DJ Stingray prepares new album, F.T.N.W.O

Long time Drexciya affiliate Sherard Ingram will release his second album under the DJ Stingray moniker, F.T.N.W.O, next month on Belgian imprint WéMè Records.

The masked producer was a founding member of  the Urban Tribe collective project that also includes fellow Detroit deities Carl Craig, Anthony Shakir and Kenny Dixon, Jr, while he also served a musical apprenticeship as the official tour DJ for legendary duo Drexciya in the late 90s. The sound of Gerald Donald and the late James Stinson heavily influenced Ingram, who has gone on to carve his own sonic niche as DJ Stingray, fusing elements of techno and electro while staying true to the Drexciyan sonic aesthetic. In recent years Ingram has built a close working relationship with WéMè Records, releasing two 12″s and one album – 2008’s Aqua Team 2 – through the Belgian imprint, and he’s also put out singles with the likes of Unknown To The Unknown, Micron Audio, TRUST and [Naked Lunch].

In discussion with Juno Plus writer Richard Brophy last year, Ingram gave some brief insight into how the album would sound, claiming it would a “meat and potatoes” affair that was “all about the dance”, which suggests the 11 tracks on F.T.N.W.O will feature more of the neck snapping drum programming and mystical aquatic energies that have marked Stingray’s output to date. In the same interview Ingram bemoaned the apolitical nature of so much modern dance music, and F.T.N.W.O’s tracklisting belies a high level of social awareness, with track titles “Civil Agenda”, “Denial Of Service”, “Interest Rate” and “Outsourced” littered throughout the album. There’s a certain element of Enemy Of The State mystery too, with “Dark Arts”, “Lead From The Shadows” and “Reverse Engineering” also appearing as track titles, the latter in collaboration with TRUST Record regulars Microthol.

WéMè Records will release DJ Stingray’s F.T.N.W.O on 2xLP vinyl in December 2012.

Tracklisting:

A1. Civil Agenda
A2. Dark Arts
A3. Room Clearance
B1. Denial Of Service
B2. Interest Rate
C1. No Knock
C2. Lead From The Shadows
C3. Reverse Engineering (Microthol & Stingray)
D1. Image Search
D2. Outsourced
D3. Remote Viewing