8 hrs 59 mins ago  /  2 Comments
Detroit producer Kenny Larkin takes a break from the stand-up comedy to put out a new album on Carl Craig’s Planet E label. Keys, Strings and Tambourines drops in July.

Who says techno artists don’t have a sense of humour? Kenny Larkin’s output has been quiet of late, the reason being that he has moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in standup comedy and independent film-making. The producer now spends around 40% of his time on comedy and other acting interests, and 60% on music. Does that mean he considers himself a comedian who makes music or a musician who does comedy? “I would like to be considered as both equally," says Larkin.

Keys… is Larkin’s first album since Funkfaker (2004), but don’t expect belly laughs, Keys… is serious business: Larkin’s most dancefloor oriented album to date. “The majority of the album was written at my home in LA,” says Larkin. “But I flew to Detroit a few times to work in Carl's studio which did wonders for my inspiration. Nothing can top the type of inspiration I get from being in a proper studio environment in Detroit. I stayed in Carl's studio and worked for days."

Made with "proper synthesizers" and "mixing on a mixing desk with proper outboard gear”, the album so far features two singles, the song-based ‘You Are’, and Larkin's favourite track on the record, ‘Glob Glob’. “I wrote ‘Glob Glob’ on my last tour in Australia in a hotel in Sydney – a very nice mental place to write music, and that song came out. I love it. I don't know why....I associate a lot of good things with writing that song in Sydney, probably due to the success of the tour itself."

Stay tuned also for Larkin’s new live show, which will be touring Europe this summer.

Tracklist

01 Androgenous
02 Glob
03 Keys, Strings, Tambourines
04 Wake Me
05 You Are...(Light)
06 Drone
07 Computer Rain
08 Vibin'
09 Bass Mode (Original Mix)
10 Siren
11 Gimmie
12 Cirque de Soul
13 Deja Vu
14 Wake Me (Outerlude)

‘Keys, Strings and Tambourines’ by Kenny Larkin will be released on Planet E on July 1st, 2008.
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  21 hrs 52 mins ago  /  62 Comments
Minus break their ten weeks of silence with a string of concept parties featuring a glowing cube.

The dates, which kick off with a night in Detroit during the DEMF, will feature Richie Hawtin and a rotating cast of Minus members including Magda, Troy Pierce, Marc Houle, Gaiser and Heartthrob. The DJs and live sets won’t be happening one after another, apparently, but the parties will feature collaborations between Minus artists throughout the night.

So what about this cube, then?

It seems the Minus crew spent their ten weeks off dreaming up a concept and theme to go with the parties, which sees the artists dressing up as sci-fi characters with slick visuals and a dedicated website to match. There’s also a whole backstory about the cube, of course, which is described in the press notes as “a mysterious object discovered in a clandestine excavation site. Initial tests reveal a dense, carbon-based structure utilizing liquid crystal technology. While its origins remain unclear it seems to have been created by intelligence far greater than our own.”

“What is apparent is that the Cube is a highly advanced communications device that responds positively to the presence of humans and interacts accordingly,” explains, er, Guardian of the Cube Richie Hawtin. “By acting as a central hub it seems to allow us to direct our thoughts, collect and share ideas, transcend language and interconnect musically in ways previously not possible."

We're not sure quite what to make of that.

Anyway, to get involved, you'll need to buy a membership card, which is embedded with a microchip which can “make contact” with the cube. This puts you in the running for various prizes, downloads and allows you to tune into a wireless network during the gig.

  May 24  Minus presents Contakt, St. Andrews Hall, Michigan
  Jun 20  Sonar 2008 by Night - Friday, Fira Gran Via, Barcelona
  Jul 22  10 Days Off - Day05 - Minus presents C.., Vooruit, Belgium
  Aug 29  Minus presents Contakt, TBA, Montreal
  Oct 11  Minus presents Contakt, Columbia Halle, Berlin
  Oct 18  Minus presents Contakt, SEOne, London
  Oct 25  Minus presents Contakt, The Sand, Amsterdam
  Oct 31  Minus presents Contakt, Palazzo dei Congressi, Central
  Dec 06  Minus presents Contakt, TBA, Tokyo
  Dec 13  Minus presents Contakt, TBA, Argentina

62 Comments

  1 day 1 hrs ago  /  2 Comments
2008: the summer that New York took to the seas in the name of dance music?

It seems that way. Global Frequencies will be hosting the city’s first-ever extended boat party series between May 24th and September 21st. Only the first two DJs have been announced at the moment, but local DJs John Creamer & Stephane K are booked for the 24th and James Talk and Luke Fair on June 15th. Mmm, we can smell that fresh, beautiful and toxin-rich East River now...

But if fun on the water isn’t reason enough, Mansion’s sound engineer Mark Divine will be in charge of the system. He promises “a four point full range,” which we’re guessing is a good thing.

  May 24  Righteous and The Wicked Boat Party
  Jun 15  Righteous and The Wicked Boat Party

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  1 day 1 hrs ago  /  6 Comments
Greek producer Argy mixes up his own records for a new volume of Focus On on Poker Flat.

Argy’s mix follows on from Guido Schneider’s Focus On record from 2006, and features a tracklist of new and older Argy productions as well as collaborations with the likes of Solomun, Jerome Sydenham and The Mole. Knowing Argy’s past work, expect a varied affair that will touch on minimal, deep house and—if The Mole collaboration goes as we think it might—a little bit of funk as well.

Tracklist

01 Jerome Sydenham, Texu, Romantic Couch – Ebian (Argy's Legendary Bonus Beats)
02 Argy – The Storm
03 Argy & Sydenham – In the Mist
04 Argy – Love Dose
05 Argy – Malena
06 Argy & The Mole – Cantstandlovegetaway
07 Argy & DJ Gregory – Our Drums – Argy & Bayoga – Under No Illusion
08 Argy & Solomun – Anemone
09 Ryo Murakami – Down The Sky (Argy Remix)
10 Argy – Unreliable Virgin
11 Argy – 1985 (Sydenham Remix)

'Focus On Argy' will be released on Poker Flat on June 24th, 2008.
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  1 day 1 hrs ago  /  Post a comment
The Martinez Brothers will helm Pacha’s float at New York’s second annual Dance Parade on May 17.

Last year the city of New York inaugurated the Dance Parade, a celebration of the art of dance that makes its way down Broadway from 28th Street and ends up in the East Village at Tompkins Square Park. 2008’s edition boasts more than one hundred dance organizations, 25 dance styles and 3,000 dancers. Oddly enough, though, Pacha, is the only nightclub with a float in the parade.

The Martinez boys got the nod for this year's edition by the famed club, and will be undoubtedly be spinning a classics-heavy set on their way down Manhattan and well into the night when they take the decks at Pacha proper at Victor Calderone’s Evolve party.

  May 17  The Martinez Brothers, Pacha NYC, New York

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  2 days 3 hrs ago  /  3 Comments
Liverpool clubbing institution Cream returns to Amnesia in Ibiza every Thursday this summer.

Cream's 2008 residency will run for sixteen weeks from June 12 to September 25 with trance heavyweights Paul Van Dyk, Ferry Corsten and Above & Beyond spinning alongside residents Eddie Halliwell and Dave Spoon. UK dance magazine Mixmag are also programming the terrace again with DJ sets lined up from the likes of Eric Prydz, Klaxons, Steve Angello and Mylo. Paul Van Dyk, Sasha and Annie Mac play the opening party. Check RA Events for full listings and ticketing details.

  Jun 12  Cream Opening Party
  Jun 19  Cream
  Jun 26  Cream
  Jul 03  Cream
  Jul 10  Cream
  Jul 17  Cream
  Jul 24  Cream
  Jul 31  Cream
  Aug 07  Cream
  Aug 14  Cream
  Aug 21  Cream
  Aug 28  Cream
  Sep 04  Cream
  Sep 11  Cream
  Sep 18  Cream
  Sep 25  Cream

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  2 days 3 hrs ago  /  Post a comment
DC Recordings issues a new label compilation featuring tracks from Padded Cell, Bot’ox, The Emperor Machine and more. Death Before Distemper 2: Revenge of the Iron Ferret drops in June.

In business since the mid-nineties, UK DC Recordings concentrates on leftfield dance music and beyond, collected here in a new volume of the Death Before Distemper series. Volume two features newer DC artists including And the Lefhanded from Finland, Bo’Tox aka Cosmo Vitelli, as well as DC regulars Padded Cell, Kelpe and label head J. Saul Kane aka Depth Charge.

You can preview a number of a tracks from the compilation at DC Recordings’ MySpace.

Tracklist

01 The Emperor Machine - Introduction
02 Booze - Insanity Drive
03 And The Lefthanded - Rocket Rock
04 The Oscillation - Somatone
05 Bot’ox - The Crash Theme
06 Depth Charge - Castle of Doom
07 Kelpe - Shipwreck Glue
08 Muscleheads - Phosphorescence
09 The 63 Crayons - Heal Us
10 The Emperor Machine - Swiss Machine
11 Padded Cell - Beautiful Gloom (Dennis Young version)
12 Astral Manhole Project - Perfected Love
13 The Oscillation - Head Hang Low (Kelpe version)

The DC crew will be throwing a launch party for the album at Corsica Studios in London featuring five acts from the compilation, including the first ever live performance of The Emperor Machine.

’Death before Distemper 2: Revenge of the Iron Ferret’ is out on DC Recordings on June 9th, 2008.

  Jun 21  Death Before Distemper 2 Launch.., Corsica Studios, London

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  2 days 4 hrs ago  /  4 Comments
Berlin producer Axel Bartsch releases a debut album, Kiss on Karmarouge this month.

Bartsch runs the record label Sportclub, and his three Speicher sides, especially Speicher 32, will also be familiar to Kompakt fans. Time for an album then, which arrives on Cologne label Karmarouge. And the title? ‘Kiss’ derives from Bartsch’s passion about music, according to the press sheet, “because music is like kissing, highly emotional and sensual, the feeling of approaching lips...kiss – like being kissed by music.”

You can pre-listen to a number of tracks from the album at Axel Bartsch’s MySpace.

Tracklist

01 Intro
02 You Won’t Fall
03 Am Mauerpark
04 Mystique
05 Pannebar
06 Coppa
07 BSV
08 Karneval
09 Zu Breit Fur Dong A
10 Your Voice
11 Freedom

’Kiss’ by Axel Bartsch will be released on Karma Rouge on May 26th, 2008.
4 Comments

  2 days 5 hrs ago  /  98 Comments
Thanks to your votes, RA has won a People's Voice trophy in this year’s Webby Awards.

The Webbys are the Internet version of the Grammys or the Oscars, so it’s a real honour to be nominated, let alone take away a prize. In 2008 the Webbys received 10,000 entries from over 60 countries, of which five were nominated in each category. Resident Advisor managed to beat the competition and take away the People’s Voice trophy in the music category, edging out big boys such as BBC Radio 1 and Pink Floyd.

All that’s left to do now is think of an acceptance speech, which in the Webby tradition is limited to five words. Now you’ve voted, the only thing left to do is make some suggestions – at the moment all we can think of is "We're gushing like Halle Berry” and “Nobody listens to techno, huh?”
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  2 days 11 hrs ago  /  9 Comments
New cuts from Efdemin, Joris Voorn and Cassy star on the latest edition of Cocoon's annual unmixed CD and boxed set. Cocoon compilation H drops in June.

Each year Cocoon boss Sven Vath and label manager Pauli Steinbach flex their A&R muscle by inviting dance music's current crop to produce a track for their lettered series compilations. Past comps have yielded big-hitters such as Cobblestone Jazz's 'W', Guy Gerber & Shlomi Aber's 'Sea of Sand' and Roman Flügel's 'Geht's Noch?' so expect quality.

H includes cuts from many of 2007's brightest names: Efdemin, Cassy, Joris Voorn, Simon Baker, and Dubfire as well as up-and-comers Mark August, Tolga Fidan and Matt Star. Väth has also sat down in the studio especially for the occasion, teaming up with Roman Flugel on 'Trashbindance'. As usual, the compilation will be released as both a limited edition box set of six coloured vinyls and as an unmixed CD.

Tracklist

01 Cassy Britton - a Plea for Me
02 Joris Voorn - Deep Side of the Moog
03 Raudive - Tempo
04 Väth vs. Flügel - Trashbindance
05 Simon Baker - U
06 Len Faki - Death by House
07 Dubfire vs. Huntemann - Diablo
08 Tolga Fidan - Us and Them
09 Gui Boratto - Golden Axe
10 Efdemin - Float
11 Mark August - 3 of a Kind
12 Matt Star - Am I Dreaming

Frankfurters can catch four of the acts (Joris Voorn, Dubfire, Simon Baker and Matt Star) at a launch party for the compilation at Cocoon Club on May 23rd.

'Cocoon compilation H' is released in late June 2008.
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