XLR8R News and Features

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1. Dubspot Launches Dubspot Labs Event Series, Details Upcoming Synth-Building Workshop
2. DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn "DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn Meet Tshetsha Boys (Photonz 33 1/3 Refix)"
3. Watch Jessy Lanza Perform for Yours Truly
4. Download a New Mix from Rene Hell
5. Rain Dog "Regolith"
6. Holly Herndon Announces New 12"
7. Bubblin' Up Week 2014: Beyond Talabot - Barcelona's Electronic Scene Works Its Way into the Spotlight
8. XO "Old Skool"
9. Go Dugong "Total Body Workout"

Dubspot Launches Dubspot Labs Event Series, Details Upcoming Synth-Building Workshop Posted: 06 Jan 2014 12:03 PM PST New York-based production school Dubspot (which recently revealed it would be opening a Los Angeles location in 2014) has announced Dubspot Labs, a new, ongoing series of special events and workshops scheduled to begin this weekend with a seminar on DIY synth building. read more

XLR8R News and Features

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1. Review: littleBits x Korg Synth Kit
2. Jessy Lanza Announces US Tour Dates
3. Deceptive "Only U"
4. Tycho Details New LP for Ghostly
5. Download a New Mix from Sigha
6. Milo McBride & Afriqua "Platinum Band"
7. Audion, Jimmy Edgar, and More to Remix Boys Noize
8. Truncate Readies New EP for 50Weapons
9. Video Premiere: Heatsick "Clear Chanel"
10. XLR8R's Best of 2013: New Artists
11. Montel "Jack Swing"
12. Rival Dealer EP
13. Win a Ton of New Music from Bleep!
14. Trikk "Jointly (Brooklyn Mix)"

Review: littleBits x Korg Synth Kit Posted: 16 Dec 2013 12:44 PM PST littleBits, a New York-based outfit started by MIT Media Labs graduate Ayah Bdeir, is based around a very basic idea: creating "simple and sophisticated electronics for learning, prototyping, and play." The company has designed and produced a wealth of small components that snap together with magnets, therefore bypassing any sort of soldering or delicate electrical work and opening up the world of electronics to children, curious adults, and anyone who wants to unleash some nascent creativity. Its most recent product, the Synth Kit, has already caused quite a stir, as it comes with the seal of approval from co-designer and music-technology giant Korg. The Synth Kit follows littleBits' modus operandi in that it's a fully analog modular synthesizer the user can construct from 12 separate, snappable components—including a tiny keyboard, four-step sequencer, a small speaker, a battery power source, and a host of circuits which help manipulate the sound. read more

Musique Non Stop | eMusic Electronica

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Who Is…Jessy Lanza Posted: 11 Sep 2013 06:25 AM PDT   File under: Bewitching, minimalist R&B that's part Kraftwerk, part coldwave For fans of: Ikonika, Cooly G, Junior Boys, Kraftwerk From: Hamilton, Ontario Personae: Jessy Lanza, Jeremy Greenspan Jessy Lanza’s debut album, Pull My Hair Back, strikes a careful balance of hot and cold. On the one hand, there are songs like “Fuck Diamond,” “Against the Wall” and the title track, not to mention a general air of R&B at its most suggestive: heavy lids and bated breath and scraps of discarded clothing paving the way to the feather bed. But someone must have left the window open, because an icy chill hangs over everything. Lanza and co-producer Jeremy Greenspan, of Junior Boys, favor cool analog synthesizers and crisp vintage drum machines, overlaying jittery R&B grooves with an eerie sheen that’s part Kraftwerk, part coldwave. In the midst of it all, channeled through delicate electronic processing, Lanza’s breathy voice fills the room like so many tendrils of dry ice.

New band of the day (Jessy Lanza 1,547)

After SZA, Phlo, Kid A and Jhené comes the latest and possibly greatest of the new ethereal soul girls

Hometown: Hamilton, Canada.



The lineup: Jessy Lanza (vocals).

The background: A reader of this column wondered the other day whether "new music has been a bit weaker this year than the last couple of years". We're guessing he won't have that sinking feeling today (we have a database on all our respondents and their individual tastes) because Jessy Lanza is one of those new artists that does indeed make us unreservedly exclaim, "This is the best thing ever - you must listen now!"