"A soul-documentarian living in London by way of Berlin & Chile, fLako’s particular sonic palette is a mercurial blend of warm analogue colours and cutting edge design. His writing is marked by manifest emotion. In a world jaded – caustic with sarcasm and packaged in plastic, fLako is an example of an artist who’s fearless with his humanity. Not a fiend for the limelight, there’s no gimmick to his craft, cos in the end it’s all about an honest, well written tune."
Wednesday 5 December 2012
"A soul-documentarian living in London by way of Berlin & Chile, fLako’s particular sonic palette is a mercurial blend of warm analogue colours and cutting edge design. His writing is marked by manifest emotion. In a world jaded – caustic with sarcasm and packaged in plastic, fLako is an example of an artist who’s fearless with his humanity. Not a fiend for the limelight, there’s no gimmick to his craft, cos in the end it’s all about an honest, well written tune."
Ghettos and Gardens Volume 2
Justin Martins garden has been pretty fruitiful this year already. But his harvest hasn't stopped just yet. The Dirtybird chap returns with the second installment of remixes from 'Ghettos & Gardens'. Volume 2 drops on the 18th December.
The standout mix for me is from Eats Everything. He gets fucking Ruff with "Ruff Stuff" with extra fat punchy bass this is a dance floor winner. Have a listen to the track in full below. Also sample the rest of the album, with edits coming courtesy of the likes of, Claude Von Stroke, Leroy Peppers and Kill Frenzy.
Stevie Wonder Gets Reworked
The Whiskey Barons are a dj and production duo based in
Boston. Their work mainly revolves around updating classic funky music ready to
be dropped on todays dance floors. That’s exactly what they’ve done on their rework
of Stevie Wonders ‘As’ from 1977.
This is mid tempo disco at its finest. So much fucking
groove!! This one will involve you and a dance floor. Guaranteed.
Friday 30 November 2012
I'll wear your grandads clothes. Funkin Friday Freebies!!
Its Friday so we got a whole heap of free downloads ready for your party ears. Jacked up, mid tempo vibes galore!!
Kicking shit off, a huge edit of Lou Johnsons - 'The Beat' by Karim. A Czech-Lebanese chap apparently living near Barcelona . And yes, you do recognise it. De La Soul sampled the original for 'Ring Ring Ring'.
Dope Remix of '"Thrift Shop' by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, spliced and diced by
Record Time MuthaFunkers from Canada. Go wear your grandads clothes and get grooving.
Another Record Time MuthaFunkers tune next that samples Ella Fitzgerald. This be ghetto, glitching swing time.
A couple of chunky chops of swirling bass and skanky organic funk, jacking grooves and carnival jams. Warp 9 who have just started releasing on 'Swing Set Sounds' are a duo working out of Miami, really feeling them!
The Beastie Boys must be one of the most remixed artists ever. Budding producers love to sample those well known flows, most however, do make a hash of it. Not Londoner NARSTI though. His big crunk beat remix of 'Intergalactic' give the Beasties a whole new lease of life.
Awesome summer swing jives from Monetrik of Athens. 100BPM swing hopping goodness.
Some more sounds from Canada courtesy of B-MID. This ones a monster of a track; straight up ghetto funk. Try and stop yourself bouncing to this one.
The Wonder Years work on a strict diet of funky electronic hip-hop and soul to great effect. Check out this sample based banger. Stroll across to their bandcamp if you like what you hear, to grab yourself a free 6 track album.
Finishing off with a few reggae dub vibes.
The 1973 tune by Zap Pow - 'Lottery Spin' gets an overhaul by Bashboomb. Proper Skankin!
Daytoner gives the classic Marcia Griifths tune from 1968 'Feel Like Jumping' a gentle little edit. Extra breaks and some vocal extensions. Jam on!
Dub/horns version of "Hate to Love" from the new 'Echo Outernational" LP by Richie Phoe. Laid back reggae niceties.
Great reggae edit of DJ Fresh - 'Gold Dust' by Heds. Shy FX did the original remix, Heds abandons the DnB to great effect.
Thursday 29 November 2012
Jill Scott - 'Golden' (Catching Flies Remix) (Free DL)
A superbly dreamy remix of R&B singer Jill Scotts 2004 hit 'Golden'. Catching Flies, a 21 year old from London produces a deep ambient beat and blends in the vocals perfectly. Grab Free download from his website.
Wednesday 28 November 2012
Grimsby Trouser Disco (Free DL)
Bill Brewster has been there and pretty much seen it all. Having been in the game since the 80's, he collects records, writes books (such as 'How to DJ Properly'), co runs DJ History.com, has ran various record labels and throws the Low Life parties in London (For more than 15 years!) and more recently done his thing in the Boiler Room. Fair to say he's basically an encyclopedic of music.
Grab a quality slice of disco funk edited by Bill for free - TCSS - All The Girls In France (Sure Know How To Dance). Following that make sure you listen to his boogielicious Boiler Room Mix.
Rudimental featuring Angel Haze (Free DL)
The Hackney 4-piece ‘Rudimental’ have teamed up with American
rapper/singer Angel Haze for a freebie release from their debut album dropping
next year.
The track revolves around Hazes vocal talents, mixing heavy
rapped verses and laid back vocal chorus. The overall feel is a well-produced
future soul, hip house kinda thing.
Listen below and grab it for free from Rudimentals Website.
Tuesday 27 November 2012
Natalie Duncan - 'Find Me a Home' (Remixed)
Natalie Duncan is an extremely talented singer-songwriter, with
a rich voice resonant with soul and the blues. She has had the pleasure of
working with DnB legend Goldie and more recently, Magnetic Man. She released
her debut album earlier this year to rave reviews. To follow this, a Remix
package of Track 8 ‘Find me a Home’ has been released.
The standout remixes for me have to be the two by ‘Crooked Man’. Clearly he submitted two to the cause, and like myself Natalie couldn’t
decide which one was best so both have been included in the package.
Two deep house vibes, really working and playing on the
vocals to great effect. ‘Crooked Home’ is more of a laid back affair, whilst ‘Find
Me a Disco’ has a more upbeat club groove to it.
The Colonel
Now I’m not usually a fan of UK
Grime. But this one track has caught my attention. The vocals area pretty decent, but that beat!! ‘The Colonel’ drops absolute bombs on this production.
Monday 26 November 2012
AfroQBen – Liquid Gold
In todays minefield of music, one way to keep your nose poked out so you get noticed is the old time skill of blending the genres. Not necessarily to have another strand of bass music that needs a name, just to be a little different.
AfroQBen throws off the shackles of restriction and serves up a main platter of Afro Funk, with side dishes of hip hop and reggae, dub, downtempo and bass music.
'Liquid Gold' is AfroQBen’s second full-length and it really brings together a fresh combination of styles. The whole album is filled with bangers, with the straight up intention to get you bouncing. Take the hip hop infused dub heavy vibes of 'Dirty Heart' for instance. Shimmy through a couple of tracks and you find yourself jamming on a cosmic wave of disco-house funk courtesy of 'House Fly'.
Other stand out tracks for me are the chunky hip hop, funk swagging rhythm of 'Everyone Jump' which gets a healthy dose of jacking vocals provided by Lafa Taylor & Reason. And also 'Cafe' which delivers an organic afrobeat jam with help from members of 'March Fourth Marching Band'.
The album gets wrapped with a downtempo, sitar laced eastern feeling track. I like the angle that's been approached here, but this one doesn't quite live up to the vibe of the earlier tracks.
All in all however, 'Liquid Gold' is rather aptly named. Check out some of the tunes below and hop over to the soundcloud page for the rest of the album.
An Unhealthy Obsession
Some call it stalking, I say walking just extremely close behind
I'm sure if I sat down and asked you, well you really wouldn't mind..
You've got those eyes that drive me crazy, and I've got eyes to watch you sleep
I brought a pack lunch and some coffee for my stakeout in your tree... outside your house..
What lyrics!!! A reeet dark and creepy little gem here, revolving around the merry subject of stalking! Strangely offered up on an orchestral plate!
Blake Robinson usually conjoures up beats of video game music, but here he shows his true musical genius. Check out his soundcloud for some snippets of weird and wonderful 8-bit orchestral quirky shit! Some of the ones that made me smile are listed below...lalalalalala!!!
Duke Dumont Gets Remixed
Duke Dumonts "The Giver" Is arguably one of the best house releases this year. Following its success Turbo Records decided to milk it of a little more by offering out a remix package.
Turbos label head, Tiga first steps up to the plate with a great remix. Deep bass and plenty of the original anthemness! Other remixers include Toronto's Gingy & Bordell, Lando Kal and the Belgian producer Locked Groove. Listen to Tigas remix in full and samples of the other 3.
NEW BAND!! Lexy and the Kill
Prep your ears for a band of the future; Lexy And The Kill. A London based 5 piece band with a Scottish singer, Lexy commanding the mic. Their debut song “Rope Swing” is an indie-pop extravaganza. Listen and download this moody, powerful and gripping tune for free below.
Sunday 25 November 2012
Laid Back - 'Fly Away' (Poolside Edit) (Free DL)
'Fly Away' was originally released in 1983 by Laid Back. Poolside give this a lovely once over and turn it into a very very nice slow-mo daytime disco tune. Grab the free download below.
If you like the chilled out disco tip then do check out Poolsides debut album 'Pacific Standard Time'. Its well worth it.
DJ Agent 86 & Drop Out Orchestra - Disco Me
DJ Agent 86 & Drop Out Orchestra have got themselves together for their latest release on Lightspeed recordings. An uptempo disco-house tune titled 'Disco Me'.
A number of artists have taken on the remix duties, amongst them is Kid Who, a South London producer.
He slows it all down and gives the whole track a new lease of life. Personally this is my favourite. Check Lightspeed Recordings for the full package.
Smile Recordings (Free DL)
Mindless Boogie was a vinyl only label, that released tracks from the likes of Prins Thomas, Inflagranti, Tiago, and Lexx between 2005 & 2009. Now defunct, Smile Recordings are releasing them as free downloads over time. Keep an eye on their Soundcloud.
Two free downloads to get started, A feel good edit of The Turtles - 'Happy Together' by Todd Terje and a big edit of the Rolling Stones - 'Emotional Rescue' by the black belt of lazer disco; Inflagranti.
Jimi Hendrix - 'People, Hell and Angels'
Friday 23 November 2012
Mr. Oizo - Unreleased Unfinished Unpleasant
Shimmy through it once, pop a couple of ibuprofen to rid yourself of that ghastly headache and then get back to Lambs Anger or Moustache (Half a Scissor).
Check out the two tunes below then if you're satisfied grab a free download of the whole album from www.oizo3000.com
Thursday 22 November 2012
Strictly Swinging!!
So Jazz is probably my favourite genre. Not entirely sure why……...I guess it’s a versatility thing. Jazz is always asking questions, revisiting and revising themes. Jazz fills the void in my body with energy, teasing me with its innovative musical poetry of patterns and leftfield improvisation. It’s foot tappingly brilliant at any tempo and squeezed into any genre. And when all those other genres die, Jazz will still be there.
I've thrown together a few tunes by artists who are mixing and sampling the vintage sound with modern bass and breaks. So without further ado, pop on your pin stripe suit or your polka dot frock and get your plugs round these swinging numbers.
I've thrown together a few tunes by artists who are mixing and sampling the vintage sound with modern bass and breaks. So without further ado, pop on your pin stripe suit or your polka dot frock and get your plugs round these swinging numbers.
Setting the mood,
the fabulous Electronic Swing Orchestra offer a bloody good rework of the
Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood. The band are formed by a couple of Germans, a couple
of Austrians and an Irish singer. Random, but it works!
More Electronic Swing Orchestra......A redefined version of their 2011 hit Quiero Bailar Swing. Bit of a gypsy vibe going on here.
Straight up swinging grooves and scat doo wopping on this remix of The Speakeasies Swing Band - Bright Lights Late Nights by S Strong from Athens.
Frenchman Lazlo is a purveyor of some the finest fusions of organic vintage samples and smart and subtle beats. If you need a fix of classy electro swing and pepped-up ragtime jazz he's your man.
Free download on this jam in the 'Cotton Fields'.
Another tune by Lazlo here. A real laid-back track with piano grooves based on the legendary Keith Jarrett coupled with some seriously funky overtones.
Sound Nomaden Remix of the track "Get Down Tonight" by London based Vintage Acapella Band "Elle & The Pocket Belles". Nothing like the feeling that the music can bring.
Glen Millers In the Mood is probably the most well know jazz tip ever created. The Swing Bot steps up the tempo here, smashes in a houses beat and launches this little baby into the 21st Century. Glen is guaranteed to be bobbing in his grave.
Swinging house with tasty brass and pianos. A slight gypsy flavour on Bass Caravans rerub edit of Dunkelbunt's amazing swing track, Cinnamon Girl featuring the Boban i Marko Marcovic Orkestra.
Bart & Baker have been at the forefront of the electro swing movement of late churning out a pleasing number of tracks and mixtapes. 'Bee Zoo' really makes me feel like i'm in the modern 1920's.
Getting a bit heavier now thanks to C@ in the H@. 88 BPM Gangsta Swing with the Big Bass Sound. 3 Tracks on this EP due for release in December. This will make you dance!
Odjbox is another of those at the forefront of the electronic infused swing movement. Mixing scatting vocals, grooving pianos and brass sounds with big baselines and a plethora of glitch. This guy cooks some real jacking swing soup. Check these two recent offerings.
Wrapping this shit up sticking with the glitchy swing vibe. An original track by Marc Remillard entitled Benny Was A Good Man. This ones a freebie for all the cool cats in town.
Tuesday 20 November 2012
Jamie Woon - Night Air (Felix Nite Till Thee Dawn Remix)
A classy remix, playing heavily on the vocals. Real good house here and its up for a free download.
St Germain - Rose Rouge (Leftside Wobble Bump & Hustle Edit)
"This ones all about the rhythm track overdubs and subtle filtering. Sometimes an edit needs a very light touch and with a track so perfect this is certainly the case here."
A Mix of Mixes!!
As the title says, a mix of mixes. Quite simply a selection of mixes that have been aiding my work shift over the last few days.
Starting with a little funky number here. Reggae, hip hop and some glitchy vibes by Mr. Joe Revell from way down under. There’s a smashing selection of bumping mash-ups on his soundcloud for free so check him out!
Arguably one of the best producers/DJs ever DJ Shadow has invited Irn Mnky to produce a mini-mix spanning the whole collection of his tunes. That’s no easy feat considering the vast and incredible discography Shadow has to his name. Irn Mnky, who entered a remix contest hosted by DJ Shadow 3 years ago is really giving a history lesson here; Infusing his own style and blending seamless from the classic ‘Endtroducing.....’ to last year's ‘The Less You Know, the Better’.
Cut Chemist best known for being the DJ in Juarassic 5 offers a mix recorded in 2011, slightly different to the hip hop, disco, latin or african mixes of recent times. He describes this mix as “A rural psych folk and rock selection”. Responding to a soundcloud comment he says “It is my goal to keep this guidance alive in my music and words. Music is not just music, it is the language of the soul, and when one speaks with soul and LOVE, one gives the most powerful of gifts” Deep.....Listen on.
Foundation Mixtape #8 is a journey of foot tapping nu-disco and electronic sounds compiled by the Supermen Lovers. You’ll remember them from the tune ‘Starlight’ released in 2001 with the weird superstar wannabe potato man and his mouse. Any mix with Daft Punk, Modeselektor, Aeroplane and Ricardo Villalobos should be pretty darned good….. it is!
Always at the forefront of the musical trends, my man Simon Verrill aka Seymour of Me drops a Movemeber mix. Nothing too heavy here as he rolls on a strictly deep house vibe this time around. Personal favourites include Waif and Strays – Eat into My Soul and the weird Jamie Jones track from 2006 Amazon.
Finally, from my current favourite record label ‘Tru Thoughts’ Robert Louis (Nirobi) drops Unfold, his weekly radio show. This show is worth catching week in week out without fail if you like bass, beats, soul, funk, hip hop and everything that’s right in the electronic music industry. This selection comes with a guest mix from Eddie Piller celebrating 25 years of Acid Jazz. Check it.
Starting with a little funky number here. Reggae, hip hop and some glitchy vibes by Mr. Joe Revell from way down under. There’s a smashing selection of bumping mash-ups on his soundcloud for free so check him out!
Arguably one of the best producers/DJs ever DJ Shadow has invited Irn Mnky to produce a mini-mix spanning the whole collection of his tunes. That’s no easy feat considering the vast and incredible discography Shadow has to his name. Irn Mnky, who entered a remix contest hosted by DJ Shadow 3 years ago is really giving a history lesson here; Infusing his own style and blending seamless from the classic ‘Endtroducing.....’ to last year's ‘The Less You Know, the Better’.
Cut Chemist best known for being the DJ in Juarassic 5 offers a mix recorded in 2011, slightly different to the hip hop, disco, latin or african mixes of recent times. He describes this mix as “A rural psych folk and rock selection”. Responding to a soundcloud comment he says “It is my goal to keep this guidance alive in my music and words. Music is not just music, it is the language of the soul, and when one speaks with soul and LOVE, one gives the most powerful of gifts” Deep.....Listen on.
Foundation Mixtape #8 is a journey of foot tapping nu-disco and electronic sounds compiled by the Supermen Lovers. You’ll remember them from the tune ‘Starlight’ released in 2001 with the weird superstar wannabe potato man and his mouse. Any mix with Daft Punk, Modeselektor, Aeroplane and Ricardo Villalobos should be pretty darned good….. it is!
Always at the forefront of the musical trends, my man Simon Verrill aka Seymour of Me drops a Movemeber mix. Nothing too heavy here as he rolls on a strictly deep house vibe this time around. Personal favourites include Waif and Strays – Eat into My Soul and the weird Jamie Jones track from 2006 Amazon.
Finally, from my current favourite record label ‘Tru Thoughts’ Robert Louis (Nirobi) drops Unfold, his weekly radio show. This show is worth catching week in week out without fail if you like bass, beats, soul, funk, hip hop and everything that’s right in the electronic music industry. This selection comes with a guest mix from Eddie Piller celebrating 25 years of Acid Jazz. Check it.
Chet Faker and a Jaar Remix
Where the devil I have been hiding to miss out on the
wonderful musical beans of Chet Faker? I’m disappointed to be such a late comer
to these here parts. One man and his beard from Melboune delight our ears with a multitude of
cosmic space, piano tickles, electro chill and poptastic vocals. Certainly not
possible to pin this chap down to a specific genre or sound.
Chet Faker released his debut EP in March 2012, such a breath
of fresh air in the current monotonous musical spectrum of nonsense that is
being churned out. His rendition of No Diggity by Blackstreet is probably my favourite
on the album, stripped back, slowed down with crooning vocals. The whole album
revolves around Chets free form and expression, eerie scapes and gentle
undertones.
It’s unlikely this will float everybody’s boat, though for
me, a real corker to unwind to. Nicolas Jaar as always fails to fail with a great
remix of ‘Terms and Conditions’. With
pitched the fuck out vocals its quite the stones throw away from the original,
but it’s still worth a listen.
Tuesday 13 November 2012
Everybody wants to be a DJ
So we are all aware of Johnny Depps acting skills, but are we aware of his musical tastes? Especially concerning deep house, minimal or tech house?! Well we can be now. Beatport today have released a chart supposedly selected by ol chisel chops himself. Some pretty decent numbers here actually – I do like to think Depp loves to bop around to Villalobos in his spare time.
Is it real though? Most likely not – the most powerful man in the world (citation needed) Mr Barack Obama has also lent a hand to compiling a Beatport chart. Me thinks it’s a hoax, check them out below regardless.
Monday 12 November 2012
Let’s get mechanical
Bored of the current state of electronic music production
with all its perfect rhythms and identical sounds?? Why not build a full size version
of the legendary Roland TR-808 drum machine? That’s what Moritz Simon Geist has
done, his MR-808 is an ableton controlled monster of a machine with robot limbs
playing the equivalent real life instruments.
The results are wonderful; distinctive, imprecise and almost organic sounding.
Be prepared to be impressed.
MR-808 - mechanic drum robot from Sonic Robots on Vimeo.
Rise Of The Toys from Science Fiction Children on Vimeo.
Tuesday 6 November 2012
Darkside Live
Ever since I heard the Darkside EP by the musical wonderman Nicolas Jaar and his long-time friend Dave Harrington I was desperate for more. The moody, midtempo, minimalistic, bouncy beats overlaid with Harringtons bluesy guitar create a cosmic atmosphere to completely get submersed in. The two musical styles gel together so incredibly well and we are clearly only just touching the surfaces of their musical abilities. A new release is surely in the pipeline however any news on its whereabouts is sadly non-existent. In the meantime I've stumbled across a fantastic mix by the duo recorded for The LLP Radio show somewhere in France.
This excellent low slung mix, is filled with the Jaar style we’ve come to expect. The musical selection is on a point as ever, seamlessly flowing through dreamy electronica, hip hop (Jaars confirmed main influence), impressionist piano, avant garde jazz and his signature slowed down and stretched out brand of techno.Yet another masterpiece from the 22 year old Clown and Sunset record label head honcho. I guarantee this one goes straight onto the ipod and on repeat.
Monday 5 November 2012
Soothing Selection
Pianos, acoustic guitars, soft strings, ambient textures and smooth cinematic sounds. Perfectly gentle listening for a Monday. The music does all the talking on this one.
Couldn't find a soundcloud link for this last one, but these acoustic sounds are so amazing I have to include them.
Friday 2 November 2012
Funky Ass Friday
Its Friday!! Time to share some free funk to get that weekend mood up and running!!
Setting that funky tone, a seriously cool hip hop jazz mash-up courtesy of Poldoore.
Hobo With a Laptop offers a jazzy-glitchy number. Guaranteed to give you the fever.
Could Eazy-E get any more ghetto? DJ Prime thinks so with this remix of Gangsta Beat 4 Da Street. BIG.
Some swing-hop from Doctor Hooka, this one comes with a sprinkling of KRS-One vocals. Perfect.
More swing-hop, you can never go wrong with a bit of swing-hop. S Strong proves that with this solid remix.
A super funky remix of O.V Wright here. Feel these vibes!!
Ghetto-funking-swinging. Simple.
If you can't bob to this, you can't bob to anything. Real fucking FUNKY!!
I said Funky Friday, but it appears I'm having a super swinging time. Another mashup, this time by Waggles he be blending Go Miller by Dedy Dread and Neato by Three Loco pretty darned seamlessly. Enjoy.....
Finally a cracking remix by a crazy man from Germany. Minoru really pleases the auditory senses with this heavy glitchy number. And its free!!! Sayonara!!
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