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High Five: Jacques Greene

Over the past two years, Montreal producer Jacques Greene has quietly amassed an impressive little catalog, twisting the spirit of R&B into something functional for dancefloors fueled by classic house and forward-thinking bass. With only a few releases under his belt, he has become one of North America's most lauded producers, a feat assisted in no small part by his jaw-dropping, analog-gear-intensive live shows. Once the calendar reached 2012, Greene announced the next step in his ongoing evolution, the founding of his own label, Vase. Last week, the young imprint dropped its first record, Concealer, a four-track EP from Greene himself. On the heels of it's release, we tapped the busy artist to list five tracks that have helped to shape both his current musical outlook and his new label's philosophy. Read more » 

B2B: Blondes and Lindstrøm

For some, the work of Norwegian producer Hans-Peter Lindstrøm is irrevocably important and possibly one of the biggest catalysts for the prominent rise of the "space-disco" sound throughout the aughts. Dancefloor gems like "I Feel Space" and "There's A Drink in My Bedroom and I Need a Hot Lady" have certainly become classics in their own right, but the sprawling psychedelia of Lindstrøm's proper debut LP, Where You Go I Go Too, and his collaborative work with Oslo-based vocalist Christabelle on the brilliant pop album Real Life Is No Cool firmly testify to the artist's wide-ranging versatility. As he continues to showcase his abilities and expand his notable discography (the latest addition to which will be the daringly maximalist Six Cups of Rebel LP for Smalltown Supersound), Lindstrøm's influential shadow also grows; it wouldn't be a stretch to say that it's already touched up-and-coming Brooklyn duo Blondes. Read more » 

XLR8R's Top 20 Downloads of January

We're officially one month into 2012, which means it's time again to share our break down of the most downloaded tracks on XLR8R over the past 31 days. Read more » 

High Five: Grimes

Claire Boucher has been on something of a winning streak over the past couple of years. Starting with a 15-song cassette debut in 2010, the Montreal-based artist known as Grimes has quickly developed from her beginnings as a nascent experimentalist into the darling of homemade pop music with the quiet release of a second LP and her more celebrated split EP with fellow Canadian d'Eon, Darkbloom, in 2011. Now, as Boucher sits merely weeks away from the release of her third album, Visions, via 4AD (along with her own Arbutus imprint), she already seems poised to ascend to a whole new level. Read more » 

Mute Launches a New Label; Read Our Interview with the Founders

Earlier today, the storied Mute imprint announced the launch of a new label, Liberation Technologies. Since its founding in 1978, Mute has been at the forefront of electronic music, releasing music from acts like Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Goldfrapp, and Moby, along with acts such as Plastikman, Speedy J, and Luke Slater via its now-dormant NovaMute arm. These days, it continues to drop forward sounds from the likes of M83 and Apparat. Liberation Technologies looks to expand on that, and plans to operate much more like a traditional electronic-music imprint, with a commitment to vinyl and a focus on EP and 12" releases. The new label's first release, the Spring EP, is slated for March 19 and comes courtesy of King Felix, a new moniker taken up by Brooklyn's Laurel Halo. To find out more about what the young imprint has in the pipeline, we spoke with Mute founder Daniel Miller and Liberation Technologies A&R man Patrick "Paddy" O'Neill, who shared some insights into their aims and aspirations. Read more » 

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