No, we're not dead. Barely hanging on, but not completely expired.
We've been at war with our hosting company, meaning that they wouldn't allow us to access our server and have been cutting off access to important files, so that was a main reason for the hiatus. We're going to try to change hosting companies and make the switch over soon, but it has definitely been a big-ass hurdle.
As well, I've just spent the weekend moving into a new appartment, and have yet to install the internet, so it is making my posting somewhat impossible. I imagine that my colleagues are as busy, but I uploaded a few files before the move, so I'll be able to throw up a few posts this week.
Today's post will focus on a few songs that I've been bumping the hell out of these past few weeks. I know Drake gets a lot of hate, but recently, he's been drinking an epic amount of codeine and has been running with The Weeknd's Abel Tesfaye, so his sound has altered a lot. I definitely dig his new hazy, drugged-out take on r&b, and I'm sure you will too.
A really dope, laid-back tune by a great indie songstress.
For those who still took the time to visit daily, we thank you. These technical problems are a real bitch to deal with, but everything should be back to normal pretty soon (hopefully).
Today's Laid Back Sunday is featuring some hardknockin' rap beats from some of your favorite emcees. Trust me, you'll download every single track. Bangers FTW
By now, everyone should already be familiar with mister Big K.R.I.T. Dude has been coming out with top of the line rap songs for quite some time. This track is off his mixtape "Return of 4Eva" and features Ludacris & Bun B. Big southern anthem, the chorus is straight fire.
Next up is a some kind of mashup done by a guy named Mikey Fresh (oulala), very cool vibe. Can't help myself but to play this beat over and over (been having some kind of Wiz Khalifa craving this past week). Cool summer track
Big Sean been doing it real big recently. Releasing banger after banger. People are starting to get real addicted to this guy's voice. The instrumental on this one is real 100% pure CRACK. "Oh boy you had your chance, and blew it (you blew it)"
The last 2 tracks are somewhat more energetic and will probably give you an urge to get crunk. Young Jeezy flips Soulja Boy hit song "Turn My Swag On" into "Turn My Scale On". The other one is a club wrecker by Cash Money protege, Brisco. boom
Here's a great interview and mix that Botnek, the Canadian duo currently residing in Montreal, recently did for Kissy Sell Out's show on BBC Radio 1. Kissy Sell Out has been championing their tunes for a while now, so this was bound to happen.
Botnek make supremely awesome party music, so you have no reason not to give this a listen. I guarantee you'll love it. Plus, they're nice dudes, so show them some support by buying their debut EP Plonk, released on the mighty Discobelle Records.
Everything's supposed to be back to normal now. We've just had to remove the most insanely random songs from our server, because of our host's demands. There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason behind the songs they forced us to remove, as most are available on several other blogs, but if it means we can continue to feed the masses, then so be it, I'll take 'em down.
To celebrate the fact that we won't imminently perish, I've posted a few smooth tunes and one oldie thrown in for good measure.
This is a fantastic edit by local house heroes Prince Club. The original version of The Morning, a somewhat upbeat hangover anthem by The Weeknd, isn't too altered by the Montreal duo (hence the title of edit and not remix), but they make it slighly more groovy and smooth. Whereas most of The Weeknd's songs are pretty much the soundtrack to a drug-fueled hotel suite party, this take on The Morning would definitely fit in an early evening club set. Actually, it'd probably work great in an after-hours set too, as the sun starts to rise. Sexy, emotional and effective. Montreal is kicking ass at music these days, as I'm sure you've noticed.
I found an old CD of mine a little while back, and had to take a trip down memory lane. While this classic tune is very period-specific, its message still resonates. I'm pretty sure that they still have not finished rebuilding the poor, disaffected areas of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina hit, and it's been 6 years.
Sinjin Hawke, a former Montrealer, has now relocated to Barcelona, but he's still releasing phenomenal material. We've profiled him before, and posted quite a few of his tunes, so you should be familiar with his brand of deep, soulful dance music. Last time I talked to him, he mentioned that his plan was to lock himself in a room and produce as much music as he could for a solid year. The original tune, Fancy, is one of my favorite songs (and I've even posted the original a few months ago), so it was a VERY welcome surprise to stumble across this gem.
I realize that I've posted two The Dream songs in 2 days, but that's because I think he is one of the tightest producers/artists in music. His creativity knows no bounds, and he's made some of the greatest lovemaking music since Prince was in his prime. That's a heavy statement, but I stand by it. Trust me, put on any of his CDs when you're with your missus or man, and you'll see what I mean.
This final tune is incredibly sappy, but I'm totally unabashed about my taste for sweet love songs, as I'm sure you've noticed. I also post gangster rap and dirty house music on the regular, so I figure that posting this stuff once in a while gets a pass, ha. This tune, from the now defunct Québec-based electro-indie trio La Patère Rose, is a recent obsession. The lead singer, Fanny Bloom, is pursuing a solo career, and the two other members are focusing on their main project, the electro-jazz group called Misteur Valaire.
You know, I might have a serious weakness for cute girls who play piano and sing sad romantic pop songs. They are my Achilles heel, I swear to god.
As I'm sure you've noticed, we haven't posted in quite some time. This is due to a litle internal struggle with our hosting. We're trying to sort out the issue as soon as possible, and we appreciate the fact that some of you are still checking out the site daily.
For the next little while, I'll only be posting soundcloud links, and our banner+images will not show. Ugly, fuck yeah.
In the meantime, here's a great little bootleg from AtV regulars, the Montreal duo known as Grown Folk.
The original tune has been a favorite for a while now, and I was pretty ecstatic when The Dream decided to jump on it. Grown Folk's solid bootleg of it adds a lot of flavor to the great 3am baby-making grindathon that it is.
Also, here's a little reminder: Grown Folk released their debut EP on Templar Sound about a month ago, and it has been getting rave reviews. If you haven't had the chance to check it out, you can grab it on Boomkat or Juno.
Sorry about the severe slowdown on AtV, but we're trying to get everything back in order. Please bear with us for a little while.
It's 9:40 in the morning, sunny as hell outside, and I'm off to bed. Coming back home after a long-ass night shift doesn't exactly put you in the mood to write anything of any substance, but I'll try my best. I'll try to get deeper some other time.
In the meantime though, here's some scattered thoughts from ya boy.
Jim-E Stack- Lemme (REMOVED BY "REQUEST")
Brand new tune from New Orleans' resident maniac, the one and only Jim-E Stack. Every single one of his productions are fresh to death, and this one is no exception. Wild hedonistic rhythms and insanely tripped out samples are his modus operandi, and no one really produces anything that sounds quite like his tunes. He's also pretty darn good at DJing, so check him out if he rolls through your town, it shan't disappoint.
Sorry. Machinedrum is one of the sickest producers in the game, and I must applaud the fact that he, like many of us, is getting tired of the word "swag" being overused. This is a low quality rip of his funeral dirge. Lunice likes to start off his shows with this thing, and I figured you might dig it, at least as a conversation starter. (Yes, I use the word swag all of the time. I'm trying to stop, but for now, I'm part of the problem)
Javier Estrada is so unbelievably boss. This young producer from Monterrey is blowing up and receiving mountains of praise from all over the globe. He started producing his own take on Tribal Guarachero called 'prehispanico', but has started to incorporate a lot of crazy sounds and influences into his music as of late, like Moombahton and cumbia. Hit up his soundclound for more goodies, he's mighty prolific, and his tunes are bound to turn any summer party into a sweat-drenched display of debauchery.
Before David Banner was whispering dirty things into your ear, he was a half of a duo called Crooked Lettaz. Their album Grey Skies is a bona-fide Southern classic. This is probably my favorite cut off of the album, an absolutely amazing street gospel tune featuring the late, great Pimp C.
Peter Peter is a very recent discovery of mine, a folk/pop artist from Montreal that sings in French. I bought his album after only seeing a few videos of him performing a few songs acoustically, and I must regrettably inform you that the CD's mastering is absolutely piss poor. The songs are still pretty sweet, but it sounds like poo, man. Peter Peter makes really depressing minimal pop music, with a touch of folky whispering included. This might not be your cup o' tea, but I enjoy it a whole lot.
Swedish House Mafia- Save the World (Style of Eye & Carli remix) (REMOVED BY REQUEST)
Yeah, I went there. This has probably been posted on everyone and their mother's blog, but given its undeniable summery anthem feel, I figured I might as well include it. This will probably rule the clubs, beaches and terrasses this summer, for sooth. Warning: May induce fist-pumps galore.
Block Beataz in this bitch. Besides Yelawolf & G.Side, I guess I haven't really been hearing too much about the Huntsville scene, but I still bump old PRGz & Slow Motion Soundz tunes on the regular. This was one of the more 'street' tunes that they released, a heavy trunk-rattling banger with an absolutely amazing beat. Mali Boi, who produces most of the Paper Route tunes, and raps on a few tunes, is nuts, and Big P.O.P.E still has one of the most unique voices in rap.
Diplo & Douster- ON! (REMOVED BY "REQUEST")
Again, this has been posted quite a bit elsewhere, but it's a really neat collabo between two of the dopest club DJs out there, so I just had to share it. Not really sure what to call this. Grunts, beeps, wild percussion and fart sounds make the club go wild.
Merci #basedgod. Waaaaaaaaaay too much (dare I say it...) swag for one tune. Thanks to Southern Hospitality for putting this together, really doe. Montreal x Bay Area. Lucky Me x Legendary Inc. Good x Lord.
Got some surgery done yesterday, no worries I'm doing alright but no need to tell you I'm pretty fucked up right now. Mister doctor decided to hook me up with some of them morphine pills. That said, Calibar has some problems concentrating on this computer screen.
Chillin' music to go with the buzz I guess, I'm more in a laid back mode than crazy jumpy mode fo' sure. Music always reflects your feelings.
I'll keep it quite short tonight, as I have places to be & people to see. I tried to mix it up a little bit for you, but rest assured, we'll be putting up 2 posts tomorrow in order to make up for this laziness.
Tonight's post features a few up & coming electronic music producers, one in particular who is known for his trailblazing approach to hip-hop, and some summery rap music.
James Drake is a one-off collaboration between two Philedelphia-based DJs. Mr Carribean and Bombé have just put out this re-edit/mashup mixtape of James Blake & Drake songs, and surprisingly, it works.
I'm not usually into the whole mash-up scene, but given that Bombé is the homie and I trust his taste/skills, I had to give it a spin.
While a large number of you might not like either Drake or James Blake, this re-imagining of their tunes fits extremely well together, and is the perfect laid-back summer music. This is mighty proper atmospheric r&b for a beautiful day.
The songs featured on this blog are for promotional use only. Our goal is to promote the artists we feature, to expose great talent to a wider audience, and not to steal money from their pockets. If you would like a song removed, just get at us in the comments and we'll be more than happy to oblige. If you like the music we feature, then support the artists next time they roll through your city, either by going to a show, or by buying merchandise!
