I’m into this track. It’s a mellow yet dancey song with sexy and clever lyrics. It’s what might happen if the Scissor Sisters had a little brother that was dating Justin Timberlake and was into Fischerspooner when that was cool. Perfect to listen to while getting ready to go out, and for any DJ to play throughout the night. He says he’s a dancing queen and I believe it.
Language-Art Overcome It (from The Baby)
I would classify this track as folky-not slow ‘n’ soulful folky, but fun folky. It’s upbeat and positive-not to dance to, but to tap your foot to. Her style of singing is almost like rapping; it’s fast and unique. For not being super-into this particular genre of music, I like it. It stands out and the Language-Art people are good at what they do.
Ozone Axiom Ozone Axiom
West Coast vs. East Coast beef doesn’t matter much when you have to worry about alien invasions. London’s DJ Kluster and rappers Katastrophe (from S.F.) and Aggracyst team up on this track to give you the rap equivalent of a dark and mysterious book on tape. So suspenseful you’ll be glued to the speaker in anticipation.
Flacana 05
Stones Throw: Still Celebrating 10 Years
Stones Throw was formed in the Bay Area in 1996 by Chris Manak (a.k.a. Peanut Butter Wolf) with the aim of creating a label by DJs and for DJs. Debut albums soon followed from Rasco, Lootpack, and Manak himself, as well as the first collaboration between PBW and Madlib.
Following Madlib’s solo debut in 2000, Stones Throw packed up shop and headed south to expand operations in L.A., a move that paved the way for collaborations like Jaylib (J Dilla/Madlib) and Madvillain (MF Doom/Madlib), numerous compilations, and an extended musical reach into genres like broken beat, free jazz, and lounge.
Peanut Butter Wolf
This last year has been one of both loss and achievement for the label. February brought the tragic death of producer J Dilla just days after the release of his album Donuts, robbing both Stones Throw and the hip-hop world of one of its brightest lights. Still, business goes on, and late 2006 saw a collaboration with Adult Swim for the ambitious Chrome Children project, as well as a huge presence in this year’s PLUG Award nominations.
The two-disc package, Peanut Butter Wolf Presents Stones Throw Ten Years, takes a musical look at these moments and others along the way. Disc One samples both released and unreleased tracks from the last decade, and Disc Two is a Stones Throw mix by J. Rocc.
Peanut Butter Wolf Presents Stones Throw Ten Years is out January 23, 2007.
Tracklist
1. Jaylib “The Red”
2. Peanut Butter Wolf “In Your Area feat. Planet Asia”
3. Quasimoto “Low Class Conspiracy”
4. Madvillain “America’s Most Blunted”
5. J Dilla “Two Can Win”
6. Wildchild “Knicknack feat. Percee P and M.E.D.”
7. Cut Chemist & M.E.D. “Blind Man”
8. Fabulous Souls “Take Me”
9. Co-Real Artists “What About You?”
10. Charizma & PB Wolf “My World Premiere (12 Version)”
11. M.E.D. “Bang Ya Head”
12. Oh No “Move Pt. 2, feat. J Dilla and Roc C”
13. Madlib “The Payback”
14. Dudley Perkins “Falling”
15. Kazi “A.V.E.R.A.G.E.”
16. Koushik “Be With”
17. Yesterdays New Quintet “Sunrays”
18. Aloe Blacc “Arrive”
19. Madvillain “Figaro (Madlib Remix)”
20. Homeliss Derelix “Survivin’ the Game”
21. Lootpack “Whenimondamic”
22. Gary Wilson “Gary’s in the Park”
23. Stark Reality “Comrades & Dreams” (Wolf’s Stones Throw 101 mix)
24. Mr. Magic “Coast to Coast” (Edan Edit)
25. Funkaho “Bootay”
Ellen Allien On The Top Ten Of 2006
BPitch control boss Ellen Allien, one of undisputed leaders responsible for bringing German techno to the rest of the world, shares her take on the year’s best singles.
1. Thom Yorke Eraser XL
2. Shinadoe Different Faces 100 % Pure
3. Sascha Funke In Between Days BPC
4. Schubert Dont Believe The Cord Pop (A-Side) Statik
5. Kim Rapatti Monotone Fantastic Futuro
6. DJ Yellow Godness Ovum
7. Uffie Hot Chick Ed Banger
8. Loco Dice Seeing Through The Shadows Minus
9. Lawrence Along The Wire (Remix By Superpitcher) Dial
10. Ellen Allien + Apparat Way Out BPC
Ellen Allien: hard at work pondering the best tracks of 2006.
Bitter Bastard: Worst of 2006
1. Ponderous band names Where once there were “The” bands (The Strokes, The Hives, etc.), 2006 was the year of seeing how many nonsensical words could be crammed into one band title. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Skeletons and the Girl-Faced Boys, Architecture in Helsinki… We blame And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead for making this whole thing okay.
2. Nature motifs Dang. Deer, feathers, wings, dreamcatchers, owls, wolves, and moccasins were big this year. It was like being on a bad trip at Altamont with a bunch of people who wouldn’t ever dream of even going camping.
3. Laptop DJing Yes, it’s cool to have every song at your fingertips, but playing 96 bit-rate MP3s taken off someone’s blog sound about as good as the rattling of a tin can. And having your computer crash right in the middle of a hot mix is not where it’s at. Watching people try to trainspot Serato records is funny though.
4. iPod DJ mixer Speaking of DJing, why haven’t they come out with an iPod DJ mixer that works properly yet? Fools be sleeping.
5. SPAM Let me get this straight: they’ve invented a vaccine for HPV and video phones but there is still no reliable way to make me stop receiving emails for VIpAGRA and H00dia. With all the time spent deleting this shit, we could have made a whole other magazine every month. Just kidding (sort of).
6. Club sound It’s 2006 and the sound in American clubs is still utter shit. It’s been so long since I’ve been in a venue with subs that I’ve actually forgotten what bass sounds like, much less feels like.
7. A Bathing Ape Let’s set the record straight–the only thing worst than this overpriced brand is hearing people incessantly talk about it. Even me hating on it is feeding the hype. Hell, we’re doing it right now. But I digress. Did you know it costs 25 Euros (around US$31) just to buy their autumn/winter clothing catalog? Oh, it comes with a Nigo interview and a sticker sheet? Well, then, it’s totally worth it.
8. Purple The color purple tried to blow up for a second, but then everyone realized that the only people that really feel comfortable in shades of grape are wacky old ladies and Prince.
9. Cat Power live Am I the only person that hasn’t bought into the cult of Chan Marshall? That whole “stage fright” tortured-artist thing is such an act to mask the fact that she doesn’t know how to play live. I sure am glad I didn’t pay $40 to see this strung-out skater-jocker mumble through two songs, but I wish she’d give everyone else their money back.
10. Being afraid Along with apathy and inertia, aimless fear is just getting really tiring. Fuck an orange terror alert.
Music Compilations: The Next Generation
It seems Michigan-based Ghostly International can’t get enough of collaborations these days. Most recently the label teamed up with Creative Commons and a little magazine called XLR8R for the Christopher Willits Remix Contest. Now, the boys at Ghostly are working with SoHo botique Moss for a first-of-its-kind music compilation.
Titled M/GM 1, the comp is roughly the size of a pack of gum and is a digital memory device that holds fourteen Ghostly tracks selected by Moss’s music director Rob Fissmer. Tracks range from hip-hop, to dance, to experimental, and filesharers can rejoice. The device supports any kind of data, and Ghostly supports and encourages sharing the tracks with others.
M/GM 1 is available exclusively to Moss shoppers for this holiday season.
Tracks Included
Dykehouse “From The Cradle”
Dabrye “Piano”
Aeroc “You Say That You Love Me”
Midwest Product “Mumbler”
Tadd Mullinix “Divided By Lines”
Lusine “Weaver”
Geoff White “Ince”
Matthew Dear “Tide”
Lawrence “Spark”
Dabrye “Smoking The Edge”
Lusine “Everything Under The Sun”
Cepia “Salt Field”
Mobius Band “City vs. Country”
New At INCITE Online, Nov 29
If you would like to receive weekly updates on our FREE downloads, subscribe to the XLR8R Podcast. iTunes 4.9 or higher recommended.
Boduf Songs – His new album was recorded at home with just one microphone and incorporates acoustic guitar and voice along with ‘well placed touches of a cymbal-playing monkey, some bricks, an e-bowed autoharp, a homemade gramophone, and daggers.’
Lullatone – As the title suggests, the concept for this album is ‘pajama pop,’ adding even more vocals to their cute, minimalist melodies. End result: music ideal to sleep, wake up, sit around on a Sunday afternoon, cook breakfast, have a coffee, or even sip some milk to.
Maps – Start Something, his first widely available release outside the UK, is a fusion of electronics, pop, and psychedelia draws comparisons to the scale and ambition of Spiritualized laced with melodies reminiscent of The Byrds.
Subatomic Sound System feat. Daddy Lion Chandell & Treasure Don – With performances that blur the line between DJ soundsystem, live band, and studio mix, the group exposes the common ground between dub reggae, hip-hop, dancehall, drum & bass, downtempo, and broken beat.
Steed Lord – They joined forces in early 2006 to create their own genre of crunk-electro-house with a slick gangsta twist. Take a hit of their truth serum and try to control the beat with your feet!
K-Swiss Announces Logan Hicks Shoe
It’s a shoemaker’s dream as K-Swiss, stencil designer Logan Hicks, online magazine Evil Monito, and stencil fabricator Blackbooks Stencils join forces for K-Swiss’s latest creation.
Made of faux patent leather with a translucent red mid-sole, the shoe features one of Hicks’ signature designs, as well as the classic five stripe bands on the sides long associated with K-Swiss. Each pair of shoes comes with an embroidered felt shoe bag and Logan Hicks shirt. The shoe box itself is also worth holding on to, having been treated with a CO2 laser that stencils the boxes in a way that ensures no two are the same.
If all that sounds worth dropping the $150 bones these babies cost ($170 international), head over to Evil Monito’s online store and reserve a pair. Shoes begin shipping in the second week of December, but as these things usually go, supplies are very limited.
