19 Jun 2014 — Henry Schiller
I’ve discovered a failsafe way to parody new wave music.
You sing in a hushed voice, affecting a welling of tears at the back of the throat.
Your lyrics should reference some vague emptiness, ascribable to no one in particular; there should be a veiled threat of either self-harm or a radical makeover.
Does your synthesizer have an arpeggio button? Preprogrammed beats? A setting called something like ‘Ice Rain’ or ‘Crystal Wind’? Good, great, fantastic.
Throw in a careful dash of atmosphere (bass), and you’re in business.
“When You Look Inside” is guilty of at least all of the above, but Digits performs the impossible feat of bucking the cheap, reappropriated destiny he's set himself up for and maneuvering into the careful bosom of synth-pop beauty. The Toronto electronic pop daemon, whose real name is allegedly Alt Altman, takes everything that everyone thinks is awful about new wave pop and basically proves that these are actually the things that have the most timeless pop appeal. He turns what most see as cheap and hollow into something artistic and necessary, all the while grappling with a case of “some vague emptiness” that actually feels legitimate and life-destroying.
“When You Look Inside” is somewhere between Grimes’ “Oblivion” and the soundtrack to a late-80s rom-dram set in a Miami high school. A herculean effort; squeezing a molten wave of cynical romanticism through the slim pipelines of synthetic kitsch.
Digits is currently on tour with St. Vincent; you can listen to his new EP The Day You Fight Back here.
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17 Jun 2014 — Henning Lahmann
In Adam Harper's recent piece on the leading labels of the new web-based underground for the Fader, 1080p's Richard McFarlane revealed that he keeps searching for "peripheral electronic music" that's inhabiting "the areas in-between some sort of club and anti-club dichotomy", and if anything, with fellow British Columbia project D. Tiffany, the curator has found the perfect embodiment of this aesthetic. Sporting a hazy, langurous if still slightly disturbed approach to classic house that is too light-hearted to be championed by Opal Tapes and the likes but probably would have found a home on 100% Silk just a year ago, Sophie Sweetland's music as D. Tiffany embraces all the ingredients that make us cling to this style, even though it can hardly claim any true innovativeness in the summer of 2014. Taking up topoi of last decade's tape culture hypnagogia, the artist's take on house is just straightforward and acidic enough to let us imagine dancing to this in some post-euphoric afterhour environment, but what we can definitely confirm for now is that the 50+ minute-long escapist contemplation works marvelously for sweaty summer night road trips after a day out in the country. That's just a suggestion, of course. Stream the highly recommended piece in full below.
D. Tiffany's self-titled cassette is out now on 1080p. Get it here.
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16 Jun 2014 — Henning Lahmann
The heyday of proggy psych rock might be long gone, but stubborn timelessness is a quality that we acknowledge, at least if it materializes as refined and mature as the music of Saarlouis-based Datashock. Pyramiden von Gießen, the collective's 2011 work, was a massive collection of 'shrooms-induced soundscaping inspired by long-forgotten netherworlds, arid and torrid with no end in sight. The group continue their cursed journey on the recently released follow-up Keine Oase in Sicht, and listening to the eleven contemplations that last up to almost 14 minutes, there's indeed no oasis in sight, nowhere: Supplemented with faintly oriental motifs, Datashock's swirling arrangements are still virtually aimless, thrown into the world not through someone's conscious decision but because music like this just is, and always has been, so all it need is a few devoted people to sit down, listen to the fervent winds, and channel the energy. Someone used the word 'nomadic' to describe Keine Oase in Sicht, and indeed, any peripherally desert-related metaphor is almost uncannily apt. Probably try re-reading Nietzsche while listening to this most existential work. It might help to finally understand both him and Datashock.
This morning, we're delighted to present the premiere of the video for the title track, which, curiously enough, does not feature footage of Sahara expeditions. It revisits (and, we reckon, questions) an orientalist perspective though, observing unfamiliar spaces with a certain aloofness, creating a distance that's almost unsettling in this hyper-connected 21st century. Wherever you're going, it's a long way from home.
The Keine Oase in Sicht double LP is out on Dekorder. Get it here.
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11 Jun 2014 — Henning Lahmann
Presumably a side project by Broken20 regular Production Unit (at least if my anagram skills are reliable), Dour Tonic Input's Yogyakarta not only references the elusive musician's purported hometown but most notably all takes native Javan Gamelan styles as the scaffolding for his particularly ruptured beat missives. The result is a roughly half-hour, nine-track assemblage of almost classic hip-hop breaks that by and large shun any melodic ornaments, instead contemplating on repetitive patterns of subtly exotic percussion that slowly evolve into a surprisingly cathartic aural experience that seems curiously out of fashion. If you take a listen, and we recommend you do, don't miss out on unassuming standout "Sick Violins". For now however get lost in the meditative visuals for "Immaculate Stone 0.9", a track that serves as an apt introduction to Dour Tonic Input's subtle approach that shouldn't be misunderstood as vapid appropriation or even orientalist kitsch embedded in shallow romanticism.
Yogyakarta marks the a-side of a split cassette together with DJ Votive, whose broken house one-track side Dead Roads is so troubled and desolate and submerged that we'd use the word 'hypnagogic' if we didn't know better.
Yogyakarta/Dead Roads is out June 23 on Broken20's cassette subsidiary Broken60. It's the sublabel's fourth release and has catalogue number B60_03. Feel free to think about that for a while (but don't ask us, really).
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09 Jun 2014 — Dalton Vogler
As we grow older, it becomes increasingly difficult to plan our lives around friendships. Some move away, others move together, and subtly over time our allegiances begin to shift towards family – and defining what exactly that means to the individual in us all.
For New Orleans based artist Graham Hill, his solo project Roman Ruins serves as the perfect vehicle to examine the vast themes of ever-changing adulthood. In his forthcoming LP, Hill stretches ambient electronic creations that delve into the nuances of relationships, and how drastic changes alter what one truly values.
We’re pleased to premiere a remix of Roman Ruin’s single off the album, “Loved One,” produced by Gerrit Welmers under his moniker Moss of Aura. His revision keeps Hill’s spacious vocals and adds a ruminating bassline, punctuated with bursts of synth radiance. This remix definitely keeps close to the source material, reflecting with melancholy on the familial highs and lows that can characterize a lifetime.
Moss of Aura’s remix of “Loved One” will be released June 10th and Roman Ruins' second album, Source of Pride, will be out July 15th via Gold Robot Records. Pre-order here.
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06 Jun 2014 — Henning Lahmann
After a break last week we were back on Berlin Community Radio this afternoon with the 28th edition of our radio show. As a very special treat, Geneva-based label Danse Noire allowed us to stream a track from their next 12", namely Gasba Grime by Istanbul via Algeria producer El Mahdy Jr, a very fresh and remarkable talent indeed. The EP is coming out on Monday, but you can already listen to his killer tune "Lost Bridge" below. Check out the archive of all shows over here and pay special attention to the 27th episode featuring the wonderful Jerry Paper, which was broadcast two weeks ago but somehow never got posted here on the site.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Tracklist:
(1) Digits "When You Look Inside"
(2) Lust For Youth "Armida"
(3) Martyn & copeland "Love of Pleasure"
(4) Mykki Blanco "She Gutta"
(5) Flowdan "Ambush"
(6) Kuedo "Mtzpn"
(7) El Mahdy Jr "Lost Bridge"
(8) Quiltland "1 Second Sun 1 Hour of Light"
(9) How To Dress Well "Face Again"
(10) Tara Jane O'Neil "Elemental Finding"
(11) Ensemble Economique "Make-Out in the GDR"
(12) USF "Sibilant"
(13) Auscultation "Laces"
(14) Sculpture "Hackle Scam Populator (Karen Gwyer Remix)"
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06 Jun 2014 — Richard Greenan
For the past three years or so Chloe Frieda has beguiled the airwaves with an ever-spot on curation of early electronics and modern day spacey experiments for London's NTS Radio. Her show Alien Jams is now a label too, and in typically stupefying fashion AJ001 is off-planet, engrossing, somewhat terrifying and quite unlike anything we've heard before. Teasing life from tape loops and decrepit drum machines, oMMM summons an ominously eroded topography report from some second moon. You can listen to the whole of Parallel Lines Converge and get hold of a vinyl copy here.
Check out snippets of all tracks below:
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04 Jun 2014 — Parker Bruce
Montreal's TOPS released one of the most underrated albums of 2012 with Tender Opposites, which is kind of a mini classic in my book. So it was quite a terrific surprise to start June with a new track and video by them as well as news of a sophmore album coming in September, all on home of good things Arbutus Records. "Change of Heart" has ramming, revving, and head-held-high guitars along with endearing, near tropicalia-imbued keyboard (both call to mind the theme song to "The Babysitter's Club"), and Jane Penny's funky voice. The video recounts the band's recent tour from earlier this year which looks like the best cross country USA road trip I've ever seen (they've been more places in my country than I have) with all of the soft serve ice cream, motel dance parties, and ponytail swinging. "Change of Heart" is out on 7" on July 14 (June 23 as a download) with another track called "Sleeptalker" accompanying it. And the album, Picture You Staring, is with us September 2! Could not come more highly recommended.
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