Maybe it’s been a foolish endeavor, and maybe I’m the only one who misses the blog ol’ days, but I’ve been giving it a shot. I’ve been working on restoring some of the old content, though much of it was lost. I’ve slowly been rebuilding the old remix sunday archives, and even posting the occasional new edition. And I’ve been writing again.
You can find all the label’s releases here, on bandcamp, or most anywhere you listen to music these days. I’ve still got copies of some of the old vinyl releases, and I recently released the first in a set of charitable cassette compilations to raise awareness about the continued [mis]use of broken windows policing methods.
Plus, I put together a playlists section with a handful of spotify lists that hopefully start to capture a [slightly] updated version of the moods we used to peddle. Give those a listen and a ❤ if you would be so kind. If you want to get in touch, just give me a holler.
The next premiere from End Broken Windows Vol.1 comes from Varum, a rising star from Leipzig. Bubble Bath Berlin premiered this song a few days ago, and it’s a heater. Varum’s got wild chops, and is unnaturally consistent, especially for someone so prolific. If you enjoy this, be sure to also check out Yarn Init, Varum’s group with Int Main, as well as their label Clear Memory.
End Broken Windows Vol.1 is out now everywhere. You can stream it wherever, and order the limited edition cassettes on bandcamp. All proceeds go to the SBB National Sex Worker Bail Fund.
DJ Mag were kind enough to recently premiere one of the standouts from End Broken Windows Vol.1, “Detroit Tale” by Max Ulis and Khari McClelland. Max was the first person I reached out to about being a part of this project, and I’m so glad he agreed. This song is a perfect crystallization of a night out in Detroit, told through the lens of Khari’s first night out. It’s also my favorite kind of dance music hybrid; impossible to easily categorize, it sits somewhere between electro, house, and techno. It’s just a really great song.
End Broken Windows Vol.1 is out today everywhere. You can stream it wherever, and order the limited edition cassettes on bandcamp. All proceeds go to the SBB National Sex Worker Bail Fund.
Max Ulis – “Detroit Tale” ft. Khari McClelland (from End Broken Windows Vol.1)
Stream it wherever you listen to music, purchase the limited edition cassette on bandcamp, or download it from bandcamp, beatport, boomkat or wherever you get your files. As a reminder, all proceeds from this compilation will go to the SBB National Sex Worker Bail Fund, so if you’d prefer to make a donation directly, please do. They are a wonderful organization doing great work. <3 to everyone who has already supported, as well as all of the artists involved.
The nice folks at welofi just premiered “Flooressence” by SUMORAI & AVIVX, from the A-sdie of our upcoming charity compilation End Broken Windows Vol.1. This one is special to me, not only because it’s a truly infectious and playful take on electro, but also because I first met Viktor and Arys in Tokyo in 2014, when we were all three participants at Red Bull Music Academy. Kind of amazing how that experience forged lasting bonds that continue on almost 8 years later. Such a shame that RBMA is no more, but I feel lucky to have been a part of something so special. And we’re all the better for it, if for no other reason than songs like this are its eventual result.
The fine people at Suprematic Sounds just premiered a song from the A-side of our upcoming End Broken Windows Vol.1 charity compilation. This one comes from our old friend, Copenhagen-based A.dixen, who I recently wrote about — “Broken Skin” is delicate breakbeat exploration, full of detail and nuance. Dix takes his time with this one; with each turnaround, I feel like the train car just skittered over a rough portion of track, but not quite enough to break bliss. I’ll be home soon.
Our friends at Tracklistings were kind enough to premiere the closing track from our upcoming charity compilation, End Broken Windows Vol.1 — the track comes from Leeds-based producer The Droid, who delivers heady subterranean electro on “Merge”, evoking the tension and anxiety of clandestine middle-of-the-night explorations through subway tunnels.
On February 25th, Palms Out will release the first in a series of compilations on cassette and digitally. Titled plainly: End Broken Windows, 100% of the proceeds of the series will go to charity in an effort to raise awareness about broken windows policing methods. Specifically, I hope this project contributes in some small way to spreading the word about the ways in which policing and prosecuting low-level offenses serves only as a way of terrorizing and traumatizing vulnerable populations, without achieving the intended goal of preventing violent crime. The theoretical premise of broken windows policing is fundamentally flawed, and woefully misguided — there is no evidence that focusing police power on low level violations like sex work, loitering, minor vandalism, petit theft, minor drug offenses, etc. leads to any reduction in violent crime. The practice must end.
Each volume of the series will benefit a different charity doing work to counteract the effects of broken windows policing. All broken windows really does is criminalize being black, trans, queer, young, unhoused, etc., so helping those people avoid the worst repercussions of these policies is a worthwhile place to start. The first volume will benefit the SBB National Sex Worker Bail Fund. Sex workers are often intersectionally and inordinately affected by broken windows policing, and should never be forced to spend a single night in jail merely for exercising agency over their own bodies.
Musically and conceptually, this record is inspired by a place where broken windows policing is disproportionately felt: the subway/metro. I gave all of the artists the vague prompt to write music inspired by the NYC subway system — and the results were expectedly varying. For this volume, I pursued artists who have been generally exploring midtempo dance music without focus on 4 to the floor drum patterns. The result was a collection of largely breakbeat-oriented songs, some with direct classic NYC & Detroit electro references, others with more melodic and euphoric UK hardcore inspiration, and others still that kind of split the difference between modern bass and Baltimore club (for lack of better descriptors).
Featuring: Max Ulis (CA), Khari McClelland (US), Carli (SE), Disaffected (UK), Garneau (CA), Varum (DE), Martyn Bootyspoon (CA), Lobec (UK), A.dixen (DK), AVIVX (KZ), SUMORAI (SE), Ubahnrider (DE), The Droid (UK). Mastered by Joel Krozer at Six Bit Deep.
“The way you handle a car can really say a lot about you as a person”
– Sassy 009
The latest mixtape from Norway’s Sassy 009, aka Sunni Lindgaard, Heart Ego, is out now.
In lieu of a lyrics video for the song I’ve posted below, Sassy 009 put up this fun interactive web-based driving game that responsively lets you guide yourself through the song (and its lyrics) yourself. A couple of the other songs on the album also have really ingenious responsive mini games/tools, check them all out here.
Central Processing Unit embarks on its tenth year with a near-perfect four-tracker from Fasme and Maelstrom; both French. Though the release as a whole is firmly footed in the CPU aesthetic, the first song below evokes a touch of the naive romance of the best song CPU has ever put out, “Dance With Me” by the late Rhys Celeste (aka Microlith). The second song below is a gem too, particularly in its use of [over-]compression. That kick drum is almost inside-out. Buy the release on bandcamp, unfortunately we were all too slow for the 12″.
Fasme & Maelstrom – “Almond Blossom” (sc)
Fasme & Maelstrom – “Ciliae” (sc)
And because Fasme’s melodic ear seems to be especially in tune (or microtuned? I dunno, there’s a bad pun in there somewhere), here’s another recent one from him that also seems to have bottled some Microlith-inspired magic. Out recently on Feel My Bicep.
I stumbled upon these two really infectious songs by Malia Lani, who I can’t really find any information about, but I believe is based in Berlin. Both songs are produced by Grave Goods, who also contributed to (and executive produced) Naeem’s Startisha, which seems like it’s been criminally overlooked since its release in 2020. Grave Goods is also one of the people behind the seemingly defunct (and sorely missed) Philly-based Rare Mp3s, along with other big talents like Ryan Schwabe, Sam Greens, and Heaven in Stereo.
I’m late to catch this train, but Tom VR has put out some gorgeous stuff over the past few years. This one is from 2020’s Acheless EP. If you like this, you might also check his latest album, Please Keep Shimmering, which came out this past September, also on Seb Wildblood‘s All My Thoughts imprint.
This track from Vancouver, BC based Garneau appears on this year’s edition of the annual 12 days compilation series on Bass Coast. 2021’s edition of the series is pay what you wish, and its proceeds will go to the Nicola Valley Food Bank located in Merritt, BC on the shared traditional territories of the Nłeʔkepmx and Syilx. Merritt and the surrounding areas were recently devastated by immense rainfall and resulting floods. Donate a few bucks when you grab this record, which also includes excellent contributions from Ikonika, The Librarian, Mat the Alien, and Fort Knox Five, among several others; and have a listen to the other volumes of the compilation series, which is reliably first-rate.
I keep playing catch up trying to cover the trajectories of former Palms Out favorites. I guess that’s what happens after a ten year hiatus. Stefano Ritteri used to make *idget house music as Solo, and we covered him several times. In the years since, his output has been largely focused on balearic, Italo, and cosmic disco styles. He’s behind the excellent Viaggio and Spaciale labels (the latter of which was wildly productive in 2020, somehow managing to avoid the worldwide vinyl production standstill).
This song is the title track on the Dope Mania 12″, released on Viaggio in 2019; it fits nicely in that little corner of music that blurs the lines between disco, old school New York-style electro and a first wave Frankie Knuckles record.
Anders Dixen is another dear friend from Copenhagen. Once upon a time, he put out an excellent (but criminally under-appreciated) record on Palms Out under the name Dix One, and then went on to make music for a number years as Unkwon, a name he was gifted by a close mutual friend of ours who was no longer using it. He subsequently had his greatest success as part of trio Av Av Av (with DJ Er Du Dum Eller Hvad and another Palms Out alumnus, Eloq) — releasing a couple of really solid albums, scoring the Netflix series The Rain, as well as the film Brakland. He’s also made music as part of duos Dokkedal/Dixen (with Simon Dokkedal of Den Sorte Skole), and Diamond Mouth (with Ane Trolle). This list is incomplete; Dix is as much a fixture of Danish electronic music as anyone could conceivably be.
He’s always been a brilliant producer, but he’s truly found his voice with his newest sobriquet, A.dixen, under which he has released far more personal and nuanced work — and unsurprisingly so, since the handle is only a few letters removed from his government name. In 2019, he released two albums as A.dixen, both on Øen Records. Death Tapes Vol. 1 was without doubt my favorite record of that year, and Vol. 2 was among my favorites of 2020 (though it was released at the very tail end of the previous year); and not just because both make myriad and original use of breakbeats, though they do. At the beginning of this year, he also made available for free on his bandcamp two improvisational ambient records.
Below is a brief selection of some of my favorites from the Death Tapes series. It was hard to choose, as both albums deserve to be listened to in full.
A.dixen – The Birds the Birds (bc)
A.dixen – “Slow Jamz 4 the End of the World” (bc)
A.dixen – “A System to End All Systems” (bc)
After the jump, find a recent remix Dix did for Rumpistol, which is inexplicably not on bandcamp.
Why Be is one of those artists who probably has innumerable songs wasting on old hard drives that no one will ever hear, but are probably really good. When I met him once or twice in the late aughts, he was a part of HVAD‘s Syg Nok collective in Copenhagen. These are two from 2020’s Caged Animal on Berlin-based Yegorka.
Why Be – “Impossible Drops1” (bc)
Why Be – “Impossible Drops2” (bc)
And since I mentioned him, I may as well share one from HVAD, another Dane who releases far less than he creates, and whose records I treasure. From 2014, when Syg Nok was still active.
I first met Cæcilie Trier when she was playing cello in Atoi, a band I blogged about a few times, years ago. She’s since released a handful of records under the name CTM, and is current with a collaborative album under that name with pianist August Rosenbaum on Posh Isolation. She’s a superb songwriter, and the production on all of her work is as inventive as it is immediate. For as delicate as much of her music can seem at first blush, it also feels distinctly physical; sort of body music for air signs.
In addition to the title song from her latest with Rosenbaum, Celeste, I’m including a favorite of mine from her most recent solo effort, 2018’s Red Dragon, as well as the title track from 2013’s Variations.
CTM & August Rosenbaum – “Celeste Song” (sc)
CTM – “Paloma pt. 2” (sc)
CTM – “Variations” (sc)
And just because, here’s the video for another one from Red Dragon.
Soho is a dear old friend. We used to be in a band together when I lived in Denmark, though that’s not saying much; she’s collaborated with so many others in the time since. She was a regular member of Lust for Youth’s live band, she’s been in bands like the short-lived but excellent Gold Lip, and she’s made records with the likes of Croatian Amor, Kasper Bjørke, and many others. But it’s really her solo work that strikes my nerves most; her voice is beautiful and an obvious blessing, but she’s also a gifted composer and producer.
She’s been prolific in recent years, but since things were dormant here, I didn’t have the chance to post any of her wonderful work. Above, I’ve posted a video of one of my favorites, from her 2018 album Six Archetypes, which included five video treatments, all of which are really worth attention. I’ve also included a selection of other songs from recent years that may inspire you to dive deeper into her catalog.
Soho Rezanejad – “Greed Wears a Disarming Face” (2018) (bc)
Soho Rezanejad – “December Song” (2018) (bc)
Soho Rezanejad – “Two Women Bucolics” (2020) (bc)
Soho Rezanejad – “Memory Shell” (2019) (bc)
Soho Rezanejad – “Everyday’s Another Holiday” (2015) (bc)
And for good measure, another video from 2016, for a song that isn’t available on bandcamp.
When I moved to Denmark for the first time as an adult, I fell in with a bunch of sweet people all at least tangentially connected to one another through music. In this little micro-scene, there was one person who stood as a sort-of elder statesman, at least symbolically; and one song that served as a guidepost for what Danish electronic music could do. Bjørn Svin‘s 1997 song “Mer Strøm” was by no means a worldwide hit, maybe not even in 8-bit or IDM circles, nor was he a household name anywhere outside of Denmark (or even in Denmark outside of certain circles), but the song had made an impact in the country and abroad in a way that others of its kind hadn’t yet. I haven’t been back to Denmark for a number of years now, but I suspect the song still symbolizes something for Danish musicians, about Danish music. Something anti-jantelov, exuberant, and free.
A couple of years after the original song was released, Bjørn released this reprise. The best known version of the song often bears a #2 following the title, but this reprise is tagged as #0, so maybe it existed first. I’m sharing it here as a way of kicking off a series of posts focusing on Danish music, music I’ve always championed in the course of doing Palms Out. I’ve done so partly because my Danish half demands it, but also because the country’s music is so perpetually ignored–maybe because its neighbors are such powerhouses of pop and electronic music, or maybe because of its ingrained societal modesty. In any case, my American half makes me partly immune to that hyper-modesty, so I insist on doing my small part to share the country’s music more widely.
Earlier this year, as prelude to the gentle resurrection of Palms Out, I decided to release a small handful of old songs that have been burning holes in my hard drive for far too long. Split into two releases, We Had That and Flatbush, all the songs are available for whatever you wish to pay (including zero$) on bandcamp, and streamable wherever else you listen to music. Listen to selections from each below.
A few months ago, Palms Out had the pleasure of releasing the second formal album by DonChristian, the self-produced Don, which features appearances from Shanekia McIntosh and TM Davy. Don is a ray of light, a truly generous soul, and an incredible artist. Some of the music on this album was incorporated into Don’s recent piece Volvo Truck performed at The Shed as part of their summer open call series. Don also spent most of the panini building Public Assistants, a mutual aid network for and by BIPOC artists, creatives, and makers, primarily focused in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
One of my personal favorites from the album is streamable below, but I really urge you to have a listen to the album in full wherever you listen to music (or buy it on bandcamp).
I was legitimately excited to find out that Main Phase, whose work quality has been unwavering in recent years, used to be a member of a crew of Danish 14 year olds that would regularly submit remixes to Palms Out in the way back whens. While I wouldn’t do him dirty by sharing any of those old submissions, I will tell you he always had the spark. He recently announced his latest record, Lost City Archives Vol. 5 on the homonymous imprint, which includes the song below. Pre orders are open now, but it’s gonna sell out quick.
This song is from Sola‘s recent self-produced record, Feels Like a War, out on Jamz Supernova’s Future Bounce imprint, and written in collaboration with Moses Boyd, Ife Ogunjobi, Raven Bush, and Tora-i. Since Sola told us we don’t have to, I won’t say any more, except that this is good music.
As another artist whose name doesn’t necessarily evoke quite the right imagery to describe the music I make, I have personal appreciation for the moments of dissonance listeners may experience when discovering 1-800 GIRLS via his more recent work. Digging a little deeper into his catalog, the name might make a bit more sense. The first two songs are from from his latest, the self-released Your Love or Mine?, and the last one is the title track from last year’s Slipping on Lost Palms.
I know virtually nothing about DJLP, except that they’re based in London, and they’ve only released a handful of songs so far. I’d like to think that BLSSMS is a reference to the holiness of the text message, but I don’t know that either. I stumbled across this song somehow a couple of months ago, right after it was released in July, and it’s just another example of how perennially effective this type of midtempo breakbeat will always be, at least to me. The mp3 is available below, but make sure to show your support on DJLP’s bandcamp.
