Today is the first birthday of Push Up Ya Lighter. One year ago to the day I finally got around to starting a blog and sharing exciting and interesting music. Did you get me a present? No? Dammit. Oh well, in the spirit of Christmas I guess it's fine if I do some giving. Here's ten of the coolest songs from the past year. All of these artists really made their mark in 2011, and I'm definitely looking forward to more in 2012. Most of them are emerging artists that first gained public attention this year, so it's exciting to have them on my radar as they grow and mature. Enjoy!
It's no secret that I love music. I wouldn't have my own blog devoted to it if I didn't. Music is magic. It can evoke feelings from the entire spectrum of human emotions in a matter of minutes. Of all the senses, only hearing has this power. Yes, happiness and pleasure can be derived from any type of sensation, but it's a bit harder to eat or touch something that stirs real melancholy. In addition, I would argue that our reactions to stimuli for sight and smell are regulated by the individual. We will react how we have been conditioned to react to certain things. Sounds seem to transcend these constraints, however, especially when arranged into music. It can operate and influence one's feelings at the subconscious level. Music can be invigorating or calming, angst-filled or cathartic. It's wonderful.
I think what truly amazes me is the creative process that goes into making music. All music evolves out of simple, and intangible thoughts by an artist. To think that there are people who can imagine random melodies and then turn them into wildly popular or meaningful works of aural art is incredible.
With the ease of access to media and media editing tools these days, it's no surprise that a mass emergence of new musicians is occurring. Consequently, there also come many critics. The boundaries of originality inevitably enter the conversation whenever someone samples another artist's work. Most people are okay with artists using small portions of other songs in their music, but issues arise when a large part of the instrumental are seemingly copied. It is a gray area, with no definite answer, but I believe any true musician should be able to effectively take a sample and make it their own.
My case in point is Pogo. He is a young man from Perth, named Nick Bertke, that has taken sampling to a place it's never been before. He uses sound bits from movies to create unique pieces of music. Have a listen.
The video can only depict a small portion of what is going on here. Nearly every sound that this track is comprised of originated in the Snow White movie. All the 'drum hits' and 'instruments' are individual sounds from the film's audio that Pogo hand-picked to construct his song.
Sol first came onto my radar during the fall of last year when his single, So Damn High, hit number one on the Hype Machine charts. While it was obviously not a deeply metaphorical song, it was so damn catchy and well crafted that I became a fan. That track was off of the second installment in his Dear Friends trilogy. I had some trouble finding an mp3 download, which surprised me because, considering how good the song was, I figured more blogs would have picked up on it sooner.
I hadn't heard much from old Solzilla until a few weeks ago when his collabo with DJ Jacks Green, This Shit, came out. Again, Sol delivered with a perfect chill out song for the summer. The concluding EP was released today, and it's a great listen. The production is refreshingly light and electronic, but Sol is a rapper at heart, and he spits his lines with an impressive confidence and ease. Download Vol. III from his website, here.
Sol hails from Seattle, and my hope is that this young man can align himself with the burgeoning Pacific Northwest hip-hop scene. I'll leave the words to my personal favorites from the region, Blue Scholars... Quality alternative hip-hop deserves a home in every corner of our nation.
Be sure to treat ya self to all of Sol's Dear Friends EPs for free here. Sol seems like a genuine guy, who truly cares about his fans. There was a post on his Facebook page tonight from a fan who said he had commented somewhere that he simply wished that Vol. III would be released before he took a flight abroad and away from an Internet connection. Apparently, Sol personally messaged the man a download link late last night in time before he left. That shows true dedication to one's craft and respect for the people who make an artist's career possible, the fans. Very impressive, Sol, that's one way to really make us feel like dear friends.
Tyler, The Creator posted this over at the Odd Future tumblr a few days ago. Apparently, he's bored and one-legged on tour and decided to put together a playlist of his personal favorite summertime songs. This mix is by no means reflective of the standard Odd Future music we have come to know. None of the violent and bizarre themes that are usually to be expected from an OFWGKTA release are found in this collection.
I thought that this list provided an interesting insight into the mind behind the often misjudged OF collective, and helped to solidify Tyler as a legitimate artist in my opinion.
If you pay any attention to current hip-hop, then you have no doubt come across something involving Odd Future. It may have been some blogger fawning over them because of their rebelliousness. Maybe it was some hip-hop snob scoffing at their weak production and cheap rhymes. Their fan base was probably exuding vehement cries of "KILL THEM ALL" or "DON'T GIVE A FUCK". Their haters were likely condemning the lyrical themes of rape and murder. Whatever the sentiment, Odd Future has had a lot of buzz surrounding them. For anyone who truly cares about music and the state of hip-hop, the only question should be: How long will the attention last? It will be interesting to see if they can remain relevant and true to themselves at the same time.
A year ago, my summer playlists were full of fun, party songs by up-and-comers like Sam Adams and Wiz Khalifa. I haven't heard anything new in a long time from Sam, and Wiz has rocketed into the mainstream spotlight, but has seemingly drifted away from the style that first appealed to me. The heavy stream of traffic on the new music highway today makes it increasingly difficult to stay original and well-liked.
I have not previously posted any Odd Future music for a couple of reasons. Firstly, my intention with this blog is to expose cool music that I feel is worth talking about, and the OF crew was doing just fine in terms of exposure without my help. Secondly, I honestly have not been overly impressed with any of their material. I listen to it, and I do like most of it, but nothing was strong enough for me to want to share. In fact, this mix only has a couple of actual OF features on it. The remainder is comprised of relaxing indie songs and Pharrell produced hip-hop tracks. Tyler sprinkles in his own colorful commentary as his new alter ego, DJ Stank Daddy, and screws what can be assumed to be his most favorite songs down into his own deep toned voice.
Tyler and the rest of Odd Future have long maintained that they are not trying to please anyone, and are only set on making music that they would want to hear. If others do too, so be it, but they DGAF. What is important about this tape is that it lets us hear an artist's influences, which help to create a transparency between the artist's process and the final product. Yonkers isn't nearly as baffling nor as terrifying with the knowledge that Tyler enjoys kicking back on a summer day to some toro y moi or Jill Scott. Knowing Tyler has diverse musical tastes tells us that he can't be as angry and serious as he may seem. This fact, therefore, increases the artistic value of his output. If he can so convincingly portray such an appalling character, we have to applaud his efforts instead of dismissing them as trite. In addition, Summer Camp does have underlying consistencies in production that do evoke a summer vibe and can be felt upon relistening to Odd Future songs.
Tyler and his merry band of troublemakers aren't just a group of menaces to society, despite their public persona. They are a tightly-knit group with a common resolve to make quality music that they can be proud of and enjoy. Even with the odds and critics stacked against them, those qualities place them ahead of the curve on the path to lengthy careers.
Save yourself some time looking up songs and peep the whole tracklist and another download link here.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
