Radar Radio w/ Letta b2b Patrick Brian – 23rd November 2015

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November 24, 2015
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After hosting them at our monthly Clubfriends night at The LASH a few weeks back, we had two of Los Angeles’ finest, Letta and Patrick Brian, representatives of the vaunted Coyote and Terrorhythm clans respectively, suit up for a b2b session on our Radar Radio show. The results are blinding and full of the sort of dubs, edits and madness we’ve come to expect from these two on their own. There aren’t a ton of people anywhere doing it like Letta and PB, especially in the City of Angels, so stay locked and join us on December 28 for our next Radar session. No track list for the second hour, but you can peep what the Astral Plane DJ Team played throughout the first. Stream below and download here.

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Giveaeay: Response w/ Kid Smpl, Eaves (11/29)

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November 23, 2015
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It’s a stacked post-Thanksgiving weekend here in Los Angeles and it closes out on Sunday with Response, a new night at The LASH that’s bringing out Seattle’s Kid  Smpl and New York’s Eaves for the first gig. We’ve been huge fans of Smpl for a while and the Hush Hush/Symbols rep contributed our latest Astral Plane mix, a visceral journey through noise-y club tropes, Future and plenty of originals from his latest Response/Ascend EP (out now on Symbols). The bill is filled out by Princee and DJ Vrizon Wirlss and is going down at The LASH, home of our monthly Clubfriends night. It’s $10, but we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky winner. All you have to do is enter your favorite track from Response/Ascend and you’re entered. RSVP for Response here and hope to see you all out there.

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Kid Smpl Mix For The Astral Plane

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November 19, 2015
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The electronic music community has always been interested in the sublime, both theoretically and literally, through psychoactive substances and transcendent experiences. If the sublime is reached amid a torrent of drum machines, then all the better. Over the past few years, a widely dispersed set of producers have seemed to approach the question of the sublime from a different angle, matching noisy sonics and hybrid sensibilities with moments of brief elation, moments that often become larger than the songs, albums and mixers that hold them. It’s an aesthetic found on Lotic’s recent Agitations mix and Rabit’s Communion EP, on most efforts released on Mr. Mitch’s Gobstopper label, and on Acre’s debut Better Strangers LP.

Seattle’s Kid Smpl has never sat comfortably in any one mold, advancing from the “night bus” inspired UK sounds of his early releases on Hush Hush Records to a current sound that touches on everything from digital dancehall, jungle and the hyperreal stylings of FKA Twigs, Kelela and Le1f. Often times, those influences only seem to flit in and out of a song momentarily, the remainder filled by wide-eyed cinematics, often accompanied by the sounds of worlds tearing apart. Smpl’s music has always been imbued with a sense of the dramatic and while his aesthetic has slowly become more outward-focused, there’s still a distinctly personal focus in his releases, whether his reference points be Emptyset or Alkaline. His Astral Plane mix touches on both influences and contemporaries, the whole coming off as remarkably consistent with his original work despite including everything from Letta’s remembrance anthem “Where I Left You” to Lee Bannon alias DedekindCut’s crushing breakcore. Be sure to get Smpl’s Response/Ascend EP, out now on Symbols, and always look out for more from this loft-minded Northwester.

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Fallow Mix For The Astral Plane

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November 11, 2015
Mixes
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Often overlooked in the conversation surrounding UK dance culture, a series of recent parties in Manchester have put the northern city in focus, the likes of Chow Down, Swing Ting and High Bank all contributing to a culture that embraces grime, UK funky, dancehall, reggaeton, kuduro, rap, R&B and beyond. Fallow is a regular at Chow Down and has long been embraced as one of the most talented members of the greater Boxed family, contributing to Boxed Vol. 2 and even providing a memorable/unfortunate moment when he fell off the stage at a Boxed event last year and chipped his tooth. Embracing both the weightless, square wave-focused side of grime and full frontal speed garage and UK funky, Fallow has shone with an MC at his side, contributing production work (with Finn) to Jammz’s song of the year candidate “Final Warning” and working extensively with vocal tunes in his mixes. His Astral Plane mix is chock full of choice vocals, from Beatking’s guttural boasts to Asher’s crooning over AdotR’s bassline jam “Look So Good”, each respective piece showing off Fallow’s ability accelerate and decelerate the mood with a deft touch. Check him out, along with Mssingno, Grizzle and Craig A.D., at the next Chow Down if you’re in Manchester and be on the lookout for a prime new solo release in the not so distant future. Also hit the jump to find out the best late night eats in Manchester, Fallow’s favorite set starters and more.

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C.Z. Mix For The Astral Plane (w/ Interview)

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November 4, 2015
Mixes
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Photo by Jasmine Safaeian

As a member of the M|O|D crew, then located in Boston, Colby Zinser, better known as C.Z., saw a pretty remarkable rise into the popular consciousness a few years ago, going from an unknown music student making hip hop beats with friends to an early instigator of the sound we now call “trap”. While Zinser, as well as fellow M|O|D members Arnold, Lil Texas, Rewrote and Yung Satan, were initially swallowed by the burgeoning EDM behemoth, the C.Z. sound has always been more than that, both in terms of its contemporary references and the manner in which fans interact with it. Despite taking a break from M|O|D collaborative work, C.Z.’s star has only risen in the past year, having collaborated on production work for Elijah Blake’s “I Just Wanna”, toured China and Japan and continued to fine-tune his Iceboi project, a series of edits and originals aimed at the colder, more cutting end of the club music spectrum.

His latest project, the I Don’t Feel So Good EP, is the inaugural release on Paul Devro’s Murky Rips label and sees a merging of the C.Z. and Iceboi aesthetics, finger waving anthems that reside in a frozen alien landscape, recalling the work of Kid Antoine and Drippin. And like the aforementioned producers, the references on I Don’t Feel So Good are endless, from grime and trance on “Ready” to UK-derived mechanical drum beats on “Playtime Is Over”. Like much of the music C.Z. and M|O|D champion, the EP involves a lot of sensory overload and Zinser’s Astral Plane mix is no different, comprised mostly of C.Z. originals and edits including a collaboration with the aforementioned Drippin. In the mix, clouded rap from Glo Gang member Lil Flash butts up against an ecstatic synth workout from Murlo before C.Z. delves into more traditional speed garage. Grab I Don’t Feel So Good here and check out the full C.Z. interview below.

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Giveaway: This Is Not A Test! w/ Tommy Genesis, UNIIQU3, KJ$ @ Los Globos

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October 29, 2015
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Next Thursday, Los Globos will be hosting This Is Not A Test!, an all female club night featuring Awful representer Tommy Genesis, Jersey club queen UNIIQU3 and KJ$ (aka Kreayshawn)! We’re lucky enough to have a pair of tickets to giveaway to those of you in LA and all you have to do is enter your favorite track from Genesis’ standout World Vision LP from earlier this year. You can find more info about the night here and grab tickets here.

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Smutlee Mix For The Astral Plane

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October 28, 2015
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Back in June, The Large tweeted “if u don’t like cheesy dancehall u don’t really like dancehall feelme,” a sentiment that could just as easily be applied to Bmore, footwork or any number of other contemporary dance forms. Case in point, London DJ/producer Smutlee first grabbed our attention via a blend of Dre Skull’s “Loudspeaker Riddim” and Breach’s “Jack”, a cheesy combination if we’ve ever come across one that still goes off every time we hear it out in the dance. Subsequent combinations of Jack U with Meridian Dan and Aidonio with O.T. Genasis cemented his place as one of the most creative blenders around and, more recently, Smutlee’s begun to refine his production abilities, combining his creative sampling with an ear for sharp rhythms.

The SAS EP, a collaboration with Serocee, was the breakout moment for Smutlee, a series of rethought productions based on grime classics (and Paleman’s “Beelzedub”) with the London MC riding roughshod over the top. It’s one of the best releases of the year and a clear-eyed merging of grime and dancehall, slowing down the former to a crawl and adding a rhythmic intensity to the latter. Smutlee’s Astral Plane mix jumps off with a series of remixes (“Take Time”, “Good Times”, “Jump Off”) and some quick dancehall jams before heading into some proto jungle and drum and bass, a range that Smutlee has always seemed to feel comfortable at, especially with tracks like Think Tonk’s “Opposite” and Gully Bop and Stylo G’s “Who She Want?” flowing out of numbers from Alix Perez and Sam Binga. Smutlee has made a name for his party rocking style and mixing virtually anything and everything, but it’s still fair to say that he’s at his best when rinsing his favorite bashment, grime and drum and bass, simultaneously offering the listener a condensation of each genre’s recent hits and collapsing the boundaries of those same genres.

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‘Psychotropia’ compilation out now!

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October 27, 2015
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It has been a while since we’ve come to you with a release, but after many months of conceptualizing, working with 12 new artists and working to compile a final product, we bring you Psychotropia! The compilation is available for free download via Bandcamp and is live on all reputable streaming services. Out to Mechatok, Basile, Doline Karmelloz, Abraxas Wandering, Malibu, Fresh Paul, Soda Plains, C Plus Plus, SHALT, GROVESTREET and Organ Tapes for contributing their immeasurable skills to the project, Ellie Tremayne for offering up her brilliant painting skills and Riley Lake for always coming correct on the mastering/behind-the-scenes work. Enjoy!

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Wallwork Mix For The Astral Plane

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October 21, 2015
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London’s Nervous Horizon collective have been hitting the radio waves with an energy rarely found in younger artists, guesting on Rinse, NTS, Radar and Boiler Room with regularity and pushing their tracks into the rotation of as many DJs pushing bizarre, percussive club music as possible. The crew, particularly co-heads Tsvi and Wallwork, have also done an excellent job of pointing out and putting on their forebears, hosting DJ Deeon and DJ Technics on their respective Radar shows. Wallwork in particular has consistently shown an interest in working with classic sounds, whether they be breaks-led techno or ghetto house, in order to build his own unique aesthetic and his output of late has proven that he not only fully grasps the antecedents to his work, but has a firm understanding on how to build on them.

On tracks like “Final Fantasy” and “Impact” (a collaboration with Luru) though, those antecedents are becoming more and more blurred, still apparent in Wallwork’s productions, but increasingly part of an animated, alien whole. Metallic in nature, but unwilling to give in to more industrial, noise-y proclivities, Wallwork’s recent output is unabashedly fun and dancefloor-focused and despite edging into weirder sonic territory with every new track and mix, it all feels innately comfortable. March’s Don’t Panic EP (a collaboration with RZR), the first release on Nervous Horizon, set a firm foundation for Wallwork, built on tireless, machine-led rhythms and a willingness to break out of traditional four-on-the-floor formats. The next step for Wallwork, represented in his Astral Plane mix, is to bring the sort of abstract, spatially aware approach to his club tunes and if the aforementioned “Final Fantasy” and “The Portal”, a forthcoming collaboration with Lloyd SB, are anything to go by, you’ll be hearing Wallwork’s name in wider and wider circles. In hindsight, we all should have been tipped off immediately when Scratcha DVA started championing Wallwork and Nervous Horizon, but the rest of the world is slowly coming around and it’s fair to say that we’ll be hearing Wallwork tunes everywhere going forward.

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Premiere: Chants – Halogen (ft. Riley Lake)

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October 19, 2015
New Music
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Madison, Wisconsin-based producer Chants first came to our attention through a series of pleasant, R&B-tinged pieces of beat work on Seattle-based Hush Hush Records, showing off a distinct skill for vocal manipulation and melody. More recently, his club workouts, including one each from the Heterotopia bonus tracks and remixes, have become some of our favorite tracks to play out and, while markedly different from his earlier material on Hush Hush, don’t seem totally out of place with songs like “Porch Song 1 AM”. On October 30, Chants will release the We Are All Underwater LP on Hush Hush, a full length statement featuring guest vocalists like Mereki and Boom Forest, but also a tape that sees the producer’s more dancefloor-focused inclinations meet the sort of soothing, bedroom-oriented work previously mentioned. It’s often difficult to reconcile music that is both made in a bedroom and made to sound like it’s made in a bedroom for music overtly made for the club, but Chants does an excellent job of, if not melding the two, making them easily beside each other. As the album goes, the Riley Lake-featuring “Halogen” falls into the former category, a delicate, reverb-soaked bit that sets a melancholic tone for the first half of the record. Of course, Chants’ affect can’t be reduced to melancholy as the album hits a hopeful tone by the second half, tracks like “Gossamer” and “Oxygen Loops” proving to be some of the LP’s best. Pre-order We Are All Under Water here.