New Falty DL album out soon on Planet Mu

The amiable people at Planet Mu have revealed that a new Falty DL album is on its way. It is called You Stand Uncertain and follows 2009's Love Is A Liability. Featured somewhere on the record is a contribution from Anneka, whose breathless vocals lit up Blue Daisy's The Space Ex.

Planet Mu chiefs say the record is a major advance on the 2009 release. This is what they have to say about it:

"When Falty DL released his 2009 debut on Planet Mu, Love is a Liability, it was notionally tied to dubstep, despite not sounding much like the sound at the time. A combination of irregular but still funky drums, bass and light musical surfaces, it stood out and was recognised for it’s distinctiveness - this was a native New Yorker interpreting his love of British dance music from a unique angle.

After spending 2010 honing his craft and working on singles for a bunch of different labels and remixes for the likes of The XX, Mount Kimbie and Anthony Shakir, Falty DL, born Drew Lustman, pulls his skills and experience together for this new LP, "You Stand Uncertain".

Things have evolved a lot on "You Stand Uncertain". From the very beginning the listener is plunged into his new focus on layered dusty atmospheres. Opener "Gospel Of Opal (ft. Anneka)" is also his first work with a vocalist.
Although at times it’s anchored in the familiar basslines and rhythm science of uk dance, as heard in his previous material, on this album it’s clear that Drew has been soaking up some of his native city’s musical past such as disco, house and hip hop. With this in mind the album moves at different tempos, the ghosts of dance music past are evoked but never allowed to take over, giving the whole album a decayed, dreamy abstraction that allows for comparisons with the current crop of ‘chillwave’ producers, were it not for the tight drums and basslines. Check the way "The Pacifist" moves between passages of melody and waves of synth over distorted breaks, or "Open Space’s" use of slowed down rave euphoria and double speed 808 drums.
The crisp 2-step of "Brazil", the first of two songs featuring UK-based singer Lily McKenzie sweetens the atmosphere, followed by "Eight Eighteen Ten" which builds watery melodies over chopped up breaks. The album gets slower still with the steamy, bittersweet melodies of "It’s All Good". The spaced out "You Stand Uncertain" marks a mid-point and a breathing space, before the album gears up with the ravey synths and jungle percussion of "Lucky Luciano", the slow burning stripped down house of "Voyager" into the duo of abstract 2-step tracks "Tell Them Stories" and "Play with my Heart" before the tempo drops for the ultimate track "Waited Patiently (ft. Lily McKenzie)" which combines her chopped vocals with jazzy piano keys and a punchy technoid melody.

And they have even provided clips of the tracks on the record. Click HERE to listen to them.

The album is released on March 14.

Artist of the day - Blue Daisy

Blue Daisy

We've all heard of Donnie Darko. Now meet Kwesi Darko - the man behind Blue Daisy. Like the music that he makes, the information about Darko is shadowy, insubstantial. In the last two years, he has put out two EPs and two joint EPs - hardly a prodigious turnover. Perhaps he has a day job, or perhaps Darko is just making sure he gets what he does put out right. Because, at their best, the releases have been little short of breathtaking. Some in the know compared debut Space Ex to the first release of LA beats scientist Flying Lotus, which gives you an idea of the regard in which Darko was held from the off. In fact, there was huge excitement when Space Ex came to public attention after his music was played by Mary Anne Hobbs. Marked out as the work of a highly experienced producer, even Pitchfork got in on the act about Darko's sound. At the time, Darko was merely a Camden youngster doing his law exams and sending out tracks to DJs and record labels on the side. It's not clear what has changed since then.
But in an interview with Juno Plus last year, Darko said he had not been interested in music until he was 15. Kanye West's College Dropout was the point when the switch flicked. He told the site INTERVIEW HERE that he was a hermit who wanted to make music people would still be listening to in 10 years. The impression is similar to that Burial gives in interviews - of an introverted, poetic musician with serious ideas about the music they are making. Darko said in that interview that he wasn't interested in dubstep - despite superficial similarities with that scene.
Last year's Strings Detached EP evoked Dilla, although the dubstep imprint he says does not interest him is noticeably there. The Raindrops EP - put together with singer Anneka - is more brooding and frankly more interesting - providing concrete evidence that Space Ex was no fluke.
Darko has taken to the festival circuit, and has revealed plans for an album - although he doesn't appear to be in any rush. He said: "I’ve got enough tracks but I’m a pretty fussy guy. The plan is to have 30 tracks and have a selection and pick the album from that. I want to make it a proper album, working with vocalists on most tracks, although there are a couple of instrumentals. When it’s ready, I’ll know. I’ve got the contract with Black Acre, and they don’t rush me at all. I’m totally free in that respect, within reason. They know that you can’t rush these things."
If the LP, when it comes, is anywhere near as good as the miraculous but largely unnoticed Space Ex, it could be very special indeed.