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PLANNINGTOROCK

Planningtorock, the nom-de-plume of Jam Roston, has been creating celebratory queer music with a political edge for over 15 years. Initally working with James Murphy and DFA, alongside releases on Chicks On Speed before starting their own imprint, Human Level; they've opened for LCD Soundsystem and contributed to some amazing collaborations with fellow culture subverters Peaches and The Knife.

Comprised of three celebratory, joyful, saccarine-sweet house tracks, "Gay Dreams Do Come True" is Planningtorock’s aural mission to own their queer happiness, and to share that joy with anyone who wants to listen. Thru heavily manipulated vox, cheeky lyrics and super crisp digital beats, "Gay Dreams Do Come True" finds natural bedfellows alongside fellow PC Music innovators Sophie, Charlie XCX and GFOTY.

'This song is a dedication to my love, my wife Riinu and to the Black trans women who fought for the rights we have today as queer, gay, non binary lesbians.' 

TRACK LISTING

A1 Gay Dreams Do Come True
A2 Gay Dreams Do Come True (Instrumental)
B1 Girl You’ve Got My Heart
B2 Her Heart Is Now My Home

The Knife & Planningtorock & Mount Sims

Tomorrow, In A Year

    In 2009, The Knife was commissioned by the Danish performance group Hotel Pro Forma to provide music for an opera set to mark the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Joining Karin and Olof as collaborators were Mt. Sims and Planningtorock.

    Karin: “We were invited by this Danish performance theatre company ​called Hotel Pro Forma ​to make this piece. And we knew it was supposed to be performed in the Danish Royal Opera House in Copenhagen.”

    Olof: “The theatre company wanted to make an opera about evolution theory and Darwin ideas. And they asked if we could make music for that. We entered that project thinking, Of course, it’s important to talk about Darwin’s impact on fascism in Europe.​ It is as important as the colonial history of Europe — how Darwin’s ideas were misused to promote fascism. But throughout the project, it became clear that [the theatre company] was not interested in that. They were interested in biology and geology.”

    Luckily, Karin and Olof had asked their friends Mt. Sims and Planningtorock to write the opera with them. Together, they wriggled free from conceptual potholes. Instead of bowing to the traditional form’s grandiosity, the collaborators went granular with their sonic palette.

    Karin: “You were very into field recordings at this time.”

    Olof: “Yes, a short period. Which, actually, I just think is silly. Who gets to say that recording this sound in nature is art? It shows the hierarchy of contemporary art. Not everyone can say that a recording of the wind, or whatever, is art.”

    The studio recorded versions of the compositions were released as Tomorrow, In A Year in 2010 by Rabid Records. Now The Knife continues its 20th anniversary celebration as they announce the first-ever vinyl pressing of their work Tomorrow, In A Year.

    TRACK LISTING

    A1. Intro
    A2. Epochs
    A3. Geology
    A4. Upheaved
    A5. Minerals
    B1. Ebb Tide Explorer
    B2. Variation Of Birds
    B3. Letter To Henslow
    B4. Schoal Swarm Orchestra
    C1. Annie’s Box
    C2. Tumult
    C3. Colouring Of Pigeons
    D1. Seeds
    D2. Tomorrow In A Year
    D3. The Height Of Summer

    JFC. Last week Matt Ward accused someone (in the shop, not the generalised 'Man') of spiking the Piccadilly brews with one or more narcotics. Naturally we all laughed him out of the shop. But now, as I sit slack jawed and lost to the most profound déjà vu, I'm starting to believe the Kicking Pidge is in fact a pit canary. I walked into work as an out of shape, mildly out of touch 30-something - I still find friends funnier than I do unacceptable and haven't yet given up on Gervais - but now, as the sounds of this Romy 12" rattle through my ear drums, I'm young again, living out a Uni-era euphoria of Mkat and Mad Ferret. 

    Things are the same but different. Romy XX is on an indie label, her voice as pristene as ever, but now the line up of remixers represents the more balanced face of the industry, each one female or non binary and selected by Romy herself. Though the POV may be different, the purpose is the same, retool an indie OG for the various dance subsets out there. Jayda G takes the tech-house approach, taking the Innervisions approach of jazzy keys and moody bass whomps, while Planningtorock's "Let It Happen" remix is as close to electroclash as anyone dares to get in 2k21.Though the instrumentation may stray a little too close to Whitey's "Leave Them All Behind" the adventurous use of vocal pitch shift more than makes up for it. Kicking off the flip HAAi's in some sort of MBV meets EDM fever dream, translating the OG into a euphoric call back to Skream's "In For The Kill" remix (on a side note, the isolated vocal in the breakdown here has a distinctly Appalachian flavour - country EDM 2.0?) before local shero Anz pairs breaks and bass oomph with some rather sophisticated keys. 

    Four mixes for four different sets and one neat A Capella to show off those vocals in splendid self isolation. 

    TRACK LISTING

    Lifetime (Jayda G Baleen Mix)
    Lifetime (Planningtorock 'Let It Happen' Remix)
    Lifetime (HAAi’s Green Lamborghini Romix)
    Lifetime (Anz’s Togetherness Remix)
    Lifetime (A Capella)

    Planningtorock

    PlanningtoChanel

      Collaboration between Planningtorock AKA Jam Rostron and Chanel sound director Michel Gaubert, the songs found on ‘PlanningtoChanel’ soundtracked the legendary Parisian fashion house’s Autumn-Winter 2020 show earlier this year.

      “I always felt that Jam incorporates operatic and cinematic elements to their unique sound,” Gaubert explains. “The Chanel show was inspired by French cinema from the 70’s and 80’s and Planningtorock blessed the show with their sound and gave birth to ‘PlanningtoChanel’.”

      “I love working with Michel. He’s a such legend with a brilliant ear for music and a very big heart!” says Rostron of the collaboration. “Creating the music for the Chanel show was such an exciting challenge. From the inspiring references that Michel gave me I set out to make music that had a sense of urgent elegance that was then punctuated with dramatic pitched queer voices driving the drama.”

      TRACK LISTING

      Drama Darling (Chanel Show Version)
      Jam Fam (Chanel Show Version)
      From Tallinn With Love (Chanel Show Version)
      Drama Darling (Maxi Version)
      Jam Fam (Maxi Version)
      From Tallinn With Love (Maxi Version)

      Planningtorock

      Powerhouse

        After four years, Berlin-via-Bolton dance producer Planningtorock, aka Jam Rostron, returns to DFA with "Powerhouse". The album is a personal reflection, told via an avant-pop musical narrative that serves as a path to making peace with their family, hometown, and the ever-changing nature of identity. Written and recorded across Berlin, London, New York and Los Angeles,  ‘Powerhouse’ comes couched in the precision-tooled synths that have become Rostron’s signature, though critics and fans will hear a subtle, ear worm-y shift in style here: from the Noughties US R&B swagger of ‘Transome’ and the bubbling old school 90s house of ‘Beulah Loves Dancing’ and ‘Non Binary Femme’, to the funky, flute-laced ‘Much To Touch’ (the only track on ‘Powerhouse’ to feature a co-producer, long-time friend and collaborator Olof Dreijer of The Knife). Ultimately, ‘Powerhouse’ is a celebration of liberation, a groove-filled record that sees Rostron consolidating power both personal and artistic.

        TRACK LISTING

        Wounds
        Transome
        Dear Brother
        Somethings More Painful Than Others
        Much To Touch
        Jam Of Finland
        Non Binary Femme
        Piece Of My Mind
        Beulah Loves Dancing
        Powerhouse


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