XLR8R News and Features: The Lowdown - This Week's XLR8R Top 10 with John Talabot, Marquis Hawkes, Midland, and More

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1. The Lowdown - This Week's XLR8R Top 10 with John Talabot, Marquis Hawkes, Midland, and More
2. Video: Torn Hawk "Bad Deadlift"
3. Preview Juju & Jordash's Upcoming 12" for Dekmantel
4. Nochexxx to Release Debut Full-Length via RAMP
5. Efdemin Preps Third LP for Dial
6. Mor Elian "U Don't Know (feat. Will Sabatini)"
7. Move D Details Upcoming Fabric Mix Album
8. Shackleton Announces New EP; Preview It Now
9. FaltyDL to Release New Single via Ninja Tune
10. This Week in Music Tech: New Sennheiser Headphones, Arturia KeyLab Review, and Getting Daft Punk's Sound with Modern Gear
11. Bubblin' Up Week 2014: 10 More Artists to Watch
12. Afterhours "Defragment #2"
13. Press Play: MK, John Tejada, Jimmy Edgar, Art Department, and More
14. Soosh "Always (Shigeto's What We've Been Thru Redux)"

The Lowdown - This Week's XLR8R Top 10 with John Talabot, Marquis Hawkes, Midland, and More Posted: 10 Jan 2014 12:50 PM PST Throughout the week, a whole lot of material gets posted here on XLR8R. And while we know—and love—that some hardcore readers will eagerly pour over every single news story, interview, podcast, video, and MP3 download that appears on the site, we also realize that for most people, it's impossible to see everything, which means that some quality XLR8R content is likely to get missed in the hustle and bustle of everyone's daily lives. In the interest of making it easier for everyone to catch up, every Friday we present The Lowdown, a weekly wrap-up of the top 10 tidbits from our site. read more

Video: Torn Hawk "Bad Deadlift" Posted: 10 Jan 2014 12:11 PM PST L.I.E.S. affiliate Luke Wyatt (a.k.a. Torn Hawk) has steadily kept to his own path, making uniquely varied takes on aged genres of music, like industrial and krautrock. Along with this, Wyatt has consistently shown a flair for warped visuals ripped from degraded VHS material, pushing a kind of faded, tip-of-the-tongue nostalgia that's readily apparent on his new video for "Bad Deadlift." read more

Preview Juju & Jordash's Upcoming 12" for Dekmantel Posted: 10 Jan 2014 11:07 AM PST Increasingly prolific Amsterdam pair Juju & Jordash is set to release its first effort of 2014, the "Waldorf Salad" b/w "Third Planet From Altair" 12", next month via Dekmantel. read more

Nochexxx to Release Debut Full-Length via RAMP Posted: 10 Jan 2014 10:26 AM PST With a handful of 12"s for Actress' Werkdiscs imprint and RAMP already to his name, the sporadically releasing producer known as Nochexxx will return to the latter label with his proper debut LP, Thrusters (artwork above), next month. read more

Efdemin Preps Third LP for Dial Posted: 10 Jan 2014 09:59 AM PST Berlin techno veteran Phillip Sollmann (a.k.a. Efdemin) has shared the deatils of his forthcoming third full-length, Decay. read more

Mor Elian "U Don't Know (feat. Will Sabatini)" Posted: 10 Jan 2014 09:41 AM PST LA DJ/producer Mor Elian makes music that aims to bridge the gap between techno and house, with an energy that's ideal for those post-club, afterparty moments. Her latest production, "U Don't Know," is a patient cut which slowly builds on a steady 4/4 beat and percussive embellishments. Soft pads and panning vocals emerge as reverberating claps and synth licks overtake the center of the mix. Eventually, Mor Elian's galloping tune decomposes into an ambient break before ramping up once again to coast on its inherent nighttime vibe.

Move D Details Upcoming Fabric Mix Album Posted: 10 Jan 2014 09:15 AM PST Word has been floating around that veteran German DJ/producer Move D (a.k.a. David Moufang) will issue the next installment of Fabric's excellent mix album series, but now, the full details of that release have finally emerged. read more

Shackleton Announces New EP; Preview It Now Posted: 10 Jan 2014 08:36 AM PST It has been some time since we've heard from Shackleton, the Berlin-based Woe to the Septic Heart label boss and bass-focused experimental producer. Nearly two years after releasing his Music for the Quiet Hour/The Drawbar Organ EPs box set, the artist born Sam Shackleton has announced that his next record is set to drop this month. read more

FaltyDL to Release New Single via Ninja Tune Posted: 10 Jan 2014 08:05 AM PST After nabbing the #12 spot in our Best Tracks of 2013 list and the #6 spot in our Best Releases of 2013 list, New York house DJ/producer FaltyDL is already gearing up for a solid 2014, as he's just announced a brand-new single which is set drop via Ninja Tune this month. read more

This Week in Music Tech: New Sennheiser Headphones, Arturia KeyLab Review, and Getting Daft Punk's Sound with Modern Gear Posted: 10 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST The gear and production world is off to a bit of a slow start in 2014, with everyone waiting for NAMM to pull out their big news. (Thankfully, it's just around the corner.) In the meantime, we've gathered up a handful of interesting tidbits for curious producer including an update on Sennheiser's new line of headphones, a review of Arturia's new KeyLab controller, info on Dubspot's DIY synth-building workshop, and a quick guide to getting Daft Punk's sound without using Daft Punk's gear. read more

Bubblin' Up Week 2014: 10 More Artists to Watch Posted: 10 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST After spending most of December looking at the year gone by, we here at XLR8R decided to kick off January by casting our gaze toward the future. That's what Bubblin' Up Week is all about, and this year's edition has already taken in-depth looks at several artists and scenes from around the globe. Still, before we could officially bring the series to a close, we knew that there were still plenty of up-and-coming beatmakers whose potential merited a bit of attention. Given that, we've selected 10 artists that we'll be keeping an eye on in 2014. read more

Afterhours "Defragment #2" Posted: 10 Jan 2014 06:00 AM PST Afterhours is the simple-yet-appropriate name of Los Angeles resident Nicholas Crozier Malkin's production project. The electronic musician and radio DJ (he hosts a long-running 11-to-midnight radio show known as Field Recordings of the Afterhours) takes much of his inspiration from the solitary atmosphere and melancholic mood of his city's late-night/early morning hours, a fact heavily reflected in the "cinematic and nocturnal" pieces which make up his forthcoming Lowlife LP for Not Not Fun. read more

Press Play: MK, John Tejada, Jimmy Edgar, Art Department, and More Posted: 10 Jan 2014 04:00 AM PST We've got quite the selection of sounds in today's Press Play feature, including DJ sets, EP streams, remix premieres, music videos, and quality original tunes from the likes of Jimmy Edgar, MK, Morri$, Sd Laika, John Tejada, Kid Smpl, The Field, Basic Soul Unit, Lorca, and more. Some of it is downloadable, some of it can only be streamed, but all of it is worth a listen or two. read more

Soosh "Always (Shigeto's What We've Been Thru Redux)" Posted: 10 Jan 2014 02:00 AM PST Appearing on Shigeto's SoundCloud this week, the Detroit producer's remix for budding Glaswegian Soosh is said to have been made "a while back, maybe late 2011/2012." The artist born Zach Saginaw (pictured above) continues to explain, "We never found a home for it, but I met up with [Soosh] recently in NYC and got the blessing to give it away." Whatever the path Shigeto's "What We've Been Thru Redux" of "Always" took to get to us, we're certainly glad it's here, as the slow- read more