Under the Stars is a quasi-weekly column that presents new music releases, upcoming shows, opinions, and a number of other adjacent items. We keep moving with the changes, thinking outside the margins.
As we revel in the midst of street fairs all over the city, we’re very eager for the Noise Pop’s phase one lineup announcement in November. Keep an eye on the festival’s site as it approaches its 30th anniversary in 2023. OK, let’s get it.
UFO!, LEVEL UP (PSYCHO BUMMER)
Edwin Garro, better known by his stage name UFO!, is a producer, DJ, artist, and musician who helped San Francisco become the nation’s drum and bass hub for a significant period of time in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
You were doused in the holy waters of dub, techstep, punk-rawk chi, and weed smoke that was just as thick as dude’s basslines. If, that is, you were lucky enough to catch him at The Top, specifically at the venue’s Phunckateck night, or across town at Eklektik, where Mos Def a.k.a. Yasiin Bey rolled through one night (it was just that type of spot.)
Many American ravers purchased Garro’s early US-produced drum and bass records, like the “Science Fact / Enemy Infiltration” EP in 1999. With sincere love and expert arrangements, the four tracks of his latest EP “LEVEL UP” update and revisit those incipient phases.
Here, influences from jungle, footwork, and juke keep pounding at those deep, endless bass lines, blindsided by colorful chord progressions that have that Dollis Hill/Reinforced Records type of soul in them. Frenetic techstep energy peels open the limitless world of jungle and drum and bass. Come be seduced by a true authority and SF legend in the field.
Purchase here.
DJ KICKS: THEO PARRISH, DETROIT FORWARD (!K7 RECORDS)
Theo Parrish will mix the next DJ Kicks series from !K7 Records, out on October 28. Detroit Forward, a 19-track set that includes original selections by artists Ian Fink, Whodat, and De’Sean Jones, among others, is a celebration of Detroit’s contributions to the foundation of electronic dance music, a thriving mega-genre that generated $4.5 billion in revenue last year alone.
Marinate on that for a second while nodding ya head to the dancefloor-jazz-meets-house-groove of Ian Fink’s “Moonlite (Duality/Detroit Live Version)” above.
Makes you think: anybody cut Detroit a check?
In the past couple of years, the DJ Kicks series has featured mixes by Laurel Halo, Peggy Gou, Kamaal Williams, Jayda G, and most recently Cinthie. Parrish took his edition to uncharted realms by inviting his Detroit peers to produce a collection of brand new material, in turn creating the first-ever, all-exclusive entry to the esteemed series.
Parrish expands on this moment in a press statement:
“Detroit creates. But rarely imitates. Why? We hear and see many from other places do that with what we originate. No need to follow. Get it straight. In the Great Lakes, there are always more under the surface than those that appear to penetrate the top layer of attention and recognition. What about them that defy tradition? Those that sidestep the inaccurate definitions often given from outside positions? This is that evidence. Enjoy.”
Pre-order here. This album will sell out.
BILL CONVERSE, TAKE PARTS (DARK ENTRIES)
We can only hope the aliens are fluent in 808s, 909s, and 303s. That way, we can hire Bill Converse as an interpreter when they arrive—which, by God and judging by recent news, is happening sooner rather than later. The fact that Converse has been honing his analog craft since the early days of the Midwest rave scene, learning from legends like Claude Young and Traxx, partially explains his aptness for the position.
Take Parts is a six-track cavort in acid, techno, electro, and all dance frequencies, produced by bleeping light technology. They are punchy sojourns that noodle the best time-trip loops you could ask for, not just muscular arrangements for the brain.
Purchase here.
DEGO, LOVE WAS NEVER YOUR GOAL (2000BLACK)
This October 21, Dego will release his album Love Was Never Your Goal on his own 2000BLACK label and collective. This artist founded 2000BLACK, which takes its name from a 1975 Roy Ayers song, in 1998 and has been creating boundless future soul and London boogie ever since, building a reputation for creating nexus music that advances funk, soul, jazz, and hip hop. That avant garde, contemporary sound fusion as seen through the lens of the African diaspora is continued on this release in its lead single “Start Again,” featuring Samii.
Pre-order here.
THE ORIELLES, TABLEAU (HEAVENLY RECORDINGS)
When a song sounds great, its perfect explanation—without all the press release babble—can be found in the comments section on YouTube. For example: the rumination “Love it, reminds me of seeing acts like Lush and Saint Etienne back in the day” beneath “The Room” music video. What better words to express the song from Halifax band The Orielles’ exploratory album Tableau‘s retro-tastic-but-still-distinctive feel?
This experimental pop grooves, cooks, and plucks with Stereolab-style fierceness, in which things don’t have to make formal sense. That looseness is thanks to a barometrical texture that evokes an Eno art-rock splash with A Certain Ratio-style rhythm component. This record is too good to pass up.
Order here.
