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SND.PE VOL.04

Continuing their run of wildly successful, sonically-themed compilations, Paris-based imprint Sound Pellegrino has released SND.PE VOL.04: Melodic Mechanisms, a tape featuring Moleskin, Sudanim and CYPHR, as well as a whose who of the label’s stable of French producers. With a focus on sound design, spatial awareness, and, of course, melody, SND.PE VOL.04 is a compilation intended for a heightened club experience, for listeners bred on Japanese video game soundtracks, trance and devil mixes. A few weeks ago, we featured newcomer Doline‘s excellent contribution to VOL.04 and the strobe light brilliance of the Parisian’s “Karidja” set the time for an immaculate listen through and through. Get your own copy of SND.PE VOL.04 in digital form or on vinyl and stream snippets of the full tape here.

mid-week-mix-round-up

Inspirational mixes from the past week that deserve to reverberate beyond our “office”.

Over the weekend, the Astral Plane team ventured into warehouse land to attend the Fade to Mind/Night Slugs rave, featuring Bok Bok, L-Vis 1990, Nguzunguzu, Total Freedom and Prince William. The Fade to Mind cadre is known for throwing some of the wildest parties Los Angeles has to offer, but the Night Slugs component brought a larger-than-large system and a distinct London aesthetic into the fray. Us Angelenos are spoiled, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t look to New York here and there with a sly eye and a bit of jealousy. In this case, the envy is squarely focused on MOMA PS1’s summer Warm Up series, an expertly curated series of outdoor events featuring the likes of Robert Hood, Tessela, Mumdance, DJ Marfox, Evian Christ and many more. This past weekend’s event featured the inimitable DJ EZ alongside an all star cast of Todd Edwards, Maxmillion Dunbar, Ramona Lisa and Lit City Trax bossman J-Cush. To hype the event, PS1 asked J-Cush to contribute a “Warm Up Mix” and the result has enough fire power to resentment out of the most resolute characters. Lit City exclusives are placed alongside belters from Georgia Girls, Massacooramaan and Inkke and mixed in J-Cush’s signature spin back heavy style. I’ve pondered spontaneous cross country flights many a time this summer and J-Cush’s Warm Up mix might just do the same for you.

As part of the promo run for his upcoming LP on Innovative Leisure, Jim-E Stack stopped by Nina Las Vegas‘ Triple J show to lay down an hour of jazzy, psychotropic house, thumping call-and-response techno and disorienting club deconstructions. Tell Me I Belong hits on July 28 through the Los Angeles-based label and will feature ten originals from the genre-trotting Stack. In his Triple J mix, M.E.S.H. and Shlohmo are surprising bedmates with Shed‘s Head High alias and techno connoisseurs Kassem Mosse and Marcel Dettman. Throwing genre to the wind, Stack focuses primely on beatific, supernal melodic work, preferring carefully constructed, supremely patient constructions to anything that even hints at immediate gratification. That predisposition towards restraint shines in Stack’s existing productions and is exactly why the premise of a full-length from the mans is so tantalizing.

Moleskin, fresh off the release of his debut self-titled EP on Goon Club Allstars, brings tracks from “Chicago, Baltimore, London, Durban, New York, the internet” to the table for Clash. Rhythmic exploration is the name of the game here and Moleskin jumps effortlessly from Neana‘s metallurgy to the polyrhythms of DJ Firmeza and DJ Lag. Cop the Moleskin 12″ and you won’t be sorry.

And to top everything off, don’t sleep on Sharp Veins‘ (William Skeng) recent frozen entry into the Liminal Sounds archives, Australian curators of everything grimy and rough-hewn Ktrax ode to ghetto house and rave, or Shriekin‘s all-original contribution to the ever-growing Boxed family’s mix series.

moleskin-ep

With an eponymous debut EP upcoming later this month and a slate of well-deserved hype surrounding his b2b DJ appearances with NeanaMoleskin has been shelling down the dance better than most in 2014. “Clemency” is our second taste from Moleskin, out June 25 on Goon Club Allstars, and is exactly the type of retrograde production we’ve come to expect from the London-based producer. Bmore/Jersey forms the foundation here, but “It’s Time For The Percolator”-esque acid blips throw convention for a loop while thickly layered breakbeat science and sparse 808 percussion complete the throwback feel. Pre-order Moleskin here and be sure to peep Goon Club Allstars’ mix for DISMag from a few months ago.

Types-of-Christmas-Trees-010

The holidays are the one time of year when I appreciate the fact that my Facebook and Twitter feeds are flooded with promotional posts. That’s because the holidays are the time for giving, specifically the time when producers dump all of their bootlegs/edits/unfinished tracks on the unsuspecting masses. The quality is generally a mixed bag, but we’ve received a deluge of heat in the past few days that deserves its fair due. On the raps front, Lil B, King Louie, Fredo SantanaLil Silk and Fabolous have let loose new tapes over the past week or so. All deserve your attention, although save Lil B’s 05 Fuck Em and maybe spend a little more time with Silk and Louie.

The good folks at Mixpak were also kind enough to hand out a bundle of free tracks from their roster and beyond. The Holiday Bundle evokes the grime, dancehall and soca-based riddim culture that Dre Skull has so carefully curated over the past few years. Sudanim, Murlo and Koyote all bring their best to the table.

You’ve likely seen these already as well, but big hitters Flying Lotus, Zed Bias, Ryan Hemsworth Clams Casino all gave bundles of tracks away in the past few days. Casino’s third Instrumental Mixtape is probably the most cohesive attempt of the bunch, but FlyLo’s assorted beats, remixes and bootlegs offer some intriguing insight into the producer and his cohort’s recording processes. The Hemsworth collection is largely edits he’s designed for live play and the “Post-Rock Tears” version of Future’s “Honest” is a real beauty. Two step legend Zed Bias handed over 200 MB of live recording, remixes and production work under both his ZB sobriquet and his Maddslinky nom de plume.

Hit the jump for a jambalaya of free tracks…

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goon club allstars

You’re probably familiar with Mssingno if you frequent Dubstepforum and/or have seen Moleskin DJ in the past few months, but if you don’t fall into one of the two aforementioned categories, then you are in for quite a treat. Slated for a digital/12″ release on November 18 (on Goon Club Allstars), the London-resident’s self-titled EP is one of the most striking grime EPs to cross our ears in quite some time, combining the spatial awareness of new era eski producers like Slackk and Visionist with a synth-oriented sense of the moment akin to a Girl Unit or Lone. Every one of the EP’s four tracks are undisputedly huge, but “XE2” stands out amongst the greatness, matching an earworm vocal sample with beatific, undulating synth work. The feels are real with this one. Listen to clips from the EP below and hit the jump to stream the full version of “124th”.

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goon club allstars

Leeds/London-based label/collective Goon Club Allstars have been the talk of the grime world as of late in no small part because of their willingness to the original tenets of the London-born genre with regional American club sounds. With Samename and Moleskin behind the decks, this mix for Cluster Mag is as prominent of a mission statement as one can expect from a fledgling label (think the Body High FADER mix) and features a bevy of incredible tracks from across the UK/US club spectrum. You’ll find Fade To Mind staples, veteran grime classics and forthcoming edits and originals from Goon Club artists. The mixing is impeccably scatterbrained and rough around the edges, but encapsulates Goon Club’s wide ranging influences and strict adherence to abrasive dancefloor sounds.