From the sonic graveyard of crosses and triangles that is drag/witch house comes oOoOO. Pronounced “oh,” oOoOO is Christopher Dexter Greenspan, a San Francisco-based producer and pioneer of the nascent sound. Over two EPs, he has staked his claim as the most accessible artist in the intentionally-underground scene.
In January 2010, oOoOO released No Summer4U as a limited-run CD-R on Disaro Records. The disc spun familiar dance pop into macabre soundscapes. Formerly sugary tunes like Nocera’s “Summertime” and Space Cowboy’s “My Egyptian Lover” are transformed into the skittering, synth-heavy “No Summer4U” and “EGYPTYNLVR,” respectively. His remix of “Poker Face” chops and screws the Gaga hit into a detuned funhouse track.
His first proper EP, a self-titled 12″ on Tri Angle Records, built on the sounds he established on No Summer4U. Throughout the EP, oOoOO’s songs have faster tempos and more structure than those of his contemporaries, without betraying their gloomy nature. Even under waves of static and a fog of uneasiness, melody is still king. The juked percussion of “mumbai” (which also appears on the CD-R) is a highlight.
The drag/witch house scene has been percolating for a few years now, and the cream is rising to the top. oOoOO recently did a podcast for FACT Magazine, previewing a new track and moving into unusual but understandable territory (ie Cat Power). Similarly, don’t miss his remix of Marina and the Diamonds’ “Obsessions.” For fans of both pop music and the darkness of drag, oOoOO is the man for all seasons.
Forget what club music charlatans say: Baltimore club moving up I-95 to Philadelphia and Newark (and out to Chicago) is and was a beneficial development for the sound.
Exhibit A in the Brick Bandits dominance of club music is DJ Sega. Sega just wrapped up his Sixer Series Collection with its third volume of twenty minute workout plans.
Each volume has featured a mix of Sega’s originals and remixes. Touching on hip-hop (“Runaway”), R&B (Beyonce, R. Kelly), progressive house (Pryda’s “MIA to ATL”), and even dance classics (“Everybody Dance Now”), Sega’s steady hand supercharges the familiar into something much more fierce. As for originals, tracks like “Rock Dem Hornz” and “Bitch Right Now” are instant club classics.
Baltimore club has a knack for capturing the zeitgeist; Jonny Blaze’s “SpongeBob” remix is the chief example of this. DJ Sega continues the tradition by crafting “The Angry Birdz Theme” out of samples from the ubiquitous iPhone/iPad sensation.
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After a club slaying turn at last month’s Clockwork party, Sega returns to DC for this month’s edition. If you missed this last time (and even if you were there), see the future of club music first hand this Friday. To hold you over, grab all three volumes of the Sixer Series.
1. riot music – (donaeo + skream x dj sega remix)
2. mia to atl to phl – (pryda x dj sega remix)
3. music sounds better with you – (stardust x dj sega remix)
4. why don’t you love me – (beyonce x dj sega remix)
5. runaway – (kanye west x dj sega remix)
6. u don’t like me – (diplo + lil jon x dj sega remix)
7. rock dem hornz sega – (dj sega) – Bonus
1. rock dem hornz sega – (dj sega)
2. K-swift’s hold up 2011 – (dj sega)
3. Shiftee (onyx x dj sega remix)
4. Next To You (dj class + rose royce x dj sega)
5. everybody fuck now (sissy penis factory + c&c music factory xdj sega)
6. down low (r kelly x dj sega)
1. bitch right now – (dj sega)
2. body bag remix (johnny Nelson x dj sega)
3. look at me now part 2 (chris brown + busta rhymes + lil wayne x dj sega)
4. philly shit remix (young chris x dj sega)
5. wall-e 2012 (gimmie a wallie) (ybe x dj sega)
6. the angry birdz theme (dj sega)
Last week saw the release of mixtapes from two rising rappers: Big K.R.I.T.’s Return of 4Eva and Fat Trel’s April Foolz. Both artists get to the heart of hip hop in 2011, albeit with divergent styles.
Big K.R.I.T. (an acronym for “King Remembered In Time”) is Justin Scott, a 24-year-old from down south in Meridian, Mississippi (about 100 miles from David Banner’s Jackson home).
Return of 4Eva is pure Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, very much in the Southern G-funk style mastered by Outkast, with hints of UGK and Curren$y. The beats gleam like polished chrome. Soul samples mingle with fresh keys, horns and bass in a refreshing return to a richer era of hip hop production. For his part, K.R.I.T. is crisp and clear, more Big Boi than Three Stacks.
“American Rapstar” is a head-nodder that succinctly pinpoints industry-rap issues: “And they don’t love you till you’re on the ground / Or when you’re maxing out your bank account / …And even if it means you don’t survive the night / But if even if you do you won’t survive the hype / Of an American rapstar.” “Dreamin'” is a down-tempo meditation on similar themes.
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The song that burns grooves in your hard drive is “Highs & Lows,” with it’s music-nerd-approved “life ain’t nothing but an EQ of highs and lows” chorus and “I’d Rather Be With You” outro. Any track that references arguably Bootsy Collins’ best song is a winner.
Lyrically, K.R.I.T. plays in familiar territory, but with his own spin on things. Balancing the stripper tale “Shake It” is the Bamboozle-sampling “A Naive Individual Glorifying Greed and Encouraging Racism” (K.R.I.T. is all about acronyms, apparently), a conscious-by-way-of-Pac tune.
Return of 4Eva is all killer, no filler. Guest spots by David Banner, Chamillionaire, Raheem DeVaughn, Ludacris, and Bun B are tasteful and not distracting: K.R.I.T. more than holds his own among heavyweights. The future looks bright for this 2011 XXL Freshman.
While Return of 4Eva plays out like a fully-developed album, Fat Trel’s April Foolz is a pure mixtape, for better or for worse. Incessant DJ drops and rewinds distract from the product: Trel’s DC-based trap rap. Like his last tape, the breakout No Secrets, Trel is unapologetic about drugs (dealing and using) and women (sexing and uh, using). Beats are provided by 808 wunderkind Lex Luger and DMV heads E Major and Bassheadz, among others.
“Respect Wit the Tech,” produced by Luger, fits right in with the hitmakers’ other tracks (“Hard in the Paint,” “B.M.F.,” “H.A.M.”) with ratatat rhythms, cinematic synths and gunshot samples. Trel keeps it simple, dropping a chorus built to ride: “I got money / I got power / Got respect with this tech / Got respect with this tech / bust a move and get wet.”
Fat Trel is basically a one-note rapper, but because he hits it so hard yet so effortlessly, he’s the most entertaining and promising rapper in the DMV. This is guilty pleasure rap suited for your next party (or award show riot). His association with Wale’s Board Administration may be over, but a partnership with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music (something he is more well-suited for than Wale) can’t be too far off.
For the last month, two of the most buzzed about artists have been Frank Ocean and The Weeknd. Both are previously-unknown musicians who released free mixtapes to quick critical praise: Nostalgia, Ultra and House of Balloons, respectively. Both are associated with fan favorites, as well: Frank Ocean with OFWGKTA and The Weeknd with Drake.
But in an unfortunate turn, both artists have been pigeonholed as “hipster R&B” or the more derisive “PBR&B.” The incessant need to tag nascent sounds with quirky genre names is nothing new (see: witch house, chillwave), but with this particular sound and name, it’s even more controversial than ever. Some have called it offensive, as Jozen Cummings did in The Awl, suggesting that:
Calling it “hipster R&B” is a nice way of saying it’s R&B that white people like (black hipsters notwithstanding), and here’s my problem with that: It’s myopic, lazy, and it sounds to me like a form of musical segregation that’s not entirely based on genre.
This is a similar issue to one I’ve thought about for some time (and wrote about when reviewing Janelle Monae): the inability or unwillingness of the music industry to classify and market black artists who don’t fit comfortably in the hip hop and R&B pigeonholes. For Cummings and others, the problem is calling Frank Ocean and The Weeknd R&B solely because they’re black, while white artists who mix the same influences are not.
In this case, I’m not totally sure that’s the problem. I hear R&B influences, however diffused, in the work of Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, in the same way I hear them in The XX and James Blake. However, I agree with Cummings’ conclusion, even if we are on different sides of the issue:
If we want to have a real discussion about R&B—where it’s at, where it’s going, who is doing it right, who is doing it weird, and who is really not doing it at all no matter what the critics say—let’s talk about all of these artists.
For some (I think Cummings included), the problem is that there is more traditional R&B being passed over in favor of these genre-defiers. My main problem with “hipster R&B” and “PBR&B” is that they denigrate the music without actually describing the sound. “Hipsters” and “PB&R” give a mise en scène separate from the music, and as limiting as genre classifications can be, shouldn’t they at least focus on the music?
Frank Ocean’s Nostalgia, Ultra is brash and inventive, in an entirely different way than the rest of the Odd Future crew. Apart from the “Hotel California” and “Electric Feel” samples (“American Wedding,” “Nature Feel”), the compositions are original and run the gamut from sweeping ballads (“Strawberry Swing”) to soulful throwbacks (“Lovecrimes”).
From The Weeknd (the mysterious Abel Tesfaye) comes House of Balloons, which owes as much to xx as it does to So Far Gone. The downtempo mixtape finds Tesfaye crooning about hip hop trappings in a way that feels more natural than when done by emo rappers. The weeping guitar line and punchy drum and bass combo of “The Morning” are representative, but one hopes Tesfaye has another “What You Need” up his sleeve: whatever you call it, music needs songs that dark and sexy.
2010 belonged to Night Slugs. In just one year, the London-based record label and club night, run by L-Vis 1990 and Bok Bok, released nine EPs, a handful of singles, and a compilation album (the ironically premature greatest hits collection Night Slugs All Stars Volume 1). While the quantity is impressive, the quality is even more so.
The (still developing) Night Slugs sound is zeitgeist-defining, forward-thinking dance music. Tracks from the labelheads, along with those from similar heavyweights, put Night Slugs at the forefront of London’s dance scene with a vibrant hybrid of house, funky, and bass. 2011 finds the label moving to bigger and better things, but let’s take a look at where it’s been.
Things started, appropriately enough, at Mosca’s Square One EP. The title track is the prototypical Night Slugs offering: a juxtaposition of dance music sounds and styles, assembled in new and exciting ways. For “Square One,” it’s the descending tones of dubstep, the surging power of UK funky, and forays into dancehall toasting and soulful R&B vocals. Remixed by A-listers Bok Bok, L-Vis, Julio Bashmore and Roska, the remix by Greena builds slowly but packs a punch, like a prizefighter shaking off a haymaker.
[wpaudio url=”/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/mosca__square_one__GREENA_remix.mp3″ text=”Mosca – Square One (Greena remix)” dl=1]
Egyptrixx’s The Only Way Up picks up where Square One left off, and was followed by the first offering from the steadily-rising Girl Unit, IRL. On Night Skanker, Lil Silva gets even more grimey and aggro than Girl Unit, blending soca rhythms with metallic synth lines, these synthetic horns that push into the red.
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Leave it to one of the original Night Slugs to capture the label’s essence. On his Forever You EP, L-vis 1990 re-visits the spoken word house music tribute of Jason Jinx’s “Your First Time” with pure 303 acid. Fast forward a decade, as L-vis does on the title track, to diva-driven house with hints of wobbly bass.
Night Slugs is quickly becoming the home to a dance music revolution. The juke bass of Kingdom, the synth funk of Velour, and the future grime of Jam City have all been released by the label, and none feels out of place. Same for the Baltimore club remixes by Pearson Sound (the new alias of dubstep wunderkind Ramadanman), released earlier this month. And on Night Slug’s first LP, Bible Eyes, the aforementioned Egyptrixx pushes the label’s sound into new territory – namely, darkwave. With releases like these last two, 2011 just might belong to Night Slugs, too.
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When I wrote about the burgeoning rhythm and bass sound two weeks ago, I somehow neglected a major proponent of it. Maybe it was because I was focused on the UK and dubstep, instead of Canada and house, but whatever the cause: mea culpa.
Jacques Greene (not his real name) in an enigmatic producer from Toronto who seemingly came out of nowhere late last year, releasing a pair of R&B infused house jams on compilation records. One of the offerings, the jangly “(Baby I Don’t Know) What You Want,” sampled Ashanti’s “Foolish.” Of all the samples in all the world, it’s a particularly evocative one: “Foolish” references Biggie’s “One More Chance (Remix),” which in turn samples DeBarge’s “Stay With Me.” Intentional or not, Greene reveals his roots in one loop.
It’s a pattern that repeats itself over his brief but rich oeuvre: wistful, nostalgic – but never obvious – R&B samples weaved into a warm blanket of Chicago house. Listening to his records is a giddy experience that will have music fans digging deep in their crates (or brains) for the originals that drive his tracks.
Greene’s New Year’s Resolution must have been to release new material early and often: he’s released two EPs for Glaswegian powerhouse LuckyMe in just the first quarter of 2011. The title track of The Look bounces along with a bit of Brandy’s “I Wanna Be Down.” The rest of the record is similar soulful house, along the lines of contemporaries Azari and III.
While The Look is non-stop, pounding house beats, Greene’s latest release is sparser, with more room to breathe. Mix Ciara’s “Deueces” with a Burial-ish dubstep beat and open into big, sinewy synths and you have “Another Girl.” Clearly, Greene is obsessed by the same muses as his peers, having remixed “Must Be Love” for Local Action’s love letter to Cassie, Skydiver. Greene gives the same lofty, romantic edge of “Another Girl” to “Broken Record” by muse-of-the-moment Katy B.
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We might not know much about Jacques Greene, but it’s clear that he’s a producer to watch. Check out the sinister tech-house of “Sorted,” grab the mix he did for URB, and pray for him to play the States again soon; would a Red Friday at U Hall be too much to ask?
Since its founding in 1991, the BRIT School has quickly become London’s answer to Juilliard (it’s also the kind of public-private partnership I wish we had more of in the United States, but I’ll leave that to other blogs). The BRIT School has schooled a Who’s Who of UK pop stars, including Adele, Amy Winehouse, Imogen Heap, and Leona Lewis. Two more alumni are poised for big things, thanks to symbiotic relationships with electronic music producers.
Fans of UK funky and dubstep are already familiar with Katy B. The 21-year-old chanteuse has appeared on tracks by Geeneus (“As I”) and Magnetic Man (“Perfect Stranger,” “Crossover”). Her hook singing has given a soulful edge to genres known more for their beats than their songwriting. Case in point: she flipped Benga‘s surging “Man on a Mission” into “Katy on a Mission,” a grooving dubstep sing-along. (The Roska remix gets funky, as he is wont to do).
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On a Mission, her debut album, will be released on April 4 on Rinse and Columbia Records. Avoiding the mistakes of artists before her, the album is loaded with her early hits: just because the blogosphere and the club have heard these songs for a year doesn’t mean the public at large has. Lead single “Lights On” features Ms. Dynamite and is pure UK funky. “Broken Record” is the most mainstream dance track Katy B has released (although her British pronunciation of “record” could prevent this one from breaking through).
While the UK has no shortage of female singer-songwriters (Katy B included), the last decade has also produced a handful of male soul singers, like Jamie Lidell and Jay Sean. To confuse matters, the next in that lineage is another Jamie.
Musical success runs deep in Jamie Woon‘s pedigree. He comes from a long line of professional musicians which includes his mother, Celtic folk singer Mae McKenna. But even with his family and his school, his greatest marker for success might be his connection to dubstep pioneer Burial.
Woon’s 2007 single “Wayfaring Stranger” was practically a cappella, with a minimalism that would make James Blake blush. On the remix, Burial added his signature clacking percussion and submersed bass. The pairing of Woon’s soulful vocals and Burial’s downtempo grooves was a natural fit and led to their next team-up, last year’s break-out single “Night Air.”
The next single off Woon’s debut album Mirrorwriting (out a week after Katy B’s offering, on April 11) is pure rhythm and bass, recalling Babyface productions as much as Timbaland ones. “Blue Truth” takes that formula and inflects it with dubstep. The song isn’t on the album, but Woon offered it as a free download.
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Not all graduates of the BRIT School strike gold, regardless of talent. Usually it takes an equally talented producer to put them over the edge: every Winehouse needs her Ronson. Luckily, Katy B and Jamie Woon both have superb patrons behind the boards.
When it comes to pop music, post-Rebecca Black, “we’re through the looking glass here, people.” The viral video hit takes teen pop to its logical conclusion: mind-numbing simplicity. But while Ark Music creations pump out the pop equivalents of pre-teen beauty queens, some artists have bigger things in mind.
Since featuring her in the Verge last August, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the debut album from Sky Ferreira. While that record has been indefinitely postponed, the LA lolita released the As If! EP this week. For reference, Ferreira was three-years-old when Clueless popularized that totally 90s catchphrase.
Lead single “Sex Rules” is a bouncing, glittery ball of 80s mall pop. The frank sexuality of the lyrics (don’t worry – she’s 18!) is kind of jarring at first, only because of the source. But in all fairness, the sex-positive lyrics are relatively tame to what kids her age (and younger) are actually doing.
“99 Tears” is more of the same, replacing sex talk with a broken heart. Another milestone in the dubstep-pop crossover is “Traces,” the wobble-filled ballad penned by Colin Munroe and Neon Hitch. It takes a page from BAR9’s luvstep-approved remix of Ferreira’s “One.”
“Haters Anonymous” has a schizophrenic duality to it, with a synthpop chorus and spoken word verses. In the age of Facebook bullies, the lyrics resonate with her target audience – even if they come from someone deep in the LA social scene. As If! closes with its lone misfire, “108,” a song held back by its strange lyrical premise.
In another nod to 90s pop culture, Ferreira and “Sex Rules” are featured in the new ad campaign for ck one. Tired of Dr. Luke (or Ark Music) produced, derivative garbage? Sky Ferreira does slut-pop right.
Last week, French record label Institubes closed shop, citing various death-of-the-industry platitudes. The difficultly of keeping a truly independent label afloat notwithstanding, Institubes demise may have more to do with the music associated with it.
Electro house, especially the type pioneered by Institubes and its countrymen at Ed Banger and Kitsune, is heading for the exits. Sure, the sound of the aughts can still pack a room at Hard Fest or the local warehouse party, but innovation in the genre has stilted as producers have moved on to new things.
So while a distinctly French sound is dying, the future for French electronic music has never been brighter. A trio of preternaturally gifted producers is ready to takeover electronic music in the name of France (again).
Mikix The Cat (Mike Gnacadja) is the Parisian representative of Trouble and Bass. True to the rest of the label, he produces seamy house music with loads of bass and synths that bubble and burst. Mikix has an ear for vocal samples that give his tracks a sensuality energy. Neither the sample or (NSFW) video for his Nightshifters single “At Night” leaves much to the imagination – an enviable, no-bullshit approach.
Last fall’s Girls Keep on Wondering finds the 21-year-old as focused as ever. A percussive energy permeates through the throwback-house flavored tracks. His electric energy doesn’t stop when he’s in the club, either: the former b-boy is unafraid to join the fray and pull off a headspin or two.
The boyish Canblaster delivered a jaw-dropping, if too short, set at the last Trouble & Bass DC night. Between a residency at Club Cheval and two EPs, Canblaster (aka Cédric Steffens) is quickly making a name for himself. His fast-paced tracks have a totally different energy than those of Mikix, but they are no less massive. His Jetpack EP kicks off with the ravey title track, a bit of harmless fun when compared to “Thunderdome got Crunk,” with its breakbeats and screwed rap samples, and “Dawgs in da House,” with it’s high-on-speed 305 bass.
His time-obsessed Master of Complication EP finds him introducing elements from tropical bass and footwork to his already impressive repertoire. “Triple Ring” will keep audiences moving while trying to sing-along with its “what does she have that I don’t?” lyric; the half-time breakdown is serene.
The producer known only as French Fries was a resident at La Favela Chic at the tender age of 14. His inventive, up-beat approach to tropical bass puts his tempos more in-line with his French peers than, say, a moombahton producer. But make no mistake: like moombahton, his tracks move booties. His “Senta” was a hit at last year’s Winter Music Conference; it’s as simple as it is infectious.
As Ultra week kicks off, “Laquisha” is poised to take the place of “Senta” in DJ sets all over Miami. The track adds dancehall toasting to the mix, making this track feel at home in a Major Lazer set. And if you don’t catch him in Miami, French Fries plays No Rule in Baltimore next Monday.
Yes, electro house is dead (though like Sixth Sense, it might take some time for that to sink in). The message from Institubes, however, should have been: “après nous, le déluge.” For electronic music, the French deluge has just begun.
One year ago, I wrote my first piece about moombahton, profiling OG moombahnista DJ A-Mac. This month has seen so many developments that I think it’s helpful to catalog them all in one post. So here goes:
Moombahton Massive III
To mark the the appropriately massive Megaton event at SXSW, the third installment in the Moombahton Massive EP series was released. Sol Selecta Sabo provides two offerings, including a take on the oft-sampled “Apache” by the Incredible Bongo Band (“Patchy Moombahton”). Always with an ear for crossovers, A-Mac flips “Drop” by Timbaland and Magoo. Pickster One, Melo, and Apt One also contribute, but leave it to the originators for the finest track. Nadastrom stretches the Axwell & Dirty South remix of the Temper Trap’s “Sweet Disposition” into an uplifting seven-minute epic.
Last week, Mad Decent dropped the highly-anticipated Westside! EP from Dillon Francis. It doesn’t disappoint: Francis’ crowd-pleasing electro-house style transitions nicely into block rocking moombahton beats. The title track is a moombahcore banger that references one of the genre’s earliest songs, Nada’s “Riverside.” Maluca on a moombahton track is a no-brainer, and “Que Que” explores relatively new (and necessary) territory: producers using original vocals on their tracks. Dutch-flavored car siren synths power “Brazzer’s Theme,” which – like most tracks Munchi gets his hands on – is overshadowed by the remix.
Neil Queen of Pop Culture Care Package published an excellent piece about a new hotbed of moombahton: the UK (where else?). The piece is extensive and features an interview and exclusives from rising producer Smutlee.
Mixes from the Capitol
DC’s own Cam Jus and Billy the Gent have been ably carrying the Moombahton Monday torch with their Tropixxx parties at Velvet Lounge (next up: April 3). The duo also have a slot on the Moombahton Massive / Munchi benefit at U Hall in April. These are all can’t miss events, but in the meantime, check out Cam’s mix for trendsetting DC brand Black Collection.
Not to be outdone, Obeyah (who is also playing the Munchi benefit), just dropped a “thrashhall” mix. It’s full of exclusives, including unreleased tracks by Steve Starks, Tittsworth, and Alvin Risk, and it hits all parts of the tropical bass explosion.
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