Miles - Faint Hearted

Miles Whittaker, who's had his fingers in acts as diverse as Pendle Coven, MLZ, Millie and Demdike Stare basically gives us massive nerd-boners with every new release, and has chosen to follow up Demdike Stare's obnoxiously heavy Test Pressing with a full-length album under his own name. Boiling down everything from contemporary electronica and techno, to retro Chicago and old-school jungle, it's a seething mass of intricately engineered sounds, smothered in distressing levels of noise - opener Lebensform takes the fairly ubiquitous filter-house / dub techno sound and pushes it to a terrifying level of extremity, dissolving into a wall of white noise and oscillation. It just gets weirder from then on, and definitely takes a good few listens to get into.

Flying Saucepan Records

Today's recommended listening comes from Flying Saucepan Records, an Ayrshire-based archive label run by an old friend of Shallowrave. Designed to clear hard-drives, catalogue archives and provide an outlet for many projects that never saw the light of day, Flying Saucepan's first release proudly display their mid-90s heritage, channelling acid, rave and the Sheffield warehouse scene. Also rocking out the speakers is the first Panpod, a mix of influential and related projects that joins the dots between electro, industrial, rave and techno, and is really rather kinky. 

Dauwd - And (Free download)

Ahead of his forthcoming EP for Ghostly International, Dauwd gives away this melancholic slice of electronica.

Space Dimension Controller - Return to Microsector 50 ()

Space Dimension Controller - Return to Microsector 50 (R&S, 25 Feb)

In the past, we've possibly been a little disparaging of Space Dimension Controller, not for the quality of his music, which is an unquestionably excellent fusion of electro-funk, techno, cosmic disco, but for the over-the-top presentation he insists on. The musical Kayfabe that he adheres to draws so heavily from trash-fiction and indulges it without a shred of self-knowing, that it comes across as slightly demented... However, SDC's Mr 8040 character and his rapidly-expanding universe do have their own unique charm, and with the fine line between genius and madness blurring at post-light speeds, Return to Microsector 50 currently orbits the twin moons of "so bad it's good" and "so bad it's horrible". To put it another way, I can't decide if its Batman and Robin or Batman; The Movie.

As well as the fact that the music's bloody brilliant, it's SDC's dedication to and enthusiasm for the gimmick that's slowly turning me into a convert; this teaser EP for debut album Welcome to Microsector-50 features a final track of ambient washes and desolate drones that seems fairly typical of electronic EPs. Its title? Music for Spaceports. It's this hilariously irreverent bastardisation of Eno's terminology for his own ends that just tips the balance and lands Space Dimension Controller firmly in the land of the eccentric genius. As noted, the rest of the EP's pretty damn good too, functioning as both deleted scenes from the full album and the missing links of Space Dimension Controller's musical history - the title track joins the dots between Juan Atkins and the Rotters Golf Club, and Whilst I Was Away brings together aspects of ambient and dub that feel a little disparate in the album's lengthier interludes and had left Quadraskank Interlude feeling out of place. Most importantly though, the EP flat out drips cosmic slop, opening up into a massive George Clinton homage, replete with future-funk riffs, wailing guitar solos and acid-fried fantastical narratives.

For me, the Funkadelic love is the last piece of the puzzle that suddenly makes sense of SDC's overblown narratives and deliberately trashy vocals - it's the cornerstone that contextualises everything else and gives credence to magnificent combination of funk and psychadelica.

Space Dimension Controller - Welcome To Mikrosector-50 album preview

We wrote last year that Space Dimension Controller's first work for R&S was excellent music, packaged up with a ludicrously OTT backstory. Following this up, Space Dimension Controller's latest offering Welcome To Mikrosector-50 takes the cosmic prog nonsense to an even higher level, expanding on the further exploits of Mr. 8040 and his adventures in time travel and treating entirely straight-faced. Regardless, it all sounds pretty good, and we'll post a full review shortly, but whether the concept album improves on or detracts from the sound is another matter entirely...

You know what? Here's some sci-fi for you all to read.

2013
After four years stranded on Earth he has finally repaired the time travel capabilities of his Electropod. His goal was to return to the exact moment in the future of his fateful accident, but due to only having primitive Earth tools and technology at his disposal, the journeys destination was not as accurate as he had hoped and he ended up arriving 5 years later than anticipated.
Now, Mikrosector-50 has changed. It is no longer the strictly governed dystopian planet as Mr. 8040 remembers, where music was controlled by the Tiraquon Security Council and love was deemed unnecessary. Instead people were having fun and love and music filled the streets. At first, Mr. 8040 enjoyed this change and received a huge planet-wide welcome party, but once the party was over Mr. 8040 knew that he had to find his secret lover from before the accident and try to continue what they once had in this new free planet.
Upon returning to his home pod on the Armament Moon and still unaware that it is 5 years later than he expected, he finds the pod to be completely empty, with no sign of his secret lover. He activates the pod's computer and asks where she is, only to find out he is in year 2357 and that there has been no activity in his pod since shortly after he left. Upon learning this, he knows there is only one person he can find answers from, his boss, lead Space Dimension Controller of the Tiraquon Security Council, Max Tiraquon. He meets Max, but something doesn't seem right, there is a sense of hostility.When asked about the whereabouts of Mr. 8040's lover, Max is reluctant to say and tells him that she knows what he had been up to in the past.The women, the nightclubs, the parties. He tells her she's moved on, and maybe Mr. 8040 should too.After this encounter,Mr.8040 tells Max that he is done and leaves,quitting theTiraquon Security Council.
Disorientated and alone in a future no longer his own, Mr. 8040 realises his mistakes, he has done wrong by his lover, but how he will ever see her again to apologise? He leaves Mikrosector-50 and the boundaries of the Tiraquon6 Security Barrier for the distant pirate asteroid colony of EroDru-10. Famous for it's nightclubs, drugs and red light district. He needs to let off some steam, and maybe find a girl, but his game isn't the same as it used to be. Refused by countless girls, a drunk Mr. 8040 gets thrown out of a club and stumbles around the streets of EroDru-10. He encounters a local alien who recognises him and takes him to his nightclub, his guards are down and he takes a cosmic upper to help the night along. Intoxicated on drink and drugs he dances through the night in this sweaty club, before finishing the night with a robotic prostitute at her love pod.
All night he has been trying to mask the pain of losing his girl but reality hits him hard and he decides to go somewhere he hasn't been for years.The place that he built for his secret lover shortly before the accident that sent him back through time. He's not sure what he'll find there, he's hoping for answers, but how could he know. He tells the ships computer to set course for The Love Quadrant.
The Love Quadrant is no longer the same. It's power source had diminished due to the lack of activity while he was away. Instead of the vibrant and colourful cosmic oasis it once was, it was now a dark, grey and cold place. Mr. 8040 now knows that the future is no longer the place for him, that the past had become more of a home. It's time to return to the Quadrasector of the Tiraquon6 Security Barrier to find his main ship. He enters the vessel, and finds that someone had been there, but nothing had been taken and quickly shrugs it off as another attempted looting by an Astro Bandit. Now, in the same location as the accident, Mr. 8040 asks his computer if it would be possible to recreate the accident and send him back through time again. The computer refuses, it's protocol disallowing any action that may put it's user in danger, but Mr. 8040 opts to do it manually. He orders his computer to return to Mikrosector-50 and inform Max of his decision to return to the past. He enters the walkway to his Electropod and begins his journey back through time with a mission of groove.

Ulrich Schnauss - A Long Way To Fall

I've always been a sucker for Ulrich Schnauss' genre-smash of kraut, shoegaze, trip-hop and everything but the kitchen sink. Maybe it's just a temporal thing, y'know? Maybe everyone's got that one album that just made it for them that one time and they can never let it go. Like how I still love to play Anaesthetic on pub jukeboxes, despite it not even being slightly similar to anything I listen to now, sober, reeling or otherwise. It was just there, then, when I needed it to be. Sixteen with a false ID and a few pounds of spare change...

A Strangely Isolated Place, Schnauss' mega breakthrough, was a massive critical success and deservedly so - just short of an hour of hazy wondrousness that you could lose yourself in over and over again. Even after various lesser works like the rather over-produced Goodbye, his name always reminds me of grey-tinted living rooms at 6am, 275ml Carlsberg bottles in various state of half-fullness, and the fuzzy awareness that the world was coming to life in the flat above, whilst you were living the dream and the party was still going.

New album, free preview. This seemed more interesting than anything critical I could say.

Free Vitalic Download

Vitalic's new album drops in October, with exactly as much subtlety as previous outings, as this free taster demonstrates. It's called No Sleep, and has that distinctive hyperactive feel that will play great at 6am when you start to flag.

GraceJones - Williams Blood (aeroplane remix) free download

The original super diva Grace Jones headlines Love Box in Victoria Park this weekend, and courtesy of the organisers, here's a free remix of her 2009 single Williams Blood by Italo / cosmic producer Aeroplane. Done.

Detroit Is In The House: 'The New Dance Show'

A selection of excellent clips from the late 80s TV programme 'The New Dance Show' uploaded to YouTube by Caprice87.

It's basically a cheaper Soul Train with a classic old school house and electro soundtrack:







This is my favourite, featuring some really great, slick mixing:



There are LOADS more of these clips on Carpice87's YouTube channel, many of which have had embedding disabled. Check them out!

The Shallow Rave Show - 22nd March 2012

Shallow Rave's radio team returns! After last month's triumphant guest mix from TEXTBEAK, which garnered in excess of 1500 listens, hosts Liam, Boag and Bram (aka Black Lantern's Texture) are back to present their selection of the finest cuts in experimental and electronic music, with exclusives, classics and red-hot mixes.

You can download and stream below. Show A features some chat from the presenters about their selections, while Show B has just the music, nothing else. We'll be back very soon with Show 004, when we'll have some exciting news about the show, and some very special guests, including a guest mix from dark electronic / hip-hop wunderkind BL▲CK CEILING.



Playlist for Shallow Rave 003:

Voltergeist - 69 Psalmpled [ soundcloud.com/microrave-records ]
Demdike Stare - Filtered Through Prejudice   (Tryptych) [ modern-love.co.uk ]
GZA - Publicity   (Beneath The Surface) [ MCA Records ]
Byetone - Golden Elegy (Symeta) [ raster-noton.net ]
Randomer - Get Yourself Together   (HEK015) [ hemlockrecordings.co.uk ]
The Roots - Thirsty   (Phrenology) [ MCA Records ]
Silent Servant - Untitled Regis Edit (Sandwell District) [ Sandwell District ]
Solomun - He Is Watching You  (Something  We All Adore) [ wearesupernature.com ]
FiNiGHT - Neverglades (Icepunk Compilation) [ auralsects.bandcamp.com ]
Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica (Replica) [ Mexican Summer / Software ]
oOoOO - No Way Back ft. Butterclock [ soundcloud.com/ooooosounds ]
Roly Porter - Rossack - [ subtextrecordings.net ]
Unknown Artist - Untitled - [ soundcloud.com/kid-ritalin ]
Sigha - How To Disappear - [ hotflushrecordings.com ]
Ben Klock - Static Test - [ ostgut.de/label ]
Sigha - Where I Go to Forget - [ hotflushrecordings.com ]
Northern Structures - Plus Minus - [ sonicgroove.com ]
Claro Intelecto - Voyeurism - [ delsinrecords.com ]
Ricardo Villalobos - Easy Lee (LetKolben Remix) [ soundcloud.com/letkolben ]
Model 500 - The Messenger [ randsrecords.greedbag.com ]
Soft Riot - Another Drone In Your Head [ tundradub.bandcamp.com ]
Ingen - TRYC9 [ soundcloud.com/ingen ]
Micoland - Awareness Spectrum Narcotic (Pirate Radio Astronomy) [ dead-channel.com ]
Louie - Oddacity ft. Solareye (The Discernible Truth) [ louiedeadlife.bandcamp.com ]

Model 500 - Control / The Messenger

Model 500 - Control / The Messenger (20 Feb R&S Records)
Model 500's triumphant return with OFI led to much rejoicing, and it understandably made many people's record of the year last year. The pounding techno undercarriage, coupled with maniacal electro riffs and magic Juan back in full force with epic rants about the mothership, time travel and dimensional shift, made for a genre-crossing dancefloor destroyer. Model 500's latest 12" however sees Juan setting control for the heart of the sun and heading into far more cosmic territory, layering up floaty synths and woogy-woogy theramin melodies that are all kinds of awesome. Despite Model 500's reputation for hell-for-leather electronic madness, both sides of the 12" are heavily influenced by the kind of machine-driven bleep-techno that Sleeparchive and Mika Vainio have made their mainstay, with Control translating analogue fetishism into a rolling italo number, replete with vocodered vox and flailing synth lines. It ought to be a jarring clash of styles, but Atkins weaves together the underlying fascinations with analogue equipment to create a brilliantly uncomfortable piece of machine funk. I can't say the vocoder impresses me, but it does add to the whole "this is detroit electro... in space!" vibe. The Messenger is less scattershot, boosting the theremin to the forefront of the mix and thankfully cutting out the vocals, it makes for a suitably epic B-side, that frankly outshines the A.

My only criticism of this record is that Model 500 seem straightjacketed by the electro template, unable to move beyond high-speed synth riffs and hip-hop beats, and admittedly neither track does much to change this. However, between Control's anashamedly retro sound and The Messenger's epic cosmic feel, there's plenty to like about it.

Dam-Funk "Hood Pass Intact (After 2:AM Instrumental Re-Freak)" Free download

'Nuff said.

Hood Pass Intact - DāM-FunK [D-F 2011 After 2:AM Instrumental Re-Freak] by DâM-FunK

Soundcloud: Six of the Best

 

This week's six-track selection from the best new 'isht on Soundcloud, as selected by Texture.

Carry Me Home by stanleyodd

SF - Only Bucky Stays Dead by [SF]

Strangelets by Satellite Dub

something to celebrate by p.WRECKS

Meszahline - Now What feat. Bobbi Dahl (Vgnv Touch) by VGNV

My Phone Turns Off In My Pockets by Ken Da Koalah

Lyken vs. Roommate. My Bad (Rework)

Awesome Glasgow-based artist Lyken (Lyken Love) also makes music - and it ain't half bad. Check it out:

Lyken vs. Roommate. My Bad (Rework) by lyken

M83 "Midnight City" Disco Wobblez Bootleg

You know how you get email updates from Soundcloud telling you random folk you've never heard of have "shared" tracks with you? This is one of those.

You know that French-electro style that peaked around the height of Nu-Rave but is vaguely voguish again because of the film Drive? This is one of those.

You know people who unofficially remix tracks by better known artists in the hope of getting more attention? This is one of those.

You know those pleasant surprises you get when something you expect to be cack turns out to be actually pretty decent? This is one of those.

M83 - Midnight City (Timo Juuti & Hector 87 Disco Wobblez Bootleg) // Download & Share The Disco! by Timo Juuti & Hector 87

Soundcloud: Six of the Best

 A cheeky little six-track selection from Texture, showcasing his picks from this week's Soundcloud uploads.

DEATH COAST - GET ROUGH by . :DE▲th▲Co▲ST: .

Golden Axe - 'MOON OF PEACEFUL PLANET' - Liquid Bacon - 2011 by AMDISCS

Geometric dreams (Quick edit) by ASTHMATIC ASTRONAUT

timeWEL - Call me the mayor by †imeWEL

Pretty colors (download for FREE, if you like this sort of stuff) by egozot

You Bore The Fuck Out Of Me by [SF]

LetKolben - Valery [Kommunikation Records]

One producer I've been following throughout 2011 is Germany's LetKolben. His productions and remixes, often featured on Kommunikation Records, blend dubbed-out minimal techno with incredibly deep electro, often including organic melodic elements (such as the saxophones on his latest track, Valery, available for free download). His DJ mixes, available via his Soundcloud page, tend towards the dark and deep as well, and make for great headphone voyages into innerspace. One to watch - expect big things from LetKolben next year, too.

Latest tracks by LetKolben



- Posted by Texture

Ali Renault exclusive interview

You shouldn't have to ask who Ali Renault is or why we love his music by now - we've featured him a bunch of times in the past, whether it be as himself and his incredible releases that formed the backbone of the now-legendary Dissident imprint, his darker Cestrian alter-ego (via releases on Monox), or as one half of the sexy Italo love machine that is Heartbreak.

So you'll be over the moon to know that Mr Renault (not his real name) is just about to release his debut album on London's italo/electro imprint Cyber Dance. Already picking up some serious accolades, the album is a stormer and shows off Ali's excellent and unique brand of dark slo-mo techno-funk over 8 new tracks (ok, some of them are older tunes re-worked). Vice likes it, and while that may be a bad sign, be consoled in the knowledge that DJ magazine describe it as "superior machine funk" and Mixmag think Ali has "the original electro and Italo sound nailed". And what do we think of it? It's awesome of course, as good as anything out of Detroit or Rimini, but then we always knew it would be. Let's just say that Ali Renault is untouchable at making machine music that will get you up off your feet while chilling you to your very core.

There's a very special launch party happening tonight for the album at Stoke Newington's Baby Bathhouse venue, coming at you by way of Magic Waves and featuring a live set from Ali and a dj set by the awesome Casionova. To get him in the mood I sent Ali some questions to answer - including some about his darkly magical tech set-up which he was very keen to avoid answering:

How did you get into music? What were your formative influences?

I got into playing in bands as a teenager, going to gigs and buying records. My formative influences were metal and techno.
 
Who is your favourite dj and why?

DJ Drug Money aka Peter Mangalore. His sets are amazing. He has a varied collection of strange vinyl’s and makes records you already have sound totally different. Go Peter.

Ali goks his cat Tiesto - no kittehs were harmed in the making of this photo.

You have a very particular sound, how did you develop it? 

I haven’t really changed my set up since I started making music at home with synthesizers years ago, apart from updating a few bits here and there but I make music the same way I always did. Sequencing, recording, arranging etc. I like using old cheap hardware and I enjoy trying to evoke a dark mood with machines. It’s fun.
 
What synths do you have in the studio?

Not telling.
 
What other current producers do you rate? 

I rate Tommy Walker 3 for his absurd synth funk, Brassica for his beautifully crafted music, Mark Du Mosch for his fresh interpretation of house, Gatto Fritto for his psychedelic long player released earlier this year and Antoni Maiovvi for his modern horror disco.
 
Your music is very cinematic, have you ever scored anything?

I have scored a couple of short films and worked as a foley recordist for a couple of years, which was nice. I would love to score something big one day for sure.

What's your favourite 70s or 80s soundtrack?

Has to be the Terminator soundtrack by Brad Fiedel. Total suspense drama.
The Suspiria soundtrack scored by Goblin would be my second choice and musically its far more advanced but I love the minimal approach from Fiedels work on Terminator. Genius.


 
You are well known for your live shows - how have they been going recently?

Yeah pretty good, I’ve taken it around the UK and Europe and it seems to go down well. It’s very different to DJing, which I also love but its nice to play your own music in a live context.

Are you going out on tour in support of the album?

I’m currently gathering some live dates for 2012. There will be a few UK shows until then.
 
Tell us a bit more about Cyber Dance records, like what other artists are on the label and what other releases you have coming up? 

Artists we have released so far are Matzo & Pauli, Andy Romano, Serious Lover, Mark Du Mosch, Casionova, Spruxx, Brassica, Bill Ambrose, Tommy Walker 3 and Meschi amongst a few others. Our current release (Cyber Dance 011) is my album and after that we have Antoni Maiovvi, Bandido’s Gang (featuring 2 great remixes from Denmarks’ Flemming Dalum) and Electric Dragon for the foreseeable future.


In the spirit of awesomeness, here's a couple of tracks from Ali's album for you to download. You can get the wicked "Pagan Run" as a download from the lovely peeps at 20 Jazz Funk Greats, and Mixmag also have an unmastered version of "Promises" for you to grab: :

Space Dimension Controller - The Pathway to Tiraquon6 (R&S Records, 17 October)

Space Dimension Controller - The Pathway to Tiraquon6 (R&S Records, 17 October)

Space Dimension Controller's new EP - the prelude to a full-length album - is proof of three very important and significant points about modern electronic music.

1. While techno can seem to be all about forcefully dark and misanthropically minimalist structures (something I do endorse) there's still plenty of room for lush landscapes and the epically cosmic.
2. R&S records will never be "too old for this shit", they still very much have it, and are putting out bold and challenging records that are well worth paying attention to.
3. Artists should never write their own press releases.

Space Dimension Controller's new EP drops into my inbox with the accompanying blether;

"In the mid 24th Century, a cosmic accident caused Mr. 8040, the Space Dimension Controller, to spiral back through time to the year 2009. Over the past year, stranded in our time, and confined to his Electropod. Mr. 8040 has been preparing an account of the events that led to the discovery of Mikrosector-50 and the creation of the Tiraquon6 security barrier...."
After a further six paragraphs of Buck Rogers/ Star Wars EU / 2000 AD-styled ramblings about "the Pulsovian leader, Xymah the Usurper", "the flourescent trails of [an] electropod", "micron accelerators" and time travel, we finally conclude this rambling origin story.

Utter bollocks; hammier than Raul Julia in Street Fighter and manages about as much subtlety as the worst David Gemmel novel.

However, as a great man once warned us, "It's Hip to Be Disillusioned" and you have to admire the sheer indulgence of the writing - this was never meant to be cool. Affectionate parody or ludicrous indulgence, it perfectly sums up the EP's content; Moroder-esque analogue synths chock out hi-energy disco riffs alongside Detroit electro rhythms worthy of Model 500, expousing a complex narrative over the eleven tracks. In fitting with the storytelling concept, the EP is bookended by a Feature Presentation and Closing Credits, the former a swift synth noodle of the EP's leitmotifs, whilst the latter starts off riff-centric, blurs away into a void of drawn-out drones and springs a surprising coda. Inbetween, we get the RGC-esque machine funk of Pulsovian Invasion, the beatless Last Sunset On Planet Earth, and deliciously retro techno in Tiraquon's Return (A New Home) and Usurper.

Whilst SDC's unashamedly hyperactive and indulgent style will turn more resolute techno heads away, Pathway is a strongly crafted EP that showcases a brave new talent. Space Dimension Controller is comfortable in his geekiness, and he has a real ear for melody.

Admittedly it is hard to find workable DJ tools. The strong narrative focus naturally leads to a more meandering piece that relies on context, and the continual spacey interludes seem more designed as album filler. However, for those with a love of R&S' golden age, cosmic disco and Juan Atkins, this is pure dynamite.

Benny Boom's Think About Freakin' You Mix

Benny Boom's Think About Freakin You Mix by Boom Monk Ben
1. Yo! Majesty - Hey There Girl

2. Superthiller - I Know How To Treat A Lady

3. Pointer Sisters - Automatic

4. Hot Chocolate - Heaven's in The Back Seat Of My Cadillac (The Revenge Re-Edit)

5. NERD - She Wants To Move (DFA Remix)

6. Cameo - Word Up

7. Jimmy Edgar - Hot Raw Sex

8. Justin Timberlake - Sexy Back (Acapella)

9. Azarri III - Reckless With Your Love

10. Hugg & Pepp - Sweet Rosie (Turbo Edit)

11. Kelly Polar - Ashamed Of Myself

12. Neon Neon - I Lust You

13. Metro Area - Miura

14. Roska & Jamie George - Love 2 Nite

15. DJ Funk - Freek N You (MK Dub)

16. The Jets - Crush On You

17. Bob Sinclar - Ultimate Funk

18. Prince - Erotic City

19. Riton - Out In The Open

20. Jimmy Edgar - My Beats

21. Bjork - Dull Flame Of Desire (Modeselektor Remix For The Girls)

22. Sentinels - Love Rhythm

23. DJ Assault & Deekline - One In The Front

24. Purple Crush - Fuck The DJ (Acapella)

25. 2000F & J Kamata - You Don't Know What Love Is

Boom Monk Ben - All the ususal types of awesome chopped up and scattered about the shop. Electro-sleaze, hip-hop, funk and UK bass music bringing the sexy back.