Given that US Thanksgiving has just passed, I might as well go ahead and say it: I give thanks for all these artists plugging away in their respective genres.

Hope you enjoy.

Tracklisting

Alexandroid – Untitled
Zola Jesus – Vessel
Summer Camp – I Want You
Washed Out – Amor Fati
Ra the Rugged Man – Chains
Shabazz Palaces – Swerve
She Said – Black Leather
Apparat – Ash Black Veil
Snowboy – Mambito
Suckers – A Mind I Knew
Zomby – Natalia’s Song

Shiela Chandra – Ever So Lonely
‘the ocean refuses no river’ love the line, not quite sure what the hell sheila chandra is on about. too much time on the ashram munching space cakes, if you ask me.

Rockabye Baby – All Apologies
apparently, according to spin, it’s 20 years since nirvana’s nevermind burst on the scene making grunge accessible to accountants everywhere. with the rockabye project those accountants now have suitable ammunition to send their grand kids to slumberland.

Dan Deacon – Snookered
dan deacon set himself out on a trajectory which severly limited his chances of appearing on ‘idol’ (american or otherwise). thankfully the good ship deacon still sails close to that arc.

Santana – Jingo
santana hits up jingo. a more tribal rendetion regales the quaint new-colonial ‘the endless summer‘ documentary.

Tyler the Creator – Radicalz (NewFuture Remix)
jazz, jazz, jazz. gutteral sax strapped to a military beat as amp live takes on tyler.

The Smoking Time Jazz Club – Shake That Thing
next up new orlean’s smoking time jazz band school us on shaking our thing… lessons take place regularly on street corners across nola.

George Krantz – Din Daa Daa
din daa daa… one of the weirder things to come out of the disco era. man vs drum kit. recently graced the dancefloor at oakland’s layover.

Hollywood Holt, Million $ Mano – The Show
so, who want’s to see the show?

The Uma Uma Truth List – PEACE!!!
shouty, gangly.

Borgore – Sunsets (featuring Diplo)
Very deceptive: from shoegaze to spaz-out. some could say grating. i say addictive.

The Mountain Goats – Damn These Vampires
don’t let this one get in your head. featured on the excellent Merge sampler available from those nice folk at Amazon.

Memoryhouse – Lady Troisieme
delicate ambient balladry.

Another Green World – Another Green Waltz
i never got to whirl-y-gig. this strange slab of woodwind makes me want to chalk this up on my list of regrets.

Feeling like some refreshments?

i normally sit on the fence around the whole ‘producer as dj’ argument, but rich’s blending, which maintains cohesion yet a slow, steady sprinkling of drama, argues strongly in favor of letting sonic twiddlers venture behind the decks. a music closely related to the warehouse birth of house music (including classic quotes), but redefined through a twitchy, tribal lens.

tracklisting and more info on rich gilfedder on electronic groove

More on Evolve in Oakland

I’ve been sitting on this mix for a little while now. I just keep getting pulled back into it. I’d go as far as to say it’s redefining the music I follow and play.

Jubilee is a young turk from Brooklyn who is building up a reputation for serving up some of the rawest beats out there. Picking on producers as diverse as Bok Bok, Wiley, Roska, DJ Eastwood and Schlachthofbronx, the mix starts at pace and just keeps on sizzling.

I love the raw clanging of the French Fries’ Predator (Tomb Crew Remix) as it bleeds into the atonal warblings of WILDLIFE!’s Jumbie. I did start investigating French Fries and came across this stunner on Youtube from the Frenchman:

For more on Jubilee and the full tracklisting, check out XLR8R.

I originally posted part 1 of this J Period Dancehall Soundclash mix last year, and due to demand am offering up part 2 here. There’s no let-up in intensity, and we find ourselves once more engulfed in a heady concoction of dancehall, reggaeton, ragga, hip-hop and a spattering of jump-up pop classics.

Here’s the track names:

Lil Jon Interlude
The Workout
Yeah Remix
Elephant Message Remix
Elephant Message
Galang Girl
Get Busy/Egyptian Interlude
Sweet To The Belly
Milkshake Remix
Jook Gal
Move Your Body
Pull Up
Tamale
Killing A Sound Boy
Sound Bwoie Buriell
Look Into My Eyes
Shake That Thing
Enemies Remix
Paid Not Played
Paid Not Played Exclusive
No No No
Oh Yeah
Bad Boys
Wine Up
Champion Lover
69
The Chronic
Like A Rock Remix
Neva Scared Remix
Neva Scared Remix
Outtro

Listen to part one of this mixtape

To be honest, I’ve sampled his recorded music before and have never been that enthused. For the same reason I’ve passed up tickets to his show in the past. But the music really isn’t the point. It’s a prop along with the spandex cloak, the African tunic and, erm, his underpants. Not one to blush at pretentious ideas like artistic integrity, there’s even a spell of ‘yelling at the soundman’ drama, where HMS makes it clear the music player dishing out the backing track (including vocals from the likes of Beth Ditto and Karen O) is his fourth band member. The other two floppy-haired fellas being a bassist and drummer, both play it relatively straight as Har Mar pounces and preens through his dance/funk R&B, undressing at will.

Finally, the crowd has what it wants – HMS sporting little more than the garb that brought him into the world. And there, within his ‘barefaced cheek’ lies the crux of my enjoyment: Har Mar exults and adores us humans at our basest, most sordid, most ironic. Like a 40-year old accountant fantasizing about winning gold at the 100 meter sprint and getting it on with a supermodel. Har Mar just brings this fantasy to the stage as an urban yank version of the laughing Buddha. One that gets the last laugh.

More on Har Mar Superstar

A selection of hits from the sleek Har Mar Superstar website (I guess we’re still awaiting his release of a clothing line):

Surprisingly downbeat whilst being interviewed in a launderette:

Dirty Laundry Presents: Har Mar Superstar from Dirty Laundry on Vimeo.

You’ll find a collection of his ‘works’ on YouTube and he’s not too prouo to Tweet.

“it’s like dubstep finally embraced it’s suburban IDM roots and the result is a freedom of sound that only happens really infrequently”

That man Forrest is an interesting being. According his Wikipedia entry (oh god, is any of it true?), he’s one and the same as Donna Summer and runs the Nightshifters label with DJ Jubilee.

Maybe I’m slow, but this mix was a real grower on me. Much of its charms were lost on my first breeze-through. I’m feeling it stronger now. It’s worth it just for the quite beautiful shake-down into Piotr Kurek’s ‘School Boy’ about 27 mins in.

Just in case you’re interested in any of these sharp tracks, there’s a detailed tracklisting here.

Here’s a tracklisting or check out more information on Darling Farah.