News: Infrasound Unveils Phase 2 Lineup, Wins Festival Season
–Written by Kevin Madert
After Infrasound Music Festival dropped an initial lineup back in February adorned by an eclectic combination of broken-beat acts and dubstep heavyweights, they were presented with a difficult question: how do you go about improving on a lineup already crammed with so much talent? With the second round of artists announced Monday, they answered with confidence: cram in a whole bunch more.
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Review: Shlohmo – Dark Red
–Written by Mike Hogan
Right now, I’m sitting on my back porch watching my dog run around and eat sticks. I should probably stop him, but he’s looking pretty content right now. And I have to say, I’m pretty content with myself as well, too content to be bothered to move. It’s about 65 degrees, sunny, and I’ve got a beer by my side. Life doesn’t really get much better than this. But my laptop is doing it’s best to tear this rather satisfying moment apart. It’s currently playing through Shlohmo’s newest full length, Dark Red, and to summarize, I’m not sure if an album title has ever quite so accurately encapsulated the imagery created by the music it contains before.
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Tipper Stays Active, Releases Deliciously Downtempo “Fathoms” EP
–Written by Kevin Madert
Shortly after the release of Broken Soul Jamboree in 2008, downtempo virtuoso and glitch pioneer Dave Tipper began experiencing various health issues. The issues continued for nearly five years, limiting his production and touring output to a few EPs and a handful of dates during that time. In the summer of 2013, his health grew dire enough to necessitate open heart surgery, news that had many concerned for the future of both Dave and his music.
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Frequencies of 2014: Mix
–Words and list by Kevin Madert
This is another installment in the “Frequencies of” series. The music that got to me most in 2014 – that got my head nodding, that sent goosebumps prickling across my skin, that had me screaming at the top of my lungs – placed in a handful of semi-specific categories (for organizational purposes more than anything else). Am I telling you these are the best things released all year? Certainly not. Am I telling you they’re all great, and suggesting you check them out in order to grasp a more complete picture of the year in music? Absolutely.
Phaeleh – Slumber Sessions
Recorded as an installment in I-D’s “Slumber Sessions” series, this mix exists not only as a hauntingly beautiful piece of art but also as an ambient background piece, intended to be listened to as one zones out and drifts off to sleep. Phaeleh, as a master of such sounds, constructs an eclectic and meandering mix, often comprised of wholly ambient tracks and dipping at times into little more than droning notes and hushed sound effects. In his own words, “in some ways you can think of it as a soundtrack to a dream…I wanted it to be able to exist in the background, without focus, whilst at the same time having elements of detail and beauty scattered amongst the layers of sound unraveling as the mix progresses.” In the process, he created perhaps the best mix of 2014 – a definite must-hear.
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Review: Phaeleh Gives Back with “Somnus”
–Reviewed by Mike Hogan
I’ve always been very impressed with how Phaeleh could accomplish so much using so little. All of his tracks are so minimalistic, yet so full. Take “Here Comes the Sun” off his 2013 full length, Tides, the majority of the song is just a drum track, a very simple bass line, vocals, and some very subtle atmospherics layered way in the back of the track. But it never feels like that little. It seems like a complete, complex track, one that actually feels a lot more whole than most other tracks out there.
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