Planetary Assault Systems – The Messenger

There’s a shit lot of stuff on in town tonight. An unfortunately huge amount of stuff on, in fact. Maybe it would have been a good idea if all the promoters could have got together at some kind of nice conference thing with free tea and coffee and biscuits out of a big blue tin (Fox’s, natch) and discussed the best weekends for them to all put on their nights, rather than just playing promotion darts with the calendar and all getting double tops in the same go. Not that any of them have done a bad job; please don’t get me wrong. Just that they’ve all done very good jobs at exactly the same time. And it means I can’t go to all of them. Sad face.

To not give particular preference to any of them I’ve decided to list them all and embed a track that has nothing to do with any of them. This may seem irritatingly evasive but I’d prefer to think it should help generate further exploration and a democratic cultural process. Which is a really great thing.

So, here’s the new album from Ostgut Ton’s Planetary Assault Systems. It’s three quarters of an hour of some of the best shifting phases, industrial thuds, malfunctioning displays and bare-boned minimal techno you’re ever likely to hear. Hello weekend.

And as for what’s on, here’s our round-up of the best…

Nail The Cross

Two nights at The Shacklewell Arms put on by the good people over at No Pain In Pop, featuring a stellar line-up that includes Pariah, Nite Jewel, D/R/U/G/S, Sex Worker, Miracle, Echo Lake, Patten, Doldrums, Halls and Holy Strays, as well as assorted DJ sets from the promoters and their friends. Phewph.

Blackest Ever Black

One of the most impressive labels around at the moment (and a huge personal fave) are putting on a showcase night at Baring House, steeping it in deep, dark, gothic dance music. It’s the new black.

Qu Junktions with Magic + Dreams

The pairing of abrasive analogue wizard Ekoplekz and trombonist Bass Clef, Ekoclef, heads the bill at Café Oto tonight, with Pipe Dreams and Some Truths in support.

Upset The Rhythm

The awesome Lucky Dragons will be playing at Space on Mare St, supported by Flamingods.

Oh, and there’s also the Carl Barat DJ set at the Barfly in Camden. ‘LOL’

Image is by Fredrik Söderberg.

Warmth 4

Buds on trees, daffodils in bloom, Easter eggs on the BOGOF shelf in Tesco – plenty of seasonal signs that spring is in the air. Which means (however tenuously) that it’s time for another influx of Warmth, courtesy of the finest dance music makers currently gracing our ears. Here goes…

First up is what I’d consider to be my favourite dance track of the year so far, from man-of-the-moment Blawan’s incredible new EP on R&S, Bohla. Snapping, crackling and popping all over the place with some incredibly funky syncopated bleeps, bips, hits and kicks, it’s an absolute peach.

Blawan – Lavender

Next in line is the highly anticipated but highly surprising new single from Joy O, previously known as Joy Orbison (WHY OH WHY DID YOU CHANGE YOUR NAME? IT WAS BRILLIANT!). Gone are any notions of post-dubstep trappings. Here to stay, it appears, is his own minimal take on early 90s house, stripped and funkified and made very, very good.

Joy O – Wade In

After all this exuberance I think it’s only right to balance it out with something a bit darker and nastier. Cue Bethany Skirt’s terrifying end-of-the-night industrial techno banger from her recent EP, In The Meadow Under The Stars.

Skirt – Ikaros

Up next is the new track from breakbeat revisionist Midland. A sound I (and I imagine many people) had thought to be long dead, this take on the genre seems absolutely brimming with new life and fresh ideas. Great stuff.

Midland – Bring Joy

And finally is a bit of fantastic throwback glee from the ubiquitously brilliant Ostgut Ton label, courtesy of Steffi.

Steffi – Yours (feat. Virginia)

Image is by Aimei Ozaki, found on the fantastic but does it float.

Warmth 3

Another instalment from the Warmth front for you now. All set in time for the big end of January weekend. Couple of great nights coming up – Trouble Vision at Corsica Studios, Balance at Plastic People. Hope this gets you in the mood.

Garage soundboards plastered all over a big house beat in this bouncy, funky number from Mancunian producers XxXy. Got to be one of the nicest build and drops of the last year in this as well. Real fun.

Big, bomping early 90s garage house grooves complete with nasty synth stabs and killer snares. Get your trigger fingers out for Bad Autopsy, bwoi.

Absolutely gorgeous bit of shimmering disco house from Ital here. Put out on the recently created 100% Silk records (a new label from the co-founder of  Not Not Fun and one half of Pocahaunted, Amanda Brown). Practically had this on constant repeat for the last few days. Got immediate classic written all over it.

I kind of think this shouldn’t work. Throwback block party vocal samples layered over what is basically budget bassline house isn’t usually something that would cut the mustard. But shit, when it’s done this well and you can’t listen to it without gyrating your shoulders around like the Churchill Car Insurance dog with ADHD and no more Ritalin you can’t really argue, can you?

Another slice of darkness from Berghain’s Ostgut Ton label here, this time from Rolando. Scratchy, percussive effects, waves of undulating drones and incredibly simplistic downtempo thuds make this the perfect urban, nocturnal soundtrack.

And here’s a brilliantly surprising bit of news to finish it off with – a teaser video to herald the release of Boxcutter’s upcoming album The Dissolve. After catching our attention a few years ago with the incredible Glyphic, 2009′s Arecibo Message was something of a disappointment. However, all seems to be set for new heights with this slice of spaced-out,  Onra-esque dopeness. Fingers crossed the album lives up to expectations.

Video for this is by the brilliant Sabrina Ratté – see more of her stuff here.

Top image is by the incredible multi-talented artist and founder of numerous fantastic online interest thingies, Folkert Gorter. Too many links to provide for this guy, so just have a Google for him and see what turns up.

Warmth 2

Quick update for all a y’all on the Warmth front. Selection of five of the deepest, darkest, dirtiest underground dancefloor tracks that have recently been making our feet twitch, heads bounce and hair stand on end.

Kangding Ray – A1 Pruitt Igoe Part 1 (Rise)

Heavy minimal German techno that growls its way under your skin. On the awesome Raster Noton label.

Elgato – Blue

Introverted, spaced-out 2-step courtesy of Elgato’s debut track on Hessle Audio. Expect a lot more to come from this young British producer.

Clara Moto – Hazel

Beautiful slice of shut-your-eyes, end-of-the-night deep house. Fans of Pantha du Prince should be very excited by this one.

Caribou – Bowls (Icarus Remix)

I was pretty underwhelmed by the remix LP for Swim, but Icarus’ menacing rework, which popped up on Soundcloud yesterday, is in a completely different league.

Couple of bits of AV now for you. First up’s Kevin Gorman (who I think sounds like someone who works in IT support for a credit fraud company, but hey-ho), signed to the Berghain-owned Ostgut Ton label. Mad keen on the stuff they’ve been putting out recently (their Fünf compilations are a must-have) and this track is no exception.

And to round it off here’s a slice of absolute madness from the brilliantly named Harmonius Thelonius. American minimalism vs. African drumming vs. European sequencing. Apparently.

Image is by Swedish graphic designer Malin Bergström and is absolutely crying out to be used on someone’s album sleeve. You can see more of her great work here.