Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons - Vermillion (CRM140)

Pete Tong’s ‘Essential New Tune’ last week, ‘Vermillion’ is the lead single for the forthcoming album from Damian Lazarus & the Ancient Moons.  Channeling the magic of those hazy, sunrise parties Vermillion captures the globetrotting influences of Damian Lazarus’s new album.

Transported to glistening new realms, the bubbling deep house rolls beneath the revelatory soul of LA singer-songwriter and guitarist Moses Sumney, is the first of two appearances from the singer on the forthcoming album ‘Message from the Other Side’. Album out May 18th available to pre-order - http://geni.us/MessageFromTheOtherS

Released on 30^th of April, ‘Vermillion’ lands with an inter-stellar remix package. French techno connoisseur Agoria leads us on a minimal, spaced out trip through shining synths and swift vocal echoes. Acclaimed house maverick and Hot Creations head honcho Jamie Jones has been closing his DJ sets for the last few weeks with his own remix.  Its bouncing, old school house tip bounding beneath bright gospel turns of phrase, approaching near classic status with arms aloft receptions on the dancefloor.  And finally Berlin’s Deniz Kurtel, who pulls her penchant for polyrhythmic percussion to the fore, casting sweet tribal grooves across an original surely destined to become a dancefloor anthem this summer.

A career spent DJing across the globe was the catalyst for Lazarus’s latest project – Damian Lazarus & The Ancient Moons.  Co-produced by James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco, the new album brings together an assortment of vocalists, collaborators and players from around the world, all taking inspiration from his Lazpod series, Get Lost events and Day Zero festival in Mexico.

TRACK LISTING

1. A1. Vermillion
2. A2. Vermillion (Agoria Remix)
3. B1. Vermillion (Jamie Jones Pupkit Remix)
4. B2. Vermillion (Deniz Kurtel Remix)

Label: Crosstown Rebels

Cat #: CRM140

Distribution: Above Board

Released: 30/03/2015

LINK TO THE TRACKS

Deniz Kurtel Interview



Catching Up With...Deniz Kurtel (Crosstown Rebels)

Last year, we were wistfully swept away by the sensational debut artist album of Crosstown Rebels leading lady, Deniz Kurtel. Straddling the disciplines of New York's most sophisticated house and techno with ambient sweeps and dancefloor bounce, ‘Music Watching Over Me’ has left us tentatively set for when we’ll next get an entharlling glimpse into the greatness of Deniz's creative prowess.

So you can imagine our excitement when we speak to Deniz ahead of her highly-antipated Room One live show next Saturday, alongside Perlon's Sammy Dee and she tells us there's a collaboration album soon to drop on her regular staple spot Wolf + Lamb, followed by a second solo album where she hopes to feature her own lyrics and vocals. If it all seems too good to be true, read on to get the whole story here first.

Hey Deniz, how was your New Year, where and who did you celebrate it with?
I played at the Electric Pickle in Miami with Wolf+Lamb, Soul Clap and Tanner Ross, it was an amazing party both outside and upstairs. The Electric Pickle feels very homey to us since we've been in Miami both last winter and this winter and I have a residency there. We also had a bunch of our friends visiting from New York so it felt very special.

Following the huge success of your LP, ‘Music Watching Over Me’ - do you have plans for a follow up album?

Yes, I have a collaboration album coming out in a few months on Wolf+Lamb, with tracks I made with a bunch of Wolf+Lamb artist including Tanner Ross, Gadi Mizrahi, Wolf+Lamb, Voices of Black, Pillow Talk and Thugfucker. After that I'm gonna start working on another solo album.

We read you’re interested in writing lyrics and vocals, are these new passions or something you have always wanted to do. How are ideas developing for this?
No, I never thought of it before I made my first album. I really enjoy using vocals from other singers I think it adds a fresh element to the tracks when it comes from a completely different source, but I also want to try singing myself and write lyrics. I tried writing lyrics for one of the tracks on the collaboration album and tried singing on another one, that's about it. It will take some time to get it right but I definitely want to have more on my next solo album.

What’s it like having Damian as a mentor- what’s the best piece of music advise he’s given you so far?

He's been good at pushing me to reach my potential. When he signed my album I had no experience playing whatsoever and a few months after I started playing, even though I had wrapped up the album he suggested that I should make some more music for it with the experience of performing live and he felt like I would make a big dance track, and I made "The L Word" which did ended up being the most popular one.

What new faces on the Crosstown roster are you really excited to share with the rest of the world and what involvement do you have in finding/ welcoming new talent to the family?

There is a new artist on Crosstown named Amirali, so far I only heard one track from him but he seems to have a pretty unique sound. I just remixed his first single "Beautiful World", which had really cool, melodic elements. He also sings on it and has a really cool voice.

What was your favourite Rebel Rave memory of 2011?

 I haven't been in that many Rebel Raves this year but the one in Los Angeles in August was one of my favorites, followed by the 12 hour road trip to Burning Man with Damian, Jonny and Kenny.

What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far in your career?

The touring part is perhaps the most challenging to me because I'm not so used it and it's a bit of a distraction from studio time. The traveling also gets a bit exhausting, but it's definitely worth it. Being in Miami with the Wolf+Lamb family the last 2 winters has definitely helped keep a level head for all of us, being in nice weather, eating healthy, enjoying each other's company.

We’re waiting in anticipation for the return of your live show in Room One at the end of the month. In what ways have you been developing the live project since we last had you with us? Can we expect another sensory overload from you?

Both times I've played in that room so far has been magic, so I'm really looking forward to sharing my new music there again. Since last time I've been incorporating a bunch of new material into the set, from new tracks and remixes and also some rework on older tracks. I really wanted to include a LED installation like I had the first time I played there but unfortunately I'm using all my LED supplies in two other projects at the moment so I won't be able to do that. Next time I play there I will make sure to time it right and bring a new LED installation!

Are there new plans to explore DJ sets or do you prefer to play live and if so why?

DJ'ing hasn't been a priority for me yet. I'm definitely interested but music production and my LED projects, together with the touring isn't leaving enough time to get into DJ'ing. Hopefully next year I'll have some time.

Are you consistently working on your LED installations? What’s new and exciting you about your very special and personal project?

Yes, I've definitely been working on more LED projects this year since I finished my album. I've built a LED installation inside a trailer, which I showed at the Electric Pickle in Miami for Art Basel and NYE. I'm planning to go on a road tour of the US with it in April as part of my album tour, starting in Miami with WMC, ending in California. I'm also designing a new club in Istanbul which is scheduled to open in February, for which I'm building a bunch of new LED pieces.

In your attitude and artistry who do you always look to for inspiration in life and in the music world?
I look to my mother a lot for inspiration, who has played a huge role in shaping my artistic approach, and musically I feel very lucky to be part of such talented group of friends that are constantly inspiring each other.

What projects do you have in store for us in 2012?

Main projects I have in store are the collaboration album, the Trailer project, the club project in Istanbul, and a bunch of new exciting remixes.

Finally, if we left you on a desert island tell us five things you couldn’t live without..
Food: coconut water
Music: jazz
Companion: My family
Book: Beast and Man
Gadget: Telescope

Amirali - Beautiful World (CRM090)

Amirali
Beautiful World

Emerging from the Crosstown Rebels camp and into the limelight, Iranian/Canadian producer Amirali is heading for big things in 2012. Launching the year with first single ‘Beautiful World,’ this dynamic pop-infused bomb will instantly captivate the dancefloor along with its trio of potent reincarnations.

Laced with the gothic sound of Depeche Mode colliding in the future with the spawn of Art Department and Underworld at Burning Man’s Robot Heart, the original cut of ‘Beautiful World’ is a seductive, space-age concoction of weird and groovy magnitude to enliven the body and feed the soul. Driven by bass swagger and imbued with an air of cinematic harmony, the penetrating vocal injects a gothic pop sensibility and marks out Amirali as the new voice in dance music. In this near epic package, the song is given cubic dimensions by a pool of current world-class talent.

Suol-mate Daniel Bortz delivers a percussive treat in his remix with bongos and shakers rolling over a deep disco house groove as moody inflections on the vocal and slower swirling pads create lush space between the original elements. Bortz has made a meteoric rise in dance music since his RnB inspired EP ‘The One’ dropped on Suol Music last year. The German producer is also known for his huge re-edits of James Blake, Nirvana and Unkle.

Next up, the queen of atmospheric house Deniz Kurtel is back on Crosstown ahead of the release of her second artist album later in the year. Bringing down the pace, allowing for plenty of spooky spaciousness, Kurtel’s rework is one of those holy end-of-the-night records, effortlessly gliding from futuristic bleeps to funky licks and utilising the melody to devastating effect. Taking things in an entirely fresh direction, Canadian producer and brother of Mathew Jonson, Nathan Jonson aka Hrdvsion (Wagon Repair) creates a more spikey electro version in the final remix that’s offset with the warping futuristic pads and metallic beats.

Since opening the Get Lost 4 compilation with the track ‘My Way’, Amirali has been as bubbling talent just waiting to blow up the Rebels camp in 2012. Having been working closely with Damian Lazarus over the past year, the completed album is set for a release this Spring and will see the development of this true musicians unique sound, blurring the lines of techno/disco/funk and electronica along with that mysterious and haunting voice.

 

Label: Crosstown Rebels

Cat no: CRM090

Web: www.crosstownrebels.com

Distribution: Above Board Distribution

Released: Mon Feb 13th, 2012

LINK TO THE TRACK

Listen :

A1. Beautiful World by Crosstown Rebels A2. Beautiful World (Daniel Bortz Remix) by Crosstown Rebels B1. Beautiful World (Deniz Kurtel Remix) by Crosstown Rebels B2. Beautiful World (Hrdvsion Remix) by Crosstown Rebels

DENIZ KURTEL FEAT. MYKLE ANTHONY - BEST OF (CRM080)

Crosstown Rebels gets set to release the next single from one of the reigning queens of House music, Deniz Kurtel. ‘Best Of’, taken from her dazzling debut album ‘Music Watching Over Me’ is a stone cold dancefloor killer, honoured here in the remix by Berlin’s Innervisions founder, Dixon.

Radiating an aura of effortless cool, Deniz Kurtel is an artist with that innate ability to communicate beauty. Whether through the visual art of her alluring LED and mirror Sculptures/ installations seen glowing at Burning Man Festival and bedecking the Wolf + Lamb label parties or in the roughed up lustre of her music, Deniz’s work has an enveloping quality that is precise yet warm and undeniably sensual. Her debut LP out this year on Crosstown ‘Music Watching Over Me’ won scores of accolades from the global music press for its mood- enhancing ingenuity and was declared Album Of The Month and among the best albums of the year by DJ Mag and Mixmag respectively.

A weapon of choice for many a prolific DJ, ‘Best Of’ in its original form has been lighting up countless dancefloors over the past few months with its breathless work out in strutting deep house. Featuring the vocal talents of Mykle Anthony, who peals away the years back to 90s Chicago, it’s impossible not to be carried away by the charged currents of ‘Best Of.’ Fluid and tightly crafted with a criminally infectious bassline pumping against the juxtaposing strings, Deniz evokes the old school house sound with a fresh modernity that defines her stripped back elegant style.

Crosstown are thrilled to have on board for remix duty one of house and techno’s finest producers, Dixon. Having started the luminous deep house label Innervisions with Ame in his native Berlin, Dixon has carved a pristine reputation through his outstanding DJ sets, magical parties and remixing midas touch. For ‘Best Of’, Dixon ups the murk factor by driving deep gaps between the sonic elements and creating a warped warehouse creeper that builds into a techy electro stomper.

In the ‘Best Of Freestyle Version’, Deniz creates a totally different atmosphere of apparitions and haunting organ melodies. A playful mix of dubby textures, down-tempo rhythms and swirling synths, it displays her technical prowess and knack for delivering a range of deep, emotive sounds. With this increasing versatility, it seems Deniz Kurtel is only getting started.

 

Label: Crosstown Rebels

Cat no: CRM080

Web: www.crosstownrebels.com

Distribution: Above Board Distribution

Released: Mon Aug 1st, 2011

Link to the tracks

DENIZ KURTEL - MUSIC WATCHING OVER ME

After the success of singles ‘Yeah’ and ‘The L Word’ on Crosstown Rebels Deniz Kurtel’s debut album ‘Music Watching Over Me’ is already regarded in much eager anticipation. One of the core members of the Wolf + Lamb family and a conceptual artist and sculptor in her own right, Deniz is also a highly innovative amazing producer and her debut album is tantamount to this fact, it’s truly stunning. She is one the new breed of female dance producers that are really giving the traditionally male dominated world a run for their money. Deniz has a concrete craft and understanding of rhythm throughout this dreamlike album. She easily steps from ghostly dubstep (‘Trust’) to rock-infused electro (‘Vagabond’), to enchanting dancefloor weapons of ‘Best Of’ and ‘The L Word’, thrilling for their simplicity as much as their fairy-tale vocals. At times Deniz showers us in sounds overpowering the senses (‘Equlibrium’) and others she strips back to bear the soul of the music (‘One Chance of Happiness’), consistently crafting a strong emotional current leaving you powerless but to surrender to its aural pleasures. Deniz has worked with several notable vocalists on this album, from Jada (Defected) to Guests of Nature. She has also been extensively touring the ablum and playing live with the LED instillation light show display on the Rebel Rave tours.