Eliot Lipp one of the few artists I really admire that I can actually say I've met personally (the list is pretty short...its Junior Boys, Eliot Lipp and Prefuse 73). Lipp has a new record out called City Synthesis on Metatronix records. The record is a typical Lipp production with a fantastic blend of hip hop and electronic. Check out a track:
Mp3: Eliot Lipp - "Digital Disko"
Order: The record is out now. GO get it here.
Brand new Prefuse 73 hip hop mix featuring materail off the new record along with all sorts of hip hop greats. The set was recorded at Club Air in Tokyo earlier this year. Edan, MF Doom, Jaylib, Clipse, Battles, Flying Lotus, J-Dilla, Sa-Ra, Voices of Seven Bells all show up on this 25 minute mix. Check it out:
Mp3: Prefuse 73 - Live at Club Air (zshare)
Great new album by Anti-pop artist Ernest Gonzales. The album While On Saturn's Rings doesn't officially come out till October 2nd but I am here to tell you to pre-order it cause its a good one. If you are a fan of the borderline indie-electronica sound its certainly worth a spin. You know the dude has great taste as there is a Daedulus remix of "While On Saturn's Rings" thrown on the disc for good measure.
Check out a track:
Mp3: Ernest Gonzales - "Glass Pyramids"
Pre-order: Pre-order a record that is sure to be one of the better ones in terms of electro-pop here.
PB Wolf, Sweet Steve, Baron Zen, & Dam Funk are all set to show up for a show tonight in Chicago at Sono. Before the days of Stones Throw was programming drums for a one-man punk rock/disco army known as Baron Zen. Well stones is releasing At the Mall Remixes which features remixes of Zen tracks. This one is particularly good:
Mp3: Baron Zen - "Burn Rubber" (Dam Funk Remix)
Don't forget about heading down to Sono I am going to do my damnest to make it there after the Cinematic Orchestra show. Get the Baron Zen album here.
What you don't like glitchy and scratchy music? A look at the playlist might make you change your mind with Plaid, Modeselektor, Dabrye, Prefuse 73, Gorillaz and Boards of Canada all showing up. The mix is by Crispian who is a DJ that also doubles as Ghislain Poirier's drummer. Check out the mix.
Mp3: Crispian - Glitchy and Scratchy Mix (zshare)
The1shanti from Brooklyn has released
his first self titled record and after a preliminary listen its certainly a promising record. ughh.com attests that "If you're not feeling this, you have a problem." I wouldn't be so bold, but the record is worthy of a spin in its own right. Theres alot of hype out there about this dude being the best "south asian mc," seems like a bit of a narrow niche and I am not sure the level of competition on this one. Check out a track of the record:
Mp3: The1shanti - "Annuh"
Buy: Get the record here directly from Rawkus.
I'm a bit late on this record (it came out July 31st) but the mix of D.C. based beat master Sharkey (has worked with Pharcyde and Jean Grae) and NYC microphone maniac C-Rayz Walz is something promising. The tandem gets together to make a solid record in Monster Maker. While the content is laking the beats and down right party atmosphere of this record certainly makes it worth listening to.
Some are hyping it as this years St. Elsewhere its certainly accessible hip hop but I don't find it in the same vein has Gnarls. Its tough to replicate Ceelo's sound. Check out a track it should definately get you jumping:
Mp3:Sharkey & C-Rayz Walz - "Jumping Off at the Jumpoff"
Support: Be sure to pick up the record here.
photo by kingpinphoto.
New track from some of my favorite Germans. The new track is electronic click meets hip hop. "The Dark Side Of The Sun" is the newest 12" from Modeselektor and features the Puppetmastaz a hip hop group from Berlin. Its the preamble to their full length Happy Birthday which drops this week. Check out the instramental:
Mp3: Modeselektor feat. Puppetmastaz - "The Dark Side of the Sun" (Instramental)
Buy: Get the 12" here (currently out of stock).
These are a couple great remixes from some of the better bloggers out there. The first is an A-Trak remix of Kanye's "Stronger" via Catchdubs. The second is from A-Trak's brother and member of Chromeo remixed by fellow blogger and DJ Eli along with his dude Pase Rock doing a guest verse on the track. Check them out.
Mp3: Kanye West - "Stronger" (A-Trak Remix)
Mp3: Chromeo feat. Pase Rock - "Bonafied Lovin'" (DJ Eli Remix)
Read'em: Make sure you follow Catchdubs and Outside Broadcast its a necessity.
Belgian emcee and producer DYNO has a new record called DYNO is Sol Waters. Its his debut solo album (kind of the theme of this week I guess) and features guest spots from Yejide The Night Queen (Scienz Of Life/Evil Dee), Voice (Visioneers/BBE) among others. Check out a highlight off the new record. Track is instramental hip hop at its best. Should provide a nice chill sound for your weekend:
Mp3: DYNO - "My Soul"
Buy: Get this great hip-hop nu-jazz record right here. The record does not disappoint.
Portland based Gwizski launches a great hip hop record with the help from Aesop Rock and other underground heads. This record certainly peaked my interest when I got a chance to check it out. Real nice production on this record.
Mp3: Gwizski feat. Tableek - "Slide"
Buy: Loop Regions is out NOW get the record here.
LA producer/DJ Thomas Wilson aka TAKE is a talented hip hop instramentalist. Set to make his debut with Earth Tones and Concrete his first full length he boasts a long list of people hes shared the stage with from Mos Def, Ammon Contact and Daedulus. TAKE uses samples from all over whether its synths, samplers, or guitar pedals the dude puts together a mean instramental record. Check out a track:
Mp3: TAKE - "Slouched Over" (Remix)
Buy: Support him by buying his record here. Great record to chill out to.
Outside of the live Kanye performances the best thing about the "M"Tv music awards was JT pleading for more videos and ragging on all the reality tv trash that "M"Tv shows WHILE the kids of "The Hills" were on stage. JT's and Timbalands room looked like the biggest party as well.
JT has got a new remix record coming out featuring remixes from Justice, Tiesto and others. Check one of them out. Its got rave written all over it:
Mp3: Justin Timberlake - "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows" (Kaskade Remix)
Buy: Get the record from iTunes here.
Buy: Get the record from iTunes here.
edIT out of LA has a great hip hop record in Certified Air Raid. The producer teams up with tons of my favorite emcees from Abstract Rude, TTC, Busdriver and the Grouch. This record came out of nowhere. Never heard of edIT but when I saw his guest spots I knew I had to check it out.
His electro tweeked bump is certainly something to check out. The album drops October 8th. Here is a highlight of the record:
Mp3: edIT feat. Abstract Rude - "Night Shift"
Buy: Get the record here. More about edIT here.
Blu and Exile premier their sound with Below the Heavens. Exile some might know is from the group Emanon (Aloe Blacc & Exile on prod). Blu is truly premiering his sound as he just started recording in '04.
Below the Heavens features some great talent in Ta'Raach and Aloe Blacc. This is certainly one of the years better hip hop releases and I highly recommend checking it out. Here is a sample track:
Buy: Get the record here.
I was first exposed to the Heliocentrics was on Stones Throw's Now-Again Re:Sounds, Vol. 1. Their sound is difficult to categorize, part abstract jazz, part hip hop along with a bit of funk and some psychedelic. The influences are all over the place from David Axelrod, Sun Ra and you can even a bit of the Godfather of Soul.
The Heliocentrics have worked with Madlib and backed DJ Shadow on several tours. Their new album is Out There and is set to drop at the end of the month. Don't miss it. Check out a sample track off the promo. If you don't get down at about the 45 sec mark you might want check yourself into a doctor to get your head right.
Mp3: Heliocentrics - "Once Upon a Time"
Buy: Make sure you pre-order this record here.
Heliocentrics is Malcolm Catto on drums & piano, Jake Ferguson on bass & Thai guitar, Mike Burnham playing modular synth & effects, Jack Yglesias on flutes, percussion & santur, Adrian Owusu on guitars, oud & percussion, along with James Arben playing clarinet, tenor & baritone sax, Ray Carless on alto, tenor & baritone sax, and last but not least Max Weissenfeldt doing vibes & percussion.
Prefuse aka Scott Herren is hip hop producer hailing from Madrid. Herren currently makes fantastic records for Warp Records and goes by a bunch of alias from Savath & Savalas, Delarosa and Asora and Piano Overlord (who show up on labels like Anti and Money Studies).
Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives is basically a hip hop classic and Prefuse is set to release his 6th full length, Preparations at the end of October. I was sent a couple tracks off the record and thing certainly sound promising. Check one out.
I should also note that he's a hell of a nice guy. I ran into him this summer and got a chance to talk with him briefly. Struck me as real down to earth and laid back.
The Finnish electronic group has released a record of rare and exclusive remixes. Their second album is entitled Ghost is Not Real was released earlier this year. One of the singles was "Nightless Night" which Ninja Tune DJ and producer, Fink composed a remix for. Check it out:
Mp3: Husky Rescue - "Nightless Night" (Fink Remix)
The lastest collection of remixes is called Other World and its sees their distinctive ambient sound given a whole new slant by a bunch of producers such as Bonobo and Emperor Machine.
Just got back from my extended weekend in the northern country of Wisconsin. Was able to see a college football game, Brewers game and a Cubs game in the span of three days. It also gave me the opportunity to eat more processed meats than I ever have.
The Darko contest and Madlib contest are officially over. I have emailed the winners. There is going to be a lot more contests to come so please keep checking in.
