FACT Magazine Joakim announces Tropics Of Love LP, shares vocoded Neil Young cover @ Musique Non Stop |  |
- Joakim announces Tropics Of Love LP, shares vocoded Neil Young cover
- Snoop Dogg launches “Edm meets hip hop” group LA Party Machine
- A stack of great footwork mixtapes have come out this year, and you’ve all missed them
- Four Tet announces two 12″s under his Percussions alias plus an EP from the mysterious Taraval – hear ‘Blatant Water Cannon’
- Techno duo Gardland to release original improvisations on RVNG Intl.
- Soca meets techno on new Mixpak EP by Mr One Hundred; download a bootleg here
- Jackmaster and Oneman team up as Can U Dance, tour Europe
- Stream Future’s new album Honest in full
- Silent Servant dips into his punk collection for a must-hear mix on Powell’s NTS show
- Swans unveil new To Be Kind track, ‘Oxygen’
- Detroit veteran Rolando launches Roland Rocha Records with three-track Juu EP
- Lines Describing Circles
- Weird Drift
- James Lavelle’s Meltdown adds Jeff Mills, A Guy Called Gerald, Grandmaster Flash and more
- Stream Nas’ Illmatic XX, the 20th anniversary reissue featuring 10 bonus rarities
- Stream Dean Blunt’s ace ‘Free Jazz’ show at Cafe OTO
- All business: Flowdan on working with The Bug and landing on Hyperdub
- Prins Thomas mixes 10 Years of Full Pupp in two-disc compilation
- My Favourite Record: P. Morris
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 11:28 AM PDT
 The eclectic French producer returns with his fifth full-length. Joakim will release the follow-up to 2011′s Nothing Gold next month on his own Tigersushi imprint. Unlike his previous albums, Tropics of Love was recorded in New York. “I think I was partly influenced by the machines I had on hand,” he tells RA. “The SP1200 has this grainy lo-fi sound that reminds of Art Of Noise, for instance, which was an influence. The modular defines a lot of the sound atmosphere of the album. Things like Peter Gabriel or Paul Simon for the synthy tropical atmosphere, and modern R&B, both commercial and the weirder bass stuff that is to me a sort of experimental R&B.” Tropics of Love is due out May 26 via Because Music / Tigersushi. The cover art and tracklist are below, along with a cover of Neil Young’s ‘On The Beach’ that would have sounded great on the Drive OST.  01. Chapter 1 02. Bring Your Love 03. 3 Laser Fingers 04. Heartbeats 05. Chapter 2 06. Each Other 07. This Is My Life 08. RX777 09. Chapter 3 10. Man Like Moon 11. On The Beach 12. Hero         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 09:59 AM PDT
 This was inevitable, wasn’t it? Snoop Dogg has spent the last several years playing outside of the rap sandbox, whether that meant “reincarnating” as Snoop Lion, teaming up with Dam-Funk or dropping “EURO TEKNO” mixes. It’s the latter that informs his new project, which he just announced on Instagram: “Comin soon. My new group !!!!!!! Edm meets hip hop!! La party machine !!” Take that, Waka. No details on what to expect, but the LA Party Machine will not be Snoop’s first foray into EDM. As we documented last year, his most unexpected collaborations have included David Guetta, Boys Noize and more.          |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 08:39 AM PDT
 Chicago’s footwork music is more global than ever, with world tours for its stars (well, Rashad and Spinn) and high-profile releases on European labels. Despite this, there does seem to be a bit of a critical glass ceiling going on at the moment. It’s easier than ever to access Chicago footwork producers, with many of them uploading to Bandcamp and Soundcloud on a monthly basis, but it’s only when artists get picked up by labels like Planet Mu and Hyperdub that the world – or, at least, the very small part of the world who’s into this sort of thing – takes notice. I’m not an expert – I’m not sure anybody from the UK is, bar maybe one or two – but nobody seems to be writing about the footwork that’s not handed to them on a plate. Here’s a batch of footwork mixtapes and singles that I’ve been enjoying this year, all available on Bandcamp. (Obviously it’d be rude not to point out that Laurent Fintoni’s monthly Bandcamp round-up is a goldmine for footwork-influenced music from Japan and Europe. I’ve tried to stick to US stuff here, however). Note: If Bandcamp embeds look broken, just click on them and the artwork / music should load.
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 08:19 AM PDT
 Four Tet has announced the next three releases on his label Text. “TEXT029 and TEXT030 and TEXT031 are ready and will all be released on the same day. Around 28 April I think,” he wrote on Twitter. The first pair of 12″s are from the producer’s Percussions alias and are both split singles – ‘KHLHI/Sext’ and ‘Ascii Bot/Blatant Water Cannon’. The third is an EP from unknown entity Taraval titled Streetways, which will be available as a 12″ and digitally. Check out Taraval’s ‘Gonna Rain’, taken from a recent Four Tet mix, below. He added, quite possibly with tongue firmly in cheek: “Special Pono 23bit mastered limited RSD versions coming soon.” Hear Percussions’ ‘Blatant Water Cannon’: Hear Taraval’s ‘Gonna Rain’:         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 08:18 AM PDT
 Plus — the Sydney natives share a trippy new video. As a follow-up to last year’s Syndrome Syndrome, Aussie techno duo Gardland will release the original, improvised radio sessions that first caught the attention of New York’s RVNG Intl. "We didn't even think [the radio show] was that good," Gardland’s Alex Murray told FACT last year. "And then [RVNG's Matt Werth] sent us an email and we were like, what's this RVNG label? We hadn't heard of it. But when I looked into it I was like, right, this is solid." The Improvisations EP features three live performances first broadcast on local Australian radio in early 2002 that feature the same improvisational spirit and analogue techno fascination that has defined their work thus far. The EP is due out on April 29, both digitally and a limited edition 12″. Watch the video (by Timothy D) for ’0214 Pt. 2′ below.     |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 08:16 AM PDT
 Mr One Hundred is the new alias of London-via-St. Louis producer Paul B. Davis. While he’s working under a new alias, Davis is a veteran of midwest raves and the Chicago art world that eventually landed in London. In a previous life, the self-described hacker artist crafted the video game-sample phreaking 8 Bit Construction Set with Corey Arcangel. It was in London that Davis fell in love with soca, a genre that shares an intensity with his “techno upbringing.” Both influences are on a collision course on his debut as Mr One Hundred, the Palm Tree Destruction EP, out today via Mixpak. Described as “power soca music from the future,” the EP joins official samples from soca heavyweights Machel Montano, Fay Ann Lyons and Bunji Garlin with Mr One Hundred’s hyperactive techno productions. In addition to the EP, Mr One Hundred has bootlegged Montano’s ‘Higher Than High’, taking the song’s already-anthemic bombast to new levels. Download the bootleg and stream the EP below. Mixpak boss Dre Skull previewed the EP and more from the label on FACT’s recent East Village Radio show.    |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 08:10 AM PDT
 While they’ve been spotted playing back to back sets on countless occasions now, Jackmaster and Oneman have now made the partnership official. The duo have adopted the moniker Can U Dance, and are set to take their 4-deck setup on the road this summer, moving through the UK and Europe. Thankfully, they’re are remarkably down to earth about the concept behind the project, and don’t have any grand plan or annoying manifesto, they just want to play a bunch of bangers and make sure crowds lap it up. Jack Revill, aka Jackmaster says it best: “we always ended up playing together when were on the same line-up so this was just a natural progression, and a chance to do something on a festival level without sacrificing the spontaneity of our back to back sets.” You don’t need to tell us twice. Check out the duo’s brand spanking new site here. Tour dates: 06/07 – Field Day, London 06/08 – Parklife, Manchester 07/10 – Exit Festival, Serbia 07/17 – Dour Festival, Belgium 08/01 – Dekmantel Festival, Amsterdam 08/29 – Dimensions Festival, Croatia         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 07:52 AM PDT
 And not a moment too soon. After a protracted gestation, Future’s new album has finally arrived. Honest features certified banger ‘Move That Dope’, the recently unveiled Kanye West collaboration ‘I Won’ and guest appearances from Drake, Andre 3000 and more. The 16-track album was executive produced by Mike Will Made It and is out on April 22. Stream the album below and pre-order it on iTunes if you fancy. [via Complex]         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 05:28 AM PDT
 Download an education in outsider genius. Silent Servant contributed a bizarre and brilliant mix to Powell’s NTS show last week, digging out lesser-heard gems from the likes of electronic pioneer Alexander Robotnick, On-U Sound dub-punk collective New Age Steppers, post-punkers Pig Bag, X-Ray Spex saxophonist Lora Logic and cold wave Northerners Religious Overdose. The former Sandwell District man’s mix is sandwiched between some ace selections from Powell, too – Alan Vega, Oren Ambarchi and cuts from his Diagonal label. Stream and download the mix below (it kicks off 31 minutes in) and see the tracklist underneath. Check out Silent Servant’s recent pitch-black remix of a track from Beau Wanzer and Elon Katz's Streetwalker project too, out on Diagonal. Tracklist: POWELL Diseño Corbusier — Gli Scolari [Venilisssimo] Oren Ambarchi — Stacte Karaoke [Black Truffle] Technoid — Technoid [New Zone] 400 Blows — For Jackie M [Illuminated Records] Laurent X — Machines [House Nation Records] Alan Vega w/ A.R.E Weapons — War [Blast First Petite] The Maniacs — Luv Eternal [Nation] Powell feat. JAIME — Untitled [N/A] SILENT SERVANT Animals and Men — Don't Misbehave in the New Age Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti — My Molly Spider — Booze Town Doctor Mix and The Remix — Out Of The Question Religious Overdose — In This Century Lora Logic — Brute Fury Dorothy — Softness Pig Bag — Sunny Day A Certain Ratio — Guess Who Electric Chairs — So Many Ways Capricorn — I need love Simian Mobile Disco — State of Things Alexander Robotnick — Intro for Live Performance Padded Cell — Savage Skulls Eddy Grant — Time Warp Hawkeye — Born New Age Steppers — Fade Away Maximum Joy — Silent Street Sandoz — King Dread Carl Craig — The Climax [Basic Reshape] Deepchord — Vantage Isle (DC Mix 1) POWELL Blind Vision — Bestialic Beat [New Zone] Fabrica Del Silencio — Clon [Domestica] Bronze Teeth — Tephra [Diagonal 2014] Shit and Shine — Astro's Hat [Diagonal 2014] Matrix — Mute 98 [Prototype] Deviere — Hana [Mathematics] >> Diseño Corbusier — N/A [Venilisssimo] Le Chocolat Noir — Campana Di Vetro [N/A] DIY — U Don't Have 2 Worry Instr. [Subway] DAF — Ich Will [Virgin] Richard H. Kirk — Martyrs of Palestine, Detonate [The Grey Area]         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 04:28 AM PDT
 Following the unexpectedly slinky ‘A Little God In My Hands’, Michael Gira and friends continue their adventures in funk. ‘Oxygen’ (which has been on their live setlist for some time) is the second track from Swans‘ forthcoming To Be Kind, and it’s similarly fleet-footed – elastic, fast-paced funk-rock with more than a hint of Massacre, and a hootin’-and-a-hollerin’ performance from Gira. Stick around: around four minutes in, the track starts to eat itself in spectacular fashion. To Be Kind – which features guest spots from the likes of Little Annie and St. Vincent – will hit stores on May 13. As per The Seer, the album will run to over two hours. [via The Quietus]         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 04:18 AM PDT
 Detroit selector kicks off R3 with trio of new productions. Former Underground Resistance comrade Rolando has launched a new label, Roland Rocha Records, or R3. The Edinburgh-based DJ says R3 will allow him “artistic freedom to put music out in the right context, [with] the right timing, and [to maintain] the ultimate control of his own work.” The first release is a three-track EP from the man himself titled Juu, comprising three tracks – ‘Juu’, ‘Non’ and ‘Time Adjustment’ – and follows his D & Ns EP on Ostgut Ton last year. Ahead of its release on April 28, you can check out the title track and ‘Time Adjustment’ as part of Rolando’s latest mix for French website Trax. [via XLR8R]         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 03:56 AM PDT
 Available on: Digitalis Lines Describing Circles is Peder Mannerfelt's first solo LP under his given name, though his discography stretches in all directions, from his work as half of the experimental duo Roll the Dice, to production on Fever Ray's album, and releases on Digitalis as The Subliminal Kid. By definition an album is a grander statement than an EP, but even so the format is particularly suited to Mannerfelt. Lines Describing Circles more than delivers on the promise of his solo EPs, with pulverising tracks that work well as standalone pieces but even better as part of a wider narrative arc. The cacophonies Mannerfelt wrings from his machines are brutal and hint at unfettered chaos, yet the firm control he exerts over both the sound and its arrangement results in calculated, sinister music that's nevertheless amorphous and unpredictable. Broadly speaking, you can lump Mannerfelt in with producers working at the intersection of noise and techno, but Ø's vast, chilly landscapes and Sunn O)))'s funereal doom are just as apt referents as more immediate ones like Emptyset or Container. On 'Collapsion', bottomless bass thuds grimly, intercut with slices of whirring noise and, eventually, a cauterising trebly drone. 'Lines Describing a Circle' builds on the first track's dread by building gradually into a behemoth, opening with a solemn rhythm and then heating up as if lit from within: the thin digital hum thickens into a grainy buzz, the drums grow harsher, and bands of white noise stretch out over everything. For all the chaotic oscillations though, every element is precisely placed in the mix, so that the sense of mounting doom feels eerily inevitable. Although the mood is bleak throughout, Lines Describing Circles never feels one-dimensional, thanks to huge range in its dynamics, tone and rhythm. The harsh, stuttering buzz of 'Affricate Consonants', coupled with fathomless bass and kicks, makes for an equally disquieting experience, while the pounding drums of 'Gulo Gulo Caesitas' suggest a different kind of bleakness, the oppressiveness of its rhythm only heightened by Mannerfelt's addition of squalls of feedback. Unsparing restraint counters the noise, the limitations Mannerfelt imposes on sounds serving to emphasise their colossal impact. The only relief seems to come from the almost-song 'Alpha Waves', but its repetitive, cranking structure is just a different kind of foreboding, while flashes of noise on 'Derrvish' pound away like the signal of untold horror, and 'Nihilist 87' is comparatively quiet, as grey, barren and unwelcoming as its title suggests. Every surface is roughened and grainy, and great forbidding groans of sub-bass and sustained treble are outlined so sharply it's as if they're rubbing unpleasantly on your skin. Tight sequencing means that Lines Describing Circles becomes more crushing with each successive track. The only one that feels slightly out of place is 'Evening Redness in the West', where an inhuman, robotic voice repeats the words "barren" and "horizon" over hisses of feedback and fragmented notes that seem to hang in empty space. But 'In Place of Once Was' and 'Rotterdam Anagram' are among the strongest tracks on Lines Describing Circles, desolate pieces where sombre pads and thick slashes of distortion bring the dystopian narrative to a fitting close. Mannerfelt's knack for conjuring up and sustaining unrelentingly bleak atmospheres was already clear from his EP releases, but Lines Describing Circles is without question the most thrilling, monolithic record he has put his name to yet.         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 03:40 AM PDT
 Available on: Planet Mu Heterotic, the duo of Planet Mu founder Mike Paradinas and his wife Lara Rix-Martin, made their debut early last year with Love & Devotion. An album of sweetly textured synth-pop that made good use of the vocal talents of Gravehurst's Nick Talbot, it was, on the surface at least, a far cry from the music that Paradinas has become known for under his most famed pseudonym, μ-Ziq – a jittery, exploratory hybrid of techno and breakbeat that all but defined the genre known as IDM. Such is the alien intensity of the music Paradinas made in the '90s that it's easy to perceive any music that he makes that strays outside of this template as cause for raised eyebrows. But before μ-Ziq, Paradinas cut his teeth as a keyboardist in an electro-pop group, and as he revealed to FACT's Angus Finlayson in this 2013 interview, his first clubbing experiences were to soul and rare groove, an experience that has perhaps instilled the fecund melodic sense often latent in his work. Add to this Rix-Martin's early love for the likes of Fleetwood Mac and Peter Gabriel, and it's perhaps easy to visualise the shared space in their venn diagram of influence. Heterotic's second album is, if anything, an even poppier record than its predecessor. Replacing Nick Talbot on vocals on seven of this record's 12 tracks is Vezelay, a.k.a. Frenchman Matthieu Le Berre, who released an EP of dreamy electropop on Planet Mu in 2011. Le Berre's vocal is a breathily beautiful thing, of a kind with that of Jeremy Greenspan of Junior Boys, and his presence seems to coax a deeper and more detailed sense of songcraft from the duo. On Love & Devotion, you suspect the material happened to suit a vocalist; here, you get the impression that music was written deliberately for a vocalist, and the improvement is subtle but pronounced. The other side of 'Self-Importance', a melancholic proto-Italo opener adorned with twinkling keys and echo-soaked snare crashes, Le Berre makes his entrance on 'Rain'. His falsetto flutters and weaves through an impossibly lush concoction of crashing waves, keyboard washes and twinkling melodies, paced closer to a late night slow jam than a club track. The skittering rhythms that open ‘Boxed’ nod to Paradinas' infatuation with footwork, although Le Berre's quiet storm vocal ensures that the track remains on a deep, introspective tilt. On 'Triumph', they dispense with a conventional drum track, intricate electronic rhyths criss-crossing in elegant syncopations. Sensuality would seem to be the key here, as you'd expect from a group calling themselves Heterotic (although the name itself is no pun, being both biological terminology referring to an organism's genetic vigour, and something to do with string theory – let's just call this sex music for eggheads). By and large, Weird Drift works better when it's upbeat, as on 'Florence' or the Rhodes-powered instrumental 'Sultana', drifting into moments of chillwave insubstantiality on the likes of 'Shoe Soul'. The closing 'Empires', meanwhile, ends on the sort of rousing piano climax that briefly brings to mind Coldplay – hardly ideal. Still, none of this is a dealbreaker. For my tastes, Weird Drift is a little laid back, lacking the vertiginous drama that you find in the best synth-pop, and I'm more inclined to stick with another recent Planet Mu foray into the form, Miracle's overlooked Mercury. But Heterotic are generous with the melody, and the revolving vocalist format, if they choose to pursue it, certainly has potential. They may find their sweet spot yet.         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 03:27 AM PDT
 The Mo’ Wax boss selects names from the hip hop and club spectrum. James Lavelle has announced another wave of acts for his Meltdown festival, set for June 13-22 at London’s Southbank Centre. Grandmaster Flash and Scratch Perverts will team up for a one-off joint set that promises a masterclass in hip-hop DJing, while Detroit originator Jeff Mills will be supported by Manchester house veteran A Guy Called Gerald. Relative young’uns James Holden and Trentemøller also add a healthy dose of electronic innovation to the line-up, with the former supported by Rosie Lowe and the ace Glass Animals. They join a bill that already includes ESG, DJ Harvey, Goldie, Neneh Cherry, Lavelle performing with UNKLE and much more. Tickets for the shows listed below are on sale now.         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 02:10 AM PDT
 Hear the expanded version of the NYC rapper’s landmark debut. The 20th anniversary reissue of Nas’ Illmatic is out today, featuring a bonus disc of rare remixes, unreleased demos and a freestyle recorded on The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show in 1993. The album is streaming on Spotify now, with the exception of the first two tracks from the bonus disc – the truly old school ‘I’m A Villain’ and the aforementioned freestyle. Check out those two embedded below the Spotify stream. Nas was joined by his former nemesis Jay-Z during his Illmatic performance at Coachella last week – watch the show in full and catch up with his recent appearance alongside The Roots and Q-Tip on Jimmy Fallon’s TV show. Stream the album on Spotify: Hear ‘I’m A Villain’: Hear the freestyle from The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show:         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 02:04 AM PDT
 Blunt goes Zorn. Whilst we were dredging up non-existent Aphex Twin rarities, rehabilitated prankster Dean Blunt spent April 1 on a more serious tip. The man behind our favourite album of 2013 and a new ensemble played an hour-long set at London experimental outpost Cafe OTO, billed as “Free Jazz”. As Tiny Mix Tapes point out, that performance is now online. The eight-piece set-up saw Blunt joined by regular collaborator Joanne Robertson and Emil Erg, plus a squad of saxophonists and vocalist Liquid Thompson. The title’s not a misnomer: the set’s an hour of caterwauling saxophones and loose-limbed percussion work, overlaid with splenetic performance poetry. It’s confounding and compelling – standard Blunt, then. The full set is available to stream below.         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 01:30 AM PDT
 Flowdan’s personality seems quite a bit like his vocal delivery. Not so much in the sense that it puts the fear of god into you, but in a sense of patience and steady momentum. From the earliest days of grime, in Roll Deep, he has always provided a stark contrast to the berserk energy of his peers, in his deep, dread tones and sense of ancient menace. This also made him perfect to inhabit the dark sonic chambers of classic dubstep, with his and Killa P’s threats making The Bug’s ‘Skeng’ one of the defining tunes of the genre’s breakout era. Since then his career progress has also been slow but inexorable. Building on ‘Skeng’, he formed a lasting creative partnership with Kevin Martin, and also proved adept at keeping feet in both the dubstep and grime camps, avoiding scene hype and (a falling out with Killa P notwithstanding) infighting that have dogged other MCs of his generation. Now there’s a solo EP in the works for Hyperdub, which draws together his various threads, including productions from The Bug, grime godfather Footsie, young grime talent Masro, and one particularly apocalyptic contribution from DMZ’s Coki. We met in Soho one morning recently, and though Flowdan had the air of someone who’d rather not be up and out quite so early, he was extraordinarily punctual by grime standards and downright cheerful in conversation. His replies are always carefully-phrased but direct: whether we were talking about Norris McWhirter or jungle, it seemed that this is someone who considers his every thought and move well.
“Grime’s always had that organised chaos vibe. But you can’t really package organised chaos”
So let’s start with the EP – why Hyperdub?Obviously ‘Skeng’ came out on Hyperdub… that’s a good few years ago now, but The Bug’s got a good relationship with the owner of Hyperdub, and through doing shows and festivals and so forth I do see Kode9 quite often, so I’ve always been in contact with him. Now, it’s just a part of my career where I’m supposedly taking it serious [quizzical smile] so I thought, OK, put together an EP, and the first person that took interest was him really, so that’s it – it’s coming out on Hyperdub! And what did you want this EP to say about you? Well, I’ve put together quite a few tracks over the last year as a solo artist. Some of them have been coming out, some are just sitting on a hard drive, and I thought I need to get myself out there, start trying to build the profile and the brand and show people that I’m doing stuff alone and this is my sound. So when the Hyperdub idea came about, I thought, ‘That’s a good way of doing it’ – not just for the ‘Skeng’ connection, but for them being the type of label that does that sound, that mad, out-there music. Can you say what’s provoked this wanting to be more serious careerwise? What’s provoked it is just that I’m working alone now, really. When you’re working with a group – I’m talking about Roll Deep obviously – you just need to play a role, and it’s quite easy to be part of a successful team by playing your role. When there’s no team, I have to do it all myself, and as soon as I start doing that, I start taking it more serious. You have also worked with Kevin Martin for a long time though – did you ever feel you might just gravitate into being part of his wider crew? Well, that is about two entities coming together, but they are separate too. We always make good music together but at the same time I’ve always got my own brand and identity, and aside from that I just want to do more. I always will work with The Bug, he’s helped me come this far because obviously ‘Skeng’ was a big smash, ‘Jah War’ and so forth, he’s give me that opportunity to do that stuff and put me out there on another platform, so I always will be working with Kevin… And you’ve done a load of shows with him over the last couple of years, right? The last SIX years! Six years, just continuously touring, we don’t ever stop really – he’s got new material, I’ve got new material, all the time so we’re just always on the road touring and performing that work. ‘Dirty’ seemed to be a big track for you two recently in making audiences sit up and take notice… Yeah, ‘Dirty’ was a good one for us, because Kevin just takes long to put out music because he’s very particular. So people was waiting for something from us, and when we gave them ‘Dirty’ it was well received, couldn’t have asked for much more. And it’s definitely somewhat going towards where I want to be going towards, sounding-wise: just more unforgiving, tear-out but with a conscious message at times. Well it definitely works in a rave – it seemed to be THE track of DMZ’s 8th birthday last year, it was played over and over. Was it? Yeah, Mala does support very well – big up to him, definitely. One thing that struck me about that track was a similarity in vibe with that moment in the early ’80s when reggae met punk and experimental music in the form of 2-Tone, The Pop Group, The Slits. Well, I wasn’t around in them times of course, or not making music anyway, but them people you mentioned had a big impact on people and I want to do that, certainly. And yeah, if you can make your own sound from what you hear, that’s what I want to move towards. Be a leader of your own sound as opposed to being part of a scene because sometimes a scene can die and you’re left standing there still ready to do music but nobody’s interested. I’ve learned from that, that you have to lead and just be unique in every way. Definitely, definitely I do, but because grime has its issues regarding media, regarding being held back, then you get held back too if that’s all you do. So I’ve learned from that, and also my style and my creativity is a bit more diverse… I don’t mean more diverse than grime, because grime can sound like anything it wants to, but more diverse than what it’s been pigeonholed as – people saying this isn’t grime or that isn’t grime, saying "Flowdan doesn’t do grime, he does dubstep now", when to me it’s all grime. Can you expand on what you mean about grime’s issues with the media? Because in my experience that’s a two-way thing – for example, people in the media can’t get a handle on it because grime seems to be in a constant state of argument with itself. That alone is us holding ourselves back, because we can’t decide what we’re meant to be doing or even what it is, everyone’s got their own criteria and it’s not clear to people from outside it what it is. Regarding the media, I can’t really elaborate because I don’t pay much attention, but I can certainly say that years ago it wasn’t held in the best light, and it seems like this still happens, because just recently Just Jam and JME had their show cancelled. I don’t know why, but I’d imagine it’s the same old reasons. But regarding us as a scene, if we came together and did what we’re meant to be doing, decided the criteria and so forth, then we’d move forward quite quickly. Of course you might say that the constant disagreement is one of the things that makes grime great, that stops it getting stuck in any formula… Organised chaos [laughs]. Yeah, it’s always had that organised chaos vibe. But you can’t really package organised chaos, you can’t really sell it to people. You say that, but Malcolm McLaren, the Sex Pistols’ manager, had the slogan "cash from chaos"! [Laughs] OK then… yeah that’s good – but you still need to have a head of business for that, you can’t just be random and sporadic and think cash is going to come like that. OK, so what else, aside from the grime scene and the people you are working with, has been feeding into your musical direction? Well it’s not so much about musical influences or anything, as being sure that I’ve got something to offer and allowing myself to really express that unlimitedly. Obviously I do have my influences but they’ve been set – I don’t think anything I hear nowadays influences me. I mean it might subconsciously, but I know that what I draw for is what I’ve been drawing for since I started when I was 12, which is dancehall and drum’n'bass: that type of energy, that type of delivery, that type of rhythm. They’re my only influences. My peers, that meaning other artists around me that I work with and respect, they influence me not creatively but just influence me to keep me fresh, and keep me thinking, if they want to do that, then I want to do this because I think that’ll go well against that. I like listening to my peers because they stimulate me, but not necessarily inspire me. Interesting you mention drum’n'bass – do you think the influence of that on grime is under-appreciated, because a lot of people still see grime as having come from garage? Definitely. That was my first – well, I was going to say platform, but it wasn’t a platform because it was in the bedroom after school! But that’s where I learned microphone control, or at least started to learn microphone control, and delivery, and stamina. I used to listen to radio sets that were two hours long, and tape an hour and a half of it because that’s what fit on a tape, so having that as a template to go from, you had to last. You had to be at it for a long time, to do it for that two hours, so it was good training and good preparation for this now.
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 01:25 AM PDT
 The crown prince of nu-disco selects Norwegian talent old and new. Prins Thomas had shed light on a forthcoming two-disc compilation celebrating 10 years of his label Full Pupp, a name that always raises a chuckle from FACT’s Norwegian-speaking staffers. Following the imprint’s recent run of vinyl samplers, 10 Years of Full Pupp comprises 32 tracks edited and mixed by Prins Thomas, half of which are brand new cuts recorded for the mix. Featured artists include his studio buddy Lindstrøm, Casiokids, Diskjokke, Skatebård and DJ Sotofett of Sex Tags Mania. Peruse the tracklist below. The mix was recorded “at home on a cloudy afternoon using vinyl only, two Technics 1210s, Rane MP2016 + XP2016 and Alpha Recording System three-band isolator,” with overdubs and tweaks completed at K16 Studios in Oslo, says Thomas. 10 Years Of Full Pupp arrives on May 26. In the meantime, Prins Thomas is also gearing up for the release of his third album, III. The other boss of nu-disco released an exceptional debut album last week, in case you hadn’t heard – read the FACT interview with Todd Terje and our review of It’s Album Time before digging into five of the record’s weird influences. [via RA] Tracklist: CD1 01 Frisvold & Lindbæk – Bozak FX 02 Marius Våreid – No Vil Eg Bort Og Gifta Meg Og Rydja Meg Ein Gard 03 Blackbelt Andersen – Treigt Og Gæli 04 Magnus International – Rea 05 Ytre Rymden Dansskola – Cafe Del Mareritt 06 Erik Skantze – Stargaze 07 Marius Våreid – Villa Farris + Marius Våreid – Villa Farris (PT Versjon) 08 Prins Thomas – Ørkenvandring 09 Magnus International – Mandass Morran Blus 10 Casiokids – Den lange veien hjem 11 Andre Bratten – Stille Sortie 12 Tarjei Nygård – Brosteinsjungel 13 Jarle Bråthen – Untitled (Omar V Remix) 14 Blackbelt Andersen – Tyrkisk Pepper (Dølle Jølle Remix) 15 Diskjokke – 1987 (Prins Thomas Diskomiks) 16 Øyvind Morken – En Navneløs Jævel 17 Skatebård – Sequence (Prins Thomas Edit) 18 Lindstrøm – Vos-Sako-Rv (Magnus International Remix) CD2 01 Prins Thomas – Bobletekno (DJ Sotofett New Age Mix) 02 Prins Thomas – Bobletekno (Perkmiks) 03 Magnus International – Treig 04 Øyvind Morken – Når Bunnen Er Nådd 05 Andre Bratten – Libra 06 Prins Thomas – Søt Kløe 07 Magnus International – Goober (Marius Circus Remix) 08 Marius Våreid – Vallefaret (Blackbelt Andersen Remix) 09 Jarle Bråthen – Stjernekrigen 10 Lionheart Brothers – The Drift (Prins Thomas Miks) + Lionheart Brothers – The Drft (M.Øby & PT Edit) 11 Frisvold & Lindbæk – Spøk Og Spenning (PT Bogus Beat) + Frisvold & Lindbæk – Spøk Og Spenning 12 Sommerstad – Neste Stopp Morra Di 13 Telephones – Kanal (Prins Thomas Sure Oppstøt) 14 Randaberg Ego Ensemble – You Can’t Do It Right         |
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Posted: 15 Apr 2014 01:20 AM PDT
 My Favourite Record is a new weekly feature where we ask musicians we rate from across the spectrum to pick their most cherished album – a development of our occasional On Record feature, and a chance to take a peek at the albums that maketh the artist. Today’s entry:
Marvin Gaye
Picked by: Bear Club producer and recent FACT mixer P. Morris.I Want You (Motown, 1976)  “I think one of those ‘forever and ever’ records that I will always return to is Marvin Gaye’s I Want You. Something about the tracking on it, something about just… it has a quality to it that other recordings don’t. “Obviously I grew up listening to a lot of r’n'b – Teddy Pendergrass, Stevie Wonder, those kind of cats – but even though they’re Marvin’s colleagues, something about [his] recordings have this life to them that those other guys lack, even though their performances are incredible. And not only that, but he pretty much single-handedly invented Quiet Storm in one fell swoop. “It might flip-flop sometimes with Stereolab’s Dots and Loops, but between those two that’s it.” Watch P. Morris talk I Want You for FACT TV:         |
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