Archive

Author Archives: Gabe Meier

Daphni Runs Through Three Decades Of House Music At Boiler Room

By
October 13, 2012
Live, Mixes
Leave a comment

Full disclosure: attending Boiler Room is something of a dream of mine (hayyy organizers) that has yet to be fully realized. I’m currently abroad and I heard about the Decibel Festival x Boiler Room events in my hometown of Seattle I nearly broke down in tears. Similarly, I have been unable to attend any events in Los Angeles where I spend most of the year. That’s why it kills me to see an apathetic crowd like the one at the Daphni/Four Tet curated Boiler Room earlier this week. Sure it’s awkward to be on camera, but at least act like you want to be there. IT’S FUCKING CARIBOU UP THERE. Ok, deep breath. Rant over. Performing as Daphni (read our Jiaolong review here), Dan Snaith ran through disco, acid and deep house numbers that clearly influenced the album. There aren’t many DJs out there who can meld the sounds of the 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s so effortlessly, but Snaith excels in a uniquely timeless manner. Stream the mix above.

New Mr MFN eXquire – “Telephuck” (Feat. Gucci Mane) (Prod. El-P)

By
October 12, 2012
New Music
Leave a comment

Alright so Mr MFN eXquire and Gucci Mane are nice and all but that dude El-P? Continuing to improve and expand upon his revised Bomb Squad sound, El Proucto has revitalized his career as of late and risen like a phoenix out of the Def Jux carcass. Actually, fuck that imagery. “Telephuck” is mean and raunchy, two traits eXquire and Gucci excel at, but they really don’t have to do much over this tempestuous production. The track will appear on eXquire’s Power & Passion EP, out November 6.

New Maribou State – “Summerfolds” (Feat. Nubiya Brandon)

By
October 12, 2012
New Music
2 Comments

London duo Maribou State have spoken repeatedly in the past about a necessity for vocal cuts in their music. While they work primarily within the general bass music sphere, Maribou State’s past few EPs are far more suited for headphone listening than any sort of club play. Their latest track, “Summerfolds”, continues that trend with a pitch-perfect vocal assist from Nubiya Brandon and a mellow vibe despite a persistent kick. The track will appear on Maribou State’s upcoming Scarlett Groove EP, which you can cop on November 12 via Southern Fried Records. Not sure if this is just a snippet or what, but stream two minutes of “Summerfolds” below.

Keyboard Kid Makes Laptop Music On His Computer

By
October 11, 2012
New Music
Leave a comment

Taking a step back from his usual output of blunted hip hop pâte, Keyboard Kid released ComputersxDrugs earlier, a mixtape that is about as close to the label “laptop music” as anything out there. Nary an organic sound on this tape. A lot of ComputersxDrugs is pretty uncomfortable in the sense that I can’t really imagine an appropriate time to indulge it. It’s part techno and part noise, but there are moments of inspiration, particularly on “R@!53d0n8B1t”. Stream below.

New Mood Indigo – “Glimpse”

By
October 11, 2012
New Music
Leave a comment

Boston’s Mood Indigo is back with another one replete with uncomfortably sparse vocals and a clear understanding of how to utilize empty space and silence. Mood indigo has been releasing a steady stream of tracks over the past few months so if we’re lucky we’ll get a full project soon. “Glimpse” is another step forward though and as long as he keeps churning out tunes like this, no complaining from this guy.

New Main Attrakionz – “Cloud Body” (Prod. Grown Folk)

By
October 11, 2012
New Music
1 Comment

Grown Folks have been inextricably linked with Main Attrakionz for the past few years, acting as their tour DJ(s) and handling a good amount of production work, so it only makes sense for the Montreal duo to handle production on what is probably the last single off of Bossalinis & Fooliyones. The album drops in a few weeks (October 22) via Young One Records and should be Mondre and Squadda’s magnum opus. On a side note, it’s really nice to see their songs actually, you know, mastered and shit. As much as I love (and hate) the whole “cloud” aesthetic, lo-fi is almost always a bad look for hip hop artists. Just ask Blu. Stream and download “Cloud Body” below.

 

New DJ Spinn & DJ Rashad – “She Turnt Up”

By
October 11, 2012
New Music
Leave a comment

Chicago legends DJ Spinn and DJ Rashad are not ones to fuck around. From the onset of “She Turnt Up”, the intent of the track is established. Loose women, white powder and (enhanced) orange juice are the priorities for Spinn and Rashad who continue to perfect and expand upon their Juke origins. “She Turnt Up” falls more into the Ghetto House category and will appear on Teklife Vol. 2: What You Need, scheduled for an October 23 release on Lit City. Stream below.

Preview Clicks & Whistles ‘2 Much Higher’ EP

By
October 11, 2012
New Music, Remixes
Leave a comment

Kastle’s Symbols label has been on a tear as of late, with releases from Druid Cloak, We Sink and Jason Burns & Kastle in the last month alone. Symbols is one of the few labels out there whose visual aesthetic matches the sound they produce with ruthless efficiency. The next Symbols release comes from North Carolina production duo Clicks & Whistles who released their last EP on Distal’s Embassy Recordings last month. Clicks & Whistles appear to have ramped up the BPM on 2 Much Higher, embracing Juke on every song besides XI’s remix of the title track. It’s an interesting look for the duo who have cut their teeth making slower hip hop jams, so give it a listen below and grab the EP on October 23.

Danny Brown Collaborates With American Apparel Manikins

By
October 10, 2012
New Music
Leave a comment

Son Raw summed up my opinion of Purity Ring perfectly earlier, calling them a “pair of living, breathing, American Apparel manikins”, but if anyone is going to make their watered down, monolithic take on pop and hip hop palatable, it’s Bruiser Brigade don Danny Brown. Going in over a slightly altered version of one of Purity Ring’s better tracks, Brown spits one of his longer verses and then goes into some weird autotune shit towards the end. It’s unfortunate. Actually, the whole song is pretty unfortunate. Danny’s verses aren’t bad per se, but they’re also not what we’ve come to expect. Anyways, stream below, maybe you’ll like it more than I did.

New Roc Marciano – “Rocky II”

By
October 10, 2012
New Music
Leave a comment

Another day, another brilliant Reloaded outtake from Roc Marciano. The album will drop on November 13 via Deacon and if tracks like “Rocky II” and “Sweet Nothings” can’t make the cut than we are in for some serious head noddery. “Rocky II” is a smooth bit of boxframe music that Marciano just rides over. To be honest with you, this is one of the very few Marciano tracks where the beat is more memorable than the verses. Of course, he’s still more clever/innovative than 99% of rappers out there on “Rocky II”. Stream below.