Photo by Sam Donnison

Anyone who caught the show last Thursday evening knows how it was going down. Floating Points b2b Kyle Hall bii-yatch!

Download here (mp3 actually says ‘Supa D’ but this is an error, FP & KMFH were covering)

Boddika – Boddika’s House – [NAKEDLUNCH] by [NAKEDLUNCH]

OUT NOW – check the record shop links, scroll down on the right hand side —->>

Preview rest of the tracks over on the NS myspace, http://www.myspace.com/nightslugs

Tracklist:
A Personalised Record For Paul – Play The Game – Unknown
A Personalised Record For Paul – Where Are You? – Unknown
Paul White – The Doldrum – One-Handed Music
Paul White – A New Way – Unreleased
Paul White – E Flat Double Style – Unreleased
Bombay Bicycle Club – Magnet (Paul White Remix) (Island)
Paul White – OOOooo My Love – Unreleased
Paul White – Pride – One-Handed Music/Now Again
Paul White – Garfield’s New Thing – Unreleased
Paul White – Goes To Hollywood – Unreleased
Time Is Flashing Interlude
The John Betsch Society – Open Pastures – Strata-East
Smoke – Griffo – MPS Records
Airto – I Don’t Have To Do What I Don’t Want To Do – Salvation Records
SBB – Pamiec W Kamien Wrasta – Muza
Paul White – Ancient Treasure Ft. Guilty Simpson – One-Handed Music/Now Again
The Radiophonic Workshop Outro

Paul White Mix for 6 Music by alexchase

A truly mesmerizing showcase of just one of Steve Braiden’s many talents. If you have only previously heard ‘The Alps’ (forthcoming on Joy Orbison’s Doldrums) this mix is highly recommended so you can hear it in the context of his other material – the whole blend is so beautifully cohesive.

DOWNLOAD (right click save target as)

www.stevebraiden.com

1. Lost (2007)
2. Space/Time (2007)
3. Enigmatic (2009)

DOWNLOAD (right click save target as)

via Sonic Router

“Blawan: For starters I am not Ben UFO despite the kind rumors. My name is Jamie, I am a DJ/Producer originally from the cultural melting pot that is Barnsley and I recently had my debut release on Hessle Audio.”

Click here for the full interview

1. Titus 12 – Step Up (Mosca Remix) [Unreleased]
2. Afefe Iku – Bodydrummin’ (S63 Refix) [Silver Label]
3. Ludacris vs Joe – How Low Claptrap (DJ Orgasmic Bootleg) [Unreleased]
4. Wookie – Weird Science [Manchu]
5. Randomer – Be Electric [Unreleased]
6. Mistamen – Lengthy Riddim [Bass Tourist]
7. DJ Faz – Believe [Locked On]
8. Menta – Sounds Of Da Future [Sounds Of Da Future]
9. Unknown – Unknown [Unreleased]
10. Untold – Angry Hat [Unreleased]
11. Commix – How You Gonna Feel (Pangaea Remix) [Unreleased]
12. Unknown – Unknown [Unreleased]
13. Ramadamman – Fall Short [Swamp81]
14. Blawan – Potchla Vee [Unreleased]
15. Oris Jay – Trippin (2010 Dub) [Gusto]
16. Untold – Come Follow We [Unreleased]

Elijah & Skilliam – Rinse Fm 23/7/10 Feat Trim & Scratchy by Elijah & Skilliam on Mixcloud

Photo: James Blake @ DMZ by Ashes57

Lava collective presents… The Message: A selection of photo portraits by Ashes 57

Featuring her shots of Madlib, Rza, Skream, Mala, Loefah, Coki, Benga, Silkie, Pinch, Quest, Joker, Sgt Pokes + more. Photos, posters and prints for sale. Ashes57 is the designer for Deep Medi, Swamp 81 and Dubwar.

Thursday, 22nd July at Rag Factory, London 6-11pm. Drinks in the courtyard, sound system indoors: music from Jon Rust, LAVA DJs + special guests.

www.ashes57.com or Ashes57 on Flickr.

This label has not put a foot wrong so far. For audio of the most recent outing produced by DJ Stingray click here

30 free beats of an exceptionally high standard by London’s Mr. Beatnick, for a taster of what to expect move on over to his soundcloud.

Download here

via XLR8R

This comes HIGHLY recommended. So very much looking forward to the album in October.

Download (right click save target as)

Hoping this one gets a release one day!

DEEP MEDi Musik will soon release a double pack EP entitled “Feel It” EP from upcoming artist V.I.V.E.K who’s debut single on the label ‘Kulture / Meditation Rock’ caused quite a stir [MEDI023] when it was released early this year.

MEDI029
V.I.V.E.K
Feel It EP
2 x 12″ Vinyl – with FREE 45min V.I.V.E.K MEDimix

a) Feel It
b) Grandfather Clock
c) Motherland
d) Strategy

Release date TBC – Due end of August. Audio coming soon!

via FACT Mag

Few releases this year have intrigued like Enter in Silence, the debut EP from mysterious dubstep collective LHF. Well, we say dubstep – their sample-drenched sound is rooted in the atmospheric half-step of classic DMZ, but also adopts the rough textures of jungle, the sun-kissed funk of Los Angeles and more. So who are LHF? FACT’s Robin Howells investigates, chatting to the crew about their background, their relationship with label boss Blackdown and their position in the UK’s dance music lineage.

On one level, LHF incarnate an archetype of London music. From Reinforced to DMZ, similar crews have operated by reflecting motivations and influences inward – doing it primarily for themselves, in other words, with the unit itself first in line to function as audience and DJ. There’s an argument – only more tempting with LHF as a case in point – that the results on the whole tend to be more intensely singular than those of contemporaries working alone. That connection isn’t this collective’s only one with their predecessors: others thread through their material, at their most visible weaving the kind of humid, oversaturated textures familiar from 4hero’s route to the jungle, or picking out parallels to dubstep’s early rhythmic forays.

If it seems dubious to point out such resemblances at the same time as calling LHF’s music singular, you could say it proves a talent on their part for paradox. Epithets such as ‘Keepers of the Light’, along with scattered voices sampled from cryptic sources, with a little imagination cultivate the image of some esoteric discipline under pursuit. And in practice, the crew do appear to engage subtle techniques, such as following the charts to cosmically itinerant hip-hop and jazz without quite having to say goodbye to planet Earth. If they had discovered the power of bodily teleportation instead, with the coordinates set to Metalheadz at the Blue Note, 1996, the mind would most likely come untethered somewhere in the region of Saturn or Los Angeles.

Long-term followers of dubstep have seen, with its rise to popularity, a part evacuation of the sphere that once served as its natural province. Something, of course, has been siphoned into its wake, although nobody knows what to call any of it (suggestions so far being disappointing pieces of terminology) and the direction if any is attractively uncertain. Curiously in this scenario, it’s rare to hear real dissonance – not necessarily in musical terms, but in the sense of a cognitive kick that can accompany the apprehension of sound, especially new rhythms, along underused pathways. LHF’s seven producers (all strictly pseudonymous) share a knack, though, for touching a nerve like this. Paradoxically again, the trigger is often a kind of distant but luminously familiar aura, amounting to an unusually ungarbled re-emission of the pirate spectrum’s cumulative radiation.

Although the group claims currently to guard a store of almost 1, 000 tracks, to date only three are fully available, on Martin Clark’s Keysound label. An album is apparently in the final stages, but until it appears, a series of all-LHF mixes available online is a well recommended introduction. It still feels as if its members’ creations are accustomed to resist exposure; but as it’s surely not because it isn’t deserved, we asked them for an illumination of some of the ingrained puzzles.

It seems like you keep things close to your chests: when you started distributing your Keepers of the Light mixes at the end of last year, they showcased a huge amount of material from the crew, as if it had appeared from nowhere at once. Is this a deliberate strategy?

Amen Ra: “It’s not a strategy, we just found it natural to keep it to ourselves at first. I grew up listening to pirates: certain times you’d just get a DJ playing a tune, no talking and certainly no tracklist. There was this unknown element to it which meant more possibilities for it in my mind. LHF is kind of like that. I think pushing what we’ve got would spoil it a little bit.”

Double Helix: “Strategy isn’t a word that I would use to describe the way that we’ve handled our material, it’s more about our ethics and the way we see our sound in relation to other music. If you look at it, pioneers of new sound have been doing it from day one, since the early sound system and pirate days. We kept our beats close for no particular reason other than to build something we could call our own, without conforming to the expectations and preconceptions that can come when you join a scene. LHF’s beat archive is the best part of 1, 000 tracks deep at the moment, 90% of which will probably stay unreleased, as there are new tracks built every week, but it’s really not an issue and we’re in no rush to get them out – this is the start for us and we’re continuing to build steadily.”

How were the tunes for the Keysound EP chosen?

Double Helix: “It’s been a gradual and invaluable process that we’ve been through with Martin, from the formulation of the album long list through to the selection for the EP. We sent a stream of material on disc for about two months consisting of beats we wanted to put forward and those that he had caught on the United Vibes show.”

Low Density Matter: “I think we owe a lot to the listening time invested by Martin into our music…I mean the man gets beats sent to him at a phenomenal rate daily, and he still found time to filter through what some might call a life’s work and others might call a complete nightmare!”

Amen Ra: “He’s helping us file our stuff properly, he’s been a pure blessing and I’m truly grateful for the knowledge he’s imparted and the vision that he has, ’cause without that LHF would still be a mess of different forces all trying to find some ground.  Also there is the age old wisdom that you cannot see what you’re doing all the time without some reflections from the outside, and his reflection is pure. I can see how he’s connected the dots between different strands of LHF and I’ve learnt a lot about our sound through him.”

“Pioneers of new sound have been doing it from day one, since the early sound system and pirate days. We kept our beats close for no particular reason other than to build something we could call our own.”

Can you tell us a bit about yourselves, your backgrounds and how you came together?

Double Helix: “As friends we’ve known each other from as far back as 1989 and have always lived in close proximity. London pirates from across the dial were the building blocks of common ground for us. Swapping tapes of sets we’d recorded was standard practice. You know the deal: standing in the one spot in your room that has a good signal, using a coat hanger for an aerial out the back of an old ghetto-blaster. I’ve still got boxes of TDK D-90s from way back. Amen got his first set of decks when he was about 14, around the same time I got my first hi-fi separates system and since then we’ve recorded sets using kit we’ve accumulated over the years…dodgy belt drives with horizontal pitch controls that go to +/- 7, wobbly strobe platters, mixers with busted faders and crackly amps, we’ve had it all.”

Low Density Matter: “I came into contact with LHF on a musical level in 2007, but I’ve been going to raves with them for years. I was fascinated by the depth of sound that was coming from this one source – the mad tapestry of abstract melodies, diverse drum programming and crazy ideas around sampling just felt right to me, so I got into producing beats.”

Solar Man: “LHF had been on my radar for a while as we’ve got similar social circles, but after catching No Fixed Abode’s material I saw an avenue I felt I could express myself through which had never been open before. All those broken hip-hop styles mixed with mad jazz and all things different was totally me, so I started putting beats their way and working on tracks with Helix and Low Density Matter.”

Is it possible to explain what the expression “Keepers of the Light” means to you?

Amen Ra: “It was something I used to say a lot on the United Vibes show on Sub FM, especially when LHF beats were running – “The Keepers of the Light in session”. It’s not like we have meetings to say “hey, we should put this idea across”, it just seems to happen that certain ideas come to the fore. That’s why I say this thing feels like it has a will of its own sometimes. The light means many things. Mostly for me it is connected to illumination and forgotten wisdom. The light relates to our sound, there’s elements in there from the past that have been completely forgotten about, there’s an attitude in our music that doesn’t get represented any more. The light is the light that makes things new again: we can look at our history now and interpret it from where we are now; it’s not about looking back and saying “it was better back then”. The light allows us to do that, it illuminates the past in a pure way and allows us to see this moment more clearly and how we can apply history in a way that is useful now.”

Escobar: “I think it means something different to all of us because it’s a personal thing. It’s what you draw on at times of inspiration and creativity, where you go when you’re thinking deep. It’s that light which gets you through and clears the path when things are murky.”

“There’s definitely a lineage that we feel a part of, from the early hardcore, through to jungle, through to the Metalheadz era; through garage, grime and dubstep, especially when DMZ came around.”

People do seem to think your music strongly evokes certain precursors, for example the Metalheadz crew or DMZ. Who or what inspires you all?

Amen Ra: “Growing up I was all about jungle and hardcore from the age of about 12 or 13. I’m infected by a lot of that style, it won’t ever leave me! Also house and garage, 2step, all those old pirate sounds were all me. Broken beat sparked me massively and when dubstep started emerging that was a very deep time too, early FWD vibes. Everything I do comes through that filter. But I can’t deny my biggest musical influence, which is hip-hop. From hip-hop I got opened up to a whole world of music. I grew a deep love for free jazz, Brazilian music, psyche-rock – loads of stuff. The LA beat scene has to get a mention as well. I’ve been inspired by certain philosophers, writers and films too. The wider influences are all recorded in the music – the titles of the tunes, the samples.”

Double Helix: “The musical history that London’s streets and surrounding counties hold are important to me as an individual and a producer. I see the hardcore continuum as the UK’s gift to the world – its effect on the way that a massive cross-section of society interacts is huge and can’t be overlooked. Early jungle and breakbeat hardcore pioneers feature heavily in my record collection. Metalheadz 01-50 are quite possibly the most influential tracks that I own, and what Goldie did with Timeless and then Platinum Breakz Vol.1 is actually ridiculous. 90.6 FM under its many names was the home of two crews that without doubt had a massive impact on our sound, SLT and Bass Inject – they always came with new dubs on a weekly, nobody had the tunes they had and it was seriously fertile ground for music. Garage and the significant founders of the early movement that evolved from 2step into dubstep are seriously close to my heart… the beat patterns they came with were an eye opener as to what can be done at those tempos.”

Low Density Matter: “Ant Hill Mob, RIP, Groove Chronicles, Steve Gurley, Wookie, LTJ Bukem, Shogun, Nookie, Nubian Mindz… anybody that brings that warm, classic edge to production, the subtle tones that draw you in and take you into rainbow of deep vibes.”

Solar Man: “RZA, J Dilla, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Santana, Portishead, Photek, Hidden Agenda, Flying Lotus, Kutmah, Burial… any artist or label that is happy to push boundaries and open up new avenues. I’m into big thinkers and music needs these people.”

If music from what’s often referred to as the hardcore continuum is important to a lot of you, do any of you feel some sense of descent from musicians in its past? Do you think it’s necessary to be familiar with it to understand your music?

Amen Ra: “Definitely, people who do not come from the continuum will have a different understanding of our music – just as valid an understanding as people who have come from there as I think there’s enough to cater for both. There’s definitely a lineage that we feel a part of, from the early hardcore, through to jungle, through to the Metalheadz era; through garage, grime and dubstep, especially when DMZ came around. But things aren’t like what they were in the past, they aren’t as rare and underground, so we kind of have to draw a line under them eras, while remembering them at the same time if that makes sense.”

Double Helix: “It’s almost impossible to avoid the impact of its sonic lineage when you’re exposed to those sounds and ethics from a young age – the way that they interact and resonate with London as a multicultural society becomes clearer the more you look, and it’s a really powerful thing . I don’t think that grass roots familiarity with the continuum is essential to experiencing our music fully, but there will naturally be far more reference points in tracks for people that grew up with the continuum.”

Low Density Matter: “I think it’s inescapable really: if you lived anywhere near the M25 corridor once it was built, no matter how old you were, the continuum would almost definitely have affected your life in one way or another – be it through friends giving you tapes, record shops opening, people talking about the convoys, picking up rogue pirate stations in the car or even the bad press about raves. We’re no exception. The FM dial was rammed full of pirates and a ridiculous cross section of music was on tap, so you naturally develop an affinity with those sounds over the years.”

Solar Man: “We take a lot of influence from styles that have a direct connection to the continuum, and some that have influenced aspects of it without being so obvious, so it’s open to listeners of all backgrounds really. If you check beats by Amen, Helix or LDM for example, elements of garage, jungle and house are all clearly present in the sound they produce, but they’re all fused and punctuated by bursts of Bollywood, jazz, hip-hop, soul and a variety of samples from many genres.”

No Fixed Abode: “You don’t have to be familiar with the continuum to understand our sound, but it helps: there’s definitely a certain understanding of the continuum required to truly get it, I think. I twist the traditional format and bring in other influences that other heads might find too risky, as it goes too far from “UK” shit. I don’t care, this is no time to play it safe and this ain’t the time for those who just stick to what is comfortable and keeps them “in the team”.”

“I think it’s inescapable really: if you lived anywhere near the M25 corridor once it was built, no matter how old you were, the continuum would almost definitely have affected your life in one way or another”

Are there specific aims in mind for any of you when you make music?

Amen Ra: “To experience that feeling that comes from understanding something new. That feeling of newness is something that I seek in every lab session. Approach it with a beginner’s mind!”

No Fixed Abode: “A beginner’s mind! I always go in with that beginner’s mind: just go wild, no preconceptions, just expressions. I want to reach places I didn’t reach on the last tune.”

Does this phrase, “beginner’s mind”, come from somewhere in particular? Non-musical influences have been mentioned, in the context of samples and titles. Can you give a few examples of what you’re into?

Solar Man: “If any subject matter or topic takes my interest I’ll read around it and most probably try to find a source of material to sample some related dialogue from. I listen to a lot of films and documentaries late night while drifting off to sleep – never really watching the visuals, more keeping an open ear for samples, as you’re in a different place at those times.”

No Fixed Abode: “I love aphorisms, really short ones that can make you think for days, that’s what it’s all about – “half long twice strong” as GZA says. Bruce Lee’s one inch punch is inspiring in that respect, ’nuff power concentrated into one short movement. There’s something really exciting and deep in that, it’s like a Zen Koan; I try make tunes like that. They don’t seem to have loads going on but slowly they get under your skin.”

Amen Ra: “The Beginners Mind thing comes from Zen, it’s an expression that really resonates with us. You know how people talk about “beginners luck”, well how does it work that someone trying something for the first time can sometimes be better than a so called “expert” in that field? Because the experts mind ain’t fresh or open so maybe it doesn’t see the thing as clearly as the beginner, and maybe it isn’t as flexible as the beginner’s mind. Approaching music in this way results in more interesting sounds I found. This attitude is what makes LHF difficult to approach for some people because there’s constantly new spaces being found and we don’t settle on any definition. As soon as I feel like there’s a definite idea forming about who we are, I naturally change my approach because I always want to feel that newness. LHF is evolving all the time because members are always turning on lights for other members to see more possibilities, it’s a constant exchange between all of us.”

Robin Howells

The London-based duo mix up influences and fresh material on this week’s podcast.
Bursting onto the scene with their Maybes EP at the start of 2009, Mount Kimbie, the duo of Dominic Maker and Kai Campos, quickly impressed heads with their idiosyncratic takes on micro-garage, wistful downtempo techno and loping, twee dubstep. Their willingness to subvert such a multitude of genres gives them a sound unlike any other, skewing typical song structures but with a keen sense of melody.

This week heralds the release of their debut album, Crooks & Lovers, which sees Campos and Maker spread their loose and dreamy sound over a short but sweet 35 minutes. They’ve been busy touring with their current live set-up, recently playing at Berghain for Sub:stance’s 2nd birthday, but this week’s RA podcast sees the pair eschew the instruments for a specially tailored showcase of where their musical heads are right now. We shot them an e-mail to ask about the mix, plans for DJing in the future and their current live show.

What have you been working on recently?
Mostly we have been trying to improve our live set, bit by bit. It can be hard to find enough time to use everything we’re learning between shows, but we’re adding stuff all the time. Really looking forward to sitting down and writing some new music soon though.

How and where was the mix recorded?
The mix was recorded at Kai’s house in South London using a laptop, a Kaoss pad, and for various technical reasons a 4-track tape machine and a field mic!

Can you tell us a little bit about the mix?
It’s more of a collage – I wanted to show some stuff that has really had an influence but we don’t often talk about, I guess. People ask about why or how we decided to make the music or ‘the sound’ that we have so far and it’s always quite hard to answer and seems a bit weird. It’s often hard for two producers to work together but I think we both were in the same place and had a similar idea of where we wanted to go artistically. This mix defiantly represents one side of that. In a sense each one of the songs (excluding our own) has been like someone you meet on the way to somewhere else, if that makes any sense, and I hope that all together they give a better sense of our movements over the last couple of years.

How have the live shows been going? Have you had any difficulty translating the more complex parts of the album into a live configuration?
The live shows have mostly been amazing. It’s just a completely separate art and one that we’re excited about and learning a lot about all the time. Some of our songs can seem impossible to play in an interesting way in our current set-up. We tend to change them a bit depending on the song and how we feel we can express it best in the live environment.

Did you have much input when it came to selecting the artists for the two remix EPs? What did you make of the results?
Yeah, we were asked, but it’s a bit funny because my mind went kind of blank. I love the remix EPs. I didn’t know how much I liked the Instra:mental remix until I heard it by chance a few weeks after it had come out, and it just hit me, and I always think that’s a good sign.

An artist named Klaus seems to be a new collaborator for you guys, with an unreleased track here on this mix. What can you tell us about him?
Klaus is another guy from South London. He makes really beautiful music that’s original and so well crafted. We met through James Blake. I think James was playing a really early beat or sketch that Dom had done and he really liked it, took it home, cut it up and made quite a bit of the track in the mix. Then I got him to send over some bits that he used and added more and another ending which got cut off in this mix. It was actually a really fun way to work and we’d like to do more with him soon.

What are you up to next?
Lots more gigs this summer. A couple of dates with The XX, US tour in September, then back to Europe for a bit. That should keep us busy for a while which is great, and then hopefully we’ll have time to look back at 2010 and figure out where we want to go next.

Tracklist;

William Basinski – Melancholia 1 – 2062
Klaus – Tusk – Unreleased
Extract from ‘Night’ episode of ‘The Hackney Podcast’
Xela – Wet Bones – Type Records
Mount Kimbie – William (Mount Kimbie DayGlo Mix) – Unreleased
James Blake – Tep and The Logic – Unreleased
Sigha – Expansions – Hotflush Recordings
Klaus & Mount Kimbie – The People Took – Unreleased
Philip Jeck – Spirits Up – Touch
Konono N°1 – Lufuala Ndonga – Congotronics
Mount Kimbie – At Least (Instra:mental Remix) – Hotflush Recordings
Mount Kimbie – Blind Night Errand – Hotflush Recordings
Mount Kimbie – Vertical (Pig’s Ear Edit) – Unreleased
Clogs – Tides of Washington Bridge – Talitres
Actress – Again the Addiction – Werk Discs

DOWNLOAD HERE (right click save target as)

“In reality, he ends up sitting around doing nothing. This speaks to me on so many levels, because I, like George, am a deeply lazy individual, hampered by my own neurosis; who overthinks things and drives himself to distraction in the process. So, given that it took me 12 months to come up with 7 tracks that I was happy to put my name to, coupled with the summer release, Summer Of Shortstuff seemed perfect.

It’s definitely NOT stating that this summer is all about me. The opposite in fact”

Read the full interview here

JME & Tempz – CD iS DEAD (Mickey Pearce remix) by Shortstuffmusic

Click here

via XLR8R

via Little White Earbuds

Accounts of Theo Parrish gigs often begin with the enigmatic DJ clearing the floor. The jazz, Afrobeat, dub reggae, and soul records he is known to drop tend to startle festivalgoers and dabblers who have come to expect nothing but four-to-the-floor from a dance DJ. Read on, though, and it turns out that just about every Theo Parrish set ends with minds blown and booties shaken, those experimental jazz cuts moving feet as ably as acid house bangers. Once hooked, you may find yourself going out of your way to hear the man spin. It seems likely that Parrish would occupy the role of DJ’s DJ, a selector and mixer whose dedication to the art is matched by few, even if he had never put out a record. But Theo Parrish has put out some records. Since his first release on Kenny Dixon Jr.’s KDJ, Parrish’s own Sound Signature has become a buy-on-sight label for even the most discriminating DJs and fans. Keeping subtle, complex, emotional deep house on the map for the past two decades, he has developed his style while maintaining a singular aesthetic. LWE recently checked in with Theo Parrish, finding him as busy — and as brilliant — as ever.

You recently reached a potentially new audience with your LCD Soundsystem remix, a combination that not many people might have expected. How did that come about? Do you think the prevalence of disco and house-based sounds that labels like DFA have engendered is a positive development for the music?

Theo Parrish: They hit me up and their approach was attractive; they said pick anything you want and sent the full album in parts. I don’t really recognize any current production as genre specific, so I hear a head nod and a wink to disco in their sound, but it’s the ethic — the DIY ethic. That’s where the value is.

You clearly have one of the deepest record collections around. Where are your favorite places to buy records?

I know a lot of people with a whole lot more, but I buy anywhere and everywhere. Some spots, depending on what I find, are my favorite that day after being dry for weeks. Some are account drainers, meaning they are rarely dry. Favorite cities with lotsa diggin’ possibilities for what I like: Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, Toronto, Kansas City, Cincinatti, Osaka, Tokyo, London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Berlin. Just google local stores in those cities and go get your knuckles dusty.

The records you became known for early on were often sample-based and tracky, while you’ve since then experimented with vocals, group improvisation, and other techniques. How has your musical style evolved, in terms of your approach to production and your understanding of your own work?

I get bored very easily. I relied heavily on samples simply for lack of equipment. As I acquired more equipment the creative possibilities grew. I was sampling less and learning to play, and started to get to know some talented live players (like Jerry the Cat, John Douglas, Duminie Deporres). I had to try to keep up with them in the studio — and prerecorded stuff doesn’t change on the fly, you have to program it to — so the idea of being in the moment and learning about the ever-elusive pocket came when I was working with The Rotating Assembly. Those rehearsals had a large impact. It galvanized the theory of dedicated practice to build skill. I then found it limiting to sample larger blocks of music, so individual sounds, little bits, became more of what I would use for my sound pallette, and then less and less. Then I would only sample myself, and get drums from multiple sources: records, keyboards, live kit. Then I got tired of sampling altogether. That went into playing everything realtime and recording it. That was a big step, and don’t really expect to master that, just only improve. It’s currently what I wrestle with now, along with incorporating the methods I have a moderate grasp of already.

Some of your most recent releases have been vocal tracks, from 2008’s Chemistry to the most recent records with Bill Beaver and Danny Banks, and your DJ sets always incorporate soul and disco songs. Do you write words as well as music? How do you collaborate with a vocalist or instrumentalist?

Depends on the vocalist. With Bill Beaver, he comes up with lyrics off of the top of his head. First take. You better catch that first one, too. With Danny Banks, he had a written song, and all I had to do with was work on his phrase spacing. He’s so skilled, he was running all these backgrounds. Some idiot put it out there that there was AutoTune involved: No! No bloodclaat AutoTune in my studio! Blasphemer! Listen to the damn song. Anyway. For Genevieve Maranttette, I wrote “You Forgot,” “Split me Open,” and for Karen Bosco I wrote “Melt.” Lakecia Hughes came off the top for “Summertime Is here.” Monica Blaire, as on “They Say” and “Second Chances,” hears the song, then writes, and an hour later it’s laid down — efficient. Alena Waters offers solid suggestions in arrangement that always make sense to follow, that provides places for her to sing around and with. Very intuitive. As for the instrumentalists I’ve been blessed to work with, particularly John and Duminie, I just tend to give them adjectives. I can trust their taste.

The Leron Carson release on Sound Signature, while widely loved, has been shrouded in mystery. Who is he, and where did the music come from?

Leron is a lifelong friend from Chicago. We came up in the same area. We started making songs at 14 or 15 years old, almost every weekend until I went away to college. The songs I released by him had been on a cassette he gave me and were done in those early years. He’s always been a sorely overlooked talent.

You’ve had a residency at London’s Plastic People, which has been under threat of closure. As the trend moves towards giant superclubs, where have you found that the best parties takes place, and what makes them special?

You can’t judge a party before you get there, so it’s quite random. So many factors affect any given night. The issue with superclubs is the lack of intimacy. Smaller venues solve that, but it’s difficult to find smaller venues with powerful systems. A small club with a powerful soundsystem is always a good foundation. You have the intimacy, and a good system allows a wider range of songs to be presented outside of their percieved setting. The people have a chance to experience a wider range of emotional connection or repulsion.

The Three Chairs compilation CD, Spectrum, gave a lot of listeners a chance to catch up some hard-to-find records. Will there be more releases from the group in the future?

We shall see…

What else can we expect from Sound Signature in 2010?

Sketches. Sketches is a concept I came up with for some unreleased material I mastered without the songs being complete with all the elements. It was an experiment to force myself to get back to some basic production ethics I wanted to reacquaint myself with. It will be available only in Detroit for festival time, and I am only doing 150 copies and four separate pieces of vinyl, each one with a differently painted jacket. The only songs that may reappear on later 12″s this year are “Something About Detroit,” “Thumpasaurus,” and “Kites On Pluto.” I’m playing them out now to see which ones need more or can be released as is. Coming soon is the Sound Signature Sounds Pt. 2 compilation CD including Sound Signatures titles only available on vinyl from the catalog, and Translations, a CD comp of remixes and edits that are no longer available or previously unreleased.

I listened to this mix at a friend’s house on Friday evening drinking Pimm’s in the heat and it was delightful. Check.

Au – Sleep
Mum – We Have Map Of Piano
Four Tet – Glue Of The World
Bent – As Seen From Space
Can – Sing Swan Song
The Durutti Column – Sketch for Summer (live)
Bassment Jaxx – Kissalude
The Doors – Riders On The Storm
Little Dragon – Scribbled Paper
Deftones – Teenager
Bonobo – Eyes Down
Roof Light – Around Here
The Jones Girls – Nights Over Egypt

Spreading Clouds Vol.1 by leehume