HVOB – Bloom
‘Bloom’: HVOB release second single from double album ROCCO.
ROCCO, the fourth album by HVOB, will be released on March 15. It is the first double album from the Viennese electronic duo Anna Müller and Paul Wallner and the first HVOB release on pias.
Following “2nd World” at the end of November, the second single from the forthcoming album is the tender track “Bloom”. “2nd World” and “Bloom” define the spectrum of ROCCO, which like the last two HVOB albums also follows a conceptual approach. Following the multimedia-based art project “Trialog” in 2015 and the cross-genre collaboration “Silk” in 2017, ROCCO relates 13 separate but dramaturgically connected narratives about letting go, farewells and new beginnings. The arc spans the entire double album and uses the available space for an impressively diverse journey through the sound world of HVOB.
The video for “Bloom” was directed by Marie Alice Wolfszahn. Her cinematic works often address themes such as time and utopia; here she visualises the central content of the track through transience/decay and reinvention/revival. The cinematic images were produced in collaboration with producer Kurt Mayer and cinematographer Gabriel Krajanek.
Straight after the release of the album HVOB will embark upon their next world tour. The first European dates have already been confirmed, with more to follow, and also in 2019 HVOB will again be appearing in America, Africa, Australia and Asia.
Shcaa – An Ungrateful Death
R&S welcome Parisian Sacha Khalife AKA Shcaa with his new double headed single ‘An Ungrateful Death / Pacific Gold’, following up on his stellar EP on NYC’s Blank Slate back in 2015, two killer releases through Archipel and a more recent LP on Sharingtones.
Abstract, deep and dripping with atmosphere, ‘An Ungrateful Death’ takes the listener on an epic trippy journey – sensuous rhythms and choppy guitars giddly colide while mumbled vocals offer a dreamy counterpoint before the whole piece transitions into an uneasily blissed out ambient coda. On the flip ‘Pacific Gold’ continues the abstraction, freeform guitar licks skitter and bounce around a loose limbed micro-house groove.
A producer, composer and guitarist based in Paris, Khalife’s restless musicality manages to uniquely meld electronics with blues, house and jazz without seeming forced. “My music found its first legitimacy within the structure of house music, the grooves as rails to let free peculiar shades,” he explains “I try to not allow my music to fall into mindless experimentations, hopefully the graphic rhythms justify their abstraction.”
With ‘An Ungrateful Death / Pacific Gold’ sure to delight and confound dancefloors across the continent, it’s going to be interesting to see where Shcaa takes his music next.
Volor Flex – Blowing Smoke EP
Debuting on Apollo Records back in 2012 with the Conspiracy EP, Volor Flex returns to the label in 2019 with the Blowing Smoke EP which further solidifies his reputation as a name to watch.
Volor Flex is one of the talented crop of producers hailing from Russia. Rising out of a thriving electronic scene which spreads across the vast plains of the country, he synthesizes a unique take on ambient, future garage and IDM perfectly at home in Apollo’s storied discography.
‘Days End’ opens with a forlorn piano melody backed by a cavernous infinite reverb and moodily swung drums; the piece has a narcotic pull that is sweetened by a rising bass figure.
Surging Vangelis style synth strings and ominous, withered pads battle for supremacy over a driving beat on ‘The Wind In The Trees’, Volor Flex expertly controls the foreground and background with his use of reverb, masterfully creating contrast shifts and enveloping elliptical changes of mood.
The EP closes with ‘Blowing Smoke’, the most uptempo track on the release, with a hushed vocal contribution underpinned by a hypnotic bass motif and shuffling UK garage rhythm track.
The ‘Blowing Smoke EP’ could well be Volor Flex’s finest work to date and an illustration of the power of abstract electronic music to both seduce and entrance the dancefloor.
Fabric presents Bonobo
Fresh off the back of their hundredth mix CD, which concluded the longstanding format of one of the most important mix chronicles in electronic music, fabric records reset the clock with the inaugural chapter of their new series: fabric presents. Rising to the occasion is none other than seminal British producer, DJ and multi-instrumentalist Bonobo.
‘fabric presents’ reimagines the iconic mix series into a quarterly subscription, expanding on the roster of artists involved and upgrading the contents of the package. For the first time, listeners will be provided with full length individual tracks from each mix. The CD and Vinyl packages will also feature accompanying digital files of the music, without losing the beloved physical ownership of the original format – no more trawling the web for downloads, then!
The artists invited to participate in this series will reflect the full calendar of nights at fabric, including the more recent ‘Forms’ events, new midweek programming and festival tie-ins; not forgetting the iconic FABRICLIVE and Saturday night parties. This permits a broader musical spectrum, representing the diversity of programming that sustains fabric’s reputation as a leading source of world class bookings.
A fitting testament to this broadened musical horizon, Bonobo is an artist who transcends genre – initially exploring elements of instrumental hip-hop, electronica and ambient with live instrumentation before going on to enjoy an illustrious career with a sea of collaborators ranging from Erykah Badu and Andreya Triana to Rhye and Nick Murphy. His highly textural aesthetic translates seamlessly from an orchestrated live show to sought-after DJ gigs, which lend to his status as a tastemaker and afford him a loyal following around the world.
Bonobo’s track choices for the first ‘fabric presents’ mix reflect his penchant for expansive textures and intricate structures. Employing the multi-instrumental arrangements of his own work he builds a clear narrative across 74 minutes of house, techno, electronica and breakbeat. Each track exudes character, allowing animated melodies to wander and develop, all the while grounded by an acute sense of harmonic progression and rhythmic precision. Unheard material from Bonobo and his Barakas alias, as well as exclusives from Poté and Houndstooth mainstay Throwing Snow sit alongside a glistening 2004 house gem from Âme, euphoric breakbeat from Will Saul and a peak time remix from Laurent Garnier to name a few, all topped off by an entrancing 90s ambient classic from John Beltran.
‘fabric presents’ expands on the winning formula of its predecessor, introducing a more open musical palette without losing sight of its past. As the first entry to this new chapter, Bonobo’s mix fuses disparate sonic wanderings into one vivid storyboard, merging different timelines into a seamless narrative and ushering in an exciting new era for the label, nightclub and mix series.
To launch the mix, Bonobo takes to Room One for an extended Sunday afternoon session on 24 February. Buy tickets here.
fabric presents Bonobo
22 February 2019 / fabric Records
1. Bonobo – Flicker [Unreleased]
2. Bonobo – Boston Common [Ninja Tune]
3. Poté – Jacquot (Waters of Praslin) [Unreleased]
4. Alex Kassian – Hidden Tropics [Utopia]
5. Âme – Nia [Engoli]
6. Durante – Maia [Unreleased]
7. Dark Sky & Afriquoi – Cold Harbour [Dark Sky]
8. Bonobo – Ibrik [fabric Records]
9. Olsen – Femenine [Mister Saturday Night]
10. O’Flynn – TKOTN [Hundred Flowers]
11. TSHA – Sacred [TSHA]
12. Will Saul – By Your Side [Simple Records | AUS Music]
13. Titeknots – Buzzard Walk [Press Something Play Something]
14. Dan Kye – Focus [Rhythm Section International]
15. Barakas – Roach [Unreleased]
16. R. Lyle – Perpetrator [Unreleased]
17. Rhone – Mirapolis (Laurent Garnier Remix) [InFiné]
18. Throwing Snow – Rheged [Houndstooth]
19. Nepa Allstar – The Way [Surplus]
20. DJ Seinfeld – Stargard [Unreleased]
21. Earth Trax & Newborn JR ft. Annjet – If You (Club Mix) [Shall Not Fade]
22. John Beltran – Collage of Dreams [Peacefrog Records]
Video: Apparat – Dawan
APPARAT, aka Sascha Ring, has announced details of a new album, LP5, launching with the first taste of what to expect from the Berlin based artist. LP5 is Apparat’s first release since 2013’s Krieg und Frieden (Music for Theatre), and follows two studio albums, II and III (Mute / Monkeytown) by Moderat, the trio he founded with Modeselektor’s Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary.
Video: Symmetry – Bicycle
Taken from The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack “Don’t Come Back From The Moon” by JOHNNY JEWEL, released by Italians Do It Better.
Stevie R – Melt LP
Greek musician and producer Stevie R makes a welcome return to Chapter 24 Records with Melt. Above you can stream “Gkii”. The track introduces first the Egyptian and then the Greek melodies as a sort of cross-cultural dialogue, before fusing the two in a beautiful Greco-Egyptian harmony as the track unfolds. Featuring on the track is CERPINTXT, a young female Egyptian artist who was one of Stevie’s students at Point Blank.
Melt showcases Stevie’s desire to bring back ‘rebetiko’ – the little known, underground ‘blues’ music of his native Greece, music that was often outlawed due to its anti-establishment themes. His approach to making music is much like making art and his masterful ability to tell a story is omnipresent in all of his work. Infusing a modern electronic beat with the traditional sounds of his home country, Melt proved to be a cathartic process for Stevie.
In 2018 alone he played alongside artists including; John Talabot and Fitz Kalkbrenner. His live shows, which he’s taken to Sisyphos, ADE and Ministry Of Sound, are a multi-sensory journey. In his productions, Stevie incorporates a broad spectrum of instruments such as traditional Greek tzouras and baglamas, a variety of guitars, acoustic and electric violins, field recordings and modular synthesisers.
Stevie R ‘Melt’, released 15th March on Chapter 24 Records.
“Melt is the story of 13 animals trying to go to space. Each animal is a figure in the artist’s life, accompanying the others on the difficult journey. Nobody knows where space is, what it looks or feels like. To me, space is where our fears disappear, our loved ones stand beside us, and the fights in our mind cease. Nevertheless, there is a different journey for each and every one of us, our Universe is unique and the animals always look different; in this journey, we travel alone.” – Stevie R
Tracklisting:
01. Stépa
02. Delias feat. Djanan Turan & Master Dani
03. Asprúla
04. Gkii feat. CERPINTXT
05. Gunii
06. Bótsa Bótsa feat. Djanan Turan 7. Madilo feat. CERPINTXT
08. Red Lemon feat. CERPINTXT
09. Acid Tri feat. Djanan Turan
10. Tsari feat. CERPINTXT
11. Misirlu
The Horn - Villager (Luca Lozano Remix)
Klasse Wrecks chief rocker Luca Lozano underlines his respect for the originators of downtempo IDM with a remix of ‘Villager’, an overlooked EP track by UK producer The Horn from 1996.
