interzoning

My introduction to the International Feel label (like so many great sounds) came unknowingly through 20 Jazz Funk Greats, who turned me on to a few of the label's best projects, including the fantastic GATTO FRITTO and the truly psychedelic IFEEL STUDIOS.

However, I was unfamiliar with the label itself until a little later, when they released their eponymous label compilation last year. The comp, a collection of vinyl-only, new and unreleased tracks, was two albums' worth of some of the most original, quirky and well-recorded house, techno, ambient and disco tracks I'd heard in a long time, largely composed and recorded (with a few exceptions like the artists listed above) by names I'd never even heard of. I was hooked. The compilation became the soundtrack of my summer.

Well, it is summer again. Label honcho Mark Barrot has relocated from the hot and tropical climes of Punta Del Este, Uruguay to the hot and tropical climes of Ibiza, and as if in answer to my prayers he's had his hands in the release of two great new EPs which are absolutely ruling my life right now.

First up is a reissue of MUGWUMP's 2008 masterpiece Boutade, a track which rides a tense modern classical string arrangement and some sizzling hi-hats into a climax of truly epic proportions. It is packaged here with the very 1990s-sounding God Is Gracious, which sounds like a track GATEKEEPER might produce in the middle of a Pure Moods bender, and two new versions of the title track which take the original into strange and abstract new dimensions.

Also available now is New Districts, a three song EP released by Barrot as THE SONIC AESTHETIC, one of his many thrilling pseudonyms. The EP sees him starting off in a more acid-influenced direction on six-minute Duke's Cut, in which squelchy 303 leads take center stage for a balmy, slow-burning exercise in restraint which grows on the listener with repeated spins. This mood carries through into Earthworms, which brings some nice string accompaniment and a more jacked-up rhythm into the picture. The record closes out with the title track, which flips the script a bit with a laid-back, hushed slice of tropicalia tailor-made for the season.

International Feel is absolutely the best at what they do, and what they do is becoming more varied and original all the time. Check out both of these new releases and then dive headlong into the back catalog. You won't be disappointed.

Did you know that both of Interzoning's contributors play in a band called Ruby Ridge? Probably. We mention it often enough. Did you know that our little website has co-produced a show with the festival tonight at PA's Lounge? And that in addition to Ruby Ridge, said show will feature Brooklyn's incredible Black Marble along with locals AVOXBLUE and Impersonator and live visuals by Parzer? Again, it's likely that you do if you're reading this. But it bears repeating.

Our show should be over by midnight, which will give you time to hit up that all-night rager Cluster Mag is putting on. They've got Ben Aqua and freakin' Black Asteroid, for fuck's sake!

Up and at 'em, freaks! If you aren't already over at the Together Center, you're gonna want to be there by 2pm for one of the more interesting panels that'll be going down this week! The Grassroots Digital panel will feature luminaries Wayne Marshall (of Wayneandwax fame) along with Matt Shadetek (Dutty Artz) and Mad Decent's Toy Selectah in a discussion that promises to "shed light on the new forms of media exchange and exploitation".

After that take a few hours to get in an early dinner, drink plenty of water and stop by Mmmmaven for the fascinating Wicked Easy Synthesis in C++ demo on your way to Harvard Square for an epic live dance party featuring Sinkane and !!!.

If you're not already familiar with !!!, that must be a particularly obtrusive rock you are living under. They've been putting on the sweatiest, most intense live funk-punk hybrid around for well over a decade at this point. It'll be a nice treat to take a step away from all the synthesizers, samplers and laptops for a little while to see these guys rip up The Sinclair full-band style.

Well, here we are. The midway point. We've seen some mind-bending performances so far and will see many more over the next couple days, but on the whole I'm treating today like a day of rest (or at least, as much a day of rest as I can get when I've gotta go to my day job for 9 hours). With that in mind, I'm gonna keep today's update short and sweet. Tonight's event pick is an easy one: Chez Damier is playing Re:Set at the Phoenix Landing with D-Lux. Chez has been around in the house and techno scene since its very inception and his set is sure to be a master class in groove.

Joining Chez on the decks will be D-Lux. There are precious few women performing at all in this year's festival lineup, and even fewer who function as anything more than a singer/front-person for someone else's production work (sorry, Alice Glass) but the Re:Set resident otherwise known as Laura Deluca is here to hold it down not just as a vagina owner, but as a human being who just happens to be able to throw down some serious fire in the DJ booth. Check out her Together mix below and you'll see what I mean.

Where do we even begin to break down tonight's completely stacked schedule of events? I suppose we'll go chronologically... Perhaps you take the concept of "Pre-Gaming" quite literally? In that case swing by the Good Life tonight at 5 for the free Game Night meet-up! It's a great excuse to meet some other festival-goers (and assorted geeks) over post-work cocktails and a few rounds of Magic: The Gathering or Super Smash Brothers!

After you wreak your pwnage, it is highly recommended that you shoot on over to Brookline for Non-Event's Experimental Coffee House featuring the analog/digital modular synthesizer sounds of DINNERS. Dinners, aka Jimmy Hughes, has had his far-out compositions pimped by labels like Whitehaus Family Record and Moss Archive, so you know it's good!

Next up on the docket for us here at Interzoning will be the event which, for us, is really the crown jewel of the week's festivities. No, not our official party, although that's a good guess... I'm talking of course about Four Tet, Anthony Naples and Ricardo Donoso at the Middle East! We've had our tickets for weeks, and been waiting for the chance to check out Mr. Hebden in the flesh for a decade!

For your edification and entertainment on this Monday, the 13th, we offer a full evening of demonstrations and seminars relating to some of the top programs and technology currently in use within the world of electronic music, topped off with a full night of good old-fashioned sweaty house music.

Between 5 and 9 PM the MMMMaven HQ at 614 Mass. Ave will be hosting informative and useful (not to mention free!) classes relating to Musical Improvisation with Ableton Live, Pioneer Rekord Box, Mixxx.org open-source DJ software and Performing with Cycling '74's Max software builder.

A glance into the way these different programs work is useful even for non-users, as different interfaces offer up different insights into the way we all use our own technology for better or worse. With top-flight instructors including Matt McNeill and Ed Guild, you're sure to come away with some useful tips, or at least an increased appreciation for the incredible versatility and limitless possibilities that these technologies offer.

After all that sitting is over, we recommend you make the transition from the classroom to the dancefloor (without ever leaving Central Square) by hitting up the Middlesex Lounge for Gallery! The event they've got lined up for the fest this year is a real burner, featuring local hero John Barera along with Dirt Crew, Detroit Swindle and more. This event will showcase a style of house that is sleek, soulful, groovy and above all DEEP. Don't miss out!

During the opening day of Together's festivities, you could show up hours early with a festival pass and try to claw your way into the hopelessly sold-out Flying Lotus/Thundercat/Teebs gig at the Paradise. You also have the option of checking out the official "opening night party" with Tiga and Mistaker... but if you're feeling a bit more adventurous, we recommend you head on down to the Hayden Planetarium at Boston's Museum of Science for “A New Cosmic Mix: Now in 5D!”

This left-field multimedia spectacle, curated by Maggie Cavallo, will feature some truly fantastic local talent including occasional Interzoning collaborator BATHAUS, DJ sensation D'HANA PERRY and VELA PHELAN, whose recent performance as GANG CLAN MAFIA at the Anthoney Greaney gallery was one of our favorite sets of 2013, so far.

*{[(iiiTEASE)]}* BATHAUS For A NEW COSMIC MIX: NOW IN 5D from BAT HAUS on Vimeo.

The elements of music and sound however are only a small fragment of what will make this event perhaps the most-memorable of the entire week. The real stars of the show here (pun intended) are the Hayden Planetarium and its incredible 57-foot-high screen, which all of the artists will be incorporating into their performances in forms as varied as Phelan's hyperstimulating information-overload cutup style and Perry's original video interviews with transgender people of color. On top of all this, Darryl Davis, the planetarium's systems coordinator, will be projecting some truly psychedelic and immersive images of his own.

A NEW COSMIC MIX (which will show Sunday 6:30 and again at 8:30) brings an ambitious, hopeful and idealistic vision to the Together Festival's kickoff.

As Maggie Cavallo herself said recently to WBUR: “A New Cosmic Mix” is a utopian project, evoking animated Web gifs as well as echoes of 1960s and ‘70s Age of Aquarius light shows, hallucinogenic drugs, expanded cinema, New Age philosophy, and even the foundations of the Internet’s hive-mind. It’s about psychedelic experiences as a route to a higher state of consciousness.”

Sounds much cooler than another Pink Floyd laser show!

TOGETHER FESTIVAL BOSTON Presents: A New Cosmic Mix: now in 5D! Featuring HEXbeam by Vela Phelan, LOOSE by D’hana Perry, BATHAUS, Bobby Andres and a video transmission with Yassy Goldie.

It's that time again! Starting tomorrow, talented musicians and artists from all over the world will be joining forces with the some of Massachusetts' best local talent and promoters to create a week-long festival of music, art and technology like no other!

It's been a confusing, depressing and chilly spring so far, but things are definitely warming up here in the Hub. Cal Von B and myself will be on-hand for the full week of THE TOGETHER FESTIVAL, updating daily with info on the best activities and events.

That's not all we have in store for you, though. In addition to regular, daily breakdowns of what's about to happen, we'll also be live on the scene doing interviews, reviews and photos. We'll also be releasing a new Ruby Ridge Podcast (our 20th!) featuring a half-hour set of some of our favorite artists who are playing out this week... and then of course there is our very own INTERZONING PARTY, which will be happening this Friday at PA's Lounge in Somerville with the inimitable BLACK MARBLE and others. So keep it locked. We got you covered.

I've been enamored with the work of Bryan Black ever since his live techno-industrial duo MOTOR first played in Boston several years ago. At the time I wasn't even aware of his production pedigree, having worked in sound design for "the artist" himself, Prince... but it makes sense, given the darkly sexy vibes his tones conjure. Black, whose admirers include heavy hitters like Martin Gore, Gary Numan and Nitzer Ebb, has of late been recording and performing some devastating technomusik on his own as Black Asteroid, whose slick, black-on-black-on-black EP "Black Acid" was one of last year's great treats.

Much like the Babylonian goddess from which this 2x12" release takes its name, the music of Cassegrain swirls and eddies chaotically through murky, sunless aquatic depths. But also like Tiamat, I believe they have demonstrated the ability to birth things into this world which are both great and terrible to behold.

The rich, dubby, experimental and yes... grainy sonics sprawled across these four sides are purposefully executed and meticulously laid out by the Berlin-based duo, but still chug along with effortless abandon. The title track in particular might be my favorite piece of techno released in 2013 thus far. 

The record (which, at just under forty minutes, exists in that nether region between EP and LP) fits perfectly into the Prologue catalog alongside such artists as Cio D'or, Voices from the Lake and Milton Bradley, but also pushes things forward and establishes itself at the forefront of the zeitgeist in its own right. This release is a milestone for Cassegrain and should not under any circumstances be missed.

There has been a lot of talk in the last year or two about how electronic music (and the techno scene in particular) has been embracing something of an “outsider” aesthetic and adopting more and more of the trappings of punk/noise/industrial/psych or, to put it more broadly, DIY.

To varying degrees this is a constant phenomenon, and it has definitely come in and out of fashion at various points in the past. However it can not be denied that in 2012 and 2013, artists less associated with the traditional channels and club scenes have been making huge waves on labels like Blackest Ever Black, PAN, 100% Silk and others, to the chagrin of some purists and to the delight of those like myself who would prefer cross-pollination and a wide, deep musical gene pool to the stagnation of cliquishness and rigid genre boundaries.

It is a testament to this prevailing trend that B.O.W. Shows and Boston Hassle, Boston's premier outlets for left-field, “out” sounds from the underground, are now organizing a recurring techno/dance night of their very own. SCANNERS will feature CONTAINER as a resident DJ and live performances by some of the area's more avant garde beat-driven producers. For the inaugural party, which will be happening at the Video Underground in Jamaica Plain, there will be a set by Providence noisemakers MINCEMEAT OR TENSPEED. This event is ALL-AGES, $5-$10 sliding scale and starts tomorrow night (Saturday the 16th of March) at 11pm. Show up. Dance. Go Crazy. Zone out. Zone in. Flip your damn wig.

The Black Dog are truly the heirs to a rich legacy of pioneering electronic music from the Sheffield area which stretches back to acts like CABARET VOLTAIRE and THE HUMAN LEAGUE. To that end, the trio have attempted to foster and support their local arts community with the Electronic Supper Club, a nexus for the area's creative talent. Their involvement with the Electronic Supper Club was apparently a major influence on The Return Ov Bleep, their newest EP. “It really connected us back into the city.” They wrote in an accompanying press release. “It was and is our way to connect to past/present/future. While others may be dreaming of time travel and jet packs, we accept that the future is much darker and more brutal.” This sense of community involvement extends into the recordings in many ways, including a number of vocal samples featuring a somewhat political bent. In an era of party time platitudes and murky abstraction, I find this all to be extremely refreshing. The four songs which comprise the EP take the Black Dog's signature dark techno style in a variety of directions. The first track, “Bleep Four” is a hard and ominous introduction, paving the way for “Bleep Two”, an ace bit of tuneage riding a rolling industrial bassline which ends all too quickly. On side two of the record you have “Bleep One”, a very interesting piece which offers by far the most variation in sound design of the offerings here, and “Bleep Five”, which finishes out the record in a wash of squelchy acid tones. The record is a definite teaser for their upcoming full-length in that it leaves me wanting more, more MORE! So hey guys, in the meantime where is “Bleep Three”, anyway? How about a “Bleep Six”? Oh well, at least we can also enjoy the latest offering in their Dark Wave mix series...

"SVVIM has been one of my favorite additions to Cambridge's vibrant underground electronic music scene in the past year. In their past two parties at the Middlesex, they've featured some fantastic sets of house and techno by local favorites such as ANDRE OBIN and GLASS TEETH, as well as live electronics by some great experimental acts including New York's TELOAHQAAL.

But for the third installment in the series, things are seriously getting next level. First of all, there's the talent: House phenom PATRICE BAUMEL will be on-hand all the way from Holland, along with locals GLASS TEETH, FIGGY and FUZZY FOTCH. Secondly, the venue: SVVIM is going DIY! This party, instead of the chic but pricy Middlesex Lounge, is going down at the Central Square Elks Lodge! The space is huge, the drinks are cheap and the atmosphere is appropriately underground.

This all goes down TONIGHT, March 9th at 9pm. The price is a reasonable $5. More info is available here. I'll see you in the deep end.

SVVIM THREE:

PATRICE BAUMEL FIGGY GLASS TEETH FUZZY FOTCH