14tracks.com - Selections

14 Tracks: Never Been To Ibiza

2012-05-15T17:03:46+01:00

It's true; we've never visited the white isle. But if we did, we'd probably want our Balearic soundtrack to go a little something like this. It would push off with Jan Jelinek's exotic 'Irrelevant Sound Effect', and really get into the sunset mood with pool/barside drifters from Cos/Mes, Cage & Aviary and The Durutti Column before taking a slow Euro strut with the likes of Laid Back and Lauer. Once the drinks started to settle in, a bit of Cosmic Metal Mother and Boys From Patagonia would keep the vibe simmering and sensual, for some deep blue disco from Northerner, Matthew Dear and Chris & Cosey to summon the dark of night. Finally, Gag's awesome 'Flying Bolero', the bayside strafe of KWJAZ and Petar Dundov's lush Balkan trance lend a romantically rose-tinted glow to the rest of the night, or that might just the sambuca... Either way, it all sounds quite appealing, no?

14 Tracks: Quarrying Strange & Heavy Rocks

2012-05-01T16:44:11+01:00

We visit the outer limits this week to mine the fringes of Psyche-Folk, Noise, Avant Jazz and experimental Rock. Essentially it's a display of how far the usual guitar/drums vocals/electronics combos have been pushed. But, we assure you: it's not all about loudness or showy technique; the focus is on subtleties of dissonance, rhythm, instrumental intuition. That said, there's some f**king heavy sh*t in here! Solo artists are represented by Richard Youngs with the transcendent drone distortions of 'The Healing Of Everyone', beside the octopoid dexterities of Eli Keszler; Colin Stetson and his gargantuan Bass saxophone; and the force of nature known as Ghedalia Tazartés, plus an unexpected offering from the Young Echo Collective's Sam Kidel (El Kid) working out of his usual zone to beguiling effect. Bands wise, Weird Forest's as-yet-categorised -Rockers Excavacations warrant your attention, as do the virile Haino / O'Rourke / Ambarchi supergroup, Peter Rehberg's scathing Doom outfit, Peterlicker, Kiwi sludgy mavericks The Dead C, and the striking combo of Stephen O'Malley & Steve Noble, whilst Aufgehoben's incredibly visceral 'Interruhig' and Daniel Menche's mangled "STR" mix of Circle-meets-ISIS supergroup, Split Cranium are unmissable for fans of uncompromising, cathartic extremities. Fill your boots and be sure to come back for more when the effect wears off.

14 Tracks: Clun Q Fun Q

2012-04-24T15:42:45+01:00

Retuning tried-and-tested House, Garage and Techno frameworks with up-to-the-minute and in-the-box production methods, the dancefloor zeitgeist is increasingly defined by hollowed-out percussive polyrhythms, sheer synth shapes and emulated acid optimised with hyperreal spatial mixdowns. This selection features a mixture of tracks created with analog and digital disciplines which blur their distinctions and open resonant new spaces in between. It's a full-frontal body assault swinging between the likes of Paul Woolford's cracking meta-rave deconstruction to the taut flex of Blawan's 'Shader' through Kyoka's decimated computer Techno and the surreal intoxication of Anstam's 'Whiskey', with highly compatible aces from Tessela, Randomer, Untold, Martyn, Redshape, and Siriusmo to seal the synthetic freshness.

14 Tracks: Footwork Diffusion

2012-04-17T17:12:01+01:00

Footwork's futurist templates have catalysed some fascinating fusions in modern dance and electronic music. This selection checks for those artists/engineers/producers outside the scene who've fused its scattershot rhythms and fractal arrangements with myriad strands of Grime, modern composition, Pop and Ballroom House in much the same way IDM makers appropriated Jungle in the mid-late '90s. That connection is most obvious in Dream Continuum's (Machinedrum & Om Unit/Philip D. Kick) soaring Footwork raver 'Giv A Lil Luv', or Throwing Snow's dancefloor arrow 'Too Polite', but things get really interesting when it's taken further from its roots. Consider King Felix, Slava or Romare's string-heavy fusions - perhaps imagining Ornette Coleman or Alice Coltrane gone cybernetic - for example; or at the other end of the scale, the way Slugabed, Krampfhaft or Keiska see Footwork in ambient IDM hyperspace, and how the likes of Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland or Napolian have fused it with shoegaze and R&B sensibilities; or, in time-honoured style, how Massacooramaan and Nadus have flipped Grime and Ballroom House, respectively, with outstanding, syncretic results. There's certainly much more to come, but for now, outside of Chicago, we reckon these are some of the best bits in circulation.

14 Tracks: Consensual Hallucination

2012-03-13T17:12:32+00:00

Partly provoked by Black Rain's soundtrack to William Gibson's “Neuromancer”, our 'Consensual Hallucination' is shaped by cyberpunk dubs, phantasmic kosmische and clandestine architechtronics imagined by a shadowy class of machine disciples. Our descent begins with Black Rain - the duo of Ike Yard's Stuart Argabright and Death Comet Crew's Shinichi Shimokawa - and the dystopian pleasures of their 'Tokyo Night. City' vision, before skulking through the redlit nether zones inhabited by Cleared, and Nik Colk Void's scanning guitar noise. Lost, spiked and gripped by fear, Xerox Girls, Tolouse Low Trax and 23 Skidoo ratchet the intensity with bleakest post-punk derivations, whilst the austere rhythms of Regis, Kareem and The Binary Collective steel the nerves with powerful illicit substances, prepping systems for the cybernetic flux of Bob Ostertag, and incisive premonitions of astral chaos and environmental decay from Leyland Kirby, Jim Haynes and Decimus. It's a trip.

14 Tracks: Body Request

2012-04-03T16:15:45+01:00

The pull of the 'floor was too much to ignore this week, hence these 14 driving, dramatic aces from the intersection of Industrial Funk, Wavey disco and Machine Pop. It's fair to say a lot of this stuff has seen a resurgence of interest recently, in no small part thanks to expertly-curated comps like Trevor Jackson's 'Metal Dance', Optimo's ongoing reissue series, and the modulations of Veronica Vasicka's Minimal Wave and Cititrax imprints. Pneumatic drums, libidinous bass and steely synths galvanize this selection into action, running the gamut from Diseno Corbusier's Latinized torque to the taut drum programming of Phillipe Laurent or Ohama and arresting pop epics like Psyche's sublime 'Goodbye Horses' or Light Asylum's monotlithic Industrial 'Skull Fuct'. There's also offbeat, stalking Wave funk from White Car, and Vex Kiddy's slick nod to classic Prince on 'Babystrange', plus unmissable Neo Wave peaches like Liz & Laszlo's 'Rien a Paris' and Trust's 'The Dazzle'. Let's get those shoulders going...

14 Tracks: Parallel Pop

2012-03-27T17:18:10+01:00

Dreamy, gauzy pop is in the spotlight this week, from sly covers to '60s-inspired songcraft to wistful '80s themes, taking in sun-soaked Balearic bop, sophisticated composition and even a cheeky medley. Swoonfuls of magical, sugary bliss from Chairlift, Julia Holter and Sunless '97 set the mood for Bullion and Family Portrait's sun-happy Balearic pop, while Ariel Pink's mentor R Stevie Moore does his innate MOR thing and Sandro Perri summons a classic Tropicalia influence. Psychic Dancehall share an uncanny taste for the bittersweet side of '60s pop with Dirty Beaches, Die Jungen, and Sad Souls, leaving Cough Cool with Masha Qrella to represent evergreen Indie and pop from unique perspectives.

Hospital Productions: 14 Open Wounds

2012-03-20T16:18:50+00:00

Hospital Productions is one of the most vital and prolific imprints in operation right now. Attempting to make some sense of their most recent batch of releases, here we trace the transgressive tastes of their cabal across 14 open wounds of arcane folk, ceramic ambience and psycho-active noise. Under the curation of Dominick Fernow, who releases as Prurient, Vatican Shadow, and as part of Christian Cosmos and Cold Cave (among many others), the label has cultivated an uncompromising aesthetic which, most recently, has veered towards the more damaged ends of the electronic spectrum. At least five cuts incurred by Fernow - including his stunning Christian Cosmos collusion with Kris Lapke (Alberich) and the arresting 'Shadow War In Yemen' - are complemented by bleak Ambient folk from Stillbirth, "Afro-noise" from Sierra Leone Anger/Force Publique Congo, and the stoic brutalist atmospheres of Infrastructure Zero or December Magic. Also, we find Contrepoison's earworming darkwave ace 'I Keep On Searching', and Viodre's psycho-activating noise collage 'Form - Hydrogen II', together illuminating some of the bleakest and (yet strangely, conversely) life-affirming sonics we're aware of.

14 Tracks: Convective Currents

2012-03-06T17:41:53+00:00

Teetering on alternating weather systems at the cusp of spring, there seems like no better time to collect some of the beautiful synth music that's been keeping us warm over winter. David Cain and Ronald Duncan make an eloquent introduction with just one of the many delights from 'The Seasons' collection, while Panabrite charms our woolly socks off with the breezy beauty of 'Siphonophore', sharing an elemental theme with Wolfgang Voigt's stunning 'Ruckverzauberung 5' and Pjusk's pristine 'Krystall'. American composers are strongly represented by Suzanne Ciani's ebullient cue 'Eight Wave' beside the filigree intricacies of Rene Hell's 'Baroque Ensemble Coda' and Jason Urick's sublime statement 'I Love You', plus patient, improvised meditations from JD Emmanuel and Expo 70. We couldn't resist a couple of atmospheric aces from keyboard auteurs, Roedelius and Leyland Kirby either, which are neatly complemented by striking new work from Axel Willner (The Field) as Loops Of Your Heart with the deeply arresting 'Neukolln', and Dolphins Into The Future's transportive 'Levante'.

14 Tracks: Dubstep In Rude Health

2012-02-28T16:42:17+00:00

Dubstep in 2012 is still a mutant, virile beast. In recent years it's been summoned to do dirty work for Rihanna, Britney, and Usher, while suburban punks like Skrillex have even taken it to the f**king Grammys. Well, we all have Carl Cox to thank for that, but seriously, the OG 'steppers are still going strong, and the underground they've spawned is fertile as ever, catalysing logical cross-pollinations with Techno, Electro, House and D&B to keep the bloodline strong. With this selection we've taken a full spectrum snapshot of the scene; a current state-of-play checking for originators, newcomers and outsiders alike. Repping for the new skool, there's the sharp contours of Akkord, the skillful subtlety of Kahn and the taut dynamism of Author, Killawatt, Commodo, and Lurka. Meanwhile, the sound's pioneers are cold knockin' 'em out with the likes of Coki's terrifying 'Tree Trunk', Kromestar's overlarge '2012' banger and Goth Trad's future torpedo 'Cosmos', leaving the peripheries open for Technoid experiments like Shed's hulking bomb 'RQ-170' and Objekt's template-twysting 'Cactus'. And we can always rely on Burial and Various Production to fill the soul quota...

14 Tracks: The Unheimlich Manoeuvres Of Kareem

2012-02-21T16:24:23+00:00

Since 1996 Berlin's Kareem has forged a steely, blackened body of work spanning Industrial Techno, Hip Hop and Drone synonymous with his Zhark Recordings imprint. After nearly half a decade of inaction, we welcome his imminent return to the underground with a collection of standout moments spanning ten years of diverse yet uncompromising work. In Hip Hop mode, the 'Battlefield' and 'Neoclassical' mini-LPs strongly reference the work of RZA and Mobb Deep's Havoc with their minimal and broodingly cinematic feel, best heard on 'Curfew' which features a little known appearance from Paul St. Hilaire aka Tikiman. Arguably, his most definitive work is in the Techno realm. Girder-strength, pneumatic pounders such as 'Genesis' and the aquatic pulsations of 'Escape From NY' set his sound with a resolutely gloomy and dystopian mood, but it's his latter day productions - the infernal tension of 'Gate' and the bone-snapping swing of 'Surgoo' - which assert his rarified position among Berlin's Industrial architects. If you're feeling the recent productions of Regis, Vatican Shadow, Pete Swanson or Ancient Methods, you're bound to connect on some level with this selection.

14 Tracks: Hypersoul

2012-02-14T17:20:30+00:00

What with Whitney's untimely passing and the fug of Valentine's day still lingering, it only seemed right to round up the best R&Bass/Soul-infused electronica from our digital stockpile this week. OK, maybe it's a sideways take on the chart sound, but nonetheless these guys have definitely got their soul flow on. There's straight-up vocal aces from Ango, AlunaGeorge and dBridge, beside pitch-shifting, autotuned stunts from o F F Love and Ifan Dafydd, while the likes of Nicolas Jaar, Ifan Dafydd and James Blake serve their subtly warped, blue-eyed perspective on matters of the heart. You also get tracks to make you bump - the frisky Teeth remix of Luomo, Two Inch Punch's infectious 'Love You Up' and Jacques Greene's plush 'Flatline' - and sublime moments like Neon Cloud's 'o' and Shlohmo's sensitive delicacy 'Wen Uuu'. Whatever you choose to do with them, be safe kids, and take care of each other, yeah?

14 Tracks: Midnight Nomads

2012-01-31T17:24:12+00:00

We're back on land this week, searching under rocks for desolate drone, introverted Americana and occult artefacts to while away baltic nights. 'The Story Begins' with Myrmyr's forlorn folk strings and tentative drones, bleeding into 'The Corascene Dog' from Earth's nicotine-stained 'Angels of Darkness, Demons Of Light II', and the blues roots of Nate Young and John Olsen's Stare Case. Meanwhile, Simon Scott surveys abandoned vistas on 'Gamma', and The Shadow Ring vanquish any semblance of hope with the arid 'Nocturnal Middle Rumbles'. Resigned to the fact, Starving Weirdos' 'Dreams, Endless' delves inwards to mystical, otherworldly terrain, and the stony ground of Pinch & Shackleton's 'Monks On The Run'. The ordeal reaches a cold-sweating apex with Young Hunting's 'Embers From The Pyre' and via the handmade crafts of The Haxan Cloak, William Fowler Collins, Indignant Senility and Pyramids / Horseback. The ultimate resolution comes with Bardo Pond and Tom Carter's sublime live recordings.

14 Tracks: Aqua Tech

2012-01-24T17:09:37+00:00

From the earliest concrète thru Drexciya's wave-jumping electro, to the hydraulick torque of Drum & Bass and the hydrophonic sound studies of Chris Watson, this week we drawn lines between different forms of electronic music informed by an aquatic fascination. We take in 14 tracks that evoke or which are directly influenced by those elemental ideas, taking in immersive sound design, aquatic electro, and advanced biokinetics. We've opted for a selection of largely recent releases showcasing the most contemporary evolutions and ideas in this field, but we couldn't miss the opportunity to include a definitive Porter Ricks piece amid these cutting edge productions...

14 Tracks: Nexus Flux

2012-01-17T16:30:20+00:00

Our 'Nexus Flux' selection isolates a luminescent cloud of syncretic, cybernetic electronic hybrids. This virtual mass of sonic memes crystallises elements of synth-driven Afro-Futurism, Sino-steppers and neon-blue-eyed R&B with a shared taste for sweeter, exotic dissonance and tingling, trance-y arpeggios. From the simulated tropical timbres of Fatima Al Qadiri's 'D-medley' thru the percolating Middle Eastern Electro rhythms of GoldFFinch's 'Arabian Prince', to the Ibizan float of DJ Wilson's 'Night Heat' remix or Bathcrones' inverted, pseudo-oriental crunk, everyone seems to be searching beyond their own horizon for newer, futuristic sounds. We can hear the influence of the Pan-Ghetto diaspora on Berlin Techno in Modeselektor's 'German Clap', and the pull of the Far East on Desto & Jimi Tenor's 'Eightfold Path', while the likes of Ikonika and Balil hone in on deliciously affective and kaotic tunings with their respective remixes for DJ Madd and Francesco Tristano. Finishing the selection, we find two stranger examples of synth music's ever morphing genetic make-up; TG Gondard's curiously autistic Robo-R&B ballad 'The Phalanx' and Tyme. X Tujiko's Sino-wave Electro-pop. As the contours of established genres become ever more fluid, decentralised, and yet connected, we predict these boundary-stepping fusions will only proliferate exponentially. We can't wait to hear what's coming next.