Archive

• Lakker – Shoulder To The Bat

• Lakker announce ‘ÉPOCA’ LP on R&S March 15

  

  Lakker return to R&S with their stunning new album Época, March 15 on R&S. Following 2016’s conceptual 8 track maxi-EP “Struggle and Emerge” (using field recordings of TV and radio broadcasts from the Dutch National AV archive) Época is a bracing return to form, combining caustic electronics with fresh inspiration from the prepared piano of John Cage, plaintive folk melodies, the explorative label Sublime Frequencies and the raw rhythms of Kampala’s Nyege Nyege Tapes.

  The rich and deep work of Época finds the duo reinvigorated from their hiatus (with solo LPs as Eomac and Arad in 2018), using their own voices extensively for the first time, alongside regular vocal collaborator Eileen Carpio. This leads to an at times more melodic and poppier feeling, balanced out by the off kilter rhythms and blasts of feedback and weathered reverbs that intertwine throughout the record. 

  The natural evolution of the tracks and their rougher, looser production sound parallels the Irish duo’s interest in two separate ideas: ambient and natural sound, especially the background noise – a sense of time and place – that is inherent in old recordings of folk and classical music; and an interest in herd dynamics and flock patterns / murmurations, both in the natural world and in human society. Alongside the use of physical modelling synths the album contains recordings and samples of violin, guitar and bodhrán, the stringboard of a piano at EMS Stockholm, phone recordings of family gatherings in Dublin and 1970’s dance music from Jaipur.

  Época is a challenging album of diverse and intense soundscapes that expands on the scope of Lakker’s already multifaceted music, finding them at the peak of their artistic powers.

  Resident Advisor album announcement + ‘A Whisper in Your Ear’ track stream

  NOW BOOKING:
  brand new live AV show ft. 3D captures of bodies and golden landscapes
  + live and DJ sets
  brandon [at] lb-agency.net

   

• Lakker’s Eris Harmonia EP out Sept.29

  

  Eris Harmonia is the new EP from acclaimed Dublin-via-Berlin duo Lakker out on Eomac’s Eotrax on September 29. It is an investigation of disparate styles and sounds reflecting different reactions and emotional responses to the current world climate of chaos and uncertainty. The name comes from two Greek Goddesses – Eris, Goddess of disorder and strife, and Harmonia, Goddess of harmony and concord. It is an attempt to find inner peace while navigating the chaos that surrounds us in the world at present: Trump, Brexit, white supremacy, capitalism, corruption, biased media, fake news, the refugee crisis, extremism, violence, rape culture, misogyny, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and that’s just the beginning of the list… The past acutely affects the present. What will our future be? Eris Harmonia is seeking the answer.

  Now booking live AV, live, DJ: brandon [at] lb-agency.net

• Lakker’s “Struggle & Emerge” out now on R&S – documentary + interactive read

  

  On May 13 R&S released Lakker’s “Struggle & Emerge”, a maxi-EP commissioned by the Netherlands Institute of Sound & Vision’s RE:VIVE archival remixing project, about the “complex relationship between the Dutch and the water that surrounds them – unyielding, colossal, industrial.”

  Alongside the EP RE:VIVE has produced a short documentary (below) and interactive long-read (here) to dig into the fascinating research and development process, including historical site visits and expert consultations, involved in composing the music and accompanying A/V show from the archival material. Additionally you can read their insightful interview with The Ransom Note and hear their abstract mix for Self-Titled.

  “Struggle & Emerge” A/V debuted at Rewire festival in The Hague on April 2. Resident Advisor beamed:

  The result was a complex and circuitous route through sunny, bass-heavy dancehall into harsher more abstract noise and techno. But as ever with Lakker, melodies prevailed, made, in this case, from noise. It was another masterful live performance from the duo.

  Pop Matters said of the subsequent A/V performance for Denovali Festival at St.John’s in London:

  The set is virtually flawless: heads follow the beat, eyes stuck on the source, queues dissolve between ambient segments and techno variations, and silence anticipates the audience’s final roar. Energy and ecstasy.

  You can stream and purchase the full EP here.

  NOW BOOKING: S&E A/V, Tundra A/V, live club and DJ sets. brandon [at] lb-agency.net
  
  

• Lakker’s “Struggle & Emerge” out May 13 on R&S – stream ‘Maeslantskering Gating’

  Lakker will release “Struggle & Emerge”, an 8 track EP following last Summer’s “Tundra” LP, via R&S on May 13. The material was commissioned by the Netherlands Institute of Sound & Vision’s RE:VIVE archival remixing project, with the task of representing “Dutch and water”.

  R&S describe it as “a tense soundtrack to the machine driven mid-20th century that captures the complex relationship between the Dutch and the water that surrounds them – unyielding, colossal, industrial.”  Get the full details via FACT and stream the lead track below.

  Lakker’s “Struggle & Emerge” A/V show will debut at REWIRE in The Hague on April 2.

  Now booking live, live A/V, and DJ sets: brandon [at] lb-agency.net

• Lakker ‘Tundra’ remix EP August 14 – A/V show debut at Berlin Atonal + London launch

  

  Lakker’s ‘Tundra’ is getting the remix treatment from Mark Fell, Bjork affiliate Spaces, kyoka, Walls’ Sam Willis (as Primitive World), Acid Mondays, Lahun, and Eomac and Arad re-interpretations. Out August 14 on R&S Records. Resident Advisor have announced the tracklist and more info here. Stream the Mark Fell remix of ‘Oktavist’ below.

  The ‘Tundra’ A/V live show is debuting at Berlin Atonal on Saturday, August 22. It will make it’s UK debut in London at Oval Space for Ovation on September 24. This new interview with Stray Landings paints a strong picture of what to expect.

  NOW BOOKING live A/V & DJ sets: brandon [@] lb-agency.net

• Lakker RA podcast: ‘Techno not techno.’

  

  Hot on the heels of their R&S LP ‘Tundra’, and always committed to mixing the unexpected, Lakker have just made a mega mix for the latest Resident Advisor podcast based on loops they’ve twisted out of artists from Aphex to Emptyset, Autechre to M.E.S.H. and even J Dilla and Panda Bear. Check out the full tracklist, interview, and podcast here.

• Lakker’s ‘Tundra’ LP out today on R&S – stream it in full via Hype Machine

  

  Lakker’s highly anticipated sophomore LP ‘Tundra’ drops today on R&S Records. Following track premieres from FACT and The Quietus, as well as track review of ‘Oktavist’ on Pitchfork in which it was dubbed ‘‘the apocalyptic lovechild of Fuck Buttons and Clark’, you can stream the album in full via Hype Machine here.

  Catch Lakker in Ghent for the R&S night on May 15 at Kompass and in Berlin for Killekill’s 7th anniversary party at Suicide Circus on June 12. More dates to be announced soon!

  Now booking: ‘Tundra’ live A/V and DJ sets
  brandon [at] lb-agency.net