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Monoblok & PSLKTR – Relapse EP
French duo Monoblok&PSLKTR return to the Meant label with a superb new EP of emotive, vocal lead electronica replete with remixes from Rework, Arnaud Rebotini and My Favorite Robot.
Yann Aubertot and Benoit Mascot aka Monoblok&PSLKTR have been releasing oustanding left of centre, electro fuelled music for the past 5 years, racking up singles on imprints such as Notorious Elektro and Lebensfreude Records before finding a home with Remain’s Meant Records. Their music is a seamless fusion of rolling electronic grooves melded with their own indie-rock influences and twisted vocal offerings and this latest package is another perfect example of their eclectic musical style.
The EP opens with title track ‘Relapse’, a bouncing and dark edged slice of hypnotic indie electronica. Rubbery live bass and atmospheric guitar licks play against off-kilter synth lines and an insistent drum pattern to create an ethereal soundbed for the duo’s nuwave, gothic vocals. The original is followed with a remix from German production outfit and label mates Rework who stripped things back, delivering a spacious reinterpretation that eschews the live elements in favour of a more minimal approach.
The second of the two original cuts sees Monoblok&PSLKTR drop the tempo and turn up the electro funk for the excellent ‘Walking Disaster’. The original version focuses on old school arp lines, dark sweeps and haunting vocals whilst Black Strobe man Arnaud Rebotini provides a remix which boosts the intensity with metallic hits, swirling FX and a reverb drenched sound.
Finally Canadian three piece My Favorite Robot get to grips with ‘Relapse’ turning in a reworking that brings the tracks cinematic flair to the fore, wrapping the darkly illuminating guitars around stuttering beats and claustrophobic delays, mesmerising stuff.
Meant Records have delivered once again, with an EP that beautifully blurs the lines between indie and electronic music. Release date: 12-01-2015.
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Abstraxion – I Can’t EP
Following his excellent 2013 debut LP “Break Of Lights” on HAKT Recordings, London-based French producer Harold Boué aka Abstraxion, returns with “I Can’t” EP, which features two new original tracks and two remixes by the likes of Fairmont and My Favorite Robot. Stream the whole thing below and buy your copy here.
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Fairmont – Lie to Me Remixes EP
A year after Fairmont dropped his highly impressive Lie To Me EP, Canadian outfit My Favorite Robot carefully curate a selection of remixes of tracks from this standout release. As well as one from the label’s eponymous production trio, the likes of Chloe, Abstraxion, Mattheis and John Digweed and Nick Muir all step up with their own great interpretations.
French producer Chloe you will know from releasing killer cuts on MFRR, Live at Robert Johnson, Throne of Blood & BPitch Control as well as serving up hot DJ sets and mix compilations at clubs like Rex in Paris and for labels like Kill The DJ. Her remix of ‘Boa’ is a sparse but moody house affair, with deep groaning bass and an atmosphere akin to a deserted late night street. It’s a tense, broody track that will make for lots of dramatic moments on the floor.
Next up, Harold Boué aka Abstraxion is a 29 years old French producer based in London and Marseille. He has released on Marketing, Biologic and Nicolas Jaar’s label Other People. His remix of ‘Abysm’ is an invitingly hurried, heavyweight bit of electronic house funk with tons of great synth lines, interesting pads and weird sounds that make you want to move.
Dutchman Mattheis of labels like Nous’klaer then goes for a much more blissed out, slow burning and ambient affair. He layers in lots of twinkling pads and rippled synth lines to his version of ‘The Most Beautiful Eyes in the World’ and it’s a stunning, widescreen bit of work that really sweeps you off your feet.
MFR themselves tackle ‘Lie to Me’ flipping it into a brooding bit of slivery, reflective and synth heavy tech that rises and falls in beautiful ways, with gorgeous pads and feathery hi hats making for a super inviting rhythm.
Finally the Bedrock boss and Renaissance legend that is John Digweed and his studio partner Nick Muir rework the same track with a sensitive heart and conjure up a warm, smooth and serene prog track that is riddled with great synths and really works you into a state of hypnosis.
These carefully chosen remixers all manage to get fantastic results here, and as a result the whole package excels. Out on November 24th 2014 on My Favorite Robot.
Tracklist:
1. Fairmont – Boa (Chloe Remix)
2. Fairmont – Abysm (Abstraxion Remix)
3. Fairmont – The Most Beautiful Eyes in the World (Mattheis Remix)
4. Fairmont – Lie To Me (MFR Remix)
5. Fairmont – Lie To Me (John Digweed and Nick Muir Remix)
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Timo Maas – Watching the Robots EP [2014]
Just ahead of the release of his excellent Crossing Wires compilation, Timo Maas’s relationship with the My Favorite Robot label continues to flourish with this new EP. Offering two new and exclusive cuts from said forthcoming compilation – plus another special remix from My Favorite Robot – it is pure techno excellence.
Timo Maas is of course an enduring techno icon famed for his eclectic sound and always compelling EPs and LPs. The most recent of those came late last year and featured high profile collaborations with the likes of James Lavelle, Mikill Pane and Placebo’s Brian Molko, whilst throughout his career he has released on labels including Cocoon and Perfecto as well as running his own Rockets & Ponies outlet.
First comes ‘Watching the Robots’, a meandering bit of deep and mid tempo techno with a fat, dystopian synth line that spreads across the whole horizon of the track like a search light. Subtly fizzing electronics and imposing melodic drones circle to add even more sci-fi ambiance and it makes for a pleasingly otherworldly listen.
On the flip is ‘Z Panorama’, an equally bleak vision of the future with a droning synth line falling down the scale and sucking you right in as a result. The slick beats roll on below and sad piano notes linger long in the air, all the while conjuring filmic intergalactic imagery in the listener’s mind. The My Favorite Robot trio quicken the tempo on their remix, layering in a light dusting of dancing hi hats and miniature melodic explosions that colour the night sky in some style. A molten acid line also creeps in to complete the perfectly future facing and expansive sonic picture.
These tracks are at the very heart of the forthcoming compilation and prove Timo, decades after first announcing his arrival with that remix of Azzido Da Bass, is as pioneering and essential as ever.
Out on June 9 on My Favourite Robot. Preview it via our weekly OFFradio show.
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Forty Fings Dynamo – 615 EP [2014]
La dame Noir Records has impressed with its first 6 EPs and now returns with a 7th from Forty Fings Dynamo – the new side project from Adrien (one half of Villanova) and Emmanuel a.k.a. Solofour.
The Paris and Berlin based producers have been coming up with dark, techy and indie influenced sounds that make a perfect match for the haunted, trippy dancefloor atmospherics that La dame Noir really aims for.
Up first, the excellent ‘615’ is a shadowy bit of spine tingling house music with a gurgling bassline, plenty of unsettling late night atmosphere and a muttered vocal line that adds yet more tension to an already sensory stimulating track. The sweeping synths add a sense of scale and given the aesthetics it makes perfect sense that Canadian trio My Favorite Robot – who run the brilliant label of the same name – remix ‘615’. The results sound like a world falling apart to reveal another dimension of ghoulish synth action, spangled bassline trips and reflective metallic hues.
The next standout original is the fantastically creepy crawly ‘Excuse Me’. A bubbling basslines sets the tone beneath squeaky alien sounds, freaky synth lines and plenty of dark cosmic energy. It’s a prowling track that brings plenty of robotic, post apocalyptic vibes to the dancefloor. Remixer and Santiago de Chile native Alejandro Paz is one of Comème’s spearheading talents. Ecstatic and powerful, the South American delivers a raw, muscular and jacking version of Forty Fings Dynamo’s ‘Excuse Me’ that demands to be danced to.
With this EP La Dame Noir Records once again prove they have a singular sound and great ear for A&Ring talents who fit in with their vision.
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Tim Paris – Rain EP [2014]
April 14th marked the release of the ‘Rain’ EP from Paris-born London resident Tim Paris out on influential cult label My Favorite Robot Records. Tim is best known currently as one half of It’s a Fine Line with Ivan Smagghe, and as a respected underground figure with releases on leading labels including Young Turks, Kompakt, Moshi Moshi, PIAS, Items&Things, Soma, F Communications, Souvenir and Eskimo.
Opening with the original mix of ‘Rain’ which features the sultry vocal tones of Coco Solid and captures quintessential vintage indie melancholy. It’s merged with subtly modern electronica, occupying a sonic space akin to M83 and I Break Horses.
The EP comes complete with an inspired selection of remixes; Pilooski’s captivating remix is dark, heady and bass-heavy, Ivan Smagghe delivers a haunting dub edit, and the EP closes with Tim Paris’ own entrancing Liquid mix of the same track.
‘Rain’ also features on Tim Paris’ debut album ‘Dancers’ which is also out now on My Favorite Robot Records.
Watch the official video of the track, below.
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My Favorite Robot – Mirror Image EP [2014]
My Favorite Robot celebrate the milestone of the label’s 100th release with a standout new EP that brings things full circle
Always offering more than banging club records, the label has focused on moody, artistic synth sounds that strike as much at the heart as they do the heel. The imprint kicked off six years ago with a release from the then unknown My Favorite Robot and to celebrate the label reaching 100 releases strong the Robots have stepped up once again, producing a new four track EP entitled ‘Mirror Image’ that proves once more that there are few finer sonic craftsmen anywhere in the world.
‘Three Points’ is a dark, dream like interlude of low pitched droning, glassy tinkles and reflective mirror like surfaces that suspends you in a strange and eerie world for almost four evocative minutes. On the flip side, ‘Window To Vertigo’ is a supple bit of electronic music with rippling basslines, twinkling starry-night melodies and bubbling acid lines propping the whole thing up. It’s all buffed metal textures and muted neon glows and is a captivating bit of music that really tells a tale.
Finally, ‘Other Storm’ is suitably brooding and intense. The mood is one of dead of night mystery, with crisp claps underpinned by fantastic synth lines and distant, growing bass. There is an artistry and real sense of orchestration to the track that is about so much more than the rigid loops that characterise much club music.
Still evolving with each and every release, My Favorite Robot (both the label and the production trio) has managed to put Canada on the map at the same time as forwarding the electronic scene no end. The acts second album ‘Atomic Age’ released last year was a huge critical success and the boys have since taken their stellar live show on the road playing some of the world’s best clubs as well as featuring at the label’s renowned showcase events at the likes of Sonar, WMC, BPM etc
This new release is a timely reminder of what the Robots are all about, quality timeless sounds with no musical boundaries and servies as a gift from the trio to their ever-expanding fanbase…
Preview the EP on our weekly OFFradio show.
Tracklist
1 – Dead Of The Dance
2 – Three Points
3 – Window To Vertigo
4 – Other Storm
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Nhar- Life’s Ether EP [2014]
French producer Nhar has been releasing deep and hypnotic techno sounds for almost a decade, and now makes a fantastic debut on Canada’s My Favorite Robot Records. With his ‘Life’s Ether’ EP the producer offers up four tracks that expertly exemplify his arty style, passion for rhythm and soft spot for melody.
Labels like Boxer, Mobilee, Factor City, Jennifer Cardini’s Correspondent and many others have released Nhar’s music before now and in the past he has been resident at a number of important clubs in France. As such he taps into plenty of raw emotion with his music, as evidenced once again here.
Opening track ‘Life’s Ether’ has a melody that rides up and down the scale in sombre fashion with crisp, snapping snares riding alongside. Washes of sweeping pads lift you off your feet and subtle chord changes help move things along. It’s emotive music that really gets inside your head. ‘Coral Caves’ is slightly more cheery – the glassy, thin melodies echo like old Casio keys and this time the bassline is more supple and athletic as it bubbles away underneath the track.
‘You Are Transparent’ wallows in moody, sinewy waters with unsettling bassline notes never really settling into a pattern and spiraling pads circling you in a mild sense of uneasy tension. The percussion is sharp and cutting and jangling synth notes ring out in a nerve tingling fashion making for an intense and emotive listening experience.
Last but not least, ‘Pure Maths’ features similar bassline work and the same frisky synth lines but picks up the pace and drops into a nicely kicking electro-fried groove. Like a vast and shiny hall of mirrors this is reflective music that conveys a veritable swathe of emotions with apparantly effortless ease.
This is yet another truly musical journey served up by the always evolving MFR label that should win Nhar many new fans as a result. Out on April 28.
Tracklist
1. Nhar – Life’s Ether
2. Nhar – Coral Caves
3. Nhar – You Are Transparent
4. Nhar – Pure Maths
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Flowers and Sea Creatures – Afternoons and Afterhours EP [2014]
Flowers & Sea Creatures have been bubbling under for a couple of years now, but their debut EP on the ever excellent My Favorite Robot Records is likely to win them a huge new raft of fans. Compost and Buzzin’ Fly have released the Montreal duo’s work before now and it has always proved to be carefully crafted and hugely cultured stuff.
So it is with opener ‘The Very Next Day’ feat. Wrong Jeremy, which is a serene and widescreen track that builds patiently. Plenty of sombre synths marry with the downbeat groove, saddened vocal and nagging melody lines to create something poignant and perfectly balanced.
‘So Far The Star’ is another synth heavy delight that is crisp and airy yet balanced by heavy hearted vocals and a deeply percolating sense of machine made menace that always threatens but never fully rears its head.
On the flip, the filmic theme of Flowers & Sea Creatures’ music is echoed in the title of ‘Alternate Endings’. This is a beatless exercise in synth ambiance that allows the vocals to float in the midst of minor piano keys and swathes of echo. It is truly arresting and reflective music. Finally, ‘Citadel’ drops with an equally epic and dramatic feel born of shuffling percussion and long tailed pads that create a haunting ambiance with real feeling.
There is plenty of art and craft in these tracks, which are far more emotive and resonant than your average club fair. On the evidence of this EP, surely 2014 will belong to the talented pair that is Flowers & Sea Creatures.
Tracklist:
1 – The Very Next Day Feat. Wrong Jeremy
2 – So Far The Star
3 – Alternate Endings
4 – Citadel
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Sin Cos Tan – Destroyer EP [2014]
My Favorite Robot turn once again to Sin Cos Tan for the next single and deliver a remix of their own, as well as one from Aiden Lavelle, to complete the package.
Last summer My Favorite Robot Records further cemented their relationship with Jori Hulkkonen (and Sin Cos Tan partner Juho Paalosmaa) with the release of an exclusive remix package of tracks from the debut Sin Cos Tan album. Now they strengthen the bonds once again with a single based around one of the cuts from the duo’s latest album ‘Afterlife’.
‘Destroyer’ is a doleful slice of emotive house come pop with taut, sinewy chords and insular and introspective vocals delivered in a breathy tone. It’s the sort of nagging tune that never leaves your brain with clean, crisp synth work that makes for a truly absorbing track.
The label bosses themselves turn in the first remix and layer it up with plenty more rubbery kick drums so it drives on the dancefloor that bit more purposefully. The synths are less smooth and more ragged around the edges making for a darker, more dystopian vibe, but the original lyrics remain intact.
Aidan Lavelle, a producer of increasing repute on labels like Crosstown Rebels, then reimagines the track as a kinetic bit of tech funk that is run through with plenty of synthy turbulence.
Yet another seriously synth driven package from My Favorite Robot Records that confirms them as one of the artiest electronic labels out there. Out on February 10. Stream the original version on spotify below.
Tracklist
1. Destroyer (Original Mix)
2. Destroyer (My Favorite Robot remix)
3. Destroyer (Aidan Lavelle remix)
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