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Riley Lake’s Top 5 Discontinued Junk Hardware of 2014

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December 17, 2014
2014 Recap
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Because you’ve been reading our words all year long, and, let’s be real, we can get a little monotonous, our year end coverage will consist of commentary from a number of friends and associates. The commentary will sometimes be delineated in a numerical, vertical manner and sometimes it will consist of blocks of text, audio files and moving images. Today we have our good friend and sometimes contributor Riley lake with us, bringing some cheap hardware finds that you Ableton-dowloading folk should get to know. We can’t all afford a LinnDrum after all… To top it off, Riley included a cheeky pack of hardware loops and clips from each piece of hardware listed below for your listening pleasure and even potential functional usage. Expect a debut solo release and big things throughout Mr. Lake throughout 2015. Download Riley’s loops and clips package here.

During 2014 I found out that I possess a burning desire for hardware music production but will also always spend all my disposable income on weed. As this realization has settled in, I’ve stopped tragically searching for the typical apples of the analog fetishist’s eye and started figuring out how to make shitty, cheap tools work together to make weird and wonderful noises. In an age where producers focus on cleanliness to the point of sterility, for me 2014 was all about grit and noisy signals and sounds that don’t fit neatly into boxes, and my In honor of the journalistic instinct to make lists of commodities at the end of a temporal cycle here is my list of 5 pieces of underrated discontinued hardware that I discovered in 2014.

5. Alesis Midiverb iii

I copped this one off a nice guy on Craigslist for 30 bones and I couldn’t be more satisfied. This rack mount unit does everything from lovely, weightless half minute chamber reverbs to short metallic clangs, with some wacky, unpredictable gated and reversed settings for some bonus flavor. Furthermore it’s got full midi control over all parameters as well as a simple intuitive interface on the front of the unit. Versatile, timeless vibes.

4. Casio rz-1/boss dr-660

K so these two digital drum machines which make up a big chunk of the percussive palates of ghetto house classics, and have received their fair share of accolades. L-vis made that one kinda boring track for mr. Edgar’s label that was presumably an rz-1 jam (he didn’t even use the sampler like c’mon) and gear lord legowelt has given a strong cosign to the dr660 (which looks like an oversized scientific calculator). Nonetheless they make the list because I really like the idea of these machines (along with something like the 707) as the antithesis of the grotesquely overpriced tr808/909. Rock solid, iconic drum sounds and sequencing that can be sent sent around to your chosen arsenal of signal processing tools. The rz1 has the added bonus of useful performance tools and 2 low bitrate sampling slots that will drench anything in character.

3. Guitar stompboxes

Reverend Richard D James said in an interview earlier this year that no digital system could quite match analog distortion and it’s true, ain’t shit a bunch of 1s and 0s can do against the sound of a circuit being pushed to saturation or starved of current. A good friend let me borrow his stomp boxes and I’ve been obsessed since the moment I put them on an effects send. A little tweaking can make the blandest keyboard spring to life and make any hi hat slice through a mix. Plus turning knobs is fun!

2. Digitech vhm5

Literally the sickest thing ever. The first or second affordable pitch correction/harmonizer ever to be rolled out and 20+ years later it still goes hard as fuck. 127 modes of infinitely tweakable vocoding/harmonizing/pitch correction will make yo ass sound like James Blake guaranteed. It can be played in a tactile way via keys on the front of the unit or controlled remotely via midi. Most preset patches give a lush stereo spread to the harmonized doubles. $70 shipped off eBay and I’ve used it on no lie every recording since I got it. I almost feel like I shouldn’t be spilling the beans on this one it’s so good. Big shot out man like ross oldenburg for putting me on to this 1.

1. 5 pin midi cables

If u don’t have a midi cable from your computer/sequencer to every piece of gear in your studio with a 5 pin midi in port, u fuckin up. A fully midi connected studio basically makes all of your gear as “smart” as the midi master, so for most of us that means we have the potential to let a supercomputer control things instead of doing such mundane tasks as playing keyboards. Even something as simple as getting all of your gear on the same clock unlocks all sorts of compositional and performance strategies by making those built in sequencers that you may have disregarded before actually useful. Midi cables are how you take advantage of the tactile goodness of hardware without sacrificing the limitless possibilities of making music with control of a computer.

~~~Honorable mention~~~

Soldering iron:

Here’s the fun thing about analog synths. They aren’t even that hard to build! U just need some patience and a temp controlled soldering iron.  Google “moog low pass ladder filter schematic”; it ain’t even that complicated. Most components are dirt cheap, and the synth diy community is skrong af and will provide u with endless designs and support. They all hang out on a forum called muffwiggler. Instead of buying a 303 for way too much money, just cop the xox-heart (303 voice+filter for like 60 bucks) and port a sequencer to a microprocessor that’s hooked up to the analog shit. Build midi in and a little box for all of it and voila u have a near perfect 303 clone for the extra low. Shots out to my man Jason Nanna for showing me that this is a thing.

JLSXND7RS Mix For The Astral Plane

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December 17, 2014
Mixes
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As much as we like to pump up the experimental fringe of grime these days, it’s nearly impossible to disconnect from the essence of the ends. As Americans and late comers to the world of grime, the genre’s early years and mixtape era are still a treasure trove of inspiration and rare grooves, nestled away in Mediafire files the internet over. And while the abstraction of a square wave is a tantalizing intellectual prospect, a good old fashioned beat down is often necessary, whether at the hands of a cavalcade of Street Fighter samples or the voice of a particularly formidable MC. Dutch producer JLSXND7RS epitomizes the aforementioned attitude, balancing rank aggression with a slinky enthusiasm, ignoring convention by bringing the past decade of garage (and its various manifestations) into a single, blast of energy.

With production on Flirta D hit “The Undertaker”, a collaboration with the equally on point Trends, and radio work with the likes of Skepta, Riko Dan, Jammer and Novelist, Sanders doesn’t stray away from MC-led tunes like some of his contemporaries. This point can’t be understated, especially considering his location in the Netherlands, a location with a history of garage enthusiasm, but not one generally associated with grime history and/or culture. Without a wide collection of contemporaries in his neighborhood, it’s a feat that Sanders has not only built a career working with the aforementioned MCs, but has also garnered attention from London’s effortlessly progressive Boxed collective, gaining placement on Boxed Vol. 2. Returning to “The Undertaker”, Sanders’ best and most popular track to date, its a marvel how the producer matches so many touchstones in the same track, balancing monolithic kicks with the manic swing of El-B’s late era 2 step and the jump up freneticism of Coki’s dubstep. It doesn’t need Flirta D to function, but the beat fits like a glove, another step forward, achieved by encapsulated several moments in history, in grime’s forward motion.

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Giveaway: Jacques Greene, Groundislava, Patrick Brian @ Los Globos (12/13/14)

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December 12, 2014
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Our second ticket giveaway of the week comes in the form of Jacque Greene‘s triumphant return to the City of Angels, brining with him a bevy of talented friends including Groundislava, Low Limit, Mike Penthouse and Patrick Brian. Taking over Los Globos this Saturday (12/13/14), Greene will be flexing out a new live set that will hopefully elevate his R&B-driven ballads into rarified territory. The Montreal-based producer has spent the better part of the past five years releasing on a who’s who of labels, including Night Slugs, UNO, LuckyMe and 3024, and he’s starting to take on the roll of scene figurehead, driving the Francophone city’s scene in new and exciting directions, as well as exporting some of its finest homebred talent.

Enter your favorite R&B ballad or maybe a tip top track from Jacques himself into the box below for a chance at a pair of tickets to tomorrow’s happenings. And if you don’t end up winning, come through anyways. Tickets are here and it’s going to be a special night.

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Download Prettybwoy’s ‘Thank You’ EP

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December 11, 2014
New Music
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As grime has expanded both sonically and geographically, its boundaries have shifted and mutated (really, like they always have) to deal with the influx of production aesthetics, the wave of vocal-free tracks and the, at least for now, diminishing role of the MC. As an American, its difficult to gauge how the genre’s gatekeepers feel about the influx of young producers, international producers and the trend away from MC-driven culture, but it has been an interesting phenomenon to watch from afar and study. In that vein and without any further pretension, its a pleasure to feature Japanese producer Prettybwoy on the site, Tokyo’s closest thing to a grime insider. With a placement on Big Dada’s still breathtaking 2014 compilation Grime 2.0, Prettybwoy has been slowly diving into the ever expanding pool of artists reinterpreting grime’s classic sounds. The Thank You EP is  his latest outing into club material and eskibeat respectively, two tracks that hammer away at old archetypes until they fit anew. While “Plum” is available for criticism considering its overt eski characteristics, “Breaking Down” falls into the mutant, pounding club category populated by Sudanim, Krizzli, Rizzla and other like-minded producers. Thank You is a small taste of what Prettybwoy and the rest of his Tokyo cohort has to offer, but it’s a telling sign that producers as far flung as Japan are experimenting with both classic and cusp sounds.

New Doline – “Karidja”

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December 11, 2014
New Music
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As a purveyor of fine mixtapes, it’s a pleasure to see Paris’ Sound Pellegrino team take such a liking to the format, releasing a string of drum track and collaboration-focused tapes featuring the likes of Rabit, Helix, L-Vis 1990 and Sinjin Hawke in their kaleidoscopic collections. Melodic Mechanisms is the imprint’s latest excursion into the land of compilations it might be there most inspired yet, a collection of spatially focused tracks from Moleskin, Sudanim, CYPHR and Chilly Gonzales, as well as Sound Pellegrino regulars Koyote, Mathias Zimmerman and Orgasmic. Doline, a fairly unknown name until now, leads off the comp and features as the first single. Inspired by label head Teki Latex’s excellently constructed recent “Deconstructed Trance Reconstructed” mix, Doline sent over some similarly minded tracks (see also: Lorenzo Senni) and immediately got signed. “Karidja” is the public’s first taste of what’s to come, a fluttering composition that would not feel out of place in either Teki or Senni’s respective discography. Melodic Mechanisms is out in all forms on January 19.

Lao & Paul Marmota Mix For The Astral Plane

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December 10, 2014
Mixes
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naafiTwo and a half years into our Astral Plane mix series endeavor and we’ve reached number fifty. At first, the series was a struggle to organize and recruiting artists to contribute original work to our tiny outlet was nearly impossible, but with a little luck and endless hours scrawling through the annals of the Internet, the series took off and we’re lucky enough to receive mix submissions and to provide a brand new selection for you nearly every week. “Mixes For The Astral Plane” is really the crown jewel of our operation and while we’re slowly transitioning into label land, the mix series will continue to grow and expand as we do. Thank you all for the constant support, thanks to all the other magazines and blogs that have supported, and, most of all, thanks to the artists who make this series worth putting together.

As we’ve delved further into global club music, the feedback loop between the dozens of subcultures we study has become more and more apparent. The age old conversation about appropriation, sampling and original subject matter will never really come to an end, but as far as contemporary dance music goes, the seemingly finite borders between geographically, temporally and sonically divergent discourses have become, essentially, irrelevant. We often go on ad nauseam about the commonalities between, and within, grime, ballroom, Bmore and Jersey club, techno, hip hop, footwork, kuduro, dembow, dancehall, etc., but that’s just the result of near obsession our part. In short, the transglobal sounds being pushed by labels like Principe Discos, Her Records, Huntleys+Palmers, NAAFI and more are unlike anything we’ve come across in our, admittedly short, lives. The technological and/or digital globalization of music is a well trodden topic, but sonic experimentation can’t be reduced to greater accessibility and the polyglot inclinations of the aforementioned labels can’t be explained by Gmail or Facebook groups.

Instead, a large number of wildly talented producers, DJs, curators, writers have taken an interest in the avant-garde club, the club being a place to listen to club music, the physical manifestation of said music and a safe, heterotopic space to subvert the oft-hegemonic popular music landscape. And few outlets understand the club music dialectic better than Mexico City’s party, collective and label NAAFI, home of and for the DF’s oddballs, grime mavens and rhythmic omnivores. Co-founded by Tomás Davó, Mexican Jihad, Lao and Paul Marmota in 2010, NAAFI is something of a Mexico City institution, drawing a dedicated fan base out of the sprawling metropolis with an impossible to trace blend of dembow’s addictive syncopation, choral grime abstraction and a general willingness to shatter expectation, abrade the psyche and tear down aural preconceptions.

With an all star roster of guests, including a who’s who of Night Slugs and Fade To Mind representatives, flown out for their parties, NAAFI has turned a distinctly Mexico City phenomenon into a global happening, bringing events to their Central and South American neighbors to the south and to both of America’s coasts. On the label side of the operation, recent releases from OMAAR and Smurphy have highlighted jagged peripheral rhythms and elegiac pop respectively and the label will soon release an impressive triple disc compilation called TRIBAL featuring native Mexican music from artists like DJ Tetris, Javier Estrada and Alan Rosales. The compilation was developed in tandem with the Centro de Cultura Digital and proves that NAAFI is as adept at looking inward as they are out.

It would be near impossible to detail the many exploits of NAAFI since its inception in 2010 in a concise manner, which is why it’s time to focus on the label’s two most prominent producers, the two artists we have recruited to contribute Astral Plane Mix 050, Lao and Paul Marmota. Lao, born Lauro Robles, is almost constantly at work, whether that means churning out edits, bootlegs and blends with abandon or wracking up accolades for his dungeon dark solo productions that often draw comparison to Los Angeles’ own Nguzunguzu. The Mexico City native is perhaps the most forward member of the collective, having participated in Red Bull Music Academy’s Tokyo edition and founded another label, Extasis, but his April’s Catedral EP for NAAFI might be the label’s most complete effort and despite his grand aspirations, Lao reps for DF through and through. Marmota is actually a Mexico City transplant and a native Chilean, a connection that has seen Santiago’s Imaabs, Tomas Urquieta and others connect and perform with the crew. Marmota’s Nueva EP, released in October 2013, also has a strong claim to be the best NAAFI release, a spastic collection of shimmering beat work that traverses grime and dembow with reckless abandon.

Alongside the obvious rhythmic dexterity, both Lao and Marmota have a keen sense of melody that places them in an upper echelon of producers (Murlo, Dark0 and Strict Face come to mind) who tickle the senses and move feet with ease. It’s where classical training, DJ experience and a willingness to subvert tradition combine, a space that NAAFI as a whole succeeds in, but Lao and Marmota consistently exceed expectations. Lauro and Paul’s joint Astral Plane mix doesn’t disappoint, a kaleidoscope of contemporary sounds mixed with essential NAAFI numbers and a fair number of exclusives to boot. Boundary-less in its scope and containing a seemingly endless supply of enthusiasm, the hour of music these two laced together touches on nearly every sound, genre and subculture we cover here, but the fact that it succeeds in achieving aesthetic coherence makes it a perfect cap to our first fifty mixes.

As we as a blog/label/outlet move forward into 2015, it’s fair to say that we likely wouldn’t be around today if it weren’t for inspiration labels/figures like NAAFI, Lao and Marmota. Since the start, we set out to cover music that doesn’t fit into square holes no matter how many pills you neck or how many publicists are on the jock. This humble Mexico City crew defines that ethos and embody the spirit of what we strive to achieve.

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Giveaway: Nadus, Leikeli47, Arnold + More @ Los Globos (12/11/14)

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December 9, 2014
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Thanks to the fine people at IHC Presents, we have TWO very, very solid ticket giveaways for all of you lovely folks this week. On Thursday, Jersey club baron Nadus is headlining a busy bill at Los Globos that also features bombastic New York MC Leikeli47, whose LK-47 Pt. II is a shoo in as one of the best mixtapes of the year, MOD’s own Arnold and several other selectors. With May’s Broke City EP, released through Belgian imprint Pelican Fly, still percolating through the club world and reaching audiences large and small, Nadus is one of the premiere advocates (and vocal he is) of Newark’s siganture sound, bringing club music’s ever popular hit cut ups and rhythmic syncopation to dancefloors across the globe. And while Broke City invokes several other genres beyond the stoic, monumental sounds of Jersey club, it’s undeniable that the Thread representative is a true figurehead in the local Newark scene.

With that in mind, we have a pair of tickets for Thursday’s event, tickets that you could win with the simple action of selecting your favorite Jersey club classic in the form below. Ever since DJ Tameil, DJ TIm Dolla and their cohort brought the breakbeat-laden sounds of Bmore up to Jersey and transformed it into something more palatable for Newark’s dancefloors, Jersey club has racked up innumerable hits and while some have faded into the depths of the web, the large majority exist on Youtube, Soundcloud and other accessible platforms. Not to call out any names, but you will be eliminated from contention if you select a song by any of the unfortunate many zoologically self-identifying producers. On Saturday (12/13/14), Jacques Greene, Groundislava, Low Limit and Patrick Brian will also take the stage at Los Globos and we will also be giving out a pair of tickets. Submission form to come later this week!

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Astral Plane Radio 005

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December 4, 2014
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Over the past year or so, the world of instrumental grime has slowly infiltrated dance music communities in the United States, riding on latent dubstep excitement and the tireless works of producers like Rabit and Sharp Veins. Still though, grime nights are rare at American clubs and, at best, the music is viewed as an abstract form of music from across the pond, often declared undanceable. Even more irking is the fact that the constant dialogue between American hip hop, footwork, Jersey/Bmore club and grime is often ignored, or worse, lumped together into some glossed over bass music dialectic. This edition of Astral Plane Radio is intended to function as a gateway of sorts to the world of grime for those Americans who are both unfamiliar, yet intrigued by the oft-dense, terrain of 8 bart/eskibeat/sublo. Rap refixes, hip hop blends and an arsenal of contemporary R&G hits make up the brunt of the mix, an attempt to reach both the discerning house and techno heads and maybe even a few lumpen frat bros. It’s a light hearted selection and, unlike some of the more abstract grime the aforementioned American producers push, is firmly aimed at the dancefloor. DJ Milktray, Finn, Visionist, Gundam and Mssingno all prominently feature, and Drake, Destiny’s Child, Brandy and Ginuwine are interminably woven into the fabric of the mix. Even more apparent is the impact of The Neptunes, Heatmakerz and Timabaland, three production outfits that should be comfortably accessible for those of us who aren’t fine tuned to the wonders of the Triton keyboard or the intricacies of a square wave. Anyways, it’s our hope that Astral Plane Radio 005 can function as a bridge across the Atlantic and an entryway for our American audience into London-dominated world of grime.

New Strict Face – “Taipan Showers”

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December 3, 2014
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Sliding into the tail end of yet another jam packed year, Coyote Records are set to make another indelible impression on the grime world with their second annual compilation, Coyote Kings Vol. II. The original Coyote Kings, released at the tail end of 2013, established Coyote Records as a forced to be reckoned with in the ever-packed London grime scene, as well as coalescing almost every Coyote artist into the same audial space. Arctic, Spokes, Chemist and Walter Ego are all key cogs in the Coyote make-up, spraying their idiosyncratic, hypertrophied take on grime across several releases in the past year, but some of their best work shows up on Coyote Kings. Vol. II represents expansion for the Coyote team, delving further into the Australian hinterland with the addition of Strict Face, as well as bringing periphery Boxed producers Sharp Veins and Yamaneko into the mix. Chemist and Spokes are the only artists to appear on both volumes, but that doesn’t represent a repudiation of last year’s sound as much as an abbreviation and subsequent extension of the artists and aesthetic brought on the original. Strict Face’s “Taipan Showers” is our first taste of Vol. 2, a fight song-worthy entryway to the tape’s inner confines replete with untempered sino-derived melodies and mean hydraulic streak. It’s a far cry from the beatific cityscapes evoked on the Adelaide-based producer’s recent Gobstopper and Tuff Wax EPs, but that shouldn’t be a surprise to the denizens of Strict Face’s ever evolving world. Coyote Kings Vol. II is out December 22 and you can find the track list after the jump.

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Premiere: Arma – “Jodeci”

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December 1, 2014
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Like any genre or sonic movement dead set on getting more women/gyals on the dancefloor, rhythm and grime, the cheekily dubbed R&B + grime combination, was doomed from the start to a few years of aping Kanye West and the Heatmakerz before fading into obscurity. And while Sadie Ama’s star has fallen and Kano is rarely found weeping on hooks in 2014, several producers, Blackjack, Terror Danjah and Kid D especially, rose out of the morass to create some truly differential material through the means of cutting up classic R&B into grime’s eight bar format. Off-kilter and swung in the classic garage style, the aforementioned producers channeled iconic falsetto hooks from TLC, Destiny’s Child and Ray J (don’t laught) into frankenstein-esque 140 creations that, while inherently pastiche, offered a non-aggressive, deeply melodic tinge to the mid-2000s proceedings.

Today, producers like DJ Milktray, Gundam, Tarquin, Detroit and Inkke have continued the R&G tradition, flipping any and every vocal snatch, guitar lick and over-processed Rhodes melody into overwhelmingly fun bedroom and club cuts. They’ve also carved out a home for 90s R&B and early 2000s hip hop in the contemporary grime landscape, a task easier said than done considering the near-constant barbs and misunderstandings that have flown across the Atlantic between the two scenes for the better part of the last decade. Today, we have relative newcomer Arma on the stand, providing an eminently nostalgic cut up of Jodeci’s “Freek’N You”, matching Triton sounds with the fraternal North Carolina band’s now-classic come ons and gospel-derived entreaties. In a sense, Arma’s sound fits more snuggly in the J Dilla tradition than it does in the eski continuum, but its function in the grime world, to humanize the oft-freezing proceedings, is both necessary and welcomed. This Friday (12/5), the London-based producer will release a full tape of R&G cut ups, edits and refixes to celebrate a social media landscape, a tape that should fall alongside the previously mentioned Milktray’s All Because The Lady Loves and Gundam’s Flirtation as one of the best releases to come out of the niche this year.