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Author Archives: Gabe Meier

Just Blaze & Sinjin Hawke Collaborate On “One”

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January 15, 2014
New Music
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sinjin hawke

Earlier, we posted about the brand new Red Bull Music Academy compilation that features the likes of Kid Smpl, Branko, Throwing Snow and Benjamin Damage. The comp features a number of impressive collaborative tracks including a deeply referential Sinjin Hawke and DJ Slow effort. What we forgot to mention is that while the aforementioned Sinjin Hawke was in New York, he also hopped in the studio with horn chemist/legend Just Blaze and cooked up a collaboration of their own. A far cry from the Just Blaze/Baauer collaboration (no shots), “One” starts out as a piece of digitalized gospel, all soaring church melodies and barely concealed vocal bits. By the second half of the track, the duo’s dancefloor inclinations emerge as a clacking snare brings on an array of neon synth timbres and clipped vocal portions. Thanks to the FACT Mag team, “One” is freely available to the public. Stream and download below.

New Jerome LOL – “Fool” (Feat. Angelina Lucero)

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January 15, 2014
New Music
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jerome lol fool

With only a few weeks until the release of Jerome LOL’s Deleted/Fool EP (out February 4 on Friends of Friends), the Los Angeles-based badman has handed us another carrot in the form of “Fool”. The song’s base is comprised of chugging, swung, machine techno with the brilliant Angelina Lucero putting in a transcendent vocal performance over the top. It’s brooding, propulsive and deeply affecting and while those adjectives come up often when speaking of Jerome’s music, “Fool” is as unique a track as we’ve received from him since the LOL Boys era. It represents both maturation and a condensation of the sound that he’s been fiddling with over the years, matching the dance music proclivities of much of his remix work with the deeply melodic, vocal-based work of his solo material. Deleted/Fool can’t come soon enough.

Download Not For Sale: Red Bull Music Academy New York 2013

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January 15, 2014
New Music
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rbma various asets - not for sale

This Summer, 62 musicians gathered in New York City to make music, attend workshops, share secrets and perform live. Those 62 comprised the 2013 Red Bull Music Academy class, an impressive array of producers, vocalists and instrumentalists from every corner of the electronic music world. Today, we’re lucky enough to receive (part) of what they came up with this past Summer. Various Assets – Not For Sale features collaborative tracks from Astral Plane favorites Sinjin Hawke, Kid Smpl, DJ Slow, Throwing Snow, Distal, Thundercat (under his birth name), Benjamin Damage and more. A compilation can only go so far to document a Summer’s worth of collaborative work, but Various Assets does an admirable job at giving plebes like myself some insight into the wonderful process that is the annual RBMA gathering. Stream Kid Smpl, SHDBOX, Branko and AnnaLove’s “Forces In The Way” and hit the jump (or head to Bandcamp) to listen/download the entire compilation

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ASL Singles Club Mix For The Astral Plane (w/ 8prn Interview)

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January 14, 2014
Interviews, Mixes, New Music
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ASL SINGLES CLUB ART

With their feet firmly set in Vancouver and their sights set high, the fledgling ASL Singles Club label/clothing line is one of the most inspiring outfits operating today. Headed by Vancouver residents 8prn, Heartbeat (s) and Chef, the label has already released a series of impressive singles from Nick Wisdom, Autem and Rook Milo. We were lucky enough to grab 8prn for a quick conversation about ASL and ended up roping the mysterious Mr. Chill into contributing a guest mix on the part of the label. Mostly 4/4 fare, the mix features upcoming ASL material from Prison Garde and Sleepyhead as well as a few well-placed unreleased jams from the likes of Motions (formerly of Grown Folk) and the Amsterdam-based Presk.

Who is Mr. Chill and who makes up the ASL family? Is it mostly a Vancouver-based thing or more of a global affair?

ASL is run by Chef, 8prn and Heartbeat(s), with some help from Mr. Chill, an older dude who invests in us. The fam extends to the artists who release with us as well; Rook Milo, Autem, Nick Wisdom, Sleepyhead and more to come. At the moment we are majority Vancouver based, although we have releases lined up from artists in other cities and countries; Montreal, NYC, and London.

Hit the jump for full interview and track list…

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Download Johnny May Cash’s Death Row Mixtape

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January 11, 2014
New Music
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johnny may cashIt seems like we post a lot of Chicago music these days, whether that be one of the many prodigious, young drill rappers or one of the Windy City’s bevy of footwork pioneers. Today we’re bringing you one of the former in the form of Johnny May Cash’s second mixtape, duly titled Death Row. With a heavy helping of Young Chop and 808 Mafia production, May Cash raps in near-constant autotune, bouncing between 808 & Heartbreak style crooning and something akin to Chief Keef’s ever-creative drone rapping. At only 11 tracks, Death Row is an extremely condensed mixtape, curated with a touch that rarely makes into the bulging informal rap world. It’s easy to spit off platitudes about how drill rappers elucidate the dire nature of Chicago’s “South” and “West” sides (though the city is far more fractured than that), but the emotional strain that pervades Death Row is palpable on a level beyond production and storytelling. Stream “Day One” below and download the tape from DatPiff here.

Download Leikeli47’s Lk-47 Pt. II Mixtape

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January 10, 2014
New Music
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lk-47

Leikeli47 is an eternally ski mask clad female rapper from New York who just turned in one of the most inspiring rap tapes we’ve heard in a minute. Lk-47 Pt. II is (clearly) the second tape in a series and while we hadn’t heard the first incantation until today, the mixture of Miami-derived bass, Bomb Squad-esque production and ol’ fashioned New York swagger is irresistible. The rapping is brash and direct as Leikeli47 compares herself to corporate mavens Oprah and Diddy, as well as both Janet and Michael Jackson, and Van Ghogh (among others). Not only can she rap with ferocity, she can really belt it out, crafting some instantly memorable choruses on tracks like “Miss America” and “The Root”. Lk-47 Pt. II sounds effortlessly complete and creatively endowed, a rare fete for a relatively new artist. Expect to hear a lot of “C&C”, “Miss America” and “Heard Em Say” in the coming months. Stream the tape below and download here.

MORRI$ Remixes Katy B’s “Crying For No Reason”

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January 10, 2014
New Music, Remixes
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morri$

As if they were ever in doubt, recent Los Angeles transplant MORRI$ solidified both his club and R&B credentials via his standout production on Kelela’s Cut 4 Me and a prime slot on Night Slugs All Stars Volume 2. 2013 wasn’t a year of volume for the hotly tipped producer, but nearly everything that had his name on it was on constant replay from January through December. It’s a relief that producers like MORRI$ are being recruited for pop remixes like the following Katy B take, because in all honesty, the big room house sound is getting quite old. This halting, piano-led remix of “Crying For No Reason” balances Katy B’s well-apportioned vocals on top of emotional stilts, replacing the original’s staid house beat with a drum roll-esque grandiosity. The remix will appear on an upcoming single (out January 26) and the original will appear on Katy B’s upcoming album, which will also feature Jacques Greene, Joker and Sampha.

New DJ Vague – “Porsche Trax 3”

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January 9, 2014
New Music
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dj vague - helix

Aidan Bennison’s Templar Sound imprint hasn’t always been the most prolific outfit, but they’ve always had their ear to the ground and picked up on sounds and trends well ahead of other similarly minded labels. Their latest signee, the ambiguously named DJ Vague, churns out speedy techno that retains a human element despite its intensive percussion and hazy melodies. On “Porsche Trax 3”, a crackling stomp box kick drum sets off a driving, rhythmically complex track that grows into an ebullient peak-time slammer over a seven minute runtime. The EP is set for a January 20 digital/vinyl release and features two other automotive-oriented trax that operate at an equally high level. Stream “Porsche Trax 3” below and hit the jump to preview the entire EP.

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Premiere: Mssingno – “XE2 (Riley Lake’s Frozen Edit)”

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January 8, 2014
New Music, Remixes
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NEW XE2 FROZEN ART

When we first heard Mssingno’s momentous “XE2” last October, the R. Kelly vocal sample was like nothing we’d heard before, immediately identifiable, yet impossible to place. “A dog on the prowl when I’m walking through the mall” isn’t necessarily the most recognizable line in “I’m A Flirt”, but it functions perfectly when disassociated and re-appropriated by the London-dwelling Mssingno. It takes on a slinky, sidewinding quality that reinforces the grand nature of “XE2” and carries the track through several percussion-less minutes. The song came to define a year of instrumental grime, portraying the protean proclivities of the “genre” and highlighting many a peak-time set.

With a good deal of reverence, Los Angeles/Wisconsin-based producer Riley Lake has given “XE2” his own treatment and allowed us to debut the track. Utilizing vocals from R. Kelly’s original to beef up the harmonies and a fair share of eski clicks, Lake’s edit allows for both karaoke singalongs and gun finger waving. The edit belongs in a dystopian club and reminds of the hectic, world-colliding nature of much of Donky Pitch and Tuff Wax’s recent output. If grime is going to continue on its current path, colliding with Southern hip hop, old school electro, R&B and more, then we’re going to want producers like Mssingno and Riley Lake to take the lead. Stream and download Lake’s “XE2” edit below.

Trap Door Mix For The Astral Plane

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January 7, 2014
Mixes
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TRAP DOOR ARTTrap Door doesn’t make trap — which is, well, a good thing. Instead, Manchester-based Connor Shepherd constructs exquisite club compositions while applying a stripped down, retro aesthetic to contemporary dance music. As part of the Gang Fatale collective alongside the likes of past Astral Plane mixer Neana, Ra’s Al and Georgia Girls, Trap Door is at the forefront of the percussive, linear club music that draws from both sides of the Atlantic. At times, Sheperd sounds like he’s channeling the spirit of Arabian Prince, infusing euphoric synth melodies into a melange of abrasive kicks and snares. Other times, he’s clearly looking to the Atlantic seaboard, utilizing vocal cuts, “ha” samples and kick patterns from Baltimore, Philladelphia, Jersey and New York. The Trap Door sound is decidedly fresh and new, but always emits a cool, calm and collected attitude that transcends the ephemeral qualities of the club trax format.

For his Astral Plane Mix contribution, Shepherd condensed the essence of Trap Door into a single, easily digestible document. The mix exists in a world where Drake spends most of his time driving up and down I-95 in a wretched, hydraulic-laden abomination and gun fingers are the common currency. If the think breaks don’t rile you up, the “ha” samples surely will and the calls for bad mind and worst behaviour will finish off the job. Hit the jump for a look at the track list (you might just discover a few gems) and stream/download below.

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