... NEXT

it's been quite a busy and stressful end of the year for me, but don't worry, smilecoldanatomy will keep moving forward in 2013. i'll be posting my top ten albums of 2012 later in the week, and after not really putting out any of my own techno mixes over the past year, fans of yours truly can expect some fresh patty sets soon. (and don't forget, i'll be playing smart bar on saturday, february 9th!) oh, and anatomy 23 will most probably go up next week.

i want to thank anyone and everyone who has ever taken the time to stop by this blog and try out some of the sounds and words. after more than three years, smilecoldanatomy is still my own very personal project, and i'm always happy and grateful for any sort of feedback from friends, fans and fellow techno heads.

and, last but not least, thanks to the five artists who cooked up anatomy mixes in 2012: rossella, hakimonu, abdulla rashim, bleaching agent, and fabrizio lapiana. it's been a pleasure to host such wonderful artists.

there will be more soon, i promise. so stay tuned... and until then, happy new year!

anatomy 22 - fabrizio lapiana

merry christmas! now, who wants to cuddle? because it's time to share the next anatomy mix, from fabrizio lapiana!

(original photo credit: giovanni capriotti)

fabrizio is from rome, and he specializes in deep and dubby sounds. just about all of his music has come out through his own label, attic music - fellow italians like donato dozzy, dj say and commodity place have also shown up on attic music, offering a great glimpse into that country's underground electronic scene. this year has seen fabrizio start up a new project, sustain (i wrote an RA review for the project's first twelve-inch back in june), and looking ahead, he'll be working with a very nice selection of producers, including a few other anatomy favorites... so let's have a chat:

Who is Fabrizio Lapiana?
Fabrizio Lapiana is a dreamer!

Do you remember the first 'techno' tracks you had ever heard?
"Mentasm" and "Energy Flash" by Joey Beltram.

Which artists have made the biggest impression on you over the years?
There are many artists who have had an influence on me in the '90s to the present. In particular I would like to mention some Roman artists with whom I have had the pleasure of staying in touch: Claudio Fabrianesi, Lory D, Freddy K, Donato Dozzy and Giorgio Gigli.

Name three of your all-time favorite records or pieces of music.
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works
Plastikman - "Plasticine"
Brian Eno - Apollo

What made you want to start producing, and what made you want to start your own label?
After many years of DJing I really needed to "say" something with music, to give something of my own.

Tell us about Sustain. Will there be more records from this project?
Sustain is a white label oriented on dub, downtempo and deep sounds. I launched this label to make different stuff than Attic Music. Yes, Sustain 03 is ready for mastering and the press...

What artists and labels excite you right now? What is the last record you bought? What have been some of your 2012 favorites?
Last record shopping was in Berlin at Spacehall just few days ago, about 15 records. One is by Shxcxchcxsh on Avian, very nice. Another is a great remix of Israel Vines by Silent Servant on Cult Figures. Phase is also an artist I like very much. His Binary Opposition EP on Token, I think, has been the techno record of the year. Another artist I like is Analog Roland Orchestra. Album of the year is Voices From The Lake on Prologue.

The other labels from K1971 (like me) all have great releases, especially: M_Rec, Informa, Par Wax, Limited, Natch, NX1, Annulled User, Biorecordings, Fluxus. My mates at electronique.it launched their own label in 2012 and are doing great work.

What can we expect from Fabrizio in 2013 and beyond?
Two of my releases are ready for Attic Music: the first will include remixes from Giorgio Gigli and Ness. The second will include remixes from Voices From The Lake and Milton Bradley. Other releases will include remixes from Claudio Fabrianesi and Roberto Bosco, and there will also be a release with two of my tracks only. I'm also working on a new duo project with Claudio Fabrianesi, called MUDRA. We've started to make some music and we are finishing our first track.

Finally, tell us about your mix, and how it fits into your personal philosophy of music.
Many people think I play just techno. Instead I love all electronic music: ambient, electro, dub, downtempo, deep house... So I wanted to propose my ambient and dub side.


i think the artwork fabrizio has selected is a perfect visual accompaniment to this 90 minute-long mix. smooth, moody, expansive and sensual... anatomy 22 should make a great wintertime soundtrack.



huge thanks to fabrizio for sharing this. i can't wait to hear what he does in 2013. check out his RA page and the attic music facebook page for more details, and for another recent dj set, you can try out his erfunden podcast from a month ago.

in fact, now's a great time to say thanks to all five artists who joined the fun and contributed to the anatomy series this year: rossella, hakimonu, abdulla rashim, bleaching agent, and fabrizio lapiana. now go get cozy, enjoy the holidays, and stay tuned for smilecoldanatomy's year-end picks.

monday moods: lowtec

i've been feeling pretty weird lately, so what could be a better soundtrack to such a mood then some fresh stuff from lowtec?

lowtec, aka jens kuhn, is a german producer and dj who helps run the excellent workshop imprint. along with lowtec and fellow label boss even tuell, workshop has been host to like-minded house experimentalists kassem mosse and madteo, among others. his own jams have relatively recently appeared on labels like smallville, laid and nonplus.

though it's been a somewhat slow year on the production front, lowtec has cooked up a handful of really interesting mixes in 2012. most recently, there's this, odd man out mix #3, the latest in a series of downloadable sets he's uploaded to his soundcloud. this one is marked as "lost tracks by lowtec ... some unreleased lowtec tracks from the last 10 years." it's weird, but definitely worth a listen. (and if the embedded player doesn't load below, just click one of the links above.)



if you like that one, i highly recommend trying out mlat69, a fantastic set of sounds lowtec crafted over the summer for the made like a tree series. and, for one more blast from the past, here's this sexy gem from 2005. i just got hold of the vinyl and i'm thoroughly enjoying it.



happy monday!

anatomy 21 - bleaching agent

zoinks! this is anatomy 21, from bleaching agent.

bleaching agent is a mysterious producer (a clever koala, perhaps) who crafts raw, gloomy techno. his first tracks have appeared via a pair of 10" records on mira, the new label operated by shifted and ventress.

you do not have to ask who he is. just listen to this, bleaching agent's first 'public' mix (or whatever), and the twenty-first for the anatomy series. it clocks in at just over an hour in length, and it's more than a bit strange... probably because there's lots of bleaching agent worked in throughout, including some unreleased tracks. it's a really diverse and really addictive listen, i think.



thanks to bleaching agent for coming through and sharing some delightfully weird stuff here. it's proof that he's more than just a producer, as he clearly knows how to make an adventurous mix. you'll definitely hear more from him soon but for now check out his RA page and soundcloud for more information, samples and whatnot. and just like abdulla rashim's mix last month, we're gonna keep this one pretty simple - no more words (and no tracklist) - and let the music do the talking, so get to it.

friday funk: a love from outer space

here's something particularly funky for your friday, thanks to a mix-of-the-day nod at RA...

a love from outer space is a party thrown in london (and beyond, occasionally) by UK stalwart andrew weatherall and DJing partner sean johnston. low-slung jams of all shapes and sizes - that appears to be the sound of the series, so this two-hour recording should be a perfect way to wind down your week (or wind up your weekend). fantastically diverse selection here, so expected the unexpected, and also some steve miller somewhere in the middle!



(oh, and you can hear the full four-hour set on mixcloud.)

monday moods: more drexciya reissues

after beginning last week with abdulla rashim's uniquely splendid techno trip (ie anatomy 20), it's time to start this week with some classic electro sounds. try out the latest compilation of reissued drexciya tracks, journey of the deep sea dweller III, which comes out next monday. you can stream the whole set in full at RA by going here now! "sea snake" and "you don't know" are the ones for me at the moment.

anatomy 20 - abdulla rashim

i am quite excited to share this. it's the twentieth anatomy mix, and it comes from abdulla rashim!

abdulla rashim is an artist from stockholm, sweden with a remarkably elegant, open-ended take on techno. his debut EP came out, not even two years ago, via his own abdulla rashim records. since then he's made tracks and remixes for a handful of like-minded deep-dwelling imprints, such as prologue and silent season. last month, he released what might be his most enthralling work yet: ARR003, endasilasie.

and now here's this mix. anatomy 20 is a heavily atmospheric, 84-minute long voyage. be patient: there's plenty of subtle dynamics and intense moments to be enjoyed throughout. it is, from the beginning to the very end, brilliantly evocative. basically, it's a perfect contribution to this blog's mix series.

no interview, no tracklist, and only a few more words; abdulla rashim likes to keep a low profile. let's just listen in and find out what he has to share.

dropbox download link
abdulla rashim soundcloud download/stream link

big thanks to abdulla rashim for joining the fun here and creating such an inspiring set of sounds. i can't wait to see what he does next... looking forward, for now: he'll release ARR004 at the beginning of next year, and along with some further work on prologue, his upcoming appearances on a select few other labels should certainly turn heads. stateside fans, alert! he'll cross the atlantic for a US tour early next year. more details TBA, of course, so for more information, upcoming gigs, and anything else, it would be wise to follow abdulla rashim's RA page and soundcloud (where he has another link to this mix.)

enjoy! this one is a great way to celebrate twenty anatomy mixes here at smilecoldanatomy, i think. stay tuned for a few more before the year is over.

various - the expression of emotions in man and animals

happy saturday! now time for the expression of emotions in man and animals, a fine three-track, three-artist EP from the electronique.it label.

the EP is the second part of a trilogy dedicated to charles darwin's studies of mind and nature. to my ears it's a more cohesive listen than the label's first vinyl the power of movement in plants, released back in the spring. like that one, a whole side of the expression is devoted to one very long track: "cascade," from portland artist yard. his effort blurs together tense drones and echo-laden snare hits to draw out one gradually intensifying moment.



but compared to that one - and the similarly shorter flip-side tracks on the power - i'm more easily moved by the expression's two a-side tracks. plant43, who earlier this year crafted one of 2012's best records, dreams of the sentient city on semantica, provides another gem here. the simple, neon-tinged melodies of his "blue skyways" are sure to attract those (like me!) who enjoy the moodier, more atmospheric forms of electro.





"gallano" from little-known artist(s?) valmass, provides a different sort of melancholy: a sub-100bpm journey through an endlessly modulated acid line, minor-key chords, and strange, subtle bits of noise. importantly, both "gallano" and "blue skyways" contribute to the emotional themes of the EP without seeming overly insistent (something i felt with that first EP) - to me, that's a mark of a label refining its sound. overall a very nice sophomore record for electronique.it - looking forward to the next one!

friday funk - mixes

time for a frank friday funk discussion of some mixes, new and old, that you should check out this weekend:

juho kahilainen - end of irony | mixtape 2012 it's always a pleasure to see (hear) juho in the mix and here is a nifty selection, as usual, from the finnish artist. it features some stuff from the limited EP he put out this summer on M_REC LTD, we heard it coming (which i happily reviewed on RA), along with tracks from the likes of rrose and jeff mills... do it to it!

big strick - LWE podcast 144 super-dope deep house and raw techno from a detroit dj and producer. big strick has put out some very nice records on FXHE and his own label, 7 days ent., and here he wins extra points for mixing in a couple of my personal favorites from rick wade and gunnar wendel (aka kassem mosse).

Ø [phase] - RA.337 belgian imprint token has been one to watch recently, thanks in part to phase, who in early 2012 crafted one of the year's most anthemic techno records, binary opposition. (an excellent release that i think was subjected to an overly indulgent remix treatment.) this dj mix is one is for those who like their jams hard and fast.

abdulla rashim - prologue portefeuille podcast 04 an artist to watch, i say. abdulla rashim's tracks reveal a penchant for the driving, textured sounds that i'm such a big fan of, and his mixes are just as good. this one for prologue has been on constant repeat. it's easily one of my favorite mixes of the year, and working in what just might be my favorite track from giorgio gigli, "introspection," is always a huge plus.

neel - voices from the lake mix this set is a few years old, i think, and it 'pre-dates' the excellent voices from the lake collaborative album from neel and donato dozzy. if it's not obvious: all things deep are covered here. (thanks to mnml ssgs for posting a new official.fm link.)

that's all for now but be sure to watch this space next week for another mix: anatomy 20 is incoming...

friday funk: new record upcoming on haknam

fresh and exciting news from haknam - a shadowy berlin-based label whose slow but steady vinyl output has been very impressive: from emad parandian's marangai waikawa to last summer's fourth record, hubble's floating souls. next up, finally, is the fifth EP from the equally mysterious (to me at least) cyl. more deep, eclectic moods abound, along with some evocative photo artwork (seemingly from esther suave, who has done haknam's other vinyl artwork)... try out the samples below and check soundcloud for more details.

stream brian eno's new album 'lux'

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

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

friday funk: sleeparchive

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

stream the new british murder boys

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

CUB - C U 1 / C U 2

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

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

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

tomorrow oct 16! dino sabatini and rodhad on K1971 broadcasting

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

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

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

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

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

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





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



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



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

friday funk

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

(hear a full track from this project here)

monday moods: VC-118A (live)

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

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

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

mike parker tours europe

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

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

finally - raime preps debut LP

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

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

three years!

time is passing... and today marks three years since the day smilecoldanatomy was born!

i'd like to thank any and all who have ever taken a chance with the words and sounds i try to share here, and to every artist who has decided to join the fun and contribute some sounds and, um, words.

(and yes, i know the anatomy mixes have been few and far between over the last year but fear not, there will be more of them soon.)

to help 'celebrate' the birthday, i've finally launched the new smilecoldanatomy page at official.fm and created fresh players and download links for every previous anatomy mix. well, almost every one: alan backdrop's anecumene was too big for official.fm so i've created a new dropbox link for downloading. anyway, you can now see the new players and links for each mix (lined up over the old/alternate official.fm players) on their respective page.

for a real blast from the past, you can find the full back catalog of players listed here (and by clicking "read more" if necessary). and as always you can find the page links for each individual mix on the right sidebar. enjoy, again!

auji - conclusion came to you

after hearing his debut EP love you more for pan records last year, i marked auji.industries as a name worth keeping an eye on. love you more's four tracks were deep, noir-ish and (usually) long - which basically sums up my preferred take on house music. so it's exciting to see that the tokyo artist, now just using the name auji, keeps up the fine form on aniara recordings with another EP, conclusion came to you.

auji's two tracks "conclusion came to you (part 1)" and "conclusion came to you (part 2)" take on deepness of a different color: in contrast to the somewhat gloomy nighttime vibe of love you more, here auji steps easily into lighter, sunnier scenes. a nifty low-end riff underpins the nine-minute long "part 1" but i find "part 2," with its sensual vocal hypnotics and clever arrangements of claps and hi-hats, especially memorable. i suppose the aniara remix is more floor-friendly, but i'm not as keen on its harder, shuffling percussion and an overall emphasis on rhythm over atmosphere. still good stuff, but it's auji's excellent pair of ultra-moody originals that are the clear winners here.

graciously, the label is offering up a FREE full stream of the EP on soundcloud next to their other releases - you can also try out the player below. also be sure to check out the auji.industries website, where you can learn more about the artist and see some of his visual works (like the sketch embedded at right).

my RA review for GATF

i came, i saw, i techno'd, and then i wrote about it, so feel free to go read my review of the great american techno festival at resident advisor. denver was a pretty fun city with tons of delicious craft beer to be enjoyed, and the GATF guys were a cordial group. i'm sure next year's festival is already on their minds - kudos and good luck!

my music highlight of the weekend was definitely mike parker's mind-tickling set. i also got to chat with mike for a while, which was a pleasure. and good news, fans: somewhere off in the future, yes! he will craft an anatomy mix...

monday moods: catch a wave...

now here's some monday love for drexciya, the pioneering detroit electro/techno group whose founding member, james stinson, passed away exactly ten years ago today. here's some of my personal favorites from drexciya's catalog of deep aquatic vistas:

friday funk: chris liebing at smart bar TONIGHT

more friday funk, no way? yes way. this one is for the chicago heads, tonight, at smart bar, with oktave and little white earbuds:

it's been a long time since chris liebing last came to chicago, and tonight shall be my first time seeing him in solo action. if you don't know, liebing is the mind behind the always-interesting techno label CLR, and the voice - that very charming voice - who commands the equally worth-your-time CLR podcast. i am looking forward to seeing what he puts together at smart bar. jeff derringer from oktave, who this week cooked up a set for smart bar's smart mix series, and qbot, fellow local dj and destination unknown radio host, will also play sets. enlighten yourself further by checking out a recent interview with LWE, and find any more details at facebook. see you there!

friday funk: dino sabatini LP on prologue

really, really exciting news regarding a smilecoldanatomy favorite: dino sabatini - he who crafted anatomy 14 under the modern heads alias last year - is getting ready to release his debut LP on prologue in early october! it's called shaman's path, and it is dino's "personal interpretation of the sounds of africa" according to the prologue press. it'll be the third prologue LP of the year, after inner state (from another anatomy friend, claudio prc) and after donato dozzy and neel's voices from the lake. shaman's path shows dino taking on a wide yet distinctive range of sounds, from slower, contemplative sketches to burning-hot techno skullfuckery. incidentally enough, it includes "white witch" which prologue boss tom bonaty played in his own anatomy mix... anyway, check out the album sampler below and learn more at the prologue soundcloud.

wednesday wax

hooray for me! look at what came in the post today... three old slabs of wax from one of my favorite techno producers, mike parker: highway oil, vertebrae waltz (which came with a few stickers, neat!) and trybet's monodrive.

new british murder boys (regis! and surgeon!)

and of course - following up on the regis CUB news - techno chin-scratchers have already raked up a storm in response to the news that regis and fellow UK techno pusher surgeon are reuniting to put out another record, where pail limbs lie, under the name british murder boys. check out the preview video here:

new CUB (regis!)

karl o'connor, aka techno superhero regis, is back in action with some new stuff under the name CUB. if you missed out, o'connor put out the perfectly scrambled C U 1 vinyl two years ago, and now he's back with two more tracks, "C U 1 (original mix)" and "C U 2 (UST funk mix)." the versions aren't too far off from the 'usual' regis fare, but devoted heads should appreciate his distinctively springy yet sharp bunches of beats. at play once again is UST, aka ugandan speed trials, allegedly another o'connor project.

get the record and listen to samples here, and wet your whistle with the full tracks from C U 1, thanks be to youtube:

new wolfgang voigt (mohn)

mohn is wolfgang voigt and jorg burger. following up on their enticing self-titled album on kompakt from earlier in the year, voigt offers up this beat-driven version of "ebertplatz 2020," available to stream in full via the kompakt soundcloud ... check it out:

friday funk: patty plays varsity allstars

here's a vaguely funky reminder about my gig this weekend... at varsity allstars chicago!

the party concept is pretty straightforward: a day of house and techno both indoors and outdoors (three rooms total), augmented by varsity attire (so get your sports stuff ready). this year's party is headlined by troy pierce, and will take place at a new/renovated spot called house nightclub, located at 1675 north elston. the music starts at 4pm, and yours truly will be opening the front room inside from 4 to 530pm. mention my dj name - patty - at the door and you'll get a bit of a discount off cover. check the event pages at facebook and RA, or email me for more details if necessary.

here's a few tracks that just might get played. come one, come all... looking forward to sunday afternoon!

monday moods: deepchord - jeanneau

here's something delicious for early monday moods: "jeanneau," an unreleased free track - available for download in wav quality! - from dub techno purveyor deepchord aka rod modell.

the track comes via soma records, the glasgow label that will release the next deepchord LP sommer later this month. i've already heard sommer and i like it (my favorite track for now is "cruising towards dawn"). i find something to enjoy in just about everything that comes from modell, and the new album is no exception. (some of you might remember the really nice things i had to say a few years ago about modell's incense & black light.)

anyway, about "jeanneau." it's lush, moody, and anchored with deep kicks, and it's just as good as anything on sommer. so good, in fact, that i might just play it this upcoming weekend at varsity allstars... more info on that party later but for now, settle into a groove with an excellent standalone piece from deepchord:

back... to official.fm

it's time to rejoice: smilecoldanatomy has returned to official.fm!

well, almost. as it turns out, my old page was deleted because i'm based in the US and i had a "media" account. thanks to something in my country called the digital millennum copyright act, official.fm apparently closed all US media accounts in order to avoid liability for any music that potentially, maybe, might be shared illegally. a blanket precaution, as i do not illegally share music, and one that sadly removed all prior anatomy-related material from the site.

fortunately us "media" folks are allowed to make new (regular) pages, and after working out a few kinks, it looks like all systems are GO for me to continue sharing sounds via official.fm. so for now, here's some of my own mixes - all worthy of revisiting, i hope. in the coming days and weeks i'll be re-uploading all the anatomy mixes and preparing for anatomy 20 and beyond. until then, you can check out these old mixes from yours truly, and visit the brand spanking new patty page by clicking here.

test 1108b


sirens


patty on rts.fm 2011-06-23


star dimmer

friday funk: dead can dance - anastasis

yes, still alive and kicking here in chicago. and now for something different!

i once was quite enchanted with dead can dance - in particular, with their 1987 masterpiece within the realm of a dying sun (perhaps because of its striking cover art). the group has just put out anastasis, their first studio LP in 16 years, and a full stream is graciously being offered at their website. click here to go right to the player.

aside from the clear, crispy, modern sound quality, a first listen shows that brendan perry's voice is deeper and rounder yet (a bit sadly but not unexpectedly) not as sharp and soaring as it was some two decades ago, to this writer's ears at least. meanwhile, lisa gerrard seems to be in very fine vocal form, especially on the silky, sensually composed piece "agape" which for now is my pick of the bunch. initial impressions: anastasis might not have enough of a dark edge for me, but it's a worthy addition to the dead can dance catalog. so have at it.

dead can dance has also started a month-long tour across north america. chicago heads, take note: they'll be playing the pritzker pavilion on tuesday the 21st of this month.

monday moods: the sight below - RA.322

this week's RA podcast from the sight below is a perfect pick for monday moods. the sight below is a seattle-based producer who has been active over the past half-decade or so. perhaps most 'notably,' in 2008 through '10 he put out a fine array of records on ghostly international.

i haven't listened to the sight below in a while, actually, although i recall seeing him play live in 2009 here in chicago at the beloved and defunct little club sonotheque, on a bill with lusine and josh eustis from telefon tel aviv - good times. anyway, 78 minutes of exceedingly pleasant ambient selections for the RA 'cast... go check it out.

anatomy's re-uploaded: 16, 17, 18, 19

good news, everyone: i've found a semi-permanent place, dropbox, to archive some recent anatomy mixes. here's a list so far, most recent mix (hakimonu's wondrous SLEEPDREAMARTIFICIALMODERN) first. you can try downloading them at the dropbox links, and you can still listen to them via the official.fm player (and of course, read introductions and interviews) at each blog link by clicking on the photos or texts below.

hakimonu - SLEEPDREAMARTIFICIALMODERN [anatomy 19]
(download anatomy 19 via dropbox) 

rossella - rain [anatomy 18]
(download anatomy 18 via dropbox)



slydex - live at sub:conscious [anatomy 17]
(download anatomy 17 via dropbox)

tr nch - live at artmospheric festival 2011 [anatomy 16]
(download anatomy 16 via dropbox)

voices from the lake - free track

go listen to and download an ambient track from voices from the lake, the duo of donato dozzy and neel who put out the uncannily good self-titled album (which is more like an hour-long live jam, not that that's a bad thing) earlier this year. "4caldo" is made freely available from those nice folks at prologue music.

at the moment, dozzy and neel are finishing up a VFTL tour across the US... sadly but not unexpectedly, no chicago show this time around. anyway, until material from the album gets a vinyl release, check out a free tune here:

it's over! (re: official.fm)

as i warned a week ago, official.fm has finally closed its doors to some users, which means my page there is unfortunately now dead. fortunately, the embedded players throughout this blog will still be working for a year, so for now you're able to still stream the sumptuous sounds of smilecoldanatomy.

i'm working on another download-friendly archive solution, and at the very least, i'll soon be posting a few alternate links to some of the recent anatomy mixes. until then, another huge thanks! for those who've tuned in over the past 2+ years. the smilecoldanatomy official.fm page counted some 9200 downloads and even more streams before it went under, and it was really nice to see perc's anatomy 12 mix surpass the 1000-download mark as well.

and i know that some of you are waiting impatiently for anatomy 20 and beyond - it's gonna happen but you're just gonna have to keep waiting. cheers!

interviews

a few interviews have been floating around the internets recently, check them out:

KANGDING RAY TALKS WITH RA the raster-noton artist who's recently put out material for modal analysis (i reviewed that EP here) and stroboscopic artefacts, talks in depth about his working processes at RA. i really liked this line - "[Raster-Noton label head] Carsten Nicolai is always telling me to be more direct and not do so many versions. He tends to prefer the early version of tracks—the rough ones." - as i think i agree with carsten nicolai. kangding ray's OR, which was one of my 2011 favorites, sometimes comes across just a bit too clean for my tastes. 

KANGDING RAY TALKS WITH SUBSEKT hey hey, another interview, this one at the subsekt blog, with the man formally known as david letellier. here he talks more about how his music has come out, particularly the SA connection, and mentions an upcoming remix for the strange and mysterious violet poison project... 

PERC PREACHES BALANCE AND MODERATION gotta love perc's honest and bullshit-free approach to things, as seen in this dub moniter interview. "Good music does not inspire me; it is the crap, the fodder, the unimaginative generic bland techno, solely produced to get gigs that inspires me to push forward to try to do something different both as a producer and a label owner." hear hear! also discussed: making sure that your output as an artist (or label) is never too prolific... so it looks like FSG's labour division will be the only long player out on perc trax this year. 

NICK HÖPPNER, SELECTIONS AND TAXES the ostgut ton label manager and panoramabar resident chats with the quietus about his recent panoramabar 04 official mix, and the financial poker game that germany's GEMA artist-tariff organization is currently playing with the country's clubbing culture. (head here, and pull up your google translator if necessary, for more information and a petition that - if you love clubbing - is totally worth your time and signature.)

NICK HÖPPNER, AGAIN another two-fer. this time höppner goes on video with FACT. he gets into more detail about the alleged 'berghain sound' and the GEMA problem.

TOSHIYA KAWASAKI - RARE CHAT WITH RA yes, another RA interview, this time with the founder of japan's excellent mule musiq imprint. kawasaki talks about the early days, aesthetics, and mule musiq's interaction with the scenes and artists in japan and beyond. he also shares some interesting thoughts about how he and the label approach the album format. and with recent singles coming from oskar offermann and christopher rau, methinks that mule musiq is doing pretty well at the moment.

about official.fm

attention, readers and anatomy mix enthusiasts:

it's official (bad pun, i know). according to a recent email and blog post, official.fm will finally make a full switch to their new format, and all media accounts are set to "disappear" on wednesday, july 18th - that means the smilecoldanatomy official.fm page might soon be wiped from the face of the earth.

the statement also reads, "if you have embedded players from the old site, they will keep working for a year" - i understand this to mean that you will still be able to play (stream) the files, which is a good thing, but not necessarily download them. official.fm has proven itself a great resource for smilecoldanatomy over the past few years, one that was well worth the investment, so next week i will try to make the jump to the site's new format to see if it can still work as a host to this blog's mixes. either way: please, if you haven't yet, i highly recommend you download any and all anatomy mixes (or my own mixes) by next tuesday, july 17th.

on tuesday, i'll try to move on with the new official.fm. if that doesn't work, i may move to another hosting site where i will not be able to afford unlimited storage space - which will mean 'archiving' older mixes to make room for new ones. don't worry, the anatomy series is not going away, it's just been in limbo the past few months as i've been considering how to move forward. you can expect another mix or two soon, but until then, why not download a few more mixes while they're still easily accessible?

anyway: THANK YOU, to everyone who's ever listened to or downloaded any of the sounds i've tried to share here, and to each and every artist who decided to join the fun. my official.fm page shows more than 9100 total downloads and 9300 total plays - numbers that i am very proud of. so, go grab a few more mixes if you need to, and stay tuned.

great american techno festival - denver

this just in: the initial lineup for denver's great american techno festival!

Kevin Saunderson (Detroit, MI)
John Tejada (Los Angeles, CA)
Mike Parker (Buffalo, NY)
Rrose (Washington, D.C.)
Drumcell (Los Angeles, CA)
Raiz (Los Angeles, CA)
Deepak Sharma (New York, NY)
Donor (Brooklyn, NY)
Jason Short (Jacksonville, FL)
Tiari (Detroit, MI)
Oonaslim (San Francisco, CA)
Dela (Milwaukee, WI)

it's looking like a very nice combination of talent, all US-sourced. which is always nice to see, especially because there's a bunch of legitimate *techno* whereas lesser events may try to over-hype any number of so-called 'minimal' or 'tech-house' acts. my pick of the bunch so far is mike parker, but i'm also personally keen to see what rrose, john tejada, drumcell and raiz from droid behavior, and of course kevin saunderson can do. you can read what i had to say for RA news here, then check out the festival's homepage and stay updated via facebook. oh, did i mention, i'll be in attendance? it will be my first time in colorado in almost a decade, i think. see you there...

monday moods

 

mondays always hold a unique combination of suspense and intrigue (new music, reports from the weekend's festivities, etc) and this monday is no exception. so, read on, and LISTEN, to what i have to point out on this particular afternoon:

first up, before you do anything else, go to the CLR podcast and download today's new mix from the inestimable mike parker - whom, if i haven't yet made it obvious, is one of my absolute favorite american producers. it's his second CLR mix, and his second mix released recently, after a set for the fabric blog a few weeks ago. both sessions should leave no mind unblown. this one uses a few of my favorites, like the frustratingly hard-to-find aquaplano 000 from donato dozzy and nuel, and cio d'or remixed by shifted on prologue, along with jeff mills' first something in the sky record.

okay, with that pumping out of your speakers, now here's this:

BLOC 2012 SHENANIGANS if you've kept your eyes on any techno news media this weekend, you might have noticed that london's hugely anticipated BLOC 2012 festival - which was to feature an absurd lineup of talent including but not limited to surgeon, monolake, perc, xhin, shackleton and luke vibert - met a calamitous and premature end. RA announced this initial bit of news exclaiming that overcrowding seems to have played a huge role in its early shutting on friday, and cancellation on saturday.

so, the rest of the weekend was filled with rampant speculation and, as expected, claims of (allegedly!) sinister motivations on the part of BLOC's organizers - a pessimistic sentiment that perhaps could have  partially been undone by a more quickly-transmitted apology (at the time of this writing, there's been at least one apology made on their homepage). along the way we got a compelling read from sleeve claiming that in relation to continental europe's thriving scene, the british festival circuit is in distress at the moment. but some heads kept cool, and it seems like saturday in london turned out pretty damn well given the circumstances, with many local promoters and artists originally billed for the festival teaming up for a spontaneous array of parties, mostly free to festival ticketholders, around the city. from my perch here in chicago it looks like a bunch of people pulled together and did really, really good things that hopefully compensated for the BLOC disappointment. anyway, helping to keep things level-headed throughout the weekend were the guys at the quietus; check out a nice essay from that site's rory gibbs that discusses the festival (which had expanded greatly from previous editions), the make-up parties (or nonBLOC parties, or unBLOC, or what have you), and what it all says about our community at large.

NEW MIKA VAINIO ALBUM now, time for more pleasant news, this time from an anatomy favorite, mika vainio (i discussed one of his prior, excellent albums here earlier in the year). magnetite is the name of the finnish sound master's newest album, which is due out in early september according to the wire. vainio recently got involved in a positively out-there collaboration on PAN, a snippet for which can be heard here.

FORWARD STRATEGY GROUP TALKS WITH TEA have a gander at the very random selections al and patrick from FSG cite in this TEA talk. chain reaction and melt-banana are among their oddball picks.

MNML SSGS MX SERIES CLOSES WITH PETER VAN HOESEN some sad news, this. the mnml ssgs blog's excellent mix series has come to an end, with a volley of closing "mx fnl" sets from donato dozzy and svreca among others, finished by a 3+hr recording from peter van hoesen. kudos to mnml ssgs for all the work over the years: the well-informed writing may have been too pretentious to be effective at times, but the mix series was always serious in the best of ways, and a huge inspiration for me here.

moving on to some US and chicago news:

GREAT AMERICAN TECHNO FESTIVAL TO REVEAL LINEUP the second annual edition of the denver festival will be announcing its lineup soon, so look out! the lineup i've seen is short but sweet, and i should be in attendance...

PATRICE SCOTT AND MORGAN GEIST HEAD TO CHICAGO this week, at our beloved smart bar: detroit selector and sistrum recordings boss patrice scott will guest at rhythmatic this wednesday (this mix of his has been my recent jam), and morgan geist of metro area hits the decks on friday with olin.

and rounding out the day's goodies, there's two more queue-worthy mixes to be had: szare's set for little white earbuds (notably, they're the first to submit a second mix to the LWE podcast)... and, if it's your thing, james zabiela's RA.319.

oh, and i also posted the tracklist for my weirdo/ambient set test1108b (you can also just scroll down)... so check that too. and that's it - take it or leave it!