http://ancientrobot.bandcamp.com/album/iron-logic

After months upon months of thought, preparation, deliberation, second-guessing, wrangling, haranguing, re-wrangling, checking in, deciding, obtaining, engaging, executing, coordinating, sifting, communicating, interacting, waiting, worrying, testing, twiddling, laughing, crying, wondering, slavering and salivating, the first vinyl release on the Ancient Robot label is here. From inception to delivery, the total time elapsed was about 10 months. Yikes-oh. Well worth it I say, since it is an extremely interesting, surprising and original high quality mix of music that comes through with a deep sense of thoughtfulness and love. It represents an essential expression of the mandate of my humble label. I want to catalog and release music made by people who make it because they need to, and have something interesting to say through their compositions on top of that. Every track on here reflects a true artist’s soul. We make music to keep ourselves sane, happy, to express our creativity and comment on the world around us. We keep an eye on trends but transcend them through our rebelliousness, our playful attitude and our good taste.

Listen to this record with an open mind, mull it over, absorb its darkness and its strange, advanced geometry.  From the cover that looks like some kind of bloody Lovecraftian death metal album, to its contents that evoke a bewildering craftiness wrapped in rainbow funk swagger, Iron Logic will leave you contemplating a pure musical expression without bias or slavishness to current tends.

You simply can’t argue with the rawness of the synthetic funk that is spraying out in all directions from this mix of tracks. Just relax and submit to its alien seduction. Get to know your corruptors:

Synaptic is a man from France whom I’ve never met, but know through the extended skweee/dubstep/beats online community I have bonded with in the past few years. He runs a blog/label/promotional outlet called nuum, and is an accomplished DJ. I hope to hear more from him in the future, as his track on the compilation is out-of-nowhere-bananas.

Smoked Meat Fax Machine is my oldest DJ/producer alias (some skweee heads may know me as Fengir) and I reserve it for more upbeat, free-wheeling intellectual funk alchemy. This time I tried a 160/80 swerve-fest reminiscent of juke/footwork. Who knows?

Radarsat-1 is a veteran techno and electro DJ/producer from Montreal who got turned on to skweee and other synthetic beats of the last few years. I’m trying to coax him to do more production, and I think it’s working. His track is like an army of robotic ants assembling an Atari ST.

Citofono are a group of dudes from Montreal who make stylish analog electronic tracks tinged with darkness and sensuality. They’ve played Mutek recently and they kind of rule the local synth scene.  Their track is some kind of dub odyssey into the nether regions of the mechanical soul.

Motëm is a madman, a jongleur, a refined barbarian-poet from the metallic lands of Hamilton, Ontario.  He’s been steadily increasing his swagger index, or swindex, since the mid-2000s as a darling of skweee-laced funk and hip hop. He is one of the most unique performers out there and his tracks are a constant source of inspiration and mind-meltation to me. I have to make up words when I describe him and his music.

RPG-H8R is another man I have never met, who is a New Zealander now living in Paris. He is a full-on mega skweee head and I have loved his productions since I first heard them a couple years ago. His tracks are intelligent, well-crafted and contain so much slap the pimp factory called with an urgent request for slap-rationing measures to take effect immediately lest they go out of business.

The Crayon Industry is an old friend of mine from Montreal who also got turned on to skweee and is now an official disciple. His track, like his alias, evokes primary colour splashes squeaking and blurting out of machines that wonder why on earth their human master is using them to make such strange and funky sounds. Stay tuned for more from this guy, he’s got the bug now.

DJ Puffin, or Milwaukee’s Finest as I like to call him, is a DJ/producer who is crafting a truly original style of disjointed yet swirling beats that are amenable to the skweee heads as much as they are to even more experimental ears. This track of his is a real gem and a favourite around these parts. Look forward to more from him.

Finally, A.J., my best kept secret. He’s a guy I never met who is living in Sweden. He consistently makes darkly sensual electro-organic jams that really stand out as level-after next odes to fleeting passions, lovers, other strangers, and quiet storms. I can’t believe no one has picked this guy up and he’s still releasing on my super underground label. Well, now I’ve said too much.

I have decided not to give this compilation away for free or “name your price” in general because it just doesn’t feel right in this case. We are worth every penny and more, and the price is reasonable.  Plus, you get a free download of the album if you buy the coveted vinyl. It’s time to feel good about paying for quality music again, and we are here to help. Iron Logic will be available digitally through the Ancient Robot Bandcamp, Digital Tunes (EU), and Juno (UK), and vinyl copies will be sold on Insound (NYC) and through various local shops in Europe, Canada and Japan. I will post links to all those as I receive them.

Happy listening,

-J

[ANRT001] Iron Logic 12″ Compilaton Promo Mix by ancientrobot

A level-after-next array of washed-out beats, crackly dubs and analog landscapes. Featuring an exclusive beat by SMFM and masterful tunes by A.J. and Citofono forthcoming on the Ancient Robot compilation “Iron Logic.”

STREAM HERE

DOWNLOAD HERE

Just because my wardrobe mainly consists of record label t-shirts doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate fashion. I also know that Anna Wintour used to date Christopher Hitchens. I’m up on all the gossip too.

From Dfalt’s upcoming debut album, Crimes.

Imagine a beautiful stained glass window depicting all of your life’s most salient memories to date. Your unconscious mind has willed this window into being because it fears that you are losing touch with your basic feelings. It worries that your ability to engage the world on an honest level is eroding. It dreads the fact that it is losing its grip on your tastes, your affinities, your desires. Every night, while you sleep, your unconscious takes the form of you as a child and quietly visits this huge multicoloured window. It scans the two dimensional images quietly, resigned to the fact that with each day, these memories grow colder and more irrelevant to your waking life. Their static existence mocks the living warmth and immediacy that they once represented. Through the night, the unconscious child cobbles together another memory that joins the others in their frozen existence.

“If you really love me, why would you leave me?”

The window suddenly shatters into countless coloured shards that fall to cover the dark floor. Each piece starts convulsing as if animated by a primitive electric potential. Garbled snippets of music fill the air -you’ve never heard them before but they seem oddly familiar. Where the window once was, there is only blinding light. After a few seconds a figure appears in this light, seemingly tracing mystical sigils in the air. With each movement of this being’s arms, the shards of your memories float, swirl and melt in mid air. Without warning, the nameless conductor’s hands reach out towards you, and the now-liquid memory shards stream through your mind.

“The trees are good company, it doesn’t matter if they listen.”

You awake to find yourself sitting up in your bed, looking down at your legs. It’s the middle of the afternoon and the air coming in from your bedroom window is cool and moist. The trees outside are sighing gently, rustled by a slight breeze.

“And I feel good, nothing is too far.”

DOWNLOAD YOUR NEW SELF HERE

http://soundcloud.com/factmag/fact-mix-274-mike-paradinas/s-ambLx

Another juke/footwork mix from Mr. Planet Mu himself. Mike Paradinas continues to champion this Chicago style woozy bounce music, causing it to seep into the minds of beat makers far removed from that scene. Watch for more of this vibe to pop up in the most erudite electronic productions to come.

Excellent synth funk from Finnish producer V.C. off his forthcoming 12″ EP The Trick on the equally excellent UK label Donky Pitch. Lighting up the future for funk-and-hiphop influenced electronic sounds.

http://blewis.bandcamp.com/album/plug-ep