Three years after the formidable Glass Eights John Roberts returns with another stunner for Dial, this time utilizing his travel mag day job to wrangle a wealth of field recordings from locales far and wide while still making a record that seems like a tiny universe of its own. Though built on bubbling synths, plucking strings and the stuttering of beats perched on stilts, the album also snips subtle and organic bits of Roberts' travelogue; recordings of waves on a beach in Cannes, a parade in Tokyo, synthesizers in Berlin, tourists in Versailles and a cedar soaking tub [...]
This week will doubtless be forever remembered as that upon which The Knife returned with some explicitly outré newfangled habits, though south of their native Sweden an altogether more auspicious prospect this way comes. Anna Müller may not yet carry that same inscrutable aura nor radiant revere about her as does Karin Dreijer Andersson, though her eponymous début under the nom de plume of HVOB (or Her Voice Over Boys) may yet see her elevated high up above both her Nordic overstudy, and so too many of the umpteen boys peddling distinctly below par electronica at [...]
![Rimbaudian’s Top 10 from 2012 [Techno / House ]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/4700455_lg.jpg)
2012 belonged to the British. Especially, two blokes who went through a rapid process of acknowledgement and respect around the world - Blawan and Pariah . This is not to shed less light on the others featured in this list, for 2012 offered such a curious mix of development of techno and house into different directions. Several artists belonging to a wide range of labels had releases which will undoubtedly transcend 2012 and echo on into the future. Some will already be known to most of those who read this, but there are a few [...]
Despite the omnipresence of the epithet neo-classical , there are very few active composers to transcend the inherently stark divide between the contemporary and the classical – irrespective of how progressive either may be deemed. Dustin O'Halloran is one such man, as of course is Steve Reich. Trent Reznor, John Roberts, and Simon Jeffes could be considered alternatives coming from the opposing perspective though it's that great Maestro Morricone who is and was one so far ahead of his time that the world is still arguably yet to hurry up to his pacemaking speeds. Lui era di Roma; [...]
Chart courtesy of The Economist 01. Trackman Lafonte & Bonquiqui, "Pacific House" [ Long Island Electrical Systems ] ( buy ) Surfing isn't easy. You have to maintain your balance on an unsteady and occasionally unpredictable force below in order to smoothly ride a wave. Yet for the best surfers, a graceful muscle memory kicks in and the whole thing can look effortless. On "Pacific House," the title track of Danny Wolfers' second release in collaboration with girlfriend [...]
A zany pop record bulging with unforgettable idiosyncrasies perhaps isn't what would've been expected of Logan Takahashi and Nick Weiss on sophomore effort Tracer although the follow-up to the glitchy bliss of 7AM proves a stirring exploration of the genre had R. Stevie Moore had his way . That is to say that were the bespectacled, perennially bedraggled lo-fi sorcerer rightfully sat atop his most probably grotty throne – or Barlow's piano stool – Teengirl Fantasy might harbour hopes of a crack at the charts. Lord, Logan, Nick and True Panther Sounds' head [...]
[ Dial ] In the time since his 2010 breakthrough LP, Glass Eights , John Roberts has contributed remixes to records by the likes of Blondes, Agoria, and George FitzGerald, among others. Although these tracks didn't receive anywhere near the amount of press his album did, they showed a marked shift in his style. His previously fluid approach was deconstructed into clunking, often abrasive arrangements, making listeners work for an [...]
The next JD Salinger just popped up in a Craigslist ad . A Google employee got fired for posting pics of his uniform on Reddit. Kate Upton's high school yearbook photo is surprisingly normal. After Nora Ephron's death, some thoughts on the media getting celebrity deaths wrong . The 10 best GIFs of the week . You'll want to see these. A brief history of launching animals into space . Yep, Adele is pregnant . The [...]
My university’s library is packed, it’s nearly half past eleven and I really should be doing my coursework right now yet I find myself torn between heading over to either Nando’s or McD’s for lunch… For any student reading TBW, trust me when I say that John Roberts will make your days in the library feel less depressing and make you forget how slow time seems to pass by. And in my particular case, make you feel less guilty for eating four cheeseburgers in less than three days. Don’t ask me how but it just does. In my [...]
Chart courtesy of the Economist 01. Burial, "Kindred" [ Hyperdub ] ( buy ) It was a storm so big you could see it coming for miles. For a week after Burial's Kindred EP , debuted on Hyperdub's site (smart move, by the way), the music press gushed torrents of praise usually reserved for Radiohead albums. Now that most publications have gotten it out of their system - and as a great admirer of this EP - I've [...]
Ja, det er ret nepotistisk, at vi fremhæver Dunkels to fester denne weekend. Culture Box er nemlig også leveringsdygtige i to stærke bookinger fredag og lørdag - hhv. James Blakes dj-set, som bestemt ingen introduktion kræver, og tyske Paul Kalkbrenner-relaterede Sascha Funke fra BPitch Control. Men vi har en forkærlighed for det fremsynede på Regnsky. Og jeg vover pelsen og hævder, at både James Blakes post-dubstep (hvor nyskabende den end var for halvandet år siden) og Funkes melodiske techno (som jeg holder afsindigt meget af), næppe kommer til at revolutionere min musikverden det næste [...]
When LWE started its podcast series back 2008 it was impossible to tell how the series would progress; but its basis was in providing our readers with quality music, not just the handouts of the biggest names we could find. Now that we're about to reach our 100th regular podcast it seems safe to say we achieved this goal, pleasing and challenging listeners and occasionally landing a few big name podcasts as well. In celebration of our fast approaching 100th exclusive podcast, LWE's staff has taken a look back at the first 99 and showcased some of our favorites so [...]
LWE's 59th podcast featured an hour of propulsive vintage and contemporary house mixed by John Roberts. Be sure to add it to your collection before it's archived this Friday, August 26.
Okay, you all know about the proverbial elevator that got stuck and had Kraftwerk in the company of George Clinton. But what if that same elevator got stuck with Mark Hollis, a sedated Adonis, Bonnie Prince Billy plus Chez Damier and Ron Trent in it? To make it really packed, let's squeeze in The Smiths as well. Sounds a bit forced, but this cross-pollination is somehow a way to give you an idea of John Roberts' music. The young gentleman might have never been influenced by these people, but his releases [...]
[Aus Music] ( buy vinyl ) (buy mp3s tk) As with almost any genre tag, describing something as "bass music" seems to mean much less now than it did when producers first tried to distance themselves from the name dubstep. Initially it was just a different umbrella to stand under, one not affiliated with the wobbling, laddish strain that trades as dubstep these days. By now many are chafing at the term . Others such as Joy Orbison, Lone, SCB, and George FitzGerald simply pen tracks as closely aligned with house [...]
Even though George Fitzgerald and John Roberts sound like dudes who fought at Lexington and Concord, this track bangs something fierce. via The Fader
John Roberts' songs straddle a thin line between uplifting and dejected. His sleeper hit album, last year's Glass Eights, was dance music, but for what club? For what dancer? Maybe a mermaid in Atlantis, Keith ... read more
Buy These Tracks Download "After 10 vinyl only singles the DIAL sublable LAID releases a selection of essential House Music masterpieces for the first time on CD. Since DIAL brought up its eccentric family business in 2000 the love for true House Music was always one main inspiration. Highly inspired by the US based music [...]
American producer John Roberts made his full-length debut back in October 2010 with Glass Eighths on Dial Records . Glass Eighths is a true album; 10-tracks that coherently flow into one another for the real album experience. Influenced by the Chicago house sound, John Roberts finds himself dabbling with the more organic side of techno and deep house . The album itself is laden with lush piano cuts and tight grooves- perfect for an after-hours sunrise walk through the park. While [...]
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