We heart Pixelord, and the rule of thumb is it cannot get better than Pixelord in this particular music style. However, this guy from Bradford, Yorkshire somewhere in the UK called Hourglass Sea (or Dean Bentley for mom) managed to make Pixelord’s track even better! Don’t believe us? Fair enough, cause it’s Pixelord we’re talking about, but check for yourself. Hourglass Sea is premiering his single “Once In A Lifetime”/ “Imaginary Friends” via yours truly. “Once In A Lifetime” is up for a free download and you can stream remix of Pixelord’s “Imaginary Friends” right here. Quality.

Share on Facebook

If you don’t know about Those That Know – the eclectic trio comprised of producer J. Hoskins and rappers-singers Tuuobillion and Saint Kay – this weekend is the right time to get to know. If before we liked them for their hot beany-hats, there’s a better reason now. They have refixed “Loft Music” by The Weeknd, and it’s great, which is so rare in this age of a bazillion bad Weeknd remixes. So hit play to listen and watch the video (which is pretty awesome as well) and get ready for more, because a little birdy told us there are three great refixes coming up from Those That Know very soon.

Share on Facebook

Homie Goth-Trad just dropped yet another bomb in addition to his soon-to-come album “New Epoch” (Deep Medi, Feb 7th). The video is for side A of the first single to drop before the album – “Air Breaker”. Directed by Goth-Trad’s Tokyo-based VJ DBKN, the video is a trippy mix of Enter The Void credits, Eskmo’s “We Got More” and your broken TV.

Goth-Trad – Air Breaker (Deep Medi Musik 2012) from Deep Medi Musik on Vimeo.

Share on Facebook

Dick Laurent Is Dead not only has a really cool stage name and hip facial hair. He now also has an outstanding video for his tune “Colour in Your Hands” featuring Fink. Directed and edited by Nicolas André of Neopen – one very talented Frenchman. Btw, the film is shot in the beautiful South of France.

Dick laurent is dead feat. FINK – Colour in your hands from leneopen on Vimeo.

Share on Facebook

This is out today on Exit Records. “Marka” by Dub Phizix & Skeptical Ft. Strategy – dopeness to the max. Video Directed and produced by Tom Doran. Shouts to Lou for the heads up.

Share on Facebook

The sickest thing we’ve heard in a while now gets a video treatment! Thanks to Fulgeance, who has always got our backs. Accompanied by the dope video by Ease (Wood) this gem “London Falling” is available for all of you to buy as a part of To All Of You LP, via Melting Pot (standard quality).

Share on Facebook

An awesome visual product of collaboration between Brodinski and Alain Domagala aka ADZEA. The tune “Let The Beat Control Your Body” featuring the quick-to-misspell Louisahhh!!! (yes, three “h”s and three exclamation points) is being released on Bromance Records (awh!).

With the director’s own words the video is “dumb on purpose, it obviously refers to the music itself, in a different way than its title does.” Dumb? Not sure about that one? Different? More like it.

Let The Beat Control Your Body – Brodinski x ADZEA from Bromance Records on Vimeo.

Share on Facebook

About two years ago, Big Up Vol.4 was graced with the amazing artwork and words of wisdom from Von of HelloVon. The quality and impeccable details of his work remain unparalleled up to this day. See for yourself in this beautifully done video by Andrew Telling.

Semblance from Andrew Telling on Vimeo.

Read Big Up interview with HelloVon.

Share on Facebook

Monday 11/21

I have a sore throat, I’m definitely getting sick. We went SO HARD this weekend… here’s a short recap – sangria for breakfast at a Flamenco show; RZA DJ set in a super futuristic sit-down theatre; a 15,000 person rave with Aphex Twin; James Pants, Oneohtrix Point Never and Dorian Concept played at an art museum; Pearson Sound and Scuba in a swanky basement club. I still don’t know how the hell we fit all that in 48 hours. I danced so hard last night I think I tore ligaments in my legs. (P.S. if anybody tells you I took my shirt off and was swinging it around in the club, they’re lying!)

Each of the selected 15 artists performed in a different balcony

As I write this I’m in a massive cathedral/palace turned city museum and arts center, where me and about a dozen of the participants were selected to do a special last-minute showcase for the city of Madrid. We’re each set up on our balcony platforms, and each performing one song to different visuals, broadcast on massive projection screens. This was just announced a couple days ago and the production is just crazy. Of course there are a ton of spectators here… I have no idea where all these people keep coming from! It’s sold out every night big or small. Whoever is in charge of promoting these events needs a serious promotion or a huge bonus or something. There’s only 4 days left and I already want to cry when I think about leaving all my new friends and this amazing complex. On the flip side I seriously have more inspiration than I’ve ever had IN MY LIFE…no bullshit. Dorian Concept and Benji B. also did some public lectures at the museum as well, which we weren’t necessarily supposed to attend, but I did anyway because I love those guys… both lectures were very interesting.

My setup for the cathedral show, I rocked the Voyager on “Wake Ups”

The first formal RBMA lecture today was from Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never. I’ve had the pleasure of playing a gig with him last year in Romania and as I said saw him perform this weekend, and I LOVE the Ford & Lopatin record that came out this year, so I was pretty familiar with his stuff all around. He’s a very hilarious guy, we all laughed a lot during the lecture. He’s an extremely talented producer that I look up to, his sound design and ideas are very original and organic. He talked about his upbringing, inspiration and a bit of his workflow, it was great. The next lecture was from Hotflush Recordings owner Scuba, who gave us a recounting of the early 90’s club scene in London – which was pretty much in line with how Benji B. described it during his lecture – and also the sort of rise Dubstep music and it’s dramatic change over the years. Both lectures were pretty cool, and even though these artists are a bit younger in their musical journey as compared to some of the other lecturers, it was still really inspirational. I’m literally just a big bubbling pot of ideas right now. However I do have to get some sleep tonight I think, I have my gig coming up in a couple days with Benji B. and Jesse Boykins III and I have to represent.

Me with some of my new family

Share on Facebook

Friday 11/18

Assuming today will be the pinnacle of our session, it’ll be really hard to top this one. The original Wu-Tang Clan leader, multi-platinum producer, film composer, rapper and soon to be film director, the RZA took time out of his schedule to come lecture and perform for us. As I wrote yesterday I was starting to become accustomed to chilling with my heroes, I was totally starstruck sitting five feet from RZA. He broke down secrets of his production, unveiled samples from his early hits, talked the life and times of the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, formation of the Wu-Tang Clan, Kung Fu movies, even played a song he did with Notorious B.I.G. that I’d never heard. He gave us one of the most spiritually-directed and inspirational lectures yet. He went into detail about him working with Kanye West recently in Hawaii recording his last album, and the insane hustle Kanye has… made me respect him even more than I already do. RZA is also finishing his directorial debut “The Man with the Iron First”, which he shot in China and is also doing the score for. He spoke about his apprenticeship with Quentin Tarantino. Apparently during the “Kill Bill” movies, RZA was on set the whole time taking notes and studying under Tarantino. The lecture came to a head as he described how Tarantino was taking notes learning from HIM during the shooting of the “Iron Fist”, with Tarantino telling RZA “the student has now taught the master…” One of many parallels between all the lectures and experience here is that all things seem to come full circle.


Anenon lights up the darkness

This morning’s first lecture was from a name that I think should become household pretty soon, Techno and House producer John Talabot from Barcelona. I’ve heard some of his works before and was a fan, but hearing some new bits from his upcoming album on the Permanent Vacation label, I was totally sprung. His music is really funky and deep. Between that and all my pent up inspiration from the week, I literally ran to one of the studios after the lecture and within a half hour I had a super funky track laid down with chords, baseline and some percussion. Exeter, Boogie Hoswer, Claude Speed and Ronika came in to hang out and everybody started contributing.

Mortin Subotnik, the originator of getting weird with it

The evening was comprised of two events, the first in an absolutely gorgeous sit down theater in the city center where a large and again sold out crowd of experimental music enthusiasts came to enjoy our lecturer from yesterday, the pioneer of synthesis Morton Subotnik. This was pretty big theater, seating of at least a thousand people. Still high from the RZA lecture we walked in to the performance which had already begun. Anenon played one of the most beautiful sets I’ve heard this week – this was his element. A completely silent theater sat in awe as he played some almost psychedelic jazz lines on his saxophone, which he was recording live into his setup, and then proceeded to rearrange the live sax recording into an amazing beatless composition. It was really good. Then Morton Subotnik and his visual artist did about 40 minutes of pretty insane noise, generating sounds and images that the average listener/viewer couldn’t imagine on their own. As a musician I understood the context and what he was doing and was amazed – I wonder what the average fan must have thought!

Marco Passarani, Dorian Concept and Fabian Bruhn

After the long day of lectures and the theater event I was thinking about staying back at the hotel tonight, I didn’t want to end up getting sick from not sleeping. But a big club night was looming, and I had to show love for Nick Hook, Naphta and Doc Daneeka all supporting Modeselektor. What a zoo this place was… people just going crazy everywhere. Nick Hook stole the night for me…he went from early House and Electro to some banging new school B-more, and ended his set with a healthy dose of classic and current Hip Hop cuts which was refreshing. The mixed-format (inna proper Fool’s Gold stylee) even works in Madrid where I’m assuming they don’t know half of the Hip Hop shit he was playing. Doc Daneeka unleashed some more Techno-style cuts mixed in with his eclectic array of modern Garage sounds. The party was super rowdy, at least two or three thousand people. I’ve been here a week now and gone out every night – and I haven’t heard any gross dubstep… this really must be heaven.

Nick Hook opening for Modeselektor… guess they are pretty popular here

Share on Facebook