Steinski What Does It All Mean? 1983-2006 Retrospective

About 25 years ago, ad men Steve “Steinski” Stein and Douglas “Double Dee” DiFranco crammed two dozen records into “The Payoff Mix,” a hip-hop classic that folks are still mining breaks from. This long-overdue retrospective, What Does It All Mean?, shows that Stein never lost his game. Among the essentials are the “Lesson” mixes (pitch-perfect snatches of old-school rap, funk, and cartoon wisecracks) and Stein’s controversial hip-hop piece on the JFK assassination, “The Motorcade Sped On,” alongside a clever anti-Gulf War protest, “It’s Up to You.” As well, the lesser-known “Vox Apostolica” and “Everything’s Disappeared” are great, scratched-up examples of hip-hop gone mental. Grab this and get schooled by the master.

DJ Dolores 1 Real

Since the late ’80s, Helder Aragão (a.k.a. DJ Dolores) has attempted to “go beyond samba and bossa nova,” his press info claims. Collaborating with fellow Recife, Brazil natives Nação Zumbi, he took a detour through graphic design, soundtracks, and TV production work, all of which now inform his colorful beat-driven mutations of Brazilian music. The man slices English vocals from language tapes the way Manu Chao blows whistles. Between the spaces of his drum & bass- and big-beat-informed compositions he sequences tasteful brass, accordions, and congas. He’s never left the Zumbi state of mind; he’s merely expanded it beyond belief.

The Pinker Tones “Working Bees”

Barcelona-based duo The Pinker Tones make delightfully upbeat electronic pop songs that sport international influences and popularity. Their lyrics jump across language lines, using a spread of English, French, German, and Spanish for catchy hooks and verses. They’ve performed in what seems like every major city it’s possible to get a direct flight to, and their latest album, Wild Animals, is already available in Spain, Japan, and Argentina, though it will be released in more than 40 countries this summer. “Working Bees” features a Kraftwerl-influenced hook, but simmers with with a mix of Latin rhythms and horns. Wyatt Williams

Pinker Tones – Working Bees

Benga Diary of an Afro Warrior

Dubstep has forever chased the island sound. From the “dub” in its name to the endless riffs on classic Jamaican tunes, dubstep expresses the piece of the British heart that has always tended toward reggae. Benga, however, explicitly seeks to incorporate electro into this sound, and by extension its particular black-futurist ideas. And that fusion makes this album totally awesome, from the vocoder-laden vocals on “Go Tell Them” to the jerky synths and handclaps of “Crunked Up.” The scene’s second true breakout hit, “Night,” sounds great as always, but ultimately it’s slinky and genuinely weird tunes like “26 Basslines” that make the album a real accomplishment. Fearless experimentation pays off.

Metaform Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Monotony is not something instrumentalist Metaform ever falls into on his latest LP. Sure Standing on the Shoulders of Giants isn’t flawless (see the messy “The Secret”). But with the way that Metaform blends live instrumentation with samples and captures so many moods with his music, each track here provides a new experience. Sometimes he even switches up his style within individual selections, like on the transforming “PCH,” in which he begins with a dusty downtempo groove and then kicks up the speed from some lively D&B output. On the less complex end, Metaform performs just as well when using nothing but strong drum programming and sample-chopping (“Urban Velvet”). All in all, this guy’s got promise.

All Good Funk Alliance “Slingshot Boogie”

All Good Funk Alliance has been making funk flavored uptempo hip-hop for about a decade. Hailing from Alexandria, VA, the group works it the old fashioned way, putting out its own records and touring up and down the East coast to play for a loyal following. The band will soon release its latest album, Slingshot Boogie, on Funk Weapons. Check out the throw back spirit and basslines on the title track. Wyatt Williams

All Good Funk Alliance – Slingshot Boogie feat. Think Tank

Ellen Allien Sool

Over the course of five albums, Ellen Allien has gone to great lengths to test minimal techno’s constraints. However, with her sixth album, Sool, Allien has taken an opposite route by relishing the genre limitations she once fought against. Produced with fellow Berlinette AGF, Sool takes the word “minimal” literally: tracks like “Einsteigen” and “Caress” are almost too delicate and airy to be considered songs. As such, much of the album comes off like an endless intro; the sounds never provide techno’s all-too-familiar foundation. While that can make for a bold scramble of expectations, ultimately, Sool comes off more like a mission statement than an engrossing listen.

Crystal Castles Announce Tour Dates

They wrapped a tour at the end of March, following the release of their Last Gang Records debut, but Alice Glass and Ethan Fawn just can’t seem to stay off the road. The camera-shy duo we know as Crystal Castles will welcome the summer in with a new set of dates at the beginning of June, including Philadelphia’s Popped! festival, which will also see appearances from Vampire Weekend, Mr. Lif, Dan Deacon, and others.

Dates
06/07 Seattle, WA: Nectar
06/09 Portland, OR: Backspace
06/10 San Francisco, CA: The Independent
06/11 Los Angeles, CA: The Roxy
06/12 San Diego, CA: Casbah
06/13 Phoenix, AZ: Modified Arts
06/15 Albuquerque, AZ: Launchpad
06/16 Denver, CO: Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom
06/18 Chicago, IL: Double Door
06/19 New York, NY: Studio B
06/21 Philadelphia, PA: Popped! Festival

Photo By May Truong.

Appleblim to Mix Dubstep Allstars 6

Laurie “Appleblim” Osborne is a well-known name on the international dubstep circuit, but he’s kept so busy running his Skull Disco imprint alongside Shackleton, helping out around the Tempa office, and working in the studio with other producers, he’s only just gotten around to making his first mix CD.

Appropriately, it won’t be just any set of tracks, but the sixth installment of Tempa’s famed Dubstep Allstars series, which has previously seen N-Type, Skream, Youngsta, Hatcha, and others at the mixing board. The disc will feature a selection of classic tracks as well as new cuts from the likes of Skream, Pinch, 2562, Peverelist, and others, and hits stores on June 2.

Tracklisting
1. Peverelist “Gather”
2. Peverelist & Appleblim “Circling”
3. Pinch feat. Yolanda “Get Up”
4. 2562 “Moog Dub”
5. Martyn “Suburbia”
6. Jus Wan “Action Potential”
7. 2562 “Morvern Dub”
8. TRG & Selector Dub U “Harajuku”
9. Peverelist “Infinity Is Now”
10. Skream “Percression”
11. RSD “Pretty Bright Light”
12. Mungo’s Hi Fi “Babylon”
13. Komonazmuk “Bad Apple”
14. Komonazmuk & Gatekeeper “Cheeky Herbert”
15. TRG “Decisions”
16. TRG “Put U Down “Ramadanman Remix”
17. TRG “Broken Hearts “Martyn Remix”
18. Geiom feat. Marita “Reminissin’ Dubplate Version (Berkane Sol / Dub)”

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