I don’t know who The Weeknd is (are?), and until this afternoon I’d (not quite) never heard of him (them?) – turns out he’d been hiding in a couple of unexplored corners of my RSS feeds while getting ready to drop a startlingly good free album/mixtape. With the name being unfamiliar, I mostly ignored the first few posts about the release of House Of Balloons this morning, but when something is being talked about by both 2dopeboyz and Discobelle (and nearly every other blog in my newsfeed) I figure maybe I ought to pay attention.

As it turns out, The Weeknd make some rather remarkable R&B.  Lyrically and vocally, this is pretty conventional fare for the genre, inviting comparisons to early Ginuwine and hanging out in and around slow jam territory. Conventional, however, is not a word I’d use to describe the Beach House and Siouxsie Sioux-sampling production, which is as much Ready For The World (the group) as it is “Ready For The World” (the song).  This is a record that would certainly be more groundbreaking in a world in which How To Dress Well didn’t already exist but, as a music nerd who has as much affection for The-Dream as I do for Teen Dream, it’s also a record that pushes a whole lot of my buttons.

House Of Balloons is available for free over at The-Weeknd.com.

In the age of DJ mix as promotional tool, the curious and dedicated music fan could probably listen to freely available music during every waking hour and never be at a loss for something new to listen to.  For those who aren’t willing to dedicate the entirety of the day to listening to new podcasts, keeping up is basically impossible, though I certainly try.  Resident Advisor, Fact Magazine, XLR8R, Numbers, Sonic Router, Electronic Explorations, Datatransmission…to name just a few…radio rips from BBC or RinseFM only add to the neverending stream.  In the face of all of this, anything that’s going to get played repeatedly (or, let’s be honest here, all the way through even once) has to be pretty remarkable.  Occasionally I might even be moved to write a sentence or three about something and recommend that the discerning (but somewhat more casual than I) music fan give it a listen.

Blawan – Sonic Router Podcast

Sometimes I think I could be content listening to nothing but music that is in some way connected to Hessle Audio.  For the last couple of weeks this mix by the producer behind their latest 12″ has been just about all I want to hear.  It’s the kind of mix that makes me want to seek out nearly every track on it, except when I look at the tracklist I see that half of it is as yet unreleased, and some of the most captivating tracks aren’t even credited, so all I can do right now is just press play again.  Grab the mix and check out an interview with Blawan over at Sonic Router.

Ramadanman for Mary Anne Hobbs Experimental

Mary Anne Hobbs recently announced her retirement from BBC Radio,  leaving a void that is going to be essentially impossible to fill, but on her way out she’s promised to deliver us mixes from some of the biggest names in (post-)dubstep.  Last night’s show featured Skream (and I’m sure you can find it elsewhere if you care about that sort of thing), and next week brings Joker (check this space in a few days for linkage and, most likely, overexcited ravings from yours truly), but the farewell shows got started off right last week with Ramadanman’s 36 minute session.  Not as face-meltingly awesome as the Blawan  mix up above, but it’s packed with new and unreleased tracks by the obscenely prolific and criminally consistent producer, sprinkled with everything from Burial to Joy Orbison.

Guido – XLR8R Podcast

I’m not gonna put much effort into describing or explaining this one.  If you didn’t react like I did upon seeing the words in that link up there (basically, screaming like a little girl, then bouncing off of the walls and ceiling of my bedroom until the download was finished) then I can only assume that you haven’t heard young Guy Middleton’s incredible debut LP, Anidea, in which case you should probably do something to rectify that situation.  Until such a time as you’ve done that you might as well tide yourself over with this mix of melodic purplish delights.

As satisfying a year for new music as 2010 has been so far, quality hiphop has been mostly absent.  I guess everyone was waiting for Summer to arrive, because the next month is packed with releases, and you can’t take two steps without tripping over someone’s new mixtape.  Some other dudes from Atlanta dropped mixtapes recently too, but none of them excited me (or disappointed me, unfortunately) as this morning’s unexpected Cee-Lo release, Stray Bullets.  It’s gonna get at least a few more listens, ’cause it’s Lo, but so far nothing here is smacking me upside the head like pretty much everything on Soul Machine did.  I’m still expecting great things from upcoming album, The Ladykiller, based on stuff like the incredible first single “Georgia“, but most of this feels a little uninspired – then again, that’s probably why it’s on the mixtape and not the album.

Also, Sugar Lo wins the prize for best MC aliases I’ve heard in a while: Lonan the Destroyer and (shout out to Mike Myers) Lothar of the Ill People.

If you’ve heard me talk about hiphop this year, then you know I just won’t shut up about Pill.  1140:The Overdose finally dropped this week, and while it’s not as good as last year’s 4075:The Refill, all that really says is that it’s not as good as the best mixtape that dropped last year.  This is trap rap at it’s finest, but it would probably benefit from a little more variation in subject matter, like The Refill‘s “Pain in They Eyes” or “Music” – even so, this is still some of the best hiphop you’ll hear all year.

T.I. is one of those MCs like Chamillionaire that I don’t think about or listen to very often, then they drop a new record and I’m like “This is dope. Why don’t I listen to this guy more often?”  Clifford’s contrarily-titled Fuck A Mixtape continues that tradition – I listened to it the day it hit the blogs and thoroughly enjoyed it, but haven’t made time for it since (The new Pill probably has something to do with that).  I am, however, more excited than I was about King Uncaged, and enjoyed a new Timbaland production for the first time since he helped Chris Cornell commit career suicide.

If you know the name Young Jeezy then you know what to expect out of this and whether or not you want to click the link.  Trap Or Die II is 80 minutes of gravelly-voiced trap rap over solidly produced southern tick-tick-bump.  This is a little more Jeezy than I usually care to hear in one sitting, but there’s some great stuff here and guest spots by The Clipse, Scarface, Trick Daddy, and Bun B help break up the monotony.

So half of the rappers in ATL put out mixtapes in the last few weeks, but we still make hiphop here in NYC too.  Seeing as I’m posting this from his home borough, it’s only right that I mention Raekwon’s new tape.  I’m only just now giving Cocainism Vol. 2 a first listen right now, so I don’t have much to say about it, but it’s a Raekwon tape produced by Alchemist so there’s no reason it shouldn’t be dope, right?

And how about a few loosies to keep you occupied until some of these records drop in the next couple weeks…

Big Boi – General Patton

Eminem – Won’t Back Down

The Roots ft. John Legend – Doin’ It Again

The big homie DJ Caps came out of retirement this afternoon to drop a new 30 minute high-BPM mix constructed around Restless People’s stellar “Victimless Crime.”  Kicking off with some classic Moby, it’s mostly happy hardcore and d&b, but don’t let that scare you off – it should be a crime (and probably is in some states) for happy hardcore to be this  much fun to listen to.  I suggest you do as Caps advised me to this afternoon and “drink like three cups of coffee and go innnnnnnnnnnnn!”  Commentary and download link over at The Stencil and, because it’s awesome, the PeeWee-tastic video for “Victimless Crime” after the jump.

Most afternoons last summer I could probably be found walking around New York getting acclimated to my new home, head nodding in sync to the rhythm of Ginz‘s Data Transmission podcast which, along with Joker‘s Purple Wow mix (see my previous Purple post – by the way, that decline in interest in music I mentioned back then…not so much a problem this year), pretty well defined 2009 musically for me.  Past midsummer however, the rest of the year only saw a trickle of new tracks and remixes, thankfully supplemented by Joker’s unbelievable NYC debut at November’s Trouble & Bass.

The first few months of this year have seen a bit more activity out of Bristol, most recently Joker’s live set for BBC 1xtra radio just this past Thursday.  Kicking off with his face-melter of a new single, “Tron,” this is 30 minutes of mostly unreleased, mostly Joker-produced tracks including an incredible remix of Dead Prez’s “Hip-Hop” and what sounds like some sort of take on “Tainted Love.” Grab it here.

As far as the rest of the loosely knit crew, February saw Gemmy release a 30 minute mix for the 100th episode of Electronic Explorations, composed entirely of his own production – a bit less abrasive and more melodic than Joker, but still distinctively Bristol.  Grab it here, and a short recent mix for Studio Brussel here.

Finally, we have Guido‘s mix for Fact Magazine (who really need to decrease the frequency with which they release mixes, I just can’t keep up), starting with his now-classic (to me, at least) “Beautiful Complication” and running through 40 minutes of the wonkier side of things, peaking with his remarkable remix of Wedge & Shadz’s “Running Away.” Get it here.

Now if only someone would start playing this stuff out regularly in NYC, so I could hear it on a proper soundsystem…

It’s almost hard for me to believe that six months ago I wrote in this space that most dubstep “bores me to tears.”  Although really, if I’m honest, most of it still does, what with all that unrelenting monotonous dark wobblewobblewobble that leads to the average listener’s impression likely matching that of my hairstylist, who expressed amazement that I could dance to dubstep all night since “it’s a bit like sleepwalking after a while.”  But in the last year or so, and in the right places (like, say, Bristol, or in this case, Glasgow), dubstep has become the framework for, arguably, the most interesting creative developments happening in dance music in 2010.

Rudi Zygadlo is pretty much a textbook example of this.  Making what Fader described as “Frank Zappa dubstep: smart, weird pop songs built with big ideas and the kind of magpie ingenuity that is sometimes mistaken for mental illness,” this might just be the freshest thing I’ve heard so far this year.  Planet Mu has already done the heavy lifting of attempting to describe Rudi’s work, so I’ll just let them tell you, and then throw a couple of links out there for your consumption.

Fader has first single “Resealable Friendship” (out today, buy it at Beatport) for download here.

A short mix from Mary Anne Hobbs’ BBC Radio show is available here, consisting mostly of Zygadlo’s original work.

Electronic Explorations recently featured a rather brilliant 40 minute long mix by Rudi, mashing up his own work with everything from Animal Collective to Zappa, which you’ll download from right here if you know what’s good for you (starts around the 50 minute mark of the show, although if you dig this the rest is worth your time as well).  Seriously, just look at this tracklisting:

(01) – Milanese – Caramel Cognac // Joanna Newsom – Cosmia
(02) – Frank Zappa – Night School
(03) – Loops Haunt – Huarache // Chrome Hoof – Leave the Ruined Husk // David Byrne & Brian Eno – The Jezebel Spirit // Rudi Zygadlo – Layman’s Requiem
(04) – Mr Oizo – Z // Keith Jarrett  – Shostakovish Prelude in Eminor
(05) – Aphex Twin – Taking Control // Rudi Zygadlo – Act I // Alarm Will Sound – Arhythmia Track 9
(06) – Dizzie Rascal – Stand Up Tall // Spartan Lover – Outo Vouto // Alban Berg Quartet – Andante Con Moto from Franz Schubert’s String Quartet no. 14
(07) – Volcano! – Africa just wants to have fun
(08) – Rudi Zygadlo – Untitled
(09) – Animal Collective – My Girls // Omarion – O // Cinematic Orchestra – Night of the Iguana
(10) – Belcea Quartet – Allegro from Leos Janacek’s String Quartet no. 2 // The Bad Plus – Tom Sawyer (Rush Cover) // The Tuss – Synthacon 9 // Captain Beefheart – I’m a Bandleader
(11) – Slugabed – Skyfire
(12) – Rudi Zygadlo – We flew away on a Pink Pegasus
(13) – Rudi Zygadlo – Filthy logic I // Tears for Fears – Shout
(14) – Rudi Zygadlo – Filthy Logic II
(15) – Eero Joahannes – We could be Skweeeroes
(16) – Eero Joahaness – Finnrexin // 808 State – Flow coma (AFX remix) // Rudi Zygadlo – Slip // Sebastien Tellier – L’Amour et La Violence
(17) – Rudi Zygadlo – Song of Praise

Rudi Zygadlo’s Great Western Laymen is out on Planet Mu in early May.

…more to come…

I’ll spare you the cliche post that’s been done on nearly every other blog anyone’s ever started about why I haven’t updated in 6 months.  The important thing is that, at the urging of one of the half-dozen or so of you who might actually care about what I have to say here, I’m writing for the first time since moving to Brooklyn.

I suppose it’s only natural to, as one gets older, experience a decrease in interest in music.  I mean, I know people who haven’t heard a new artist they like since graduating from high school.  Nevertheless, I find my occasionally flagging passion for music distressing at times, whether the change emanates from me or from the music.

Which is why it’s nice to find something completely fresh, like this “purple” sound, that I actually give a shit about.  2009 seems to be the year that dubstep broke in the U.S., but honestly, most of what I hear just bores me to tears.  Purple, which sounds like the mutant offspring of dubstep, 3-6 Mafia, and early nineties g-funk, all stuttering hi-hats, squealing synth lines, and window-rattling bass, is definitely not boring.  The product of a small, but incredibly prolific, scene in Bristol, UK, purple (so named because it apparently sounds…purple – I dunno, I’ve never really gotten the whole synaesthesia thing) is most prominently represented by the insanely talented 19 year old Joker, whose Purple Wow Sound mix was my first taste of the style when it was released back in January.  Other notables include D.C. transplant Ginz, frequent Joker collaborator and the DJ behind a recent podcast for Data Transmission that hasn’t left my headphones in weeks, and Guido, whose forthcoming single “Beautiful Complication” feels like, for the moment at least, my favorite track of the year.

Some highlights below, followed by links to the mixes mentioned above…

Ginz podcast for Data Transmission

01. Ginz & Kool Money Kwame – Oreo – Dub
02. Gemmy – BK 2 the Future – Punch Drunk
03. General Midi Feat Foreign Beggars – 4 Million Ways (Ginz’s Purple Interpretation)
04. Adam Freeland – Do You (Joker Remix)
05. Joker – City Hopper – Dub
06. The Body Snatchers – The Good Stank – Dub
07. Joker – Output 1 & 2 – Dub
08. Guido – Beautiful Complication – Punch Drunk Forthcoming
09. Ginz & Kool Money Kwame – Wet-Wipe Riddim – Dub
10. Ginz & Joker – Re-Up VS Tempa T – Kapsize
11. Joker & Ginz – Purple City – Kapsize
12. Zero 7 – Everything Up (Zizou) GInz & Joker Remix – Atlantic
13. Example – Watch the Sun Come up (Joker & Ginz Remix) – Ministry of Sound Forthcoming
14. The Heavy – How you like me Now? (Joker Remix) – Ninja Tune
15. Basement Jaxx – Raindrops (Joker & Ginz Remix) – XL
16. Joker & Ginz – Stash – Hyperdub Forthcoming
17. The Body Snatchers – I Llke What I See (Joker Remix) – Passenger
18. Noah D – Seeeriousnesss – Dub

Joker – Purple Wow Sound

1 Heny g – Delayed style
2 Silkie – 7-1
3 Joker & ginz – purple city
4 Joker – psychedelic runway
5 Joker – Gullybrook plain
6 Joker -Digidesign
7 Guido – Tango 140
8 Gemmy – Espaniola (SOMETHING LIKE THAT )
9 Gemmy – The box remix no.2
10 Gemmy – BT Tower
11 Gemmy -Back 2 the future 2012
12 Gemmy- ……..
13 Joker – Do it
14 Joker – Early morning
15 Benga – Buzzin
16 RSD – Naked mario kart
17 Skream – Unknown
18 Silkie – Weird piano
19 Quest – The unknown
20 Rude kid – Are you ready (instrumental)
21 Maniac – Three crows
22 Joker & Rustie -Play doe
23 Joker -Untitled

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, a combination of being busy and being lazy has kept me from the blog…anyway, a number of rather dope songs out the past week or so, here’s some linkage:

Amanda Blank – Might Like You Better

Amanda Blank – For The Unloved

The flyest white girl on the mic, Amanda Blank, just dropped what appears to be the first single from her upcoming, long overdue, and eagerly awaited debut LP I Love You, out 7/14 (and what an amazing title).  I Love You will feature production by Diplo, Switch, and XXXChange, pretty much guaranteeing it’s greatness. Might Like You Better showcases Miss Blank’s signature incredibly sexy, filthy rhymes stuttered and distorted over XXXChange production.  For The Unloved has been floating around for a little while, it’s also pretty damn fresh and is produced by Diplo.

As an added bonus, here’s the brand new video for Amanda’s feature on Yuksek’s debut LP:

La Roux – Quicksand (Mad Decent Mix) [RCRDLBL stream]

No production credit to be found for this yet, but the Mad Decent name means quality.  RCRDLBL is streaming this remix off the forthcoming Quicksand EP.  While you’re there, grab Skream’s dubstep remix of La Roux’s other perfect pop gem, In For The Kill.

Björk – Náttúra (Switch Remix) [via Discodust]

Dave Taylor twists Björk’s latest into some kind of awesome mutant dubsteppy thing.  Switch really ought to produce her next LP. More bass-heavy danceable wierdness, less mostly boring wank, please.

Major Lazer – Zumbi

The first leakage from Diplo & Switch’s star-studded dancehall project, Zumbi features a heavily autotuned Andy Milonakis (yeah, that Andy Milonakis. Leave it to Diplo to make listening to this guy enjoyable.) toasting nonsensically about eating brains over a bangin’ minimal beat.  Major Lazer’s LP, Guns Don’t Kill People, Lazers Do, drops on 6/16.  Two weeks later on the 27th they will perform at an as yet undisclosed location in Columbus as part of the Bacardi B-Live tour with Santigold, A-Trak, MSTRKRFT, Jazzy Jeff, Tiga, and Matt & Kim. Fader has the rest of the dates but, sadly, little in the way of additional info.

DJ Class feat. Kanye West – I’m The Shit (Remix)

Kanye jumps on the remix of Bmore club legend DJ Class’ latest banger.  Class just signed to Universal Records and will release an LP this fall.  My crew be Unruly.

Bonus: “Kanye West” – Gay Fish (explicit/high quality)

I heart South Park.

Mr. Hudson – There Will Be Tears

First single from the forthcoming Mr. Hudson LP.  I wasn’t really feeling this at first, but it’s grown on me.

That makes 4 tracks in a row featuring the use of autotune. What hath T-Pain wrought?  Here’s one without to wrap things up for tonight, sleep is calling.  Much more to come very soon, 2009 is shaping up to be a fantastic year musically, even if everything else is falling to pieces.

Little Boots – New In Town (The Golden Filter Remix) [via Discodust]

The latest, and maybe the best so far, from Victoria Hesketh gets the remix treatment by blog darlings The Golden Filter (more on them soon).  Little Boots’ debut LP Hands is out 6/2 and has excellent cover art.

A couple of especially good shows on last weekend’s East Village Radio.  Grab these quick if you want them, the archives are only up for a week or two.

Former host Nick Catchdubs returned to The Fader’s The Let Out to play a bunch of brand new jams:

Download

Passion Pit, “I’ve Got Your Number”
Trackademics, “Enjoy What You Do”
Calvin Harris, “I’m Not Alone (Extended Mix)”
Flosstradamus f. Caroline, “Big Bills” (Jokers of the Scene After 4am Rework)
Mickey Factz, “Talk Yo Shit”
Little Boots, “Meddle” (Treasure Fingers Remix)
Lissy Trullie, “Ready for the Floor”
Erykah Badu, “Honey” (Seiji Mix)
Kid Sister, “Pro Nails” (Rusko Remix)
Emynd f. Young Chris, “We Don’t Give a Fuck” (Ayres & Nadastrom Bouncemore Remix)
Diplo & Blaqstarr, “Get Off”
Jokers of the Scene, “Baggy Bottom Boys” (DZ Remix)
Izza Kizza, “Bump”
Kid Cudi, “Switchin Lanes”
Peter, Bjorn and John, “Nothing to Worry About”
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, “A Teenager in Love”
Black Lips, “Bad Kids”
Kidz in the Hall f. DJ GI Joe, “The Blackout”
B.O.B., “This Is My Club Song”
DJ Mehdi, “Tunisia Bambaaa”
Pase Rock, “Get Money Kids” (Nacho Lovers Remix)
Shout Out Out Out, “How Do I Maintain Pt. II”
Jadakiss f. Sauce Money, “Get That Paper”
Trackademicks f. Moxmore, “Topsidin’”
Kid Sister, “Get Fresh”
Sebastien Tellier, “Kilometer” (A-Trak Remix)
Empire of the Sun, “Walking on a Dream” (Treasure Fingers Remix)
BLK JKS, “Mystery”

And Eli Escobar, filling in on Mark Ronson’s Authentic Shit, delivers a typically incredible house set:

Download

Lee Douglas – Mighty Bloody Real
Roy Davis JR – I have A Vision (Juan Maclean Remix)
Woolfy – Oh Missy (Whatever/Whatever Dub)
Curses! – The Deep End (Holy Ghost Remix)
Eli Escobar – Glass House (Unreleased)
Dam Funk – Purple
Capracara – King Of Witches
Doctor’s Cat – Feel The Drive (Eli Escobar Edit)
Kraftwerk – Home Computer
Prince – Automatic (Eli Escobar Edit)
Ivan – Fotonovela (Pete Herbert Re-edit)
Womack and Womack – Life’s Just A Ballgame (Ballroom Mix)
Dmitri From Paris – Madd Luck
Gino Soccio – Remember
Frankie Knuckles – It’s A Cold World
Eli Escobar – Rebound Edit
Kudu – Finish What We Started (XXXchange and Devlin Rmx)
Mock n Toof – Black Jub (Darshan Jesrani Mix)