James Holden - The Inheritors

Even though I'm not completely in love with the new James Holden album, I am impressed by the simultaneously primeval and futuristic vibe he's been able to evoke on most of the tracks here.

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Watch Nicolas Jaar's Boiler Room NYC DJ Set

Throughout an excellent debut LP and a handful of stellar EPs, Nicolas Jaar has proven himself worthy in a number of roles throughout the past few years: a producer with fine attention to detail, a justifiably patient songwriter, and a seductive singer. His skills extend to a live context as well, revealing him to be a coherent and focused DJ. This particular talent manifests itself in this set Jaar recently performed in NYC for Boiler Room, which marks the first time he has contributed to the established underground music show.

Over the course of the set's 45 minutes, Jaar pulls together a series of minimal yet hypnotic microhouse grooves which are peppered with interjections from static-infused radio samples. Especially admirable is the way he never loses sight of his aesthetic, maintaining the smooth and seductive vibe which defines his studio material. A subtle approach to the tension-and-release technique also proves rewarding, with Jaar refusing to allow the bass to remain prominent for extended stretches of time, which allows for a stimulating sense of dynamic. The set is consistently understated, but also passionate and vitalizing, hopping from idea to idea with enlivening finesse.

Check a review of Jaar's Space Is Only Noise below:

RocketNumberNine - "Rotunda"

RocketNumberNine is pulling together an interesting blend of drone noise music with a bit of dance instrumental.

It's really all about the build and the collapse and repeating it in unexpected ways on "Rotunda". It's completely circular and often repeats itself just a rotunda should. What is special about the track is just how they combine regularly unappealing noises into danceable grooves, or spurts of grooves that are gone before you can even react to them.

This song and others are due for release on RocketNumberNine's next full-length album, MeYouWeYou. Look for it on May 21st via Smalltown Supersound.

Mount Kimbie - "Made To Stray"

Electronic music duo Mount Kimbie drops a new track titled "Made To Stray," which is going to be featured on the forthcoming Cold Spring Fault Less Youth. The LP will be released on Warp toward the end of may. Enjoy!

Nicolas Jaar- "Play the Drums"

Some sampled poetry and a hypnotic beat surrounded with ethereal tones coming through on this newly buzzed Nicolas Jaar track. Dig on it via the embed above, and check my review of Jaar's debut album right here.

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Acid Pauli- "A Clone Is A Clone"

A track off the latest release from Clown and Sunset artist Acid Pauli. If you didn't already know, Clown and Sunset is a music label spearheaded by sonic adventurer Nicolas Jaar. A lot like Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder Records, Jaar has been using Clown and Sunset to surround himself in a lot of like-minded artists who are looking to create music within the same dark, introspective, and house-influenced world that he does.

Acid Pauli doesn't stray from the formula, but at a point where this stuff is still fresh and exciting, that's not necessarily a bad thing. The dude puts a good groove out there on "A Clone Is A Clone," and surrounds it with mix of glitchy free jazz freakouts that sound as if they're being executed by a mix of live instrumentation and samples. Interesting stuff if you ask me.

Look for Acid Pauli's latest album, mst, here.

Darkside- "A1"

Some interesting visuals from Nicolas Jaar and guitarist Dave Harrington, a.k.a. Darkside, on the track "A1," which comes from the duo's recent collaborative EP.

Luke Abbott- "Modern Driveway"

Electronic music producer Luke Abbott--creator of one of my favorite 2010 albums, Holkham Drones--has a new track out titled "Modern Driveway." The track's hypnotic repetition executed by subtle beats and analog synths is to be expected, but the chord progression on this track feels pretty uplifting to me, which isn't an emotion I came away from his last album with.

Abbott is set to release a new EP on Gold Panda's label, Notown, on May 28th. It's titled after the track above. Enjoy!

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