Recommended Dose: The Best Dance Tracks Of October
Each month, we listen to hundreds of new electronic music tracks, test the standouts on loud speakers and highlight the best of the best in a 30-minute mix.
October's selections are a bit darker and more aggressive than normal. Maybe it was the days leading up to Halloween, or maybe it was the rage-inducing onslaught of pumpkin spice. Either way, it made for an uptempo mix featuring new music from Chicago house auteur Hieroglyphic Being and the Livity Sound crew, some nuanced jamming from a trio of New York producers, and downright scary tracks from Paula Temple and Cut Hands.
You can stream this month's mix here or through NPR Music's SoundCloud account. If you'd rather just hear each song individually, check out the playlist below.
You can keep up with our favorite discoveries on Twitter by following @Sami_Yenigun and @spotieotis.
Recommended Dose: The Best Dance Tracks Of October
Hieroglyphic Being, 'The Fourth Dimension'
- Album: The Fourth Dimensions Of A Nubian Mystic
Veteran Chicago producer Jamal Moss, a.k.a. Hieroglyphic Being, cites Sun Ra as one of his chief inspirations, and you can hear the interstellar ambassador's influence on this epic slice of cosmic house. At once serene and unswerving, "The Fourth Dimension" is one of Moss's finest tracks in a catalog that's some 30 albums strong. When the crunchy beat finally kicks in around the 4-minute mark, it makes us smile every time.
Rx Timecode: 00:00 - 10:49
BM/CC/CW, 'Spectrum 3'
- Album: Spectrum
This intense excerpt of improvisational techno was begat during a jam session between three of New York's more adventurous techno artists: Brendon Moeller, Oliver Chapoy (a.k.a. Certain Creatures) and Clay Wilson. Held together by a warehouse-worthy beat, the track takes Hieroglyphic Being's ascension through the atmosphere into deep space. Spectrum is out Nov. 3 on Brooklyn label Styles Upon Styles.
Rx Timecode: 10:50 - 16:56
Pev, 'Aztec Chant' (Tessela Remix)
- Album: Livity Sound Remixes
Where our first two tracks explored the outer reaches of our consciousness, Tessela's remix of Pev's "Aztec Chant" is all about the body. This early single from the forthcoming Livity Sound Remixes album piles rhythm on top of rhythm, with Tessela's signature cymbal work leading the way. The tension builds and builds with almost no bass to be found before falling into a woofer-testing throb.
Rx Timecode: 16:57 - 21:02
Paula Temple, 'Deathvox'
- Album: Deathvox
British producer Paula Temple gave up a promising techno career in the mid-2000s to teach low-income children in Leeds. It was only after she was forced out of her own foundation (and endured a long court battle, which she won) that she returned to making music. This harrowing industrial track (which kicks off an EP of the same name) features transmogrified vocals from Temple, and gives you a pretty clear idea why she calls herself a "noisician."
Rx Timecode: 21:03 - 24:32
Cut Hands, 'The Claw'
- Album: Festival of the Dead
Longstanding provocateur William Bennett helped establish "noise" as a genre in the early 1980s when he helmed Whitehouse, an industrial band infamous for its use of white noise, piercing frequencies and sadistic imagery. Bennett (thankfully) shut down Whitehouse in 2008, but continued to court controversy with his Cut Hands moniker, which mixes his trademark power electronics with the polyrhythms of Santeria and Voodoo music. "The Claw" is the ferocious opening track to Cut Hands' third album, Festival of the Dead.
Rx Timecode: 24:33 – 29:30
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