Saturday, July 31, 2010

A Post Including, But Not Limited To, Dirty Electro

So after discovering Skrillex (debut EP available for FREE - COP IT) my interest in dirty electro was revitalized and I became inspired to make a post of some of my accumulated tunes.

Skrillex, by the way, is awesome - he reminds me of the Bloody Beetroots et al. in terms of his ferocious use of noise and ripping synths but he takes it to an awesome extreme and its well produced and executed. I'm really excited to see him in August along with Wolfgang Gartner (aka the Second Coming of Christ), Harvard Bass and Valerna at the Avalon.

So fucking epic. The best remix of this I have ever heard.

Yes, his name is Skrillex, And yes he's going to kick your ass with a steel-toed boot with rusty nails poking out of it.

Gets a little wearing after a while but is definitely fun for the first couple minutes. Would be interesting to mix with the original.

Vicious and vivacious from 0:01.

Unfortunately haven't heard anything else out of Loose Cannons yet.. but I like the random intro and the somewhat Miles Dyson-ness of this track.

Because everybody loves the Bloody Beetroots, including me for this track. A bit old, but good.


I said this post included but was NOT LIMITED TO Dirty Electro. So here are two things I have had banging around in my head recently, mostly relating to Top 40 that has been cleverly redone.

Gartner does SoShy so well. Awesome track.

This is just epic. Just. Listen to this. Works better than you think. Just. Ahhh.
(i know, im articulate.)



p


~ ~ ~

EDIT:

I do realize that I just posted something that involves ke$ha. In order to redeem my dignity, I present to you the other half of that mashup, quite possibly one of our favorite dance tracks ever. In case you DON'T want a trashed slut babbling over your progressive house.

Hello Seattle (Owl City Remix) - Owl City

~~~

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

trail of CRUMBS


im back, after a long hiatus/el langosta raping this blog with various things. sorry, my gf flew all the way from los angeles to MAINE to visit me, so i was a bit occupied. SO ANYWAY we got our FIRST SUBMISSION EVER earlier this month. an australian guy that goes by CRUMBS, who linked us to his bandcamp page. He has two releases, both posted for FREE up there, so go check it out.


After listening to both of them, i really appreciate his stuff. you should download this and, as langosta would say, show the man some love. his beats are interesting, syncopated, and laced with bomb synths and hooks. and plus he has awesome track titles. theres nothing not to love here, and there are two full EPs of goodness.


(its free)

Special Bonus:


Off their latest (free) EP, available on their website www.savoyband.com


Check ya later

//p//

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Because Patkins is lazy/has a girlfriend



I'm just going to keep posting until he breaks the monotony. This shit is by 0. (or "zeroh"). I've posted on him before. Aside from having one of the most raw, complex, intellectual flows I've ever heard from an MC, he happens to be a great experimental/electronic beat music producer as well. Very left-field, but it complements the flow quite nicely.

I think this is an earlier release of his, from 2009 I think. More of a clear hip-hop influence in the production, but that probably stems from half the tracks having other producers on them. Not like the more electronic, self-produced stuff from the ennui beattapes he did for WEDIDIT (see my previous post if you want em).

Sound 0 - 0.

And this is the latest thing he's posted on his Tumblr page (he puts tracks up all the time), a collab with the more ladylike MC Chels, who also spits fire here. Fantastic track.

SolPlane - 0.


....POST, PATKINSON!!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Various Things to Post (RANDOM BATCH OF AWESOME)



First off, let's start with this new track deadmau5 posted on his soundcloud:

everything you are by fuckmylife

Oh yeah. That's right. No drums, no percussion, nothing but pure unadulterated chord and modular synth heaven. Makes me respect the man more than I already did, because as far as dance producers go, he's by far one of my favorites. He has a reputation for being an enormous tool, and I can see why, but I still respect him because: a) he makes awesome music, b) he actually makes a clear effort to interact with his fans even though he's one of the most popular producers out there, and c) he got his start as an honest-to-god technology geek writing software and introducing recording studios to computers, and I feel like this humbles him somewhat more than the guys who just learned ableton on their laptops and got lucky (though that applies to plenty of producers, good and bad). You can see it in interviews, and in his work, quite honestly; he's all about the music, notsomuch the fame and douchiness that accompanies it.

And besides, he is part of the Holy Trinity of Dance Music, according to the Apes With Barrels crew. And their word is law.



Next is this song, which peter failed to include in his 30's/40's music post but it really belongs there, seeing as it was the Andrews Sisters' biggest hit, if I'm not mistaken. I just know it from Bioshock, though, and lord knows I love my Bioshock.

Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen - The Andrews Sisters
Yeah, I was surprised too when I thought they were singing "My Dear Mister Shane."



And this is a fantastic electro track, a remix of Kavinsky by American DJs The Chaotic Good. Not only is this a quality dance track of brick-shitting proportions (think intense distorted 8-bit chords + vocoders + fat effin bass), I think their name is a reference to Dungeons & Dragons, which gains them a LOT of points in my book. Also from Apes With Barrels; anybody interested in dance music should read that blog, and take sweet sweet advantage of their archives.

Nightfall (The Chaotic Good Remix) - Kavinsky

BONUS: Grand Canyon - Kavinsky
some more Kavinsky because he's awesome (cf. the snythz and drumz)

~ ~ ~

Yeah, that's all for now. Patkins is lazy, but he SHOULD have a post up on some neat submissions we received lately...PEACE

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Thoughts on "Inception"



**warning, probably spoilers ahead, see the movie first**

Not gonna write a full formal review because I'm tired and not used to that particular format (after all, everything else on the blog so far HAS been music...). This is mostly to get my own thoughts in written form, so it's probably long and boring. But for those of you who care, here are my reactions to the film, because I've heard very little actual criticism of it yet and think that should change.

I think Inception would make a fantastic book. And here's why.

There is a lot of substance in this movie. The world Nolan created was friggin' AWESOME. And he took that concept, and ran with it, and did a LOT of really cool shit with it. Inception is a good movie. But I care about details, and when people start enthusiastically singing a film's praises while simultaneously ignoring its glaring problems, I get itchy.

The problem is, he took this AWESOME concept and tried to fit it into a Hollywood film. And despite the longer-than average running time, I think the film only skimmed the surface of that concept's potential. This is manifested in several ways.

First of all, the pace is breakneck from the very beginning. Exposition is fired at you with very little time to digest it. I find this ironic, seeing as they have a whole scene where they talk about making an idea as simple and organic as possible before planting it in a mind...and they do not present us this totally vital information in a simple, organic way. It comes at you at 100mph, and there is very little time to process. I managed to catch about 85% of it. And, mind you, that was definitely enough to get through the movie and still enjoy it. But it wasn't enough for me, and not only me. I share similar opinions with the Spill.com crew on this subject, among others (do your own research, I'm not crazy, I swear)

Example: they talk about the "dreamer(s)" vs. the "subject" in dream sharing. Think back to that scene. They skim over it, show examples of it, then immediately dive into the "getting a team together" part. So when they finally get to the meat of the "mind-heist," as it were, I was able to recall most of the reality they established, but I was still left wondering what exactly the difference was between the dreamer and the subject...because first is it fischer's dream? leo's? joseph gordon-levitt's? the asian guy's?

Now, for those of you who feel the urge to explain it to me, don't worry. I understand it now that I've read synopses and forums and such. But I didn't during the movie, not completely, and that's called bad cinema. Bad writing and story editing, more specifically.

As I said, I believe Nolan & co. skimmed over the substance this film could have. They expected us to accept the science-fiction aspects (dream technology) as fact, with only one really half-assed reference to military testing (of COURSE! because THAT explains EVERYTHING) as an "explanation." They also place all this emphasis on ellen page's role as the architect, show her learning the ropes, then have only one shot where she's actually designing. And one line later where she tells Leo about a structural thingy. Other than that her role was pretty much "Leo's emotional companion."

Finally–here's my biggest beef with the movie–they treat the surrealism of dreams as if it were a convenient plot device. And not even an important plot device! It's used once to show that Page has control of Leo's "showing her the ropes" dream (she never exercises that power again on camera), and once to have a fun little gimmick in the (awesome) fight scene in the hotel (eternal staircase paradox). Granted, it figures in in more subtle ways, like something in the real world causing a shift in dream-reality, but didn't you notice that pretty much most of the stuff in those dreams was relatively realistic? Dreamlike in some aspects, sure, but not nearly as paradoxical, surreal, or nonsensical as most the dreams I have.

Now, I was intrigued by the "heist movie" approach Nolan took. It was hit or miss for me. On the plus side, it totally reimagined and in many ways did away with the cliches that come with heist movies. But in using such a classic Hollywood format, as I mentioned earlier, he skimmed over some actual substance. Total moral lapses were involved in order to right Leo's past mistakes, but after it's all over they just have the "FUCK YEA." Ocean's 11-esque sequence (cliche alert) with the slo-mo and the glances at each other's faces, like they just robbed a rich asshole and got away with it and are totally absolved of all moral responsibility. But they completely altered another human being's reality and life, by convincing him of something that was completely fabricated and quite possibly untrue (his father's desire for him to forge his own path, i.e. split up the company). So Leo gets his kids back, asian dude gets rich, and not ONCE is this up for discussion. Probably because the movie gave its audience enough to think about without throwing moral quandaries into the mix...

As for the ambiguous ending, I have zero opinion, because how can you have one? It's ambiguous; dreams are ambiguous, existence is ambiguous, and sometimes the endings of movies are ambiguous. Though quite frankly, Nolan would have a lot to explain if the top had fallen. Dunno if that really fits into the rest of the film (I guess that's why I've heard people debating it).

If I had to give it a grade, it would be a B, B- maybe. Lots of really really good stuff, but you can NOT make a movie that fast-paced and still have tons of exposition. Either slow down and let me process and accept the world you've created at a normal pace, or make it less interesting, honestly. Ditch the substance, stick to the heist-ness, and draw me in with the suspense!

So. Granted, to fulfil all of my wishes for this film to realize its true potential, it would probably have to be four hours long. And that would try my patience in other ways. So why not a book? Reader can take it at their own pace, vital exposition can be given the time it deserves, and maybe the damn thing could dive more into what it really means to dream, rather than using dreams as the backdrop for a Hollywood movie. Ah well. A man can dream.

~

Congrats if you made it this far down (unless you skipped to here. I don't really blame you, just don't try to argue if you haven't read it). I've just done two REEEEALLY long posts, so expect a break from me. Peter, we await the next interesting thing you have to post...maybe that submission?

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Review: Baths - "Cerulean"



Well, this is it. Finally got the whole Baths album, after streaming it for a week on the internet (if you feel like previewing it before purchasing, I highly recommend that link). I only briefly mentioned him earlier, in my post on Shlohmo's latest EP, but Baths is, in my opinion, one of the most inspiring producers I've heard in a while.

Baths is Will Wisenfield. He lives in Chatsworth, and makes music on his laptop, though he also plays a ton of instruments (lots of guitar and piano on the album). After making a lot of music (that I will eventually listen to) under the monikers [Post-foetus] and Geotic, he was invited to play at a beat music show by none other than Alfred Darlington, aka Daedelus. That night inspired him to take his music in a new direction. That direction was Baths, and the result was Cerulean, which came out on the Anticon label July 6th.

Earlier, in my post on LandLord, I expressed my sentiments that the experimental beat music movement + good songwriting/lyrics makes me happy about the future of music. Well, it holds true here. When I saw him live last week, I congratulated him after the show for making the music I wish I could be making right now. Because when you take the left-field, post-Dilla beats of FlyLo (among others), suffuse them with the chillwave atmospherics of Toro y Moi (among others), and add the songwriting and vocal sound of Passion Pit (the dude is a dead ringer for Michael Angelakos), you get three of my favorite styles all wrapped up into one. And that makes me a happy lobster.

~ ~ ~

On to the album. "Apologetic Shoulder Blades" opens it all up with a heavenly falsetto chorale, making you think you're going to spend the rest of the next hour listening to Will's voice. And in a way, you are. But here's the thing. After a few seconds of pure layered vocal loveliness, in come the stuttering beats, which quickly grab the spotlight. To Wisenfield, the human voice is only one element in the mix. And for the rest of "Shoulder Blades," and many other tracks on the album, that's how he does: even when the song has lyrics. Baths harmonizes with himself, adds counterpoint over that, then slices the result to pieces, most notably on tracks like the off-kilter-but-still-badass "You're My Excuse to Travel" and the glitchy, almost Dntel-ish "Indoorsy." Those are both songs with actual lyrics and song structure, both of which take a backseat (but not too far back) to solid and innovative production, and frankly the result is AWESOME. Even instrumentals like "Maximalist" and "Aminals" have vocal elements or samples in them. Only real instrumental here is "Rafting Starlit Everglades," if you really care.

But that's not to say he's just a producer that happens to write. "♥" is a clear standout, melancholy but groovy at the same time, with wonderful shifts in mood both musically and lyrically. "Lovely Bloodflow" also does wonders with the beastly rhythms + awesome lyrics combo, though his falsetto goes a little too Prince-y for my taste on the first line of each verse. And "Plea," probably my favorite track on the album, is likewise a fantastic song. Defying conventional verse-chorus structure, it recycles one melodic unit, with lyrical themes that evolve with every reiteration. With an awesome beat to boot! Enjoy:

Plea - Baths


As one might expect, that one also killed live. Here's what I got from his Troubadour show July 3rd (Daedelus also played, expect an epic video post soon); excuse the sound, it was a still camera with surprisingly good video quality:


(gotta love the live manipulation, and the live vocals (!!), he definitely gets points for that.)

My other favorite is definitely "Rain Song" (too lazy to post, if you want it just buy the sucker). He goes into the production of that song, as well as the rest of the album, in this article.

Then of course there's the blogosphere favorite "Hall," with its cyclical chorus, glorious harmonies, and weird-as-hell-but-still-awesome tape-manipulating intro. Here's the Asura remix, I think it's fucking great, even if the beat lasts for only about a minute:

Hall (Asura Remix) - Baths


If I had to assign it a grade, I'd give it an A-, and that's only because I know this dude has the potential to improve even more, following a truly impressive debut. With too few weak points to complain about, Cerulean knocked me off my feet with its stronger ones, proving that experimentation and innovation are still alive and kicking in music production–and more importantly (to me at least) songwriting–today. BUY THIS, FOOLS!

at Anticon
or iTunes if you want it cheap and easy.

-el langosta

P.S. if you're new to the whole beat music scene, read this, courtesy of XLR8R.

Time Machine

So for some reason I have spent the past couple days burying myself in pop from the 40's and 50's. So I decided I should post about it. The Andrews sisters (the main body of this post) are classic pop from the WWII era, mostly close harmony vocal trio stuff with jazz accompaniment. Its fun/cool to listen to and would go well in any sort of party playlist or sampled in a fat electro track. but thats another story.

I have also included some other stuff that has resulted from my research, with notes about each track below.

If I Had A Million Dollars - The Boswell Sisters - classic tune, classic interpretation.



Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree - The Andrews Sisters - i think their most popular tune ever

42nd Street - Boswell Sisters - For any musical theatre freaks: interesting. listen to this.

I had to include ballads as well:

I'll Be With You In Apple Blossom Time - The Andrews Sisters - pretty. something about an 'apple' theme here though

I Love You As I've Never Loved Before - The Mills Brothers Their only barbershop stuff i can find. but listen to the first minute and a half at least and follow the bass voice allllllllll the way down to the low C (or whatever). Ridiculous.


//p//

Phoenix: utter beasts in action, live. thank god for NPR.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

T.E.E.D. OFF



Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs has as awesome a body of work as he has an annoying name to type. Which is pretty fucking awesome/annoying. Anyway, I love his stuff. he is extremely versatile with his productions, ranging from straight bangers (Bournemouth, The Last Drop Remix) to lyrical electro house (Moon Hits The Mirrorball) to just straight up chill electro-house-lyrics-whatever (Garden). I strongly encourage you to check em out then swing by on iTunes or something to buy.


Star Slinger.

I stumbled across this guy a couple days ago. he considers himself a beat music artist (think 0., Shlohmo, et al.) and i agree but this album has a very different, interesting and lighter vibe to it than some of the stuff over at WEDIDIT. Check him out. all his stuff is posted for free on his site.


ALSO check out these more recent productions, which are more like some of the stuff from Flying Lotus, etc. Cool shit. again, free




loverly
//p//

Friday, July 9, 2010

the revolution is here


SO jack beats have put out a teaser for their new album (slated for early 2011) which is the Revolution/Out of Body EP.

Revolution is great, and its refreshing to see them put out good stuff after a streak of shit (U.F.O., Little Secrets remix.. Labyrinth... *vomit*)

pick it up on beatport.


//p//

A To-Do List For You Readers.

1) listen to this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcv4Gcto4Sw)

2) listen to this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXmKBQ0NJps)

3) listen to this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IWiMBmQXTE)

4) acknowledge Wolfgang Gartner as the Lord and Savior of dance music. and deadmau5 too for that third track (a collab I am BEYOND pumped for).

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, LEND ME YOUR BANDWIDTH TOO!!


hokay, so
El lobster invited me to collab with him on his blog and bring in some of my own tastes (he calls me the other half - of DJMUS. im *, hes ∆. or you could say hes the indie and im the afterthought. whatever strikes your fancy).

this is excellent, because i love collab-ing with this guy. so anyway, im going to do my best to add to the medley and expand the sphere of possible musing.

IM EXCITED

first up: four tracks, all sort of along the same tune but each good, stylistically independent and kind of a takeoff.

LA indie band. saw them open for the guy below this, fell in love.

absolutely incredible [solo] folk stuff. in a live show he introduced this as a song about killing people.

These guys already get plenty of credit (played coachella '10) but im just now discovering...

SUPER indie - these guys hail from north haven, maine. a folk rock quartet thing, they are dynamos live and are coming to la JULY 21!

ps in retrospect i think the only thing that relates all four of these songs is banjo. and tallest man isn't even using banjo in that song. w/e

more later

//p//

Shlohmo - Camping EP


Shlohmo released the Camping EP on Friends of Friends a few weeks ago, and I just bought it. For those of you who don't read XLR8R, Shlohmo is 20-year-old Los Angelino Henry Laufer, a fellow alumnus of Crossroads School in Santa Monica, and a BEASTLY beat music producer. He also writes for/runs/helped start the LA-based WEDIDIT Collective, an outlet for countless talented "homies" in the experimental beat biz (my most recent favorites being 0. and LandLord).

Effortlessly combining found sounds, 8-bit synths, and fat glitch-meets-dubstep bass, his last two releases, Shlohmoshun Deluxe and the Shlo-Fi EP (which is free, courtesy of Error Broadcast), have garnered a serious following, and lots of blogosphere/Mary Anne Hobbsosphere love. Not bad for a kid two years older than me.

The EP is, suffice to say, beast. His sound has come pretty damn far: tons of percussion and awesome production without sacrificing all the thick low-end we've come to expect from him. Three bomb remixes by Asura, Shigeto, and Baths also on the EP. Get the Baths remix from XLR8R, I fucking love it as well as everything else Baths has been up to. But more on him later...

Here's a jam, Old Shlo, but awesome. He remixes it into "Tomato Smash" on the EP. From Shlomoshun Deluxe:

Tomato Squeeze - Shlohmo


Buy the EP!!!!! ( Bleep // Boomkat )

~ ~ ~

P.S.
((On a similar note, I'm seeing Baths, along with Daedelus and MatthewDavid, at the Troubadour tonight! This is very very very good. Expect a Baths post after his album comes out July 6th...one of the most inspiring producers of recent months in my opinion))