 |
 |
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
| |
 |
News
New Releases
Festivals
Listen
Watch
Feature
Credits
|
|
APRIL 28 - MAY 11
Earplug is a twice-monthly email magazine, delivering a handpicked
selection of news, sounds, videos, and original features for the
international electronic music community.
Earplug is back from MUTEK Mexico with tequila for blood and a persistent ringing in our ears — but our pulse still quickens (and our cochlea quivers) in anticipation of the summer's musical bounty, as festival season kicks off this weekend with Coachella. Meanwhile, Isolée's new full-length for Playhouse is the year's most opulent electronic outing to date, stickying up his formerly streamlined beats with great gobs of disco; and Audion and Cristian Vogel's summer albums have slipped into the promosphere, suggesting upon first listen that 2005 is going to be a banner year for techno. Speaking of Audion, his remix injects new life into Roman Flügel's "Geht's Nocht?," a tune that was inescapable in Miami this past March. The title means, roughly, "All good?" — to which we can only reply, clutching our festival passes in hand: as good as it gets.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Mobile Music
The next battlefront in the fight against declining music sales? Your mobile phone. Hoping to lessen Apple's stranglehold on the digital music marketplace, record companies are allying with mobile phone companies to invest heavily in new technology. Although its iTunes phone is temporarily on hold, Motorola recently announced iRadio — a service for downloading songs and radio programming straight to mobile phones, then beaming the music to car stereos or home entertainment centers. Infinity and HP, meanwhile, are working on "visual radio" — a technology that will send album art, concert dates, and buy-this-album information to customers, in conjunction with the soon-to-be-offered hybrid FM-radio phones. US wireless behemoths Verizon and Cingular are also in the game, premiering exclusive ringtone deals with record labels. Elsewhere, the fight for flexible copyrights continues across the world, with the BBC unveiling a Creative Commons-type license that allows the public to access its massive media archives for free, and Grouper offering a new spin on file-sharing by restricting the number of file-sharers in users' groups. Finally, stoking the hopes of MP3Js everywhere, word of a prototype Numark DJ mixer for iPods leaked out at the music instrument, software, and hardware festival Musikmesse last week, with consumer and pro versions possibly available later this year. (CW)
|
|
| |
Kompakt: Upbeat for Downloads
Kompakt — Cologne's powerhouse techno label, distributor, and retail store — has announced the launch of a new MP3 download site. The move gives electronic music fans worldwide access to the label's back catalogue, plus releases (and audio samples) from 50 associated imprints, including Traum and Areal. According to label co-founder Wolfgang Voigt, traditional wax remains Kompakt's most important format, but new media offers an easy way to distribute music on a global scale. Additionally, Voigt suggests, the label needs to embrace a broader market: those who listen to music on their iPods, as well as the new class of digital DJs. Individual tracks may be purchased from the site for €1.29 (roughly $1.69), and at reduced cost as part of full singles and albums. In other words, record crates just got lighter — and so did wallets.
(CJN)
 Kompakt is offering Earplug readers exclusive access to three free MP3s from the label's online catalog. Click on the links below to download — and be sure to brag to your trainspotting friends that you got them from Earplug.
Markus Guentner, "Wenn Musik der Liebe Nahrung Ist" (from the full-length 1981)
Superpitcher, "Happiness (Michael Mayer Remix)" (from the Happiness EP and the forthcoming Superpitcher mix album Today)
Justus Köhncke, "Schwabylon" (from the full-length Doppelleben)
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
MORE HEADLINES
Fuse-Out?
Detroit techno fest's uncertain fate
more »
All the News that's Fit to Spin
Billboard gets a redesign more »
Jawing about Song
EMP's Pop Conference goes deep more »
The Trouble with Downloading
Five ways to fix digital music more »
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
Artist: |
Roots Manuva |
|
| Album: |
Awfully Deep |
| Label: |
Big Dada |
| Release: |
April 19 |
The Bronx may be the biological parent of hip-hop, but Jamaica's role is equally vital in its upbringing; the little island's dubby rhythms are at the heart of the beats that make boys and girls go bump in the night. On his dancehall-tinged third album, Awfully Deep, Jamaican son Roots Manuva shows his ancestry amidst tricked-out funhouse effects that are pure London innovation. Expectations are high, since Roots is considered the pioneer of British hip-hop, but every song deftly delivers bizarre beats and leaves an opiate-like haze as an aftermath. His bitterness is our benefit, since it fuels a gruff, angry flow on tracks such as "Mind 2 Motion" and "Colossal Insight," while the disturbing and hypnotic "The Haunting" perfectly captures the feel of a cold-sweat nightmare, and the twisted singsong darkness of "Too Cold" captivates frighteningly. It's high time this UK rude boy started scoring sophisticated horror films. (MS)
|
| |
 |
Artist: |
Various |
|
| Album: |
Optimo Present Psyche Out |
| Label: |
Eskimo |
| Release: |
April 25 |
There's probably no more adventurous club night in the world right now than Optimo. The Glasgow party, helmed by DJs JD Twitch and Jonnie Wilkes, has its roots in techno, but guests and residents alike routinely inject the proceedings with a healthy dose of old-school acid, disco, and EBM, plus a host of sounds that never even matriculated: rock, psychedelia, even blues. This mix crams two-dozen tracks into 76 minutes, traversing Chicago acid, bleep 'n bass, schaffel, and more in an unlikely encounter between Silver Apples, Throbbing Gristle, Herbie Hancock, the Stranglers, and the Temptations — and the whole thing climaxes with Arthur Russell's classic "Kiss Me Again." Hyperbole kneels at the Optimo crew's feet, tucks its tail between its legs, and scurries off to Ibiza for a well-deserved vacation. They're that good. (PS)
|
| |
 |
Artist: |
Marsen Jules |
|
| Album: |
Herbstlaub |
| Label: |
City Centre Offices |
| Release: |
March 29 |
Though the literal translation of Marsen Jules' debut album title is "Autumn Leaves," the release pulses with a vitality perhaps better suited to the budding leaves of an impending spring. Using both live and sampled instrumentation, Jules has created a cohesive, ambient work that evokes the deepest feelings of nostalgia and warmth, while maintaining a completely organic feel. "Tous les Coeurs de Cette Terre," the album's most melancholic piece, consists of gentle string plucks nestled against warm tape hiss and understated swells of sound, reminiscent in tone to Colleen's debut LP, Everyone Alive Wants Answers. "Aurore," meanwhile, is considerably more cinematic and uplifting, with warm watercolor tones panning and surging in a more traditional classical music style. Put simply, Herbstlaub is one of the most breathtaking introductions to an artist you're likely to hear this year. (CJN)
|
| |
 |
Artist: |
Efterklang |
|
| Album: |
Springer |
| Label: |
The Leaf Label |
| Release: |
April 5 |
The predecessor to 2004's Tripper, Springer was originally released in 2003 on Efterklang's small label. Since the Danish band's popularity is now growing with each faulty comparison to Sigur Rós, the Leaf Label was wise in making this EP more widely available. The record's inspirations actually swing closer to Bark Psychosis and Hood; much like those two bands, Efterklang find a way to use somnolence as a ruse to discreetly manipulate your emotions. There's no effort put toward sounding otherworldly, but you can at least swoon or mumble along to their co-ed English-language vocals. "Filmosonic XL" is the only slip, a bad-mood piece that traps you in an audio/video room with a cranky projector. (AK)
|
| |
 |
Artist: |
The Glimmers |
|
| Album: |
DJ-Kicks |
| Label: |
!K7 |
| Release: |
April 11 |
If the irony-minded folks at DFA injected a disco sensibility and punk ethos into electronic music, then the Glimmers are the label's Belgian pen pals who never received word that the genres were at war in the first place. In the latest DJ-Kicks installment, the duo of Mo Becha and David Carlos Fourqaert play like two train conductors feeding a locomotive engine anything to keep the rig chugging, unabashedly mixing an assortment of records both past and present. From the opening video game bleeps of Bis' take on Cabaret Voltaire's "Shack Up" to the closing big-band power rock of Rub 'N Tug's remix of Chicago's "I'm A Man," the Glimmers' set is held together by an infectious array of guitar licks, kick drums, jacking grooves, cheeky vocals, and low-slung bass lines, with plenty of reverb to boot. It's enough to give the most languid of listeners cause to shake a leg. (JJ)
|
| |
 |
Artist: |
Jane |
|
| Album: |
Berzerker |
| Label: |
Paw Tracks |
| Release: |
May 10 |
What happens when Panda Bear, of the freakadelic Animal Collective, collaborates with Scott Mau, minimal techno DJ and evangelist for all things Teutonic at New York's Other Music? Surprisingly, the result isn't nearly as berserk as the pairing (or its title) might imply. Berzerker comprises four long tracks — the shortest is six minutes, and the longest, almost 25 — of drifting ambient hum and naïve drum-machine programming. Both "Swan" and "Agg Report" could easily appear on Kompakt Pop; the former burnishes the rims of a thousand crystal glasses, and the latter drizzles childlike melodies over a simplistic schaffel rhythm. "Slipping Away," meanwhile, is like Profan for the chopped 'n screwed set, with eerie falsetto wailing to keep the ethnomusicologists happy. (PS)
|
| |
 |
Artist: |
Various |
|
| Album: |
XLR8R Presents WANTED Vol. 1: Uptempo |
| Label: |
XLR8R/Iris Distribution |
| Release: |
March 29 |
XLR8R subscribers have long relished the magazine's series of Incite CDs; now, anybody with iTunes and a credit card can get in on the action. WANTED Vol. 1: Uptempo is the San Francisco publication's first download-only compilation, collecting a dozen tracks that even hardcore record buyers would be hard-pressed to find. As the title indicates, the album's 77 minutes plot the contour of a dance floor's peak hour, starting with the Rub 'N Tug mix of !!!'s "Hello? Is this Thing On?" then barreling through Ulysses' nuovo-Italo, Kelvin K's Chicago shuffle, and DJ T.'s spangled electro-house. Elsewhere, Lusine takes minimal techno to the border of breakbeat territory, Land Shark proves that Teutonic acid has a vacation home on the Left Coast, and Alex Smoke's "Long Distance" suggests why he's one of the artists to watch. All in all, nothing's left wanting — save a second volume. (SK)
|
| |
 |
Artist: |
Daedelus |
|
| Album: |
Exquisite Corpse |
| Label: |
Mush |
| Release: |
March 14 |
While Daedelus references the surrealist parlor game with Exquisite Corpse, he remains a demiurgical figure who culls the disparate influences of his scattered collaborators into a cohesive whole. Anchored in hip-hop and infused with the innocent intent of the Romantics, Daedelus lays down '40s-style orchestral strings beneath MF Doom ("Impending Doom") and fuses '60s kitsch pop to martial arts sound effects for the backdrop to Sci's languid rap ("Move On"). Meanwhile, the spirit of Doris Day haunts "The Crippled Hand," lending a spectral gravitas to the ephemeral static of its sparse melody. This is a necromantic BYOB (bring your own body part), as Daedelus builds a Frankensteinian creation that lurches, twitches, and hums with irresistibly unnatural rhythms. (MT)
|
|
|
| |
| |
EARPLUG FAVES
Isolée, We Are Monster (Playhouse)
Ark, Caliente (Perlon)
Adam Beyer, Fabric 22 (Fabric London)
Benjamin Diamond, Out of Myself (!K7)
Electronicat, Voodoo Man (Disko B)
Four Tet, Everything Ecstatic (Domino)
Urbs, Toujours la Meme Film (G-Stone)
Karine Alexandrino, Querem Acabar Comigo, Roberto (Independent)
Deadbeat, New World Observer (~scape)
Howard Hello, Howard Hello EP (Temporary Residence)
Konono No1, Congotronics (Crammed Discs)
Jaga Jazzist, What We Must (Ninja Tune)
The Herbaliser, Take London (Ninja Tune)
Quasimoto, The Further Adventures of Lord Quas (Stones Throw)
Mice Parade, Bem-Vinda Vontade (Bubblecore)
Ellen Allien, Thrills (BPitch)
The Flaming Lips, Late Night Tales (Azuli)
Jamie Lidell, Multiply (Warp)
Mitchell Akiyama, Small Explosions that Are Yours to Keep (Intr_version)
Various, Four Women No Cry (Monika)
 
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| |
Review: 2005 Experience Music Project Pop Conference
April 14-17
Seattle, WA
The 2005 Pop Music Studies Conference at the Experience Music Project in Seattle — affectionately known as the "Rockcritpalooza" — drew a wide range of academics, journalists, bloggers, and music freaks. For its fourth annual edition, the critical encounter this year considered "Music as Masquerade: Posers, Playas, and Beyond." Highlights over the four-day extravaganza included a paper by Matmos' Drew Daniel on punk legend Darby Crash of the Germs, Tim Lawrence on gay disco diva Sylvester, Julianne Shepherd on Courtney Love, Douglas Wolk on '60s Coca-Cola jingles, and Hua Hsu on Duke Ellington. Several presentations verged on beyond weird, including Erik Davis' meditation on Led Zeppelin and the occult, and a terrifying speech from Pere Ubu's Dave Thomas on trash-culture cult figure Ghoulardi. Get those papers ready for 2006. (GD)
|
|
| |
Preview: Marke B
May 27-28
Berlin, Germany
For 11 years, Ocean Club has been a Berlin institution. Launched in 1994 as a club-within-a-club inside techno's most iconic venue, Tresor, it expanded in 1997 to include a freeform radio show helmed by co-founders Gudrun Gut and Thomas Fehlmann. All along, the organization has made a goal of highlighting the full spectrum of local electronic music, from hard techno to experimental pop. Billed as an "annual Berlin label gathering," Ocean Club's Marke B festival — curated by Gut, Fehlmann, and Daniel Meteo — presents two nights of eclectic programming, featuring both main floor attractions (Fehlmann, Misc., Thomas Melchior) and more experimental, side room fare (Portable, Fenin, Duranduranduran). Plus, for festival attendees prone to hitting the record fair before the club zone, the Label Gallery gathers together some of Berlin's best imprints: AGF Producktion, Bpitch Control, Karloff/Substatic, Mitek, Lux Nigra, Sonar Kollektiv, Shitkatapult, and more. (PS)
|
|
| |
Preview: MUTEK
June 1-5
Montreal, Quebec
The folks behind MUTEK have been so active on a global scale of late that it's a wonder they still find time to produce their flagship festival. In the past year or so, they've mounted events in Chile, China, and Mexico; a stage is also set for this year's FUSE-in Detroit, and plans are underway for a full tour of South America this fall. This international reach is reflected in the lineup of the sixth installment of the annual Montreal festival: in addition to expected entrants from Germany — Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano, Apparat, Klimek, Monolake, Melchior Productions, SoulPhiction, et al. — the five-day gathering also touches upon Norway (Biosphere), Argentina (Emisor, Pablo Reche), Brazil (Nego Moçambique), Chile (Andres Bucci), Austria (Pomassl, Radian) Switzerland (Galoppierende Zuversicht — touted by Villalobos as the hottest live act going), Mexico (Mendoza), and, of course, Canada (Luci, Tim Hecker, Mathew Jonson, Pan/Tone, and more). The programming, as usual, is split between experimental fare in the evening and epic club all-nighters; when you book your tickets, don't forget to plan for Sunday's Piknik Electronique, one of the highlights of the weekend. And if you're in New York, don't miss Mini-MUTEK NYC at Subtonic on Saturday, May 7, featuring Akufen, Deadbeat, Vince Lemieux, Crackhaus, Once11, Someone Else, Gys, and more. (PS)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
listen » |
|
Klute: DOA Mix (MP3)
King of drum 'n bass message boards Dogs on Acid has launched a new mix show — and booked some of the top talent around as its guests. Hot on the heels of his latest release on NYC's Breakbeat Science label, here comes Klute.
|
|
| |
listen » |
|
Melon (RealAudio)
Melon's minimal techno and house mixture overflows with deftly placed clicks and bleeps. Check him out live in the mix at Awakenings Amsterdam.
|
|
| |
listen » |
|
Raj Pannu (MP3)
Coming up amongst the rest of the Umani crew (Talvin Singh, DJ Food, and many more esteemed beat twiddlers), Raj Pannu has an eclectic take on turntablism — taking in soul, rock, library records, and even electronic downtempo. Listen in to his recent promo mix set.
|
|
| |
listen » |
|
Dax DJ Spring Boogie 2005 (MP3)
Family House unleashes those twinkling, positive springtime vibes in the form of a hot new mix set from Dax DJ, chockfull of Italo-disco and smiley-faced house cuts. You'll be feeling the glow in no time.
|
|
| |
 |
|
Looking for more hot mix sets and fresh new tracks?
Check out Blentwell for an
ongoing document of the evolution of blended music online.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Unearthing the Secret Stash
It takes under a second to be drawn into a good television commercial or music video. But while a cleverly licensed track from Ratatat in a Hummer ad might engage more astute music fans, it's generally the broadcast design — more specifically, the motion graphics and illustration — that pulls viewers into a spot for Adidas or a promo for, say, Autechre. The team at Stash DVD magazine realizes the importance of outstanding animation, video effects, and motion graphics — not only to producers and buyers who solicit great creative work, but also to students, animators, and fans who just enjoy its cutting-edge nature. Each monthly disc comes accompanied by a 40-page companion book, and is overstuffed with innovative commercials, music videos, short films, and more, featuring animation and effects by respected houses like Motion Theory, Eyeball NYC, and Digital Kitchen. For an ever-expanding collection of the most breathtaking design on DVD, the secret stash has finally been uncovered. (SM)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
Microhouse Gets Mega-Roasted
The Berlin techno scene is famous for its all-night parties, its post-industrial landscape, and its superstar DJs. Now you can add t-shirts and tea to that list, courtesy of Ubercoolische — an ongoing online "soap opera" dedicated to skewering the leading figures of the rarified minimalist milieu. Inspired by Walter Wasacz's "Losing Your Mind in Berlin" article for the Detroit Metro Times (which begins, dramatically, "Here, where time and place exist in blurry, indistinct partnership, and where day and night pass largely unnoticed…"), the series features an ongoing conversation between Richie Hawtin, Ricardo Villalobos, and Magda. Within, Hawtin repeatedly orders Magda to make him tea, Villalobos waxes philosophical on his t-shirt collection, and all three ruminate on temporary autonomous zones, Philippe Starck kettles, and the epistemology of cool. T-shirts seem to be the meme holding it all together, so it's no surprise that the site offers a pair of originals for sale: choose from "Let's be cool, move to Berlin and buy t-shirts" and the more pointed "Magda make the tea." At press time, none of the principals have responded to requests for comment, but they must not be too upset — Hawtin was recently photographed at Tresor's closing party with the latter slogan emblazoned across his chest. (PS)
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| |
Cover Design:
Tes One
Founder:
David J. Prince
Editors:
Philip Sherburne
Doug Levy
Sascha Lewis
Cyrus Wadia
Jon Spooner
Steve Marchese
|
Production:
Mark Mangan
Anjuli Ayer
Peter Stepek
Jane Lerner
William Pierce
Sameer Shah
Contributors:
Andy Cumming
Geeta Dyal
James Jung
Andrew Kellman
Sebastian Koch
Colin James Nagy
Maggie Stein
Mark Teppo
|
|
|
| |
Submissions/Feedback |
| |
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.
|
|
| |
| |
Cover Design |
| |
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.
|
|
| |
| |
About Us |
| |
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
   |
