Blu - Everything'sOK (ft. Jack Davey) (prod. by Flying Lotus)

Ahh fruition.  It's always nice when a plan comes together perfectly in the end.  In this case, it took me several months to finally bring you the total presentation I had imagined, but here it is.

For a while now, I have been pleasantly surprised by the steady stream of talent coming out of the west coast music scene.  I've found myself developing favorites from the Pacific Northwest, the Bay area, and Los Angeles.  As a bit of background, I had originally been intending to dedicate a single post to several L.A. artists that have captured my attention over the past couple years.  Those artists were Blu, J*Davey, and Flying Lotus.  Each one of them has impressed me in different ways recently, and have demonstrated the health of that local music underground.  As I was contemplating how to feature them all at once, an answer dropped into my lap.  Sometime in March, Blu let a tweet fly that contained a download link to a song done by himself, and with the assistance of none other than Miss Jack Davey and FlyLo.  It was a Godsend.  I knew then that I had to devote a post to each individual musician in order to properly culminate with the excitement of this release.

So here we are.   I have shown you the lyrical skills of Blu.  You have heard the distinct voice of Jack Davey. Flying Lotus's video game-like production is instantly recognizable.  This track is off Blu's forthcoming No York! album.  Enjoy.

Listen/Download at Okayplayer.

SBTRKT - Wildfire (ft. Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon)

I've had this song on repeat for a good 24 hours now.  It has literally consumed my music listening like a wildfire.

Listen at Live For The Funk.

The track is by SBTRKT (as in 'subtract') and features the lead vocalist of the band Little Dragon.  SBTRKT is an enigmatic British artist who specializes in drum and bass (DnB) and U.K. style dubstep music.

It's education time for all you triggas and snitches.  Dubstep isn't defined by face melting bass drops.  It can be traced to London producers during the mid 90's blending features of Jamaican dub, drum and bass, and British 2-Step into a new, creative style of music.  This is one of the earliest examples of dub music.  It has a sparse drum line; instead, the song's bass line drives the track.  Ultimately, dub gave rise to DnB music which is much more up-tempo and frantic.  A prime example of this style is seen in the opening scene of Ali G in da House.  Classic.  And finally, 2-Step garage music grew out of DnB, and is more or less dubstep's cousin.  Here is a sample of 2-Step that displays an increased use of electronica as well as more vocals.  It should be apparent by now how we arrive at music like that from SBTRKT.

Still reading?  Then you're also probably still playing 'Wildfire'.  SBTRKT has really shown us why less is more both in a name and in music.  The light drum beats, heavy bass melody, and nice topping of female vocals make a simple, yet perfectly constructed song.  He has said that he is a fan of FlyLo's Cosmogramma album, and those influences are obvious in his production.

Apart from deleting vowels, SBTRKT shares several more similarities with Toronto based singer The Weeknd (seriously, if you don't have his mixtape yet, you might be homeless).  They both inspire this sort of late night swagger and confidence that is difficult to put into words, but easy to feel when listening to their music.  Drizzy Drake has placed his approval on both artists, if that means anything to you.  His tweets were partially responsible for the buzz around The Weeknd and he was so kind as to drop some bars on 'Wildfire'.  Also, for all the secrecy surrounding The Weeknd's identity, at least we know his name is Abel Tesfaye.  SBTRKT may or may not be multiple people, and he only performs publicly while wearing a signature tribal mask.  To be honest, I didn't notice the eyes behind the mask when I first saw the picture above.  It kind of freaked me out when I realized it, and made the song that much more haunting, but awesome.

Flying Lotus

This post is going to be fun.  Flying Lotus, or FlyLo for short, is the alias of electronic musician, Steven Ellison.  He is by no means your standard producer of electronica, however.  He crafts complex tracks that draw from a wide variety of influences.  Hip-hop beats, organic instrumentals, floating vocals, and video game sound effects all meld together with fantastic balance to give his music a distinct sound.

Like any good musician, it seems that FlyLo also likes to occasionally indulge in some mind altering activities...

Holy zodiac! That's a trip.  The song is from his 2010 album Cosmogramma and is called "Zodiac Shit".  His real 'influences' aren't all herbs and pills; he has said that he gets high to enjoy his music, not to make it because he gets distracted and forgetful.  No, FlyLo music is much more a product of the environment in which he was raised.

The Los Angeles native has kept close ties to his musical family.  His music takes strong inspiration from the lives and works of his aunt and uncle, jazz musicians Alice and John Coltrane.  In addition, their son, Ravi, remains an important part in Ellison's creative process.  See Ravi and Alice perform here.

Flying Lotus's name might not have mainstream notoriety, but his music does.  Anyone that has ever watched Cartoon Network's [adult swim] programming block (as I am right now) should recognize his songs from their witty and snide bumps.


Hit the jump to see what I'm talking about.

Plus Move

I've been revisiting some of my older posts lately, and I arrived back at my first one.  It's a remix of "Little Secrets" by Passion Pit done by a guy named Jaques.  Give it a listen.  There was a reason I couldn't wait to help spread this track around the Internet; it gives this great vibe of being carefree, fun loving, and just out to have a good time.

Listening to it again, though, did recall my frustration over not being able to figure out where the rap vocals were from.  Then, amazingly, a miracle happened.  My older, wiser self realized that I should just ASK JAQUES WHERE IT WAS FROM.  I put my simple, elegant plan into action and shot him an email.  He very courteously and promptly replied and told me it was a cat named Future Kiddd from Pensacola, Florida. Problem solved.

I Googled this dude and most of the hits that returned were for "Passion Pit - Little Secrets (ft. Future Kiddd) (Plus Move Remix)". Well that was useless. I already knew the remix was of "Little Secrets", and I had just found out that it featured Future Kiddd, but what was all this 'Plus Move' noise?  I figured it was an old Jaques alias or group name and continued being upset over having learned nothing new.  Wahh.

Luckily, I have been known to have more than one good idea per day, which eventually led me to actually listen to the Plus Move track.  Within the first two seconds I was rewarded for my lapse in laziness hard work with an epiphany.  It's not the same track.  Jaques didn't add those vocals to the Passion Pit song, Plus Move did, and Jaques remixed their remix.  Whoa.

I found their Facebook page, and that had a link to a Tumblr full of free music.  They are comprised of members Future Kiddd and fuZZZy.  Yay, triple lettters.  I've listened through everything they had on there, and it's pretty solid.  They tend to start and end strong, both on tracks and on albums, and their remixes are probably better than their original material, but overall, I'm a fan.

Here's their version of the Passion Pit track.  Compared to Jaques's rework, it's much faster and MUCH funkier.
Passion Pit - Little Secrets (Plus Move Remix feat. Future Kiddd) by plusmove

This is their imagining of Prince's "1999"
Plus Move - 2099

Both of these are off of their album Jams, Bangers, & Remixes.
Find all of their releases here.

Have A Nice Day!

 

I've got 4 and 20 songs for you today because... why not?  Lots of awesome tracks missed the cut, but there will definitely be more lists to come.  Click above to listen, and below to download.  Have a nice day!

Playlist Download

I'll throw in some Chiddy Bang too.  I feel like the vibe is right with this one.

Don't Worry, Be Happy 

Xaphoon Jones Mixtape Vol. 2

The second Xaphoon Jones mixtape just came out!

Don't be a fool, download it at illRoots.

If you missed the first one, it's alright, here it is.  It gave us the original remix to Darwin Deez's 'Bad Day' that was later reworked with some lines from Chiddy.  It also had the monstrously incredible tracks 'I Wanna Know Now' and 'Radar Detector'.  If you don't know who Xaphoon Jones is... then you need to get your act together buster.  He's the producer half of the Philly duo, Chiddy Bang.  You should know who they are by now or you're old.

Anyways, for as fresh as Chiddy's rhymes are, Xaphoon's beats are equally dope.  They've been pioneers for the college hip-hop sound, and with an album due out this year, they're certainly poised to make a bang in 2011.  Xaphoon was one of the earlier DJs to sample indie music artists for hip-hop beats, and since then it has become a rapidly rising trend.  Hipsters and hip-hop heads alike have set their differences aside to rave about this exciting new blend of genres.  I got really link-happy because I think the music really speaks for itself with this kid.  This is why it pays to stay on top of what music is new and cool; there are definitely some serious rising stars out there.

It's April Fool's Day, but Xaphoon, you crazy.

J*DaVeY

Back on track.  I just realized the last two artists I posted weren't big fans of the last letter 'e' in their stage names.  Enough of that crazEEnEss.

On the left we have Miss Jack Davey, her momma named her Briana Cartwright, and yes, she is rocking the undercut/mohawk hairdo.  I guess it's the style that all the cool, young ladies are rocking these days.  (haha just messing with ya Skrillex) (UPDATE: I wasn't the only one thinking it!  Look!)  The dude with her is Brook D'Leau, his momma named him Brook D'Leau.  Sometimes they do DJ sets together under the name Black Morris, but as a musical outfit they are J*DaVeY.  He is the producer and she is the vocalist.  That's where all the concrete definitions stop.  His beats are spacey, her voice is swinging, and she's got a sharp rap tongue too.  Their music infuses elements of hip-hop, R&B, electronica, rock, jazz, and basically everything else.

Here's a taste of their influences and the way they put their own spin on things:
Smells Like Teen Spirit (J*DaVeY Cover)

The song is recognizable, but they've definitely taken an iconic track and brought it into the new millennium.  It got support from Kurt Cobain's estate and from Nirvana drummer, Dave Grohl.  This track is off their latest EP entitled Evil Christian Cop: The Great Mistapes, which is available fo' free at their Bandcamp site.  SLTS is the only cover on there; some of the songs do interpolate other tunes, but in true J*DaVeY fashion.

Other artists often employ Miss Jack Davey for her vocal talents such as on this track by Grooveman Spot off his excellent album, Eternal Development.
Grooveman Spot - What We Do (ft. Miss Jack Davey)

This is probably one of the chillest tracks I have ever heard, and one of my personal favorites.  It would warrant its own post, but I can't find out anything about this guy.  I do know he also goes by DJ Kou-G.  All the sites I've found are in Japanese so I'm not getting too much other info out of those.  Oh well, just enjoy!

The Weeknd - House of Balloons (Mixtape)

Distractions.  Sometimes you're all ready to get focused on one task, but then things start to pop up and get in the way (I'm looking at you guys, Facebook and Twitter).  You get sidetracked.  I had a whole plan laid out for my posts for this week; it was beautiful.  When I'm prepping to write about an artist, I like to listen to a lot of their songs throughout the day so I can decide what to post and to try and catch any revealing personal information from their lyrics.  The lineup I had ready before, though, is on hold for now because I was listening to something else.  I'm sure basically everyone has had their weekday plans run off track by thoughts of the weekend, but this time it was The Weeknd that got me.

There's a bit of mystery surrounding what The Weeknd is exactly.  From what I've read, it seems it is a one man R&B/Soul act, probably by the name of Abel Tesfaye.  I'm pretty confident that there's a team of others, though, that handled production for this project.  I do know that The Weeknd (God! I keep typing the third e) is based out of Toronto.  He mentions being 20 years old, but his voice is strong and confident and complements the tight production well.  Neither side dominates; there are times for each to shine.

Here's the opening track:
The Weeknd - High For This by The_Weeknd

On my first listen, it sounded like a super smooth and seductive baby-making mixtape.  That was fine; I listened all the way through without skipping any tracks, which to me is a sign of a really good album.  After I found myself hitting repeat a few more times, however, I realized there was a little more going on here.  Sure, the common love song themes are there, but they're presented at a much more primal level.  I use 'love' in the sense of instinctive, possibly drugged up, urges.  It delivers the rawness that Jeremiah, Enrique, and Trey Songz and Drake only wish they knew how to express.  It's subtle, yet forceful.  This isn't your pump-up, pregame music, it's your after hours, make bad decisions but-who-cares music, and it's best listened to in the dark.

This is the closing track and one of my favorites:
The Weeknd - The Knowing by The_Weeknd

Make sure to download all nine tracks off House of Balloons.
Bring the 707 out...

Blu

I'd like to introduce you to Blu, stage name of Johnson Barnes.  He's a rapper out of L.A. who has been rising in the underground hip-hop world since he started putting out music several years ago.  There are many shades of Blu; he has collaborated with a variety of producers and has recently begun producing himself.  The beats he rhymes over offer a wide variety of styles and genres ranging from gospel to soul to television and movie samples.  He also often incorporates vocal samples that use the word 'blue'.

Whenever I've got to get down to business on something, or if someone even says these words this song starts playing in my head:

Blu & Exile - First Things First (ft. Miguel Jontel)

This joint is off of Blu's collabo with Exile, Below The Heavens.  It was his debut studio album and helped him to earn HipHopDX's honor for Rookie of the Year in 2007.

Notice his rapping style.  His delivery is more similar to talking, but he still maintains the aesthetics of skillful end and internal rhyming.  A big reason for the critical acclaim he has garnered is his lyrical content.  Unlike many rappers, he tones down the braggadocio in preference of more grounded, everyman raps.  He's a young guy, but he's seen a lot of the world; he had NBA aspirations and helped raise his eleven siblings so he's got plenty of experiences to keep his music honest and real.

Blu - Jazz (Tribute Remix)

Here's his version of A Tribe Called Quest's classic track Jazz (We've Got).  It's hard to touch a gem like the original, but Blu manages to add his own shine to it.  He even has a Nas sample in there to say "True in the game as long as blood is BLU in my veins".

Star Slinger - Mornin'

Aaand we're back.  Sorry about the extended commercial break.

It's absolutely gorgeous outside today, let's all vibe out with some sweet tunes.

Star Slinger - Mornin'

Darren Williams (no relation) is Star Slinger, a young British DJ/remixer who has been generating a lot of buzz lately thanks to his feel good music.  Apparently, Donald Glover described his music as 'booty LSD'.  He definitely makes things drop.  He likes to compose mixes while laying in bed or right after he wakes up which is an attitude I can certainly relate to. 

I like to picture his process as similar to cooking muffins or something else delicious.  He lays down these really fresh beats, and then samples old soul or R&B records and kneads them into the track.  Once everything starts to rise together you get the same sense of anticipation and excitement you get right before you take something out of the oven.  The whole kitchen smells great and you just know that first bite is going to be heaven.  The drop comes and everything melts together perfectly, just in your ears instead of your mouth.

Here's the sweet video to Mornin'

Stream or buy the whole album, Vol. 1, here.

Man, I just can't get over how awesome the weather is today.