Another lucky giveaway for the City of Angels, this time featuring a stacked club music bill featuring some of Chicago’s best. We hardly need to introduce Brenmar, Sasha Go Hard and DJ Spinn, but each respective act has trail-blazed their respective way across the United States (and further) and created their own distinct lane within the rap, club and footwork worlds. Taking place at Los Globos this Thursday (1/22) and thrown by the good folks at IHC Presents, the night will function as the release party for Brenmar’s Award EP, an effort that sees the New York-based producer striving for wider audiences on collaborations with Uniique, Dougie F and more. Comment below with your favorite Sasha Go Hard track and cop tickets for the show here.
A few months ago, Brenmar gave away the all-original High End Times Vol. 1mixtape, a collection of collaborations that includes vocal work from Mykki Blanco and Sasha Go Hard as well as co-production from Uniique. Despite consistently excellent production value from Brenmar, the tape has its clear moments and its clear nadirs, in no small part due to unimpressive vocal efforts. Last week, songs from the long-awaited remix package for High End Times began to emerge at various publications, touting reworks by Byrell The Great, DJ Big O, Matic808 and more club specialists. Like most other remix packages he stars on though, Neana takes center stage on The Remixes, taking on the Uniique collaboration “Hey Ladies”, itself the most effusive club track of the tape, and working his magic into the interstices of the anthemic original. Whereas the original holds a good deal of call-and-response value, Neana strips out the majority of the vocals, coalescing the hard-as-nails percussive framework into a singular entity until the wooden beams of the track’s foundation verge on splintering. The rest of the package in more than adequate and offers some wonderful tools, but Neana has once again stolen the show.
For the past several years, Brenmar has been strutting his innate ability for producing dancefloor heaters on the US circuit, linking up with innumerable collaborators and becoming a household name in the club music world. These days, it looks like the New York resident might just have outgrown his shoes, producing bigger, more elaborate productions that resemble Mike Will Made It’s work more than anything coming out of his hometown of Chicago (or Jersey/Baltimore/Philly for that matter). On February 18, he will release High End Times Vol. 1, his first all originals mixtape and a striking effort that will surely enlarge his sound and fan-base. Featuring the likes of Sasha Go Hard and Mykki Blanco, the tape features a bevy of intriguing vocalists. Based on the Rush Davis featuring “Medusa”, High End Times might end up as seminal tape, melding radio ready R&B production with a regional club aesthetic, tied together by Davis’ mouthwatering performance. Stream/download “Medusa” below and be sure to mark down February 18 on the calendar.
Dom Kennedy’s minor-hit “My Type Of Party” is one of the more interesting “party” tracks of the past few years in that it’s really not meant to be a party track in the truest sense. He’s getting head on the sofa and ignoring the “niggas sniffing that coca”, truly Dom’s sort of party. Seeing the potential in Dom’s original, New York by-way-of Chicago club maestro Brenmar took “My Type Of Party” up to 130 BPM and essentially turned it into a more conventional party anthem. This is probably not Dom’s type of party anymore, but it certainly works for us! Stream below and download here.
Tonight, dons of hype ass American club music Salva and Brenmar begin their joint US tour with a date in Los Angeles’ King Thing venue (along with RL Grime). 2012 saw Salva reach new heights of popular success, imprinting his sound on a generation of “reformed” brosteppers, wrangling a guest appearance from Pusha T at the Red Bull Culture Clash and, most impressively, garnering one of BBC’s vaunted In New DJs We Trust spots alongside Jackmaster, Monki and Brodinski. Brenmar didn’t hit the same level of popular success that Salva did in 2012, but the longtime club trailblazer expanded his sound into the hip hop and pop arenas through various mixes, production work and edits. It goes without saying that the two are some of the most in demand producers/DJs in the American scene and will be laying down some wonderfully variegated sets throughout the tour. To celebrate the opening date, the LA/Chicago duo has released a refreshing update on DJ Deeon’s Windy City ghetto house anthem “Let Me Bang”. The remix has a Dutch feel to it, exhibited through some bleepy synth stabs, which might turn off some listeners, but the uninhibited take is undeniable fun and Deeon’s vocals (“hit it from the back”) are immensely chant-able. Stream and download below.
Like so many other producers in and/or affiliated with East Coast club sounds, Brenmar has seen a massive spike in popularity in 2012. Luckily for the Chicago-native, his production skills have improved simultaneously, making him one of the rising stars of the club scene. “BF GF” is another formless heater that utilizes a sound similar to the buzzing noise in DJ Sliink’s “Vibrate”. Brenmar’s tracks are formless in their refusal to acquiesce to any genre limitations, opting to traverse between regional sounds from across the country. Stream “BF GF” below.
Hate ’em or love ’em, MMG turn out some damn good hooks for club tunes. Wale’s “Bait” is the latest to be snagged, sampled by DJ Sliink and Brenmar for a track of the same name. This is booty music in every sense. Sliink and Brenmar predictably smash Jersey Club and Juke together with unpredictable results. Set to be released on LA’s Body High, future collaborations between the three parties are a must. Head over to Noisey to stream and download.
We’ve been fairly absent from the blog this week, because of various nature excursions and other computer time limitations. Luckily, we’re back now and ready to continue bringing you the phonk. Amid a hectic SXSW filled week, a large amount of new music was actually released, much of it from the hip hop world. As a result, we bring you this special edition Sounds From The Astral Plane as a summary of the week’s happenings.
Stream: Nas – “The Don” (Prod. Salaam Remi, Da Internz and Heavy D)
Nas never ceases to amaze me with his tenacity on the mix. Dude has been in the game for over 20 years, and while there will never be another Illmatic, Nasir will go down as one of, if not the greatest, rappers of all time. Following last year’s “Nasty,” a sickening tear over minimalist percussion, Nas brings us “The Don,” produced by Salaam Remi with a helping hand from Da Internz and the late Heavy D. I can imagine Nas turning on the radio, hearing “Work Out” for the millionth time, calling up Salaam and hitting the studio. This shit is gully.
Sene is one of those MC’s who everyone has heard of, but no one really thinks twice about. He’s worked extensively with Blu, but none if it has made waves like the latter’s collaborations with Exile, Fashawn and Mainframe. It might be time to give Sene a little respect. “Backboards,” conveniently featuring Blu, is downright beautiful, eliciting comparisons to The Visionaries. Also, Blu on a mastered track? Pretty unheard of over the past couple years. “Backboards” is off of Sene’s upcoming Brooklyknight album, dropping April 24 on Plug Research.
There isn’t much to say about Danny Brown that hasn’t been said. Read this Passion of the Weiss post for details. “Baseline” is as minimalist as Brown gets, allowing the MC to get ugly with the rhymes. If glorified drug usage, misogyny, and one of the most unique flows in contemporary hip hop interests you, then download “Baseline” above.
Squeaky production from Toki and majestic vocals from Rucyl = chilled out bliss. Hopefully this is a sign that the wait for a followup to 2010’s Midnight Menu will soon be over.
Chicago DJ/producer Brenmar has publicly stated that one of his main goals is to get “people to hook up at the club.” This track will certainly do that. Brenmar ramps up the sex appeal for his take on Texas crooner Kirko Bangz’s “Drank In My Cup,” turning the syruppy original into a dance floor anthem. This is club music at its best.
“Worst Job Of Good luck” is off of London label Bullet Train Records’ Bullet Train Allstars compilation. It’s the best track off the comp and features incredibly clean production from Pale mixed with some pitched down vocals. Nice minimalist cut right hurr.
Stream/Download: Dam-Funk – “Serious”
There is never a shortage of new material on Dam Funk’s Soundcloud page. It fells like every week or two, he throws a superb new cut on their as a free download. Dam plays all the instruments on “Serious,” a jazzy track with that trademark Dam Funk sound. It’s no surprise that Dam can meld his sound into a jazz aesthetic, but it is still damn impressive.
Stream: Nocando – “Miyamoto Musashi” (Produced by DNAEBeats)
Low End Theory is in Japan right now. Nocando released a song about legendart samurai Miyamoto Musashi. Sounds about right.
Action Bronson supplies the raps. Party Supplies supplies the beats. It’s fantastic. Oddly enough, the first track, “Pouches of Tuna” uses the same beat as the Sene’s track above. Not sure if Party Supplies made it, or what, but I have to say that the Sene version is better. Beyond that confusion, “Thug Love Story 2012” sounds like classic Ghostface-ish. That comparison is getting a little old at this point, but it’s just too hard to ignore on tracks like this. Download Blue Chips from DJ Booth above.
Watch: Nacho Picasso and Blue Sky Black Death – “Rammin”
More visuals from Lord of the Fly, this time for the grimy “Rammin.” If you can get over the overdone effects, this is a pretty enjoyable vid. This is what The Weeknd sees when he hits the club. Some real XO shit.
The Astral Plane 