Hello loyal readers. We regret the lack of action over the past week, but two thirds of the team has been at George, WA at Sasquatch. We learned a few things over the weekend; slow and steady wins the race; Jack Black shouldn’t be allowed near children; and most importantly, you should all learn to do the Larry David. In all seriousness, Sasquatch is an incredible festival in one of the most breathtaking natural settings one could imagine. Before we get to our coverage of the festival though, we have to catch up. It was an incredible weekend for bass/beat music so I’ll just get right into it.
Everyone and I mean everyone has eagerly been anticipating the release of the TNGHT (Hudson Mohawke x Lunice) EP on July 23, but before we bestow the duo with the crown, another Lunice side project needs to be fairly recognized. Nouveau Palais, made up of three Montreal-born beatsmiths, Lunice, Ango and Prison Garde, entered our airspace yesterday with the Avant Gang EP. Despite being named after a Montreal comfort food eatery, the trio’s music is far from cozy as it coyly bounces from futuristic takes on garage to hip hop to house. As an added bonus the EP features remixes from Canblaster & Sinjin Hawke, Salva, Monolithium and more. Oh yeah, it’s free courtesy of Red Bull Music Academy. Don’t sleep, pick the EP up right here.
Jonwayne has made quite the name for himself as an outspoken internet critic, sparring with fans on his various social networking profiles. He has also made a name for himself by unexpectedly releasing quality material via those same social networking profiles. The verbal diarrhea can get tiring at times, but then he’ll release something like Jonwayne Fucks Disney. Crafting using only an “SP-404 SX, an iPad used to access Youtube videos, and a Zoom H2 to bounce sounds to”, the 8 track beat tape is a testament to the La Habra producer’s dexterity behind the boards. Straying from his usual palette of 8-bit samples, the tape gets weird with a number of Disney samples from Dumbo, Alice In Wonderland and more. This one is not for the faint of heart. Also, a free download. Get it here.
Everyone and their mommas (us included) have had their panties in a bunch over a new school of MC’s made up of the likes of Danny Brown, the Black Hippy crew and A$AP Rocky. Nacho Picasso is another member of what SPIN called the “New Underground”, but has inexplicably received less praise than his compatriots. Exalted is Nacho’s third album of this year in collaboration with Blue Sky Black Death and it might just be their best output yet. It’s blunt music for the party. A hip hop take on The Weeknd in some sense, investigating the emotional gaps between the party and the after party, the dose and the overdose. Nacho’s lyrical output has improved with every album and Exalted is no different. Production-wise, BSBD has never been better, outgrowing their roots in instrumental hip hop long ago and growing into one of the premier forces in hip hop. This one isn’t free, but I can’t imagine you’ll find a better way to spend five dollars. Cop it here.
Haleek Maul, learn the name Internalize it and wait for his rise. The 15 year old Barbados via Brooklyn MC has been making some waves on the internet recently and “88″, produced by Chicago duo The-Drum, further solidifies himself as one of the most exciting MC’s to come out of the woodwork in a long, long time. My words aren’t a proper testament to this track so just give it a spin.
Only because of lack of time, I’ll speed through these last few. New Daedelus Fact Mag mix. Dark Ages EP on Salva’s Frite Nite. Jacques Greene did a mix for oki-ni. Hopefully this makes up for our lack of activity. Check back in a few hours for the first few installments of our Sasquatch coverage.
