Sinjin Hawke & MikeQ Collaborate On “ThunderScan”

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January 27, 2014
New Music, Videos
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sinjin-hawke1It’s always a pleasure to post the best press shot in music, in no small part because the song it accompanies is always a smasher. Sinjin Hawke evolved into an unstoppable beast in 2013 through a series of remixes and collaborations and 2014 will likely end up being one of those “leap” years  for the producer that everyone talks about. Whether he’s revamping ghetto house or doing Just Blaze better than Just Blaze (or with Just Blaze for that matter), the Barcelona-based producer has elicited an innumerable amount of excited yelps from this listener. If I had to pick a highlight from Sinjin’s 2013 , it would have to be the establishment of the visual-focused Fractal Fantasy series, a collaborative effort with significant other Zora Jones that has featured L-Vis 1990, Morri$ and Ms. Jones herself. The latest Fractal Fantasy effort, titled “ThunderScan”, comes from Sinjin and Fade To Mind/Qween Beat talisman MikeQ. If you’ve followed Sinjin’s progression over the past several years, the vocal twists and irregular pacing will not come as a surprise, but with MikeQ’s ballroom “ha”s and crashes thrown into the mix, “ThunderScan” appears to exist in a wild, unpredictable state. Watch the video and it will all make sense.

New RATKING – “Canal”

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January 23, 2014
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The kids from New York, RATKING, delivered another merciless, murderer of a track this morning. “Canal” sees emcee Wiki challenging anyone to piss on the city over a beat that sounds like a car alarm through a smashed-in window. RATKING takes on New York’s hip-hop history without letting it burden them and instead come through as brash but aware. “Canal” is the first single off the group’s debut album So It Goes set to come out April 8th. With a tracklist including production from the legend Young Guru and features from King Krule, Wavy Spice/Princess Nokia, and Salomon Faye this album is one of my most heavily anticipated of the year. Stream “Canal” below and view the So It Goes tracklist after the jump.

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New Mumdance – “It’s Peak (Club Mix)”

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January 23, 2014
New Music
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mumdance - springtime

The pairing of Mumdance with Unknown to the Unknown is as exciting a premise as we’ve heard in quite some time. With releases on Keysound, Tectonic and several American labels under his belt, plus a few wildly successful collaborations with Logos, Mumdance has solidified his rave credentials and is ready for the big-time. The Springtime EP does not have a release date yet, but we’ve been gifted a taste of it in the form of “It’s Peak (Club Mix)”, a knife-like techno jam that has our legs moving in some type of way. “It’s Peak (Club Mix)” is spiky and inundated by a dripping water sample, but also retains its rave credentials and maintains a slinky quality. It’s everything at once, a quality that has rocketed Mumdance into the general consciousness over the past several years.

Stream Jubilee’s Pull Ova EP + Salva Remix

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January 23, 2014
New Music, Remixes
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jubilee - pull ova

With 2012’s Pop It! EP, Jubilee made her purpose of fusing Miami bass with contemporary American dance music styles very clear. The EP was met with mixed reviews, but in the months since its release, the Brooklyn-resident and Mixpak reppin’ DJ/producer has proven the ability (again and again and again) to infuse the stripped down, booty-focused nature of Miami, Uncle Luke and strip clubs into a relatively contemporary formation. On January 28, we can all celebrate the Eastern seaboard and its respective dance sub-cultures via the Pull Ova EP, which also be released on Mixpak. The EP features a tone-changing remix from Salva, plenty of Miami signifiers and two wildly entertaining originals in “I-95” and “Pull Ova”. There are also plenty of nods to Chicago and Detroit, specifically with regards to jit and Dance Mania, references that are always appreciated. Stream the EP below and if you’re in the Brooklyn area next weekend, hit up the release party, which will also feature Dubbel Dutch, Dre Skull and others.

Download DJ Earl’s TEK x TAR Vol. 2 ep

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January 22, 2014
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22-year-old Teklife hitta DJ Earl released his TEK x TAR Vol. 2 ep as a follow-up to last October’s TEK x TAR Vol. 1 from label mate DJ Manny. Only three songs long, this ep finds its energy on the short and simple “Get Da Hoe” but reaches its footwork climax on “WTF?!? Life Sent It Up.” Starting off slow, DJ Earl feeds the listener repeated vocal samples, interrupting each other in a wash that becomes a prayer to Teklife. With sharp, morse code-like bleeps riding over doubled up pads on the bridge, DJ Earl gives us the impression that he’s sending this footwork straight to space. Stream TEK x TAR Vol. 2 below.

Chants Remixes Cock & Swan’s “Animal Totem”

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January 22, 2014
New Music
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With the second remix album of Seattle duo Cock & Swan‘s impressive album, Secret Angles, releasing on January 28th, Hush Hush Records let loose one of the more exciting tracks to be included, Chants’ spin on “Animal Totem.” From Wisconsin and working within Hush Hush’s Seattle network, Chants has created a sound indebted to winter nights and bottled up excitement. Accompanied by a fitting animated clip, this remix of “Animal Totem” pulls the listener out of the drowsy synths with short cuts of Ola Hungerford’s vocals. Stream the remix below and hit the jump for the video.

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Blue Sky Black Death Remixes Run The Jewels’ “36” Chain”

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January 21, 2014
New Music, Remixes
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Last week, Run The Jewels (Killer Mike and El-P) released the European version of last year’s murderous self-titled album. Along with a Dave Sitek remix of “Sea Legs” and an all-new RTJ song “Pew Pew Pew”, this version of the album sees Seattle production duo, Blue Sky Black Death, taking on “36″ Chain“. Instead of indulging the original’s war-lust, BSBD flip it with their tried-and-true cloud stilo giving it a slow progression that shapes “36” Chain” into an underdog victory epic. Stream the remix below.

Download Patten’s RE-EDITS vol 3

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January 21, 2014
New Music
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Last weekend, Warp-signee, Patten, let loose a small collection of edits spanning from FKA Twig’s “Ultraviolet” to Burial’s “Untrue“. Although he didn’t make it easy to download the pack, once you maneuver his newly designed website (click on the perforated circle symbol) you will be rewarded by the kind of experimental, drowned out edits that the London producer has come to be known for. These songs will have you grasping at trails of familiarity before they ultimately wash over you, leaving you stranded somewhere unexplored. With a new album, ESTOILE NAIANT, due out February 24th, these loosies will do more than tide us over.  Download the full set from Patten’s website here and stream below.

New LiL JaBBA – “Skates”

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January 21, 2014
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lil jabba

As a recent inductee into the vaunted Teklife crew, Brooklyn-resident Alexander Shaw aka LiL JaBBA has been receiving quite a bit of shine in recent months, shine that was solidified with the brilliant Scales EP on Tom Lea’s Local Action imprint. As both a producer and visual artist, Shaw maintains an impeccable ear for texture, working highly emotive concepts into his often hyper-speed dance concoctions. Self-described as an “iced over cave Riddim”, JaBBA’s latest effort goes by the name of “Skate” and is a molasses slow slumper that retains the indignantly pretty sound he has become known for. At some point in the coming months, Shaw will release an EP on the True Panther imprint, an EP that will hopefully see the Australian born producer exploring more icy terrains.

New Kevin Gates – “Don’t Know”

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January 16, 2014
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kevin gates - don't know

Kevin Gates is an interesting figure, someone who has both captivated the rap listening internet and built a vast, homegrown fan-base in his native Baton Rouge. In 2013, Gates released a mixtape (The Luca Brasi Story) and a self-released album (Stranger Than Fiction), both critically acclaimed efforts. He also appeared on songs with Migos, Starlito, Ty Dolla $, Pusha T, pushing his name into cities across the West and East Coast. Despite all that success, Gates did not have (to my knowledge) a single national radio hit and still has not released a major label album. In that sense, Gates is an anomaly in today’s national rap landscape, a financially soluble artist with a groundswell of support that still does not have that song or that album attributed to his name. At this point in his career, Gates might actually have more in common with Curren$y or Freddie Gibbs circa 2008. The next several years will decide whether Gates will take the Future route, evolving into an impressive radio monster that still retains a good deal of artistic integrity, or the Gangsta Gibbs route, a rapper with popular, yet a  somewhat stultified career.

“Don’t Know” isn’t the song that will send Gates on either of the aforementioned routes, but it does represent his variegated skill set. He shows braggadocio (“don’t know no bitch I can’t hit”) and street solvency. He name drops Macaulay Culkin. He delves into his deeply troubled past, although it’s largely in passing and the storytelling is milquetoast compared to what he shows on tracks like “Neon Lights” and “430 AM”. The beat is pretty standard 808 Mafia and/or Zaytoven and/or Southside fare, acting as a more than capable backing for Gates’ boasts and strangled singing. Compared to Stranger Than Fiction, “Don’t Know” is a fairly straight-forward affair, lacking in both the production ingenuity and emotional affectivity the album offered. That being said, the song has the ability to draw in a wider audience, dispensing of all that damn storytelling that can bog down a good pop song. While “Don’t Know” will not push Gates into the world of radio pop, it does serve as indicator of how and where the Baton Rouge rapper will progress over the coming months and years.