Filed under: Chillwave, Dance, Electronica, Experimental, Upbeat, Vocals | Tags: chiptune, Dance, dream pop, Electronic, Electronica, glitch, glo-fi, melbourne, vocals
More or less a slight step-back from the usual swirling game-boy-style chiptune arpeggios and excitable dream-pop hyperactivity found in Hawaii94‘s previous releases; Cruise CTRL brinks on progressive-disco-esque thumping and sweeping filtered waves of sound. Something that anyone can groove to; especially when the familiar vocal swoons drift in over the top. A final highlight is when Hawaii94‘s glo-fi sound climaxes into a glitchy crescendo of fun-noise.
Filed under: Beats, Chilled, Electronica | Tags: beat, Electronic, Electronica, Hip Hop, instrumental hip hop
Some dope instrumental hip-hop coming at you from Portland, Oregon. Turismo Chris‘ Evolution is constructed with clear verse/chorus structures behind it, but can survive as a pleasurable listen without any vocal track over the top of it. There’s a cosmic sci-fi style sleekness to his sound that makes me think of an utopian future… but that retro style neon future where everyone wears cool glittery rubber jumpsuits and there are hot alien chicks who look just like humans but they have antennae or something crazy. Worth checking out next time you are ploughing through your old comic book collection and need some backing music for those old issues of Silver Surfer you have tucked under your bed… Or when you are cruising through the solar system in the car pictured above.
Filed under: Ambient, Chilled, Chillwave, Electronica, Experimental | Tags: ambient, Chilled, dreamy, Electronica, mellow, music, Psychedelic, Soothing, Trip-Hop
Woot woot, the second Fuck the Radio party was a success, with acts Yosemite, Flash Forest and Sub Dapper killing it on-stage with a surprise set by exciting up-and comers Willowbeats.
The hangover has subsided and the blogging must go on. To bring us all down from our parties induced-highs I present you an ethereal track of purified dreaminess.
Patterns In Plastic already had a wonderfully fulfilling sound on their hands, but for me it was Sina. who brought the wonderful to marvellous with a divine remix of Sleepyhead.
I’ve been playing way too much Diablo 3 latley, so the entire list of of the adjectives I know at the moment is like looking up ‘evil’ in the Thesaurus. But if you were to look at the ‘antonym’ section of the thesaurus for ‘evil’, you’d probably find some neat descriptive words for this track…
…what a bizarre review…
Patterns In Plastic – Sleepyhead (Sina. remix)
Filed under: Electronica, Experimental, Live Show | Tags: Australian, downtempo, Electronica, entertainment, Guitar, Live show, music, Psychedelic, Rock
Collingwood’s Gasometer Hotel is another punk rock fortress in the midst of Melbourne’s north-eastern inner suburbs…Lots of distortion-riddled power-chords and highly energetic performances can often be heard radiating from the top floor as you enter the venue or duck out with your mates for a smoke.
Downstairs however, there’s an intimate back-room there behind a ubiquitous closed door which has been playing host to the opposite; punks of a different breed… the downtempo/electronica/beat scene in Melbourne has it’s many branches, and climbing their way to the top of the tree one killer set at a time are Fuck the Radio faves, Squarehead. Also on the bill this particular night was The Black Galaxy Experience who were fresh off of the launch of their 3-track EP, an atmospheric and moody work of prog-rock/jazz sounds. The music in this room may not have been punk rock- but it certainly dared to be different.
Squarehead (above) create their songs in-front of you, live. And you can tell they love doing it. Tobi (on the right) fronts with a bass guitar hooked up to a pedal board bigger than Kanye West‘s ego. They opened their set with a new song which expanded dramatically into a room-filling climax of cymbal crashes and reverberation; and while there’s a subtle hint of underlying melancholy present in their music, it’s masked with a dash of velvety mystique. Tobi knows his way around the bass fret board, and as the tracks build in passion, his ability to rip out some pretty killer solos really comes to the fore-front. Playing through the rest of their ZZ Tunes catalogue also made for a great show, King of Birds absolutely rocks it live, there’s a-lot of energy in that breakdown section that translates to stage very well, as well as serving as a device for breaking up the more downtempo pieces.
Also I want to stress that when I say ‘down-tempo’ I do not want you to think I mean ‘boring’. There’s enough intricacies and rhythmic patterns that lie throughout all of Squarehead‘s music to keep you listening intently from start to finish. I Dream At Night, (the second last track of the set), is reminiscent of Ratatat‘s relaxing-yet-stimulating sound, and when translated to the live stage, it takes on another special element you miss out on if you just listen at home with your iTunes. I think perhaps the most fitting description I have for Squarehead‘s live-sets are ‘perfect for taking a girl to’.
After Squarehead; The Black Galaxy Experience set up all manner of synths and instruments that would make any music-geek drool. The drummer Andrew writes all the music and is quite adept at what he does; there’s an interesting prog-rock/psychedelic feel to the jazzy electronica he performs which fills the entire room and envelops you whole like a sonic cushion. It’s clear that as a musician, Andrew is a skilled artist- the dynamic levels and expressive drumming was a stand-out. With tunes that can fall close to the 10-minute mark in length, the constant evolution and flow of the music kept the room totally fixated. Whats’s Going On in-particular built and built with fluid smoothness into a swirling crescendo of drumming prowess which was just out of this world.
Definitely some of the most musically impressive bands in the underground electronica scene at the moment, if you live in Melbourne, check them out next time you see their name on a poster.
Squarehead:
The Black Galaxy Experience:
Filed under: Beats, Electronica | Tags: beats, Electronic, Electronica, Flying Lotus, future beat, Trip-Hop
Nice Icles’ release on DAGOBOT features some great trip-hop composition, and general electronica goodness. The release’s title track features some collaboration with Kwala; creating a jangular future beat piece, kind of similar to something Fly-Lo would develop. Unfortunately, the track finishes quite suddenly, but luckily the rest of the fantastic record is there to follow it up- only a dollar of DAGOBOT‘s bandcamp.
Nice Icles – Shiverburn (ft. Kwala)
Filed under: Ambient, Chillwave, Electronica, Live Show, Psychadelic, Rock | Tags: album, Chilled, downtempo, Electronica, Guitar, independant, instrumental, Psychedelic, Rock, visual
The gap between producers and musicians is a precarious one, especially when it comes to playing live. Squarehead played at Fuck the Radio‘s opening night just over a week ago and put on an amazing show.
Performing songs live as a trio, complete with bass guitar and 50 different effects pedals- if you have the chance, Squarehead are not an act you want to miss if you love music (and, if you read this blog- I assume you do).
Raindrops is a beautifully composed track with a multitude of evolving bits and pieces that in the right atmosphere just fill the room and take you in for a musical candlelit journey over forests and deserts on the back of a magical flying flamingo. The rest of the free album shares a similar feeling, only perhaps with different flying magical animals. It’s something I can’t really describe without sounding like a maniac, so don’t just take my word for it- grab the album, and catch them live in Melbourne on the 21st (link below)… I’ll be there with my flamingo.
Download/Listen:
Filed under: Beats, BRILLIANT, Chilled, Chillwave, Dance, Dubstep, Electronica, Experimental, Mellow, News, Noise, Psychadelic, Rock, Trance, Upbeat | Tags: A Bliss Abyss, Acid, appalachian trail, Brilliant, Dance, Deep, Electronic, Electronica, Guitar, music, Psychedelic, Rock, Soothing, Synth, travel
AND we are back to regular posting schedule. What better way to kick off the week by welcoming all the new members of the Fuck the Radio family to an old favourite; A Bliss Abyss.
The North-Carolina based musician/psycho friend of mine has up and left his friends and family to hike the Appalachian trail solo with little resources to seek solitude. It’s some serious Into the Wild movie style shit, and standing at roughly 2,180 miles- the Appalachian trail passes through no less than 14 American states, and is one of the longest marked hiking trails in the world. Only one-quarter of those who attempt to hike the entire trail succeed. The journey typically takes six months to complete.
Anyway, enough of the geography lesson, you’re here for music; and A Bliss Abyss is one of the most talented and brilliant producers I have ever met. He released his EP for free download off of his website and is surviving entirely on the donations of fans.
The Moksha EP itself is one of the most beautifully crafted records of the year. I can’t recommend it more highly. An amazing blend of electronic music combined with guitar, topped off with brilliant production skills and an ear for incredible detail- this is something to have on repeat for quite a while. Grab it for free off of his website:
Filed under: Ambient, Electronica, Psychadelic | Tags: Electronica, future beat, many moons, music, Psychedelic, science fiction masterpiece, Soothing, Synth
If music genres were the same as film genres, then Subvader‘s Forever Leaving EP would be right up there as a Science-Fiction masterpiece.
The whole EP is very well-crafted and atmospheric. Rather than a mish-mash of various tracks, the whole thing has a particular tone and theme but manages to express it in ways that do not get boring. I would have ordered the tracks differently, having it open with the swirling synth arpeggios of The Cave and then having it move in deeper- but there’s no use needling down criticism on small stuff like that when you have such a great overall piece of work.
Download:
Listen:
Filed under: Beats, Electronica, Experimental, Interview | Tags: aussie, Australian, beats, Electronic, Electronica, experimental, glitch, interview, melbourne australia, music
With only two releases readily available- it’s an exciting time for Aussie producer Sub Dapper to establish himself in the country’s burgeoning beat scene. Check out his stuff while you read the interview I did when I caught up with him earlier this week…
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?
When I was a little kid basically all I listened to was The Doors and Frank Zappa, in high school when I learnt a bit more about music I was really into the heavier slightly electronic post-punk bands like The Blood Brothers and Test Icicles. I only really got into beats in 1st year uni when a friend played me some Samiyam which got me onto the brainfeeder label and yeah my mind was blown.
Your beats blend a-lot of different sounds from a range of genres- what’s the biggest challenge for you when putting a track together?
The biggest challenge would probably be trying to make my songs sound like “songs” if that makes any sense? before this project I was in a psych-thrash band so the whole electronic thing is all very new to me. To go from such a chaotic style to one that is (to some extent) much more organised has, and continues to be, a real challenge for me.
Oh my! ‘psych-thrash’, anywhere where I can listen to that project?
Unfortunately all the recordings were lost when my last computer’s hard drive corrupted (fuck you apple!) but I will hopefully be doing some thrashy stuff on the side in the near future though with some of my pals in Chicks Who Love Guns and Micheal Crafter (The band not the dickhead.)
What are the guilty pleasures in your musical taste?
Cant help but jive to Walking On the Sun by Smashmouth, ruined many an atmosphere with that baby.
You’ve got 2 tracks up on your Soundcloud; Is there a plethora of music hidden away on your computer that we can hope to see released or are you still playing around with the ‘Sub Dapper sound’?
There’s about 200 tracks on my poot at the moment but I would consider at least 180 of them to be my musical yellow brick road. Within the next month I should be releasing at least 3 more songs. I should mention the response has been pretty sweet so far; I was really scared to put anything out so yeah I’m really surprised!
Does the name ‘Sub Dapper’ mean anything?
‘Sub Dapper’ is a bit of a description of myself I guess. I am prone to wearing dress shoes and collared shirts (Looking ‘dapper’ as your stanky british grandma might say) but also prone to acting ‘inappropriately’ at times. Therefore “Sub Dapper” (also I think a “Sub Dapper Zapper” would rival Bart Simpson’s Go-Go Ray)
What do you listen to when you are not producing?
At the moment I’ve been really into Chinoiseries pt.2 by Onra and Sam Baker’s Album by Samiyam. Anything Oizo tickles my fancy and if I want to get down I love a bit of fidget house (really into Aniki at the moment.) Local artists ive been digging are Flume (Who sn’t?), Colourwaves, Willow Beats, Odsoc and Oskar.
Booze of choice?
Cheap red wine, “Mr. Big Mouth” if it’s on offer. Who can resist a pelican in a suit?
https://www.facebook.com/SubDapper
http://soundcloud.com/subdapper
Filed under: Beats, Electronica, Experimental | Tags: acemo, beats, Electronica, glitch, Hip Hop, Synth, Trip-Hop
AceMo‘s Cuter EP is free off of his bandcamp and totally worth a listen.
There’s a swell hint of jazz mixed in with lo-fi electronica synths- it almost fits a verse-chorus style structure, as if the instruments are speaking amongst themselves. I haven’t heard anything like this is a-while.
The rest of the EP is equally as good, and he’s generous enough to be throwing it at you for free! So get on it!
Bandcamp:
Filed under: Beats, Electronica, Hip-Hop | Tags: beats, Electronic, Electronica, future beat, Hip Hop, instrumental hip hop, Upbeat
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.
Soundcloud:
http://soundcloud.com/takugotbeats
Rest of HW&W comp:
http://huhwhatwhere.bandcamp.com/album/hw-w-vol-1
Filed under: Electronica, Upbeat | Tags: Daedelus, Dance, Electronica, Happy, music, Upbeat
I don’t like playing favourites, but if I absolutely had to- Daedelus would be a strong contender for my favourite producer in the L.A beat scene.
His creative musical works contain inspirational elements from a range of genres including hip-hop, classical do-wop and electronica. Curtians Don’t Talk was released earlier today as an exclusive free mp3 for Mixmag and it’s quality stuff! There’s also a neat interview where Daedelus ‘ quirky yet humble personality really shines.
Daedelus – Curtains Don’t Talk
Mixmag interview:
http://www.mixmag.net/music/mp3-blog/free-mp3-daedelus
Filed under: Beats, Electronica | Tags: beats, Electronic, electronic music, Electronica, future beat, San Diego, shlomo, Synth
Great free release from Insightful, The San Diego-based producer signed to Soulection.
The 17-track album is grounded in future-beat, trip-hop and the other genres us radio fuckers love. However there’s a distinct twist in the sounds used which puts Feather’d Son out of the increasingly ubiquitous (yet still loved) realm of ‘triggering samples on an MPC’ and into ‘electronic music’. She Bad for instance, is less kick-snare driven than it is pulled along by the melodic synth- in a genre where rhythmic percussion dominates, it’s an interesting (and dare I say unconventional) take on the genre’s nuances.
Shlomo lovers will dig the creativity and electronic-fusion within the music, as will the masses of Flying Lotus and Nosaj Thing followers out there. Make sure you check out the full album (it’s free good music!)
Feather’d Son:
http://insightful.bandcamp.com/album/featherd-son
Filed under: Beats, Hip-Hop | Tags: album musique, beats, Electronic, Electronica, french, french hip hop, Hip Hop, music, sample based, Trip-Hop
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/
Filed under: Beats, BRILLIANT, Chilled, Electronica | Tags: aussie, Australian, beats, Brilliant, Chilled, Electronica, Hip Hop, independant, music, oliver tank, Trip-Hop
I’ve been in bed all day coughing up my lungs surrounded by used tissues and bowls of hot soup. But Flash Forest to the rescue! One of my favourite local producers by far, I’ve been secretly saving his music for a little while now (although you may have noticed his appearence in the Fuck Melody Mixtape), waiting for the perfect moment to spring it on you.
One Night is that perfect moment, uploaded to Soundcloud just 10 minutes ago (at the time of writing), this is chilled-out trip-hop at it’s best. Fans of Thrupence and Polographia (both are also talented Aussie producers) will dig, and Oliver Tank fans might want to take a squizz at Flash Forest‘s remix of What Have I Become, which brings the mellow romantic sounds of Tank into a more upbeat (even danceable) arena.
But enough floundering around dropping the names of other Aussies, Flash Forest has truly hit a league of his own with One Night, which is why he’s the second artist this year to be inducted in to my Fuck the Radio Brilliance hall of fame. If you are a fan of good music, I insist you check all his stuff out (most of it he is giving away for free!):
Soundcloud:
http://soundcloud.com/flashforest
Bandcamp:
http://flashforest.bandcamp.com/
