Tuesday 15 November 2011

1000names Machine City EP





This week sees the release of a new ep on Svetlana Industries, something I am always excited and pleased to report and once again they do not disappoint.




Long before the current wave of Russian and Eastern European beats and glitch producers, Bulgarian duo 1000names were in at the foundation of the sound, debuting with the now classic Melonball Bounce alongside Rustie on Beatnick’s Vol 1 in 2007. Based in Sofia, Bulgaria, their geographic isolation and relatively long musical development has helped Margg and Nikko (their real names) develop a truly individualistic sound: quirky, bubbly, and human. They are identifiably part of the global beats scene without ever being generic.


They released their debut album with French label Eklektik Records, before moving over to Black Acre, dropping the first ever long player on that label. In January 2010 Mary Anne Hobbs invited them to contribute a mix for her legendary BBC Radio 1 show, and since then they’ve been featured and recommended in Pitchfork, XLR8R and every publication of note.


Svetlana Industries’ connection with Bulgarian duo 1000names goes back to maybe 2006, and they are one of the reasons we set the label up in the first place. So we’re delighted to finally drop their first full official release with us, and we can say that it’s been worth the wait. Following on from their acclaimed Illuminated Man album on Black Acre, Machine City is in our opinion easily their best work to date.
The five track EP is Svetlana’s format of choice: a concise but unified statement of where the artist is at a moment in time. 1000names have used to Machine City to showcase a new direction, retaining their signature touches - blissful synth melodies, abstract vocal samples - but moving away from the LA style beats sound towards a sound that Sonic Router described as a “slowed up house sound that’s firmly rooted in hip hop production”.




To us there’s a strong hint of Moroder and late 70s/early 80s new wave in there as well. This is the territory between disco, house, electropop, and hip hop, also being explored by artists like Dam Funk, Funkineven, and Om Unit - danceable but different.
Conceptually the record is a vision of the future. Equal parts Fritz Lang, Steve Jobs and Philip K Dick, it’s neither utopian or dystopian, it is simply machine - but a machine absolutely saturated with emotion. Propulsive, unstoppable, the humanity hidden in snatches of masked speech, occasional glitches in the sound. La Boheme is a miniature disco anthem. Zelda a cloud of Technicolor fog. Planet Video the delirious joy of the mechanised workplace. Machine City is the threat, surveillance, control. The very Teebs like First Postcard from Tokyo is a euphoric ascent through the clouds to a holiday destination in the sky. 


Pick up a copy now direct from the Svetlana shop here:



Wednesday 9 November 2011

News Round Up

A little round up of some mixes, downloads and videos etc everyone will already have checked from the past month or so.

First up, a stream of the new King Midas Sound lp



Recent mixes from Blackclassical and Seja Heroi







Some band camp free downloads:

Paul White



Which made me dig out his first album again which is also still available as a free download



Samoyed



How to Dress Well



7even Recordings



Claws For?



Interview with Helix by The Kort

http://thekort.com/post/12001141595/interviewhelix

And finally, check this video by Scrimshire - Home feat. Faye Houston

Wednesday 2 November 2011

The Dark Nights Are Drawing In




How To Dress Well - Suicide Dream 2 (Orchestral Version)
How To Dress Well - Suicide Dream 2 (Holy Other Remix)
How To Dress Well -  Suicide Dream 2 (Svpreme Fiend Mix)
Ricardo Donoso - Conditional Formatting (Descent)
Lawrence English - Commentary
Julianna Barwick & Ikue Mori - Dream Sequence
Grouper - She Loves Me That Way
Grouper - Atone
Grouper - Alien Observer
Pye Corner Audio - Are We There Yet?
Borden, Ferraro, Godin, Halo & Lopatin - Internet Gospel Pt. 1
Emuul - Love Theme
Speedy J - Fill 3 
Fennesz - Reshift
aTelecine - The Thieves
aTelecine - The Weak Hands (‘o6 demo)
The Field - I Have the Moon, You Have the Internet (Gold Panda Remix)
Throbbing Gristle - E-Coli
Autechre - R_ess
King Midas Sound - Meltdown
Rhythm & Sound - Jah Rule (w/ Paul St. Hilaire)
Balam Acab - Welcome
Miles - On The Fly
Brandy - Baby (Svpreme Fiend Mix)
Strago & Snooks - Kuru
James Blake - Pan
Ifan Dafydd vs Synkro - No Good Girl (Joe Kay Refix)
Aaron Carl - Crucified (XDB Rainforest Remix)
Aaron Carl - Crucified (XDB Edit)
Round One - I'm Your Brother (Chicago's Twisted Mix)
Monolake - Fragile
Vril - UV
Basic Soul Unit - Soulspeak (Shed Remix)
Pacific Blue - Industry Prt 2
Pelon - No Stunts (Edit)
Monolake - Atlas (T++ Remix)
Chris Carter - Interloop
Paul White - Hustle
Forma - Forma 246 
Forma - Forma 237
Holy Other - Yr Love
Clams Casino - Cold War
Matthew Dear - I Can't Feel
ADR - Sidewinder
Lukid - Park It Low
Holy Other - Touch
Ghost Town DJ's - My Boo (Balam Acab Remix)
Miles - Lustre
Sleep ∞ Over - Romantic Streams (Balam Acab Remix)
Lana Del Rey - Video Games (Balam Acab Remix)
Rustie - Crystal Echo
The Bug - Poison Dart (Prefuse 73 Broke Moog Version)