chills

We're back with Aria Rostami's Czarat EP, Spring Theory's sophmore release. Rostami is a San Francisco-based musician whose roots extend off into theoretical dimensions far beyond conventional dancefloor fodder (his material has appeared on labels like Audiobulb and Crash Symbols). For Czarat, however, he's honed his approach to produce an unusual dancefloor anthem. Melding influences from around the world, the song arrives at something that sounds like acid house and techno as interpreted through an internet-enabled, information rich dialog of the present moment.

The names of the songs on the release hint at this culture clash. Opener "Czarat" is a fusion of the Russian word "Czar" and the ancient Persian god "Zarathustra." Rostami refers to this as a "cultural mishmash" and ultimately the names are a nonsense words, creating something new from familiar ideas. The song stands as a reference to the melting pot of disparate sounds within: Motorik Krautrock and North African rhythmic pulsations, Arab synth solos, Chicago acid lines, and Japanese riffing results in an overarching East meets West sensibility, gelling together to create something novel from a chaotic, contemporary trans-cultural communication. And while seemingly heady in its references, hidden beneath its surface is a banging house music core that positions the track well for those moments when the spotlights cut out and the strobes kick in. 

Or, for less intense moments, LA's Secret Circuit takes Rostami's original and re-interprets it as sunny Balearica, with warm acoustic guitars and delay washes that make for a round, mellow feeling that keeps the energy laidback, sleek, and sexy — like a tripped-out renegade party on some forgotten beach along California's Pacific Coast Highway.

Finally, "Vietnamoses" rounds things out. A completely different direction, it reveals aspects of Rostami's more experimental side, with a downtempo feeling inspired by (but, we stress, not evocative of) dub-techno juxtaposed with less overt influences from music around the world with it's twangs and drones. Space is the key here — his whipping drum patterns lull a hypnotic trance beneath massive walls of metallic echo and delay and a heightened focus on transition (one of Rostami's favorite themes) allows the song to grow in unexpected ways.

Buy on Bancamp

Aria Rostami - Czarat EP [ST002]

Magritte's work frequently displays a collection of ordinary objects in an unusual context, giving new meanings to familiar things. The use of objects as other than what they seem is typified in his painting, 'The Treachery of Images' (La trahison des images), which shows a pipe that looks as though it is a model for a tobacco store advertisement. Magritte painted below the pipe "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" ("This is not a pipe"), which seems a contradiction, but is actually true: the painting is not a pipe, it is an image of a pipe. It does not "satisfy emotionally"—when Magritte was once asked about this image, he replied that of course it was not a pipe, just try to fill it with tobacco.

Magritte used the same approach in a painting of an apple: he painted the fruit and then used an internal caption or framing device to deny that the item was an apple. In these "Ceci n'est pas" works, Magritte points out that no matter how naturalistically we depict an object, we never do catch the item itself.

Among Magritte's works are a number of surrealist versions of other famous paintings. Elsewhere, Magritte challenges the difficulty of artwork to convey meaning with a recurring motif of an easel, as in his The Human Condition series (1933, 1935) or The Promenades of Euclid (1955) (wherein the spires of a castle are "painted" upon the ordinary streets which the canvas overlooks). In a letter to André Breton, he wrote of The Human Condition that it was irrelevant if the scene behind the easel differed from what was depicted upon it, "but the main thing was to eliminate the difference between a view seen from outside and from inside a room." The windows in some of these pictures are framed with heavy drapes, suggesting a theatrical motif.

Magritte's style of surrealism is more representational than the "automatic" style of artists such as Joan Miró. Magritte's use of ordinary objects in unfamiliar spaces is joined to his desire to create poetic imagery. He described the act of painting as "the art of putting colors side by side in such a way that their real aspect is effaced, so that familiar objects—the sky, people, trees, mountains, furniture, the stars, solid structures, graffiti—become united in a single poetically disciplined image. The poetry of this image dispenses with any symbolic significance, old or new."

René Magritte described his paintings as "visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question, 'What does that mean?'. It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable."

Magritte's constant play with reality and illusion has been attributed to the early death of his mother. Psychoanalysts who have examined bereaved children have hypothesized that Magritte's back and forth play with reality and illusion reflects his "constant shifting back and forth from what he wishes—'mother is alive'—to what he knows—'mother is dead' "
Klimt travelled little, but trips to Venice and Ravenna, both famous for their beautiful mosaics, most likely inspired his gold technique and his Byzantine imagery. In 1904, he collaborated with other artists on the lavish Palais Stoclet, the home of a wealthy Belgian industrialist that was one of the grandest monuments of the Art Nouveau age. Klimt's contributions to the dining room, including both Fulfillment and Expectation, were some of his finest decorative works, and as he publicly stated, "probably the ultimate stage of my development of ornament."[19]

In 1905, Klimt created a painted portrait of Margarete Wittgenstein, Ludwig Wittgenstein's sister, on the occasion of her marriage.[20] Then, between 1907 and 1909, Klimt painted five canvases of society women wrapped in fur. His apparent love of costume is expressed in the many photographs of Flöge modeling clothing he had designed.

As he worked and relaxed in his home, Klimt normally wore sandals and a long robe with no undergarments. His simple life was somewhat cloistered, devoted to his art, family, and little else except the Secessionist Movement. He avoided café society and seldom socialized with other artists. Klimt's fame usually brought patrons to his door and he could afford to be highly selective. His painting method was very deliberate and painstaking at times and he required lengthy sittings by his subjects. Although very active sexually, he kept his affairs discreet and he avoided personal scandal.

Klimt wrote little about his vision or his methods. He wrote mostly postcards to Flöge and kept no diary. In a rare writing called "Commentary on a non-existent self-portrait", he states "I have never painted a self-portrait. I am less interested in myself as a subject for a painting than I am in other people, above all women... There is nothing special about me. I am a painter who paints day after day from morning to night... Who ever wants to know something about me... ought to look carefully at my pictures."[21]

In 1901 Herman Bahr wrote, in his Speech on Klimt: "Just as only a lover can reveal to a man what life means to him and develop its innermost significance, I feel the same about these paintings."

René

Bandcamp

Older/Other

Israeli born Ittai Barkai returns to EP with his track "Dost" which comes with a superb remix. Ittai is a firm favourite at Bonzai HQ and it's always great to see his work come through.

The Original Mix is a true reflection on Ittai's work, deep, soulful house music with a very warm sound. Tight arrangements on the drums and percs set out a strong rhythmic groove, a constant synth chord sits in the back while funky stabs do the business up front. A real cool and funky treat for any house set, superb!

Another popular figure among the Eyepatch contingent is Daniel Ray with his fantastic remix. The track intros with a smooth deep undertone and a contrasting soft melody. Nice and thick chunky kicks ramp up the groove as the percussion begins to build. A low end subtle bass comes through as lots of simple melodies appear. Very nice track indeed with something about it that will grab a lot of attention.

Dost

Ittai Barkai - Dost (Eyepatch Recordings)

MOJIITO - QUELQU'UN M'A DIT

https://www.facebook.com/MojiitoOfficial
better watch the video:  http://youtu.be/-ABBe9adFfQ

MOJIITO - PLACE DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE

A Thousand Flakes

Available on iTunes 
http://bit.ly/BTSTUiTunes

BTSTU

BTSTU (Edit Clean)

Remix by <a href="https://soundcloud.com/secret-circuit" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Secret Circuit</a>&#13;
&#13;
We're back with Aria Rostami's Czarat EP, Spring Theory's sophmore release. Rostami is a San Francisco-based musician whose roots extend off into theoretical dimensions far beyond conventional dancefloor fodder (his material has appeared on labels like Audiobulb and Crash Symbols). For Czarat, however, he's honed his approach to produce an unusual dancefloor anthem. Melding influences from around the world, the song arrives at something that sounds like acid house and techno as interpreted through an internet-enabled, information rich dialog of the present moment.&#13;
&#13;
The names of the songs on the release hint at this culture clash. Opener "Czarat" is a fusion of the Russian word "Czar" and the ancient Persian god "Zarathustra." Rostami refers to this as a "cultural mishmash" and ultimately the names are a nonsense words, creating something new from familiar ideas. The song stands as a reference to the melting pot of disparate sounds within: Motorik Krautrock and North African rhythmic pulsations, Arab synth solos, Chicago acid lines, and Japanese riffing results in an overarching East meets West sensibility, gelling together to create something novel from a chaotic, contemporary trans-cultural communication. And while seemingly heady in its references, hidden beneath its surface is a banging house music core that positions the track well for those moments when the spotlights cut out and the strobes kick in.&#13;
&#13;
Or, for less intense moments, LA's Secret Circuit takes Rostami's original and re-interprets it as sunny Balearica, with warm acoustic guitars and delay washes that make for a round, mellow feeling that keeps the energy laidback, sleek, and sexy — like a tripped-out renegade party on some forgotten beach along California's Pacific Coast Highway.&#13;
&#13;
Finally, "Vietnamoses" rounds things out. A completely different direction, it reveals aspects of Rostami's more experimental side, with a downtempo feeling inspired by (but, we stress, not evocative of) dub-techno juxtaposed with less overt influences from music around the world with it's twangs and drones. Space is the key here — his whipping drum patterns lull a hypnotic trance beneath massive walls of metallic echo and delay and a heightened focus on transition (one of Rostami's favorite themes) allows the song to grow in unexpected ways.

Buy on Bandcamp

Aria Rostami - Czarat (Secret Circuit Acid Dub Remix)

We're back with Aria Rostami's Czarat EP, Spring Theory's sophmore release. Rostami is a San Francisco-based musician whose roots extend off into theoretical dimensions far beyond conventional dancefloor fodder (his material has appeared on labels like Audiobulb and Crash Symbols). For Czarat, however, he's honed his approach to produce an unusual dancefloor anthem. Melding influences from around the world, the song arrives at something that sounds like acid house and techno as interpreted through an internet-enabled, information rich dialog of the present moment.

The names of the songs on the release hint at this culture clash. Opener "Czarat" is a fusion of the Russian word "Czar" and the ancient Persian god "Zarathustra." Rostami refers to this as a "cultural mishmash" and ultimately the names are a nonsense words, creating something new from familiar ideas. The song stands as a reference to the melting pot of disparate sounds within: Motorik Krautrock and North African rhythmic pulsations, Arab synth solos, Chicago acid lines, and Japanese riffing results in an overarching East meets West sensibility, gelling together to create something novel from a chaotic, contemporary trans-cultural communication. And while seemingly heady in its references, hidden beneath its surface is a banging house music core that positions the track well for those moments when the spotlights cut out and the strobes kick in.

Or, for less intense moments, LA's Secret Circuit takes Rostami's original and re-interprets it as sunny Balearica, with warm acoustic guitars and delay washes that make for a round, mellow feeling that keeps the energy laidback, sleek, and sexy — like a tripped-out renegade party on some forgotten beach along California's Pacific Coast Highway.

Finally, "Vietnamoses" rounds things out. A completely different direction, it reveals aspects of Rostami's more experimental side, with a downtempo feeling inspired by (but, we stress, not evocative of) dub-techno juxtaposed with less overt influences from music around the world with it's twangs and drones. Space is the key here — his whipping drum patterns lull a hypnotic trance beneath massive walls of metallic echo and delay and a heightened focus on transition (one of Rostami's favorite themes) allows the song to grow in unexpected ways.

Aria Rostami - Czarat

Aria Rostami - Vietnamoses

UK producer duo The Code have been bubbling on the low but making big noise on the online world, with their recent tracks Gravity and Her recently racking up over 160,000 plays on Soundcloud. Makers of infectious deep, low slung, r&b infused beats, we can feel that these boys could be set for big things. Exclusively to i-D we present the latest instalment from elusive pair. The first track taken from their debut EP '1/11' out mid August featuring that sexy Aaliyah sample, press play on Natural.
https://soundcloud.com/thecxde

Connect to i-D's world! Like us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/iDmagazineofficial?fref=nf">Facebook,</a> follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/i_D">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://instagram.com/id_magazine">Instagram.</a>
<a href="http://www.i-d.co">i-d.co</a>

Premiere: The Code - Natural

Available to purchase as a 12" vinyl or digital from the eglo bandcamp:

https://eglorecords.bandcamp.com/album/nuits-sonores-nectarines

Nuits Sonores

out now digitally:
Itunes: http://smarturl.it/caribouc2itunes
Beatport: http://smarturl.it/caribouc2beatport
Bleep: http://smarturl.it/caribouc2bleep

Available on 12" very soon

Remix and Extras by Carl Craig for Planet E Comm. Inc Detroit.
Engineered by Carl Craig at Beast Labs.

Photograph by Jason Evans.

Itunes

Your Love Will Set You Free (c2's Set U Free RMX)

Spring Theory is proud to announce its latest release, an LP from San Francisco-based experimental producer and label alumni Aria Rostami. Titled Agnys, it's an intensely personal and introspective reflection on friendship, loss and rebirth in our hyper-connected society. A rumination on a collaborative project started with Rostami's now deceased production partner, roommate, and friend Shawn Dickerson, it utilizes a melodic and ambient techno sound palette to take the listener on a journey that touches on the uncanny permanence that information technology lends to the tragic fragility of the human experience.

Mirroring the time distortion of the information age, and how new and old exist simultaneously on the internet, Agnys is a record that unfolds in reverse. The deep and minimalistic b-sides, "White-White," "Soroban" and "Beghilos" guide the aesthetic experience. Unified by an emotion of retrospective nostalgia, they were all created by editing and contorting aspects from a single recording made from Dickerson's piano — a dusty and detuned standup made sometime before The Great Depression that now sits in Rostami's bedroom. "This plays with both the idea of sameness (something old, something that's been done, something bland) and newness (something re-contextualized)," explains Rostami.

By contrast, the warm embrace of "Clepsydra," the symphonic dancefloor grandeur of "Seven-Segments," and sharp punchiness of "A Square Tablet Strewn With Dust" reveal Rostami's own take on the sonic structure of the B-sides. "The A-sides are a reinterpretation of the world made by the B-sides much like the B-sides are a reinterpretation of Shawn's interests and ideas. In this way, the listener works backwards to the source."

"The internet became a key player in our relationship. The web dissolved old walls of discovery and opened itself up through search terms and piracy. We were discovering electronic music we couldn't even conceive of." says Rostami. "For Agnys, I took ideas that are new, ideas that are old, and ideas that are just old enough to be recycled again and focused on certain points that I thought Shawn and I could have explored more if we had had the time."

Simply put, Agnys is a beautiful record from one of San Francisco's most talented producers. We're excited to release it, and we're very excited for you to hear it for yourself.