Video: Balam Acab - "Welcome"

Here is the new video from Balam Acab, the project of 20-year-old Pennsylvanian Alec Koone for the track “Welcome” off  of his new LP Wander/Wonder released this week on Tri Angle Records(Clams Casino, Holy Other). If you aren’t familiar with his sound there is a classical feel with samples sounding like they are pulled from recordings of hymns. Accentuating the "chamber dub" qualities are samples of orchestral sections and nylon string guitar strategically and surgically placed in pockets of negative space allowing each element a moment to shine on its own only to come together as one magnificent unit by the end.

Welcome - Balam Acab from dre間am on Vimeo.

Walls - "Sunporch"

We recently posted a spooky Holy Other remix of the track "Sunporch" by the duo consisting of Sam Willis (Allez-Allez) and Alessio Natalizia (Banjo or Freakout) aka Walls'.  However, we wanted to make sure you wouldn't miss the equally brilliant original releasing on August 29th on Kompakt,  which will also be featured on the duo's upcoming LP "Coracle" releasing in late September 2011.  The track is a swirly atmospheric affair with a dominant arpeggiated bassline and eastern tinged vocals.  Listen to it below or order it here:

"Sunporch" By Walls by Kompakt

Rustie - "All Nite"

Red Cup was quick to spot the teaser trailer for Rustie's upcoming album "Glass Swords" releasing on Warp in October and  now Rustie has finally released a full length track off that album.  On "All Nite" Glasgow producer shells out a neon-bright gumbo of a myriad of electronic music influences.  In a few words, the tune is a post-Daft Punk Discovery-era take on Bristol's 'purple' sound, with hip-hop beats similar to those of fellow Glasgowian Hudson Mohawke and a vocal treated in that post-dubstep high pitched manner.  It's a lot to take in but it's an exciting listen none the less.  Check it out below:

Rustie - All Nite (taken from Glass Swords) by Rustie

eLan - "Alligator Snaps EP"

San Diego beatmaker eLan, just released an EP charmingly entitled "Alligator Snaps" on Modeselektor's Monkeytown Records.  The title track is a chirpy hip-hop beat with Game Boy leads, wobbly bassline pads and snares that sound, well....like alligator snaps.  If that's not your cup of tea (what's wrong with you?) than check out the TRG remix which takes the foundations of the track on an equally delicious tech-house trip.  Listen to both below or order the EP here:

eLan "Alligator Snaps" (MONKEYTOWN014) OUT IN AUGUST by Modeselektor

eLan "Alligator Snaps - Cosmin TRG Remix" (MONKEYTOWN014) OUT IN AUGUST by Modeselektor

Motor City Drum Ensemble - L.O.V.E. (Kyle Hall remix)

Following the release of his his excellent DJ-Kicks mix, deep house mastermind Motor City Drum Ensemble also released a single in August of the exclusive to the aforementioned mix track "L.O.V.E." also on the !K7 label.  The release features an excellent remix of the track by the young Detroit giant Kyle Hall.  It begins with an organic shuffle and atmospheric vocal similar to some of Four Tet's latest releases only to depart into soulful Detroit territory about half way through.  Listen to Kyle Hall's remix of "L.O.V.E." below or order it here:   

Motor City Drum Ensemble- L.O.V.E. - Kyle Hall Remix by !K7 Records

Download: Four Tet – Beats In Space Mix

Four Tet dropped by the WNYU radio program Beats In Space this week to play a two hour mix, featuring his brand new remix for “Tinariwen”, alongside tracks from T. Williams, Joy Orbison, and Juk Juk, a new artist signed to his Text imprint. Also premiered on the mix is a track titled “Pyramid”, the b-side to Four Tet’s upcoming “Locked” single. Tim Sweeney also does an interview with Four Tet in the early part of the mix, where the artist discusses his recent remix projects, moving to New York, , and some of the upcoming releases in the works for Text.

Download: Four Tet – Beats In Space

Keep Shelly in Athens - "Our Own Dream"

Our very own Athens-based suberb-named (Κυψέλη στην Αθήνα) duo Keep Shelly in Athens have long been on Red Cup's radar due to their dreamy balearic (Aegean rather?) sound and mysterious low profile personna.  Hot off the heels of announcing a North American tour in November the duo just released "Our Own Dream", which is a slight departure from their previous work but may just be our favorite.  It's a darker affair, perhaps influenced from the Tri Angle 'ghost-hop' output, but with a delicate balearic veil, without any lack of their  signature airy vocals and bendy synths.  This is truly their own sound and we look forward to more tracks in this vein on their upcoming release on Forest Family Records due this fall.  Until then let's hope we can keep them in Athens a little bit longer so we can catch them live too...we missed that secret show at Bios.  Listen to "Our Own Dream" below:

Keep Shelly in Athens - Our Own Dream by Keep Shelly in Athens

Emika - "Pretend"

There's two things we don't like here at Red Cup, bringing gender into music and people who say "I told you so"...and we're about to do both: we told you Emika was THE female electronic music recording artist of this year back in our all time most popular post from the exquisite live version of her still upcoming single "Pretend", alongside the Brandt Bauer Frick Ensemble.  Now we can finally hear a clip from the original version of that track to be featured on her upcoming self-titled album releasing on Ninja Tune on October 3rd and which you can pre-order here.  

On "Pretend" Emika accomplishes perhaps the most successful fusion of a stripped back techno aesthetic with a meaningful lyric-based vocal we've ever heard.  This unorthodox combination seemed impossible in the pre-Emika period and even unholy in purist techno circles...apparently the only 'acceptable' vocals in techno have long been the staple pitched down words of gibberish referring to the effects of the music on ones mind --- think about it.  Yet Emika's own take on the genre seems completely natural, as if it always made sense, and this is most probably due to her deep knowledge and respect for that scene and her willingness to experiment.  Not to mention the rare instance of a person having both uncanny technical skills with a voice texture that is so suited for her sound it's scary.  If techno could sing, this is what it would sound like:

  

  Pretend // Professional Loving : Released 5 Sept [Ninja Tune] by emika

Sleep ∞ Over - Romantic Streams (Balam Acab remix)

It's been quite the month for Red Cup favorite Balam Acab.  With a perfection approaching remix dedicated to the one year anniversary of the hottest label at the moment Tri Angle and an album releasing on that very label on August 29th with all the initial signs pointing to it reaching 'instant classic' status - the sky's the limit for this ghost-hop pioneer.  His new LP "Wander/Wonder", to his own apparent shock, even made album of the month over at Rough Trade:

  

This brand new remix of Sleep ∞ Over's "Romantic Streams" is a further testament to the fact that August, nay summer, 2011 belongs to Balam Acab.  Listen to this haunted remix below or download it over at Gorilla vs. Bear:

Felicita - "Fantasy Rush/Wavey"

Not much is known about the British duo (?) Felicita except that they're a promising lot with a sound (and head gear) not far removed from the Tri Angle crew, though different enough to warrant a notable mention among the witch-house hipsters that seem to be overflowing the web.  The track "Fantasy Rush/Wavey" is a testament to their unique approach:  a gritty bouncy bassline collides with mangled vocal snippets while a hyper active kick carries the rhythm section home.  A music box melody introduced toward the second half of the track takes the tune into a whole new direction perhaps explaining the double name of the song.  For fans of Actress' latest work as well.  Listen to the mesmerizing: "Fantasy Rush/Wavey" below:

shougang fantasyrush / wavey by FELICITA

Tri Angle Bi Post - 2 new songs from Holy Other and Balam Acab

Tri Angle is one of our go-to labels at the moment. The imprint's artists are constantly coming up with quality releases surpassing themselves and each other almost every time. We were excited to hear that Clams Casino's free instrumental mix tape just got the vinyl treatment, which we highly recommend to collectors, vinyl fetishists or completists (we're all three). If you missed it check out our older post with a relevant link where u can still download it for free. For now we're going to focus on two new releases from the label's roster:

First up is this characteristically woozy remix of Kompakt artist Walls' "Sunporch" by Holy Other. We've always thought Holy Other's music sat comfortably in the middle ground between syrupy chopped and skrewed hip-hop and the formerly-known-as witch house scene (we've labeled this Ghost-hop). This track is no exception. Holy Other stretches the original's vocals beyond recognition drenching them in cavernous reverb all the while creating a slow flowing thick melody that you could almost visualize as a Charlie and the Chocolate factory fudge river...and like that movie the track has a cheerful yet uneasy feeling permeating it throughout. Listen to the "Sunporch" remix by Holy Other below:

Walls - Sunporch (Holy Other Remix) by Kompakt

Next up is another Red Cup favorite, Tri Angle label mate Balam Acab whose remix of "My Boo" we posted recently. His track "Motion", from his forthcoming LP "Wander/Wonder" releasing on August 29th, is still echoing in the haunted tropical wonderland Castle made out of expired cake frosting where it was recorded. Seriously though, it's hard to think of this sound coming out of anywhere else, especially not a 20 year old human's imagination. Listen to "Motion" and let your imagination run wild with it below:

Balam Acab - Motion by TriAngleRecords

Download: The Weeknd - "Thursday Mix Tape"

The Weeknd is back with a new mix tape just in time for, well the weekend. Thursday includes 9 tracks of breezy summer jams and is well worth a listen.

download Thursday by The Weeknd here.

Shed remixes Radiohead

We already alerted you as to the previous set of of Radiohead remixes from their latest LP "King of the Limbs."  This fourth installment in the series is a darker affair with menacing atmospherics and few ties to the original pieces.  Red Cup highlight is definitely Berlin resident and Hardwax employee Shed's  ominous rework of "Little by Little."  Listen to this as well as the other two excellent remixes by Thriller and Illum Sphere below: 

Calculus - Silurus (Patrick Siech Amnesia Mix)

Calculus's love for underground electronic music began in the early 90's when he started work in the studio.  However, it was Octopus Recordings the inducted the Dublin born, Spanish based producer into its roster.  Calculus has collaborated in the past with the likes of Tadeo  and Reboot to mention but a few. His unique approach to techno provides a fresh sound  which would appeal to die-hard purist techno fans as well more casual enthustiasts of the scene.  Red Cup highly recommends you listen to Patrick Siech's remix of  Calculus' hypnotic track "Silurus" below:

New tracks by Com Truise and Hard Mix

Most of us here at Red Cup were alive in the 80s and look back at the decade of hairspray, keytars and shoulder pads with fondness. We've since learned to forgive a lot of the fashion blunders and heinous crimes against music and even accepted the influence of that decade's sound on a lot of modern electronic music (see all sorts of retro outfits, a lot of electro, chillwave etc.)

Today we bring you two such examples of 80s nostalgia based production.  The first is Com Truise who recently released his LP  "Galactic Melt" on the record label we've raved about  many times before Ghostly.  Listen to the audacious 80s arpeggio synth led track "Either Drift"  below:

  

Next up is South Carolina's Hard Mix  who has kept us entertained with a free LP and a number of 80s tinged mixes for a while now.  "Upkeep" is a new track on a split 7" with Torkelsen on Sell Out! Music.  Hard Mix sticks to his unique 80s sample choices (sax and abstract pop croons) and gives them thats 2010s treatment.  Listen to "Upkeep" below:

 

  Hard Mix - Upkeep by selloutmusic

Skudge - "First Observation EP"

The Swedish duo known as Skudge just released an EP entitled "First Observation" which features two original tracks which you can listen to below and a Conforce remix.  "Void" is a catchy two-note dancefloor driven piece, while "Surplus" is based around a set of deep techno chord stabs thrown in with a measure of discrete whistles and driving claps.  An entrancing listen.  Check out both tracks below:

PREVIEW ''Void'' First Observation EP ECHOCORDCOLOUR 016 by Skudge

PREVIEW ''Surplus'' First Observation EP ECHOCORDCOLOUR 016 by Skudge

    

Sian - "Before Silence" LP

Sian's new LP "Before Silence" released in late June on Octopus Recordings is a must have on your techno playlist.  This huge album features remixes by world renound techno producers such as Carlo Lio, Gui Borrato, Ramon Tapia, Joel Mull, Dustin Zahn, DVS1 to mention a few who also have been through the doors of Berlin's techno Mecca Berghain.  Red Cup highly recommends this LP to all self-respecting techno heads.  Check out Carlo Lio's remix of 'Purple Bang' in its entirety which has been featured as an opening track on Pan Pot's sets recently.

 

Sian - Purple Bang (Carlo Lio Remix) [SC-EDIT] by Carlo Lio

Guido Schneider & Pascal Feos - "Zusammen in B"

Guido Schneider & Pascal Feos combine forces once more with decades of experience on dancefloor hits.  On "Zusammen in B", released on Level NON Zero records, the duo combines classical elements with electronic music, an unusual pick for Red Cup's posts up to now. Despite its early June release, we still thought we should share this unique track in case you missed it.  Listen to "Zusammen in B" below and if you want more check out "Unterwasser" after the jump:

Gwen Stefani - "Luxurious" (Lapalux's bootleg remix)

There's a lot bootleg remixes of 90s and 00s pop-divas floating around the web (there's one on our Summer Mix Vol. 2) but this atmosphere drenched beat/chopped and skrewed hybrid cut of Gwen Stefani's "Luxurious" by UK newcomer Lapalux definitely stands above most.  Lsiten below:

Gwen Stefani - Luxurious ( Lapalux's bootleg remix) by Lapalux

Actress - "Parallel World"

We recently featured an excellent Actress remix of Laurel Halo track "Constant Index" on our Summer Mix Vol. 2 - "Summer in the City".  Now the techno mastermind is back with a chip-tuned broken music box track that really caught our attention.  Listen to or download Actress' "Parallel World" below:

Actress - Parallel World by Nialler9

Solvent - "RDJCS5​" EP

Red Cup spotted this upcoming gem of a release on Suction records by the analogue wizard and Ghostly International artist who goes by the name of Solvent.  You might recognize some of the characteristic synth sounds from some of Aphex Twin's earlier work and there's a good reason for that: Solvent bought the rare CS5 synthesizer that belonged to the Analord Richard D. James himself at an auction for a mere 1,200$.  On his upcoming EP releasing in early September, Solvent uses this piece of historic equipment to deliver some ulta-melodic purist analogue tracks along the line of Rephlex artist's Bochum Welt work.  You can preorder the EP "RDJCS5" here. Listen to stand out tune "Curtains" or watch the promo video for the release below:

 

Curtains ['R D J C S 5 A 1' - suction022] by solvent

Preview Modeselektor's new album "Monkeytown"

The Berlin duo Modeselektor, famous for being one of Thom Yorke's favorite electronic outfits and 2/3 of the better-than-the-sum-of-its-parts side-project Moderat, have just released 45 second previews of each of their tracks from their upcoming "Monkeytown" album on their own label of the same name.  Listen to the album releasing in early fall below:

 

Modeselektor "Monkeytown" (MONKEYTOWN015) OUT BETWEEN SEP27-OCT04 by Modeselektor

Ghost Town DJs - "My Boo" (Balam Acab remix)

Tri Angle wonderkid and for-lack-of-a-better-term 'witch-house' (actually there is a better term: ghost-hop) pionneer Balam Acab just released this infectious remix of "My Boo" by the Ghost Town DJs in celebration of the one year anniversary of the label.  Balam took the original classic, through it in a dungeon for a couple of years until it died and came back to haunt us...and it sounds like it's enjoying every minute of it.  Look out for Balam Acab's sure to be brilliant new material coming out on the 29th of August, until then boo-gie to this:

My Boo (BALAM ACAB Remix) - Ghost Town DJ's by BALAM ACAB

Red Cup Summer Mix Vol. 2 - Summer in the City

Photo by Vanessa Keen

Here is the second in a series of summer mixes provided by Red Cup.  Where as Volume One was more of a beach oriented affair, this mix entitled "Summer in the City" is geared toward hot urban environments and nocturnal city skylines.  It's also slightly shorter but more compact, a nod to our ever  shortening attention spans. Yet, once more, we adhere to no single genre and provide you with some of our favorite tracks old and new best suited for a summer in the city.  We hope you enjoy.  Listen to or download below and tell us what you think in the comments below:

Summer Mix Vol. 2 - "Summer in the City" by aRedCup

Four Tet - "Locked"

We tend to avoid posting about one artist twice in a row but we absolutely love this brand new Four Tet track which will close out his upcoming Fabriclive mix and will also be released as a single on his own Text imprint.  "Locked" has elements of Four Tet's earlier hip-hop work but ultimately fits in his more recent trademark organic techno shuffle we've grown to love.  Listen to "Locked" below:

Locked (TEXT011) by Four Tet