From a land where moose act as highway billboards and pint glasses are filled with Grade B maple syrup, a college town‘s subculture thrives on suburban hip-hop. Compiling over 24 local Burlington, VT artists, veteran Fattie-B masters and mixes these raw tracks into a true Green Mountain mixtape. Featuring The Loyalists, Darnell Burners, The Aztext, DJ Russell, J2, Daddy Rich, and Dakota, sounds range from old-school, 808-boom-type rap to contemporary, smooth-flow style. A nice survey of what Church Street, Club Nectar’s, and backwoods hipsters are developing in the studio.
Tomcraft Hypersexyconscious
The third time’s the charm for Munich’s Tomcraft (a.k.a. Thomas Bruckner), who has parted ways with partner Eniac. Palled up here with Rolf “Jam El Mar” Ellmer (Jam & Spoon), Tomcraft expands upon tech-house’s blueprint. The Prodigy-inspired “Sureshot” replaces “Loneliness” as the TC signature track and the remix maestro gets return love on the pared-down, rapped-up club mix of the bouncy “Da Disco” (Sido and Tai Jason deliver a “Sureshot” redux, MC-style). Teutonic electronics and French 4/4 fop-house reach audio armistice bolstered by spurts of rock-funk guitar and chatty passages. A hook-laden hodgepodge.
Various House of OM: Colette & DJ Heather
Two of Chicago house’s heavy hitters take time out from their 300-plus appearances each year to deliver the one-and-a-two for OM. Colette’s disc sparkles with bubbly vocals (including her own classically trained voice) on gems from Rockers Revenge, Greenskeepers, Bryan Jones, and label mates Andy Caldwell and Kaskade. Conversely, DJ Heather’s instrumental disc gets funky and deep and works texture with brisk beats from Mark Farina (with Kaskade), Dopeheadz, TradeMarq, Mr. Jones, and features her own delights like “Picture of You” as well.
Weird Weeds Weird Feelings
Surprisingly charming for an experimental three-piece, Austin, TX band Weird Weeds has perfected its sound on its second outing. Dabbling in indie pop and subdued noise rock equally, Weird Feelings lures its listener in with soothing melodies (as on “Broken Arm” or “Cold Medicine”) that disintegrate into washy skronk jams within minutes. The three members, who have previously jammed with Jandek, Castanets, and members of Deerhoof, each play an integral role in shaping the record’s warm sound. Exploring the line between post-pop and experimental noise, Weird Feelings is truly a record that must be heard to be understood.
Sparklehorse Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain
Continuing a career haunted by chemical imbalance and near-death experiences, Mark Linkous’ Sparklehorse resurfaces with Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain. Like 2001’s It‘s A Wonderful Life, this record is filled with top-shelf contributions from Christian Fennesz, Danger Mouse, Tom Waits, and the Flaming Lips’ Steven Drozd. Despite the big names, however, the collaborators highlight Linkous’ penchant for somber masterpieces rather than advertise their own identities. Recorded on a remote North Carolina mountaintop with a vintage recording rig built by the legendary Daniel Flickinger, the record’s pristine production enriches the nuances of Linkous’ broken pop songs. From the summery glisten of “Don’t Take My Sunshine Away” to the mournful arrangement of the self-titled closer, Dreamt For Light Years is arguably Sparklehorse’s finest moment yet.
Vitaminsforyou The Legend of Bird’s Hill
In the three years since I’m Sorry Forever and For Always, Vitaminsforyou’s Bryce Kushnier has been doing something right. Channeling the serenity of the Canadian prairies into lush compositions, The Legend of Bird’s Hill is nothing short of a quiet miracle. Like listening to 50 records simultaneously, his marriage of fey techno, pop, and indie rock justifies the guest appearances from Ghislain Poirier and folk singer Emm Gryner. This record just might bridge the gap between Telefon Tel Aviv and Broken Social Scene on your iPod.
Brand New Heavies Get Used To It
“Hope you‘re ready/Here we come/We ain’t gon’ leave you with nowhere to go,” N‘Dea Davenport coos on “We’ve Got,” announcing the return of BNH’s grown and sexy music. The OGs of neo-soul pick right up where they left off with an album that could have easily been recorded 10 years ago, or 10 minutes ago. Davenport channels Diana Ross (“I Don‘t Know Why”), liberates your mind (“I Just Realized”), rides a sultry rhythm while chastising a wayward lover (“We Won’t Stop”), and evokes classic disco (“Let’s Do It Again”), while the Heavies prove they’ve still got the grooves.
Beeda Weeda Turfology 101
The rules of turfology are simple: grind until you die, don’t snitch, and “keep your mind on your money and your ear to the street,” as Beeda Weeda imparts on “Like Me.” The East Oakland rapper walks the pimp walk and talks the turf talk, and the beats all slap like Max Julien on PCP, even if Beeda’s undistinguished flow falls a notch below super-hyphy. Highlights include “Turf’s Up” and “Rippa Slippas,” which explains how Weeda likes to clothe his hoes in chinchilla. Nothing you‘d play within grandma’s earshot, but if you’re swangin’ the scraper, you already know what it is.
Various Kill the DJ: Introducing The Dysfunctional Family-A Mixed-Up Compilation by Chloe et Ivan Smagghe
“I don‘t want to be like everybody else,” bemoans a voice on Egoexpress’ “The Fool Of The New City,” and such words could be taken as a manifesto for Chloe ‘n’ Ivan’s Mixed-Up comp. Apparently soundtracking a club where “no style is style [and] no gender is gender,” the French duo weaves its way through eerie carousel music (Planningtorock’s “Death Dream”), odd-folk paeans to opiates (Jason Edwards’ “Codeine”), anxious bump-tech (Louderbach’s “Grace (Anxiety)”), and post-Boards of Canada atmospherica (Point B’s “After Burns”) to entertain their dysfunctional kith and kin.
Ensemble Ensemble
In the half-decade since his Rephlex-released Sketch Proposals, Olivier Alary has written with and remixed Björk as well as recording as one third of the Prix Ars Electronica-nominated group Chlorgeschlecht. Alary’s reanimated Ensemble sounds perfectly poised, equidistant between electronic and acoustic, between melody and noise, between loveliness and abstraction. The Toulouse-born, Montreal-based producer backgrounds the voices of Lou Barlow, Cat Power’s Chan Marshall, Camille Claverie, and (fellow sonic arts student) Mileece with digital and orchestral walls of sound to produce an album that thrives on its various antithetical qualities.
