XLR8R News and Features

East Village Radio Festival: Delayed?

XLR8R Magazine — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 15:37:24 -0700

Though many in New York are looking forward to the music, film, and gourmet food promised for the previously announced East Village Radio music festival, fans and music heads may have to wait just a little bit longer.

Matthew Dear's "Dog Days" Remixed

XLR8R Magazine — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 12:59:40 -0700

When Matthew Dear's Leave Luck to Heaven dropped on Ghostly in 2003, it was pretty much unanimously decided by the electronic music community that "Dog Days," a punchy number featuring crisp beats and an arpeggiated synth melody, was the standout track on the release. Remix albums had yet to become the standard practice back then, and so we don't have twenty versions of the track up on Discobelle, though Ghostly is about to change that with the September 9 release of Dog Days: The Robsoul Remixes.

Randy Records Turns 50

XLR8R Magazine — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 11:40:50 -0700

Producer Clive Chin, son of Randy’s Records founder Vincent “Randy” Chin, has a great story about how his father recruited the Trinidadian singer Lord Creator to voice an ode to Jamaica’s independence. “[Creator] came to the island in 1962 to perform with a set of musicians from Guyana and Trinidad, and my father liked what he heard and said, ‘why don’t you do a song for my label–but do an independence song,’” recalls Chin, from his home in New York.

Get Physical Launches Get Digital

XLR8R Magazine — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 10:46:31 -0700

Berlin's Get Physical imprint is keeping up with the times. The dance music label run by the members of M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade just launched a brand-new, digital-only sister label, the cleverly named Get Digital. The imprint will function as a digital platform for many of Get Physical's future releases, though the company's founders are quick to point out that this is not the end of the original label, but rather, a new development.

Jake One Readies New Album

XLR8R Magazine — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 09:52:25 -0700

Jake Dutton, who prefers to go by the graf-writer handle Jake One started off making beats in the mid-'90s for Seattle-based Conception records. Since then, he’s been able to straddle both independent and mainstream hip-hop, working for the G-Unit production team, while maintaining ties with underground artists.

Fashions from Ellen Allien

XLR8R Magazine — Fri, 5 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

As much as there is a Berlin techno sound, there is a Berlin techno look: clothing is cut comfortably but cleverly, lines are clean, colors muted and minimal. It’s not flashy or fraught–it’s fashion designed to take you from a luxury hotel to the apocalypse in style. And perhaps no one sports this look better than Ellen Allien, DJ/producer, Bpitch Control label head, and, in the last few years, fashion designer.

WHY? Readies Yet Another Massive Tour

XLR8R Magazine — Thu, 4 Sep 2008 16:22:54 -0700

Releasing Alopecia in March and traversing the world almost non-stop (and getting the mumps at one point on the tour) isn't enough to satisfy the three members of WHY? and convince them it's time to go home and sit in the armchair a few minutes. The Oakland-based outfit is kicking off yet another lengthy slew of dates tonight in Los Angeles. They'll be joined along the way by a number of pals, including anticon. labelmates Tobacco and Alias, Asthmatic Kitty's Rafter, and others.

09/04 Los Angeles, CA: Echoplex*

Heaps Decent Preps New Track for Charity

XLR8R Magazine — Thu, 4 Sep 2008 11:27:45 -0700

Next up from Heaps Decent, Diplo's charity program designed to give underprivileged youth in Australia the chance to learn about DJing, production, and releasing music, is an electronic-heavy number from Koori Girls, otherwise known as 16 and 17-year old Heather and Janey King. The young ladies were joined by Chris Devlin, of Spank Rock fame, who produced the track, simply titled "Koori Girls," and Pase Rock, who stopped in to add some vocals to the wobbly basslines, stabbing synths, and revert-drenched voiceovers here.

Parenthetical Girls Announce Remixes, Tour

XLR8R Magazine — Thu, 4 Sep 2008 10:08:21 -0700

Their first album for Tomlab is set to drop next week, but the Parenthetical Girls have hardly been sitting at home, twiddling their thumbs in the weeks that have led up to the release.

Top 10: Of Montreal, Madlib, Deastro

XLR8R Magazine — Thu, 4 Sep 2008 08:00:00 -0700

Of Montreal
Skeletal Lamping
Polyvinyl
Release Date: October 7

Noisia: Beautiful Effects

XLR8R Magazine — Thu, 4 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Deep within the crowded confines of a warehouse on the outskirts of the Dutch city of Groningen, Thijs de Vlieger is working up a sweat. “We don’t have an air conditioner in the studio, and we need one down here badly,” he says over the intermittent hum of a revolving fan. “Maybe that’s the secret to our music–the heat.”

No Age's Randall Directs DVD

XLR8R Magazine — Wed, 3 Sep 2008 12:35:51 -0700

Altamont Apparel took a recent trip to France, where the skatewear clothing company enlisted No Age member Randy Randall to direct a new tour DVD, a short film entitled The Foreigners.

Pon Di Wire: Shaggy, Spragga, Mavado

XLR8R Magazine — Wed, 3 Sep 2008 12:05:50 -0700

Trouble seems to follow dancehall DJ Vybz Kartel ever since he split from Bounty Killer’s Alliance crew to form his own Portmore Empire posse. Now comes word that his car may have been suspiciously torched. The artist maintains that his vehicle had electrical problems that may caused the fire.

Team Robespierre Readies Tour

XLR8R Magazine — Wed, 3 Sep 2008 09:47:50 -0700

Brooklyn's Team Robespierre will ring in September by hitting the road for several synth-rock filled evenings around the U.S. The band, who just wrapped a stint on the F Yeah Tour with the likes of Matt & Kim and the Circle Jerks, turns its attention primarily towards the West Coast for these dates. Joining for a few nights will be U.K.

Athens, GA: Freak Beat

XLR8R Magazine — Wed, 3 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

“My best friend in college, her mother would go to Paris each year for her clothes, and she once gave me a camel-hair coat plus two big pieces of advice,” says Vanessa Briscoe Hay, lead singer of post-punk band Pylon, while sharing a Middle Eastern snack platter and memories from 30 years of the Athens, Georgia music scene.

“She said, ‘If you ever get a really nice piece of clothing, don’t get rid of it. Save it and take care of it, because it will always come back in style. And the other advice was to try not to get married more than once, because men are so hard to train.”

Hiero Crew Adds Tour Dates, Documentary

XLR8R Magazine — Tue, 2 Sep 2008 10:29:32 -0700

Still on the massive Freshly Dipped Tour they embarked on earlier this summer, the Hiero Imperium collective just announced more dates. The whole crew–which includes the Hiero dudes, MC Prince Ali, Rhymesayers' Musab, Blue Scholars, and Oakland, CA's Knobody–will continue making the rounds across the U.S., with a few dates in Canada as well.

People Under The Stairs Ready Album, Tour

XLR8R Magazine — Tue, 2 Sep 2008 09:45:14 -0700

South Central Los Angeles-based avant hip-hop team People Under The Stairs, the brainchild of producer/MC duo Thes One and Double K, have soaked up Southern California sun, soul, and psychedelic music and will release their next 20-track opus on September 30.

Andrew Jeffrey Wright: Weird, Wild

XLR8R Magazine — Tue, 2 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The only thing that cheered us up last year was Andrew Jeffrey Wright’s Labs With Abs 2007, a hand-screenprinted wall calendar featuring comic book-style drawings of incredibly buff dogs getting wild in the streets with their six-packs (of abs, that is). Then we saw a drawing he did of a marijuana leaf wearing a bikini.

Finally, our friend turned up at the office wearing a mind-blowing t-shirt he designed for Juiceboxxx (featuring Pacman about to eat Q-Bert’s ass) and we knew we had to ask him to be part of Vis-Ed.

Bass Reaction: Skream, Burial

XLR8R Magazine — Mon, 1 Sep 2008 08:00:00 -0700

Globetrotting dubstep ambassador Ollie Jones (a.k.a. Skream) has been busy on the buttons. The new Skreamizm Volume 5 EP drops soon and features “Filth,” “SimpleCity,” “OneForTheHeads…,” and the Winehouse remix, “Love Don’t Come Easily.” Also forthcoming is Skream’s new mix CD, Watch The Ride, with new Benga, Kutz, Seven, and Breakage tracks galore.

Inbox: Girl Talk

XLR8R Magazine — Mon, 1 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Sure, we're always curious to know about an artist's upcoming release, most recent tour, or arsenal of analog gear, but XLR8R's also got a curiosity for quirk. Thus, each week, we email a different artist and find out what makes them tick, in the studio and in life. Today we talk water-balloon launchers and Blues Traveler with Gregg Gillis, the inimitable force behind Girl Talk.

What are you listening to right now?

Rod Modell: 4 A.M. Techno

XLR8R Magazine — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Rod Modell’s intoxicating fusion of natural and electronic sounds can be traced back to one moment at a coffeehouse in Detroit more than a decade ago. “I don’t really know what the hell happened that night,” says the dub-techno maven of the gig (performed as Waveform Transmission). What he does remember is this: It was around 10:30 p.m. inside the century-old Victorian that at the time housed Zoot’s Coffeehouse.

More Artists Confirmed for CMJ

XLR8R Magazine — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:59:07 -0700

Time for another round of panels and performances. CMJ 2008, set to take place October 21 - 25, already announced an initial lineup earlier this month. Now, the festival has unveiled another round of artists to join the likes of AIDS Wolf, Crystal Castles, Gang Gang Dance, and others. Black Moth Super Rainbow boss Tobacco, Talkdemonic, Late of the Pier, Fight Bite, Friendly Fires, and dozes of others listed below are slated to perform during the five-day festival.

The Streets Ready New Album

XLR8R Magazine — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:42:15 -0700

Mike Skinner's back, and it looks like he got all contemplative for his latest album, Everything is Borrowed, under his guise The Streets. According to a recent press release, "Skinner is contemplating the impermenant nature of life this time around. [He has] made a record to console the lonely and bring a smile to the saddest visage."

So no rapping about drinking too much brandy and bitching about camera phones?

In any case, pick up the new album on October 7 via Vice.

Rafter Hosts Video Contest

XLR8R Magazine — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:26:43 -0700

So many ways to promote a new release these days, and since everyone on the face of the Earth owns a copy of Final Cut, why not hold a video contest right before your new EP drops?

Tilly and the Wall Ready Tour

XLR8R Magazine — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:00:00 -0700

With their latest album getting lots of love from the music world (despite it's not having an actual title and simply being referred to as "O"), Omaha's Tilly and the Wall will take their fun-loving tunes on the road for several dates with Brazilian dance-punkers CSS.

Dusk+Blackdown: Deep Thinkers

XLR8R Magazine — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

With Margins Music, Dan “Dusk” Frampton and Martin “Blackdown” Clark join a long lineage of artists who’ve let the world know how London gets down. From London Posse’s “London Posse” to Tek 9’s “A London Sumting” to neighborhood-celebrating dubstep and grime cuts (Burial’s “South London Boroughs, Wiley’s “Bow E3”), the British urban underground has a tradition of proudly and defiantly associating its music with the place it was made.

Daedelus to Tour

XLR8R Magazine — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:13:42 -0700

Since it would appear to be the official Daedelus week here on XLR8R.com, we're just going to go ahead and keep posting information on the L.A.-based producer, innovator, and lover of all things Victorian. Next up, he'll get out of that rocking chair, pack up the gear, and head out on a tour of North America that kicks off at the beginning of September.

Pon Di Wire: Eek-A-Mouse, Mavado

XLR8R Magazine — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:39:18 -0700

Pon Di Wire would like to extend condolences to reggae DJ Spragga Benz, whose 17-year old son, Carlton “Carlie” Grant, Jr., was fatally shot by police. Sources say that Spragga’s son was with a friend when Kingston police stopped the pair. One of the men pulled out a gun and fired at police, who returned fire. Grant was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Benz was out of the country at the time.

Asthmatic Kitty Drops Free Albums

XLR8R Magazine — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:08:46 -0700

Asthmatic Kitty just announced the release of two albums that are absolutely free, available as full downloads or for streaming via the label's site.

The first comes from ghetto folkster Grampall Jookabox, whose Rill Bruh EP contains several remixes and outtakes from the sessions that led up to the release of his upcoming Ropechain album.

Labels We Love 2008: Runners Up

XLR8R Magazine — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

If you’re reading XLR8R you probably already own ’nuff albums on XL or Domino, Def Jux and Lex artists have repeatedly rocked your headphones, and you know what’s coming out on Minus or Stones Throw before we do. So this year–our seventh time loving on labels–we focus on labels we’ve (mostly) never quizzed before. For the final installment of this series, we look at ten labels we'll be keeping an ear on in the year to come. Vivian Host and Ken Taylor