Usually Wednesday means reviewing a free compilation, but this week has been a busy one and I haven’t had much in the inbox other than Dilla tribute songs. So why don’t we make our own compilation? Here’s a collection of free soundcloud downloads from the past week or so.
Here’s a nice video to kick off the year: the dude Shlohmo (who just grabbed the number 1 spot on Rare Frequencies favorite beat albums of 2011) speaks wth Join The Studio about the evolution of his music, among other things. He’s as humble as his music would have you believe.
Like other losers who couldn’t escape their professional obligations long enough to escape to the forest to attend BC’s premiere electronic music festival, my only solace lies here. Big shout to Syd Woodward and Grounded TV for the stunning photography.
The Hybrid finally serves us with another tape, XXX, a reference not to pornography but seniority. I’m a firm believer that the “Adderall Admiral” is one the freshest breaths of air in the game, I just can’t always cosign his taste in beats and lack of continuity in his full lengths. Unfortunately, this isn’t an exception, and although this is easily Danny Brown’s most complete offering to date (and a very listenable one as well), we’ll have to wait for that singular classic I know he has in him.
Speaking of artists finding their sweet spot to deliver a classic record, Bad Vibes really, really delivered. All the things that made Shlohmo’s airy, ethereal style of choppy lo-fi hip hop so unique has been delicately refined to create a sprawling, impressionist work that will inevitably burrow into the hearts and minds of many. The title is a total misnomer.
Local Cats
Some locals unleashed heat in the past couple weeks as well:
I’m really feeling both of these projects and the Vancity / Cowtown scene is definitely keeping it real this year when it comes to instrumental hip hop.
This guy is gaining serious momentum. Let’s hope his debut is constructed with Clams Casino production and tracks like “Peso” and “Purple Swag” and not any of the lazy filler that comprises most of his Deep Purple mixtape.
Say what you like about the goliath, be-all-end-all of “indie” record review sites that is Pitchfork Media, but they do strike it rich on a fairly consistent basis. Their latest gold mine comes in the form of the exceedingly likable ?uestlove and his highly entertaining (and nostalgic and insightful ) interview for their 15 year celebration.
The concept is simple: Friends of Friends’ grabs some hat-ass producers and tells them to mangle any song they want. I loved the first edition in the series, and this one gets even better. It’s hard to go wrong when you can get quality refixes out of the likes of Devonwho, Shlohmo, Dza and Jon Wayne all on one comp. eLan alsoserves up another thumping ode to a turn-of-the-millennium songstress.
I’m not trying to show any favoritism here, this being the second Shlohmo joint posted in a week, but his album drops shortly and dude is clearly vying for your attention. This remix is downright sexy and rather than dissect it I’ll let Shlohmo fill you in:
“…i forgot i had this drake remix lyin around. this is seriously one of my fav songs of the year, if not ever. if youre one of those people that hates on pop music because you wear a backpack or smthing then plz chill out. try and appreciate shit even if u have to forget the context sometimes. good music is good music and u don’t have to front and pretend it’s below ur intellectual level. can u feel me? much <3 guys. even if u wear backpacks like me “
Most Burial remixes are met with mixed reactions upon reaching the web. Some are accommodating enough while others, well, not so much. I’ve seen death threats uttered via comment thread at the dude Phaseone for this beauty. Personally, I don’t quite understand the contempt. With Burial’s Andre Young-like output, you’d think that the hordes of his hyper-diverse minions would rejoice in some new music regardless. That’s the thing with Burial – his music is so steeped in emotion that it creates unique reactions based on interpretation and becomes linked to other experiences in that same vein of feeling. Fucking with songs like these could mean deharmonizing something inside someone that they wanted to keep for themselves, and that could elicit some negative reactions. I don’t see any such reactions stemming from this remix. Shlohmo is no slouch when it comes to conveying feeling in his own music, and my guess is he had a little place in his heart for the outro to “Shell Of Light”. He allows Burial’s sense of space to dominate the track, with sparse 808 crackle and fluttering vocals stewing in a pot with some low-bit synth tones. The result is to date the best reinterpretation I’ve heard of anything from Untrue, and should hopefully evoke positive reactions from even the most stilted of fans.
Shlohmo drops his debut LP, Bad Vibes, on August 9th.
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