Nomo

Jun 20th, 2008 Afrobeat, Instrumental steve 2 min read

Michigan-based ensemble Nomo are back with their newest, Ghost Rock, just in time for the summer heatwaves that will undoubtedly settle upon us. I know I have today’s post categorized under “afrobeat” but the truth is that Nomo’s sound is much broader, fusing krautrock’s repetition, the deepness of funk, the borderless perspective of world music, the virtuosity of jazz and the sonic palettes of modern…

Presto

Jun 16th, 2008 Breakbeat, Downtempo, Hip-Hop steve 1 min read

It gives me great pleasure to be back posting after a hectic month of work. Expect much more regular content moving forward, starting with today’s post from Los Angeles DJ/Producer Presto. His early 12″ instrumentals were a staple of my older downtempo and hip-hop sets, so it’s fantastic to be able to bring you word about his new full-length record, State of the Art, an…

Keston and Westdal

Feb 14th, 2008 Downtempo, Electronic/Dance, IDM, Instrumental steve 1 min read

Here’s a nerd fantasy for you: Tortoise covering Boards of Canada’s “Roygbiv” with Quincy Jones producing. Yeah, it’s totally unrealistic, perhaps even a slight bit musically incongruous, but I don’t give a fuck. I think that would be sick. It is just a dream after all. Now, I couldn’t in good conscience say that Minneapolis duo Keston and Westdal are in that orbit just yet,…

d_rradio

Jan 29th, 2008 Downtempo, Electronic/Dance, Folk/Acoustic, Glitch, IDM, Instrumental, Post-Rock steve 1 min read

The d_rradio guys (pronounced D-R-radio) are definitely from the SK oldschool and we are happy to announce their next full-length, self-titled opus will be on its way to your ears in March via UK imprint Distraction Records. We’ve been online friends for sometime (check this old post from 2005 ) and I’ve always respected the range of the trio — I can’t think of any…

Jet Black Crayon

Jan 28th, 2008 Breakbeat, Downtempo, Instrumental, Post-Rock steve 1 min read

Tommy Guerrero, Gadget and Monte Vallier are Jet Black Crayon. The story goes that Guerrero was asked to open for Isotope 217 way back when and instead of playing solo, he tapped his boys to play as Jet Black Crayon. And years later, the trio — with the occasional helping hand from a large group of players including Tortoise’s Herndon and Bitney — is still…

Chico Mann

Dec 10th, 2007 Afrobeat, DJ Weapons, Electro steve 1 min read

First off, apologies for being MIA for a few weeks. But good things do come to those who wait and today’s post is a can’t miss if you, like us, love music that blurs the borders between genres. The brainchild of Antibalas’ guitarist, Marquitos Garcia, Chico Mann, is what I personally like to call “8-bit Afrobeat” and after seeing them live recently, I stand by…

Stateless

Nov 6th, 2007 Downtempo, Electronic/Dance, Rock steve 1 min read

So, as promised, you get your second “state” related posting, this time on a definitively more British note. I know that for a lot of you Stateless may not necessarily be something brand new. Truth is, I slept on this record for a while, not fully convinced of its merits — even though both Roots Manuva and DJ Shadow were singing its high praise. Shadow…

SK Exclusive: See-I & Magic Fly

Oct 17th, 2007 DJ Weapons, Downtempo, Dub/Reggae, Remixes steve 2 min read

A Quick Rant I get a lot of emails about why I don’t post every day. Let me explain if I may. I try to be as discerning as I can about the things I post. Fact is, if it’s not something I think you all would like, then it doesn’t deserve the pixels. Like I’ve said before, music blogging is way out of control….

Sample Party: Breakwater vs. Daftpunk

Oct 12th, 2007 DJ Weapons, Electro, From the Crate, Soul steve 1 min read

Turns out that one of the few truly monstrous tracks from Daft Punk’s latest, Human After All, almost completely jacks the opening of “Release the Beast, ” a little known electro-funk stomper by 2-and-out late 70s jazz-funk outfit Breakwater. I felt compelled to post the original because although I knew that Thomas Bangalter and Guy Manual de Homem-Christ0 were big on sampling, I was surprised…

Hexstatic

Sep 26th, 2007 Breakbeat, Electro, Electronic/Dance, IDM, Instrumental steve 1 min read

More familiar perhaps as the A/V wizards behind the Ninja Clan’s more memorable live performances, Robin Brunson and Stuart Warren-Hill return with their first full-length LP since 2004’s tragically underrated Master View. Even casual electronic music fans know that much has changed in those three years, witnessed by the emergence of entire genres and the refining of other fledgling ones. Rather than wade safely through…

Prefuse 73

Aug 31st, 2007 Breakbeat, Electronic/Dance, Glitch, Hip-Hop, IDM, Instrumental steve 1 min read

The prolific Guillermo Scott Heren, man of many pseudonyms, is back with yet another release under his most noteworthy guise, Prefuse 73. One of the forefathers of the glitch-hop sound — an abstract, mostly instrumental and regularly angular take on hip-hop’s standard 4/4 — Prefuse builds upon an already stellar body of solid experimentalism with Preparations, again released on Warp. Guests on the record include…