Big Mister Doom, an electronica duo based in Leeds, sent me over a couple of tracks this week. These are some fresh, glitchy and atmospheric tunes—similar in style to Telefon Tel Aviv and Eskmo. Turn the volume way up to enjoy crystal clear production and heaps of swirling beats and bleeps.

Fore more info. and music downloads, check out Big Mister Doom.

MP3 1: Big Mister Doom – Avant
MP3 2: Eskimo Twins – Judas (Big Mister Doom Remix)

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The Electronic Heart is the latest EP from producer/video artist Pierce Warnecke. It’s a 6-track electro-glitch feast for the senses. As the title suggests, there’s a good balance between organic and synthetic properties here. The music is almost entirely made from distorted synth sounds but the arrangements are incredibly sophisticated and human. The EP starts off with a straightforward lo-fi electro track—but as it progresses, the beats become more fragmented and unexpected. In “The Art of Error,” sounds are skipping, splitting and regenerating into new forms—creating the perfect soundtrack to a cellular-level science video.

Warnecke is incredibly successful at making everything sound machinelike. Hi-hats sound like hydraulic pumps, pads sound like electrical surges and the beats pump, pulse, tick, breathe, repeat, spin, click and power down. In “Excision of the Heart,” a robot voice repeats “H. E. A. R. T.,” while synth arpeggiations mimic an internal body process reacting to the removal of a human heart. Things begin to spiral out of control by the final track, “RnBeast,” which is chock full of millisecond samples and florescent rainbow-style synth riffs. If this EP were to represent the health of a patient during medical procedures, they would have definitely died by the end. It’s safe to say they didn’t go without a fight.  ~ tom

To view Warnecke’s experimental video projects, check out www.vimeo.com/user1185399. To purchase or sample more of The Electronic Heart, visit iTunes or BEE Records.

MP3 1: Pierce Warnecke – Used Romamtricks
MP3 2: Pierce Warnecke – Excision of the Heart

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The U.S. is getting a dose of some good, hard electronic music this fall and winter. DJ Destructo, aka Gary Richards, created HARD in 2007 to showcase the best in new electronic music. Destructo worked with Rick Rubin in the 90s, helping to launch The Lords of Acid, Basement Jaxx, Messiah, David Holmes, Dub Pistols and God Lives Underwater. Now HARD is coming to Los Angeles and New York for 4 nights of crunchy electronic madness.

HARD NYC is the first show on the list with a good blend of dubstep, electro and breakbeat artists. Crookers, Major Lazer, Rusko, Jack Beats and Destructo will be performing at Terminal 5 in NYC on 10/10/09.

The second event, HARD Haunted Mansion, is a 2-day festival in Los Angeles at The Shrine on October 30th and 31st. Artists include: Basement Jaxx, Crookers, Major Lazer, Modeselektor, Steve Aoki, Danger, Destructo, Deadmau5, 2 Many DJs, A-Trak, The Bloody Beetroots, Don Rimini, Mixhell, Harvard Bass, Staccato, Justice, Buraka Som Sistema, Shinichi Osawa, Zombie Nation, Classixx, and more!

The final event is HARD New Years Eve at the Palladium in Los Angeles on December 31st. Boys Noize is heading the event. I couldn’t find a list of other artists so be sure to check hardfest.com frequently for more info.  ~ tom

MP3: Basement Jaxx – Don’t Give Up

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Since we typically review new music at Sawtooth, I wanted to honor some electronic music of the past with occasional Sawtooth mixes. This first mix is a collection of tracks from the past 15 years encompassing trip-hop, breaks, electro, ambient, tech-house, industrial, downtempo, future jazz, glitch, post-punk, trance and some mixed styles. Among these selections are some tracks that I feel never got the credit they deserved such as FFWD and the Nine Inch Nails remix track “The Downward Spiral (The Bottom),” which was remixed by members of Coil—an experimental industrial group who helped shape the genre. The remixes on Further Down the Spiral include some of the best remixes I’ve ever heard. If you’re only familiar with the major NIN releases, you’re in for a surprise. They’re incredible works of sound manipulation, dynamics and composition. FFWD was an ambient supergroup made up of Thomas Fehlmann (Sun Electric), Robert Fripp, and Kris Weston & Dr. Alex Paterson of The Orb. This 1994 release was their only collaboration. Another highlight is Funki Porcini’s “16 Megatons.” This track comes from Fast Asleep, which is my all-time favorite downtempo album.

If you like any particular styles, leave a comment and I’ll do my best to incorporate more of it in my future posts. I’d like to get more reader participation on Sawtooth so if there’s something you’d like to see us do differently, please share. Enjoy the tunes!  ~ tom

Sawtooth.fm Mix 01

01. The Herbaliser – Goldrush
02. Rabbit in the Moon – Timebomb
03. Amon Tobin – At Work
04. FFWD – Hidden
05. Funki Porcini – 16 Megatons
06. Noisia – Seven Stitches
07. Kilowatts – Snakewinds
08. Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)
09. The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble – Rivers of Congo
10. Splattercell (with Charlie Clouser) – Multisplat
11. edIT – Laundry
12. Telefon Tel Aviv – Helen of Troy
13. The Tear Garden – Shelia Liked the Rodeo
14. The Future Sound of London – Quagmire / In a State of Permanent Abyss
15. Mr. Oizo – Erreurjean (Arveen and Misk Remix)
16. Font Line Assembly – Colombian Necktie (Grit Your Teeth Mix by Cydonia)

*Use the right and left arrows to navigate between tracks.

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In order to keep Sawtooth.fm up and running, I’m going to need some help from you guys. Between a full time job, searching for new music and promoting Sawtooth, there’s little time left for researching artists and writing reviews. I’m looking for some creative people to submit reviews for tech/house, experimental, pop, breakbeat, IDM and dubstep electronic music. Since I’m not making any money, I can’t offer you any— but I can offer you free music. I’ll either find it or buy it for you so that you can write the reviews. This can be a way to contribute to a growing community, have your voice heard and get free awesome new music. The ideal people would be able to write 2-3 reviews a week. If you’re down, send a message to info[@]sawtooth.fm

I’ll leave you with a sick track from Vibesquad (aka Aaron Holstein). “Gauntlets” is a nasty psychedelic bass groove off of the 2008 full length album, Dawn Patrol. If you dig this, also check out Kilowatts, Tipper, Bassnectar and Joker.

MP3: Vibesquad – Gauntlets

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I first heard Fukkk Offf from a post on blip.fm a few months ago. No artist was listed—just the title “I’m A Freak Remix.” It was a hard electro house track with attitude. Luckily, after reposting a few times, I found out the artist. This German DJ/Producer, Bastian Heerhorst, has been releasing singles since 2007 with Hammarskjöld and Coco Machete Records. His first full-length, Love Me Hate Me Kiss Me Kill Me, is a non-stop headbanger which has already started killing the dance floors throughout Europe. The album’s full of addictive melodies, pounding beats, gritty synths, and trance-like arpeggiations.

To hear more Fukkk Offf, check out his Monosurround, DJ Dan, Sidechains, Maral Salmassi and Suicide Club remixes. They’re all sick tracks with a ton of energy. If you live near Germany, you can catch Fukkk Offf at a few clubs this August. See his MySpace page for more details.

MP3: Fukkk Offf – I’m a Freak

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Chris Clark’s new album, Totems Flare, was released today and the sound is huge! My first listen was on my iMac speakers. My second, on my car stereo and my third on my crystal clear Mackie HR-624’s. I do this so that I don’t pay too much attention to the production right off the bat. Now that I’ve heard it all the way through about four times, I can honestly say that this album rocks. The synths on the opening track, “Outside Plume,” are so freakin’ thick. It’s a great introduction to the album single, “Growls Garden.” The break in the middle of “GG” is one of baddest things I’ve heard all year. Big up, Clark!

Although the album seems predominantly digital, it feels human. It sounds like the future of the past. Beats are missed, pitches slip and notes get dropped. The best example of this is in the seventh track, “Future Daniel.” If you’ve ever tried playing chords with a monophonic synth patch, you’d understand. There’s something special in every track—the beginning of “Luxman Furs”—the end of “Totem Crackerjack”—there’s a lot of cool shit going on here.

Clark apparently had an extremely hard time narrowing down 30 tracks that he had originally recorded for the album. I’d love to hear the tunes that didn’t make the cut. My only complaint with Totems Flare is that I can’t play it really loud because of the overwhelming distortion. Those of us with tinnitus have to be careful.

If you dig it, check out Boxcutter, Autechre, Venetian Snares, AFX and Telefon Tel Aviv. If I’ve left some key artists out, leave a comment. Totems Flare is available now from bleep.com and iTunes.

MP3: Clark – Growls Garden

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