Ben Khan – 2000 Angels
The story books speak of legends, telling tales of the Kraken, the will-o-the-wisp, and the permanence of the McLobster burger. London based musician Ben Khan is sort of like this, too. He released two EPs – 2014’s 1992; 2015’s 1000 (clearly a fan of numbers) – then vanished into the ether, lost to the hallowed pages of history where the release of his debut album sat next to Bigfoot in the library of mythical things whose existence could neither be proved or denied.
Today that changes. Bigfoot may still be roaming northern California on his upright toes, we cannot be be sure, but it is undeniable FACT that Ben Khan and his debut album is real. Today he released a new video and new song “2000 Angels” (watch below) and announces a debut album will be due this summer via Dirty Hit, the label who have released music by the 1975 and ugh, Pale Waves. There’s also a new press shot, which you have probably already peeped above, since you have eyes.
Read the rest of this article at Noisey
Paul White – Returning
Paul White is well known for working with such rappers as Danny Brown and Open Mike Eagle, but the U.K. producer’s own work tends to slink between genres—nodding to soul, funk, and electronic music, but never settling entirely within their confines. On “Returning,” the second single from his forthcoming LP, Rejuvenate, White rolls out a slow-blooming banger laced with lush sampled voices and sneakily complex instrumentals.
With its intricate lattice of electric guitar, looped vocals, and textured beats, “Returning” is a testament to White’s skill as a producer. His details are rich but never ostentatious—guitars are plucked in simple phrases, and the metallic scratch of fingers sliding down a fretboard becomes its own rhythmic component. Both programmed and live percussion kick the sauntering guitar into a sprint, the former pounding like an orchestra equipped with only sneakers on pavement, clapping hands, and pumping hearts. White has a knack for composing music with multiple dimensions of sound, and he stays true to that here, burying snatches of conversation and electronic chirps deep into the mix. By the time “Returning” comes to a halt, it has traveled miles from its origin point, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.
Read the rest of this article at Pitchfork
Jon Hopkins – Everything Connected
Jon Hopkins has been inching closer to his upcoming album release, titled Singularity, one track at a time. Known for his experimental ambient and hypnotic techno beats, Hopkins has worked with artists as big as Coldplay who seek his expert hand in toying with synthetic sounds to make something that resonates as distinctly sentimental and human upon listening. His first release from the project is titled “Emerald Rush” with an accompanying cartoon music video— watching it is a bit like seeing a Hayao Miyazaki film on hallucinogens (at least how I imagine it.) On Wednesday he shared his newest song, “Everything Connected.”
The track is a blend of emotional ebbing synths with sprinkles of crunching noise. The surprisingly alluring contrast of sounds makes this release exactly what one would expect from Hopkins. Despite the long hiatus since his last album release, the distinct appeal of his unassuming yet occasionally jarring dance music remains. Watch the song take life in quirky animated form below, and look out for Singularity on May 4 via Domino Records.
Read the rest of this article at Earmilk
Oneohtrix Point Never – Black Snow
Earlier this month, Daniel Lopatin announced his latest Oneohtrix Point Never album, Age Of. It will be out in June, and it’ll be prefaced by a series of live performances in New York City. Today, he’s released Age Of’s first single, “Black Snow,” and revealed some more details behind the album. Here’s how Lopatin framed his mindset going into its creation in a new bio:
After Garden Of Delete, I found myself working on collabs with other artists a lot. That became my life. So I was thinking a lot about music labor in the antiquated sense; the state or church-appointed artist. It was refreshing and funny to let that energy into my solo work, which suddenly seemed so constrained and private to me. Nothing felt more wrong than making a strictly conceptual album. It needed to be a record of little air-conditioned nightmares that reflected my life as it was.
OPN wrote, recorded, and produced Age Of, and James Blake contributed additional production and mixed it. Lopatin himself sings on a number of the tracks, including “Black Snow,” and there’s vocal contributions across the album from ANOHNI and Prurient. (ANOHNI provides backing vocals on “Black Snow.”) Blake, Kelsey Lu, and Eli Keszler also play instruments on it. One of the songs, “The Station,” started out a demo for Usher.
The song he’s sharing today, “Black Snow,” was inspired by the Cybernetic Culture Research Unit, a philosophical collective founded in the mid-’90s by Nick Land and Sadie Plant, and the lyrics draw from the texts that the collective produced, which deal with cyberculture and humanity’s shortcomings. It’s a hollowed-out husk of a song that’s catchy despite itself, crackles and pops and a Daxophone laying the foundation for Lopatin’s staticky, processed musings on the wave of black snow that might take us all away with it.
It comes attached to a gorgeous, surreal video, which Lopatin directed, starring a creature with a snarling row of bottom teeth whose computer workspace gets fenced in by a team in Hazmat suits. The visuals are haunting and grotesquely beautiful, much like the song itself.
Read the rest of this article at Stereogum
Daniel Avery – Projector
Daniel Avery has shared the remarkable video for his new song ‘Projector’.
The producer’s new album ‘Song For Alpha’ drops on April 6th, his first full length project in almost five years.
New song ‘Projector’ is online now, with the undulating electronics matching an awareness of industrial to techno’s metallic chassis.
A step on from his much acclaimed debut, ‘Projector’ has the reactive feel of a live show, coupled with the exactness of studio work.
London designs studio Flat-e worked on the visuals, and it’s a real trip, a hallucinatory, almost psychedelic experience.
Read the rest of this article at Clash
