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News
New Releases
Festivals
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Feature
Charts
Credits
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NOVEMBER 10-23
Earplug is a twice-monthly email magazine, delivering a handpicked
selection of news, sounds, videos, and original features to the international electronic-music community.
Just in time for last week's Amsterdam Dance Event, DJ Mag released the results of its annual Top 100 DJs Poll, crowning frequent-flying German Paul van Dyk at the top of the heap. (Sorry, Tiësto.) Meanwhile, down in Puerto Rico, a very different kind of dance music was being forged from a host of American and Caribbean contributions. Looking ahead, we love techno as much as the next guy, but we also love to take it slow. Pick a mix that suits your fancy, and join us as we tour a world of drones, disco, and dope selections.
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The HHR™ is rolling proof that cool can be useful and useful can be cool. Get into the latest form of self-expression for just $15,990.* What are you waiting for? Go to Chevy.com and check it out.
*MSRP. Tax, title, license, dealer fees, and optional equipment extra. ©2005 GM Corp. Buckle up, America! |
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Fade Together
Domino readies Franz Ferdinand remixes
The world war between dance and rock continues, and all thanks to a certain Austrian archduke. Domino Records has plans to deliver on the title of Franz Ferdinand's latest album, You Could Have It So Much Better, with a collection of remixes of songs from the record. If not actually better than the Scots rockers' original poptastic dance workouts, the new versions — to be made available on a special North American vinyl release — at least promise to be radically different; remixers include Erol Alkan, Metronomy, Soft Pink Truth, and Max Tundra (who "melds the worlds of Franz and Van Halen circa 1984," according to Domino's Kris Gillespie). Further mixes are expected from the Postal Service, Optimo, and Isolée. (PS)
DJ Awards Go Dutch
Paul van Dyk voted world's best DJ
DJ Mag announced the results of its annual Top 100 DJs Poll last week. While some sources found the results surprising — ResidentAdvisor.net remarks on Paul van Dyk's rise to number one, displacing Tiësto after the latter's three years in the top slot — the top 10 remains a predictable roster of trance and big-room house, with places three through ten going respectively to Armin van Buren, Sasha, Ferry Corsten, John Digweed, Hernan Cattaneo, Deep Dish, ATB, and Carl Cox. Meanwhile, Paul Oakenfold slipped two places this year, falling out of the top 10. Minimal techno remains largely foreign to the list, though Ricardo Villalobos and Magda both entered for the first time (at numbers 47 and 100, respectively), and Richie Hawtin — spurred ahead by virtue of his recent move to Berlin and nonstop touring — jumped a startling 32 positions to place at number 12. (Or maybe it was a result of that email he sent to fans, urging them to vote minimal.) Notable absences include Ewan Pearson, James Holden, Ellen Allien, Dominik Eulberg, Michael Mayer, DJ Koze, and virtually all the rest of the UK and Germany's underground minimal scenes — not to mention France's heavy hitters, popular gay club-scene DJs like Peter Rauhofer, junglists and grime DJs, New York traditionalists such as Danny Tenaglia, most of Detroit's veterans, and eclectic envelope pushers like Matthew Herbert, Optimo, and 2ManyDJs. (PS)
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MORE HEADLINES
Summer Fest Pitches Tent Early
Next year's Benicassim to move from August to July more »
The Saint of Radio
John Peel memorials (and commercial ventures) mark the first anniversary of his death more »
NYC Still Footloose and Dancing-Free
Club owners and civil libertarians take on cabaret laws more »
Not Too Legit to File Chapter 11
MC Hammer's assets go on sale more »
Burying the Evidence
Sony hacks users' computers more »
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Artist: |
Christopher Bissonnette |
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| Album: |
Periphery |
| Label: |
Kranky |
| Release: |
October 10 |
Christopher Bissonnette examines the fragility of space on Periphery. Running simple piano tones and pastoral orchestration through randomizing filters and generative DSP sweeps, he makes music that threatens to vanish in an instant. "In Accordance" exhales with a hint of static and fulsome reverb, while isolated piano notes search for one another in the echoing space; "Substrata" hums and mumbles with subterranean noises, as violins and cellos strain through layers of harmonics to produce whispers of seismic movement; and "Tenor Viol" is filled with hanging notes, cello tones that are looped beyond human sustain to an infinite horizon, while a microscopic pulse pricks at your ears. A veteran of Canada's minimalist Thinkbox collective, Bissonnette works on an introspective level, building pellucid arrangements that suspend you, breathless, in a perpetually meditative state. (MT)
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Artist: |
Jason Forrest |
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| Album: |
Shamelessly Exciting |
| Label: |
Sonig |
| Release: |
October 3 |
Jason Forrest, aka Donna Summer, slices and dices a ton of old records on Shamelessly Exciting, culling material equally from disco, punk, arena rock, and the prog heavyweights of the '70s. The two minutes of "My 36 Favorite Punk Songs" are exactly that — a Frankensteinian reconstruction of the year punk stormed the stages of England. Forrest collides Blondie, IDM bleeps, and Spanish guitar together in "New Wave Folk Austerity," throws an infamous Joan Jett sample and steel drums into a breakbeat blender for "Dust Never Sleeps," and welds big James Bond-era theme music, escalating airplane noises, and a mangled Neil Young guitar solo to a Venetian Snares-style drum 'n bass cacophony for "Evil Doesn't Exist Anymore." It's shamelessly referential, but his granular cut-and-paste engenders equally shameless reverence. (MT)
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Artist: |
Annie |
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| Album: |
DJ Kicks |
| Label: |
!K7 |
| Release: |
October 25 |
Musical tongue planted firmly in neo-retro chic, Norway's trainspotting pin-up Annie Lilia Berge-Strand follows up her Röyksopp-assisted debut, Anniemal, by putting her disarmingly perky imprimatur on the vaunted DJ Kicks series. The Bergen beauty's laissez-faire set emphasizes selection over skills, taking its cues from the no-wave era that played disco, punk, and funk's divergent strains as they laid, side by sweaty, eclectic side. Over 60 minutes, new-breed upstarts Zongamin, Mu, Le Tigre, and Motiivi:Tuntematon faithfully and vigorously fan the dance-floor bonfires ignited by Liquid Liquid, ESG, and Bow Wow Wow. More amateur (in the classic sense) than mixmaster, Annie thrills by stripping anti-pop gems to their naked grooves, reminding purists that technique don't mean a thing if your tracks ain't got that swing. (JH)
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Artist: |
Kelley Polar |
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| Album: |
Love Songs of the Hanging Garden |
| Label: |
Environ |
| Release: |
November 15 |
Perhaps to his alma mater Julliard's chagrin, iconoclastic prodigy Kelley Polar insists on bridging the sonic divide between high classical and disco hijinks. To Morgan Geist's delight, however, he is doing so at disco haven Environ Records, alongside kindred spirit Danny Wang. Love Songs of the Hanging Garden is elegant, high-minded, down-tempo disco in the spirit of Polar's dazzling string arrangements for Metro Area; it's a heady endeavor that could unravel into pretentiousness were it not for his earnest, intimate, and assured delivery. The barely-there New Hampshire bedroom production radiates a gentle, alluring, lo-fi vibe, marked by weightless Fairlight synthesizer leads, light Italo key strokes, quaint handclaps, and lush atmospheric funk. At least until Polar's unified theory of one cosmos under a groove comes to pass, disco denizens can take cool comfort knowing their cause rests in such stirring hands. (JH)
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Artist: |
Quio |
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| Album: |
Like Oooh! |
| Label: |
AGF Producktion |
| Release: |
October 2005 |
The surprise of the season comes from a new dynamic duo: a German rapper named Quio, and AGF, aka Antye Greie, a member of Laub and collaborator of Vladislav Delay. Quio's chatter, more East London than East Berlin, falls somewhere between Mike Skinner's dry delivery and Ms. Dynamite's dancehall-flavored explosions on tracks like the 2-step classic "Booo!" Manning the boards, AGF shakes off all the ambient vestiges of her former projects, crafting slinky, bassy tracks that run UK garage through the genre wringer, scrunching it up with touches of tech-house, R&B, and musique concrète. It's hardly so calculated, though — incidental passages roll off like sweat down a raver's back, while dry, truncated beats provide the perfect foil for acoustic guitars and spongy bass drops. (PS)
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EARPLUG FAVES
Peter Grummich, Maria: Dirty Floor Mix (Shitkatapult)
We Are, We Are 3 (We Are)
Sammy Dee & Guido Schneider, "Styleways"
(Pokerflat)
Jan Jelinek, Kosmischer Pitch (~scape)
Richie Hawtin, DE9|Transitions (Mute)
AFX, Hangable Auto Bulb (Warp)
Nine Horses, Snow Borne Sorrow (SamadhiSound)
The Orb, Orb Sessions Volume One (Malicious Damage)
Jóhann Jóhannsson, Dís (The Worker's Institute)
Acid Wolf, Legacy 1995-2005 (Dirty Dancing)
[a]pendics.shuffle, Helicopter Hearts (Orac)
Chic Miniature, Conexion Califa (Raum Musik)
Sweet 'n Candy, Dead Between the Ears (Dumb Unit)
Poni Hoax, Budapest EP (Tigersushi)
Carl Craig, The Album Formerly Known As... (Rush Hour)
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REVIEW: Candela Art and Music Festival
October 14-17
Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
lacandela.blogspot.com
Each October, self-appointed don Pablo Rodriguez coordinates the meeting of artists, DJs, and progressives from around the globe in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico for the Candela Art and Music Festival. The soul-centric event, now in its fourth year, takes place on Calle San Sebastian, a cobblestone street lined with bars, clubs, casitas, and plazas. Past DJs have included Mattias Heilbronn, Quantic, Nat Rahav, Turntables on the Hudson, and a slew of local talent, while artists from Doze Green to Shepard Fairey have trekked down to show their work. This year saw SBTG customizing a pair of Candela/Rude Adidas Superstars, Pablo Aravena holding a rooftop screening of his new urban art documentary, HVW8 doing live painting in Candela Bar, and live salsa bands from Puerto Rico and Cuba banging out serious riddims in Plaza San Sebastian, while DJs Bobbito, the Rude Movements crew, Soundway Recordings' Miles, and Singapore's Has kept Latin and classic soul on heavy rotation. (DR)
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PREVIEW: I Love Techno
November 12
Gent, Belgium
www.ilovetechno.be
In the States, filling five 5,000-strong rooms with techno lovers would be a neat trick; not so in Belgium, where the unequivocally named I Love Techno festival celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Founded in 1995 as a 700-person party featuring the likes of Richie Hawtin and Daft Punk, in the intervening years, artists from Carl Craig to Kruder & Dorfmeister have tested the definition of "techno," while rooms geared to minimal and electro have been added to accommodate clubbers' increasingly diversified tastes. (PS)
LINEUP: DJ Naughty, The Glimmers, Tiga, Vitalic, Super Discount 2, Matthew Dear, Richie Hawtin, Adam Beyer, Underworld, Chris Liebing & Speedy J, Derrick May, Dave Clarke, Robert Hood,
Nathan Fake, Sven Väth, Tobi Neumann, and more.
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Alex Sins DJ Mix (MP3)
Merck and Beta Bodega Coalition DJ Alex Sins informs this hour-long mix of glitchy, reverb-drenched electronics with echoes of IDM, hip-hop, and electro, even as he leans toward the clean-lined tech-house of his upcoming single for Narita. Listen »
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The Black Dog: Late One Night in 2005 (MP3)
Acid bass lines, electro vocoders, and 'ardkore breaks go head to head with ambient world-music touches in this mix from IDM pioneer the Black Dog, which positions itself right on the borderline between chillout room and main floor. Listen »
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DJ Troubl: Madlib + Quasimoto Mix (MP3)
Hip-hop DJ Troubl is a Paris legend for his tight selection and turntable trickery. Having garnered the ITF title and other turntablist accolades worldwide, he's the perfect choice to blend up the Madlib/Quasimoto catalog into a (re)work of art. Listen »
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Phil Thompson: Sept 05 Mix (MP3)
Having taken over the slot formerly occupied by Danny Howells, Phil Thompson, aka Moonface, brings his decidedly deeper take on the prog sound championed by the Bedrock crew to this two-part, 200+ megabyte mix. Listen »
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DJ Skam: The Incomplete Mix (MP3)
Berliner DJ Skam (no relation to Manchester's Skam label), laces up '90s hip-hop's kickingest cuts, ranging from A Tribe Called Quest to Nas, with scratches and a cappellas galore. Listen »
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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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Hey Man, Slow Down
Forward-thinking producers free themselves from high tempos
In the worlds of house and techno, beats-per-minute counts have traditionally strained forward, assuming that dance-floor impact is directly proportionate to tempo. But now, several DJs and producers are reaching back to dance music's roots to focus on a core, hypnotic groove that has gone neglected in recent years. Though the late-'80s Belgian "new beat" sound — rumored to have started with a DJ playing 45 BPM acid records at 33 — emphasized this ethic, it largely disappeared in '90s subgenres like techno, trance, and even house. But today, it seems, producers are rediscovering the appeal of a slow, plodding, yet powerful 4/4 beat used in lieu of barnstorming tempos.
"Before house and techno became so dominant in the clubs, dance music ranged from below 100 BPM to above 130 BPM, with an entire spectrum of tempos and rhythms played within a night," says Greg Wilson, a hugely influential British DJ at the forefront of the early '80s electro-funk scene. "For me, one of the flaws with the dance-music culture of the late '80s and early '90s was that the majority of DJs began to believe that a record had to be uptempo and 4/4 to be suitable to play. As a result, a whole area of dance music was generally ignored."
Keep reading »
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MORE FEATURES
Soul, Multiplied
Pitchfork reviews Jamie Lidell live in New York more »
The Life Aquatic
Simon Reynolds on Ultramarine more »
Is It Retro, or Is It Memorex?
Japanese collector chronicles cassette history more »
Grooving Back to the Mothership
Future soul gives R&B a sci-fi twist more »
Where's Roland?
D 'n b's Dom goes solo more »
Tour de Trans-Europe Express
Kraftwerk's techno cycling more »
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Each week, 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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Michael Mayer
(Kompakt/Immer)
Cologne, Germany
www.kompakt-net.de
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- AM/PM, "No Matter Whether" (Dreck)
- Matias Aguayo, "Are You Really Lost" (Kompakt)
- Gui Boratto, "Arquipélago" (K2)
- Tadeo, "Acido Lup!" (Cyclical Tracks)
- SCSI-9, "On the Edge" (Kompakt)
- Fairmont, "Gazelle"/"Gazebo" (Border Community)
- Unai, "Oh You and I (René Breitbarth Mix)" (Disco Inc)
- D-Saw, "Track 10:30" (Immer 002)
- Microesfera, "Triangulo" (Mule Electronic)
- Ian Simmonds, International Songs (Musik Krause)
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View all of this week's charts »
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Editors:
Jocelyn K. Glei
Doug Levy
Sascha Lewis
Steve Marchese
Philip Sherburne
Jon Spooner
Cyrus Wadia
Founder:
David J. Prince
Cover Art:
Sal DellAquila
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Contributors:
Kendra Borowski
Andy Cumming
David Day
Nick Doherty
Carl Hagen
Jorge Hernandez
James Jung
Mandy Minor
Colin James Nagy
Cameron Octigan
Nick Parish
Tim Pratt
Dustin Ross
Dave Segal
Maggie Stein
Bruce Tantum
Mark Teppo
Toby Warner
Production:
Anjuli Ayer
Morgan Croney
Pilar Gallego
Jake Lancaster
Sander-Martijn Milks
Judah Wiedre
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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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Media Partnerships |
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Every other week, Earplug presents one exclusive media partner. Click for more information about advertising opportunities on Earplug and across all Flavorpill publications.
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Cover Art |
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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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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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