Archive for the ‘hip hop’ tag
Having built up a solid dance floor rep facilitating the much loved Boomclap weeklies in Montreal – graced by peers including Lunice, Jacques Greene, Brenmar, DJ Rashad, and Dubbel Dutch – Sinjin Hawke released a slew of vivid bootlegs and remixes in 2011 wringing the essential elements of beauty and booty out of top 40 R&B and Hip Hop, injecting symphonic chromosomes into ghettotech/grime influenced sounds. Download em.
Off the momentum of these releases, dude has recently secured a DJ residency in Barcelona. Now he’s collaborating with new friends to bend the musical arc away from poolside tourista house, toward more edgy beat chemistry – like that stirred by the cold winters and restless youth & artists of the Montreal scene.
The Lights EP – released in December on PelicanFly stretches his gritty romantic beatscapes even further. Here is a tease via megamix. Enjoy.
Zeta Barber a.k.a. Zachariah Tucker is a man of many talents; ranging from music production to clothing and digital design – and he can give you one of the cleanest fades around. However, Zeta stands out from the throngs of self-styled muli-entrepenuers of modern hip hop culture in some very important ways. For starters, Zach’s heart matches his artistic skill and hustle. Over the last 6+ years, he has initiated countless collaborations with artists stretching the Puget Sound - scouting diverse acts from the hood to the hills to feature on his “All-City Chop” mixtapes, all while promoting and supporting the hell out of damn near everybody in the 206 hip hop scene.
His newest project finds dj Zeta Barber & The Forces of Nature at new creative-collaborative high. SoundBody represents a evolution grounded in the chop style - with a smooth osmosis of bounce, 90′s R&B nostalgia, and just the right amount of mystic blip-hop to keep it fresh. Tender Bounce is my jam! Laced with the airy vocals of True Brilliance (see indeed)- the result is another good musical look for Seattle, from a good dude.
Here is the full length official video/short film for the Weeknd’s “The Knowing”, directed by Mikael Colombu, the mind behind dark and twisty videos like Cee-Lo’s “Bodies” and Bilal’s “Robots“. The journey to and cataclysm of planet “Ethio X” in the year 16311 is a cascade of imagery evoking Stargate, Ethiopian Poli sci/Cultural studies and the grotesquely beautiful art of H.R. Geiger, all in all giving me a rare case of the slightly aroused willies. With so much provocative content to analyze – I leave further interpretation to the viewer.
As a bonus, here is a track Mr. Abel Tesfaye released last month called “Initiation”, featuring his signature R&B-for-vampires vocal stylings screwed, auto-tuned and everything in between. Peacepeace.
Shoutouts to DJ Smutlee for putting out a dancehall mixtape that’s actually worthy of blogging. It’s a been a minute.
The London club DJ, mixtape maker, & blend specialist does what he does best on this 61-minute mix, which features a bunch of new jams, a couple tried a true classics and smattering of original mashups. Smutlee has made quite a name for himself in the moombahton scene lately, but it’s good to see that he’s still as keen on the dancehall as ever. Hope y’all enjoy this one as much as I do. It’s on steady bump. Hit the jump for the massive tracklist.
Hip Hop has no shortage of references of an intimacy with street life, but rarely do artists bring the musicality of the streets into the beat as Mr. Green, a.k.a. Aaron Green of Highland Park, NJ does in his Live from the Streets series. Based around showcasing street musicians and turning their performances into hip hop beats, new episodes will be released every two weeks. Mr. Green’s cinematic headnodic sounds have notched collabos with C Rayz Walz, Matisyahu, Slaine of Coka Nostra fame, and pre-eminent Irish emcee Rob Kelly.
In the first episode of Live From The Streets, you find yourself in Rittenhouse Square with Brenda, a super cool lady who was singing along to her radio in the park. “Man with a Broken Heart” is available on itunes and at greenhiphop.com. A full Live from the Streets hip hop album is in the works.
Mr. Green is also accepting artistic input, so if you know of a street musician or sound that you would like to see in a future episode, contact: livefromstreet@gmail.com.
Uh son. Shabazz Palaces doing what they do, live in the studio of Seattle’s beloved independent radio station KEXP. Coming through with style, substance, and unfuckwittable creative veracity – these 206 luminaries demonstrate they have been around the block and see into its future. In this intimate, in-studio session, they perform a few cuts from Black Up, the first album since their recent signing to the world-renowned, Seattle-based independent label Sub Pop. Do yourself a favor and cop Black Up here.
This one goes out to all our good people in Seattle: the team here at Last Night’s Mixtape is excited to announce the first installment of Soundsystem, our new night at Moe Bar.
This Friday the 13th (auspicious, no?), we’re turning Moe Bar into a family affair. And by “family affair” I – naturally – mean “LNM massive,” with Tang and Toast on the decks, Praxis and Wordlush hosting and toasting, and Krieg kissing babies (elect the man already, eh?).
We’re looking forward to having a regular showcase of the very best of the music you get here on Last Night’s Mixtape, (along with a healthy dose of the stuff we love too much to let out into the wilds of the internet), as well as a platform to put on some of the homies from around the country and the world whose music and skills are giving today’s music its tick.
And because we love ya, the night is free – you just show up looking proper, ready to move yourself right, and we’ll provide the bass and inspiration. Not a bad deal.
Details below – as always feel free to hit us up with questions, comments, free music via Twitter (@lstnghtsmxtp) or via “electronic mail” – lastnightsmixtape(at)gmail(dot)com. WORD.
Last Night’s Mixtape presents: Soundsystem
Friday May 13th – 9 pm
Moe Bar – 1425 10th Ave, Seattle, USA
No cover
When I saw this new video on UGSMAG, purveyors of new hiphop media for those seeking refuge from the swag and trap stylings of the day, I rushed to the record shop and copped the album Dialogue. After listening through and blabbing to the homies about how dope the whole album is, I was surprised to find out that the album actually came out in 2009. I’m more than a little embarrassed for managing to sleep on Thavius Beck, cause the album is more creative and cutting edge than most of the hip hop I’ve heard for a minute.
“Go” and the rest of Dialogue speak to my love for lyricism. Beck’s rapid fire delivery kinda reminds of me of Living Legends Eligh, however unlike many dense rhymers he shares space with his epic, degenerate beats in a sonic dialogue that shatters the standard verse/bar formula. If I had to go into battle against an army of soulless terminators – this is what I would bump before facing my fate. A Mush records signee and certified Ableton guru, Beck boasts collaborations ranging from Cedric Bixler-Zavala of The Mars Volta, Saul Williams’, and 2MEX. I will be watching/hoping for some new face-mashing music from dude soon.
The Medulla Transmissions is the soundtrack for your long overdue inner-space road trip. Your navigator is Renaissance man Jahon Mikal; a classically trained pianist, dancer, singer, producer, and reader of auras.
Throughout the decidedly future-funk, electro orchestra of Transmissions – Jahon Mikal’s other artistic confluences can be heard – from the fundamental hip hop mastery of his big bro/hip hop vet Vitamin D to his current work with the up-and-coming Seattle based Hip-Doo-Woppers The Heartfelts. The album also features vocal support from emcee/dance artist Maxie Jamal.
The complex beats and lyrical harmonies are so polished but maintain an organic vibe that is autonomic like the functions of the medulla, kinda like the art behind the simple act of breathing. Fresh.
Please show love and offer what you can, for this this pay- what-you can download album.
