Underground Grooves

Filterwolf - Nocturne (Part 2) (2010, Process Recordings)

2010-06-08T13:42:00.000-07:00

Filterwolf's debut album Music From Tomorrow has been received very well for its fast-paced electronica with reminiscence of Kraftwerk and Carl Craig, combined with sampled oriental and middle-eastern Burial-esque vocals. The lead single Nocturne, with its initial remixes by Bodycode,Corrugated Tunnel and Olibusta got airplay from Huw Stephens (BBC Radio One), Eddy Temple-Morris (XFM London), Paul Hamill (BBC Radio Ulster), Alexander Theory (Kiss FM Melbourne),Dave Mothersole (Proton Radio) and on Berlin's BLN.FM.

DJ Rob Warner in New Zealand issued a "Total Bomb Alert" for the single Nocturne, whilst Michael Stukes from WHCR called it "Pretty fuckin' daring and amazing". Hrdvsion called it "Pretty booty melodic hump" and the Bodycode remix of Nocturne was featured on XLR8R, Happy Please and theAnji Bee Chillcast. The entire Get The Curse crew from Paris got behind Olibusta's excellent remix of the track. And it inspired Munich's Koto Kodama to create a sexy video around Nocturne.

Now it's time for the second set of remixes, each of which gives a very different direction to Nocturne. First up is dub KULT, the man who released Filterwolf's very first release on his Living Records label. He has been somewhat quiet recently, but his Nocturne remix is as deep as we would expect from him.

The second remix is by Partikel from Zürich in Switzerland, who released his debut EP on Plexo Solar last year. This slowed down version, with lots of unusual instrumentation, is strongly aimed at the back room and after-parties. Then it's Argentinian Luciano Benz's turn, who turns the track into a fantastic latin american salsa monster. And closing the ranks is Obsidian from California with a mega Drum-and-Bass remix.

The album version is not part of the digital bundle, but is provided here for reference. Please do also check out the video for Nocturne.

Trentemoller releases new album

2010-06-08T13:37:00.000-07:00

Danish musician Anders Trentemøller has released his eagerly awaited second artist album worldwide in the first week of June 2010. Entitled “Into The Great Wide Yonder” the second full length by the remarkably talented Copenhagen based musician drops on Trentemøller’s own label “In My Room” and already started to receive fantastic reviews:

The doomy D anish disco producer cuts sharp beats with creepy operatic vocals that goths will like, industrial clubbers will love and the rest of us will just find fascinating. Step Into The Great Wide Yonder and get lost all summer. (Dazed & Confused)

In walks a warp from Copenhagen that not only pulls of mixing surf with cowboy and electro, but does it in such a conceptually bizarre fashion that it leaves the listeners with few choices other than to fall in love. ... It‘s a next-level artistic application of his signature sound. You can see the dust. You can smell the fire. You will hurt, love, fall asleep, see horses, and lastly, get off your ass to get down. The weirdest part is that it probably wasn‘t meant to be a concept album at all. It‘s just so highly emotive and picturesque, it sounds like you instantly fell into a scene from a movie.(Filter)

Expectations were high for Anders‘ sophomore artist album, but even we weren‘t expecting it to be this good. A clean, serene 60-minute soundtrack to the best film David Lynch never made. Stunning. (Mixmag)

On his second album, the gloves come off, and how. ... . At times, it sounds like Duane Eddy and Dan Sartain duelling as Berlin burns; at others like the best record UNKLE never made. Intense. (NME)

More organic and warmer than everything else you‘ve heard from Trentemøller so far (Record of The Week, ByteFM)

Interview with Max Cooper

2010-05-11T01:21:00.001-07:00

If 2009 has been of year plenty of success for Max Cooper, to the extent that he has been considered the new star of such a respectable label as the german imprint Traum, the present 2010 seems to keep Max on the peak of the wave. Mixside had the opportunity of interviewing Max, thanks to his recent visit to Bristol to play in Headrush @ Timbuk2. Let’s see what the man has to tell…

MixSide: Can you introduce yourself briefly to our readers? Who is the man behind Max Cooper?

Max Cooper: I’m a scientist turned producer based in London, and I make melodic electronic music. And my favourite possession is a barnacle factory.

MS: How much did your life change last year? What can we expect for the near future?

MC: It changed a lot, as I made a transition from working as research scientist to doing music full time. Next is an album and a new musical project incorporating my genetics research – I’m missing this side of things at the moment. And monobrow is coming.

MS: How does it work the process of production and creation inside your studio? What kind of equipment can we find there? Where do you look for inspiration?

MC: It’s all computational for me, no analogue gear, just nice monit0rs (Genelec’s and KRK’s at the moment), pc and midi controllers. I use ableton live and NI software mainly. And when I need inspiration I look out the window – the trees are always full of it.

MS: You have a Phd in genetics… Is there any relation between science and music? What’s the role of genetics and mathematics in your music? Is that the concept behind ‘ Harmonisch / Stochastisch / Chaotisch Series’?

MC: Yes, fundamentally, music is our appreciation of form, and maths is the study of form, on which science is built. So there is a strong link between science and music. These ideas are central to my personal interests, which drive my research and music, with the serie releases for example, where I have associated these sorts of ideas with the tracks and music videos. I am also working on a more explicit association, whereby scientific ideas will drive my music in a direct and audible sense.

MS: Your sound, defined as melodic techno by some critics, has some kind of own special flavour… Which artists do you consider that are your main influences?

MC: Max Richter, Philip Glass, Jon Hopkins, Ulrich Schnaus, Helios, Stephan Bodzin, Nathan Fake.

MS: How would you describe your live sets? What’s the difference between Max live and Max Dj?

MC: My live sets are deeper and more melodic, venturing more into electronica and dubstep, and generally a little more downtempo than my DJ sets.

MS: What’s your opinion about the current music industry? It’s said that nowadays quantity is over quality… What’s your opinion about this controversial topic? Do you think this situation is going to change or will keep increasing?

MC: Yeah, the consequence of there being so much music out there now is that most things have a short shelf life, and people have to release a lot more music to stay at the top of the pile – not a great situation for the producers, but good for the listeners who can find their own personal selection of music to their specific tastes, if they have time! This is all driven by computer power and accessibility which mean anyone can make music to a decent standard at home, and this is unlikely to change, so I can only see a continuation along the current trend. Personally, it takes me a long time to write each track, so this is bad news!

MS: I personally find your sound pretty similar to some Spanish producers such as Marc Marzenit or Henry Saiz. Very melodic techno, even progressive… Is a new generation of fresh and young techno producers knocking at the door?

MC: Marc Marzenit is a great producer, who I played in Paris with recently, and who is also a top guy. Then there’s SQL, Applescal, Raw Hedroom, Leeks, Kanio, Kellerkind, Perc, Reset Robot, Kaiserdisco etc etc….a whole load of amazing new acts are here!

MS: What advice can you give to all newcomers in the world of electronic music?

MC: Work like a maniacal dog.

MS: If I tell you the name of three cities… Can you tell what do they mean to you?

London, Detroit, Berlin.

MC: London is home, Detroit is ghost-town, Berlin is dark-rooms.

MS: To finish, can you tell us how is a normal day in Max Cooper’s life?

MC: Writing music all day, and tending to my prize barnacle collection when my tinnitus takes over.

Thank you very much to Max and Grant from X-Agency for the opportunity to do this interview.

If you want to listen to one of the latest Max’s live sets follow this link:

http://www.maxcooperdl.net/mixes/MaxCooperLive-MindsGarden(320).mp3

(To download just do right click and save as)

Bristol, the place to be

2010-03-15T05:28:00.000-07:00

If you think about electronic music, about every stage in its history, there always has been an epicenter of creativity and production. A place where the scene is so big that it really gets you involved, it makes you really feel the music and become part of it...

Some examples across the history of electronic music are New York, in the era of Disco music, Chicago in the beginnings of House, Manchester back in the Acid House days, Detroit has always been linked to Techno and in the last decade Berlin, and in general Germany, has become the epicenter of what's really exciting, new, fresh... The last example came from that country is the so-called Manheim sound, which is based in Frankfurt and its surroundings, and has in labels like Oslo or 8bit its best agents.

Despite Germany is still one of the places to look at to be into the scene, things seem to begin to change. A recent FACT magazine poll, according to the readers, reveals that Bristol is the 'most musical city' in the UK, ahead of London or Manchester, and by extension this qualifier works too for the electronic music scene. Living here, I can't do anything but confirm it. There's a whole community of musicians, promoters, djs, clubs, record labels, shops, meeting points all over a city that gives off a creative and inspiring atmosphere. Why Bristol? Going back to the roots and digging a bit into history will help us to understand this....

Bristol lies in the Shore of Avon River, almost in its mouth. The city's port used to be a stop for slave traders in their journeys from Africa to America and became one of the centers of slave trading in England, together with Liverpool. Some of those slaves never reach their destination and stayed in the city, rooting and bringing their cultures to it. In the times of Industrial Revolution, Bristol was a key place for trading, the city grown unexpectedly thanks to the industry and trade, multiplying for five its population. This industrial heritage is common to most of places named above and it’s seen as one key factor determining cultural production. All this results in a city plenty of different cultural influences and one of the most important creative places all over UK.

The so-called ‘sound of Bristol’ is an amalgam of different sounds, most of them coming from ‘black music’ such as Soul, Hip-Hop, Blues, Funk, Afro music… all dressed in a European electronic custom which is worldwide known as Trip-Hop. Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky (a former member of Massive Attack) were the ambassadors of this sound all over the globe, achieving international recognition and influencing a lot of musicians. However, nowadays, more than a decade after the rise of this sound, it seems to have been forgotten by the vast majority of the music world. But Bristol sound did not disappear but evolved.

Drum’n’Bass is still one of the city’s favorite genres. Stars like Roni Size make this sound part of Bristol’s music heritage during the 90’s and the beginnings of this new century.

In the second half of the present decade, a new sound was born between Bristol and South London. Labeled as Dubstep, it rose as the evolution of trip-hop, D’n’B, techno and bass music. A new and exciting sound that some critics compared with the sound of Detroit Techno. Some of its principal actors, such as Applebim or Peverelist, are clearly influenced by the sound of the Motor City. Even in the work of those that reject the Detroit influence, like Joker, we can find reminiscences of projects like Model 500, which were born in Detroit.

But not all is Dubstep and Drum’N’Bass in the shores on Avon River. Hip-hop, Funk, Post Rock, Techno, Electro, House… electronic and non electronic music genres coexist in a place that is becoming famous for its huge consumption of music. The scene is growing everyday, new nights, cultural proposals, record labels, artists, djs that are supported by a voracious young population, mostly open-minded and creative students, that never get enough.

Why Bristol so? Well, because the city deserves it. Its cultural background, inhabitants, artists and its underground atmosphere make of it one of the most special cities, not only in England, but also in Europe. Definitely, Bristol: the place to be.