Die Antword - Fatty Boom Boom!

This one woke me up from a deep slumber, War song. Lady gaga cameo attacks... most importantly a rich Zeff visual style and aggy proper riddim. Up front and in your face as usual, Die Antword may be able to save hip-hop electro relevance yet. I'm nut sure if it's honest, but it is pure.

Bassnectar's European Vacation Mix by Bassnectar

Bassnectar's European Vacation Mix by Bassnectar


Bassnectar doing what he does best, taking hip-hop vocals and samples, bro-step basslines and electronica errata, putting in a blender and pressing pulse. Boom!! There's a quite a few standout tunes, deconstructed and glitched-out to nth degree. No track list unforntunately, but in case you were wondering, yes the the title of the mix is a nod to the 1985 Chevy Chase classic. "Look kids there's Big Ben." Indeed.

Re:Generation more like Regurgitation

Am I right? This trailer made me puke a little bit in my mouth. The last beat is actually kind of dope, but the whole idea of even making a movie about this... barf. Here's the write-up quote:

“Follow DJ Premier, Mark Ronson, Skrillex, Pretty Lights and The Crystal Method as they remix, recreate and re-imagine five traditional styles of music. From the classical perfection of the Berklee Symphony Orchestra to the bayou jams of New Orleans jazz, our five distinctive DJs collaborate with some of today’s biggest musicians to discover how our musical past is influencing the future”

That paragraph makes slightly nauseous as well. Hey producers, get over your self.

Top-Twenty Bass Tracks of 2011

Oh man here's is my obligatory 2011 top ten list. But it isn't ten, its twenty. I'm lazy and can't make decisions, sorry. Anyways here you go, I'll post up links to the tunes as I stumble across them and start rambling about how they are epic-ly brutal. Happy Belated News Years you bass freaks.

 Top-Twenty Bass Tracks of 2011 

 1. Dub Mechanics - Propane
I first thought this dubstep tune was by Coki and posted up about this on the blog here looking for a tune ID. Some helpful soul on dubstep forum finally pointed me in the direction of a you tube video and it's by some Dub Mechanics, whom are unknown to me. Best info I can find on them is on there sound cloud page.

"The Dub Mechanics, a South London based duo who Dj & produce Dub, Dubstep and various other genres of music."

As exclusive and mysterious as this dub is, it's actually nothing compared to it's gnarly roar. This tune is devastation and mega-death. It's the gamma bomb rage virus that triggers a zombie apocalypse. Barking rabid robot dogs commanded by lord Darkseid that will devour you and all you're little twilight raver buddies. A whirlwind of comic book violence and crappy metaphors. In otherwords, sick. For that it earns my top spot on the list.

 2. Evol Intent - Hollow Earth
Neurofunk inspired drum n bass tearouts tunes never really seem to get old do they? Alot of 2011 was me rediscovering my love for drum n bass. I found the landscape had changed and everything became slower   and mixed with old school flavors. Which is great, but I was looking for tunes like this that jumped forward from where I left off.

Evol Intent delivers one mother of a payload with Hollow Earth. A twenty megaton explosion of plasma pulsing bass and wreckage. It's got that sci-fi cinematic intro similar to a Dom + Roland or Virus tune, with some very lush and over-produced flotsam and jetsam spaces sounds. They are all too familiar trimmings of a tech-step epic. It drops straight into a hardstep runner, spits you out the otherside of the blackhole into a dubstep breakdown that dissects the beats and provides lot of delicious edits for the beard-stroking massive to fawn over.

So yeah basically I'm saying it's got some straight forward banging phrases on one hand, and complex breakdowns, on the other. Makes it an interesting tune to listen to again and again. All while being kick-ass and heavy and make me want to run around and play lazer tag and shit.

 3. Phace + Mistanthrop - Energie
GAH! What a stormer! This one draws a dark sci-fi vibe from films like Alien, Bladed Runner, Terminator and maybe Hellraiser In Space and injects it into a brutally futuristic beat. A tradition set forth by godfathers of tech step such as Dom & Roland, Ed Rush & Optical and )EIB(. It's not groundbreaking by any means but the sheer bass weight and energy makes it noteworthy. It's just fun having proper tech-step back in the lime light.  4. Modeselektor feat. Nazizi & Abbas "Monkey Flip"
 5. Digital Mystikz - Animal
 6. Basher - Androids
 7. Zinc - Recovered
 8. Azealia Banks - 212
No brainer on this here. Huge bangin'track from the indy breakout artist out of Harlem, Azealia Banks. Azzy can be as soulful as she is raunchy, and the contrast between the salty and sweet styles make "212" the perfect dancefloor banger. Granted, production on this isn't on the heavy side, but it's decent bass track. The groove is funky enough to get people moving and the hard-hitting bars amp up the vibe 'till screaming takes over the breakdown and dives into the honeycomb vocals on the refrain.  9. Mosca - Bax
 10. Magnetic Man - Karma Crazy
 11. Skream - Exothermic Reaction
 12. Excision + Datsik remix of Noisia - Alpha Centauri
 13. The Aliens - Xterminate
 14. Stinkahbell - Something In Your Eyes
 15. Interface - Twister (Ft. Shahin Badar)
 16. Wickaman - Free Bea
 17. Critycal Dub Feat Level 2 - Touch The Sky
 18. Noisia Remix of Deadmau5 - Raise Your Weapon
 19. MRK1 - Cardiac Arrest
 20. ill.Gates + Dov Remix of Greg Reve - Decoy

Kraddy - "Black Box" Video

Here's the video for the free Kraddy track I posted up a few months ago, you check out the review here for what I had to say on the tune: http://bomborafallout.blogspot.com/2011/09/kraddy-black-box-free-track.html To paraphrase I basically said it was a breakbeat strip club grinder. The video pretty much confirms the sexualized intention of this tune.

It's a slow motion hipster party, interrupted by times jitters. There's drunken revelers in goofy party hats drinking out of glass skull sifters, doing coke off a scratched cd. Smoking joints in the hallways of an unassuming house party.

Until she gets there. The crazy platinum blond with a ratted out dye-job sticking out of her knitted hat, looking like a White Zombie roadie. She struts through the party on a mission and finally stumbles into her arch enemy. That bitch with the black hair and red lipstick. BOOM! Throwdown time. These two chicks break into an epic cat fight. Hairs is pulled, bongs are thrown, cocaine is spilled, and tables are knocked over. There is a bunch of shoving, falling down and groping. After they tear through the party in a whirlwind brawl. Meanwhile the beat is grinding, sputtering and throbbing it's way to it's peak. The video climaxes with them somehow landing in the hot tub for a full blown make-out session. It's actually kind of predictable really since you never seen a punch being thrown, or anyone catching an elbow in the eye or a boot to the gut. But there you go.

Great Scott vs Transmissions - Mad Hydraulic Bounce / My World Mashup FREE Mp3

http://40hzmedia.com/Music/GreatScott/Great_Scott_vs_Transmissions_-_Mad_Hydraulic_My_World_Mashup.mp3

Great Scott vs Transmissions - Mad Hydraulic Bounce is lush aural gltichscape with a mid tempo breakbeat. Safe enough to be used as a film soundtrack, but interesting enough not to make it on the radio. It's a freebie and being used to promote:

Glitch.FM Founder Great Scott Drops New EP on Muti Music + Freebie and Music Video "Glorious Dystopia" Now Available on Addictech + Music Video for "Looking Good" feat. Dual Core

Link to: GLORIOUS DYSTOPIA on beatport.

KRADDY - Operation Prometheus and Free Album update

KRADDY - Operation Prometheus Well my Kraddy heads, here's another new freebie for you all to devour. Bit-crunching Van-Halen styled guitar soloing rise up and explode to trance-y hollowed-out rave organ riffs over a hip-hop anthem beats. It's a mish-mash of unlikely elements forced into a unsettling shotgun marriage, and it kind of makes me uncomfortable. Like in a overly-art directed kind of way. By that I mean it sounds like there were too many cooks in the kitchen. The styles clashed on me a bit, in a high school kind of way. This feels like it should be a in a video game trailer for some dystopian futuristic first-person shooter, or maybe a Zack Snyder movie like Sucker Punch.

I got privvy to a couple of other choons on his upcoming free album. "Holy Avenger" is a mid-tempo steady-as-she-goes talk-boxer with some freak-out classic rock stylings at the end. Like if Peter Frampton and Chemical Brother's had a baby. As ridiculous as that sounds I mean it in a good way. I really dig the dramatic cinematic break-downs, and warbly vocoded keyboard rolls. My only crit was it seemed really reliant on the looped rhythm and could have benefitted from better phrase and riff variations. It would make the overall tune more dynamic and interesting instead of just being surprised by the dope ending.

See my other post for the Black Box review. To paraphrase I basically thought it was a dope strip club grinder. Unfortunately the other tune on this called "NYC" I wasn't much feeling much either. Guitar and beats with a electro synth can be done a million different and exciting ways, but this isn't one of them. It sounds like a freeplay tune used to open a lame CSI ripp-off show. It's slow, it meanders, it tries to be a little funky and wail, but ultimately it goes no where. There's just no payoff and as a result there's very little point to this tune. It could be the foundation of a cool glitch-hop type tune. But could've, should've, would've it's not. This is a case where less is less. There's just not enough going on to keep my interest.To sum up, 2 for 4 is the count and so far Kraddy's new album is batting .500. I guess that's pretty good for baseball, but we'll have to see how the rest of the tracks work for a proper real world album evaluation. Hopefully it's not just pandering to the post-production world in order to get a movie/TV score deal.

*UPDATE*: Here's the full free album. Looks like at least one tune got renamed, NYC changed to Bare Bones. After giving it a full listen, the batting average get's far far worse, like Ryan Dunn bad. Just wasn't feeling most of this one, and the post-prodcution demo reel diss is not far off really. Oh well, it's free at least. ANTHEMS OF THE HERO by KRADDY

Birdy Nam Nam - Goin' In

"GOIN'IN" - OFFICIAL VIDEO from Savoir Faire on Vimeo.

Rhythmic chanting, pitched down vocals, and a simple deconstructed, almost beat-less, electronica. I don't where it falls on the music spectrum to be honest. Songs and videos like this are always a pleasant surprise. I wan't to label and categorize it, but I really don't know what to call it, so it sits in limbo to be judged on it's own merits. The video is a weirdo mash up of 2d and 3d computer graphics, some vector, some pixel-pushing and all of it bizarre.

BLNRB-NRBLN *Update*

In early 2009, three bands from the world-reknown Berlin electronic music scene set out to a journey, their destination: Nairobi, Kenya, in East Africa. The idea ‘Berlin meets Nairobi’, brainchild of Goethe-Institut Nairobi and electronic music duo Gebrüder Teichmann, was as simple as it was complex at the same time. Berlin musicians would come to this vibrant East African metropolis and meet, mix and mingle with artists from the local music scene.

BLNRB - WELCOME TO THE MADHOUSE (DALA DALA MIX) by OuthereRecords

Ok wow, it's hard to even wrap my head around this project in a proper way. To me, it feels like an electronica missionary, so maybe you should read the full scoop on this straight from the source, because I think my take on it is just all wrong: Welcome to The Madhouse.

Talking straight music, the tune that comes in at 9:45 by Nazizi is pure spitfire, and can run alongside any top grime artist, no problem. In fact I'll go as far as to say it brings a new energy to genre in terms of beats and vocal cadence. It's intricate, weirdly glitched out funky dancehall with some squee-like fx peppered throughout. It's the intensity of a gang-war at the nightclub, boiled down to a blindin' club banger. Then at 10:45 it takes a sharp left turn into some driving hard strumming alterna-punk. It might be that a new tune was mixed in with the same vocalists, or it's part of the song, it's always hard to tell with no track listing. Either way, a bit out of place.

It all comes a back more into focus with the BLNRB EP Available on iTunes This sampler is bit more on the average side for me. The standouts are Dirty Laundry and Very Necessary, the former is some unusual tribal two-step, and the later is electro-alt band/ nerdcore soundclash. None of the songs on this really match the energy of that Nazizi tune in the mix, and just kind of fall into the mediocre realm. They're not bad, but I can't say I'm really excited or into them either.

That's about all I got on it, and I'll leave it to you to make heads or tails of this project, there's just too much going on for me to sift through. Good luck!

Update: Mike Oates found the Nazizi tune on You Tube, and fuck yeah, here it is in it's full unadulterated glory - Modeselektor feat. Nazizi & Abbas "Monkey Flip" (Monkeytown Records) Out March 18 :

Die Antword - Fish Paste (ill.Gates Remix) FREE DOWNLOAD

Thanks Christ, just as I was about to die of boredom, here comes this banger remix by ill.Gates of "Fish Paste" by Die Antword. As you may know Die is a the nerdcore zef-side phenomenon from Capet-Town Africa. They blew-up in 2010, and yeah maybe it's a little on the hipster side, but I'm ok with that. What we got is Some familiar Beastie Boys-styled edits paired up with a throbbing synth bass, and the sickest raw spitting and lolita melodies from Die Antword crew. Fish Paste you might remember popping off back in '10, and this has got some new wild-style energy for the remix, exactly the kind of shit I want hear after really losing fucking interest in most of the tunes circulating the lats few months. Ok, I'm awake now, what next? Gimme something hot.
Die Antword - Fish Paste (ill.Gates Remix) FREE DOWNLOAD

Die Antwoord - Fish Paste (ill.Gates Remix) by ill.gates

MartyParty - Hard in da Paint – Waka Flock Purple Flame Remix Free Download

Thug Tetris. That's the best way to describe with one really. It's got one of the whiny distorted organ basslines, some thug sample, hells bells, squee gated synths, and other tweaked out elements. Even with all that going on this tune is rather repetitive and simplistic, and could really benefit from a proper MC flow to flesh out into a full bore anthem. I haven't heard the original so so knows, maybe it's a epic tune already and this is the deconstruction. It's really good, just begging for something more to happen with it.

ill.Gates & Ana Sia - Gene Splice Free Download

Well I may be opening up pandora's box by covering Glitch Hop in this blog, but since I've sort of covered it in the past with Juakali, and Bassnectar... doesn't seem much point in avoiding it.

This one by ill.Gates has kind of an asian string melody clashing up against a transformer bassline. Panning robot noises and video games sounds, play up the glitch angle with a finely chopped stuttering breakdown... however it mostly rolls out and doesn't get too crazy with the cuts and clicks. There's some finesse and restraint used that adds a bit of sophistication to track. The whimsical character of some the riffs work as a counterpoint to that hard grinding robo-bass, giving it the added interest to stand up to multiple plays. A little bit of sweet-n-sour action if you will (sorry, thats a terrible metaphor). As far as the [adult swim] line-up I can see this in the Afro-Samarai credit roll, no problem.

Juakali - Interview

Juakali, longtime Dubwar MC & host, has appeared on commercial recordings with Alpha & Omega, Raz Mesani, Pinch, Matty G, Kush Arora and others, impressing both industry and audiences with his ability to innovate across dub, reggae, dubstep, dancehall, bhangra, electronic, and experimental genres. This lead to him being featured as one of the top 5 US Ragga MCs who are, "launching careers as artists and producers...pushing dancehall beyond its boundaries..." ('Chat Bout' XLR8R Magazine - Issue118). 

I know you lived in Brooklyn for a minute and were involved with Dub War NYC, give us a bit of back story and history of your Dub War days. Is that when you were first exposed to dubstep?

Well, I went to College in Brooklyn, New York after immigrating from Trinidad & Tobago. While in College I got into spoken word and hip hop, was rippin and runnin all over New York City with a group known as Second2Last.  After I left college, the group more or less fizzled.  Life happened!  It was no longer about being the hot shit on the block or looking for cred.  It became increasingly clear that a huge sacrifice would have to be made by each person to realize our collective vision.  Sacrifice undertakes a different meaning for every individual.  In short, it became too much.  Meanwhile, I always knew I wanted to get into singing and performing utilizing my talents.  At the time - around 2004 - I was looking into any genre of music that sampled from reggae/ ragga/ Caribbean music/vocals.  A few things in my life at the time ushered me into the life style of an artist and I took the time to honor those moments and make the best of my knowledge of the music industry and performance circuit.  I researched for 2 months, sent emails to over 500 people and got about 25 serious replies.  One of those people was from a guy going by dqxt who invited me to the first Dub War night at Sputnik in Brooklyn. There I met Dave (aka Dave Q, dqxt) and Joe (Joe Nice).  I became a resident after that 1st night on the mic.

I know you did that "Reasons" tune with 12th Planet for the SMOG Scion CD Sampler. I know a "reasoning" is a simple event where the Rastas gather, smoke weed, and discuss, is that tune about that? BTW My brother is DJ Evol and he's been running with those guys for awhile and has been kind enough to introduce me to everyone when I visited with him in LA. How long have you been doing stuff with SMOG? Is that your main crew now? What's the current landscape of the scene in LA?


"Reasons" is about the collective high you achieve when all hearts are grooving to music.  I wrote that tune around 2007 with a scratch track I got from D1.  it was heavily syncopated.  all I was thinking about was back in the day in Trinidad when we would go to concerts, blockos/parties on the street, and just remembering the vibe of a few hundred souls moving to a riddim.  no fuss... no fight. 12th Planet asked me for a vocal around the time I moved to LA in 2008, and I gave him "Reasons" a Capella with no plans or instructions. The following year he was rinsing it around the US.  Joe Nice asked for the original, and cut a dubplate of it.  In 2010 the Doctor P remix hit.  Scion was already in talks with SMOG about a collaboration project and "Reasons" was the vehicle that provided the opportunity.  The tune is signed to SMOG’s label and that is about how far my official affiliation goes. For the most part, folks in Los Angeles know I'm based in their city. There is definitely city pride and all that, like any other major city with a music scene happening.  The recent Red Bull Culture Clash is a testament to that.  There is however, a full spectrum music culture here claiming the depths of the underground to the top of the pops and everything in-between. As far as electronic music goes in LA, there are a lot of artists and crews pushing for their time in the spotlight and it's near impossible to determine who will explode or implode within this construct. 
 
I like that you don't just have a typical dancehall flow, and you branch out with some pop culture references in your lyrics talking about Coors beers, Gamera, Hendrix and Yoda in "Freak You Back" and so on. Is this a conscious mashing of styles, or something that's just evolved over time? What are some favorite themes to rhyme about? Is there an overall message you are trying to get across?

My style and voice has definitely evolved over time.  I have been a host and feature performer since 2005.  I have learned how to get a crowed moving, jumping, to be still and to listen without loosing sight or pace with the event, promoter, DJ or myself.  My greatest lessons came from performing for an audience whose first language is not English.  If you can rock a crowd that does not understand what you're saying, you can wow any native speaker who has never heard of you!  I've learned to hone my strengths and laugh at my weaknesses on the stage.  As far as lyrics go, I tend to bury a message in the song write.  I started typing out my lyrics to the tunes I've done and didn't really start paying attention to it until reading it back on the computer.  I can write a party song with a message, I can write a dark song with a message... it comes natural to me.  I enjoy telling a story or writing about a particular experience. When I began hosting, I made it a point to not utter any cliché catch phrases to hype the crowd, a bunch of my own phrases have naturally developed from my creative process and I have made choruses from them. At Dub War we have long since called "dark" dubstep "sexy".  
Here are the lyrics to "Freak You Back".

This one here smoothie groovy

Pour the loosey goosey tonic

Grab this young gyal me choose she

Caribbean Sea flex

From Trinidad to Haiti
Cuba to Bahamas like them cruise be

Wanna sip something fruity

Rum Punch and Margarita the Samba

Barista come pour a Daiquiri

Fit n Sharp this yout' be

When me walk about

Sweeter juice akin to black berry


Chorus:
We gonna Freak You Back
Hands-on in the club
All wall occupied in the club
We gonna Freak You Back
Come dance in da club
Right cha now lights off in da club (x2)



Move 'bout as a loner

Show up paparazzi smile

Flashy without camera

Sound check, green room, toast it up

Take stage, rock 'bout like Hendrix ask Nona

“Voulez vous…” Juakali see you

Hypnotize by the sound 

Speak backward like Yoda

Shock out to the rhythm you must

Ok, UK in the vibe we trust

I guess that brings us to most important question really, which is what is Juakali all about? Is just about pushing different sounds, about Rastafarism, something more personal, or a little bit of everything? If there's one thing you wanted people to know about Juakali what would it be?

Juakali is about a voice.  It is personal.  

There's seems to be a trend of a lot of sounds melting together all at around the same BPM 135-145 or so. Production-wise for yourself what would like to see happen in the future, more cross-pollination of the sounds of dancehall, grime, dubstep, dub, glitch-hop, and jungle... or a final distillation into one or two really strong styles? Do like the direction where dubstep is headed currently? Has it lost sight of it's "dub" influences?

This world is fast moving toward a global community.  The style will become, 'who is not connected' ... 'who's off the radar'.  The cross-pollination of styles, as you call it, is inevitable. However, there will be room for the root music or style of any genre, look at Classical, Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Rock & Roll, Country, Hip Hop for instance.  As we move forward, time will call the genre into being and it will be taught and cherished. Currently, dancehall, grime, dubstep, dub, glitch-hop, and jungle...  fit within the electronic realm, however, participants of our time have given them a name - it's a human thang. Dubstep has moved from 20 - 50 people in a 150sq.ft. dark room with decent sound to festivals.  It didn't get there from a lack of understanding how music and sound influences people.

Who's hot right now and who are some of the up and coming MC's and producers to look out for?

I'm afraid I can't talk about who's hot right now cause I mostly listen to what isn't "hot" or what's the verge, but let me run down what I've been listening to of late and who I've been checking out.  
Producers = Cardopusher, Pacheko, Knight Riderz, Kush Arora, Nate Mars, Sub Swara, Plastician, Distance, Tunnidge, Silkie, Cyrus, Ramadanman, Kuedo, Flaty DL, DJG, Matty G, Modeseletor, Porier, Marcus Visionary, Yellowtail, Subatomic Soundsystem, Ikonika, Breed, XI, DLX, Tes La Rok, Moldy, BunZer0, Spektrums, Wrexile, Uproot Andy, Magnetic Man, King Cannibal, Memory 9, Addison Groove, Pinch, Ras G, D1, Terror Danjah…

MC's/Vocals/Bands = Jah Dan, Nneka, Little Dragon, Zuzuka Ponderosa, MC Zulu, Spoek Mathambo, Ms Dynamite, Collie Buds, Sade, Gorillaz, Distant Relatives...
 

Would care to share any story road stories with us? What's been the sickest parties? What's the craziest things you seen and experience through your journeys as an MC and host?

Oi, I guess folks could check my blog on myspace or my notes on facebook... lots of stuff has happened... will happen.  Best party from last year was opening for Chemical Brothers with Freq Nasty at the Fox Theater in Oakland. I lost my voice from excitement at the top of the set for about 30 seconds.  Craziest experience was getting a 'presidential' on stage behind one for the side curtains, wont say which show that was...

Anything else to add or any shouts?

Shouts to 25 serious replies I got back in 2005 when introducing myself as a recording artist. Lic-a-shot for the Dub War fam, syncro in Czech Republic, Kush Arora, Sasha Dees in Amsterdam, Sub Swara, DMZ crew, Pinch and Maryanne Hobbs who got me and what I was doing from jump! Out to all area crew who know, are brave and noble. STAMINA CREW!!! I SEE YOU  

www.juakalimusic.com
www.foreignfamiliar.com
www.facebook.com/juakalimusic
www.twitter.com/juakali
www.myspace.com/juakali
www.soundcloud.com/juakali

Juakali - Freak You Back Ep

FREAK YOU BACK - OUT Feb 4, 2011 by juakali

Juakali - Freak You Back Ep

Hahah, oh wow...When you got Joe Nice writing your one-sheet for you, you know you got a hit record on your hands. "Freak You Back" has Plastician on the buttons, doing his thing with menacing buzz synths and a pumping sub-line. Eerie FX and a powered-down stuttering whistle round out the back-end for a polished finnish. Juakali's flow over the top has calm but commanding presence, spitting about Margaritas, Paparazzi, Hendrix and Yoda , basically blowing your mind in the dance club. It's weird though, I wouldn't really call this a party tune, it's more epic sounding than that and should probably be on a soundtrack somewhere. Plastician has beening caning the hell out of this one, so you all have probably heard it on Rinse FM and all that. TeslaRock channels The Others for a bit of a rootical 2006-styled remix of "Freak You Back", with congo natty riddims, flutes and a more minimal deconstructed bass. The verses clash a bit with this riddim, but the chorus fits nicely. It's for all you "emptyness is form" medi-nerds for sure. DLX's take on it is experimental and almost drum-step. The dark synths remain intact from the original incarnation, and the a chopped, stuttering amen break, drives it along with some occasional thumps from the bass. It's not my favorite approach to be honest, but it does capture that foreboding mood that's prevalent in the Plastician version.

The other original on here is "Tha Chillski" produced by Stagga and Monky, which is sort of a glitch-hop kind of tune in the vein of Bassnectar, but with more of a dancehall flavor. It's got a definite Adult-Swim quality about it, maybe something you'd hear at the end credits of Aqua-teens, or on their commercial bumps. To be honest I prefer tunes like this than 90% of the commercial hip-hop that's out there. I dig the blasted harmonic-whine of the bass, the simple crack-slap beats, and classic hits and stabs. It's got a nice demented video game feel to it. Juakali drops some sick measured verses with Dr. Octagon-eque inflections, but delivers a kind of silly chorus. It's a fun tune though, so I can overlook saying 'tha chillski' even though it reminds of the coolness of the "check you later" guy in Dazed and Confused. This is good a EP and well worth picking up for the originals. Stay tuned for a brief Q&A with Juakali.

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)

Bassnectar- Massive Attack Bootleg Remix

Bassnectar- Massive Attack Bootleg Remix Check it out, a little bit of west coast nerdcore glitch-hop for you. It's actually not super glitchy, but you know what I mean, it's over processed. Shit gets hot around the 2 minute mark. Gotta love that whiny gangster b-line. Bassnectar come correct as usual.

DJ SOLO - Hated in the Nation

Interesting idea from this DJ Solo character from Chicago. IMO too much vocal takeovers on here, I could really do with a bit smaller chunks of that, but this is at very least an interesting listen and a different take on the typical mash-up mixes. Give it a crack:

DJ SOLO - Hated In The Nation by DJ SOLO
TRACKLIST

01. So Vexed (DJ SOLO Meth Lab Edit) - Funtcase x Crissy Criss
02. Ghost Train (feat. DJ SOLO) - Datsik (Mechano)
03. Inspector Toast Fucking Says Fuck You (DJ SOLO Edit) - Diesel x Lily Allen
04. Lounge Act 2.5 (DJ SOLO Bootleg) - Tek-One x Nirvana
05. Shuttin' Down The Sweet Shop (DJ SOLO Mega-Leg):
a) Sweet Box - DJ SOLO
b) Sweet Shop (Moskas Curved Remix)
c) Sweet Shop (Robzords and Damo Remix)
06. Drop It Like B-More Bam Bam (DJ SOLO Bootleg) - Snoop Dogg x DJ Fashen
07. Chicago Mobster Dance (feat. DJ SOLO) - Doctor P (Rasputin's Gold)
08. Love (That's What She Said feat. DJ SOLO) - Borgore
09. Starman (DJ SOLO Anunnaki Bootleg) - Tek-One x David Bowie
10. High Plains Drifter (Manson Family Remix feat. DJ SOLO x3) - Beastie Boys
11. Sandman Raving On Molly (DJ SOLO Bootleg) - Cookie Monsta x Metallica x Beastie Boys
12. Bass Punx! (feat. DJ SOLO) - Steppa & Kitcha (Let's Go Get Em)
13. My Story (Interlude feat. DJ SOLO) - Black Sabbath
14. I Used To Love Her (Fuck Hip-Hop feat. DJ SOLO) - Free The Robots (Orion's Belt Buckle)
15. Gold and A Pager (feat. DJ SOLO) - Cool Kids
16. Punk Rockers At The Circle K (DJ SOLO Bootleg)- Trolley Snatch x Iggy Pop
17. Forgot About Tainted Dreams (DJ SOLO Bootleg) - Chrispy x Soft Cell x Eurythmics x Eminem
18. Kiss Me I'm Polish (DJ SOLO Remix)- DJ SOLO x Eddie Blazonczyk

12th Plantet Remixes M.I.A.'s Born Free, FREE MP3

http://www.hardfest.com/mia.php Just need to enter an email address to download. It doesn't even need to be your email address. Before you get all you bedroom DJs get crazy excited, it's only a 3 min track, not super DJ friendly. Decent rolling tune. As always I like the the vibes of MIA vocals of over the dubstep wobbles and snappy snares. Big up to 12th Planet on this one!

Bassnectar- Cozza Frenzy Remix pack review

Bassnectar just dropped the Cozza Frenzy Remix pack, it's ll killer, no filler.If you order through the little shoppe at Bassnectar Labs and you get the exclusive bonus remixes of Cozza Frenzy, Boombox, and West Coast Lo Fi Rides Again by J Boogie, Amp Live, Mexican With Guns, Stylust, and SF’s own Roomate; otherwise it's just re-interpertations of Boombox and Teleport Massive by RJD2, Robot Koch, Son of Kick, DJ Vadim, and Stagga . All versions Boombox and Cozza are straight heaters, but to me, nothing gonna beat the Cozza Frenzy VIP I heard on Excision Shambala 2009 mix, sorry. That tunes just smacks it down, full stop. However there's some really sick mutations on here, well worth checking. I'm fully digging Robot Koch's glitch-hop spin on Teleport Massive, like something you'd hear as the end credit of some retarded show on Adult Swim (and I mean that as I compliment). Amp Live does a sick B-more Club workout on Boombox, that stands out as one of the really only 4 on the floor tune in the pack. For the dubstep heads there's Roommate's hyphy-ized version of Cozza, Noah D's drop bass take on Boombox, Stylust Wooble St. on Cozza, the grinding Teleport Massive Remix Dub and The Churn of the Century by Bassnectar. There's no one that doesn't bring their A-game to this pack; I can honestly say that I would rock any of these on a playlist. Check out the tunes for yourself and see what you think.