New Julio Bashmore – “Pelican”

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December 2, 2012
New Music
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Over the past several years, Julio Bashmore has risen from underground hero to the figurehead of a new brand of crossover UK house built on infectious hooks and radio ready vocals. Beyond Bashmore, the style has been championed by his PMR Records compatriots Disclosure and Jessie Ware, as well as 90’s leaning acts like Bicep and Ejeca. As Bashmore’s profile has risen, a familiar divide has opened up between “old” Bashmore fans and “new” Bashmore fans. It’s a familiar debate, largely staged on Youtube videos and message boards, revolving around integrity and selling out. The truth is that Bashmore’s music has become more linear, more monochromatic and more pop-friendly. “Au Seve” is also one of 2012’s unforgettable tracks and one that brings the house down every time it is played, regardless of setting. I can personally attest to witnessing drastically different crowds in Germany and Morocco wyle out to the anthemic number, exhibiting a genuine enthusiasm that transcends silly internet debates. On Friday, Bashmore uploaded “Pelican”, out today as the third release on his own Broadwalk label. “Pelican” isn’t as boastful as Julio’s past few tunes, offering a deeper, swerve-y bassline and understated synth stabs.  The track is the B-Side to “Husk” and is available now via Broadwalk.

Sounds From The Astral Plane (Thank You Flying Lotus)

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December 2, 2012
Mixes, New Music, Remixes
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Can we talk about Steven Ellison for a moment? Just take a few minutes out of this lovely Sunday afternoon to recognize what the man stands for and what he represents in the 2012 music landscape. This little piece probably won’t include anything that hasn’t been said, but it’s so worth reiterating it, especially this week. As Flying Lotus, Steven Ellison has produced some of the most divergent, thought provoking and challenging electronic music of the past 20 or so years. Since his arrival, Mr. Ellison has essentially put Los Angeles’ instrumental hip hop movement, known by most as the “beat scene”, on his back, pushing it into international waters. Despite being the figurehead of this movement, touring incessantly and heading a hugely successful label, he is still the very best at what he does. Furthermore, he seems to genuinely enjoy making music, meeting fans and performing. If you’ve ever seen a Flying Lotus set, you know what I’m talking about. That ear-to-ear smile is just impossible not to replicate. That’s why it isn’t even remotely surprising that Ellison devised and followed through on the Captain Murphy project. Ok, his above-average rapping ability is a little surprising, but the fact that he would release a free album featuring a menagerie of the best MC’s and producers in hip hop shouldn’t be. So before getting to the rest of this week’s sounds, can we all take a moment to thank Steven Ellison? He deserves that much from us.

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Toro Y Moi At Boiler Room LA

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December 1, 2012
Live, Mixes
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toro y moi

It’s always fun to see where artists gather influence from and there isn’t a better way to go about this than listening to what they listen to. A fan can go about this in several ways: reading interviews and listening to the influencers they inevitably mention, digging into the history of the sound and/or genre they are working within, or listening to mixes (if available) that artist has mixed or curated. Combining all three is probably your best bet to get into the head of ______, but going the mix route is probably the most efficient. Chaz Bundick aka Toro Y Moi obviously gathers influence from a ton of disparate sources, belying the “chillwave” denotation often attributed to the South Carolina-native. Recently, Bundick laid down an hour long set at Boiler Room Los Angeles, laying into some classic house and more contemporary garage, all with the immensely soulful spirit he attacks his recorded music with. As always, the LA crowd is underwhelming so I recommend you download the mix below and take it with you on an excursion through the forest or something.

New Don Froth – “VAP”

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December 1, 2012
New Music
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Photo courtesy of The Brand Scientist

Prominently placed in the description area of Julian Smith aka Don Froth’s Soundcloud are lyrics from noted bucolic and hippy movement folk hero Eden Ahbez’s “Full Moon”.  The song is about the moon, the sea and the beach, but mostly about a removal from the constraints of time and a sense of being free. It’s also about everlasting change, be it personal, physical or otherwise. That last point, of everlasting change, is the most intriguing factor in Froth’s music. Like Ahbez, Froth is from Los Angeles, although he has spent long periods of time in San Diego and England. Through several EP’s, Froth has refused to stick to one genre or sound palette, preferring to jump around, a feat he usually achieves effortlessly. Froth’s next EP, REflex, will be released on December 11 via New York home of all things delightfully weird and out of whack UNO. If “VAP” is any indicator of what REflex will sound like, then the EP will be one of the most exhilarating listening experiences of 2012, full of futuristic production flairs and rhythms grounded in classic 90’s garage. Lasers, apogeic synths and repetitive vocals nested deep in the mix abound as the track mutates from space ship hip hop to percussion driven garage. Stream and download below and grab REflex on the 11th.

Dro Carey Morphs Into Fad TMB, Brings Out The Industrial Juke

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November 29, 2012
New Music
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On Tuesday, we wrote about Eugene Hector’s first full length under the Tuff Sherm alias, the gutteral Shrapnel Maestro. Yesterday, Hector adopted another sobriquet, the maniacal, juke-adoring Fad TMB,  previewing the “Head Down”/”Axle Rot” single on his own Soundcloud. Both tracks are steely and cutthroat, employing razor sharp percussion that scythes through every of sonic element. B-Side “Axle Rot” is the standout, but then again, I’m a sucker for Birdman samples. Grab both for free on December 6 courtesy of Sonic Playground.

Three Years Of Innovative Leisure Culminates In Ouroboros

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November 29, 2012
Album Reviews, New Music
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Back in 2008, a video popped up on youtube featuring a then unknown Lunice popping, locking and dropping (it) to a then relatively unknown Lazer Sword‘s “Gucci Sweatshirt”. The video became moderately popular at the time, making its way around various social circles and then fading into black like every other video from 2008 (except for this one). The song offered a sort of glitchy pre-amble to Lazer Sword’s later work, but is almost indistinguishable from Memory, the duo’s latest album. “Gucci Sweatshirt” was officially released in October of 2009 as the first release on Stones Throw employee Nate Nelson’s new imprint Innovative Leisure. Influenced by his time at Stones Throw and hardcore labels like SST and Dischord, Nelson set off to institute Innovative Leisure as a driving force in North American electronic music.

“Gucci Sweatshirt”‘s idiosyncratic mash of hip hop and off-kilter electro was a fitting start, launching Lazer Sword as a force to reckoned with. By the end of 2010, Innovative Leisure was firmly entrenched and had hosted releases from Mexicans With Guns, Hanni El Khatib, Nguzunguzu, Machinedrum and, strangely enough, Freddie Gibbs. In November of the same year, Lazer Sword released their debut self-titled LP through Innovative Leisure, pushing Low Limit and  Lando Kal into international stardom. The release also solidified Innovative Leisure as a bastion of the most dynamic forms of North American electronic music.

2011 was a relatively quiet year for Nelson’s label, but saw it expanding into new territories and laying out an impressively variegated roster. That was the year Innovative Leisure trotted out bluesy as fuck whiteboy Nick Waterhouse‘s “I Can Only Give You Everything”, arguably the label’s biggest release to date. The Huntington Beach-native brought a brand new dimension to Innovative Leisure, one grounded in Motown and Van Morrison, far from the club-oriented music the label had peddled to that point. Not that club-oriented music is bad of course, but Waterhouse’s signing distanced Innovative Leisure from the hundreds of internet labels out there and gave it a distinct home in Southern California.

Without getting it too much, the first 11 months of 2012 have been absolutely massive for Innovative Leisure, seeing the label break the ultra-hyped Rhye and release Nosaj Thing’s first originals since 2009’s Drift. In just three years, Nelson’s label has gone from relatively unknown club outlet to one of the West Coast’s most divergent, groundbreaking labels. As a sort of celebration (culmination?), the label enlisted Low Limit to compile tracks from Innovative Leisure artists and associates. The result is Ouroboros, a 10-track opus that is as good of an indicator of North American electronic music as any release you’ll hear all year.

If names like Clicks & Whistles, Braille, Anenon and Obey City get you wet (not to mention the aforementioned Low Limit and Machinedrum) then this compilation is for you. If you have no idea who any of the involved artists are or what they sound like, but want delve deeper into North American electronic music, this compilation is for you. If you’re at a party and don’t know what to play, but want people to think that you’re hip to the newest trends (because, you know, that’s all that matters), this compilation is for you. So yeah, give it a spin below and grab that hard wax from the Innovative Leisure website.

Jaw Jam Remixes Pharrell’s “Frontin'”

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November 29, 2012
New Music, Remixes
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From the Wikipedia entry on Pharrell’s “Frontin'”: “The title refers to putting up a facade (or false ‘front’), typically to impress peers.” Just in case you were confused about your early 2000’s lingo and need some brownie points with the cool kids. The internet is a funny place. Over the next few months, Jaw Jam has tunes coming out on Tuff Wax and Symbols (which makes too much sense), but until then, he’s going to release bootleg after bootleg after bootleg. His latest target is the aforementioned “Frontin'”, one of The Neptunes’ biggest hits at the time and, for better or worse, a pretty damn good indicator of radio hip hop in 2003. Jaw Jam’s bootleg is built around stuttering percussion and those rich, smooth synths that have become his penchant over the past few months. Pharrell’s voice cuts in when the beat stutters, but never really reaches the surface. Jaw Jam is digging out a niche for himself as a sort of house tempo counterpoint to Kastle and Symbols’ R&B laced dubstep. Stream below and show Jaw Jam some love at his facebook page so that he’ll let the download loose.

D33J’s Love Story

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November 29, 2012
New Music, Remixes
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French Montana has a new Mike Will Made It produced single out called “Marble Floors” wherein a few famous rappers fanute about fucking your bitch over some garish snare rolls. In the midst of 2 Chainz’ song ending verse, he lays down this double (triple? quadruple?) take worthy bit of brilliance:

2 Chainz, that’s your best answer

Cup filled with pink, I’m supporting breast cancer

I might do that walk for the 5k

I get paid every time I leave my driveway

Now regardless of your opinion on Tity Boi, that is some high concept shit right there. It’s purp and lean music for the sensitive man/lady. Grippin’ grain and switchin’ lanes with a greater societal purpose.  Sort of like D33J and the whole night bus sound. Sort of. Lean music on a deeper level, replete with soppy, late night love stories and brief, hyper-sexual encounters. Now, D33J’s remix of Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” is about as far away from “Marble Floors” vibe-wise as you can get. It’s that late-night underwater feel that D33J and his Wedidit compatriots are so good at evoking, bringing the wettest, darkest vibes out of flat pop songs. D33J said this stream is only going to be up for a little while so give us a shout in the comments if it suddenly disappears. Download here.

SCNTST, Nathan Fake And Twin Peaks

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November 28, 2012
New Music, Remixes
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Combining Ludacris, Eminem, Nathan Fake and juke is probably a really bad idea. It’s actually a little astonishing that SCNTST even attempted this rework of Fake’s “Bumbechord”. The original is one of those songs that inhabits both dark and light space, evoking either the deepest and most depraved or the most mind splitting-ly euphoric memories from the listener. It’s the electronics version of Laura Palmer’s Theme in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks series without the cornball-ness. What SCNTST does though is  flip it into Evian Christ’s best song, the dense, atmospheric nature of the original the perfect backing for Slim Shady and Luda’s brief exhortations. This is a damn fine song. Stream below.

New James Welsh – “Novelty Island”

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November 28, 2012
New Music
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Recently, James Welsh released the This Way EP through London imprint Join The Dots. The EP is a low-slung collection of Chicago-indebted house tracks, largely driven by simple keyboard rhythms. “Novelty Island” is the EP’s standout jawn, an almost eight journey punctuated by slightly less raspy than Gil Scott-Heron vocals. Thanks to XLR8R it is also now available for free download so get up on that horse and grab “Novelty Island” below.