"I like lyrics...I like having something that catches you." Even though Blockhead composes instrumental hip hop, he prefers listening to music with vocals. That sentiment is far from uncommon these days as extensive literature of late outlines a resurgence of vocals amongst electronics, and the boon felt by producers and fans. The former more readily adopt vocals as an instrument to manipulate at will, producing both creative and catchy songs that succeed on the dance floor as well as in headphones...which has in turn expanded the fanbase of electronic music worldwide.

Stream this week's Worth The Wax tape

NPR suggests vocals are gaining favor in electronic music as a means for producers to "stand out from the pack.” A fair assumption, though one made a bit late. The diva's been revived for years now, her distinctive presence gone close to the way of the wobble (Aaliyah’s appeared on more dance music in the past few years than she ever did when alive). What was once a breath of fresh air has now become ubiquitous, a given for bass-minded producers on the whole.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's ubiquity has forced producers to do two things: either develop a signature treatment of vocals, or forego a capella packs entirely and invite a real singer into the studio. In this week's Worth The Wax tape, Cambo and I pick some of our favorite records that do either of the above two options. Burial and Downliners Sekt take similar approaches to how they treat vocals, but the latter records their own; Jacques Greene and Modeselektor turn dead recognizable voices into something compelling again. Aaron Carl and LV introduce two very different kinds of divas, whereas Koreless and Elgato will you have singing along to beautiful gibberish.

These records just barely scratch the surface of what hits and misses have occured since electronic production got more comfortable with vocals. Let us know which dance/electronic tracks you think showcase vocals in a compelling way in the comments below (or those tracks as uninspired as this search).

It's been a weird winter right? Like, a non-winter, not really cold, no snow. But culturally, historically, this is hibernation time, a time of lowered social expectations and quiet nights curled up on the couch with your boo.  Even though the weather has been warmer, most people are still in that sequestered, secluded mode, maybe popping out for an event here or there, but mainly doing their thing at home and in their neighborhood or whatever.  The situation has had me thinking about last summer, and the madness that developed around Percussion Lab Mondays in Bed Stuy. 

The goal was a Boiler Room-style event, with a heavy online presence.  We streamed every show to ustream and to our radio page, but the real scene, oddly enough, was local.  Sure, we had some followers online, both foreign and domestic, but the excitement was in the spot itself, with a growing family of talented new friends and supporters.  

Let's face it, New York is a legendary city.  A strange attractor, pulling in motivated, creative, passionate people from all over the world.  But, it lacks a cohesive social center, in particular where the dance music world is concerned. WIth the passing of the record-shop-as-hangout-spot, like minded heads have no real place to converge in a casual yet focused environment, nowhere to bounce ideas off each other and move the scene forward in a setting that allows for random interactions and sociability. Clubs and events are great, they're the point of this whole thing - bodies moving on a dancefloor, sweating out the troubles of the day. However, talking is important.  Building relationships is important.  Being exposed to new styles of music, new creators, and new fans from your area carries a lot of weight in how it influences and crystallizes what's going on in a subculture. 

We had a special summer at the bar formerly known as Sweet Revenge. Halcyon's Bless Up! events have sought to provide a similar relaxed, community vibe.  The Mr. Sunday parties, with abundant open space, food offerings, and daytime kickoff, were another node of this community building.  We need more of these events, where we're talking, not necessarily raving.  We're all stuck online so much, that we almost don't notice the lack of a cohesive center to this scene. Where do you tell a fan of 'bass' music from overseas to go in New York to find the scene? Seems like we should be able to answer that question better. 

Back to Percussion Lab for a second. Like I said, last summer was something special. The big name headliners we hosted, from SBTRKT and Scuba to Daedelus and Dorian Concept, are all making big moves in 2012. The real story though, lies with the locals, the up and comers that we (I at least) met through Percussion Lab Mondays. The homies Archie Pelago have had Mary Anne Hobbs play a couple of their tunes, and are slated for an exclsive mix on her XFM show in April.  XI moved to Berlin and is crushing all comers. Background Sound just dropped a new mix on The Hungry Ear, featuring tunes by Percussion Lab Monday vets Doctor Jeep and XI, and our Southern bredren, Distal and Clicks&Whistles.  And that's just a few people off the top of my head; the actual list of baller PLab vets is really, really long. 

Not sure what I'm saying here, other than that it's a nice day. The sun is out and here in Brooklyn, it's 54 degrees.  I'm starting to get itchy for sunny days and backyard vibes.  Reggae on the soundsystem and sangria in my cup. Hearing the new styles of music my friends have been cooking up all winter, cold or not. Let's do it again this summer.  I know we will. 

2012 is shaping up to be a banner year for Jay Bodley, who is perhaps better known to Percussion Lab readers as the man behind the A Setting Sun and Sun Hummer monikers. After a string of well received releases for the Ghostly-affiliated Moodgadget imprint, Bodley is striking out with a clutch of new material, including his debut release proper as Sun Hammer. Percussion Lab scribe Carl Ritger – a recording artist in his own right, who performs as Radere – caught up with Bodley to discuss his latest mix for Percussion Lab, their upcoming collaborative release and the decidedly more experimental tone that the Sun Hammer project has taken of late...

PL: Inquiring minds want to know: what did you use to record the mix? Where was it recorded?

JB: I recorded the mix in Ableton Live, as I do all my mixes, in my home studio in Ann Arbor, MI. Actually, if I could do it again with an unlimited amount of time, I would structure the mix as if I were building a long-form composition, using all of the individual tracks to make up elements in something larger. So I would take smaller parts, loop sections, apply effects, take things out, etc.; basically working with people's tracks as if they were my own samples. This is a little bit like how I normally structure a mix. But the idea to even do a promo mix for the album didn't hit me until a few days before the release date, so I just didn't have the time.

PL: You've titled your mix the "A Dream In Blood" prelude mix, which is a title shared by your latest album and a new piece you contributed to the ongoing Disquiet Junto project. What's the significance of this title?

JB: Those things share the title of the album only because they are coinciding in time, really. Without going into too much detail, let me just say that the title refers in a way to man's psychological / subconscious, as well as his biological aspect. I am influenced greatly by the darker side of existence, even though I'd say in general I'm a pretty bright and cheerful person. And in a way I think that dreams are very real, perhaps sometimes even more so than our so-called “waking life.” I know it's a very common idea maybe to the point of being a cliché, but dream life is a huge inspiration for my artistic work.

PL: You don't seem to include any of the nods to dubstep, hip hop or other more "pop" genres in this mix, as you so often have before. What drove this move towards a more purely minimal / experimental selection?

JB: You're right. I usually try to represent most of the different genres I'm into in my mixes, trying to let different styles sit naturally next to one another, as I was kinda saying before. For this one, though, I wanted stay very close to the tone of the album. Ever since I was in high school and listening to early DJ mixes by DJ Krush, I've been obsessed with the idea of a mix where every song sounds like the guy who's mixing it. So I tried to do that in a way, but while also showcasing a lot of songs that actually are my own, next to friends and collaborators, labelmates and so forth.

PL: There are several nuggets included throughout this mix that tease unreleased material and new projects, including a couple of nods to our collaborations together. What can you say about your upcoming projects?

JB: I love to stay working on remixes for other artists I admire. Collaboration is something I've come to realize over the past couple of years - and especially while we were working on our album together - that really fuels me creatively. So the remixes are going on more or less continuously.

This Disquiet Junto communal music project is also really providing a huge creative spark, in that it's really been pushing me to try something new for every song, really developing certain production ideas and pushing my boundaries every week. That's been huge. Also, the atmosphere of the group is such that I feel as if it's okay if I make something that's ultimately not very good, which is something that I think a lot of artists are afraid of. I know I have been for many, many years.

As far as releases go, I just put out A Dream In Blood on Futuresequence, which I'm totally thrilled about. Michael [Waring, Futuresequence’s editor] has been amazing to work with and he really gets it, as far as the music goes, and with the label as a whole package. I'm also really excited to be working on a release for Heat Death, a label I love, one with a lot of extremely talented artists who make incredibly beautiful music. Not to mention our A Setting Sun + Radere album, Lotophagen, which should be out this year on RJ Valeo's label, and some follow-up material to that. I also have a compilation of remixes ready to unleash on my Bandcamp when the time is right.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Jay’s latest release as Sun Hammer, A Dream In Blood, is available for purchase now directly from Futuresequence. To check out his work for the Disquiet Junto project, please visit their SoundCloud account.

This year sees the third New York installment of the innovative Unsound Festival. The festival, '...devoted to advanced forms of music and ideas that circulate around them...' combines avant garde classical performances, raging club nights, experimental audio-visual experiences, and a lecture series, in venues throughout the city.

This year, the team behind Unsound has launched a Kickstarter project to support '...an assemblage of experimental musical collaborations, presentations, talks, tours, and workshops gathered under the banner of UNSOUND LABS.' 

The Kickstarter page goes on to say: 'During UNSOUND FESTIVAL NEW YORK 2012, we will be presenting special LABS collaborations between musicians of different kinds, with a special focus on artists from New York, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia. Concerts presented under the banner of LABS will be free and open to all. We will also be recording all UNSOUND LABS concerts for distribution via a free digital compilation to be available for download after the festival.'

Unsound fulfills a vital role in the New York bass music scene, placing what we're doing in nightclubs within the context of the global art scene. Please support Unsound's Kickstarter today.