Jim-E Stack Unleashes Remix of DV8’s “C’mon”

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April 23, 2012
New Music, Remixes
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Well this is a pleasant surprise. One of 2011’s quickest risers, New Orleans by way of San Francisco producer Jim-E Stack threw up a brand new heater to his Youtube page last night. Stack brought the revitalized garage sounds of London to A$AP Rocky’s seminal “Purple Swag” last year to break into the scene and cemented his place as one of the most promising young producers via the Come Between EP. Stack puts the emphasis on percussion on this one, letting the sinewy vocals float in and out over quiet synth pads. An understated banger if I’ve ever heard one.

DJ Sliink Drops Three Heaters On Soundcloud

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April 23, 2012
New Music, Remixes
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Over the weekend, the prodigal son of Jersey Club, the one and only DJ Sliink, by dropping not one, not two, but three new reworks up on his Soundcloud. While the renowned Newark producer has expanded beyond his Club roots, these three tracks harken back to the subgenre in its purest form. Taking on Bone Thugs N Harmony’s “Thuggish Ruggish,” M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” and the Beastie Boys’ “No Sleep Till Brooklyn” doesn’t seem like the most forward-thinking venture, but it harkens to the essence of Jersey Club. The staggered chopped vocals and shuffling drum patterns are apparent from the get go and Sliink manages to infuse just enough of his unique flare to make the tracks worthwhile. These tracks aren’t going to revolutionize Club music, but they serve as another notch in the belt of one of the East Coast’s most promising young producers.

Face+heel Wow Boiler Room Audience, Prep New EP

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April 23, 2012
Live, Mixes, New Music
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Delving into the ever changing landscape of bass music can be an imposing task if you don’t know where to start. Hundreds of labels seemingly release thousands of tracks a day, which can honestly get fairly overwhelming. For the uninitiated, Night Slugs or Hessle Audio are both excellent places to start, both maintaining diverse rosters and deep catalogues. You really can’t go wrong with either. Another great place to start is deep in the bowels of London’s Boiler Room. The now legendary event has helped launch the careers of SBTRKT, Om Unit and Lunice, and featured superstars of contemporary electronic music, James Murphy, Jamie XX and Rustie. There just isn’t another weekly event with as much clout and influence out there and it has recently expanded to Berlin and Los Angeles. It is no small feat then that Face+heel, the boy/girl duo out of Cardiff laid down one of the best sets at the East London affair in quite some time.

With a style reminiscent of Mount Kimbie’s darker, more emotive tunes, the Welsh youngsters possess a gripping elegance that is difficult to mark down. The recent Warm Records signees debuted as Face+heel in Summer 2011 and have been unstoppable ever since. The duo’s bass oriented take on deep house and classic garage is not what caught my eye, that’s been done before. Instead, it is the deep, heartfelt sadness evoked by the distant vocals on “No Stars.” It’s the crisp percussion in the second half of the haunting “One Hundred Years Deep.” Both tracks are off of the upcoming No Stars EP on Warm and are just the most recent examples of the duo’s impressive production acumen. Look out for No Stars on May 7 and stream “No Stars” and “One Hundred Years Deep” below. Check out their near flawless live set at the Boiler Room here.

Two New Tracks from Hodgy Beats and Domo Genesis

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April 20, 2012
2012, New Music
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Last month, we reviewed the new album from Odd Future, OF Tape Vol. 2., and discussed how OF members Hodgy Beats and Domo Genesis, who used to ramble somewhat incoherently through clouds of smoke and unfocused bad attitudes, seem to be evolving their respective styles. Thus far, we have seen a certain resistance to production from outside the collective. Last year, in fact, in an interview with Pitchfork, Hodgy explicitly said:

I honestly don’t like working with people outside of Odd Future because I don’t want our sound to change. I want it to evolve, and that happens with people within the camp, not people outside the camp. When you make music, it should be fun. I’m not hating or anything, but I don’t want to be rapping over a Lex Luger beat. Why would I do that? I have my own beats.

This week, though, we saw two new releases from Hodgy and Domo, under their new moniker MellowHigh, and one of the tracks is produced by Lex Luger himself. “Timbs” isn’t particularly lengthy, but it’s enjoyable, and certainly far more focused than previous work from Hodgy and Domo.

Today, we have another new MellowHigh track, “Go,” this time produced by Thelonious Martin. This one’s a little longer and a little spacier, but it definitely exemplifies how well Hodgy and Domo complement each other musically. Maybe we’ll continue to see more material from these two, produced by talent from outside the collective.

Astro Nautico Produce Whopping 40+ Track Compilation

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April 20, 2012
Mixes, New Music, Remixes
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There is always an onslaught of blunted out anthems on April 20th. Some are better than others. For example, that new Curren$y joint is on point. On the other hand, the new Belly/Snoop track manages to fulfill almost every hip hop cliche in under five minutes. Quite a feat. Anyways, the point is that you have to wade through a mountain of shake and clippings to find that perfectly spun grape swisher. Lucky for us, the good folks over at Astro Nautico have made it easy in the form of Volume Two of their Atlantics series. The first Volume came out way back in 2009 and the label/crew has come quite some way since. The self-described “flick-to-the-balls, balls-to-the-wall, whopping, whapping 40+ track (including intro, outro, interludes and bonus tracks) compilation album” has something for everyone. Featuring exclusives from Astral Plane favorites Baauer, Abel and Zackey Force Funk, the compilation ranges from out and out club bangers to experimental ambient tunes. Like I said, there’s something for everyone. It’s also free, and should be, along with a solid helping of Lord Quas, Spitta and K. Dot, the soundtrack to however you partake in today’s festivities.

Knxwledge drops new EP

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April 19, 2012
2012, New Music
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One of my favorite producers right now continues to put out EPs like its nobody’s business. He has dropped six releases on bandcamp in 2012 alone and is still putting out sampleicious beats. He’s a master crate digger and I would love to see what samples he uses in just one of his releases. This time, Knxwledge drops “Karma Loops pt. 2” for us. Usually one would think that with this amount of output there would surely be a decrease in quality. For Knxwledge that decrease in quality has yet to come as far as I am considered and I am drawn back to his previous records countless times. You can stream the album below and here is a link for “Karma Loops Pt. 1” I highly recommend checking that out as well.

Low End Theory Brings Youthful Rebellion Full Circle

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April 19, 2012
2012, Live, New Music, Uncategorizable
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Last time El-P graced the Low End stage, via West Coast Sound

Everyone has that rebellious phase. Some last longer than others and they all manifest themselves in drastically different forms. No point in getting into all the musical genres rebellion manifests itself in as different people indulge differently, but whether it’s bumping K in some dark basement or running off from your family in a grungy van, the results are generally the same. My rebellious stage started around Freshman year of high school. After several years of listening to mainstream hip hop (Chicken & Beer was a personal fave), I decided I wanted more from my musical preferences. I don’t know whether it was my late introduction into skate culture, or the move from a quirky residential neighborhood to one of Seattle’s “cool” neighborhoods, but I began digging in used CD crates and scouring hip hop forums, resulting in the find of my life, Cannibal Ox’s seminal The Cold Vein.

The album warped my mind years before Warp ever had a chance. Granted, I didn’t understand the context of the majority of the lyrics, but El-P’s dark production was the driving force behind my newfound obsession. Being a pubescent teenager with trouble talking to girls and parent issues didn’t differentiate me much from the masses, but Vast Aire and Vordul Mega sure made it feel that way. As much as I love yelling “kill people, burn shit, fuck school” at the top of my lungs, OF can’t hold a torch to the tortured souls of the Def Jux back catalogue. Soon enough, Mr. Lif, Camu Tao (R.I.P.) and Aesop Rock became the guiding beacons in my life and RJD2’s Deadringer became my holy book. Eventually, I moved onto labels like Stones Throw, anticon and Delicious Vinyl, but my first love was, and always will be, Def Jux.

With that in mind, let’s bring it back to the present day. With promises of a “very special guest” from Gaslamp Killer and Daddy Kev, knowing full well that it would most likely be a Coachella holdover, as well as a scheduled performance from The Grouch and Eligh, the decision to trek to Lincoln Heights for Low End Theory last night was an easy one. After stellar opening sets from every resident (including a fair share of our man Baauer), and a sub-par half hour via Taurus Scott, Grouch and Eligh took the stage and ripped through tracks from No More Greener Grasses and Say G&E!. I should have seen it coming, knowing that Company Flow was/will be at Coachella, but halfway through the set (which also included an appearance from Luckyiam), someone shouted out that El-P was in the building.

Memories of high school quickly flashed across my mind, mostly bad, but some good, and soon enough, El Producto took the stage. He was only up there for 15 minutes, but that was plenty for me. If I could tell my 15 year old self I would witness El-P perform five feet from my face to a crowd of less than 100 people, I wouldn’t have believed it. The man hasn’t lost an ounce of charisma over the years. With the R.A.P. Music album with Killer Mike dropping May 15 and Producto’s newest solo venture, Cancer For Cure, set for a May 22 release date, it’s more than apparent he hasn’t lost the blue collar attitude that made Company Flow so great. Sure, Def Jux might be dead, but there is no doubt in mind that some 15 year old downloaded “The Full Retard” last week and is already digging into some Cool Calm Pete or Yakballz.

Lapalux Remixes Mario’s Mid-2000’s Hit “Let Me Love You”

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April 18, 2012
New Music, Remixes
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Mario’s mid 2000’s hit “Let Me Love You” probably is nothing more than a footnote in the annals of bad pop music, but to a number of pubescent teenagers at the time, it was a major benchmark in their sexually driven minds. Granted, I was not one those kids, being too wrapped up in the Def Jux back catalogue (for better or worse). Still, the song was unavoidable and was on replay on Seattle’s KUBE93 for months. It’s fitting in this day and age that Brainfeeder beatsmith Lapalux would take on the track and give it a little reconstruction. The smooth original is smashed to pieces here, vocals pitched up and down, thrown across the length of the song and layered throughout. Percussion both dominates and adds a subtle hue to the track, which along with scattered synths, brings the song into the Essex native’s futuristic realm. Stream and download the track over at XLR8R.

New Gold Panda – “4”

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April 18, 2012
New Music
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I’m just gonna let Derwin Schlecker take it away on this one.

a track I made on a korg es-1 in about 10mins and jammed out for my mate called “Infinite Livez” to freestyle on at a last minute gig/dj set thing in Berlin a while back and I hadn’t eaten much and also had to dj and I’m a shit dj but I just played a bunch of records anyway and Inf’ helped me out by freestyling for me. He’s a nice bloke and a great artist. I just made a cup of tea. Maybe I’ll invite him over.

Yeah yeah yeah, we get it. You’re supremely talented. You can make incredible tunes on a whim outside of your comfort zone. You’re a friendly guy who likes tea. I get it. Now please be my friend.

Three Unreleased Hudson Mohawke Tracks Featured In Battles FACT Mag Mix

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April 18, 2012
Mixes, New Music
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Missed this one when I was out Coachella’n over the weekend. The fine folks over at FACT Mag got Battles for the 325th edition of their mix series and it is quite a doozie. The New York threesome has gotten ever so weird since the departure of Tyrondai Braxton back in 2010 and it has suited them well, taking the band to a new level. Their most recent output, the Dross Glop remix tape featured Hudson Mohawke, The Alchemist, Kode 9 and more, and this mix borrows heavily from these artists as well. Not only does the mix feature HudMo, but three, yes you heard that right, three unreleased gems from the Glaswegian maximalist. The mix was admirably taken on by drummer John Stanier and features a more dance/pop vibe than most Battles fans are probably used to. Don’t be afraid venerable avant-garde enthusiasts, there is plenty of off-the-cuff esoteric shit in here to satiate your needs. Stream and download the mix below courtesy of FACT.