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News
New Releases
Festivals
Listen
Watch
Feature
Credits
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DECEMBER 2 - DECEMBER 15
Earplug is a bimonthly email magazine, delivering a handpicked
selection of news, sounds, videos, and original features for the
international electronic music community.
The holidays are just around the corner, but Christmas came early this year for the UK music business, as recently released numbers proved 2004 was its biggest-selling year for albums in history. But that's not going to stop the labels — and their American counterparts — from continuing to sing the tune that file sharing is killing sales. Finger-pointing aside, it seems like the majors are looking at ways to move more of their business online, as word leaked this week of a new joint venture in a legal file-sharing network called Peer Impact: another way for people to plug it in.
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The Future is Here
The future of KaZaA lies in the hands of the Australian courts, as the trial against the infamous file-swapping network got underway down under earlier this week. After five long years battling KaZaA and its file-sharing kin, three of the Big Four music labels announced deals with Peer Impact, a P2P software company that allows legal sharing of music files. Universal Music has gone one step further and started a digital-only label, sending bands straight to the online music stores without ever touching a CD. Microsoft's MSN Music site has teamed up with Internet music renegade GarageBand.com to feature some little-known independent artists on its major-label-heavy homepage. As the music industry finally comes around to the benefits of file
sharing and the Internet revolution, the US Senate backed down from a controversial copyright bill that would have turned the US government into a copyright enforcement machine. The crusade against payola by the big labels to radio stations has now escalated out of New York into the federal government, with the FCC and various federal agencies looking into the pay-for-play practices of the record labels. And despite a critical lambasting, the 20th Anniversary version of Band Aid is back just in time for the holidays. (CW)
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Arthur Russell Rediscovered
One of 2004's most important music legacies will be the long overdue recognition of Arthur Russell as one of America's great musical treasures. Earlier this year the Soul Jazz release The World of Arthur Russell compiled the post-disco tracks that earned him a place in Paradise Garage history, while both Calling Out of Context, released by Audika in January, and reverent profiles in the New Yorker, New York Times, and Wire revealed Russell as one of the most important and underappreciated songwriters of his day. In November, Audika released the second in its series of Russell recordings — a reissue of his long out-of-print masterpiece World of Echo, lovingly packaged and remastered, and featuring alternate versions of several songs and a DVD with live performances and short films. The album, composed and performed entirely by Russell on cello, vocals, hand percussion, and delays, is truly unique, sounding as strange and
wonderful today as when it was recorded nearly two decades ago. The appreciation and understanding of Russell's career (he died of AIDS in 1992) should continue to deepen in 2005: a two- or even three-disc compilation of his instrumental work is due sometime next year from Audika, which has also discovered more unreleased songs for future releases. And Tim Lawrence, author of the acclaimed ‘70s dance music history Love Saves the Day, is reportedly working on a full-length biography, though no publication date has been set. (DJP)
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MORE HEADLINES
Turning Japanese
iTunes looks East more »
Aggressive Moves
Video game giant EA launches record label more »
TV on the Radio on Top
Band nabs Shortlist Prize more »
Getting Sirius
Ex-Viacom pres joins satellite radio more »
761 More
RIAA files another round of lawsuits more »
Getting Better All the Time
Best year ever for UK albums more »
UTV?
Universal in talks to create new music video network
more »
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Artist: |
Massive Attack |
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| Album: |
Danny the Dog OST |
| Label: |
Virgin |
| Release: |
November 16 |
With this original score to Luc Besson's Danny the Dog, the masters of malevolent, paranoid trip-hop prove to be experts at creating all kinds of moods without shaking off the uneasy feeling that at any moment things could go horribly wrong. Entirely instrumental, the album plays like a series of vignettes. The opening title begins like a deep rumble before "Atta’ Boy" drops in with Primal Scream-like aggression; "Polaroid Girl" comes closest to sounding like quintessential Massive Attack, but without vocals it's as shy as it is shadowy. "Sam" twinkles sorrowfully, as if made by Danny Elfman on downers, and "You've Never Had a Dream" immediately gives you something more like a nightmare. Just don't think of this as the new Massive Attack album; you'll be nicely surprised at the direction they've taken. (MQ)
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Artist: |
Tussle |
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| Album: |
Kling Klang |
| Label: |
Troubleman Unlimited |
| Release: |
November 9 |
San Francisco's Tussle infuse dub's blunted vibes and echoey movements with ADD-inspired energy and the enthusiasm of a sound collector. Kling Klang reverberates with the kinds of effects you'd expect from an album with this name, though they can be subtle: ringing bells, hi-hat shimmies, and more unusual sounds, like rolling metal cans, clanging lids, and bucket drum kits. It feels like every surface yields something useful, and after a gauzy wash, it all works in glorious, disorienting, funked-up harmony. This is dub for the DFA generation. (MQ)
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Artist: |
Triosk |
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| Album: |
Moment Returns |
| Label: |
Leaf |
| Release: |
October 19 |
Inspired by Jan Jelinek's influential album Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records, the Sydney-based jazz trio Triosk begin experimenting with a hybrid format. After narrowing down their sound to incorporate new compositional forms made possible by computers, the trio eventually collaborated with Jelenik on their debut release 1+3+1. Moment Returns was recorded around the same period, and the resulting record brims with dusty crackles, textures, and samples filling in the space between stand-up bass, slight jazz percussion, and piano. The track "Tomorrow Today (Part 2)" brings to mind the Cinematic Orchestra's compositions, and this jazz-in-the-foreground, electronically augmented background sound generally sums up Triosk's approach. The exception is "Goodnight," a dreamlike track where watery keys slowly spiral in and out of tune, with tones decaying into the ether. (CJN)
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Artist: |
End |
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| Album: |
Percussions |
| Label: |
Tigerbeat6 |
| Release: |
October 11 |
End delivers a finger-snapping, hip-breaking half hour of glitch exotica with the Percussions EP. Slicing his way through Martin Denny's corpse in a quest to discover the true funk hidden within exotica, End puts the body back together with bits and pieces of modern technology: sputtering beats chase xylophones and South Sea voices in "Bengal Spice Mix," saxophone and congas vie with a field recording of bird song in "Cocktail Hour," and a Buddy Rich-inspired percussionist gets caught by DSP snares in "Go." Percussions delivers a frenetic lounge soundtrack for that Tomorrowland Tiki room we're all secretly building in our basements. (MT)
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Artist: |
Machine Drum |
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| Album: |
Bidnezz |
| Label: |
Merck |
| Release: |
October |
The core of Machine Drum's Bidnezz is the stuttering melancholy of its instrumental hip-hop. It's all about the business of hanging on the low (the down low, you know) end of the beat while searching for stress fractures in urban rhythms. The amiable melody of "Mltply" hiccups through a series of Möbius strips where each permutation gathers further accretions of '70s funk. An R&B vocalist struggles to be heard in "Wallis & Futura" as she is strained through a mesh of decaying drum programming and time-lapse digital artifacting. "Dog Actually" spins wildly out of control, its thin ennui dissolving into an emotional flush of backmasking that drains down into the stuttered vocals and echoing grand piano of "Hollis." Bidnezz is a broken toy with a winsome smile that beguiles its way into your pocket. (MT)
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Artist: |
Lusine |
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| Album: |
Serial Hodgepodge |
| Label: |
Ghostly International |
| Release: |
November 30 |
After several well-crafted records under variations of the Lusine name, Jeff McIlwain has come to Ghostly for Serial Hodgepodge, his most polished and accessible album to date. McIlwain's charged and funky compositions flutter and flirt with subtle insouciance, a suggestive brevity of beat and melody that hints at Mandelbrotian complexities; the elongated vocals and bell tone melody of "The Stop" lay glacial austerity over a squirting house beat; the downtempo tranquility of "Everything Under the Sun" floats on a restless sea of squiggling noise and digital chatter; and the chorus of sirens languidly drifting through "Ask You" is kept aloft by a warm thermal of fat beats. Serial Hodgepodge beguiles like a dew-covered cobweb: fascinating, fragile, and complex. (MT)
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Artist: |
Various |
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| Album: |
But Then Again |
| Label: |
~scape |
| Release: |
November 2 |
To mark their five-year anniversary, Berlin-based ~scape have assembled new, unreleased tracks from their impressive stable of artists. The songs range in genre from Thomas Fehlmann's mechanical dub, to John Tejada's melancholic minimal techno, all the way to Crackhaus' glitchy dancehall oddity, "Birthday Bangers and Smash." Plug Research's Soulo and Headset experiment with electronics, acoustics, recorder, and harmonica on "The Fall of Knee High," while Jan Jelinek provides one of the record's finest moments on "Western Mimikry." The track blends warm guitar tones with sparse jazz cymbals as a gentle string tremolo eerily shifts up and down the scale, adding a simple yet resonant texture. (CJN)
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EARPLUG FAVES
Mysterymen, Everything But an Answer (Disko B)
Rainstick Orchestra, The Floating Glass Key in the Sky (Ninja Tune)
TTC, Bâtards sensibles (Big Dada)
Marc Houle, Restore (Minus)
Domenico +2, Sincerely Hot (Luaka Bop)
Thomas Fehlmann, Lowflow (Plug Research)
Annie, Anniemal (679)
M83, Before the Dawn Heels Us (Gooom)
Chemical Brothers, Push the Button (Astralwerks)
Laurent Garnier, The Cloud Making Machine (Fcom)
Arthur Russell, World of Echo (Audika)
Kasabian, Kasabian (RCA)
Lateef & the Chief: Maroons, Ambush (Quannum)
Mylo, Destroy Rock 'n Roll (Breastfed)
Various, Rewind! 4 (Ubiquity)
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Giant Village 2005
December 31
Los Angeles, California
For the fifth year running, the newly cleaned streets of downtown Los Angeles host the USA's biggest post-rave New Year's Eve street carnival. The glassy city center host four massive outdoor stages, and the headliners include DJs Paul Oakenfold, John Digweed, Mark Farina, with live performances from the Killers and the Crystal Method, each given ample time to stretch out with extended sets. The Giant Village compound will encompass four blocks, and feature carnival rides, a huge ferris wheel, oversized dance floors, and various themed lounges. In keeping with Giant's tradition, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Chrysalis, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping economically disadvantaged and homeless individuals become self-sufficient through employment opportunities. Last year's event sold out; tickets for this year are on sale now. (DJP)
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listen » |
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Mr C at the End (RealAudio)
UK superclubs are now just a memory of the "Loved up an an 'avin it" '90s. One of the few surviving big clubs is the End, which has based its survival on a forward-thinking music policy. At the helm is Mr C, famed for his pioneering rave band the Shamen, who has stayed in touch with the underground and kept the music fresh and current. Here we get a listen to his downbeat electro sounds.
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DJ /Rupture at musicalbear (MP3)
In the aftermath of the US election results, many have proffered protests and acts of disobedience. Some are heartfelt and effective, others come off as whining. DJ /Rupture steps up and takes his best shot by blending up a frenzy of fractured breakcore beats with hip-hop bile. While it does little to change the outcome, it does offer an excellent way to channel the frustrations of many into a searing mixtape.
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listen » |
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Raeo mix (MP3)
After being relegated to fashion boutiques and cocktail parties, chill music is taking a stand against grating electro beats. Armed with simple grooves and off-kilter hip-hop beats, Raeo takes us on a journey that blurs the lines between dub, glitch-hop, and world music. Save yourself the medication bills and just plug your head into this.
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listen » |
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Haul & Mason, live in Tokyo
LA-based duo Haul & Mason are carving out a spot for themselves amongst the top mixologists. Notorious party rockers hewn from the same cloth as Z-Trip and Coldcut, they have been touring the US spreading their sound. It's refreshing to hear the slight miscue at the start of this set — it showcases the fact that they are mixing the instrumental and vocal selections, not just dropping pre-mixed mash-ups.
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listen » |
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DJ Matt Hite, Bootmixed (MP3)
Bootleg blogger and DJ Matt Hite compiles some of the year's best rock 'n dance boots from the likes of Tripp, Go Home Productions, and Dunproofin' into an hour-long mix, co-presented by San Francisco's mash-up monthly Bootie.
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listen » |
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Michael Mayer, ump3 promise exclusive mix (MP3)
Kompakt main man Michael Mayer put together this superset for the loaded German mix site ump3.de. It picks up where his fabric selections left off and continues to blaze the path of chunky, rocking, mid-tempo techno.
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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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Nine Lives
The Dirty Dozen. The Fantastic Four. The Magnificent Seven. And now we have the Delicious 9, a collective of artists, animators, and directors known in some parts as the Wu-Tang Clan of Dublin animation and design for their colorful personalities and distinctive approach to the work. Alternating the roles of director and producer for each job, the collective personalizes each video with a mix of Flash, 3-D, illustration, and Photoshop, matching a track's tone and feel with a suitable animated aesthetic. For Luke Vibert's "I Love Acid," director Teemu Auersalo and producer Paul Madden honor the producers' sense of humor by placing a top-rocking Felix the Cat — like character over a constantly shifting background of psychedelic colors and textures. Directors Andy Clarke and Eoghan Kidney oversaw the color-drenched production on "Lysine," a Max Tundra anthem that combined a bluescreen live shoot with 3-D and 2-D Flash backgrounds mirroring the classic look of rotoscope animation. Although the collective has had its work shown on television, in film festivals, and online, they also generate imagery for the live space, creating ten unique visual sets that were synched to each song for the Manitoba Up in Flames tour. (SM)
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The Top of the Hill
One of the big wrap-up stories of 2004 will inevitably be the proliferation of MP3 blogs — sites that offer free daily downloads of unreleased, esoteric, and out-of-print tracks. What will 2005 have in store for us? Perhaps the emergence of MPEG blogs, where downloadable or streaming video is mined with the same obsessive dedication as audio. At the forefront of this fledgling movement sits videos.antville.org, the most comprehensive blog of its kind and one of our most trusted sources for new global video information. A simple ten-second login allows you to post your own links, comment on postings, and search through the comprehensive archives. One major sign of growth is that directors themselves have recently begun posting their own work in search of feedback. The last two weeks alone have nearly 20 postings including links to the video for Electric Six's faithful rendition of Queen's "Radio Ga Ga," three different Bloc Party offerings, and a post pointing towards Waxy.org and its mirroring of Danger Mouse's amazing Grey Video. With an open posting policy and an enthusiastic community of contributors, you can bet this corner of the web will be spreading in the new year. (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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