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Hrdvsion Mix For The Astral Plane

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December 5, 2013
Mixes, New Music
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A few months ago, Nathan Jonson aka Hrdvsion posted a remix of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe”, which quickly began making its way around Internet circles, drawing both predictable ire and joyful admiration. Many first time listeners might have assumed that Jonson was just another Soundcloud denizen, striving for quick, shocking results, but that would short-change both the man and the remix. The fact that the remix spread so quickly (Skream picked it up early) and garnered Hrdvsion so many new fans is a testament to both the relative insularity of his music and its innate demonstrative capabilities. Nathan and his brother Mathew (Wagon Repair boss and minimal impresario) grew up in Victoria, B.C. on Canada’s Western shore and have virtually been inundated in electronic music culture their entire lives. Fast forward a decade or two and both brothers now live in Berlin, collaborate often and strut their unique take on Berlin’s own techno tropes on labels like Rinse Recordings and Crosstown Rebels.

Never one to be defined by the genre/sound he’s currently working in, Nathan has produced and performed at every conceivable BPM, imprinting his reticent outlook on everything he touches. His Astral Plane mix exhibits this in oft-unbelievable fashion, opening with Boyz II Men and finishing with FKA Twigs, a bevy of curve-balls thrown in for good measure. The rhythmic components range from the understated to the bombastic while the melodies are brightly timbred and infectious. With a decade-plus career under his belt, it’s clear that Nathan has no interest in slowing down or muting his past, present and future influences. Which brings us back to the “Call Me Maybe” remix. Hrdvsion is the rare breed of producer willing to walk the line between idiosyncratic experimentation and populist relatability, bringing a live performance ethos and rich musical history into modern dance music.  Stream/download Hrdvsion’s guest mix below and hit the jump for the full track list.

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Sinjin Hawke Remixes Dre Skull’s “First Time”

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December 4, 2013
New Music, Remixes
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sinjin-hawke1

Remember rap in 2003? Sinjin Hawke certainly does. Specifically, Just Blaze production circa 2003. Sinjin has been strutting his production acumen across a dizzying array of styles this year, whether they be bombastic takes on ghetto house classics, wildly textured club machinations or space-age grime/Memphis amalgamations. For his latest feat, the Barcelona-based producer has been enlisted by Mixpak Records to remix label boss Dre Skull’s “First Time”, the advantageous dancehall slumper released earlier this calendar year. In the finest form of his career, Sinjin took original and put it through the grinder, transforming the sunny original into the best Just Blaze approximation we’ve heard in years. Considering his prodigious use of brass, it should come as no surprise that Sinjin can pull this off, but it still managed to catch this listener off guard. The remix is up for free download (along with a Curses remix) so stream below and grab the package here.

New Rushmore – “Bloodlines”

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December 4, 2013
New Music
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trax couture

If you’ve checked out our guest mix series recently, then you’ve probably heard Rushmore’s “Bloodlines”, a monster of a track that contains just about everything you need for a proper club joint. Neana played it in his mix and then the Trax Couture boss himself had to give the world a little preview in his contribution. “Bloodlines” will appear on HOT002, the second release on Trax Couture (also run by Fools), which also features three other grime/ballroom/ghetto-influenced heaters. The EP is slated for a December 30 release date, but if you’re in the UK, then you can check out the Trax crew alongside Georgia Girls this Friday.

Stream/Download Druture’s Out Of Towner Vol. 1 Mixtape

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December 2, 2013
New Music, Remixes
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druture out of towner

As the last trickles of Grown Folk music comes out and the project is laid to rest, our attention now turns to Drew Kim (now producing as Druture) and Brendan Neal’s (now producing as Motions) respective solo projects. Yesterday, Druture released the long-awaited labor-of-love project Out Of Towner Vol. 1, his ode to Chicago rap. The tape features some of the most innovative artists to come out of the Windy City over production from Druture himself as well as Ryan Hemsworth and up-and-coming British producer Little Cloud. It’s a quick listen and spans a wide-range of vibes, but Druture’s vision is clear and, while far from cohesive, Out of Towner is a tantalizing look into contemporary Chicago rap and Internet production tropes (melding drill and grime/jungle). Head over to LiveMixtapes to download Vol. 1 and/or hit the jump for a few choice selections.

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Spooky Remixes Wiley’s “Born in the Cold”

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November 26, 2013
New Music, Remixes
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spooky

Next week, Big Dada will release Wiley’s “Born in the Cold” single, a track that certainly falls more on the pop/hip hop side of the Wiley spectrum. There’s nothing inherently bad about the original (it’s actually a quite functional track), but there’s something about the interloping piano melody and Andreena Mill’s vocals that comes off as a little bit heartless. Maybe to add a little heart (probably not), our favorite remix-tician Spooky threw an “Even Colder” rub on Wiley’s original, adding a few key eski signifiers and adding more space to the vocal performance. As he’s shown in the past, Spooky knows just how much pepper to throw on his edits/remixes, toeing the line between reinvention and reinterpretation and almost always falling on the correct side of the divide. The East London-based producer has no idea if the edit will ever see a release, but considering how most of his work sees the day of light sooner or later I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Sasha Go Hard, Tink & Kitty – “Spotless” (Prod. Ryan Hemsworth & little cloud)

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November 25, 2013
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druture out of towner

At some point in the weeks/months Druture (former 1/2 of Grown Folk) will release the DJ Victoriouz-hosted Out of Towner Vol. 1, a collection of collaborative tracks featuring mostly Chicago rappers/vocalists and producers from all over the globe. Today we received “Spotless”, a deeply collaborative effort featuring stunning performances from Sasha Go Hard and Tink over spotless, feel-worthy production from Canada’s own Ryan Hemsworth and London-resident Little Cloud. The full mixtape will likely feature a number of similar collaborations (YB, Lil Bibby, Rampage), as well as production from Druture himself. The project has been a labor of love for Druture and should not be slept on under any circumstances.

Nguzunguzu Remix Darkstar’s “Timeaway”

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November 25, 2013
New Music, Remixes
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nguzunguzu

if there was one proper criticism of Los Angeles-based duo Nguzunguzu entering their latest Skycell EP, it was their relative lack of restraint when compared to some of their compatriots (Jam City, Slackk, Visionist) in the grime/club music world. There was (and occasionally still is) a certain balls-to-the wall quality in the music of Asma Maroof and Daniel Pineda that surely ingratiated the duo to their fans, but after a long period of releases, their tracks tended to sometimes lull this particular listener into a  daze. Of course, that perception was crushed alongside expectations with Skycell (out now on Fade To Mind), a masterful collection of tracks that are far more sparse and mechanical than anything they’ve released in the past. Not ones to let momentum slip away, Asma and Daniel recently contributed a remix to Darkstar’s HD7 EP (out now on Warp) and the results are breathtaking. The juxtaposition of an almost trance-like chord progression with percussion more typical of Nguzu’s recent output (and the output of much of the F2M/Night Slugs fam) is something I wouldn’t mind seeing more of in the future. Stream/download the remix below and cop the EP here.

New Rustie – “Boatsss”

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November 22, 2013
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rustieAt first, Rustie might come off as an odd choice of artist to contribute to a compilation benefitting children in southeast India. That being said, the Danny Brown collaborating, rave-loving Glaswegian producer recently contributed a track (with the help of Light of Love Children’s Choir) to the Everything Is New Campaign and his involvement suddenly makes a lot more sense. Without the social context, most would probably assume that “Boatsss” is just another massive Rustie cut (one that will inevitably be played into the ground), what with its churning snare rolls and brighter than thou layers of synth work. After all, music is universal and Rustie’s music is especially uplifting/undeniably bright. Maybe he’s just the perfect benefit concert artist for 2013.

New Visionist – “M”

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November 21, 2013
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visionist

If you thought Visionist was going to end his 2013 back in September with I’m Fine EP (out on Lit City Trax), it wouldn’t have been a naive prediction. The EP seemed to sum up the London-based producer’s year quite aptly, offering a wildly melodic ride that managed to get repeatedly stuck in this writers head without ever coming off as “catchy”. Later this month though, Visionist will release the “M”/”Secrets” single on Ramp Recordings and based off of the a-side, it’s a continuation of the sound he’s been pimping all year. Besides Logos, there isn’t a producer out there who creates the sense of wide-open space quite like Visionist and that’s readily apparent in “M”‘s deep sub bass and bottomless synth work. The single will be released via 12″ on November 25 and you can stream “M” below.

New Evian Christ – “Salt Carousel”

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November 21, 2013
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evian christ

The last time we heard from Evian Christ, he was hanging out that national park loving fellow in Paris hotel rooms and cavorting around the globe performing at posh night clubs. I was lucky enough to catch EC at Decibel Festival back in September and while the soundsystem and crowd might have been lacking, the performance showed a new side of the Kings and Them producer and saw him trending towards both the jagged edges of the Warp Records catalogue and the big room sounds of his new contemporaries in the rap music world. In early 2014, Christ will release a new EP, titled Waterfall, on Tri Angle, an effort that will likely get exponentially more attention than his first effort on the label did. “Salt Carousel” is representative of the bolder textures, more pronounced drums and all around larger sound that EC will probably take into the future. Expect big things in realms beyond popularity come 2014.