Sunday 6 March 2011

Whatup, MARCH?

     March is gonna be a mad month. It's already a mad month. Baths, Gobble Gobble, and Braids was quite possibly the best show I've ever been to, and then there's Starfucker on Wednesday, Excision/Downlink/Antiserum on Saturday, Beats Antique & Royksopp book-ending the weekend of the 25th, and Jack Beats/Zeds Dead/Kill The Noise just inside of April. Hot damn. So keeping in line with this jubilant celebration of music, I have a fresh post for you guys to mull over while you decide what gigs you're gonna hit in the coming weeks, wherever you are.

GOBBLE GOBBLE
     Where did you come from, Gobble Gobble? This act is somewhat well known, it would seem, but prior to Friday night at 9:30PM I had no idea what I was in for. Slinking down the steps from the balcony of the Rickshaw stop, leaving the comfortable world where Santa Cruz friends and inhabitants ruled the foosball populated, skeeball adorned smoking section, I descended into a realm of incomprehensible color strobe and 90s rave enthusiasm and all the live sensibility a legendary act of thre underground could ever want. It was pure euphoric confusion as the glitch saturated beats pumped through elegant stage banter and the crowd jumped higher to each kick drum than seemed possible in the tiny, intimate venue. Inflatable human analogues, neon clothing, the floating glasses of Cecil the front man in the comforting dark of the room as the jams pumped and the beats kicked was more stimulus and pure honest awesome than my dopamine receptors could handle. It's safe to say that this, in conjunction with the perfection that was Baths and Braids secured an extremely special place in my show-going memory. Nothing but good times.
     You should grab all of their work for free on their bandcamp, and secure some vinyl to support some solid musicians if youse a collectah: http://gobblegbl.bandcamp.com/

DRAUTRAN

     Some black metal I promised to post, give your thanks to J-Shwart: Drautran - Throne Of The Depths

SKWEEE CORNER

     Skweee is a genre that worked its way into my palate sometime mid-last year and recently secured a place as one of my favorites. The crunchy lo-fi aesthetic, syncopated beats, and 8bit mastery of the Skweee-ists occupy prime real estate in my heart. Here are my two favorites from the week (Slugabed and Sephirot), and some releases to boot:

--->SLUGABED
     Slugabed be the king. Here's his tasty Busta Rhymes remix from three days back:
BUSTARHYMES - DANGEROUS (SLUGABON REMAX) by SLUGABED      Download

     And his Donky Stomp EP with Ghost Mutt, who dropped my favorite track of last year, "Thoroughbred" which appears on this release.
     ...Aaand his collab EP with  Coco Bryce. For tha headies.

--->RAMP RECORDINGS


     Ramp recordings'"Skweee Tooth" compilation featuring some serious cuts from the motherland.
 Hit it up.

--->PLANET MU
                                          

     Planet Mu's first Skweee LP, the stupendous self-titled from Eero Johannes.


     Furthermore, a not-Skweee-strictly-speaking mix for Planet Mu from the prolific Geiom, hailing from a Chicago nineties rave background with roots in early Dubstep and Garage. Get it here.

--->SEPHIROT



     This guy does everything. He's got really real instrumental musicianship training, as he comes through with the random progressive jazz track, and he makes epic ambient stuff with that same influence; all of it is good. And then he does this:
Scrumpy Jack by Sephirot

....END SKWEEE............

BULLWACK
     Bullwack's music answers questions, the main one being "How can he possibly upstage his last track?", which he answers as frequently as he offers new releases. He's a thoroughly skilled and thoughtful artist, one who shares my inherent love and inflated respect for Charlie Sheen. What more could one ask for? Perhaps the earth-shakingly groovy remix of King Minos' "Royal Family", which is up as an official RMX on the release from Royal F*tish (which I happened to receive a promo DL for)? Or perhaps this, his latest trashy epic on soundcloud, showcasing the aforementioned love of Sheen:
Wasted Basterds - Smash My Disco (Bullwack Remix) by BULLW∆CK
Solid gaddam work, my friend. Interview forthcoming....


NATION
     Some superbly heady Bassline from Nation over there in Limoges, FR. Also some Acid Techno... 'Cause we be reppin' the 90s rave influence today. Big sounds and devoted work, can't support 'im enough. (Free DL on the Techno, you'll have to beg for the Bassline.)
Neus - Get The Basseline (Nation Remix) beta by NΛTiON
Nation - Acid Daze by NΛTiON

MR. WHACKA



     I don't usually post his work, but this one's pretty fun and original, and he certainly ain't a bad artist. Props, Whacka. Free DL.
Spacecake by Mister Whacka

LE BELGE ELECTROD

 
     The Belgian baller coming through with some heady innovation. Here we see him stray into the realms of Breakcore, at which he excels (if you've heard his Techstep you know why), a not-banger in the Dubstep department, "Sad Robot-Clown" is a ridiculously artful down-tempo production that is delightfully glitch driven and sub bass laden whilst carrying a gorgeous 8bit melody and Tipper-like bitcrusher line. Free DL there. Then he drops "----" a DnB/Drumstep hybrid that quickly took its rightful place as my favorite LeBelge track. Shimmery Koan Sound-esque pop synths, dancey energy, massive harmonies, slamming and cleanly drums. Perfection.
LBE ft TitanEye - The Architectonic Of The Human Emotions by LebelgeElectrod / Anecdot
LeBelgeElectrod - Sad Robot-Clown FREE320 by LebelgeElectrod / Anecdot ---- by LebelgeElectrod / Anecdot

LOVE & LIGHT



     Just a quick little bit here about the gents, they have received the interview questions and have promised them back by the end of the week. Shazam. Also, they have two tracks that were released quietly on Addictech that I missed. "Chunky Chango" came out on Woofer Cookers as part of their sixth release, "Wildlife Reserve". "Funkin' Lovely" was featured on An-Ten-Nae's Acid Crunk Vol. 3, on Muti. I had no idea. I even had Acid Crunk Vol. 3 somewhere. Wuuut.
    Find em, folks, or buy 'em here.

NASTYNASTY



     A couple new ones from SF glitch guru NastyNasty. Low quality streams, but worth hearing. Gangster ass beats. Get 'em, buy 'em up. Also, we got some real words from the man himself:
In response to a facebook status from Matt Madonna of Love & Light pondering what his acquaintances were grateful for, NastyNasty replied most inventively:
"Jspr NstyNsty commented on Matt Madonna's status.
Jspr wrote: "frequency modulating synthesis, graintable synthesis, subtractive synthesis, Harmonic Content Morphing synthesis, wavetable synthesis, titties, linear phase accurate equalization, analog oscialtors, digital phase distortion oscilators, fast fourrier transform information, spectral morhing technology, the all seeing eye of god, thin mints, 808s, dark matter, facebook and the human spirit"
Word up.
TRAPS (256k) by NastyNasty
STACKING (256k) by NastyNasty

EXOTOPE
 

Exotope of Juvenile Scum Records has finally dropped another Dubstep banger showcasing the sounds of his that I love the most: mashing double-kick infused drums, and his twisted, facemelting approach to the Circus Records high end synth. Keep your eye on the other constituents of his label, i.e. Gunporn, Jerry Blam, and Telegram For The Queen.
Exotope - Rituals (OUT ON BEATPORT 1ST APRIL) by JUVENILE SCUM CREW

GEOFF BUKK
 

      Horrendous new clip from Geoff Bukk, rightfully tagged as "Jazz" on teh soundcloud. Superb drums, as always. You'll just have to click play to hear what the synths are like, but with any luck/past experience with Bukk you already have an inkling.
O'd Up [clip] by Geoff Bukk

DANEJAH


    Wow... Reality check from this here year, 2011. Just a few months back I wouldn't be caught dead uploading Danejah's logo to my blog, let alone saying anything nice about his music. Some serious hard working later, and I imagine some equipment upgrades, I am more than happy saying Danejah has produced my favorite filthy banga of the year thus far. It's scary. Moonlight renegade soul-eater. While we're saying unusually nice things, big ups SoCal. I swear this wasn't my resolution.
Danejah - 8bit Reject (Original Mix) // Free Download by DANEJAH
 

MIRAJA


    In the past I have been unsure of how Miraja's music has made me feel despite the obvious gems, but he has been on a profound tip as of late and it is certain that his music makes me feel slippery all over. You glitch-heads know that's a good thing. The apex of his latest efforts can be seen below in his Collab with Russian turned Coloradian violinist Ilya Goldberg which is just plain heartbreaking in its complexity and tone, and (as if there aren't enough 8bit references on the post already) "Eight Bit Squish", which you probably have an idea about. Free DL there. Hand clappin', thigh wobblin' stuff all around. Very original.
MIRAJA - Eyes Wide Open feat. Ilya Goldberg by MIRAJA
8bitSQUISH [*Free Download] by MIRAJA

SLOTR





     Oakland's very own SLOTR hath put forth this, this ridiculously gangster Streetbass machine. Super rubbery, epic oscilation and crunchy mids. Gotta love. Got to. Free DL.
HovaRox by SLOTR

LOCAL LOVE





     This is the part where I tell you about my friends.

--->SIRR PAUL


Love that... Paul in the signature leopard-print domepiece.
     So Paul with all his skillz asked himself the question "can trance get filthy?" and it washis skillz that answered yes. Here's the result of his most recent research and a few I forgot to post last time. Ballinnnn'
Android's Prayer by Sirr Paul
Anjuna by Sirr Paul
Forever (Chris Brown Remix) by Sirr Paul

--->DREADY BLACK


 
     Dready is a wordsmith of the new generation, with diction and flow in copious, strategic amounts. He's the voice of East Side Santa Cruz and he knows how to throw that voice. Solid production in the beat department from Samson Stilwell, wonderful aesthetic. Here they are:
Roll It Up (pre preview) Prod. by Samson Stilwell by Dready Black
Through With Love (Not At All) Prod. by Samson Stilwell by Dready Black Coast Bye (Prod. by Samson Stillwell) by Dready Black

--->COGITO & SUPERMAN FAST

 
       The guys teamed up to produce this evil stepchild of a track, wacky and glitchy, it's like nothing either of them have ever made, and vaguely like everything they've both made. Also, the most recent Superman Fast bits, spittin' real talk, sandwiched b'twixt sexy reverb and an eerie original Hip-Hop beat. N joy.
Soul Solstice Sister - collab with Superman Fast by The Cogito
Sit on it. for a while. smile. i will. prod. by Superman fast by Superman Fast Just Bein Real (Superman <3's Karen O) (Superman Fast on the mic) by J-Weis.

INTERCHILL/KAYA PROJECT


     I think I'll end it with this heady release from interchill, marking another tally for their catalog of somewhere over thirty releases. For over a decade these motherfuckers have been putting out cutting edge material from artists in the vague blanket of "downtempo/trippy", as well as having given Liquid Stranger some of his earliest support. His roots are genuine, folks, even if his recent compositions couldn't fall further from that metaphorical blanket. Anywho, we have the most recent release here for ya, Kaya Project's Desert Phase remixes, which features quite a range of artists providing potent reworkings of the originals. The list includes Tripswitch, Gaudi, Opiuo, and indeed Liquid Stranger, who returns to those aforementioned roots with stunning landscape of dreamy bitcrushers under a reverb sea.

Here it is.

--------Goodnight, y'all, don't let the Skweeebugs bite.