Last week, on WNYU’s Beats In Space radio, a new remix ofJamie xx‘s “Loud Places”–undoubtedly been one of the songs of the year thus far–was sneakily premiered. Created by fellow Young Turksartist, the Spanish John Talabot, the 4×4 re-interpretation takes just a bit from Romy’s soaring vocals building a steady, heavenly house groove with syncopated synths. Adding to the already ethereal feelings evoked, are gorgeous ambient pads that actually resemble a softer version of those that build on Jamie xx’s “Gosh.” Talabot’s re-imagination of the tune never loses the uplifting nature of the “Loud Places,” even without the original’s impassioned Idris Muhammad sample, all the while displaying his equally impressive signature aesthetic. It’s an impressive feat for a song this good, but it comes as no surprise that Talabot, a pioneer in his own right, was able to pull it off. Just bask in, and absorb, the warmth of this phenomenal composition.
In our recent interview with California-bred, Germany-based producerLane 8, he told us he was looking to put “a foot in the indie world as well as…more in progressive house” and the final single from his debut album does just that. With the help of jack-of-all-trades Matthew Dear, “Undercover” is an emotionally powerful slowly building song that will draw you in almost immediately. Dear’s vocals paired with some simple, yet atmospheric, keys open the track before percussion really falls in bringing the track from sultry to triumphant seamlessly. Lane 8’s debut album, Rise, officially drops on July 17th and can be pre-ordered here, but is streaming in its entirety over at the New York Times now. Hit the link below to peep the whole thing.
Producer collaborations tend to take on one of two forms–either composers go back-and-forth transitioning between styles or they blend their techniques to create something completely novel. In the case of Giraffage and Viceroy‘s new single, released on Dim Mak Records, it’s most certainly the latter. “Impression of You” sees a collision of Giraffage’s playful, yet emotional, R&B-tinted steez and Viceroy’s jazzy, summery vibes for an enchanting tune. Giraffage’s signature synth-work and video-game inspired elements open the tune but once the track fills out Viceroy’s radiant style quickly emerges. The tune is tied together nicely by Patrick Baker, who’s name you may recognize from his recent Lane 8collaboration. The wavey, chilled-out feeling of the song combined with Baker’s romantic crooning create an interesting combination–a sort of summer fling anthem.
P.S. If you dig Giraffage as much as we do, make sure to check out our interview with him from last year.
There’s nothing quite like going down a Soundcloud rabbit hole. A month or so ago a friend of mine introduced me to a fantastic singer, songwriter and producer named Henry Green. While perusing his Soundcloud profile, I came across “Keep Me Gold,” an amazing bass-house track made in collaboration with another UK producer named Barny Rubble. I was so impressed that I had to check out some more of Rubble’s music. Then, I found “Sucrose”–an absolutely enormous and filthy future house jam, which has since been the soundtrack of many late night shenanigans including a full-volume play in an Uber ride that probably got me a one-star review.
Since then, we’ve been patiently awaiting new music from Rubble, and today it has finally arrived with his latest single. “One Thing” eases you in with a blissful, piano-driven introduction and airy vocals, which Rubble contributes himself. Just as he begins to lull the listener into a laid-back groove, Rubble introduces a heavy bass-line quickly layered with arpeggiated synths. Those keys briefly take over once again before the song fully erupts into a club-ready anthem. “One Thing” has a marked beauty to it that’s masterfully contrasted with the epic bass line.
Groove to this tune above–Barny Rubble might’ve just officially cemented his place as this ninja’s favorite up ‘n comer.
A few months back, we wrote a piece about Toro y Moititled “5 Faces of Chaz” exploring the broad-ranging styles and experimentations he’s taken with his music thus far, which really just scratches the surface of his creative scope. Chaz Bundick, the enigma behind Toro, has dabbled in hip-hop in the past (Tyler, the Creator loves him and they’ve got a song together called “Hey You”) and, shortly after releasing a stellar indie-rock leaning album in What for?, he seems to be re-opening that facet of his style. Through his Soundcloud page, he’s released a couple unique trap and hip-hop inspired productions including “2Late,” a collab with former Das Racist member Kool A.D., as well as an epic instrumental titled “That Instead of This,” which we can only really describe as “trapwave.”
Yesterday, he released a collaboration with TMN-favorite, Atlanta emcee Rome Fortune, who couldn’t be a better partner-in-crime for a producer as adventurous as Chaz. In some ways similar to Toro y Moi, albeit much earlier in his career, Fortune has been consistently ahead of the curve proving audacious when it comes to stepping out of any genre constraints. His work with Four Tet, most recently on “Leaders,” is the perfect example of how Rome Fortune can be a chameleon of sorts shaping his delivery to match an unconventional instrumental.
Toro y Moi and Rome Fortune’s inventive styles fuse masterfully on “Pitch Black,” which starts off with an ominous bass-line and disorienting arpeggiated synths before falling into a smooth groove. In Toro’s keys and trickling percussion, you can hear bits of the production style on his 2013 album Anything in Return but with a marked cadence friendlier to an emcee. That being said, it’s not by any means a traditionally structured hip-hop strong with a constantly shifting backdrop. Rome raps accordingly, though, with flows that span slow and spread-out raps, melodic chorus-esque portions and traditional hard-hitting delivery sections. Similarly, the lyrics mirror the juxtaposition created by the instrumental as Rome calls himself the “coolest motherfunker in the planet” all the while talking about a soul-sucking relationship.
Collaborations like this one are important for music and have become increasingly feasible in the digital age. Songs like “Pitch Black” tear down genre walls and, in doing so, push culture forward by bringing together fans of both styles. In short, Rome’s right he really is “the coolest montherfunker on the planet.”
When GRiZblew our minds at Mezzanine a couple months back, he was at one point joined by All Good Recordslabel mate Muzzy Bearron the guitar adding an awesome solo to the already enormous set. Just a couple hours ago, GRiZ dropped an absolute gem of a freebie featuring Muzzy Bearr, who put out a stellar debut album a couple months back.
“Summer ’97,” as its name suggests, has been architected specifically for sunny cookouts, block parties and days at the beach. After introducing a backbone of a groovy piano chord progression, fitting vocal sample and signature All Good future funk percussion, the summer tune showcases Muzzy’s skills on the guitar as he solos over the sublime backdrop. Following that guitar solo, GRiZ steps in on the sax offering a jam of his own making for an awesome back and forth between the two talented artists.
Enjoy above and grab a free download–this one’s an absolute must for your summer playlist.
We’re really excited to be teaming up with the Make It Funky collective for the second installment in a series of California showcases highlighting local talent. This time around, we’ll be at Brick & Mortar Music Hall in San Francisco on Saturday bringing yet another myriad of vibes featuring psychedelic indie-rockers Coyote Trickster with support from the soulful Fire and funktastic Color TV. To get you all familiar with our fantastically quirky headliners, we had a unique interview in which we asked the band members–Terence (bass), Paul (guitar), Eric (guitar and vocals) and Huli (drums)–a few questions and then had them finish ten sentences. Get to know the band through their answers and grab your tickets at the link below.
Eric: There was a big group of meilleur casino en ligne france people at Santa Clara [University] that played music together. Kind of an amorphous group of people playing in a cloudy haze, bumping into each other and hearing things out. And then there was a party that came around and the people who were hosting wanted bands to play. So, the big blob full of people that played music together all kind of formed into different bands for the party and one of the bands was Coyote Trickster. That was our first gig. We played with a different drummer then. We moved up to San Francisco after college and then met Huli up here and started playing with him.
Terence: I think once I started playing with Eric–we lived in the same dorm freshman year– and jamming with these guys, I realized it was something I really want to be a huge part of my life. Long story short we ended up living together in a pretty cool space where we can live and play and create. We’re doing what we can and seeing where it goes.
TMN: Tell us a bit about the recording process behind your debut LP.
Paul: We did all the tracking at our house in San Francisco in our garage. I did guitar parts in my closet. Eric put up a bunch of mattresses for a vocal booth. The most disgusting Craigslist mattresses (laughs). We did all that and mixed at Tiny Telephone here in San Francisco and then we got some guy to master it pretty much because we saw he did something for Jerry Garcia.
TMN: Between the soulful vocals, psychedelic elements and jazzy jams, it’s pretty hard to place your music. How do you think about your sound?
Eric: I think we’ve all grown up in an age where genres are so fluid and changing all the time. We never listened to pure rock or pure soul or pure blues—it was always a mixture of all these things together. So, I think we always just search for a groove in all of the songs. They all have to have some kind of rhythm that hooks us and gets people moving. If you see us on stage we’re always bouncing a bit. That’s the core of anything we’re trying to find that works with the band–that kind of groove or rhythm that we all get locked into and excited by. We’re just looking for something that has that appealing background to it and then we’ll combine all the different pieces to fill around that groove.
FINISH THE SENTENCE…
When I was 13, I couldn’t stop listening to…
Huli: Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars by Fatboy Slim
Paul: Led Zeppelin.
Terence: The Fugees.
Eric: I have the worst one out of everyone. I was probably rocking Third Eye Blind—the self titled album. That’s a great album.
The first song I ever made…
Huli: …was called “Healthy Gums” and only used FL Studio presets.
Paul: …was in high school, I don’t know what it was called, a country song with very dirty, sexual innuendo in the lyrics.
Eric: I probably stole from someone else and told people I made it. It was probably like a Good Charlotte chord progression that I slowed down.
