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.
Last week remixes of Alice Glass started to appear on Soundcloud and Youtube. The first, a DnB jawdropper from Mija (listen here), sent people into a tizzy and rightfully so. Of all the versions of Alice Glass vocals (Crystal Castles included), it may be my favourite treatment of them. Mija masterfully maintained their maudlin and moving emotional impact, while ushering in an even more unhinged and high-strung instrumental. That said, it is not the case that any movement or action in the mix is without warrant or intent; it is a carefully crafted journey that welcomes relief through its reign of terror.
Following Mija's mix came Ghostemane, King Yosef, Yves Tumor, and now today we're treated to Paul White and Pictureplane. The latter caught my ear after the piano punched through the electro enclosure. Pictureplane has keyed in on Glass' crystal clear vocals in the chorus, recasting them in a more angelic, authoritative way, as though washing away the worry of telling "White Lies." Like the whole of Glass' debut solo EP, there's a strength and catharsis with telling the truth, shaking off the shackles of the past, picking yourself up and moving forward. And if there's anything that stands out in this remix, it's the piano and its propulsive, sure-striding nature. I envision Glass walking out of pile of ashes, reborn like a phoenix. And for that I'm awestruck with this mix, waiting for the official EP release, Friday the 27th. While the others are all on Soundcloud we still wait for Chelsea Wolfe's final addition.
Alice is set to tour with Pictureplane and Zola Jesus, see their schedule here, and if you're in Toronto see them at Mod Club, May 11th (RSVP/Tickets).
After nearly 8 months of quiet, Toronto's Peter Bennett broke the Bensley silence with last month's "Slither." He's back again now with a brassy jazz take on DnB in "Under The Sunshine." Propelled through clairvoyant vocals, the track exudes a bold and beautiful purpose. It's snappy, and oh so strong, truly a terrific turn of Bensley's brilliance. "Under The Sunshine" seems to bring so much together, while remaining relatively simple, as it often is in DnB. It's triumphant, yet bluesy; live feeling, yet electronically produced. Maybe best of all, it exemplifies the power of sunshine. Bask below.Bensley hits at about a 3 of a possible 4 on this week's episode of Bump In The Hump. We start with some deep house, get a little dreamy, head into some future bass and chiptune, before the fire finale of DnB, dubstep and a whole other host of hard hitters. There's 4 artists getting first plays, including Alice Glass (previously of Crystal Castles) with her debut eponymous EP. Other big names include Datsik, Dzeko, and Kaytranada, with favourites Lambo, MDK, and Sam Lamar also dropping new tracks. Catch the live broadcast from 6-7 PM EDT via Radio Humber (here) or stream after the fact here.
Despite ongoing frustrations with my computer, which has now been completely wiped thanks to Asus (a company I urge everyone to avoid), the world of music never stops. The beauty of Bump In The Hump and its focus on new music, makes it possible for me to simply pick up where I left off. Since I sent my computer away last week, there's been a seemingly unprecedented onslaught of new music. And as always, I like to give you a little taste of what our great Canadian producers have been brewing, and boy have they been brewing. We're looking at a week capped with MSTRKRFT's new album,Operator, dropping Friday, joining new Pusher, A-Trak, Strider White, Tristam, Blu J, Black Tiger Sex Machine, and yes even more. Part of the proverbial 'more' is two very different tracks, one from established Canadian legends Crystal Castles and the second, from fast rising stars STFU.Ethan Kath, the producer behind Crystal Castles has a new front woman, in Edith Frances, and their first album as a duo, Amnesty (I), is set to be released August 19th. This week you'll hear their latest addition to that album, "Char." Hear it in its entirety, and get lost its dark abyss, on youtube, here.Originally aired on Benzi's ninth installment of his Girl Trapz series, we've now got the full length version of their future bass anthem. Furthering my claim that Zak and Alex are fast rising stars, they've dropped a second track in less than a week, a remix of Leaf's "Money." Expect big things from them as the both the world and the wheels of steel continue to turn.
I've got a number of exclusives on the way into my inbox as I write this, and can safely say that this week's episode of Bump In The Hump is one for the record books. Do not miss out on this absolutely massive hour of entirely new Canadian electronic music, airing live Wednesday from 6-7 on Radio Humber, rebroadcast Friday 11-midnight, and as always streamable on this very blog.
Bestival's Canadian cousin returns for a second Toronto edition with it's new Woodbine Park location, June 11th-12th. Friday they announced The Cure and Tame Impala as headliners, while the additional 33+ were named today. Once again Bestival can boast one of the most forward thinking, cohesive combination of progressive, boundary pushing artists, spanning a number of genres, while managing to cultivate an exquisite overall aesthetic. Last years engrossing aura tied everything together in it's omnipresence and is the only thing I think may suffer from this mainland edition. Crossing to the island last year was a rite of passage, inevitably invoking an unconscious suspension of disbelief as one stepped off their boat onto the island. The lineup however remains a draw for many different musical subcultures, yet again rivaling any other festival in Canada.
After TRC made their predictions Thursday, I was determined to buy tickets if The Cure were announced. Despite being woefully unaware of The Cure, apart from what local radio and Hollywood had pushed, (Friday, I'm In Love and of course Robert Smith's Not In Love with Crystal Castles) I found I couldn't get enough of "Halo" after hearing it in a car one fateful afternoon. "Halo" seemed to strike a chord with me and quickly became one of my favourite songs, but for some reason I didn't venture any further into The Cure's massive library, at least until South Park suggested it.
Taking Stan's word I listened to Disintegration one night on the bus ride from St Catharines to Toronto, and despite being between waking and sleeping it instantly became familiar and spoke to me through its incredible arc. It's become my go-to, after-the-club, come-down music, as I ride the red vomit comet home. So obviously I'm dead excited to see The Cure live in person; fingers crossed they play some amount of Disintegration.
Despite not going to Digital Dreams, one of my favourite sets from last year was Porter Robinson at the Monstercat showcase at Tattoo. I was moments away from going to bed and shutting down my computer when the my final twitter check discovered a live stream from inside of Tattoo. I ended up raving to the light of my computer screen for the next hour and a half, assaulting my keyboard, punching in the endless tracklist of awesomeness Porter dropped deep into the night. And although Bestival says he's doing a live set this time (see here), you can relive last year's rainy-day respite below.
Then of course are those that I've already seen but know play amazing sets, Madeon, Tchami, Anna Lunoe, Shaun Frank, Thugli, Pusher and HRMXNY. Much like last year I'm sure I'll have to make tough choices as to who I see when, and bounce between stages. If the comparison to last year holds true, I can only hope the weather is more like the second day, not the first. That being said, as long it's not cancelled in some way, it will have beat both Veld and Digital Dreams. I sense there will be more names added to the list and since the price of tickets never go down, the earlier you act, the less of a financial commitment you'll have to make. I'd be surprised if word hasn't got out about how good last year was, and if the biggest headache (the ferrying) is out of the way, tickets will likely be moving quickly.
This week Oggie James brings the heat with a summer feel. Sebastien Leger always sports a warm bouncy feel, Boy 8-Bit's Tropical Heat continues with the almost jungle feel, where we dive right into the much anticipated and hyped track from Major Lazer, Get Free. You can get Get Free for free from his website as well as Bonde Do Role's remix of it. Things are then changed up when Oggie goes for a deeper and perhaps more complex sound with Caribou's sultry remix of Radiohead's Little By Little; followed up closely with another Canadian talent, The French Nobility and So Cynical. This leads perfectly into the dead heavy bass sound with is signature to France's Gesaffelstein, with, his partner on the Bromance tour, Brodinski on the remix.
Keeping things heavy and processed we move to Fake Blood's classic remix of his own band, The Black Ghosts. Perhaps his best remix, production wise, although stay tuned in the coming weeks to hear contenders for that title. Staying on the remix wagon, we find ourselves in the middle of A-Trak's magical and jacking remix of Boys Noize's Oh! Once you thought the endless list of remixes was over Oggie hits in the heart of the ears with amazing Canadian talent Peaches and her take on LadyHawke's Paris Is Burning.
After the break, the dust of the remix explosion has settled and you are drawn to the serene yet haunting beauty of Robert Smith's vocals on Crystal Castles' Not In Love, perhaps how it was meant to sound with the vocals reminiscent of the time the original was written by Platinum Blonde right across Lake Ontario in Toronto almost 30 years before in 1983. Keeping with the Canadian content is Jacques Greene perfecting Katy B's vocals in his remix of Broken Record. Closing things out, winding things down and yet clearly still keeping a dance-able groove rhythm the set closes out with Erol Alkan's very funky rework of Forever Dolphin Love and Tiga's remix of the fantastic lyrically telling James Murphy created I Can Change. Tune in next week same place, same time for more Enlightenment For Your Ears.
Tracklist for show original air date: April 27/2012 from 18:00 to 19:00.
