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Glinting jangle-pop churned with the soft-edges and everchanging colours of early summer sunsets, PENDULUM is the latest dopamine hit of hazy melody from multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter, James Holt, released on Fri 15 May 2020. A reputed musical revolutionary otherwise painting his own signposts to an artistic peak, Holt switches from self-determined isolation to unholy alliance by enlisting The Coral’s song-wrangler, James Skelly on production duties for the first time alongside the mixing talents of Chris Taylor.
Slide-guitar whines into verses dressed with the tinsel of gently played glockenspiel and gossamer-light, finger-picked chords dance over the ballast of Holt’s acoustic rhythm playing, all vacuum-packed into concentrated dose of melody. As an antidote to malaise, Pendulum’s effects are reminiscent of medications prescribed by legendary pop/rock clinicians Johnny Marr, Crowded House, Squeeze and Jeff Lynne. A straight kid walking into a psychedelic orgy, part of his native Lancashire and part the sounds of the sun-kissed West Coast, Skelly described Holt during sessions at Liverpool’s Parr Street Studios as “like Scott Walker backed by Echo and the Bunnymen.”
“The song is generally about the endless cycle of revenge,” James said speaking of the lyric content. “There are so many cool ideas that feed into the ‘Pendulum’ theme of the song, like the way the opening riff revolves back and forth around two chords and how the story ends where it began to create a narrative loop. It packs a punch and gets the point across in so few words, I like songs like that.”
Theoretically and spiritually tuned into numerous instruments and a prolific creator, Holt played everything barring drums on the track, with Skelly offering backing vocals. Holt has been praised by other esteemed peers, including Brian Eno for previous releases and performances, with the legendary ex-Roxy Music musician and prolific producer describing him as “fresh and exciting.” Based in Bolton near Manchester, Holt has garnered a strong following in his home city playing to sell out audiences at various venues including Deaf Institute, while also selling out the Hope and Anchor, London and taking to festival stages including Kendal Calling, Sound City and Head For The Hills. His next performs live in a headline appearance at Band On the Wall, Manchester on Fri 23 October 2020.
Holt’s achievements in music, beyond each accomplished note of tracks like Pendulum, yield further, deserved admiration by the fact that he was diagnosed with bilateral moderate-to-severe hearing loss at the age of four.
Connect with James Holt online at:
https://twitter.com/jamesholtmusic
To celebrate the release of MorningMaxwell’s new single ‘Complications’, MorningMaxwell will be conducting a 2-week campaign with the Partae celebrating the topline over alternative beats (One new beat a day) from samples the legend has recorded around his house.
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PURCHASE ‘A RAVER’S DIARY’ ON VINYL HERE
ISOLADE
DUSTY KID – ‘A RAVER’S DIARY’ VINYL RE-ISSUE
OUT NOW
One of Italy’s most talented electronic music exports, Sardinian Dusty Kid makes his return with a vinyl re-issue of his 2009 classic Techno album – ‘A Raver’s Diary’. The LP is being made available on vinyl for the first time and arriving as a double LP package completed with digital remixes, singles & b-sides, following digitally at a later date. Since its original release in 2009, ‘A Raver’s Diary’ has set the mark for groove ridden melodic techno LPs. Now, as it surpasses its 10th Anniversary, Isolade (Kompakt) help to deliver the full package.
First appearing in the early-00’s with a string of well received releases, Dusty Kid was one of many sparks that helped usher in a new era for electronic music. With releases on globally esteemed labels such as Systematic, Bpitch Control and Mau5trap, he saw himself catapulted into the spotlight and gained support from international artists such as Ritchie Hawtin. Dusty Kid had grown organically into his global position and saw himself become a permanent fixture on the international touring circuit.
Upon its release in 2009, the album demonstrated Dusty Kid’s extraordinary flair for producing intelligent dance music. A truly versatile and classically trained musician, his eclecticism and ability to embrace diverse sounds is what made his music so timeless, seeing ‘A Raver’s Diary’ continue to electrify and inspire.
Merging direct dancefloor tracks with deep and hypnotic productions ‘A Raver’s Diary’ inspires trance inducing atmospheres, that make the music engaging from the first beat. ‘Here Comes The Techno’ and ‘The Underground Persistance’ command the attention of the listener and capture the essence of peak dancefloor moments.
Next track ‘Klin’ embodies electro beats, meanwhile ‘America’ is a 17-minute long opus filled with melancholy. ‘Cowboys’ slows down the tempo on the album, layering synths amongst dreamy tones. ‘Moto Perpetuo’ builds on the energy with melodic chords and electro bassline. ‘The Fugue’ pays homage to Bach’s experimentation with monothematic instrumentation involving eerie synths and a progressive build.
Demonstrating Dusty Kid’s use of experimentation, ‘Agaphe’ switches up tempos. As he continues to build atmosphere with ‘Lynchesque’, ‘Pluk’ offers a chopped electro sound. And on ‘Nemur’, Dusty Kid changes up his style as he utilises lyrics and vocals in a folk-pop inspired techno crossover.
Available now for the first time on vinyl, ‘A Raver’s Diary’ is a reminder of Dusty Kid’s prodigal rise through the world of underground techno, a stark reminder of the Sardinian’s talents in production as an electronic music artist.
Dusty Kid’s ‘A Raver’s Diary’ Vinyl Re-Issue is Out Now on Isolade (Kompakt)
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What is your name and role within Dadub?
Daniele Antezza: Post-shamanistic deconstructed recursions
Marco Donnarumma: Infinite old school dub resampling via metamorphic anime sagas.
Where are you currently based and what is the music scene like there?
We’re atm both Berlin based, and as you might guess there’s pretty much everything your taste could be hungry of.
How did you first start playing music?
We were both playing in bands since we were kids, since then our interest in music creation has grown exponentially. You just do it, really. There isn’t any particular reason.
What’s been happening recently?
A massive pandemic which is making pretty clear how the neoliberal system we live in is totally inadequate in terms of sustainability and prone to exploitation of everything that lives (or not). Besides the full dystopia we’re going through, we’re doing our best to keep on and to feed Dadub. And more dystopia, of course.
Please tell us about your up coming EP, influences, where you recorded, who with..?
The EP is the result of a really long process. The influences are too many to be listed, but include artists in Dub, Metal, Trap and ritualistic music. These are tracks we have been composing, mixing and remixing several times throughout a few years. What’s interesting about the EP is that it marked our loving relationship with metal distortions and their insane richness when plugged in dub feedback systems.
You’ve also had a recent line up change, how and why did this come about? That happened about three, four years ago. Daniele and Giovanni did amazing work together and then came the time for each of them to take different directions. Since a few years now Daniele and Marco have joined forces to bring the Dadub sound beyond its comfort zone and explore new sonic territories.
What’s planned for the April 9th launch at Tresor with SCORN!?
Well, we were very excited about this, Scorn is a hero. Unfortunately, as everyone knows, at the moment all public events are blocked due to the COVID-19 Emergency. We truly hope the show can happen some time in the near future.
What do you think about the current state of world affairs and how is it effecting you and your music?
It’s a dangerous times, especially for people living precarious lives. Life in capitalistic societies is going to change for good. We don’t think anything right now, other than caring for our loved ones. It’s very important that people worldwide do not take this pandemic lightly. We recommend to read less news and more science. Virologists have the most useful things to say these days.
What do you like to do away from music?
Have mystical experiences through combinations of vapors and fluids. Read books. Loads of ‘em.
Who are you listening to at the moment?
Scorn. Empress Sativa. Blasphemer. Daighila. Griselda Records. Mønic. Ena. Swarmm. Lemna. Death Qualia.
What’s planned for 2020?
We had shows and other public outings which at least for now are obviously not happening any more. So we will try our best to convey frustration, desperation and perhaps hope into new music fitting these times.
Favourite food and place to hangout?
Dadub Studio with homemade Parmigiana.
www.instagram.com/dadub.music/
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Cat: OHM 53M
Release Date: 20 Mar 2020
Format: 12″ EP / Digital
Tracklist:
The Time You Killed
I Would Gladly Die (For the Same Reason)
Past Times, Present Ruins
It Was Too Soon
Dadub is a project synonymous with the deepest rhythms from the interior of the human psyche. Low-end mysticism. Tribalist periodic audio patterns. The Berlin-based Italian producers behind the project, now constructed of sonic warlock Daniele Antezza and performance artist Marco Donnarumma, supply an unmistakably unique vision of post-apocalyptic dub landscapes. Past, present, and future blend into one, backed by the supremely sublime BASS of the creators.
A Sun Called Moon is a synchronous first representation on Ohm Resistance, detailing their ongoing mission of creating bass-present music, regardless of dancefloor conformity. The Time You Killed opens as a psycho-acoustic audio film, depicting the unknown world from which the EP emanates. I Would Gladly Die… introduces heavy rhythmic patterns, completely alien to identified structures, while unmistakably pushing a groove that entrances hypnotically. Past Times Present Ruins lowers the tempo and continues extrapolating into new rhythmic territory – or is it ancient? It Was Too Soon follows with beat driven hednod, as influences from Scorn to Autechre are subsumed into the universal language that comprises Dadub. Feeling both familiar and foreign, both modern and eternal, this Dadub appearance on Ohm Resistance is a fascinating drama played out in 4 acts. Spliff recommended – subwoofer required.
All tracks Written and Produced by Daniele Antezza and Marco Donnarumma
Mixed by Daniele Antezza and Marco Donnarumma at Dadub Studio, Berlin
Mastered by Xergio Cordoba @ Eternal Midnight Studio, Madrid
Photography by Flora Schwartz
Layout by Machine™
Title: Feel Alive
Label: Warner Music/Atlantic Records
R3HAB teams up with NJ-based trio A R I Z O N A for their new single “Feel Alive,” a breezy and feel-good anthem that will be your go-to track for the warmer months. After a winter that seemed to be longer and darker than ever, R3HAB and A R I Z O N A provide some hope of normalcy and good times ahead. “Feel Alive” delivers uplifting melodies and soulful vocals that evoke images of balmy days and evenings spent on “balconies in the summertime, a pack of cigarettes and a little red wine,” then builds into a groovy progressive drop that is guaranteed to lift your mood. The single is part of the “Scoob!” movie’s official soundtrack, which stars Mark Wahlberg, Zac Efron, Tracy Morgan, Simon Cowell, and more. “Feel Alive” as well as “Scoob!” are out now via Warner Music Group. “Feel Alive” follows R3HAB‘s “911” with Timmy Trumpet.
Over the last eight years, the Dutch/Moroccan artist Fadil El Ghoul – better known as R3HAB – has established himself as a leader at the forefront of modern electronic music. His talent has been called the “future of the craft” by the likes of Forbes and Billboard, and he’s circuited the globe’s best clubs and festivals, all without the backing of a formal record label. In 2017, R3HAB independently released his debut album “Trouble” through his imprint CYB3RPVNK, which amassed over a half-billion streams globally and officially placed R3HAB among electronic music’s heavy hitters. He made number 14 on DJ Mag’s Top 100 list in 2019, topping the charts with tracks like “Lullaby” and “Hold On Tight,” while his sophomore album “The Wave,” revealing more complex, emotional and experimental layers of himself, has amassed over 250 million streams on Spotify alone. In 2019 R3HAB‘s “All Around The World” with A Touch of Class quickly became his biggest ever record already topping 200M streams across platforms and achieving gold & platinum status in 8 countries. It was followed by “Flames,” R3HAB‘s collaboration with ZAYN. Stay tuned to see what this ever-evolving artist has up his sleeve next!
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“The litany of nuanced styles and the inspiration picked from so many different places and worlds of music makes for something that feels truly unique.” – CLOUT
“Gillbanks has a fondness for trailing different paths while creating a serene cut of clarity.” – DIY
Normal Average People, a project led by songwriter Sam Gillbanks and producer Emil Lloyd started life whilst the pair shared a flat in South East London and performed together in Sam’s project Gillbanks. Sam and Emil ended up writing a collection of demos that had a bolder, more aggressive sound to them and were heavily focussed around the live recording process.
Normal Average People pulls from a wide range of influences and sounds and follow up single to genre bending debut ‘Kolla Ögon’, ‘Baggy Ankles‘, cements that by showcasing a much grittier, punchier and harder side to their sound.
‘Baggy Ankles’, will be the second of four singles to be released this year via AWAL. All four tracks were recorded live in the same session with a full band in an old warehouse space in Peckham, London.
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To celebrate the release of MorningMaxwell’s new single ‘Complications’, MorningMaxwell will be conducting a 2-week campaign with the Partae celebrating the topline over alternative beats (One new beat a day) from samples the legend has recorded around his house.
Learn With Us | Miracle MGMT Master Classes with Thomas Schumacher, Alex Stein, Spektre, Juliet Fox…
Miracle MGMT presents ‘Master Classes’, direct one-on-one access to some of our top tier DJ/Producers. Offering guidance and advice directly from a wide selection of some of the most accomplished electronic music artists of our time: Thomas Schumacher, Noir, Alex Stein, Jon Rundell, Spektre or Juliet Fox among others.
If you are looking for production tips, inspiration, or just honest feedback then the best place to go is those that have already successfully beaten a path through the industry.
We also offer tailor made coaching-consulting packages to advise emerging artists about how they should face their careers, setting areas to improve and including services such as song curatorship, track commissioning and label management. The Miracle MGMT master classes offers a backstage passes to the producers you listen to.
Feel free to contact on the form below and learn with us!
AFFKT / AITOR RONDA / ALEX STEIN
FERNANDO LAGRECA / JON RUNDELL / JULIET FOX
NOIR / TEENAGE MUTANTS
SPEKTRE / THOMAS SCHUMACHER
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