Some of you may recall my past interviewwith the very talented Beeple (Brainfeeder). His most recent project empowers VJ’s (aka visual jockeys, aka the dude controlling visuals at shows) withfour.color.process; a free pack containing 10 clips of a similar theme. Use these Creative Commons licensed clips to amp up your next VJ sets. Under this license, clips can be edited to your liking for any/all commercial and non-commercial purposes. Got nutz. The “four.color.process” link contains all of the Cinema4D project files used to make these clips, plus Adobe Illustrator files used to make some of the textures and similar graphics.
When I first saw the lineup for Decibel Festival 2012,Actress stood out as my #1 artist to see. I insist you attend the XLR8R Presents showcase, where Actress will headline live (tix available here). His music transports my mind to bizarre and new places. Mixing techno, house, dubstep and experimental music with an other-worldly perspective, his music constantly challenges me. Genre boxes seem so limiting to what he does, and I encourage you to push off from these reference points as you listen. His album’s “R.I.P.” and “Splazsh” are distinct entities, and it would benefit you to also hear his “Hazyville” lp. He’s an enigma of sorts; laying out a sonic environment that few come near.
I sawTeengirl Fantasyhere in Seattle a little while ago at The Vera Project and was delightfully impressed. This 2-piece group from the U.S. performs live with no laptops or backing tracks. I remember being amazed at their ability to effortlessly produce their dance floor intended songs on the spot. Their off-kilter reflection of house music took me a second to get used to, but after more listens I’ve come to respect their aesthetic.
Gulls from Portland, Oregon will be opening the show. He runs Boomarm Nation; a collective of artists putting out “experimental sound system music”. Feels like a fitting way to round out this lineup.
Danny Brown is another name I’ve heard about lots, but just recently looked into. In preparation for my forthcoming Lucid interview on Disco Droppings, I’ve been in hip-hop mode. I gave this Boiler Room a listen, and woke UP. I get lit off these videos; Danny Brown has a rad mix of hilarious antics and genius vocal delivery. Add fiery beats and you have a Molotov cocktail of energy. The Boiler crowd can be sedated at times, but Danny got em’ hyped saying, “blunt, after blunt, after blunt, after blunt, after blunt, after blunt..”. I’ve listened through this set about 8 times now, I’ll be doing whatever and all the sudden I’ve got “She rubbin’ all on them titties like my name was Biggie. But I dont know no Diddy, but got Dirty Money with me”, stuck in my head. Makes me laugh. Hear “Witit”, “Radio Song”, “Lie4”, “I Will”, “Blueberry (Pills & Cocaine)” and “Blunt After Blunt” live.
Have to include Danny Brown’s interview with Nardwuar. Totally unaware of this Canadian wonder. As an interviewer myself, this guy is exactly what I aspire to; making artists feel at ease, and doing your homework out of respect for all their hard work.
“The Hybrid”, Danny Brown’s first album was released in 2010 (Rappers I Know), followed by “XXX” in 2011 (Fool’s Gold Records).
Gotta go with theSurefire Presents showcase for Day Two of Decibel Festival 2012. After hearing 2 Boiler Room sets fromObjekt, he’s instantly become one of my favorite DJ’s, behind Erol Alkan and Pearson Sound aka Ramadanman (who co-runs Hessle Audio, the consistently unique label which released Objekt’sCactus/Porcupine) . These sets move in unexpected ways, inducing a hypnotic journey rather than an aimless collection of tracks. I’ve posted his 40 minute set, but I suggest you head over to the Boiler Room site, make a free account if you haven’t already, and view his 60 minute set. Both are intriguing to say the least, but the latter mix really got to me.
As a producer, Objekt melds techno, dubstep, house, garage and 2-step in fearless ways. I’m eager to see this dude DJ at The Baltic Room come September.
Also on the lineup, we have Kuedo, performing a live set.
Pulling from the visions of Blade Runner, combined with dreamy interpretations of southern hip-hop, rap and footwork, his albumSeverant(Planet Mu Records) was released in October of last year.
Over the next few weeks, Disco Droppings will focus on each day of Decibel Festival 2012, choosing one showcase that you must see. My recommendation is that you buy a dB pass as opposed to purchasing individual showcases. The current price is $225 for a 5-day pass (45 per day is pretty damn cheap). With the pass you have access to 35 club showcases, 5 Optical showcases, 3 dB Films and the 3-day dB Conference. Now that I’ve gone through the entire list of dB artists performing this year, I’ll be doing my part to share their sounds here on Disco Droppings. Keep your eyes here over the next 2 months, for an in-depth look at several artists you’ll see at the end of September for Decibel Festival 2012 in Seattle.
Now, I’m all about Clark. Some of you may remember my recent post on his brilliant “Turning Dragon” album. When I found out he was playing this year for the Warp Showcase(Warp Records is the beyond legendary label who has released music from Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Broadcast, Flying Lotus, Gonjasufi, Hudson Mohawke, Rustie, Mount Kimbie, Prefuse 73, Squarepusher and the 3 artists playing this showcase to name a few) I was sooooooooo hyped! With all the material Clark has, I can’t guess what this live set will sound like (I’ve been told he’s heavy). He’s the type artist you’d rarely see around these parts, and someone I thought I’d never experience live.
Joining Clark, we have Jimmy Edgar. Detroit-based techno artist influenced by funk, jazz and r&b. At 18 he was picked up by Warp Records, and has been putting out slick releases ever since. Sounds like this will be a sexy, sweaty set.
Raising the BPM to staggering levels at times, we have Machinedrum. I heard him last year at Decibel Festival with Ital Tek, witnessing a pounding 140-160 BPM collection of tunes. Dude is a genius with more output than I can keep track of. You may recognize “Fantastix” from Azealia Banks’ savage new mixtape, Fantasea (Machiendrum beats can be heard w/ Azealia on “Aquababe”, “NEEDSUMLUV”, “Van Vogue” and “Grand Scam”).
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