MMM. I remember this vocal, or some iteration of it, from Jamie xx’s tour de force of an essential mix and I’m so glad to hear it pop up again. Redlight puts the vocal smack dab in the center of the mix and builds a wonderful, housey jam around it. The bass is deep, the synths have vibes for days and the drums shuffle and pop in an utterly danceable manner. And Annie Mac is down. She claims to be giving the song away for free, but the downloadlink is non-existent on the soudcloud page :(. Regardless, please give this song a rinse below, I doubt you will regret it.

Bwana aka Nathan Micay first caught out attention via the Can’t You Just EP on Jeffree’s back in March. Beautiful chord progressions, effusive vocals and engrossing percussion seem to come easy to the Leeds by way of Toronto producer. With just a few releases under his belt, he’s already solidified himself among the best in the biz at creating twinkling, garage-indebted riddims. On July 30th, Bwana will release the Baby Let Me Finish EP on Somethinksounds, sure to be another giant step forward for the 21 year old. “Nami Swan” builds and builds until it plateaus into brilliant looped vocals and pleasantly frenetic beat. Stream below and look out for the EP on July 30th.

We weren’t around to tell you, but Freddie Gibbs and Madlib’s “Thuggin” was the best hip hop song of 2011. Bar none. No fucks about it. Gangsta Gibbs’ honest as fuck, true to the-streets braggadocio mixes with the Beat Kondukta’s dusty, sativa saturated beats was a match made in heaven. The ensuing EP was short, but the promise of a second  EP coming Summer 2012 made hip hop heads more than a little wet. Summer 2012 is upon us and lo and behold, the Shame EP has arrived on our doorsteps. More of a teaser than anything, Shame contains two new Gibbs/Madlib tracks along with their instrumentals/acapellas, plus two bonus beats. The two new tracks are more than enough to satiate our needs though. The title track takes Gibbs away from the streets and into the bedroom. Lib creates the perfect soul-sampling bed for Gibbs to wax poetic about his “bottom bitch” and BJ The Chicago Kid sounds smooth as hell on the hook. Best line: “Like I stepped on a banana peel then fell in that pussy/You all be spending your narcotics skrill to get in that pussy”. Gibbs got jokes. At only 1:11 long, “Terrorist” is even more of a teaser, but seeing Gibbs going stream of consciousness over another silky backdrop is still a treat. Head over to Stones throw to cop the vinyl or the MP3’s and stream “Shame” below. Most importantly, the EP release comes with news that the two are gearing up for an LP release “third quarter 2012”. That is very, very soon. Jammin!

So Jacques Greene is releasing an EP on Martyn’s record label 3024. It’s due out July 16, but you can preview it now. It’s called Ready and no surprise, it’s really, really good. From the Soundcloud description:

From early releases with LuckyMe and Night Slugs via high profile remixes and on to the recent formation of his own Vase imprint the Montreal native has been at the front of his home town’s rapidly snowballing acclaim as a creative incubator of unusual quality, fusing R&B’s raw emoting to House and Techno’s sleek propulsion. The Ready EP is a further refinement of the sound he’s made his own, going further down the rabbit hole than before but always balancing aerodynamic efficiency with the unusually organic emotion.

That sounds about right. “Prism” and “Dakou” have that sexy late night sound that Greene has perfected on his past few releases and while there’s no “Another Girl” here, why try and recreate that magic. “Ready” takes Greene in a more techno-oriented direction, not my favorite, but it’s quite fitting for a release on Martyn’s label. Stream below.

There’s something about Aaliyah’s voice, the breathiness, the clarity, I dunno really, but it gets me every time. Rock The Boat is an easy to find acapella and it features her saying “Boy you really get me high”; connect the dots and it makes sense that it has been sampled by everyone & their mother’s uncle (including yours truly). East coast producer Tony Quattro really did it this time tho, setting up an airy, reverby space with warm synths and crisp drums for Aaliyahs generally unadulterated vocals. At the drop, a simple tonal bass really pushes the track to the next level. Add in some happy, shuffling hi hats and you’ve got a feel good summer banger. Like the man’s facebook page for a free DL and stream off his soundcloud below.

It’s hard for me not to press play on a song with a genre of “Ratchet”. This instinct paid off, as this jawn from Florida producer C.Z. is one of the most puzzling little slappers I’ve come across in a cool minute. It’s decidedly trappy, but in a surprisingly original way. Tuned percussion stutters about the midrange in a strange, completely unique manner, and C.Z. sets it up with a tasty little vocal sample. The decidedly left-field take on the Lex Luger paradigm works wonders, and Baauer is down, seeing as he featured this track in his Diplo & Friends release. No word on an official release, but as of now you can grab this one as a free download.

http://soundcloud.com/colbytown/doin-what-i-do

 


2012 has been a good year for Brainfeeder. Flying Lotus’s label and purveyor of everything good and holy have only released two traditional full lengths, Ryat’s and Lapalux’s (both excellent by the way), but their longest strides have come in the hip hop arena. Now if you follow us, you’re probably familiar with the label’s stable of MC’s, namely the Maryland-bred Azizi Gibson and Chicago’s Jeremiah Jae. The two have been making some of the most unfiltered, dynamic hip hop this year, which is quite a statement considering Black Hippy and Danny Brown’s output alone. Luckily for us, the two have joined together for a concept tape of sorts. Ignorant Prayers is an ode to all those who pray for the important things in life i.e. a lot of fellatio. Money too. If you’re looking for grimy, unadulterated rhymes over the wonky beats we’ve come to love from Jae and the Brainfeeder clique in general, do not sleep on this tape. It’s shocking without striving for shock value and has some of the gulliest production this side of FlyLo himself. Grab the full tape below and grab the instrumentals right here.

Download: Azizi Gibson x Jeremiah Jae – Ignorant Prayers

Last week, I was delighted to find Clams Casino’s Instrumental 2 sitting tantalizing in my inbox. While not quite as earth shattering as the original instrumentals tape, the mastered copies of “Wassup”, “Palace” and “I’m God” have not and will not leave the rotation for months. Like the gentleman that he is, Clams let loose seven “BSIDES” earlier, made up of instrumentals of Squadda B, Sha Stimuli, Lil B, Mac Miller and Havoc tracks. While not as well known as the tracks off Instrumental 2, each and every instrumental demonstrates just how dexterous the New Jersey-bred producer is behind the boards. I personally hadn’t heard the Sha Stimuli tracks so that was quite a treat. Don’t know how “Never Understand” didn’t make it onto the “A Side”. Easily one of my favorite beats of the year. You can head over to Clams’ Twitter to grab each individual track or snag the easy to consume Zip file below.

Download: Clams Casino – #BSIDES

Soundcloud has been kind to me today. My dashboard hooked me up with a banger from Obey City X Baauer, and now it’s directing me to this dancefloor heater of a remix from London producer Last Japan. The track features some subtle nods to stateside hip-hop but shys away from the trap paradigm, instead taking influences from UK Funky percussion. The 808 starts deep and expands up through the sonic spectrum, by the end of the song filling the speakers with pure low-end goodness. The track is scheduled to be released on the original artist My Nu Leng’s EP July 2nd on London imprint LNUK. Stream this fuego below.

http://soundcloud.com/lastjapan/damp-last-japan-4-44am-remix

Oh yes. Today, we are lucky enough to premier the brand new Viette banger, “DÅMELO” and initiate some ratchet techno frenzy. Taking a generous sample from Ri Ri’s ode to Jamaican badmen, Viette gets real grimy with the water droplets and whatever those sucking noises are. This is the shit Bangladesh would churn out if he got locked in a Berlin dungeon and was forced to make techno. 2 Ratchet. Stream and download “DÅMELO” below.