mezzanines

Musician, vocalist, poet, painter, writer, graphic designer, bon vivant – the man most renowned as one half of Underworld, Karl Hyde, is a man of many faces, slipping effortlessly between roles with a remarkable ease that makes his decades-long career in the creative industry a truly enviable one. His most recent jaunt is into the world of solo musicianship – one that sees him releasing his first effort Edgeland later this month before heading down to Australia for a string of performances in his own right.

Hot Chip have a busy New Year’s period ahead of them. After an absence of over two years, they’re headed back our way with dates at Falls Festival, Summafieldayze and Falls Festival as well as a couple of inthemix presented sideshows. Needless to say, it’s a welcome return – as well as leaving a very good impression on Australian audiences on their last visit, the boys have a killer new album under their belt. So with in Our Heads ready to show off for the first time, inthemix caught up with the group’s Owen Clarke.

“I get bored really easily – that’s what it comes down to,” says future-funk superstar, photographer and artist extraordinaire Jimmy Edgar as muses with a self-deprecating laugh, when asked about his remarkable work ethic. The Detroit native, now based, depending on the day, in Berlin, New York or his hometown, is a singular entity – the kind of guy who encapsulates what it really means to be an artist. Renowned for a creative spirit enamoured with all strands of media – fashion photography, graphic design, and his one true love, music – the cosmic wild child’s CV is gloriously extensive, with this year alone seeing the release of his third full-length LP for bass-oriented label-de-jour Hotflush, Majenta, the reinvention of his live show, and a slew of groundbreaking collaborative works.

Four years is a long time in the music industry to spend holed away, outside the limelight. After stealing away with a swag of ARIA awards following the release of 2008’s seminal electro LP Apocalypso, The Presets, made up of Sydneysiders Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes, made no secret of the fact that they were far more comfortable working outside the critical gaze of mainstream media. In the passing years, it seems that The Presets have faced head-on the questions of their long-term viability on the Australian music scene and remoulded themselves into something more adult, more thoughtful and considered – as the recent release of third studio album Pacifica reveals.

When Beat last spoke to Passion Pit’s frontman Michael Angelakos, his insight into the turbulent period that made up the album’s writing period was painfully honest. “Most of these songs are about people, told by a person: me, who is seriously delusional,” he said, of the album. “I became obsessed with ensemble casts, theatre-to-film adaptations, and developing several characters’ life stories in an hour and 45 minutes in one single room. I had gotten tangled up in many issues, many of them involving my fiancée, that I wanted to visualise in some way.” Dig a little deeper beneath the glossy, multicoloured veneer of Gossamer’s uptempo, sugar-sweet pop, the album’s material proves a razor-sharp and raw insight into the period of time that followed in the wake of Passion Pit’s well-received debut release Manners.

Having been around for awhile, it’s good to see Melbourne-based four-piece blues outfit The Groves finally beginning to make inroads into Australia’s thriving music scene. With a history that begins back in their high school days, the group’s self-titled debut EP launched at Revolver this weekend was an all-out aural assault from a group that shows much promise.

As bassist Leigh Macdonald conceded during the evening, the group’s debut EP has been a long time coming – but now that it’s here, it’s clear that the Groves are very much maturing into a successful, surprising act to contend with in Melbourne. Bringing a set largely comprised of material from the EP launched on the evening, months spent rehearsing and recording, mixing and mastering the self-titled EP in vocalist Antoni Riccardi’s home studio with the assistance of Stevie Mayo have come to fruition with a remarkably self-assured sound. Taking to the stage to a reasonably packed-out front room at Revolver, the group spent the following hour tearing through a well-paced and groove-laden performance.

“I think it’s ridiculous to be honest,” Daniel Stein says, diplomatically, but with an edge of irritation creeping into his voice. It’s a sensitive question; asking the well-renowned DJ and producer for his thoughts on the detractors who decry the underground legend’s newfound mainstream success in dance music, having just made history as the very first drum’n’bass producer to hit #1 on UK music charts with the breakout single with Rita Ora, ‘Hot Right Now’.

The reaction is understandable: never one to retread old ground in terms of his music, the name of the aforementioned single functions both as a cheeky reference to DJ Fresh’s newfound status as hot property in the commercial dance music market, as well as an accurate assessment of his credentials, past and present - with his third studio record nextlevelism set due to be dropped in October and a spot on this year’s Parklife 2012 roster. 

Diary Of An Afro Warrior, the sophomore album to emerge from Croydon’s young dubstep visionary Benga, felt a lot like a manifesto – a declaration of dubstep’s emergence from the underground of dance music into the contemporary consciousness. Yet given that Benga, whose interest in music production began by the startlingly young age of 15, has since become a figurehead for an oft-misunderstood and maligned genre is not surprising.

Championing its creativity and singularity alongside a small collective of close friends and collaborators – the likes of which include other luminaries such as Skream, Artwork, and Katy B amongst others, Benga has come to establish himself as one of the most exciting young creatives to emerge from the scene. Last sighted here at the very beginning of the year, dubstep heads will certainly be pleased with the return of the warrior at this year’s Parklife, armed with a killer live new set-up.

This is where DJ Shadow – Bay Area-based DJ and producer Joshua Paul Davis – comes in. A hip hop head to the end and a crate-digging obsessive, Davis grew up thoroughly immersed in the world of music. To say there are elements of appropriation in his 1996 debut LP Endtroducing would be an understatement – it’s in the Guinness Book of Records for being the first album to be constructed entirely from samples of other people’s music. Which, if you haven’t listened to it, might sound like an accusation of unoriginality – and yet, once you do, you can see why it’s still lauded to this day as a completely original and visionary piece of work.