This unofficial-but-Caribou-approved edit of the Canadian musicmaker’s Swim cut “Sun” is a deftly chopped-up and collaged version of the psych-heavy dance tune by UK-based Midland (pictured above). The talented Leeds-based DJ/producer has been gaining momentum lately, thanks to a collaborative 12″ with Ramadanman and a hotly tipped contribution to FACT’s mix series, among other big moves. Taking just a cursory listen to his Caribou re-work, it initially seems like not a whole lot has changed from the original track, but underneath the wealth of recognizable sounds—the warbling synth melodies, the delayed vocals, the upbeat rhythms—subtle extras have been introduced to the mix to strengthen “Sun”‘s dancefloor appeal. Midland’s addition of bouncing low-end, live percussion sounds, and eventually, his own layers of moving synths help transform Caribou’s song from a piece of bedroom party music to a club-appropriate house jam.
Texan DJ/producer Orion—who also happens to be the head honcho of Austin’s monthly Peligrosa party—has taken it upon himself to do us all a favor and invent another genre. Now, we can all work on integrating ‘boombachero’—a new sound that combines moombahton, tribal guarachero, and juke/footwork around 140bpm—into our musical lexicon and collections. A great place to start would be this downloadable collection of edits by DJ Orion, appropriately titled Boombachero Vol.1. Over on the tunesmith’s Bandcamp page you can nab 30(!) tunes at a ‘pay-what-you-like’ rate, including re-works of Munchi, Dave Nada, Sonido Rampage y Nader, and more. Check out the sultry cover and full tracklist below, and also head over here to get your mitts on a couple of boombachero mixtapes that Orion put together in recent weeks.
1. Aponte o Não (Orion Edit) 2. Pilulas Azuis e Brancos (Orion Edit) 3. Toma Berimbau (Orion Edit) 4. Arroz Con Pollo (Orion Edit) 5. Sandungueo (Orion Edit) 6. Punk Rock Latino (Orion Edit) 7. Pero Que lo Que Mujer (Orion Edit) 8. Pepe Volvio (Orion Edit) 9. Metele Bellaco (Orion Edit) 10. La Gata (Orion Edit) 11. La Brasilena Ta Montao (Orion Edit) 12. JB RIP (Orion Edit) 13. Hey (Orion Edit) 14. Fuck House (Orion Edit) 15. Boneknuckles (Orion Edit) 16. Ragga Muffin (Orion Edit) 17. Big Pun (Orion Edit) 18. Boy (Orion Edit) 19. Calypso (Orion Edit) 20. Chavii (Orion Edit) 21. Crazie (Orion Edit) 22. Esta Noche (Orion Edit) 23. Datsik – Firepower (Orion Edit) 24. Face Off (Orion Edit) 25. Hocus Pocus (Orion Edit) 26. Let Me Bang (Orion Edit) 27. My Feelings (Orion Edit) 28. Senta (Orion Edit) 29. Sacanagem (Orion Edit) 30. If You Leave (Orion Edit)
Baltimore producer Jason Urick has dismantled the elements of the “Tin Man” song, originally composed by his B-more brothers in experimental sounds, Future Islands (pictured above), and flung them to the far reaches of outer space on this remix. For most of Urick’s 10-plus-minute re-work, rolling, tribal drum rhythms are the only thing keeping the wafting synth ambiance, indecipherable vocal utterances, delayed guitar plucks, and atonal alien transmissions from completely floating off into the empty expanse. It’s repetitious, it’s somewhat formless, and it’s a bit indulgent, but those are the precise reasons why this dubby track is so overwhelming and easy to lose oneself in.
From the recently announced album by Norway’s Bjørn Torske, entitled Kokning, “Bergensere” is a lengthy exercise in the producer’s self-proclaimed “skranglehouse” sound. Torske’s spacey disco tune rides on a single groove created by a straightforward dance beat, a funky bassline, a handful of assorted percussive sounds, and a slow-growing mass of melodic instrumentation. On its journey, “Bergensere” grows bigger and bigger with each new element introduced to its sonic arsenal, but never becomes dense enough to overshadow the solid rhythm at its core. You can find out more about Torske’s upcoming new record before it’s released on November 15, here.
Born on a 2009 trip to Japan, Bomb Zombies is the brand-new duo of DJ Nobody and MC Nocando, both residents of LA’s infamous Low End Theory club. The newly formed, forward-thinking hip-hop outfit will release its nine-track debut, entitled Sincerely Yours, via Nocando’s recently minted Hellfyre Club label on November 9. Before Bomb Zombies’ record drops, you can check out its artwork, tracklist, and lead single, “FWUH (Fuck What U Heard),” below.
1. FWUH (Fuck What U Heard) 2. Payola 3. Sincerely Yours 4. Lock the Balcony ft. Kail 5. Over the Edge 6. Get ‘Em 7. Rat in a Cage 8. Wednesday 9. Bangs (Bonus)
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Brooklyn’s premiere hub for globally minded dance tunes and other electronic sounds, Dutty Artz, is set to release a brand-new compilation of international DJs and producers, entitled New York Tropical. The 12-song release is made up primarily of exclusive tracks from the likes of DJ Orion, Maga Bo, Kingdom, Nguzunguzu, Rita Indiana, and Dutty Artz bosses DJ /rupture and Matt Shadetek (both pictured above), among others, and comes with an array of animated album covers created by U Mean Computer. The NY label will make Tropical available for download on November 9, but it’s preceded by a release of the compilation in ringtone format. If you head over here, you can download Tropical‘s 12 tracks for use on your iPhone (the label seems unsure if it will work on any other smart phones). You can also check out the full tracklist and a selection of the artwork below.
1. Knight Magic – El Baile de la Cumbia 2. Rita Indiana – Los Poderes (Kingdom Remix) 3. Matt Shadetek & Lamin Fofana – Sunshine City 4. La Ola Criminal – Sin Gas 5. Maga Bo – Analys D’Amour (Instrumental) 6. DJ /rupture & Matt Shadetek – Sunset B35 7. DJ Orion – The Undertow (Instrumental) 8. KG – I’m Feeling Funky 9. Nguzunguzu – El Bebe Ambiente (New Mix and Master) 10. DJ /rupture, Matt Shadetek, & Chief Boima – Elegy for Mr Peach (Rupture Mix) 11. Lido Pimienta – La Minga (Sonora Remix) 12. Matt Shadetek – This Is Love
2010 has been another busy year for dance music and, as per usual, a whole new crop of subgenres has entered the lexicon. But perhaps none has been more unexpected than moombahton, the loping Latin sound that Dave Nada stumbled upon by slowing down Dutch house tracks to reggaeton tempo. In the span of just a few months, the sound has exploded across the globe, and while Dave Nada—who also spends time as one-half of Nadastrom—remains the de facto moombahton king, NYC DJ/producer Sabo has emerged as the movement’s clear number two. It makes sense then that the two would team up for Moombahton Massive, a party going down next Wednesday, October 27 at Washington, DC’s U Street Music Hall. Check the flyer at the end of the post for all the details, and pay particular attention to the party’s special guest—Dutch moombahton madman and former Bubblin’ act Munchi, who will be making his US debut.
To celebrate all this moombahton mayhem, Dave Nada and Sabo have also teamed up to release the Moombahton Massive EP. You can listen to and download the entire six-track release for free here. The tracklist is as follows:
1. Dave Nada “You Take It (Moombahton Club Dub)” 2. Sabo “Devoted Moombahton” 3. Joyce Muniz & Shanti Roots “Cumbia Nightlife (Dave Nada’s Moombahton Edit)” 4. Sabo “Toca Pra Moombahton” 5. Nadastrom “Here Comes Foamo (Moombahton Edit)” 6. Sabo “Zulu Funk”
Lastly, Sabo has assembled a special hour-long Moombahton Massive mix, which you can listen to and download here. Give it a listen and figure out a way to get yourself to the nation’s capital next Wednesday night.
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Activision; X360, PS3, Wii Okay, okay, you know the Guitar Hero drill by now. Play along to rock ‘n’ roll hits great and small with plastic whooziwhatsits… blah, blah, blah. What you may not know about Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, however, is that this time around, the game’s story mode focuses heavily on the lore of Rush’s 2112! Gene Simmons also apparently has something to do with it, but…2112! Yes, you’ll be able to play 90-plus other songs including those from Megadeth, NIN, and Buzzcocks. Yes, you can still hook up your DS to the Wii version to become a “roadie.” Hell, you even get a free copy of the new Soundgarden(!) album a week before everyone else if you buy the damn thing. But really, hearing the dulcet tones of Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson narrate you through “The Temples of Syrinx” to destroy “The Beast” with the Power of Rock is really what you are paying for here.
Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2 Ubisoft; X360, PS3, Wii Despite bearing the name of the almighty Clance, the original Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. did little to, uh, Goose the public’s interest, with laggy aerial battles and less-than-spectaclar graphic representations of both the environments and the planes—a cardinal sin when making a game about, you know, planes. Throw in the lack of online play and the game received a reception worthy of an Iceman. Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2, however, remedies all of those issues and then some. Taking the helm of American, British, and Russian jet fighters, with a cast and crew to match, you must quell various Middle Eastern insurgencies while doing battle with enemy forces over land, sea, and air in hyper-ramped-up dogfights that call out for an itchy trigger finger. In addition to the increased action, everything from the somewhat mundane (like taxiing and take-off) to the thrilling (battling alongside the Ghost Recon team, from another Clancy game, and UAV drone-piloting for precision stealth kills) is represented this time around, making H.A.W.X. 2 a real Maverick of aerial arcade action!
Halo: Reach Microsoft; X360 Are you ready for more Space Marine madness?! Well, Microsoft is certainly ready to give it to you! Taking place in the days shortly before the original Halo kicked off a galactic firestorm, Halo: Reach follows the tale of Noble Team, a squad of pre-Master Chief Spartans who are earth’s last of hope of turning back an attack by the alien conglomerate known as the Covenant, which, as we know—SPOILER ALERT—didn’t really work out. But that’s okay, because it’s the journey, not the destination (or some shit), and boy, what a journey Reach is! At different times allowing you to choose from a small variety of all-new weapons and abilities, ranging from hologram decoys to jetpacks, with which to crush the alien hordes, Reach offers several new experiences for veterans of the series—even the ability to helm a starfighter, albeit briefly, in order to repel an attack on an orbiting space station. Pure badassery abounds here. In addition, no technical or visual detail has been left unpolished, making Reach the best-looking, best-playing Halo game in the series’ near decade-long existence by an impressively substantial stretch. It doesn’t stop there, either, as the game’s multiplayer capabilities take full of advantage of Halo‘s prestigious online multiplayer and level-building by re-imagining and significantly bolstering just about everything that has made the previous entries so popular. For any fan, Reach is a must-have. For any detractor, Reach will change your perspective.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Activision; X360, PS3, Wii, DS While most of us are familiar with the friendly neighborhood Peter Parker story of Spider-Man, there have actually been several Arachni-Dudes spread throughout many parallel universes, four of which come together in the far-out button-masher Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, each one displaying different strengths and weaknesses. After an artifact of arcane divination that affects different dimensions manages to get destroyed during a battle between Spidey and Mysterio—as those sort of things tend to do—it’s up to the four Web-Heads, ranging from a 1930s detective-style Spider-Man to a bio-mechanical badass, Spider-Man 2099—to bring order out of chaos. Expect plenty of Marvel mayhem as friends and foes across the various books drop in and out of this game’s tangled web of fanboy fury! RR
Super Scribblenauts Warner Bros Interactive; DS One of last year’s most surprising gems was undoubtedly Scribblenauts, a puzzle game that allowed you to type in the name of thousands of objects that would then appear before your eyes and then allow you to complete your goal… or just cause chaos, as we often did when conjuring the likes of Cthulhu and Santa Claus at the same time. Super Scribblenauts has not only stepped up the game’s controls and physics significantly, but improves on the already amazing object-summoning system with the ability to trick out your items with adjectives. Where previously you could write, say, “football” and kick it around the room, now you can perhaps create a “flaming football,” adding a whole new dimension to your puzzle-solving and/or mayhem production. Super Scribblenauts‘ library of items has also increased, though, unfortunately, typing “naked Daryl Hannah from Blade Runner” yields no good results. Despite this glaring oversight, Super Scribblenauts is an impressive and entertaining experience nonetheless.
Shaun White Skateboarding Ubisoft; X360, PS3, Wii Like some straight-up OG Picture Pages shit, with The Flying Tomato as the Mortimer Ichabod Marker to your Dr. William H. Cosby Jr., the ability to create and guide the direction of the surfaces you are grinding on as you do it in Shaun White Skateboarding is what separates this one from other successful franchises. And boy, does it make a difference! Decline of a hill not steep enough? Make it into a fibula-shattering monster on the fly. Want to extend that rail grind another 20 yards? Make it so! There is also a story mode that has something to do with Mr. White leading a rebellion against “The Man” or somesuch, but more importantly, did you even know Shaun White skateboarded? Or furthermore that he is a real person and not a magical snow elf that appears once every four years to hawk Red Bull? Nor did I, gentle reader. Nor did I. RR
Def Jam Rapstar Konami; X360, PS3, Wii You say you want to make a change from a common thief to getting up close and personal with Robin Leach? Do any of you junior thuggists even know who that is? He was the Queen of England in the ’80s! And if you want to meet him, as the Prince of Bed Stuy once did, then you best bust your freshest flows with this month’s Def Jam Rapstar! Featuring some of hip-hop’s greatest of all time, like Slick Rick and Uncle L, to more recent artists, like Kanye West and Lil Weezy, Rapstar offers a tremendous amount of options for both young up-and-comers (like yourself) and ill-ass vets (like us!) to flex their skills on the mic—karaoke-style or freestyle—over the backing tracks. Rapstar also allows you to videotape your performance, assuming your console has a camera, and upload it to the game’s site for the world to judge. Here we go, yo!
PlayStation Move Sony; PS3 With the surprise success of the Wii and its waggle controls a couple of years back, it took the other guys a minute to catch up. But catch up they have, and Sony is next out of the gate this month with their personal-body-massager-esque PlayStation Move. The Move features a prominent light-up bulb on the end that, while looking rather risqué, is actually quite ingenious in that it changes colors depending on the game you are playing, enabling the sensor on the PS3 to more accurately sense motion and differentiate between players and their environment much more easily. Games you’ll be playing with your new toy range from what are basically extremely elaborate demos like Sports Champions, which includes everything from frisbee-golf to archery to bocce to a medieval gladiator sim to next year’s alien splatterfest, Killzone 3. The Move will of course be compatible with a plethora of other upcoming titles, including NBA 2K11 and LittleBigPlanet 2.
Oxford’s Hugo Manuel is one of the latest producers to join the world of pop-flavored beatscapes often described with words like “chill,” “blissful,” “summery,” “hazy,” and a “wave” of some kind. As Chad Valley, Manuel has prepared a four-song, self-titled EP for the new multi-national Cascine label, and we’ve got the first track to leak from that release here. “Ensoniq Funk” closes out Chad Valley, sending listeners off with an uplifting amalgam of ’80s-pop samples, distant synth melodies, blown-out dance beats, a palpable sense of youthful exuberance, and a thick fog of AM radio fuzz. You can find out how the rest of Manuel’s debut EP sounds when it drops on November 16.
German producer and mixtress Marjorie Migliaccio (a.k.a. Bloody Mary) has a couple releases in the pipeline that are set to follow up her debut album, 2009’s XLR8R-favored Black Pearl. First up, Ms. Mary will drop the Arabesque EP, which boasts four tracks delving further in the producer’s “electro-goth sound,” including two original tunes and a remix each from Jin Choi and Basti Grub. The title track for Bloody Mary’s new release also features vocal contributions from Berlin’s Sam Leigh Brown, and the other original production, “Spinning Around,” has up-and-coming singer Eyke on-board for lyrical duties. Arabesque will be made available on November 26 via Migliaccio’s own Dame-Music label, and Bloody Mary’s sophomore record is said to be coming out sometime next year.
