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News
New Releases
Festivals
Listen
Watch
Charts
Credits
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MAY 26 - JUNE 8
Earplug is a twice-monthly email magazine, delivering a handpicked
selection of news, sounds, videos, and original features for the
international electronic music community.
While Americans are enjoying a long weekend, dance music fans around the world are pulling out all the stops: festival season kicks off with a bonanza of events in Detroit, Barcelona, Graz, Montreal, London, New York, Philadelphia, and Zurich — and that's just the beginning. We've got the lowdown on a few hoe-downs you've probably never heard of, plus reviews of must-have albums from Four Tet, Isolée, and more, and a sneak peek at a Sheffield post-punk documentary. We're also introducing our charts section in this issue, so read on to see what DJ Colette, DJ Marlboro, and T. Raumschmiere are spinning these days. We've even provided links for you to purchase track downloads, wherever we could find them. White-label culture be damned: this music's too good to keep secret.
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Love to Love You, Baby
Spring fever has clearly hit the music industry, because all sorts of unlikely couples are partnering up. Warp has folded top-rated (and frustratingly un-prolific) Parisian producer Jackson — best known for his infectious mix of M83's "Run into Flowers" — into their arms, with a debut album due out this fall, preceded by a summer single. Meanwhile, Stardust's Alan Braxe, famed for the insta-classic "Music Sounds Better with You," has gathered his pals (and hits) together for a June 6 release, The Upper Cuts, under the name of Alan Braxe and Friends. Atom Heart continues his promiscuous ways with a slew of collaborations, including an unlikely appearance alongside Deee-Lite's Towa Tei at Sónar, an upcoming new Flanger album with Burnt Friedman, and an autumn release of next-generation acid — recorded live at MUTEK Chile and elsewhere — alongside longtime cohort Pink Elln. But the biggest news in rave romances might be last week's announcement that electronic/indie stalwart Astralwerks and New York cred mint DFA are teaming up. Does that mean we can expect to hear Erlend Øye's distinctive croon over jittery beats from the Juan Maclean and Black Dice? (You can catch the DFA-werks kids' first kiss when DFA's remix of the Chemical Brothers' "The Boxer" makes sparks fly.)
June is certainly set to kick off with a wink and a smile: Scandinavian pop diva Annie's debut album hits US shores courtesy of Vice Records, and Get Physical co-honcho DJ T. sexes up discos everywhere with his debut album, Boogie Playground. But hold on to your libido, because Goldfrapp promise a "sexual and ambiguous" outing when their new single, "Ooh La La," launches August 24, in advance of the September album Supernature. Alternately, if all this lovey-dovey stuff is making you ill, T. Raumschmiere has the cure with his single "Sick Like Me," followed up by the glam-punk album Blitzkrieg Pop in late August — just in time for late-summer lightning storms and back-to-school teeth-gnashing. (PS)
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MORE HEADLINES
On Fire
Richard Devine torches his gear onstage more »
Blurring the Lines
Damon Albarn gets animated with Gorillaz more »
Penguin Plays the Books
Publisher offers remixers a shot at its library more »
Hoofing Around Onstage
Caribou live review more »
Rinse and Repeat
The month in drum 'n bass more »
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Artist: |
Boredoms |
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| Album: |
Seadrum/House of Sun |
| Label: |
Vice Records |
| Release: |
May 10 |
A legend revived: mysteriously signed to Warner Bros. in the '90s, the Boredoms — arguably the greatest art/rock/noise collective in the world today — now join Vice Records. That Seadrum/House of Sun is another tour de force should come as no surprise. Two 20-minute-plus tracks of unyielding psychedelia make up the disc: one long, spell-casting drum pattern and one ceaseless, hardened drone. With an almost mulish disdain for the listener, Yamatsuka Eye, Yoshimi, and friends force their way into the air, time and time again; their recent embrace of trance and sitars is evident, too (see: DJ Pica Pica Pica and AOA). Welcome back, freaks. We missed you. (DD)
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Artist: |
Kill Memory Crash |
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| Album: |
American Automatic |
| Label: |
Ghostly |
| Release: |
May 17 |
Straight outta Detroit on smart-set pet imprint Ghostly, Kill Memory Crash's American Automatic drones, churns, and grinds with the menacing rhythms, dystopian groaning, and pummeling beats befitting both the renewed angst of our nouveau-apocalyptic era and the group's deep industrial roots. The vitriolic whispers, crunching vocoders, sinister snares, oscillating synthesizers, and synapse-popping drum programming on tracks like "Doorway Nine," "Riyout," and "Crash V8" comprise an addictive and compelling black-light statement that updates with unflinching urgency and head-nodding relevance the acidic, prophetic aggro-funk thrown down by Ministry, Coil, Meat Beat Manifesto, and Cabaret Voltaire. Guaranteed to propel your jaded consciousness out of its smarmy complacency into dark dance-floor nirvana. (JH)
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Artist: |
Four Tet |
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| Album: |
Everything Ecstatic |
| Label: |
Domino |
| Release: |
May 31 |
Former post-rocker Kieran Hebden changes course once again on his fourth album, abandoning the "folktronic" tag that stuck to him after his blissed-out 2001 LP Pause, and barreling into a percussive rave-up that's both leaner and looser. A sampledelic answer to all those Provocative Percussion records of the '50s, Everything Ecstatic finds Hebden running amok like a kid in a cymbal factory, juggling traps, congas, cowbells, and assorted kit of every color and tone. What's remarkable is how it all breathes, with assorted rolls and fills flopping around straighter rhythms like yogis infiltrating a parade of goosesteppers. There are traces of DJ Shadow's archivist impulse, but also the more psychedelic leanings of synth-sculptors like Boards of Canada, as limber breakbeats wrap themselves around starry-eyed oscillations. For listeners attuned to the sheer physicality of stick and skin, the title couldn't be truer. (PS)
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Artist: |
Isolée |
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| Album: |
Wearemonster |
| Label: |
Playhouse |
| Release: |
May 30 |
Rajko Müller's new album may be the most generous disc you'll hear this year. Even at his most minimal, Müller has never been one to hold back — it was the ability of his hit "Beau Mot Plage" to keep cresting to ever higher peaks that made it a mix-disc staple — but Wearemonster almost outdoes itself in sheer sonic potlatch. Stylistically, it's far more ambitious than 99 percent of the contemporary releases that reach for the same touchstones (disco, electro, rock ballads, and, uh, wobbly cowboy swing) in its senses of tone, timbre, and spine-tingling surprise. But better even than the album's gangly, outsized sonic personality (not "eclectic," not showoffy — just good-natured and enormously adaptable) is the way it follows its own peculiar logic, pursuing a four-bar chord progression only to wander off in search of greener (and stranger) pastures. For such a focused record, it's brilliantly distracted. (PS)
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Artist: |
Various |
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| Album: |
Africanism Vol. 3 |
| Label: |
Yellow Productions |
| Release: |
May 24 |
Bob Sinclar, best known for the gimmicky hit "Gymtonic," continues to make amends for that dance floor travesty. After his serviceable debut, Sinclar launched the label Africanism, an Afrobeat-inspired house project on par with the work of Osunlade and Galliano. Fortunately, house DJs crave new Africanism tracks — sheathed in the familiar orange and yellow sleeves — in the same way they jones for fresh 12-inches from Louie Vega and Mr. V. Sinclar's latest release, Volume 3, once again shows off all the latest summery tracks from the label in a continuous DJ mix. While every cut sizzles, the Femi Kuti-inspired "Imbalaye," the thunderous tribal stomp "Jumbo," the Derrick Carter-esque "Samurai Theme," and "Voices" — which brilliantly samples the legendary "Din Da Da" — hit particularly hard. (CK)
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Artist: |
Bohren & Der Club of Gore |
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| Album: |
Geisterfaust |
| Label: |
Wonder |
| Release: |
May 17 |
Play Bohren & Der Club of Gore's fifth album in your darkened bedroom and you'll be unable to match your breath with the tempo. The foursome from Cologne (formerly issued stateside on Ipecac) outdo their own previous expanses of spiritual morass with these five tracks of suffocatingly slow horror-jazz. Creeping organ and a hollow snare exude glacial patience, but never, despite the elderly tempo, can the recording (whose title translates to "Ghost Fist") be construed as ambient — the creepiness is simply too consuming. At its apex, the more than 12-minute-long "Mittelfinger" runs at six riveting bpms. In a minimalist staring contest, these guys win. (NP)
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EARPLUG FAVES
Jamie Lidell, Multiply (Warp)
Tetine, Bonde do Tetão (Bizarre)
Madensuyu, Adjust We (Digital Piss Factory)
Sleep Archive, Research EP (Sleep Archive)
Montag, Alone, Not Alone (Carpark)
Various, 4 Women No Cry (Monika Enterprise)
Fax, Collaborations and Remixes (Static Discos)
Jeremy Caulfield, Detached [05] (Dumb-Unit)
DJ T., Boogie Playground (Get Physical)
The Quantic Soul Orchestra, Pushin' On (Ubiquity)
Adam Beyer, Fabric 22 (Fabric)
Kate Wax, Reflections of the Dark Heat (Mental Groove)
Christopher Just, Roland Flick Fairmount Princess #1527 (Combination)
Geiger, Out of Tune (Firm)
Maetrik, Casi Profundo (Treibstoff)
Various, Barcelona Raval Sessions (Satelite K)
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REVIEW: 4Hype Festival
May 12-14
São Paulo, Brazil
The fourth installment of São Paulo's Hype festival of electronic music and culture raised the event's profile tenfold, with a high-profile lineup and a schedule that spotlighted hybridism — mixing video, live sets, DJing, and improv over three days of performances in the SESC cultural center. This year some (very) old faces rubbed shoulders with the brand-spanking new: '80s post-punkers Akira S e As Garotas Que Erraram ("Akira S and the Girls Who Fucked It Up") reformed for a one-off show to demonstrate the continued relevance of their bass-driven punk-funk, while DJ Dolores showcased the new Brazilian shanty house, tecnobrega — an acquired taste combining cheesy electronics with cocktail-lounge vocals. Can's Damo Suzuki proved a highlight with an eight-piece band of local improvisers, kicking off with cacophony, then deviating from free-jazz workouts to droning ambience. New York's DJ Rekha delighted with her bhangra/hip-hop mashups; and Scotsman Kode 9 closed the festival with jittery grime that expanded into dancehall, leaving attendees singing Rhythm and Sound's "King in My Empire" all the way home. (AC)
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PREVIEW: 4th Annual TapeOpCon
June 10-12
New Orleans, LA
For three days in June, the French Quarter transforms into the sound
engineering dreamland of TapeOpCon, Tape Op magazine's fourth annual recording and production conference. Tape Op promotes creative recording techniques, and the conference teaches recordists how to work with what they have, without selling them on new platforms. According to Craig Schumacher, the festival's co-founder, for every studio that closes, four more open, many in bedrooms and basements. For these producers — and sound engineers of all skill levels — TapeOpCon offers the only gathering exclusively for the industry, complete with workshops exploring topics like DIY software and configuring DAW hard drives. Demos in the modular control room and panel discussions with personalities like infamous Nirvana producer Steve Albini and rock 'n roll godfather Mark Lindsay (of Paul Revere and the Raiders) fill TapeOpCon's days; at night, bands perform at legendary New Orleans hot spots the Howlin' Wolf and Mid City Lanes Rock 'n Bowl. (It's not all tube amps and tape, either: Mouse on Mars are featured in the current issue of the magazine.) With Spinal Tap's Harry Shearer as MC, and indie icons like Vincent Gallo as fans, TapeOpCon is a must-attend for recording enthusiasts. (MM)
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PREVIEW: Emerging Festivals
Synch
July 1-3
Lavrio, Greece
Distortion
June 1-5
Copenhagen, Denmark
Les Siestes Electroniques
July 1-10
Toulouse, France
303 Expo
August 19-September 19
Cologne, Germany
No matter how good the festival, someone's always going to gripe that it was better back in the day, so get in while the getting's good at these emerging showcases.
The Synch Festival launched last year outside Athens, with a great lineup and a reportedly fantastic vibe. It continues this year with a program that runs from adventurous big-room mainstays (Plaid, Circulation, Akufen) to electro-house (Alex Smoke, Putsch '79), with a healthy dose of noise (Liars, Wolf Eyes). Plus, it's in Greece. A month earlier and half a continent away, Copenhagen's five-year-old Distortion, mounted by a crew of renegade promoters and "suave punks," invites promoters like Vice, Optimo, and Bpitch Control to set the tone of their own showcase events — or let you cruise the city in roving Cell Parties by boat or bus.
More wholesome, family fare takes place at Toulouse's Siestes Electroniques, a series of afternoon concerts presenting experimental electronic artists like Thomas Fehlmann, Vladislav Delay + AGF, Jan Jelinek, and Machine Drum playing al fresco on the lawn — a setting as pastoral as the idyllitronica in the air. Finally, if you like your acid with wires attached to it, don't miss 303 Expo, the first-ever festival devoted entirely to the sounds of twiddling TB-303s, held — where else? — in Cologne. (PS)
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OTHER FESTIVALS
Springfive
May 25-29
Graz, Austria
Primavera Sound
May 26-28
Barcelona, Spain
Territoires Electroniques 2005
May 27-June 5
Aix-en-Provence, France
Fuse-In and Afterparties
May 28-30
Detroit, MI
MUTEK
June 1-5
Montreal, Quebec
All Tomorrow's Parties: Easy to Swallow
June 2
London, England
Remix Hotel NYC 2005
June 3-5
New York, NY
Electro-Music 2005
June 3-5
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Taktlos
June 3-5
Zürich, Switzerland
Bonnaroo 2005
June 10-12
Manchester, Tennessee
London Calling
June 10-11
London, England
Sónar
June 16-18
Barcelona, Spain
Analog Pleasures: Ecosystem Festival Benefit
June 25
Ghent, Belgium
Eurockeennes
July 1-3
Belfort, France
Awakenings
July 2
Spaarnwoude, Netherlands
Exit Fest
July 7-10
Novi Sad, Serbia
Monegros Desert Festival XI (Groove Parade)
July 16
Monegros, Spain
Intonation Music Festival
July 16-17
Chicago, IL
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listen » |
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Sean Deason: Tsunami Mix (MP3)
Hop on board as Sean Deason, part of Detroit's "third wave" of techno producers, takes a cruise past machine-funk's greatest landmarks, including vintage Carl Craig, Kraftwerk, Cybotron, and the UR classic "Jupiter Jazz."
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listen » |
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Joe Ransom (WMA)
Fresh off his FabricLive mix, Joe Ransom straddles the Atlantic with this blend of old school and new school cuts covering both sides of the pond, from Ty to TS.
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listen » |
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Joey Negro (RealAudio)
The incomparable Joey Negro turns in an hour of sparkling keys and rippling congas with this set; be sure to keep it handy for rooftop barbecues this summer.
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listen » |
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Mark Verbos: Old School Acid Set (MP3)
New York's Mark Verbose tethers together the whole dang Roland stable — TR-707, TR-808, TR-909, MC-202, and TB-303 — to plow fertile acid furrows, hunkered down at a laconic 118 BPM.
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listen » |
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Tom Middleton: Star Wars Essential Mix (MP3)
We know you're gonna dig Sith — er, this: original Jedi Knight Tom Middleton blasts off into the cosmos with a shapeshifting mix (ripped from the BBC) that touches on everything from DJ Zinc to Mr. Oizo to Carl Sagan; you'll have to read the track list to believe it.
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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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Review: Made in Sheffield
Plexifilm, 2005 (128 minutes)
Piledrivers, steelworks, and visions of hell open Made in Sheffield, Eve Wood's documentary on the post-punk and synth-pop scene born in industrial Northern England in the early '80s. For the next hour, figures like Chris Watson (Cabaret Voltaire), Phil Oakey (Human League), Martyn Ware (Heaven 17), and Jarvis Cocker (Pulp) add color to the familiar black-and-white picture of urban devastation, technological innovation, and restless kids on the dole that's become the founding myth of new wave.
Wood's timing couldn't be better, of course. With Simon Reynolds' post-punk tome Rip It Up and Start Again newly published, and reissues and best-ofs from Cabaret Voltaire, the Human League, and more obscure peers streaming into shops, 2005 feels like the year that post-punk broke all over again. Shot on DV, and consisting primarily of interviews with the movement's principals, Made in Sheffield has a similar feel to many music documentaries of recent years, but Wood keeps it engaging by virtue of solid historical grounding, footage you've likely never seen before — including that of labor riots in the streets — and a surprising degree of candor on the part of her interviewees.
"It was Ian [Marsh]'s idea," says Oakey of the reason he became the Human League's frontman. "It's because I was tall, and he thought I'd look good in front." Such deadpan confessions are standard fare in rockumentaries, but that doesn't detract from the pleasure of hearing them firsthand — particularly from such affably self-deprecating sorts, people who made a virtue out of playing their keyboards with one finger.
"We were flying the flag for a forgotten part of the world," says 2.3's Paul Bower; Sheffield's punks and Top of the Pops aspirants were determined to show London that coal wasn't the only thing burning up north. Fleshed out with an additional hour of interviews and rare performance footage, Made in Sheffield keeps that flag flying for a place and a time that's as relevant now as ever. (PS)
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MORE VIDEO AND MULTIMEDIA
Minotaur Shock studio playground watch »
Someone Else, "Picture Perfect" watch »
Felonious: One Love Hip-Hop live watch »
The History of Sampling 1.1
watch »
LCD Soundsystem, "Disco Infiltrator" watch »
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Starting this 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, download, or purchase vinyl.
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DJ Colette (OM)
Chicago, IL
www.djcolette.com
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- Audioguys, "All Your Love (Soulful Detroit Mix)" (Automatic)
- East Coast Boogie and DJ Heather, "Picture of You" (Blackcherry Recordings)
- Thomas Sahs & Ben Wah, "Fiddley Noo" (Detour)
- DJ Sneak, "Loop De Loop" (Magnetic)
- High Caliber, "Fifth Base" (Forever Soul)
- Colette, "What Will She Do for Love (Andy Caldwell Mix)" (OM)
- Cricco Castelli, "Casa Loca" (Illegal Beats)
- Missy Elliott, "I'm Really Hot (Dead Soul Brothers Mix)" (White Label)
- Mario Fabriani, "Fender Bender" (Jackin Tracks)
- Miles Maeda, "My Force" (DotBleep Recordings)
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Click to view all of this week's charts »
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Cover Design:
Raleigh Felton
Founder:
David J. Prince
Editors:
Philip Sherburne
Doug Levy
Sascha Lewis
Cyrus Wadia
Jon Spooner
Steve Marchese
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Production:
Mark Mangan
Anjuli Ayer
Peter Stepek
Jane Lerner
William Pierce
Sameer Shah
Sander-Martijn Milks
Toby Warner
Contributors:
Andy Cumming
David Day
James Jung
Jorge Hernandez
Andrew Kellman
Sebastian Koch
Mandy Minor
Colin James Nagy
Nick Parish
Tim Pratt
Maggie Stein
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.
To criticize, praise, or generally comment on this publication,
please send an email to feedback.
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Cover Design |
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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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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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