I've seen blogs come and go and it's weird to finally be the one saying goodbye. It's always sad, but I think it's really hard to convey properly how strange it is to be stopping this endeavour. It's been a long journey, but I don't regret any of it. Some of the things I am most proud of or had the most fun doing: The Gold Panda Interview . Being featured on Hype Machine Radio . Passion Pit T-Shirt competition (you guys sure like free stuff). The first time I eagerly wrote about FlyLo . A [...]
Last month Sinjin Hawke put out this EP and it's great. Not because every song sounds perfect, but because he's really pushing things forward. Every song contains so many ideas, it's often overwhelming. Take my favourite track, Crystal Dust . On the one side you have Hudson Mohawke brashness with a massive brass loop, and then the other half of the song is silky smooth. And this isn't just head-scratching experimentation for geeks, as shown by the ridiculous track which comes straight after, The Ballad Of Martyn Bootyspoon . Despite it's flaws, this EP shows [...]
For those of you who are new to the site, this is a list of my favourite dance music from the last year. It's not exclusively remixes, and yes, you can argue you could dance to the songs in the Top Tracks list too. Out in the Streets - Africa HiTech The Look (Koreless remix) - Jacques Greene Surph - Rustie Sketch - Synkro Sicko Cell - Joy Orbison Rolling In The Deep (Jamie xx Shuffle) [...]
Here are my favourite songs that came out in 2011. The Wilhelm Scream - James Blake Otis (feat. Otis Redding) - Jay-Z & Kanye West I'm On One (Shlohmo Remix) - DJ Khaled featuring Drake, Rick Ross & Lil Wayne Dat Ass - Earl Sweatshirt The Look - Metronomy Baby's Arms - Kurt Vile Hard In Tha Paint (Shlohmo's sit down remix) [...]
These are my favourite albums of 2011. 1 It wasn't until I went back through my albums that I truly realized how much I adored this album. I could pick out nearly every song as my favorite, and as a whole it feels like a true story, even that weird free jazz bit that everyone complains about. Fleet Foxes create pure sonic bliss. 2 As someone who had invested a serious amount [...]
Seriously. Every time. Shlohmo is just on the top of his game at the moment. I can't think of another producer right now, who's every remix is an instant classic. Anyway, this time he's taken on Lianne La Havas , who has a stunning voice, which I think is amplified by Shlohmo's production. All he needed is a bit more jazz guitar. This week, I'll be posting my top albums and tracks of 2010, and they'll be a lot more Shlohmo in there as well. Download here
One of my infatuations this year was techno, in all it's forms. Whether it's lo-fi broken kicks, or the ultra pristine snares you find on Kompakt, or the hectic glitched percussion from 90s Warp artists. I'm not the only one who saw this genre become popular, and I'm expecting a lot of great examples next year too. Anyway, one of the techno albums that got released this year is Simulat, from Cosmin TRG . He has a great reputation of doing whatever he wants and shifting genres from release to release, with his debut not quite being techno, but close enough. Enjoy my [...]
![[I] Softly, We Go.. – Evenings](http://cdn.elbo.ws/posts/3947952_lg.jpg)
With the rest of the album's tracks being mainly three minutes or shorter, [I] Softly, We Go.. stands out with eight enchanting minutes of ambience, smooth drones and laid-back improvisational percussion.
One of my favourite tracks of the year, easily, is the hectic Out in the Streets . Light the Way is completely different. Though it too is an intensive track, it soothes you, rather than leaving you agitated. You literally feel like you are soaking in the track as it surrounds you with sweeping synths and soft voices, despite the pounding drums relentlessly moving forward.
This month, I am trying to dedicate myself to only listen to 2011 releases in an effort to choose my personal highlights of the year. One of the choices which didn't make the cut, but is great nevertheless, is the final album by Ponytail. Relentless, overly-enthusiastic and fun, the album plays out just like the cover. So enjoy some crazy rock music. Flabbermouse
Picking up where James Blake and Fantastic Mr Fox left off, 123Mrk uses sliced vocals, two-step rhythms and some white noise to create a seriously funky EP. Invisible Colors
In my quest to learn more about "The Blues", I came across this fantastic collection of Howlin' Wolf 's work. The compilation features fourteen tracks and both the quality of the recordings and the styles vary greatly throughout. One track will be a standard blues and the next will have a life of its own, powerfully hypnotic in it's raw intensity. Such as this one. No Place to Go
De La Soul are best known for their crossover debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising , but a lot changed over their long history. In their last album, The Grind Date , De La Soul prove how hard they can hit with the album finale, Rock Co.Kane Flow . Everything about the track, whether it's the beats, the flow or the title, shows that they can be just as tough as anyone else out there. It's a classic.
This is just a quick word to say I'm shaking things up a bit, but just a tiny bit. I'm stopping both the Running Mix and Free Friday features. As cool as they were, they were actively affecting how I ended up listening to music as I ended up purposefully trying to find music that was free and mixes, which didn't always end up working out in time. Apart from the music itself, creating the posts became a chore. And another thing, I've felt a bit apprehensive about what I post, whether it was worthy of your guys time, especially since my taste [...]
Pinch & Shackleton's debut album came out last week, much to everyone's surprise. The two dubstep heavyweights managed to pull together a concise piece of work, with mind blowing bass lines and tight percussion jittering on top. It's the kind of music where the elegance lies in its simplicity, as each part is carefully placed into the arrangement. Make sure you listen to this one on loud to fully appreciate it. Torn and Submerged
Stepping out of his dark techno and dubstep hybrid, Objekt finds inspiration in the strangest of places in his latest mix. Download here .
My brain popped at the drop to the title track of SCNTST 's eagerly anticipated Monday EP. I honestly can't think of having such a similiar experience to any other song. The kid has some great tracks, but I wasn't expecting them to sounds quite so amazing. What leaps out at you within his productions is how different everything sounds. Sure, it's still all techno and house music, but there are so many original sounds within each track. If this is only the beginning, I can't wait to see where he takes it from here. I've also attached [...]
Not for the faint hearted, Surgeon uses only the darkest, deepest techno for his latest set. Only expect tracks released in the last year, which was part of the night's rules. Download here .
ASAP Rocky just unleashed LIVELOVEA$AP to the world and what stood out for me was the beats, really setting him apart from just being another generic rapper. His flow is okay, but the instrumentals, ranging from lo-fi bass courtesy of Clams Casino, to the more traditional beats from The Olympicks, creates a mixtape well worth listening to. Enjoy two examples, or download the whole thing for free here . Peso (Prod. By ASAP Ty Beats) , Out Of This World (Prod. By The Olympicks)
When I heard this played out as "background music" to an evening somewhere, it immediately caught my ear and I had to rush over to the DJ to ask who or what it was. It took five minutes of explanation to gather something that google would recognise as Bugge Wesseltoft & Henrik Schwarz . The song is a beautiful combination of the two musician's respective genres, jazz piano accompanied by forward thinking house textures. All the components intertwine, sitting perfectly side by side. Be sure to check out their debut together if you want more explorations in this direction. [...]
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