Premiere: Jensen Interceptor ‘Delayed Response’
Sydney-based electro engineer Jensen Interceptor has been ferociously drift driving on our radar for a while now. When we caught up with the producer last year just after he released some killer releases on Boysnoize Records and Sheffield’s Central Processing Unit we were frankly blown away by the combination of futuristic and retro influences utilised in making his heady, petrol doused industrial cuts.
SOPHIE announces debut album, ‘Oil Of Every Pearl's Un-Insides’
SOPHIE's debut album has been confirmed. 'Oil Of Every Pearl's Un-Insides' will land next Friday 15th June.
Three of her singles— 'Ponyboy', 'Faceshopping' and 'It's OK To Cry'— arrived last year on Transgressive Records, all of which will appear on the forthcoming long player, carried by the same imprint.
Claude VonStroke to release first ever Dirtybird live album
Claude VonStroke is releasing the first ever Dirtybird live album— a recording of his set from Movement in Detroit, appropriately titled 'Claude VonStroke: Live In Detroit'.
A native to the city and regular player at the event, the man in question closed out the festival's main Saturday night this year, an honour he evidently took very seriously. Scores of new work were signed and cleared in the months leading up to the occasion, winding up with almost 150 tunes available for use.
DJ Mag Podcast 95: Minimal Violence
Minimal Violence is a punk band. Sort of. Born from Vancouver’s underground punk community out of an eagerness to mix records as well as play in bands, the duo of Ashlee Luk and Lida P have clung to the DIY and outsider ethos of their scene with resolute talons since coming together in 2015. It is in the rawness of their roots that the appeal of their incendiary electronics lies.
“I definitely think we have evolved to a significantly heavier place than we started,” Luk tells DJ Mag. “Which is funny since it has always been such punk approach from the beginning but maybe from a softer angle.
And it is, as expected, the artists who defy traditional structures that Minimal Violence are kindred with. The pair, along with Josh Rose and Spencer Davis of Vancouver post-punk outfit Cowards, formed Sacred Sound Club as a response to the lack of experimental electronic and dance music events taking place in the city. It has since expanded, with a new wave of experimental, DIY electronic outfits and collectives rising with it.
Luk still plays in her dark punk band lié (she’s on guitar and vocals) and is precise when specifying the links she finds between the clamorous spirit of that outlet and the more dancefloor-ready edge of Minimal Violence.
Premiere: Historical Repeater ‘Flashdrive’
Individually, CTRLS and Solid Blake have been causing a stir in underground techno and electro spheres for some time now. Danish DJ/producer CTRLS has become known on the Copenhagen circuit for his hectic, fearsome sets and equally ripping productions, the techniques behind which he recently showcased in a Beatport Studio Session.
DJ Mag Podcast 94: Steve Bicknell
Steve Bicknell has been immersed in techno for close to three decades now. Having launched the legendary LOST parties in 1991 with Sheree Rashit – which, if you don’t know, gave Jeff Mill’s his UK debut – as well as launching the influential Cosmic Records label a few short years later, he has been one of the most understated, vital figures in the UK’s underground, dark techno spheres since some of the scene’s biggest contemporary players were just kids. Though LOST may have finished up some years ago, that influence has gone nowhere.
His most recent EP on 6dimensions ‘Mind Patterns’ is arguably Bicknell’s most ferocious, relentless work. ‘Vein Injection’ is a distorted, brutal sonic assault while ‘Present Minds’ is a dark, euphoric trip that you could only hope to crawl your way out of, or just get lost in.
As natural as a process as those compositions may be, there is evidently a lot of personal and psychological projection in the music that Bicknell creates. Given that, and that Bicknell has previously shared interest mindfulness in the past, one can’t but wonder if he considers himself to be a philosophically inclined artist…
“I think someone who knows me would better answer that question,” he admits. “I would say I follow feeling over thought as much as possible.”
One such artist discovery for Bicknell to release on 6dimensions was Jing, the Taiwanese conceptual artist and producer whose vivid, experimental electronic sound designs soundtrack short stories with cinematic, cerebral mastery. Bicknell released her remarkable ‘Adularescence’ on 6dimensions in February this year.
DJ Stingray and Mumdance drop next level electro playlist
DJ Stingray and Mumdance have dropped a next level electro playlist on Spotify.
The 19-strong selection includes workouts from names like Kyle Hall (under his KMFH alias), French rave activist Umwelt, dnb pioneer Doc Scott and Birmingham techno deity Regis.
Premiere: LA-4A ‘Slackline’
LA-4A drops his ‘Slackline’ EP on Sheffield’s Central Processing Unit (CPU) next month (8th June). We’ve got the exclusive premiere of the title track below.
Initially an anonymous production handle, LA-4A is the alter ego of Berlin-based expat Kevin McHugh (aka Ambivalent) – a past affiliate of Richie Hawtin‘s Minus label.
McHugh launched his own Delft imprint in 2013, which has released a number of his own productions – with standouts including ‘Invader’ and ‘Triad’ – as well as material from Mor Elian, Alden Tyrell and Physical Therapy.
Fresh Kicks 69: 96 Back
96 Back is the pseudonym of Sheffield-born, Leeds based DJ/producer Evan Majumdar-Swift. at At just 18, he is quickly becoming one of the most talked about names in the UK electro and bleep scenes and beyond given his rapid, infectious mixes and, particularly, given the anticipation surrounding his new release on legendary Sheffield label CPU Records.
DJ Mag Podcast 92: DeFeKT
Few artists have been as pivotal in Ireland’s electronic evolution of the past decade as DeFeKT. A formidable producer and live artist, the modular electro dedicant – real name Matt Flanagan – has, along with the likes of Sunil Sharpe, Jamie Behan, John Daly and Donnacha Costello, risen in recent years from the once covert but bustling techno underground into the thriving mainstream of the scene.
“I've had modular since I started to get better at production in college,” he explains of his production background. “I was introduced to it about 12 years ago by my teacher Ken. In terms of getting more into electro, my journey started by collecting techno records and I’d hear some electro B-sides. At that time I’d be blown away by the beats. My love affair with electro grew and grew as I got into Kraftwerk, Anthony Rother and The Advent to name a few.”
“Acts from here don’t get so much coverage. But we wanted to make a statement. And we will make more statements”
Amid the incendiary percussion, volatile acid lines and buzz saw bass grooves, ‘On A Roll’ is embellished with spoken snippets and found sounds that ground the release in the Irish landscape and community, giving a keen sense when listening to the album that it exists proudly within this pivotal time for Irish electronics where this music exists more in the “mainstream” than ever before. ‘Intro’ finds two young midlands accents discussing “patterns” before the ferocious ‘Caravan Life’ kicks off.
