Ikonika - I Make Lists

Ikonika - I Make Lists (16 July, Hum+Buzz)

Ikonika's debut album Contact, Love, Want, Have scored her a hefty critical following and garnered high praise for it's technicolour mixture of grime, dubstep and wonky; whilst I wasn't hugely enamoured with it's day-glo nature, forthcoming (mini?-)album I Make Lists has definitely cemented Sara Abdel-Hamid as one of the most bravely innovative producers operating at the moment. I Make Lists is an epic journey of fully-fledged synth mayhem that drags in aspects of purple wow, Chicago house, acid techno and 8-bit soundtracks that seems way more complete than it's half hour time span should allow, and throws any possibility of pigeonholing out the window.

The biggest evolution of Ikonika's sound has to be the development of a more solidly 4/4 rhythm, without dropping the intricate drum-programming that had her cast as garage or dubstep on her first releases; confusing triplets, hi-hats that double-up or drop out for single bars, and juke-inflected kick patterns are all thrown into the mix. It feels techno, mixes with techno, and constantly fucks with techno. The high point of this melting pot is the wonderfully epically With Your Mouth, an almost Drexciyan mix of rubber-duck bass and relatively straight-forward percussion that builds into a crescendo of purple wow synths. Catch Vibes is equally bizarre - euphoric house drum-programming and acid bass are offset by GLaDOS-esque vocals and arcade synths that feel like the soundtrack to some retro-futurist VR program.

Much like Rustie's impressive and divisive Starburst EP from earlier this year, I Make Lists is an inherently prog record; one that embraces indulgence, experimentation and the spectrum of psychedelic experience. However, Ikonika's take on psychedelia puts aside the pastoral Britain Syd Barrett eulogised, or the eastern mysticism that runs through Mahavishnu orchestra and Goan trance, and updates the machine-fetishism of Dark Side Pink Floyd or Trans-Europe Express for the post-rave echo boomer generation. Closing the record, PR-812 is an unashamedly epic coda to this expansive mess, that gathers clanking mechanical percussion, broken-radio percussion and warm bass, before floating off into the ether in a series of fuzzy-edged, plant-food friendly riffs. Set controls for the heart of the sun.

CUR$ES

A quick post about Glasgow synth trio CUR$ES, whose albums are all up for free download on their Bandcamp page. Three musicians, using a Prophet 08 synth, MIDI pads and a Yamaha drum pad station, the multi-instrumentalist band switch parts mid-song while playing live, creating a vibrant, musically capricious sound that evokes everything from Joker's purple-wow dubstep sounds to the ghost-garage of Burial or Ghostek, with detours through witch house, drag and classic synthpop. 

They're an absolutely incendiary live act, as was proved when we saw them deliver an outstanding live session in support of Com Truise at Captain's Rest last week. Have a listen to their latest album Hey, cool! I'm dead, and their recent split with ARM WTCHS FNGRS, and click through for yet more goodies from three rising stars of Scottish electronic music. We expect big things from CUR$ES as their career progresses!

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

KEEP SHELLY IN ATHENS - CAMPUS MARTIUS EP [PLANET MU]

Greek synth experimentalists Keep Shelly In Athens have caused quite a splash of late, with hype from Pitchfork and The Fader among others. On December 5 they drop their first release-proper on Planet Mu, after a fantastic remix of Mouves by Tropics, earlier this year. The new EP is a 4-track 12" release featuring their majestic, Italo-influenced remix of 'Cub' by Solar Bears, plus three new tracks. Vocalist Sarah's beautiful melodies are drenched in (but never obscured by) reverb and FX, while the bands multi-layered synths and stuttering electronic percussion keep subtle, minimal time.



This release perfectly showcases the experimental pop side of Planet Mu, one of Britain's best electronic labels, and one that consistently pushes boundaries. Keep Shelly In Athens are a bold signing, because of their marvellously atemporal sound: they manage to balance forward-thinking production and science-fiction-feeling sonic motifs with clsasic songwriting techniques and melodies, which recall Cocteau Twins, Curve and Massive Attack.

This hits all the right notes - ethereal shoegaze vocals vie with pitch-bent synth lines and complex polyrhythmic drumpad patterns, combining to make songs that are both enchanting and technically impressive. It would be intriguing to know more about Keep Shelly In Athens and their approach to music - what kit and software they use, and where they see themselves fitting in the modern electronic scene. With this high-profile release on Mu, hopefully the band will come to even wider attention, and we'll get to know them better.

For now, have a listen to their Soundcloud page, which includes the magnificent 'Our Own Dream':

Latest tracks by Keep Shelly in Athens

Pre-order 'Campus Martius' from Planet Mu



- post by Texture

Black Kisses by Kick to Kill

Kick to Kill are launching this single in PivoPivo. Shit kicks off at 8, and you'll get a chance to grab an advance copy, maybe even get it signed.   All the shit you need to know is on the Kick to Kill facebook, and I imagine so are you. Check it!

KXP - Cymbalim

This is the first track I've heard from KXP's new EP Easy. Continuing in a similar vein to their excellent self-titled LP, this is a sublime blend of expressive percussion and hypnotic synth drones, and is augmented here by Mordumi's psychedelic visuals.



And here's a little gem from their previous album, performed live at La Plage Du Glazard:

Miracle "The Visitor"

Steve Moore is the insanely talented keyboardist/bassist/drummer form one of our favourite prog-synth bands Zombi. He also records under a host of different names inclusing Lovelock, and the fake Italo soundtrack pseudonym Gianni Rossi. He now has ANOTHER band project on the go, the more chart friendly and vocal based Miracle which also features Daniel O'Sullivan from the band Guapo. Pitchfork are giving away their track "Sunstar" here and here's the video for their current single "The Visitor". This is great, and how retro tinged synth pop should be done.



More news on Miracle, and Zombi's forthcoming album, soon.

Granulator for Max, free download

Robert Henke, the tech / music / sound-art genius responisible for the Monolake project, partial-development of Ableton Live, and any number of weird instillations such as Atom, Atlantic Waves and more is giving away a new Ableton module called Granular via his blog, which, as the name suggests, is a granular synthesis program. This perhaps wouldn't be such big news (ableton patches and VSTs are ten a penny) but for the fact that a) this is an open-source piece of kit that Henke actively encourages users to take apart and reconfigure as they see fit, b) Henke is Reed Richards level of tech development and c) it sounds ridiculously lush. see below.

There's been something of a backlash against computer-based production of late, with tech-heads (myself included) moving away from laptops and back towards gear-based set-ups. In part, this is the percieved lack of "art" in digital production, the ubiquity of laptops and the generally lower sound quality of sample-based technology in comparison to analogue circuitry. Admittedly this is mostly tech-snobbery, and it's nice to be reminded that computer production isn't inherently weak, but can be as powerful as any 303, xoxbox, Juno 6 or Station X, given the right amount of effort.



NB: if you do successfully crack and rewire the program, or make anything interesting with it, Henke invites you to send him a copy - his postal address is included in the software code. How cool is that?

Gakken vs Sepultura

I've been considering getting a Gakken SX150 to play with, maybe circuit bend, so naturally I did some google-based research. I found some cool videos of folk hacking them and using them in various ways, but when I found this I had to share:



I especially love the guitar body he's built for it.

The rest of the videos by The Clap are worth a wander through as well.

BEN BUTLER: Skwee tomorrow! & "Worm" EP

Synth fans, tomorrow sees the first installment of Ben Butler & Mousepad's new skwee night at Stereo, with DJing from the man himself and Wavy Graves, and a special live set from Finland's Mesak (Harmonia). It sounds like top notch fun, and if you don't know what Skwee is, check out this mix from BB&MP, or watch this clip from the documentary "We Call It Skwee":

We call it Skweee -mini preview from David Giese on Vimeo.

BB&MP have a new EP up for sale on their Bandcamp at the moment too, called "Worm", which was recorded using all analogue synths and no sequencers at Worm Studios in Rotterdam. This is actually a bit less skwee than usual, but still packed full of synthy goodness.

Joe Hart - Nuit Decadente Mix

There's a rather good old-wave mix by World Unknown resident Joe Hart that's begging to be listened to over here.

Moog iPad app.

Finally, something to make me consider buying an iPad. But only just.

Graham Massey 50th Birthday

I went to a great gig in Manchester last weekend. Held in Elbow's (massive!) rehearsal space in their own studio complex Blueprint, the night was a celebration of the 50th birthday of Graham Massey. A bit of a local legend, I dunno how much celebrating he actually got to do as the night consisted of four of his bands playing live. In order of appearance those were Biting Tongues (a post-punk-ish act signed to Factory in the 80s), Sisters of Transistors (an all female synth band with Massey on drums), 808 State (who they?) and Toolshed (an anything goes free jazz affair). All put on for free for a small, select crowd of about 300 or so. It were right proper good like! Seeing 808 State live in such a small space was truly awesome. I can't find any footage of the event online (yet) so in the meantime here's videos by each of the acts mentioned...









Hasn't he been a busy boy?! And that's not even half of his bands - literally. Check out his Discogs page for more. As a bonus here's an interview with the man himself, for Analog Suicide, where he talks kit and what he takes on tour:



Happy Birthday Mr Massey! Here's to the next 50 (bands).

Free Shit Robot download

Shit Robot - he's not shit and he's not a robot. This guy has been a DFA Records staple for years now, so it comes as a bit of a surprise that his upcoming album "From The Cradle To The Grave" is actually his debut. Hunh? Anyway, the album is out on September 21st and is highly anticipated - XLR8R are currently giving away an edit of the opening track, the synthilicious sleaze-dance "I Found Love". Download it from here.

Detachments "The Flowers That Fell (Gold Blood Remix)" Free Download

A meeting of great minds here - Thisisnotanexit Records' Detachments get the remix treatment from Shallow Rave synth-punk faves Gold Blood. This is wicked, I have had this for a while now (it was slated to be on my Halleluwah Hits comp), but have only been allowed to go live with this in the past few days. Enjoy!

The Flowers That Fell (Gold Blood Remix) by littlerockrecords