fucktheradio


Ackryte – Filmstrip by Chris

Cascade Records has overtaken Warp and Ninja Tune for me when it comes to exciting new releases; the Paris-based label is constantly supporting underground gold- and their latest release with Resistant Mindz is no exception.

A great compilation with some fantastic post-hip-hop/trip-hop etc. sounds from a plethora of talented artists, including FTR faves BrokeRepeat Pattern and Ackryte (above), there’s some real special creativity running through the grooves of this record, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it!



Nu Vintage – Grynd by Chris
May 18, 2012, 11:06 AM
Filed under: Beats, Hip-Hop | Tags: , , , ,

Straight up no bullshit hip-hop beats. Beats & Dreams is a magnificent release from the consistently excellent producer  Nu Vintage. As only $1 on bandcamp for 27 tracks, it’s an absolute steal.

Grynd is one of the many tracks which bleed true hip-hop purity. It begs for proper verses, yet holds it’s own as a satisfying instrumental listen.

Nu Vintage – Grynd



Trebles and Blues – The Tempo by Chris
May 7, 2012, 3:04 PM
Filed under: Chilled, Hip-Hop, Jazz | Tags: , , , , , ,

This suave jazz record makes me want to don a sleek suit and fedora combo, go out- order a scotch rocks and eye beautiful women across the bar while leaning on a billiards cue.

Yeah, it’s that specific.

The whole album is out for free here. You can also order physical CD and stream the album on the band-camp page linked below.



Ta-Ku – Pokyo by Chris
April 23, 2012, 12:44 PM
Filed under: Beats, Electronica, Hip-Hop | Tags: , , , , , ,

Aussie Perth-based producer Ta-Ku made an appearance on the Anesthetic mixtape with On the Floor taken from his brill EP Scraps Vol. 2; and more officially- Huh What & Where‘s recent free compilation HW&W Vol. 1.

Tight stuff, great to come back to music like this after a week or two detached from the earth. Pokyo is a neat electronica piece grounded firmly in hip-hop… Expect to see a-lot more of this guy’s name popping up all around; he’s already gained some pretty substantial recognition and support, but we can only sit idly by and wait for him to drop a proper album sometime.

Ta-Ku – Pokyo

Soundcloud:

http://soundcloud.com/takugotbeats

Rest of HW&W comp:

http://huhwhatwhere.bandcamp.com/album/hw-w-vol-1



Fuck the Radio Anesthetic Mixtape by Chris

Here’s the NINTH FUCK THE RADIO mixtape, titled Anesthetic (although I promise it wont put you to sleep). Featuring 15 great tracks from artists all over the world; there’s a focus on future-beat/trip-hop this time, which will keep you head-bopping along in the car/train/bedroom/wherever you listen to music.

It’s free, so you really can’t lose. Get on it.

LINK EXPIRED SORRY! MESSAGE US ON WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/FTHERADIOBLOG FOR DOWNLOAD



Interview: Amable by Chris

I’ve spoken about the wonderfully different-yet-accessible music of Florida-based beatmaker Amable before on Fuck the Radio; most recently supporting his latest free EP release, The Bundle which is filled with some great experimental beats.

It’s with great pleasure that I interviewed the man behind the music in a special weekend post:

What was the idea behind the bundle? Was there any particular idea/concept behind it?

The Bundle is a collection of older songs that I did for various Strange Gibberish downloads. I wanted to shed light on some older songs and give something to the people who have been supporting my music.

A-lot of it is sample-based, are there any bizarre sample sources that you’ve snuck in?

That’s a good question. I would say the most ‘bizarre’ sample source used was a recording I made while under a highway overpass. I recorded the sounds of the cars passing overhead which created a sound similar to crashing waves with a reverb effect. Those sounds ended up being used for the intro to Bajo Del Calle.

Tell us about the artwork…

The artwork was created by Bradly Head, he is the proprietor of Gewih Ritual Documents.  He’s done great artwork for the label so I was psyched when he offered to do the cover.  Bradly made a joke about making a reference to Al Bundy from Married with Children so we ran with it. The Polk High Jersey and the Dodge Dart are obvious Al Bundy references. The cassette head of the character makes reference to my previous cassette release as well as my upcoming release. Also, the image on the stamp is of me as a child. Altogether, I thought the throwback concept was appropriate since the songs on The Bundle are older releases.

What music do you listen to when you are alone and not producing? Are there any particular songs/artists/records you have on repeat at the moment?

I’m always looking for samples so I listen to all kinds of music. At the moment, my favorite album is Synesthesia by K-the-ii?? on Fake Four Inc. It’s his first official instrumental album and it’s the most unique album I’ve heard to come out of the L.A. beat scene. His CD hasn’t left my player for three weeks now.

Tell us a little about your musical history? What did you grow-up listening to and how did you get to where you are now?

The first piece of music that I owned was an old school hip hop compilation cassette tape when I was about 8 or 9 years old. It had UTFOFat BoysWhodini, Roxanne and a bunch of others. Later that year a friend gave me a copy of RUN DMC‘s Raising Hell, so that was my catalyst for collecting music. I grew up listening to everything, classic rock, metal, alternative, r&b, hip hop, jazz, soul, funk, whatever. Eventually I really got into underground hip hop and the whole beat movement going on with Ninja TuneMowaxHefty and OM in the early years. This lead me into djing and digging for records which lead me into making beats.

Do you have any guilty pleasures/things people would be surprised you have in your music collection?

Sea and Cake, Pelican, Donovan.

What is your alcoholic beverage of choice?

That’s a tie between a Crown and ginger ale or a vodka with blood red orange juice.

Most overrated thing in music today?

Egos.

DOWNLOAD THE BUNDLE



Lord Leonator – Ja! by Chris

Düsseldorf, Germany- Lord Leonator uses his experience as a drummer to create rhythmically tight Hip-Hop instrumentals. Nicely composed and reminicent of DJ Shadow style beats, Ja! is a cute little instrumental piece to bob your head along to.

Lord Leonator – Ja!

Soundcloud:

http://soundcloud.com/ventoleo/



Sorg – Remote by Chris

Much like the nouvelle vague du rock français scene that saw the rise of garage-rock bands like Naast and my beloved Plasticines in France, there’s a new breed of underground beat-makers in France seeing the creation of a new-wave of electronica and hip-hop.

Sorg is one such artist at the forefront of the emerging scene, joining artists such as Miqi O, Zerolex and Don Da None in bringing a blend of sample-based, electronic and acoustic instrumentation to trip-hop for a sound which, sounds just as uniquely French as French house does.

Check out Zerolex‘s new album which features both Sorg and Don Da None: http://zerolex.bandcamp.com/album/musique-r-apprivois-e

And if you like what you hear, check out Sorg‘s Preface EP, It’s an underground gem: http://sorg.bandcamp.com/



Kyson – Forest Footsteps by Chris
March 19, 2012, 1:42 PM
Filed under: Beats, Hip-Hop | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Out of Berlin, Kyson‘s majestic productions contain a great deal of warmth and comfort. Forest Footsteps is one of several free beats he’s giving away on Soundcloud which have a refreshingly different, yet easily accessible tone and texture to the other sounds I’ve been listening to lately…

Have a listen for yourself:

Kyson – Forest Footsteps

Soundcloud:

http://soundcloud.com/kyson



Vanilla – Proxy by Chris
March 14, 2012, 1:10 PM
Filed under: Beats, Hip-Hop | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

I really love Vanilla, not only the ice-cream but the artist. With a stylistic nod towards artists like Dilla and even Flying LotusVanilla has produced an amazing trip-hop album (approaching it’s second birthday) called Chrometrails available for free off of his bandcamp page.

Proxy rolls along with smoothly flowing sample re-triggering and a beat you can bop your full body along to. It’s broken up with a neat chorus-like break section to give the track a more conventional structure and to avoid ubiquitous repetition in it’s composition.

There’s also two more recent free albums in addition to chrometrails, one of them, a 27-track long monster titled Highlife is also full of gems, however he’s been quiet in the past year or so. I very highly encourage you to check him out…

Vanilla – Proxy

Bandcamp:

http://vanillabeats.bandcamp.com/



Elaquent – Sepia Tone by Chris
February 18, 2012, 9:24 PM
Filed under: Beats, Hip-Hop | Tags: , , , ,

Normally I don’t post on weekends, but I thought I’d share this…

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



Innobushu – Moonlight by Chris
February 17, 2012, 12:21 PM
Filed under: Beats, Chilled, Electronica, Hip-Hop | Tags: , , , ,

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



Don Da None – Le Bas Coté (Instrumental) by Chris


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/

 



Mattron – Ea$y by Chris
February 8, 2012, 8:20 PM
Filed under: Beats, Hip-Hop | Tags: , , , , ,

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 – Spooky Bounce by Chris
February 6, 2012, 2:39 PM
Filed under: Hip-Hop | Tags: , , , ,

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




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