Last summer, techno veteran Marc Houle—along with DJ comrades Magda and Troy Pierce—left his longtime home at Richie Hawtin's Minus label and rededicated himself to the dormant Items & Things imprint. A few releases from Items & Things trickled out during the latter half of 2011, but the reinvigorated label is truly beginning to bear fruit in 2012, beginning with a Undercover, the soon-to-be-released new full-length from Marc Houle himself. Undercover won't officially see the light of day until March 5, but we invited the Canadian-born artist to put together an exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series in the meantime. Read more »
Since the release of last year's excellent Routes full-length, LV has been fairly quiet. Nonetheless, the group's intrepid infusion of South African house rhythms into a UK funky-inspired template has often proved interesting—not to mention enjoyable—so we jumped at the chance to have the UK trio put together an exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series. Read more »
Mano Le Tough (a.k.a. Niall Mannion) is a name that popped up on XLR8R's radar in a major way last year, particularly following the release of his Stories EP and the "In My Arms" 12". Both records found the Irish-born producer exploring the incorporation of a new element—his own voice—into his musical palette, a shift which found his already melodic style moving into increasingly compelling and, yes, pop-oriented territory. This process was explored at length when Mano Le Tough was featured in our Bubblin' Up series, and since then, the Berlin-based producer has continued work on his forthcoming debut full-length, which is set to drop later this year via Permanent Vacation. In the meantime, we convinced Mannion to put together an exclusive mix for the XLR8R podcast series. Read more »
Even after dropping a host of well-received tunes in 2011—most notably, a trio of 12"s for Ramp offshoot Fourth Wave—UK producer Gerry Read remains a mysterious figure. We know that he's young—just 20 years old, in fact. Read more »
Throughout its history as one of Detroit's most storied techno collectives, Underground Resistance has counted a lot of top-notch producers and DJs amongst its ranks. One of those acts is Los Angeles native Santiago Salazar, who years ago packed up and headed to Detroit for some first-hand schooling from Mike Banks and the rest of the UR crew. While Salazar has since returned to his hometown and is now focused on his own labels, Historia y Violencia and Ican (running the latter with Esteban Adame), traces of Detroit's distinctively deep and soulful sound undoubtedly remain in his music. Read more »
The new year is a time when people are naturally inclined to look toward the future, so it's fitting that our first podcast of 2012 comes from an artist we're expecting to hear a lot from in the months ahead. In all honesty, Throwing Snow is a name that already popped up on XLR8R quite a bit in 2011, particularly following the release of his stellar "Shadower" b/w "Sanctum" single. Read more »
With 2011 quickly drawing to a close, the onslaught of "Best Of" lists is already well underway (don't worry, XLR8R's contributions will begin popping up next week), and although it's unlikely that Om Unit (a.k.a. Jim Coles) is going to be pulling down a ton of accolades, that has less to do with the quality of his output, and more to do with the fact that the London producer has kept a relatively low profile while having himself a very solid year. Read more »
