XLR8R - logo

 

Todd P Goes South: The NYC Party Promoter Attempts to Bridge the Socio-Political Gap Between American and Mexican Artists

New York-based DIY event organizer Todd Patrick (known professionally as Todd P) is taking his business south of the border. In lieu of the South By Southwest-rival festival he has thrown in Austin for the last four years, Mr. Read more » 

Download: The Golden Filter "Hide Me"
Label: Brille

New York's The Golden Filter sound like a mid-'80s Italo band with an icy Nordic gloss, particularly on "Hide Me," which channels Doctors Cat's anthemic qualities as much as Annie's synthetic love-pop. Arpeggiated bass propels the track, with lush pads and tinkling melodic flourishes riding on the same wavelengths as vocalist Penelope's thin, breathy vocals. With extensive tour dates coming up, including an multiple performances at SXSW this week, The Golden Filter are ready to take the synth-pop world by storm. 

Average: 8.3 (3 votes)
 
 

Review: Emptyset Emptyset
Label: Caravan

A hybrid project based in Bristol, England, Emptyset is grimy and cryptic, driven from within by the region's body-buzzing bass culture, inspired from without by minimal techno innovations in Berlin and Detroit. The 10 short tracks—the longest clocks in at just over six minutes—seem like sketches of more epic versions and may initially disappoint. Read more » 

New Album Coming From A Guy Called Gerald

Techno and acid-house veteran A Guy Called Gerald returns again to the album format after years spent dropping singles on disparate labels across the globe. Read more » 

  • Filed under: news
  • 03/12/2010

Download: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti "Round and Round"
Label: 4AD

So Ariel Pink unveiled a new song today, and it's currently locked in a battle to the death with the new Lady Gaga video for the crown of "which internet thing have we been forwarded the most today?" Looks like the Gag-ster is going to win that battle since even our moms are freaking out about it, but take heart, Ariel Pink fans—there's no shame in second place. "Round and Round" comes from a new 7" that will be released on April 26, and is also slated to make an appearance on the forthcoming, as-yet-untitled Ariel Pink and the Haunted Graffiti album. Oh yeah, in case you're wondering what it sounds like, Mr. Pink has turned up the production quality and busted out with a psychedelic '70s, multipart-harmony, Partridge-Family-pop vibe. Groovy. 

Average: 7 (18 votes)
 
 

Download: Games "MIDI Drift"
Label:

Though "MIDI Drift" is said to be born of a video concept involving corporate offices, a KGB-involved vixen, and a pair of Camrys, the actual sounds on the track by production duo Games are far more heart-on-sleeve than erotic espionage. The team—made up of Daniel Lopatin of Oneohtrix Point Never and Joel Ford of Tigercity—immediately presents us with a host of synths that seem to plead for us to shower them with love and attention. The flurry gives way to a standard dance beat and bouncing bass synth to set the track's groove before smoothly chopped vocal samples and another host of vintage synth tones come back to carry away the rest of our affections. 

Average: 7.6 (13 votes)
 
 

Oneohtrix Point Never: Making Contact With A Brooklyn-Based Sci-Fi Novelist-Turned-Ambient Astronaut

Come with Daniel Lopatin to a time when this world's musical seers were mad proto-hackers splicing synthesizers together to create a sonic depiction of a strange, ineffable future, where ordinary man could plumb the depths of his own mind or the endless vistas of space, aided by little more than analog tone generators. As Oneohtrix Point Never, Lopatin stitches the barest essentials—synthetic drones and arpeggiators—into compositions both eerie and beautiful. Read more » 

1|2|3|4|5…next|LAST