four years!

and so it continues, as today marks four years since smilecoldanatomy was born!

thanks to everyone who has ever tuned in, hung around, reached out and otherwise helped inspire what has transpired here, ever since the first post back in late september of 2009. extra thanks to the five artists who have contributed to the anatomy series over the last twelve months: abdulla rashim, bleaching agent, fabrizio lapiana, smear and percyl. i hope you've enjoyed their mixes as much as i have.

looking forward, i still have plenty more to share. if you happen to be seeking some fresh anatomy mixes, don't worry. they are rare for a reason, but i promise there will be more very soon - including, perhaps, the first from a US artist. (i'm also working on a few new mixes of my own.)

if you'd like to further connect beyond this blog, here's a reminder that i post pretty frequently to the smilecoldanatomy facebook page, and occasionally distribute nonsense via twitter. and i'm still a contributor for RA; if you like what i write about here, you might like my reviews over there.

that's all for now... thanks again for stopping by!

monday moods: soultek - soultwist

soultek, as some of you might already know, is one of the many aliases of stephen hitchell, who also collaborates with rod modell (known as deepchord, etc) under the echospace name. dubby techno is maybe the easiest way to describe their style, though the two words alone don't do justice to the wide-ranging sounds they've made over the years and across multiple monikers.

the guys just launched a bandcamp page, where you can buy *and* stream a bunch of their music. (it's probably worth a bookmark.) click below to try out out "soultwist", a warm and vibrant jam taken from soultek's 2009 album/compilation, reflective. a proper way to kick off the week, methinks...



i would also recommend following the echospace page on facebook, which is pretty often updated with gig and new release news. otherwise, if you're in need of some more tunes today, that bandcamp page should help keep you occupied.

friday funk: mikkel metal - kenton (marcel dettmann remix)

it has been a busy week, but it is the weekend now... so here's this:

marcel dettmann recently put out his sophomore LP II, which follows his 2011 self-titled album, which has been one of my favorite techno full-lengths from recent years. i haven't given II a full listen yet; instead i'm gonna jump backwards in time - to 2009 - and revisit his super-dope remix of mikkel metal's "kenton".

to me, the original is decent if a bit by-the-numbers, while dettmann's take is one of his better remixes, as well as one of the best tracks to come from copenhagen's echocord label axis (the two-tracker was released on the echocord colour offshoot). cleverly counting out five measures at a time atop righteously syncopated kicks, it's a fantastic slice of noir-ish, dubbed-out techno. happy friday!

friday funk: luke slater, jeff derringer, lokua

happy friday! and now i'd like to share three varied shades of techno, a track from each of the three artists playing tomorrow night at smart bar: luke slater, jeff derringer, and lokua.

this should be a good one - it'll be slater's first chicago gig since 2002. you can learn more about this night with oktave and prosthetic pressings via this preview piece i wrote for ChicagoMusic.org - it's jam-packed with info and full of music links. head to the facebook event page for a few more details, and a reason to arrive early. read, listen, see you tomorrow!

(and thanks be to youtube, as usual.)

luke slater (as planetary assault systems) - call from the east | ostgut ton


jeff derringer - compassion | M_REC LTD


lokua - underly2 | CPKAY RCRDS

monday moods: alva noto - xerrox monophaser 2

raster-noton has been a source of plenty of experimental goodness over the years. one of the best things i've heard from the label is the 2009 album xerrox vol.2 from alva noto (aka carsten nicolai). it's the follow up to 2007's xerrox vol.1, and i think it's the better of the two, though you can't go wrong with either if you're into unique approaches to ambient music.

after putting it aside for a while, i recently gave xerrox vol.2 another listen and have found myself once again enthralled with its layers of warm and fuzzy noise, sublime digital tones and long chord movements. the whole album has this mood to it - at once futuristic and nostalgic - that to me is absolutely addicting. it's hard to pick a favorite here but for today i'll go with "xerrox monophaser 2", which is up on youtube accompanied, very appropriately, by images from NASA. happy monday!

friday funk: oliver ho - seduced

some of oliver ho's tracks can be a bit hit or miss for me, but there's no doubt that he has made a ton of really interesting (and often unconventional) stuff over the years. recently, i grabbed a few of his older records, including the 2xLP listening to the voice inside from 2000. the strangely blissful "seduced", with its razor-sharp percussion and cut-up, spiraling female vocals, is one of that album's finest moments. listen below, then listen again, damnit... and have a happy friday!

interviews, from a to v

changing it up a bit, here's some interviews you should be reading, from some artists whom you should be following - in my humble opinion, anyway.

ABDULLA RASHIM one of my current favorite producers does a rare interview with dissolve, talking about his identity ("i like the rumors") and his thoughts on techno ("i like horizontal music"), among other things. cool stuff. check it out, then hit the repeat button on his excellent anatomy mix from last year! and NYC fans, here's another reminder: for his north american debut, he's playing the bunker in brooklyn next friday along with the mighty luke slater.

HUERCO S i got to see huerco s dj at a ridiculously fun party here in chicago a few months ago. i've been really digging his rough, spaced-out approach to production and dj'ing. he's a relative newcomer, hailing from kansas, but has already put out a handful of very nice records over the past two years (including one under the name royal crown of sweden), and now he's preparing his debut LP, colonial patterns. here, he catches up with FACT to talk about the US midwest's dance music scene, basic channel and more.

JEFF MILLS another interview over at FACT, the title for this one sums it up: "people just don’t ask for better anymore. i think we’ve lost the knowledge of how to do that." jeff mills: always forward-thinking and always worth paying attention to. he's about to release a new album, the jungle planet, so be on the lookout.

REGIS the UK techno boss sits down with spectrum for a nice, long conversation. topics covered include his early days as a music listener and producer and singing "happy birthday" to the ukrainian mafia. his label downwards turns 20 this year; aside from an anniversary compilation featuring chicago's karl meier and jonathan krohn (aka stave, who put out a very cool and sadly limited LP recently called reform) among others, regis and meier will be playing an oktave party at smart bar on saturday, november 23rd. very very excited about that one!

VLADISLAV DELAY great news for fans of vladislav delay, aka sasu ripatti: the finnish experimentalist is launching a new label, simply called ripatti. in this interview with electronic beats, he talks about his latest endeavor, which looks to be a "studio diary" with vinyl-only releases, and his move from berlin back to finland, and touches on some of his older albums ("i don't have a single copy of those records"...!). you can hear short samples of the new label's first record at his soundcloud page. looking forward!

... and that's all for now. happy thursday!

monday moods: silent servant - songs for sleep (new mix)

happy monday, and happy labor day to the rest of you US folks out there! i hope you're able to take it as easy as i am today.

here's a soothing set of sounds from silent servant to help you settle into your week. it was shared a few days ago via his soundcloud page (along with some of his as-usual intriguing artwork, at right), and it's called songs for sleep. prepare your pillows...