Plaid Predict the Future of Electronic Music
Warp Records
Posted on Sep 30th 2011 5:00PM by Jesse Ship
Warp Records’ Plaid — comprised of Ed Handley and Andy Turner — are back with the album ‘Scintilli’ (meaning “I am many sparks” in Latin). The disc features signature spiraling beats and chimes from Bjork‘s former bandmates as well as computer-produced vocals that sound eerily human.
Reproducing human voices opens up debate over the validity of the musical experience and, of course, leads to the possibility of sci-fi scenarios where artificial intelligence assume human roles (it’s already started with Japan’s ‘real-life’ virtual pop star Hatsune Miku).
“I think it scares a lot of people,” Turner tells Spinner. “Because any kind of intelligence than what we can’t classify as natural is going to be alien, disturbing and threatening. But we should obviously make computers our friends, it would be silly not to.
“[For our work], we use software incorporating phonemes [ie: phonetic bits of words] while paying attention to things that happen in our own mouths and throat. There’s a lot going on with the pitch and the breath. It’s an interesting process to examine, it’s actually incredibly complex.”
In fact, aside from a guitar, very few instruments were used on the album at all, as the British duo opted to recreate a warm, almost acoustic, sound using synthesizers. “As you get more evolved in writing music, the concept of instruments becomes unimportant and you get more concerned with the sound. The goal was to create something that you couldn’t quite tell [how it was made], and had a spooky quality.”
The Warp Records sound — once tagged as IDM (Intelligence Dance Music, a name Turner finds hypocritical as he says the purpose of dancing is to escape the intellect) or electronica in the ’90s — was spearheaded by other groundbreaking acts like Aphex Twin and Squarepusher. The style has evolved since then while ‘Scintilli’ is a return to that golden age.
“For the interest of music, we think electronics were finished in the ’50s at an academic level,” says Turner. “But it took decades of tinkering for it to filter through and become accepted by most people’s ears. We’re just finding new ways of performing and interacting with machines. That’s where the future is — but it won’t be perceived as ‘electronic music,’ it will just be seen as music.”
Not only are Plaid making human voices and instruments irrelevant, but the futurists have also taken aim at the CD. They’re still offering their album via CD but they’ve included a Japanese hanging paper ornament called a muda no mono (“useless object”) puzzle, calling the package a “mausoleum,” as if to mock the format, but still reward, surprise and delight their fans.
“It could be a mobile or a desk display,” says Turner. “It doesn’t have that much of a function but it’s certainly more interesting than a digi-pack, of which we have hundreds sitting around the house and studio. Lots of bands, like Parliament, for example, used to do cool things with vinyl gatefolds and album cut-outs so we wanted to do the same.”
“Data storage methods will quickly overtake CD,” he adds. “The end will probably come when we get to the point where people have hard drives in their cars — vehicles are really the last strongholds of the format.”
Oh, How The Mighty Have Fallen…
Hey Mighty Wallet, I like your style, but after a year of use, you’re looking a little rough around the edges and weak in the bones. What gives?
What was once surprise and delight has spiralled into shock and embarassment. Not quite the claim of “even after years of wear, it will still offer surprise and solicit intrigue.” as you wrote on your website.
Montreal Music Fests – Antenna Fall 2011
Epic Meal Time – Antenna Fall 2011
Naked & Famous Denim – Antenna Fall 2011
Max Payne 3 Trailer
Rockstar Games gets wise and take a bite off of VH1’s ‘Pop Up Video!’ for the Max Payne 3 trailer.
Guerilla Raw Denim
Guerrilla Raw Denim looks like they’re directly targeting the hip hop scene with their gangster looking, Balaclava toting logos and models with names like Sniper and Gunner. There isn’t a lot in the way of images yet but here are some teaser shots from their Tumblr account.
Be sure to keep watch for upcoming developments!
More raw denim pix after the jump.
Shunda K Takes Her ‘Most Wanted’ Rap Sermon ‘From the Church to the Club’
Courtesy of Fanatic Records
Posted on Sep 20th 2011 2:30PM by Jesse Ship
Shunda K is one half of the electro-hip-hop group Yo! Majesty. When she’s not offering her services with her mobile production studio in ‘Itty Bitty’ Plant City, Florida, or performing with Yo! Majesty (the duo are touring North America right now), the outspoken lesbian is focused on her solo act where she plays a larger-than-life role model spreading a powerful message for truth-seekers everywhere — particularly wise women.
“Yo! Majesty is just me and my partner Shon B, and it’s more like f—-that-s— and I’m-gonna-say-what-I-wanna-say, let-my-hair-down-and-party music,” she tells Spinner. “We spit the truth, but Shunda K is more soulful. My ‘The Most Wanted’ [solo] album is about taking Shunda K from the church to the club. Let me spit some truth to the soul that’s looking to be set free.”
A deep love for Christian spirituality may be a touch controversial for a party rapper who’s had works produced by the likes of Basement Jaxx, but Shunda K holds her ground.
“Everything we’ve been taught is a lie,” she proclaims. “That’s why Shunda K is here to shed light on the truth. The Bible isn’t the original word of God, it’s a translation, as well. I got tired of listening to the pastor and went though original scrolls, the original s—!”
As if to prove her point, a fan at a show in Berlin recently asked the question, “How do I talk about God in a party atmosphere?” Her answer?
“You just got to do it! So what if you’re at a club? People might clench up, but they do because it’s the truth! They run away because they’re feeling that. Some people that come to my show feel like they have no chance of God loving them. They keep hearing, ‘If you’re gay, you’re an abomination, you don’t have a chance.’ But I beg to differ, I take it wherever I go.”
‘The Most Wanted’ features a crop of fresh up-and-coming producers who she met while touring over the years with experimental breakbeat artists like Chrissy Murderbot, the duo Deekline and Pure SX as well as Raspberry Cocaine. While the second single, ‘I’m Da Best,’ features her Yo! Majesty partner in crime Shon B (the ‘Strictly for the Ladies’ EP and ‘Yo! Majesty Reunited…IT IS WHAT IT IS!!!’ album are also going down the pipe). No matter who Shunda K teams with, though, her fierce spirit is at the forefront.
“These are people that I met on the road and resonated with,” she says. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, I need to get out and meet people of faith!’ I manage my own business and I’ve learned that there may be people that love what you do, but nobody’s going to make things happen for you but yourself.”
SebastiAn Blames the Director of M.I.A.’s ‘Born Free’ Video for Delaying His Album
Ed Banger Records
Posted on Sep 21st 2011 5:00PM by Jesse Ship
29-year-old Parisian electro producer SebastiAn recently irked fans, again, by releasing a simplistic radio-show-style playlist on the popular music sharing site Soundcloud. The quick cuts were a letdown for fans expecting the technical DJ sets Sebastian is known for.
“I’m becoming like an old guy who sits at home with his whiskey and listens to blues — it’s very strange,” he tells Spinner. “Everyone is obsessed with me doing a technical mix, but this was never the intention. If fans are not happy, they can make their own, and they should certainly criticize me more.”
The artist who’s currently touring ‘Total,’ his first full-length for Ed Banger Records, has a casual and unapologetic approach to releasing albums — he waited for years before dropping this one for this label. “I won’t release an album for the sake of a commercial package,” he says. “I would much rather put things out as they come. If they are good, good. If they’re bad, well, too bad — next. But, really, it’s all Romain Gavras fault.”
Gavras is the director of various music videos for the likes of Justice and M.I.A. (he’s the guy behind her controversial ‘Born Free’ video) and also shot the award-winning film ‘Our Day Will Come,’ to which SebastiAn penned the score. The project forced him to compromise his album to focus on epic, Eastern-Bloc-tinged instrumentals for eight months. “Gavras picked me because I grew up in the former Yugoslavia. He thought I would be able to bring some darkness and heaviness to the soundtrack with classic [Sergei] Rachmaninoff-inspired pieces with a contemporary angle.”
It was also through Gavras that SebastiAn reconnected with M.I.A. for ‘C.T.F.O.,’ one of ‘Total”s standout tracks (“she calls it ‘Chill the F— Out’ but I say ‘Shut the F— Up,” he jokes). Mayer Hawthorne was another surprise guest on his record. His inclusion was very much a fluke, as the two met on the street in Amsterdam while on the prowl for a nightcap. “It was actually my friend that recognized him; I always thought he was black!” says SebastiAn. “Having him on the album makes perfect sense as I was looking for a tidy voice just like his — and it’s always better to meet outside of a label environment.”
Hawthorne sings the vocals on the forthcoming single ‘Love in Motion,’ a song written in the tradition of Prince‘s ‘Kiss’ but with a more modern and heavier sound. SebastiAn says he considered drawing from Michael Jackson but confesses, “I was always more into Prince, because he is still black and still alive.”
While SebastiAn is famous for his powerful, almost punishing style of electro (check out the almost unrecognizable remix of Toddla T‘s ‘Watch Me Dance’), ‘Total’ has a softer side, accompanied by musical interludes inspired by classic hip-hop albums.
“Its not all hard-hitting,” he says. “There are songs for times when you might want to be sweet with your girlfriend, or boyfriend. But yes, there are tracks for other days when you want to beat people up.”
Drew Smith – Love Teeth
Drew Smith once taught ESL in Canada and one of his students, Sohee Jeon, went back home to South Korea to be a successful animator. Years later she decided to share her talents with Drew and made him this slightly creepy, cute and kawaii music video. I like the teeth and the texture on the water drops the most.
You can check out his work at http://www.drewsmith.ca/
