Diplo has our attention again this month with “Express Yourself”, the title track from his forthcoming EP (due in May). Earlier, we were impressed with his warped remix of Katy B’s “Witches Brew” (free download). Now, the Philadelphia DJ brings us something more grimy, and a lot more jagged, featuring vocals from Nicky Da B who, by the way, sports a camo Cosby sweater throughout the clip. High swag!
The first dispatch from Prof.Logic’s latest EP, Multi-Dimension, sounds like an echo from Los Angeles’ Low End Theory underground, or maybe something from DJ Cam after smoking a couple of wicked blunts. But this particular dose of experimental hip-hop hails from the twilit alleyways and after-hours hideouts of Jamaica, Queens. Dig the layered, psychedelic textures and cold shimmering melodies of Prof.Logic’s “So NeSsEsArY”…
Multi-Dimension is out now on Paris-based Cascade Records. Stream the whole thing here (we suggest you do that).
Jon Porras is set to release his solo debut, Black Mesa, on April 17th. The new project is a comfortable extension of the doom-folk Porras creates with fellow San Francisco psych improvisationist Evan Caminiti in Barn Owl. Though you may find Black Mesa is a more lonely, haunted exploration of stretched ambience and glacial psychedelia. For a preview of what to expect, check out the below clip for “Black Tide”. You won’t find it on Black Mesa, though you will find this pretty well sums up what things are like up there…
Jon Porras – The Black Tide from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.
Twacked post-prog rockers Battles are set release Dross Glop, compiling a set of 12-inches featuring remixes from their (pretty good) 2011 LP, Gloss Drop. Among those slated to contribute: Shabazz Palaces, The Field and The Alchemist (who is already having a totally killer year). Most recently we heard this tense, brooding remix of “Toddler” by Kangding Ray from Dross Glop 3 (due March 20)…
From Dross Glop 2, here’s The Alchemist’s take on “Futura”…
Dross Glop, the full compilation, is due April 17th.
Most actresses that take up singing suck at it. But Charlotte Gainsbourg, through her collaborations with Air and Beck, has managed to steadily impress us with each of her last three albums. Most recently, her collection of IRM b-sides and outtakes, Stage Whisper (check out the review), made our list of best albums. Now, one of the standout cuts, “Paradisco”, is hitting store shelves as a 12-inch single, which includes this sweet, glitched-up remix by Joakim…
This weird producer, Zackey Force (above R), teamed recently with a weirder producer, Tobacco (above L), and they came up with at least two songs, “el camino 2″ and “Lamborghini Meltdown” (stream ‘em down there). Both songs are, yes, weird. Both songs are totally rad. And both songs are natural extensions of the warped, psychedelic sonic quilting we’ve come to expect from Tobacco.
The duo call themselves Demon Queen (cool name). And we’ve got our fingers crossed hoping a full LP will show up soon.
Zackey Force, who comes from Arizona, hit our radar when he helped out on “40 Karats” from Salva’s breakthrough LP, Complex Housing (which, by the way made our list of best techno albums last year).
Tobacco’s band, Black Moth Super Rainbow (a favorite of ours), recently scrapped their latest LP. But a tour is in the works. Check your local listings.
This is a surprise. Four Tet (pictured above) just shared a new collaboration with Burial via his Facebook wall. It’s a cut called “Nova”, and it’s a little less tangible and a bit more anxious than the duo’s initial collaboration, Moth / Wolf Cub (2009).
Nonetheless, we’re stoked to hear the pair are still working together (yes, they also joined forces in support of Thom Yorke on the very cool Ego / Mirror single last year). On paper, they’re a perfect compliment: Four Tet brings a hypnotic, pastel-brushed pulse and Burial delivers the witchy, monochromatic atmospherics. Aurally, the mix is a wondrous, organic sedative. Dig it…
We’re not sure if “Nova” is part of a full EP or LP, or when it would come out. All we know is the release is cataloged as “TEXT013″ (Four Tet’s record label is called Text Records, by the way).
Sorry, there’s no sex or nudity otherwise to report, share or show here. Just two very rad songs (we think) are from Belgian producer’s Ssaliva’s next album, Sextape Hiss. First, here’s the hazed, 80s-frayed strut of “Mental Ray”.
Ssaliva ‘Mental Ray’ from Mulatu Width on Vimeo.
Next, we’ve got the slow-staring ambience of “EZA”. It’s hypnotic and spare, hopeful and desolate. And it seems to be cut from the same cloth as “Mental Ray”. Whatever. We have the makins of a rad album here.
Want more? Grab this rad (free) cut, “Drugged Out Quest”, from his last release, RZA.
The latest in a long list of better-than-expected in this age of rock-is-dead bands from Austin, Texas is Shapes Have Fangs. Like Harlem, Woven Bones and Strange Boys before them, this jangling five-piece deliver a gritty strain of 60s rock that makes us think of very cool, very old things. But what sets Shapes Have Fangs apart from some of their fellow retro rockers is a jagged swagger and dynamic instinct that pushes them closer to Austin’s A-list (along with the Black Angels, Shearwater and White Denim).
Earlier this month, Shapes Have Fangs delivered Dinner in the Dark, an album of eleven songs that passes in about 30 minutes. You’ll want to grab “Rattle and Confuse Me” right away, and come back soon to stream the rest…
One of our favorite off-the-radar pop chicks, Charli XCX, just inked a deal with IAMSOUND (Florence and the Machine, Salem, Fools GOld). Her first release for the label is an as-yet-untitled EP, due in May.
The upstart UK confectionist grabbed our attention with the gritty, darkwave of “Nuclear Season” (free download). So we were a bit surprised when we heard her latest cuts earlier this month. It sounds like she’s casting a much wider net with these sunnier bits…
Download “I’ll Never Know” [Stereogum]
Download “Valentine” [Stereogum]
Too sugary for you? Download out the latest from Xiu Xiu to level out. You won’t be disappointed.
Tennis – Origins – free mp3
Katy B – Witches Brew (Diplo remix) – free mp3
Shabazz Palaces – Swerve (Signal Path remix) – free mp3
Xiu Xiu – Hi – free mp3
White Rabbits – Temporary – free mp3