Ai Records technomancer The Third Man, one of the participants on the imprint’s recent triple-split EP alongside Plant43 and Najem Sworb, has recently released his debut album ‘Clarion Call’. More of a mini than a full-length LP, the release sees him distilling his love of techno, acid and the classic Detroit sound with the rather more hard-edged influences he appropriated while studying at Glasgow university.

Opener ‘Hemsby Acid’ acts as a gateway: written on a BLOC weekend comedown, its initial ambient wash soon reveals a dancefloor stomper underpinned by steely hi-hats and an evolving 303 melody. From here on, the London-based producer- real name Toby Leeming- continues to explore his own musical psyche, riding a knife edge between the digital crispness of today and the distorted, primitive yet comfortingly intimate sound of electronic music’s early days. More mellow numbers such as the title track and the blissful “Attacks” could have existed since the mid-80s, whilst on the likes of “Synchronise” and “Flaccid House” Leeming delves into decidedly more dark territory, brutally beating both acid and electro influences into submission to create music unmistakably his own.

Having been exposed to a mere spoonful of this electro-alchemist’s talent, ourselves at RvD Towers can’t wait to sample his next concoction- without doubt, ‘Clarion Call’ continues to cement Ai’s reputation as possibly the most exciting electronic label the UK has to offer. And, as standard with all Ai releases it comes presented in a package as beautiful and exciting as the music- in this case, a dirty great fleshy slab of vinyl encased within artwork by German anatomical artist Karl Wesker. Grab a copy from the Ai shop while you still can…

Best of all, you lucky people will be able to witness The Third Man’s work first-hand at the next Robot vs Dinosaur, where he’s all set to take our headline slot- this is a show not to be missed! Taking place at Island on Friday November 21st, the bill will also see a set from the rather more chilled Sunosis– a fellow Londoner, commander-in-chief of Shepherd’s Bush’s premier (and currently under-threat!) beat bunker Ginglik. Check out his sun-kissed yet resolutely beat-driven mini-LP ‘Warmth’, available via the famously unpredictable Rednetic label.

Enough talk- this is all set to be our most exciting RvD yet! Full details will be up on our events page, just as soon as we get a moment’s pause to update it…

RvD June performer Arc Vel has released an mp3 single entitled ‘Lin’ via new digital music emporium Indmill. The single features three amazing tracks including a brand new number called ‘Bed Sidde’, which quite frankly took my breath away on first listen. Sounding like Ryuichi Sakamoto gleefully hurling Tortoise‘s equipment down the stairs, find an excerpt on the release’s page if you’d like a sneak preview.

Costing just £1.25 45p for all three tracks (which come as 256kbps DRM-free mp3s, I hasten to add), what sets this apart from most other independent mp3 releases coming out as of late is that 90% of the proceeds go to child protection charity Kidscape. And, given that the music itself is of such incredible quality- mesmeric, delicate, yet punctuated by occasional bursts of raging intensity, like watching a beautiful thunderstorm- I urge everyone who reads this to lay down some cash and buy it. Anyone who considers less than the cost of a pack of gum as too much to pay for three amazing pieces of music, plus the chance to support not only a local musician of massive potential but also a very worthy cause indeed, should be thrown into a pit and drowned.

Anyway, enough talk of pit-based water-death: you can catch Arc Vel playing live at our forthcoming Mechakitten event, whilst he will also be manning the decks at the forthcoming (and highly recommended) Pivot gig at the Rainbow this Thursday.

August RvD headliner Mike In Mono features on Botpop Volume One, a forthcoming electronic pop compilation from London-based indie Happy Robots Records. The album- released on September 29th via download and limited-edition CD- also features label bosspersons Arthur & Martha and the highly recommended Hong Kong In The 60s amongst a whole host of other indietronic pop treats.

“We at Happy Robots Records are pleased to announce the release of our first full length album.

Filled with exclusive tracks and rarities, it’s an album that has brought together artists from around the UK, US and Europe, in the collective endeavour of making the world a little bit of a better place to live in. Michael Jackson would be proud! It’s a collection to make you dance, laugh, phone a friend, raise a glass, change a fuse, stroke-a-beard or just grin like the Cheshire Cat.”

Hit their myspace for more details, including a full list of participants, while the album itself can be previewed via last.fm.

(via The Autumn Store)

Tireless electro-philanthropist QXTC (aka Gavin Bradshaw) has never been a man to rest on his laurels. Over the past few years or so he has released almost five and a half hours of free music, via six albums and four EPs- the latest of which, Reality On Charles Street, was released recently on the Vorbic netlabel.

Inspired by a sudden sense of life felt whilst walking through his native Manchester, the EP sets ambient synth colour-washes and occasional, disjointed vocal samples to skittering beats which sound akin to buckets of marbles being dropped down the stairs. The EP is available to stream or download from right here– if you enjoy it then look forward to his seventh album, released imminently via hippocamp.net (home to former RvD performers Domestication of the Dog and Scrubber Fox, amongst others) which will feature reworked versions of EP tracks AngleDrive and Spitting Bullets, the second of which you can find in the embedded player at the bottom of this post.

Meanwhile, check out his myspace if you’d like to have a nose through the rest of his considerable back catalogue- won’t cost you anything, after all…

Robot vs Dinosaur will be DJing as part of Brum-based creative media network Project X Presents‘ next event, entitled “Digital Dystopia”. Taking place on Saturday 13th September at newly-unveiled Birmingham club BUSK, the performance will further develop and explore the group’s remarkable “Omnimedia Experience” format, presenting a seamless flow of art, music and visuals via three stages.

As well as our good selves (well, one half to be specific- I’ve got a wedding to get to), the event also features a performance from former RvD highlight Arc Vel alongside a diverse range of artists and DJs of all genres including Marc Reck, Mixmaster Morris, Steve Loopz, Rich Batsford, Shana Tova, 360 and many more. Meanwhile, those of a slightly more experimental bent can expect to have their appetites sated by the many art installations, spoken word pieces and VJ performances on offer. Believe me when I say that the above description merely scratches the surface of what this event has to offer: the promoters ask you to “leave your expectations at the door” and, for once, I would pay heed to that advice.

Entry to the event costs £10, and doors open at 8:00pm with the night running ’til 3. Meanwhile, BUSK can be found on Gough Street, opposite Island Bar and the Alexandra theatre. For more info, please check out the Project X Presents website.

To the uninitiated, the Thingamagoop is a anthropomorphic analogue mini-synth cum sound toy featuring a single oscillator controlled by a photocell, alongside a simple low-frequency oscillator. The amount and type of light hitting the photocell affects the pitch and harshness of the sound produced, whilst further modulation via the afore-mentioned LFO allows a dizzying array of bleeps, skronks and zaps to be coaxed out of the cute-yet-rather-sinister lil’ fella.

Following a fateful encounter with a Thimgamagoop at last year’s SXSWi, Pete finally managed to get his hands on one recently and in the space of just over a week he’s already documented his experiments with the unit in great detail, won sponsorship (via Live Brum) and is now ordering more to create a crazy-mad monster micro-synth orchestra, the debut performance of which may well take place at a future Robot Vs Dinosaur. It’s quite frankly such a dizzying rate of progress that I half-expect him to have landed a multi-million dollar record deal by next week.

For more info on the Thimgamagoop and it’s self-assembled bigger brother the Thimgamakit, check out the Bleeplabs website. And being hand-made, you can even pick your own colours!

This weekend sees the return of Capsule‘s annual Supersonic festival. Running the gamut of avant-garde and experimental music, the event features performances from acts as diverse as Battles (pictured), Efterklang, DJ Scotch Egg and Max Tundra as well as a set from reformed ’70s Krautrockers Harmonia. Put simply, it’s quite possibly the most culturally important music event Birmingham will see this year.

Which brings us to the crux of this post: no doubt there will be many in Brum this weekend, myself included, who don’t have a ticket for various reasons. So, what the hell are we going to do this weekend? We’ve decided to come up with a few suggestions…

Thursday: Ok, it’s the day before Supersonic but we thought we’d get this one in anyway! Connect Four takes place at Island Bar on Thursday 10th July, bringing live synthpop stylings from Uninvited Guestz, Codette, The Audacity and Motorbikes In Tokyo, plus DJs and visuals.

Friday: given the competition there’s quite an overwhelming display of choice on offer here. Freakin’ Legend will be bringing the rock to Island Bar, with sets from Fillmore Gears, The No Tomorrows, HINGe and The E-Gos. This Is Tomorrow‘s new venture New York Noise kicks off at the Yardbird with DJ sets from Dr. Rubberfunk as well as residents Matt Flux, Mustapha Dance and Waler DJs. Alternatively, pop in to Rooty’s where Cog are laying down a spread of minimal house and underground techno stylings.

Saturday: top indiepop shindig The Autumn Store has gone international, hosting a set from Japanese folk collective Andersens alongside Glaswegians The Starlets and Bavarian Country Singers and Comrades, who in a rather curious twist actually hail from Birmingham and Wolverhampton. I guess “West Midlands Country Singers and Comrades” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it? On a slightly different bent, Trailer Park Beats are holding their dubstep all-nighter The Big Dirty at the Rainbow Warehouse, although the none-more-hardcore amongst you will probably be watching Mary Poppins at the Hippodrome.

Sunday: all worn out from that little lot? Good, because there’s not a great deal on today. Drop us a comment if there’s anything interesting happening over the weekend which I’ve not covered…

Top UK-based electronic imprint Ai Records have released a triple split EP, featuring fresh tracks from Plant43– headliner of our very first night way back in Feb, if you remember- alongside brand new cuts from labelmates The Third Man and Najem Sworb.

Sounding like a snapshot of electro’s past, present and future, the release as a whole epitomises the atmospheric yet propulsive sound which the label is currently becoming famous for. Influenced by the likes of Drexciya, Underground Resistance and Kraftwerk, the artists utilise a diverse palette of skittering techno rhythms, organ-rattling bass and melodic yet subtle synth lines to create a record which immerses the brain as well as moving the body.

No expense has been spared as far as the presentation’s concerned, either: the blue version (pictured, above) sadly sold out in no time, but the black edition is still available to order via Juno, Rough Trade, Norman Records or direct from the Ai shop… for now. Not to worry if you miss out: it’s available digitally via Bleep and Beatport.

Meanwhile, vinyl-haters and Ai novices should check out their recent label sampler CD, featuring tracks from the afore-mentioned Plant43 and fellow RvD alumnus Datassette amongst others from the Ai roster- available now for a mere £6. What are you waiting for?

RvD March headliner Calika (aka Brighton’s Simon Kealoha) has recently pulled the wraps off his new musical project, Zermatt. A collaboration with Berlin-based electroacoustic artist Phon°noir, the new band sees both stepping out of their respective comfort zones.

An album is currently in the works, but in the meantime hit up their myspace and enjoy a couple of demos showcasing a fresh yet atmospheric electro-pop sound not too far removed from the likes of Schneider TM and The Notwist. On “Rainhead”, long-time Calika fans will be relieved to find his trademark electric bass stylings accounted for.