Freebie Friday: heRobust – Late Night / Morning After

 

Being the first (and quite possibly last) double LP to receive the Freebie Friday treatment and the first taste of Saturate Records circa 2012, it’s safe to say I’ve been looking forward to this release more than any other so far this year. For fans of heRobust, it should go without saying that these dual 8-track albums are simply on another level, following in the same vein as Albumin‘s lurching, unraveling complexity. For those looking in for the first time, I recommend approaching with optimistic caution. This is electronic for the headstrong – dauntingly maximalist and demanding the listener to match it’s enthusiasm. Give it a good look, not just a glance. heRobust’s penchant for metallic arpeggios and massive drops could, if not given time to breathe, be received as just another fruitless off-shoot of glitch hop. However, listening to Late Night (dedicated to the party) and Morning After (a tribute to recovery) in succession reveals something more than just humongoid bass and spacey synth lines: balance. For it’s most fiercely robotic tendencies, a soothing, soulful vocal is there to lighten the load. The more wandering psychedelic moments are kept grounded by stomping drum rhythms. Places in which headspace is completely cluttered are always rewarded with a climax of melodically satisfying clarity. Did I mention this music is complex? The biggest and best of ideas are rarely the most accessible and this is no exception. heRobust’s swinging brand of hybridized electronic funk isn’t catering to anybody, and doesn’t need to. This young ATLien is developing a cult following one download at a time.

 

Album: heRobust – Late Night / Morning After (Preview)

Facebook Lift by heRobust

Crystalinstrumental by heRobust

Rare Frequency favorite and experimental wunderkid heRobust had a busy 2011. His dome-cracking debut on Saturate Records (a match made in cybernetic heaven) still sounds fresh a year later and since then he’s performed in some very desirable places, done some very notable remix work and has even managed to create a very marketable brand for himself, bolstered by an impressive website that connects with fans on every conceivable format. With his sophomore effort Late Night / Morning After set for a February 1st release on Saturate, it’s difficult to see anything but good things coming our way from the young Atlantan. The two tracks above prove to validate that theory.

After giving those a listen, here’s a couple other goodies:

Here’s a mix via heRobust and the friends over at Lab Coat, featuring some of his new joints and laced with an all-ATL cast of dudes from Time Wharp to Ethereal. Free for download.

And below we have another taste of Morning After from the folks over at Awfully Creative, this time in a live format where heRobust mutilates a tricked-out MPK. Impressive.

Comp Wednesday: Saturate Records presents Saturated! Vol. 2

What a way to end off an already successful year! Saturate Records, purveyors of all futuristic forms of funk, bass and glitch, have maintained a hot streak this year that very few could contest with. They’ve just turned one year old and have already bombarded us with more than 10 free releases of stunning (both musically and aesthetically) electronic music that’s been shattering boundaries between UK bass, glitch, and hip hop throughout 2011. On Saturated! Vol. 2 they’ve invited another slew of outside producers into the fold to offer up another batch of bangers that touch on all the great things Saturate are known for, all quality and all for whatever you’d like to pay. This is a label to watch in 2012.

Highlights:

Dj Pound – I Make The Purple Bring Me Green - Just when you thought “brostep” had sucked all the fun out of those distorted squarewaves, along comes San Diego’s DJ Pound and his minimal trunk music.

The Next – Look At You - A fascinating 2 step variation that caught me completely off guard. Subliminal and sexy.

Sesped – Huevon Tu - A nice little taste of what Saturate is capable of. Different tempos, a new outlook on how to merge hip hop and bass, and certainly a refreshing take on how to produce hot electronic music.

Artist: BUSTED!

Bambara – Drag Hesitation (BUSTED heRobust remix) by heRobust

HEY!
I know the above track isn’t new, but the dude HeRobust has been on a bit of a mission in the last few days, recruiting followers via Facebook and Twitter, posting remixes (such as the above) to his bandcamp and warning of new material. I feel it’s important to point something out: HeRobust is the shit. Rooted in down-tempo hip hop, his sound carries an unmistakably signature style involving constantly unraveling percussion and scattering high-frequency synths. As a blogger it’s normally requisite that I describe his sound by comparison, but you really need to hear it to believe it. He’s spawned a few of my favorite things in the last year as well, both directly and indirectly:

His debut Albumin EP  is one of the most original works that the North American beat scene has yet to produce.

The unofficial video for “Snail Gate” from the aforementioned EP can also be filed under “see to believe”. Vintage stock footage spliced together so carefully that it never misses a beat. Visual retro amazingness overload. Keep an eye out for SlurpTV.  Given the rising popularity of collage art and the “old is new” culture we could be seeing big things afoot for them.

Snail gate from SlurpTV on Vimeo.

And, the reigning king of the remix, Star Slinger (foreshadow) pieced together this little number and lovingly patches in Henry Rollins’ infamous rant against DJs and their lack of musicianship.

Don’t sleep.

Album: Dj Pound – Robot Whispers

Saturate hits us again with another EP with a pay what you like pricetag (that’s 2 in 2 weeks, and if you’ve grabbed all these EP’s for free you should really being paying for one soon). Once again we have a well rounded project, complete with stunning artwork thanks to the otherworldy Thomas Wahle. I will admit, this is probably the glitchiest, most deafening specimen you will ever find on Rare Frequency, but leave it to Saturate to give us a fresh take on the sound. The intro pretty much sums it up: what sounds like a computerized iron Golem marches forward until it hits a wall of, you guessed it, glitch. The rest writes itself.

 

Label: Saturated Phat

Rifling through my inbox this morning I stumbled over an email from the fine folks at Saturate Records notifying me of the free release of a new EP, Anxious Forbes’ Trust Exercises. Are you following Saturate? No? Oh, that’s cool. You should though.

Saturate’s output mines an undefined niche somewhere in the middle ground between UK bass and L.A. electronic beat music, although it is much larger in scope and certainly shouldn’t be placed in any genre category. We’re talking about a start-up netlabel that, still in it’s first year, has released 5 free digital EPs, a blistering Label compilation, and is set to release it’s second physical LP. They have a large stable of contributors, who all have their own soundclouds where they post remixes and experiments that don’t appear on their records. They have an expertly cultivated visual aesthetic too, spearheaded by Thomas Wahle‘s pixelated psychedelic abstractions, that is shown with great pride in the amazing efforts put forth on their physical releases. And the music’s pretty good, as well. Experimentalism is certainly the theme throughout their young, impressive catalog. From the unraveling Hip Hop of Herobust’s Albumin EP (which gets an early nod for beat album of the year), to the robotic future Garage of Acre’s Paths EP, they’re offering so much choice so early in their run that they’re not just ahead of the curve, they’re creating their own.