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Author Archives: Gabe Meier

Giveaway: Girl Unit, MikeQ, Helix & Patrick Brian @ The Lash Pop Up (1/14)

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February 11, 2015
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This Valentines Day brings another stacked night of dance music in Los Angeles and while you might be torn on where your night will end up, Club IHC has done about as much as they possibly could to bring you and your buds our to The Lash Pop Up this Saturday (1/14). A rare appearance from London’s Girl Unit, fresh off a new release from his Hysterics side project, tops off the night, which is also augmented by fellow Night Slugs/Fade 2 Mind badmen MikeQ and Helix. LA’s own Patrick Brian, who we last caught on our very own Heterotopia Remixes tape, rounds out a fantastic bill that should bring out some of the finest in grime, ballroom and ghetto house. Once again, IHC has gifted our readers a pair of tickets, winnable in exchange for your favorite Qween Beat (or Qween Beat related) energizer. As the sonic side of ballroom has expanded with reckless abandon, we all need to recognize and show respect to both the innovators and the young guns currently flexing their muscle. MikeQ is a figurehead of sorts and we’re lucky to have him out. Enter below and we’ll see you at the dance.

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Trends Mix For The Astral Plane

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February 11, 2015
Mixes
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From afar, it’s often difficult to tell who’s really gaining traction in the UK. That is, not just blog hype, but real support from a wide variety of producers, MCs and radio hosts. We’re lucky to be able to utilize the Internet to “engage” with the history of garage, dubstep, grime, etc., but gauging the present is another story. When a producer, DJ, etc. is really bubbling though, it’s not something we’re going to miss and that’s exactly what we’ve seen with Oxford’s Trends, a producer whose club tracks have been supported by Spooky, Slimzee, Slackk and everyone in between, as well as MCs like Flirta D, Riko Dan and Manga.

Having produced grime and drum and bass for the better part of a decade, Trends has the pedigree to work with the aforementioned list of stars and his unremitting style is perfect for the rave. Firmly in the tradition of Youngstar and early Plastician (Plasticman at the time), Trends has boiled grime down to its most important constituent elements, allowing for visceral reactions from both MC and crowd. His aesthetic is undeniably rough and the “banger” tag isn’t unwelcome, making tracks like “Catchphrase” and his remix of TC4’s “La La La” difficult to imagine outside of the rave/pirate radio context. That’s not to say that Trends’ work is one dimensional though, just that he’s dug out and excelled in a niche. And if you’ve ever seen Trends play out or tuned in to one of his radio sets, his Astral Plane mix will come as no surprise, a head first leap into bars from Novelist, Manga and more, Trends’ direct-as-ever production techniques flashing all over its 30 minute run time. It could be argued that this mix isn’t for the faint of heart, but that’s a silly, hardboiled platitude and this mix is a perfect shot in the arm for anyone remotely curious about grime, soundsystem culture, the ardkore ‘nuum or, well, bars in general.

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Giveaway: P.O.W. Presents: Daedelus, Boogie & Zeroh

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February 10, 2015
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This Thursday, the Passion of the Weiss crew are bringing an LA lineup for the ages to The Echoplex. With Daedelus headlining and prodigal Southland rappers Boogie and Zeroh backing up the tweed-clad beatsmith, P.O.W. has brought out a bill that should match the energy of the best Low End Theory nights in the more spacious environ of The Echoplex. If you’re unfamiliar with Passion, Jeff Weiss and his posse of talented writers, polemicists, essayists and grumblers provide some of, if not the best, music criticism around and, more importantly, aren’t beholden to any sort of code, advertising constraints or, ahem, moral ground.

We’ve been gifted a pair of tickets to Thursday’s happening and all you have to do to be considered for said tickets is enter your favorite track Daedelus’ rich catalogue. For a little help re-remembering the depths of the West LA born producer’s discography, see here and choose wisely. Hope to see you all this Thursday.

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Premiere: Cakes Da Killa – “It’s Not Over (Sake Mix)” (Prod. Drippin)

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February 9, 2015
New Music, Remixes
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Combining one of the most creative presentations in the game with an instantly memorable flow, Cakes Da Killa‘s Hunger Pangs remained in constant circulation in our “office” since its release in Summer 2014. In order to further the energy surrounding the original release, Cakes got together a collection of producers to remix, rework and refresh the original tape, bringing in Rizzla, Rye Rye, Uniiqu3, Drippin and more. The Deluxe Edition has a definite ballroom flavor to it, but can’t be reduced to a product for or of the New York scene, instead functioning as Cakes’ idiosyncratic take on the sound and its various mutations. The Hunger Pangs Deluxe Edition is out now and can be found at Cakes’ web store, but we’ve been presented with a chance to hand out Drippin’s contribution, a “Sake” version of “It’s Not Ovah”. Last scene on these pages turning in our most popular Astral Plane mix to date, the Norwegian producer had a banner 2014, releasing his debut Silver Cloak EP on Lit City Trax and rocketing into the general club music consciousness. His contribution to the Deluxe Edition is in line with his previous work, all smacking snares and vertical propulsion, while Cakes adds vital energy to  the metallic construction.

Premiere: Newbody – “2 Much Of U (Music For Your Plants Remix)”

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February 6, 2015
New Music, Remixes
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By most standards, Estonian producer Norman Orro aka Music For Your Plants resides at the fringe of what can be considered dance music, his output a cataclysm of warring natural and technological elements. Last year’s PAN EP, a component in DIS Mag’s “Disaster Issue”, was one of the most exhilarating sonic entities released all year, 15 minutes of bleeding techno futurism subsumed under a gauze of bleeding over saturation. Orro’s latest releases comes in a surprising place, a remix on Los Angeles neo-soul housers Newbody’s latest single. Released on Interscape Records (Traxman, Karmelloz, DJ Paypal), Newbody’s “Think!”, as well as b-side “2 Much Of U”, is a fairly straight forward house number, but the remixes, also from Karmelloz, Ultrademon and D/P/I, are anything but. And while the other remixes take the originals into deep bliss with a New York flavor (Karmelloz), ardkore madness (Ultrademon) and disintegrated footwork (D/P/I), MFYP’s rework actually appears to be the most digestible on first listen. Of course, Orr’s work only ever really functions as a facsimile of what digestible, major-chord-inclined music is supposed to sound like, deconstructing the pop apparatus into its, sometimes thrilling, sometimes melancholy-inspiring, constituent elements. Download, MFYP’s remix below and check out Think!, out February 10, here.

Premiere: Ezekiel – “Gurrrr Swag (MikeQ & Divoli S’vere Remix)”

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February 5, 2015
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Our infatuation with Divoli S’vere is well documented and it goes without saying that MikeQ‘s touch is golden and while their respective solo work is also special, their collaborations always seem to take it a little higher. Their latest comes via a remix of Ezekiel‘s “Gurrr Swag” on Parisian imprint Moveltraxx‘s Street Bangers Factory #01, out now digitally and next week on vinyl. Alongside contributions from footwork up-and-comers EQ Why and DJ Earl, MikeQ and Divoli’s contribution is the best of the bunch, a rabid ballroom tune that, like the duo’s best work, is both a hugely functional runway hit and an elastic dance floor bomb, suitable for any number of ramp-up-the-energy situations. As the only ballroom track on Street Bangers Factory, this remix of “Gurrr Swag” sounds even more monolithic and energizing, placing alongside “She Wants” as one of the duo’s most effective joints. Buy Street Bangers Factory #01 in digital form here and stream the whole tape courtesy of FACT Mag here.

Premiere: Orlando Volcano – “Tool & Die”

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February 4, 2015
New Music
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One of a growing collection of New York-based producers to embrace the rougher side of the club music spectrum, European-born Orlando Volcano has developed a reputation over the past few months for slinky R&B refixes and haunting beat work for vocalists like Jay Boogie and Chapman. Volcano’s next project, the Low Key EP, is his most complete to date, a three tracker that could easily be brought up as a lighter flip side to Mumdance’s driving 909 productions. “Tool & Die” is the most dance ready of the bunch, a squalid rush through rigid percussion and a disarmingly twinkly melody. Along with a premiere of “Tool & Die”, Orlando granted us the opportunity to bring you a snippet of the track’s video, directed by Insomgnac, a disorienting, panopticon-tweaking visual that functions as a fitting addendum to the original.

Sami Baha Mix For The Astral Plane

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February 4, 2015
Mixes
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With a simple refrain (“he ballin’ like the mavericks”), Turkish producer Sami Baha became a tantalizing figure, an almost entirely unknown quanity on one hand, but an artist who had crosshatched an aesthetic into the muddy earth of club music with surprising ease. “BA VIRD V1” was an instantly recognizable hit, a cornucopia of infamous loon samples, 808 bells and start-stop, electro-paced percussion, but it also achieved a style, maximalism, that has been out of vogue for several years now. Like Young Thug’s flow, Baha’s aesthetic is one of overload, and like Thug’s elastic, structure-crushing flow, there’s more than a little Lil Wayne alien DNA floating about. That unquantifiable DNA is what connects Baha’s productions to Glass Swords and not “mediocre trap hit 2013”, both a taste for chaos and a simple, undefinable sensibility. It’s what separates Visionist from the choral VST wielding masses and Evian Christ from the aforementioned trap masses. Sonic experimentation and a preference for grit and harsh sounds each play a part, but it also comes down to visual presentation and the simple avoidance of cringeworthy motifs. Regardless, Baha has developed an incredibly likable sound that touches on Atlanta rap, grime and kuduro, a clever combo that might end up overwrought in a less effective producer’s hands, but comes across effortless in the Turk’s repertoire.

Heterotopia Remixes Vol. 1 Is Out Now!

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February 3, 2015
Heterotopia, New Music, Remixes
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After teasing out remixes for the past two weeks, it’s our pleasure to announce that Heterotopia Remixes Vol. 1 is now available for free download (or pay what you want) at The Astral Plane Bandcamp. Remixes from Druid Cloak, Iglooghost, Sharp Veins, Patrick Brian, Fraxinus, She’s Drunk and Chants feature and we couldn’t be happier with the imaginative way each respective artist flipped a track from the original Heterotopia. Check out Druid Cloak and Patrick Brian’s reworks, the only two that have not been revealed to date, after the jump.

Luckily, this is only the first volume of remixes we have for you and Vol. 2, slated for an early March release, will feature a tantalizing array of our favorite producers! A lot of words have been spilt by us on these remixes so far and now that release date has come we can’t wait to let the sounds percolate through to all of you.

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Tiny Mix Tapes Premieres Iglooghost’s Remix Of Air Max ’97’s “Chasm”

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February 2, 2015
Heterotopia, New Music, Remixes
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iglooghost

Tomorrow, Heterotopia Remixes Vol. 1 will be available via our Bandcamp page, but we’ve allowed another sneak peak of the tape through the folks at Tiny Mix Tapes. Debuted in TMT’s Chocolate Grinder section, the “lesser heard and lesser known”, section of the magazine, Iglooghost’s remix of Air Max ’97’s “Chasm” reconstitutes the original into a short burst of wonky hip hop, the Irish producer lacing a thread of dazzling energy into AM97’s rolling production. Check out Fraxinus, Sharp Veins and Chants’ contribution to the tapes at Mixmag, FACT and our own humble abode.