Just putting up a quick little post for you this morning, my friends. Hope it is to your liking.
Actually, while I'm at it, I'll take this opportunity to throw in some monthly reminders.
1. To download the songs that we post, right-click then save link as. (sigh...Why do I have to repeat this so often?)
2. If you have the chance and/or the desire, show some love by either following us on Facebook, Twitter or Hype Machine.
And now, on with the show....
Red Bull Music Academy first appeared on my radar when they released AMAZING videos of lectures by a huge variety of producers, musicians and even rappers. Essentially, these are two hour lectures/q&a's, given to students at the academy.
Red Bull Music Academy accepts a very small number of applicants per year, a talented few who get to produce to their heart's content for a few weeks while being surrounded by industry veterans and top-of-the-line equipment. (Montreal's own Lunice was a graduate last year, by the way)
Check those out here. They're a great way to lose a few hours. A lot of insightful stuff in there.
Regardless, Red Bull Music Academy has actually started a radio program, Red Bull Music Academy Radio (Keep it simple, stupid) which features a lot of exclusive content and mixes from an extremely wide range of producers.
They've given us the go-ahead to give this brand new live mix of UK powerhouse Roska to you, so please enjoy it.
Look, it even comes with a pre-written blurb. How convenient, considering I'm bloody tired.
What better way to scoff a full English than with Roska's soulfully hyped show on Rinse FM every Tuesday brunch time? Bringing more bounce to the ounce than most, Roska's blend of house and UK funky is characterised by its rapidly struck drums and surging sub-bass. His switch from MC to producer and DJ has paid off, with Roska central to the latest of London's hyped-up home-grown scenes. Numerous remixes, including Zed Bias' classic Neighbourhood, plus a string of releases on his Roska Kicks & Snares label have confirmed his prominence. Here he graces the decks at Meet Factory in Prague. Say his name, say his name!
See you tomorrow for yet another Laid Back Sunday with Ye Olde Calibabarbarian. By the way, this just happens to be our 300th post. Sweeeeet, innit?
This past tuesday, I headed up to La Sala Rossa on St-Laurent to witness what was probably one of the finest performances I've ever seen in my life. Local boys Pat Jordache opened up for the amazing NY outfit Twin Shadow, and it blew my mind to bloody pieces. I had occasionally listened to a few of Twin Shadow and its charismatic frontman/singer/guitarist/songwriter George Lewis Jr's tunes before I went to the show, but after their spellbinding, sold-out performance, I must say that I have become a loyal fan. They were REALLY fucking rad, man.
Pat Jordache
The opening group was Pat Jordache, an impressive 5 piece outfit with two drummers, that plays really awesome lo-fi pop. After reading up a bit on them, I realized that I actually had seen the lead singer before, back when he was the saxophone player in Islands.
Pat Jordache, however, does not resemble that pretentious wuss-rock band at all. Most of the songs on their debut tape (something I haven't bought since I used to order underground black metal tapes back in the day. Worth the eight bucks though, it's pretty awesome) were recorded on free software and crappy equipment. As a live band, they laid it down proper, with songs ranging from mumbled baritone funk to catchy Ariel Pink-esque weirdo voodoo rock.
To be honest with you, the best thing about Twin Shadow is George Lewis Jr. In a live setting, this guy is a monster. It is impossible to take your eyes off of him, his swagger is way too mighty ahaha. But seriously though, he's such a magnetic force onstage, singing with such raw intensity and emotion, that it is literally nigh-impossible to do anything but stare gape-jawed at the dopeness. His band, which features a drummer, a keyboard player and a bassist are really tight as well, and definitely play their part in making each tune groove and flow. George Lewis Jr is the personification of blues, funk dandy romantic pop and pure soul, and its hard not to fall in love with this band.
I might seem really fanboyish while describing them, but I was really, really impressed. Each song flowed so smoothly, and even though their sound is a throwback to 80s new wave and pop (kinda), they are not the least bit soft. They still have an hard edge to them, and surprisingly, the crowd (which wasn't too hipsterish, either) went wild. Pretty much everyone was two-steppin with a big grin on their face, which is always nice to see. It's nice to see a performer really open up to a crowd and to see that crowd react to raw, visceral emotion. I think the fact that there is clearly no production trickery involved, and that they can actually really throw it down increases their appeal tenfold(oh, and as a sidenote, Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear produced their only album. Rad!)
Twin Shadow crafts instantly memorable and catchy pop tunes that are completely timeless in their appeal, unlike a lot of bands who try to emulate the same sounds. They do wear their influences on their sleeve, but it never sounds forced or contrived. This is authentic, heartfelt pop music for the ages, but it is nowhere near cheesy, commercial or 'safe'.
Besides being a fine guitarist, George also happens to have skills in remixing. He was recently commisioned by The Fader and legendary Salsa label Fania to remix a song by Ray Baretto. You can check that one out here, but I've actually posted his very recent remix of Danish songstress Oh Land's tune White Nights. His retooling of the sweet vocals, synth lines and drums warps it into a frantic disco love song.
Anyways, I've been bouncing back-and-forth between writing this and working for the past few hours, so let's wrap this up. This band is dope, if they stroll through your town you'd be a fool not to go see them, and they are going to be huge. BUY THEIR RECORD, it's one of the best of 2010.
And finally, to cap off the post, here's a new tune from Montreal rising stars Prince Club (ex Mad Kids). Call it tech-house, call it future r'n'b, call it whatever the hell you want, I just call it dope. This young duo have already released several EPs this year, and they have another one forthcoming on the mighty Discobelle records.
The amount of blogs that are showering praise on this talented pair of producers is going up exponentially with every release, and their tunes have been rinsed by Brodinski, Round Table Knights, Sinden, Riva Starr, and many more influential DJs. With that much support and a growing fanbase, I would expect 2011 to be Prince Club's year to blow. I, for one, have been jamming out non-stop to Love Jackson and Charma, some of their previous jams, and am definitely lookin forward to the new releases. Keep your eyes peeled!
The weekend is coming up, and you can catch us this week at Igloofest for Night Trackin (Jacques Greene, Seb Diamond & Duvall), Lunice and Stanton Warriors' sets on Saturday in the Old Port. Let's get hyphyyyy.
This is a reader's submission, a really dope piece of laid back electronic funk madness. Hourglass Sea is a producer out of the UK who really gets down with the basslines and the samples. Even though comparing artists is a tired and uninspiring music journalism technique, I cannot help but get a early Hudson Mohawke vibe from this. The groovy rnb steez coupled with the futuristic lazer sounds seal the deal for me, and honestly, who can hate on Super Mario coin sounds? You should check out his soundcloud for his other track Teenager, kind of on the same tip. Although he doesn't have that much material out (only two songs on the soundcloud), I'm hoping that you show this guy enough support so that he can release more bangin' tunes.
The next entry comes from a Canadian group called A Tribe Called Red. They are a group of Native American producers/djs that have gained quite a bit of exposure recently, after being talked about on MTV, Mad Decent and Montreal's own record label/blog Masala. DJ Frame from A Tribe Called Red hit us up with a few links a few weeks ago, and while it's taken a little time for it to grow on me, I've been catching myself bumping their crazy pow wow rave anthems a lot these days.
A Tribe Called Red samples Native American sounds and traditional music, and meshes it with modern electronic music sounds, be it dubsteppy sub-bass bangers or upbeat club stabs. Although they have not released most of their material (only available on soundclound so far), the reaction to their tunes has been so positive that I'm certain that they'll get some kind of push this year. While Ottawa is not a city that's known for its craziness (actually, it's bloody fucking dull), the fact that it has spawned a crew this dope might make me reconsider its worth hahaha.
And to finish off the post, I would like to introduce you to a fantastic artist out of our very own Montreal. I should probably devote an entire post to him, because there is so much to say about his style, but I figure that a few videos, songs and words could satisfy your hunger for now. If you dig this stuff, I can definitely hunt down more of his material and post it. Let me know in the comments.
Hip-Hop was born from sampling old funk and soul records, and as time went on, sampled pretty much everything under the sun. However, one sound that has almost never been really exploited is the blues (Actually, it's like 06:45 in the morning and pretty bloody tired, so I might be wrong on this one). The harmonica, besides being one of the raddest intruments ever, is Bad News Brown's calling card. Odds are you've probably never heard of this guy, but he gets a lot of respect from the underground hip-hop scene, and has opened for Raekwon, Nas, Busta Rhymes and Cypress Hill.
Bad News Brown is a vet in the Montreal scene, an extremely talented and prodigious musician who started out busking on the streets, then hit open mic nights and paid his dues. Harmonica, as you'll soon find out, is apparently the perfect companion to 808s. Good lord this is fine music. Just when I thought hip-hop had exhausted its possibilities, it goes ahead and surprises the hell out of me.
I hope that you've enjoyed today's post, and I hope to be starting a segment soon that'll let us show some appreciation and love to our great readers and followers.
King Fantastic is a new find for me and although they've been around for some time (sad how 5 months is old for me) I've decided to share some dope material today.
I must warn you, having stumbled upon this clip in class, it is very cool but also very NSFW. So please don't play this gem fullscreen at work, just wait till your home to fully enjoy Kristina Rose wreaking havoc in all her sublime nudity.
Being blown away from the clip and the gritty beat, I just had to look up more stuff. Call it "DubRap", call it as you like, but all it reminds me of is UK Grime with a West Coast twist. Either/or I'm stoked to see US rappers spitting on some hard electro or dubstep tracks. Here are a few of my favorite songs of their's, starting with a remix by fellow Canadians Knight Riderz!
For a tremendous amount of free videos, songs and remixes check out the King's Website.
On with the fantastic music. Little AtV bonus for you guys and gals. Fantastic Mr. Fox released his Evelyn EP in November on Black Acre Records and I'm hoping all the best for him in 2011. This young producer from Manchester is a master at cutting up vocals and instrumentals and rearranging them to create his own sounds in a genre he terms "post-dubstep". If you ask me, his style reminds me of James Blake. Which is fantastic because "CMYK" was one of my favorite songs in '10.
1st laid back Sunday of 2011. Decided to go with an underground groove for today's post. Sharing music that you might of never heard the artist's name before really gives me a kick. Hope you'll enjoy
This track is off one of the latest musical project by record company Black Cloud Music. This mixtape was recorded in only 12 days ! The quality here is humongous considering the small amount of time put in this project.
Their videos are quite good too. This is an other song off the same mixtape.
The Lytics is a Canadian group from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I've been recently digging & discovering a lot of local hiphop talents and this group really took me by surprise. They couldn't be more right when comparing their sound to Pharcyde & Souls Of Mischief. Look out for them in the future, they have what it takes to blooooow up. Always down to support local acts.
This hip-hop duo from Washington, DC consisted of emcee Raw Poetic & producer K-Murdock has one sick style. No wonder they had a deal with Rawkus Records (Record company well known for jump-starting Talib Kweli & Mos Def careers and plenty of other talented artists). I'd compare their musicality to A Tribe Called Quest. Good stuff
Since my partner in crime MDMAwesome seems to be missing summer so much I thought I'd finish this post on an energetic summer vibe. Marcelo D2 is a well known Brazilian rapper in south america. He's been doing his thing for a long time. He mixes samba grooves with a refreshing hip-hop twist.
My cousin sent this over to me a few weeks ago, and I figured I'd throw it up. Ignition are a band from the South Shore of Montreal, a ragged bunch of 15-16 year olds who enjoy playin gigs and making solid rock music. I think this is a cover, but it was charming and catchy enough that I thought I'd share it with you.
Jan Driver is a talented producer out of Germany, who released this on Boys Noize Records recently. This absolute behemoth of a tune is a mix of jacking house, techno rhythms, and electro buildups. The bass and the melody are ridiculous haunting, and I don't believe that any mammal could resist grooving to this. Take my word for it.
Miike Snow, of course, are the shit. Some might say that they are overhyped, but I've been re-discovering their self-titled album. It's two years old, but the dreamy melodies and catchy hooks have aged well. Of course, the Felix the Housecat and the Sebastian Ingrosso and Dirty South remixes are surefire dancefloor obliterators, but I really dig the emotional vocals and the synth work in the original. And it's quite the fitting soundtrack to this morning, staring out of an 18th floor office building at the dark skyline of Montreal. Night shifts do have their perks.
Honestly, Brenmar is probably the producer that pops up the most in this space. Besides being a genuinely nice dude (then again, I only met him for like 15 minutes, but I digress), his material is getting exponentially more dope as time goes on. His productions are make-out music for the future, sensual stratosphere salvos that burn up any speaker, warm body or dancefloor within their blast radius.
Nuff said, really. The genius behind The Pack, the originator of the BASED sound, the self-proclaimed King of Fruity Loops, the mighty Young Legend. His raps may not be terribly on-point, but no one could rap on these bizarre future beats as well as he does. It just fits.
See you tomorrow, with the first LAID BACK SUNDAY of 2011.
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!
