On the latest Radiohead Remix single, Thriller, Illum Sphere and Shed all make for one of the more subtle and nuanced releases in the series. Illum Sphere expands the already light atmosphere of "Give Up The Ghost" with a loungey, ambient take on the track, while Shed does an equally impressive number on "Little By Little", using field samples to turn the originally upbeat track in to something much darker than its' creators could have ever previously conceived. Meanwhile, Thriller contributes the real head-turner on this release, with his vocal-driven, bass infused take on "Give Up The Ghost". This fourth [...]
By now it should be pretty obvious that I'm generally not a fan of posting radio rips, but I had to make an exception for this new Jacques Greene white label, which contains three tracks and is available for pre-order here at online retailer Red Eye Records. Greene is fresh off his incredible "Lotus Flower" remix for Radiohead, and the release of this new single will hopefully lead to some more live dates throughout North America this Fall. The second track "I Like You" might sound familiar to some, as it's been played in several Night Slugs DJ sets in [...]
Several months back, I discussed the lead single "Sutphin Blvd." from Blood Orange's debut album here at length. I'd been a fan of Dev Hynes since hearing his Lightspeed Champion project back in 2008, but his Coastal Grooves album under the Blood Orange moniker definitely shows off a different side of the talented songwriter and producer, who has also worked with Solange Knowles and the Chemical Brothers among others. Hynes' style has progressed considerably over the years between Lightspeed Champion and Blood Orange though, morphing in to its' current state of light, but flavorful indie-dance rock, not unlike [...]
The second leak from Bombay Bicycle Club's highly anticipated third LP A Different Kind of Fix hit the internet this weekend, and while the band's certainly returned to their indie-rock roots, a hint of the dancefloor flavor we heard on the first single "Shuffle" is also present on this new track. And though it may not stand out as obvious as "Shuffle", which contains various samples and keyboards, the repetitive nature of "How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep" certainly lends itself to a more up dance-worthy nature, although the chord structures and melodies on the song are [...]
Flying Lotus posted this new Thundercat mix yesterday on the Brainfeeder site, which features some new tracks from his album, as well as some classic soul cuts and tracks from Erykah Badu and FlyLo himself. While the runtime is only about 30 minutes, it's a great introduction to Thundercat's particular strain of avant-garde funk, showing off some of his inspirations as well as some of his major contributions, including the bassline on Erykah Badu's "Turn Me Away (Get Munny)", and his standout vocals on Flying Lotus' "Mmmhmm". Thundercat has also performed with J*Davey, Suicidal Tendencies, and Sa-Ra [...]
As a frequent sufferer of insomnia, I was first introduced to Tycho's music during one of my late night Adult Swim binges, attempting to quell anxiety through absurd humor. Already being introduced to excellent music from Lone and Flying Lotus through the networks commercials or "bumps", I heard several Tycho songs in the same place before diving head first in to his last album Past Is Prologue and the rest of the Ghostly catalog a couple years ago. Tycho, in particular, stood out as one of the more unique and daring artists on the label [...]
Over the last few weeks, Four Tet has been keeping us updated on the progress of his contribution to the Fabriclive series, which is officially out September 19th in the UK and October 18th in the US. He's also mentioned several new songs he'll be including on the mix, including "Locked", an 8 minute electronic opus that pushes his distinct experimental style even further on the spectrum of progression. The track is rooted in a similar organic style to the songs on his recent LP There Is Love In You , yet the distorted keyboard improvisation [...]
I'm a little late to the party on this one but since the party seems to skew perception so often, I'm kind of glad I sat on this new Real Estate single for a couple weeks. To say it's more upbeat than the material on their self-titled album would be a bit of miscalculation, but there's definitely more of a polished feel to the production and arrangement. The songwriting also is also noticeably tighter, but luckily they've still left room for a little jamming and lo-fi fuzz towards the end, something I hope will continue on their new full length [...]
Holy Other recently released this new video accompaniment for the track "Know Where", directed by the MFK and shot with a shaky cell phone camera. The track is from their With U EP which I've discussed here at length and proudly proclaimed my favorite EP of the year on several occasions.
"My Trance Girl" might be a bit old to diehard Joker fans since he's been mixing it in to his DJ sets over the past year, but this version is actually the newer, mastered one streamed on Skream and Benga's set a couple weeks back. The track will appear as the b-side to the the 20-year old Bristol producer's second single from his debut full length on 4AD, details of which were announced today. The track echoes the dirtier, dubstep feel of his older material, with much less of a pop influence than the actual single itself curiously. [...]
Tri Angle Records recently announced the release of their newest signee Ayshay's first EP WARN-U which was offered up for streaming this week by the label, along with a heavy duty drum and bass inspired remix from LA natives Nguzunguzu, who recently released their Timesup EP on Kingdom's Fade to Mind label. While the original version is a quite subtle, droney vocal-based track, the remix takes on a mind of its own, supplanting the hazy background of the original with an edgy, uptempo drum pattern that grabs the listener at the first second, and doesn't [...]
Even if you can't get down with Drake's remorseful tone on the new single "Marvin's Room", you'll have to admit that the production of the track and chorus in particular are pretty ripe for the remix treatment. Which is why it's no surprise that nearly a month after the track's release, we already have two excellent remixes of "Marvin's Room" from California's Shlohmo and Hamburg-based artist D33J, both members of the California-based We Did It Collective. Shlohmo's take on the track, as the "Thru Tha Floor Remix" title would suggest, is quite bass-heavy and accentuates the droning [...]
Dam Mantle's video for "Not A Word" caused quite a stir upon its release several weeks ago, the song and visuals both evoking overwhelmingly positive responses among critics like myself. As part of his new We EP, "Not A Word" exists as part of a much bigger musical tapestry of uptempo funky-inspired drum patterns, deeply distorted vocals, and haunting synth melodies exhibited on the release, which was made available for streaming on Soundcloud this week. Aside from the atmospheric field samples reminiscent of Mount Kimbie, there's also some beautiful string orchestration on tracks like the ten minute title track, which [...]
Upon my arrival back to LA this week, I heard a ton of buzz surrounding LDFD, a relatively new 19 year old electronic producer from Texas, who recently released his Outtacontrol EP on Daedelus' Magical Properties imprint. The EP is pretty remarkable, and is one of the few new American records I can think of, aside from Salva's Complex Housing , taking cues from the burgeoning progressive electronic scene in the UK right now. And though LDFD definitely has his own unique twist on things, there's an unmistakable influence on the title track from crews like Night [...]
Over the weekend at the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago, I was lucky enough to interview Adam Granduciel from the War On Drugs, where we talked at length about his new album Slave Ambient , a very personal passion project of his which took four years to complete. After the success of the band's debut Wagonwheel Blues, Granduciel got caught up touring with Kurt Vile and the Violators as well as his own band and was only able complete the record in short breaks at home and in several different studios across the country. As much as [...]
Tri Angle Records uploaded this new Balam Acab track titled "Apart" from his upcoming Wander/Wonder EP earlier in the week on Soundcloud. The song somehow went unnoticed for a few days, until the label posted a link on Twitter yesterday, after which "Apart" proceeded to enrapture the masses, just as the first leak from the EP "Oh, Why" did a few weeks back. Though there's admittedly been a surge in this type of warbled pop style in electronic music over the past year, Balam Acab was at the forefront last year putting his [...]
Shlohmo dropped this incredible new remix of Burial's "Shell of Light" on the We Did it Collective's website yesterday. When most people use the word "remix", it's usually to describe a minor-reworking, with maybe a tempo change and some alternate drum patterns added at the most. At least that's what the word has been redefined as in recent years. However, Shlohmo has absolutely reconstructed this track from the ground up, taking one simply loop from the end of the original and making it an entirely new track all its own, with some dense, atmospheric bass and percussion as well as [...]
As the fifth release in the Adult Swim 2011 Singles program, Active Child's new single "Hanging On", which also appears on his upcoming album You Are All I See , concludes another chapter in the successful 10 part series, which has already seen leaks from artists like Best Coast and How to Dress Well. Meanwhile, the new single from Active Child shows off Pat Grossi's classical training on the harp a little bit more, classing up the joint with a little less of a party feel than "Playing House" , his recent collaboration with the aforementioned How To [...]
Though I've been hearing a lot about the LA duo Nguzunguzu the past few months, I'll admit I was only able to start correctly pronouncing their name a few weeks ago, around the same time I started to dig deeper in theirs and Kingdom's catalog, who recently announced the launch of his new Night Slugs-affiliated label Fade to Mind. The first release on the label, Nguzunguzu's Times Up EP, is out this week, and along with it came this monster of a mix for the XLR8R Podcast. The mix starts off with a slow, R&B vibe which gradually [...]
Here's a new 2 and a half hour long mix for your Fourth of July BBQ from Brainfeeder's head honcho Flying Lotus. Inspired by the release of the first edition of Lover's Melt a few weeks back for the Stones Throw Podcast, FlyLo has quickly followed up with this much longer installment, again mostly leaning on obscure vinyl cuts from his personal collection. There are definitely a few classic soul tracks in the mix here as well, making things flow much smoother and somewhat less abrasively than some of the more eclectic tracks on his last mix. [...]
FRANK N BEATS
Disclosure – When A Fire Starts to Burn
Top 10 MP3s of the Week (5/24)
Daft Punk: When anonymity goes wrong
BOY/FRIEND: Leather Weather EP
Tricky – False Idols
