Dâm-Funk, who just dropped his epic 2cd debut album Toeachizown on October 27, is set to explode heads through the end of the year and beyond with funky electro-boogie workouts the likes of which haven’t been heard since Prince and the Revolution erected bangers for the new millenium two decades early. I’ve barely had time to absorb the 2+ hour set, much less give it a proper writeup, so here’s the video trailer featuring psychedelic space visuals and a selection of tunes from across the album. In no way does this do the massive set justice but it’s a tasty slice to whet your appetite, and a heads up to anyone still sleeping on this guy.
Keep your eyes on Optimistic Underground, as I’ll be unleashing a full album post within the week.
-note that the spelling is *not* Dam-Funk, on the artwork-
Shackleton first came to my attention late in 2008 via the sublime mix album Uproot (which I posted here in April), produced by one of my absolute favorite beatmakers, DJ /rupture. Almost exactly one year later, this collection – entitled Three EPs – drops the definitive word thus far on his (already stellar) burgeoning career.
Earthquake-level bass lines slither beneath evasive percussion maneuvers throughout every moment of this disc, providing a cavernous bottom end to support the origami skyscrapers of of sampledelic dexterity, all wrapped in loops of pulsing synth candy. The palpably soupy atmosphere creaks and groans like an old ghost ship refusing to sink, far removed from the climate of foggy London alleys of dubstep to altogether more obscured and claustrophobic (not to mention exotic) environs. Sitar drones ride lines of tablas and salt shaker cymbals, disembodied vocals drift through the mix spectre-like, and a time machine’s load of futuristic effects beam us from deep underwater through the Oort cloud and back. More than anything else, this is music to disappear into, be swallowed up for an hour and dropped out with faint knowledge of where, exactly, the journey took us.
With a darkly romantic night drift more akin to Burial‘s pitch black monster Untrue than anything strictly dubstep and a calculated iciness echoing nothing less than Muslimgauze himself, Shackleton stands neatly alone in his world. This melange, spiced with minimal techno, middle eastern percussion tapestries and a truckload of straight dub effects, is truly a unique proposition – something felt more than heard, a necessary experience for anyone still reading. Don’t be left out. And, if you’re still unconvinced, merely try out There’s A Slow Train Coming, directly below.
Rumskib are a Danish shoegaze outfit making the kind of straightforward gauzy guitar love spiked with dreamy female vocals that simply hasn’t been attempted, much less achieved, since the beloved genre’s first trip around the sun nearly 2 decades ago.
The Chemical Brothers exploded with Star Guitar in 2002, resulting in one of my favorite music videos of all time. Ever. Of all time. It’s easily one of the most hypnotic, addictive, and straight up cool videos anyone will ever see.
And it’s got a delicious aura of “how the fuck did they do that?” – since the clip’s nearly a decade old. The simplest explanation is to note the genius who conceived it: Michel Gondry.
I know the clip isn’t viewable here, but that’s a good thing. Click, go to the youtube page, and watch it in HQ to get the full experience. You’ll emerge a changed person. Or at least smiling.
[this song is available on the album Come With Us, as well as the excellent 2cd Brotherhood compilation]
Optimistic Underground 