When someone drops music that’s far and away his or her best work to date, it makes it much easier to write about. That’s why we thank Kazumi Kaneda for taking his jazz hip-hop to the next level on Morpheme Tone. It’s the fourth full-length release from the Tokyo-based pianist and producer and his third on Inner Ocean Records.
Read MoreMickman on a Mission: A Conversation with Cameron Ingraham
Beneath the blurry public image of the elusive electronic producer Mickman is a deeply intelligent, fiercely independent and fiendishly energetic man - Cameron McMahon Ingraham. We sat down with Cam before one of his biggest gigs to date at the PlayStation Theater in New York City in October to peel back the layers on his career and craft.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 088 - Kazumi Kaneda
Once you’ve heard a handful of licks from the Tokyo-based pianist and producer Kazumi Kaneda, you won’t be able to forget his warm, one-of-a-kind sound and feel. When those minor chords start to jingle around like a set of keys, you know Kazumi is on the track. He’s a visionary jazz pianist who knows how to work with hip-hop material, too, and blend both worlds effortlessly. Listen through to the end because we saved the best knock for last this weekend.
Read MoreJadeStation: The Last Great Electronic Gig at Playstation Theater
The cream of the crop in contemporary US glitch-hop - Jade Cicada, Detox Unit, Mickman and 5AM - will soon share the stage together on October 26th at the PlayStation Theater in Times Square. All these producers have great history in New York, so it will be a crescendo of sorts: a great leap forward for Jade Cicada and his cohorts and a fitting way to close the books on an endearing venue.
Read MoreNINETOFIVE Worldwide Beatmakers Releases Max I Million's "We Own the Night" LP
The veteran Swedish producer Max I Million returns with a diverse collection of hip-hop gems called We Own the Night, his second LP on the NINETOFIVE Worldwide Beatmakers imprint. Every song on this album is great, straight up, although we’ve come to expect nothing less from Max I Million, one of the best representatives of Sweden’s potent beatmaking culture.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 086 - beatmaschine
There’s a thriving beats culture in Germany. We’ve covered several German producers in this column and for more, check out Millenium Jazz Music’s On The Radar Vol 2 - Made in Germany. But we haven’t found a German producer who captures the “golden era” boom-bap sound of hip-hop so well until stumbling across beatmaschine, who represents labels called Krupplyn and Papier & Bliestift from Dortmund.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 084 - Prgmat
One of the more talented producers working in the somewhat strict, traditional lo-fi style is Prgmat from Riga, Latvia. His music is often one giant wash of ambient pads, steered by muffled drums, and punctuated by discreet, well-cut samples. It’s some of the music one would put in a time capsule in order to show someone 500 years from now what lo-fi hip-hop in 2019 sounds like.
Read MoreInspected Drops "1992" Mix, Previews Powered by Inspected 3
The London-based independent label Inspected has released some of the most progressive electronic music of the 2010’s from artists like Koan Sound, Culprate, Monuman, COPYCATT. Few if any imprints have pushed the neuro sound so aggressively yet with such nuance. Yesterday, to celebrate the launch of their “1992” merchandise line, they dropped a scorching hot 30-minute mix featuring many of their hits plus remixes/VIPs and unreleased delights.
Read MoreCloudchord & Soul Food Horns Switch Tempos on Moon Fortune EP
Cloudchord has maneuvered all over the musical map since he first began releasing about five years ago. The producer and guitarist has proven himself difficult to pigeonhole and marketable in many different contexts, from lo-fi hip-hop and instrumental R&B to future bass and house. Once again he’s linking with Soul Food Horns, and together they’re switching it up to deliver a four-track four-on-the-floor EP Moon Fortune.
Read MoreDrum-Driven Producer Jon Kennedy Releases Once Upon a Time Single
The mad percussionist, producer and label-owner Jon Kennedy has resurfaced with the hypnotic seven-minute single “Once Upon a Time”, his first new music since the spectacular 2017 LP HA!. What’s even more exciting than the sensation this song delivers is the knowledge that it’s the title track from an album forthcoming in 2020.
Read MorePsy-Fi Festival Brings Best of International Bass to Netherlands
On one stage this Summer you can catch some of the best in American bass music from Jade Cicada, CharlestheFirst and Bogtrotter, international OGs like Hedflux, Rumpistol and Ott, and a living legend like Solar Fields; the Chill Out stage at Psy-Fi Festival: Seeds of Science, returning in its seventh year to Leeuwarden, Netherlands this weekend, August 28 to September 1.
Read More"It Was Really About the People & the Land" - A Weekend At Shambhala
As the climate, laws, music, people, and the popularity of the entire electronic music enterprise has changed, Shambhala Music Festival has preserved and grown. How? It’s run by an enduring crew that comes back year after year. It’s become part of Western Canadian culture. And It’s centered around ideas that don’t lose value with time or trends; respect for the Earth and oneself; independence from corporate influence; reverence for higher powers; passion for good music.
Read MoreJourneyman Matt Carey Releases Grab Bag LP Xtra Curricular Communication
The journeyman Matt Carey has been keeping a low but productive profile for several years on the festival circuit in the Northeastern United States. Yesterday, he released his second full-length album Xtra Curricular Communication, a grab bag ranging in styles from hip-hop to house to drum and bass and breaks. Questions about the nature of the world today are woven tastefully through the album.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 082 - Puar
We first found the British Columbia-based producer Puar through his collaborations with Vancouver’s bsd.u, and we had the good fortune to catch his set at the Grove Cedar Lounge (a side stage) at Shambhala Music Festival on the Salmo River Ranch in BC. He was playing his signature style of highly vocalized phonk, some lo-fi, and a ton of straight west coast bass beats evocative of the Lab Group.
Read MoreSound of Solasta - Pathwey
Solasta Festival is leaving its original grounds in northeastern Tennessee for the misty, hill-bound Deerfields Retreat in southwestern North Carolina. The event is known for its niche curation, booking the cream of the contemporary crop in psychedelic broken beat music. Unlike their location, this ethos hasn’t changed. Our Sound of Solasta interview series investigates the back stories of artists on the lineup, and this year we’re focusing on the ascendant audio alchemist Pathwey from the nearby city of Asheville, NC.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 079 - RudeManners
The experimental hip-hop and R&B producer RudeManners follows the axiom that a diverse portfolio is a stronger portfolio. Pegging this New York producer with one style is hard. He makes jazzy work, boom-bap tunes, “phonk” and trap beats, a bit of lo-fi house, and a ton of spacey trip-hop-influenced songs. But in comparison to his peers, his catalog has a distinct and recognizable sound that’s defined by a lounge aesthetic.
Read MoreGet to Know the Shambhala Favorites Fort Knox Five & Qdup
If you trace back the career of the Fort Knox Five, you’ll also discover the evolution of the musical style commonly known as electro funk. Almost 15 years ago they found their way from Washington D.C. to British Columbia, Canada and Shambhala Music Festival, and they’ve made it their home ever since. More recently, Fort Knox Five began performing with fellow DC DJ Qdup, and soon the duo will funk Shambhala for the fifth year in a row.
Read MoreEnigmatic Austrian Producer Voljum Drops First EP 'Cyberglobe'
The backstory of Austrian producer Voljum is a novel one. He’s a 19-year-old classical pianist who produces electronic music in his spare time, and offers ghost production across several genres of music. He’s released six original tracks to date, and each one demonstrates extraordinarily advanced sound design. Little else is known about the producer beyond this, although perhaps more will come to light following the release of his first EP, Cyberglobe, which is available today through the experimental outlet VALE.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 077 - Telemakus
Telemakus is a 19-year old producer from the Bay Area who is skilled beyond his years on the piano and in the digital audio workspace. His first productions appear to come from three or four years ago, and his most recent work came earlier this year; Calantha Vol. 2, the second of his two LPs. On this record from Inner Ocean Records, you can hear Telemakus truly indulging his jazz sensibilities.
Read MoreGet to Know the Shambhala Favorites Starting with Slynk
Hailed by some as “the funkiest DJ on the planet”, the Australian-born Vancouver-based DJ/producer Slynk has been performing at Shambhala Music Festival for nearly a decade and returns this summer as one of several acts labeled on the 2019 lineup as “Shambhala Favorites”. Shambhala has chosen to recognize this group of artists whose roots run especially deep with the festival, so we decided to see what the buzz is about, starting with the fun-loving and funky Slynk aka Evan Chandler.
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