music n news n shit

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!

stuff to read!

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...

more music-related food for thought

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...

my top albums for 2010 (so far)

summer is upon us, so i think it's a good time to look back and consider the musical output of the last half-year. there's plenty to keep your ears busy, but of the stuff that i've heard so far in 2010, i keep returning to these albums:

the black dog - music for real airports
i blogged about this a few months ago, mostly intrigued by the idea of a response to brian eno's 1978 album music for airports. honestly, i have little knowledge of the black dog's music, but this album is simply brilliant, no matter the context of its creation. there's 14 tracks here with cryptic air travel references as titles, but most of them blend together to create a seamless hour-long journey that literally floats, soaring through clouds of softly pressurized but nevertheless foreboding drones. the album weaves between ambient passages and rhythmic tracks filled with sputtered, broken drumbeats, with sampled vocal clutter of airport activity sparingly applied throughout. tense, delicate, at times frightening, and always achingly deep: a captivating listen, and my current pick for album of the year.

tin man - scared
a vinyl-only release, i got my copy just last week and i've been slowly succumbing to its charms. scared showcases tin man's growing maturity as a producer and songwriter. you have more of his slow, minimal drum and 303 programming, but i see such an improvement in the delivery of lyric, melody, and ambiance as tin man continues to glide through retro and futuristic thoughts of love and isolation. my favorites tracks reveal enhancements to tin man's unique voice that i find especially gorgeous, such as 'space case' and 'self help'; there's also 'zone unknown', which features a sort of vocal melody that unexpectedly and beautifully soars skyward. if there is a weak spot among these 8 songs, i'd say it has to be 'stand by me,' a song whose relatively conventional approach sorta turns me off. otherwise, scared is full of hazy, experimental pop abstractions. disturbingly blissful, darkly romantic, but always with a sense of cozy warmth... frankly, i can't wait to see what tin man comes up with next.

pawel - pawel
paul kominek has been around dial since the beginning; after a handful of EPs, here is his first LP effort released on the hamburg-based record label. if you're familiar with the alternately playful and melancholic depth of dial's other output, this should be a welcome addition to that sound; if you're not familiar, i still recommend this as an excellent album of shimmering, summery house music. while it's not in any way mind-blowing, it doesn't have to be: there's definitely enough going on inside these tracks to warrant repeat listens. in terms of dancefloor-ready albums, i think this is the best so far this year.


so, those are my favorite albums of the early part of this year. i want to note that there have been some hugely anticipated albums, such as marcel dettmann's eponymous full-length, scuba's triangulation, and peter van hoesen's entropic city, which have felt a bit underwhelming to me so far. but with upcoming full-length releases by mathew jonson, pan sonic, donato dozzy, and niederflur, among many others, there's tons of interesting music to look forward to as we move into the second half of 2010.

music/chicago/news

hope you are enjoying nAX_acid's very nice mix; thanks to those who have commented on it. be sure to watch his website for more news, including info on upcoming releases on aconito along with a special, limited-edition collaboration with giorgio gigli... now, for some more music/chicago news:

sound tribe sector 9 announces late august chicago run
glitchy electronic funky whatever band sts9 will play a run of shows around chicago the weekend of august 20. friday will see the band play a regular electric set at the house of blues; saturday, the band will host a mini-festival of sorts at the charter one pavilion on northerly island; and sunday, the band will 'axe the cables' and play an acoustic show at a to-be-decided venue. unfortunately, sts9 is bringing along bassnectar, purveyor of horrible dubstep and awkward mash-ups, and one of smilecoldanatomy's most hated enemies in music... he'll play at northerly island, and he gets to take over the house of blues saturday night for the official afterparty. i would have preferred sts9 do an actual 3-night run somewhere but i'm content with what should be an interesting weekend. check the band's news section for more specifics.

efdemin's new album to be released in late may on dial
ironically entitled chicago, the album is set for a may 24 release on berlin's dial records. efdemin's debut LP on the label received mostly glowing reviews worldwide. i wasn't too impressed with it, but chicago sounds like it will be a more organic affair, so i'm hoping it captures my attention a bit more. read more at resident advisor.

(last but not least) initial lineup announced for early june's MUTEK festival
montreal's MUTEK festival has released it's first wave of lineup announcements. the music will take place during the long weekend of june 2-6... the weekend following detroit's movement festival. as usual, the canadians will contrast detroit's 'heavy hitters' with a rich variety of electronic musicians. among the names that cause the most glee for smilecoldanatomy, there's moritz von oswald trio, shed, and vladislav delay. check out the MUTEK website for the full announcement and more info.