Teki Latex and Orgasmic, the two Sound Pellegrino bosses who combine forces as Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team, have announced the follow up to their single from back in April with a new offering for the record hub. Activate / I Be arrives with three versions of the two collaborative productions: the original tracks, the instrumentals, and the acapellas. Look for Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team’s new record when it drops on October 1.
Today, we premiere the video for Chairman Kato‘s “Fuck This,” a stormy cut taken from the London producer’s forthcoming Roma EP for Shades of Grey. The deranged video features an unsuspecting protagonist being captured by a mad, bespectacled doctor and his assistant, who combine witchcraft and deeply questionable medical practices with what seems like a Coca-Cola- and tea-infused IV for their victim (who just so happens to be wearing a knitted, rave-appropriate bear mask). Coined a “short film” by director Rob McDougal, the piece seems to jump on the bandwagon of evading the label of “music video.” We’re not exactly sure where to draw the line between the two terms, but we nonetheless enjoy seeing quality, stand-alone filmwork paired with Chairman Kato’s solid tunes. You can check out the artwork and tracklist for Chairman Kato’s forthcoming record before it drops on October 1, below.
1. A Void in You
2. No Dice
3. Fuck This
4. Yeah You’re Right Part 1
5. Yeah You’re Right Part 2
Farmers in Fields of Stars, the new record on the way from London-based producer A Thousand Years, was reportedly inspired by what may be in store for mankind’s future, which is apparently ethereal and beautifully made house music. On “Flying High,” the producer born Zeké Africa places synthetic steel drums alongside an island-inspired melody made from airy synth pads. These harmonious elements are set to a complex house beat the simultaneously remains warm and breezy throughout. To be sure, the vocal samples seem to foreshadow some sort of vague doom, as they transform from organic utterances to completely digitized croaks by the end of the tune. Look for the rest of A Thousand Years’ six-track EP when it drops on October 1 via King Deluxe.
Seasoned Montreal producer Poirier just dropped a free EP, called Kidnap Riddim, which features collaborations with the likes of Boogat & Madhi, Kween G, Mr. OK, and others. The five-track collection finds the MCs delivering firey verses over Poirier’s new riddim, resulting in an energetic EP bursting at the seams with international flavor. You can download the Canadian artist’s offering for the price of an email via the widget below, as well as preview its tunes in the player underneath.
This fall, Hemlock label boss Untold will drop a compilation highlighting the past, present, and future of his record hub with exclusive material from the imprint’s diverse and top-notch roster. Called Chapter One, the forthcoming offering features cuts from the likes of James Blake, Ramadanman, Mount Kimbie, FaltyDL, Guy Andrews, and Randomer, among many others, and will be available on November 12 as either a mixed CD or unmixed vinyl and digital formats. Before its release, you can check out the artwork and tracklist for Hemlock’s compilation, as well as stream an unmixed exclusive from UK tunesmith Joe, below.
1. Fantastic Mr Fox & Rich Reason – Plimsoul
2. LV & Untold – Beacon (Mount Kimbie Remix)
3. James Blake – Air & Lack Thereof
4. Untold – Stop What You’re Doing (James Blake Remix)
5. Untold – Discipline
6. Ramadanman – Tempest
7. Cosmin TRG – Béton Brut
8. Untold – Under
9. FaltyDL – Artemis
10. Sei A – Hyphen
11. Guy Andrews – Resistivity
12. Randomer – This Train
13. Randomer – We Laugh, We Scream
14. Pangaea – Fatalist
15. Joe – Studio Power On
16. Untold – Motion The Dance
17. Nautiluss & Lord Skywave – Ultraviolet
Extra exclusives not on mix:
Joe – R.E.J. Bit (vinyl + Digital)
Untold – Stop What You’re Doing (Kowton Remix)(Digital only)
Untold – Breathe (Nautiluss remix) (Digital only)
Swiss producer Chief sent over a cut from his recently released Shadows Collision, a collection of 22 songs available as either three digital EPs or one vinyl LP. Clocking in just under three minutes, “Stay Puft” comes from Chapter 3 of Shadows Collision, and consists of a thick, cracking hip-hop beat with a low-octave melody that seems to zig-zag throughout the crunchy production. And just to further align himself with the LA beat scene, Chief makes sure to drop some warped video-game sounds and J Dilla samples over the top of “Stay Puft”‘s jittery rhythms.
Iceland’s Kári Guðmundsson (a.k.a. Hypno) isn’t likely to be branded as prolific. Since first emerging in 2009, he has had precious few releases, all separated by extended stints of relative silence. Not many producers stand in such stark contrast to the prevalent mixtape/marketing machinery, where the process of refinement and careful curation has been set aside to make room for a firehose of constant output. In the case of Hypno, this ability to self-edit drives philosophically into his production, which enjoys attentive craftsmanship and is plainly the product of a deliberate mind. On “Kancourde” b/w “K2,” his patience has paid off.
We actually first heard “Kancourde” back in October 2010, when Hyetal included it in his XLR8R Podcast. The drum programming and aural space of the track are so exacting that it’s not hard to envision Hypno spending the subsequent months (and years) poring over minutiae, readying the track for release. At first reminiscent of Untold’s “Anaconda,” staccato clips of twisted percussion insinuate a pointed minimalism. As Hypno’s rhythmic play builds, that minimalism gives way to a stripped-down groove, one that’s heavy on the low end with rolling sub bass underlying the atonal harmony of resonant percussion and (what seems to be) a bird call. At the halfway point, a wash of pads sneaks into the mix; a chord structure settles in and a latent melody emerges from the extant parts. This unusual pacing gives the feeling of a new track being mixed in, but as the strands couple towards a climax, a seamlessness returns with newfound drive.
“K2” is the spiritual sibling of “Kancourde,” employing a similar tonality and sound palette (including—could it be—the same bird call?). However, where “Kancourde” favors space and atonality, “K2” comes pushing to the front with a more predictable polyrhythm and structure. The track builds its percussive backbone in layers before a square-edged melody filters in slowly—one moment brightly in front of the mix, the next sublimating into the ether. Dropping the pace to a half-time feel, the bassline takes center stage with a slipping, accented cadence. The crowning moment comes when “K2” drops down to nothing but a kick offset by the clang of a distant bell; a pair of sine waves edge to the foreground then warble and detune, their increasing unease thrusting right back to the tribal pulse it emerged from.
On the surface, these tunes might seem like a couple of mid-set rollers, but categorizing them as such would be a mistake. Intricate, subtle detailing gives “Kancourde” b/w “K2” a virility that is as intuited as it is intended. This is a fine offering from a talented producer who looks before he leaps. Let’s just hope that Hypno’s next leap comes before the next leap year.
It’s a good thing everyone is really into Flying Lotus, because the producer born Steven Ellison is just going nuts with sharing his new tunes ahead of the October 2 release of his Until the Quiet Comes LP for Warp. The latest leak to surface is the buoyant beatscape of “Putty Boy Strut.” FlyLo’s playful tune premieres along with an animated video directed by Cyriak, which you can watch below, and an interactive webpage, which you can check out here.
This week saw the release of Dasaflex, the sophomore album from London duo Dusk + Blackdown. While the dark and shadowy outfit is certainly known for its production chops, the pair, particularly Martin “Blackdown” Clark, is also known for its deep knowledge of urban UK grooves. As such, we figured the two beatmakers would be excellent candidates for our High Five series, in which artists reach back into their memory banks—along with YouTube’s search engine—and select five meaningful tracks from their past. Dusk + Blackdown not only did that, but they even sent along a brief mission statement explaining the motives behind this particular round of online crate digging.
We’ve tried to pick out five of the best tunes from the myriad of unlabelled D90 cassette tapes that for some reason have been kept under the bed: scratched, stretched, and held together with sellotape. Not tunes that necessarily influenced anyone else, but ones that have stuck with us over the years. To narrow things down, we stuck with British producers and tunes from 1990-92. If you missed them the first time round, we hope you enjoy them. If you didn’t, we hope they bring back some happy memories. (If you’re throwing up now, delete this last sentence.)
Sindecut “Live the Life”
We recall a mate having this on 12″ and bringing it along to a school disco so he could do the dancing-on-the-spot dance to it. [The song] has aged pretty well and it was a joy to dig out the live performance on YouTube. [There’s] so much positive energy. And at a time when most hip-hop was 90 bpm-ish, the flow sounds almost grimey in its tempo.
Subsonic 2 “We Go Subsonic”
A couple of unlikely lads from Sheffield here, our first lesson in the danger of the sub-low: “Get out while you can, ’cause we’re losing Hertz…” Subs, pseudo-bleeps, horns, and donks: nice. Reckon the instrumental would sound pretty funky at 45…
Silver Bullet “Undercover Anarchist”
We remember this sounding insanely fast. It certainly rubbed a few people up the wrong way; seem to recall a well-known magazine sneering it would appeal more to the hardcore crowd than the hip-hop one. That might have been the case, but hip-hop was almost ready to peak, whereas hardcore’s star was only just beginning to rise. As a bonus, the tape sleeve included the lyrics, so you could try rapping along if you fancied a challenge. We didn’t.
Caveman “Fry You Like Fish (Jazz Remix)”
These days, original breaks and samples are only a click away. But back then, you either needed to be born into a cool family, be in the right place at the right time for the funk bootlegs, or trawl the charity shops hoping a trainspotter had pegged out recently. Tunes like this opened our ears to the world of funk. The shout to Westwood at the end is nice too; well before he became the panto villain on Radio 1, his Capital Rap Show was absolutely essential listening.
Demon Boyz “Jungle Dett”
The Rebel MC’s influence spreads far and wide. Not only responsible for releasing his own genre-mangling mishmash of bleeps, breaks, and ragga vocals, his remix of this Demon Boyz tune was an absolute classic. Written 20 years ago but still sounding fresh and edgy, it’s amazing how many of its musical elements are still in use in bass music today.
Irish duo Ryan Vail will soon unleash an EP of remixes featuring the likes of Fort Romeau, Auntie Flo, Unknown, and Lithuanian producer Brokenchord, the latter of which is featured here. Brokenchord (a.k.a. Ernestas Kausylas) goes in on “Days” with a decidedly melodic approach, and delivers a pleasant blend of pitch-shifted vocals and swirling synthscapes set atop a stomping, 4/4 beat. Ryan Vail Remixed follows its Colours EP from earlier this year, and will be available on September 26 via Champion Sound.
