Starting the week off with some fire from Annie Mac. A 21yr old named Huntar pushed out this crazy good track, a mix of pop, indie, future & garage elements coming together in a moody gorgeous way. I’m thinking “producer & vocalist” is going to become the new “singer/songwriter” when it comes to the way we’re going to describe things in the future. It’s a fun, bobbing tune from an up & comer that I totally wouldn’t have heard without Ms. Mac giving me the scoop on this. It’s got a great UK garage’y house feel, with some more of an early Disclosure vibe than I thought it would. It definitely holds up on repeat listenings, so make sure to hit up the page for your free DL. Huntar is young, but the tune hit #1 on HypeM, so don’t count him out just yet. This track surprised me, and it may just surprise you.
Origami Sound is this dope collective of artists and labels dedicated to quality releases you don’t get on the standard EDM blogs. Dark Clover Records, Origami & many others come together to support amazing releases and projects from artists all over the globe. This release is no exception, with quality oozing from every speaker in my house while I listened.
The Synkro remix of Borealis is a massive track that needs to get as much exposure as possible. While I’ve spoken about Borealis before, this is one of those ethereal, garage tracks that is everything I think future bass can be. The soft padded bassline pushes through the heavily reverbed vox perfectly. This is a must-listen track, and a great way to kick off the release. Ilya Wazuhiru (who is plenty an artist, his Soundcloud description be damned) follows that with some cyber-Bjork-infused bass that ebbs & flows along, keeping the foggy, but gorgeous production going.
Naono’s Abandoned mix of Soun by Averos is some moody bass that deepens the vibe the compilation puts forth delightfully, with quality guitar work & heavily modified vocals. Madelin combines some dope bass guitar & soulful vocals into a dark, but emotional track that stands on its own, pulling in a great indie sound that is definitely welcome on the compilation. Parade by Dusty Corners is a bassy, stutter-step track that fuses future garage beats with a deep house feel that I can’t wait to hear more out on the dance floor late at night.
Miajica lays down a vibrant, funky, tune that makes me sad Stevie Wonder isn’t in the room to remix it. This is a classic feel that gets everything right and almost seems out of place in a somewhat more maudlin album. Aebeloe’s “Manon” is an interesting, IDM-infused sandy house piece that glides along effortlessly. Altrice gets the name of their track exactly right with Stillness Ennui. The shifting bass work combined with soaring chords give it a Sigur Rios vibe, that shudders to life 60% into the tune, demanding your attention.
Kitkaliitto stuns with the final track on the album. The smooth bass pads melting into the classical guitar and ambient sounds, create almost a “Snow in Kyoto” feeling, but it’s even better than that. This kind of work is what I believe needs to replace so many genres of music that are used for mundane activities in life. This needs to be on the soundtrack to my life, as I’d imagine NYC would be way more serene if I could hear something like this instead of some hipsters arguing about Uniqlo on the L train. I’m re-posting it here just in case you didn’t make it to the end of the playlist. This is a dope compilation, and I can’t wait for Origami Sound to kick ass & take names in 2015.
Jakwob is a name you probably haven’t heard of on the American side of the pond, unless you’re a huge fan of UK dubstep and bass music (like myself). His remixes & original work has been a shining beacon of quality in the dubstep, drumstep & chill bass spaces. This remix of a delicious melancholy tune by the irrepressible Laura Doggett. The irregular bass provides a stunning backdrop for her sublime vocal work to glide along. This is some serious UK underground and Jakwob needs as much exposure as possible, especially when selecting amazing vocal artists like Laura Doggett to work with. Don’t sleep on this one, it’s hoodie weather music, bomp it in good (non-Beatz) headphones in the rain.
More obscure Burial! I keep my promise that whenever I find anything Burial related that probably never saw release, you’d see it here. His signature mash of ambient sounds, maudlin garage beats & echoic vocal samples comes through once again. I’m not even sure when this was done, or if it’s officially been avowed as a Burial feature, but the internet says it was, and it kinda sounds like him, so it’s good enough for me! Burial will always sound like the first walk home from the ex’s house after you’ve been broken up with, especially if it’s raining after she did. And, even in this obscure feature, he managed to. Enjoy!
This week, we’re moving into the bassy space, with a gorgeous mix from years ago by Jaya Prime. Just in case you’ve never gotten into this, you need to put it into your face. Dotted with samples from Inception, the mix is ethereal, heavy & at times pounding when it comes to the blend of dubstep, future garage & metal. Any mix that has Burial, Sarah McLachlan remixes & Bassnectar is one you need to hear. Get into the heavy and enjoy.
I’ve been listening to Jaya Prime for years, and if you don’t believe me, go listen to his Dreamstep mix. He’s thrown together an hour of tracks you won’t find anywhere else, and after listening to it, you’ll be mad about that. Inventive, cutting-edge production from Dirtwire, Nick Leon, FUME, Phutureprimitive, JacM, Bluereso, K.Sabroso & more. Seriously. This list isn’t for you weekend warriors, but if you want to hear where some of the sounds you’re hearing at clubs or festivals are going, check this out. And give Jaya Prime all the love, as this guy eats big room for breakfast.
If you haven’t heard of ZHU, don’t feel bad, this one came out of absolutely nowhere. ZHU has released a few previous remixes anonymously and eventually revealed himself after a particularly sick Outkast cover that I tweeted about around my birthday. ZHU has a great handle on a dozen different genres and his mastery lends itself to a vibey, r&b-infused garage track that keeps chugging along but gives off the impression that it’s cool, it just doesn’t think it’s cool cause it’s spending all of its time being cool. Now that I gave you the least descriptive sentences in recent memory, hit up the track and go mob his soundcloud & twitter pages. (tip from JLeo of EDMTunes)
From the depths of the UK underground, Burial has risen once again to issue forth future garage gorgeousness. Burial is the only person on the planet that can drop a 3 track EP that lasts 29 minutes and no one will bat an eye. The work is dotted with positive, anti-bullying messages. The odd sample, foreshadowing, leading up to a tremendous quote by a very famous person (I’ll get to a little later) reminding us to believe in ourselves and not give into the haters. He actually sent a text to Mary Anne Hobbs, one of the Radio One aristocracy, discussing his inspiration (via NME)
“I put my heart into the new EP, I hope someone likes it. I wanted the tunes to be anti-bullying tunes that could maybe help someone to believe in themselves, to not be afraid, and to not give up, and to know that someone out there cares and is looking out for them. So it’s like an angel’s spell to protect them against the unkind people, the dark times, and the self-doubts.”
The stupendous production value is on display with the first track (same name as the album). Rival Dealer is a deep, driving but enclosed track, dotted with messages about support, love and bisexuality, tunnels through this space that only he can create. I’ll continue to contend that Burial can best be described as “music you listen to while wearing your favorite hoodie in the rain.”
“Hiders” starts with a vocal sample of “There’s a kid somewhere” evoking a very raw feel of the idea that there are children who fear for their safety and flee the light. The sounds are murky, but hopeful. There samples continue, keeping you guessing, and almost hoping things turn out ok.
“Excuse me, I’m lost” begins “Come Down to Us, the 13 min opus of the EP. It’s almost a ballad, with the shimmering vocals leaking out between the cloudy bass. Burial is also one of the only artists on the planet right now that can put more than one or two ideas into a track and not lose anything from them. The melodies and energy build gradually over time, even when the track seems to be turning into something completely different. Without knowing it, you’ve gone from dark to light and eight minutes in (that’s right kids, eight, and we’re nowhere near done) we’re in this triumphant, hopeful and sunny place, reminding you, that you’re not alone. This is capped off by a speech, one of the first obviously/overtly political samples in the entirety of his discography. Lana Wachowski discusses her experience of being transgendered and how she was able to remind herself of her inherent worth and value, even under the onslaught of bullshit from people.
The fact that this kind of message is coming from Burial makes me even more reverent of his work. He could literally say anything, but he chose a strong anti-bullying & trans-positive message, not the easiest position to take on these here internets. Kudos to you Burial. Can’t wait for my copy in the mail.
It seems that the majority of r/dubstep misjudged Skrillex and his big room dub focus. Skrillex got famous for playing the kind of hyper-aggrandized dubstep that I lovingly describe as “Transformer Porn.” When you take the sounds Michael Bay gave the Transformers and you imagine them having sex, BAM, Scary Sprites. While people can hate on it all they want, Sonny’s hard work, playing the heartland of America and irrepressible positive outlook & joy for making the music is undeniable. You can see this in his Rolling Stone interview or his acceptance speech at the Grammys. And this week, Skrillex reminded us very hard how much he respected his roots, in addition to shaking up our identity of him pretty fundamentally.
Leaving is straight up some American Future Garage. I specify as such because most of the Future Garage that people are rocking out to these days is UK-based. And the inspiration for this kind of sound and in fact a lot of other artists in the space Leaving explores is the one and only Burial. He was featured on a previous EP of the week, and Skrillex has thanked/named Burial & the rest of the Brixton Dub crew for the work they did to blaze the way for Skrillex to shine and bring this stuff to America’s heartland. The track not only pays homage to Burial, but it does so in a very American, Skrillex-esque way. The signature style that allowed him to shine so brightly is being put into this minimized, stripped down beat, groove & heavily modified sample which works perfectly. I can’t wait to see what effect this has on Skrillex’s approximately 4 billion listeners.
So just in case you hadn’t heard, DJ Shadow was kicked off the decks at a club in South Beach, Miami called Mansion. One of the promoters walked straight up and told him that his set was “too future” for the crowd. This, after Mansion did the same thing to Dennis Ferrer earlier this year. The crowd howled and he left. The internets exploded, Mansion apologized and Shadow uploaded the set that he was spinning to Soundcloud, which you can get at here. WARNING: It is NOT a club set.
To be frank, I saw Tiesto at Mansion in 2006 and I can state confidently, the music Shadow was dropping is quintessentially not the style of Mansion. As someone who has thrown a party, it’s hard to not empathize 100% with the promoter who was probably getting a deluge of shit from the VIP for this kinda sound. I would hate to be the guy, but I can’t say that if I was put in the same position, I wouldn’t be doing the same thing.
Terry Gotham 