The San Antonio producer Ernest Gonzales released his second solo LP "Natural Traits" combining delicate 8-bit synths with drum beats, guitars and natural sounds. As its title reveals, the album focuses in the feelings evoked by the beauty of nature and feels more like a collection of great instrumental songwriting rather than a dance/electronic studio [...]
Ernest Gonzales might be better known to some as Mexicans With Guns , but his latest release, Natural Traits , makes his birth name something to remember. I've been sitting with it for a few weeks now, and it's just one of those albums that feels effortlessly good . Sublimely peaceful, it is at once calming and captivating - an admirable achievement for an instrumental album. Its hard to quantify in words, bu this video for "The Voice of Fate (I ♥ You)" perfectly plays into its subtleties and [...]
" Natural Traits " es el mas reciente material de Ernest Gonzales el cual pueden adquirir con mucha facilidad a traves de Friends of Friends y, la verdad es que no tenia tan contemplado llegar a hablarles en estos momentos sobre este tipo pero hace unos minutos me encontre con el video de su mas reciente sencillo "The Voice Of Fate (I ♥ You)" (si, con todo y el corazon) y creo que incluye unos de los mejores visuales que han aparecido en lo que va de este primer mes del 2012 y la verdad, me extraña que [...]
Ernest Gonzales is many things. Middle school teacher. Record label owner. Husband. Father. Even as a producer, he wears many hats. As his alter ego Mexicans With Guns, Gonzales makes hard, aggressive beats rooted in dirty low-end bass, collaborating with hard-edged rapper Freddie Gibbs and electro-Afrobeat fusionist Chico Mann. But sometimes he takes off his Lucha Libre mask and explores his softer side, creating gorgeous, lush electronica under his given name, and that's where we find him on his third Friends Of Friends release. In a lot of ways, Natural Traits picks up where his [...]
★★★★☆ With his brand of enclosed house and down-to-earth electronics staying forever humble, Ernest Gonzales doesn't ask for much, but gives plenty. Always good for natural glows born out of a delicately and plainly managed analogue-digital relationship, the songs Natural Traits speak volumes, what with San Antonio, Texas' Gonzales not being much of a talker. "The Sentimental Sea" is deep house that's hard to disturb once in the zone, waiting to write postcards from memorable experiences. Another budding Balearic memory-maker/road trip taker, "When Synchronicity Prevails", alludes to everything falling into place at the right [...]
Ernest Gonzales - Natural Traits Friends of Friends: 2012 It is so refreshing to hear San Antonio's Ernest Gonzales meddle in both analog and digital instrumentation on his latest album Natural Traits . Not in the sense that the sound of a guitar is more pleasing than that of a synth. Or in the sense that real percussion is more true than a drum machine. No, it's more like the sound of branches sprouting forth from a tree, already full of non-uniform leaves, roots in various genres and a phyla so unique it [...]
Aaaaand... we're back. After a slow start to the year, this week provides a relative bounty of new releases, including the latest from London-based group The Duke Spirit , who, according to our Music Director, Don Yates, "add a bit more studio polish and musical sophistication to their bluesy psych-rock sound on their third album, a solidly crafted set ranging from tension-filled rockers to atmospheric ballads." Fellow Brits The Big Pink also drop a new album, their second, and if their super-catchy single "Stay Gold" is any indication, it's going to be full of hooky, fuzzy dance-pop [...]
My early expectation for Ernest Gonzales 's third LP, the first I've actively checked out, was based upon the chilled-out, perfect-nap-worthy track "The Prudence of Evolution", which we posted as a part of our Daily 2% feature a little while ago. That track, the opening track for the album Natural Traits out January 17 on Friends of Friends , is restrained, mystical, twinkling beauty. It does employ a really nice build-up and a lot of multilayered sounds, but all-in-all, it's a pretty relaxed piece of music. It makes sense for Gonzales's works under [...]
My early expectation for Ernest Gonzales's third LP, the first I've actively checked out, was based upon the chilled-out, perfect-nap-worthy track "The Prudence of Evolution", which we posted as a part of our Daily 2% feature a little while ago. That track, the opening track for the album Natural Traits out January 17 on Friends of [...]
2011 was a good year for dance music, but 2012 looks like an even better one. A plethora of dance/electronic releases are on the horizon — everything from albums and mix compilations by up-and-coming artists to full-lengths and compendiums by acts with proven track records. We've been meticulously sorting through our promos and listening to streams in order to gauge the upcoming crop of albums. So far, we really like what we've been hearing, and there seems to be plenty of musical diversity and fresh ideas. Here's a list of 75 releases that every dance/electronic music fan should have on their [...]
You wouldn't necessarily expect music from the man who owns Exponential Record s, teaches middle school technology, has two kids, and created the production moniker Mexicans With Guns to be mellow. But, like the Renaissance man that he is, Ernest Gonzales has eluded stereotypes with his latest single, "The Prudence of Evolution," a minimalistic, sample-free track that speaks to Gonzales's versatility as much as to his pure talent as an artist. With a fresh spin on classically clean electronic archetypes, "Prudence" is a play-on-repeat-worthy preview of the rest of his ten-track LP, [...]
![Got Finals? [Mini-Study Playlist]](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3906661_lg.jpg)
Lucky for me I just finished my finals, but I know many of you are taking your finals this coming week. Here is what I listened to.. Toro y Moi-Still Sound Toro y Moi-Talamak Lisa DeBenedictis-Love Bird (featuring Lisa DeBenedictis) Bbio-Lovers Carvings (Letherette Remix) [...]
Yesterday , San Antonio-based producer Ernest Gonzales, who also records as Mexicans with Guns, dropped a preview of what ... Read the full article at http://www.prefixmag.com/news/ ernest-gonzales-reveals-natura l-traits-details/59151/
This is your Daily 2% - Chilled and Ready to Serve . We will try to bring you one "chill" track every day. This is for when you get home and you are trying to unwind. You reach for that glass of wine or that unlit Black & Mild or maybe you reach for something more herbal. This track is for those times. We are just your milkmen and I'm here to make a delivery. Chill... A middle school technology teacher, record label (Exponential Records) owner, husband, and father of two, Ernest Gonzales is certainly [...]
This is your Daily 2% - Chilled and Ready to Serve. We will try to bring you one "chill" track every day. This is for when you get home and you are trying to unwind. You reach for that glass of wine or that unlit Black & Mild or maybe you reach for something more herbal. [...]
It's time again to look back, reflect, and contemplate... what were we listening to one year ago? Listen to the January 2010 Mix and find out. Downloadables: Neon Noose (mp3) by Golden Triangle I Do (mp3) by Screaming Females Jail La La (mp3) by Dum Dum Girls Nuke Duke 'Em (mp3) by Dinowalrus Acid King [...]
ernest gonzales - we can live in the forest
With a name conjuring arsenals of assault weapons and photo galleries filled with him dressed like El Santo, I'll assign the blame to Ernest Gonzales for causing me to want to make Breaking Bad analogies every time he drops a new Mexicans with Guns track. These comparisons never arise with his more headphone-friendly solo material, but with MwG he seems to craft victory celebrations for the Salamanca gang, where everyone snorts robin's egg blue crystal and writhes to the sinister bass and 808 crush alongside women who vaguely resemble Selma Hayek. You can trace the lineage [...]
It's time again to look back and reflect. What were we listening to one year ago? Listen to the October 2009 Mix to find out... Downloadables: Losing Feeling (mp3) by No Age Anti-Magic (mp3) by Foot Village Terminally Chill (mp3) by Neon Indian Fences ( The Soft Pack Remix) (mp3) by Phoenix Passion Of Saint [...]
Ernest Gonzales ( Friends of Friends ) just put out a copy of the " Been Meaning to Tell You " digital art book. Comes with a single of his song Emerald Nova, and as well a remix of it by up and coming, Santa Ana based beat kid; ages . You can find this all for free on the Friends of Friends Bandcamp page here . [...]
LOCAL SUICIDE
dipped in dollars
My Blog Cliche
Consequence Of Sound
Big Shot Magazine
Potholes In My Blog
KEXP Blog
earmilk.com
The Noise Collective
All Things Go
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Prefixmag.com
GIMME TINNITUS
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The Passion of the Weiss
Rebel Magazine
Jay-Z & Kanye West - Ni**as In Paris (Explicit)
CHROMATICS "INTO THE BLACK"
Crystalfilm
Childish Gambino - Heartbeat
Chiddy Bang - "By Your Side"
Diplo & Usher “Climax”
A-Trak - "Round of Applause" / "Where My Money At" (MP3 Download)
Skrillex Uses Satanic and Homosexual Influence to Win Grammys
MIXTAPE: 10ILLE – CANDY JAMS
Usher- "Climax" (Produced by Diplo)
