Rather than operate as a music news source, Electronic Beats operates as a music information source. We want to share with you; we want you to know what we’re hearing, what’s reverberating our cochleas and sending broader vibrations throughout our bodies, and by extension our audio-addled souls. Down with that? Welcome to Editors’ Choice.

Lisa Blanning (Online Editor)

Nguzunguzu – “Skycell”

The title track from their upcoming EP on Fade to Mind is a dirty roller—first heard on Kingdom’s mix for XLR8R whose chiming progression fits nicely with S-X’s ubiquitous “Woo Riddim“.

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Louise Brailey (Deputy Online Editor)

Warpaint – “Love Is To Die”

I remember seeing Warpaint in summer 2010, at the then newly opened CAMP Basement in Shoreditch, and I was struck by how insubstantial their music seemed. Their debut The Fool had many moping around in thrift store fabrics and bed hair but I wasn’t one of them. Now I see that the insubstantiality is kind of the point and I’ve let my barriers fall. “Love Is To Die” is an update on 4AD romanticism which luxuriates, stylishly, in its own misery and it’s heavenly. A heaven, of course, gilded with silvery guitars and lilting vocals of the stripe which casually lament “I’ve got a knife to cut out the memories”. Dim the lights, Warpaint are back.

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Moritz Gayard (Online Duty Editor)

Arthur Russel – “A Little Lost”

Arthur Russell’s excellent 1994 release Another Thought is coming out the first time on vinyl. You don’t want to know how much I treated my neighbors with this pressing. My fave is this track above: “I’m a little lost without you/ That could be an understatement“.

Willie Burns – “Tab Of Acid”

This is Willie Burns’ upcoming return to The Trilogy Tapes. And everybody who enjoyed his earlier TTT release The Overlord knows that this is the creme-de-la-creme of techno and probably one of the best techno releases this year.

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Daniel Jones (Contributing Editor)

Bratkilla – “The Killer Gene”

I really miss the early days of discovering filthy dubstep. Before it solidified into cookie-cutter productions, it seemed like there were more people willing to play around with the notion of what you can do with hardcore aesthetics welded to chainsaw synths…or maybe I was just in a thrashier mood at the time, who knows. Swedish beast Bratkilla’s work may not be advancing anything, but as far as this sort of thing goes he’s among the best and most playable. His latest LP of deathrave is set to drop soon, and I’m looking forward to dropping a few of these myself. That cover is getting deleted immediately, though.

A.J. Samuels (Senior Print Editor)

The Velvet Underground – Beginning to See the Light

The first time I saw Lou Reed was the premier of Metal Machine Music at the UDK in Berlin with Zeitkratzer in 2002. I remember not taking the earplugs they offered us before the show and then taking my seat to watch Diedrich Diederichsen get insulted and corrected by Lou Reed for around fifteen minutes during a pre-show interview. When someone took a picture with flash, Reed stopped the conversation, insulted that guy and then threatened to call it all off. After the inteview, Zeitkratzer came onstage and played really, really loud and screeching. Eventually Lou Reed walked on after twenty minutes, plugged in his guitar and played feedback even louder. My balls hurt. When they stopped for around thirty seconds, one guy screamed “Bullshit!” and another guy screamed “Genius!” Sums it up, really.

The second time I saw Lou Reed was at the Schiller Theater in Berlin a year later and it sucked. There was a dreadful rendition of “Perfect Day” he did with Antony Hegarty and then at some point he invited his tai chi (!) instructor onstage… to do tai chi.

The year after that I worked briefly for a catering company and ended up washing his dishes.

Then last night I met myself in a dream and let me tell you, everything’s all right.

Clara Hill – “Lost Winter”

A welcome Laetitia Sadier-inspired left turn to Clara Hill’s creative course, with lush production by Hanno Leichtmann and contributions by sort-of label mate Schneider ™. LP Walk the Distance out now on Tapete Records.

Blevin Blectum – “Cromis Part One”

Blevin Blectum is really good at making music that’s both free and loop-led. Can’t wait to hear the rest of Emblem Album, out December 7 on Aagoo.

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Read previous editions of Editors’ Choice here.

Published November 01, 2013.