Hardwax turns 20!

After Hyperdub and Ableton, here's another anniversary/birthday coming up that'll surely make for an amazing party, quite possibly the biggest of the lot. Berlin's legendary Hard Wax record store - one of the world's leading dealers of electronic music vinyls - turns 20 years of age this winter and to celebrate this accordingly, they've rented out the famous WMF club for a 3-level birthday bash with an armada of A-list DJ's on Dec 5th. If you happen to be around, DO NOT MISS IT!!! Seriously.
The Killasan Floor (main DJ floor) is named after the Killasan sound system that drives it. This behemoth of sound was passed on to Hard Wax by its owner, some japanese guy, who I guess couldn't make use of it in his living room.
Berghain resident Marcel Dettmann, Modeselektor, René Löwe, Errorsmith, Shed and Anthony "Shake" Shakir will be providing the ear candy among many others. Hardwax employees, all DJ's themselves of course, will also be showing off their skills behind the decks. Paul St. Hilaire, whom you might know from his collaborations with Mdslktr, will be on the mic alongside some friends during reggae/dub sets from Honest Jon's record shop co-founder Mark Ainley and Hard Wax owner Mark Ernestus, who'll be playing some of the early sets of the night.


A brief tour of Hardwax


Scuba - From Within (Marcel Dettmann Remix)

Modeselektor - Black Block (Rustie Remix)

Errorsmith - Near Disco Dawn (live)

Zombie Disco Squad

Here's another dynamic duo to keep your eyes on and ears open for: Zombie Disco Squad. These two London gentlemen have quickly established themselves, fusing hip-hop and (tropical) house to create an own signature sound. And do they know how to throw a party. Currently they're spinning around the globe, spreading their love, stopping by Berlin on their "Made to Play" tour for a gig at the Panorama Bar on Nov 28th, and on to NYC Dec 8th. If neither of these cities is anywhere close to you, be sure to check out further tour dates on myspace, cuz these guys are out and about a looooot.
As an extra lil tidbit, Zombie Disco Squad recently released a Mix for the XLR8R podcast, free for y'all to download!

Find all ZDS releases on Beatport!

Zombie Disco Squad - Vie!

(Download)

Zombie Disco Squad - Dance


(DL) Hess is More - Ssshhhh (Zombie Disco Squad Remix)

DOWNLOAD Zombie Disco Squad XLR8R Podcast Mix

Thomas Heckmann's Synth Museum

Here's some footage that will make every circuit nerd cream his pants. German techno producer Thomas Heckmann gives a tour of his studio, packed with synthesizers that he collected over the years. Some impressive stuff.
Thomas Heckmann has been around since the very early stages of techno in Germany, releasing his first record in 1991. He has founded 4 labels since then and worked under many aliases on countless productions, however without ever reaching any serious mainstream success.
Much of the audio is German with subtitles.

Part I


Part II

Happy Birthday Ableton!

Almighty Ableton is celebrating its 10th birthday! And we get the presents!!!

The Berlin based company's revolutionary flagship product "LIVE" quickly advanced from a smart concept to the industry standard in electronic music production, becoming one of today's most popular digital audio workstations. It's very hard to imagine electronic music today without this fine piece of software. But also rockbands like Garbage can't go without it anymore in their production process. Many big name artists have tried it for production, (re)mixing or live performance purposes. Most of them stick with it.

To celebrate this anniversary, Ableton has assembled a bunch of goodies for their users:

Free Live packs!
- 10 artists, including Apparat and Múm, provided LIVE packs to one or more of their songs for you to download and screw around with. Tweak and remix as much as you like (but remember dem copyright laws, so don't try to sell that shit!)

Sweeeet discounts
- up to 20% off Suite 8 and Live 8

Free upgrades
- for Live Lite and LE users

NEW PRODUCTS!!!
- Live Intro - not all of the functions, but for way less $$$

- Max for Live - interesting tool kit for creating instruments, effects or extensions; sounds very cool indeed. If you're already a licensed Live 8 user, you can join the Beta testing here. Set to hit stores Nov 23rd.

Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk on Ableton Live:

"I use Live anywhere, anyhow. I use it on my laptop as a notepad for remembering and experimenting with musical ideas, and as a personal-computer game—because I have more fun with it than most video games...Live is one of the most transparent and creative softwares I have ever used. The whole process is easy, simple and fun, yet with accessible sophistication and professional results."

Four Tet announces new album

Kieran Hebden aka Four Tet recently revealed the details to his 5th studio album - his first in over four years - which is to hit the stores January 25th. "There Is Love In You" will comprise nine new tracks - eight exclusives along with his current single "Love Cry", which will be released as part of a remix package later this month, complete with remixes by Joy Orbison and Roska.

Along with his album comes a 7-date mini tour of the UK that will kick off mid February. Joy Orbison will be joining in for the London gig. Here are the dates:

Feb 12 - O2 Arena, London
Mar 11 - Manchester Academy 1, Manchester
Mar 12 - TJ's Woodhouse Club, Leeds
Mar 13 - Bongo Club, Edinburgh
Mar 18 - Concorde 2, Brighton
Mar 19 - Custard Factory Arts Complex, Birmingham
Mar 20 - Fiddlers, Bristol

Four Tet - Love Cry

Five Years Of Hyperdub

The prestigious London label turns five! As a treat, Hyperdub released "5: Five Years Of Hyperdub" end of last month, a 2-Disc Compilation of their finest bits. With it, Hyperdub takes a look back at the past years in which they have largely contributed to shaping the dubstep scene, while giving a glimpse of the future, where the label will undoubtedly increase their influence on the genre.
Disc 1 compiles exclusive, unreleased tracks by Burial, Kode 9 and Zomby among others. Five of these tracks are said to be released as singles. Disc 2 is a bundle of Hyperdub's most popular releases. Online record stores like Boomkat can't keep up with the sales and are out of stock.
I've listened to it and am impressed by the wide range and unique vibe. It's packed with all the big names and many big tunes of the label and genre, so there's no way of going wrong. Burial delivers strong as usual with a new and exclusive track "Fostercare" as well as two - "South London Boroughs" and "Distant Lights" - re-mastered. I won't say I looooove all songs on the record, but I can't remember a handful of albums where that was ever the case. 7.5/10 from me.

Buy "5: Five Years Of Hyperdub" here.

Here's my selection of favorites old and new:

Burial - Fostercare

Download

Flying Lotus - Discoballs


Darkstar - Aidy's Girl's A Computer


Joker & Ginz - Stash


Zomby - Kaliko


Kode 9 & Spaceape - 9 Samurai



Along with all this, Kode 9 recently contributed a half-hour mix made up of UK Garage and 2-step from the years 1999-2002 to the XLR8R podcast.

Download Kode 9's Bubble 'N' Squeak Mix

11.21.09 NYC - Trouble & Bass DJs host JOKER, NOMAD, L-VIS 1990 & BOK BOK!!!

This one is going to be huge. Every DJ is worth seeing. $10 @ Santos Party House in NYC (tix here). You must go. Seeing Joker will be like seeing...a moose in the wild!

Beat Dimensions Vol 2

Beat Dimensions is a perfect name for this comp because it's like an alternate beat reality. I guess people have been saying that about the Wonky style for a while now (wtf is everyone's problem with the word wonky, anyway??), but seriously, check out these tunes below and tell me you've heard something like them before.

My personal fav is Ras G's because it's funny, but all of them are heavyweight works.

I first got into Wonky thru Boomkat's 14 Tracks compilation series (highly recommended) back in December of '08 when they put out a Wonky comp that featured some tracks from the first Beat Dimension comp (Tom Trago, Cinnaman). This second compilation is much better though in my opinion. Here's some samples, you decide:


Zo Aka La Chauve-Souris - The Peacock Revolution


Ras G - Crazy Alien


Samiyam - Swamp Tarts


P.U.D.G.E. - Reign Dancing With the Stars


Nosaj Thing - Fwd


Mono Poly - Distant From


Mike Slott - Cadeting


Low Limit - Turf Day


Dorian Concept - Be Tween


Dizz1 - Konotakosuke Yaro


Dimlite - Ravemond's Young Problems


Exile - Super Robot



Pick it up here, or any of your other favorite stores