Archive for August, 2011
My man Otis, a.k.a rising Seattle producer OC Notes, continues to push boundaries with The New Generation, “a collection of favorite songs written on his acoustic guitar.” The tracks reveal yet another dimension of OC’s musical range – Blues and melodic bossa nova-style strings drive most of the songs, but there’s plenty of fresh keys and dope sampling that you would expect from OC. I am very much feeling the soulful, song-cipher-on-the porch with the homies-while-sipping a cold one mellowness of this Record. Perfect soundtrack for a beautiful 85 degree Seattle Day. Holler.
You might recall me recently showing some love for Glasgow stalwart Hudson Mohawke and his freshly released Satin Panthers EP. But Hudson Mohawke isn’t the only dj/producer from Glasgow that deserves some shine. In fact, Rustie has been making quite a name for himself over the past couple years. But even though he’s been around for as long as his fellow countryman HudMo has, he is just now set to release his debut LP, Glass Swords, in early October via Warp.
“All Nite” is the first single from the upcoming album. Some might call it dubstep, but I think it goes way beyond what that two-dimensional word tends to encapsulate. Sure, it’s got the 140 bpm thing going for it, but whatever. It’s a full-bodied banger: melodic and bassy. Dubstep haters be damned. Stream the tune below.
If you like what you hear, you should probably check out Rustie’s live 45 minute mix from Boiler Room from a couple of weeks ago, which you can enjoy in video and/or streaming audio format (pretty cool). He kinda tore shit up.
it’s the summer, and it’s way easier to be outside than in here blogging. so here’s a bunch of stuff i’ve been digging the past few weeks. first up, lunice dropped ep one hunned last week, and “juice,” the track above, is the standout for me. you can hit up youtube to listen to the ep on luckyme’s channel, but you should probably just buy it.
austin dj/producer dubbel dutch put out this slow club (i.e. slowed down “jersey club rnb remixes”) mix that’s pretty good.
another good mixtape is this one LA-band nite jewel made for a party they played. it’s some good off-kilter soul, etc. jams. you can find the tracklist over here.
i thought about posting balam acab’s new song “motion” simply because of the waveform, but now it’s because i keep listening to it and the rest of the album that it’s from. it’s called WANDER / WONDER and it’s a pretty perfect late-night soundtrack. if you like “motion,” you should also check it out this remix.
and finally, another mixtape and more good late-night music. this is a mix that d33j made for super-blog live for the funk. d33j is a musician/beatmaker from san francisco well worth checking out for his original music as well. you can preview/download his ep tide songs here.
There isn’t enough attention paid to the kind of electronic music that the Glitch Mob creates. On one hand, by putting their genre (glitch) in their name, the LA-based trio make everything as mentally accessible to comprehend as they possibly can. But from a creative standpoint, a lot of people still don’t get them and much of the music they make flies over people’s heads.
Such is life.
I’ve been digging the dudes for awhile and can’t wait to dive into their brand new EP, We Can Make the World Stop, which was just released. Their eponymous new single is full of interesting visuals that come off as cheesy at first, but grow on you rapidly until you’re waiting to find out what happens next. Really want to know? Keep listening.
P.S. Big ups to Dugan O’Neal for creating such a visually lush music video.
Since Sole parted ways with Anticon last year, he’s been fiercely expanding his medium and message. In addition to altering hip hops genetic code with the Skyrider crew, Sole has ferociously subverted top 40/EDM cliches to exorcise deeply personal and political narratives – riding the hell out of the beats while doing so. Below is a heart/brain wrenching audio-visual collabo with UK sci-fi artist Lando (Decadence Comics), off the album Hello Cruel World, out now on Fake Four Inc.
Conversely Serengeti’s Family and Friends is his first release on Anticon. Dude a.k.a. David Cohn has been getting some love in various blogalaxies – I think deservedly so. The space and raw tenderness of the beats supplied by WHY? frontman Yoni Wolf and ex-Casiotone for the Painfully Alone mastermind Owen Ashworth leave an inviting canvass for Serengeti to paint introspective and inventive cuts like “The Whip.” Not sure who gets credit for the animated sketches in the video, but they definitely give the song an emotive heft. Props to both of these artists for having the personal inspiration and audience push to do what they are doing.
ALLEGEDLY.
Safari Sound, Sweden’s baddest soundsystem, can’t stop killing the game. First they ring the summer in, and now they won’t let it go without a fight. My kind of people.
My question: if you live in a city that gets almost eighteen hours of sun every day at the height of the summer, does it feel like summer never ends? I’m okay with that.
Sigh.
prepare to see this everywhere today: internet-sensation the weeknd dropped an appropriately titled new mixtape earlier this evening. thursday includes previously leaked tracks “rolling stone” and “the birds part one.” coming off their first live show, which youtube indicates was pretty solid, thursday seems to be a continuation of that emo-ish, r&b-ish, definitely catchy sound. download it here and enjoy mixtape standout “the zone,” which features fellow canadian drake, below:
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the weeknd – “the zone” (download)
No super secret downloads or anything over on these parts, but this most excellent video by the most excellent Monterrey, MX crew 3Ball MTY dropped a couple weeks back, and it’s worth a watch. These dudes are having precisely the correct amount of fun that is required when you and your best friends become global sensations at the ripe old age of 16. Good on you, fellas.
it’s proving to be a great month in new releases from high-quality beatsmiths. hudson mohawke dropped his new satin panthers ep. tuesday will (finally) see the release of lunice’s follow-up ep, one hunned (here’s hoping for a full youtube stream a la hudmo). also out on tuesday is the vinyl-only release of greene01 from the québécois beatmaker/dj jacques greene. we’ve been fans for a minute (and i got super hooked based on this one minute youtube clip), and this promo clip really whets the appetite for more – that “motivation” re-work is crazy. enjoy the basic instinct visuals/michael douglas’s vacant stare that accompany the 12″ preview (not sure why dude disabled embedding, so click through on the video above to check it out – it’s well worth your time).
