Blue Sky Black Death Remixes Child Actor’s “This Is It”

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November 14, 2012
New Music, Remixes
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It’s easy to pinhole Blue Sky Black Death in the “cloud” rap sub-sub-sub-genre, what with their ethereal, blunted production work for the likes of Nacho Picasso and Deniro Farrar, but the Seattle-based duo’s repertoire extends far beyond the spacey sound they helped develop. In both their solo and hip hop productions, BSBD have shown a commendable willingness to experiment with different styles. Take “Halle Selassie” off of Exalted, their second collaborative album with Picasso. Cracking 808s and synth pads (pretty standard BSBD fare) are offset by rolling wobble bass that devours the track and gives it a thick as molasses feel. Not counter-hegemonic or anything, but a curious venture into new territories. Anyways, the point is that BSBD are more than willing to delve into uncharted waters and expand their already bloated production acumen. The duo’s latest expansion is into the pop realm, remixing Child Actor’s (both are signed to Fake Four) “This Is It”. Like much of their hip hop production, BSBD take a stark approach here, infusing a chunky synth base and static percussion. The combination of these elements and Child Actor’s yearning vocals is magical, adding hip hop sensibilities to the original’s candy-coated vocal arrangements. Stream and download below.

George Fitzgerald Remixes Jessie Ware’s “No To Love”

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November 14, 2012
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As resident PMR Records vixen, Jessie Ware is generally provided with some of the best production in all of the land, often from the likes of Julio Bashmore and Disclosure. Production quality aside, Ware’s got a fancy set of pipes on her and has expertly straddled the pop line all year long. A few days ago, PMR released a remix EP for Ware’s “No To Love” and brought in George Fitzgerald, Todd Edwards and Ewan Pearson to partake in the festivities. Out of the three heavy lifters, Fitzgerald’s flip hits closest to home, quite possibly because he doesn’t alter Ware’s shmexy vocals to the extent Edwards and Pearson do. If you’re looking for some late night vibes with serious sex appeal, Fitzgerald’s got your back. Stream the remix below and head here to check out the rest of the EP.

New Nicolas Jaar – “Play The Drums For Me”

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November 14, 2012
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Nico Jaar is often described in the terms of his prestigious education and globe-trotting experience. Depending on your orientation towards Ivy League comparative literature majors, you might come to the conclusion that Jaar is a pretentious prick. If you adopt that attitude towards the Chilean-American genius (and I don’t use that word lightly), then you should probably fuck off. Anyways, Jaar’s  new song, “Play The Drums For Me”, is really pretentious (not to go back on myself or anything). Three minutes of monotone, metaphysical spoken word is layered over restive deep house resulting in one of the most hypnotizing songs you will hear all year. The spoken word is actually a 13th century sufi mystic prayer and is, in a sense, the embodiment of Jaar’s approach to space, independent of time and physicality. You can find “Play The Drums For Me” on Acid Pauli‘s contribution to Crosstown Rebels’ mix cd series or just stream below.

New Deniro Farrar & Shady Blaze – “All I Know” (Prod. Lunice)

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November 14, 2012
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Last month, Deniro Farrar & Shady Blaze released the Kill Or Be Killed tape, a dour tale of street realism set over production from the likes of Ryan Hemsworth, Friendzone and Sines. If you downloaded the tape from the duo’s Bandcamp, then you received a hidden, Lunice-produced bonus track called “Ten Fold”. Today sees the re-release of the Lunice jawn, restructured and renamed “All I Know”. Lunice matches space age histrionics with delicate keys and thin hi hats, the Montreal-based producer’s most subtle work in quite some time. Farrar and Blaze’s verses are kept intact so the emphasis is really on Lunice’s production here. Apparently this isn’t a one off collaboration either so we should be receiving more Farrar/Blaze/Lunice in the near future. Stream below and grab the first draft off of Kill Or Be Killed if you desire it.

Gerry Read Remixes Hot Coins’ “Geek Emotions”

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November 14, 2012
New Music, Remixes
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Next week (November 19), Gerry Read will release his debut long player, Jummy, on Fourth Wave. For a taste of the album, check out “Let’s Make It Deeper”, a fine example of the London producer’s unique take on the deeper realms of the house sphere. While the album is still a week away, you can get a taste of Read’s production prowess via his minimalist acid take on Hot Coins’ “Geek Emotions”. The remix is fairly dense and slow developing, but around 1:25, soaring synth washes enter the picture and the track’s innate clutter immediately disappears. At least for the time being. Stream Read’s remix below and head over to XLR8R for the freebie.

Shaman Rapping With Joey Bada$$ And Ab-Soul

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November 13, 2012
New Music
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Joey Bada$$ has seen a dramatic rise to prominence over the past few months, partially due to his well above average rhyming skills, but also because of his revivalist take on 90’s hip hop (more on that here). As much as I enjoy 1999 cuts like “Daily Routine” and “Where It’$ At”, I’ve had a difficult time really embracing Joey and would honestly listen to, like, hip hop that is actually from the 90’s. Anyways, Bada$$ is an intriguing figure who is clearly a hip hop purist, a position I can’t knock. Plus he can really spit. Recently, Bada$$’ “Waves” was released as a single on iTunes (also on 1999) and is accompanied by an Ab-Soul assisted b-side. “Enter The Void” sees the Abstract Asshole and Bada$$ discussing higher levels of being over a classic sounding beat (no surprise) centered around organs and funky bass. Bada$$ almost demands that you “keep your motherfuckin’ chakras open” on the chorus and Ab-Soul throws out Sean Carter and Jesus as his only rivals. I’m still a little bit hesitant to get on the Bada$$ train, but that Stussy Seattle shirt he’s wearing the photo below might just do it. Stream below and cop the single here.

Bok Bok And Girl Unit Use Hardware In Heaven

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November 13, 2012
Live, Mixes
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There has been a growing trend in electronic music where traditional “DJ” acts are starting to perform “Live” sets. Now, I’m not talking about a DJ playing only their own music off of CDJ’s. Not some progressive house bullshit. I’m talking about an artist who has spent much of their life DJing, moving into the live realm, complete with drum machines, synthesizers and other hardware. Like every other trend, the results have been hit and miss. Some artists just don’t really know how to utilize the hardware they use in the studio in a live setting. Others are just plain bad at it. Pariah and Blawan’s Karenn project is an example of an act doing it live (fuck it) and doing it well.

It has been a relatively quiet year in the Night Slugs camp, and with the exception of Girl Unit’s huge Club Rez EP, some might be lead to believe that the foremost purveyors in club music are sitting on their laurels. Those people are mistaken. Bok Bok and Girl Unit’s recent one off set at London nightclub Heaven showed the two established producers breaking into new ground, utilizing hardware to the fullest extent for a raw, new live experience. The duo brought a TR-909, Drumtraks, Polysix, Juno 106 and an MPC with them and the results are marvelous, highlighting the technical skill of both producers as well as the malleable nature of using hardware. Girl Unit’s “Ensemble” sounds far more powerful in this setting and the occasional blips in the show add a human texture that doesn’t really appear in your standard DJ set.

Even though many (most?) of the live sets being trotted out are unrefined, it’s a good sign that electronic musicians are diversifying their bonds and moving into new territory. I respect the art of DJing as much as anyone, but it can only go so far and the reproduction of a sound on stage actively refutes the “pushing buttons”/”laptop musician” mentality.

New Captain Murphy ft. Azizi Gibson and Jeremiah Jae – “Immaculation”

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November 13, 2012
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Captain Murphy is now a household name (or maybe a messy apartment name if the rest of the fan-base is anything like the author). We still have no idea who Captain Murphy is. I trust Flying Lotus when he says it’s just a young rapper with dope rhymes who is camera shy. Maybe there will be some clues on Duality, which is set to drop this Thursday the 15th.

His latest collaboration with Azizi Gibson and Jeremiah Jae meets or exceeds the level of dopeness we expect from Murphy. It’s got the haphazard vocal interjections under the main vocal common in Azizi Gbson x Jeremiah Jae collaborations, together with the intense bouts of pitch shifting of Captain Murphy that has come to define his vocal presence. On the upcoming Duality mixtape It will be nice to hear these smooth sailing hip hop tunes right next to heavy trap beats of the likes of Shake Weight.

This beat has Flying Lotus written all over it from the drum compression to the granular ambience in the background. It sounds like one of the ones he’s had lying around for a few years and finally found an artist worthy of it. The beat carries the track but the vocals really just prove that these guys are great lyricists. Listen for a final fantasy reference, a lord of the rings reference, and what sounds like a Talib Kweli diss(?).

New Ambassadeurs – “Second Thought”

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November 13, 2012
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One November 26, Ambassadeurs aka Mark Dobson will inaugurate his Lost Tribe label with a release from the man himself. The Brighton-based producer has made a name for himself making complex hip hop works, borrowing equally from the textured rhythms of garage and Detroit sample soul. To celebrate the launch of Lost Tribe, Dobson let loose “Second Thought”, a winding, layered joint that might be my favorite Ambassadeurs attempt to date. Wind chimes give “Second Thought” the found sound appeal of a Shlohmo or Mount Kimbie, but the percussion offers enough propulsion to avoid the “atmospheric” label. Stream and download “Second Thought” below.

New Nadus – “Higher”

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November 13, 2012
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Most of  you are probably familiar with DJ Sliink at this point as we post about our favorite Jersey Club maven on a weekly basis. It’s time for you to get to know his fellow Brick Bandits. The loose clique is made up of New Jersey/New York producers that engage in various forms of high speed club music. The crew is pretty hit or miss, but the Newark-bred Nadus certainly falls into the hit category. Without really deciding on one style yet, Nadus has jumped around East Coast club sounds, juke, house and everything in between. “Higher” sees Nadus getting into the Windy City sound, infusing some much needed soul into the often cold drum programming. “Higher” is similar to Evian Christ’s “Thrown Like Jacks” in the sense that he manages to give a warm feeling to an often silly and/or overly rigid sub-genre. Stream and download below.