up-and-coming

Mount Kimbie – Crooks & Lovers

/ David James / 3 Comments

Mount Kimbie released one of my very favorite little EPs in 2009 titled Maybes.  Sketching an indelible glimpse of truly post-dubstep sounds – embodying not just the unceasing clatter of the streets but the tactile pulse of pensive moments at home in the morning kitchen, the bedroom or bath – no one else spun remotely into their orbit for a long time; not even their follow up effort.  Then came the full length debut…

Crooks & Lovers.  It sounds like nothing you’d expect.  Instead of thriving in the miniature-ambient dubstep realm they created, duo Dominic Maker and Kai Campos sidestep the opportunity to bask in a certain glow.  Gripping their sound ever more tightly, these 35 minutes stake out some truly virgin territory on the beat continent.  All the domestic intimacy of their prior work is amplified while they throw open the windows and breathe in a wider spectrum of textures and feeling.  Every tool in the kitchen has been employed in an assuredly minimal manner, each piece clicking into place with the draw of a magnet, a knife in its sheath.  After several listens what seems to stand out most to me is how tactile the album is.  There’s enough space and silence in here that the sharpness of contrast between the individual elements really snaps in an overtly physical way.  There’s a sense of gravity and heft to these beats.  Imagine the deaf hearing for the first time, the immense clarity of glass breaking or water droplets; how even a handshake cracks like thunder.  Mount Kimbie renders each moment in a high definition embrace.  Close listening is naturally rewarded with exponential returns.

At proper volume, an acute idea of synesthesia forms along with the standing hairs on my neck.  Every millisecond of this thoroughly electronic sound hums like a rough brush on my thumbs, clicks like teeth on my lips, and claps with the force of a pair of hands over my ears.  It’s an unending flow of warm and inviting colors filtering the entire band of visible light.  It smells like home.  This is what makes Crooks & Lovers truly stand apart.

If you’re remotely familiar with beat-centric music today, give Mount Kimbie a try.  If you’re interested, simply buy this album now.  Seriously.

Tracklist:
01. Tunnelvision
02. Would Know
03. Before I Move Off
04. Blind Night Errand
05. Adriatic
06. Carbonated
07. Ruby
08. Ode To Bear
09. Field
10. Mayor
11. Between Time

[grab a copy at forced exposure, boomkat or amazon or somewhere else and be happy you did]

[ps buy Maybes too]

Let Me See You Do The Tightrope

/ David James / 1 Comment

Janelle Monáe is an intriguing artist whom I’ve followed since an explosive debut EP dropped in 2008 and I happened to catch a blurb in Rolling Stone (of all places!) about it.  Metropolis: The Chase Suite was a firecracker of sci-fi themes, futuristic funk, fresh production, elastic style and absolutely star-making vocals.  I thought, this kid is absolutely going to blow up.

Then she disappeared.

But not exactly, as it turns out.  Debut LP ArchAndroid came out this Tuesday and to promote it Miss Monáe appeared on David Letterman‘s show for her broadcast premier with first single Tightrope.  Watching this clip convinced me of her raw live-wire talent and the inevitable nature of her rising star.  Enjoy.

That footwork!  That presence!  Those pipes!  That band! The audience appears highly impressed.  Since I’m such a nice guy, watch the original music video as well.  This shit grabs me like few videos have since the 1990’s heyday of the form.  Loose fun yet tightly sculpted and conceptually stylized, it’s the kind of vision I was unable to shake back in that day.  The sort of video which I didn’t realize apparently still exists.

You’re welcome.

[pick the album up on jmonae.com or amazon i guess.  just, somewhere]

Jay Electronica’s Eternal Sunshine

/ David James / 6 Comments

I took Eternal Sunshine and I looped it.
No drums no hook just new shit.

Jay Electronica is, in my humble view, the most promising MC out there today. Although having no official albums under his belt, the bootleg collection What the Fuck is a Jay Electronica?! has been making the rounds for a year now and waking heads up across the land. Today I realized that I’d been keeping this hot treasure to myself and needed to share the love.

This song is what grabbed my attention first, being a fan of the titular film (and its dreamlike score, courtesy of Jon Brion) and always keeping my ears open for exciting new talent; suffice to say I was hooked. There’s nothing I can say that would persuade a listener more than the music itself, so have a listen.

With beats driven by the likes of Madlib and J Dilla, the songs released so far are not only deeply satisfying rhyme and rhythm excursions, but point the way to an incredibly successful career. I can’t wait for the day this man is known more for his incisive talent than simply as the husband of Erykah Badu – and that spot on the calendar is quickly approaching.

Give his What the Fuck collection a try.

[and keep your eyes and ears out for anything this guy drops, official or not. check his twitter for info.]

Shackleton – Three EPs

/ David James / 10 Comments

Yeah.  Adventurer Shackleton

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.

Exactly.  Right?

 

OK, here he is for real, artist Shackleton.

 

[get familiar with this incredible set at boomkat or norman records on vinyl, or at amazon on cd (boomkat also carries the cd edition)]

Memory Tapes – Walk Me Home

/ David James / 8 Comments

A perfect Halloween treat, Memory Tapes has dropped the excellent longform instrumental, Walk Me Home, for our holiday enjoyment.

tapesClick the artwork or grab it here!

[right click to save the mp3]

Thanks to ARAWA, this 17 minute slice of fried gold is absolutely FREE.  Opening with eerie synth pulses and a latin-flavored rhythm section, the song shifts gears after 5 minutes into an ass-shaking robo-zombie groove momentarily until the halfway point.  This is where the epic washes of balaeric keys chime in for a relaxing setup – after this point all hell breaks loose and Memory Tapes finally drops the hardcore stuff on us.  Stuccato organ hammers and stiltwalking percussion swell and the song barrels toward its ending like a runaway freight train from Camp New Order, all quaking mass and blurred signposts until a quietly haunting outro reminds us of nighttime debaucheries and spooky old films.

Spin this monster before heading out tonight.  You’ll be well fortified for whatever strange delights the twilight affords.

Air France

/ David James / 11 Comments

With only a handful of released tracks totalling over 30 minutes, Air France have become the favorite new artist many forward-thinking and fun loving music fans.  Swathed in sun drenched woozy atmospheres and grounded with a fundamental understanding of beat centered propulsion, this enigmatic duo has managed to become both the hottest ticket from Gothenburg and the leading light in a balearic trance pop revival stretching around the globe.  This is the pair of unfathomably striking EPs with which the group has garnered so much attention.

air_france-no_way_down

First we have No Way Down.  Released in the summer of 2008 with little fanfare, it was luckily picked up on pitchfork‘s radar and received a glowing review, now echoed in hundreds of like minded gushing writeups.  This is dangeously addictive electronic love-sound nirvana.  Cutting through multilayered samples with the ease of Avalanches, they’ve also got an ear for pop hooks that would make other recent (and excellent) Swedish exports blush.  There’s not a second wasted among the six equally brilliant tracks.  Forced to pick a standout, Collapsing At Your Doorstep would fit the bill for it’s dreamlike sampled refrain, “sort of like a dream. no – better” flitting over weeping romantic strings and a beach party conga line of percussion.  Truthfully, the entire record is required listening.

air_france_1168788999_1651480

Speaking of beach parties, here is the first release, On Trade Winds, dropped in 2007.  Beach Party is practically the group’s manifesto, the snowball which has since grown into an avalanche of attention.  Too many people have listened to and loved the new EP yet remain ignorant of the burgeoning genius on display with these four tracks.  Honestly, it should have gone first but recognition beats propriety.  Flip these tunes on, line up the second record, and take the whole 36 minutes and 7 seconds in one hit.  It’s as simple as that.  Words, however eloquent, aren’t equipped to convey the blast of fresh air and heartpounding excitement this music evokes.  Once it’s over you’re nearly guaranteed a repeat play.  The only problem arises when the craving for more sets in.  Hopefully Air France can keep the momentum and swing for the fences again with a new release in the near future.  Is a full LP too much to ask?

[available separately as Swedish imports, and download-only from various outlets including klicktrack.  Best option is the UK edition at Amazon which contains both EPs for the relatively low price of $17.49 us – an option I wish were available when I discovered them]

ending in ing

/ David James / 2 Comments

I haven’t felt this floored by such a new artist in… ever. With the small amount of recorded output as evidence, I have no doubt ending in ing will get the attention he deserves.

Hear for yourself

endinginging

The simplest and most direct thing I could say about this music is that it’s a perfect amalgam of several exhilarating, timelessly enjoyable elements.  Inducing a euphoric, wide-eyed, windblown hair on a sunny day feeling, this is classically perfect pop construction for the laptop generation.  The only comparison I could personally offer would be to the Avalanches – high praise indeed, but at the expense of the personal nature on display here. This man crafts songs – coherent, concise songs, without so much as a whiff of collage-style construction.  And these songs are made to get lost in.

endinginging2

I’m not going to describe the sounds themselves – it’s your job to find out.  PLEASE check out ending in ing’s myspace, as there are several other tracks available for streaming.  The tracks I’ve shared are all free, so be sure to THANK the artist personally, and encourage him to keep producing magic like this.