DJ /RUPTURE AND MATT SHADETEK TEAM UP FOR SOLAR LIFE RAFT, OUT NOVEMBER 11TH
July 31, 2009, 06:38 PM
With the release of Solar Life Raft, DJ /rupture and Matt Shadetek emerge from the shores of Brooklyn bearing gifts from the future. A rich blend of bass, beats, and space, rocked by a tropical wind out of the west, Solar Life Raft is an arresting testament to the fruit that grows at the margins, free from genre orthodoxy and pulsing with gentle mutant energy. Created by two individuals with a shared appreciation for engaging with streetwise dance music from a ground-up, participatory perspective, as well as more experimental sounds, Solar Life Raft, the duo's first extended project together, features tracks blended on three decks into a complete hypnotic and gripping narrative.
American musician DJ /rupture is back in Brooklyn after living most of the '00s in Barcelona. Rupture, aka Jace Clayton, began his career when he DJed internationally in Wax Poetic, a band featuring Norah Jones. He went off on his own following the 2001 release of his highly influential Gold Teeth Thief mix CD. Since then, his technically adept party-rocking has brought him to over 30 countries, including appearances at major festivals: SONAR (Spain), Transmediale (Berlin) and most recently, the Pitchfork Music Festival. Additionally, he released Uproot, his fourth official mix CD, Patches, a live album from a duo project with guitarist Andy Moor of The Ex, as well as collaborated with filmmaker Jem Cohen and Fugazi's Guy Picciotto on a live soundtrack, all the while hosting a weekly radio show on WFMU.
Producer Matt Shadetek is a lifelong New Yorker. Albums Burnerism and Pale Fire won him fans across Europe and America, making him one of the few U.S. producers to record on the U.K.'s Warp Records. He has released instrumental hip hop, dancehall, dubstep and many things in the cracks between, including the viral hit "Brooklyn Anthem". His recent turn to dance production foregrounding Caribbean and African influences has won him support from the ultra-competitive Brooklyn teen dancehall scene, as well as from trendsetting DJs like Skerrit Bwoy, Diplo and Green Lantern.
Work on Solar Life Raft began with Rupture responding to the recession by staying local and working with nearby friends and collaborators, including Shadetek, who he invited to co-produce the mix CD. They reached out to fellow Brooklynites Gang Gang Dance, Telepathe, and Jahdan Blakkamoore, offering their skills as remixers. To these remixes they added a half-dozen original productions, and a fascinating selection of other tracks. One of Rupture's several collaborations with poet Elizabeth Alexander, who spoke at Obama's Inauguration, finds a place here, as does entrancing multilingual poet Caroline Bergvall. Ghostly voices from classical wunderkind Nico Muhly’s Mothertongue flow into an exclusive beat from London's leading female grime producer, Mizz Beats. French musique concrete and avant-garde legend Luc Ferrari rubs up against the latest wave of U.S. dubstep. Indeed, while others focus on the U.K. sounds, Rupture & Shadetek make a convincing argument for the creativity and excitement of stateside dubstep and electronica. At times the narrative flow is delicately smooth, at others the duo use the first-take recordings to capture the energy and freshness of a live mix. The inclusion of sounds and artists from outside of electronic dance music move Solar Life Raft into a territory all its own. This is an album with lasting emotional resonance that can still make the car trunks rattle.
* Solar Life Raft is out November 10th on the Agriculture. Released simultaneously with Solar Life Raft will be a digital-only compilation Solar Life Raft: The Ingredients. "The Ingredients"offers a selection of Solar Life Raft tracks in unmixed form, allowing the curious to hear how Rupture & Shadetek transformed the sounds, and pulling away the curtain of DJ mystery. "The Ingredients" compilation serves as an up-close guide to the "making of" Solar Life Raft.
