Oulipo - Ten Gallon Shoes
Here’s one from a virtually ungoogleable artist out of Raleigh, Oulipo. The track starts out rough then begins to groove about half way through the cut. Oulipo’s multi-instrumental layers seamlessly blend together creating a nice mix of noise as well as melody. Listen to more over at bandcamp.
Slime (Ft. Vondelpark) - 2 player
Man, I’m a sucker for clean tone guitar. London’s Will Archer AKA Slime and the super-mysterious Voldelpark work together to create this gorgeous downtempo gem, “2 Player.” Although the track already sounds beautifully mastered, as of right now the mp3 is still tagged as a “demo version.” Check out Vondelpark’s Sauna EP via R&S Records.
Cities Aviv - Meet Me On Montrose (For Ex Lovers Only)
Memphis-based rapper Cities Aviv sent over this Dilla-influenced jam that he self-released about a month ago. Keep an eye out for Cities as he is dropping a 7” in February and is currently putting the finishing touches on his full-length.
Italian Marco Ricci records under the handle Casa Del Mirto. “Casa del Mitro” translates to English as “Home of the Myrtle.” Myrtle is an endangered shrub that grows in the Mediterranean region’s southern areas. The islands of Sardinia and Corsica soak Myrtle in alcohol creating a liqueur with a rich aroma known as “Mirto.” House of Myrtle is an appropriate moniker for Ricci’s musical endeavors as he creates smooth disco-pop high up near the Italian Alps.
In 2005 Ricci released 90’s house influenced Supertrendycoolfashion, which tends to play out like a mediocre dance record. It may make more sense to the European ear but most of the release feels cheesy and unoriginal. It’s the kind of record that may have been cool in 2005, but today would be deleted to save hard drive space. Ricci’s new record, 1979 takes the good intensions of his previous release and expands on them.
The albums first two real cuts, “The Right Way” and “The Haste”, are strong points. Both feature the Roland 505 drum machine and are soaked in Ricci’s well-played simplistic synth lines. The following track “Pain In My Hands” feels a bit out of place when it takes a hard turn to an emotional acoustic ballad with low-level synth irregularities. You may as well stop listening there though. The albums lead track, “History”, “Club Mare” and “White Chapel” come off as filler. Assumingly they are transitional pieces but play out as unfinished underdeveloped ideas.
There is no doubt that Ricci is influenced by chillwavers, Washed Out, Neon Indian and Toro Y Moi. What separates Casa Del Mirto from someone like Toro Y Moi, is that Ricci is more of a songwriter than producer. Toro Y Moi uses deeper sampled layers, while Ricci uses a very basic song structure that lacks a catchy hook. Ricci doesn’t take many chances with this record. It seems to move from song to song without much real excitement. What Casa Del Mirto does get right is the records near perfect mixing. However, at the end of the day 1979 feels like another disco record that had potential. If Ricci would have cut out the filler on this release he could have made a decent EP; instead, it becomes forgettable.
win win - releaserpm
latest vice records signees win win are the example of a near-perfect collaborative effort. producers xxxchange, chris devlin (of devlin & darko) and ghostdad all lend a hand to this amazing new project. their full-length will be released via vice february 15th and is one of the best hopes for electronic music in 2011. the album features alexis taylor of hot chip, andrew wk and gang gang dance’s lizzi bougastos among others. bougastos lends her striking voice to the mix of the first single “releaserpm.”
teaser from ghostdad
we are stranded - other lips, other kisses (cfcf remix)
northern spain’s we are stranded gets a reworking from cfcf on this pop gem. we are stranded released an incredible remix album the golden league on mushroom pillow, also home of delorean, so you have an idea of the type of jams these guys put out. check out mushroom pillow on soundloud.
young galaxy - peripheral visionaries
groovy jams from montreal indie rockers young galaxy. young galaxy brought studio’s dan lissvik aboard to handle production of this disco-infused full length shapeshifting out february 8th via paper bag. “peripheral visionaries” highlights everything their new full length is about, sexy grooves and gorgeous vocals.
contains 14 unreleased dubs by me, one of which is a remix of mala’s ‘pop pop epic’ and also a remix of bjork’s classic ‘hidden place’
hosted by XLR8R
TRACKLIST:
Cocteau Twins - Lazy Calm [4AD]
Phaseone - All To Herself [Dub]
Phaseone - Desperate Housewives [Dub]
Phaseone - True Romance [Dub]
Basic Channel - Radiance III [Basic Channel]
Phaseone - Zen [Dub]
Phaseone - Being With You [Forthcoming Way Slow]
Phaseone - Above The Rim [Dub]
Phaseone - Right & Wrong [Forthcoming Way Slow]
Phaseone - Richard Dreyfuss [Dub]
Twista - Who Am I? [Blackground]
Digital Mystikz - Pop Pop Epic (Phaseone Remix) [Dub]
Phaseone - Hands [Dub]
Phaseone - Get Rich Quick [Dub]
Phaseone - Airmax [Dub]
Bjork - Hidden Place (Phaseone Remix) [Dub]
Phaseone - Stealing To Feed Your Family (Excerpt) [Dub]
download this amazing mix that phaseone did for xlr8r
pepepiano - los angeles
back in august pepepiano gave us the dreamy EP Babes. pepepaino continues in his electronic singsongy fashion today by self-releasing this new jam “los angeles.” the new track is a bit more whimsical yet darker than the previously posted gym mystique. can’t wait to see what this guy gives us next. get involved in this single over at bandcamp.
femi kuti - day by day (outtake)
here’s a hauntingly gorgeous outtake shot by the mighty vincent moon for la blogoteque.
