Monday is immediately made better with the release of Dub Kweli, a new mashed masterpiece from the mind behind Jadiohead and Mos Dub, Max Tannone. Brilliantly layering Talib’s rhymes over ’60’s reggae and dub plates straight from the Trojan record vault, this creation will make your ears smile. Hit the jump for immediate aural pleasure, and be sure to catch Talib Kweli this Friday when he DJs at Webster Hall with Questlove and Nina Sky. Continue Reading
The latest smash-up from the LA based trio, edIT, OOAH, and Boreta, aka The Glitch Mob, is an infusion of party-starting music. The mixtape is a diffusion of tracks and vocals that are taken apart, chopped and screwed, then put back together with a touch of hip-hop driven beats laced with jagged electro and bass. Presented in partnership with Mishka, the infusions and cuts on these tracks are no small feat. From start to finish, the trio does a great job of driving and steering the half-hour mix. The overall consensus: glitches don’t sound this good. Check out the mix below. Click through for the tracklist and download.
The group will take the stage at Electric Zoo in NYC on September 5th.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since we started… but here we are. We wouldn’t have made it through the year without all you party people, so tonight we’re bringing you some of our favorite DJs from the past year (Shuttle, The Captain and Jubilee), along with a dash of fresh meat (Asian Dan, Spectacal) to collectively form a line-up that we are super excited about.
Come out to White Rabbit (145 East Houston Street) tonight to help us fête the occasion. The festivities begin at 10 PM – get there early for drink specials during the first hour, and be sure to RSVP HERE for complimentary admission.
Find out more about tonight’s DJs and sample some of their music… after the jump.
Over the weekend, the New York Times declared 23 year-old rapper Aubrey Drake Graham the “new face of hip-hop“. From fans to music heavy-hitters like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Diddy and Lil’ Wayne, there is quite a bit of anticipation for the mixtape wunderkind’s upcoming album, Thank Me Later, leaving many to wonder if the artist’s debut can meet expectations to break a million album units in sales in its first week. While we wait for the official release of the album tomorrow, it comes as no surprise that New York based record producer Chi Duly (known for his work with Nappy Roots) has released October’s Very Cold, a mixtape that blends the alternative rock style of Coldplay with the thoughtful and pensive lyrics of Drake. Not surprisingly, these tracks mesh well together – Mick Boogie and Terry Urban’s 2008 mixtape, Viva La Hova, combined Coldplay and Jay-Z. Among our favorites on October’s Very Cold: “Everlost”, “Troubles Over”, “Forever La Vida” and “Money to Fix”.
Tomorrow, Drake will be in New York City at South Street Seaport at 6pm to kick off Paper Magazine’s free Ray-Ban and Havaianas-sponsored Summer concert series with Hanson and Ninjasonik.
Click through for a listen of October’s Very Cold or download the mixtape here.
This week, Theophilus London debuted the first official music video from his latest effort, I Want You. The seductive video for the mixtape’s title track – London’s second – was directed by longtime pal VaShtie. The grainy black and white quality of the video, shot with a handheld camera at the Chelsea Hotel, has Theophilus London written all over it (look no further than the cover art of his three mixtapes for evidence). Va$htie cites French new wave cinema as inspiration; indeed, the atypical style of “I Want You” is a departure from London’s MTV-ready music video for “Humdrum Town”. A sexy through-the-legs shot evokes memories of Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman in the 1967 classic tale of seduction, The Graduate.
Watch the music video for “I Want You” after the jump, and CLICK HERE for a free download of the mixtape.
In a surprising union, Major Lazer (Diplo + Switch) has teamed up with La Roux to create Lazerproof, a mixtape that combines Major Lazer’s electro-dancehall bangers with tracks from La Roux’s eponymous debut album. No stranger to the realm of mixtapes, Diplo has collaborated with M.I.A. on Piracy Funds Terrorism and Santigold on Top Ranking, creating mixtapes that fuse the respective artists’ debut albums with a selection of hip hop, dubstep and reggae beats. La Roux’s songs have seen their share of dubstep remixes, making her collaboration with Major Lazer a little less surprising (bonus: check out tradehooks compilation of the best La Roux remixes HERE).
Lazerproof balances the familiar with the unfamiliar, while delivering surprise after surprise. Some songs are close derrivatives of their respective archetypes - the Costra Nostra Edit of “Cover My Eyes” adds a ska beat while keeping the melody and vocals intact. “In For The Kill” gets reworked twice, first in “Independent Kill”, where Candi Redd raps over the original melody, then again in ”In 4 The Kill Pon de Skream”, which takes Skream’s pervasive remix and laces it with a stripped-down beat from “Pon de Floor” for a curiously subtle result.
“Magic (Falling Soldiers Dub)”, a less obvious interpretation of “As If By Magic”, takes the vocals from its poppy predecessor and lays it over a reggae dub. Stripped of its synth undertones, the song takes on a completely different mood. The two closing tracks – “I Said It (Major Lazer Dubplate)” featuring Opal and “Hold Yuh (Double Dubplate)” featuring Gyptian – left us mystified. Although there are two La Roux songs that didn’t get the mixtape treatment (“Saviour” and “Reflections Are Protection”), neither resembles the tracks in question.
CLICK HERE to download Lazerproof from the Mad Decent blog, a free download if you get it today (Wednesday, May 26). Last we checked, the server was having some issues, so if you need it right this second (as we did), head over to the Stockholm Beat Connection for an alternate download link.
We leave you with two samples from Lazerproof: “In 4 The Kill Pon de Skream” and the mysterious “Hold Yuh (Double Dubplate)”. If you can figure out its origins, by all means, enlighten us in the comments section below.
Major Lazer & La Roux – “In 4 The Kill Pon de Skream”
Major Lazer & La Roux featuring Gyptian – “Hold Yuh (Double Dubplate)”
Our local DJ hero, Nick Catchdubs, squeezed together a sublime selection of tunes for Asian Dan to create Pink Lemonade, and this mix is a gem. One half of Fool’s Gold Records and curator of our favorite Flashing Lights party, Nick continues to enlighten our sonic palate. We look forward to hearing his upcoming release on FG and beyond. Check him spin this Friday, May 21st with Treasure Fingers and Maluca at Webster Hall.
Nick Catchdubs “Pink Lemonade” Mix [CLICK HERE to download via Asian Dan]
Hit the jump for the tracklist and make sure to visit Asian Dan’s quick Q&A as he discusses future Fool’s Gold projects and gives us some insightful advice.
After much anticipation, A-Trak has finally unleashed Dirty South Dance 2 on the interwebs. The sequel to the 2007 original flawlessly fuses hip hop vocals with dance tracks and his signature scratching, resulting in fifty minutes of pure fun. With seamless transitions and a top-notch song selection, A-Trak makes it seem like hip hop and electro were born to mingle. Our favorites? “Trizzy Turnt Up”, in which he layers Soulja Boy’s “All The Way Turnt Up” over Claude VonStroke’s “Vocal Chords”, and “Ain’t I a Joker”, which pairs Yung L.A.’s “Aint I” with Joker’s “Tron”.
A-Trak has once again enlisted Shepard Fairey to create the accompanying artwork, to be released in a deluxe pack that will include a poster, t-shirt, and hard copy of the CD. Stream or download the mixtape below, and if you can’t get enough of the dirty south, then definitely check out Southerngold – Terry Urban’s concoction that melds southern hip hop with Santigold’s eponymous debut album.
On Thursday evening, we stopped by Santos Party House to catch Jive Records’ showcase for LA-based R&B/Electro-Funk musician Miguel. Hot 97’s DJ Enuff warmed up the crowd at the Ciroc-sponsored affair. This was Miguel’s NYC debut, which went well for the fresh young talent. Backed by drums, bass, keys and electric guitar, his rhythmic slow jams brought together a nice crowd, who weren’t the only ones having a good time – the group seemed to enjoy themselves on the stage as well. Miguel invited J. Cole on stage to perform “All I Want is You”, which is Miguel’s first single. Check out his latest mixtape HERE.
Professional snowboarder turned singer Trevor Andrew, aka Trouble Andrew, has released a mixtape. From the sound of it, this is a gang that may be worth the trouble. With fast beats and synth-rock inspirations, this mixtape can make for a nice dance party as well as chilling sessions. Coming in with 28 tracks, we think Trouble Andrew is trying to tell us something, and he’s got Amanda Blank, Spank Rock, Lil Jon, Diplo, Curren$y, Ninjasonik, Timbaland and his girlfriend Santigold to back him up. Listen to and download the mixtape after the jump.
