I’m kind of a closeted techno fan. Not “techno”, but like, minimal techno and its surrounding sub-genres. I was introduced to the sound at Mutek in Montreal several years ago, and fell in love with a certain side of the umbrella genre. There’s the hypnotic “oonce oonce oonce”, but there’s also a level of experimentalism and sound design artistry that generally escapes other dance music genres. This particular tune by Stimming ranks among my top 10 techno tunes ever, with its deep rhythm, clean sounds, epic breakdowns and buildups, subtlety vs. intensity, and masterful engineering. Give a listen, and if you like this kind of thing, check out some of my other favorite techno producers and djs: Akufen, Magda, Click Box, Alex Under, Farben, Luomo, Matthew Dear. If you’re up for another one of my top ten techno tunes, give this one a whirl.
For good measure, here’s an all-original live performance by Stimming:
WOW, is about as compact and fantastical of an explanation as I can give you for what I bumped into earlier today. It might look digital, but its 100% stop motion comprised of more than 4000 individual shots. I have no idea how you even begin a process like this, and most definitely too much work for my ass… Nobody Beats the Drum is fully equipped with a clean site, unbelievable video and fancy beats that ooze bassy anthems. Im really under educated on their history right now so can’t really say much more than, ENJOY!!
Make sure to take a peek at what I think is a satirical poke at the making of “Grind” video as well.
It’s been a while and this is short, yes. Love this. Need to apprehend it. Im tired… go listen to more of delicious Illum Sphere and share the magic with your friends. More of this here: Illum Sphere on Soundcloud On Twitter
I recently had a great opportunity to work with Rhymesayers artist, Toki Wright to design the album for his most recent release, BlackMale. Not only was it awesome to work with Toki for the first time, but the project itself was focused on prevalent culturally charged issues. The EP is free for download with the option to donate to a Haiti relief effort as well. Great cause, great music, great outcome. Make sure to check out Toki’s previous release, A Different Mirror as well.
A tasty new EP from Portland maestro Devonwho that features production from Alex B (who just announced his “Moments” full length coming up), Shlohmo and a long list of other extremely talented humans. From the looks of his Myspace page, he’s got a good tour list for this next year with shows in SF, LA, Nashville, Riverside and a couple others. Make sure to drop by and say hello if he’s in town. I know I will.
The concept behind this isn’t necessarily anything new from Hexstatic (old schooler from Ninja Tunes label) — who often takes videos and chop n grinds them up into and A/V track — but the material used for this project is pretty great. Although it’s been a while since I’ve heard anything from Hexstatic I’m happy to hear they’re still at it. Akira Kiteshi has been droppin’ bombs for a min now, but the combo is nothing short of magical. Hexstatic has a swell mix available for download here: NoMix
Die Antwoord… I don’t even know where to start. They’re from South Africa. original, is an understatement, and have “the answer.” Watch their videos and listen to their musics. It’s amazing.
Full length album $O$ set to drop February 2010. Grab that shit.
Here’s a sample of some classic metal tracks I used to get down to back when I used to skate. Listening to this mixtape definitely brings me back a decade or so and gets me all sorts of amped up and ready for action. Ironically it gets me just as pumped for kickin the ass out of some logos too! It’s helped me crank through the day, hopefully you’ll get the same out of it. Share with care.
Download here: The Guild Mixtape
Tracklist:
01 Danzig – Mother
02 Jefferson Airplane – Somebody to Love
03 Dead Kennedys – Holiday in Cambodia
04 Iron Maiden – Run to the Hills
05 The Misfits – London Dungeon
06 Judas Priest – Breaking the Law
07 Iron Maiden – Hallowed Be Thy Name
08 Van Halen – Im the One
09 Motorhead – Ace of Spades
10 Slayer – Black Magic
11 Metallica – Fight Fire with Fire
12 Black Sabbath – Sweet Leaf
The Cool Kids are still droppin banger beats and fly rhymes. It seems like their sound is growing up just enough to feel fresh and tuned. Can’t wait to hear what’s next.
Check out the rest of the Creative Control videos, and make sure to check out this Mos Def goodie for sure.
A newer addition to the Stones Throw family, Dam-Funk is also one of the more recent additions to my library. Apparently this sound has a few different names, my favorite being “Boogie” Check out more on D-F on the Stones Throw site and make sure to scroll through the Astro Nautico blog (where I found this video) for plenty of tasty new music and mixtapes ripe for the picking.
The Brainfeeder camp dropped some holiday goodies on Christmas day… A Decade of Flying Lotus mixed by the platter pirate Gaslamp Killer. GLK strings together a 40 minute set of unreleased Flying Lotus tracks that span across the last 10 years. The set is available via free download over on the Brainfeeder site.
On some other Brainfeeder bits… Flying Lotus is dropping a new album titled ‘Cosmogramma’ on Warp records April 20th of 2010… and Gaslamp Killer is rolling through both Denver & Minneapolis with Prefuse 73 in the upcoming year.
Gaslamp Killer Dates: Denver : Prefuse 73, The Gaslamp Killer, Pantyraid (Feat. Ooah of the Glitch Mob) : Saturday February 06 at Cervantes’
- - Minneapolis : Prefuse 73, The Gaslamp Killer, Voices Voices : Monday January 25 at Triple Rock Social Club
I’m a sucker for anything that includes a menacing electronic beat and zombies, the combination multiplied by adding kittens is simply outstanding.
The track/animation is by Cyriak and illustrations by Sarah Brown, both of which seem to be a fantastic dynamic duo. Don’t forget to peek at the merch and the other tracks by Cyriak. Meow!
I came across a couple Robot Koch freebies via the Chrome Kids blog a while back and can’t stop searching out bits and pieces from his various releases and mixtapes. Thankfully, I just found out he came out with a full length release on the 13th called “Death Star Droid.”
To find out more about Robot Koch mosey on over to his site, but don’t forget to check out the Project Moon Circle site for more info on the release as well as snippets, samples and downloads of all sorts of great music.
XLR8R has been one of my favorite music publications for quite a while. They cover the interesting, “underground” genres of music that I try to pay attention to, and frequently hip me to new artists and new happenings in the music world. Over the past couple years I’ve enjoyed many of their podcasts, and it really don’t stop. There have been some real gems recently that I’d like to mention:
A mix from Untold, a “dubstep” producer from the UK who’s pushing a deeper, minimal, techno-influenced sound.
A very eclectic mix from Glasgow, Scotland’s Wireblock Records (home of Rustie, Hudson Mohawke), featuring new, old, bangin & interesting tunes.
7 years on hold and with small independent releases from each of the crew throughout the time, Antipop Consortium has come back into my life with a boom. These guys have always impressed me and kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what comes next especially in anticipation for this album. I knew we were in for a delicious release once I heard the first leak, Volcano, remixed by Four Tet. Fluorescent Black comes highly recommended to all who like anti pop anything let alone music.
Although this is probably available all over the internet for permanent share (free download) you should help try to keep these guys fed and focused on making more. Grab it here or here and listen to not only this album but the rest of their awesome music on LastFM.
