Los Angeles Rapper The Koreatown Oddity Reflects on Spiritual Awakening with New Stones Throw Album

Photo | Mark Bijasa

Los Angeles rapper The Koreatown Oddity, real name Dominique Purdy, will release his latest full-length, Little Dominque’s Nosebleed, on Stones Throw.

Little Dominque’s Nosebleed gives listeners insight into what it was like growing up black in Koreatown, Los Angeles, in the ’80s and how the neighborhood has changed over the years.

Across 16 tracks, Purdy shares the origin story of his spiritual awakening, the result of two car crashes. The first accident happened when he was five years old, rupturing a blood vessel in his nose that resulted in frequent nosebleeds. A couple of years later, another careless driver hit him and caused a broken leg and worsened the nosebleeds.

As Purdy explains, nothing quite gives perspective on life like brushing with death. “Experiencing these traumatic moments so early in my childhood allowed me to have a unique outlook on life… I have had a deep spiritual connection and awareness since the accidents and feel like it’s reflected in all of my work and in my life as a human being.”

The album showcases soulful loops, jazzy licks, comedy, obscure samples, and odd scenarios to communicate the enlightenment. It’s produced entirely by Purdy himself but features the people of his family and community. Guest artists include Sudan Archives, Anna Wise, Baby Rose, C.S Armstrong, and Fatlip.

A unique voice in the Los Angeles scene, The Koreatown Oddity’s music comes from a deeply personal place, telling stories of the city through the eyes of someone with deep roots in it. His last album on Stones Throw came with 2017’s Finna Be Past Tense.

Tracklisting

01. Looking Back from the Future feat. Baby Rose, C.S. Armstrong
02. Little Dominiques Nosebleed Part 1 feat. Sudan Archives
03. Koreatown Oddity
04. Chase the Spirit feat. Jimetta Rose
05. Darknesses Interlude
06. Ginkabiloba feat. Taz Arnold
07. Weed in LA
08. Little Dominiques Nosebleed Part 2
09. A Bitch Once Told Me feat. Ahwlee
10. No Llores feat. Trenttruce, Edule, Emmanuel Coto
11. Attention Challenge Feat. Swift, Skyler Duf, Fatlip, Giovanni Marks, Nita Darling, Corrine Atkinson, Lewis
12. Kimchi
13. The World’s Smallest Violin feat. Jimetta Rose, Corrine Atkinson
14. We All Want Something feat. Anna Wise
15. Lap of Luxury feat. Qur’an Shaheed, Kintaro
16. Little Dominiques Nosebleed Outro

Little Dominique’s Nosebleed LP is out on vinyl and digitally on June 19. Meanwhile, you can pre-order over here at Bandcamp and hear “Attention Challenge” and “Kimchi” below.

Friske Unveils Debut Album on Goldie’s Metalheadz

Friske will release his debut album on Metalheadz, titled A Different Perspective.

Friske, real name Sam Oliver, has been part of the Metalheadz family for seven years, since 2013’s Covert / Venture EP. He’s been working on A Different Perspective for three years, and it comprises 16 typically Friske tracks full of dark and broody atmospherics and razor sharp breaks, all with taste of hip-hop.

A Different Perspective is the third album Metalheadz, the British drum & bass label founded by Goldie, has released this year, following an outing from Bristolian Stephen Redmore as Mako.

Tracklisting

01. A Different Perspective
02. Destination
03. Introspect
04. Untitled Piano
05. Starship
06. The Love We Had
07. SkylinePurple
08. Sky
09. Beacon
10. Urban Decay
11. Sabotage
12. Control (Remix)
13. Crime In The City
14. Gangway
15. Resistance
16. Rebel Force

A Different Perspective LP is out digitally on June 26. You can pre-order over at Bandcamp, and stream the title-track below.

Galcher Lustwerk Next on Ghostly with New EP, ‘Proof’

Galcher Lustwerk will release a new EP on Ghostly International, titled Proof.

Proof arrives less than a year out from Information, the Cleveland-raised, New York-based producer’s debut on Ghostly. It features a handful of new tracks, recorded in a similar midwest mindset, alongside an uptempo take on “Another Story.”

We’re told that “I Had To Slow It Down” acts almost as a sequel to Information’s “Been A Long Night,” and there’s also a spin on “Speed” by AceMoMA, the rising production duo of AceMo and MoMA Ready. “I think they are definitely carrying the torch in terms of POC in NY dance music, so I wanted to put them on and give their NY style an avenue on here,” Lustwerk says.

In April, Lustwerk released a new EP called 420 as 420. Each of the 16 tracks are four minutes and 20 seconds long, and the EP costs $69 on Bandcamp.

The digital version of Proof includes bonus track “Leave.”

Tracklisting

01. Proof
02. I Had To Slow It Down
03. Graham
04. Another Story (Another Version)
05. Speed (AceMoMa Remix)
06. Leave (Digital Bonus)

Proof EP is scheduled for July 10 release on vinyl and digitally. Meanwhile, you can pre-order here and stream the AceMoMa remix of “Speed” below.

Podcast 647: The Orb

We’re publishing this mix a week later than our usual Tuesday slot, in observance of “Blackout Tuesday.” It comes from The Orb, or more accurately Alex Paterson, who has been the music group’s only constant since its ’80s formation. In the decades since, Paterson has been joined by various collaborative cohorts, most recently Michael Rendall, who brings a refreshed and ebullient morale to Abolition of the Royal Familia, The Orb’s 17th album, available now via Cooking Vinyl.

The Orb pioneered the ambient house genre. They got their start when Paterson began DJing with Jimmy Cauty, launching a residency in the chill-out room of London club night “The Land of Oz.” Their style, a sonic-tapestry encompassing slowed down Chicago house and an esoteric range of sounds, appealed to early morning London ravers, who sought the soulful rhythms as nearby clubs began closing their doors.

It’s a style that Paterson has carried over into The Orb’s production, which took flight with 1991. Multiple successful albums (their second, U.F. Orb, topped the UK albums chart), affiliations with Island Records and Kompakt, and collaborations with the likes of David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) and Lee “Scratch” Perry have established The Orb as one of electronic music’s most enduring and defining musical acts.

Abolition of the Royal Familia forms the second part of No Sounds Are Out Of Bounds, released in 2018. In part inspired by and in retrospective protest of the royal family’s historical endorsement of the East India Company’s opium trade, it’s once again rooted in deep ambiance and cerebral, throbbing dub, but this time with a distinctly pop element.

In the album’s celebration, Paterson has compiled one of his special ambient sets. Spanning two hours in length, it incorporates a wide array of samples and sound effects, mixed under the music of some of his favorite musicians past and present. He recorded it one afternoon during a busy lockdown period, completely on the fly.

01. How has lockdown been for you?

Surprisingly busy. I’ve had to deal with people passing away, but we’ve had births in the family, too. My cousin who lives in Turkey had a little baby boy in April, and just before lockdown my partner became a grandma and I became a step-grandad, to a beautiful baby girl called Aria. It would be great to see them all again soon. My mother’s old house flooded recently, but luckily we had house insurance. Phew. How was your lockdown?

02. What music have you been listening to during this period?

With WNBC London, we have a radio station on which I’ve been playing 24- and 12-hour sets. From ambient to AM-bience and reggae to dub, with house and techno as a backbone. At home, I listen to other people’s shows on WNBC. The station has no news, no time checks no adverts—just good old fashioned soul (and no heavy metal allowed).

03. Where and when did you record this mix?

At the truly amazing book and record bar in West Norwood, South London. It was sometime in April, but the shop closed to the public. I was socially distanced. This a safe mix mate!

04. What equipment did you use to record it?

Pioneer 800 mixer, two pioneer CDJs, and a couple of Technics 1210s.

05. How did you choose the records that you’ve included?

Pot luck! The more stoned I am, the better choices I make.

06. What’s on your horizon this year?

A new label featuring new artists from New York, Los Angeles, and Munich, and new remixes of the recent Orb album, Abolition Of The Royal Familia. I have four more albums nearly ready too and hopefully we’ll tour next year. Be safe, and never forget black lives matter. There’s no plan b, and we have the power to change now. Be cool. Don’t be no fool.

XLR8R has now joined Mixcloud Select, meaning that to download the podcast you will need to subscribe to our Select channel. The move to Mixcloud Select will ensure that all the producers with music featured in our mixes get paid. You can read more about it here.

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Editor note: there is no tracklisting for this mix.

Los Angeles’ Alexandria Teams Up with Taydex for Third Album, ‘Journey’

Photo: Andrew Wagman

Alexandria has released Journey, her third album, available now through Text Me Records.

Across nine tracks, the Cincinnati, Ohio native explores themes of love and triumph. Produced in collaboration with Taylor Dexter, real name Taydex, the album marks a period of change that led Alexandria from Atlanta to her new home, Los Angeles. She explains that it’s “unlike anything I’ve ever done before.”

“I was starting a new life, and in a new relationship,” she told Bandcamp. “There was a lot of excitement, and a lot of new experiences and opportunities. Working towards what you want in life is truly a journey in itself, and being in a new relationship definitely inspired songs like ‘Trust’ and ‘Off Guard.'”

It’s her first release on the San Francisco’s Text Me, having released her last album, 2017’s Cut Of Cloth, on Awful Records.

Alexandria has been singing from an early age, training at Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts. She released her debut album, Rebirth, in 2014, drawing on a toxic relationship while studying at Georgia’s Clark Atlanta University.

Tracklisting

01. Guide Me
02. Trust
03. Off Guard
04. Everything’s Alright
05 Ain’t Polite
06. I Found In You
07. My Love
08. If You Want To
09. La Da Da

Journey LP is available digitally now. You can order over at Bandcamp now, where you can also stream the record.

Toada Reflects on Recurrent Social Inequalities on New EP

Toada will release Poema Colectivo, his new EP, on August 14.

Toada, real name Valdir da Silva, wrote Poema Colectivo as a cathartic artistic expression during the pandemic, reflecting on social inequalities. The calming, hopeful, and sometimes agitated tracks “emphasise the need for an honest collective response towards a better world,” he tells XLR8R. It explores downtempo and ambient, and follows his release on XLR8R+20 alongside Rob Garza from Thievery Corporation and Mike Shannon as Blue Fields.

Da Silva grew up around Sintra, a charming Portuguese town. In 2015, he conceived Toada, an amalgamation of several other musical projects that matured in Berlin, Germany.

Toada’s releases began in 2018, all of them through Plūma, his own label set up for his own work. Peso Pluma came first, capturing Toada’s downtempo electronic pop sound, and there’s since been another EP, a single, and his debut album, Cambiante, which served as a reflection of human diversity— “a statement against oversimplified categories and stereotypes,” Toada says. “It’s an ode to the variety of colours, shapes, and characteristics imprinted in each individual.”

Tracklisting

01. Ampla
02. Mexe Contigo
03. A Movida
04. Água E Menta
05. Nissi

Poema Colectivo EP is out digitally on August 14 via Plūma. Clips will be added as soon as they become available, but you can listen to Toada’s work over here.

Guatemala’s Mabe Fratti Shares Sublime New Single

Fratti (left) and Cervantes (right)

Mabe Fratti has shared a new single in collaboration with cellist Gibrana Cervantes.

Birthed from a small loop of harmonics, Aire was composed in 2016, in a friend’s apartment in Monterrey, México not long after Fratti had moved there from Guatemala. Fratti was trying to conjure up something new for her live set up and she conceived this track, which has continued to evolve ever since, becoming more aggressive and destructive. Although never being officially recorded until now, this is a track that Fratti has continued to play live for years.

Mabe Fratti is a cellist now based in Mexico City. After various low-profile live performances across Guatemala and Mexico, she signed to Hole Records for her debut album, Pies Sobre La Tierra, meaning “Feet on the Ground.” Available now, the eight-track long-player, only her second label outing, is a chillingly beautiful showcase in the delicate and deeply intimate soundscapes Fratti creates using only synthesiser, vocals, and her cello. You can read more about her story and her work in her XLR8R interview here.

Tracklisting

01. Aire (ft. Gibrana Cervantes)

Aire is scheduled for June 10 digital release via Unheard of Hope. Meanwhile, you can stream it below.

Boy Jugo Reveals Jazz-Fused Debut EP

Boy Jugo has released his debut EP, JUICED!

Boy Jugo is the alias of Jordan Reed, from Dallas, Texas. He found music through his brother, an artist named Capshun, and has put out a series of series of single-track releases, including “Shout It” to Bonsai Collective‘s first roster compilation, Hayashi. His music touches on neo soul and jazz.

Reed’s love for jazz shines through across the six tracks of JUICED!. It features Maxwell Taylor, Evan Barners, and Stephen Douglas on guitar. Kyle Ohm plays trumpet on “Roofus” and Alexander King contributes flugelhorn on “Yezzir!”

All profits go towards the Breonna Taylor justice fund.

We included this release in our list of black artists and labels to support on Bandcamp, which you can read here.

Tracklisting

01. Packed (feat. Stillwater Max)
02. Truffles (feat. Stephen Douglas)
03. Channel
04. Roofus (feat. KileWithAnI & Bvrnes)
05. Yezzir! (feat. Alexander King)
06. The Quiet Loud

JUICED! EP is available digitally via Bandcamp. Check it out here, where you can also stream the music.

Terrace Martin Shares Protest Song feat. Denzel Curry, Kamasi Washington, G Perico, and Daylyt

Terrace Martin has released the politically charged piece “Pig Feet,” featuring Denzel Curry, Kamasi Washington, G Perico, and and battle rapper Daylyt.

The self-released song is accompanied by a music video from Brendan Walter and Jasper Graham, collecting recent video from protests across the United States occuring in response to the death of George Floyd in the hands of Minnesota police. The ending segment of the video lists the names of the countless African-American’s slain by law enforcement.

Martin, a Los Angeles multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer, released the following statement in conjunction with the new song and music video:

“Someone asked, how do I feel? I told them hurt, fearless, angry, aware and fully ready to protect me, my family and my people at all cost. I got together with Black men that felt the same way and created a work of truth. ‘PIG FEET.'”

Prior to the release of “PIG FEET,” Martin released the Impedance EP and the Ric Wilson collaborative record They Call Me Disco earlier this year. You can stream the new Terrace Martin music video “PIG FEET” below.

We feel strongly that we must use our voice as a vehicle for meaningful action. You can read more about what we’re doing here, and see a list of resources here.

We Are Committed to the Fight for Racial Equality

We feel strongly that we must use our voice as a vehicle for meaningful action.  

We took yesterday to reflect, understand, and strategize what we can do. As an editorial platform and enterprise founded on electronic music, XLR8R wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for Black and queer Americans. It’s imperative that we do all we can to amplify their voices, and mobilize the electronic music community in this cause. We’ve been reviewing our structures to better achieve this. 

In doing so, we’ve been looking backward as well as forward. At times, our journalistic standards have failed the Black communities, whether directly or indirectly, and for this we apologize. Equality is a core component of a balanced music ecosystem and we pledge to implement a diversity structure for XLR8R+, our editorial, and employment. We have been working with members of the Black community, and we will be rolling this out soon. 

This will be an ongoing and expanding process for years to come, and we will seek unique ways to fight for all marginalized and oppressed people.

We are also planning an initiative and a special release for XLR8R+, and all proceeds will go towards supporting racial equality. 

We welcome your feedback, so if you have any questions or would just like to make a point, please email us at [email protected]. We endeavor to respond within 48 hours.

Sincerely, 

The XLR8R Staff

We compiled a comprehensive resource list for how you can help, donate, learn, and advocate for the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight for racial equality. You can check that out here.

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