Best of the Rest vol 1

Good afternoon, people. Given that Calibar has had quite a bit of success with his Laid Back Sundays, I thought it would be a good idea to start up another weekly segment. Now, I know that I have often said this, but this time around it's for real. This new segment, called Best of the Rest, will shine a little light on the producers who sent us their tunes. I'll post my five favorite songs that we receive by e-mail every week. We are flooded with tunes daily, and I figure that it's better to give a bit of exposure to people who actually take time out of their day and send something over. Although a lot of the crap we get is mailing list spam, I'll try to favor people who actually write to us.

There's a lot of decent stuff, so hopefully you'll dig some of it. Of course, some of it might have already been posted on other blogs, but whatever. Again, people, these are MY favorite ones, an opinion not necessarily shared by my comrades. And, to be honest, there might not be that many amazing tunes every week, but I'll try to pick out the best ones. If you sent over a tune and it didn't get included, my bad. Wading through a sea of mailing lists to find the gems is not always so easy.

Now, on to the music.

1. DATO (Denmark)

DATO- My life is perfect now ( featuring Jannie Linnebæk)

Holy fuck. This is top quality disco. DATO is Thomas Erichsen & David Kosteljanetz, a talented production team from Copenhagen. They enlisted the help of a talented vocalist whose vocal chops fit perfectly with this trancey vocal disco house. Keep an eye out for these dudes. Funky stuff.

Myspace
Soundcloud

2. Sol (USA)

Sol- Kickitwitchu

Ever since Cal's post on Sol's stoner anthem I'm So High reached number 1 on the Hype Machine, I've been keepin' my eyes out for new material by this Seattle MC. Underground Hip-Hop is much more of Cal's specialty than mine, but I know how to appreciate a decent spitter when I hear one. This one, produced by Jacks Green (SO CONFUSED) is a really dope slow jam for the ladies. Smooth lines, a rad soulful backdrop and r&b styling all combine to make this one into another hit for Sol.

Website
Twitter

3. Two Inch Punch (England)

(Now streaming only by request)

+++ Love You Up. --- by +Two Inch Punch-

The last tune we posted by lovestep producer Two Inch Punch was definitely well received, and I really dug it, so it was nice to see this pop up in the inbox a few days ago. Two Inch Punch, as we've mentioned before, makes glitchy reworks of soul tunes, and falls neatly in the category of Luvstep, which is named after an amazing mix by Dirty South Joe & Flufftronix that came out last Valentine's Day. (New one coming soon! stoked!) Love You Up is a synthy, stuttering glitchfest of a tune that I'm hoping you'll get a kick out of.

Soundcloud
Twitter

4. Villains (USA)

Fischerspooner - Infidels Of The World Unite (Villains Remix) (radio edit) by Villains

Brand new remix of Fischerspooner's great tune Infidels of the World Unite by Los Angeles remixers Villains. This one is out on Dim Mak as of now, and is moving rapidly up the beatport charts. Sure, it's abusively distorted and bangin, but it's nice to listen to balls-to-the-wall rave remixes once in a while to switch it up.

Soundcloud

5. Vancans (USA)

Vancans x Nina Simone- What's a woman to do?

This is a rather bizarre one, a kind of twangy and jazzy re-edit of Nina Simone's He Ain't Comin Home No More. It's a very simple rework, basically all he did was add a little drum beat and slightly chopped up the beat a tiny bit, but it's a laid-back remix that is perfect for a lazy afternoon where you just want to lounge around and smoke cigarettes and drink tea. Definitely not a bad entry. Not a game changer by any means, but I like it for what it is.

Soundcloud

laters.

-m.

In denial

You know, Cal often speaks the truth. My post this morning (night shift for the win!) will consist of me bitching about the weather, and dropping a few bombs, and a great video. I realize that it's nigh-useless for us to apologize about our laziness every other post, so I'll try to cut that out. Not that we arent' apologetic about it, of course, but merely because it must be getting old to hear the same speech all of the time.


Even though I've said in the past that I try not to listen to reggae in the winter, as it is way too depressing, a recent obsession with all things UK has forced me to come to terms with the vast carribean influence in its music scene. Also, after checking out a few BEST OF 2010 lists, I've come accross a few really dope tunes that had passed me by.

Jesus H Christ it's cold in Montreal. Ugh.

Enjoy the beats!

Natalie Storm x Redlight- Bang Bang (MDMA riddim refix)

Natalie Storm, of amazing dancehall outfit TnT, hopped over the grime/uk bass anthem MDMA from British procuder Redlight on a recent mixtape with Federation Sound's own Max Glazer (which you can grab on Federation's site HERE). You should really check out the mixtape, it's filled with great stuff. Natalie storms goes in on a bunch of dancehall, reggae, house and uk funky beats. Vicious flow!


Gappy Ranks- Longtime

Apparently Gappy Ranks got his start on UK Pirate Radio, and has collaborated with such artists as Twista, Lethal Bizzle & Kray Twinz. He's a multi-talented vocalist/lyricist that can pull off proper dancehall, reggae and grime tunes effortlessly. This is probably one of the best reggae tunes of the past year and I will definitely look forward to exploring more of Gappy Rank's vast catalog.

Completely unrelated sidenote:

Colour me reaaaaally late, but I just discovered Rinse FM. Yeah, I know. Tragic.






The last song that I'm posting is a reader submission, LUV LUV by Two Inch Punch, a producer out of the UK. It's a great slice of Luvstep, the peculiar sub-genre of dubstep that focuses on soft, ethereal vocals and melodies instead of the straight wobble-wobble that a lot of brostep banks on. Regardless, Two Inch Punch provided us with a little write-up that'll give a bit of insight into his admittedly interesting musical background. Check out his soundcloud more more goodies, if you please.

I am a frustrated Soul / RnB singer, with an ear for harmony, melody & a love for dub, rap and soul.

My background is that I am a songwriter/producer for I Blame Coco & Lil Wayne, guitarist for Little Boots, remixed for Marina & The Diamonds.

This is my solo project where i dig for weird drum sounds, glitchy basses, smashed up strings & squashed vocals and retune them to make my own track

+++ Luv Luv --- by +Two Inch Punch-


We've actually posted this next video on our Facebook page, but for those of you who are not members (shaaaaaame), I've decided to post it. It's a new documentary of sorts, shot by 2 guys who decided to explore New York City's beautiful underground, meaning the often abandonned subway stations. If you've ever written graffiti before, I think this video really captures that tension, that palpable feeling of adrenaline that comes with sneaking around in places that you shouldn't be at.

If you're into urban exploration, or if you just enjoy well-shot,visually amazing videos, then you should definitely get a kick out of this.



Laters.

m.