it is making my blood boil. man, my jaw is hanging down listening to this stuff. read the email from butthole surfers man and producer, paul leary, when he heard the demo for what would become the debut philipp gorbachev & the naked man album. philipp gorbachev, the russian musician and dj, has been throwing killer parties and making some of the most innovative and exciting electronic music to come out of moscow in years. in 2014 he released his debut album silver album but when invited to perform a live boiler room he had something else in mind: a band scenario. the resulting concoction was not something locked into a 4/4 beat but rather a much more organic, groove-based sound with funk-strutting bass lines and live drums that rolled and flurried around the beats that jumped around leading the charge of the songs along with gorbachev’s damo suzuki-like vocals. taking that experiment into the studio, i dont give a snare is a wild ride that jumps genres, switches paces and alters tones frequently. the opening goodman exploding in intense rhythms and heavy, spiralling riffs that at times recall sabbath but the ever-shifting drums and gargling electronics give a wonky freshness that feels impossible to place into genre. whilst gorbachev cites a range of influences from beck to blind willie johnson as being core to him, the primary motivation is the live nature of the project itself. the main influence is the constant live experience we have as music players and performers. i want to get the most out of every party, every jam, and every dancefloor.

to forget the pursuit of harmony. to recall the past to make a future. forever seeing yourself reflected, feeding back in eternal repeating cycles. a dialog with oneself within the natural world. choosing a final destination as the journey ceaselessly repeats. i hope to share what ive experienced in this big journey. i hope you will feel both a sense of nostalgia, and a sense of newness. that makes our harmony. kazuomi eshima

ive always loved the sound of the italian word amarone (ah-mah-roh-nay). in my native spanish, amar means to love, so for me the word recalls that beautiful invitation: to love oneself. each track on this ep leads you through a different emotional landscape an unfiltered experience of feeling, an encounter with the heart.

khandoits hypnotic 100 bpm stomp does not adhere to genre or fickle trends, it simply bangs. the track begins with a sturdy kick and piano glissandos which recall alice coltranes most transportative work. as the beat picks up, a creeping, filtered arpeggio enters its journey between rhythmic and downright nasty serving as the track s primary drama. its a stunning intro to the new label grimy trax, a musical chameleon that can be dropped at the beginning, middle or end of the night. to complement the epic a-side, grimy returns to the endlessly talented midwest and emerges with lulu, an original track by deejay/edit ace bruce ivery. the track seamlessly combines the chicago acid sound with the clever vocal sampling of early 90s nyc house. the result is pure peak-time heat. towards the end of the track, ivery arranges brief melodic elements into a propulsive disco facsimile. this unexpected turn summarizes the philosophy of the new label and the way this small group of artists selects and makes records. it doesnt matter if its house, disco, or techno, just make it grimy!

benoit & sergio dont make dance tracks—they tell stories. in the washington dc duos music, a sense of place and narrative infuse their rhythms and melodies, transcending having flexed their synth-pop muscles on releases for dfa (the acclaimed boy trouble ep) and visionquest (the lovelorn where the freaks have no name ep), dc duo benoit & sergio return to spectral sound for a victory lap around the dancefloor. and >let me count the ways< is just that, sounding every bit the perfect, hands-in-the-air final anthem of the evening. tireless hi-hats push the beat onward and dreamy synthesized strings saturate the stereo space as sergio intones, >let me count the ways / the ways that ive loved.< as the line repeats, its meaning bends to fit the songs tone of endless, time-suspended romance: its not the loves that matter in the end, but the ways. its not the destination, but the journey. the b-sides >let me count the ways (autumn version)<is a vastly different take on the original?s maximalist swell. stripping the beat back to its bare essentials and building them up again over nearly 12 minutes, the >autumn version< recalls arthur russell?s more minimal moments down to its wobbly bass filigree and mumbled vocal samples. by the end of the track, the claps are falling on the twos and fours like crinkly foliage, synths are sizzling like firewood, and benoit & sergio?s newest banger is revealed in its full glory once again.