Premiere: TryTryDieDown – “Cool Party”

By
December 16, 2013
New Music
Leave a comment

cool party cover

Like many of his Scottish contemporaries, Aberdeen-based producer TryTryDieDown has a knack for synth-led melodies that are based as much in the g-funk and electro of yore as they are garage and grime. With a number of widely variegated number of originals and edits (Khia, Khan & Neek, Andre 3000) to his name, TryTry has shown a willingness to experiment across ‘nuum styles, balancing the more aggro sides of 140 material with R&B-centered garage. It’s a kaleidoscopic approach that some might misconceive as meandering, but TryTry isn’t unfocused, just hyper-curious. Today, we bring you “Cool Party”, a track that initially sounds like Jacques Greene’s “Body Party” remix before revealing its true colors as a roughneck grime roller concealed under layers of swirling, evocative synth work. It’s easy enough to get lost in the melodic components, but the track is heavily layered and its sharp snares and crunching percussive stabs are equally rewarding.

Jacques Greene Remixes Sampha’s “Can’t Get Close”

By
December 11, 2013
New Music, Remixes
Leave a comment

jacques greene

There are few producers (if any) I’d rather have remixing Sampha than Jacques Greene and his contribution to LuckyMe’s yearly advent calendar doesn’t disappoint. Taking a rather basic approach right off the bat, Greene instills a steady four-on-the-floor beat to the melancholic original, a formula that has been proven to work by Bodhi already. In the edit, Greene’s take amounts to a simple edit, instilling some dancefloor fervor in the beatific original and giving it that little bit of JG flavor we know and love. Head to the LuckyMe website to download Greene’s edit as well new joints from DJ Paypal, Cid Rim, Obey City, The Blessings and more.

Jim-E Stack Remixes Purple’s “Feel Alone”

By
December 11, 2013
New Music, Remixes
Leave a comment

jim-e stack

A few week, the Wedidit horde presented us with Shlohmo’s cavernous remix of Purple’s “The Club”, a track that surely fit the LA outfit’s aesthetic, but left us a little cold. With the song came the promise of remixes from Jim-E Stack and IVVO, which have finally reached daylight along with a free download of the entire three song package. Whereas Shlohmo decided to submerge the already dangerously dense original into a reverb-filled hell hole, New York-resident Jim-E Stack opted to re-contextualize the emotions emanating from “Feel Alone”, transforming it into the sonic equivalent of driving a car on the beach at night. It’s still darkly melodic, but there’s hint of a confusing tropical vibe and a propinquity for propulsion that elicits auto travel. Or maybe I’m full of shit. Regardless, it’s a brilliant flip that evens mutates into a breakbeat-laden jungle monstrosity in the last twenty seconds. Stream Jim-E Stack’s “Feel Alone” remix below and download the full package here.

Akito Mix For The Astral Plane

By
December 11, 2013
Mixes, New Music
2 Comments

akito art FINALIt’s not always easy to decipher the intention of a piece of electronic music. Sometimes, a vocal sample  (e.g. “jack”) or the basic structure of a song gives it away, but sometimes four-on-the-floor beats and grueling sub-bass timbres deceive. That being said, Sub Skank boss and London-resident Akito’s music is very clearly, specifically focused on the dancefloor. Whether the context is a push club, a derelict warehouse, or a manic house party, there will be no head-bobbing or shmoozing while an Akito joint is played out. Like many of his contemporaries, Akito takes a little from the video game sound palette of Eski, a little percussion from jungle and/or Jersey/Bmore and mutates it into a pounding, dancefloor beast. It’s foot stomping, wyle out music that is at once easily accessible and eminently strange. Maybe it’s the ballroom “ha”s or the or occasional patois vocals, but despite the innate heaviness of Akito’s productions and mixes, it all seems like a rather fun, approachable affair.

This certainly manifests itself in Akito’s Astral Plane mix, one of the most effortlessly fun collections we’ve featured to date and a rare taste of what Akito the producer has in store on his upcoming Metamessage EP. With a peppering of originals and tracks from Astral Plane favorites like Neana, Rushmore and Jam City, the mix summarily hits a near-perfect club music sweet spot, offering something to nearly every brand of discerning listener. Stream/download below and hit the jump for the full track list.

Read More

Pangaea Remixes Jon Hopkins’ “Collider”

By
December 10, 2013
New Music, Remixes
Leave a comment

pangaea

When we first heard Jon Hopkins’ “Collider”, the nine minute opus left us in a bewildered, transfixed state, scrambling to spin the record back, while simultaneously unwilling to forego what was coming next on the LP. “Collider” is probably the best symbol of Immunity‘s inherent worth, a crunchy, slumped techno journey that really only comes into its own three minutes in. The melodies are large, yet seem to sit just bellow the rhythm, vocals set even deeper in the cavernous mix. Despite his idiosyncratic take on techno, Hopkins has actually been the target for quite a bit of remix work (Nosaj Thing, Luke Abbott) and an extended version of Immunity was released yesterday on Domino Records that includes both previously released and unreleased works. When we envisioned Pangaea’s remix of “Collider”, it was cacophonous and runaway truck wild, but the final result is actually somewhat reserved, reigning in a good amount of the click and crunch of the original into something a little more fit for club play. As well as appearing on the extended LP, Pangaea’s remix will also be placed (along with remixes from Objekt and Karenn) on the “Collider” single, which will be released in digital/12″ on February 24.

Premiere: GROVESTREET – “IF U WANNA TRY”

By
December 9, 2013
New Music
1 Comment

WALLPAPER new 4

There’s nothing normal about a 17-year-old from Oxford falling in love with Memphis hip hop. Largely removed from the genre defining (and defying) London and Bristol scenes, the mecca of higher education couldn’t be further removed from the 808 bass thumps and slumped pacing of Project Pat, Yo Gotti and Lil Wyte. That didn’t stop Jamie Smith aka GROVESTREET from developing a taste for the city’s darkest and dirtiest, a fascination that has manifested itself in a distinctly British manner. Instead of following the template established by early Memphis acts, Smith has imprinted dystopian, horror-sampling tendencies on a modern club trax template. In the end, the result is more mechanized techno than anything Juicy J ever recorded on magnetic tape. “IF U WANNA TRY” is a track in the fullest sense of the word, made up almost entirely of kicks, snares, a demanding Memphis sample and eerily translucent synth work. It all seems to hurdle forward at reckless speeds, but the rhythmic components are actually quite compact and digestible. “IF U WANNA TRY” is one of the first handful of trax we’ve heard from GROVESTREET, but considering his technical acuity and willingness to stretch the norms of sample-based music, I’d expect him to be around for quite some time.

Hrdvsion Mix For The Astral Plane

By
December 5, 2013
Mixes, New Music
Leave a comment

hrdvsion cover art

A few months ago, Nathan Jonson aka Hrdvsion posted a remix of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe”, which quickly began making its way around Internet circles, drawing both predictable ire and joyful admiration. Many first time listeners might have assumed that Jonson was just another Soundcloud denizen, striving for quick, shocking results, but that would short-change both the man and the remix. The fact that the remix spread so quickly (Skream picked it up early) and garnered Hrdvsion so many new fans is a testament to both the relative insularity of his music and its innate demonstrative capabilities. Nathan and his brother Mathew (Wagon Repair boss and minimal impresario) grew up in Victoria, B.C. on Canada’s Western shore and have virtually been inundated in electronic music culture their entire lives. Fast forward a decade or two and both brothers now live in Berlin, collaborate often and strut their unique take on Berlin’s own techno tropes on labels like Rinse Recordings and Crosstown Rebels.

Never one to be defined by the genre/sound he’s currently working in, Nathan has produced and performed at every conceivable BPM, imprinting his reticent outlook on everything he touches. His Astral Plane mix exhibits this in oft-unbelievable fashion, opening with Boyz II Men and finishing with FKA Twigs, a bevy of curve-balls thrown in for good measure. The rhythmic components range from the understated to the bombastic while the melodies are brightly timbred and infectious. With a decade-plus career under his belt, it’s clear that Nathan has no interest in slowing down or muting his past, present and future influences. Which brings us back to the “Call Me Maybe” remix. Hrdvsion is the rare breed of producer willing to walk the line between idiosyncratic experimentation and populist relatability, bringing a live performance ethos and rich musical history into modern dance music.  Stream/download Hrdvsion’s guest mix below and hit the jump for the full track list.

Read More

Sinjin Hawke Remixes Dre Skull’s “First Time”

By
December 4, 2013
New Music, Remixes
Leave a comment

sinjin-hawke1

Remember rap in 2003? Sinjin Hawke certainly does. Specifically, Just Blaze production circa 2003. Sinjin has been strutting his production acumen across a dizzying array of styles this year, whether they be bombastic takes on ghetto house classics, wildly textured club machinations or space-age grime/Memphis amalgamations. For his latest feat, the Barcelona-based producer has been enlisted by Mixpak Records to remix label boss Dre Skull’s “First Time”, the advantageous dancehall slumper released earlier this calendar year. In the finest form of his career, Sinjin took original and put it through the grinder, transforming the sunny original into the best Just Blaze approximation we’ve heard in years. Considering his prodigious use of brass, it should come as no surprise that Sinjin can pull this off, but it still managed to catch this listener off guard. The remix is up for free download (along with a Curses remix) so stream below and grab the package here.

New Rushmore – “Bloodlines”

By
December 4, 2013
New Music
Leave a comment

trax couture

If you’ve checked out our guest mix series recently, then you’ve probably heard Rushmore’s “Bloodlines”, a monster of a track that contains just about everything you need for a proper club joint. Neana played it in his mix and then the Trax Couture boss himself had to give the world a little preview in his contribution. “Bloodlines” will appear on HOT002, the second release on Trax Couture (also run by Fools), which also features three other grime/ballroom/ghetto-influenced heaters. The EP is slated for a December 30 release date, but if you’re in the UK, then you can check out the Trax crew alongside Georgia Girls this Friday.

Strict Face Mix For The Astral Plane

By
December 3, 2013
Mixes
Leave a comment

strict face cover art

A few weeks ago, Wiley ignited a debate regarding the distinctions (or lack thereof) between grime and hip hop via his Twitter (as he’s prone to do). The conversation over whether grime is more firmly placed in the hip hop continuum or the hardcore ‘nuum has raged since the London sound’s arrival in the early 2000s and while authoritative sources like Wiley have had their say, the answer is ambiguous at best. A more prescient conversation between hip hop and grime has arisen (or at least been given its fair due) over the past few years and it’s one that focuses not on genre semantics, but on finding new ways to incorporate tropes from both sounds into exciting new hybrid tracks. This conversation is largely held in London and hubs of American club music like Newark/New York and Chicago, but some producers who reside outside of those meccas have taken it upon themselves to stretch, reorganize and, in some instances, rip apart the line (real or imagined) between hip hop, grime and R&B.

Hailing from Adelaide, Australia, Strict Face is an exemplar of the genre blurring, blueprint trashing ethos laid out above. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when we fell in love with Strict Face’s music. It could have been when a friend sent his Velour/Ciara bootleg our way. Or maybe it was when we found out he produced Le1f’s “Autopilot”. Regardless, we’ve been smitten ever since and have consistently rated him as one of the more convention-less, innovative producers in the extended grime world. For the 10th edition (!!!) of our guest mix series, Strict Face laid down nearly an hour of club-ready material, matching ethereal melodic content with the heft of tracks from JT The Goon, Air Max 97 and Blackwax. While largely composed of what is commonly considered to be instrumental grime, the mix traverses effortlessly into the R&B and hip hop realm, matching vocals from the likes of Tinashe and A$AP Ferg with the clicks and bass stabs that pervade the eski style. In the end, Strict Face falls more towards Kelela or Murlo than Ruff Sqwad or Roll Deep, preferring to update the sounds up yore with modern signifiers than purely channel the originators. Stream/download the mix below and hit the jump for the full tracklist.

Read More