It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a soothing ambient track, and coincidentally I’m very hung-over today, so now would be as good a time as ever right?

Dreams West has created a real textural beauty with Distant. Reminiscent of Aphex Twin-style Selected Ambient Works, the sounds in Distant create a vast aural soundscape… Falling in short at 2.13, I would prefer the track to have lasted longer, however it’s more like splashing your face with cold water on a hot day- a quick and satisfying refreshment.

The come-down is a smooth fade out which isn’t jarring. You could even say that Distant calmly rests your mind and primes you for more listening pleasure (follow it with something like this).

Dreams West – Distant

Soundcloud:

http://soundcloud.com/dreamswest

Bandcamp:

http://dreamswest.bandcamp.com/

I’ve spoken just recently about my lack of multi-linguistic talent, but this one’s pretty simple…

Fabled Enemies are one of the select few artists to earn the Fuck the Radio ‘brilliant’ tag, and they sure did deserve it!

Finally bringing their dubstep/glitch-hop sound to the live stage, the guys need votes to play in Melkweg Amsterdam, and it’s so simple to vote that it should be a crime not to.

The website is in Dutch, but if I could figure it out, I’m sure you can too- and considering a substantial amount of my readership is from The Netherlands (hinting at the fact that you must need weed to enjoy my blog) I’m sure there won’t be any confusion when it comes to clicking this link -> http://www.groteprijsvan.nl/deelnemer/fabled-enemies/ and pressing the big blue button that says ‘STEM!’

Help ‘em out!

You can also check out their music on this blog or at their Soundcloud page.

There’s no simpler way of putting it: Midnight Smack‘s Tight Schedule is dope.

Sampled obscurities combined with a deep, hip-hop beat is the infallible recipe for success with trip-hop- another example of a track so good that it doesn’t need lyrics to make it interesting.

Midnight Smack – Tight Schedule

Soundcloud:

http://soundcloud.com/midnightsmack/

hi. i make beats. i love sega. nintendos dope too, but i grew up on sega. batman is my favourite superhero. i dont quantize my drums. my kungfu movie collection is over 400 films easy. and i rep Gill Breathing. that about sums me up.

one love, 
-eQ

There’s something about the crackly-popping sound of an old vinyl record that I really dig, so when Innobushu‘s Moonlight opened with 90 or so seconds of the sound, I already knew I was in for a treat.

However, it’s not the lo-fi vinyl crackle that makes this a neat track, Moonlight‘s instrumentation is a great mix of synth leads and lo-fi jazz/soul samples. The highlight for me would be the syncopated drums which Innobushu pulls off perfectly- odd enough to be interesting, yet still rhythmic enough to bop your head to- this is possibly the greatest challenge when it comes to making future-beat, and in Moonlight it’s really tight.

Soulful and atmospheric, Moonlight is more than just a ‘beat’, it’s an instrumental song. Check it out:

Innobushu – Moonlight

Soundcloud:

http://soundcloud.com/innobushu

When I was about 13 years old I loved the german industrial-metal band Rammstein. I loved them so much it inspired me to learn German… until I found out I was head-banging along to graphic lyrics about gay sex. This isn’t something I’m against; It was just a little shocking for my 13-year old self. Then I looked at the cover of my favourite album- an image of the band shirtless and oiled up, standing in-front of a giant flower… it was never the same.

I did see Rammstein live many years later and they were amazing… but something about the muscular front-man in make-up, adorned with feathers and tight black leather just haunted the back of my mind… Mann gegen Mann
Meine Haut gehört den Herren… 

Now the reason I bring up Rammstein is not because of their deceptively homosexual lyrics, but because I haven’t ever loved a foreign band so much as to want to learn the intricacies of their language since I was 13 and head-banging away to German metal…

This time in French; NÉBULEUSE(s) is an album title I’m not even going to BEGIN to try and pronounce. My French is a bit rusty these days (read: ‘non-existent’), but that didn’t stop me from getting into talented French hip-hop artist Don Da None, who self-released his debut EP Nébuleuse(s) for only €3 in November last year.

Don Da None‘s lyrics flow so well  that it makes me wish I could speak French. There’s a sophistication in the way he speaks which compliments the amazing self-produced beats very well. Borrowing samples from rare soul and jazz records, Nébuleuse(s) would work as an instrumental album in it’s own right… In-fact, I have an instrumental copy of  Le Bas Coté to give you!

Don Da None – Le Bas Coté (Instrumental)

You should also check out the rest of his debut EP here:

http://dondanone.bandcamp.com/

The underground trip-hop community may seem like a never-ending sea of sampled beats and bedroom producers. And for the most part, it is! Albeit a glorious one full of unique rhythmic gems. Every now and then, in this new-age of internet distribution, a funny thing happens…

I had just purchased Zerolex‘s 2.z EP  (off of bandcamp for only €1!) when no more than an hour later I got an email from Zerolex himself pointing me towards his music. I clicked the links he provided, stared at the album art for awhile thinking “Wow, this looks very familiar” until I realised he was currently playing in my iTunes.

All Over Again is the first of two tracks off of his more recent release on Combien Millie Records, which is available for free download. There’s some great future beat style trip-hop elements present throughout his tracks, and some really diverse and interesting sounds being used as well- check it out!

Download:

Zerolex – All Over Again

Bandcamp:

http://zerolex.bandcamp.com/

Soundcloud:

http://soundcloud.com/zerolex

PS:

If you are an artist/label/promoter/enthusiastic fan feel free to drop me a line any time at fucktheradio@dubcage.com I’d love to hear from you!

And make sure you show facebook.com/ftheradioblog some love!

The San Fransico bay area is a place teeming with creative aural gems, somewhere I’d really love to visit again to go for a good musical dig. A shining example is this fresh tune from B Flat titled With You released as a single by Soulection.

Danceable and upbeat, yet still maintaining an atmospheric vibe- With You is described by B Flat as being a song about a girl.

It was somewhat of a gloomy day at the beach, but the sun was still out.

I think that quote encapsulates the tone of the track quite well. While certainly not deep and moody, With You avoids sounding bright and twee- check out the free download bellow:

B Flat – With You

Soundcloud:

http://soundcloud.com/bflatinum

More by B Flat:

http://bflatinum.com/tracks

Mattron‘s personal tape is the best dollar I’ve spent all year.

Wonderfully crafted trip-hop in its abundance, Pants Morgan Money Tape is set to make my iTunes’ ‘top played’ list any-time now… Warm and relaxing, the 14 tracks all sit perfectly in the middle section of the imaginary ’musically stimulating’ and ‘easy listening’ Venn diagram.

Fans of hip-hop will appreciate the meticulous effort put into crafting these beats out of various samples, ranging from odd-ball synth sounds to contemporary jazz snippets- Mattron makes creating great instrumental hip-hop seem Ea$y.

Download:

Mattron – Ea$y

Bandcamp (rest of tape only $1):

http://mattron.bandcamp.com/

Soundcloud:

http://soundcloud.com/mattron

Amable‘s Spooky Bounce is indeed spooky… and bouncy! (the epitome of music journalism right there).

The spookiness is in the subtleties, a sampled piano loop- complete with crisp vinyl pops and crackles- oh the joys of trip-hop!

Meanwhile a grimey saw bassline teams up with an exceptionally neat percussive drum-part to keep the track moving along. It’s as if a ghetto gang of werewolves and zombies (complete with low-riding pants and excessive amounts of dollar-sign gold necklaces) are strutting their stuff down the graveyard main-street at midnight, boom-box on shoulder, blasting this spooky trip-hop tune.

Download:

Amable – Spooky Bounce

Soundcloud:

http://soundcloud.com/amable