Here’s a little something to brighten your Monday. SBTRKT has posted a new bonus instrumental track on his Soundcloud. The song is called “Surely,” and it’s brimming with resonant organ-heavy chords and a catchy, energetic beat. According to the artwork for the single (above), this track is being released by Young Turks. Stream it right here:
Last week had a number of solid releases for beat junkies. Knxwledge dropped his Hexual Sealings Vol. 2 and Ta-Ku released his SCRAPS Vol.2 Regan ‘Ta-Ku’ Mathews is an Australian beat maker who states his influences are from the pioneering artists J Dilla, 9th Wonder, and DJ Premier. If you scrounge through our archives you can find an earlier post on his Dusty Instrumentals beat tape. This is one of my favorites off of the album called Kyotokyo. Reminds me of some of Teebs beats with the harp arrangement stressed as the prominent structure to the song. The entire album can be streamed off of his bandcamp page http://ta-ku.me/album/scraps-vol-2 and probably found on the internet with some good google searches.
It feels like it’s 2009 again. It’s been three years since the release of The xx’s seminal self-titled debut, but as the fourtet gears up for a second go around, xx mania is revving its engine as well. Jamie xx stuck his neck into the solo realm and immediately became an indie darling after releasing the “Far Nearer”/”Beat For” single and his remix of Gil Scott-Heron’s last album I’m New Here. The xx are scheduled to play at numerous festivals across Europe and elsewhere this summer and have publicly stated that they are currently working up on a follow up to The xx. One result of the unique use of silence on their debut was a deluge of remixes from all corners of music realm. Some made perfect sense (Dark Sky, Four Tet, Mount Kimbie, Nosaj Thing), but most were cringe worthy. Without any new material to work with, amidst the excitement over a new album, it appears that some producers have begun to look back to the debut for inspiration. One of those happens to be 17 year old up and comer Beat Culture. This remix of “Shelter” borrows heavily from Burial (no surprise that he’s listed as an influence), but with an added twist. The song lacks the subtlety of most Burial productions, but that doesn’t necessarily negatively effect the remix. Beat Culture also lists Hudson Mohawke as an influence who places about as far from Burial on the minimal/maximal spectrum. If Beat Culture can fall somewhere in between the two, while maintaining his signature style, the teenager has a bright future ahead of him. Stream/download his remix of “Shelter” below.
And by others I mean artists including; Flying Lotus, Bilal, Rebekah Raff, Aloe Blacc, Thundercat and my favorite drummer, Chris Dave. This album was recorded live in Los Angeles on July 23rd and released in August. I’m very jealous of anyone who attended this concert because it was a free with all of these amazing artists collaborating for an entire night. The album only consists of 3 songs from the night, but more tracks (“Tea Leaf Dancers” being one of them) can be found on YouTube. The album can be streamed here off of the bandcamp page. Drips/take notice is basically a 14 minute jam sesh where we see solos from Ferguson, Thundercat and some more great drum work from Chris Dave.
Last week we featured Obey City’s juke-inspired remix of Schoolboy Q’s “Blessed.” This week, the Brooklyn resident is back with a remix of Astro Nautico label-mate Paul Jones’s cut “Bad Haircut.” Obey City flattens out the original without losing its funky flavor. The well-placed synth pads and a repetitive rhythm dominate the track, but it’s the breakdowns are what really draw you in. Download the remix below.
Knxwledge dropped his Hexual Sealings vol 2 for us last night. The album has some great vocal samples from Erykah Badu, Biggie, and others. I have already expressed my love for Knxwledge on some previous posts so check those out if this is a new artist for you. The album is all good but a couple of standout tracks arew ThnAbtYew, the biggie sample on WunMoarChance, and Trost.
The wait may be over…Jay Electronica announced via his tweeter today “Dear Believers and Patient Supporters. Thank you for your patience and support. The Album will be turned in Tomorrow evening. The wait ends.” Jay Elec goes on to say that he will write an open letter via his tumblr (http://eyeofelectronica.com/) in the next couple of days. Now…this is huge! Fans and the like can rejoice that the album is now finished and physically being turned in tomorrow. While this is all well and good, just how long will we have to wait to hear it? This is the guy that has only released a mixtape, Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (the pledge) in 2007, Style Wars EP (2007), and then compilations of his music, What the Fuck Is A Jay Electronica, and the Victory mixtape. Basically the dude has kept fans waiting 5 years now to actually release a full fledged album so there is a lot of hype surrounding this release. Needless to say, I cant help but be very very excited that the album is finally finished. I just hope that the album gets put out in the near future.
This is supposedly a track off Act II that Jay deemed not good enough to be on the album…enjoi
I’m going to keep this one short and sweet, because of some formal education imposed time constraints. Two of the most talented producers in Seattle just released one of the best instrumental releases the city has seen in sometime. WD4D (member of the Stop Biting Crew, more to come on them later) and Suttikeeree (formerly Dead Noise) released the After School 2 EP on Fourth City Records earlier this week, and boy is it great. It reminds of Hudson Mohawke’s most recent Satin Panthers EP, not so much in its sound (although the two do share some key characteristics), but in its range tempos and sounds. “Quest For Fire” transitions between dubstep basslines and sped up vocal samples, while “Ride-By Music” features a chopped Cool Kids sample and sound about a million times better whippin it down the freeway with two 16’s in the back than on my shitty macbook speakers. After School 2 is one of those perfect synthesis of experimental hip hop and bass music with a maximalist ethos. If you cop any new music today, make this it. It’s free, but only through tomorrow.
Five weeks ago, the Sasquatch Music Festival lineup was released to much fanfare. Like all festivals, some hated the lineup while others loved it. For the more levelheaded, it appears to be a very balanced lineup with a deep undercard. From here on out we will be underscoring the lesser-known Sasquatch artists by highlighting a different artist each week. Beyond delving into each artist’s bio, sound, etc., we will attempt to give some insight into what will make their performance at Sasquatch so amazing.
Coming back to their penchant for rowdy live shows, Beat Connection should excel at Sasquatch. One of the few bands in the dance tent, they will most likely get an early time slot, but based on the crowd at Capitol Hill Block Party, people will come out for the show. It’s easier said than done, but Beat Connection just make people dance. It’s exultantly unpretentious dance music and it’s nearly impossible to hold back from jumping into the mass of sweaty kids. Beat Connection will be playing in the Banana Shack over Memorial Day weekend.
Photo from facebook
Well this is quite the coincidence. Back in February, we covered cloud rap aficionados MainAttrakionz performance at Pomona College. La Hambra beatsmith Jonwayne just happened to be opening up for the Oakland duo that night. In a comical turn of fate, legendary IDM producer Odd Nosdam mashed the two unlikely collaborators into one track using Main Attrakionz “Chap 3” and Jonwayne’s “Bowser I.” The track would undoubtedly sound better yell-rapped in a dark club, but what you do? Shit bumps. Stream/download below.
The Astral Plane 