Mophono (Natural Self Remix)

Apr 20th, 2010 Breakbeat, Remixes steve 1 min read

For some reason,   rock has seemed to co-opt the term “indie” when it comes to music. Sure, Indie hip-hop had it’s day in the late 90’s but really, when you think indie, you almost exclusively think rock and roll and all of the trappings of the indie rock world. It’s unfortunate that the spotlight has eluded all of the people in other genres working…

Cornershop

Dec 10th, 2008 Breakbeat, Instrumental steve 1 min read

Totally hot new spot from Nike. As soon as I saw this for the first time — rather, as soon as I heard it (I was away from the TV) — I knew this was a new Nike spot. They consistently utilize top notch music supervision. I’m lucky enough to be one of a select few to have landed a copy of the the Nike/Lebron/RZA…

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…

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…

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…

The Dragons

Aug 3rd, 2007 Breakbeat, Instrumental, Rock, Soul steve 1 min read

Leave it to Strictly Kev of DJ Food to unearth a monster of a forgotten California funk record. I guess the most immediately interesting thing about The Dragons is the fact that Daryl Dragon, one third of the Dragon-brother trio, is more famous as the “Captain” from 70s chart-toppers Captain and Tenille. Seriously. But together with brothers Dennis and Doug, the threesome managed BFI, shorthand…

Marco Polo featuring Masta Ace

May 21st, 2007 Breakbeat, DJ Weapons, Downtempo, Hip-Hop steve 1 min read

Thanks to Bastard Jazz’s head-honcho DJ DRM for this inaugural 2007 Summer jam alert! You may already know about New York via Toronto producer Marco Polo, but for those not yet familiar — and fans of golden-era mid-90s hip-hop — do not miss out on the automatic BBQ bangers on his new LP for Rawkus, Port Authority. There’s little not to love about “Nostalgia” from…

Joe Beats

Apr 4th, 2007 Breakbeat, Downtempo, Hip-Hop steve 1 min read

Big apologies for not posting but the day job is getting the best of me right now. But good shit has been piling up and I have a large stack of some incredible music, first and foremost some new stuff from one of our favorites Joe Beats (aka Joey Beats), of Non-Prophets fame and currently associated with Cunninlynguists. Aaron was kind enough to remind me…

Thisish Volume 1

Mar 13th, 2007 Breakbeat, Downtempo, Hip-Hop, Instrumental steve 1 min read

I’ve read quite a lot about the Thisish crew before this post because I’m always curious how an often myopic hip-hop media approaches eclectic production. The truth is that for all his success, a celebrated producer such as Timbaland for example, who is often showered with deserving albeit hyperbolic compliments, isn’t really that forward-thinking or groundbreaking. In the context of mainstream music, there is little…