Yung Bae’s remix of Gassed by Weslee is worth writing about alone. I haven’t featured a single since the start of the year and this would’ve been next if Yung Bae didn’t have a catalogue of good tracks.
His name sucks, but I guess it goes well with his aesthetic. His music doesn’t suck and grooves with either old soul samples or some kind of Japanese singing. He’s expanded his sound even more with the Gassed remix and worked with other top producers, including Mura Masa, Brasstracks, and Flamingosis.
If his Gassed remix is any indication of his trajectory, see him producing for singers soon to be stars in the next few years.
I love house music. I also hate it. It’s some of my favorite music to dance to, but a lot of it sounds like shit (made for drug use).
Over the eight years this blog recently turned, we’ve tried to break up house into sub-genres. It’s tough, on the verge of impossible, but it’s important. Genres are more of a shade of something than a hard line, but it’s how we discover music, tie it into a pretty bow, and call it a playlist.
My annual disco mix is probably my favorite. I don’t get enough of the harder bass out, but one’s coming soon. The softer, sexier stuff is probably put out most often, but this one right here is what I would define as straight house.
Even though some of it’s called g-house or tech house. Where the beat sounds slightly stepped back.
GlobulDub hasn’t gotten every sound perfect, but he has more melodies than just about any other beat maker. It’s not just the melodies, but his counter melodies. How the two play off each other, and how it progresses. Something important to any beat, and any song.
His music has a different texture of beauty each track. Something made for the beach, the country road, or a midnight stroll. –For the #keywords–
Someone get this man a voice. Laster can play a guitar well, surround it with a beat, but I doubt he sings or raps as well. Ya never know though.
His beats are both inspirational yet relaxing and his guitar melodies drive it all. I’ve noticed that with my favorite beat makers over the last few years. They know how to create a good melody on guitar: FKJ, Tom Misch, Josh J. The list goes on and some day I’ll make it.
I usually throw songs like his on a beats playlist, as I will for a few, but Laster’s consistency in good music far exceeds any of his kind. I just about blushed hearing a few of his guitar rifts.
The future of electronic music seems to be over exposed synth (for now), but good producers pull it off. Pat Lok goes with a disco-house/pop approach and brings in some beautiful vocal collaborations for his latest album, Hold On Let Go. Realistically though, how many of his songs am I gonna be listening to in five years? One. Well, probably two or three, but one has a more dramatic effect.
I recently finished Dr. Dre & Jimmy Iovine’s documentary, The Defiant Ones. In it, Dre says a perfect line to sum up why one of Lok’s songs stood above the others. “Every producer knows that you’re only as good as the artist you’re working with.” And how Claire Mortifee’s lines are laid on top of ‘My Own Throne’ gets me giddy every time I listen. Her lyrics are an instrument played well.
Can’t wait to hear what’s next from Pat Lok. And who’s next.
We mainly highlight artists over singles now, which has given us different criteria to look for in what to feature. Mainly, more than just a few singles to show off. Something I see more with vocalists over instrumentalists or producers, but Masego does it all.
But like most musicians I pick, I love his voice most. He’s got personality that’s an artist’s dream and it shows through his voice.
He played with Goldlink at Coachella this year and the two are some of the finest record makers, live performers, and make some of the finest sounds with their voices.
Lately I haven’t given myself enough time to sit back and not think. There’s so much to do and it’s fun doing. But you gotta give the mind some time to catch up. Hopefully this will help get me in the mood. Let me know if it does for you. Sometimes I need a reminder, and so do you.
Other listening:
Beats by Day
Late Night Beats
Late Night Jazz
Electro Relaxations
What makes pop music? Or rather what makes music pop? Pop music has gone through many different styles throughout the century, but besides a large marketing budget, the voice is the greatest consistent factor. How many hits have you heard without them? Let me know, I’m keeping tally.
It’s hard to find voices that hit though. It’s not about their sound, but more about how they use it (+ how catchy the lyrics are) and DiRTY RADiO is developing well. I went through their whole catalogue and even though they’ve had the voice for years, it took up until recently to find how to use it. Collaborations with Young Franco, Pat Lok and more are developing their sound into something that’s not only catchy, but for many. Shit pops!
“I’m shy at first, but once you get to know me I do the stupidest, most random shit.”
I saw this quote and thought it was the best description of me in one line. I even got the t-shirt (seriously). My grandfather gave me the nickname Corky when I was little and the sentiment has stuck. I’m a bit odd, as we all should be, and a lot of my favorite music is too.
Originally these series of lists were all about kawaii music, which I dubbed VAPOR + VAPOR 2.0. Eventually the playlists expanded into all sorts of music along the future/trap spectrum, split into three categories – o f f b e a t, Sex trapt, and Future glam fucks. Quirky takes a little from each.
This is our third year celebrating anti-Valentine’s day 2015 | 2016. We didn’t plan on doing one this year, but the house we have is always soulful, which at least half the time is about heartbreak. There were so many classics stored up we had to throw this together.
We also got another house head to whip up her own. Lauren helped me with the first heartbreak playlist about hip hop and has created her own list for house, a few of which I so badly wanted to steal for myself.