Most of the time I’m spouting off about a track’s vocals and declaring that 99% of producers can’t pull it off without ’em. Well, Madeaux is of that very few that can, and even though there is a bit of chorus transcendence in ‘Circe,’ the beat could sure as hell carry itself alone. I also gotta point out my appreciation for the change up in style Madeaux put on here. Going for a midtempo, kick bass heavy beat, ‘Circe’ is a slight enough shift in style to keep Madeaux fresh. + I love the slight touch of brass.
I’ve heard a few dubsteppers use old school singers in their set, but none have pulled it off like The McMash Clan. Taking Julie London’s classic ‘Sway’ and speeding it up just a touch (right on the border of that chipmunk sound), the trio puts a heavy load on London’s classic voice, updating it into this glorified dubstep era.My only issue with the song is that they hit a little too hard after London’s intro. But, from then on this shit sails over her voice in a glitch infested, bass possesed hell of a song.
Half of what a producer does is finding the right vocals. Vocals are what carry a track forward and if they fall short, everything else will crumble. TIP may be onto some next level lovestep, but the vocals he provides are even one step higher.
I first fell for TIP in his remix of Birdy’s ‘People Help The People’ (with a passion) and now I’m struck by ‘Moon Struck.’ It’s just that organic lovestep is so.damn.charming. It really is far beyond where most music is at today. I do wish he would provide where he got the vocals from, though…
Voodoo Farm is my main man for those raunchy dubstep remixes and now we get ’em all packed up neat in his official VOODOO FARM REMIXTAPE. With newly-mastered versions of 15 remixes + 7 unreleased ones, you’d think we have some new shit to romp around to for at least a few weeks, but the only way it falls short is in bringing anything fresh.
Voodoo’s included all the remixes that made him so special to me, but all the new shit is small compared to this behemoth of a mixtape. Still, this is a collection definitely worth keeping.
Usually I’d be praising Tracey Duodu’s vocals right now, but Vindata’s beat is what captivated me here. I love the electro // female vocal combo that’s been gaining attention over the past year, but usually the vocals top the track. This time, however, Vindata remixes 14th’s ‘Hide Yourself’ with such charming breaks that not even Duodu’s vocals comes out on top.
Delicate Steve is apparently not a one man show that finds himself on the softer side of life, but a five piece band that may just as well do the same – though, the guitarist is named Steve and clearly brings out the delicate in ‘Afria Talks to You,’ so I guess we can make assumptions. But more than I’m feeling the delicate, catchy guitar playin, Afria reminds me of two different memories with two different songs, all wrapped up in one.
First ya got the Kanye uplifting, electro-guitar//synth combo, might even be a particular song I’m thinking of, but I’m too lazy to look up (anyone). soon after, though, Afria goes into an even more memorable melodic state, which brings back the nostalgia the most — a good indicator of a good song.
When I first saw this marked as ‘electro soul,’ I was like noooooo. See, I’m trying to come up with a name for the new style emerging in R&B [ex: The Weeknd, Frank Ocean] because I’m doing an article on ’em all, but there’s no good name for it, yet. So I thought ‘electro soul’ might do it just fine, but I also had a feeling it was already being used in the electro scene.
Well, I guess I’m gonna have to start looking for a better alternative, but in the meantime enjoy this “electro soul” that sports vocals from ‘Evil Ways’ by Santana, a 2Pac verse thrown in there and one smoooooth beat.
A new Frank Ocean with the usual sensual seduction, but unlike his usual, “Pyramids” takes that synth to heights, something similar to a Starfucker beat. I wonder if it’s from a Starfucker beat… I just love saying Starfucker.
I’ve known Wick-it for making some superb mashups & bass’d out remixes, but creating shit from scratch is a whole new ball game. I’ve seen many cross the line from mashups to originals and it’s not usually pretty. But the Instigator puts down one pretty piece this time.
‘Grey Sky’ over takes Wick-it’s Weathermaker EP with a whole new level of strange bass. The jazz influenced, soul samples combined with that abstract bass is more than enough to praise, but slap down Heather Jones on the mic and her hymns bring this beyond praise.
Ever have a song pop into your head by complete random and it gets stuck in your head all day I was recently having a discussion with someone about how electronic music doesn’t have words, so nothing can really get stuck in your head. Well, Figure’s ‘The Brink’ proves that wrong… kind of.
While I was in Israel I hadn’t listened to ‘The Brink’ in days, but on the very last day that catchy, grindy melody got stuck up in that head of mine, all damn day (along with the lyrics). Point is, ya can just as easily get a melody stuck in my head as ya can the lyrics… though, the lyrics sound a bit better when repeating it back to a friend ;)
The Brink