Mix Of The Day: Dystopia Podcast 003: The Black Dog (Dark Wave Volume 9) + Interview

We've been meaning to post this one for a while and today seemed like just the right occasion. The Dystopia Podcast is now into it's 3rd episode and they welcome their next headliners, The Black Dog, to display their considerable talents.

The podcast is a continuation of their Dark Wave collection of mixes and can be streamed or downloaded from the soundcloud player below

Dystopia Podcast 003 - The Black Dog (Dark Wave Volume Nine) by dystopiaonline

Tracklisting

1) Pariah - Among Those Metal Trees [R&S Records]
2) Perc - Boy [Perc Trax]
3) Burial - Etched Headplate [Hyperdub]
4) Orphx - Cut Through [Sonic Groove]
5) Mike Dehnert - Fraction [Fachwerk]
6) Orphx - Preta Loka [Sonic Groove]
7) Orphx - Cut Through [Sonic Groove]
8) Pariah - Rift [R&S Records]
9) Guy Andrews - The Wait [Hotflush]
10) Mike Dehnert - Resize [Fachwerk]
11) Bas Mooy - Kneel [Perc Trax]
12) Konrad Black & Art Department - Graveyard Tan [No 19 Music]
13) Planetary Assault Systems - Function 4 (Marcel Dettmann Bass Dub) [Mote Evolver]
14) Oscar Mulero - Inaccurate Information [Warm Up Records]
15) Oscar Mulero - Instant Widespread Of The Dirt [Warm Up Records]
16) Bandshell - Loop [N/A]
17) Oscar Mulero - The Dirt [Warm Up Recordings]
18) Rrose - Waterfal [Sandwell District]
19) Cobblestone Jazz - Across The Nation [Wagon Repair]
20) Cub 2 - Re Edit [N/A]
21) Mike Dehnert - Modular [Fachwerk]
22) Planetary Assault Systems - Function 4 (Lucy Remix) [Mote Evolver]
23) Oscar Mulero - To Convince For The Untruth [Warm Up Recordings]
24) Ghosting Season - Through Your Teeth [Last Night On Earth]


The London party throwers also caught up with the enigmatic UK trio...

Describe to us the current line-up for both production and live performance.

[TBD] We sit with our machines across six different locations making the music we want, for live work we use less machines and fewer people.

Describe to us your approach to both production and live performance.

[TBD] There's no real difference, we want to connect and have a good time, it's that simple. In a live setting, we are trying to make sure that people enjoy themselves, and get their money's worth for the ticket price. In the studio we always write to please ourselves, more than other people. That's how we might see any difference, anyway.

Explain to us the characteristics of your domicile city and your opinion on the impact that environment imposes on creativity.

[Ken] I don't live in a city anymore. London was sucking me dry. Both in my wallet, and in my humanity. City folks can be so cold towards each other. So it was time to move out and find a more natural way to live. Creatively, if you have the money, cities can be great. There are definite heartbeats and energies that you can tap into. But they are not the only places such energy exists. I think if you wish to be creative, you can be creative anywhere. Some places it will be easier, some harder. A person with imagination can just close their eyes, and can be anywhere they choose.

To delve on your political standpoint - what does the future outlook of people like Huxley and Orwell mean to you and how relevant are these visions to modernity?

[Ken] I think they were men of incredible vision, and we can see many aspects of their writing in the world today. This is obviously a tremendously sad thing, to the people who are still awake, and not skulled out on soma. One thing the modern world possesses, which they did not foresee, is the internet, and the blogosphere. Resistance is not futile, and there are more of us than them!

You all seem fairly detached from the scene and the distracting trends that often drives it off course - is this a conscious decision and where do your core influences lie?

[Ken] I can't speak for Martin and Rich, but I made the conscious decision to detach, because I believed it's up to the next generation to pick up the vibe and rub with it. After 23 years, I don't have to be at the front anymore. That's not to say that I'm lethargic, lazy, or not experimenting with sound. What I mean is that, I am comfortable and happy with the niche we have carved for ourselves, through diligence and hard work. We don't need to follow trends to become 'popular', because it was never about that. Popularity lasts for one minute, and then people are off for 'the next big thing'. Superficiality and shallowness is all that lies down that road. So I'm really not interested in going there.

On the issue of my 'core' influences. Well, those are the same as ever. That humanity doesn't need to be governed, farmed, taxed, squeezed or told what to do. Wise men many millennia ago, said that if left alone, everything will seek and find it's own level, and harmony will ensue. We may still be a thousand years away from that, maybe more, but there is always hope. In the meantime, we can bang drums and dance around without a care in the world. Much like our pagan ancestors did. And that makes me very happy indeed.

What are we to expect at your upcoming performance at Dystopia?

[TDB] There will mostly likely be beats. And some bass. A few melodies in there too. Some old tunes, and quite possibly some new. What you can expect, is that we will try very hard to make sure that people leave the room with a smile on their face.

Where next for TBD?

[TBD] Upstream, possibly

The Black Dog will be performing for Dystopia, this Saturday (18th Aug) at the Rhythm Factory, alongside Andy Stott, Ø [Phase] with support from our man, XI, and the Dystopia residents. If you want to get on to the concessions guestlist for the event, please e-mail your names to guestlist@slashdotdash.biz

More info on The Black Dog can be found on their Facebook Fan Page, and the same goes for Dystopia

August Bank Holiday: Ostgut Ton, Blueprint Records with Jeff Mills & Chris Liebing @ WetYourSelf!

Over the years the August bank holiday has steadily become one of the most eagerly awaiting weekend of the entire year. With the whole of London being taken over by festivals, daytime parties and line ups full with the cream of the worlds best DJ talent, the people travel from far and wide to be part of this summer celebration and with it being the last bank holiday Monday till Christmas, everyone seems to party twice as hard to make the most of the extended break.

The summer is not normally over flowing with quality techno events, but as the word of the underground is spreading, more and more techno parties are popping up on the London calender, and the Bank Holiday weekend has never seen an ensemble of techno talent like is on offer in a few weeks time.

The Friday night sees Broken & Uneven join forces with Ostgut Ton for their second label showcase of 2012. Room 1 is all about Berghain, with residents Marcel Dettmann and Marcel Fengler joined by special guest Surgeon. Room 2 goes to the guys from Panorama Bar in the shape of Prosumer and Nick Höppner.

Look out for some special live art going on during the night too as street artist Pure Evil will be working on a mural during the course of the night.

The venue so far is being kept a closely guarded secret, but knowing Broken & Uneven, we expect to turn out pretty special. Full event info and tickets are available on Resident Advisor.

Saturday we head South of the river to our favourite London Bridge club, Cable, for one of London's very best parties, We Fear Silence pres Blueprint Records. After already featuring some of the worlds best techno artists, including Marcel Dettmann b2b Ben Klock, Sandwell District, Luke Slater, Peter Van Hoesen and DVS1, to name a few. We was left wondering what he could possibly do to top the previous parties and raise the bar even higher.

The answer turned out to be quite a simple one. Jeff Mills. The Detroit Techno pioneer, part of the infamous Underground Resistance collective, owner of Axis Records and self confessed sci-fi fanatic has influenced every techno artist or DJ operating today in someway or another. We expect to leave very inspired.

Tickets available on Resident Advisor

So Bank Holiday Sunday would be complete without a Room 2 Techno session with WetYourself! at fabric. Headlined by a live set from returning guest, Chris Liebing with support from Sian and Candela Rising label boss, Billy Allen.

Outside of Room 2 you'll find our first ever headliner, Marc Houle, performing live in Room 1 with Chloe and the WYS! residents and Lost Souls up in Room 3.

Tickets available through the fabric website

Milton Bradley - Reality Is Wrong [Prologue 027]

Milton Bradley returns for his second release on Prologue Records. After providing remixes for Cio D'Or's 'Die Faser' and 'Magnetfluss' as well as his own 'The Unheard Voice From Outer Space' EP, Milton provides 3 tracks for Prologue's 27th release.


The A side features 'Reality Is Wrong'. Full of Bradley's distinct experimental dark drones. Side B consists of 'The Unbearable Lightness' and 'Trapped In Eternity' and displays the other side to Milton Bradley. Raw, stripped back, energetic techno as he combines an old skool stlye with his modern approach on the production of techno. Check out the samples below

PRG027 - Milton Bradley - Reality is wrong by Prologue

The EP will hit the shops in early September and then Beatport towards the end of the month. More info on Milton Bradley can be found on his Facebook Fan Page, and the same applies for Prologue.


If you happen to be in Berlin on the 26th August and you want to see Bradley perform, you'll be able to catch him playing for Wax Treatment @ Horst Krzbrg alongside Soundstream, Awesome Tapes From Africa, DJ Pete and Tatjana. Full event info can be found on Resident Advisor

Mix Of The Day: XI - Live on Feeling Mandy FM (25th Jul 12)

Last week XI was invited to guest on the Johnny Fiore show on Feeling Mandy Radio, the show was recorded and here are the results. It's the first mix he's put on his soundcloud page for well over a year, so make sure you don't miss out on it, because it might be a while before another one comes along.


You can download or stream it from the player below.

XI - Live On Feeling Mandy FM (25th Jul 12) by XI (Slash Dot Dash)

Tracklisting

1) Abdulla Rashim – Weldiya 3 [Prologue]
2) Cio D’Or – Ur [Telrae]
3) Neurotron – 003 A1 [Neurotron]
4) 19.21.3.11.21.20 – FB11 A [Frozen Border]
5) Cio D’Or – Wasserkraft [Prologue]
6) LADA – Lostbanhoff [Fullpanda]
7) Mørbeck – Morbius [Candela Rising]
8) The Traveller – A100 [Ostgut]
9) The Secret Initiative – Grinding Machine [The Secret Initiative]
10) Developer – Dirty Drive (Shifted Remix) [Modularz]
11) Hauschka – Salon Des Amateurs (Steve Bicknell Remix) [Fatcat Records]
12) Pär Grindvik – Wyatt ARP [Stockholm Ltd]
13) AD/S – Transversal [Avian]
14) Svreca – Seda Muerta (Female Remix) [Semantica]
15) Developer – Heated [Modularz]
16) MPIA3 – Wttp [Avian]
17) Perc – A New Brutality [Perc Trax]

More info on XI can be found on his Facebook Fan Page. If you're in London on 18th August you can catch him playing for Dystopia @ The Rhythm Factory alongside The Black Dog, Andy Stott and Ø [Phase]. Tickets are available now through Resident Advisor

Slash Dot Dash Podcast 014: Xhin

Xhin (pronounced as "sheen") has been crafting ominous cuts of cutting-edge electronic music since 1997. Building a forte in sound design, he is best described as a sound futurist. His identical rhythmic structure and compositional techniques which incorporate elements of techno, tight sub bass, ambient and IDM delivers a hint of chaotic soundscape amidst artistry. A Singaporean by birth and residence, he independently released "Xycle", a self-promotional ep that made the industry to stand up to take notice, in early 2003. He then followed with his debut album, "Supersonicstate" the following year.

In 2006, his talent has been discovered by a German independent record label Meerestief. With a remix that he has done for Dublin's Five Green Circle's track entitled Ronan's BBQ has created a storm over Europe. Praised, supported and charted by heavy weights from the world of electronic music. Then in 2009, Xhin has found a new home. He joined Berlin's then new techno label, Stroboscopic Artefacts to release his dark, intense and experimental side of things. From the results of his new releases for the label, he has done it again. Heavy rotation from the big boys like Speedy J, Luke Slater, Ben Klock and many more to mention. This will be yet again the beginning of an old new direction for him to explore and experiment sounds even deeper for his future releases.

With his third album, 'Sword' under his belt on Stroboscopic Artefacts and a string of mind-blowing sets around the world, Xhin is a man on the top of his game. Those of you who were lucky enough to make it into the Resident Advisor at this years Bloc festival will know the immense skills that Xhin possesses. He was easily the single best thing to come out of the disastrous festival. His extended set almost made up for the fact that the event was being shut down early. (Check out the video we filmed http://youtu.be/Ey4aIR3SUa4).

When we spoke to Xhin about recording a mix for our podcast he told us he wanted to do something different. Naturally we gave him total free reign to do whatever he felt like. What he came back with a tremendous selection including folk, breaks, dustup, old school house and of course some seriously solid techno, to create something completely unique, whilst still remaining true to his fine tuned style.

You can download or stream the mix from the soundcloud player below, or you can subscribe to the series through iTunes

Slash Dot Dash Podcast 014: Xhin by Slash Dot Dash

Tracklisting

1) Intro
2) Ravi Shankar - Friar Park
3) Robert Lippok - Nycycle [Raster Noton]
4) Chromezone - Atlantis - Dexter Remix [Wolfskuil Limited]
5) Samuli Kemppi, Inigo Kennedy - Superclusters [Labrynth]
6) NX1 - NX1 01 002 [Semantica]
7) Unblanace - Freeze
8) PO - Expression 4 [Nukapa]
9) Systemic - Raven - Voidloss Huginn and Muninn Mix [Singularity Records]
10) Mike Wall - Ouf Of Fire - Xhin Remix [Hidden Recordings]
11) Justin Ivey - Steamroller [White]
12) Makoto - Different Rhythm [7even22]
13) Gingy, Bordello - Iron & Water [Turbo]
14) Bleak - Ekko [Deeply Rooted House]
15) Xhin - Plexus [Meerestief]
16) Lionrock - Packet Of Peace - The Jeff Mills Deep House Mix [Deconstruction]
17) Tony Lionni - Out Of Sight [Freerange]
18) Kritical Audio - Oceans 1300 [Detroit Underground]
19) Dexter - Mr Blunt [Clone]
20) Chaos - The Safety Is Off [Underground Resistance]
21) KiNK - I Don't Play Piano [Sharivari Records]

More infomation on Xhin can be found on Xhin.com or through his Facebook Fan Page. As for the rest of our podcasts, head over to the Slash Dot Dash Podcast Page on our website

Mix Of The Day: Sigha - Groove Podcast 10

It's been a while since we've featured a mix from Berlin based, London born DJ, Producer and Our Circula Sound boss, Sigha. Almost a year in fact, so seeing the man post the link on his Facebook Fan Page this morning has certainly brightened up our Friday! You can download the mix from the following link


Sigha - Groove Podcast 10


Tracklisting


1) Dadub - Biopoiesis [Stroboscopic Artefacts]
2) Sendai - Following The Constant [Time To Express]
3) Alexander Lewis - Love And Sex
4) Shifted - Image//Channel [Our Circula Sound]
5) Forward Strategy Group - Industry & Empire [Perc Trax]
6) Shadows - Distorted Images [Mike Parker Remix) [Avian]
7) Shxcxchcxsh - Kxxkxxxkkxx [Semtantica]
8) Planetary Assault Systems - Function 4 (Shifted Remix) [Mote Evolver]
9) Reeko - Segmento [Mental Disorder]
10) Iori - Floatation [Semantica]
11) James Ruskin - Solution [Blueprint]
12) Oscar Mulero - Reverberation [Pole Group]
13) Motor - Hyper Lust (Pfirter Remix) [CLR]
14) Rrose - The Surgeon General (No Child Left Behind) [Eaux]
15) Dax J & Chris Stanford - Kommand [EarToGround]
16) Ø [Phase] - Binary Opposition (Peter Van Hoesen Remix) [Token]
17) Truss - Splot [Our Circula Sound]


More Groove Podcasts can be found on their Website

EarToGround launch website with Secluded podcast and Truncate Interview

Our friends at EarToGround have been beavering away behind the scenes, and just as their 3rd release (ETG 003 Chris Stanford & Dax J / Gareth Wild's 'Kommand' EP, with excellent remixes from AnD and past SDD guest Samuli Kemppi) hits the stores, their website, EarToGround.co.uk, hits the Internet. 


On the site you'll find all their latest news, including an interesting interview with US producer / DJ, Truncate, details on their past, present and future releases, their new podcast series which begins with a mix from Secluded, details of their artists and their contact details for bookings and more.