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News
New Releases
Festivals
Listen
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Features
Credits
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AUGUST 5 - AUGUST 18
Earplug is a biweekly email magazine, delivering a handpicked
selection of news, sounds, videos, and original features for the
international electronic music community.
The iPod has been a huge catalyst for the digital music explosion, but just imagine how far the craze will go once Bill Gates gets in the game: this summer, Apple's dominance will get its first real challenge when Microsoft steps up and Real pushes buttons. But do any of them really have a chance when the internet is still an ever-expanding jukebox full of great music, with so much of it free and legal? Some of the biggest names in dance music — from Tiësto and Roger Sanchez to Adam Freeland, Total Science, and Diplo are all giving it away this month — all you have to do is plug in.
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Players Going Universal, Arenas Going Empty
If iTunes owned July, it looks like Microsoft will take August. The sleeping giant snoozed through the past two years while Apple quickly devoured the digital audio marketplace — but it sleeps no more. Later this month Microsoft debuts its online music store, and it's no secret that the MSN Music Club is gunning directly for Apple's iTunes market share. Also up Microsoft's sleeves are two major digital media advancements — software that allows portable media players to play subscription-based music tracks, and a new Windows Media Player that works seamlessly with nearly every major MP3 player and online music service except iPod and iTunes. Leave that last hurdle to RealNetworks, who last week announced its software version of the Rosetta Stone, allowing music purchased through Real to be played on iPods. But with sales of online music and digital music players both set to double this year, there may be enough room for Microsoft, Real, and Apple to all have a share. As the online music battle rages on, the summer concert scene continues to fizzle. Lollapalooza, in a troubling sign for gigantic stadium tours, cancelled its 2004 tour, and even supposed sure things the Cure, the Dead, and Ozzfest are slashing ticket prices just to get people on the grass. Although radio and concert giant Clear Channel continues to feel the pinch from plummeting ticket prices, on its horizon are a major move into digital radio and the creation of a branded record label. (CW)
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Wearing Your Music on Your Sleeve
iPods are the ubiquitous musical accessories of the moment, but pretty soon those white and silver boxes may become unnecessary baggage. Last week, Motorola announced a deal with Apple to include a version of the iTunes software on future cell phones, promising seamless movement of songs from your computer to your handset. While nobody is predicting a phone that holds 10,000 tracks, a quick jog or trip to the store may soon require one less piece of hardware in your pocket. But what if your pocket is your player? A German company, Rosner, recently debuted the MP3 Blue, a jacket that is also a 128 MB digital music player, complete with sleeve buttons that double as controllers, headphones built into the collar, and a Bluetooth-enabled wireless microphone for cell phone use. The limited edition design goes on sale this August exclusively through the company's website. For those who find a jacket too cumbersome, there's always an MP3 watch, like those made by Casio and the Swiss company Laks, whose Memory Music wristwatch holds 256 MB of music and doubles as a digital voice recorder. Even sunglasses giant Oakley is embedding a mini music player in its frames: the Thump line includes not only a powerful MP3 player, but also pivoting miniature speakers built into the eyeglass design, giving you one more reason to wear your sunglasses at night. (DJP)
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MORE HEADLINES
Luddite
Senator wants to ban P2P networks more »
VMA Nominees Announced
Modest Mouse, Franz Ferdinand get nods more »
Real Hackers
Apple accuses RealNetworks
more »
Sales Slide Softens
Universal Music returns to growth more »
No Static
Teen radio listening decreases more »
Beck's Back
Jack White, Dust Brothers on new album more »
Approved
Sony/BMG to be world's biggest label more »
Sony Soars
Profits rise on cell phones, joint ventures more »
Communication Breakdown
CDs may have a shelf life more »
Unmasked
RIAA can identify swappers in court more »
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Artist: |
Sex In Dallas |
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| Album: |
Around the War |
| Label: |
Kitty-Yo |
| Release: |
July 12 |
Three French electro slackers have managed to distill their love for absurdist French house and oversexed electro into a diverse and entertaining record aimed at fashionable dance floors. Despite the overdriven kitsch, it's clever enough not to fall into electroclash self-parody. They evoke punk in the subdued screams of Around the War, sounding as if Atari Teenage Riot lightened up, listened to more Daft Punk, and weren't quite as intent on tearing down social structures. The single "Everyone Deserves to be F*cked," recently played by Andrew Weatherall and Trevor Jackson, shows the trio at its most outrageous. It's a coked-up rant about sexual liberation nestled under warped 303 acid blurps and driving rock 'n roll synths. Rumors of actual electro-induced fornication in Dallas are as yet unconfirmed. (CJN)
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Artist: |
Matthew Dear |
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| Album: |
Backstroke |
| Label: |
Spectral |
| Release: |
July 13 |
Seven tracks on vinyl — eight on CD — arrive just in time for Dear's current Ghostly International tour. Backstroke's high quality lies in its inclusive take on the last 20 years of dance history. Dear's decision to add lyrics to the mix on his first LP, Leave Luck to
Heaven, was an important one that aligned him with Lil' Louis' "The Conversation," New Order's "Blue Monday," and Plastikman's Closer. On Backstroke, Dear, who recently made Detroit his home, continues to speak — about relationships, the generation gap, and even the future — while expanding his beats to include a Paradise Garage-like disco effect on "And in the Night." The album is sure to be a summer classic. (CSG)
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Artist: |
Gramme |
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| Album: |
Pre-Release |
| Label: |
Output |
| Release: |
August 10 |
This mini-album from the British band Gramme carries an ironic title — the record was recorded in 1997 and initially was released two years later. But the bass-heavy grooves prove a perfect fit for the oughties' zeitgeist, so it's no wonder that Trevor Jackson's Output imprint has decided to rescue this one from the vaults. Bassist and kit-man Luke Hannam and bassist and singer Sam Lynham offer an incendiary mix of low-slung funk, trashcan rattle, and falsetto freaking, slathered in overdriven harmonics and swaddled in echo. Filed next to Spektrum and Chicken Lips, Gramme's short, sweet disc offers one more reminder that we're still learning the lessons of 1979. (PS)
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Artist: |
Murcof |
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| Album: |
Utopia |
| Label: |
The Leaf Label |
| Release: |
May 25 |
Murcof's 2002 release Martes featured swollen classical strings, jaw-dropping production, and some of the most penetrating emotion of any recent electronic release. Now, before putting the finishing touches on his forthcoming record, Murcof — aka Tijuana's Fernando Corona — lends his tracks to various Leaf artists for remixing. Paris' Colleen, Corona's Mexican collaborator Fax, and San Francisco's Sutekh, among others, add their own unique twists and personalities to Murcof's material. One standout is Fax's version of "Ulysses" — a slow-burning house track featuring the unforgettable strings of the original, adding moody textures and microsamples while retaining the same dreamy, slightly melancholic feel. Sutekh's interpretation of "Memoria" layers subtle clicks and cuts over more dance floor-oriented house beats, while Colleen reconstructs the blue tones and mournful strings of "Muim" into a nostalgic composition in line with her own ruminative work. (CJN)
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Artist: |
Ratatat |
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| Album: |
Remixes Mixtape Vol. 1 |
| Label: |
audiodregs |
| Release: |
June 14 |
Ratatat's founders, Mike "Snake" Stroud and Evan "E*Vax" Mast, have been making music inside a Crown Heights apartment since 2001, yet nothing the duo has released since then reflects the rich panoply of sounds drifting in and out of their windows quite like Remixes Mixtape Vol. 1. Inside, the pair has honed a richly hybridized instrumental electronica, layering Stroud's able guitar work over Mast's endearing electronic melodies and tightly wound programmed breaks. Outside, the sound of the street sizzles with radios defiantly blasting hip-hop chart toppers by Jadakiss, Kanye West, and Jay-Z. It was only a matter of time before the two would come together and result in Remixes, a pairing of A-list a cappellas with reconstructed Ratatat instrumentals. An inspired and breathtaking blend of sounds, Remixes is not only one of the summer's finest remix records, but it also epitomizes a genuine slice of Brooklyn's eclectic neighborhood noise. (SM)
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Artist: |
Diplo |
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| Album: |
Florida |
| Label: |
Big Dada |
| Release: |
July 27 |
As one half of the successful Hollertronix duo, Diplo has left his handprints in swampy underground clubs with a distinctive mix of Baltimore house, Dirty South rap, and sticky, urban electro. But his debut LP for Ninja Tune subsidiary Big Dada is less uninhibited than the man's resume would suggest, and, like the long-necked dinosaur for which he is named, it shows that a great (musical) distance lies between the brain and the behind. Florida does incorporate some of the booty-shaking bass and crunk made familiar by his mix tapes and DJ sets, but it more broadly displays Diplo's skills as a dedicated crate digger and a producer with a classical composer's feel for development. Florida is an assured, whip-smart debut benefiting from terrific guest appearances (Martina Topley-Bird, Sandra Melody, and Vybz Cartel) and a creative fire that could burn through the next ice age. (SM)
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Artist: |
Headset |
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| Album: |
Spacesettings |
| Label: |
Plug Research |
| Release: |
July 29 |
Since its inception a decade ago, LA's Plug Research has been at the forefront of the North American experimental electronic scene, with releases ranging from minimal techno to digital free jazz to delicate pop. On Spacesettings, label head Allen Avanessian (of Mannequin Lung and Trash Aesthetic) and electronic it-boy Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, Postal Service) lay down ten tracks of shadowy hip-hop and downtempo, fleshed out with see-sawing vocals from rappers including Beans,
Shadow Huntaz's nonGENETIC, and Lady Dragon. Throughout, Headset fuse underground aesthetics with overground oomph. The standup bass-led "Back Before" mimics the suspension rattle of the Clipse's "Grindin'," while "Grasping Claw" takes a Primo-sized break and whittles it down to the pointy proportions of Avanessian's Trash Aesthetic tracks. There are touches of jazz, tinges of academic computer music, and even dubby tweaks courtesy of Orb collaborator Thomas Fehlmann. At the end, all you can do is gape, asking, "How'd they do that?" (PS)
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EARPLUG FAVES
Various artists, The Sound of Young New York II (Plant)
Tim Love Lee, The Trip (Family Recordings)
Khonnor, Handwriting (Type)
Dosh, Naoise EP (Anticon)
Terrestre, Secondary Inspection (Static)
Polyphonic Spree, Together We're Heavy (Hollywood)
Roy Davis Jr., Chicago Forever (Ubiquity)
Blaze, The Instrumentals Project (Papa)
Various artists, Simply Good Music Vol. 1 (Giant Step)
Grand National, Kicking the National Habit (Sunday Best)
Saint Privat, Riviera (Dope Noir)
Various artists, Rhythm Lounge 3 (Large)
Recloose, Cardiology (Isolée Mix) (Playhouse)
März, Wir Sind Hier (Karaoke Kalk)
Misc., Misc. (Sender)
Bruno Pronsato, Silver Cities (Orac)
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Preview: Koneisto
August 13-14
Helsinki, Finland
This month marks the fifth anniversary of Koneisto, an electronic music and arts festival in Helsinki, Finland. The main program takes place on eight different stages inside Kaapelitehdas, a repurposed cable factory on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Headliners include live sets from the Streets, Akufen, Way Out West, Plaid, and Alexkid, as well as international DJs including Richie Hawtin, Matthew Herbert, Ellen Allien, and NuSpirit Helsinki's Lil' Tony. The lineup also features a host of Finnish talent, including live sets from hometown heroes Jori Hulkkonen and Texas Faggott. For those who can't get enough music in two days, there's an "electrified cruise" afterparty on a deluxe ferry which travels from Helsinki to Stockholm, then links up with Koneisto's sister event, the 12th annual International Symposium on Electronic Arts. This week-long event begins in Tallin, Estonia, with a two-day program including a Wearable Experience conference, exhibitions, a club night, performances, and more in major venues around the city, before returning to Helsinki for an academic conference touching on themes like "The Wireless Experience," "Histories of the New," and "Open Source and Software as Culture." (DJP)
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listen » |
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DJ Tiësto, MixMax DJ Mix
The two-time #1 DJ in DJ Magazine's Top 100 poll sticks to the trance style that gained him his acclaim, but he also peppers this mix set with some techno-tinged tracks that should open up his enormous fan base to a more diverse sound. (real)
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listen » |
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Roger Sanchez, Live at 5 Days Off
Undoubtedly sporting his signature backwards Kangol cap, world class super-DJ Roger Sanchez pumps up the groove with hip swishing house vocals and tracks at this Dutch summer festival. (real)
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listen » |
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Adam Freeland, Fabriclive Mix
The King of Breaks crown firmly rests on Adam Freeland's head.
Pumping out incredible tracks on his Marine Parade label and with his live group Freeland, Adam has been one busy boy over the past year. Lucky for us he took some time out to put together a radio mix of his Fabriclive 16 album. (real)
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listen » |
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Total Science, Breakbeat.co.uk Studio Mix
Do not trifle with the might of Total Science. Famed for their powerful bass lines and hard hitting drum 'n bass tracks, check it out as they head into the studio to mix up a storming set of the most upfront tunes wrecking dance floors across the UK. (windows)
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listen » |
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Diplo, Diplo mixes RJD2
This summer's "It" DJ, Diplo has been running around North America spreading his crunk gospel to anyone with a penchant for Dirty South beats, dancehall rhymes, and Miami Bass sentiments. Listen in as he takes Rjd2's latest Def Jux album, Since We Last Spoke, and slices and dices it into a beat salad. (mp3)
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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 » |
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Imaginary World
For those with a taste for traveling only to the most obscure destinations, Australian satirists Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Rob Sitch have created the ultimate travel guide. Molvania: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry details how to find your way through a small Balkan country no one you know would probably ever visit — and not entirely because it is completely fictitious. The comics — creators of Frontline, which parodies current affairs programs, and members of acclaimed comedy team D-Generation — have now gone so far as to give their country its own celebrity musician. Zladko "Zlad" Vladcik's astounding video for techno-balled "Elektronik-Supersonik," a song described by the (fictitious) press as "a melodic fusion combining hot disco rhythms with cold war rhetoric," has been spreading quickly through video/electronic blogs. It's proof that, when the right talent is involved, fiction can be better than reality. (SM)
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Get Involver
You've got to give George W. Bush credit for something: his potential reelection has galvanized artists across the country to get involved in a movement toward change — the unprecedented number of politically motivated events this summer serve as living proof. But with the poll numbers staying tight, the need to keep spirits and motivation high all the way into November increases each day, as do the number of exciting and interesting events across the nation organized to raise funds and awareness. Enter the Involver newsletter, a weekly email launched two weeks ago that aims to serve as an intelligent guide to all the great music, art, film, and events happening in this election season. Several music industry veterans — journalist Eric Demby, music supervisor Glen Caplin, and Vice Records mainman (and Earplug contributor) Adam Shore teamed up with an alliance of organizations including Music For America, the Knitting Factory, and Billionaires for Bush to create a national database of likeminded young activists and provide a clear, easy-to-navigate, and fun compilation of politically minded cultural events. If the look and style of the Involver newsletter seem familiar, that's because Earplug's own publisher, Flavorpill Productions, is part of the team as well. And there's more than just event listings — each issue includes extensive links, exclusive music downloads, important quotations, voter registration info, and even some politically minded fashion tips. Sign up and help spread the word. (DJP)
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Header Design:
Dustin Amery Hostetler
Mailer Design:
Keats
Editors:
David J. Prince
Philip Sherburne
Sascha Lewis
Christopher N. Hampton
Cyrus Wadia
Jon Spooner
Steve Marchese
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Production:
Mark Mangan
Anjuli Ayer
Peter Stepek
Jane Lerner
William Pierce
Sander-Martijn Milks
Contributors:
Andy Cumming
David J. Day
Carleton S. Gholz
Jorge Hernandez
Sebastian Koch
Aaron Miles
Colin James Nagy
Nick Parish
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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.
And if what you want to do is criticize, praise, or generally comment on this publication,
please send an email to feedback.
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Header Design |
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We have an open call to create the headers 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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About Us |
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Earplug is an email magazine dedicated to electronic music and its
many dynamic styles and influences. Published every two weeks, 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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