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News
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Festivals
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Feature
Credits
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NOVEMBER 12 - NOVEMBER 24
Earplug is a bimonthly email magazine, delivering a handpicked
selection of news, sounds, videos, and original features for the
international electronic music community.
Although the surprise partnership between USPS and the Postal Service seems more quaint than revolutionary, how often does a cease-and-desist letter from the federal government end up with a forward-thinking idea to turn the music industry's lemons into lemonade? It'll be nice to hear the band's music on those TV commercials and, interesting to see CDs for sale at the post office window. But the music industry and the mail have one major thing in common, when communication becomes digital, they lose. Maybe that's why the USPS just cut a deal with Napster too.
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Digital Music Goes Postal
As goes the music industry, so goes the movie industry. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) plans to file copyright infringement lawsuits against file swappers soon, going where only the RIAA has gone before. At the same time, Sony-BMG looks like it may break from the swap-hating entertainment industry and cooperate with the increasingly popular P2P community. A venture with Grokster, rumored to be in the works, will allow users to try out new music for free while paying for other downloads. But it's not all smooth sailing for Sony-BMG, as a group of 2000 smaller record labels intends to challenge the EU's recent approval of the mega-merger. iTunes and MSN Music continue their race for global online music domination, with both services pushing major European expansions, and iTunes planning its entrance into Canada this month. Back home, Sub Pop's most popular band since Nirvana, the Postal Service, announced a bizarre cross-promotion with the United States Postal Service (USPS) which may use postal offices as a distribution point for the band's Give Up CDs and will have the band playing the USPS's annual conference and providing soundtracks for postal advertising. The future of music technology keeps barreling ahead, with Napster and Cingular teaming up to offer mobile phone downloads-to-go, Apple announcing its music/photo hybrid iPod Photo, Toyota's new DJ booth utility van, digital box sets, and a crop of new music players arriving just in time for the holidays. (CW)
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Grammy Gains
When the nominations for the 47th annual Grammy Awards are announced in early December, a new category will recognize electronic music artists with the Best Electronic/Dance Album prize. For many years, dance and electronic music was simply wrapped into the R&B and rock categories, until Frankie Knuckles, Steve "Silk" Hurley, and Peter Rauhofer got nods for their remixing work as producers. The new category has been long sought by NARAS members devoted to the genre, who argued that the new category was needed to formally recognize achievement in an area of music that is misrepresented as nameless and faceless. The Recording Academy launched the award with a series of events, including shows in Los Angeles and New York featuring DJ sets from Junkie XL, Paul van Dyk, Sasha, BT, the Crystal Method, and other artists who hope to vie for the first trophy. The winners will be announced in February next year. But don't expect to see these electronic acts on TV — only a handful of the Grammys are given away on the national broadcast. (DJP)
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MORE HEADLINES
Déjà vu?
Feds investigating payola...again more »
Reggaeton on the Radio
New sounds storms the airwaves more »
Down with the Top 40
Singles slump continues more »
Above the Law
Free and legal P2P arrives more »
Live on the Line
Concerts come to your phone more »
Takin' It to the Top
Artists, states press Supreme Court on P2P networks more »
Big Bandwidth
BitTorrent takes over the net more »
A New Era?
"High definition" radio arrives more »
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Artist: |
DJ Olive |
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| Album: |
Buoy |
| Label: |
Room40 |
| Release: |
August 2004 |
DJ Olive offers an hour-long whisper of warm, narcotic sound with Buoy, and the single track marker is meant to disengage you from your physical space and to submerge you into the spacious ambience of his fabricated environment. Recorded during sunrises (an external influence that leaves its mark all over the disc), Buoy is a record for the edge of sleep, for delightful moments of incipient drowsiness. Drones pulse faintly, tiny melodic elements melt across static-laced spaces, decaying voices hint at the presence of spirits, and field recordings of early-morning apartment dwellers hint that someone somewhere else has something to do. You? Nothing. Just an hour of lenitive euphoria. (MT)
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Artist: |
Hoppy Kamiyama + Bill Laswell |
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| Album: |
A Navel City/No One Is There |
| Label: |
Kanpai Records |
| Release: |
September 28 |
Based on their mutual histories, it is a given that this collaborative effort from uber-producers Bill Laswell and Hoppy Kamiyama is a tightly polished avant-jazz fusion record. The surprise is the addition of percussionist Kiyohiko Semba, who adroitly hovers between the undertow of Laswell's deep, dark bass and Kamiyama's irreverent keyboard work and effervescent bells and gongs. Semba's frenetic drum work in "Sospirando" adds a mysterious, serpentine glue between Laswell's thick bass and Kamiyama's squirting, gasping synthesizers. "The Desert" hums with heat mirages and seismic upheavals while Semba grows additional hands to parse the complex polyrhythms, and his drumming draws dizzyingly layered responses from both Laswell and Kamiyama. Semba's rhythmic contribution to the eclectic fusion makes A Navel City/No One Is There more than a fleeting addition to the immense discography of the players involved. (MT)
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Artist: |
Various |
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| Album: |
Run the Road |
| Label: |
679 Recordings |
| Release: |
November 15 |
As the first major-label compilation to showcase the dark-core genre known as "grime," Run the Road faces the arduous task of bringing the new sound of urban London to the general population. With 16 tracks laced together by the scene's leading MCs and producers, Run the Road features the gritty gun talk of Terror Danjah's "Cock Back V1.2," lyrical bombs dropped on Jammer's "Destruction VIP" riddim, and top-shelf material like Roll Deep's "Let It Out." The inclusion of recognizable names like Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, and the Streets will help the bid for worldwide takeover, but even the guest MCs on the Streets' "Fit But You Know It" can't save it from taking a back seat to raw, angry tunes like Kano's "Mic Fight." There are also a few "grime-lite" and mass-appeal tracks on the compilation (Ears' "Happy Dayz" and Lady Sovereign's "Cha Ching"), but don't worry — this will give you time to collect your senses and prepare for the next assault. It's pure murkage. (DeepSix)
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Artist: |
Black Alien |
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| Album: |
Babylon by Gus — Vol. 1 — O Ano do Macaco |
| Label: |
Deckdisc |
| Release: |
September 27 |
Rapper Black Alien fronts the baile funk hybrid whose "Quem te Caguetou?" ("follow me follow me") was used in the Nissan spot that introduced Brazil's mutant dance strain to Europe and the world. But Black Alien, aka Gustavo Ribeiro, has spent over 12 years working with major Brazilian names, giving his debut album maturity and confidence — it comes off like a brawl between Chico Science and Gang Starr in a Jamaican dancehall. Production credits go to Alexandre Basa, who has worked with avant-samba hip-hoppers Mamelo Sound System and Instituto. Basa veers away from the samba-rap and doomy string vibe that are currently in vogue with groups like Racionais, and creates something more inventive by layering and juxtaposing unexpected elements. Drowsy drugged horns permeate "From Hell do Céu," while elsewhere you can hear Bollywood strings, daintily played piano, Diwali handclaps, and flamenco flourishes. A strong example of Brazilian hip-hop looking forward and outward. (AC)
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Artist: |
AM/PM |
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| Album: |
The Ends I & II |
| Label: |
Dreck |
| Release: |
October 11 |
If the USPS can partner up with Sub Pop's Postal Service project, some waste-management firm really ought to license Radovan Scasascia's The Ends I & II. Scasascia is a recycler par excellence: as Secondo, he gives lost electro-disco, both campy and classic, a second run via deft editing, and his AM/PM project is even more true to the mandate to reduce and re-use. As its title suggests, The Ends is composed entirely from other records' final notes and run-out grooves. Every tone — culled from piano, strings, and indistinct pops and whirrs — seems to disintegrate as it's played; each track's development runs apace with its unraveling. What distinguishes the album from so many other clicks 'n cuts concept records is Scasascia's fine compositional ear; like Murcof, he weaves gossamer threads into a sumptuous sonic fabric of surprising heft and density. (PS)
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Artist: |
Various |
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| Album: |
Speicher CD2 |
| Label: |
Kompakt |
| Release: |
October 2004 |
Let listeners think that Kompakt is going soft in its old age, the Cologne label counters a recent spate of lovey-dovey ambient pop releases with this blistering mix of standout tracks from Speicher, the label's "double A-side" 12-inch series of hard, grinding techno. Just because it's hard techno, don't expect monotonous drum tracks: the Kompakt stable — artists including DJ Koze, Joachim Spieth, and Wolfgang and Reinhard Voigt — have always been more interested in slow, steady, steamroller churn than rollercoaster peaks and troughs. Despite Speicher's propensity toward schaffel rhythms, only one track here — Naum's closing "Ari" — lurches in 6/8; the rest of the set builds from a steady 4/4 bob of chattering hi-hats and flashing synthesizers into a full-bore machine pumping pistons and sending off sparks. (PS)
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EARPLUG FAVES
Arthur Russell, World of Echo (Audika)
Low, The Great Destroyer (Sub Pop)
Money Mark, Demo? Or Demolition? (Chocolate Industries)
Zap Mama, Ancestry in Progress (Luaka Bop)
Various, Rewind! Vol. 4 (Ubiquity)
Killing Joke, For Beginners (Caroline)
King Britt, On the Seventh (Milan)
Build an Ark, Peace with Every Step (Plug Research)
Dälek, Absence (Ipecac)
Andrew Weatherall, Fabric 19 (Fabric)
Various, Frequent Flyer Bombay (Kinkysweet)
Flunk, Morning Star (Kriztal)
Kutmasta Kurt, Redneck Games (Waxploitation)
Bossacucanova, Uma Batida Diferente (Six Degrees)
Various, Sonar Kollektiv 4 (Sonar Kollektiv)
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Recap: Candela Music and Art Festival
October 16-18
Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
The third annual Candela Music and Arts Festival was a low-key, family-style affair. Loosely organized by club-owner and promoter Pablo Rodriguez — whose Old San Juan nightspots Don Pablo, Rumba, and the Candela Bar and Gallery hosted most of the weekend's events — the event served as a bridge between groovy, crate-digging DJs from (mostly) New York and eager, prolific local producers who are craftily combining the city's distinct live sound with deep house knowledge. The 16th-century walled city of Old San Juan is a great festival locale, with plazas, forts, beaches, restaurants, and shops all within a short distance. Liberal nightlife laws allowed the music to play and the drinks to flow until the sun came up, and nobody was left standing. The DJs were relaxed and happy to listen to each other — when Turntables on the Hudson celebrated their fifth anniversary behind the decks, friends like DJ Language, Rich Medina, and Neil Aline were bobbing their heads at the bar. The Saturday afternoon party at the San Juan Museum of Art that brought together live music from Local 12, a DJ set from Bobbito, and live paintings was a crowning achievement that, unfortunately, catered almost solely to the out-of-towners — San Juan didn't know what it was missing. (DJP)
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listen » |
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Two Lone Swordsmen (Andrew Weatherall), presented by Groovepressure (MP3)
A true UK music pioneer, Andrew Weatherall has seen and done it all. From his roots as the prime mover of the UK acid scene back in the day, Weatherall has pushed his sound forward. As part of Boys Own, Blood Sugar, Primal Scream, Sabres of Paradise, and Two Lone Swordmen, Weatherall has maintained a near ubiquitous status in DJ's record boxes. Listen in as he shows us the new electro-tinged direction of his sound.
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listen » |
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Lindstrom, Futureboogie exclusive mix (RealAudio)
When you hear about a mix set pulling together so many disparate styles (disco, country/western, folk, acid), you have to worry if it's eclectic for eclecticism's sake. But in this case, Norway native Hans-Peter Lindstrom delivers a startlingly original and groovy blend of styles that works really well. Unfortunately there is no track listing for this mix, but if the sound moves you, be certain to check out Lindstrom's label Feedelity Recordings.
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listen » |
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Diplo, Hollertronix Mix (RealAudio)
The term crunk is fast on its way to played-out status, but the beats and styles offered by one of the sound's prime progenitors stay fresh and new. Diplo has been popping up all over the map promoting his latest album, Florida, and this fantastic mix on France's MCM radio station proves his worthy claim as the Crunk Prince of the Crunk-igarchy of Crunk-osity. (There, now it's fully played out.)
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listen » |
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30Hz DubStep Mix (MP3)
30Hz has compiled an excellent mix of the current state of dubstep. Breaking stride from grime, which has been associated more with UK Garage of late, dubstep favors heavy, dark dubbed-out beats without vocals. Listen in to get a sneak peek at the UK underground.
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listen » |
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Optimo Black Rabbit Whorehouse (MP3)
Having given up on the genre-names "glitch" and "microhouse," Scottish underground collective Optimo decided upon "whorehouse" (after an Akufen track) as a new moniker for the clicky, twitchy, and minimal sounds issuing forth from labels such as Kompakt, Playhouse, Klang, and others. They grew to like this sound so much that they held a recurring night exclusively for this style, called the Black Rabbit Whorehouse. Catch an ear-full of the whorehouse sound.
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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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The Colonel's Secret Recipe
As far as rosters are concerned, the strength of talent working under the Colonel Blimp moniker matches just about any squad out there, including the Boston Red Sox, Arsenal, or even the Harlem Globetrotters. With proven names like Dougal Wilson, Lynn Fox, and Pleix, Colonel Blimp (named after the 1944 film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp) has positioned itself as one of the premier music video production companies currently churning out creative shorts. The company's website is home to an abundance of videos by international artists including Björk, Dizzee Rascal, Basement Jaxx, and Plaid. Director Adam Smith's signature wide-angle shots fuse nicely with the tone of European hip-hoppers GoldieLookinChain and the Streets, while Julien Trousselier's highly layered and visually arresting work with MC Solaar and Cedric Atlan has firmly established him as one of France's most gifted directors. And for a hefty helping of tongue-in-cheek direction, check UK production team Blue Source's unique approach to tracks like New Order's "60 Miles Per Hour" and Groove Armada's massive "SuperStylin'." Unlike the Hindenburg, this is one Blimp with little chance of going down in flames. (SM)
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Radio on the TV
Earplug first wrote about Remote last April, and since then we've been expecting that our mailbox would be filled with jiffy packs from copycat collectives slinging free DVD mix tapes, quickly souring a vibrant new idea in distributable media. Well, we just love to be wrong, don't we? Still the new kids on the block, the internationally based Remote trio of Kevin, Jason, and Ted has handpicked another impressive array of videos from all over the musical compass. Waverly Films contributes an amazing piece of Spinal Tap-inspired docu-comedy for producer Jason Forrest with "Stepping Off," easily this year's finest use of a wayward wizard in a video. "Something Bells," directed by Ben Barnes, follows producer Daedelus and guests Pigeon John and Busdriver on an abstract journey riding a celestial steam engine that doubles as a time machine. And West Coast hip-hop alumni the Visionaries weigh in with a video for "If You Can't Say Love," a slice of laid-back California life as seen through the eyes of this diverse sextet. With over 30 more videos featuring artists as distinct as Homelife, Ambulance Ltd., Iron & Wine, Gravy Train!!!, and Madvillian, Remote Issue #4 represents a vital assortment of this season's music video output. (SM)
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Header Design:
Jessica Bauer-Greene
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
Toby Warner
Contributors:
Andy Cumming
David J. Day
DeepSix
Carleton S. Gholz
Carl Hagen
Jorge Hernandez
Gordon K. Hurd
Sebastian Koch
Alissa Mariello
John McCormick
Aaron Miles
Colin James Nagy
Nick Parish
Mia Quagliarello
Mark Teppo
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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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