Monday, December 20, 2010

Stenchman - Free Christmas Album



Stenchman gives big around the holidays, check it, another free fucking album (not just ten tunes either, a whopping 18 free tracks!). I'll this one a full proper review when I have the time, but just after a first listen, I can tell it's some most textured and musical work we seen from Stenchman yet. There's a little something for everybody. Upfront tear-outs, tech house bouncers, 8-bit stompers, mellow rollers, and musical gypsy tunes are all up for grabs, making for a perfect dubstep stocking stuffer. Grab this while it's up, 'cos it won't last long!

Stenchman – The Xmas Album (via Truetiger.org)

01. Stenchman – Antimatter
02. Stenchman – Big Trouble In Little Vagina
03. Stenchman – Coin Grab Fucktard
04. Stenchman – Free Will
05. Stenchman – Gregory 140
06. Stenchman – Spaceman (Stenchy Bootleg)
07. Stenchman – Intermission
08. Stenchman – Minor Shuffle
09. Stenchman – Next Level Mission
10. Stenchman – On The Road Again
11. Stenchman – How Many Are Alive
12. Stenchman – Psycho Killer
13. Stenchman – Psycho Killer (Dub)
14. Stenchman – This Is Important
15. Stenchman – When the Sun Goes Down
16. Stenchman – Won’t Get to Me
17. Markomen + Stenchman – The Strangler
18. Stenchman – The Cosmological Constant

Friday, December 17, 2010

DIGITAL MYSTIKZ/COKI - Urban Ethics LP



Yes, yes, the Coki LP finally drops! No one drops a wobble like Coki. His bass sounds are warm, tortured, and full of heavy melancholy that can't be matched. Urban Ethics starts on with a stuttering wobbler, Shock It, designed to creep you out with it's dungeony bong-hit atmospheres and subtle horror undertones. The bass pattern and phrasing get especially hectic and paranoid after the second drop. This one's been well rinsed on DJ tracklists with good reason. Next two get deep and rootical with Old Hope and Serious. Serious feels like it should be part of a score for Jamaican crime film in a calm-before-the-storm scene. Who knows with all that's happened in Kingston gang siege this pass year, it could very well happen. It's got a dubby mellow bass, that familiar tension building jamaican guitar, and an eerie flute melody to tie all together. A little dusty and a lot smokey for the meditative folks. The 4th tack on the Lp is intermission time. I dunno Intergalactic feels a bit out of place to me, and I guess I'll chalk it up to artistic experimentation. I mean the album is basically flawless except for this disjointed track. It falters with it's off-kilter horn patterns and weird-fx palette.The melody is buried in the mix, and is nearly indistinguishable. A cracking snare is the only redemption. But nevermind that because the following three tunes are absolute classic Coki tear-outs. Robotnik is a phaser blaster wobble-out tune, that's heavy on droning filters, and evokes that prevalent feeling of murky sadness we get with a lot of Coki's work. Almost like a song a robot slave would sing while toiling on a Martian mining colony. It's daaaaaarkkkkk. But my favorite tune on the LP is the ferocious growler known as Animal. It's just so aggro and punchy with digital barks accenting an already stormin' bassline. It's fucking banging! Long tones of creepy pads, detuned organ riffs, buzzing bleep drops flesh out the rest of tune to make it truely dynamic. That's what I love about Coki, sure the man can craft a lethal bassline, but the attention he puts into the small cinematic details really takes it to the next level. Last tune on the LP is a bit of chill wobbler to help you come-down from the high of the previously tunes, or get you high all-over again, depending if you put this on loop or not. It works out either way. I can't recommend this LP highly enough. It's everything I love about good dubstep. Ignore 12th generation Coki imitators out there, and grab the real deal.

Buy Urban Ethics.

01: Shock It
02: Old Hope
03: Serious
04: Intergalactic
05: Robotnik
06: Animal
07: It

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Loop StepWalker - Radio Autopsy

Loop Stepwalker - Radio Autopsy (Electrostep mix Clip) by Loop Stepwalker

Well, here we have it, the song that finally broke dubstep. This is when Fonzi jumps the shark and we have to tune into to the next episode to see if he gets devoured or not. I've been mostly ducking the glut of noise merchants that have been disguising themselves as dubstep, for the better part of the year. Occasionally I'd check in to see if there were any diamonds in the rough, but for the most part, it's been all Borgore and Funtcase derivative wanna-bes. Until now. Loop Stepwalker (sigh, that name actually pains me to say out loud) delivers the next evolutionary step of filth in this self-proclaimed "electro-step" tune. Really it's just a mash-up of bro-step, house, and gabber. I'd compare it to when breakcore emerged out of the drum n bass and gabber scenes, but that'd be a disservice to the productions quality here. While I kind of loathe the actual tune, I can't deny the superior craftsmanship or innovation that's happening. It seems like it's a natural progression of the extreme switch-up bassline style that's been churned out the past two years, but mashing genres and executing in a crisp and professional manner. Anyways give a listen, and comment below and tell me to fuck off, I'm probably way off basis.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Talen - The Comic Book Ep



Talen is kinda borderline electro/breaks leaning heavy towards the dance-hall side of the electronica spectrum with some pop-influences. According to the one sheet:"The EP features the vocal talent of Lady Saw,Turbulence and Ward 21. Remix duty is handled by the Bass mafia international: Stereotyp, Kalbata, Robot Koch, Reverse Engineering, Son Of Kick, Filewile, I-Wolf and King Aron." The only tune that really stands out of Talen's original production with any kind of teeth is Batgirl and that's mostly because of Lady Saw's absolutely aggy flow (which reminds me a bit of Warrior Queen to be honest). But I admit the beats are cracking and club hot. His other productions sound like a polished tutorial out of Computer Music Magazine or XLR8R, often relying on conventional tricks, and rather obvious pop devices. Whiles it's not the worst music, I was cringing at few spots during Johnny Blaze feat. Turbulence... some of the melodies were far too sweet for my palette, and the choruses just grating.

The remixes fair much better than originals and are worthy of your time. Kalbata killed it on the Batgirl Remix. It's just a growling beast of a track, very fitting of the "future dancehall" label that their marketing department boasts. Absolutely murky. Son of Kick delivers an appropriately moody and grinding bass heavy version of Green Lantern, translating it nicely into a dubstep pattern. I can see this going off big in a deeper kind of set. It's not the filthiest nasty thing ever, but with the grimey spits of Ward 21 it doesn't have to be, and remains sufficiently thug. I'm kind of in awe of the Reverse Engineering flip of the script on their version of the remix, taking it to a dark Knightrider 80's vibe. Robot Koch cranks out a minimal tech-house post-step version of Johnny Blaze, that is bit easier to digest, although I'm still not feeling all of the vocal work of Turbulence. They can get kind of reggae r-n-b-ish at times, and really who want's that. I give him credit for toning down the cheesier elements as much he can. All in all this Ep is a bit of mixed bagged, with a few brilliant moments. I'm not so sure Batgirl, Green Lantern, and Johnny Blaze( aka Ghost Rider) have all that much in common other than they are comic book characters and Batgirl and Green Lantern are both owned by DC, so conceptually it could be more unified, but a fun idea none the less.

http://www.myspace.com/talenmusic
http://www.talen.ch/
http://www.mouthwateringrecords.com/

preview of the Kalbata remix http://soundcloud.com/mouthwateringrecords/batgirl-feat-lady-saw-kalbata-remix

Tracklist:
A1 Batgirl feat. Lady Saw
A2 Green Lantern feat. Ward 21
A3 Johnny Blaze feat. Turbulence
B1 Batgirl feat. Lady Saw (Kalbata Remix)
B2 Green Lantern feat. Ward 21 (Son of Kick Remix)
B3 Johnny Blaze feat. Turbulence (Robot Koch Remix)

Digital only (included with Vinyl 12”)
7. Batgirl feat. Lady Saw (I-Wolf Remix)
8. Batgirl feat. Lady Saw (Stereotyp Version 1)
9. Batgirl feat. Lady Saw (Stereotyp Version 2)
10. Green Lantern feat. Ward 21 (Reverse Engineering Remix)
11. Johnny Blaze feat. Turbulence (Filewile Remix)
12. Johnny Blaze feat. Turbulence (King Aron Remix)

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Flying Lotus - Zodiac Shit



My buddy Chris Hamilton from work shared me this link of this wicked bit of animation from Lilfuchs in that 60's Superjail evolving-zoom style. This is tune is from Flying Lotuses "Cosmogramma". I wonder if the digital burp noise was added in post or if it was in the original track. Either way feast on some eye and ear candy...

Monday, December 6, 2010

Mishka Presents Keep Watch Vol. XXI: 12th Planet



I missed this one dropping in late October by 12th Planet. I've met John a handful of times and it's always like I'm talking to an old friend that I haven't seen in ages. Just a really cool down to earth guy, which is very rare these days. Anyways he always brings the heat, and this mix is no exception. There a good scramble of nasty filth and loundness blended some deep, murky cuts. The unique thing about a 12th Planet mix is the kind of storyteller aspects to it. From the intro samples to the track selection, double drops and blends, he's always telling a bit of a tale around the campfire with earthquaking bass and syncopated beats. It certainly gives the mix a bit of a longer shelf-life than what normally passes through my iTunes.

Mishka Presents Keep Watch Vol. XXI: 12th Planet

1) Trouble Man Intro
2) Flinch – Midnite Hustle (AC & Dell, 12th Planet VIP)
3) Statelapse – Mad House
4) Excision & Downlink – Reploid
5) Trolley Snatcha – Rocco’s Revenge
6) The Others – GTFO
7) 16Bit – FRZR3000
Noah D. – SRS VIP
9) Benga- Dirty Face
10) Joker – Instrumental
11) Rusko – Hold On (12th planet Remix)
12) Flux Pavillion – I Can’t Stop
13) Ras Kass – West Coast Dub
14) Skream – Listenin’ to Records on my Wall
15) DJ Sneak – Southern Boy (12th Planet & Flinch Remix)
16) I Square – Hey Sexy lady (Skrillex Remix)
17) Doctor P. – Badman SOund
18) Monstar – Put Ya Hands Up
19) Rye Rye feat. M.I.A. – Sunshine (12th Planet Remix)
20) Datsik – Domino
21) Jakes – Justice
22) Skream – CTO
23) Mala – Eyez
24) Skream – Put Ya Knees Up
25) Distance – D.E.V.A.S.T.A.T.O.R.
26) Trolley Snatcha – Passin’ Me By
27) 12th Planet & Antiserum – Purple & Gold
28) DJ Die & Fabio – Brite Lights (Joker Remix)
29) 12th Planet & Datsik – Texx Mars
30) Jinder – Youth Blood (12th Planet Remix)
31) Subscape – Just Coz
32) Caspa – Geordie Racer
33) Benga – Lil’ Bits
34) Silkie – 80′s Baby
35) Boregore – Act Like a Hoe
36) Rusko – Do You Wanna Have a Party?
37) Breakage – It’s Over (feat. Roses Gabor)