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July 17 - July 30
Earplug is a twice-monthly email magazine, delivering a handpicked selection of news, sounds, videos, and original features
to the international electronic-music community.
When we learned that legendary composer and Looney Tunes songsmith Raymond Scott was the subject of a new documentary, we just about fell out of our chairs (to pratfall-appropriate
woodwind riffage, of course). Just as quickly, we dusted ourselves off and got in touch with the doc's director — Scott's son, Stan Warnow — to find out what he has in store. Scott's influence shines like a cartoon
lightbulb over contemporary pop and electronic music, from Ratatat's toytronic melodies and sonic marble games to the Chap, whose Mega Breakfast sounds like power pop for Pachinko parlors — and, of course, Girl Talk, who tones down the ADD on his follow-up to 2006's
Night Ripper. Hyper-jazzist Daniel Zelonky certainly learned a trick or two about hairpin turns; Scott's momentum carries him from Detroit
to Jamaica and India in this issue's annotated Chart. Equally global, the Mali Music crew spanned continents, genres, and even eras in a recent performance — or, as Honest Jon's would have it, a "chop up" — at London's Barbican. Finally, we sit down with Ben Watt, whose Buzzin' Fly label crafts what might almost be termed — apologies to Scott — soothing sounds for baby-making.
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Raymond Scott, Behind the Soundtrack
New documentary profiles an electronic-music legend
Though one of the 20th century's most prolific and inventive musicians, Raymond Scott was far from a household name. That's
not to say his music wasn't omnipresent in the average household: the groundbreaking jazz player, composer, and early electronic
tinkerer's work seeped into the cultural subconscious as part of countless Looney Tunes cartoons. A string of collections
— including Reckless Nights & Turkish Twilights, Manhattan Research, Inc., and Soothing Sounds for Baby, a three-part series featuring his music for infants — raised his profile in the '90s, but still couldn't hope to represent
the full scope and impact of his oeuvre.
Conceived shortly after Scott's death in 1994, On to Something, a new documentary by the composer's son, Stan Warnow, examines the artist's tumultuous personal life and long career — from
his early swing/jazz project the Raymond Scott Quintette through his development of the Electronium, the "first-ever self-composing synthesizer." "He was obsessively involved in his work, at the expense of his role as a father,"
Warnow told Earplug. After he passed, Warnow "began to realize the love I had for him that [was] buried virtually my whole life."
keep reading »
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Give 'Em an Inch
Zero" enters downloads market
Beatport may be the 800-pound gorilla of the DJ-oriented download market, but that hasn't stopped the proliferation of digital stores
focused principally on electronic music. The list of specialist retailers aiming at both DJs and home listeners now includes
Warp's Bleep, Word and Sound's What People Play, Kompakt's digital storefront, Juno's Juno Download, and even New York and LA's hip-hop-oriented Turntable Lab. And now, unintimidated by the current field, a new player, Zero" (or Zero Inch), is stepping into the fray.
Based in Vienna and with an office in Berlin, the startup is the latest project of several veterans better known for their
work on the creative side of the industry. Georg Lauteren (DJ Glow) is also the founder of Vienna's TRUST, a label known for
experimental electro from Urban Tribe, Clatterbox, and Epy. His partner, Stefan Possert, is a member of Viennese noisemakers
Farmers Manual, as well as a former director of digital media at Universal Music. With an eight-person team running the enterprise,
the crew realizes that size does matter: "I'd say we're more of a delicatessen shop than a supermarket," said Possert.
keep reading »
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MORE HEADLINES
Pulling Rank
Juno launches DJ charts more »
Not Noise Pop, But Pop Noise
The Journal of Popular Noise releases new 3x7" more »
Weird Era Continued
Deerhunter's Microcastle to appear in October more »
Renewing Their Lease
The Residents prep The Bunny Boy album and tour more »
The Horizontal Zone
Jacopo Carreras moves From Bed to Couch more »
Hands Up for Detroit
Remixers tackle Kevin Saunderson on History Elevate series more »
Touching the Void
New Apple patent hints at DJ app more »
How New York Got its Groove Back
Bloomberg proposes scrapping cabaret license more »
All Lit Up
Russian laser show blinds ravers more »
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Artist: |
Girl Talk |
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| Title: |
Feed the Animals |
| Label: |
Illegal Art |
| Release: |
June 19 |
Now that we're past Girl Talk's breakout, Night Ripper, and mash-up progenitor Steinski has had his reissue moment, we can stop calling Gregg Gillis' work groundbreaking, be done
with pseudo-intellectual discussions of "radical recontextualizations," and just cop to it sounding cool. The intro to Len's
"Steal My Sunshine" stacked with Young Leek's "Jiggle It" and Spank Rock's "Put That Pussy on Me"? Yeah, that's just good
fun. Samples run notably longer on Feed the Animals, touching 30 seconds to good effect by allowing the songs to get into a real, unbroken groove. That said, newer, hipper songs
without nostalgic attractions — M.I.A.'s "Boyz" and Hot Chip's "Ready for the Floor" are good examples — don't mash as well,
and it should be mentioned that Bird Peterson beat Gillis to mashing "Big Country" some time ago, in a Baltimore club track
that you could actually dance to. But, then again, he wasn't marrying it to a Kraftwerk tune.
- Michael Byrne
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Artist: |
Sigur Rós |
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| Title: |
Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust |
| Label: |
EMI / XL |
| Release: |
June 24 |
In a 2002 competition, fans were asked to interpret the "gobbledigook" of singer Jón "Jónsi" Þór Birgisson's lyrics on Sigur
Rós' "Njósnavélin". Upon reading the results, the band seemed rather surprised that their fans had imbued their work — Icelandic
and invented language notwithstanding — with such seriousness. Their fifth studio album, Með Suð is a more varied collection
of moments, not all of them cataclysmic. What remains are the lazy remnants of idle hours, errant noodling, transcendence
(like the breathless swell of "Festival"), and flashes of sweet love. In a way, Sigur Rós have taken up the mantle of glossolalia
left behind by shoegaze and Cocteau Twins; the star they follow on Með Suð is inescapably and beautifully their own.
- David Cotner
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Artist: |
The Chap |
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| Title: |
Mega Breakfast |
| Label: |
Ghostly International |
| Release: |
July 1 |
The Chap's pop parodists can be louder than a fluo-on-plaid color combo, but, scattered throughout the absurdist, charismatic
electro-pop on their Ghostly debut, there are plenty of sly, understated touches to appreciate. The wry "Fun and Interesting"
offers a piss-take on narcissism, using a cloning allegory to bravely argue that, "My generation needs another me." Meanwhile,
on the soulful "Surgery," a disillusioned doctor moans, "Oh, where's my soul gone? Nineteen years, dog without a bone." Musically,
the London quartet stands out more for subtle shading than flashy noise. Sweet, often silly, vocal harmonies mix with bedspring
beats to make Hot Chip proud. In this way, Mega Breakfast is offbeat, but firmly grounded in adventurous pop. As the quartet sings, "Art don't make no rave, Dave."
- Pat Sisson
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Artist: |
Ratatat |
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| Title: |
LP3 |
| Label: |
XL |
| Release: |
July 8 |
It would be easy, if cynical, to call Ratatat's instrumental jams formulaic, especially on a record with the bland placeholder-like
title LP3. The chemistry is simple: layer buoyant beats, a droll, airy melody, and thick slabs of guitar. Add a few exotic flourishes,
and you're sorted. But while LP3 is constructed using the duo's standard blueprint, it contains too many catchy melodies and varied atmospheres to be labeled
"more of the same." The warped, bulbous beats on "Mirando" are entrancing, like watching someone stagger through a fisheye
lens. "Flynn" coasts on pseudo-steel-drum pulses, while the slo-mo boom-bap of "Imperials" morphs into a Philip Glass-like
organ riff. While the duo's playful hip-hop remixes are more head-snapping, the arrangements on LP3 are truly tight.
- Pat Sisson
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Artist: |
Quantec |
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| Title: |
Unusual Signals |
| Label: |
Echocord |
| Release: |
June 2 |
German producer Sven Schienhammer (aka Quantec) is obviously in thrall to the chiaroscuro minimalism of what Simon Reynolds
termed "heroin house" — that slowly mutating, blissful merger of dub, ambient, house, and techno pioneered in the '90s by
labels like Basic Channel and Chain Reaction. Like DeepChord, Schienhammer is returning to those basics, and, unsurprisingly,
Unusual Signals takes its time; pulses tangle together, and hiss warps and weaves helix shapes, while rhythms tap and thud in the background.
Panning across the stereo spectrum becomes a major event; in some of these tracks, it's nearly the only development. Everything's
cooled-off and blue-to-grey, but if at first the emotional scale here leans toward the melancholy, after negotiating Unusual Signals' full 80-minute sprawl, a sweet, zoned-out numbness takes hold.
- Jon Dale
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REVIEW: An Honest Jon's Chop Up
July 5
London, UK
www.barbican.org.uk
London's Honest Jon's doesn't do "world music" quite like anyone else. As such, the record shop/label's unusual showcase at the Barbican features
African legends Tony Allen and Afel Bocoum alongside the likes of American soul singer Candi Staton and Blur's Damon Albarn. In true Honest Jon's style, the event does away with the formalities of an "official lineup," opting
to adorn the stage with the national flags of each artist performing. And, just as the shop is strewn with records of all
genres of African and Caribbean music, the lineup reflects its eternal search for new sounds.
The stage is crowded, and as its title suggests, the gathering is cannily reminiscent of a Nigerian chop up, where styles,
musicians, and songs are mixed and shared freely. Albarn gesticulates (admittedly rather haggardly) at the ensemble from behind
a battered harmonium, and Mali's Kokanko Sata Doumbia steps into a lilting piece on n'goni with accompaniment from Toumani Diabaté on kora. Reminiscent of Nina Simone, her vocals shine through complex arpeggios as deep chanting from Alpha Sankare coalesces
into a rhythmic fugue. As Sata finishes her opening piece, the climactic, driving jazz beats of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble's "Sankofa" lead into a blistering duet with the Graves brothers on trumpet, as Tony Allen's virtuoso drumming opens sleepy
listeners' ears.
keep reading »
REVIEW: Alva Noto
July 3
Berlin, Germany
www.berghain.de
It's safe to say that the posters pasted all over Berlin caused some neck-cricking double-takes. Alva Noto at Berghain? Cool
conceptualist Carsten Nicolai on the same bill as Richie Hawtin and Ricardo Villalobos? Yes, it's all true, and when the night
arrives, we don't see the clichéd image of the solemn, distant Raster-Noton artist, but instead a sweating musician thwacking beats out of his laptop-hardware combo. The sound is lush, thick, and spliced
with vocal samples. Asymmetrical video projections stream at an angle down the concrete wall in a rainbow spectrum of colors
while Nicolai grooves out, Ian Curtis-style — all angles and anti-rhythm.
Is this a (re)defining moment for austere, sober Raster-Noton? Yes and no. Club performances by Raster-Noton artists are rare,
but they happen. When in Tokyo, they play to enthusiastic crowds at Unit, and Signal appeared on an arguably stranger Sónar bill with the Beastie Boys. But this is also a mid-week event, and mid-week,
Berghain rents itself out. From Yamaha for their Tenori-On launch, to the Staatsballett, to Autechre, mid-week nights don't bear comparison with the usual Saturday adventures in shirtlessness and hedonism.
keep reading »
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MORE EVENTS
Celebrate Brooklyn! Summer Series
Through August 9
New York, NY
Central Park SummerStage
Through August 17
New York, NY
P.S.1 Warm Up
Through September 6
New York, NY
Pohoda Festival
July 18 & 19
Trencin, Slovakia
Melt! Festival
July 18-20
Ferropolis, Germany
Pitchfork Festival
July 18-20
Chicago, IL
Soundwave Festival
July 18-20
Vancouver Island, BC
HARD Summer Festival
July 19
Los Angeles, CA
Audioriver
August 1 & 2
Plock, Poland
Creamfields Andalucía
August 9
Playa de Guardias Viejas, Spain
Outside Lands
August 22-24
San Francisco, CA
Numusic
September 3-7
Stavanger, Norway
Minitek
September 12-14
New York, NY
Decibel Festival
September 25-28
Seattle, WA
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Theo Parrish: Sónar Sessions 2008 — RBMA Showcase Part 1 (stream)
Carving out a refuge from the raving, Theo Parrish breaks hearts and blows minds with this soul-drenched set for the Red Bull
Music Academy's showcase at last month's Sónar festival.
 LISTEN |
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Chocolate Industries: World Wide Renewal Program (stream)
The Cool Kids' "88" is the immediate draw on this Chocolate Industry label comp, but don't miss the twisted bounce of Push
Button Objects, Diverse, and Kovas.
LISTEN |
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Extra Golden: Live on KEXP (MP3)
Mixing African styles with American indie rock, this Kenyan/American combo is as at home at Bonnaroo as Chicago's Empty Bottle.
LISTEN |
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Kindisch: June 2008 Megamix (MP3)
Its parent label, Get Physical, gets all the glory, but Berlin's low-key Kindisch imprint has a knack for understated, deep-house
gems — like these from Raz Ohara, the Skull, Samim, and more.
LISTEN |
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Mike Parker: mnml ssgs mx06 (MP3)
Despite all the recent deep-house revivalism, darker strains of techno still hold their own. Meshing darkly psychedelic sequences
with oily drones, this mix from Buffalo's Mike Parker soothes and stresses in equal measure.
LISTEN |
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Looking for more hot mix sets and fresh new tracks? Check out Blentwell for an ongoing document of the evolution of blended music online.
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WATCH
Weird Science
Bloc Party, "Mercury" watch »
Fluo Overdose
Alan Braxe feat. Killa Kela & Fallon, "Nightwatcher (Show Me)" watch »
A Whiter Shade of Soul
Sam Sparro, "21st Century Life" watch »
Classic Fania
Héctor Lavoe, "Mi Gente" watch »
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Buzzin' Fly Turns Five
Ben Watt blows out the candles with new comp
It's not uncommon for DJs to find their names on the charts, but few see themselves listed as author of a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. London's Ben Watt received the honor for Patient, his 1998 account of his battle with the rare Churg-Strauss syndrome.
But then, few lead lives with such eclectic headlines: rock star marries musical partner (Tracey Thorn, his collaborator in
Everything But the Girl); disease survivor pens inspiring tale of survival; musician starts second life as a successful producer, DJ, and promoter.
The latest chapter in Watt's tale revolves around Buzzin' Fly, the house label he launched in 2003. Five years on, the imprint has become a home for eclectic deep house (the newly released
5 Golden Years in the Wilderness offers a three-CD retrospective celebrating the anniversary). Watt rang up Earplug's Patrick Sisson from his studio to discuss
label dynamics, the post-punk era, and being a famous father.
Earplug: With so many labels going the mix-CD route, why did you decide to release the anniversary compilation unmixed?
Ben Watt: I feel that the idea of the mix CD is under pressure at the moment because there's so much competition. We're so well served
with podcasts and instant streams and live sets from gigs. So let's just go the other route. Let's do a triple album where
every track is unmixed, and then people can have as much as they want. Take 'em to the salad bar, let them grab their plate.
I felt that it was in keeping with the openness of the label.
EP: What was the inspiration behind your more rock-oriented Strange Feeling label?
keep reading »
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MORE FEATURES
Disco Idealist
Daniel Wang remains a true believer more »
The Teacher
Steinski talks to eMusic more »
From Dot Rotten to Grievous Angel
The month in grime and dubstep more »
Powder Power
Dusty Kid lands punches for Boxer more »
The Origins of House
NME's 1986 Chicago overview more »
Oblique Strategies
Musicians offer personal manifestos for improving techno more »
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Each issue, Earplug sneaks a peek inside the crates of our favorite DJs. We'll even help you beef up your own bag: click on
selected titles to preview tracks, download MP3s, or purchase vinyl.
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Daniel Zelonky got his start recording "proper" techno for labels like Sublime and Metroplex, but impropriety suited him better;
by the late '90s, he had ventured into the realm of hypermodern jazz for Plug Research, Phthalo, and Mille Plateaux. Glistening
with oil-slick frequencies and plastic fantastic, his work as Low Res and Crank is as gloriously out-there as it gets, fusing
the rhythmic complexities of Autechre with the playful spirit of Atom Heart. And his chops aren't restricted to button-punching:
he's also collaborated with members of the Sun Ra Arkestra in a live performance of his own adaptations of the jazz master's
compositions. Late last year, Zelonky launched Cosmo Elliptic, offering CDs and downloads of brand-new work under his Suite
Crude Revue alias, as well as reissued material from his gleefully "wrong" deep-house aliases Crank, Low Res, Joey Mook, and
Lester Pride.
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- James Brown, "The Drunk" (Bethlehem)
Rejiggering and inverting the funky table of elements yet again, JB bumps afresh and shows 'em who's boss.
- Bunny Wailer, "Power Struggle" (Solomonic)
Latin-tinged, early roots/dancehall-style tune which manages to make an extremely humanistic message succeed as sweet entertainment.
- Marvin Gaye, "Time to Get It Together" (Motown)
On rehearing this recently, his sublime vocal harmonies and inventive backing parts felt even more brilliant than I'd remembered.
- Sly & the Family Stone, "In Time" (Epic)
This is not just "cool" — it's a rhythmic revelation, perfectly arranged and executed by the Family Stone, gathered around
a tinny little beat machine, which frees them to lay down this historic groove. UK piano wizard Leon Michener told me it's
one of his top five compositions of the 20th century!
- Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle & Mahendra Kapoor, "Pyar Zindagi Hai" (Outcaste)
Bollywood soundtrack that layers a hard blaxploitation groove against unison vocal chants and a string section counterpoint
that could have been written by Kraftwerk.
- Sound Dimension, "Granny Scratch Scratch" (Studio One)
Coxonne Dodd strikes again with a mean proto disco-funk burner that, oddly, doesn't resemble Jamaican music much at all, but
could really only have been made there.
- Burnt Sugar, "Various"
I want merely to shout out this amazing NYC ensemble who shape-shift and create, before live audiences, spontaneous and beautiful
works with a great deal of coherence — to the extent that they are worthy of being called "compositions."
- The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced? (MCA)
Encompassing a wide range of moods, ambitiously and psychedelically attempting to extend and mutate the vocabulary of the
many musics. Nothing is tentative — it's the voice of the ancients resplendent in new flesh and in a new mode.
- Tom Waits, "Dead and Lovely" (Anti)
Another of Tom's delirious tales of the low life, in classic, "standard" 32-bar song form. The gently distorted textures,
sensitively weird playing, and sick lyrics are very evocative, but ambiguously so. It's a song that makes melancholy seem
like fun.
- DJ Soulpusher, "Various" (Voodoofunk.blogspot.com)
DJ Soulpusher (aka Frank) has been generously posting tales of his heroic record-hunting expeditions in various parts of Africa,
which demonstrably reveal how much more there is to funky African groove music than Fela.
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About Us |
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Earplug is an email magazine dedicated to electronic music and its many dynamic styles and influences. Published twice-monthly,
it features a handpicked selection of music news, cultural spotlights, tip sheets, CD reviews, original reporting, and music
festival previews and reviews. Earplug offers only pure editorial and unbiased news — no money is accepted from any artists,
labels, promoters, or companies seeking mention.
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Advertising Partners |
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Every other week, Earplug presents one exclusive advertising partner. Click for more information about advertising opportunities on Earplug and across all Flavorpill publications.
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Cover Art |
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We have an open call to create the covers that run at the top of each issue. If you would like to submit a design, please
email us at design and we'll send you the necessary specs.
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Submissions/Feedback |
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Tell us what you think is exciting and worth including in Earplug by dropping us an email at tips. Writers interested in getting even more involved should reach us at contribute. To criticize, praise, or generally comment on this publication, please send an email to feedback.
In addition to this twice-monthly digest of new electronic music, Flavorpill publishes a series of online magazines, covering
ART, BOOKS, NEWS, and cultural events in six cities — NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES, SAN FRANCISCO, CHICAGO, MIAMI, and LONDON. Coming soon: STYLE/DESIGN and FILM. Subscribe now.
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