myth2

If you dig through Myth‘s Facebook page, you’ll come across a seemingly endless treasure trove of the British producer’s music, nestled inside recently, or not so recently, deceased Soundcloud and Youtube links. Nestled among the dead links and paeans to weed, you might be lucky enough to find a song that hasn’t been wiped from the annals of the internet, maybe his recent Glimpses EP, or digging far deeper, an excellent Ruff Sqwad remix (although that, unsurprisingly, comes paired with a dead Rapidhsare link). Some Youtube clips have been switched to private while others have disappeared entirely, meanwhile an entire EP of slamming grime instrumentals live on via Grime Forum. Myth’s prolific creating then posting then removing process is more reminiscent of beat scene maestros like Knxwledge or even Flying Lotus and his quick witted approach to production separates him from potential contemporaries in the UK.

Which is why Myth’s partnership, besides any stylistic similarities, with Houston producer Rabit seems to make so much sense. Right off the bat, the two producers obviously adore R&B and while the majority of their productions together are wound around grime motifs, it’s undeniable that their work, both as individuals and as a duo, cannot be bound by the constraints of the genre. And as far as Myth’s work goes, it’s difficult to imagine an MC on most of his sub two minute productions. Instead, they exist in a bizarre mid ground between modern remix culture, Boxed-esque instrumentals and thrilling reformations of pop tropes. His entry into our mix series follows that amorphous spirit, less a mix than it is a collection of beats, remixes and tracks, haphazardly blended together. Considering that many of these tracks don’t exist in any other format, this mix functions as something of a (decidedly incomplete) register of the producer’s work over the past several years. You can find Myth on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and can hit him up directly if interested in any individual tracks.

radar-schedule

Our third show on Radar Radio aired last night and our in-house DJ team took it in something of a different direction, flexing out some percussive house and techno numbers before diving into our collection of of raucous Bmore. Tracks from Hodge, Bruce, Zipcode and Matrixxman highlight the first section before KW Griff, Booman and TT The Artist take over. We also brought our good friend Jen Ferrer, label manager at FoF Music and resident at Far Away, onto the show to play out some of her favorite house, techno, disco and funk. No track list for now, but might be upping one in the next week or two. Enjoy.

dinamarca

Part of an increasingly strong contingent of producers, DJs and promoters pushing Caribbean, Central and South American sounds in Europe, Dinamarca has seemed to appear everywhere in recent months, from rampant collaborations to tireless work on his burgeoning Staycore label. With a name that simply means Denmark en español, it’s no surprise that Dinamarca has slowly begun to infringe on the London-Berlin hegemony in European dance music, bringing an exuberant, technicolor approach to the skipping, ever-in-motion sounds of dancehall, reggaeton and kuduro. Last December’s No Hay Break, released via Staycore, functioned as an announcement from the producer, an immensely listenable effort that still gets routine airplay from a collection scene figureheads. It’s subsequent remix volume featured Drippin, KABLAM and EndgamE, three of Northern Europe’s club music luminaries, as well as DJ New Jersey Drone and Imaabs. It might look bizarre from an outsider perspective to see Latin American club sounds flourish in Scandinavia and other Northern European locales, but considering the success of Berlin’s Janus, Oslo/Bergen’s Ball Em Up and Dinamarca’s own Staycore, its existence and continued expansion is actual rather logical. Granted, it takes strong individual actors to make all that happen, but the seeds for future success have clearly been planted and it will be a pleasure to watch Staycore and its various contemporaries grow over the coming years.

Back in March, Dinamarca contributed a mix to the excellent Mixpak FM series, lacing the New York label with a ton of original work and finishing off the mix with a Spanish version of “No Type”. That finishing move might just become something of a tagline for the Swedish producer as he signs off of his Astral Plane mix with an incredible version of “Trap Queen” by Gusho. Collaborations with KABLAM, Kid Antoine, L-Vis 1990 and the NAAFI All Stars pop up throughout the rest of the mix, which is a characteristically unrelenting affair. Odd percussion sounds, ringing and sirens appear throughout the mix, which is almost certainly aimed at representing a club environment. Staycore has a compilation featuring future label signees and friends coming very soon so expect to hear some of the material within imminently. And be sure to grab No Hay Break and the Remixes as they’re some of the most visceral body music to come out this year!

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wallwork-rzr

London duo Wallwork & RZR have burst onto the scene over the past year, garnering attention from the likes of Scratcha DVA and drawing fans to their rough-and-tumble, breaks-heavy style. Releases on Infinite Machine and Nervous Horizons set the pace and a bevy of remix work has seen the duo pop all over the place, most recently on fellow Londoner Otik‘s upcoming Emphasis EP for Infinite Machine sister label Tessier Ashpool. Built on two originals and five smashing remixes, Emphasis features a range of styles, but is built on Otik’s passion for hectic jungle, each of the two originals a heavily referential mass of breaks and miasma. On their remix of “Witness”, Wallwork & RZR slow down the proceedings to a lope, retaining the percussive, spastic thrust of the original while inflecting the whole affair with their own unique production aesthetic. Cloaka, Liar, Majora and Mutual Friend also remix tracks from Emphasis, which is out Monday, May 25. Pre-order Emphasis here.

riz la teef

As one of the most prolific deejays in the game and that rare breed of tastemaker/historian, Riz La Teef has been making waves over the past year in the London club world and across a number of internet-based hubs. Known for cutting personal dubs of his favorite tracks, Riz has become the consummate DJ’s DJ recently and has begun to pop up on, what seems like, nearly every bill. And with an ever-growing collection, a selfless willingness to pour nearly all of his earnings back into the pressing plant and a seemingly insatiable desire to spin, there’s no reason to leave him out of your very own favorite DJ list. And it’s not just his unmistakable skills behind the decks or fervor for dub culture, Riz seems to act as a sort of glue for many of London’s scenes, bringing together dubstep, grime and funky from all over the city into his mixes. His Astral Plane mix acts in exactly that manner, tying together the bass weight-focused techno of Hodge, Beneath and Kowton with nu school grime provocateurs Logos and Loom. Plus, there are a few coming-of-age classics from Lil Silva, Deadboy and Digital Mystikz to tie off the whole affair. It would be a Sisyphean task to try and work through every Riz La Teef mix on the web, but I can’t imagine a DJ I’d rather spend a few weeks with.

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arkitect

The Astral Plane DJ Team was back on Radar Radio last night for the second time, bringing an hour of 100 BPM-ish dancehall, rap and dembow to the London station. The track list is still in the fog at the moment, but be on the lookout for selections from Sudanim, Sami Baha, Drippin, Santa Muerte and Sinjin Hawke. For the second hour of our slot, we brought in our good friend and neighbor Arkitect and the Private Selection co-head brought an hour of blistering, all-vinyl techno. As we continue to feature more and more of our Los Angeles friends, cohorts and assistants, we hope to showcase as much of the talent, in several arenas, this city has to offer. We’ll have represenatives from the Far Away and N0 Rules cliques in the next few weeks to accompany our own selections are working on locking down a studio space to record interviews! Stay locked.

lars-warn

 The latest themed project from the Classical Trax stable comes with a distinct Detroit bent with artists like Lars Warn, Draft Dodger, Fisky, Imaabs and Tomas Urquieta putting their respective spins on labels like Transmat and Metroplex. Out tomorrow (May 20), the Future ’95’ EP isn’t a true-to-form tribute to the aforementioned Detroit institutions, but as one of the more techno-leaning releases from the CT camp, it does bring a refreshing hybrid approach, lacing breakbeats into previously empty space and spooky melodies around dusty drums. For our money, Lars Warn, as his new side-project OR-7, contributes the highlight track, the almost-strictly percussive peak time banger “001”. Don’t let the very techno track title fool you though, Lars has an acumen for for percussive heat and him taking on the more linear form feels comfortable. Grab Future ’95’ via Classical Trax tomorrow. Art work for the tape is by Ryan Huff aka DJ SagePay.

tobago-tracks

For the past year, the Watford-based Tobago Tracks label has matched UK producers with international artists in a six part EP series. So far, the label has focused on France, Turkey and the US and their latest volume, out May 26, brings China into the mix. Tobago Tracks artists Pitcheno and Organ Tapes feature, as well as Laura Inglass and Macchina as the tape touches on techno, grime and R&B in sprawling fashion. We were lucky enough to grab Pitcheno’s Organ Tapes-featuring “K1. 不明白”” for premiere, a brilliant pseudo-cover of Future and Kanye Wests “I Won”. At a loping dancehall-pace Pitcheno’s bracing production matches clattering, reverb-clad kicks with whooshes of noice as a fragile, beatific melodic quotient and children’s voices slowly build into a feverish atmosphere set around the percussive pillars. It’s a surprisingly prescient piece of contemporary pop, matching the feel good nature of Caribbean forms with an ambient sensibility and a brilliant piece of heavily processed vocal work. In a sense, it’s pop music and the quote-on-quote underground working hand in hand, but the track is removed from both contexts, both too overt in its form to work as a piece of collage/sound art and too sonically abrasive to function as a clear cut pop number. Instead, “K1. 不明白”” exists in a nether region between the two worlds, grasping at wispy elements from both and placing them inside its internal brilliant collider. Grab Tobago Tracks Vol. 4: China next Tuesday (May 26).

karmelloz

In the sphere of internet-based art forms, the act of being prolific connotes more than just producing a large quantity of work. Prolificacy is often a comment on technology, means of production, industry habits and norms and much more than can be fit in these narrow pages. Adam Harper did a great job of surveying “The New Digital DIY Labels”, the web-focused outlets like 1080p, AVNL, Hoko Sounds which are all prime examples of this, for The FADER here. In terms of releasing a ton of music in terms of volume, hundreds of names could be railed off, but when you bring breadth of style, genre and form, the list narrows considerably. Oregon’s Karmelloz is one of the key names on the latter list, an artists who’s released on the aforementioned 1080p and Hoko Sounds and let loose more than a handful of albums, sketches and more through his own Bandcamp.

Whether he’s working in the confines of Hippos In Tanks-inspired hypnagogic pop, taking cues from percussive club forms or piecing together abstract sonic collages, Karmelloz’s work has come off as inspired and irresistibly candid. Almost always layered under levels of gauze and smoke, releases like Source Localization (for 1080p), Cearà (for Apothecary Compositions with C Plus Plus) and Bud Air could easily have been released under a half dozen different pseudonyms, but ignoring the possibility of historical revision, Karmelloz lets each and every piece, dating back to 2011, sit out in the ether. This allows the listener to sort through it on their own terms, following chronological directives or ignoring them altogether.

He lists his genre on Soundcloud as “psychedelic” and the Karmelloz sound often comes off as a tape edited version of the pages of your favorite magazine. Your favorite rap songs cut up and laden in echo effects, the kick pattern and breaks from a Bmore classic entering the fray and leaving just as quickly. It’s not a lack of patience that defines Karmelloz’s music, but an insatiable desire to filter, comment on and divulge the way he himself partakes in technological music and music technology. His Astral Plane mix is “based on a set I did at S1 in Portland last Saturday. Mostly special edits made at 140bpm with synths dropped out, and including a lot of unreleased/forthcoming material.” It’s reminiscent of much of Karmelloz’s past work and many bits will be familiar to fans, but like every successive release it offers a refreshing drive, this time by means of a concise tempo. Don’t expect him to fall into a 140 four-on-the-floor groove for more than a release or two, but for now this hat is fitting on Karmelloz pretty damn well.

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instagram

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!

Enter to win two free tickets to BREAD #01 feat. Rushmore, Dreams, Fraxinus & Kid Antoine @ 1192 Folsom (San Francisco) on May 29, 2015