The frenetic world of electronic music is full of distractions and diversions, hindering the ability to find transcendent music. Let Oggie James be your guru and lead down the path to musical Enlightenment.
Album, song and event reviews, mixtapes, and radio shows, light the way to Enlightenment, conveyed by Oggie James.
Coachella is still on the mind of many, with good reason, and we're still reaping the benefits of opening weekend. A-Trak was everywhere: he crashed his brother's interview on the live stream pre-Chromeo set, DJ'ed for Brockhampton, was behind the scenes for Beyoncé (read his commentary here), then played a set at The Ace Hotel & Swim Club Sunday. The latter as part of The Do-Over's Desert Sundays party (also happening next weekend), and in a rare act he recorded the set, see below.First off, it's A-Trak so obviously it's awesome, not just in selection but mixing. Second, it's tagged disco, and it indeed delivers. Third, it's got Chromeo, Steely Dan, Talking Heads, and that's just in the first half hour. Not enough for you? Perhaps Folamour's "The Power And The Blessing Of Unity," Sophie Lloyd's "Calling Out," or Aretha Franklin's "Jump To It" will get you into the groove.
Of the strings that ties the mix together perhaps Purple Disco Machine is the most prominent. It was his mix of "Juice" in the opening, his original production "Move Or Not" (which samples "Rappers Delight") shortly after, and then his collab with Aeroplane, "Sambal" about a third of the way in.
But my favourite part? That's a tough question. The triple shot from Justice's "Pleasure" to Oliver and Thee Mike B's remix of Blondie's "Heart Of Glass" and Parliament's "Flash Light" is bloody brilliant. The fact that it's followed by an unidentified track which may be new Chromeo, is just a little too much to take. Then again I'm a sucker for The Pointer Sister's "Automatic," and the move to Anderson .Paak's "Am I Wrong" is wild. Oh and how about the section from Marcus Marr, Tiger & Woods, Talking Heads, Luke & Jimmy to Steely Dan? You quite simply cannot go wrong with this mix. Find the tracklist here.
Last night I lay in bed watching HAIM perform on the Coachella mainstage before Beyonce shut things down. My love for the sisters is well documented, both on this blog and my Twitter feed, but it was sometime in the last month or so that I came across the fact that Jim-E Stack was credited as playing the keyboard on Something To Tell You. My love for Jim-E is also well documented ("Deadstream" was #7 in my countdown last year) and only further flourished with his latest original, "Somebody," which is beyond gorgeous. So today when I came across a new Jim-E post on Soundcloud I was instantly excited, exponentially so when I heard Danielle's vocals.
While at first it took me a while to get into HAIM's more folk/country tinged tunes, of which "You Never Knew" is one, it is one of my favourite songs on the album. That said, hearing this more electronic tilt totally makes sense. Part of what makes the original so strong is the vocals, harmonies and otherwise, and again they are used to perfection here. The same can be said for the guitars, as they're only bolstered in a way that seemingly blends both the best bits from "Somebody" and "Deadstream." This remix is pure refined and restrained beauty and brilliance, and just another reason to jump on the Jim-E Stack bandwagon.. At the moment the track only seems be available below and on Youtube.FOLLOW HAIM: FACEBOOKSOUNDCLOUDTWITTER FOLLOW JIM-E STACK: FACEBOOKSOUNDCLOUDTWITTER
If you've taken in my twitter feed at all in the last few months, no doubt you've seen me drool over Mura Masa's track with Tom Tripp, "Helpline." Of course the first time we heard it was during his Coachella set, listen and watch here. The whole 40 minute set is absolutely overflowing with energy, in large part to it playing host to a number of new tracks, including "Nuggets" the A-side of "Helpline" pictured above.
It was that explosion of freeing, funky fun energy that initially drew me to "Helpline." As soon as I heard it I thought, man this is some kind of super cool track. Right from the get go the drum beat brings you in, before the bassline begs you shake your tail feather. Then comes those incredibly intoxicating keys. All this paired underneath Tom Tripp's feverish vocals, speaking to the most human needs.
There's no questioning the track's construction: the sound design, progression and lyrical themes are as fun as can be, but for me there's no comparing the studio version with the live version. The key to "Helpline" is its raw, organic and human nature, but that gets lost in the almost stagnant studio mix. At times I have trouble making out the lyrics, and for some reason the mixing of elements seems muddy. Of course this is in comparison to the stripped back live version, which is more easily mixed.
Now I don't mean for this to come across as me knocking Mura Masa or anyone else involved on "Helpline," I just think it's better suited to a live performance. There are plenty of examples of this elsewhere, of which Haim is perhaps the best. I first came across them when they played Jimmy Kimmel Live! (here). I absolutely loved their live performance (in part because of Este's Bass Face), but when I listened to the album cuts I felt a little underwhelmed. Of course live and studio are not going to be exactly the same, live allows for more experimentation and playfulness whereas studio recordings serve a different purpose. Regardless, the vast disparity can be frustrating to some. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I still love "Helpline" and consider it one of my favourite productions of the year, I just see the live version as the more true to itself depiction. It's without a doubt the one track I'm most excited to see at WayHome. If you're like me, and need to have that live version on repeat, I've uploaded it for download via mediafire here. FOLLOW MURA MASA: FACEBOOKSOUNDCLOUDTWITTER FOLLOW TOM TRIPP: FACEBOOKSOUNDCLOUDTWITTER
File this one under dank, hybrid dubstep trap. Pasdat, whose bass heavy productions only reach back to last September, has been cementing himself as a force to be reckoned with. He's found himself on trap master UZ's Quality Goods Records, and the proud papa of 6 tracks each with at least 30 thousand plays. His latest "Don't Tell" continues his tradition of torturous trap bangers. It's pure evil right from the get go, with an atmosphere that wouldn't feel out of place in any modern day horror flick. But in this movie the evil isn't human, it's a mechanized parole officer. The terminator-esque enemy is strong on the trail of Pasdat's potency, sicing his robot dogs after the elusive producer. Drops don't get much more ratchet than this, it bursts into flames in an explosion of conflict. The only way to deal with such a riotous drop is to do like Dillon Francis did behind stage for Bastille at Coachella (video here). Get wild with Pasdat, and rage against the machine that is your parole officer, free, here.
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This Throwback Thursday pays homage to the man, the legend, never to be forgotten, Prince. May he forever Rest In Purple, as so eloquently put by A-Trak. There truly is no comparing him and his absolutely extraordinary life, and the tremendous influence he's left on countless others. As a tribute, I've compiled some of the best examples of his musical life I could find, so that we can properly remember his greatness. Unfortunately, much of his enormous catalog is not available online, and even less is quality video that does justice to his inimitable live performance. However, the first video in the YouTube playlist is perhaps the most striking and clear example of his status as an unparalleled talent. To think he's on a stage with arguably three of the greatest guitarists and absolutely dwarfs them, is simply breathtaking. Good luck holding back tears, as you make your way through the videos.
The NFL is blocking me from embedding his performance at the Superbowl, but you can still access it from YouTube itself via my playlist here, and I urge you to check this one out, if only for truly incredible circumstances, that could have only occurred in the presence of Prince's godly aura.
Finally, my favourite of Prince's songs, so thoughtfully uploaded by Skream, and for once Soundcloud has done the right thing and left it up for the world to enjoy, and bask in Prince's genius.
