French producer Fulgeance drops another smart release following up on the excellent SmartBanging Ep from a while back…cop this tune and keep an eye out for a rising star on the MPC.

Fulgeance – Sour Socca by ChoiceCuts

Alfred Darlington isn’t your average cookie-cutter musician. From how he looks (early Victorian Dandism), to how he makes music, to how he expresses himself and views the world, his is a very individual, a ‘bespoke’ outlook.

Alfred was born in Santa Monica in 1977 to an artist mother and psychologist father. Musical from very early on, as a child he was classically and jazz-trained in a number of instruments, but his interests were broad and varied – less a prodigy than a renaissance boy whose obsessions ranged from Greek legend to the mountains of Wales. As a 15 year old he finally persuaded his parents to take him to the Principality. Whilst in a YMCA in London he flipped the radio dial, found a pirate radio station and taped some UK rave and hardcore. “It was my first ‘Eureka!’ moment in music,” he says.

Back in the US he joined local rock bands, jazz bands and ska bands, which he enjoyed but felt limited by,too. At home he was listening to Warp, Ninja and your harder electronic stuff. He started DJing out the more leftfield side of drum and bass and making his own rudimentary productions. They were meant to be drum & bass but they kept turning out different and from his outsider’s experiments his own style was born. He chose the name Daedelus as he had a childhood obsession with invention, and what was he doing, after all, if not tinkering and fiddling and experimenting like the “gentleman inventors” of old?

In 1999 he started DJing on Dublab.com for his “Entropy Sessions” and began dropping in his own early demo productions. Carlos Nino (of ammoncontact) had the show after him and usually pushed Alfred out the studio as quickly as possible as he was not so into Daedelus’ confrontational DJ style, but when he heard a tranquil Daedelus production he took, in typical Nino style, Daedelus under his considerable wing around the LA scene. Nino placed Daedelus tracks on two influential compilations and then persuaded Plug Research to release his debut album, “Invention” in 2002, Remixers included Madlib, who later took Daedelus’ accordian parts and used them on the Madvillain record, closely followed by his “The Household” EP on Prefuse 73’s Eastern Developments label.

In 2003, he was booked to play a show in San Diego by Brian Crabtree and Peter Siegerstrong and they asked him to test out an early prototype of the Monome box. “It’s a Non-traditional electronic instrument,” Daedelus explains. “Basically it allows for massive improvisation.” Since then Daedelus has continued to use this revolutionary box, bringing much genuine liveness to the sometimes static world of performed electronic/dance music.

In 2003 he did “The Weather” album with Busdriver and Radioinactive and the remix album “Rethinking the Weather” on Mush records (home of cLOUDDEAD, also on Big Dada/Ninja Tune). 2004 saw the release of “Of Snowdonia” on Plug Research, the album with which Daedelus says he first “felt true artistic confidence, finding a true voice. I was finally in the right zone.”

There was certainly no let up in his creativity. Also in 2004 he released the concept album “A Gent Agent” on tiny German label Laboratory Instinct. The 2005 album “Exquisite Corpse” on Mush album featured the likes of TTC, Mike Ladd, MF Doom. Ninja signed Daedelus for UK/Europe (a relationship which has reached its full expression on “Love To Make Music To,” his first album for the label worldwide and put together with the help of their team). In 2006 “Denies the Days Demise” came out, a record showcasing his love of Brazilian music. Last year he released his first live album, “Live At the Low End Theory,” and “The Fairweather Friends EP”. Later this year will see the release of his collaboration with his wife, Laura Darling, as Long Lost!

And while his reputation has grown internationally, his place in the LA scene has also solidified. The musician that many of the hottest names in the city turn to for everything from bass clarinet licks to advice on obscure electronics, Daedelus has worked extensively with Taz from Sa-Ra, the pair of them opening for the likes of DJ Assault, Justice and Two Live Crew as well as appearing in Erykah Badu’s most recent video.

As for “Love To Make Music To,” Daedelus says that this album is “the imaginary memory of a time that never was! It’s my drug/love record, harking back to that time in the YMCA in London, when I first heard rave…”

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Beatheads, DJ’s, Mixtape Fans and people interested in the obscure
pls take note:

caustic cloud creeps up from the cracks. This darkness chops tree trunks to stumps and smothers soft sounds in murderous mist. The bloodthirsty form rises, wrapping its tendrils around the throats of pop-minded punks. By dusting the dumb this murderer ushers in soaring sounds. The Gaslamp Killer slashes to save.

SLASH

First spotted stalking the streets of San Diego this serial sound slayer has spread wide. Dues paid with sweat have paid off. From homemade crushed beat mixtapes to glossy magazine pages the Gaslamp Killer has never altered course. He brings the dirtiest and deepest dynamite into being with dedication and discipline.

THE HEAT

The Gaslamp Killer is a raw revolutionary who sets every moment on shatter. A GLK dj set is an experience in the ultra-unexpected. Wrecking the decks like Animal minus the soft Muppet facade, Gaslamp is a tornado of exploding hair and energy. His shaking head is the cap on a volcano bursting with passion for blasting. In these high heat moments he meshes international mystery music with the grimiest beats in existence. Gaslamp’s psychedelic stew shines supreme in dim chambers with big bass.

RAW

The Gaslamp Killer master mixes have evolved into original music collaborations with his posse MHE and frequent vocal collaborator Sumach. Gaslamp’s progressive heat seeking sounds are being sought by beat freaks from every corner. His explosive energy keeps electrified ears eager for more and more x more and more. The Gaslamp Killer’s ruthless focus is on high. This murderer continues breeding brightness by evaporating boring beats.

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Alfred Darlington aka Daedelus comes correct with this future classic  ‘Fair Weather Friends’ on the Ninja Tune Release ‘Love To Make Music To’.

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The Humble Magnificent & Dagha give a mighty performance at The Tivoli