redemption

Everyone needs a bud on a rainy day.

chilllllls – the redemption mix (click to download)

Tracklist:

1. Dear Prudence – Valentine (Blood Diamonds R&B Fantasy)

Blood Diamonds crushes this remix of “Valentine” by keeping things simple: the vocal samples are creatively up-pitched and the bass is kept to a soothing thrum.

2. Kitty Pryde – OK Cupid

Based Rap has reached the final frontier: cute 19-year-old girls from Orlando. Apparently, Kitty started rapping over instrumentals as a joke a few months ago and slowly began to gain a following on her tumblr. Now, she has a write-up in last Sunday’s New York Times and she gets her own beats; “OK Cupid” was produced by Beautiful Lou, one of the most prominent independent rap producers at the moment. I’ve spent the last few days listening and relistening to her EP, The Lizzie McGuire Experience, and I still don’t know what to think. That’s also one of the weirdest sentences I’ve ever written.

3. Future – Same Damn Time (Nacey Remix)

As one-third of legendary D.C. club trio Nouveau Riche, Nacey makes me proud to live near the nation’s capital. Nacey is more interested in trap house tracks like this remix of “Same Damn Time” after spending his early formative years making B-More Club; his other two collaborators are focused on progressing moombahton, another genre that has its roots in the District. D.C. and Baltimore are becoming the sites of innovation of U.S. club music just like Detroit and Chicago were in the late 70s.

4. Chief Keef and Fat Trel – Russian Roulette

Since being name-checked by Kanye, Chief Keef has gained prominence as Chicago’s answer to Waka Flocka. Currently, Chicago has an emerging rap scene to rival the Bay Area’s: from Chief Keef or King Louie’s banger anthems to the super-catchy drill rap subgenre (check out Katie Got Bandz or Lil’ Durk), Chicago is on the rise. The best way to listen to “Russian Roulette” is turned up to full volume while riding in a blacked-out SUV to a party.

5. d’Eon – “Al-Qiyamah”

This is the magnum opus of d’Eon’s upcoming album, LP. The title and the lyrics refer to Surah 75 of the Quran, which describes Judgement Day. A powerful epic of modern electronic music, “Al-Qiyamah” ends with a doppler siren that mimics the trumpeting horns that are said to accompany the Resurrection.

6. SSION – My Love Grows In The Dark (Nightfeelings remix)

SSION (Cody Critcheloe) has the creepiest mustache I’ve ever seen. Seriously, open a new tab in your browser right now and do a Google Image search for him.

7. Young Jeezy – I Do (Sammy Bananas bootleg)

This is not really a remix but rather Sammy Bananas reworking the original disco-flavored sample into nu-disco and stealing a few stylistic flourishes from the Jeezy version. “I Do” was overplayed on the radio to an absurd extent but this sample is the one part of the song that I liked.

8. LLLL – Because of my eyes

LLLL sound a lot like M83 but without the ridiculous amount of layered bloat that Anthony Gonzalez has become so enamored of over the last two or three albums. “Because of my eyes” has just enough overdrive and reverb to make things crunchy without it feeling like a slog through molasses. The vocals are terrific little frozen bits of wind shearing against your ears.