In the first ediiton of his new column named Never Knows Best, NFOP staff writer Trey Reis goes in-depth on Dual Form, a co-release between Stones Throw and Leaving Records, the process of exploration in new music journalism, and the future of tape labels reaching a larger audience.
I would say that 95 per cent of the records and tapes I buy online are purchased after 3 AM. I don’t know why this is, exactly. It’s possible I’m capable of worrying about money more during reasonable hours of the day, whereas sleep deprivation puts me more in line with the role of the American consumer. Also, a good majority of the blog spelunking I do is during that time of the night between deciding to go to sleep and actually falling asleep; a time, I’ve discovered, when my head has slowed down enough to listen to an entire Soundcloud embed and actually read what people have to say about a track or an album or a label.
That’s an important part of music journalism, I think; the willingness to read about the same track from five or ten different sources in order to gain a better understanding of connections and trends forming both in the music and in the way we all write about it. Although it may indirectly form our opinions, deciding what not to mention in my own write-ups and reviews is a beneficial process in keeping music journalism fresh and interesting.
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I discovered Dual Form during one of those late night webspace digs. I was sold on it after seeing new tracks from Dem Hunger, Trance Farmers, and Run DMT on the tracklist. But browsing around online revealed hype about one specific track on the compilation: an Arthur Russell tribute of his song "You and Me Both" by Julia Holter. It’s a great track and a wonderfully opposite-direction kind of cover wherein Holter strips away nearly everything that would have been a draw about the song upon its release, opting to use the moody lyrics to reestablish a new setting (through a wall of audience chatter) for the song more akin to the slow-moving pop haze of her 2012 list-topping album, Ekstasis.
The popularity of Ekstasis and its place on many end-of-the-year lists is likely a large part of the reason her contribution to Dual Form is receiving the attention that it is. Run DMT’s masterwork, Dreams, received waves of acclaim in 2011, but the band was mostly silent last year save a short split cassette with Tracey Trance on CGI Friday. Louis Johnstone, the many-faced man behind Dem Hunger, has been focusing primarily on his Wanda Group project over the last two years, which has yet to receive the kind of attention it probably deserves in that blurred-line genre of drone and beat music.
Not to say that the attention "You and Me Both" is receiving lessens any other song on the Dual Form compilation. It’s an angle in which to discuss the release, and it certainly hooked me. But if the media is to be a constant check and balance for itself as well as the things it covers, then I feel it’s important as a journalist, but also a fan, to see the trends in coverage and diversify the literature being written, especially in the case of compilations with multiple artists.
Different aspects of a release of any size will appeal to different people. It’s like those people at record stores in the listening booths checking out records with the bass turned all the way up. Their priority is probably DJing, and a track without a decent level of bass isn’t much use to them regardless of details such as the way the art looks, how good the lyrics are, or what label released it.
In this case, the labels involved with Dual Form are a detail worth mentioning. Stones Throw, known primarily for its hip hop releases, teamed up with another LA label, Leaving Records, to highlight many of the Leaving artists, which, typically, exist on a level of fame below Stones Throw artists like J Dilla, Madlib, and label founder, Peanut Butter Wolf. It’s like a Stones Throw nod to the prevailing DIY scene in LA that garnered the creation of Stones Throw in 1996 and is still prospering today. And, depending on the attention span of this cassette tape resurgence, who’s to say that Leaving Records won’t be as big as Stones Throw is in another eight to ten years?
The compilation title Dual Form seems to be, in part, a reference to the physical releases of the album itself—on vinyl from Stones Throw, or on cassette tape from Leaving Records. For many of the artists, accustomed to tape releases and handmade CD-R’s, it is their vinyl debut. And it’s leading to a string of future releases, including The Cyclist’s debut album on Stones Throw.
The Cyclist’s contribution to Dual Form was, for many (myself included), the first we’d ever heard of him. In an interview with Dazed Digital, Matthewdavid, Leaving Records' founder, mentioned receiving an email from the 18-year-old kid behind The Cyclist, having never heard of him before, introducing himself and his music and commenting on aspects of Leaving Records he admired. The Cyclist brings that organic feel to electronic music, not unlike some of the earlier Teengirl Fantasy material but with a strong bass sense, reminding me of Actress’s 2012 dark dance stunner, R.I.P. It’s a refreshing alternative to that trend of chopped-and-screwed sample method (I’ve seen the term 404 tossed around to describe this, which is in reference to the overwhelming reliance on Roland’s SP-404 sampler to produce this kind of music) prevalent in cassette tape culture throughout all of last year and carrying over into 2013.
The Dem Hunger track on the compilation really surprised me. Leaving much of the tape hiss manipulation behind him, it’s the cleanest Dem Hunger song I’ve heard yet, while still managing to keep the beatfuck aspect of previous albums like Caveman Snack and Heavy Spinach intact. It seems Louis Johnstone’s last couple years of drone exploration as Wanda Group has had an effect on the attention to detail in his other projects. While I like all of the Wanda Group material that shows up mysteriously on his tumblr page, I did always prefer the old Dem Hunger material, and I’m hoping its appearance on this compilation, which was comprised completely of new, unreleased material, is a sign of future happenings from this face of the guy’s musical multiple personalities.
The Run DMT contribution has the same bedroom pop feeling to it as songs from Dreams, such as “Romantic” or “Richard”, and leaves much of the kaleidoscope visions from that album behind. It doesn’t leave much to assumption about any future material from Run DMT, but a potential 2013 album is still high on my list for the most anticipated releases for this year.
TRANCE FARMERS was one of those Bandcamp gems I stumbled upon one night. With only a short 2011 EP to their name, self-described as “Elvis and Busta Rhymes on the beach”, I was pretty excited to find this new song, “Purple Hay”, featured on Dual Form, and it has become my favorite song on the compilation by far. More Elvis and less Busta Rhymes this time around, it uses that strong Ducktails-esque drum machine and jangly guitar relaxation form channeled through a really simple 60s pop structure. I will definitely be hoping for a full-length debut from this band sometime in 2013.
According to Stones Throw, this is the first co-release between the two labels of a new distribution deal wherein some Leaving Records artists will be released to wider audiences through the Stones Throw name. It’s not only good news for the rest of us, but perhaps even a move we could begin seeing more of from these smaller tape labels responsible for putting out some of the past few year’s best music, like a loophole for talent unable to afford or uninterested in the clean sound of the traditional studio experience. With some of the more well-known tape labels selling out of their releases before many of us knew they existed, this could be a good sign of things to come.
Lucrecia Dalt's latest, brilliant full-length Commotus, which we described in June of last year as an album of 'carefully arranged soundscapes that appear gentle and pleasing on the surface, yet invariably imply some uncanny, surrealist subtext, a hidden meaning that taps into the unconscious', has been sort of re-released as a 24bit digital edition, now additionally coming with seven remixes. The selection of artists to rework Dalt's originals is rather impressive, including Berlin electronic music legends Gudrun Gut and Ekkehard Ehlers, London-based music journalist-cum-musician Matthew Ingram aka Woebot, Portuguese experimantalist Bruno Miguel aka :papercutz, and the man behind beloved HEM Berlin himself, Jason Grier. Unsurprisingly, the quality of all remixes is stunning, stylistically ranging from twisted techno bangers (Gut and Ehlers) to brief, delicate noise/ambient interpretations (Grier), profound pop deconstructions (Ingram), and far-flung bass intrusions by elusive project XHGC. Stream all remixes below.
Commotus is now available together with a download of all remixes via HEM Berlin. Order over here. In North America, the album is now directly available via Forced Exposure. Highly recommended.
Throughout the lifetime of No Fear Of Pop, the Oakland based synth-stoners of James & Evander have frequently appeared on our radar, and we've seen them grow from twirky, psychedelic synthpop to a more diverse, less electronic outtake of dream pop, as found on their 2012 debut album Bummer Pop. Clearly, dance music has been a big developing factor for James & Evander the last couple of years, so it therefore seems just about right for the duo's first half and XLR8R contributorGlenn Jackson to return to the band's "roots" on his debut solo EP Morning Swim. Bright, glossy and particularly Cascine approved, Glenn explores the conventional borders of the much beloved Scandinavian pop (much in similarity to his Swedish label mate Bam Spacey), somehow annoyingly, reminding us that there is no such thing as three months of winter in Oakland, California. Have a first listen to the title track "Morning Swim" below, out on February 5th via our buddies Ceremony Recordings.
Sleep ∞ Over's Stefanie Franciotti has resurfaced from a relative hiatus with two new songs. "Rooftop" is an enchanting, Alice in Wonderland-esque journey into psychedelia. Franciotti's voice lies fragilely over off-kilter bells and twinkling, before slowing down and descending into a calm and uneasy dream state. Saxophones drone out at the end with cryptic modulations and the feeling that you're just in the eye of the storm, that the worst is yet to come. It's a hexing reminder that beauty can sometimes be harsh.
"Rooftop" 7" is out today through Hippos in Tanks. Stream "Rooftop" and the B-side, Franciotti's rendition of a Vashti Bunyan song, below.
Considering his recent deranged and noisy house musings together with Mix Mup and on his own, Kassem Mosse's forthcoming album Think and Change is a turn (back) towards more straightforward and truly banging afterhour techno, at least if first snippet "Broken Patterns" is any indication. The industrial-leaning (and indeed broken) structures of the track imediately straighten out that it's not up for making any concessions; it grabs you by the neck and relentlessly throws you onto the dancefloor, making you forget what you had come for originally.
Update: We've been informed that Think and Change is not a new Kassem Mosse album, but in fact 'just' the forthcoming Nonplus compilation that will feature "Broken Patterns". We apologise for the mistake.
Manchester producer Rupert Taylor, better known as XXXY, is a master of bubbly melodies, repetitive vocals and bouncing, muscular basslines. He outdid himself on the latter earlier this month with a clip of the seriously massive title track of his forthcoming EP, Got Me So, and lead single "Studio 9 (Just Like That)" is no different. Both tracks are built pretty much over the same script as last year's excellent Everything EP, thankfully, cause there's really no need for new measures. XXXY crafts anticipation and physical exaltation ridiculously well, few others (in regards to music at least) will make your blood boil faster. The Got Me So EP is out February 4 through Rinse.
Late last week, The Haxan Cloak released some supremely dark, alternately noisy and ambient synths from his forthcoming double LP Excavation on Tri Angle Records. Excavation is a concept album exploring a character’s journey through the astral plane after death, and "The Mirror Reflecting (Part 2)" is full of appropriately murky and ethereal drone soundscapes. As the track slowly builds, more electronic instrumentation works its way in, and the song occasionally sounds as though it could be emanating from a nightclub—albeit, the most depressing nightclub in existence. It’s an unsettling vision of the afterlife, but also a deeply moving seven minutes.
Excavation will be out in North America on April 30, and internationally on April 15.
On Monday, Berlin's uniquely engaging CTM Festival heads into its 14th edition (called CTM.13, because, you know, it's 2013), this time proceeding under the theme "The Golden Age", which aims at reflecting today's underground and adventurous music culture, which "displays a greater diversity than ever before, and is therefore increasingly stretching the limits of differentiation, genre ascriptions, and the capacities of human perception," as the festival's curators explain in their convincing and exhaustive remarks on the topic:
No tensions, frictions, and dichotomies exist in the "Golden Age" of antiquity. The term describes a state of harmony and peace, and this is precisely what makes it so obviously suspect; few people nowadays are able to put much faith in unconstrained peace and harmony. CTM.13’s "Golden Age" reveals itself to be at least as ambivalent, but takes the diametrically opposed viewpoint, namely that nothing but tension, intensity, and friction is ever able to put a shine on its gold and bring forth from the tired, purely quantitative pluralism of indifferent juxtaposition, a pluralism appreciably rich in diversity and potential. Tension here does not mean only affect, speed, contrast, and a rejection of rationalism and conflict. Peace, languor, and contemplation likewise create spaces that allow for such intensity to build.
While the festival officially starts next week with the official opening concert at HAU1 on Monday night featuring AtomTM, Marc Behrens, and Matmos, the CTM exhibition "In That Weird Age" opens its gates at Kunstraum (Mariannenplatz 2 in Kreuzberg) tonight already. Moreover, there's a bunch of more or less unofficial, CTM-related events happening over the weekend, most notably tonight's "CTM Preglow" with Pete Swanson, Sensate Focus, and PAN mastermind Bill Kouligas, tomorrow's Greco-Roman curated "CTM Warm-up" (oh those names) featuring Renaissance Man, Millennium (exciting new project, more on that next week), and Full Nelson; both events take place at our ever-beloved Horst Krzbrg. Also on Saturday, we've got "Noisekölln x Sameheads x CTM Vorspiel" (oh) at Neukölln's Sameheads, with performances by NFOP darling Sean Bowie aka Teams, plus the debut (?) appearance by elusive Montenegrin project Time Wave Zero. Last, we'd like to recommend "Geek Out!" at Neukölln mainstay Das Gift on Saturday, an event that not only has Richard Scott and Erik Dower performing live, but also a workshop in the afternoon where you can learn how to build your own Quäkmonster (don't ask, just head over here for more information).
But as we said, that's only the (inofficial) beginning. You'll find the NFOP-approved guide for the festival's program below. Did we mention that we're excited?
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We've said it before but to be sure, we'll say it again: These are solely our recommendations, i.e. that sort of stuff that we'll most likely attend or try to attend ourselves (so if you see us, say hello!) – for the complete program, head over here.
Monday, January 28
As mentioned above, things officially kick off with AtomTM and Marc Behrens performing their Bauteile radio play prject, and Baltimore duo Matmos premiering their upcoming album The Marriage of True Minds, which is out February 19 via Thrill Jockey. The concert happens at HAU1 and starts at 7.30. More info here. Below, take a listen to "Teen Paranormal Romance", the first track off the full-length:
Tuesday, January 29
On Tuesday, things get a little darker and dirtier at Berghain for the first time, with Opium Hum, Diamond Version, Emptyset, TM404 (the new project of Mokira's Andreas Tilliander), and others exploring and testing the sonic capabilities of the sacred halls of stone. 8pm, more info and timetable right here.
Meanwhile at HAU1, you may witness the German premiere of Myrninerest, a newly formed project centered around David Tibet together with guitarist James Blackshaw, joined by a couple of musicians on stage. The group is set to perform their debut album “Jhonn”, Uttered Babylon, which is focused on 'the life and death' of Coil's Jhonn Balance, who had been a friend of Tibet. It probably won't get any more riveting and absorbing the whole week, so you might consider attending. We highly recommend that anyway. No need to say more:
During the day, there's a bunch of very interesting artist talks happening at Kunstquartier (Mariannenplatz 2, Kreuzberg). Electronic Beats editor Max Dax will have a conversation with AtomTM (2pm), before The Wire's Jennifer Lucy Allen takes over to talk to Heatsick (3.30) and Matmos (5pm).
Wednesday, January 30
Wednesday should become the day when the magic happens: First, we got Hamburg's finest Hendrik Weber aka Pantha Du Prince performing together with his Bell Laboratory at HAU1 at 8pm. Though we haven't really figured out yet how to come to terms with the project's brand new work Elements of Light (we guess it's awesome, we're just not sure), seeing the whole thing life will surely put it on a completely different level. Plus, he will always be our God anyway. More info here. Note that due to the overwhelming demand, there has been another show scheduled for the night after (which might be sold out already as well).
At Berghain, starting at a neat 8pm, last year's (rightfully) most critically acclaimed label, Berlin-based PAN, will have its long-awaited showcase featuring some of the imprint's crown jewels, including Heatsick, Jar Moff, Mark Fell, Keith Fullerton Whitman, Florian Hecker, and of course Lee Gamble, who is (as you'll know) responsible for this writer's favourite album of 2012. The staggering line-up is completed by recent Houndstooth signee Call Super. Go here for more details and the timetable.
No chance to slow down one day later, when things centre upon Berghain proper and its adjacent Kantine. At Berghain, contemporary electronic music's vanguard holds court, with a line-up that can only be called mindblowing and that features both the artist who's made our staff's favourite track of 2012, and the artist who has achieved the same as regards the editors. Besides Holly Herndon and Kuedo (who will be visually joined by MFO), the night will host Forest Swords and d'Eon. No, really. Here's the proof.
Next door at Kantine things will get decidedly grittier and gloomier, with performances by reliq, the very exciting Wife aka Irishman James Kelly, Reznik, Oneirogen, and of course Iceage, who will start at 1am – which most likely means that you won't need to worry about missing some of Kuedo's show, which is set to start half an hour later at Berghain; you'll easily make it in time (unless, of course, you got beaten up by the band because you made an attempt to take a photo of the singer).
As for the discussions and talks, there's some exciting things happening on Thursday as well: Jennifer Lucy Allen will have a conversation with Holly Herndon at 2pm, which should be fun, followed by Lisa Blanning (ex-The Wire, newly recruited by Electronic Beats) and Adam Harper (The Wire, Dummy, and author of our personal Bible Infinite Music) discussing "The Pop Art Of The Virtual Plaza" at 3.30.
Friday, February 1
A lot of things happening on Friday, so let's keep things brief by highlighting this one true highlight, our man Dean Blunt performing another of our favourites of 2012, his mixtape-cum-album The Narcissist II, at HAU1, 8pm. Details here.
Apart from that, which you shouldn't dare to miss, there's a lot of stuff at Berghain as well, namely performances and DJ sets by such illustrious figures as Shackleton, DJ Sprinkles, Shed, EVOL, or Andy Stott. Yes. If you don't seem excited enough about this insane night, it's because we don't see ourselves drinking enough Club Mate to actually make it there after Wednesday and Thursday. But we'll see.
Friday is also packed with terrific discussions at Kunstquartier, most notably a Resident Advisor "Live Exchange" with PAN's Bill Kouligas at 12pm, two talks on "The Death of Rave", the first focusing on the UK, featuring Mark Fisher, Lee Gamble, Alex Williams, and Steve Goodman aka Kode9, moderated by Lisa Blanning (1.30); the second centred on Berlin, with our friend and original raver Alex Droener, Ulrich Gutmair, Johnnie Stieler, Felix Denk, and Tom Lamberty. If you're able to read German but haven't read Der Klang der Familie yet, do so immediately, and then attend that panel at 3.30. If you happen to have enough energy for a fourth talk, look no further, at 5.30 smart folks will elaborate on "Virtual Futures: The Future Of Music".
Saturday, February 2
If you still want more, Saturday will serve another multitude of awesomeness, starting with d'Eon performing his acclaimed Music for Keyboards (not sure which one, actually) at HAU2 at 8pm; highly recommended.
Demdike Stare and Gatekeeper will share the bill later at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (which is a pity, as it's not all that easy to get there in time), with a world premiere and a German premiere, respectively. Later, there's complete craziness happening at Stattbad Wedding (again, a bit off) with The Midas Touch/#gHashtag/Purge, featuring quite a few of our friends such as BlackBlackGold, xorzyzt, and Half Girl / Half Sick, plus a bunch of amazing artists including Mykki Blanko, EAN, Anika, and Simian Mobile Disco. Yes. So it's probably worth to go all the way up to Wedding after all.
Sunday, February 3
CTM.13, "The Golden Age", ends on Saturday with something golden indeed, if pitch-black on the surface: The great Sunn O))) performing at Astra, starting at 8pm. We don't think we need to go any deeper on that. And honestly, if you've made it there considering the week's program: kudos to you. So have fun, and see you somewhere around next week.
