Concert Preview: Karsh Kale MIDIval Punditz
Jul 01, 2008 - We last heard from Karsh Kale (pronounced Kursh Kah-lay) with the release of Breathing Under Water, the talented producer / composer / percussionist's genre blending collaboration with Hindustani music's heir apparent, sitarist Anoushka Shankar. But apart from that recording, and a DJ set here and there at Science Club or Bossa, the District has not seen Kale perform in concert since 2003's Asian Massive tour. ... read more
Herbaliser Tour Dates
Jul 01, 2008 - The Herbaliser's Same As It Never Was has been making some serious noise with lovers of bottom heavy funk and searing vocals. To shake a couple asses in person, DJ Ollie Teeba will be dipping to the States in July / August to drop some heavy hitters, and some Herbz classics. Give me a shout if you would like to cover any of the shows. ... read more
Going off the deep end
Jun 28, 2008 - Dubstep is a revolutionary genre that's starting to take hold on New Zealand dance floors. Scott Kara braved the bass; Richard Robinson took the pictures ... read more
UNKLE Goes Widescreen, Remixes X-Files
Jun 28, 2008 - James Lavelle's electronic supergroup of sorts is back, and this time it's got an ear on cinema. It always has, to some extent: UNKLE's first effort Psyence Fiction, thanks to the able turntablist skills of DJ Shadow, kicked out the jams with audio from Star Wars and Blade Runner. ... read more
Exclusive Video: David Byrne's Sonic Architecture
Jun 27, 2008 - Last month, the heads-up on the Talking Heads front man's newest experiment Playing the Building went viral like a worm. This month, it's video's turn, and Listening Post is getting in on the action with an exclusive tutorial from Byrne. ... read more
Synth device a Tenori-on for music makers
Jun 26, 2008 - Attention audio nerds! It's time to get your heads out of your computers and groove on down to the Gladstone Hotel tomorrow night to check out the Canadian launch of Yamaha's Tenori-on, the new electronic device laptop musicians are drooling over. Here's a quick cheat sheet so you can nod your head with knowledge, and to the beat. ... read more
Producers Heard At Berlin’s CDR Club
Jun 24, 2008 - Recognizing the need for new artists and bedroom producers to be heard, Attica Blues’ Tony Nwachukwu created a club night at London’s Plastic People last year for all those budding GarageBand, FruityLoops, and Ableton users. ... read more
Rucker defends her right to be a poet
Jun 23, 2008 - The first line of Ursula Rucker's Wikipedia entry is questionable. It labels the Philadelphia talent as a spoken-word artist, something that Rucker passionately disputes. ... read more
Trip-Hop.net Interviews Gilles Peterson
Jun 20, 2008 - Gilles Peterson is a worldwide DJ, known as one of the best of the globe... [Trip-hop.net] had the chance to exchange with him about many subjects, such as Brazil, Africa, and BBC Sessions / Wordwide shows on the BBC Radio 1... This guy is not just brilliant, he is kind and funny. ... read more
Richie Hawtin, Audion at Minitek Festival
Jun 20, 2008 - Electronic music fans have a long wait until WMC in March, but fortunately, the Minitek Festival has come to tide folks over until that time. The three-day event, to be held September 12 - 14, will take place in New York, and the lineup so far is a healthy sampling of international artists. Richie Hawtin, Magda, Troy Pierce, Adultnapper, Audion, and dozens of others will pay both live and DJ sets at various locations around the city, while art and technology projects will be on display. ... read more
DJs and Podcasts: So Happy Together
Jun 20, 2008 - If you're looking for a new way to listen to music, forgo the playlist and start snagging DJ podcasts. Cross-fading is second nature to DJs, and after they've recorded their sets onto a computer, a podcast feed containing them all can be hooked directly into your computer and portable music player. This means you can grab new mixes right after they're uploaded, without thinking once, let alone twice. ... read more
Do you FeeLit? Creative Retail Store and Art Gallery - San Diego
May 06, 2008 - [posted by Lisa.B] I first visited FeeLit in mid-February shortly after the store opened, and was immediately impressed by the diverse range of items available, as well as the overall presentation of the store. Since that time I have watched FeeLit evolve with my regular visits to the store, and have attended all of the major monthly events, art exhibitions, and trunk shows featuring local artists, DJs, and fashion designers. Formerly Siesta Records, a spot known for supplying DJs with fresh music, FeeLit still carries a rare and unique collection of records and CDs, from classic rock and 80's pop to the latest in house music and drum-n-bass. ... read more
Morgan Page And Mixed In Key Team Up For The Perfect Mash Up
May 06, 2008 - Morgan Page with Mixed In Key mixing software invites DJs, producers, and fans to create their own edit or mash-up of club smash, "The Longest Road." To get started, simply download "The Longest Road" acapella and any layers you wish to use, and mix away. The top 3 mixes, judged by Morgan Page, will win the latest version of Mixed In Key, Platinum Notes, an autographed copy of Elevate, and viral promotion of your remix through various social network and blog portals. ... read more
 Interdependent Media
Interdependent Media is a Berkeley, CA based hip-hop, house and soul label who simply describe what they do by saying, "We put out records. Good ones at that.". ... read more Bstrd Boots
For reasons of National obscurity, we cannot tell you more about Bstrd Boots than its name. ... read more
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With the latest and fourth in their Secret Love series, Sonar Kollektiv digs into their collective folk and soft, singer/songwriter informed consciousness to present songs that are equally touched by late 60s folk as by contemporary acoustic ballads. There are even touches of 70s rock opera and R&B thrown into the blend. Among the most notable appearances are those from Midlake, Clara Hill's Folkwaves, Breaks Co-Op, Roebeck, Nostalgia 77, and Eva Be. What makes them stand out is that for me, they present a fresh combination of acoustic folk and modern electronic influenced sounds. Interestingly enough, several of their tracks carry the sound I identify with 70s folk, and I'm not a 70s folk fan by any means. [ CD ] | read more...
Eva Bernhard is Berlin and Sonar Kollektiv's designated DJ/producer "bad girl". While glossed out in a black cocktail dress you might expect Eva to explore a lounged out sound, but in truth, her heart belongs to dub and minimal house, as you'll hear throughout Moving Without Travelling, which once again sees Sonar Kollektiv hook up with Best Seven. With her approach to dub, Eva Be slides in through a door opened by Berlin's vibrant minimal scene, so don't expect a muddy, squelched out, hard dub experience. Letting a host of singers, musicians and MCs, including Joe Dukie of Fat Freddy's Drop, lay down the sounds that match her vision, and that of collaborator Boris Meinhold (guitarist for Micatone), this is dub as heard through a resolutely cosmopolitan ear. [ CD/2xLP ] | read more...
Mixing house and soul music can be a risky affair. Make music that is too soulful and the dance music DJs won’t like it, conversely make it too house orientated and soul fans won’t want to know. But like Incognito and other acts before them, Windimoto – aka DJ Sean "Disco" Haley & Scorpeze – have pulled it off and come up with music that doesn’t compromise on either the house or the soul. [ CD ] | read more...
If the current economic situation in the U.S. hasn’t got you down, then maybe the war in Iraq has. If that hasn’t worked at lowering your hopes for the future of the world, then maybe the current food shortages and increases in cost for about every commodity have helped destroy your optimism. Collected with the recent disasters in Burma and China, it is the recipe to create a collective somber amongst about every human loving sole on the planet. That is where So Called Records steps in with their second collection of artists from the Vancouver area on Manoeuvres 2 to help change your frame of mind. [ CD ] | read more...
At first listen I thought Alaska In Winter sound like the ambient side of a style of music that emerged in the early-to-mid 90s called "darkwave". As I continued listening however, I started picking up on more of a modern, almost emo-pop influence to their sound. Listening longer still I began to feel the Balkan side of their music, but don't start thinking of the ecstatic, horn-driven rhythms of the Bucovina club, think of somber and melodic, electronic pop ballads set atop sounds of slowly floating ambience and vocoded melodies. Of course little of this really correlates to the album title, "Dance Party in the Balkans". But how do you take that? is it irony or just a case of gross contradiction? [ CD ] | read more...
It won't take long before you gain a full appreciation for why Federico Aubele and Natalia Clavier recently got married. The work that the pair produced on Federico's latest album Panamericana pretty much screamed "we're perfect for each other!". It had only been a couple weeks since that album was no longer dominating my personal airwaves when Natalia Clavier's "Nectar" came along, and though in many ways it was like a welcome continuation of Federico's syrupy Argentinian rhythms, there was a clear difference. [ CD ] | read more...
When you mention the word downtempo to someone, Ocote Soul Sounds And Adrian Quesada's "The Alchemist Manifesto" would be an album that exemplifies the best aspects of the genre. Holding true to the sounds of their first release, Ocote Soul Sounds bring out the Latin/Soul grooves, funk guitars and horn section leads and presents a vintage-inspired but completely relevant release. [ CD ] | read more...
"Drama" is Bitter:Sweet's first true follow-up since their debut with The Mating Game (2006). As with Shahani's past work the sound is certainly influenced by any number of film scores, so many of the thirteen songs (actually twelve plus a twelve second "Intro Dramatico") could be used for soundtracks. In fact, one of them is. "The Bomb" is already the theme song for the NBC series "Lipstick Jungle." Bitter:Sweet has become quite popular since their debut two years ago, and this second album (not counting the remix CD of their first, "The Remix Game") could, and should, take them to wide mainstream popularity. But what about their less mainstream future? [ CD ] | read more...
As a concept piece this compilation suffers from three things – a lack of fresh songs, too many canned beats and not enough specifically Asian content. Most of these songs are culled from Water Music's back catalog, so they are several years old by now. The artificial rhythms seem out of place within the gentle and refined medium of Eastern music, so it would help if the beats weren't in the front of the mix, as they are on many of the sixteen tracks. of course this pokes at a tenant of "chillout" music, so I know the point is an arguable one. All this being said, freshly minted or not, some of these tracks are quite enjoyable. [ CD ] | read more...
Mush Records use a line in their press sheet that continued to resonate with me as I listened to Eliot Lipp's Mush label debut, "The Outside". They claim it's for "listeners who remember a time when electronic music had a little dirt under its fingernails", and I have to say, in between the full blown, candy-glossed movement of new wave in the 80s, and through the darker pre-millenium IDM years, there emerged a new sound in electronic music, increasingly more influenced by hip-hop with each new year, that continued to evolve after the 2k let-down. You'll feel that in this music. [ CD/LP ] | read more...
Described by DJ/producer Mex as his Return of the Jedi, Black Grass's third album, released on Catskills, is indeed a glossy parade of hip hop stars, but unlike the space opera film co-written by George Lucas, there's no climatic duel against Darth Vader. Instead "Three" is more of a friendly get-together between today's and yesterday's emcees. After the warming up of "Alright", Dionne Charles shows up to lend his vocals to a mightily mellowed "Without Your Love". [ CD ] | read more...
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