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The holidays are the one time of year when I appreciate the fact that my Facebook and Twitter feeds are flooded with promotional posts. That’s because the holidays are the time for giving, specifically the time when producers dump all of their bootlegs/edits/unfinished tracks on the unsuspecting masses. The quality is generally a mixed bag, but we’ve received a deluge of heat in the past few days that deserves its fair due. On the raps front, Lil B, King Louie, Fredo SantanaLil Silk and Fabolous have let loose new tapes over the past week or so. All deserve your attention, although save Lil B’s 05 Fuck Em and maybe spend a little more time with Silk and Louie.

The good folks at Mixpak were also kind enough to hand out a bundle of free tracks from their roster and beyond. The Holiday Bundle evokes the grime, dancehall and soca-based riddim culture that Dre Skull has so carefully curated over the past few years. Sudanim, Murlo and Koyote all bring their best to the table.

You’ve likely seen these already as well, but big hitters Flying Lotus, Zed Bias, Ryan Hemsworth Clams Casino all gave bundles of tracks away in the past few days. Casino’s third Instrumental Mixtape is probably the most cohesive attempt of the bunch, but FlyLo’s assorted beats, remixes and bootlegs offer some intriguing insight into the producer and his cohort’s recording processes. The Hemsworth collection is largely edits he’s designed for live play and the “Post-Rock Tears” version of Future’s “Honest” is a real beauty. Two step legend Zed Bias handed over 200 MB of live recording, remixes and production work under both his ZB sobriquet and his Maddslinky nom de plume.

Hit the jump for a jambalaya of free tracks…

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neana

As we witnessed in his recent Astral Plane mix, Neana and his Gang Fatale collective are more than willing to take club sounds to their starkest, deepest extent. “Ha Braque Got Jawbroken” sees Neana and fellow Gang Fatale don Ra’s Al (as NeanRa) taking ballroom into the gutter, churning the “ha” sample over a dense melange of dense arrangement of percolating percussion. The duo has also thrown up “42 Dunjunz” for free download, another must have for any trax enthusiast. Stream the former below and hit the jump to stream/download the latter.

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iglooghost art

Iglooghost has been making quite a bit of noise in 2013 with a number of Brainfeeder-esque edits and originals. With a preternatural work ethic and a long list of influences (check out his Hyponik guest mix), the Irish teenager offers a refreshing take on the sometimes stale instrumental hip hop format. In January, he will release the Treetunnels EP/album on Error Broadcast (think Shlohmo, Pixelord), a 17-track opus that should elevate him into the public consciousness. “Teatunnels” is our first taste of the release, a Jitwam-assisted vocal cut that sounds something like a more clairvoyant Lapalux. Treetunnels will feature several Astral Plane faves so keep a lookout for new tracks!

strict faceStrict Face has been hinting at the third edition of his Birthday Riddims series for quite some time and was kind enough to drop it off for us loyal denizens over the weekend. Comprised equally of sharp, metallic drum workouts and beautiful synth landscapes, the Adelaide-native has capped off 2013 in perfect style, presenting everything we love about the project while simultaneously presenting new, more robust sounds. Take “Dem Traps”, a percussive attack that matches the cold futurism of eski with the percussive splendor of roughneck techno. Stream and download below and be sure to hit the jump to peep a Miss Modular remix of “Creep Zone II”.

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cool party cover

Like many of his Scottish contemporaries, Aberdeen-based producer TryTryDieDown has a knack for synth-led melodies that are based as much in the g-funk and electro of yore as they are garage and grime. With a number of widely variegated number of originals and edits (Khia, Khan & Neek, Andre 3000) to his name, TryTry has shown a willingness to experiment across ‘nuum styles, balancing the more aggro sides of 140 material with R&B-centered garage. It’s a kaleidoscopic approach that some might misconceive as meandering, but TryTry isn’t unfocused, just hyper-curious. Today, we bring you “Cool Party”, a track that initially sounds like Jacques Greene’s “Body Party” remix before revealing its true colors as a roughneck grime roller concealed under layers of swirling, evocative synth work. It’s easy enough to get lost in the melodic components, but the track is heavily layered and its sharp snares and crunching percussive stabs are equally rewarding.

jacques greene

There are few producers (if any) I’d rather have remixing Sampha than Jacques Greene and his contribution to LuckyMe’s yearly advent calendar doesn’t disappoint. Taking a rather basic approach right off the bat, Greene instills a steady four-on-the-floor beat to the melancholic original, a formula that has been proven to work by Bodhi already. In the edit, Greene’s take amounts to a simple edit, instilling some dancefloor fervor in the beatific original and giving it that little bit of JG flavor we know and love. Head to the LuckyMe website to download Greene’s edit as well new joints from DJ Paypal, Cid Rim, Obey City, The Blessings and more.

jim-e stack

A few week, the Wedidit horde presented us with Shlohmo’s cavernous remix of Purple’s “The Club”, a track that surely fit the LA outfit’s aesthetic, but left us a little cold. With the song came the promise of remixes from Jim-E Stack and IVVO, which have finally reached daylight along with a free download of the entire three song package. Whereas Shlohmo decided to submerge the already dangerously dense original into a reverb-filled hell hole, New York-resident Jim-E Stack opted to re-contextualize the emotions emanating from “Feel Alone”, transforming it into the sonic equivalent of driving a car on the beach at night. It’s still darkly melodic, but there’s hint of a confusing tropical vibe and a propinquity for propulsion that elicits auto travel. Or maybe I’m full of shit. Regardless, it’s a brilliant flip that evens mutates into a breakbeat-laden jungle monstrosity in the last twenty seconds. Stream Jim-E Stack’s “Feel Alone” remix below and download the full package here.

akito art FINALIt’s not always easy to decipher the intention of a piece of electronic music. Sometimes, a vocal sample  (e.g. “jack”) or the basic structure of a song gives it away, but sometimes four-on-the-floor beats and grueling sub-bass timbres deceive. That being said, Sub Skank boss and London-resident Akito’s music is very clearly, specifically focused on the dancefloor. Whether the context is a push club, a derelict warehouse, or a manic house party, there will be no head-bobbing or shmoozing while an Akito joint is played out. Like many of his contemporaries, Akito takes a little from the video game sound palette of Eski, a little percussion from jungle and/or Jersey/Bmore and mutates it into a pounding, dancefloor beast. It’s foot stomping, wyle out music that is at once easily accessible and eminently strange. Maybe it’s the ballroom “ha”s or the or occasional patois vocals, but despite the innate heaviness of Akito’s productions and mixes, it all seems like a rather fun, approachable affair.

This certainly manifests itself in Akito’s Astral Plane mix, one of the most effortlessly fun collections we’ve featured to date and a rare taste of what Akito the producer has in store on his upcoming Metamessage EP. With a peppering of originals and tracks from Astral Plane favorites like Neana, Rushmore and Jam City, the mix summarily hits a near-perfect club music sweet spot, offering something to nearly every brand of discerning listener. Stream/download below and hit the jump for the full track list.

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pangaea

When we first heard Jon Hopkins’ “Collider”, the nine minute opus left us in a bewildered, transfixed state, scrambling to spin the record back, while simultaneously unwilling to forego what was coming next on the LP. “Collider” is probably the best symbol of Immunity‘s inherent worth, a crunchy, slumped techno journey that really only comes into its own three minutes in. The melodies are large, yet seem to sit just bellow the rhythm, vocals set even deeper in the cavernous mix. Despite his idiosyncratic take on techno, Hopkins has actually been the target for quite a bit of remix work (Nosaj Thing, Luke Abbott) and an extended version of Immunity was released yesterday on Domino Records that includes both previously released and unreleased works. When we envisioned Pangaea’s remix of “Collider”, it was cacophonous and runaway truck wild, but the final result is actually somewhat reserved, reigning in a good amount of the click and crunch of the original into something a little more fit for club play. As well as appearing on the extended LP, Pangaea’s remix will also be placed (along with remixes from Objekt and Karenn) on the “Collider” single, which will be released in digital/12″ on February 24.

WALLPAPER new 4

There’s nothing normal about a 17-year-old from Oxford falling in love with Memphis hip hop. Largely removed from the genre defining (and defying) London and Bristol scenes, the mecca of higher education couldn’t be further removed from the 808 bass thumps and slumped pacing of Project Pat, Yo Gotti and Lil Wyte. That didn’t stop Jamie Smith aka GROVESTREET from developing a taste for the city’s darkest and dirtiest, a fascination that has manifested itself in a distinctly British manner. Instead of following the template established by early Memphis acts, Smith has imprinted dystopian, horror-sampling tendencies on a modern club trax template. In the end, the result is more mechanized techno than anything Juicy J ever recorded on magnetic tape. “IF U WANNA TRY” is a track in the fullest sense of the word, made up almost entirely of kicks, snares, a demanding Memphis sample and eerily translucent synth work. It all seems to hurdle forward at reckless speeds, but the rhythmic components are actually quite compact and digestible. “IF U WANNA TRY” is one of the first handful of trax we’ve heard from GROVESTREET, but considering his technical acuity and willingness to stretch the norms of sample-based music, I’d expect him to be around for quite some time.