Nice big package of beats (27 total) from one mr. BoomBaptist. Not the best name, but not that bad either and fits with the music he's doing. Really Dilla-oriented, stutter-step raw hip hop grooves fused with soulful samples, bouncy bass lines, and nice bubbling synth lines. Just the way I like my beats - futuristic but retro. Nothing too crazy but nice sounds, definitely worth a listen and the download is free too.
Oh man. I was pumped when I saw this album up, paid for it and everything. Robot Koch is definitely one of my favorite producers at the moment, this Berlin based producer has such a crazy good unique style. Lovin' this record, a widely diverse range of dubstep, tribal, vocal, and just twisted soundscapes. Dubbed out, fuzzy, and definitely wonky to the fullest, Robot Koch makes music for robots indeed. Check out a free track posted on XL8R and if you dig it, buy the full-length EP (it's only like 7 bucks or so). Definitely well worth your money.
I don't know much about this duo operating out of a "dark basement" somewhere in Germany but they posted this on their site:
">>>>>P H I L O S O P H Y>>>>> VISION SEAHORSE DRIVERS will be a big family. M I S S I O N We offer CRISPY TECHNO enriched with SPICY SOUNDS."
The sounds are pretty spicy. They're interesting and complex at least. Seahorse Drivers compose harsh loops over a straightforward and unrelenting techno pulse. The cutting is quick and the sounds are constantly changing in what pleasantly sounds like a herd of copy machines on the fritz. Industrial "CRISPY".
They're album "We Deliver Soul" is downloadable here.
Simple, minimalist, hip hop inspired beats here. Definitely enjoying it, free download. Bit crushed, chippy distorted sounds, mellow vibe to this project overall.
If multi-hour long rituals of improvisational electronic music is your thing, then Excepter is your band. They have an approach to music that is becoming more and more scarce in the age of multitrack home recording heroes; they believe in the act of playing music. With a current line up of six members, this group is all about the communication between players, and with the audience as well (member Jon Nicholson compares their sets to a game of exquisite corpse with instruments). With this dedication to "the performance", Excepter posted all of the live sets from last year's tour online as podcasts (publishing them from the road so fans could follow along from anywhere). They can all still be downloaded here.
They have a new album out called Presidence which complies the best of a 14 hour long marathon concert in Brooklyn during the 2008 election, aimed at affecting the political outcome with their musical power to control the collective conscious. Founding member John Fell Ryan, compares these marathon sessions to yoga and that can be what listening to Excepter feels like too. It's hard to escape the trance of their possessed group drone. Using all analog equipment they musically capitalize on the simple, repetitive nature of the instruments. If the extended pysch jams are a bit much for you, then at least check out their (more accessable) album "Debt Dept" which is even more amazing then this video for "Kill People".
Some dope mashups for sure right here. Mos Def mixed with old school reggae joints. "Johnny Too Bad" sounds a lot cooler with Mos Def rappin' on top of it, for sure. Do yourself a favor and check this one out if you like hip hop, reggae, or just good music.
(Above pictures are not mine, taken from the Wadzilla Facebook profile)
Had the pleasure of checking out the infamous Wadzilla Mansion this past weekend. It's an Allston-based, live music venue started by a couple Northeastern kids including some old friends of mine. Really good concept, providing quality, cheap indie music on a consistent basis, as they have parties every other week it seems. The range of shows they book is quite diverse, from folk nights to hip hop to label release parties.
I was over there recently for a show they had, featuring Born Empty, KID:NAP:KIN, and Dirty Dishes. I had never heard of any of these bands before, but in the indie rock world there are always way too many bands to keep track of anyways. Missed the first act, but was there for KID:NAP:KIN rockin' out pretty hard. The last band, Dirty Dishes was pretty good too. Sweet venue, really packed little basement area full of kids, with a corner for the band all painted nicely. The acoustics were great and you could hear the music from the whole house, which I really liked. Allston is tight like that because you can blast music anytime, especially in that neighborhood.
Anyways, definitely a cool setup and wish them the best in the future. They are always accepting demos for booking in the future, this is their website here and you can check 'em out on Facebook here
Recent note on their website indicates rumblings of activity from this post-rock juggernaut. Huge influence on me when I was growing up, very excited to see what they get into in the future. Heavy, dark, majestic, orchestral are but a few of the adjectives one could use to describe their music. For now, I can at least look forward to Silver Mt. Zion playing Cambridge in a few days..
Had the pleasure of watching my friends Neff and Kenney perform the other week at the Western Front in Cambridge. Tim Kenney is the other contributor to this blog, and a very talented musician as well, so it was definitely a great event. Really talented, diverse line-up, other acts included Manadub (roots dub style), Eat Cloud (experimental one-piece noise project) and Truman Peyote, a three-piece psychedelic noise group. Really talented array of musicians, and Neff and Kenney's show was no disappointment. Trademark dissonant sounds colliding with elegant synth lines and crunchy drum patterns. I attached a video so you can get some idea of their live performance. Galen, a friend of the band, provided live bicycle-powered electricity for their instruments, as you can see in the video.
Man. What a sick show last night. Boston really came out to represent last night at the Middle East, at one of the dopest shows I've ever seen there. West coast bass monsters the Glitch Mob headlined, with opening sets from Free The Robots and Deru.
I got to the show around 9:45, and found out that the opening sets had switched, meaning I had missed Free The Robots. I was kinda bummed, since I'm a big fan of the new album, which I did a post on a while back.. Anyways, walked into Deru gettin' down, doin' his thing. One of the things I noticed was that his main controller was an APC40! The same Ableton controller I bought not too long ago and have been happily using. Other then that though, I wasn't really that big into his set. His music was pretty rhythmic and pumpin', but lacked a certain edge and for some reason I wasn't that into it. Same thing with his album actually, or at least one of his recent ones. Not bad by any means, but just not my thing exactly. Dude had a lot of energy on stage though and had the crowd moving pretty well, so I gave him credit.
Glitch Mob was the reason everyone was there, and they definitely came through in a large way. On a smoke break outside with friends (Tim my fellow contributor on this blog actually among them) we could see the line to get in stretching down the street. The venue wasn't sold out initially but it must have been by the end of the night. They came on, and mentioned how it was an important show since it was Edit's hometown and his parents were in the audience actually, then proceeded to murder the floor for the next two hours. Visuals were complex, they brought out a bunch of different instruments, and bass was always present and heavy. Their songs are really heady, synth filled epic, banger type songs, and their set lasted a really respectably long time.
Killer, killer show. Got a nice video and a couple good pics to get some idea, and attached a video to a recent music project they did recently, filming large-scale projections in a LA warehouse district. Alright, that's it for now, peace.
Back in February, I made it out for alot of the Together Festival events, but the highlight of the whole festival for me was the Zebbler/Encanti set at the Hansel and Gretel VJ showcase at Mass Art (download it from the embedded player below). Glitchography collects his recordings from 2005-2007 and is full of mind-blowing moments that showcase the beauty and complexity of digital music. It takes skills to make "99 Luft Ballons" interesting again. He's part of a community of local artists known as Vermin Street based out of Charlestown.
This Saturday, Encanti will be performing at Visions at The Good Life bar downtown. With Mistaker and Die Young also on the bill, it's going to be an amazing spring night in Boston. The DJ scene here is really thriving now and these are three of it's best at one bar!
