After a one week hiatus for a trip to Atlanta and seeing A$AP Rocky in concert in VA (expect a review soon), here’s this week’s mix.
chilllllls – the best intentions mix (download)
Tracklist:
1. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Promises
“Promises” is the opening track from TEED’s debut album due out in June on Polydor Records, and the entire album is full of these danceable but very relaxing house gems. Already a staple on BBC Radio 1 in the early morning hours, expect great things out of producer Orlando Higginbottom in the future.
2. Little Dragon – Ritual Union (Bufi remix)
My friend Julian took me to see Little Dragon at a pretty small (less than 50 people) venue a few years ago and every nerdy white boy in the place was absolutely smitten with lead singer Yukimi Nagano. During songs, she would strut around the stage while smacking her tambourine to emphasize her yearning vocals. Julian tried to hit on her after the show while she was signing his t-shirt and she playfully flirted back. Side note: remixer Bufi is a relatively unknown producer from Mexico; expect him to blow up with this remix.
3. Meyhem Lauren – Special Effects feat. Himanshu & Action Bronson
Solid hip hop track where the features completely dominate the original artist. Himanshu is from the always great Das Racist (who I’ve been using a lot lately) and Action Bronson is a fat white guy (who moonlights as a chef) that has a similar rap style to Wu-Tang Clan’s chef (that’s Raekwon, for those of you who haven’t gone to hip hop grad school). Bonus Info: The movie sample used at the end of this song is from David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, one of the greatest movies of all time.
4. Best Coast – The Only Place
Simple, pretty stoner surf rock. Best Coast’s new album is out next Tuesday and it is super mellow.
5. Kuhrye-00 – Give In (For The Fame)
Kuhrye-oo is Calvin McElroy, a producer who is also a member of Grimes’s touring band. The music video for “Give In (For The Fame)” was shot on an iPhone, was directed by Grimes, and consists of Grimes dancing around various industrial wasteland locations. I have a big crush on Grimes.
6. Darq E Freaker – Blueberry feat. Danny Brown (Pills & Cocaine)
I saw a website describe this as “British Trap,” a genre I’m pretty sure they invented for the post. I usually find Danny Brown’s delivery too overwhelming to be palatable, but the strong organ riff with churning drums serves as a nice production counterpoint.
7. Iamsu! – Made It
There must be something in the water in the San Francisco/Oakland area. Central California is absolutely crushing hip hop at the moment and Iamsu! is another one of the seemingly endless stream of rapper/producers from the area. While probably not the strongest lyricist, his production has a firm grasp on the ethereal synths and snappy hi hats that are trademarks of the West Coast’s “Cloud Rap” scene.
8. Boy Friend – The Lair (Alex DeGroot remix)
Alex DeGroot is the man behind Zola Jesus’s production and he adds my favorite musical flavor (heavy doses of reverb) to Boy Friend’s “The Lair.” Boy Friend will be playing a show at the King Kong Club in Berlin on May 15th; if you’re making the euros rain in Germany’s capital, I highly recommend slamming some down to see the Austin, TX-natives deliver their version of dream pop/shoe gaze.
