Over the past yearStacy Pullen’s Blackflag Recordings has been on a tear, continuously releasing brilliant tracks from a coterie of rising talent including Bardia F and Youcef Elaid. The Detroit phenom comes through yet again with a choice new release from Italy’s Fabio Ferro, a resident at the Familia event at London’s Egg nightclub. We’re extremely pleased to world premiere the newcomer’s scorching house cut “Ravenous” (Original Mix)—which is the 24th release on Blackflag—boasting a voracious groove and swagger for days. Now go hit the play button below and gobble it up.
Fabio Ferro’s Ravenous EP is released January 22. Catch him at Familia at Egg London with Matthias Tanzmann and Dan Drastic on February 12.
As many around the world fret over the state of the financial markets, AEON Audio’s Alex Niggemann has been careful to invest in what’s really most important: people. Next month his imprint will release a carefully crafted full-length from Jona, who carefully forged his album by collaborating with other artists over the span of two years.
We’re thrilled to world premiere “Transmission Breakdown” featuring The Reverse Engineer from Jona’s Sidetracking Part 1: Prologue EP that’s been deeply remixed by Trevino (the techno alias of d’n’b deity Marcus Intalex).
Listen to the stunning remix and find out more about Jona in the interview below.
Jona’s Sidetracking Part 1: Prologue EP is out January 22 on AEON Audio.
What was your inspiration for making “Transmission Breakdown”? Is there a story to tell?
Jona: I wanted to give it a kind of downtempo/reggae-ish vibe, while still sticking to the overall speed of the album, which can be listened to as a continuous mix.
I made “Transmission Breakdown” together with my friend Dave House [The Reverse Engineer] from Edinburgh, who I actually met at a German class in Berlin! Going to this language school every day, we connected and discovered our common passion for electronic music. When I heard his demos and live sets, it was clear he had a huge talent and I didn’t think twice before inviting him to collaborate on my album. We shared a lot of common influences, especially from the UK scene, and I saw the distinctive way we sounded together as a source of inspiration. I was really delighted with the final result, as I think it shows a true representation of both our backgrounds.
How did you select Trevino to remix this track?
Trevino’s music has been a big influence to me, from his tougher tracks on Klockworks to his earlier deeper tracks on The Nothing Special. It was a personal wish of mine to have him involved in this project, and when I suggested it to AEON, the label was completely on board with the idea. Marcus didn’t disappoint and delivered a fantastic track that completes the EP perfectly, adding a strong dance floor side to it.
Who and what inspired you to make your Sidetracking album?
The idea, at first, was to make a DJ mix with only exclusive tracks from my producer friends. David K, who took part in the album, and I then thought it would become even more special if each one of the album tracks was a collaboration between my friends and myself. That’s how the whole concept shaped into an actual artist album. I’m so grateful that I was able to gather together such talented musicians, among them a pianist and a percussionist, who helped me diversify this record a lot – from housier tracks such as “The Chase” with Usio, and “Over And Out” with Varoslav, to more ambient sounds like in the closing piece, titled “Hidden Away” with Giovanni Verga on the piano.
A busted knee caused by a skateboard mishap as a kid led Chicago native Tevo Howard to explore his family’s turntable. Little did he know at that time he was embarking on the first step of a lifelong musical journey that would take him all over the world. Known for his signature deep-house grooves and real deal electro (not the shoddy EDM kind), Howard wisely used his video camera to document his travels between Chicago and Berlin over the past four years.
He’s compiled key moments of his experiences into a 45-minute short film, Here And Now Film Collection, which we’re pleased to world premiere.
In Here And Now Film Collection Howard allows us to be a fly on the wall. One scene he’s shooting the shit with the staff at Gramaphone Records in Chitown; and the next he’s involved in an engaging conversation about musical aliases over a meal with producer peer Fred Peterkin.
“Many of the places and scenes within the films are of my favorite sitting places in Berlin and as well some of my favorite places to skateboard as a child, historic Chicago beach fronts, etc.,” Howard tells us. “Especially important to me is that some film footage shows some of the local community in my favorite neck of the woods in Chicago, beautiful Granville Avenue. Overall, it is just some films of things and places that fit the norm of me.”
Spoiler alert! At the end of the short film Howard skates off into the sunset down a charming Chicago street over his killer track “Specificity.” Don’t you love a happy ending?
Tevo Howard’s Black Electro Orchestra’s Holiday EP is out January 25 on Beautiful Granville.
Known for his work with Polish duo Skalpe and an array of collaborative projects, producer Marcin Cichy steps out on his own with his downtempo solo project Meeting by Chance. On MbC’s upcoming debut album, Inside Out, the Warsaw-Based producer forges a dreamy soundscape comprised of elements of ambient, electronica and leftfield. He’s joined on the album by three one-named vocalists Ayuko and Mayuko, who both record for Japanese label FLAU, and Magda.
We’re pleased to premiere the video for the delicate cut “Koi” directed by Aubo Lessi from the upcoming full-length. It’s guaranteed to soothe your mind, body and soul.
