OH LOOK A MIXTAPE

art by patkins

Ladies and gentlemen, a mix tape celebrating our summer listening. Consisting mostly of tracks from this year, but not without a forward-thinking perspective; 2011 ain't dead yet, and its future is looking good...

... from the bleeding edge of progressive electronic music, deep cuts from your favorite crustacean blog.

A Tank Full of Lobsters.zip

* track * liszt *

Pillz (Jonwayne's Drum Circle) - Gucci Mane
Summer jam. IZ YOU ROLLIN?!?!?

Wake Ups - Salva
Funky, borderline Musak synth lines with a meaty kick drive forward until the chopped and screwed dance party begins.

VHS Nite (Starkey Remix) - BD1989
Its nighttime in a futuristic city from 30 years ago. And then the wobble HITS YOU IN THE FACE. One of our summer jams.

Sangria Spin Cycles - Flying Lotus
This slight rarity is my favorite Flying Lotus beat, hands down. Absolutely awesome.

Marriage (Baths Remix) - Gold Panda
Oh look, the other producer that I've been utterly nuts for lately. One of his most beautiful remixes, with sonics ranging from experimental scraping samples, to techno-esque blips and clicks, to those signature gorgeous piano chords.

Daughter - Magic Man
indie synth pop with an excellent bass hook and undeniable summer aesthetic.

Places - Shlohmo
One of the most inspiring producers of the past few years for me. He's taking his sound in a beautiful direction, and Bad Vibes is probably gonna wind up being my album of the year...even though I've only heard three tracks from it.

Panorama (feat. Jake Weary) - Groundislava
in my heart there is a panorama view. one of the best lyrical beat music tracks i know.

Leaving Home - Lapti x Jonwayne
More jonwayne? Whatever, this track was an instant favorite as soon as I heard it: a killer future-hop groove by Lapti, a brutal verse by the wayniac, and even some goddamn blues harmonica. SWAG

MothaLuva (I'm Stoopid) - Zeroh
This man has a poetic skill I've never seen the likes of before, EVER. He blurs words together in the most brilliant ways.

What You Need - The Weeknd
These guys have blown up somewhat of late. Some of the sexiest, darkest, most forward-thinking sounds I've heard this year. Get ready for Thursday...

Like You Mean It - Matthewdavid
We post music of all sorts on this blog, but if you find yourself liking all the really out-there shit we post, you need to listen to matthewdavid. He just nails this epic synthesis of fat, neck-snapping beats and blissed-out, experimental sonics.

Never Never - SBTRKT
I actually just discovered SBTRKT, and I am in love. His recent self-titled album takes an amalgam of UK dancefloor beats and effortlessly melds them with these incredibly soulful vocals (usually courtesy of Sampha). The result? Well-written, dancefloor-ready songs.

Other Side of Backwater - Ryan York
From his Leaving Records release, Zipperlegs. Asura has been one of my favorite producers for a while now, and this track is no exception. Bathe in these beautiful ambient vibes. My 2011 chillout track, for sure.

Marvin's Room (Shlohmo's Thru tha Floor Remix) - Drake
I'm not so sure i'm CRAZY about Shlohmo's newer, more reverb-drenched style, but this track kills. The percussion, the lyrics, its all so perfectly balanced in this heart-rending package. Even if you're perfectly happy it makes you wish you weren't. Powerful stuff.

The Matrix - Bassnectar
We drop BASS IN YOUR FACE. Blowin up the place blowin blowin up the place.

Glow - Mono/Poly
Anther summer jam. CRANK DAT BASS

* * *

///patkins/// and ~El Langosta~

Free FoF Comp

New Friends of Friends compilation, I'll Be Your Friend. It's free. You have no excuses. Fantastic intro to an excellent label and some of my favorite artists (dat Baths remixxx).

GO GET IT

01. Shlohmo – “Places”, from the ‘Places EP’
02. Groundislava – “Creeper Shit”, from the ‘Book of Tech EP’
03. Salva – “Wake Ups”, from ‘Complex Housing’
04. Mexicans With Guns – “Highway To Hell” ft. Freddie Gibbs and Bun B (Ridin Dirty 7″ Mix), from ‘Highway To Hell’ 7″
05. Shlohmo – “Pretty Boy Swag” (Soulja Boy Pop Massacre), from ‘Pop Massacre’
06. Salva – “Blue” (My Dry Wet Mess Remix), from ‘Complex Housing’
07. Groundislava – “Animal” ft. Weary, from ‘Groundislava’
08. Groundislava – “Shlava” ft. Shlohmo and Jonwayne, from ‘Groundislava’
09. Shlohmo – “Post Atmosphere” (Baths Remix), from the ‘Camping EP’
10. Mexicans With Guns – “Icaros”, from ‘Friends of Friends Vol. 3′
11. Salva – “I’ll Be Your Friend”, from ‘Complex Housing’
12. Mexicans With Guns – “Me Gusto” ft. Chico Mann (Toy Selectah Remix)

Lobster out.

NEW GROUNDISLAVA HOLY SHEETS

2010 was freaking incredible. Once I decide to get off my lazy ass, patkins and I will probably do a 2010 recap post, reiterating what we loved about it. But since we're already here, why not explain why we are going to love 2011?! Here's a sampler. Read: LANGOSTA IS SO FREAKING PUMPED RIGHT NOW.

If you don't know WEDIDIT stalwart GroundIsLava, get your ass ready for some awesome music. A combination of tripped-out beats, gorgeous chords, and dazzling synths, his productions never fail to blow me away. This EP is no exception, so watch out, because he is gonna blow up this year. Blah blah video-gamey beat music/8-bit electronica blah blah blah. "He's really frickin good" is the point.

Get THIS FREE EP...

...then watch out for his debut LP on Friends of Friends, dropping sometime in April.

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BONUS:

Flawed Fortress - Groundislava

absolutely. fuckin. beautiful. the instrumental version of a remix he did for FoF's Pop Massacre comp, which we loved HERE (it's free).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

DOUBLE BONUS MOTHERFUCKERS:
You can get his awesome EP College For Dogs HERE (also free).

Various Beats

here are just some various beats i've had in my collection that i haven't shared yet. Few comments cause i have to get to sleep...

SLNGBNGrs! - Blu (Prod. Dibiase) (excellent hip hop + beats with epic intro)

Africa (Original Mix) - The Goonies (awesome tech house with heavy, hollow bass... mmm)

Pregaming the Rapture (Juno Mix) - Groundislava

Wax Rose Saturday (Remux Edit) - Mux Mool

Into The Sun, Out Of The Cold - Shigeto (really awesome)

My Neck My Back (Shlohmo Remix) - Khia (el langosta gave me this... epic epic epic remix)

From Home (Mux Mool Remix) - Tycho

Alpenglow - TOKiMONSTA, Lunice and Swede:art (don't know who Swede:art is, but this is really great)

Admit Defeat - Daedelus (very interesting, from a newer EP)

NOT IN ZIP: Pretty Boy Swag (Shlohmo Remix) - Soulja Boy (the GREATEST remix off of Pop Massacre.. you need to listen to this, no matter who you are.)

Bonus Tracks (aka tracks that don't fit the theme even remotely)

Single Ladies (Beyonce Cover) - Mr. Little Jeans (i love this so much)

Rock On (Siriusmo Remix) - Adam Freeland (this is mostly for el langosta, i have to post some even better siriusmo stuff soon)

Beats dump, zipped

enjoy

///patkins///

Friends of Friends - Pop Massacre

The influential blog Friends of Friends has just released a compilation called Pop Massacre - essentially, they challenged some of the best names in the beat scene (Daedelus, Shlohmo, Dntel, GroundIsLava, Strangeloop, Asura, My Dry Wet Mess... the list goes on!) to remix a pop song. Shlohmo, for example, takes on Soulja Boy; Dntel, Lady GaGa. The result: SEX. 

MORE SEX: ITS FREE

GO GET IT

so excited
///patkins///

SHIGETOOOOOOOOOO

Shigeto is a brilliant electronica/indie/beat music producer based out of Brooklyn. To clarify: it's mostly beat stuff, with that downtempo/hip-hop feel, but he's got a very neat sound that sometimes strays out of the hip-hop spectrum. He's a master of soundscapes: bright synths, pretty chords, kick-ass drums, and percussion up the wazoo. But he is undeniably beat-driven. And one hell of a good producer.

He's signed to Ghostly International, a bad-ass label/collective/site that has a lot of amazing artists signed to it...like Gold Panda, who I will post on soon. He (Shigeto) has an album, Full Circle, coming out in a couple of weeks, I am extremely excited and will most definitely purchase it. More info here.

~ d ~ a ~ s ~ ~ t ~ u ~ n ~ e ~ s ~

Adrift (Shigeto's Adrift A Dream Remix) - Tycho

First song of his I got. From XLR8R...point made. So beautiful, the beat is stripped down to these minimalist clicks over beautiful synth washes and a simple melody, with a little sub thrown in there for good measure. It struck me because I'd never heard this kind of sound anywhere else.

Spoons (Shigeto Remix) - Shlohmo

This one's from Shlohmo's Camping EP. Whereas the original track basically oscillates between glitch/ambient and gnarly wobble-bass beat music, this one takes those ambient, woozy chords and throws them over a killer beat in the first 30 seconds, then holds off on the wobble bass til later, when it arrives in a more subtle, muted form than in the original. Really tight remix.

Jungle Strings - Shigeto

From his Soundcloud. This starts with pretty much an electro beat, like something you'd hear from SebastiAn. But with intricate percussion & use of white noise, a droning string sample, and some arpeggiated blips in the background. Also it slows down to hip-hop tempo at the end, which is pretty kewl.

Is This All For Real - Shigeto

From a Moodgadget compilation called The Nocturnal Suite. This one's got a plucked guitar sample and vocals (reverbed up the wazoo and faded to the background), both of which mix well with the beat. Great bass, groovy beat, and some FUNKY lead synths. MAN he knows how to make good synth noises.

After The Smoke - Shigeto

From the What We Held On To EP. Amazing song. A neckbreaking beat soaked in distant sidechained chords hits you relentlessly, only occasionally giving you a measure's respite by breaking for a mournful vocal sample. By the end, the chords are everywhere, from high end to low, until you are literally saturated in synths. If you like this song, GET THE EP. I cannot stress this enough. It's not a big file size, it's beautiful music, and most importantly, IT'S FREE, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST. So he wants you to have it!

[Go get. No excuses.]

Lobster out.

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BONUS: new groundislava shit. he's half of LandLord, who we posted on here. this track was originally a remix but I like it a lot more without the vocals; this dude is a fantasic producer in his own right, and the rappers on the original suck. So cop it. Now.

Flawed Fortress (I bet I do remix instrumental) by Groundislava

You can grab the actual remix (with vocals) over at WEDIDIT.

Back In LA! (LandLord EP)

After traveling my ass off to distant though awesome places, I am back in L.A. for the summer. Appropriately, I was listening to this on the way home:

Why You'd Want To Live Here - Ben Gibbard

A tribute to my hometown. Ripped this from a live set Ben did for All Songs Considered over at NPR. An amazing live set, it's online for free, download it on iTunes from the All Songs Considered Podcast if you're a fan, even if you've renounced Death Cab (especially after they sold a song to the Twilight soundtrack...).
(also grab this)

ON TO THE REAL STORY TODAY, FOLKS:


This EP was posted about two and a half months ago at the WEDIDIT Collective (arguably one of the most "with it" places on the interwebs), and I've returned to it regularly since then. LandLord is a collab between GroundIsLava, a badass producer and WEDIDIT homie, and Jake Weary (credited here as just "Weary," I think) who I have yet to research but I promise a post at some point. As far as I can tell, GroundIsLava produces and Weary sings, but don't quote me on that.

Anyway, some of my favorite beat music jams are vocal tracks (RobertaFlack by Flying Lotus, Ooops by Hudson Mohawke [a more mainstream song than most beat music but similar vibe to LandLord] and everything 0. does), so to hear these guys on this EP combining all the glitchy, hip-hoppy production of the beat music movement with really killer, soulful vocals, really makes me happy about music nowadays. These guys have said that "future r&b" is pretty much what they're going for here, and I think they NAIL it.

COP THIS SHIT!! (also it's free)

The Upside - Landlord

My personal favorite track. Great synths, thick beat, and AWESOME vocal production (the same can be said for pretty much the whole album). PLUS it comes with a catchy chorus, guilt-free! "I'm so down for you, down, til the ceiling's the ground..."

The other tracks on here are great too. "Animal" is fierce and ominous, another killer chorus with nasty-ass vocals. "The Upset" has this awesome 8-bit feel over a stuttering beat and bassline, and these wobbly square synths that these guys seem to love so much. And there's instrumentals too, for those of you who like your boom-bap without too much vocal saturation ("Airport Security Sabbatical" and "Bluetooh Narcotics"), though I'm all for it.

again:COP THIS SHIT!!(remember, it's free!)






P.S. All Songs Considered has an awesome series called "You've Never Heard....[album name]?" where they ask young interns to review classic albums. Pretty neat to hear fresh perspectives. God I love NPR. Check it.