“Sherm” is the latest song from the Chicago production duo Supreme Cuts’ forthcoming debut album, Whispers in the Dark. With a track title referring to joints dunked in liquid PCP, this one points to a darker bend of their sound, like they’re trying to figure out footwork through a cloud of smoke and squinted eyes. And they never really get there—to footwork—instead caught up in the smolder, the way smoke folds into light, this ambient space in between. That’s when they’re at their best. Whispers in the Dark comes out June 12th on Dovecote.

Read more: http://www.thefader.com/2012/04/12/stream-supreme-cuts-sherm/#ixzz1rqZ5JYoM

Supreme Cuts “Lessons of Darkness (Apology)”

• Words: Cam Curran
 
• Label: Dovecote

Heralding from America’s third largest city, Supreme Cuts is a duo well-versed in Chicago’s traditions of house, juke, and footwork. Flickering images of those distinct dance-music ingredients swim into view on this new cut from the outfit’s forthcoming LP, Whispers in the Dark (out on June 12 via Dovecote). “Lessons of Darkness (Apology)” is no mere exercise in genre tropes, however. One could practically cough on the dense, atmospheric production Supreme Cuts exhibits; humid drums emerge from the smoke only to burst through in a sparkling display of celestial melodies and pop sensibility. The project seems to be a fully realized sum of its parts, and as legendary juke veteran DJ Gant Man said about this release, “I fucks with this. Y’all snapped.” You can take a look at the cover art and tracklist for Whispers in the Dark before it drops, after the jump.

The two top reasons I liked Chicago’s Supreme Cuts so much when I saw them last fall were because they took turns cueing samples by whacking a MIDI drum pad with a single drum stick (which is fairly unusual and looks way more rewarding than tapping an MPC with two fingers) and because Slack Kevorkian, the one with long hair, was wearing a promotional Ferrari Boyz T-shirt. Both of these things apply to Supreme Cuts’ brand of electronic music: always happy to unloose a little extra energy, even with their more atmospheric stuff, and at least halfway spawned from rap. While I haven’t figured out exactly what links “Silkk” to The Shocker, surely the connection is important to them. It’s a well-rounded song, with ambiguous soul samples, pocket change percussion and toms pitched so high they sound like cats hiccuping. Supreme Cuts’ debut full-length, Whispers in the Dark, is forthcoming via Dovecote.

Download: Supreme Cuts, “Silkk”

If you haven’t heard Los Angeles’ Evan Voytas own brand of experimental, synth-driven pop music, you have likely seen him shred in another setting. Dude’s a regular in the live bands for Brainfeeder maestros Flying Lotus and Gonjasufi. Voytas has been mostly working on his own gigs lately, though, whether it be playing out with his own backing band or crafting his impressive brand of retro earworms in the studio.

The latter becomes apparent on his latest release, the Feel Me EP, which you can get a taste of here with “You Don’t Even Know Where It’s At.” The richness of the synths and guitars are what really make this track jump out at you, but his party-prepped vocals are just as endearing. You can stream and download the track below.Feel Me drops Tuesday, Jan. 24 via Dovecote.

UK-based quartet Jonquil have recently announced their forthcoming full-length, Point of Go, set for a February 21st release with Dovecote Records (The Futureheads, Hooray For Earth). To celebrate this upcoming release, FILTER and Jonquil have partnered up for the release andpremiere of a special Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix of“It’s My Part” by the band.

Fronted by Hugo Manuel of Chad Valley, Jonquil spins listeners’ attention to something fun and shiny with classic pop elements. This TEED Remix bubbles up “It’s My Part”, making Manuel’s vocals float above the intricate guitars and upbeat tempos. The balance falls into a obvious place - a new addition to some indie-pop DJs’ playlists. 

Download the remix below and check out the original version of Jonquil’s “It’s My Part” below.

The best way to finish off Hard Mix’s “I’ve Got Them” is to load right into the next three songs on his SoundCloud page, which publicly archive the 21-year-old artist’s practice on the cello, an instrument he’s been learning for about a week. “I’ve Got Them” already dances between drum machine and acoustic percussion (acoustic-seeming at least, whether or not he’s really just playing a computer keyboard), and following up with unvarnished, Garageband-recorded solo instrument practice really drives homes the organic quality that makes Hard Mix’s music so compelling. “I’ve Got Them” originally premiered in a mix Hard Mix did for SiriusXM Chill, which you can download here.

Stream: Hard Mix, “I’ve Got Them”

Fol Chen’s cover of Sufjan Stevens “I Walk” got honorable mention on NPR All Things Considered’s end of the year list for best cover songs.

LA’s Fol Chen have teamed with legendary minimalist interface designers Monome and the Echo Park art space Machine Project to create the Tetrafol, this wooden, pyramid-shaped device that plays/manipulates sound based on how it’s moved, as demonstrated in the video above. What’s just as crazy, if not even more so, is that the song below, “Back on Kent,” was composed on this buttonless space thing. And it’s really good! They only made 100 Tetrafols and they cost a hundred bucks, but if you buy one it comes pre-loaded with the stems from “Back on Kent” and some other Fol Chen songs/sounds, plus the software is open source so you can jack in and upload your own stuff and jiggle it around like it’s god’s Yak Bak.

Download: Fol Chen, “Back on Kent”

Read more: http://www.thefader.com/2011/12/07/fol-chen-invent-an-instrument/#ixzz1fsRx4G2r