Archive

Author Archives: Gabe Meier

New DJ Nigga Fox – “L.X.M.B. Noites”

By
March 14, 2014
New Music
Leave a comment

dj-nigga-fox

Last year, DJ Nigga Fox’s O Meu Estilo EP blew many a mind with its percussive basis and dub-y, dank flair. In the time since, Nigga Fox has become the heir apparent of Lisbon, not only as scene figurehead DJ Marfox’s apprentice, but as a global ambassador of the tarraxinha, kuduro, funana, etc. sounds that arise from the city’s periphery lusophone communities. “L.X.M.B. Noites” is actually one of the more linear Nigga Fox songs, lacking some of the polyrhythmic madness that pervaded O Meu Estilo. Nonetheless, the uncanny synth work and a steady four-on-the-floor pattern opens the door for a second “chorus” as infectious as they come. It’s a real pleasure to cover Nigga Fox and the whole Principe crew these days.

New Young Thug – “Bossy” (Feat. Slug)

By
March 14, 2014
New Music
Leave a comment

young-thug

With 1017 Thug as the platform and “Danny Glover” and “Stoner” (which is being pushed by Atlantic) as the statements, Young Thug has quickly become the most fascinating man in rap. We all want to know who Young Thug is these days. Anyways, his latest cut features associate Slug (aka Lil Tick) and some triumphant horns at the hands of Starter. “Bossy” doesn’t have the indomitable hook of Thug’s past hits, but no one is touching him as far as  reconstructing the art of flow goes.

Tomas Urquieta Remixes DJ Tameil’s “Body”

By
March 13, 2014
New Music, Remixes
Leave a comment

tomas-urquieta

Hailing from Viña del Mar, Chile, Tomas Urquieta is one of several impressive South American producers channeling American and UK club sounds through their own unique filter. It would be silly to harp on it, but the proficiency at which Urquieta and Imaabs  ingest Bmore, ballroom and grime and spit out their own exciting results is remarkable. For his latest cut, Urquieta looks to Jersey, lacing DJ Tameil’s “Body” with a bevy of think breaks and whipping the original into a rumbling, squeaky clean lump of heat. Stream below and grab a free download in exchange for a “like” at Urquieta’s Facebook page.

DJ Marfox Just Jam Mix

By
March 12, 2014
Mixes, New Music
Leave a comment

dj marfox

If you haven’t read Ryan Keeling’s long-form essay on Principe Records and the fascinating Lisbon scene it has helped foster, then you need to do yourself a solid and get up on it now. The names DJ Marfox, DJ Nigga Fox, Niagara and others have been circulating for a few years now, but it appears that the sound of Lisbon’s lusophone club scene is finally garnering the ears is deserves. Involving various aspects of kuduro, funaná, batida, tarraxinha and other genres, Lisbon-based Principe Records has gathered, pressed to vinyl and distributed the sounds of the city’s isolated outer-rim housing projects. Of course, the sounds of Lisbon have been percolating for years, but like many other minority, regional club scenes, the producers are often wary of outsiders. Regardless, the five releases Principe has pumped out to date have been wildly inventive, opening up a divide between the label and, well… just about anything else these days. For the uninitiated, Marfox recently made an appearance at the much talked about Just Jam party in London and you can check out 15 minutes of his set below.

Kingdom Remixes Glass Animals’ “Gooey”

By
March 11, 2014
New Music, Remixes
1 Comment

kingdom

It’s still to be seen whether Glass Animals‘ signing to Paul Epworth’s Wolf Tone label will turn out, but in the meantime, it’s impossible to note the increased stature and attention the band has faced. The British act first caught my eye with the beatific “Cocoa Hooves” and have continued to hone their R&B-leaning pop compositions in the year and a half since. Most indicative of the new label is “Gooey”, a crisp, efficient arrangement that has garnered quite a bit of attention over the past few weeks. This week, the band is playing numerous dates at SXSW, including one at the vaunted Fader Fort. Despite all the hype surrounding the band and their upcoming American dates, this remix still comes as a surprise to this listener. It’s not like the song falls so far outside of Kingdom’s go-to sound palette, but culturally, it seems a far stretch from the Fade To Mind don’s regular remix subjects. Regardless, the cluttering hip hop refix adds the exact edge the original needed. The remix will appear on the Gooey EP, out April 8 on Harvest Records.

OH91 Mix For The Astral Plane

By
March 11, 2014
Mixes, New Music
2 Comments

oh91

The best club music possesses a certain level of immediacy. There’s a lot of squishy rhetoric surrounding the “togetherness” and shared experience of club and drug culture, but it’s undeniable that a certain sensation is widely felt when the DJ plays that song. It’s not the hand-in-the screams of festival kids or slack jaw grins of pill heads, but a quiet, resounding sense of submission among the crowd at-large. It’s the sentiment I felt when OH91‘s remix of Kahn’s “Percy” first graced my ears. It wasn’t the shear physical force of the song, or it’s head-spinning structure that struck me, but the immediate bodily submission I felt. It’s not that the song is universally adored, it’s the immediacy that those that know will almost undoubtedly feel.

Luckily for OH91, many others besides myself feel similarly and his name has been on the tongue of many a grime enthusiast over the past few years. Bred in the rich Bristol scene, the man born Omari Champagnie has only a few releases to his name, but each one has proved his talents in a different realm of UK music. He’s released fluttering, funk-infused hip hop (on Subdepth), bouncy house/garage, and roughneck, apocalyptic grime (on Coyote Records). Along the way, he’s garnered acclaim from some prime names, getting a Spooky remix on the Coyote release and receiving support from the likes of Kahn & Neek, Royal-T and Elijah & Skilliam. The “Percy” remix put his name on many a tongue, but this young Bristol representative is going to be taking his rightful place among the aforementioned tastemakers before too long. With assistance from Tomas at Coyote Records, OH91 has graced us with our 22nd Astral Plane mix. A quick glance at the track list, might lead an undiscerning listener to conclude that the mix is just an amalgamation of huge grime cuts from the past year or two, but that would be overlooking the expertly placed edits and skillful sequencing. Rather than coming off heavy-handed, the mix is one the most mellifluous 45 minutes you’ll hear all week. An unreleased collaboration with Sir Spyro doesn’t hurt either.

Read More

New Imaabs – “Analogic Idyll”

By
March 10, 2014
New Music
Leave a comment

imaabs

Last November, Santiago, Chile-based producer Imaabs released the Baroque EP on Diamante Records, a dusty, stomping affair that ended up as one of the most striking club music releases of the year. One of the southernmost pioneers of ballroom, Jersey club and ghetto house, Imaabs (born Cristo Gavras) has released several unremitting releases to date, simmering the previously mentioned regional sounds into their most bare-bone incarnations. He’s also managed to draw in some formidable remixers/support with MikeQ and Distal both contributing reworks to Baroque. “Analogic Idyll” exemplifies Gavras’ less-is-more attitude, focusing almost entirely on an obliterating kick and the always affecting “whoop” sample so common in ballroom. Utilizing such a small sound palette, it’s Imaabs’ proficiency with classic drum machine sounds that makes him such an effective producer.

New Romare – “Jimmy”

By
March 10, 2014
New Music
Leave a comment

romare

London-based producer Romare has always been fascinated with the blues and polyrhythms, drawing both into his Meditations On Afrocentrism and Love Songs: Part One EPs with great aplomb. There are very producers who can draw in well-worn sample sources like the blues and flip it into something original, but the Paris-born artist manages it without faltering, creating a mélange of contemporary garage, house, techno and footwork with a decidedly rustic edge. Romare’s latest tune comes in the form of “Jimmy”, a direct track based on absurdly twangy guitar and a flexed out techno structure. “Jimmy” can be downloaded for free here and is a promotion for Romare’s upcoming Ninja Tune debut.

Boxed Club Night Celebrates Anniversary With Compilation

By
March 4, 2014
New Music, Remixes
1 Comment

boxed-volume-one

For the last 12 months, Slackk, Mr. Mitch and Oil Gang’s Boxed club night has set the bar for what a grime night should look like, drawing in just about every instrumental grime producer of note. To celebrate their one year anniversary, which is occurring this Friday at Birthdays in Dalston, the crew has put together a wildly colorful 18 track compilation featuring some of the most exciting producers in the game. Astral Plane mix contributors Strict Face and Logos appear, as do a host of other transcendent talents including Rabit, Mumdance, DJ Milktray and Inkke. In another year, we might be looking back at Boxed Vol. 1 in a similar fashion as we do Grime 2.0 these days. There’s really no excuse not to grab this masterstroke immediately.

Bones & Money Mix For The Astral Plane

By
March 4, 2014
Mixes
1 Comment

BONES & MONEY ART

In a sense, Bones & Money‘s production acumen mirrors their beginnings as a DJ duo, an amalgam of innumerable dance music styles rolled up into a tightly wound ball. Hailing from Aberdeen, Scotland, otherwise known as the Granite City, DM Bones (Shaun) and O.T.O.H. (Calum) began producing as Bones & Money at the beginning of 2012, releasing a free single on Tuff Wax Records, the label they co-run with Lockah. Unlike many of their contemporaries, the duo take a less is more approach into their productions and curatorial work (Tuff Wax was founded “as a boutique label aiming to revive interest in high quality vinyl”), preferring to synthesize grime, footwork, R&B and garage into an angular, club-focused weapon that can be deployed with ease in a wide variety of sets.

From an aesthetic perspective, Bones & Money’s output recalls the more abrasive output of a Paul Johnson or Parris Mitchell in its less-is-more focus and ruthless efficiency. B&M certainly don’t make ghetto-house, but their roughneck ethos and compositional understanding certainly allow for similarities. For their Astral Plane mix, the Granite City dwellers funneled contemporary grime and classic Baltimore into 35 minutes of rapid-fire break beats and swelling sub-bass. The pacing is excellent and the mix demands several listens to pick up all of the expertly composed gems. Find the full track list after the jump.

Read More