A major rapper in Sweden, Petter is back with a huge banger from his Goddamnit album. Combine the monstrous horns of “Simon Says” with an uptempo “Pass the Dutch”-vs.-“Lip Gloss” beat, add Swedish rapping on top and you have an instant classic–plus, anyone who can rhyme “Wayne Gretzky” into a track deserves respect.
Top 10: Sian Alice Group, Roommate
Sian Alice Group
59:59
The Social Registry
Release Date: February 19
Sian Alice Group can improv better than a pack of aged jazz musicians, but they also make some of the most gorgeous, melodic music to surface so far this year. 59:59 combines this London-based outfit’s talents, taking the listener from scattered snares to soft, sad guitar ballads accompanied by legions of strings. Sian Ahern’s voice can induce weeping if this album is listened to in the right setting.
James T Cotton
Like No One
Spectral Sound
Release Date: February 12
If James T. Cotton’s Buck! EP was like a shot of caffeine (as it’s so eloquently described on the Spectral Sound website), Like No One is the techno equivalent of a speed injection. Agitated, angry, and tightly crafted, the album starts fast and doesn’t let up for the duration of its eight tracks, which bring to mind the days of being 16 and tearing up the dancefloor until eight in the morning. Who says dark techno has to be void of all emotion? This album makes me want to hit someone.
Strategy
Music for Lamping
Audio Dregs
Release Date: April 29
This album is six long years of Paul Dickow’s work weaving synths, vocodors, delays, and field recordings together, and though said elements might lead a listener to think this was just another bunch of yawn-worthy ambient tracks, <>Music for Lamping contains a certain spontaneity that keeps it captivating. One never knows where Dickow is going to take the next few notes, though you can be sure the music will remain the kind perfect for floating away to in the early hours of the morning.
Débruit
Coupé Décalé
Musique Large
Release Date: February 28
DJ Jamad and Hudson Mohawke are said to be caning this one at the moment, and now the XLR8R.com staff is too. Débruit is one lone Frenchman and many machines, and together they make music so unpredictable and varied in scope it’s sometimes hard to keep up with. There aren’t many artists who can, in the space of a minute, turn sparse, delayed hip-hop beats into something that sounds like early Daft Punk, then suddenly throw some Modeselektor-esque rhythms into the mix.
Neptune
Gong Lake
Table of the Elements
Release Date: February 19
Even if post-apocalypse freak music isn’t your thing, the three members of Neptune should impress. They build their guitars, drums, and cables from things like saw blades, gas tanks, and rust. They use these instruments to rock as hard as humanly possible, in the spirit of bands like Einstürzende Neubauten. Their violent screaming is as captivating as the moments they sing on key. I’m sure their live shows are terrifying, and that makes me like them even more.
Cursillistas
“Moccasin Tramp”
Digital Industries
Release Date: Out now
This track is a trip through psych-folk, where acoustics meet what sounds like a pack of ghosts chorusing in some bleak mansion. It’s surprising to learn that, for how epic it feels, the music is made by one man: Portland, Maine-based Matt Lajoie. The track is off his wonderfully named Wasp Stings the Last Bitter Flavor release.
Roommate
We Were Enchanted
Plug Research
Release Date: April 15
Kent Lambert and Co. are well known for combining acoustic songwriting akin to Neil Young with disparate electronic rhythms. We Were Enchanted finds the Chicago-based band doing more of this, and lyrically, Roommate is at its best here, exploring weighty subjects about the times in which we live, but completely avoiding condescension.
J.Rocc
Thank You Jay Dee, Act 3
Download here
This past Sunday marked the two-year anniversary of J. Dilla’s untimely death, and J.Rocc compiled and mixed the last in his “Thank You Jay Dee” series for the Stones Throw podcast in honor of the day. This is the best in the series, showcasing some of the late producer’s brightest moments, enhanced by J.Rocc’s abilities at the mixing board.
TheInformati
Requiem
Inman
Release Date: Out Now
Requium doesn’t claim to be a film soundtrack, but I’d bet money some of the music from this album will wind up in some psychological thriller in the near future. Using a combination of programmed electronic beats, pianos, guitars, and dubby basslines, the Cambridge, Massachusetts duo has crafted a gorgeously haunting, suspenseful album. An added bonus: these guys sing the entire thing in Latin, so there are moments when it’s easy to imagine walking up and down the gigantic hallways of some baroque cathedral.
The Bird and Bee
One Too Many Hearts
Blue Note
Release Date: Out Now
We couldn’t finish off this week’s Top 10 without giving a nod to the holiday on Thursday. Greg Kurstin and Inara George have crafted this four-track EP containing three new songs, as well as a version of the 1920s classic “You Belong to Me.” Should you feel so inclined, you can email the EP to your other half. See if he or she picks up on the wry, subtle lyrics that indicate love might not, after all, be such a picnic.
Dub War NYC Gets The PE Touch
During New York hip-hop group Public Enemy’s ’80s/’90s heyday, their explosive live sets would frequently remind listeners of their most famous catchphrase, “Bring the noise!” Now, its seems PE’s producers want to “Bring the subs!”
This Friday February, 15 at East Coast dubstep monthly Dub War, Public Enemy producers The Bomb Squad (a.k.a Keith and Hank Shocklee) will unleash their latest scientific productions at Love in New York’s Lower East Side. The Shocklees innovated sampling and hip-hop production with their dense, chaotic tracks on PE’s 1988 album It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back and Ice Cube’s Amerikkka’s Most Wanted. Now, the Shocklees have caught dubstep fever and will bring their prowess and a live PA set to what’s sure to be an interesting night of sonic warfare.
Also that night is the first U.S. appearance by noted dubstep scribe and producer Blackdown and MC Dusk, who have several releases on Keysound. Rounding out the night will be DMZ’s Loefah (featured on several of Tempa Recordings’ Dubstep Allstars discs, Baltimore’s Joe Nice, Dub War host Dave Q, and MC Juakali.
Dub War at Love
179 MacDougal St, New York City
10pm, 21+ , $10 / $15
Photo of Hank Shocklee by Rayon Richards..
Caspa & Rusko FabricLive 37
Dubstep has reached a populist moment. Who better to capture its arrival than dub-fiend duo Gary “Caspa” McCann and Chris “Rusko” Mercer, who share a weekly RinseFM show, anthemic releases on Sub Soldiers and Dub Police, and the mixing skills to encapsulate dubstep’s wide palette. The 29-song mix opens with sub-bass and reggae-flavored tracks like Uncle Sam’s “Round The World Girls–Tes La Rok Mix,” and Rusko’s own “Jahova.” From there, the gloves come off, revealing dubstep’s rougher side on bombs like Coki’s menacing “Sponge Bob,” Rusko’s see-saw bass ride “Hammer Time,” and his Sexy Beast-meets-ska rumble “Cockney Thug.” Unlike other dubstep mix comps that proceed sedately, Caspa and Rusko opt for an adrenaline- and beer-soaked bash.
Don Cavalli Cryland
It’s hard enough to learn another language, so give France’s Don Cavalli bonus points for nailing Americana roots and blues with a hammer. His stripped-down hybrid-Cajun swing owes as much to his laptop as it does to his soulful pipes, which recall everyone from Jimmy Cliff to Leadbelly. Cryland is full of upbeat exercises in this cross-pollination, from the harmonica bounce of “Vengeance” to the gospel thump of “I’m Going to River.” The lo-fi beat poetry of “New Hollywood Babylon” highlights, like the similarly energetic “Gloom Uprising” and most of this effort’s other excellent tracks, Cavalli’s sickly awesome wah-pedal soundtracking. From front to back, his postmodern folk music is a blast from our mutually repurposed past.
Bing Ji Ling June Degrees in December
Urban escapist Bing Ji Ling resides in New York, but his music sounds like it was made on a tropical island somewhere in the South Pacific. As singer-songwriter, producer, and musician, Bing wears a lot of hats, and it’s to his credit that his sound nods to vintage soul without going the full-on retro route. June Degrees in December revels in upbeat, cheery tunes without languishing in commercial clichés. The biggest problem with this album, however, is that at five songs, it’s just too short. Just when you’ve gotten acclimated to Bing’s candy-coated groove, the disc ends, forcing an unwelcome return to reality.
Roommate to Release New Album
Kent Lambert and his Roommate project will soon release another full-length, much to the delight of those who enjoy the band’s über-eclectic hybrids of organic and electronic tracks.
We Were Enchanted, which follows the much-respected Songs the Animals Taught Us, finds the Chicago-based outfit experimenting with down-home acoustics, disjointed, electronic rhythms, and a few deep thematic issues aimed at the times in which we live. Plug Research will release the album on April 15.
Those in Chicago can bookmark April 19 and head out to the album release party. According to the band’s MySpace page, a full tour will follow.
Tracklisting
1. Day After
2. We Were Enchanted
3. Way Out
4. New Steam
5. Tea Leaves
6. Last Dreams of Summer
7. Night
8. Isn’t Radio
Photo by Sarah Gross.
Mike Slott, Hudson Mohawke, Snowman Participate in Seven-Inch Series
Dublin’s All City Records will start March off strong, with the 7 x 7 Beatstrumental Series. The collection, as its name might suggest, will showcase European and American producers through an ongoing set of seven-inches that will be released over the course of the next seven months. Each month, a double-sided piece of vinyl will be released and feature new tracks from a different artist, as well as artwork by U.K.-based Summel.
Detroit native Snowman, whose work includes collaborations with Shawn Jackson and Guilty Simpson, will kick things off with the first release. Mike Slott (pictured above), of Heralds of Change, will follow in April, with the track “Knock Knock.” The eager can preview it here.
Hudson Mohawke, Newman (of New Jack Hustle), Musique Large’s Fulgeance, and others will follow with releases later in the year.
The Making of TIME:LINE Part 3/4
What You Talkin’ Bout, Willits? Part 2
Guitarist and electronic musician Christopher Willits continues his monthly series on tips and tricks for home recording. In this episode, Willits processes guitar loops using Ableton Live plug-ins, Pluggo plug-ins, and explains how to incorporate custom VST plug-ins made from Max/MSP.
Tune in once a month as Christopher shows us the many cool things you can do with recording software and some of the ways he produces his own music.
