Download Vedomir - Vedomir (2012)
Dutch house and techno imprint Dekmantel have revealed details of a forthcoming artist album from mystery producer Vedomir.
The label, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2012, today posted a stream of the album (along with the artwork and full tracklisting) on its Soundcloud page. Some of you may have noticed the label recently slip out a white label 12″ of Vedomir material, evidently as a teaser for the long player.
Entitled Vedomir, a quick listen to the tracks on offer reveals a musically rich take on downtempo deep house. In a move that will please vinyl fetishists, the LP will be released on gatefold double vinyl format, with design duties undertaken by Red Light Radio chief Orpheu de Jong.
Equally exciting is news of a second studio album from Juju & Jordash (aka Gal Aner and Jordan Czamanski), which the duo announced last week. Although details are still relatively sacre, Czamanski told Juno Plus the as yet untitled album would range musically “from nightmare techno to psychedelic folk, 80s industrial to free jazz”.
Dekmantel will release Vedomir in the second week of April, 2012, on 2xLP vinyl format. There’s no word on a release date for the Juju & Jordash album just yet but keep an eye on Juno Plus for more details as they emerge.
Those of you yet to be charmed by the output of Dekmantel should peruse our recent feature here, which comes replete with an exclusive mix from Juju & Jordash.
Tracklisting:
A1. Jump In The Past
A2. Music Suprematism – (Keyboards And Co-Produced By Vasiliy Filatov)
A3. Casserole 80th
B1. Forks, Knives And Spoons
B2. I Don’t Aspire Perfection I Accept That I Have – (Keyboards And Co-Produced By Vasiliy Filatov)
B3. Hello
C1. Scream Of Kind Morning
C2. Dreams
D1. Lullably – (Keyboards And Co-Produced By Vasiliy Filatov)
D2. Orud’ Evo
Download Oliver Deutschmann - Darkroom Tales EP (2012)
The first thing that must be pointed out about Deutschmann’s Loganic collaboration, “Darkroom Tales,” is that title. What a title. The music that bears it is every bit as hedonistic, decadent, and seedy as you’d hope: high-octane house that starts at a gallop — replete with deep, barely audible moans and sharp breaths — and never, ever slows down. It hungrily collects new elements to add to the dizzy conveyor-belt effect until it’s a hurtling mass of moving bells and whistles. Shakers, mallets, a vaguely alienating vocal sample (“What it’s gonna be? What’s it gonna be?”), handclaps that slice up the bars into uneven, colliding chunks of broken rhythm — it’s quite a ride. And if it weren’t grandiose enough, an ‘ardkore-worthy synth riff floats up from the abyss to dominate the track’s midsection, a victory lap for a track that builds energy so masterfully it’s hard not to get sucked into some kind of outrageous motion even if you’re just listening on headphones.
Label head, Tristen, provides an edit that’s a little more Aim friendly, blurring the original’s incisive slam into pleasant deep-house chord smears and turning the original’s darkroom blackness into photo-negative white. The sexily swung groove is still there, but here it’s weighed down by the lumbering kick and deconstructed melody, more like an added little bonus to an incredible track that didn’t need reinterpreting in the first place. A label so well defined as Aim jumping off on a tangent can sometimes be a dealbreaker, but “Darkroom Tales” is easily one of the most infectious and impressive tracks of the young year so far.
Tracklist:
01. Darkroom Tales (feat. Loganic)
02. Darkroom Tales (Tristen Edit)
Download Moodymann - Picture This (2012)
Moodymann is the nom de disc of Detroit native Kenny Dixon, Jr. An iconoclast with a funkdafied hairdo, Moodymann has built up a devoted listenership over the past two decades with his unique, mutant productions. Often pitched between high-fidelity and infidelity, Moodymann tracks are for those moments when hitting the dancefloor feels the same as rustling the sheets. Purveyor of the label Mahogani Music, Moodymann now connects with Scion A/V to deliver Picture This, eight exclusive tracks of Motor City magic.
Download Iron Curtis - Way Back Home EP (2010)
There’s nothing new to be found in Iron Curtis’ new EP for Mule Electronic. Whereas his remix for Coldfish and 12-inch for Mirau last year were otherworldly things that seemed to exist just a bit outside of anything that was happening in dance music, the Berlin-based producer seems to be slowly regressing to the mean. It’s not a bad thing: There’s great pleasure to be had in “Großreuth 1“‘s old-school chord progression, “Save the Night“‘s similarly bouncy bass-driven melody or “80 G“‘s constantly upbuilding theme and clumpy climax.
Unlike previous work though, Way Back Home seems content to rest in the realm of purely functional. There are no breakdowns that last just a bit too long, or sounds that seem comically out of sync with the rest of the track. The rough edges have been sanded off, proper production techniques have been acquired and now we’re merely left with three songs that are merely pretty darn good, instead of transcendent. Needless to say, consistency is a trait worth chasing. After all, a darn good EP is better than a mediocre one. But when consistency becomes the watchword, innovation starts to become that much further away.
Download I:Cube - Lucifer en Discothèque EP (2011)
In a recent interview, I:Cube mentioned how difficult it is to finish an album. He finally triumphed over the chimera and delivered a new EP Lucifer en Discothèque as a prelude to his forthcoming album (he must have fought the chimera for real!) After 15 years of an almost constant production, how can any artist possibly avoid the pitfall of repetition while re-inventing his style? Cube delivers a masterly answer! As its name implies, Transpiration (perspiration in English) is sure to make dance floors sweat around the globe. Whats fascinating with these new tracks, especially Transpiration, is the way Chaix manages to reconcile the old with the new, his 15-year heritage of production with all the recent technological developments. This track reveals various influences, for instance Todd Terry, Godfather of the 90s NY House, as well as Sheffield rave parties of the same era yet revisited without an ounce of pomposity. Jah Menta sums up everything that makes I:Cubes style a menta(l) vibe and a down-to-earth beat with mesmerizing softness It seems like Cube really met Lucifer after all! From the realm of Beelzebub, he brought back a track that starts like a trance based on a heavy and powerful beat mingled with synth parts seeming to weave concentric circles between Hell and reality Heres what Cube says about his album, due to release in February: « I spend a lot of time listening to music, I use samples (the very heart of my approach!), I put everything together and then I compose on synthesizers and machines. In short, Im back to my old self. Now I know how to achieve what I want.
Download Boddika & Joy Orbison - Swims (2012)
Two titans of the Bass/House scene unleash the mighty ‘Swims’ on heavy vinyl (only!) with sharp sleeve art via Swamp81. Over the latter half of last year it’s become a staple in the sets of both Joy and Boddika plus their extended circle of affiliates, burning up floors with a succinct blend of warehouse 303s, booty-wallop bass and the kinkiest cowbells this side of Miami, all revolving around a vocal snatch from Tronco Traxx’s 1995 single ‘Walk 4 Me’. The original features on the A-side, sounding suitably chunkier than that youtube clip you’ve been caning, while the flipside sneakily offers a chords-driven bridge, sweetly heightening anticipation of a crowd-chewing acid line and cowbell attack. Undeniably BIG tracks.
Download Carsten Jost & Lawrence - A Greater Administration Of Lower Interests (2011)
“Chateau Jalousie” by Carsten Jost (AKA David Lieske) is guided by a graceful melding of powder-soft percussion and sailing chords. It feels like a midnight row on a placid lake, Lieske’s well-crafted basics requiring no clever effects. Its protracted backing is the most arresting element, with long, doleful notes mixing and running like watercolour. Lieske’s track was pretty spare, but Lawrence (AKA Peter Kersten) takes it to a whole new level with “The Swan.” Basic percussion aside (miniature claps, a swishing hat), there’s hardly anything happening. And yet he somehow makes it work. A single, sustained synth floats enchantingly through the track’s mid-section with absolute grace. Judging by the title of the release, the starkness found in both tracks is wholly intentional. The “lower interests” are the pads and basic percussion, and the “greater administration” the duo’s careful sculpting of sound.
