Beats » Passion of the Weiss

May
15

Jonah Bromwich also appreciates De Quincey. As someone who doesn’t instantly spot all eight samples that today’s wunderkind producers are cramming into their songs, I’m thankful that Miami newcomer Madeaux’s new track “Opium” sounds as good as it does. There’s no personal gratification with easter eggs heaped throughout the track’s four minutes—I mean, I recognize… Continue reading »

Apr
05

Baller Blockin

Maybe it’s because the latter half of my college years were soundtracked by Labor Days, Float and Music by Cavelight, but I still consider Blockhead better than almost all of the new barrage of instrumental beatmakers who cultivate semi-anonymous public images to mask (presumably) boring personalities. Like, I know people are trying to get me… Continue reading »

Apr
04

The Fantastic Plastic of Lee Bannon

Evan Nabavian is considering taking a job in plastics. A man claiming to be recording himself taking a dump with his iPod screams, “I got video chat on this muthafuckaaa! I got a million games on this muthafuckaaa!” right before the song abruptly switches to an antiquated infomercial about the Internet. The distorted clips and… Continue reading »

Feb
07

Shlohmo’s Vacation

Jonah Bromwich’s favorite vacation spot is the Isle of Wight. There’s only so much concrete meaning that we can infer from beatmakers’ music. Without lyrics acting as signposts, all we have to go on is tempo, mood and the occasional sample. Not much really. That’s what makes it so fun when a producer like Shlohmo… Continue reading »

Jan
28

DJ Burn One – “When There’s Smoke” Beat Tape

Like dolphins and Dick Cheney, occasionally a beat needs to breathe. Burn One understands this well — dropping an instrumental mix-tape composed of his oven-roasted country soul feasts. Slow slinking smoked-out funk that aims for some imagined house band that the Dungeon Family never knew. If I was in college, I would demand that this… Continue reading »

Jan
25

Daedelus – “California”

Alfred the Great drops a bomb to rip up the nu-”California” stereotype established by Phantom Fucking Planet in 2002 and continued until whenever The OC croaked. How much would you rather hear this than that wrist-cutting-in-the-sunshine sop that soundtracked Adam Brody’s amateur neuroses? (Let the pro’s handle this, son.) Maybe I’m biased. Daedelus’s original last… Continue reading »

Jan
11

Son Raw: Beatfighter steps into the arena

Son Raw is the message, the medium, the content and the platform. The first thing you learn in a 100 level communications class is that the medium is the message, or at least that’s what we learn in Canada. We’re very proud of Marshal McLuhan. You see, he was a theorist who…ok I’ll stop before… Continue reading »

Nov
22

yU’s Fresh Garbage

Jonah Bromwich wrote his first draft of this on a smoked banana peel. It’s hard to avoid self-deprecation when you’re standing right beside incredible talent. While yU is probably the best rapper in Diamond District (and maybe even on Mello Music) the producing wizardry is usually situated in Oddisee, whose Rock Creek Park is the… Continue reading »

Oct
28

Beat Traps: Knxwledge is Self

Chris Daly cons comics and not the other way around. It’s a bitch to live up to prophesy. Just ask Darth Vader. In his preordained role to reign supreme over nearly everyone, Knxwledge has demonstrated a propensity and proclivity towards Madlib-ian consistency (alliterations rule, bitch; look it up). Since the end of June alone, the… Continue reading »

Oct
25

Midnight Snacks & Movie Stars

In sleep, Evan Nabavian gets to be a viking. I think all men indulge in fantasies of being rock stars, superheroes, star athletes, firemen, hard-boiled cops, war heroes, Mossad agents, billionaires, samurai masters, professional wrestlers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and movie stars. But the terrible price of glory has been well-covered by Hollywood. An odd… Continue reading »