Kode9's relationship with dubstep has always been an uneasy one, but with this latest DJ-Kicks installment, his avoidance of the genre is as much a political statement as it is an issue of taste. Only three tracks in the mix even somewhat resemble the one-drop cliché the genre has settled into: Ikonika's "Heston," Digital Mystikz's "Mountain Dread March," and The Bug's "Run"—and even those seem like brilliantly fringe elements compared to the cartoonish wobble most often heard in the trenches.
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For all the talk in 2009 about Bristol's next generation of dubstep producers—largely centered around the hip-hop- and G-funk-influenced "Purple Trinity" of Joker, Gemmy, and Guido—it's almost shocking how quickly the bass music landscape has changed. Read more »
The intriguing, undersung indie pop of Jeremy Jay's first few records feels wholly of another time and place. Sauntering somewhere between Del Shannon, the Field Mice, and the Left Banke, he ties together the wistful, romantic pop sounds of yesteryear for an alluring end result. In 2009, Jay ventured abroad from his hometown of Los Angeles to London and recorded Splash, his third LP and arguably his most satisfying artistic statement to date.
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Sometimes less really is more. Where Booka Shade's highly acclaimed second album, Movements, epitomized the duo's low-key, approachable beats and dappled, warm synth melodies, the German tech-house producers' fourth full-length intends to provide exactly what its name suggests: More! In this case, cohorts Arno Kammermeier and Walter Merziger mean more energy, more ornamentation, and more friends along for the ride. Read more »
Despite lulls in popularity, dub-techno has never really left us; after all, Fluxion, Echospace, Andy Stott, and Bvdub continue to release records full of the atmospheric, crackling beatscapes pioneered by Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus. But while Fluxion and Wolfgang Voigt are still drowning listeners in oceans of loop-based ambience, finding a producer who can combine the emotional resonance of Stars of the Lid with the techno prowess of a Kompakt record is a more difficult task, and one which illuminates what can be considered a gap in current electronic music. Read more »
A trio of German vets offers new long-players to the decidedly singles-oriented techno world.
Let's be honest: The album format has not been overly kind to techno. Tracks experienced in the happy haze of club life aren't usually listened to in pre-set chronological order in the comforts of home. The closest you come to recapturing the good times of the night before is to pop in a mix CD by one of your favorite DJs. Even then, it doesn't come close to matching the extra-sensory "wow!" factor of dancing in a room full of people, immersed in pulsating rhythm and sound. There are exceptions to the rule, but more artists need to figure out how to have it both ways, sustaining the 4/4 thrill on full-length recordings as they would in a club setting. Three veteran German producer/DJs—Ellen Allien, Marcel Dettmann, and Martin Buttrich—attempt to bridge this nagging live sound vs. studio sound gap on their new releases. Read more »
Since breaking out as a retro-minded soul singer amid futuristic techno tunes, Jamie Lidell has struggled to reconcile musical identities. Is he the British Maxwell, doomed to slightly update R&B with minor innovations as he did on Jim two years ago, or the energized, knob-twiddling illegitimate spawn of Prince and Aphex Twin of his invigorating live performances? Read more »
If the band-name pun doesn't tip you off as to Jahcoozi's, um, energy, singer Sasha Perera will not leave you in the dark for long. "Skankin barefoot be a global movement," she coos on "Barefoot Dub," Barefoot Wanderer's first track, "gotta find a place for a barefoot temple." You won't need the remaining 10 tracks to figure out that this temple's location is not far from Black Rock City. Read more »
Maybe it's a function of getting older, maybe it's because This Is Happening was partially recorded in sunny Los Angeles, but it appears that James Murphy has lost some of his affinity for the dancefloor. That's not to say that the third—and supposedly final—LCD Soundsystem album doesn't have its uptempo moments or occasionally pilfer from disco's rich sound palette. Read more »
