DJ Sliink usually tags his songs as either “Trap”, “Jersey Club” or “Sliink” on his Soundcloud. The first two are pretty self-explanitory, but the Jersey native’s best work comes under the “Sliink” label, a mixture of the previous two that infuses verbose trap stylings (minus the moombahton synth stabs) with subtle club rhythms. Sliink is a master vocal manipulator and on his take on 2 Chainz’ “Birthday Song”, he uses that girl’s (you know what I’m talking about) vocals as an individual instrument to maximum effect. It’s Saturday night where I am, so I have no conscious posting about a song that centers on a “big booty” sample. Stream and download below.
Animal samples, specifically roars, barks, purrs, etc., have become fairly common in dance music over the past few decades. Off the top of my head, I think of Baauer’s “Harlem Shake” and Ratatat’s “Wildcat” as two successful examples. While the cat family has been commonly sampled, other species (I’m no biologist) have been ignored. Imagine how cool an elephant sample would be? Norwegian producer Cashmere Cat opts for a rattle snake. The shaking noise is a constant in the Cat’s remix of “No Lies” and, not unlike Trillville’s bedframe sample, adds an uncommon veil of mystery as a result of its unfamiliarity. Stream and download the remix below.
Mr. West recently set the interweb ablaze by releasing a video for his Kanye & Friends banger (well, banger except for ‘Ye’s verse, even that’s aight-ish) “Mercy”.
Ostensibly, this deserves coverage on The Astral Plane because “Hudson Mowhawke played some instruments” in the production process of “Mercy”. But I like it for more than the involvement of my second favorite preteen lookin’ ass producer from Glasgow. DJ Nobody, or another slightly less flossy resident, has played this every week at Low End Theory since it’s release and fuck, people still get TURN’T to this song. I think this song is pushing things forward. It clearly falls into the trap aesthetic, it’s dark and looming, hangs out in a menacing minor key, and bangs along at a nice leisurely tempo. BUT THERE AREN’T ANY MACHINE GUN HIHATS. Can you even do that? Is that allowed? Of course. Things like Kanye’s dancehall sample, Big Sean talking about his favorite body part, and 2chainz being a boss carry the song rather than the elements of trap production that have been driving people bananas lately. I like that. I don’t want dark slow rap beats to turn into the “pissing contest” that dubstep has today. Obviously, who can make the craziest, waviest beat will be a lot better pissing contest than dubstep’s quest for filth and middle school fans, but I would hate to see American bass music get stuck in another rut. Luckily, the GOOD crew has placed a commercially successful beacon out there for producers to look at and say, hmmmmm, maybe more with less is the way to fuck the club up.
