Enjoy a new Mr. Scruff remix off a special limited version EP titled, Andreya Triana – Lost Where I Belong, which also features a remix of “Lost Where I Belong” by Flying Lotus. Hot Ninja Tunes release! Only 300 copies were pressed for Independent Record Store Day 2010 in the UK. Check it!

Andreya Triana – “Far Closer” (Mr. Scruff Remix)

Andreya Triana – “Lost Where I Belong” (Flying Lotus Remix)

Todd Edwards – I Might Be - Here is a nice throwback to the days of Artful Dodger, and the styles of Deja Vu and Just a Man. Enjoy!

[Scion Audio/Visual, Apr 2010]

(The EP is available for free download here)

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Nite Jewel – I Want You Back - This is an oddly addictive track with some eerie vocals to accompany some lovely synth work. Great production. The chorus I love. Check it!

[Italians Do It Better, Aug 2009] [IDIB 018]

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London Elektricity versus Robert Owens – My Dreams (Searching Dub Mix) - This is a great soulful drum and bass classic from Hospital records. Beautiful!

[Hospital Records, Mar 2001] [NHS28]

Thanks to Speaker Snacks, I discovered a new song off Flying Lotus’ Cosmogramma. Check it!

Update: stream all of Cosmogramma on FlyLo’s MySpace page.

Ephemeral – Ephix

From compilation: Casanova Lounge [Diventa, Feb. 2009] [DVM 019]

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DJ Q – Season’s End

From LP: Music As We Know It [Glasgow Underground, 2002] [GU LP 33]

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Blank & Jones – Smooth

Blank & Jones – Chilled Cream

From album: Relax – Edition Four [Soundcolours, Apr. 2009] [SC 0109]

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Human Dimension – Just a Cool Day (Cool Mix)

From album: Design & Lifestyle [Different City, May 2006] [803680 433058]

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CFCF – You Hear Colours

From EP: You Hear Colours [Acéphale, Mar. 2009] [ACE002]

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Tom Middleton – Serendipity

From album: Lifetracks [Big Chill Recordings, Oct. 2007] [FACTOR 19]

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Download a mix of these tracks. They are guaranteed to send you places. Enjoy!

Downtempo Mix – 7 Must Haves – April 2010 [Right Click, Save Target As]

Tracklist

1. Ephemeral – Ephix

2. CFCF – You Hear Colours

3. DJ Q – Season’s End

4. Blank & Jones – Smooth

5. Tom Middleton – Serendipity

6. Blank & Jones – Chilled Cream

7. Human Dimension – Just a Cool Day (Cool Mix)

Check a remix “Superfast Jellyfish” by a new artist from Edinburgh, UK, who goes by the name of Unicorn Kid. Listen and enjoy!

Gorillaz – Superfast Jellyfish (Unicorn Kid Remix)

Update: Here is another remix, done by Evil Nine, who tweeted one week ago about finishing their remix of the track. I found Unicorn Kid’s remix hotter, but check it! [courtesy of Face Ache]

Gorillaz – Superfast Jellyfish (Evil Nine Remix)

Update 2: The third remix for “Superfast Jellyfish” arrives courtesy of The Line Of Best Fit, enjoy!

Gorillaz – Superfast Jellyfish (Mighty Mouse Remix)

Hot stuff here from Gorillaz, a clash of hip hop and arabic. Listen and enjoy!

Gorillaz – White Flag (Feat. Bashy, Kano, and the National Orchestra for Arabic Music)

[Virgin, March 2010] [5099962754729]

These are must listen’s. Two great techno/dubstep mixes – One by Shed and the other by Scuba. Enjoy!

FACT MIX 116 - Shed (January 10th 2010)

Tracklist

1. Moving Ninja – Uranium – Tectonic
2. Distance – Empire – Hotflush
4. Peverelist – Esperanto – Punch Drunk
5. Elemental – Metal Funk – Runtime
6. Moderat – Rusty Nails – Bpitch
7. Black Pocket – U’re A Sta (Martyn Remix) – Fat City
8. Skream – One For The Heads – Tempa
9. Elemental – Shiner – Urban Graffiti
10. Aphex Twin – Digeridoo (Live in Cornwall) – R&S
11. Drexciya – Water Walker – Submerge
12. Link – The Augur – Evolution
13. UR- The Seawolf – UR
14. Surgeon – Dry – Dynamic Tension
15. Joy Orbison – Wet Look – Hotflush
16. Loefah -  Twisup Vip (RMY by Youngsta & Task) DMZ
17. Pan Sonic – Vampina 2 – Blast First
18. MDR – Rerun – MDR
19. Zomby – Strange Fruit – Ramp
20. Shed – Supa – Soloaction

Shed – Selection One (This is a favorite from Shed. Check it!)

From the EP, Shot Selection: [Soloaction Records, Sept 2006] [SOA1209]

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RESIDENT ADVISOR PODCAST 198 – Scuba vs. SCB (March 15th 2010)

Tracklist

01.[00:00] DJ Rum – St Martin [Dub]
02.[04:14] FaltyDL – Because You [Forthcoming Planet Mu]
03.[06:20] George Fitzgerald – Weakness [Forthcoming Hotflush]
04.[11:30] Ation – Missing You [Dub] … See More
05.[16:20] V.I.V.E.K. – Strategy [Dub]
06.[19:30] Ramadanman – No Swing [Forthcoming Hessle Audio]
07.[22:40] Headhunter – Ginneys [Dub]
08.[23:30] Nocturnal Sunshine – Can’t Hide The Way I Feel [Dub]
09.[27:14] The Black Dog – Floods (Surgeon Remix) [Soma]
10.[31:30] Cluekid – Sector 9 [Forthcoming Sin City]
11.[32:44] Bad Autopsy – Psionic Terror [Dub]
12.[36:18] Nocturnal Sunshine – Feline [Dub]
13.[37:56] Addison Groove – Footcrab [Swamp 81]
14.[40:06] Sepalcure – The Warning [Forthcoming Hotflush]
SCB Set
01.[43:38] Sigha – Ratio [Dub]
02.[47:28] Paul Brtschitsch – Doriana (Phil Campbell Remix) [Rootknox]
03.[51:30] Sigha – Shake [Forthcoming Hotflush]
04.[56:00] Scuba – Hard Boiled (SCB >> VIP Mix) [Dub]
05.[61:54] Marcel Dettmann – Vertigo (Wincent Kunth Remix) [Ostgut Ton]
06.[64:00] Made Up Sound – Crisis [Forthcoming A Made Up Sound]
07.[69:20] SCB – 3_5 [SCB]
08.[74:00] Terence Fixmer – Electric City (Function Remix) [Electric Deluxe]
09.[76:00] Mount Kimbie – Vertical (SCB Edit) [Forthcoming Hotflush]

Erykah Badu – “Window Seat”

Erykah Badu undresses while walking in Dallas, Texas.

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Matt and Kim – “Lesson Learned”

The video that inspired “Widown Seat”.

Two indie pop singers undress while walking in Times Square, NYC, New York.

Read about making the video here (Pitchfork).

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Make the Girl Dance – “Baby Baby Baby”

Nude women walking on a crowded street in Paris, singing some dirty French lyrics to a dance tune.

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Enjoy!

Flying Lotus, Benga, and Lazer Sword @ S.A.T., Montreal, March 25^th 2010

March the 25^th was to be a big night for me in Montreal. Flying Lotus was set to do a show for the Neon + High Food Festival, at a time of garnering massive worldwide attention for his forthcoming album on the Warp label, called Cosmogramma. The Californian whose music has traces of hip hop, soul, and electronica always strives to break new ground with his productions. In a recent interview with Joe Muggs for Resident Advisor, he was asked if it was “a deliberate decision for [him] to branch out and take in extra influences from other genres in the new album”. He explains it as a natural process, saying “it’s just living and learning more, diving deeper into the imagination”. He feels compelled, with all the success he’s had so far, to “take it further and dive further into the ideas that [he’s] had.” In the same interview, FlyLo hinted towards including more of his music in his live shows than in the past. His decision is attributed with his new album taking off and “people proving so open to all this shit”.

Going to the SAT to watch Flying Lotus was a really exciting prospect, especially after listening to some of his sexy new Cosmogramma tracks, which I’ve already posted and mentioned, and his live radio show on BBC on March 23^rd. Catching Benga for the first time, one of the forefathers of dubstep, was something else to really look forward to.

I came in to the SAT at 11:30 to catch an hour of Lazer Sword. It was a dubstep affair from Low Limit and Lando Kal of Lazer Sword, their influences deep in hip hop. They played a few highlights that I definitely was digging, one of which was a spacious cut-up of a beat with shimmers of synths delicately trickling over. Would love to get my hands on that. I recognized a tune that had an interesting synthy breakdown;  “Fuzzy Ankles”, off their new EP. On a sour note though, there were times they cut up their beats a bit too hastily, giving less of a chance for the crowd to appreciate the obvious quality of the tracks they were playing.

As anyone who went to this event will tell you, a major setback in appreciating the music was a problem with the sound system. A lot of what was probably quality stuff came out like noise. The sound didn’t improve, but only got worse, as the night wore on.

Flying Lotus took the stage at 12:30, and the crowd which was scattered on the dancefloor during Lazer Sword was now bunching up by the DJ booth.  I squeezed through the crowd to inch towards FlyLo. A frenzy of ppl were joyously shoving about to get closer to the center of the action. Flying Lotus opened with a  track that got people very pumped, his remix of “I Feel Like Dying”. Some great music followed, including an incredible tune off Cosmogramma (when I get the name I will definitely post!) , and another one called “Zodiac”. Album comes out in May! The ‘incredible tune’ and a bunch of other Cosmogramma tracks you can hear on Flying Lotus’ BBC gig. Also, FlyLo managed to throw in a sample of Radiohead’s “Idioteque” which really connected with the crowd. He was killin’ it!

Video courtesy of Brandon Rae

By the time Benga came on to take the stage at 1:30am, the problematic sound system was not the only issue. According to The New Montreal, neighboring residents complained to the cops and called four times, forcing the volume down. Unfortunately, there was little Benga could do at this point to get the party going. Poor guy was helpless as he was playing some obviously great bassy tunes, but the crowd was drowning the sound as they screamed “Louder!” and “Turn it up!”. During this frenzy, Flying Lotus took the microphone, which was barely audible to most of the crowd, and attempted to calm the masses and get them to enjoy the show despite the sound problems.

Nothing really helped Benga bang his tunes proper, which from those that I heard, were damn good records that could silence any crowd given the right volume and sound system. After reading a past interview with Benga by RA’s Samuel Strang, I can be pretty sure that Benga was not at all happy with the situation: “If the system’s good and they have a good set-up, I’m always going to enjoy it because I can put it across to people in the way I want to. It’s only when the system’s no good I end up thinking my travel was a waste of time. To preach this music, which is bassline music, you need a good system. Hook me up with that and I’m happy.”

To add to the mess of sound problems, at around 2:00am, the doors of the S.A.T. were closed because of complaints. I found out because I wanted to go outside and speak to a few friends. I got towards the door to find out from the bouncer what happened. He shut the door and didn’t let anyone leave the club. Heading back down, I spotted Flying Lotus chilling right near the coat check! Talking to fans, hell yeah!

It was an unfortunate night for the artists, promoters, and venue owners. I hope Benga and Flying Lotus will come back and let Montreal redeem itself! You know we are more than capable of throwing good parties!

Video courtesy of Brandon Rae

Update: It seems one of the Lazer Sword boys lost their iPhone, as posted on their Twitter page.

The unique style of dubstep tracks like the latest from Joker called “Tron”, is what some are calling  ‘purple wow’, a “colourful synth-led melodic style within dubstep”, as quoted by Multiverve on their SoundCloud page. Multiverve is a Bristol, UK based bigtime label running a number of sub-labels including Tectonic, ‘Earwax , Subtext, Kapsize, Caravan, and Vertical Sound. Artists include Pinch, 2562, and Joker.

A number of Joker’s tracks have a beautiful blend of the Classic West Coast Rap influence and the more recent UK Dubstep influence. This music, being referred to by Joker and others in his circle, as ‘purple wow’, can easily get the remaining hip hop heads, those that are still straggling behind,  to finally cross over and appreciate what dubstep is doing. It’s good stuff! Listen and enjoy these few monster tracks that I’ve posted from Joker, including the most recent “Tron”.

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Joker – Tron (Original Mix)

Joker – Tron (VIP Mix)

[Kapsize Recordings, (to be released) April 2010] [KAP005]

Update: Track was reviewed by Resident Advisor

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Joker and Ginz – Purple City

[Kapsize Recordings, May 2009] [KAP004]

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Joker – Do It

[Kapsize Recordings, Apr 2009] [KAP003]

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Joker – Digidesign

[Hyperdub, Feb 2009] [HDB018]

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Joker – Output One Output Two

[Tectonic Recordings, Dec 2009] [TEC036]

One of my favorite Joker tracks is “Output One Output Two”, a production that strays away from ‘the purple wow’ of tracks like “Purple City” and “Digidesign”, that focus on twisting melodic synths. In this one, Joker keeps the attention mostly on bass and lower ends, but in the most satisfying moment of the track (~2:00), he brings in a beautiful blend of pads that inject some color and life into this great piece.  In a review of  Joker’s “City Hopper” single, RA writer Oli Marlow elequently describes the effect of Joker’s work on “Output One Output Two”:  “[He] colours the bassline and its solid beat structure with twists of mechanoid screaming before the pads blossom and lift the tone away from the force of the bass’ mid-range”. Love this track!