Tagged ‘Beats’

Matthewdavid

Receive an album from Brainfeeder and immediately one knows what to expect. Or more accurately, what not to expect – by rote electronica c’est n’est pas. The artist in question – Matthewdavid – originally hails from Atlanta and, having moved to LA, found himself amidst such familiar names from the LA creative merry-go-round as Low End Theory, Brainfeeder, FlyLo et al. Sure, these peers give a sense that watchwords like ‘abstract’ and ‘sparse’ might well resonate. But, in as much as Outmind carves its own passage and drifts serenely outside of these circles, you may as well leave such suppositions at the foot of the door.

Bespoke. A term used in tailoring to mean made to measure. Custom-fit if you will. It is without doubt a reference to Daedelus’ position as a purveyor of Victorian fashions and, seemingly, a sartorial naming-vehicle to allow for track-based puns galore. Not that I mind a good pun. In fact, I’m quite fond of one. Moreover, my fondness for this album follows suit. Geddit?

Over the last couple of years David Kennedy, better known as Ramadanman and, increasingly, Pearson Sound has been busy cementing his position as one of the principal figures in the burgeoning bass music scene. The precocious twenty three year old’s Hessle Audio label, which he co-runs alongside Ben UFO & Pangea, continues to go from strength to strength, whilst his own cuts remain as fresh and forward thinking as ever. Therefore it comes as little surprise that Kennedy has become the latest in an illustrious line invited to offer his touch to the FabricLive series.

Over 40 international artists band together for Japan disaster relief effort

You don’t need me to tell you about the crazed events going down in Japan right now. What might be worth bringing to your attention, is that a slew of international artists – many of whom have featured on Brainer at some point – have banded together to produce the Nihon Kizuna compilation in aid of the Japan disaster relief effort.

French electro dons hook up with Adidas for star-studded commercial

God I love Justice. Check out their new tune – ‘Civilization’ – featured on Adidas’ killer new commercial. Features a ton of superstar cameos (of course). Directed by Romain Gavras. Epic.

‘Civilization’ is out 4th April. Gotta say, Adidas are giving Nike a damn good fight with their recent campaigns and commercials. Remember the Originals House Party campaign?

I first heard of Stateless when they supported DJ Shadow a good few years ago in Sheffield. At the time, I remember being taken aback by the mishmash of sounds (not to mention some hyperactive drum patterns) delivering a sort of rock-cum-electronica-cum-trip hop.

With an enigmatic pen name – and eccentric, deep-filled album title to boot – it’s probably worth getting to the bottom of who exactly Ghostpoet is on this, his most auspicious debut LP. Real name: Obaro Ejimiwe, according to the blurb Ghostpoet recently moved from that picture postcard favourite – Coventry – to London via Nigeria and Dominica. So that’s that cleared up then.

James Blake’s debut album continues to be surrounded by cacophonous hype and expectation. Fittingly, the debut long player from the media’s current darling is anything but. Having heard the fun had on ‘Air and Lack Thereof’ (on which Blake breaks and builds the track using its various constituent parts); seen the giant strides made on the crunching, banging ‘CMYK’ before the minimal ‘Klavierwerke’ and his now ubiquitous reworking of Feist’s ‘Limit to your Love’, it’s apparent that Blake’s latest offering wouldn’t be easy to pin down.

Discovering that RJD2 has reinvented himself with an alter ego for his latest album ‘We Are The Doorways’ was kind of like finding an old friend named Frank via Facebook, and discovering that he now insists on being referred to as ‘The Tank’. Surprising, intriguing, and mostly confusing. But in the same vein as MF Doom – who has a penchant for differentiating his musical characters with names like Viktor Vaughn and King Geedorah – RJD2, now The Insane Warrior, is revealing himself in a new, self-invented way. Perhaps having grown weary of being pigeonholed in the commercial world, or simply a desire to explore a fresh chapter in his career, The Insane Warrior is now responding to this seemingly innate call by breaking out and doing something different which proves to be highly intimate and personal.

Not to be mistaken for your local high-end estate agent, Morgan Zarate bounces into 2011 with his album taster for Hyperdub. As potential bellwethers go it’s a splendid snapshot of his current methodology for music making, with a sharp emphasis on beats that urge the listener to nod the head and vibe, a signature of his previous work with Spacek and beyond.