hiphop

Dorian Concept – When Planets Explode

/ David James / 1 Comment

Dorian Concept is a one-man force of nature from Austria who’s been tweaking beats and spinning trippy jazz tracks for several years – and with the release of When Planets Explode in 2009, finally getting his due and hopefully some worldwide recognition.  Fans of Flying Lotus, Hudson Mohawke, Ras G (whose Brotha From Anotha Planet I’ve gone crazy for), and hell J Dilla himself, are pointedly advised to get in on this action and get familiar with the sick space-jazz-hiphop pulsing out of this LP.

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This mindblowing mural of textural dexterity and extraterrestrial beat construction bears the hallmarks of Sun Ra or latter-day John Coltrane run through the modern wonky sensibility of beats straight out of a fevered acid dream.  Unrelenting, inventive sounds burst out of the speakers at every turn, keeping the listener on his toes and his neck snapped to attention – no easy head-nodding action here with the sudden tonal shifts and oft-subverted structures.  It’s a highly active album and all the more brilliant for it.  Although not nearly your average party material, the percussion and korg stabs supply ample slam, stuffed into an oceanic low-end that’ll keep any subwoofer busy for the half-hour-plus duration.  This is headphone nirvana, driving at night ecstasy, and fill-the-house explosiveness packed into a tightly wound free jazz banger sure to stupefy anyone willing to indulge in your latest album aquisition.  Grab this and detonate heads along with the solar system.

[snag this brain bender at boomkat for about $7 digital!]

Blue Sky Black Death – Late Night Cinema

/ David James / 4 Comments

Blue Sky Black Death lays down infinitely cinematic left-field instrumental hiphop with their latest album, in the process stretching the very definition of the genre into something altogether more epic and expansive.  This LP widens the scope and practically begs for a dystopian sci-fi film to accompany its stately but tweaked out majesty.  The duo, comprised of Kingston and Young God, threw down this sonic gauntlet at the feet of every other production wizard and studio sculptor last year and have yet to see a contender pick it up.

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Of course, using the term ‘cinematic’ for an album with the word practically in its title may seem lazy, until you’ve spun this at a proper volume.  There is no descriptor more apt or quick to pop into mind when listening.  This aspect is nothing new in itself; merely raised to an unheard level and played with finesse and a keen ear for detail that lets the music step forward from a long line of atmospheric beat conductors into it’s own wide screen realm.

To put it in relative (and entirely ignorable) terms, this feels as if Dr. Dre were abducted by extraterrestrials  and dropped off in a state of the art London studio with no memory of his prior life, accompanied only by his prodigious skills behind the boards and cryptic instructions to make a masterpiece with the resources at hand.  All apologies for the seemingly facetious metaphor but if you found yourself nodding at the notion, you’re probably already listening.

Late Night Cinema simply forces a smile at the sheer virtuosity and breadth of vision presented.  No song ends the way it began, each track an internal journey presented with a bravado betraying the confidence these guys have in their ability to lay out a fully fleshed out song sans the crutch of vocals or obvious hooks.  Utilizing everything from live instrumentation to indecipherable samples to what sounds like a full orchestra, they throw everything which works into the mix and  leave no stone unturned in the search for a level of the stratosphere in which to comfortably glide.  Plucked strings, fat horns, crunchy bass, snippets of dialogue, rapping, singing, and found sounds work their way into every crevice of the mix.  The aural environment is packed to the gills and populated with stylistic genius.  Though the nature is sprawling and the landscape expansive, there is simply no wasted space within this record.  Every slavishly worked over millisecond of sound feels buffed to a sheen and ready for the close inspection of a jeweler’s eye.  Honestly, I can’t recommend this enough.

[pick this up via undergroundhiphop or cduniverse, or the always dependable amazon, you won’t regret it]

Ras G – Brotha From Anotha Planet

/ David James / 4 Comments

Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program dropped this slice of wonky ‘ghetto sci-fi’ on an unsuspecting hiphop public this year and true to their nomenclature, it remains one of the spaciest jams I’ve heard from this region of the beat scene.

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“This is the music that people will be playing in the ghetto on Mars in the year 3014.”

The above quote, direct from the artist’s page, works as a warped mission statement for this project.  It speaks towards the aspiration and moody atmosphere laid down in this heady trip.  Ras G works magic twisting the listener through his aural wormhole and out into a galaxy where his old school equipment reigns supreme, wielding the power to shape all unnatural forces defining his sound itself.  A casual listen on moderate volume might give the impression of a rumbling, chaotic sound soiree – though like most good music of this sort, is an enveloping, otherworldly experience upon close inspection.  Free up 35 minutes and sit back with some headphones (and indulge in your substance of choice, if applicable) and feel the strange gravity.  Let go and be pulled through the rhythm into another realm.  And be sure to wave at Hal on the way back.

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[grab this for a reasonable ($6.99!) price at boomkat, Alpha Pup Records, or amazon.  it’s digital-only and the first release on Flying Lotus‘ very own Brainfeeder label.]

Caural – Mirrors For Eyes

/ David James / 4 Comments

Caural is the artist name of Chicago native, multi-instrumentalist and producer extraordinaire Zachary Mastoon.  This is his latest, and most fully fleshed out full length release.

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Mirrors for Eyes is deeply saturated in hazy tones and heady, soulful beats.  Spinning this is like dropping down a mental slide through treated drums, live guitar, organic synth lines; the slightly fragile production feels held together by the grooves of an ancient (but well preserved) vinyl from a connoisseur’s original Blue Note collection.  Managing this fine balancing act is what makes the record so astounding: projecting a thoroughly modern and forward-leaning style while retaining the crackling edge of some classically forgotten gem – one recently unearthed from a hermetically sealed time capsule.  Mixing fully instrumental and vocal tracks (some rapped, some sung) with a casual ease, this LP will eat 50 minutes and ask for more, stealthily working it’s way under the skin until the ghostly tones emerge in dreams and every paused, reflective moment throughout the day.  The draw is narcotic and can relentlessly stick for weeks.  Give it a spin; there’s no fear of addiction when the product’s this pure.  For instant convincing, spin Re-Experience Any Moment You Choose and quickly find yourself hitting restart to get the whole picture.

[grab this at boomkat or cd universe, or the reliable standby amazon]

Cannibal Ox – The Cold Vein

/ David James / 10 Comments

2001: a Hip Hop Odyssey – Cannibal Ox dropped one of the greatest albums in recent history and then promptly vanished.  It’s possible the group was simply too incredible to exist; the universe self-corrected, erasing the extraordinary anomaly.  It’s a bit of a shame, but we have no place to complain when we’re blessed with this singular document of gravitationally scaled hip hop ferocity.

The Cold Vein is that rarest of creatures: an album that scales incredible heights both lyrically and instrumentally, stimulating all musical pleasure centers at once.  Vocal interplay between Vast Aire and Vordul Mega is a perfect dance between partners with different strengths, complimenting each others’ style every step of the way.  Throughout the record, they’re wrestling for control of the shambling, electro-crunch futuristic monster that is El-P‘s monumental production.  This lumbering beast rears its multifaceted head into the atmosphere via the first track’s sci-fi laser synthesizers and keeps pushing through uncharted territory with every minute consumed.  Feeling at times crunchy and nasty as the deepest early RZA work, a la Liquid Swords, the record’s more of a Transformer, flipping expectations and subverting comfort.  The surfaces constantly shift below Vast & Vordul’s feet, erupting in action-funk horn blasts, spacey organ bursts, complex breakdowns where the whole spectacle threatens to break loose and fly apart..  then it’s reigned in by these dueling aural lion tamers.  Combining cutting insight with surrealist connective tissue, the vocals flaunt every previously held rap paradigm.

Cutting through near-scatalogical Kool Keith-tinted non sequiturs, and the dystopian settings of Deltron 3030 (or Can Ox forebears Company Flow), are the surprisingly confessional moments embedded throughout – showcased in particular by the psychological turmoil of The F-Word and Stress Rap.  The one lyrical preoccupation easily identified is the emphasis on power, ambition, loss, survival, and pre-apocalyptic tension.  While not original in any conventional sense, it’s the way these themes are spun through nerd-genre sensibilities that lends weight and intrinsic appeal.  Like the best comic book and science fiction flicks, all the fireworks and metaphysical effects are merely tools aiding in the comprehension of universal truth and personal revelation.

“I ain’t dealin’ with no minimum wage, I’d rather construct rhymes on a minimal page.”  This album is for dreamers and thinkers, unsatisfied with the state of the world, angry about the machinations of politics and culture, the stifling of creativity, the snuffed out aspirations.  It’s fuel for those striving, hoping, and fighting for a better place – even if it’s mental space.  Real Earth follows, after all.

[get your hands on this at CD Universe, with their list of relevant & worthy albums, or amazon of course]

DJ /rupture – Uproot

/ David James / 13 Comments

DJ /rupture is a flat-out musical genius. Preternaturally adept at crafting singularly pure mood explorations whole-cloth out of disparate samples, producer Jace Clayton is nearly as well known for his insightful writing on music.  He’s one of my favorite electronic artists working today.  One of my favorites of all time, in fact.  He’s often lumped in with the humble ‘mash-up dj’ category, which is a grave disservice to the prodigious talent he displays, especially on this album.

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First things first:  just put the album on now, with a set of headphones (or good stereo with some bass presence).  Press play.  Absorb.  This way, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

Uproot is an album which feels so cohesively unified, hypnotically of-a-piece that one could be forgiven for assuming it’s not sample-based upon first listen.  Every single moment has so much attention paid to the connections and frictions between beats and vocals, synths and strings, pacing and flow, there are simply no seams in the production.  That fact alone places this lp miles above anything traditionally recognized as ‘mash-up’ – this resides on a level closer to Endtroducing or Avalanches than Girl Talk.

Conjuring the ghosts of reggae, dub, afropop, techno, grimy hip hop, dubstep, idm, and even post rock precedents/outliers like Dif Juz or Seefeel, Uproot is a smoky mix of pulsing, impulsively grounded head-nodding beats and extraterrestrial atmospheres.  Vocals and orchestral phrases shift in and out of the mix while a constant bed of low-end throb envelops perception.  The deeply narcotic sense of comfortable oblivion is overwhelming.

By the final withering reverberation Clayton has taken a journey from flute-peppered break beats through modern avant composers to melancholy post-apocalyptic ambience, conveyed en route by dub ideals and echo-laden empathy.  This is an evolution of the soul.  A journey of the mind.  A fucking incredible mix.

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Note:  when you obtain Uproot the tags may be crazy – a predictable result with complicated artists like this.  For the proper version check (strangely enough) the last.fm page and simply copy what they’ve got.  This will help you know the prominent sample(s) on each track as well as the proper names.

Be sure to read his blog as well:  mudd up!

[purchase this, as Clayton himself offers:  at iTunes or amazon]

Bullion – Young Heartache + Get Familiar

/ David James / 1 Comment

Bullion.   Are you familiar?

If not, it’s imperative you become so.  Because this guy is going to blow up big time, I guarantee.  The reason?  He is quickly becoming my favorite new producer, and I’ll relate why.

First of all:  the Young Heartache EP

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Simply put, these four tracks will blow your fucking mind in less than 15 minutes.  There’s no other way about it.  Weaving in lush classic pop-tinged (and -sampled) melodies through a romantic vibe reminiscent of early Daedelus, he hints at the impression of none other than a true successor to the Avalanches‘ definitive (and only, so far) LP.  Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but I haven’t felt this way about a record since, well, Since I Left You.  This is not to say Young Heartache is on par with my all-time Desert Island record;  rather, the potential bursting through every second of this release is unbearable.  I cannot wait to hear what he has in store next.

Fifteen minutes is insufficient time with such talent, so with that in mind I present: Get Familiar 7″

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Just two tracks and a remix, this will get your heart pumping faster than the previous EP in all likelihood.  Spinning a more beat-oriented sound inside of a space-vaccuum atmosphere of spindly synth stabs and trebly claps, the title track slams in such a way that the question, “Why hasn’t some mainstream rapper used/abused this already?” is nigh unavoidable.  Next with “Rude Effort,” Bullion absolutely shakes the listener to his core with a calamitous bass shuffle, fist-pumpingly anthemic keys and percussion which leaves absolutely no mystery about the reason behind its title.  If nothing else, this track will convince you that I’m not just high when I proclaim forthcoming popularity with this guy.

Of course, it’ll help if people are actually listening and buying these nuggets of pure 24k brilliance.  So put on the headphones, drop him a line, get familiar.

[and of course, help make my prediction reality by purchasing his work HERE at Boomkat]