Archive for May, 2011
file this in the something to look forward to department: montreal beatmaker lunice is putting out a six-song ep of “CERTIFIED BANGERS” via music-art-parties label luckyme. based on the preview that found it’s way on the internet yesterday, “sometime this summer” can’t come soon enough:
hard to describe (though if i had to, i’d say electronic, soulful, dubstep, with an emphasis on dub), and even harder to google london outfit LV recently released their first full-length record, routes. they’ve technically released it with vocalist, poet, and i’m just going to go ahead and guess based on his twitter handle, benin citizen joshua idehen (though he sounds english as well). it’s really great, cohesive, and honestly i’m just glad to have something more than just two or three LV songs to listen to at once. stream one of my favorites from the album, “deleted scene,” below. you can also stream/download the promo mix for the record here, courtesy of FACT.
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LV & josh idehen – “deleted scene”
and because i’m feeling generous, i’m also going to share probably my favorite LV remix. it’s their “disco mix” of a dubstep track by pinch, featuring yolanda called “get up”. it’s really great. see for yourself:
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pinch, ft. yolanda – “get up (LV disco mix)” (download)
KEXP is a behemoth. Both as an online radio station and as a terrestrial broadcaster in Seattle and New York, the station is a perennial tastemaker, and has moved many musicians from these bloggy nether regions into the central (and hopefully bills-paying) mainstream.
It’s a great role to play, which is why it’s nice to see a new show, “El Sonido,” on KEXP that is all all all about “Latin” music. A lot of the music we put up here can, theoretically, be grouped under that particular rubric, and it’s good to see one of the big dogs in this game give it some shine.
To celebrate the upcoming show (it kicks off on May 23rd, from 6-9pm PST), show boss DJ Chilly (pictured above with Los Rakas) put together a mix of the type of musics he’s going to be playing. It’s a good look for the show, featuring some of my favorite folks, from stalwarts like Los Rakas and Uproot Andy to some of the newer kids on the scene like Mexicans With Guns, Sonora, Zuzuka Poderosa, Chancha and Atropolis.
All in all, vurrry solid. Take a listen, and tune in to support.
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Download: DJ Chilly ¡Manos Arriba! mixtape (right click, save as)
Tracklist after the jump.
As I was combing the internet for good music yesterday, I found a new song from French electro-funk producer SebastiAn that features M.I.A., “CTFO” (Chill The Fuck Out). I had never heard of this SebastiAn guy before – apparently, he’s a kind of a big deal to some people. sue me. – and, to be honest, I wasn’t really feeling that track. Sad to say, but I think this one’s going straight to the junk heap that has become M.I.A.’s music as of late.
I was still curious, though, and I clicked around and found this other jawn he did with Mayer Hawthorne, “Love in Motion,” which had been circulating on the blogs and twitters for the last week or so (I see you, @melenie). At first, I didn’t even recognize the Stone’s Throw crooner’s self-described “hanging-by-a-string falsetto” through the distortion effects. I thought that maybe the track had been mislabeled. But a few seconds in I was like, “Dang, this is kinda nice. It’s a funkier, almost Prince-like Mayer that I never knew existed.” Perhaps you’ll agree. Unfortunately, this radio rip is the best quality I could find, but it’s not that bad, and its definitely worth a listen or few while you wait for the HQ version.
After jammin out to “Love in Motion” a couple times, I dug a little deeper and found this video for the track “Embody,” which premiered back in March (again, shouts out to melenie). The single was released in early April. Late pass, sure, but I had to share it. It’s by far my favorite track that I’ve heard off of his upcoming LP, Total, on Ed Banger Records. I’m sure it’s not the first time that this has been said about a French electro producer’s music, but this song’s got an old school Daft Punk air to it, which I actually enjoy a lot. The video is hella fun too. The little man is unstoppable.
Total drops May 30th in Europe and June 7th Stateside.
LxNxM faves bonjay dropped a new mixtape today – suburban gothic – for the blog the stool pigeon. featuring their mega-soulful cover of caribou’s “jamelia” (get it here already), suburban gothic runs the gamut of bonjay’s sounds and influences (according to the stool pigeon and mixcloud that is r&b, electronica, dubstep, indie, dancehall, and gothic). which means it’s pretty great. stream it below:
this video for “mezdé,” from débruit’s recent ep şiş sürpriz, is mesmerizing. the track is pretty incredible too. preview şiş sürpriz below, and buy it here. (via)
Huge thanks and big ups to everyone who came out to Moe Bar and helped us kick off the first ever installment of Soundsystem. Good times were had, and the dance floor was packed all night. The bartenders were working their asses off getting you everything you needed, and I’m hoping everyone tipped – they earned it.
But words only go so far, and a picture is worth a thousand of them. Check the photos below (with a bunch more after the jump) to see what all went down. And keep your ears peeled for more Soundsystem news and future get-downs coming up.
Thanks again – you all made it happen by making the place crack on Friday!
Tons more after the jump.
the above video is a perfect distillation of why local news is so shitty. or, as the blog where i found this puts it, “this thing could not be more pitch-perfect if it were scripted. Reporter: ‘This was quite the scene here on Newbury Street. Several hundred people came out to see, uh, Tyler, the Creator [shakes head, makes quizzical face], a hip-hop artist.’ ” my favorite part of the report is when the guy with the perfect news reporter name – ted daniel – tries to talk to odd future and is pointed and laughed at.
i don’t know how you feel about odd future, but at this point i’m more interested in them as a cultural phenomenon generating coverage like the one up there. i’m not sure the formula has much changed since the days of punk rock or when hip hop started blowing up 25-30 years ago. indeed, odd future combines elements of punk and rap, but they still appeal to us in much the same way that those genres and the artists who popularized them did. as my friend josh said to me the other night, “the quality of their compositions are ragged and youthful, and that appeals to people. on the musical level, it’s like punk rap, in the sense that these kids don’t really know how to play their instruments proper, but they play the shit out of them, and it communicates their energy.”
even this business about “controversial” lyrics isn’t that new (i’m pretty sure the sex pistols and ice-T can speak to lyrical controversies as well). what’s changed is the media by which artists can access audiences in new and exciting ways. and considering the music business these days, i’d say it’s a good thing that odd future aren’t on a big record label and have much greater control over the music they make and how they present themselves to the world. sadly, what also hasn’t changed is how older media institutions like local news (above) or the new york times cover these phenomena, where i’ll once again defer to josh: “the praise that is heaped and heaped upon these young jokers really highlights the laziness and out-of-touchness of these major media outlets. and that’s a worthy interactive revelation in itself, enough to justify for me the attention i pay to these kids.”
A 2nd generation member of the avant-garde LA collective Project Blowed, Open Mike Eagle reps 1/3 of Thirsty Fish alongside fellow emcees Psychosiz and the notorious GrindTime tested battler Dumbfounded.
Working up a much deserved buzz lately, OME glides with concise wit and a bassy-smooth voice over this dope headnodic beat – production courtesy of Willie Green. Download “Nightmares” here, the first single from OME’s forthcoming Rappers Will Die of Natural Causes.
It’s definitely exciting to hear Hip Hop like this getting recognized in the midst of the swag crusades. OME pays homage well to the unapologetic creative lineage of left coast Hip Hop communities like the Good Life Cafe and Project Blowed.
