October 21st, 2009
Nosaj Thing elaborating on the inspirations behind Drift, which is increasingly looking top five for the year. I recommend listening at 35,000 feet at 3 a.m with a pair of steroid-strong headphones and zonked on a quart of red wine. Yours Truly also captures Jason Chung rocking his tracks live with surprising style and flair (37-plus pieces). A long feature on the backwards spelling beatmaker is coming soon. In the meantime, another cut from Drift and a Boris remix that the Alpha Pup-signed artist recently did for a Scion-sponsored comp. What more could you ask for?
Download:
MP3: Nosaj Thing-”IOIO”
MP3: Nosaj Thing-”Buzz In (Boris Remix)”
Posted in Nosaj Thing, Low End Theory | 2 Comments »
October 21st, 2009
Like all good producers, phaseone’s remixes are reinterpretations. Raekwon removed from his concrete criminology raps and placed afloat an aqueous ambient sample from Blind Man’s Colour. Bon Iver’s wood-cutter hymns wrapped inside El-P’s apocalyptic abandoned building aesthetic. Rich Boy over some greasy synth-funk. Panda Bear given some snapping Southern-sounding drums. YoungbloodZ drawling over a bass-heavy beat that sounds straight out of Bristol.
More than just a Girl Talk with taste, St. Louis’ best producer (according to the Riverfront Times) reflects the omniverous appetites of his generation about as well as anyone working. Raised on hip-hop but equally eager to talk about Washed Out, Dam-Funk, or Joker, if blogs have taken notice of 24-year old Andrew Jernigan, it’s because he effectively synthesizes these disparate sounds into something singular. It’s possible that it’s all a matter of vanity–after all, everyone wants to hear their tastes affirmed. But ultimately, the beats bang and that’s enough to suspect that phaseone is just getting started.
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Posted in phaseone | 1 Comment »
October 20th, 2009
With Jeff holding down all things Low End and Brainfeeder, I’ve quietly become obsessed with the work of Dayve Hawk AKA Memory Tapes AKA Memory Cassette AKA Weird Tapes AKA Dangerdoom (err…). Madlibesque affinity for alter-egos aside, Hawk’s take on dream-pop defies the reductive signifiers foisted on the latest batch of indie-influenced electronic musicians (or is it electronic-influenced indie musicians?) Forgoing obvious nostalgia, summery vibes and all things “chill”, Walk Me Home stands out for its refusal to conform to the elements that have ”Glo-fi” pegged as the next trip-Hop: a musical genre lauded by taste-makers one minute and mocked the next. Merging the scrappy fidelity of early techno, sounds and chords of cheap synthesized movie scores and all-out fun of Acid House, the track makes a strong case for continuing to listen now that the leaves are falling and beach parties have made way for Haunted Houses.
Download:
MP3: Memory Tapes - Walk Me home [Via Z-Share]
Posted in Memory Tapes, Sach O | No Comments »
October 20th, 2009
“Zilla Rocca Forever” may not have the same ring as “Wu Tang Forever” or even “Donna Martin Graduates,” but the South Illadelphian’s verse over the “Forever” beat from De La’s recent Nike Run Tape, is further evidence why he’s the most rightful inheritor of Aesop Rock and Atmosphere’s abstract rap legacy. Like those two, Zilla’s appeal might be inherently limited to those who shop at Trader Joe’s and once read Kierkegaard in Philosophy 101, but for those whose tastes extend further than Freeway mixtapes, he’s one of the the most interesting and innovative rappers around, one averse to cliche and complacency, and blessed with a rare sense of self-awareness that allows him to admit that he actually shops at Trader Joe’s (if TJ’s Goat Cheese pizza is wrong, I don’t want to be right).
The rap Jack Bauer has laid low since dropping the 5 0′ Clock Shadowboxers album in July, prepping a follow-up Broken Clocks EP (dropping next month) and incinerating an array of beats that remain unreleased. An advance of what’s in store, the “Forever Freestyle” finds Zilla and Has-Lo ruminating on the short shelf life of rappers, aging, and the difficulties of sustaining buzz in the Internet age. The pair have the gift of making rants seem like real concerns, a lost art in an age of emcees bitching about being unfollowed on Twitter. If more rappers following their lead, they wouldn’t even have to go to summer school.
Download:
MP3: Zilla Rocca & Has Lo-”Forever Freestyle”
MP3: Zilla Rocca-”Beatle Bitches Freestyle” (over Mono/Poly’s “Beatles Bitch)
Posted in Zilla Rocca | 6 Comments »
October 20th, 2009
In ongoing proof that the British are a superior culture contrasted to us benighted Yankees, the BBC 1Xtra station has started a new show hosted by Redlight entitled “In New 1Xtra DJ’s We Trust.” Rightfully, they entrusted Bristol bass behemoth, Joker with a slot on the first program, and midway through the three hour show he drops a mix of blistering dubstep, drum and bass, and house featuring Zinc, Toddla T, and Benga. The whole show is worth listening to though, with garage legend MJ Cole coming through dropping a similarly scorching set.
And we have…DJ Khaled.
Download:
MP3: In New 1Xtra DJs We Trust (10/19/09)– Guest mixes by Joker and MJ Cole (Left-Click)
Posted in Joker, Dubstep | No Comments »
October 19th, 2009
Were I to possess limitless time and the myopic belief that more than four people would find it funny, I would make The Education of Soda Popinski, which would combine The Education of Henry Adams’ meditations on educational theory with the trials and travails of this punch-drunk NES pugilist. Alas. Instead, we’ll have to make due with this pair of videos from Javelin’s Jamz and Jemz, which remains in heavy rotation even after their would-be summer expiration date has long since expired. Fun fact: Soda Popinski’s original name was Vodka Drunkenski, rivaling only Tipsy McStagger in ethnically insensitive hilarity.
Download:
MP3: Javelin-”Soda Popinski”
Posted in Javelin | 2 Comments »
October 19th, 2009
I originally wasn’t going to post Alex B’s latest mix made available for free via Brainfeeder, because I’m loathe to avoid co-signing everything that Flying Lotus’ camp does. Then I listened to it–45+ minutes of grimy drums, eerie synth lines and raps from the likes of Viktor Vaughn and Count Bass D filtered through the Brainfeeder’s interstellar inclinations. More brain food for the blunted set. As far as I’m concerned, these guys are the best advocates for medical marijuana since the birthday cake.
Download:
MP3: Alex B-”Brainfood”
Posted in Brainfeeder, Alex B | No Comments »
October 19th, 2009
Are we all tired of lo-fi, yet? Has the practice of some asshole holing up in his garage or basement or parents’ summer house and piling distortion on top of a couple– and, if said lo-fi artist is a virtuoso, maybe even three– chords and a vocal melody so half-assed that it makes Stephen Malkmus sound like Mariah Carey finally reached its point of over-saturation? Perhaps it was Nathan Williams of Wavves basically turning Pitchfork into a hipster TMZ, Dum Dum Girls signing to Sub Pop, music fans over the age of 16 using the rather abhorrent term “shitgaze,“ or the audible slap on my forehead when a kid at the bar was schooling his friend on some really cool up-and-coming band called Sebadoh, but it’s totally understandable if you feel lo-fi has put on the Fonz’s leather coat with some swim trunks and jumped the shark. With the way things are going for the genre, you could very well anticipate Jay-Z showing up at a Wooden Shijps show, or Kanye bigging up Ganglians on his blog.
But then, something funny happened on lo-fi’s unlikely trip to the bank; the best band got lost in the shuffle.
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Posted in Eat Skull, Siltbreeze, Douglas Martin's Dirty Shoes | 8 Comments »
October 17th, 2009
I don’t think one ever needs an excuse to post an Al Green song, but just in case: it’s Saturday morning. There. Music nerds take note: Howard Grimes’ drumming flips from a syncopated break on the intro to a driving soul beat in the verses and back to a slow-and-low breakdown for the choruses. Who says Soul musicians can’t get their prog on?
Download:
MP3: Al Green - Stay with me Forever
Posted in Sach O | 3 Comments »
October 16th, 2009
I’ve been on a Grizzly Bear kick in anticipation of seeing them at this weekend’s Treasure Island Festival, but lingered in listening to “Ghosts,” the new single from the CANT side-project of multi-instrumentalist Chris Taylor. Largely overshadowed by the band’s two lead singers Ed Droste and Daniel Rossen, Taylor’s jump-off solo track reveals exactly how integral he is to the band’s constitution. Those turned off by Grizzly Bear’s oft-glacial pace won’t be converted here, but those already hooked on the band’s celestial harmonies and fragile pop, will likely love this song as much as I do. Few outfits do atmosphere as well as the Brooklyn quartet, and perhaps their critics are right when they write them off as vaporous mood music, but in an increasingly impatient world, there’s something heartening about tunes with a delayed pay-off. Beautifully constructed, repeated listening reveals new quirks, flourishes and layering. The name is appropriate too–a spectral swooning haunting piece that succeeds despite its inexcusable failure to make a veiled Ghostbusters reference. I suppose this is what blogs are for.
Download:
MP3: CANT-”Ghosts”
Posted in Grizzly Bear | 1 Comment »
