his new label, thesongsays, has been garnering some ravingreviews, and it looks like the self-proclaimed 'romantic techno' enthusiast will be starting 2010 on a particularly sexy note with a new project, public lover. bruno has been gracious enough to share a freely-downloadable recording of the live debut of this sensual collaboration with ninca leece.
i had never heard of ninca leece before, but bruno has a history of mingling moody, alluring female vocals with his intriguing take on electronic music, with positively lovely results. for public lover, ninca softly delivers smooth-as-butter vocals over bruno's trademark off-kilter percussion and handclaps, and lots of mellow synths. even if it only stretches a bit over a half-hour, it works so nicely...
you can also stream this set, and see the praise that is already piling up, at bruno's soundcloud. i've already given this a couple listens, and i'm intrigued and excited. having already announced a potential u.s. tour with thomas melchior, i can't wait to see what's in store this year for bruno and his crew of lovers.
so i did it: i finally put a group of records together in an attempt to make a cohesive musical statement. this is my first complete dj mix: all vinyl, one take, no editing. here's the lineage: vinyl decks > mixer > 1/8th inch mic input on my laptop > audacity > wav > mp3@256 > zshare
there are some awkward transitions, rough EQing, and the occasional over-driven levels, as well as the rare level-fluttering (courtesy of audacity, i guess?), but i think it works well enough to share. the idea was to start with some fun, casual tracks, then move into deeper, weirder territory, and then come down with a final track that teases the heartstrings...
and.id - acapulco / mobilee guido schneider - under control / tuning spork mathew jonson - she is he / itiswhatitis shackleton - blood on my hands (villalobos remix pt. I) / skull disco false - fed on youth / m_nus shackleton - blood on my hands (villalobos remix pt. II) / skull disco pantha du prince - behind the stars / dial plastikman - consumed / m_nus heartz4 - intimacy girl / hello?repeat
this will be the first in a series of mixes spreading the gospel of interesting, deep, fun, sexy electronic dance music ... hopefully.
BIG thanks to: elly, andrew, steve the greek, genna, and all the people who i've met, danced with, talked with, and otherwise interacted with, who are constantly changing my worldview as well as my musical tastes.
check out - for free - pantha du prince's new LP, 'black noise'. i already have the 'behind the stars' 12", which is excellent, in my opinion. and upon a quick, cursory examination, i think the full-length is definitely worth a listen. what do you think?
my name is brian and i live in chicago. i appreciate, among other things: good music, good parties, and good people who share these interests.
an important part of my mission here is sharing abstract sounds from around the world via the anatomy mix series. outside of this blog, i write for resident advisor (check out my reviews here), and occasionally i play my records around chicago under the dj name patty (check out my mixes here). the opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone. i will not upload official releases; please support the artists and please support vinyl!
seth troxler - live at wolf+lamb showcase, keeping whores off the streets - january 2009
natural/electronic.system. - mnml ssgs mx49
nax_acid - aconito records mix
