Coinciding with the re-release of AAAA’s debut album »Shiva Watts« on vinyl through ANTIME on May 8, the Mexico- based producer will embark on a tour throughout Germany with his label mate, the Brazilian sound artist ˆL_, who will release his club-focused EP »The Outsider« in early June on ANTIME. Travelling with them will be ANTIME founder Martin Steer (alias Midimúm) and ANTIME’s publicist Kristoffer Cornils (alias konkrit). On their journey, they will be joined by various ANTIME affiliates such as Kalipo, ABIGAIL and Unifono. Part of the tour will be a special workshop hosted by Martin Steer in collaboration with AAAA and ˆL_ at Berlin’s Urban Spree on May 12 and 13.
AAAA - live
ˆL_ - live
Martin Steer (alias Midimúm) - live
Kalipo - live
konkrit - Dj set
21:00 - 8€
08.05. Berlin / ACUD MACHT NEU (with Kalipo, Martin Steer, konkrit)
09.05. Leipzig / Goldhorn (with ABIGAIL, Karl Roth, konkrit)
10.05. Hamburg / Golden Pudel Club (with Joney, konkrit)
12.05. Berlin / Urban Spree (workshop with AAAA and ˆL_)
13.05. Berlin / Urban Spree (workshop with AAAA and ˆL_)
14.05. Augsburg / City Club Augsburg Augsburg (with ABIGAIL, Martin Steer, konkrit)
15.05. Landshut / FLUX (with Unifono, Martin Steer, konkrit)
16.05. Munich / Hades (AAAA only)
As if his highly energetic debut album wasn’t enough, AAAA’s talent can be best experienced in his frenzied live sets. His appearance at Mexico’s Boiler Room in December was voted as one of the 30 best in 2014 by Boiler Room’s editorial staff. In his sets, the Mexico-based producer blends acidic Techno and trance-inducing experimentation with his impressive array of analogue synthesizers to full effect, as proven at Mexico’s MUTEK festival or when sharing the stage with acts like Lucky Dragons, Developer or Mouse On Mars.
aaaa.com.mx
www.facebook.com/cuatroaaaa
Full performance on Boiler Room Mexico
Video: boilerroom.tv/recording/aaaa/
Audio: soundcloud.com/platform/aaaa
After the Brazil-based ˆL_ released his debut album »Love Is Hell« on ANTIME in the summer of 2014, he went back to the studio to focus on more danceable tracks. The result of his endeavours is the 5 track EP »The Outsider« which is set for a release in early June through ANTIME. If it’s no-nonsense Techno at 130 bpm, glitchy Ambient textures or hard-hitting Drum’n’Bass passages: the music of ˆL_ bears a distinctive sound, immersing its audience into sonic depths and breaking away from its own narratives with unforeseeable twists. ˆL_ has been working intently on a new live set that both stays true to his signature as well as it provides moments of dance euphoria for his audience.
https://www.facebook.com/lcontrolbrazil
https://soundcloud.com/luis-fernando-78
ANTIME founder Martin Steer, who is also known under the moniker Midimúm and as a member of Frittenbude and pandoras.box, has been quiet for a while now, working relentlessly on a new and improved live set. In order to yield maximum results, he minimalised his set-up and focused on developing new sound aesthetics to fit his outstanding sense of rhythm.
https://www.facebook.com/Midimum
https://soundcloud.com/midimum-music
When konkrit alias Kristoffer Cornils is not working as ANTIME’s publicist, he buys far too many records, some of them he occasionally puts on while other people are present. Akin to both the adventurous as well as the conventional, he often blends what seemingly shouldn’t stand next to each other.
https://www.facebook.com/konkritblog
http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/konkrit
AAAA is the alias of Gabo Barranco, a Paris-born producer who was raised in suburbs of Ciudad de México. During his relatively short career under his AAAA moniker, Barranco has already shared the stage with bands like Lucky Dragons or producers and DJs like Mouse On Mars, Developer and Tin Man. His performance at Mexico’s Mutek festival in 2014 was praised by critics and festival-goers alike and his appearance on Boiler
Room Mexico was voted as one of the year's best performances by Boiler Room’s editorial staff. In the autumn of 2014, AAAA released his debut album »Shiva Watts« as a small-run CD version on the Mexican imprint Maligna. ANTIME is proud to announce its re-release on vinyl. The release of »Shiva Watts« will coincide with a tour through Germany on which AAAA will join forces with his Brazilian label mate ˆL_ who currently has a new EP in the works.
Chances are there to be taken, but not to be missed. After ANTIME label founder Martin Steer had stumbled upon Barranco’s work in mid-2014, he immediately invited the Mexican producer to contribute a track to the third instalment of the Berlin-based label’s ongoing compilation series. The polyrhythmic frenzy of AAAA’s »Bennu« had not yet settled when AAAA announced his debut album »Shiva Watts«. After hearing the album Steer, who coincidentally happened to be in Mexico by that time, exchanged some messages with the other members of ANTIME and shortly thereafter met with Barranco in Ciudad de México. Hands were shaken and an agreement was made: ANTIME would release »Shiva Watts« on vinyl in Europe and send AAAA on a tour through the old world.
Gabo Barranco got into Jean-Michel Jarre when he was not more than six years old and started making tracks with FruityLoops and Reasons as a young teenager before attending raves and dancing to House and Techno. He co-founded DDA with some friends in high school and while the trio was still debating if their noisy style could be pigeonholed as Shoegaze, Post-Punk or even Post-Rock, they found themselves sharing big stages with bands like No Age and others. After DDA’s amicable split-up, Barranco concentrated on his solo work and following a long period of trial and error experimentation with his vast array of analogue hardware, he recorded the 16 tracks that make up »Shiva Watts«. It is an album which celebrates stylistic and emotional ambiguity and provides the perfect soundtrack for a world yet to come – and everything that will follow after that.
For the vinyl release of »Shiva Watts« ANTIME’s in-house graphic designer Johann Steer developed a special new artwork in collaboration with Baranco. While Steer’s design still references the original which used circuit patterns by the renowned director and sculptor Theo Kamecke, it takes Barranco’s visions one step further. Through his music, the former student of classical harmony, composition and trained audio engineer channels abstract visions of the future which are at once dystopian and hopeful. »That’s what Electronic music is all about – the future. Imagining how human life might be like in one or two hundred years from now,« explains Barranco. »It’s all about envisaging the changes, different ideas, the new technology and the possibilities of applying this technology to our lives. I myself imagine dystopian worlds.« However, neither does Barranco consider all hope to be lost nor indulge his intense, acidic hardware jams in hopelessness and despair.
»Shiva Watts« is not so much a conceptualised album as it is the product of years of experimentation with different sounds and devices. After having produced music digitally for years, Barranco wilfully narrowed down his set-up and went fully analogue. »I get lost in the computer!«, he laughs. »If you have one thousand plug-ins, that just happens eventually. However, it is different when you work with an analogue synthesizer. You only have so many options and if you fail once, you have to start over from the beginning.« Hence »Shiva Watts« sounds both vivid and complex, as it captures the raw energy of AAAA’s globally praised live performances and at once is a direct result of tireless, disciplined experimentation.
The 16 tracks on »Shiva Watts« take their cues from a variety of musical styles, most notably Acid. However, Barranco does not confine himself to only one approach to the genre’s rich sound palette, quoting Richard Devine, Aphex Twin or even Boards Of Canada as examples of what Acid can sound like – if you dare giving it a twist. »Shiva Watts« combines elements of hard-hitting Techno, textural IDM, dry-but-funky Electro, trance-inducing House with lush Ambient-leaning interludes. It is a striking example of what can happen if a visionary mind dedicates itself to the machines. The sound of a distant future or what will come after that.