New release from Burial

Good news for Burial fans - indeed, for all music fans. The producer of moody, rain-soaked dubstep has a new release out on Monday. It is called Street Halo and is a three-track 12". It comes after his recent collaboration on two tracks with Thom Yorke and Four Tet.
This is what the PR people have said:

"After last week's shock release from Four Tet, Thom Yorke and Burial, we are again very excited to bring you news from one of the most mysterious figures in electronic music... This Monday, Burial will release his first full solo release in over four years. A three track 12" to be released on Hyperdub, the A-side is titled "Street Halo", with two supporting tracks "NYC" and "Stolen Dog"."

You can order it here.

A blast from the past

What's on the stereo at electronixxx

Mix of old and new at the moment, including the hard-to-find Aphex Twin track known as "Stone in Focus" that I only have on an old tape of the SAW II album. That and Toro Y Moi have been in heavy rotation recently. Especially when dabbling with rioja.

1. Wynton Marsalis: Sister Cheryl
2. Egyptrixx: Bible Eyes
3. Moderat: Rusty Nails (Shackleton Remix)
4. Malachai: Rainbows
5. Seefeel: Dead Guitars
6. Moon Wiring Club: Slumberwick Dreams
7. Toro Y Moi: Still Sound
8. Aphex Twin: "Stone in Focus" from SAW II
9. Lone: The Birds Don't Fly This High
10. 4 Hero: Better Place (Marcus Intalex & St. Files' remix)
11. Biosphere: Substrata LP
12. Philip Jeck: Sand LP
13. The Kinks: The Village Green Preservation Society LP
14. Isaac Hayes: Black Moses LP
15. Julian Lynch: Es's

Bon Iver's Peter Gabriel cover

Did I miss this somehow? Bon Iver and Peter Gabriel had been working together on a pair of cover versions - Gabriel singing a Vernon track and vice-versa. But I don't remember actually hearing any material. Anyway, it looks like the music has been out there for ages, but what I've heard is lovely. I don't know the original, but Bon Iver's cover version is brilliant. Check it out here.

New Boards of Canada album on the way?

Boards of Canada haven't released a new album since 2005's Campfire Headphase. Between then and 1998, there have only been two other (admittedly excellent) albums from the Scottish duo to keep fans entertained. The scarcity of new material is particularly odd given the profusion of releases the band put out before 1998. They seem to have become more obsessively perfectionist with each release. But is the wait now over? According to the website Skies Are Rare, it might well be. The site claims that an icon entitled "new album" has appeared on the official BOC site - just as it did before the Trans Canada Highway EP. Maybe this is significant or maybe it isn't. But it just shows the sort of rune-reading BOC fans are used to undertaking as they wait forlornly, desperately, for a new record.
Read more here.

Minor crisis in modern music since last week

I've been running the rule over the music reviews and listening to records from the last week, and one question springs to mind: what happened? The year started so well, with James Blake, Tim Hecker, Toro Y Moi, Braids, Kisses, Destroyer, Kyle Bobby Dunn, Jamie XX and Radiohead all releasing top notch material. In addition, PJ Harvey, Cut Copy, Smith Westerns, Com Truise, Isolee, Ducktails and Big Troubles all hit the mark.
But this week, there's been a big fall back. Rave about Anna Calvi, Dum Dum Girls and Mind Spiders all you like - they're just not ticking boxes for me today.
I'm nostalgic already for last month.
So is this a minor crisis in modern music? If so, what should I do? Why didn't anybody warn me? Should I give up on new trends now and just listen to my old Miles Davis records?
I'm going into the bunker, armed with In A Silent Way, Selected Ambient Works II and a pack of crumpets.
I don't want to be disturbed until things pick up again.

Debut album from Three Trapped Tigers

News reaches us that indie dance types Three Trapped Tigers are to release their first album in May. The group have issued three EPs already that have pleased a lot of people in a small way. You can hear a track from one of them here.
Now their first LP, Route One or Die, will be thrown out into the world on May 16.
Their press team says they are "utterly original on record and live", which is maybe true. They sort of sound like a fairly conventional IDM band to me who decided to do it all with acoustic instruments for a bet. That they happen to wrap string around their heads for fun just gives them that edge we're all looking for.
Below are some tour details.

11/05 Colchester @ Colchester Arts Centre
12/05 Amsterdam @ Bitterzoet
13/05 Brussels @ Les Nuits Botanique
14/05 Brighton @ Great Escape
15/05/ Southampton @ Talking Heads
16/05 Cambridge @ The Portland
18/05 Birmingham @ Hare & Hounds
19/05 Cardiff @ Buffalo Bar
20/05 Liverpool @ Kazimer
21/05 Glasgow @ GSA (Stag & Dagger)
22/05 Newcastle @ The Head Of Steam
23/05 Manchester @ Night & Day
24/05 Sheffield @ The Harley
25/05 Leeds @ Nation Of Shop Keepers
26/05 Preston @ Mad Ferret
27/05 Bristol @ Start The Bus
28/05 Glynde Place @ Meadowlands Festival
31/05 London @ Cargo

Back in town

I've been away for a bit, and electronixxx has been allowed to go to heel in my absence.
I'm back now, like a cowboy returning to his frontier town to find all the locals have gone mad and smashed up the place.
Better start clearing up.