XLR8R's 200th podcast is a double feature (triple actually) of Richie Hawtin vs. Plastikman and Mala of Digital Mystikz. Two great mixes from two (three?) legendary producers. Enjoy!
Tomorrow's lineup for the Tuesday Series at Madame features John Zuma Saint-Pelvyn, Matt Wacker and Lisa McGrath (3/4 of Peace Creeps) in various combinations, as well as a first series perfromance by Eric Lunde. Don't miss this partial reunion of a legendary Minneapolis experimental group!
Steve Moore, of the synth rockers Zombi, will release a cassette called Demo 2004 Monday via Moon Glyph. The cassette is a time capsule of his sonic explorations from the early 2000's and includes the majestic track "High Fantasy." Have a listen and consult the Moon Glyph site Monday for further details!
Don't miss this opportunity to check out three great artists from the Lighten Up Sounds roster. Mole Hole is an alias of label emprasario Matthew Himes, (also known as Shep & Me). I've informed you elsewhere on this blog about recent outstanding Lighten Up releases from John Zuma Saint-Pelvyn and Mar Harbrine, both of which will be available at the show. Support great artists, an amazing label and a wonderful record store!
Heliotrope 8 gets underway promptly at 6pm tonight at the Loring Theatre. An evening pass is $12 and well worth it. Pay $24 for all three nights! Schedule below. Do it!
THURSDAY: International Novelty Gamelan Falcon Arrow Nomia Hastings 3000 The Fortified Five Breanna Tandy and the Halcyon Muffin Parallelisms Pentacene [formerly HeatdeatH] Humanda Dreamland Faces
Paul Metzger between sets
FRIDAY: Mother of Fire Daughters of the Sun Lighted Tender Meat with Sho & Joe Joe McPhee & Chris Corsano Paul Metzger/Adam Linz/JT Bates Take Acre Myrrh Milo Fine & Charles Gillett
Transitional Species between sets
SATURDAY: Skoal Kodiak Votel (formerly HUNX) Chickadee Mountain Martyrs Thunderbolt Pagoda White Mischief Blood Folke Scaphe Jon Jacob 3 Grain Belt
In advance of his forthcoming release Drums Between the Bells (July 5th, Warp), Brian Eno shares another of his collaborations with poet Rick Holland. "Imagine New Times," was recorded during the sessions for the new album, but is not included therein. Offering counterpoint to the beat-driven "Glitch," Eno luxates the everday with the eerie as Holland patiently jostles syllables into meaningful frames of language. You can download the track by sharing your email in the player below.
Seems like it wouldn't be a Tuesday anymore without a track form Clipd Beaks. This week's Beaks is the "On One," a vertiginous vision quest into the clouds from To Realize (2010, Lovepump United). Sail away and enjoy.
From squares to Snares today, as Aaron Funk drops his new Planet Mu EP Cubist Reggae for the world to enjoy. Somewhat in the vein of Sabbth Dubs (2007, Kriss), Venetian Snares reimagines breakcore in Jah's image, all the while blowing his transcendent idiom in your face. Space out to "The Identification Circles Levitate" below. You can sample all the songs and pick up the EP here. Shazaaaaaam!
Moog engineer Steve Dunnington prepared a little minimoog rendition of "Happy Birthday" in honor of the boss' 77th birthday. To reflect on the life and work of Mr. Moog, visit the Moog Foundation website. Happy Birthday, Bob!
Moon Glyph delivers another estimable electronic release with Dylan Ettinger's Pattern Recursion cassette. Two side-long excursions into an angular world of square waves and synthetic sustain evince the poetry of patterns and the dark matter of massive minimalism. Sample "Squares" here, but don't be one and miss the Moon Glyph Showcase Saturday, June 11th at 7th Street Entry!
From Moon Glyph:
Geometric minimalism is an inherent component in synthesist Dylan Ettinger's latest release, "Pattern Recursion" – a collection of side-long scapes produced using solely square wave forms. A work as indebted to concept, as it is enabled by it, Ettinger's square precession is largely based on his connection with analogue machines–specifically, a Moog Rogue, Korg Poly 61 and Funkhouser 1. In turn, "Pattern Recursion" is machinist music for the 21st century, replacing mammal intuition with mechanical ingenuity to create a wholly new definition of "computer musick."
Eight years since it's inception, the Heliotrope Festival is going strong. Each year, Flaneur Productions assembles an adventurous program of experimental talent culled from the Twin Cities underground. This year's festival is being held at Loring Theater May 26th through 28th. You can get all the info here. In an ongoing feature about the many wonderful music series we enjoy in the Twin Cities, I asked Heliotrope co-founder Richard Barlow to profile his festival for The Somethin' Else. Here's what he told me.
What is your series called?
Heliotrope.
How often and where does your series take place?
It is an annual series. We started at Franklin Art Works, moved to The Ritz Theater, and this will be our first year at the Loring Theater.
How long have you been doing your series?
Eight years.
What compelled you to start your series?
A few things. At the time of the first event, my theatre company, Flaneur Productions, had reserved the space at Franklin for a performance, and ended up moving it somewhere else. I figured we ought to use the Franklin space for something anyway, and had always wanted to do a music festival of some sort. I had recently been to Terrastock, and both of the DeStijl/Freedom From festivals, and was inspired.
I felt like there was a lot of really interesting music going on in town, but whenever I talked to friends or other music fans they would just whine about how there was nothing going on, or idealise the "scene" in other cities. I thought perhaps if we could bring together a bunch of the interesting acts in town they would all discover each other's music, share fans, and give people more of a sense that there was something happening. I thought that a lot of the people doing noise music would probably like what some fo the free jazz people were doing, etc. It seemed, too, like locally the stuff that got press and coverage was either laptop type stuff, or fairly boring country rock. There didn't seem to be a home or voice for the range of things I found interesting. (I am happy to say that this has entirely changed since the founding of the festival, and that there are a lot of events and series bringing attention to interesting stuff - and also that local acts seem to be supportive of each other and enthusiastic about what's going on, another nice change).
What is unique about your series?
Hm. An excellent question. I think one thing has been that we have always tried to make the thing feel like an "event," with projections and theatrical lighting, as well as encouraging people to make posters, do something different, etc. Each year there has been a companion compilation of music from the acts. It's a theater series, too, rather than a bar or whatever, which I think is interesting. It concentrated things a bit on the music, and is a unique space to perform in. Most years there are acts who come up with something to perform specific to the event.
How does your series contribute to the good of the community?
If it's working the way I'd hope, it is a locus for creativity, a way of exposing fans to new artists, exposing artists to other acts they may not know, and allowing the collected mass of acts to help bring in bigger audiences and more press attention to everyone involved.
What have some of the highlights been for you so far?
It seems cliche to say it, but there really have been too many to list. An early highlight was White Map playing on the sidewalk outside Franklin Art Works at midnight and witnessing the perplexed looks from drivers going by. The first year that Skoal Kodiak invited a throng of dancers onto the stage at the Ritz was pretty exciting, too. But, every year there are multiple highlights.
What are your thoughts on music in the Twin Cities?
I think there are a lot of interesting people making interesting music. I think it is a shame that the press and radio tend to focus so heavily on the more anodyne stuff, since there are a lot of people deserving of bigger audiences and greater respect.
What would your utopia be like?
I really couldn't tell you. Isn't the idea of a Utopia always slightly dystopian? Perfection of any kind sounds horrible. .
This week, Clipd Beaks dust off an old fave released anew on their Piece EP (2011, TRDMRK) called "Overdoser." Gloomy tribalism accelerates into euphoric crescendo, rapture and eventual decay. As Heraclitus tells us, the way up and the way down are one and the same.
Direct from Montreal, Canada the Hobo Cult Tour will be passing through Minneapolis Monday to perform at Nick & Eddie. A potent sampling of quality electronic music, this package is brought to you by Hobo Cult Records and Los Discos Enfantasmes. Touring performers include Hobo Cubes, Femmenielli and Das Amore w/JLK. Rounding out the bill are Seated Heat and Ghostband. Be there!
Prepare to be blown away by the lineup for this week's Tuesday Series at Madame! First off is the incomparable Radical Cemetery. Next, esoteric classical and folk forms are mingled and mangled by Dimanche. Last, Squid Fist tears your world apart. Do not miss this show!
For the twelth installment of The Somethin' Else electronic music potluck, I'd like to pause and reflect on a year's worth of great electronic music and good times. I began The Somethin' Else a year ago to combat my grass-is-greenerism regarding electronic music in the Twin Cities. I was definitely frustrated that there weren't enough widely accessible events or venues geared toward progressive electronic music here. Inspired by the communal spirit I experienced at the University of Minnesota's Spark Festival, I wagered against myself that there was an abundance of electronic musicians, as well as an audience for their music, which could be gathered more frequently than once a year around music, food and fun.
With the help of incredible artists, accommodating all ages venues and supportive friends, we've managed to put together a year's worth of great events. Also worth mentioning are the efforts of Gimme Noise and MPLS.TV, who helped greatly in informing people about The Somethin' Else. Some events came together more easily than others, but things have always come together. (I'm actually rewriting a post I had already prepared yesterday, which was lost in a site blackout here at blogspot).
Curating, promoting, hosting and documenting this event has been a true pleasure. It has also informed me of some reformatting issues I need to address. The first and foremost is the frequency of the events. Henceforth, in the interest of holding more engaging, better-attended events, The Somethin' Else will go from a monthly to a quarterly schedule. Additionally, I will endeavor to gather participants from outside the local scene and reemphasize the culinary aspect of the event. Overall, I just want to create a more enjoyable gathering for artists and audience alike. The Somethin' Else is grateful for your support and I look forward to creating more events as well as presenting documentation, interviews, artists and music I think you will enjoy. Thanks, everybody!
Dan Deacon and Jimmy Joe Roche have produced a short film for Glocal, a project exploring the notion of a post-global village. The idea that local and the global are ever becoming one, that technological evolution has made location less relevant, is near and dear to The Somethin' Else. Such was the impetus for The Somethin' Else #7 (Virtual Vittles), where your humble author attemped to generate all-inclusive communitas online, with hopes of reification in rituals worldwide. In Deacon's film, pastoral remnants of the old world mingle with the present in a postmodern Medieval Times gone wild. Check it out!
Yesterday, on Gilles Peterson's BBC Radio 1 show, bass guitar virtuoso and Flying Lotus cohort Thundercat previewed "Thunder for Love I Come" from his forthcoming Brainfeeder release. Inner visions of jazz and love in outer space. Can't wait to hear more!
Short and sweet, Ghostband's Weekend Vampire is heavier on dub than step. Bubbles of bum-bum bass bulge your speakers as whispered melodies echo through skeletons of off-kilter riddim. Produced in the infernal method, Weekend Vampire is availble for your listening pleasure here or below.
This week's offering from Clipd Beaks is a remix of "Less" by Brooklyn duo Yvette. Cavernous industrial drums, swelling drones and ominous chant-like vocals create an atmosphere of gothic gravitas which embraces you like cold dirt. Enjoy!
Ikonika has prepared a Summer 2011 Mix which she is giving to you for free via her Tumblr. Download it here!
From the Ikonika Tumblr:
Ikonika Summer 2011 Mix
1. Debbie Deb - Lookout Weekend (Instrumental) 2. Untold - U-29 3. Jam City - Barely A Trak 4. Boddika - Basement 5. Egyptrixx - Liberation Front (Mike Q Remix - Bok Bok Re-Edit) 6. Ikonika - PR812 7. Pangaea - Runout 8. Jam City - Arpjam (Devil Mix) 9. Ikonika - With Your Face 10. Bok Bok - Reminder 11. A1 Bassline - Falsehood 12. Optimum - Afterglow 13. Mensah - The Resistance 14. French Fries & Bambounou - Hugz 15. Ikonika - I Make Lists
Ceephax Acid Crew has released another bundle of bangers called The Unstoppable Phax Machine EP, now available from 030303 Records. "South Bank" is a Miami Vice meets "Gin & Juice" on speed jam which unfurls its sails and departs for a fantasy island in the stars. You can listen to more from the EP and 030303 here.
