Monthly Archives: June 2012

mp3: Waka Flocka Flame – Hard In Da Paint (Dream Koala Remix)

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I’ve already gotten used to listening to a jazz version of Waka Flocka Flame’s Brick Squad anthem ‘Hard In Da Paint’, however, I never expected to enjoy a remix that takes all the “hard” out of the track.  Dream Koala’s take on Flocka’s signature track has a relaxed and dreamy vibe that couldn’t be farther from the original’s.  The remix takes Flocka out of da nails hard street and places him on a warm, plushy rain cloud of synths and sedated percussion.  Dream Koala brings out a whole new side of Flocka that I doubt he even knew he had.

-PK

Enjoy it While it’s Fresh: Kirk Knight

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Last night, Terry and I went to a Pro Era which was a near 3 hour concert featuring every member of the young hip-hop crew.  And while the entire affair faded into a wash of solid flows, witty wordplay and boom bap, Kirk Knight had great stage presence and was able to stand out among the mob that eventually accumulated on stage.  He walked on stage rocking a huge trench coat and proceeded to turn the energy of the crowd way up with his passively aggressive flow.  His track ‘The Creeper’ was easily one of the highlights of the night and he consistently killed his guest verses on other Pro Era tracks (‘Suspect’, ‘Where It’$ At’).  Although more material from Kirk Knight is hard to find, his tumblr has more original material that validates all the promise we heard from his showing last night.  Joey Bada$$ may be the most well known member of Pro Era, but Kirk Knight is proving that their crew runs deep.

Listen at Kirk Knight’s Tumblr

-PK

mp3: MVSCLES – sweet n sour

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M|O|D makes the trap music of the future, but there can’t only be one type of music in the future.  With “sweet n sour”, friends of M|O|D, MVSCLES, have just invented a new type of future music.  The simple vocals in “sweet n sour” sound reminiscent of some type of campfire song you might have heard a camp counselor play you when you were a kid, but other than that “sweet n sour” is futuristic all the way.  With a looped synth pattern that suddenly explodes into a complete banger between short vocal lines and causes the listener to instantly put on their best screw face, “sweet n sour” sounds like what the camp counselors of the future will play to campers while sitting around a camp fire-shaped LED and looking up at the stars… from Mars.  The future is looking bright.

-TC

 

mp3: Groundislava – TV Dream (ft. Clive Tanaka)

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Once again, Groundislava has come through with the type of track that no one knew how much they all really wanted.  Instead of spreading electronic-goodness all over Jamie Foxx’s ‘Ode to the Drank’, ‘TV Dream’ has Groundislava crafting a blissfully auto-tuned piece of pop.  ’TV Dream’ is the lead single off Groundislava’s upcoming Feel Me LP and part of his freshly released TV Dream EP.  Over the course of nearly 4 minutes, Groundislava and Clive Tanaka take us on a magical flying journey through a warped and modulated 80s new wave landscape.  Which is every bit as awesome it sounds.

-PK

mp3: Purity Ring – Fineshrine

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I somehow managed to miss Purity Ring’s massively hyped single ‘Obedear’ until after the wave had subsided a bit, however, like most everyone else who listened to the track I was won over by their intoxicating sound.  Now the group has put out ‘Fineshrine’ and just like ‘Obedear’, the track is an experimental pop-track that is coated in equal amounts of pure pop sheen and atmospheric bliss.  Also just like ‘Obedear’, ‘Fineshrine’ is receiving huge amounts of well deserved hype and praise for it’s delightfully grotesque lyrics and contrasting carefree and light-hearted attitude.  If their upcoming album Shrines is able to recapture even more of this energy it is sure to be an awesome listen when it drops later in July.

-PK

mp3: Chris Cohen – Caller No.99

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When is comes to psyche rock and pop, my favorite outfits always seem to be solo projects (Atlas Sound, Ducktails, Julian Lynch) and that holds true with this new jam from Chris Cohen.  This kind of music is always hit or miss for me so it’s no surprise that Chris Cohen, who has worked with the likes of Deerhoof and Haunted Graffiti, is able to make a psyche pop hit.   Coming out of Captured Tracks, the same label that put out DIIV’s amazing new album, ‘Caller No.99′ is our first taste of Cohen’s upcoming Overgrown Patch and it leaves an awesome first impression.  ’Caller No.99′ hits all the right marks with dreamy lyrics, an ambling pace and a gorgeous spider web mesh of guitar.  I’m not sure how an entire album of material like this would sound, but for now ‘Caller No.99′ is one of the better tracks I’ve heard in a while.

-PK

mp3: Aesop Rock – Pigs (Hanz Remix)

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Hanz is back in the remix world, with a new remix of Aesop Rock’s personal anti-police anthem “Pigs”.  All of the sharp and heavy drums you expect from Hanz are here with an ominous synth melody in the background that perfectly complements Aesop Rock’s aggressive verses.  On top of all of this, Hanz even throws in a Beach Boys sample that throws the track into pure evil chaos in an awesome way.  This remix is the first taste Hanz is giving us of his upcoming sequel to one of the most impressive beat tapes I can think of (second only to Hanz’s Fire theif EP), Wealth Made Tension.  Stream the track below and be on the lookout for Wealth Made Tension Vol. 2 coming soon.

-TC