mardi 13 décembre 2011

Art Department - Touch You Gently (CRM089)

Art Department
Touch You Gently

Art Department are back on the mothership Crosstown to kick off 2012 in distinctive style with a slice of slow burning, chugging disco-tech and pendulum beats in new single ‘Touch You Gently’. The B-side is taken care of with a stunning Brenann Green rework of ‘Tell Me Why’, from Art Department’s acclaimed album ‘The Drawing Board’.
Fresh from topping the RA poll for best labels in 2011, Crosstown Rebels are launching the year with one of the finest duos to emerge out of the trailblazing Toronto scene, Jonny White and Kenny Glasgow aka Art Department. After tearing up the global scene with their inimitable sound over the past 12 months, one passionate debut album and stream of killer club tracks including ‘Living The Life feat. Seth Troxler’ and ‘We Call Love’, the duo have earned a place as one of the years major success stories.
A-side ‘Touch You Gently’ is an embryonic blend of spooky synths, gliding, sexy basslines and futuristic bleeps offset with the ever-presence of Kenny’s hypnotic layered vox, as ever, a true testament to their individual, off-kilter sound. ‘Touch You Gently’ is deeper than deep and a sensual brainteaser that shifts up a gear with a floaty, melodic breakdown in the final phase.
After attracting an impressive bag of remixers for 2011, including DJ Harvey, Daphi (aka Caribou), DBridge and TEED, It’s no surprise that Crosstown have matched one of the most well-respected disco dons in the game with this primary release for 2012. Unlocking deeper dancefloor potential for ‘Tell Me Why’, NYC DJ and producer Brennan Green delivers his magic with a timeless groove as arpeggiated synths build into deep textures of syncopated drums and lush, driving chords.




  • Label: Crosstown Rebels
  • Cat no: CRM089
  • Web: www.crosstownrebels.com
  • Distribution: Above Board Distribution
  • Released: Mon Jan 30th, 2012
  • LINK TO THE TRACKS

    dimanche 11 décembre 2011

    RA Poll: Top DJs of 2011. 5 DJs of the Crosstown Crew in the TOP 10

    30. Damian Lazarus
    "Whether you like Crosstown or not, Damian is one of those people that just fuckin' knows what he's doing," said Maceo Plex earlier this year on the subject of Damian Lazarus' A&R skills. The same could also be applied to his DJing.


     
    We described Jonny White and Kenny Glasgow's rise as "meteoric" back in October, and for the proof look no further than their touring schedule. The Canadian duo played a single gig in July 2010; the number of shows for the corresponding month this year? 18. What happened in between was a single of the year, "Without You," and a standout album, The Drawing Board, for Crosstown Rebels. The key difference between Art Department and so many other "breakthrough" acts, however, is that individually they've been doing this since the '90s—a fact that is only too evident from their artful DJ sets
     
     
     
    It's safe to say Eric Estornel had a pretty killer year. After nearly two decades of DJing and making records––mostly as Maetrik, more recently as Maceo Plex––he released Life Index, a breakthrough album that thrust him into the limelight. A month later he played at Get Lost in Miami and arguably outshone all of his fellow Crosstown Rebels. The rest, as they say, is history. Today he makes it into the top 100 for the first time all the way up in the top five, easily the highest ranking debut since the RA DJ reader poll began.
     

     
    In 2009, Seth Troxler told Little White Earbuds that he'd "retired" at age 16 when he quit his job at The Palace in Detroit (they wouldn't let him work with dreadlocks). Now 26, he hasn't held a "normal" job since, but that doesn't mean he hasn't put in the hours. 2011 was a dizzying year for Troxler—starting a label (Visionquest), founding a charity (Red Dot Relief) and playing at countless parties around the globe. His class clown persona might make it seem like he doesn't take any of it seriously, but nothing could be further from the truth. Seth Troxler is one of most driven DJs out there, and it pays off.




     

    "The chillest bro in dance music."

    That's the way one RA staff member described Jamie Jones earlier this year. And while that may be true behind the decks, the rise of the Hot Creations boss is more down to hard work. By our count, Jones was billed at 142 gigs in 2011, which means he nearly averaged a set every second day. Couple this with a lauded fabric CD, a whole host of remixes and the expert co-curation of a label that came to define the sound of clubland in 2011, and you're left with a simple equation. The hottest tracks + the most gigs = the #1 DJ of 2011.

    RA Poll: Top 20 labels of 2011



    We made the joke last year, but it bears repeating: There's something uncanny about Damian Lazarus' choice of last name, given that his label has teetered on the brink of collapse three times due to distribution closures. This is no New Testament story, however. Crosstown Rebels' rebirth begins in California, where Lazarus set up shop a few years ago, and perhaps ends with this accolade—a recognition of his phenomenal A&R skills and vision. Lazarus has assembled a family of artists that come from different crews (Art Department from Toronto, Deniz Kurtel from Wolf + Lamb, Jamie Jones from Hot Creations) and those who don't have a crew at all (Maceo Plex, Dinky, Dan Berkson), mixing and matching their sounds into something that is identifiably Crosstown, yet is more slippery to define than the coherent worlds created by imprints like the aforementioned Wolf + Lamb and Hot Creations. (You think you know Crosstown Rebels, but then you remember that they also dropped 12-inches from Mathew Jonson, Nico Purman and Quenum this year.) If this year's DJ and live act poll didn't make it clear, change is afoot. It doesn't have a name quite yet, but it has a couple of faces. Its most visible is Crosstown Rebels.