Compared to its neighbors to the south (Los Angeles, north (Portland and Seattle) and even near east (Oakland), San Francisco has a relative dearth of club music culture and nights. While a lot of that can probably be chalked up to the accelerated real estate market and a general whitening of the city, it’s still bizarre that San Francisco has virtually no regular nights that support ballroom, Jersey, Bmore, grime, UK funky and the other myriads forms we support in these pages. Fortunately, the BREAD crew has sought out to change all of that and on May 29, they are bringing out Rushmore, Dreams, Fraxinus and Kid Antoine to SoMa’s 1192 Folsom venue. Living in Los Angeles, it’s easy to get a little spoiled with night life selections, but I’ve seen more than a few Angelenos despair over the 380+ miles separating them from this show.
To celebrate the inaugural BREAD night, we have a ticket giveaway and exclusive mix from our friend Rushmore, bossman at Trax Couture and headliner of the May 29 date. As most of you know from listening to the London-based producer/DJ/curator extraordinaire’s House of Trax NTS Show, this man’s mix sessions are not to be missed and this high energy selection runs through recent Trax Couture releases and the requisite load of exclusives. Art work for the mix done by the always on point Natalie Hands. Stream and download the mix below and hit the link if you’re in the Bay Area for a chance at the two tickets. With Trax Couture, Private Selection and Her Records in the house, this is not a party you’re going to want to miss. Get tickets for BREAD #01 here and be sure to check out the track list for Rushmore’s mix on the contest entry page as well!
Coming off the back of the release of his first album in four years, Los Angeles-based artist and Wedidit boss Henry Laufer aka Shlohmo took over The Fonda stage last week with a retooled live set featuring a hired gun drummer and friend/label mate D33J. It’s Laufer’s first foray into the band world as Shlohmo and, coming at the tail end of a national tour, felt like a veritable homecoming celebration. With a cooky array of imagery splayed behind the stage (chains, rain drops, a spliff), the band giddily took the stage after performances from TEAMSesh rapper BONES, Purple and Nick Melons. Like Dark Red, Laufer’s new album on True Panther Sounds, the performance was rife with clattering, precision-point drums and moody, dirge-like guitar work and true to form, the band worked through most of the new album.
And with a few exceptions, the new material sounded great, drawing from both a technical metal lineage and the Southern hip hop, R&B and jungle influences that have popped up on his past several releases. Also like the album, the middle portion of the show felt a bit sludgy, Dark Red tracks like “Apathy”, “Ditch” and “Remains” didn’t quite hold the attention of Vacation effort “Rained The Whole Time” and Laid Out highlight “Later”. Nonetheless, the crowd was firmly eating out of Laufer’s hands, a young squadron of Wedidit acolytes responding enthusiastically to nearly every track in the hour long set. At his best, Shlohmo sounds like a confluence of Tim Hecker and Goldie, DJ Screw and The Album Leaf and there were enough moments of brilliance throughout the night at The Fonda to ride away from the Sunset Boulevard venue with a huge smile plastered on.
Last Monday, our debut show on Radar Radio aired, the first of (hopefully) many two hour sessions for the London station! Every two weeks, the Astral Plane DJ Team will be taking over the first hour and bringing out some of favorite Los Angeles artists for the second hour. The show is pre-recorded, but be sure to send in dubs/tracks/releases/whatever and we’ll be sure to give them a listen and consider inclusion. Last week’s show featured Terrorhythm’s own Patrick Brian on the guest mix, tearing down everything with a selection of percussive grime, techno and everything in between. Next week, we’ll have Private Selection’s Arkitect on with an all vinyl selection of acid, techno and some exclusives from friends and label mates. As of now, our bimonthly slot will take place on the first and third Mondays of every week from 6 – 8 PM Pacific Time although that might change in the coming weeks/months. Tune in.
Like most of our favorite record labels, Rushmore‘s Trax Couture has developed organically over the past few years, bringing international artists into the fold via its globally-focused World Series while also retaining a keen focus on London. April brought GROVESTREET into the fold and World Series Vol. 8 puts the focus on Evil Streets, one of London’s foremost proponents of Bmore and Jersey club. If you were lucky enough to catch GROVESTREET and Evil Streets on Just Jam 136 or at one of several House of Trax events, you’d catch classic East Coast club records, ballroom motifs and a distinct UK funky flavor, all put through an eccentric, rave culture filter. Evil Streets’ Vol. 8 comes in at four tracks and consistently features the choppy, syncopated rhythms that mark funky, as well as a good heaping of break beats and horn work that recall Baltimore’s finest. It’s an exciting debut for a nascent artist who also graces Radar Radio monthly and “Times Up” is the best of the lot, a retro-flavored, peak time burner that should be all over sets in no time. Vol. 8 is out on Wednesday May 27 and if you’re in New York that same day be sure to catch Rushmore and Evil Streets at the Purple Tape Pedigree pop up shop!
We don’t usually cover music festivals due to the dearth of quality options in the United States and a general lack of enthusiasm for the form, but with long-term admiration fueling a prospective trip in mind, it’s a pleasure to feature Croatia’s crown jewel of Outlook Festival. Taking place in Pula, a peninsular town on the Aegean coast, Outlook features one of, if not the best, soundsystem-culture focused festival the world over, highlighting the best in dubstep, grime, dancehall, reggae, jungle, garage and much much more. This year’s festival will take place from September 2nd to 6th and features a wildly eclectic lineup with sub frequencies being the only shared trait to tie the whole thing together. It would be a Sisyphean task to try and run through every act we’re looking forward to at this point, but the latest line-up additions feature Novelist, Oneman, Spooky, Mickey Pearce, Compa, Fracture, Flava D, Elijah & Skilliam, The Bug, Chunky and many more. That’s on top of heavy hitters like Boy Better Know, Wiley, Shy FX, Digital Mystikz, Goldie and, well, I could exhaust the afternoon going on like this. Hit the jump to catch a Jpeg of the whole bill and we hope to see you in Pula come September.
Our infatuation with Divoli S’vere is well documented and it goes without saying that MikeQ‘s touch is golden and while their respective solo work is also special, their collaborations always seem to take it a little higher. Their latest comes via a remix of Ezekiel‘s “Gurrr Swag” on Parisian imprint Moveltraxx‘s Street Bangers Factory #01, out now digitally and next week on vinyl. Alongside contributions from footwork up-and-comers EQ Why and DJ Earl, MikeQ and Divoli’s contribution is the best of the bunch, a rabid ballroom tune that, like the duo’s best work, is both a hugely functional runway hit and an elastic dance floor bomb, suitable for any number of ramp-up-the-energy situations. As the only ballroom track on Street Bangers Factory, this remix of “Gurrr Swag” sounds even more monolithic and energizing, placing alongside “She Wants” as one of the duo’s most effective joints. Buy Street Bangers Factory #01 in digital form here and stream the whole tape courtesy of FACT Mag here.
As we’ve narrowed our purview considerably over the past year or two, our writing/creative staff has also shrunk. The Astral Plane signifies a very specific sort of club music at this point, but that wasn’t always the case and it won’t always be the case. Moving forward, we’ll be enlisting new writers to champions different sectors of the contemporary and classical sonic landscape. Today, we’ve got our friend from Miami, Jurassic, to take on Caribou’s much ballyhooed 1000 song playlist. Our man has dragged and dropped the 1000 songs into an easily digestible Spotify playlist of his own and has even gone through the trouble of segmenting it into some intriguing categories. Jurassic will emerge from his corporate dungeon every few weeks with a regular column on oddities and rarities from the world of jazz, afropop, Indian acid and beyond. Enjoy. – Gabe
To say the least, 2015 has been off to a rumbling start. At 1pm January 4th, I was notified that project I had been working on for the last year was slashed due to corporate grumblings. Nearly 30 people I worked with were laid off. I still have my job off of a corporate loophole. Now, and for the last three weeks, I have had Nothing to do. Nothing. Now what would a regular person do in this situation. Panic? Find a new job? Find a new role? Probably. And what do I do? Keep my mouth shut. Act like I am doing something important and scour the depths of the internet for music.
Flash forward
January 14th @ 10 am est: Caribou tweets something. My search becomes much easier.
January 20th @ 4pm est: I get a personal retweet from Caribou on my own personal twitter account.
What happened in those 6 days and 6 hours? Next time, on Serial.
Well, actually what happened was in my Nothing to do phase, I got super obsessive, compulsive and eager and searched and listened to (clips at least) each 1000 of those songs.
UPDATE: Caribou has since created a playlist from his account, copying this list, robbing me of all potential followers 😦 Heres that one : The Longest Mixtape: Songs For You But if you want the OG, you know where to find it.
Now at this point you can click a link, subscribe, shuffle, and listen away. But if you wanna stay, you can hear some thoughts…
As you would expect (and hope) across 1000 songs, the variety of music is vast. Many selections are as you’d expect (Zepp, Stones, Sly, Curtis, Radiohead) but there are a few niche more unexpected groups that I think are indicative of the entire list. Each is a distinct yet interrelated pole that seemingly centralize Snaith as an artist.
Check out the full Spotify playlists linked in the headers and individual tracks in the body after the jump…
The practice of cutting dubs is often viewed as a rather arcane, outdated practice to many people in my age bracket (early 20s), enmeshed in a culture of exclusivity and privilege. More often than not, owning a selection of dubs is presented less as a means of playing out on-the-cusp tracks than a fundamental status symbol, awarding the owner a step up over the plebes without Loefah b-sides. Of course, digital dub culture isn’t any less insidious and the more the forums, groups and download sites infringe on the cool kids table, the more unfortunate conflict arises among young kids and scene veterans, DJs and producers, the United States and the UK. South London’s Riz La Teef seems to be one of the few good natured proponents of dub culture and he has filtered that responsibility into a few dozen, exclusive-laden, mixes over the past 24 months. Rinsing everything from roots reggae to jump up bassline, Riz’s adherence to vinyl and access to dubs from the likes of JT The Goon, Rabit and Novelist make him one of the most in demand and well respected deejays in both his native London and among the hordes of dispersed garage fans across the internet. We asked Riz about his favorite dubs from the past year and he was kind of enough to list them out and take some lovely photos of his hand-marked classics to be. Not all of these tracks will be revealed in the next months, but they will certainly live on in infamy, thanks to Riz’s spacious repertoire, innate deck skills and engaging demeanor. Peep his choices and a slideshow of each and every dub listed.
Gundam – Pulse Wedding VIP (RIZLA SPESH)
Def one of my favourite dubs I’ve cut this year. Played it a day after I cut it in a dance and it got reloaded 4/5 times.
Brackles & Fox – Skank + Famous Eno Remix
Not really a dubplate, but both tunes have a top vibe.
E.M.M.A – Pyramids, Peridot & Light Years
Pyramids is the coldest beat made this year imo and not alot of Emma’s stuff hasn’t been pressed to wax so I had to cut the other two beats!
Fallow – Strings Hoe Refix (RIZLA SPECIAL)
Fallow is a guy to watch out for next year for sure both his refixes and original tunes are quality. Big up to him for doing me special of strings ho refix.
Grandmixxer – Windrush VIP
Melody is so good, has been in my head for weeks.
Boycott – Kowloon Bae (RIZ VIP)
The original is such a sick tune and the guys blessed me with a VIP. Proper colourful vibes.
Iglew – Sleep Lighter VIP
Again Iglew is another guy to watch out for in 2015. Everything he’s done this year has been pretty special – Urban Myth, Cascade etc
JT The Goon – Twin Warriors VIP & Polar
JT is one of the best snm. Polar is a rude beat.
Apple – De-Siegalizer (Logos Refix)
Great cheeky refix and the mastering by Jason on the dub is so good.
Loom & Tarquin – Pompelmo Riddim
Fruity, eski dancehall from another two guys who I expect to do big things next year.
Mssingno – XE2 VIP BIELDUB REMIX PART 1
Actually cut this last year, but battered that dub so much had to cut it again!
Rabit – Black Dragons
Again not a dubplate anymore but was so gassed when Glacial sent me this month or so before its release. GULLY
Shriekin’ – Red Beach VIP
Maybe my favourite tune of the year??
Silk Road Assassins – Deadcell
The waviest beat made this year.
Wen – Backdraft/Walton – Bulldoze
BANGERS
Novelist – Yakuta
So excited to be able to cut this, Novelist is huge rn and gonna be even bigger next year. Excels in both MCin’ & production.
Murlo – Into Mist/Roman Baths
Was lucky enough to cut these before they came out. Into Mist has been in my bag as soon as I got it.
A few weeks have passed since the release of our debut compilation Heterotopiaand the response has been overwhelming. From each and every listener who has gone out of their to contribute to our slush fund via Bandcamp to the thousand-plus who have streamed, downloaded and shared the tape in full. Part of our mission here at The Astral Plane is to provide a consistent stream of original content and while our low budget, low staff approach doesn’t always allow us to keep the blog updated, we hope that our weekly mix series has filled the gap. On the compilation front, we were lucky to receive to late contributions, which, keep in mind, are from end of process tack-ons. Piri Piri and Chants, two artists we’ve engaged with numerous times in the past, came with the strong on “Low Earth Orbit” and “U Had Rhythm” respectively, two distinct club trax that fit snuggly into the framework established by the first 12 songs. The two songs have already appeared in physical form on the Heterotopia cassette tape, which you can still order (only a few more copies left!) via the Apothecary Compositions web store, but we figured it would be beneficial to give it up to the streaming masses. “Low Earth Orbit” is Gqom/Durban-inspired, drawing on South Africa’s rich, polyrhythmic house music history and adding their distinct, South London bent to the affair. February’s Patterns EP (out now on Silverback Recordings) is one of the year’s best efforts, but the future is much brighter for this ready-to-dig duo.
Ever-prolific Seattle imprint Hush Hush Records has built quite a stable of Pacific Northwest artists, ranging from the moody garage-inspired work of label star Kid Smpl to the cold brewed theatrics of Cock & Swan and its lead singer Ola. Hanssen, Slow Year, Korma and DJAO, who have all released on Hush Hush in some form, are also Seattle residents, feeding their respective takes on beat music, grime and Houston screw tunes with mixed results and affects. Outside of the friendly confines of the Northwest though, the Hush Hush family has expanded, from Wisconsite Chants (whose tune on our very own Heterotopia compilation will be revealed soon) to the imprint’s latest and most far flung signee, Polish producer Lowhitey.
It’s clear that Hush Hush has touched on a particular moment and sentiment in Seattle, building a brigade of deft producers to carry out a sound that both mirrors the drudge of the city and a greater human affliction. Now it’s time to see if the label can mirror and expand upon that sense of hopeful paranoia, warmth and desire in its future ventures, starting with Lowhitey’s stunning Alone With My Thoughts EP. The EP will be released this upcoming Monday (November 17), but the good folk at Hush Hush have gifted us a premiere of the aforementioned Chants remix contribution to the tape. Taking on the brilliant slow burn of “Studnia”, Chants flips the swishing water field recording into a foundation block for cracking boom bap percussion and unguarded meat grinder synth work. Chants’ take will also appear alongside remixes from VVV and The Phantom. Pre-order Alone With My Thoughts here and stream Chants’ rendition below.
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