Tuesday 31 May 2011

Hello again.

      So I think we can all agree that it's about damn time for another musically oriented post from the SheepSkins Squad. There have been naught in the past two months but the past two interviews and the Emissions promo (which ended up being a horribly snowed-out fest with destroyed sound systems and no-show acts on Sunday and the god-damned Builder playing on a renegade system, just like every weekend in Santa Cruz). Needless to say, there's been nary a soundcloud player or download in sight. 
     There have been a few heavy happenings of late, but instead of blaming my lack of attention to this particular outlet on that, I will blame it instead on the good things of recent memory. I have substituted effort spent on things such as painting, cultivating personal relationships, being with my family, and going out in the sun. Sauce.
     So I have been absurdly happy, if it's any consolation. Easy to say it has been the best couple months of my life and even easier to say that May-thru-June holds the potential to smash all previous records set in that department. So without further ado, I will key you in to the soundtrack of the time spent away, and I hope you get something out of what I have to say. Above all, I hope y'all stay positive. 
It's about time, friends. 


MIXES
     What a better way to start a post intending to return to the flow of things with the medium that best expresses the physical concept thereof? Mixes and the way they do have always captivated me on a spiritual level. Here are a couple sterling examples from the past few weeks, hope you enjoy. 
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--LOOP STEPWALKER


     Loop has always been a fascination of mine. His dark, large-composition style echoing the constituents of the first 06-08 UK filthy mixes is cleansing to the soul. His ability to stay roots in his saucy broken beat drums and overall aesthetic whilst providing those evil skittering highs and crushing multi-tracked mids reminiscent of Dubsaw Recordings is a hopeful and admirable fact. 
     Also admirable is his ambitious nature. While managing the Dub division of Culture Assault Records and forwarding releases on labels such as Ad Noiseam, Play Me, and Section 8, he is constantly producing. He seriously posts new collabs and pieces so often and methodically you wonder if he's one man or if he's got a team of dirty little elves workin' for him like the allegorical shoemaker. In either case, the sheer precision and dedication of his work leaves nothing to be desired. Enjoy this mix and troll his archival soundcloud pages. 
Loop Stepwalker Guestmix for Filth.fm April 2011 by Loop Stepwalker


 --STYLUST BEATS
     Stylust coming through with a full length mix tape showcasing my favorite skill of his, the mashup. His clean and inventive approach to the mash is anything but contrived. He manages (usually) to avoid clutter while comfortably inserting as many layers as he damn well pleases, which is never something to be ignored. Even if the track listing leaves quite a bit to be desired in that it implements tracks one can predict to be in every dubstep mix one could possibly find on the internet, his approach to using those tracks as tools in a greater composition definitely goes hard. 

SNUBLUCK
     I don't know much about this Snubluck fellow, other than he's a beat machine, he's from Denver, and he's got a release on a free DL label by the name of Amenorea. The label's site is down, but here is a list of their productions, all free, to play around with (Snub's is AMNEP028). The list is long and new to me, so again I don't have much to say about it. The music runs in the vague vein of Experimental electronic, with lotsa Trip-hop and Brainfeeder-esque L.A. Beat goin' on. The sounds borderline Skweee, especially with respect to Snub, and it's all quite tasteful and glitchy enough to satisfy the coldest heart. His end of the world mix, below, is the only sampler you need to sell you. Dig it up, yo.
End Of The World? Mix by Snubluck (Snub)

STICKEM
     Another artist with no info for me to present you. He's from the bay, he produces mad Juke, he mixes like a beast, and he knows his gaddam Skweee, which is something I know you love to hear. Below is THE Skweee mix. If you are for any reason disenchanted with the genre, or if you need somewhere to start, or if you feel like you just want to pick one Skweee mix to listen to for the rest of your life, dis be it.
Let Skweeedom Ring mixed by Stickem by Stickem

GLYPH
     Here you will see Glyph publicly displaying his prodigious taste for Neurofunk. He likes it hard, breaky, dark, and deep, as I think we all do if the subject of discussion is indeed true Neurofunk. His selections are to die for and the mix is tech, despite a few awkwarder transitions. Whatever you feel about it, give it a chance:
Glÿph - Bassfuckers Neurofunk Mixtape by Glÿph [BE]

QUARTUS SAUL
     Young Quartus is another Pretention-Filth favorite of mine. He usually comes through with some unique dirty taste on the roof of your mouth that leaves you smiling and simultaneously feeling bad about doing so. His mixing skills are indeed up to par with his level of absolute creation in the production department, and I think you'll agree. Lots of unreleased goodies, and not the same ones yer gonna hear in every other big-gun mix of the spring quarter. Real shit. Real talk. Git it.
Quartus Saul - Detected Mixtape Vol. 1 by Quartus Saul

I was gonna throw up the recentest mixes of Inspector Dubplate, Smash Gordon, and Exish, but c'mon... I know you guys can find those on your own. You're big kids. Troll a lil harder.

....Back to the music...

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ROYAL F*TISH RECORDS
    These sick bastards have been giving me a lot of support in the last few months. From my initial uncovering of Bullwack there sparked a synaptic wave of discoveries and interest on both sides of the blog (me interested in promoting, them interested in being promoted) for which I have been happy and thankful to further. While I have not been giving them as much attention as I feel I should be, I wholly intend to dig deeper into their creative process with promos posted below, analysis of their work, and future interviews. Keep fucking killing it, gents, and I'll keep talkin' nice about ya. 

--FREDERICK OLUFSEN
     If there is one, ONE, thing I want you to absorb on this post it is the work of Frederick Olufsen. Since devouring page after page on his soundcloud I could think of little else but how badly I needed to share this with you. This is the man behind the curtain, founder of the label and dastardly producer to boot. I can scarcely comprehend the amount of flair and straight up swag sauce that go into each and every piece of work. 
     His approach is bright, upbeat, and funky as all hell, bending bitcrushers into slapping gated electro snares, growling clean bass, and a synth I haven't heard around too much that emulates the sound of a fender slap bass with such artistically rambunctious supremacy it's hard to drive from my head  when I'm away from it for too long. The cleanliness of the sampling seen here is absurd as well. Just listen, folks, just listen and you'll know. Words do little justice. 
     "Big ups" is almost offensive here in its inability to summarize the congratulatory sentiments clustered inside me. "Fucking swagger cannon" seems slightly more precise. 
Turboweekend - Into The Pavement (Frederik Olufsen Remix) by Frederik Olufsen Yenn - Unqueer (Frederik Olufsen's Drumstep Bad Ass Bass In Ya Face Remix) by Frederik Olufsen
Rebecca Black - Friday (Sophisticated Killer Dub by Frederik Olufsen) by Frederik Olufsen
Pimp Hand Strong w/ Marc Remillard feat. Messinian by Frederik Olufsen


--KING MINOS/BULLWACK



     These are some of my favorite people in the electronic world, right here. So amiable and sharply conversational, and so. Damn. Talented. From the very first Bullwack track I stumbled across, which inherently led to the discovery of collabs with King Minos and others, the incalculable amount of tightness possessed therein led me to the realization that the group was going to be a goldmine of wonderful, inventive sounds. A goldmine that was destined to hold down solid placement in my list of favorites indefinitely. 
     Each track the guys rock challenge the borders of Electro, crossing into the down and dirty regions of Glitch and Dubstep, the compositions are simultaneously disco-groovy and shit-stomping dirty. The care in each sampling cut, synth filter, and elaborate beat is soulful and immaculate to the nth degree. Below are some swagged out promos we were fortunate enough to receive from the ever monarchical Royal Fetish Recordings, off the fresh King Minos release "Redskin Warrior". The release has a side-A titled after the release, and an AA remix by Fuckin' Telmini that is just pure evil. Get it here.  ...And en-fucking-joy deez:



---END ROYAL FETISH----------



ARRAN KRAFT
     This guy is another Bullwack-related connection who found me on Soundcloud and asked me, quite polite, to throw some of his stuff up. After listening to his Kotedurone remix, I could scarcely think of another course of action, it simply must be on my blog. Seriously one of the tastiest twisted 8-bit melodies I've heard in the recent world of Dubstep. Very creative approach there. It drops into a scathing, squelching, bass lurch, complete with thick stereo-imaging and sexy bitcrushing flares. Shortly thereafter, it winds back up into breaks and a massive clean electro synth, which then gets the trash treatment as both sound approaches are combined for the final climactic seconds of the track. Ya gonna like this one as much as I do. Also featured is his remix of the stupendous Bullwack/King Minos collab "Vanguard". Lurk his material, folks, you won't be disappointed.
Kotedurone - Oh La La (Arran Kraft Remix) by Arran Kraft
Bullwack - Vanguard (Feat King Minos) [Arran Kraft Remix] by Arran Kraft

CIRCUITBORED
      Stumbled across this one in a post be Royal Fetish featuring remixes of Rebecca Black's "Friday"... Yeah. It may have been the belligerent nature of the moment of discovery that makes this particular remix so great, but I think you'll agree that it is quite slamming, and at least very interesting. Fat oscillating metallic sound, extremely bouncy and churning. Like Danejah meets JRabbit, or something, I don't even know. Then there's this random Hardstyle influenced monstrosity, very very interesting one there. He's definitely pushing a few envelopes. My favorite bit is where is drops Hardstyle whilst retaining the bitcrusher line from the down-tempo section. Ominous siren and ghetto ass snares are mad sexy. All in all, a young producer with mad budding talent and a ways to go to greatness. Can't wait to hear more.
Rebecca Black - Friday (Anal Filth Remix) by circuitbored
Demon Boar (Circuitbored Vs. Dreameater) by circuitbored

KOMBATANT
     I don't know much about Kombatant. I know he makes vile art-filth tunes and has 45 followers and makes chill conversation. Dig it.
Kombatant - Rigor Mortis (2011 Original Dubstep) by Kombatant
Kombatant - The Sign (2011 Original Dubstep) by Kombatant

SUBVIBE
     This Surrey based Dubsteppa has drifted through the relative realms of goodness and mediocrity both, as far as I'm concerned, and prior to this post would not have been a consideration for the blog. Clearly, though, he should keep making Drumstep because of this monstrosity:
SubVibe - Damage by SubVibe

SUB ANTIX
     Sub Antix has lead me to many a debate in the domestic community, but I've always always loved his work. He sticks to a roughly purist format, but that's not to say he changes up beat and sound within those parameters. The works posses some wonderful flares, too, entirely possible to overlook if you aren't indeed looking. Super rootsy percussion, super atmospheric. Check out this here set of Lost Dubs (the DnB bit is my favorite):
Lost Dubs by Sub Antix

LOVE & LIGHT
     The homies from Reno have put out a few bootleggers and remixes since last we posted, so here they are. You already know how much I have to say about these folks, so I'll keep it simple for the purposes of today: "Really good music", you'll either have to listen to find out specifics, or take my word for it.
"Load" by David Starfire (Love and Light Remix) by Love and Light
Dr. Dre-Let Me Ride (SplataLighT RemiX) Splatinum and Love and Light by Love and Light
OUTKAST "The Rooster" Love and Light Remix by Love and Light
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Can't Stop" LOVE AND LIGHT REMIX d/l in song description!!! by Love and Light

ASA + SCREWLOOSE RECORDS
    Asa is a very dear artist, emphasizing a creative new take to the respective styles of Garage and 2-Step. His first release on Screwloose records just dropped, though collabs with Koan Sound have been floating around for quite some time, and he has a wealth of scattered releases and unreleased business. His work with Culprate is some of my all time favorite as well, so it's only fitting that Asa, Koan, and Culprate all find a place in this here release. Screwloose records has given me, through this and other forthcomings, hope and consolidated location for my favorite Dubsaw artists. Hope you find as much stokage:
SCREWD001 ASA - SWEETER THINGS EP by SCREWLOOSE RECORDS

KOAN SOUND
     KOAN Sound... My all time favorite Art-Steppa next to Culprate. The sheer brilliance of the music, the volume of the nuances and originality in the pieces, always leaves one pondering what the fuck the next piece is gonna sound like. This forthcoming bit on Inspected, marking their second release, is a good example. Super saucy tunes here, deep and churning, but highly emotive. As they do.
INSP002 by KOAN Sound

ZEN DEATH SQUAD
       The ZDS release is finally here, and it is brilliant shit to say the least. If you've listened to the Original Stealth mix-tape, then you've already heard half of the EP and know how good it is. This is little but confirmation of the skill set possessed by the producers at hand. The sounds are very high quality; they'd almost be overproduced if the music lacked the structural intricacy that it has. The structure could be passed off as Glitch Mobbish, with epic refrains and mashing melodic builds, but that would be overstating the goodness of the Glitch Mob's songwriting. This takes a bit of their style and rigorously improves on the format, offering those glitchy atmospheric nuances we all love to a magical extent. Endless composition geek-out-ability, y'all. Check it.
Cyber Dojo Lazer Training EP by Zen Death Squad

SITRUS
     This kid's 18 and making music with FL studio. While that gets cred, in and of itself, it's also quite credible that he's making music like this:
Zap! (CLIP) by Sitrus


APATHY
This Kelowna, Canada based artist was a recent find for me. His music pretty consistently blows me away, with really tech and crunchy leads that are viciously interwoven into the thunderous sub-bass composition, like all good filth should. His filter work is quite interesting, and he likes to play around a lot with organ synths which I can get behind. He's also got quite a handle on the fuzzy/epic rave-synth chords and the electro-sensible chopping necessary to get the most out of such sounds. The drums leave a bit to be desired sometimes, but the genre does lamentably tend to do that a lot. Sometimes it sucks to like filth, but hey. Artists like Apathy console me.
Latest EP:
Forthcoming EP With Total label Management(ElektriK Beatz UK) by ApathY Dubstep

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SKWEEE CORNER
     Skweee has been popping off of late, if not picking up steam. For instance, Niño has a new release on the recently reinvigorgated Donky Pitch (yuss) and up to 24 hours post-release there were still an average of FIFTEEN plays per track, no comments on most, no favorites. Skweee's populism, or lack thereof, is a love hate thing for me. While I don't want to see it blow up, which I would theorize is almost impossible (don't hold me to that, see also: Dubstep), I would very much like to see it get more legitimate recognition. I suppose that's what I'm doing here, so without further banter I give you the three lrgst drops of the recent Skweee world, et al.

>>NIñO
Sampler>
DKY002 Niño - Clase de 1984 EP tasty taster by Donky Pitch
Full title track>
Clase de 1984 [DKY002] by Niño

Purchase Vinyl! Save your Soul!

 
>>HALP
Gazzilliaan Yeers ep by HALP.

>>SLUGABED
MOONBEAM RIDER EP TICKLER by SLUGABED

And one more who fits in here somewhere...
BOSSASAURUS

      This crew hit me up monthssssss ago solely on the basis that they liked some comment I left on a Shigeto track. This is hardly your usual soundcloud spam, though at the time I dismissed it as such. Since then, the Philly based bunch has worked their way into a solid place of permanent fondness within me. Their eclectic style leads to much variation, so I suggest you troll through their Soundcloud to get the full taster, but I can tell you this much: they rock heavy old school Skweee vibes, know what's up with the DnB, destroy the face of Trip-Hop, and dabble in down-to-midtempo glitch. Consume, enjoy:
7. Bossasaurus-Lacerta by Bossasaurus
Bossasaurus-R U Ready Now by Bossasaurus
16 A Tribe Called Quest - 1nce Again(Bossasaurus Remix) by Bossasaurus

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LOCAL LOVE
     My friends, whom I've neglected most of all, are who the entirety of this post goes out to. Watching these people progress, if even from afar, has been a serious highlight of my music listening career. There's a certain interpersonal sense of commitment to their evolution as artists that I feel, the classic Nationalist sentiment of rooting hard for the home team I guess, and I wish they knew how much the tunes mean to me. Gives me hope, in many senses of the word. Big big ups, Cruz Crew, to all that yew do...

>>KRYPH
     To keep with the lovey dovey sentiment of the section's intro, I can safely say that Oliver Nickel aka Kryph consistently the happiest kid I ever see in passing. Always has something positive to contribute, and always brings one's day up in this way. I've always been fond of his tunes, but these here are somethin' else. I feel that with whatever recent style (or recent to me at least) that he's found, he has created a perfect conduit for his obvious songwriting merit. His sensible melodies, thoroughly interesting compositions, and painful/gogeous words find perfect symbiosis in these tracks, and I very much implore you to see how it all goes down firsthand. Chhhhek it!
Kryph - revival (ft. Kirsten Rosenberg) by KRYPH

(Family Affair Fun-Fact: This is a collab with Superman Fast, and both tracks feat. Kirsten Rosenberg who happens to be the Cogito's younger sis. Classic SC interconnectedness.)

Tully - Kryph & Superman Fast (ft. Kirsten Rosenberg) by KRYPH

>>SUPERMAN FAST


      Superman Fast has been a consisitent feature on our little thingthing here for quite sometime. His enthusiasm for the blog and its writers is quite commendable, and our enthusiasm for his ambling lyrical sense and trip-hop infused beats cannot be overstated keep it ripping, Christian. Dig the new tracks, people:
Ooly cooly . A POIntless SUPERMAN DUMB production :-) by Superman Fast Always!!!!. PRod. By DOEO by Superman Fast
Wut'Z s0 FUnnY? (Prod. by ME) by Superman Fast

<3 TRICKS (FORMERLY SIRR PAUL)  
     Signature wackiness emanating from this one. Never a dissappointment, always a head turner. Hard system to pull off, lemme tell ya. Get behind deez:
Beauty 'n the Beast by <3 tricks
Tiger Dreams by <3 tricks

>>DOEO
    (^Doeo tossin' tracks under the XXL Chalupa moniker beside Noc Ems)

Another sterling human being in addition to supremely savvy mixist, right here. His creation of a disticnt mixing style and articulation has been one of my many firmly followed local endeavors. Each mix upstages the last (as they should) with flow and double drops to boot. His production follows the vein of sampling dominance championed by Superman Fast and the like. Quite natural, in that they are each others' key collaborator it would seem. Here lies his latest artful mix, and an LP with Fast:
PROMO by DOEO