Premiere: 2Lanes – Jet Slit

By
October 14, 2016
New Music
1 Comment

1-2lanes-by-rachel-roze

Photo by Rachel Roze

Orlando Volcano’s Escape From Nature has proven to be one of 2016’s most exciting new labels, an outlet for club and club-related material with a focus on sonic exploration and a strong audio-visual connection. Detroit’s 2Lanes, who showed up on the label’s EFN Sound Library Volume 1 compilation, is the latest artist to join up with Volcano’s outfit, bringing bleak techno diagnoses and warm sonics on the Diamonds In The Rough EP. Glimpses of human emotion abound on “Jet Slit”, a scintillating piece of amorphous sound that comes is an an EP standout despite being Diamonds In The Rough‘s shortest song. Stream it below and look out for the full release on October 28.

LOFT’s ‘Turbulent Dynamics’ EP out now!

By
October 14, 2016
New Music, Uncategorizable
Leave a comment
Since we launched as an outright label in January, we’ve made an attempt to work closely with new artists to release fully formed and formidable bodies of work, releases that will transcend the hype cycle as last as inimitable digital and physical entities well past their release date. LOFT is the fifth artist to join the Astral Plane Recordings stable, following up releases from SHALT, Chants, Nunu and Exit Sense, and the British artist’s Turbulent Dynamics EP is as vital of debut as you’re bound to come across in any artistic sphere. Buy and stream links are below and the self-directed video for “Zissou” is above. Thanks for listening.

LOFT – Turbulent Dynamics EP

OUT NOW | APR105
loft-turbulent-dynamics-1500

Pixelord Mix For The Astral Plane

By
October 13, 2016
Uncategorizable
Leave a comment

14724192_10155381248949966_1675348352_o

A key part of the genre blurring wave of artists that emerged in the early 2010s, Moscow-based Pixelord has never sat comfortable in one scene or sound, partially due to his constantly wandering interests and partially due to his position as a fervent proponent of sounds outside of his city’s hegemonic house and techno culture. Cursed by the faulty nomenclature of post-dubstep and bass music, the hybrid-focused sound of the early aughts has been derided by many as soft and directionless, but many of today’s most influential artists and labels arose out of that supposed morass, capitalizing on the lack of a dominant sound to expand their and their listeners’ sonic horizons. Six or so years down the road and Pixelord, the head of the Hyperboloid and Terminal Dream labels, is a prime example of that fertile era, coming to age on labels like Car Crash Set, Error Broadcast and Leisure System and going on to release two albums through his own channels, the latest of which was released in September.

Utilizing elements of electro, garage, trap, footwork and more, Pixelord’s approach to Human.exe, his second full length for Hyperboloid, is clear from the get go, a deeply technological approach to club music that coalesces around a singular sound palette even as tempos and structures fluctuate. Tracks like “Telepathic” and “Axis” are both digital and metallic without falling into the trap of sounding cheap, fully formed club tracks with a somber edge that tends to enunciate the cyborg themes that dominate the record. Pixelord’s music has always had a vivid quality to it, a natural focus on the widescreen realized in his rich synthesizer tones and patient approach to song progression. Predictably, Pixelord’s entry into our mix series is chameleonic from the get go, 45 minutes of bent-but-not-broken rhythms that both recall and build on the themes brought up throughout Human.exe. Like the album, Astral Plane Mix 126 starts fast and percussive before settling into a more easygoing groove, bridging album tracks with likeminded material with a deft touch that more-often-than-not flatters both. Much has been made over the state of “underground” electronic music in the aughts and while many observers have retreated to the safe confines of accepted four-on-the-floor forms, artists like Pixelord continue to expand and experiment, testing out new collisions with the enthusiasm of a true believer.

Read More

Stream LOFT’s “With Eye Contact”, ‘Turbulent Dynamics’ out Friday

By
October 12, 2016
New Music
Leave a comment

loft

If you’ve got caught one of our recent Radar Radio shows, you’ll surely have caught at least a glimpse of “With Eye Contact, the luminous closer of LOFT’s forthcoming Turbulent Dynamics EP. Out this Friday on Astral Plane Recordings, Turbulent Dynamics is LOFT’s official debut and the fifth release of the year for APR, a release that has been in the works for the entirety of 2016 and that has gone through a number of forms on its way to its current incarnation. Turbulent Dynamics on the whole is an immersive listen and “With Eye Contact” is a perfect example of that, a patiently unfolding effort that holds a grotesque beauty, digging under the proverbial skin as much as it soothes. Stream “With Eye Contact” below and pre-order Turbulent Dynamics here.

Lanark Artefax Mix For The Astral Plane

By
October 6, 2016
Uncategorizable
Leave a comment

lanark_artefax_large

To many, Lanark Artefax aka Calum MacRae was introduced in July of this year, the month that saw the release of the Glaswegian artist’s Glasz EP, a dense five track effort released through Lee Gamble’s UIQ label. Garnering support from a host of influential DJs, ranging from Mumdance and Mary Anne Hobbs to Beatrice Dillon, Gamble and Mosca, Glasz has proven to be one of the breakout releases of 2016, drawing fans from across the electronic music spectrum to his brittle sonics and uncanny rhythmic structures. Preceding Glasz, Artefax released the Windox Rush EP, a similarly woozy, albeit less fully formed extended player released through Cong Burn Waves. For one reason or another, Windox Rush is no longer available online, making Glasz the Glaswegian’s functional debut, a fitting circumstance for a release that truly sounds like nothing else released in 2016 (or before it for that matter.)

In interviews, MacRae points to monumental IDM figures like Autechre, The Black Dog and Mike Paradinas as all having had an influence on his sound, a path through recent history and sound that seems to point more towards their approach to structure and experimentation than it does to exact sonics. In charts and other interviews, MacRae points to the expansive musique concréte of Valerio Tricoli, SKY H1’s “bleak but really lovely” sounds and UIQ label head Lee Gamble, all artists  in the PAN universe, as contemporary reference points, a map of artists utilizing drastically different toolsets to approach what might be called with avant-garde music with heart. Which is exactly where Lanark Artefax and Glasz sit, a fundamentally left field leaning project that nonetheless functions on a corporal and emotional level rarely found in experimental musics. His Astral Plane mix is a case in point, a rich collage of voice, texture and rhythm that begins with work from Emra Grid, Broshuda and D/P/I and climaxes in efforts from Félicia Atkinson & Jeffre Cantu-Ledesma and Renick Bell. Of course, Mazzy Star’s “Into Mist” ends the mix, a romantic gesture that is hardly out of place in the context of MacRae’s music. Get Glasz here and catch us eagerly looking out for whatever is next for Artefax and UIQ.

 

Read More

LOFT’s ‘Turbulent Dynamics’ EP touching down October 14 on APR

By
October 6, 2016
New Music
Leave a comment

loft

As an introduction, LOFT’s Turbulent Dynamics EP is a striking composition, a fascinating entry point to the work of one of the most talented young producers anywhere. Next Friday (October 14), the North England-based (relocated from Cardiff) artist touches down on Astral Plane Recordings with a five tracker that has had us enraptured since we first received demos at the beginning of 2016. Support comes from luminaries like Lee Gamble and Acre and Turbulent Dynamics is primed to engage with the patient listener as much as it will startle club-goers. Today, we’re announcing the EP with “Heffalump”, an expansive seven minute exhibition in damaged drums, aspirational synth work and disarmingly affective bass work. Stream “Heffalump” here and pre-order Turbulent Dynamics courtesy of Boomkat.

Premiere: Mina – Balafon Bata (ft. Sillati)

By
September 26, 2016
New Music
Leave a comment

mina

Having already debuted on Portuguese label Enchufada and featured heavily on the Boko! Boko! JOY compilation (which she co-curated with Tash LC and DJ Chin) in the past few months, London’s Mina is back with the Satellite EP, a collection of five light hearted efforts that traverse ground from dancehall to UK funky. “Balafon Bata”, a collaboration with Freetown-based Sillati, is a highlight from the EP, a propulsive number that sees Mina take a more meditative route than her usual sun-dazed, replete with droning bassline and brillaint mid tempo syncopation. Having previously worked together on “New Patan”, the a-side to the Kabala single, Mina and Sillati are clearly a winning combo and future work from the duo would surely be appreciated. Satellite is out September 28.

Dviance Mix For The Astral Plane

By
September 22, 2016
Mixes
1 Comment

qt-pic-of-me

“Multiplicity is key in my vision of music.” Dviance’s music isn’t easy to categorize. The Lyon-born producer has released some of the most striking music of the past year, ranging from a hi-stress re-tool of CRIM3S’ “Milita” to a collaborative mix with N-Prolenta for Halcyon Veil that saw the two disfigure hardcore aesthetics with surgical care across 14 frenzied minutes. With almost a decade of classical guitar training under his belt and studies in musicology and sound design currently under way, a deep sense of musicality inhabits the teenage producer’s music despite its often dissonant leanings. That tendency towards dissonance is always in the context of a deeper spatial awareness though, one built on widescreen cinematics and a deep sense of how ghost melodies, bits of sonic detritus and disembodied glossolalia can foment deeply haunting atmospheres. It’s an idiosyncratic sound, but one that can find contemporaries in artists like v1984, SKY H1, Sentinel and other niche experimentalists.

Dviance’s collaborators, like fellow French artist Lauren Auder and the aforementioned N-Prolenta, also seem to fit into the outsider mold, artists balanced on the cusp of pop sensibility that nonetheless make deeply bizarre, insular music. For his part, rap music and various hardcore strains seem to temper Dviance’s music, a volatile synthesis that is almost presupposed as natural in his productions and mix work. His Astral Plane mix features hardstyle, noisy pop edits, a trove of foley effects and a few key originals from rappers like Jordy and Babyt33th. Whereas other collage minded artists might offer up a disembodied version of their myriad influences, Dviance’s compositions, both here and in previous editions for HV and the Absolute Zero show on Radar Radio, have a striking consistency to them, an unnerving sense of moving-in-all-directions-at-once that allows for a certain reticence to be grasped in the chaos. With no official releases on the horizon, Dviance plans to continue producing for himself until he’s satisfied with a body of work. Check out the track list for his Astral Plane mix below and find more original material at his Soundcloud.

Read More

DJ JM Mix For The Astral Plane

By
September 15, 2016
Mixes
Leave a comment

dj jm

If you’ve tuned into mixes or radio appearances by artists like Neana, Eclair Fifi or NKC over the past few months you’re likely to have caught one of DJ JM’s many percussive heaters that seem to be slowly percolating towards popular consciousness. “Make Partie”, an irresistible collaboration with Neana, is the most popular so far, a carnivalesque banger of the highest order that pairs the sort of elastic percussion favored by both artists with an arrangement of distorted sirens and bizarre digi-horn synths. Unreleased to date, the pairing of the Night Slugs rep with the Lithuanian producer DJ JM is fitting considering the latter’s deep bed of unreleased material, a collection of originals and edits that range from simple drum tools to relentlessly fun dancefloor bombs that recall a re-tooled 90s house sensibility in line with labels like Dance Mania, Strictly Rhythm and Henry Street Music. Unlike many contemporary artists though, DJ JM doesn’t attempt to modernize or add some faux futuristic bent to those classic sounds, preferring to double down on the wood block percussion, runway vocals and indefatigable sense of forward motion that makes them so unforgettable.

Besides radio sessions by the aforementioned artists, the best place to catch DJ JM tracks is his Tactic Signals show on Radar Radio, a collaboration with Tuan:Anh that shows off their love for the 90s dance sounds mentioned above as well as West Coast rap and dancehall. Still a relatively new program in the Radar arsenal, Tactic Signals has already hosted Bay Area production legend Traxamillion, a coup of sorts that shows a willingness to reach out beyond the confines of new/similar artists, and continues to improve every month. DJ JM can also be found on the next Nervous Horizon release via a collaboration with Tsvi, another fitting joint venture that should get more than enough play from artists both within and outside of their respective circles. That track isn’t in DJ JM’s Astral Plane mix, but plenty of other original material is including “Make Partie” and about 12 other tracks with the potential to win over even the most jaded listener. The instrumental to “Lose My Breath” by Destiny’s Child, Busy Signal’s “Text Message” and a bit of gqom make appearances, but the session’s main star is clear from the beginning, the whole affair not quite taking the air of a production mix, but clearly showing off a vault of unreleased material. Hit the jump for a full track list and be sure to tune in to Tactic Signals for even more exclusive DJ JM.

Read More

Premiere: Jikuroux – Only U

By
September 13, 2016
New Music
Leave a comment

jikuroux

Coming in as the fourth release on Air Max ’97’s Decisions label, Jikuroux’s Ruptured Pulse EP has had us geeking out since we first received the promo, a whirlwind of drums and sneaky brilliant melodies that tend to stick out in mixes. Based in Sydney, Jikuroux is a co-founder of the EVE night, a “crucial” outpost according to AM97 that has hosted international artists like Venus X and Imaabs as well as likeminded Australians Strict Face, Jalé, Rap Simmons and Aspartame. On the production front, we’ve only heard bits and pieces from Jikuroux, an edit found in a self-hosted mix from 2014 and, most recently, tracks from Ruptured Pulse floating around mixes and sets including our own session for Dummy. Set to be released on September 30, we’ve got EP opener “Only U” on premiere today, a beatifically cut throat track that balances battering ram kicks with rhizomatic synth work and enough digital noise to make the whole thing feel like its coming apart at the seams. On September 23, EVE will host the Ruptured Pulse release party in Sydney, featuring fellow Decisions artist Waterhouse as well as Candlelyte, Scam b2b Aph and AM97 himself. Each respective release on Decisions has involved a drastically different approach and as the crew grows it’s exciting to see how it develops and engages with the small, but brilliant, scene that Australia has to offer.