Sunday, March 31, 2013
March 2013 Hotlist Week 4
The Kid Vicious - "I Wish I Was At A Water Park" 2013
This is quite a nice mix. Perfect transitions, nice song selection. All around good. I actually like this mix a lot more than previous stuff i've heard from him. Check it out here.
Jeremiah Jae - "Raw Money Raps" 2012
I think in this day and age it's extremely hard to make an original ANYTHING anymore, but I truly have never heard an album like this one before. It's refreshing to know that there is still some people in the hip hop scene that wish to keep it progressive. This whole album just is mixed in a super crazy way, so everything sounds like 10x more fucked up than it already does, and the way the vocals keep shifting from the foreground of the songs to the background is super psychedelic. The whole way these beats are put together is amazing. Like if you just heard these instrumentals, you wouldn't think in a million years they were for rap songs, but he makes it all work, as long as you're in the mood to go on this type of journey. Check out "Seasons", "Money", "Cat Fight", and "One Herb".
AstroLogical - "Audiosincretismo 2.23" 2013
This is a super solid mix, right up my alley, with lots of awesome instrumental hip hop sounding stuff. Check it out here.
Codex Of Plant Responses - "Book 65: Jezowate (Hedgehog)" 2013
This mix is very dancey, which I normally don't enjoy, but this mix is great. Listen here.
Birdy Nam Nam - "Jaded Future EP" 2012
The title track is from the full length "Defiant Order" and has been a staple in my DJ sets for the past year. Always a nice feel-good song. This EP is that song and 2 others with a couple remixes for each song as well by people such as Culprate, Foreign Beggars, Skrillex, and French Fries. There's nothing unpleasant on this EP, but also none of the remixes are outstanding or outshine the original versions. Check out "Goin In (Skrillex's Goin Down Remix)", "Jaded Future (Foreign Beggars Remix)", and "Cadillac Dreams (Culprate Remix)".
J.Nolan & Yung B Da Producer - "The Upbringing LP" 2012
This is a young up & coming MC/producer duo from New Haven, Connecticut (although they also seem to rep Newark and Atlanta as well on here). J.Nolan's flow and cadence reminds me a lot of people like One Be Lo and Naledge. MC's who seem almost boring at first, but when you stop and pay attention, they have quite a skill to their craft. The beats on here remind me a lot of 9th Wonder, but a little less laid back. This LP shows promise, but is not super great itself. The looped nature of a lot of the beats gets slightly repetitive to me after a while, but there's nothing weak on this album, and a lot of traditional rap fans will enjoy this. You can listen or download the whole thing here at his Bandcamp page.
The Heliocentrics - "13 Degrees Of Reality" 2013
I think i'm just going to have to revisit this album again after listening to it enough times to get used to it. Upon my initial listens this album is just a little too off center to actually be considered tight to me. It's kinda sequenced like a bunch of demos and loose ideas, and is very psychedelic in nature. I feel like instead of providing a cohesive album flow, the interludes are more of an interruption that break you out of whatever trance the previous song had you in, and it makes for probably a less pleasurable LP listening experience. This is still a very solid new jazz album, and anything negative I say about it is just me being nitpicky because I initially don't like it as much as a lot of their previous work, which could actually be a good thing in the long run. We'll see what I think about this album in a couple years. Check out "Collateral Damage", "Mr. Owusu, I Presume", and "Ethnicity".
4ndr345 M4RCH4L - "Textbeak Podcast #110: Vaatican Classics Vol. 1" 2013
I really enjoyed this mix a lot. Probably the most enjoyable mix i've heard in the last month, which is saying a lot. Just a great mix of songs and styles. Give it a listen here.
Adam Kvasnica - "Back In Brazil" 2013
Man, this guy is DEEP into all sorts of different styles of jazz. I'm gonna love going through his other mixes, he seems to have mixes for every style, era, region, etc. of jazz. Very tasteful and well done. Check it out here.
Eskmo - "Language EP" 2012
I don't know if he has a new full length on the horizon, but it's about that time, I suppose. He's got a couple new EP's out there right now, and this is the older of the 2, dropping late last year. I was a big fan of the whole sound and style of his older album, but honestly, this EP is a little boring to me. It's all pretty light and airy, mildly dancey, and whatnot, it just doesn't seem to have those cool sound design details that his stuff from a couple years ago was littered with, that I enjoyed so much. Maybe this will grow on me. Check out "I Just Want", "Oh In This World Of Dread, Carry On" (this is the strongest track on here to me), and "Lifeline".
Kanye West Presents: "G.O.O.D. Music- Cruel Summer" 2012
Everybody's heard this, and I had heard it or parts of it in various places since it's release, but I never sat down and gave it a real listen for myself. I think this album shows that even though he's not the mind blowing, progressive, producer of the future that some people in the music media make him out to be, Kanye still knows what's up with music today, and how to make not only hits, but music that just plain sounds good as well. Check out "Mercy", "Don't Like" (aspects of this beat remind me of late 90's Three 6 Mafia), and "Clique".
J.Nolan & Yung B Da Producer - "The Upbringing LP" 2012
The Heliocentrics - "13 Degrees Of Reality" 2013
4ndr345 M4RCH4L - "Textbeak Podcast #110: Vaatican Classics Vol. 1" 2013
Adam Kvasnica - "Back In Brazil" 2013
Eskmo - "Language EP" 2012
Kanye West Presents: "G.O.O.D. Music- Cruel Summer" 2012
Friday, March 29, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
March 2013 Hotlist Week 3
Cathleen John - "Interioris Nucleum" 2013
Keep these awesome mixes coming, please.... Listen here.
Lil B - "Trapped In Basedworld" 2012
If you want to read my full thesis on Lil B, scroll down to the last review in the previous post. This album is pretty funny and has some tight beats. Check out "Connected In Jail", "MMMMMMM DAMN", and "Beez In Da Hood"
Mr. Oizo - "Unreleased Unfinished Unpleasant" 2012
The title is pretty self-explanitory. This was a free download through his site. Here is a link to download free through his Soundcloud. A lot of this reminds me of "Moustache/Cut In Half" era material, which I enjoy a lot, and there's really only 2 of these songs that actually fall into the "unpleasant" realm. Obviously he's one of my favorite artists out there, so my opinion on him might be a little skewed. Check out "Hidolls", "Mositif", and "Pepa & Pepa".
The Beatfonics Crew - "Audiosincretismo #2.22" 2013
This is from a Mixcloud page from an Italian blog/magazine that started following my page, so I decided to check them out. Lots of cool instrumental hip hop style mixes is mostly what it seems like they're into, and you know I love that. Listen to this mix here.
O Benjamim - "Equinox #1" 2013
This is someone from Portugal that started following me on Mixcloud, so I decided to check them out. A lot of this mix is a little too poppy for my tastes, but it's very smooth and professional, and there's still some good songs on here I like too. See for yourself.
How To Destroy Angels - "Welcome Oblivion" 2013
For those that don't know, this is Trent Reznor and his wife, Mariqueen Maandig. She handles most of the vocals, but Trent does sing a little too. There is also a couple instrumental tracks as well. He has definitely followed through on what he talked about in his interviews during "The Fragile" era, where he said after Nine Inch Nails was done, he wanted to do his own version of Portishead, with him producing for a female vocalist. I enjoy the end results for the most part. This album isn't phenomenal, but it's a really solid piece of work. In certain ways, it reminds me of Puscifer, although stylistically it really doesn't resemble that project that much, so I don't know why that is exactly. Check out "Ice Age", which I think is an awesome acoustic based song, the lead single- "How Long", and also "And The Sky Began To Scream".
Cranes - "Future Songs" 2001
A friend handed me a few CD's a couple weeks ago, this being one of them. I had never heard of this band before, but apparently this is their 7th album. They were active from 1989-1997 and then broke up. They reformed with a new lineup in 2000, and this was the first new album to come from that. Everything I read about this album says that it was a significant change in style from their older material, so now i'll have to go back and check out that stuff to see what's up. I really like her voice, which is pretty unique sounding, and the overall production and mixing of this album is also very unique. It's like a gothic version of pop rock, but the singer is so innocent sounding it makes for a good contrast. I would recommend this to someone who likes both The Cure and April March. That's the best way I could describe it. Check out "Future Song", "Fragile (Remix)", and "Sunrise".
J. Cole - "Truly Yours" 2013
J. Cole was one of the rising stars in hip hop 3 or so years ago, but lately it seems like he's been dormant, or even absent from the scene. This is a little EP to keep him fresh in people's minds. The lyrics on here are very well put together, but kind of on an emo tip, which I wasn't expecting. Just him talking about his feelings and stuff. There's actually no weak tracks on here, to be honest. The beats are all pretty solid too. A lot of nice stuff with live instrumentation that is still rooted firmly within the laid back hip hop styles he needs. Check out "Rise Above", "Tears For ODB", and "Stay (2009)".
O Benjamim - "Equinox #2" 2013
I think I like this one a little better than part 1. Listen here.
Peter Hope - "45 Wrong Revolutions Per Minute" 2013
Man, I gotta give it up to Mike Textbeak, for culling so many different weirdos as guest DJ's for his podcast series. I think maybe this particular mix is only OK for my personal tastes, but it's definitely interesting. Check it out here.
Sweet Valley - "Eternal Champ" 2012
This is a fun side project from the main dude from Wavves and his brother. I personally like this stuff way more than I like Wavves material, but it's also more geared to my tastes. This is full of illegal samples, hence the free download aspect. A lot of this stuff was culled from video games too, like the N64 Zelda game, in particular. Really fun and highly recommended. Free download or listen here.
The Underacheivers - "Indigoism" 2013
These guys are a new rap duo from Brooklyn, and guess what? They can actually rap really good, unlike almost every single new "hot MC" out there nowadays. I feel like these guys are young and hungry, and have a style that would have went over well in almost every era previous to now, as well as now. Flying Lotus scooped these guys up and put them on his Brainfeeder label. It seems like he has a keen ear and actually knows what's going on in hip hop today, in terms of people that are actually tight and not just a bunch of hype. Check out "Herb Shuttles", "The Mahdi", and "Gold Soul Theory".
Global Goon - "Horizon" 2012
I've only recently been getting into this guy's music for the last couple years, but doing some research, I found out that he got his start with Aphex Twin and Rephlex Records, and that Richard James used to be his roommate. This explains so much about his sound, and how it seems so advanced. He's put out such a flurry of releases within the last year, that i'm still playing catch up. This album is pretty dreamy, if I had to think of a one word description. It's like trip hop with elements of acid techno thrown in, but it's never offputting. Most of these songs are actually calming in a way. Check out "Rho Goon", the only song I can find a link to anywhere online. His bandcamp and soundcloud pages are shut down right now for some reason, and this particular album isn't available on beatport right now for some reason, only 3 other random ones.
Bruno Mars - "Unorthodox Jukebox" 2012
It's cool to see an artist like him becoming one of the new breakout pop stars of the world. He seems very versatile, like he could competently perform any style song from any genre. My only issue is that there are no songs on here that I think are spectacular, or even really standout. It's just a bunch of cool sounding pop songs that sound better than the average radio bullshit. I hope this is just a glimpse of what he has to offer in the future, and not the peak of his career, because that would be a shame. Check out "When I Was Your Man", "Locked Out Of Heaven", and "Grenade".
Cathleen John - "Miraculum Lux" 2013
This might be my favorite mix that i've heard from her so far. Check it out here.
Monica Rene Rochester - "Ides Of March Beware" 2013
This mix is like a lesson is sound textures. Feel the vibes here.
Kavinsky - "OutRun" 2013
So, Kavinsky FINALLY put this album out for real. Anyone hoping for an actual album full of new material will be sorely disappointed. I don't understand how in this day and age, someone can think it's OK to pretty much repackage the same songs repeatedly for 6-7 years in a row, but that's what he's doing. Looking at this just as purely an LP with these songs on it, it's pretty decent, but for someone like me that has all the EP's and the Drive Soundtrack already, there's only a few new songs to be heard here, and none of them are really that great either. I think he didn't want to put out a disappointing album, so he made this like his greatest hits so far, but that in itself is disappointing. Check out "Protovision", "Dead Cruiser", the ever popular "Nightcall", and "Testarossa Autodrive".
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Friday, March 15, 2013
March 2013 Hotlist Week 2
Autechre - "Exai" 2013
These guys always manage to simultaneously excite me and frustrate me when they put out new releases. I'm excited by the fact they always seem to bring a couple new ideas to the table each time around, which is a hard thing to do in modern electronic music, to truly excite and stimulate the brains of the listeners by reaching parts of creativity within programming and performance that are both unfamiliar and tantalizing at once. The problem to me is that these guys are so good at what they do, I get the feeling that all of their tracks are recorded live and never edited again. It's cool having the feel of a live performance, and it truly does showcase how actually talented they are, but I long to hear an Autechre album where they actually try to put together some edited pieces into classic songs instead of just showing us their current crop of private jam sessions. That all being said, there is a lot to enjoy within this full 2 CD's worth of music, and this might be the most solid release of their career thus far. Check out "jatevee C", "tuinorizn", and "prac-f".
Cathleen John - "Spiritus Corpus" 2013
More Mixcloud magic. Check it out here.
AraabMuzik - "For Professional Use Only" 2013
As far as I can tell this is just a one off version of what his live sets are currently like, and unfortunately it seems like his one trick is wearing a little bit thin at this point. There's some bangers on here, don't get me wrong, but he's not showing enough growth for how talented he is. He just seems content on making the same 3 beats over and over again, and that's going to get old fast. Check out "Runway Bass", "AraabStyles", and "This Is For The Ones Who Care".
orchids&flowers - "orchids&flowers" 2012
I must have downloaded this right before my computer got all jacked up during November, and it got lost in the shuffle of me getting everything back in order afterwards, because I always want to hear a new sloslylove release. I'm assuming this is just an alias for him to release more "woozy" and lo-fi sounding material, I don't think there's another collaborator at work here. This album is great for rainy days and just general relaxation. Here's the link for a pay what you want download, or to just listen.
Death Coast - "SS:13- If U Want 2 Earn Yr Man, U Got 2 Learn Yr Man" 2013
Damn, this mix KILLS. Very nice song selection, and everything has this weird grimy sound to it throughout that sounds really nice to my ears. Just upbeat and kinda ghetto in nature, I really like the way bumping this mix makes me feel. Give it a listen here.
DJ FACT.50 - "Technoir: Gritty Neon Soaked Synthwave" 2013
This is a cool mix that is centered around the cyberpunk sound of the late 80's. There's a lot of really cool cinematic stuff going on throughout this mix, and just a really great selection of songs. Check it out here.
Codex Of Plant Responses - "Book 63- Chameleon" 2013
As you can tell, i've been listening to a lot of mixes on Mixcloud lately. There's a mass amount of people on there posting mixes that straight blow a lot of radio programs, and even a lot of established DJ's, out of the water. This dude is definitely someone i'm glad I discovered because his mixes are right up my alley in terms of types of sounds and songs. I really like how, as long as the people are doing it correctly, they have all the tracklistings up on these mixes, so you can be educated and find out about new artists in the process as well as just enjoy the blends of songs. I highly recommend this mix. Check it out here.
JETS (Jimmy Edgar & Travis Stewart) - "Fact Mix 358" 2012
So, when I first downloaded this mix, I didn't know that Travis Stewart was Machinedrum's real name. This is a cool mix, not spectacular, but definitely cool. I am more intrigued about these 2 guys making some studio recordings together, although it would also be awesome to see them DJ together live as well. Check this mix out here. It might not be available to download anymore due to the fact that it's a few months old, but it's still streaming.
Dan Sartain - "Too Tough To Live" 2012
I totally downloaded this based on the album cover. I've never heard of him before, but this is some pretty rockin stuff that I would recommend to people who like stuff like Ty Segall and Thee Oh Sees. Some good, loud and abrasive rock that still has pop sensibilities. Maybe a touch of Ramones style punk as well. I like how all the songs are 2 minutes or less too. I like it when people make you want more instead of boring you to death. Check out "Fuck Friday", "In Death", and "I'm Aware".
Cathleen John - "Mutari Orbis" 2013
Another stellar mix by her. I can't recommend her mixes enough. Check this one out here.
Cathleen John - "Nivis Tempestas" 2013
I'm pretty impressed at how varied all of these mixes are, while all maintaining the same core feel as each other, using different sub-genres of electronic music (most people focus only on 1 or 2). And also pumping out 3-4 of these a week, at least. This era of music truly is great. Give this mix a listen here.
Jimi Hey - "Stones Throw Podcast #80: Pause Mix '96" 2013
This tumblr post explains it all, but I just think it's awesome that someone did this with a tape deck in 1996. I used to make pause tapes back then and none of them ended up half as intricate and awesome as this. Free on itunes, just subscribe to the Stones Throw Podcast. The "I wanna get my dick sucked all night" Kiss mashup is classic alone. It was funny hearing stuff like Land Of The Loops and Aphex Twin get dropped in this mix too...
Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra - "Theatre Is Evil" 2012
I've always had kind of a love/hate thing about her in the past. When she's good she's REALLY good, but she roams into annoying territory with her voice a little too often for me to truly appreciate her songwriting and give it the respect it deserves. This is the album that infamously made a million dollars through it's Kickstarter campaign, and a shining example of why artists don't need the major labels anymore, as long as the product they put out can stand on it's own, and stand on it's own this does. This is basically her ultimate album thus far in her career, and a damn fine pop/rock album to boot that can compete with anyone at any level of the game. Yes, her voice can sound slightly flat at times, which might annoy some people, but really, this is such a great crop of songs it's easy to ignore and just get lost in the music. Check out "Grown Man Cry", the video for "The Bed Song", the video for "Do It With A Rockstar", and the video for "Want It Back".
Codex Of Plant Responses - "Book 64- Sila Hawaii (Hawaiian Monk Seal)" 2013
Another mix that is just great, all the way through. Check it out here.
2Ǿ9 §łN§ - DΞNNłS HIP-HΘPPΞΓ PłLL PΘPPΞΓ - 2013
This is a cool sounding mix, but it kinda sounds like an unfinished one, or a sketch. Either way, it's still a promising 20 minutes. Check it out here.
Free The Robots - "EP Vol. 3" 2012
How did I sleep on this artist? I feel like a failure for not knowing about something that is SO up my alley. I think I added all the songs on this EP to my DJ playlists except for one. I definitely need to track down any other material by them too. Super dope beat scene stuff. Check out "Your Own Sound", "Mad Different Methods", and "Everything Is Fine".
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