Lost Angels

Jean-Michel Basquiat - The Dingoes That Park Their Brains with their Gum (1988)



Earlier this week I was re-reading my posts about the importance of archiving music (and art in general really), and I was inspired to take that mantle up once again. Revisiting the massive pile of rare and obscure FlyLo I picked up at the start of this year. Among that pile is a compilation that was put together for the LA Times simply called LA Times. It's full of otherwise unreleased tunes and other quality pieces from around the (fittingly enough) Los Angeles era. I listened to Los Angeles to death and I thought I was sick of it. And then tunes like Momma Dingo roll up and remind me why I played it so much in the first place, I'm a sucker for that rough round the edges feel of FlyLo's sound around this time.



Sticking with the them, there's also Glendale Galleria from '09, released on Tectonic and sharing a B-Side with Joker, it's quite a bit different from FlyLo's usual output. I'd call it a one-off, but it's actually got a lot in common with Crosswerved from Ideas+Drfats+Loops in that it's basically FlyLo doing a garage-come-dubstep tune. There's flavours of Burial on here, something that holds even more true if you check out the 'original version' on the LA Times compilation I mentioned above that's even more Buial-esque. The final outro is gorgeous and I wish it had a little more time dedicated to it but otherwise a solid addition to the catalogue.



And finally because I've made it a mission to rid the world of the curse of the Japanese Bonus Track, and because frankly it's a fantastic album closer, here is The Things You Left from Until The Quiet Comes. I will always adore that bass, and I knew it since my ears first heard it that that would be the case. Deliciously smooth, short and sweet, a perfect sound to go out on. 2020 edit: This one probably won't work but it's the only streamer I could find, legit or otherwise. Apologies if so!



-Claude Van Foxbat

TV Sounds

Florin Ciulache - Facility Line (2003)

For the first time in a while we have a pot tied together with a theme! As the title and art would suggest this time its all about tunes on the tele which gives me a bit of room to natter about them. Starting with Cornelius and the opening theme to Ghost In The Shell Arise, which is on the whole a lot more electronic than previous GITS soundtracks. It wouldn't sound amiss on some Beats or Future Garage compilation or something like that, it's a gorgeous listen and I am in love with the sounds on offer every single time it comes up.



I've overlooked the soundtrack parts of FlyLo's Ideas... .RAR until now. The Lotus has always had close ties with Adult Swim and two tunes included on Ideas ae the opening and closing themes for an entire season of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The opening track is deliciously smooth and features both the show's cast and FlyLo himself on the vocal front.



The closer on the other hand is an entirely different beast. Featuring that rough round the edges feel that's at least partially inspired by Mr. Oizo, Chasing Apples does an excellent job of displaying FlyLo's versatility if nothing else. I only wish it were mastered a bit quieter because it makes me jump every time.



-Claude Van Foxbat

New Year's Roundup 2015

Dabs Myla - Moonlight Swim (2013)

Another year gone by of me putting words on your screen with occasional musical accompaniment. It's been a long time. If you're new I hope you stick around, and if you're a seasoned ilictronix veteran here's to another 12 months of tunes for you. As is tradition have a trackdump of stuff I'm feelin' to fuel your NYE and as always: stay safe, enjoy the music and I'll see you on t' other side.

Philestine · DJ SHADOW FT LITTLE DRAGON - SCALE IT BACK (PHILESTINE REMIX)

-Claude Van Foxbat

Carpe Diem

Can you believe that we are halfway through 2015?! It has been a wild ride so far with more surprises  in store.

Hi & Saberhägen - Better Love 
I've been playing around with apple music for the past week and it has been a wild ride for sure. The selling point for many is the curated playlists and apple genre editors who are as crazy about deep tracks as we are. One of the top tracks I've come across on the experimental channel is this track "Better Love". An absolutely hypnotic track, with an organic build and release. I would love to see the hardware setup used to make the warm synths and the machine-gun snares. 

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Caius - Things Gonna Be Ok

Friend of the site Caius is back and smoother than ever with a silky new track "Things Gonna Be Ok" The talented producer sounds more confident than before and proof is all over this jaw dropping new cut.

Tora - High Enough
This dreamy track by Tora proves there is still a little blood left in the Chillwave stone. 

Mura Masa - Are U There
A fun one from Mura Masa's new Someday Somewhere EP sounds like if Disclosure had a baby with Jai Paul and flume raised it. The results as you might have guessed are derivative, but the track is still fun and worth a listen.


Gnyonpix - She 

BootyTune is a Japanese label that specializes in Juke and Footwork, with a growing number of talented artists. One of the labels heavy hitters Gnyonpix, keeps the BPM insanely high while being able to fit a smooth synth lead that worms its way into your ears. 

Lets Talk About Young Turks: A Newbie Guide

Unless you have been living under a rock, Future Garage and Future R&B are in right now. Unknown to most, a small imprint of XL Records is putting out some of the most groundbreaking and forward thinking Future Garage music right now. It's only a matter of time before things hit critical mass. That imprint is Young Turks, and believe it or not your probably are already familiar with some of the work they have put out already.

I should'nt need too give much detail about XL Records, let's just say if you've listened to Adele, The White Stripes, Thom Yorke, or Vampire Weekend, you know who XL Records are. With an impressive parent label, Young Turks takes things even further with big names that release remix's and side projects and acts that will make it big tomorrow. Now, lets talk about the biggest things to ever come out of this imprint and dig our way more "obscure"

Yes, this Drake track is produced and heavily sampled from Jamie XX's and Gil Scott Heron's "I'll take care of you".



Speaking of Drake.....


The vocals are from the talented crooner Sampha, who is also on Young Turks. Sampha also worked with imprint mate SBTRKT,




Oh snap we are going down the rabbit hole but lets come up real quick for another heavy hitter "The XX"




One of the biggest names to come out of the imprint this year is FKA Twigs, I don't mind FKA Twigs, LP1 and LP2 have had heavy rotations from me, and she put on amazing performance at Pitchfork Festival this year. I'm the only one with this opinion but it really doesn't suck me in like everything else that Young Turks is putting out. Don't worry I'm sure I'll change my mind and post a gushing post about their next album. For now though I get why its popular, but maybe I'm having a Weeknd deja vu. Fingers crossed she doesn't put out a "Kiss Land"   EDIT: Shit bangs in the right ways possible, everyone listen to LP1 all week, I was wrong, I'm hooked. Sorry.



FKA Twigs - Video Girl [click to download] |HTML5|


You might be thinking that you have their "sound" down, but really no, because also on this imprint is "Holy Fuck" Yes, thats one of the worst names of all time but man that music grooves. They have perfected this kind of live, chaotic hardware set sound that would fit nicely on something like DFA Records.




Maybe this EP found me at the right time or maybe it's the sudden cold front thats hit Chicago but this release from Quirky might be my new favorite thing out of this imprint.

Quirke · Quirke - We Landed

Quirke · Quirke - Break a Mirrored Leg

Quirke · Quirke - Acid Beth

With releases like that its not fair to write off Young Turks as a "Small Label'. They have had so much success that they recently started another imprint named "Whitites". Here is their first release.



 OOOOH yeah thats the stuff...


-Adam

There's That Smell Again

I will always talk up Stenchman for as long as I live. The guy is seriously underrated, even back when I was championing him as one of the few keeping dubstep in check with creative spins. He's since branched out more with his creative chops and I gotta admire that. Even more so given that he's absolutely killing it in these new genres too.



I adore anything he puts out under the relatively new Philestine moniker, I was skeptical when he mentioned branching out into 'house' given the sorry state of the genre these days. I have never been more happy to be wrong. give your shelves a good old wobble with this one above.



Even when it's more on the more mainstream side of things I love it. I could totally see this being banged out on Radio 1 after dark, It's awesome to see his dubstep and house sensibilities collide here, hits my future garage button nicely indeed.



And finally, I was holding out for some full versions of these to be dropped but no such luck yet. I still pull this sampler out every now and then because each little part is so sweet. I'm dying for the Stench to put out more stuff like this, I can't get enough. Rest assured you'll know when I do

-Claude Van Foxbat

Revisiting an old friend: Sepalcure

Fate is a bizarre phenomenon. You have those albums where your lukewarm when you first heard them and then overtime life happens and you rediscover and fall in love with the record. This just happened to me with Sepalcure's self titled album. Sepalcure is a super group consisting of Praveen Sharma and Machinedrum and this release is better than anything Machinedrum has put out. (#SHOTSFIRED)

I was never super hot on all the post dub-step especially around 2011. But after spending a lot of time with Jamie XX, James Blake and Mount Kimbie I think I "got it" and was finally ready. Yes this album came out in '11 but its literally the only I can listen to right now, and that's saying something because Death Grips just dropped a surprise album with Bjork. 
Lets go through some of my favorite cuts off the album and revisit this monster of an album. 



This one starts off pretty average, but then around the 2:30 mark that beautiful synth rolls in and just whisks you away. 





A pretty stellar Reggae vibe on this one. The manipulated vocal sample just swirls around with that echo'ed piano, its dizzying but in the best way possible. 






The real meat of the album, one of my favorite beats of all time. Its dark, busy and the production keeps all the intricate layers of track in place so nothing sounds blown out. Once that bottom end comes in, you know this is a special track. The urgency of the beat is what makes it whet my whistle. 



-Adam 

Moody

You mighta guessed from the title, this one's all about moody tunes. Doesn't really work too well now summer's in swing but hey ho, here's what I'm jamming to these nights.

Miwa Ogasawara - Sorge 1 (2011)

Funnily enough this all started cos I was on a garage kick, put google music on shuffle for my old Garage tunes and then ended up with everybody's favourite dub/future garage fiend Burial. I know I've said he's hit and miss in the past but I'll say it once again; when he hits he really hits. Not many atmospheres like this out there.



Finisher to Modeselektor's second LP kinda fits this bag. I'd argue This from Monkeytown fits better but I'm pretty sure I posted it. Thom Yorke joins the Selektors for some pretty typically moody musings over the track. As much as I don't really dig Radiohead I gotta admit whenever he guests on stuff I got in my collection it doesn't dissapoint.



And lastly another bit of excellent trip hop courtesy of Tricky. Tracks like this is why Martina Topley-Bird became one of my favourite vocalists out there, her and the instrumental sound almost in sync. Not to knock Tricky himself and his spoken-word style delivery though, he compliments the hazy vibe excellently too.



-Claude Van Foxbat

G R A D E S - Freedom

Like most of you my musical tastes change with the seasons. The darkest days of winter are consumed by drone and ambient, while the summer is filled with electro trap bangers. What does spring sound like? It sounds like this: 

 

Bright colors, subtle filters, a beautiful vocal sample all make this track an instant spring classic for me. It's from South London producer, G R A D E S and he should be on everyone's radar after this.

 G R A D E S (Dan Traynor) has a debut coming out this spring/summer so be on the lookout. If it's anything like this single it should rival Disclosure's debut.   

His Beatport page is here: http://smarturl.it/GradesBeatport

-Adam 

Let's solve a mystery!

Take a listen to this track real quick and let's talk....

It debuted during James Blake's residency program on radio one this month (if you haven't had a chance to listen to all of those you are missing out btw). So anyways James Blake id'ed it as a track from Simon Tallywhacker. The man is non existent other than this song titled "Bloke". 

So some theory's are going around that it's really a new Jamie xx track which would make sense because he has a new single coming out soon "Girl/Sleep sound". We have already heard Sleep Sound but not Girl yet. Bloke is the opposite of girl and it does have the time stretched vocals that we expect from him. 

Another theory is that it's Chance the Rappers new alias, and he turned into a super producer under the watchful eye of his new roommate, James Blake. This one is unlikely but fun to think about.

It could also be a new name Blake is producing under or hey maybe Simon Tallywhacker is a real guy who is bound to become one of the years hottest producers.

My personal opinion that's guaranteed to be wrong? It's Jai Paul. 

Until we know for sure I'll be listening to this one on repeat. What do all of you think? Let me know! 

-Adam

Eyes and Ears on: Jaques Greene

Canadian Jaques Greene graced Chicago with his presence last night, and destroyed Primary Nightclub. Even though Greene is with the famous Lucky Me collective my expectations were pretty low. With only a couple of strong singles and a brief EP I had no idea what type of music he would spin.  

One of the grandfathers of the Chicago footwork scene Dj Traxman opened up and schooled everyone on the history of the scene while throwing in great juke house and acid tracks.  

Greene was next up and played a little of everything from Clams Casino to A$AP Fergs work remix and great future garage tracks in between. 

I even got to meet the guy! 

All in all it was a great set and I'll be following this name as it becomes bigger and bigger. If your a fan of SBTRKT then you'll absolutely fall in love. 

Check out the soundcloud here: https://soundcloud.com/jacquesgreene

And Traxman: https://soundcloud.com/traxman-2

DISCLAIMER: I would have more to report back but I was pretty sloshed for this one. 

-Adam

Soular Harmony

Hey guy's, it's Nite again, here with another post for you guys! Today I'm going to take you on a little trip, and introduce you to one of my favorite new(ish) artists to hit the electronic scene: Soular Order.

Soular Order, aka Jon Maynard, is a Bass Music Producer/Musician from Manchester, UK. Ranging from Future Garage to ethereal ambiance, Maynard uses a combination  of Burial-esque Vocal sounds and Bass-saturated beats to create a track that is chill, yet invigorating at the same time. Whether it's something chill you're looking for, or you need something to dance to, Soular Order's got it for you.


Now that the introductions out of the way, here's a taste of what to expect from him:

SOULAR ORDER · Soular Order - Clear Skies

Finally, to keep things orderly (heh), Here's three fantastic remixes that he did on other artist's tracks. They are well worth the listen.

SOULAR ORDER · nExow - Wonders (Soular Order Remix)

 Enjoy! If you like what you see here, you can always check out his soundcloud here or his facebook page, if you're too lazy. Peace, Nite

Phillin' You In

I've dropped a lot of Stenchman on you over the years, here's a follow up to my last post on his latest house oriented project Philestine. Kicking off with another brilliantly titled bit that I barely missed out putting in my last Philestine update called Debbie Does Dover. Like a lot of his soundcloud stuff it's short but sweet as, can't wait for it to be properly released.



Something a bit more recent now, you can really hear the difference on this one as Stench really finds the sound he's going for. Once again there's a lot of promise from this little 2 minute clip, the transitions are beautifully executed.



Finishing it off we have another recent one that got me from the get go. That intro is nothing short of amazing, and I'm loving the way it just gives way as the beat comes in and decks you. I loved Stenchman's more downbeat dubstep output, and this is no different. Keep your eye on this one, the stuff he's putting out is consistently great.



-Claude Van Foxbat

Back At It

Indie184 - Have Fun (2013)

I'm back from the old holidays, hope you all had a nice one! I updated the lil' grooveshark widget on the sidebar and completley forgot about posting, so here's some stuff to make up for that! I originally planned these two to go up on their respective day but then life happened and I forgot. Better late than never anyways, so here we go with another acidic bit of audio from AFX with probably one of the best tracks from the entire Analord series, the way Richard commands that variety of synths is nothing short of beautiful.



Something not electronic now, but I honestly can't get David Firth's (of Salad Fingers fame) indie side project the Grape Digging Sharon Fruits out of my playlist and now seemed an ideal time to slip them in here. Like Locust Toybox and all his other stuff, it's all free and legal over on Last.fm or the band's blog so go and snag yourself some if you're diggin' it (no pun intended).



And finally something different again, Stenchman gave out one of his Philestine tracks for free through his FB not too long ago. Its not the sublime Feel The Same unfortunately, but it definitely scratched my itch, the old dubstep styling shines through a little more on this one than the others which actually works quite well with it. Can't wait to hear more from this project, it has a lot of promise! (No stream available as of 2020)

Philestine - Turn It Around Baby (Mix 2)

-Claude Van Foxbat

Tales from my inbox: Evan Ireland

Now that my email is open and on the net, my inbox is always flooded with artists looking to get their names out. Believe it or not I listen to every single one of them, every so often I'll try and feature one.

The artist from my inbox now is a 19 year old Chicago artist named Evan Ireland. Obviously I have a soft spot in my heart for Chicago producers and this one seems promising. He just dropped an EP recently, titled Kept. The EP is very "burial-esque" with heavy atmosphere and time stretched vocals. If I have a complaint it's that it almost seems to heavy with the vocal samples, and some of the tracks really don't go anywhere. 

The title track was the highlight though. It's direct, foggy and the vocals are kept to a minimum. I had flashbacks to "Bowls" from Caribou's Sun towards the end in the best possible way. 

Check out the rest here: http://evanireland.bandcamp.com/

-Adam

In The Garage

Hey all, I'm here browsing my FB feed on the first day of my week off, when I notice that Philestine's been hard at work on his soundcloud, making two sets titled 'Housey' and 'Garagey' that I gave a listen. 'Housey' is mostly made up of stuff I've posted from Moo Fire, but Garagey is where its at. More on that after the art.

Art by Kid Acne, for French rappers TTC

Now, I haven't listened to UK Garage since I was a little Foxbat in the late 1990s, and I know there's future garage floating around but I haven't heard much of that either. But I do know that Philestine's take on it is pretty sweet indeed.



This one's named after an old school 60's TV show that re-ran on the BBC for a lot of my childhood. There's no trademark Stenchman sampling of the TV show in this one though, understandably since he's looking to put some distance between his Stenchman work and this newer stuff but there is still a little bit of the Stench there in the subtle change of the title to Kangamoo.



As he promised, there's a lot more chill stuff coming from his camp these days, and out of the entire set this is probably my favourite thanks in part to them glitchy sounds scattered throughout. It's a shame it's only a cut sample for now, I'm lookin' forward to hearing the full length when it drops!



Hidden Among Leaves,
-Claude Van Foxbat