Toxic Tuesday 27: Donimusic + 3 Great Electronic Tracks

     Alright folks Shaggy here, bringing you a new installment overflowing with amazing electronic goodness. So you guys know Vancouver right? Yeah all the way to the left of Canada, famous for... having a huge number of druggies... well lets skip that part and introduce you to independent electronic producer Doni.

     This is the part where I would tell you a bit about the artist then shamelessly plug in some links and so here is his Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and personal website. Anywho all you need to know is that Doni makes not just original beats but remixes worthy of all your monies, and because I'm cheap lets talk about his free album Button Masher.

     Button Masher is a three part homage to classic gaming, featuring remixes from Megaman to Pokemon and if you don't like dubstep then you're in luck. As I mentioned this amazing collection comes in three different flavours, Electro-house, Dubstep and Chillout, all for free all containing different tracks suggested by listeners around the world, I personally am working my way through the dubstep version and have been loving it since day one. So while I scrape my teeth off the walls go grab them up and check his website for many more a free album!

     So with as much enthusiasm as I can muster lets take a look at three songs that have been rattling around my head and ruining my headphones this week, starting with a Special Features remix of a song I never thought needed to be remixed Deadmau5's Strobe. Strobe may just be my favorite Deadmau5 track, up there with Arguru, Faxing Berlin, Some Chords and of course Ghosts N Stuff. I was drawn to this song thinking it would be horrible and in need of a good trolling... to my surprise I was hit with what seemed a musical shrine to the original track, maintaining much of the beloved progressions and tune, just a little more upbeat. This track is massive and will be putting a spring in my step and a smile in my eyes for some time to come, if this is what can expect from Special Features then we have something very big to watch for.


Strobe (Special Features Remix) by Thissongissick.com

     So if you've been hiding under a rock for the last month or so you will have missed the release of Church of Noise by The Bloody Beetroots. This track is absolutely fucking huge, not only musically but I mean this song was everywhere on the internet, I couldn't go to one blog without seeing a huge picture of Dennis Lyxzen screaming into a microphone. Anyway besides the fact this song deserves the attention its been getting, its brand fucking new, and its awesome I mean the vocalist of Refused joined the tour just to sing this song sorry did I say sing? I meant scream, loud, and well, so grab this shit up cause if you don't know then you'll lose your chance to be hipster about it. Also thanks to Chemical Jump you can own the track and the remix by heavyweight Diplo. Cheers!

      Last but not least this week we have something new, an amazing remix by dubstep duo Camo & Krooked, not of some mainstream electro song, the James Bond theme song. Yeah you read that right, the fucking James Bond theme, and surprisingly it turned out amazing. Turns out the track was reworked for the new Goldeneye game by Activision. Its only a minute fifty seconds long but this track manages to be that rare song that makes you wish it were seven minutes long, but I digress... James Bond...


Camo & Krooked - James Bond Theme (OFFICIAL REWORK) by Camo & Krooked


     Insert shameless plug here, like Facebook page, be better person, seriously who gets this far into the post, just listen to the music damnit!

Mellow Monday 13: Mike Posner + 3 Great Hip Hop Tracks

     I'm back and I think its about time to hit you guys with a new post and some brand new tracks.

     You may have heard about Mike Posner, 21 year old Michigan raised producer/ singer/ songwriter/ absolute fucking musical genius. Way back when I think we may have dropped a track or two of his but thats up to you to search for, anyway last week he released his third official mixtape, The Layover, and it is one solid tape.

     Mike teased internet land for about a week but when it hit it hit hard. Weighing in at 21 full length tracks (almost 1.2 hours of music) The Layover is a homage to the amazing style Mike has essentially pioneered, is chock full of completely original tracks and amazing hip hop remixes. So before you listen to it take a think here, Mike isn't a rapper, yet this tape is hip hop gold, why? 'Cause Mike somehow manages to mix pop vocals with hip hop beats and features top rappers from all over the world, all the tracks (originals that is) were written and sung by Mike (with features) and he produced the majority of them as well. So grab up this groundbreaking album before you hear it on the radio, and cheers to GMAD for being straight awesome.

     Kenton Dunson, to me at least is a new face, he's a Maryland native recently full time producer/ rapper/ multi-instrumentalist, and his track Beautiful Fight is a chill hop wonder. Check it out and 1up to TSIS.

     Alright still pumped up? You should be cause Chiddy Bang dropped a brand new track, Ray Charles, if this one doesn't go viral then Guido shot first.

     One of these days I'll get around to linking you guys to Donald Glover's, sorry Childish Gambino's most recent album, but if you want something a little more fresh and with more than a little emotion hit up his new track Outside. You'll understand when you hear it.

     Thanks once again for sticking around hope to keep bringing you tracks forever, stay strong folks.

Trip Hop Exposure Week: EZ3kiel

     Welcome to the second installment of Trip Hop Exposure, we have another very short one artist post for you but rest assured the tunes are top notch and the writing is horrible, which is, I understand, everything you've come to expect.

     Formed in 1993 EZ3kiel is a dub/electroacoustic group from Tours, France. But what is eleectroacoustic you might be wondering, well for now lets just explain it as another facet of trip hop. Apparently they chose the name Ezekiel in reference to Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino, and upon discovering that the domain with the same name had been taken they did what any self respecting internet user would, added some numbers in. So because Google translate is what it is I can tell you that from 1993 to now the band has around four members and recorded seven albums including a live tour album/dvd. But again if you could turn your attention to the 2003 album, Barb4ry, we can begin today's lesson.

     Before we get too far click the album link above for an old download from Sharebee, the password for the file should be secretmusicbox, all one word, if you encounter any problems feel free to leave a complaint which will promptly be rebutted with a recommendation to procreate with yourself and find the link on your own. So unpleasantness aside Barb4ry is a masterpiece of electric music, and demonstrates how far one can take the label "trip hop". Now we know that trip hop is usually the instrumental and downtempo is usually the vocal tracks, well with those labels we start to add "dub" which, you guessed it, means that besides an amazing cultural sound we also gets a wee bit of bass. To completely understand what I mean you should hear the whole album but from the first moment you'll get what I mean by cultural, the eleven tracks that make up this golden album ooze sophistication and that traditional violin/accordion/whatever else they play in Europe tune. The samples are top notch, the vocals are just intense enough to complement the overall sound and who ever was behind the controls had a metric ass tonne of fun. Unlike other trip hop this music will not calm you down, this isn't "chillout" music, this is a blood fueled, adrenaline pumping ride through the mad house perfect for those days you find yourself driving to war not work, be prepared.

Trip Hop Exposure Week: Unkle

     Alright so as some of you may know I was planning on doing an educational post about trip hop/downtempo. Well that was extremely hard to do, for one it was a serious bitch to locate original source material, plus have you ever tried to define trip hop? So instead I just decided to do a small post for every day this (work) week, and yes we're now four days in but I've just started raking in album after album of amazing material.

     I started getting interested in trip hop when I stumbled onto A|Fragile|Hope and discovered Saltillo. From there I ran a few (four or five) torrents put together by a now unresponsive blog Secret Music Box, these compilations tempted me to dig a little deeper and since then... well lets say my hard drive is straining.

     But I digress, Unkle, a trip hop classic is today's featured artist. So Unkle or U.N.K.L.E. are a British duo consisting of James Lavelle and Tim Goldsworthy. Formed in 1994 these chaps haven't stopped yet and have produced many an amazing album under legendary producers such as DJ Shadow. But today I'd like to turn your ear to their 1998 album Psyence Fiction.

     Psyence Fiction was their debut studio album, trip hop gold. Just the first song features some 60 odd samples from Massive Attack to Radiohead and back again, and the original American release had fourteen tracks, you do the math. One amazing thing about this album is the variety, with trip hop nothing ever gets stale but with beats ranging from old school hip hop to full orchestral masterpieces that might have come from a movie, this album never fails to dissapoint. So grab it up and stay tuned for more.

Toxic Tuesday 26: Engine EarZ Experiment + 3 Great Electronic Tracks

     Alright, today we have another story about me being friended on Youtube by artists that turned out to be amazing. Well truthfully its not much of a story in fact its already over, the continuation is how downright boss this band is.

     Engine EarZ Experiment is/are a massive live dubstep/electronic group from Reading, UK. When I say massive I mean massive, boasting a huge lineup of ten people on or about the stage at once. Alternately I mean Triple E is the Massive Attack of the dubstep generation (self proclaimed, but generally accepted).

     After the initial trial listen I became hypnotized by the stellar tracks that are kicking around their Soundcloud page and Website, most notably for me remixes of tracks by Nitin Sawhney, and The Streets. Having already been a fan of these artists I was tentative at first, like all music lovers are. I mean most remixes are mediocre at best and tend to do the original no justice but to my surprise both tracks were at par if not better than the originals. Engine EarZ, you have my seal of approval, though it be useless and fictional. In conclusion grab up these tracks, check out their site, and if you haven't any money rip the tracks from Youtube or Soundcloud using ListenToYoutube or SoundScrape (I don't encourage piracy, except when it involves rum).


The Devil and Midnight - Nitin Sawhney - Engine-EarZ Experiment Remix (Official) by
Engine-EarZ Experiment

     For the second part of today's (yesterdays) post, we have three excellent examples of why your faith in today's music shouldn't be questioned. Starting today's lineup is a Stumbleine remix of There by Sun Glitters. Chillstep at its best, give it a listen and download (here).

     Next is a Soulware remix of Silence by Delearium, grab it here. As I understand Soulware is an experimental downbeat/dubstep group on Optimus Gryme Recording, icing on the cake. This track is labelled tripstep on Soundcloud, and is in my opinion an epic trance/chillstep masterpiece, boasting not only amazing programming and instrumentation but top notch vocals (by Sarah McLachlan) all the while keeping enough of the original to pay tribute to a classic.

      For those of you who can't get enough dubstep I bring you an exceptional new track from Milwaukee natives, Deletah. This Sound Dope is nothing if not a party blasting trip on the dubcoaster, so grab it up (here) and rage away.

     Thanks again for checking in, apologies for the late post, I figure I'm only a day behind so today's (Wednesday) post will be up Thursday and so on. Also if you feel benevolent check out our Facebook page for updates on this and other blogs we run. Cheers!

Mellow Monday 12: Milo

     After a completely unnecessary week long hiatus I figure I should hit you guys with something truly spectacular. Enter Milo, or Rory Ferreira, who I really can't bring myself to call a rapper. I think poet would be more appropriate, or better yet wordsmith. I was made aware of his mixtape, I Wish My Brother Rob Was Here, about a week ago by a very close friend, the same one who penned the Midweek Doom Coma post what seems like eons ago. So this friend, lets call him... Geddy, is my never ending source for some of the best and smartest tunes I have kicking around these days. This tape is no exception.

     I Wish My Brother Rob Was Here, is my first foray into the genre of Nerd Hop, or Nerdcore Hip Hop as the internet is calling it. I was dubious at first, confused by the dual rhythms created by the beat and lyrics, baffled by the prose, and lost in wonderment as to where I had heard the tune before. Turns out I wasn't over thinking it, I was under thinking it, the idea isn't to conform to mainstream hip hop, but to take it to a more intellectual level. Some of my confusion can also be explained by the theft of beats from Madlib, Gold Panda, Flying Lotus, and others, very tastefully done.

     Overall this mix isn't for the light of intellect, and you might want to bone up on classic literature, and Star Trek before delving too far but once you do you'll be immersed in a world of hidden emotion and deep thoughts. In advance you may rediscover your heart, and your funny bone, fair warning.