Mike Dean - 4:20

Whether you know the name Mike Dean or not, you've definitely heard his productions. With credits ranging from Kanye and Jay-Z to 2Pac and Nate Dogg, the Grammy winning producer and multi-instrumentalist has a catalog that can rival just about anyone. Today however he shares more in common with Jean-Michel Jarre than his dirty south roots.

Spanning 28 tracks and 93 minutes, Dean's debut solo album 4:20 features seven distinct sections or themes, each assigned a day (and/or night). Like the aforementioned Jarre, Dean delivers each section as a seamless series of parts (with as many as 10 combining to create one epic idea or mood). Also à la Jarre, 4:20 sees Dean's fingers dance across a synth, often soloing or with minimal backing.

The soundscapes created here are often psychedelic; perfect for today's festivities. As far as recent releases go there is no better album for playing from front to back, either lying on your bed in complete darkness or walking through the park - 100% guaranteed to take you places. Of course 4:20 is even more powerful while social distancing, as it further pulls you into your own consciousness, full of unfettered thoughts and feelings. So, like drug of the day, be sure to consume safely. Do so now here.
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DJ Mehdi B2B A-Trak @ Electron 2009

Is there such thing as a Throwback Monday? How about a Mehdi Monday? Because that's what today has become, as someone sent Busy P a recording of Mehdi and A-Trak's 2009 B2B set at Electron.

The names and date alone should be enough to get you excited, and what's not to like. The selection is top notch, and the display on the decks something to behold. There's so many classic bloghaus cuts, and especially at the end a number of rap delights. The final 10 minute flourish from "Robot Rock" through "Hip Hop," "Paper Planes," "Can't Tell Me Nothing" to the double dose of King Hova is enough to leave your head spinning. Further to the physiological impact of this tremendous throwback mix, if "Pocket Piano" doesn't give you heart palpitations, you better check that you actually have one.

Transport yourself back to the late oughts and enjoy the stream below!FOLLOW A-TRAK: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

Extended List of Grammy Predictions

Just for fun I'm making an extended list of Grammy predictions/bets, to go with those I already did for the categories relevant to this blog (read here). In order to save time I'm only going to list the category and who I believe will win, and in some cases who I think should win. I will be skipping the categories I know nothing about or have no taste for. There's dozens of places to find the full list of nominees and eventual winners, and while nothing beats the official source I'm not a fan of their website and generally choose to use Wikipedia here. I'll be live tweeting here as I watch both the pre-ceremony telecast (streamed via www.grammy.com) and CBS broadcast late via PVR.

DJ Khaled ft. Beyonce & Jay Z - Shining (CID Remix)

Usually I try to focus on brand new tracks, but CID's remix of this DJ Khaled, Beyonce and Jay Z joint is too good to pass up. Hopefully you recall my post about his original track "Believer" with CeeLo Green (read here), as it remains one of my favourite tracks of the year, and only further establishes CID as an artist you need to keep your eyes and ears on. Last month he gave "Shining," a hearty house flip, and while it's not quite as heavy or deep as his brand new Bruno Mars bootleg or killer Cardi B flip, it's just a juicy. The magisterial marriage of Beyonce and Jay Z still remains front and centre, while riding a reinvigorated, groovy house rhythm. The track itself is a splashy wave pool of a party, succeeding through somewhat simple, yet entirely effective dance designs. It's killer club tool that should both get the party started and bring a good bounce to the dance-floor. Download it for free via Dropbox here.FOLLOW CID: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER

Bump In The Hump Sneak Peek: Jay Z - PSA (Marco Marz Bootleg)

As teased in interview, Marco Marz released his Jay-Z "Public Service Announcement" bootleg this Monday. Obviously the promise of working with Hova's flows is appealing in itself, but it's the perfect fit with Marco's G-House style. He absolutely nails the retro vibes, building a thorough bass thump and simple yet precise percussion that plays perfectly with the piano. To top it all off, the spinbacks and other effects give the 2003 track a final polish. D/L it free & catch it tonight on Bump In The Hump. Marco Marz is surrounded by more thumping house, including BADLQQK brothers RYME, as well as Tiga, Smalltown DJs, Jerome Robins, and Kavi Indatissa with a remix of "In Da Club." There's also some hard stuff with Simtem, Nati, and an exclusive premiere from Audiation. We finish off with the feels from Future Magic, Fahjah and Yang. Tune in live tonight from 6-7 PM EDT on Radio Humber, and find all episodes cataloged here.

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cavest - rave/relax

Over the course of the past four days, teenage German producer cavest has dropped two trapped out freebies, "rve" and "rlx" and put them together to create a mini EP, rave-relax. 

The lead "rlx" came out Thursday, with serious chill vibes utilizing highly modified Lil' Wayne lyrics "sit back, relax" from Rep My Hood. cavest succeeds in injecting this minimal trap tune with seriously intimidating, yet somehow comforting atmosphere. He doesn't reinvent the wheel while employing highly conventional trap sounds, but he intelligently adds subtle yet potent samples,l that only amplify the incredible, brooding aura. The real victory cavest attains, is the playful, almost twerking, beat-flipping following each drop - ingenious and inescapably awesome.

When listening to the two tracks back to back, the link between the two is immediate and clear. "rve" ups the tempo, while remaining cautiously chilled out. Once again, cavest takes advantage of another short-yet-sweet rap sample, this time from Jay Z's Izzo --- "can't leave rap alone the game needs me." And again he bolsters the atmosphere with harrowing female warbles. The track really takes off with echoing instrumentation on the drops pursued by rolling percussion. While both tracks are relatively chill, and obviously not bangers, "rve" brings with it more classic 'rave' elements and movement, encouraging its listeners to get down. cavest deftly delivers a double dose of chill trap that ooze with atmosphere.

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6 Reasons To See NGHTMRE, Thugli and LUKAV Tonight

Tonight is the highly anticipated debut of NGHTMRE at the Hoxton, with support from locals, Thugli and LUKAV. Here are six  reasons why you simply need to brave the cold to embrace the heat, the speakers of the Hoxton will be blasting tonight, lighters optional.

#1 NGHTMRE's music elicits this kind of response:

🍃JÜÑGŁĒ🍃 #TheOthers by @slumberjackmusic (@nghtmre #remix) #dance #nghtmre #slumberjack #freestyle

A video posted by Casey Frey (@dancerface) on Aug 1, 2015 at 4:41pm PDT

#2  He'll have longer on the decks to play a set like this:

Happy New Year 󾓷
Posted by NGHTMRE on Thursday, 31 December 2015