ben frost, chicago, halloween!

this should be fun: ben frost will be coming to chicago on friday, october 31st. that's right, halloweeeeeeeeeeen...

a few months ago frost put out his latest album, A U R O R A, the sounds of which he's taking on tour. it's a challenging album, as usual, and one that sounds more futuristic than his other work, yet it has a curiously polished touch to it - but yes, it's still filled with plenty of distorted heft. i think i still prefer by the throat; i saw frost play live during sonar chicago in 2010, shortly after the release of that LP, and he had the seated crowd enthralled as he slowly let loose his swells of guitar noise and pensive beats. but the new album is still an interesting listen, so i can't wait to see how frost performs the new material live. the empty bottle-related show is happening at constellation, formerly known as the viaduct theater, and (though i'm not sure if i've ever been) i've heard good things about the spot. tickets and more details are right here.

also on the lineup with frost is cleared, a chicago duo consisting of michael vallera (aka COIN, an alias that's appeared on opal tapes) and steven hess (who's been involved with groups like pan-american and locrian). spaced-out, reverberated guitars and rattling, loose percussion seem to be the norm for the duo, as they've put out a trilogy of albums on the local label immune over the past few years. you can try all three at the label's bandcamp page.

so, it sounds like an interesting night. zoinks!

now hear this

it's a rainy grey evening here in chicago. here is some musical stuff i've been enjoying lately:

stanislav tolkachev at dommune he is one of my favorite producers, and i would say one of the most interesting voices in techno today. there's really nothing that compares to tolkachev's frenetic, polyrhythmic style, as far as i can tell. a few days ago he appeared on dommune to play an hour-long dj set of his own material, and unsurprisingly it's fantastic. fast, angular, sinuous, tense... fucking relentless!


yuka at tresor, august 2013 the globetrotting russian dj/producer (and like tolkachev, a fullpanda label affiliate) recently uploaded this recording of her dj'ing at tresor in berlin last august, for the fullpanda-focused party all you need is ears. included in the mix are raw, hypnotic techno tracks from the likes of dino sabatini, rrose and AnD (it's their track on krill music, a standout in a catalog that's otherwise meh to me). go to soundcloud or check it below.


DSCRD live at strichka festival this group, a key part of paris's tuned-in DEMENT3D label crew, construct dark and dense electronic soundscapes. about a month ago they played kiev, ukraine's strichka festival, and you can hear their live set on soundcloud... or right here.


stave - former (free remixes!) chicago producer stave turned in one of my favorite albums of 2013, reform, and later in the year came this pack of remixes of "tower 9," perhaps the most direct and aggressive cut on the album. my pick of the bunch comes from COiN, who has put out a few interesting solo releases on opal tapes. click here or stream below. ALSO: stave will be playing a contort event in berlin next month; i think (not sure) this will be his berlin debut. to any local heads reading this: i'd say his set should be a must-see.


... and you can also click here for bigger/better versions of that awesome photograph of the forbidden city. so, that's it from me for now. happy weekend!