Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Ahmi - Fades

Now most bass-heads who have perused this blog probably know by now that I like me a lot of Trip-hop, and part of it is probably just because I smoke too much, but there's also something else there entirely; you can never really put your finger on it but whenever you hear those switched up timings and psychadelia drenched synthlines you can hear a little bit of the future behind it.

Truth be told I've had many stoned conversations with Ray (our other blog writer) about how someday mainstream hip-hop will morph into something similar, slowly influenced over time by the rumblings of the underground club scenes. For now we producers and DJs will have to sneak in the breakbeats and alternative where we can get away with it; cause let's face it the average club-goers of our area just aren't ready, sure when Mr. Bangladesh drops his "A Milli" beat it won Lil Wayne a grammy, and I can remember last year when Zeds Dead dropped a Salem beat the entire Nokia (I guess now it's called "best buy" but w.e) Theater shat itself; but a DJ who fills an entire set with these revelations is gonna get some weird looks, cause a set needs bangers right?

That's why I've been really digging Ahmi's recent slew of tracks this month, as the summer winds down this shaolin producer has taken the scenic road towards good beats and it's definitely starting to pay dividends for him. Showing that while a beat can be hard and shuffle-able, it can also bring emotion and insight. Idk lol probably getting ahead of myself, so why not just go listen to the track and show Ahmi some love. Cause it's artists like this that make me love where this scene is headed.

Stuffy Booth - In The Club ft. Cheesy McGreasy


Welcome BITCHES to the world of Stuffy Booth and their eternal war on fat chicks; a new (hilarious) collaboration project from the outer boroughs. Now if you have an ear for slick club-style hip-hop then you're probably already familiar with Thick One and Sauce Man; they say on any given weekend night if you listen real quietly you can hear the two rowdy pranksters blowing up some retarded party on this island. Sauce Man's flow has always been tranquil yet nonchalant, with a layer of hilarity laid over all of his verses just to let  the listener know that though his rhyming abilities may run deep, comedy comes before depth with this persona.

To the characters of Cheesy McGreasy and Looseleaf Wallace (whoever they are) it's obvious that nothing is ever held back when your on tracks such as these, as they immediately meld right in with witty wordplay yet retarded hilarity on par with the past songs of Sauce Man and the Thick One. To be honest I thoroughly enjoyed this shit; cause it's basically a NY-version of 2 Live Crew, and what the fuck is there to hate about that?!

So If you got ass you better start shaking it, and if you got cash you better start throwing it; cause the Stuffy Booth is here to stay XD

Monday, August 19, 2013

Skifcha - CRUMPCORE

Whether your a up and coming DJ pouring through soundcloud undefined regions late at night for that next digestible banger, or some punk-ass kid who really wants to freak out the 80 year-old man sitting next to you on a long bus ride, I have just one question for you; have you heard of crumpcore?

The hardcore devotee Skifcha has released his latest beat-tape; a slew of heavy slammers sent out into the airwaves to satisfy all the modern-talking junkies and spontaneous shufflers out there, and personally I'm pretty hype as well, especially when I heard this one track in particular.

Now, while a vast majority of these beats might seem a bit off-the-wall; chugging along with a nice melody before descending into complete and utter bass-fueled nonsense, this track seemed completely well-rounded. It set's the stage of your classic club-banger with heavy layered kicks ringing in the new wave of crazed out partying over an entire crowd of drunken masses ready yet again to pump and grind their way passed 3am.

But I'm not gonna delve to much into it; you can hear for yourself. If you like it definitely make sure you follow Skifcha on his soundcloud and check out the rest of his most recent tracks! :P

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Dubyero - August Mix

When it comes to kids from Staten Island; musical taste is often a much ridiculed topic. I'll admit when I first moved to the island I was kinda confused by the sheer amount of cheesy punk persuasion backed with this odd love for all things Wu-Tang related... Shit did not make sense to me.... Like at all... But it was only after a few years of living in new brighton and loitering in random parking lots that things started to make sense to me, about the weird clashes of shitty music taste we all share and how they collide to make a singular identity. Because sometimes that's what I find myself believing this generation is; the aftermath of a pop-culture wasteland. That's also what I believe is so promising about the scene in general; that artists have literally mounds of crap and generations of shitty radio to warp and construe into something relevant. A sinister and creepy electronic underbelly to the dead genre warzone we've had floating over the radio above us for the past, what... two decades?

This all leads to why I'm pretty hype to feature this month's mix by newcomer Dubyero; the kid's style so far is the epitome of mainstream house being filtered down into the underground and the sick changes that morph along with that descension. Quite simply, it's the pure joy of listening to light poppy tunes transform into electro-step monsters; and this is a classic joy among underground electronic fans, so I feel it's only appropriate to add this sort of overlay to a month that's probably gonna be filled with some really weird tracks to on this blog :)

The Shaolin Temple - Someone Like You

AWWWW SNAP SON XD

Yup, that's right kids, Temple is fuckin' back with the trillness; and the stoners all over the island are climbing to rooftops with blunt wraps and ghetto blasters in tow as we speak. For this preview of the mysterious Volume II has seemingly creeped up out of nowhere; much like talk of this upcoming release itself it began as nothing but a whisper slowly and slowly rising it until it is finally over taken by a liquid flow that takes us on the path of this slice of trip-hop; as if we can take this wavey-ass three-minute peek into the hookah-smoking caterpiller's mind. (and yup, that was an Alice reference)

So yeah, you might just wanna hit play now lol

But if you wanna stick around and hear me ramble on, I'd love to delve into the line-up change the Temple has chosen for this preview; upstart producer/lyricist M2 has made his first appearance onto the scene of Shaolin bass music, and quite honestly it's a pretty damn extrodinary debut. For by this point we have a pretty good idea of what a JTTG track sounds like (check his beat-tape for a full lesson) and most of us have a pretty good idea what The SHRNK and he sound like together on a track; tight heavy bass-work, with subtle under-pads of different shapes and sizes, but overall a very distinct sound. But the thing is while this track definitively falls under the overarching banner of T.S.T. as far as genre and tone, the execution and production decisions are pretty inherently different.

So, is this a good thing for Temple fans? Well, yeah probably, especially as some of the WAAU producers have begun to explore new more creative styles, they've developed vast stylistic differences, and this in turn will make (or should make) the collaborations within the group more distinct from each other. Who is on which track will begin to make a huge impact on how the track will turn out and sound, which is pretty cool news if your a fan of variation in this scene as we go forward.

Because, what, is everyone supposed to sound the fucking same? My vote is for "fuck naw" and I think it's truly tracks like these that are convincing most kids in this scene to agree on that.

Someone Like You by TheShaolinTemple

BINO x Voduz - What I've Become

While it's pretty clear to most people who have an ear to the world of shaolin lyricists that everything and everyone associated with The Charity is in a dominating position to overtake the scene; it's slightly less clear which one of them is particularly leading the pack.

Cause, in all honesty, with this scene being so young (and most of our artists so young as well) who can you really rank that far over anyone else? On the one hand, when closely examined, most fans can tell that they all draw from each other and come from a common approach, as they seem to have similar structures and themes on most of their tracks; it all seems very "north shore" with a sense of street wisdom and real-world problems overtaking extravagant vocabulary or vocal prowess. Yet on the complete flip-side, one begins to realize that they all rap with staunchly different attitudes towards life, and it's these subtle style variations in who they are as lyricists surrounded by the overarching style of Charity Music that makes them such an exciting group.

When it comes to BINO in particular; I've recently found myself drawing comparisons to 90's rappers like Raekwon or Scarface; you can almost actually feel the fucking weight of this environment of ours hanging over his words. It's not just about his rhymes or his flow, but more-so the attitude in which he presents himself, dropping small bombs of wisdom casually as if perhaps he doesn't feel like anyone will fully understand him anyway... but, of course, I could be totally wrong lol

But with all of this topped off by a sweetly padded Voduz track (a page he has clearly taken out of Zaytoven's book) delivered with a quiet precision that accentuates BINO's message; the overall product is a sweet, if not slightly straight-forward track that plays well to his style and was a pretty damn nice addition to dat ol' weekly playlist :P

BINO - What I've Become (Prod. By Voduz) by BINOTheCheif