John Talabot – Tragedial / Mai Mes
Two excellent spaced-out, exotic, 8o8-sounding electronica tracks by Spanish dj/producer John Talabot, courtesy to Pitchfork. From his recent lp Fin, which received 5 stars in The Guardian.
Posts Tagged ‘electronica’
Alle Farben – Luminous Green (DJ-set)
Sets by Berlin dj Alle Farben always feel like a breath of fresh air. The great thing about Alle Farben is that, unlike so many (deep/tech) house dj’s nowadays, particularly in the Netherlands, he is Not. Boring. But continually adds real groove, originality and excitement to his sets.
Listen to this delightful 3-hour set, which manages to be light-hearted, exotic, groovy, and interesting at the same time.
Totally recommended for a hot summer day!
Here’s a couple of highlights:
Coeur de la Pirate -- Place de la Republique (Rauschhaus Kuschelhause Edit)
Sebo & Madmotormiquel -- Don’t Eat
More after the jump:
Super Flu & Andhim – Reeves
One wonders how the duo Andhim, here together with Super Flu, always manages to make their tracks sound so simple, yet tenaciously effective. There’s always this little hook that makes an otherwise not overly interesting track irresistible.
Also check out Hasoweh (although that one borders on the boring, I must say, but it’s got some goodies).
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Round And Round (Little Loud Remix)
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti’s track ‘Round and Round‘ is my favourite track of 2010, and Ariel Pink is a hero, period.
But check out this fantastic remix by Tourist – of ‘Jupiter‘ and ‘Placid Acid‘ fame – of the signature track. Managing to give me the same exhilarated feeling I had when I first heard the original. That, I think, is when a remix succeeds.
And while you’re at it, check out the other remixes by Tourist too. All of them bright, big-gestured, upbeat electronic gems, with lots of synthesizer love.
- edit: And while you’re at that, check out ‘Fires‘ by Tourist too. Hypnotic track.
ROM – Fish Making Food
An experimental electronica track that swirls with little glitches, repetition, lush sounds and rhythms, and manages to surprise every new half a minute.
This makes me very happy. By Miami and New York “sound artists” duo ROM.
Taragana Pyjarama – Lo Ng
Taragana Pyjarama, the producer from Denmark of the great 2011 epic-melodic electronica track ‘Ocean‘ is back with a different, original sound.
This time it’s more analogue and housy, with a nice aquatic vibe and great bass lines. Would not be bad to get people in the mood early in a set.
Beaumont – Rendez-Vous
One of the best new electronic tracks I heard in a while. A UK bass-style beat, spacey synthesizers, tech-housy elements and even a nice lo-fi vocal element, Rendez-Vous by Beaumont on Scuba’s Hotflush label (one of the most innovative labels around these days) makes me press ‘repeat’ time and again.
Purity Ring – Obedear
Purity Ring blasted on the scene last year with the track ‘Ungirthed‘ – even managing to secure no. 2 and no. 5 spots in the Light Sound Dimension Best Of 2011 track lists.
While their follow-ups ‘Lofticries‘ and ‘Belispeak‘ didn’t really cut it, their new track ‘Obedear‘ (like the penchant for weird names) shows why Purity Ring was so cool in the first place.
Great basslines, a nice distorted sound, weird vocals, and very well-produced, it comes close to their first one – which even after a year manages to sound fresh.
Jamie XX – Far Nearer
Jamie xx is really one of the great hopes in indie/electronic music; almost everything he touches turns into gold. Would love to hear this guy spin one time.
Check out this great, warm dubby track of the remixer and member of The xx, laced with steel drums and children’s choirs:
Also check out his remix of Radiohead’s Bloom, posted earlier on LSD!
The Sunday Chill Track #19
Four Tet’s chilled-out ambient/idm take on the closing track of The King of Limbs album by Radiohead, ‘Separator’.
From the remix album TKOL RMX 1234567, featuring remixes of Radiohead tracks by the likes of Caribou, Nathan Fake, Modeselektor and SBTRKT.
Radiohead – Bloom (Jamie XX Rework Part 3)
Check out this excellent remix by Jamie XX, member of The xx, of Radiohead’s ‘Bloom’. Released this morning together with remixes of The King of Limbs tracks by Nathan Fake and Anstam, it complements the earlier remix album TKOL RMX 1234567 which featured remixes of Radiohead tracks by Modeselektor, Caribou, SBTRKT and Four Tet.
A thumping bass, delightful chimes, a housy groove, and Thom Yorke’s vocals all make for a great start of the week.
Spinvis – Tot Ziens, Justine Keller
Spinvis: in geen eeuwen meer naar geluisterd. Het eerste album werkelijk grijsgedraaid, het tweede album ook nog een beetje, paar concerten bezocht, en daarna was het afgelopen. Albums waren niet goed meer en ik vond er zelf ook niet zoveel meer aan. Weggelegd en vijf of zes jaar niet meer gehoord.
Wat schetst dan ook mijn verbazing: dat Spinvis’ kersverse album Tot Ziens, Justine Keller (2011), het eerste sinds de matige vorige twee uit 2007 en 2008, hard op weg is een plaatsje te veroveren in het eindejaarslijstje van bovengetekende. Wat is dit een goeie shit! Met gemak het beste album sinds zijn allereerste, en zeker een van de beste die dit jaar (internationaal) is uitgekomen. Wie had dat kunnen bevroeden.
Wat is er zo goed aan? Van alles. Vooral dat het een krachtig album is dat staat als een huis, in tegenstelling tot de soms onafgemaakt klinkende albums van hiervoor. Maar ook het nieuwe geluid, de kwaliteit van de productie en zelfs de lyriek. Spinvis heeft duidelijk geluisterd naar hippe popmuziek van de afgelopen zoveel jaar: Tot Ziens, Justine Keller varieert van ambient soundscapes en Sigur Rós-achtig getingel tot Arcade Fire-achtige arena-elementen, met veel synthesizers en orgeltjes en hier en daar zelfs techno en house-invloeden. Een verademing met, enerzijds, oneerbiedig gesteld het gerommel op de vierkante milimeter van Spinvis’ voorgaande albums, en anderzijds het totaal inspiratieloze en uitgekauwde geluid van vrijwel het gehele Nederlandse muzieklandschap.
De
productie van Tot Ziens is supergoed: de muziek is veelgelaagd, getextureerd, en met een rijkdom aan elementen en geluiden. Van het synthy/jaren 80 Kom Terug (persoonlijke favoriet) tot het dreamy/singer songwriter De Grote Zon, tot het post-punk Heel Goed Nieuws, het duistere, beat poetry-achtige Club Insomnia, en de zonnige en housy tracks Begin Oktober en Koning Alcohol. Rode draad van het album is, neem ik aan, een al dan niet fictieve relatie met ene Justine Keller.
Tekstueel kennen we het truukje van Spinvis: stream of consciousness-teksten, waarin precieze details afgewisseld worden met vaagheden, als in een constante droom. De thematiek van liefde, reizen, drank, enz. zal alle blanke hogere middenklasse- en studentenbuurten in Utrecht en Amsterdam wederom aanspreken. Alles is vanzelfsprekend gedrenkt in strijkers, zwaar emotioneel en supermelancholisch. Maar ach, weet je: het truukje werkt, het is hier en daar daadwerkelijk aangrijpende en ontroerende muziek. En zonder meer by far en met grote afstand het beste wat de Nederlandse muziek te bieden heeft. Eigenlijk is er niets wat ook maar bij Spinvis in de buurt komt.
Kortom: luister0n! Nu nog voor gratis op de 3VOOR12 luisterpaal. 2011 was al bijna afgeschreven qua muziek, maar het jaar wordt uit onverwachte hoek toch nog gered!
Apparat Podcast
Check out this wonderful podcast for Groove Magazin by Apparat: full of immersive, spacy techno tracks, and never ceasing to amaze. From minimal to more heavy on the bass, but always filled with delicate sounds and uplifting, ambient soundscapes.
My personal favorites in the set list are Jon Hopkins, Pariah, Tiga, System 7, Carl Craig and Pantha du Prince. But basically everything. Highly recommended!
Apparat Podcast (left click to play, right click to download)
Tracklist:
1. Zomby – Witch Hunt
2. John Hopkins – Vessel (Four Tet Remix)
3. Machinedrum – The Slump
4. Pariah – Holocene
5. Max Cooper – Heresay
6. Tiga – Giant (Martyn Rmx)
7. System 7 & A Guy Called Gerald – Positive Noise (Carl Craig Remix)
8. Carl Craig – At Les (Christian Smith Remix)
9. Pantha Du Prince – Sad Saphire
10. Monolake – Plumbicon (Sleeparchive Remix)
11. Radio Slave – Absolute Absolute
12. Max Cooper – Enveloped
13. Kode9 – You Dont Wash (Martyn Remix)
14. SBTRKT – Hold On
Connan Mockasin – Faking Jazz Together (Michael Mayer Remix)
‘Faking Jazz Together’ is a slow, dreamy song by New Zealand formation Connan Mockasin that’s given a new twist by minimal techno Kompakt label boss Michael Mayer, turning it into an uplifting, exotic dance track. I like it.
Tycho – Hours
Fantastic chillwave track by Tycho. Actually it’s more than chillwave, which is often an excuse for lazy music-making. This is subtle and extremely relaxing, while also produced pretty well.
Also check out Tycho’s previous track Coastal Brake, equally melancholic and beautiful.
Siriusmo – Einmal In Der Woche Schreien
This one’s for all the happy people. Try to listen to this song once without wanting to play it again, impossible. Or try to sing along with it, also impossible:
Other great tracks by Siriusmo:
The Shard – Puzzle (Mirror’s Edge)
Mirror’s Edge (2008) is an underrated video game. The unique dystopian atmosphere, taking place in a picture-perfect white glass metropolis, that is nevertheless continuously under surveillance and where privacy doesn’t exist, reminds of the brilliant novel We (1921) by Yevgeny Zamyatin.
The game takes you free-running and parkouring through this metropolis as a sole resistance fighter on the run for police, all the while accompanied by some really decent electronic ambient music, reminiscent of Aphex Twin and Underworld.
The track posted below is an example of this music. It’s not brilliant, but pretty evocative of this game’s futuristic atmosphere, which I think shows what some games at least conceptually are capable of.
The Sunday Chill Track #15
A very, well, chill track suited for a Sunday from Pitto‘s album Objects in a mirror are closer than they appear.
