Dauwd - And (Free download)

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

Floating Mind - Live from Chez Moi mix

Todays listening is some deep and minimal tech from the Monokrak crew.

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.

Shallowrave. Show One, Year One

Shallow Rave awaken the groundhog and welcome in spring with a selection of techno, electronica and experimental noise. Twisted machine funk, malfunctioning electronics, and some screwy samples make for the usual mixed bag.

1. Lakker – Death Mask – Love Love Records
2. Albert Van Abbe – Sugar Lobby Series 9090 – Curle
3. Raime – Told and Collapsed – Blackest Ever Black
4. Tropic of Cancer – The One Left – Mannequin Records
5. Alan Backdrop – PDST – Motoguzzi Records
6. Mike Shannon – Made in Belgrade – Exone
7. Lakker – Numb – Love Love Records
8. Mike Shannon – Sidewinder (Exercise One Remix) – Exone
9. Yves De Mey – Whispering Strokes – Sandwell District
10. TM404 – 02 303 303 303 303 606 – Kontra Music
11. Konx Om Pax – Twin Portal Redux – Planet Mu
12. Sandwell District – Immolare (Function Version) – Sandwell District
13. Kode 9 – Black Sun (Partial Eclipse Version) – Hyperdub
14. Stephen Brown - Mini Mood – Skudge
15. Energy 52 – Cafe Del Mar – Eye Q Records
16. Kresy – Crupier en Celo (Delete Remix) – Multi Vitamins
17. FRAK – Pulse Crack – Musika
18. Zomby – Spliff Dub (Rustie Remix) – Hyperdub 
19. Mark Pritchard & Om’Mas Keith – Wind It Up (Original Mix) – Hyperdub
20. The Host – 3AM Surfing – Planet Mu
21. Walton – Mangled Riddim – Hyperdub 
22. The Immortals – The Ultimate Warlord – RCA
23. J Dillah – Fuck The Police – Up Above Records

Shallow Rave: Year One, Show One by Radio Magnetic on Mixcloud

Preview of Midland - Trace EP

Midland's close work with Aus music continues with a 12" of Chicago-esque house, which is sounding pretty tasty. Due to be released Feb 25th.

Download - Nickel Remix of the XX

Like pretty much everything else they've done, it's been nigh-impossible to avoid the XX's most recent single Chained, but I've got admit this remix from Nickel's actually pretty enjoyable, shooting the floaty pop-melodies through with a solid techno beat, and aiming for the dancefloors. Free tuneage right here.

Function - Incubation (Ostgut Ton)

Function - Incubation (Ostgut Ton, March 4th)

It's hard to believe that Function's been producing tracks for over 15 years, when he continues to put out music of such depth and variety that it constantly feels fresh. His debut album, released in March on Ostgut is a remarkable testament to Function's ability to stay fresh and relevant and continually incorporate new sounds and dynamics into his work.

Having been working since the techno boom of the early 90s, Function (David Sumner) produced a number of reasonably-well received records, before reinventing himself as part of the game-changing Sandwell District collective around 2006. This time last year, Sandwell released a statement declaring that "As of December 31st 2011, all audio communications will cease", signalling the next stage of Sumner's metamorphosis, which kicked off with the slow-burning Obsessed on Echochord last year. Finally, after six months of news reports and speculation, Sumner at last releases his debut album on Ostgut, and whilst it's perhaps not as widely significant as Sandwell's work, it's certainly one of the more interesting techno albums I've heard in a while. Whilst some artist albums are just a larger bunch of singles and filler, Incubation is a single, cohesive, dense narrative, broken down into individual tracks. Ostgut describe it as "like the soundtrack to a suspenseful Techno-thriller", an apt description that fits with the widescreen sound Sumner's crafted - Function's still making his distinctive long-running techno, with its cavernous synth riffs and reverb-drenched percussion, but each track feeds into epic whole that nods to Carpenter, Vangelis and Jeff Mill's iconic Time Machine.

Feeding into the concept of a soundtrack, Voiceprint is a definite credit sequence; its kickdrum conspicuously absent, and it's arpeggiated repetitive riff creating a paranoiac mood, which breaks open as soon Against The Wall rolls in on highly strung acid squelch, cold washes of decay and solid kicks. Continuing the cinematic feel, the aptly-titled Inter approaches Deepchord levels of washed-out ambience for a second interlude, whilst Counterpoint enhances the widescreen feel by plucking the synth riff from Sandwell's killer Sampler #1 and submersing it in a haze of radio signal and stabbing metallic keys. To some extent, it's Function showing off his influences, dropping in aspects of dub, ambient and industrial, but in his experienced hands, it integrates seamlessly to enhance the techno. However, the withhold-and-tease dynamic can grow frustrating, and Function delivers seriously meaty pay-offs with the likes of Incubation, Voiceprint (Reprise) and Psychic Warfare, which come on like vintage Red Planet - all overdriven kicks, cosmic atmospherics and epic percussion riffs. Whilst this will rightly appeal to techno geeks, Modifier is my standout track - fusing Function's signature sound with Vainio-esque monotones, it's brilliantly dark, gradually shifting from icy fragility to skull-crushing heaviness, whilst riding a sinuous tom pattern.

This is how to do a techno album properly.

Jack Dixon - 1 EP (free download)

Techno/ house producer Jack Dixon has a wealth of releases under his belt, via a number of hi-quality record labels - we dig free music and we dig his work, so check this 3-track EP out. Combining spectral atmospherics and wonky percussion, it's an enjoyably diverse set of tracks.
Get it here.

Dense & Pica - Crispy Duck

I can't say the title's really doing it for me, but Hot Flush's latest 12" from the anonymous duo Dense & Pica is some quality prime-time techno that nods to Berghain and Tresor as much as to the Motor City, and occupies similar ground to some of Redshape's old school throwbacks. Their whole deal of hand-stamped, limited run vinyl is a nice touch - working the anonymous angle without getting into some over-worked game of Clue about it- as well as giving their records a nice sense of individuality. 31's unstable house riff is killing for me right now.

Recondite - DRGN / Wist 365 (Hot Flush, Out Now)

Recondite - DRGN / Wist 365 (Hot Flush, Out Now)

I didn't get a chance to give this props before its release, but Recondite's work continues to impress me. It's not massively genre-breaking stuff that he puts out, but there's something about the his delicately vintage take on techno that appeals strongly to me - not the raw, aggressive vintage of old acid house, but the soft, warmly produced sound of classic analogue kit. This neat little two parter doesn't complicate matters with wild drum patterning or big drops, but sets up simple loopy riffs and lets it all unfold. On one side, DRGN drops a wickedly vibrating bassline, building up a slow-burning filter shift backed by taught percussion to make for a solid techno tune - something like Redshape, taken down a notch or two. For me, the flipside's where it's at, cooking a couple of simple analogue key riffs for nine minutes, shifting the decay or the pitch every now and then to switch up a little. Recondite really makes the most of a minimal palette, making every aspect count, and when the clap starts up at the four minute mark, Wist 365 translates the slow-burning energy into a quality house groove. It's not a peak-time destroyer or a definitive anthem of any sort, that's for sure, but I'm in love with the rolling pace and rich sound that's going on here, so listen out for it on the radio show.

Bass Clef - Dawn Chorus Pedal (Idle Hands, Sept 17th)

Bass Clef - Dawn Chorus Pedal (Idle Hands, Sept 17th)

When Bass Clef's excellent Reeling Skullways dropped a couple of months back, a discussion on our radio show ended up with us concluding that he'd obviously purchased a whole bunch of tech and had made an album just to get some use out of it. Reading an interview in Wire from a couple of months back, turns out we weren't exactly wrong, and his forthcoming single on Idle Hands is equally techno-driven and rich sounding, indulging Cumbers' love of vintage drum machines and analogue synthesisers. The warm bass synth from Reeling Skullways reappears in Dawn Chorus Pedal, providing a springy Detroit undercarriage for otherwise screwy techno - Bass Clef experiments with discordantly tuned toms, erratically delayed hi-hats and uncomfortably mixed snare smashes to continually mess with the techno formula. Consisting of three movements, Dawn Chorus Pedal starts off with a solid four-to-the-floor kick, building to an obvious breakdown before re-emerging as erratic breakbeat that in turns dissolves in reverb washes and synthesiser drones - a structural technique that enhances the offbeat feel.

The flipside, You Don't Know Don't You Know is a simplistic, loop-driven sketch that takes its cues from hypnagogic pop, ambient and dub - vocals get chopped and screwed around varying delays, with a warm bass riff and epic tom rolls. Reeling Skullways saw Bass Clef growing as a producer and moving away from his lo-fi sound, and whilst the title track seems to continue in the same vein, You Don't Know Don't You Know is something very new and unique sounding that shows growth as a producer.

DFRNT - El Spirito (27 Aug, Echodub)

DFRNT - El Spirito (27 Aug, Echodub)

Long-time DFRNT fans, it's always exciting to catch new releases from the 'Burghian producer, and El Spirito, released in advance of his forthcoming second album, is a pretty fine piece of cross-genre electronica. Leaving aside the shuffling garage-isms that usually underpin his work, the title track is a solidly kick-driven splay of bleep melodies, tape-wound vocals, and those trademark warm chords that just about passes for house music. Despite the more driven percussion, the atmosphere is still melancholic and smoked-out, hyper-extending every chord and vocal riff to sprawl somnambulantly across the mix. On the B-side, Work Harder is akin to Scuba or Ramandanman's cross-genre material; mixing the skittering percussion of garage/house with DFRNT's distinctive chord washes, and a powerful sub-bass that teems beneath a low-pass. It's a strange mix of the subtle and the brutal, and in typical fashion, the production's fuzzy and heavily-filtered, with the bass straining to break loose, whilst the high-end continually spreads.
El Spirito shows a definite evolution in Cowles as a producer, able to handle a more diverse palette of styles whilst retaining a signature sound - the closer Homeward, which ought to be a filler B-side or a lazy dub is a strange 110bpm trip-hop / electro-pop hybrid that breaks new ground and brings a real depth to what was otherwise a fairly straight up DJ 12". Featuring renowned Scots / Gaelic folk singer Joy Dunlop, Cowles matches languorous vocals with aquatic washes of synths to produce a surprisingly radio-friendly dark pop song that indicates great things to come from Fading. However, for those familiar with Cowles already extensive back catalogue, El Spirito does bear marked similarities to a lot of his already existing material - the signature sound of big chords, comfort reverb etc perhaps needs to be switched up in the near future. Intriguing nonetheless.

Slam - Atlantis Mix

Despite their undeniable influence on both Glasgow's club scene and house music in general, I've never been the biggest fan of Slam- on the other hand, when they back-to-back with Harri as Atlantis, it's generally pretty awesome. The Atlantis Boat Cruise, this saturday therefore comes pretty highly recommended, as Glasgow starts to come alive for three weeks and pretend Summer's actually a thing we do. Tickets still available, from various sources.

Scuba - The Hope (Recondite mix)

Scuba - The Hope (Recondite mix) - 23/07 Hotflush

Hot Flush's latest release is another pretty solid Scuba remix outing, with Recondite offering up two interpretations of The Hope, the deliriously ravey cut from February this year. Rather than upping the ante, Recondite strips away the majority of Scuba's original track, retaining only the distorted voice, and filtering down the bass to a warm, resonant low end. Whilst the two reworkings are intended to conjure different time periods, named Nocturnal Car Ride and Morning Promise respectively, they're fairly similar aesthetically and channel a smoked out, deep-house vibe. Admittedly, the former focusses slightly more on the bass and the lower end, whilst the latter stretches the hi-end synths into ambient/ Kraut waves, whilst winding the percussion down to a more minimal groove.
I'm definitely more enamoured with the Nocturnal cut, but both tracks are solid DJ tools with great potential and rich sounds that will get a few good outings.

Shallowrave Radio Show 5

Shallowrave's monthly radio show features a mixtape from in-studio guest Asthmatic Astronaut, who talks hip-hop, 80s synth music, and his forthcoming live shows. Plus, brand new tunes from Guy Andrews and Aural Sects, and some techno from Horizontal Ground.

1. CUR$ES - Hemisphere - self released 

Asthmatic Astronaut 20 minute mixtape

1. Lapalux – Gutter Glitter - Brainfeeder
2. Holy Other – Know Where - Tri - Angle
   
3. Com Truise – VHS Sex - Ghostly
   
4. Om Unit – C66 JAM - Bleep X Sonar
5. Misel Quitno – A Fancy Friendship - Ehstrawlogy
   
6. How to Dress Well – Lover’s Start - Tri - Angle

1. Louis Jordan  - I'm Gonna Leave You on The Outskirts Of Town - Decca
2. Cotf - Organisation - deeplimit
3. Young Hunting - A list of Indignities - Blackest Ever Black
4. Tom Caruna - Hunting Season - Tea Sea Records
5. Boards of Canada - Diving Station - Warp
6. Blue Daisy - Descend - Black Acre
7. The Haxan Cloak - Burning Torches Of Despair - Aurora Borealis
8. 1.01 - Horizontal Ground - Horizontal Ground
9. Snakes Cave - Horizontal Ground - Horizontal Ground
10. Das Racist - I don't want To Deal With Those Monsters - МИШКА
11. Isolée - Do Re Mi - Playhaus
12. Oneohtrix Point Never - Live at Primavera Sound pointnever.com
13. Fifty Grand - Rabid Mastiff auralsects.bandcamp.com
14. Funerals - Boo Sra mishkanyc.bandcamp.com
    
15. Ritualz - Rhythmic Release - mishkanyc.bandcamp.com
16. Ian Curtis Wishlist - cute-sexy auralsects.bandcamp.com
17. Aparition X Spz Chaote ft. BLAM LORD - 8-Bit Sorcery auralsects.bandcamp.com
    
18. Ron Hardly - The House Sound Of Chicago II auralsects.bandcamp.com
19. UV POP - Sleep Don't Talk uvpop.bandcamp.com
    
20. Vandalaze - Capsulated witch-house.bandcamp.com
21. Liars - A Ring On Every Finger Mute
22. LetKolben - In Blanco E Nero Arcobaleno soundcloud.com/letkolben
23. Texture - Face Melter (Asthmatic Astronaut Remix) blacklanternmusic.com
    
24. Guy Andrews - Shades Hemlock
25. Scuba - Reverse Hot Flush
26. Vivek - Roots Deep Medi
27. Orphan 101 - Tribtek pt. 1 Saigon Rec
28. Guy Andrews - Hands in Mine Hemlock
29. Orphan 101 - Barraca Saigon Rec
30. Monolake - Atlas Imbalance Computer Music

Click for radiomagnetic link.


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George Fitzgerald - Child (Aus Music, Out Now)

George Fitzgerald - Child (Aus Music, Out Now)

We've been fans of George Fitzgerald's output so far, and have had nothing but good things to say about his output, but his latest EP for Aus Music sees him stepping up his game and nailing some vintage-sounding house, whilst still sounding fresh and contemporary. Heavily Chicago-influenced, Fitzgerald uses a mixture of 808 and 909 percussion, a wonderfully vintage-sounding bass synthesiser, and vocals that sit somewhere between neo-soul vocal solos and chopped up UKG to build a quality four-track EP. Whilst it's a fully-rounded EP, with genius to be found across the board, Child and Lights Out on the A-side are possessed of immediately engaging riffs and big breakdowns that scream peak-time house music, whilst Hindsight and Unilateral on the flip both lend themselves more to early evening or build-up tunes. Child manages to make the best of one nagging two bar-riff, slowly filtering a warm bass synth at first, before augmenting it with verging-on-cliched house piano sound and a more ethereal hi-end synth. Similarly Lights Out is all about the dropping in and out of drum sounds - taut claves, steely open-hats and weirdly swung claps shift focus, whilst Fitzgerald warps around a chopped up vocal demanding we "turn the lights out". Whilst Fitzgerald's first releases were laden with androgynous, warpy vocals that made for melancholic tracks, this EP sees him embracing the more retro notion of the male Diva, with vocals that owe more to house singers like Steve Edwards or Donald O.
In contrast, the B-side retains more influences from the Joy O sound that made his name, keeping the metallic chicago percussion, but using more ethereal synths, and sending the percussion into all the wrong places. Both are solid in their own right, and the bizarrely innapropriate rave stab that keeps crowbarring it's way into Unilateral is a surreal delight, but these two are very much slow-builders that require a little work to find the best in them. Nothing groundbreaking, but a really solid EP that will get a good workout for sure.

Untold - Caslon / Breathe (Hemock, 25th June)

Untold - Caslon / Breathe  (Hemock, 25th June)

Hemlock continues to impress with an unsurprisingly solid 12" from head honcho Untold, which channels a very satisfying amount of Berghain darkness, shot through with subtle melodies and counter-rhythms. Whilst Untold's biggest strength is his fluid percussion and complex approach to rhythm, I've always been particularly keen on his lower end landscapes; the strange way that he manages to combine both misanthropic gloominess and a surprising amount of delicacy in his subs and basslines. Check out his work on Round Black Ghosts for proof. Caslon takes an entirely different root - with an arpeggiated acid synth bludgeoning the listener, it's way more aggressive than previous works. Complementing this more hard-nosed aesthetic is some beautifully over-driven percussion, with the white noise on all the hats and cymbals turned up to a wickedly distorted level that recalls Karl O Connor's work with Peter Sutton. On the flip, Breathe adopts a more late-night
house feel, mixing classic garage-house with sparkling keys that recall Claro Intelecto's early analogue fanboyisms. The problem is that Untold never really gets beyong fanboyisms, despite the mentally innovative nature of Stereo Freeze (RandS ), and with the current wave of Berghain-fixated UK producers, this doesn't stand out as much as Can't Stop This Feeling or Anaconda. It's not that either of the tracks on this 12" are bad (Caslon's definitely getting rinsed), but that considering the cross-genre masterpieces Guy Andrew's been dropping on Hemlock, this feels limited in its scope, and slightly masturbatory.

In 2012, dubstep is at best an ill-defined concept, and at worst, an excuse for terrible rave music; it's very satisfying to see once "dubstep" labels like Hemlock, Hessle and Hot Flush shaking off the last vestages of that shroud and turning out great dance music, period. Untold's definitely a big part of that change, but as good as these tunes are, they lack that ineffable je ne sais quo, or "what the fuck is this?" factor to make them truly great.

Auntie Flo - Future Rhythm Machine (Huntley & Palmers)

Auntie Flo - Future Rhythm Machine (Huntley & Palmers, 12 May)


We've blogged a couple of times about Auntie Flo in the past and are pleased to see Huntley and Palmers throwing their weight behind this very interesting project, releasing this mini-album/ extended EP that predates both Oh My Days and Goan Highlife. Anyone who believes that electronic music lacks soul, or has grown jaded with DJ culture and production needs to hear this album, as its one of the most invigoratingly vibrant electronic releases of the past couple of years - a whirlwind mess of global-influences and non-electronic sounds looped, twisted and infused with the inherent energy of great house music. Tribal acapellas rub shoulders with Latin American percussive riffs, kwaito drum patterning and Caribbean jazz, with a solid mechanical undercarriage tying it all together. This melting pot of styles is probably most succesful on the aptly-titled he Makes the People Come Together, which switches the drum samples from 303s, to Latin American, to South African without ever dropping a beat, a technique which implies a sense of universal rhythm permeating the record.

Working with Glasgow's favourite Springbok Esa (Subculture / H&P) and Chilean vocalist Mamacita, Future Rhythm Machine manages to cram a great deal into just over 30 minutes, including two short, loop-driven sketches, and one stunning single entitled  La Samaria. Described by Twitch as "...so beautiful. It should be a hit single in a just world", and featuring the aforementioned Mamacita, La Samaria is a rich dancefloor anthem masquerading as a summery pop song, and is utterly awesome. The only criticism I have for this is that mini-albums feel infuriatingly short, but with the quality of material, that's swiftly dismissed.

Robert Hood - Minus (Combo re-edit)

I had this track years ago, lost it, and then found that if I just google it, the guy's soundcloud comes up, with a 320 bitrate and everything. Lovely free music.

Guy Andrews - The Wait (Hotflush Records, 28 May)

Guy Andrews - The Wait (Hotflush Records, 28 May)

Perrenial Shallowrave favourite Guy Andrews follows up his acclaimed 12" for Hemlock with a dark dancefloor killer for Hot Flush, undoubtedly one of our favourite labels. Whilst we've had nothing but good things to say about Andrews' post-rock/ambient output, it definitely feels that he's hitting his stride as a producer with his recent dancefloor 12"s - Iambic's focus on soundscapes, texture and the wall of noise limited the potential for narrative and drive. The transition to more focussed and beat-driven productions sees Andrews using his readily-established talent for composition and rhythm to create powerful bass music hybrids. Mixing snippets of acid basslines, complex percussion and warm, reverb-heavy synth lines, The Wait is one of those brilliantly wtf?-inducing tracks that deserves to be absolutely massive, whilst Hands in Mine continually fakes out the listener, mixing Mount Kimbie-esque walls of noise and Baile funk percussion before dropping into something that sounds a bit Kode9's Too Far Gone, a bit like Music era Talking Heads and a lot like what James Blake wishes he was making.

Andrews work sits nicely alongside other releases from Hot Flush and Hemlock, mixing many of the elements that both labels helped to build. However, unlike some of his labelmates, Andrews never sounds like a techno producer incorporating R'n'B elements, or a dubstep producer who's listened to too many Ostgut records; like Shades/Textures before it, The Wait feels like someone approaching dance music with a completely blank slate, incorporating whatever elements appeal to them, rather than attempting to emulate existing artists. His mixes (see below) clearly demonstrate a pretty solid knowledge of current dance music, yet The Wait feels brilliantly naive and unencumbered in both production and composition. Awesome work.
http://soundcloud.com/guyandrews