Oakland's experimental electronic movement is gaining national attention, helped hugely by West in Dust founders Dave Reep (Elephant & Castle) and Glenn Jackson (James & Evander). Get a feel for the label's futuristic underground sounds on its new compilation, available for free download or stream below, featuring both local and international artists. In the coming month, expect an EP of new material from Placeholder and a debut from Medla. 

Catch key members of this growing scene Yalls, Glenn Jackson and Some Ember at a free show tonight in Oakland at Era Art Bar Lounge.

Track list below with local artists in bold:

01 Ra Cailum “わかりません"
02 Hugo Frederick “Limber”
03 Placeholder “Pot Pan”
04 Gardland “Jaws”
05 Benefits “Souse”
06 Xavier León “Who Did I Break”
07 Medla “Ruhl”
08 Rekchampa and Morning High “Thoughts About the Inbox”
09 Different Sleep “Deep Inside Us”
10 Yalls “Outerbanks”
11 Rave Deep “Step Right”
12 Glenn Jackson “Fell”
13 Colo “You’re Mine”
14 Elephant & Castle and shortcircles “All I Can Say"

--Whitney Phaneuf

Oakland music producer Elephant & Castle (aka David Vincent Reep) recently released two videos for new tracks, “I Will” and “En Memoria” (featuring fellow Oakland darlings tUnE-YarDs), off his forthcoming album Transitions, out Tuesday, March 27 via Plug Research.

The nomadic, young producer traveled around Colorado, Texas, California and London, where he was inspired by the Elephant and Castle neighborhood's blues and soul sound. After returning to the US, Reep became fascinated with rave music and started interning at a studio where he self-released a 7” of his own experimentations. Next he released the acclaimed Analogue EP, mastered by Daddy Kev, plus a bunch of singles available for streaming on Bandcamp. On Transitions, expect more jazz and ambient sounds similar to artists such as DJ Shadow, Flying Lotus and Burial.

-- Amanda Dissinger

Elephant & Castle - En Memoria feat tUnE-YarDs from Plug Research on Vimeo.