An instant classic for Bibio’s growing discography, it reminds me of what he started off making but no more lo-fi, same feeling but dug up from the dry soil.

Beautifully dusty and complex, this mix from Broken Deck has all sorts gems on it from Patten’s rework of Caribou to Voxer which is another single from Broken Deck’s EP. We premiered his single Outmodeled earlier this month if you missed it.

Tracklist:
1. The Cyclist – Makeshift
2. Jam City – Gee
3. Caribou – Sun (Patten remix)
4. Rezzett – Yayla
5. Huerco S – Press On
6. Lee Gamble – Mimas Skank
7. Broken Deck – Voxer

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LACK records has recently become one of my favourite labels. Not just because they have a stellar back-catalogue, consisting of some great releases by Pablo Mateo and D-IX, among some other gems. But also because they have a really strong mix selection from friends of the label. Every time I listen to these mixes I discover a wealth of new music that gets me super hyped about life.

Their latest release is by Liit, with his EP titled Liit Fighter presents Hadouken. Prepare your ears for some really uplifting and addictive techno. Highly recommended!

Post by: Elaby Mackenzie.
I am a music blogger/enthusiast from Cape Town, South Africa.
Co-founder of Bluishvoid and contributor at Platform Magazine.

Listening to tones that starts off soo frail then grows into a massive of wall of sound is something i’ve always chalked up as a masterpiece especially when its done in a way that makes a lot of pop music sound like a waste of time. The thing about Slowdive is that you want to live in their music, it the soundtrack to many people’s fantasy world of emotion which sounds sort of cheesy but when you’re mentally committed to a song its far more than just music for many of their fans.

Slowdive EP is 25 years old. It was released by Creation Records on November 5th, 1990.

When the band reformed for 2014, it seemed obvious to us to start our live shows by playing the Slowdive EP at the top of the set list. It sets out where we originally came from, and sets the scene for where we were going. And to celebrate that, we’d like to present a free live recording of Avalyn, performed during our USA / Canada tour last year. We are currently working on releasing the entire live set from that tour as a collection, so look out for news of that soon.

Vocals / Guitar – Neil Halstead
Vocals – Rachel Goswell
Guitar – Christian Savill
Bass Guitar – Nick Chaplin
Drums – Simon Scott

Song written by Halstead/Goswell/Savill/Chaplin/Sell
Mixed by Simon Scott

Man am I in love with this new Answer Code Request EP especially the title track. This sound is like a 15+ year old unearthed Mu-ziq track that got left off of Lunatic Harness but its coming from Marcel Dettmann’s camp. What really makes my mind wander is the fact that this sound is coming out along with proper trance and IDM in the forefront, not the cheap knock off stuff but the talents out there are taking a stab at the rebirth and if there’s more of this then I might have to start putting record purchases on credit cards.

LA based collective The Echo Society has announced their fourth show, IV:Veils. The show and will be conducted by Joseph Trapanese, and will feature visual design by EFFIXX, and sound by Satoshi Noguchi. Special guests also include Mica Levi, Justin Boreta (The Glitch Mob), Matthew Davis & Daniel Wohl, and will take place at the MAMA Gallery in Downtown LA.

Tickets
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If you’re not familiar with The Echo Society, “it’s a group of like-minded composers, musicians, and artists who gather to inspire and enrich the community through the creation and performance of new original works”, and was founded in 2013 by Brendan Angelides (ESKMO), Judson Crane, Nathan Johnson, Rob Simonsen, Joseph Trapanese, Benjamin Wynn (Deru) and Jeremy Zuckerman, with past shows having included special guests such as Kira Kira, Ryat and Amon Tobin.

Take a listen below at their last show, Bloom:

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Dynamic ambience with this much detail and finesse is hard to come by, it doesn’t rely on repetition and seems to be one-upping itself constantly. I usually write off all new pitched vocal material right away but here Michael Wright works it in as an accent to a casual vocal part that lifts the song off the ground and brings it into the clouds, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Broken Deck is the project of East London electronic producer Michael Wright. Emerging with his debut EP Finisher on Proclectic Records at the beginning of 2015, Broken Deck has quickly resurfaced with Helter, his 2nd EP of the year and his first on Seattle-based label Hush Hush. Helter continues to showcase his rich, masterful style that confidently fuses textured ambience, punchy rhythms, haunting melodies, rumbling low end, and shadowy vocal samples.

A diverse and distinctive UK streak runs throughout the EP’s four tracks, each song morphing into its own world while flickering shades of influential artists such as Burial, Andy Stott, and Actress. “Outmodeled” and “Total Return” explore Broken Deck’s more introspective side, focusing on spacious beats and arresting atmospherics while the upfront rhythms of “Voxer” and “Endless” contain a leftfield pulse primed for adventurous clubs. Fitting perfectly into the nocturnal-leaning catalogue of Seattle’s Hush Hush Records, Helter is another impressive early step in Broken Deck’s budding discography.

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A stunning EP from Zach Saginaw, personally I think its his best work to date. Very moody and heavily melodic, tons of tasteful effects on the signature gear that you always hear him on.

Two years after Shigeto released his second full-length, No Better Time Than Now, the busy Detroit polymath, born Zach Saginaw, has finally taken a break from his endless hustle to update everyone on his current musical headspace. “I’ve been on the road for a long time now and also have been working on other projects,” he explains. With projects that include working on a new live ensemble arrangement, playing electronics in a jazz quartet, recording with Detroit rappers, and building a new studio, it’s no wonder we haven’t heard much from him since 2013.

“I haven’t found the next step for me yet. I’ve been making loads of music as always, but I’m still looking for that concrete new path.” Shigeto’s Intermission EP takes its title quite literally, then, presenting a snapshot of the artist’s transition between ideas and inspiration. Indeed, listening to these six eclectic tracks evokes a dynamic sense of exploration, excitement, and stylistic freedom.

Saginaw describes Intermission as a collection songs that “point to the past, present, and future.” His inimitable hallmarks are certainly there: the heavy drum-machine knock and jazzy synth flourishes of “City Dweller”, that airy thumb piano in beat suite “Do My Thing”, and “Pulse”‘s percussive, polyrhythmic grooves. They mingle with some fresh sounds from Shigeto, too. Mystic pads creep into the mix—especially on beatless, textural drifts “Gently” and “Deep Breathing”—and there’s a decidedly unhinged touch to how the producer uses samples, almost like he’s teaching himself a new language. But don’t get it twisted, there’s no grand vision this time out. “They’re not meant as a strong message,” Saginaw clarifies, “but more of a taste, like a halftime show of sorts.” So if Intermission is here to hold us over until Shigeto’s next big event, the record’s palpable depth and complexity say quite a lot about where the man is now and where he’s headed.

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This album by Viers has been on repeat, i’m always a sucker for dub techno, its the buried swells in the repetition and the right amount of change throughout the album. Give it a go on some headphones and dive into detailed design work, it won’t disappoint.

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New York City based artist Samantha Keely Smith is back with all new work. Samantha’s work has been on my radar for a few years now and I did a post on her gorgeous work about two years ago. I reached out to Samantha and asked her a few questions about her influences and what her creative process involves.

In 2012 your work progressed into painting abstract, oceanic waves and creating a sense of heavy movement. What inspired this?

All of my images come from dreams, but my dreams are influenced by the emotions I experience and the things I learn/hear about in my day to day life. I’ve been concerned with the effects of global warming and the melting ice caps for some time, and that showed up in my dreams as the images I produced in 2012/2013. I’m still influenced by these concerns, only now my images have expanded beyond “oceanic.”

Without revealing too much, what is a typical process from start to finish for one of your paintings and how long does that take?

It’s a case of narrowing down the images from the dreams and trying to focus on one in particular. The images in the paintings are what I call “inner worlds” because really they are the result of attempting to translate an internal existence driven by emotion/instinct into something that makes some sense of the reality we live in. Because these dream images are fleeting I spend a long time chasing them during the process of the painting. Unfortunately this also means there is no real way to plan them out. So they can often take a couple of months to complete, with many changes (sometimes drastic) taking places over the course of that time. I work in thin layers, often somewhat translucent. I find that accidents/mistakes are an important part of my process too. I’m also in love with color and oil paint in general so my interest in the process of painting is part of the end result.

What musician/band has been the most influential for your visual cues?

There isn’t one musician, but many. Music in general is an important part of my daily studio practice. The kind of music I listen to while painting is dictated by the painting itself. I can’t say that music influences my visual choices, but it does feed the intensity of the work.

Are there any other practices/mediums in the broad world of art that you would like to try?

I can’t imagine having the time to do anything else since I paint every day, but in another life I’d like to experiment with film/video and installation art.

If you could pack up and move to work on your craft anywhere, where would you move to?

I’m not sure because I love the energy of NYC. My only problem with living here is financial. Being an artist in New York is very hard, mainly because of the high cost of living and how expensive artist’s work spaces are. I think I’d like to live somewhere near the ocean if I could. But only part time. I feed off the creative energy of the city and I’d miss that.

For more of Samantha’s breathtaking work, visit her website:

Samantha Keely Smith