08 Apr 2013 — Tonje Thilesen
The very much talented London producer Crewdson gives a superb remix aid to Talk in Colours' "Candles" below, originally a new (yet to be released) single following the band's debut album ColliderScope, which we featured back in July last year. With a soulful and organic touch in the production, Crewdson builds up some trippy beats over the otherwisely delicate atmosphere, however cleaner than his earlier works.
Download the remix for free via Bandcamp.
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08 Apr 2013 — Tonje Thilesen
Fortunately (and unfortunately), the gems of electronic pop coming out of Montreal is no longer a well-kept secret amongst the city's inhabitants, as Agor from Blue Hawaii recently described in an interview with The Fader: "As friends grow past the Montreal scene and leave, there's a kind of falling apart there", while Raph filled out, "I think [Untogether] was an attempt to find the glue as everything was drifting apart."
On the other side, the musical community of Montreal has many different shapes and followings (and international exposure surely isn't a negative thing), but Montreal duo VALLEYS seem to have a broader audience in the US than their homeland, but again, maybe that's just from an outsider's perspective. The duo is set to release their new record Are You Going To Stand There And Talk Weird All Night on New York-based imprint Kanine Records on April 30th, most recently the home of Zambri, Young Prisms, Fear of Men and more.
Below is a brand new cut off the album, a lyrically spiritual, musically mysterious tune that inevitably will give off a few thoughts to Chromatics' vocalist Ruth Radelet and her drowsy, but aerial vocal harmonies.
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08 Apr 2013 — Ashley Canino
About a week ago, LA local Habits shared this new video below for "Haacksaw" — severely chopped and reformed from VHS and digital fodder, sourced and curated by artist Dustin M. Krapes. Habits uses a Bruce Haack sample as the springboard for the record, where every element is tied together by an array of kitsch visuals (mirrors, swipes; everything a girl could ask for), with percussion courtesy of Bobby Vega.
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05 Apr 2013 — Henning Lahmann
Here's another track from the forthcoming collaborative Young Echo Collective release, Nexus. "Blood Sugar" is more leaning towards pop than the ambient-induced "Jupiter Rise" that was unveiled last week, though as expected maintaining the group's sombre tone. This time sporting layered male vocals and an unassuming breakbeat, the track intriguingly builds on tha last two decades of UK electronic pop music.
Nexus is out April 28 on Ramp Recordings.
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05 Apr 2013 — Henning Lahmann
Spending a good deal of his time as a fellow at Berlin's University of the Arts, Gerhard Schultz founded Care Of Editions in October of last year, a label set out to explore 'the relationship between physical and digital distribution through the means of an experimental business model', as stated on its website. A finite project limited to six releases in total over the course of 2012 and this year, in essence the label pays people to download their releases; to do so, it's using the profits from vinyl sales of those same albums. On the foundation of that concept lies an intriguing yet pretty complicated model based on the idea of 'negative money':
Payments for downloads are funded in real time, as records sell, so the downloads become unavailable whenever there's insufficient money coming in from the vinyl. The amount of money a person would receive is tied to the download number, so it starts with one dollar and increases by one dollar for every download. Each edition contains 118 vinyl and 45 downloads. The last person to download would get 45 dollars.
As I said, it's really rather difficult to grasp, but nonetheless well worth your time, so I'd recommend you read the whole story over here, or, if you happen to have a day off or no plans for the weekend, you may also want to read Schultz's essay on the label's concept, which is available right here.
Though based in Berlin, musically, Care Of Editions focuses on the Los Angeles experimental music scene, with artists whose work is rooted in variants of musique concrète, with defining components of drone and noise. The latest release, Ezra Buchla's At the Door, is the most accessible record so far. The LP comprises four tracks, three on the a-side and a single 20-minute musing on the flip side. Buchla creates immersive, intricate, and at times overwhelming soundscapes carried by masterful viola and synth renditions, broken up only by his dark yet soft, almost hushed voice. Check out two of the tracks below, "A Cruel Man" and "Hail Nothing".
At the Door is out now. Get it here. Highly recommended.
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04 Apr 2013 — Ashley Canino
Schlitzie here to remind us that love sickness is as real as any disease. Fuzz-dipped, pop rock track "I'm Sick" begs for the illness and the cure. P.S.: The band is a re-imagined Schatzi and Hazeltine.
"I'm Sick" will be featured on Schlitzie's debut cassette, out May 4 on Burger Records.
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04 Apr 2013 — Will Stevens
"Evening Ceremony" is a delightfully melancholy pop track that is utterly compelling from start to finish. There is no question that the focal point of this song is the falsetto vocals that carry such weight and stature. Pat Grossi aka Active Child's voice is supported by some equally brilliant lyrics that speak of a desperate scenario between the vocalist and his lover. ‘Even if I never meant to hurt you, would you hurt me / Even if I wanted to pray for you’. The lyrics are set out in a type of binary form; the second sentence always opposes the first. There is something so mesmerising about these despairing and dolorous words and vocals. This contemplation is only slightly broken near the climax of the song, when the harp that is delicately coerced through track is slowly allowed to break into full song, fighting back against its isolation whilst being played with enchanting vitality.
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04 Apr 2013 — Henning Lahmann
We previously reported that synth master Dylan Ettinger has released a follow-up to last year's fabulous Lifetime of Romance, the five-song cassette EP Crucify Your Love. After unveiling the 'hypnotically danceable' closer "Dawn", here's the grittier, distinctly murky title track, accompanied by an appropriately bizarre and deranged video courtesy of Molly Soda. Watch it below.
Crucify Your Love is out on Night-People.
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