Scott Matelic is an Indianapolis-based artist, who has produced tracks for artists such as Sage Francis, Sole, and Adeem and has released a 7” on Bully Records. Scott’s first solo album, Primitive Pessimist, appeared independently on Swallowed Speech Music in 2002 and was released in Japan in 2004 on Trieight Records.
Scott frequently collaborates with DJ Paren under the monicker Multiform (Last.fm, 2010).
Aphilas is a duo from Helsinki, Finland. They make sample based instrumental hip hop.
They have released “Instrumentally Ill EP” (2003) and “Prisoners of the Planet” (2006) on the Internet. They have also had some kind of record deal with the label merck and “Instrumentally Ill” is also released on vinyl. “Prisoners of the Planet” was to be released on merck as well, but merck closed their doors and this didn’t happen (Last.fm, 2010).
Cheju is Wil Bolton, London-based composer and producer of experimental melodic electronica, and co-owner of Boltfish Recordings. His style is a mixture of warm synth tones, crunchy broken beats, and layered atmospheric textures (Last.fm, 2010).
Released Albums:
Cheju - As The Leaves Turn EP
Cheju - A Year Apart EP
Cheju - Forked Mountain EP
Cheju - Rorschach EP
Cheju - Sliding Window EP
Cheju - Taito-Ku EP
Cheju - Transparencies EP
Cheju - Despite All Resolutions
Cheju - Pica
Cheju - Shifting Focus EP
Cheju - Diode
Cheju - Foil EP
Cheju - Magnesium EP
Cheju - Trip Switch EP
Cheju - Hutton EP
Cheju - Brancaster EP
Cheju - Broken Waves
Cheju - Waiting For Tomorrow
Reference:
(2010). Cheju. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/Cheju
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Eleven Tigers (real name Jokūbas Dargis) is a Dubstep producer from Lithuania, who started out self-distributing his tracks through such channels as dubstepforum.com or sub.fm. After he was discovered by the “godmother” of dubstep, Mary Anne Hobbs, who played ‘Prosthesis’ on her ‘Experimental’ show on BBC Radio 1, he started performing live. His first LP ‘Clouds Are Mountains’ was released 05 June 2010 (Last.fm, 2010).
Turntable’s spinning to the warm intonations of A Tribe Called Quest, Cam, and Pete Rock… 9th Cloud progressed with the supplementary emotional dimension discovered via the blues, trip hop, DJ Shadow and Krush , and in the end-result, found its residence in Abstract hip hop .
9th Cloud mixes and composes in a spontaneous and creative manner, highlighted with groove, nourished by tone’s within jazz and funk; music offering incredible possibilities to spontaneous creations and interpretations.
A gloomy yet smiley approach of Abstract hip hop; without having any pretension of re-inventing the genre, this work gives off a particular state-of-mind through hypnotic vibrations.
9th Cloud proposes its interpretation, purely and surprisingly, just like he wishes to reproduce during his live sets (Last.fm, 2010).
Ginormous is the music of artist Bryan Konietzko. This work isn’t consciously part of any specific movement, and pledges no allegiance to any particular genre. On that same note, Ginormous doesn’t stand in defiance of any form of music. Rather, it is a love letter to music itself.
The artist is using the medium as an attempt to tap a direct conduit in his biggest, most potent and varied emotions. In this way, the creation of the music acts as a sort of self-help therapy.In the spirit of this, Mr. Konietzko keeps this music like a daily journal, and plans on a schedule of one-album-a-year, as long as that remains possible.
As can be expected, the tones and languages of the music will certainly evolve throughout these yearly editions. The artist couldn’t hope for anything less, as this isn’t a career, but an undertaking of personal and emotional anthropology (Last.fm, 2010).
Released Albums:
Ginormous - At Night, Under Artificial Light
Ginormous - The Sound of Love Impermanent
Ginormous - Our Ancestor's Intense Love Affair
Ginormous - The Endless Procession
Reference:
(2010). Ginormous. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/Ginormous
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Born and raised in The Netherlands, Europe, Nicolayʹs passion for music has dominated his life for as long as he can remember. He was brought up with equal parts of Stevie Wonder and Neil Young, and as a youth, most of his days were spent listening to whatever music he could get his hands on.
Nicolay’s early love for classical music drove him to seek a formal music education. A true multi-instrumentalist, Nicolay is proficient in playing piano and keyboards, guitar, bass and drums. Nicolay’s diverse understanding of music led him to play in several Hip-Hop and R&B bands, opening up for artists such as K-Ci & JoJo, Boyz II Men, MC Lyte and many others.
After being a live musician and bandleader for nearly a decade, Nicolay started producing in 2000, and shortly thereafter, came across Phonte Coleman of Little Brother through the Okayplayer message boards. The two soon began trading tracks and rhymes back and forth over instant messenger, which in turn created the b-side single for Little Brotherʹs critically acclaimed 2003 album The Listening, called Light It Up. At the time, neither of them suspected that they were actually laying the foundation for what would become one of the most cohesive and innovative albums of 2004. Together they called themselves The Foreign Exchange, and appropriately titled the project Connected.
Since the August 2004 release of Connected, on BBE Records, Nicolay has not rested. His production talents have been requested by a slew of artists and record labels and he has received accolades from the likes of Jazzy Jeff, Questlove (The Roots), 9th Wonder, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and The Beatminerz, to name a few.
Along with Connected, Nicolay now has two other album releases that continue to tell the story of his universal gifts and abilities, while allowing his music to speak for itself. Nicolay’s City Lights Volume 1.5 was initially offered as a very limited promotional CD on hiphopsite.com and Nicolay’s own website.
BBE Records was pressed to officially release the album as a result of an overwhelming demand and the cult like status that City Lights attained. The album has been remastered and updated with five bonus songs that display a glimpse of Nicolay’s forthcoming artist album to http://www.nicolaymusic.com/ released in 2006. In May of 2005, Hard Boiled Records released Nicolay’s third full length album, The Dutch Masters, Vol. 1. Testing new personal achievements, Nicolay put his own spin on some great underground hip-hop and soul tracks, while polishing up his new found skill, the art of DJing (Last.fm, 2010).
Born and bred in Weston, Massachussetts, Edward Ma, now known to the world as edIT, began his music career as “The Con Artist” just before the turn of the millennium. As a resident DJ at the now defunct Konkrete Jungle Los Angeles, he shared the stage with Hive, Daddy Kev, James Tai and mic rockers Busdriver, P.E.A.C.E. and Mikah 9. Konkrete Jungle marked the golden age of indie hip-hop in Los Angeles, and was the bridge between the jungle and b-boy massives. During this time, he also held a residency at Dublab Radio. He was one of the very first Dublab DJs and broadcasted two weekly shows from the legendary Melrose Avenue studio. Far ahead of its time, Dublab operated as an internet radio station and served as a unifying force for the melting pot of L.A.’s intellectual DJ culture. During this musical renaissance, edIT used “The Con Artist” name to produce and engineer for the likes of Sole (Anticon), Busdriver (Epitaph), Aloe Blacc (Stones Throw), Emanon (Shaman Work), and Dr. Oop (Black Love).
It was 2003 when “The Con Artist” adopted the edIT moniker, while finishing his debut solo album Crying Over Pros for No Reason. The album was released by µ-Ziq’s Planet-Mu imprint a year later in 2004. The album was a downtempo love-maker’s epic about opportunities lost. Shortly thereafter, he shifted gears towards the dance floor and remixed Daedelus’ “Dumbfound” for Plug Research, which became a party rockin’ classic, and further established edIT as a force to be reckoned with in the IDM and electronic worlds. Aside from remixes, edIT garnered a lot of fame through his mash-ups of Top 40 radio jams by ridiculously cutting up a cappellas with hyper-glitch edits over original and popular hip-hop beats. His MySpace page started getting serious traffic (over 250,000 plays at this point) which led to URB Magazine naming him one of the “Next 100” artists to watch in 2006. The popularity of his mash-ups also led to a full-length mixtape commissioned by Hefty Records for their 10-year anniversary where he mashed the Hefty catalog with the likes of Li’l Wayne, T.I., Paul Wall and more. This mix became an overnight cult classic and was talk of the blogoshpere.
Next, edIT’s focus turned towards original productions and his highly-anticipated sophomore album Certified Air Raid Material. Being released this Fall by L.A.’s most daring indie label Alpha Pup Records, the album has been a long four years in the making, featuring collaborations with close allies such as The Grouch, Busdriver, TTC, Abstract Rude and D-Styles. Suffice to say, Certified Air Raid Material is a dramatic departure from the melancholy downtempo sounds of Crying Over Pros for No Reason. Upbeat, energetic and impossibly complex, Certified Air Raid Material has certainly raised the bar for state-of-the-art electronic music production. The record is a tour de force of sheer production and engineering genius, resulting in a soulful and futuristic style of dance music that is incomparable to anything else out there (Last.fm, 2010).
“Architeq’s command of beats, space, sonics and timing is masterful. Rarely do you hear tracks that manage to take in the rare, sad, strange sonic magic of buzzing 80s synths, the head-nodding pleasure of the best hip-hop tracks of the past two decades, and the fearless rythmic experimentation that’s now possible in 2009 and beyond. Both the Birds of Prey EP and it’s companion remix EP manage to do all this and more in spades, and Samuel Annand’s vision for his music shines through it all, clear as the sound of a bell. Whether his music makes you get down, lounge out sideways, or just sit up and listen, these are Sci Fi journey beats that everyone and their mother would do well to pay attention to. Timeless music.” - Kid Kameleon of XLR8R Magazine (Last.fm, 2010).
I was born in 1985. From the beginning of my life, my parents never thought of me as a musician. I always had different hobbies: I collected stamps, bottle caps, I was a swimmer with dreams of being a pro. But it wasn’t that. Throughout my childhood, I observed my father’s nearly obsessive passion for music, but music didn’t interest me much back then.
When I turned ten, my family and I moved from Gdansk to a small town in Mazury, where my history with music really started off. When it comes to diggin’, my dad is a true king. I got it from him too, although maybe not in the same way. He pushed me towards finding the best music genre for myself. I learned one thing from him - there is no best genre of music out there.
The development of Hip-Hop in Poland was definitely slow at that time. When I first heard Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, Ice-T, ATCQ, Gang Starr, Common etc., it were the times when you could get beaten up for wearing baggy jeans and being true to the hip-hop culture. It was a long time before Warszafski Deszcz (a classic album of Polish Hip-Hop) came out, long before Stare Miasto and Thinkadelic. When I was searching for different types of sounds and concepts I learned that hip-hop is multi-dimensional. When the first hip-hop oriented magazines started off, I quietly took the spray cans in my hands. A couple of drawings around the city later I realized that graffiti wasn’t for me.
My first serious soundsystem (pretty good at the time) and a PC changed my position in the culture. Music Production… that was it! I was the conductor of MY hip-hop music. I was in control of the sound. I treated it as a part of my education, believing that by learning how to produce, I will understand my favourite genre better.
1998 was a special year, not only did I start producing, I also began to write my own rhymes. I didn’t work out for me that well, but today I understand rhythm better and, you know - vocals and beat concept. And that’s how I divided myself into 2 personalities - the MC and the producer. I was recording over my own beats, but I did instrumental albums as well. During that era I released couple albums of my own, and one as Soundfeel Productions (Dj S-Master and me).
In between 2003 and 2004 Holdcut is born and search for my own distinguished sound begins.
Since 2001, after seeing ‘Scratch’, dj’s shown in that movie caught my attention more and more. I turned myself to Shadow, Z-Trip, Numark, Steinski and biggest influence for my work Cut Chemist. Chemist’s attitude towards hip-hop culture, his music, biography and just everything had a positive influence on me - he is the ideal reflection of how I see hip-hop. In 2003 I already knew, that some day, I’m going to do my own ‘Lessons’. ‘I’m going to take drum breaks and mix them with funk music and my own melodies and samples, and we will see, where it takes me’ - that’s what I thought.
Before I got into that stage, I had to close a chapter in my life. This chapter are those 10 albums, starting from ‘Critical Status’ and ending on ‘You Will Be Witness’, that contained new looks on old ideas. After 2 years of practically non-stop production work, the time finally came to do my own Lessons. SoundWriter was slowly coming to life. The moment, when he truly came to life was my return to Gdansk, after 10 years of living in a province. That’s when I started working on first volume of an album, that I simply named ‘Remixes’ (half of the album consisted of remixes).
A really important thing happened to me before that, though, in 2002, when I accidentally ran into big St. Dominic’s fair. Exactly there, that was the first time, when I got in touch with the true essence of the hip-hop music. On that day, I never saw so many records in one place in my life. First time in my life, I spent all my money on wax (I didn’t have any money for the bus to my town, but I didn’t matter). I found lots of things that I was looking for before.
From that moment, I got into the passion of crate diggin’ and I don’t regret it. From those records, I made most important album in my career so far. And I didn’t learn hip-hop from hip-hopers. I learned hip-hop from the masters of funk and jazz and those two genres were imported to my albums, in different styles and techniques.
2002 was also very important for me, since I started working in one of the biggest internet radio stations in my country - Rapgra, where I had my broadcast Cut Style Time every week. I also started Cut-Orgia Recordz that year. As for myself, I work with many different artists, but in most cases, these projects end up unfinished.
In 2005 I started my job in Magazyn Hip-Hop, where I write news, do interviews, artist’s bios, write articles and piss off the editor-in-chief.
I have many plans for 2006 and 2007. I will try to do something new and fresh. I plan a lot of things and lots of those things are never brought to light, so I would rather not talk about any specific dates or anything. You should know one thing? something is coming up for sure.
Released Albums:
Holdcut - Inept Vision
Holdcut - Remote Vision
Holdcut - Critical Status EP
Holdcut - Night in my Mind
Holdcut - The Only One EP
Holdcut - Break Trouble 2 The Battle
Holdcut - Break Trouble EP
Holdcut - Since I Have Been Here EP
Holdcut - The New Reality
Reference:
(2010). Holdcut. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/Holdcut
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Born and raised in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, TOKiMONSTA (Jennifer Lee) was an unfocused pupil of classical piano. However, she has come to use this background to understand and create vast soundscapes and textures through the usage of live instruments, percussion, digital manipulation, and dusty vinyl. Through the creation of beats, she is able to fuse the sounds of the past with her musical prowess into something avant garde (Last.fm, 2010).
Led by the relentless drummer Malcolm Catto, the UK collective’s objective lays quite a ways beyond what ordinary listeners know or expect. In an alternative galaxy, where the orbits of Hip-Hop, Funk, Jazz, Psychedelic, Electronic, Avante-Garde and Ethnic music all revolve around “The One” – that’s where you might find The Heliocentrics.
A listen to a song or two reveals no small influence from the funk universe of James Brown. But there’s also the disorienting asymmetry of Sun Ra’s music. The cinematic scope of Ennio Morricone. The sublime fusion of David Axelrod. But the Heliocentrics’ music isn’t retro. It’s brand new. And it’s timeless. They have well-placed fans in the likes of Madlib (Catto was featured on his Shades of Blue album and on various Yesterdays New Quintet releases) and DJ Shadow (the band backed him on the song “This Time I’m Gonna Do It My Way” from his The Outsider album), who will tell you that this band is really the next shit but that they have the consistency and musicianship that seems to have been lost somewhere in the analog to digital shuffle over the past thirty years (Last.fm, 2010).
Malcom Catto – drums & piano
Jake Ferguson – bass & thai guitar
Mike Burnham – modular synthesizer & effects
Jack Yglesias – flutes, percussion & santur
Adrian Owusu – guitars, oud & percussion
James Arben – clarinet, tenor & baritone saxophones
Ray Carless – alto, tenor & baritone saxophones
Max Weissenfeldt – vibraphone & percussion
Ayatollah (Lamont Dorrell) is a hip-hop producer from Queens, New York, with a soulful sound who has provided beats for many of the big names in the genre, perhaps most notably Ms. Fat Booty for Mos Def. He has nine full length instrumental releases, including: Listen, Now Playing, Drum Machine, The Quixotic and the newly released Cocoon (Last.fm, 2010).
Released Albums:
Ayatollah - Listen
Ayatollah - Now Playing
Ayatollah - Drum Machine
Ayatollah - The Quixotic
Ayatollah - Cocoon
Ayatollah - Personal Legend Vol. 1
Ayatollah - So Many Reasons To Rhyme
Ayatollah - Live From the MPC 60
Reference:
(2010). Ayatollah. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/Ayatollah
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Born Travis Stewart on March 4th 1982, Machinedrum has produced and composed several albums under various aliases since his first independent release in 1999. Covering an astonishing variety of styles with ease, he has always been a trailblazer - bridging the gap between genres that would otherwise never have met before.
His debut Now You Know, was released in 2001 on the influential Miami-based Merck Records and gained worldwide attention and praise from musicians, fans and critics. It was heralded as the “standard to which the next wave of imitators aspires” by Pitchfork.com
Having a strong background in both acoustic and electronic instrumentation, he dances between those elements on all his releases. This can be heard in the field recording and vintage synth laden Urban Biology to his seminal production and mixing of the This Charming Mixtape with MC Theophilus London. His critically acclaimed 2009 album Want To 1 2? was the latest showcase of his most recent production. With a combination of the songwriting skills of Timbaland, huge club sound of Daft Punk, and crafty experimentation of Aphex Twin, he manages to bring a new and bold take on electronic music.
This summer, Machinedrum dropped his Many Faces EP on LuckyMe and he performed alongside other label mates at Sonar Festival in Barcelona. Under the name Sepalcure, he’s also released the Love Pressure EP on Hotflush with friend and collaborator Preveen Sharma- a sound they describe as “an exploration of chopped up 90s diva house acapellas and wooden sounding snares reminiscent of UK funky and dubstep”.
A true electronic music Renaissance man, Machinedrum blends together current pop music standards and trends with his own extensive knowledge of experimental production techniques, delivering his quality signature on every thing he touches (Last.fm, 2010).
Greyboy is San Diego producer and DJ, Andreas Stevens, he makes spacy acid jazz with hip-hop roots. Also variously known as Dj Greyboy and also contributed to The Greyboy Allstars.
“Soul Mosaic” is the latest Greyboy album, and was recorded 10 years after the release of “Freestylin’,” the first Greyboy full-length album for Ubiquity. The tracks crafted into this fourth Greyboy album include groundbreaking territory for the Southern California based producer/DJ. For the first time he recorded full vocal songs adding a new soulful dimension to his music. The trademark laid-back West Coast Greyboy beats remain central to “Soul Mosaic” but are now enhanced by collaborations with folks like Sharon Jones, Bart Davenport (Honeycut), and Bing Ji Ling.
A decade ago “Freestylin’” became a surprise underground hit, it was a building block of the early acid jazz movement and still holds cult status today. Since then Greyboy has released the equally jazz-based instrumental “Land of the Lost” and the soundtrack and hip hop inspired “Mastered The Art”, which featured musicians and MCs in a prelude to the “Soul Mosaic” album.
Greyboy has recorded with AG (Showbiz & AG), and the Greyboy Allstars (whom he helped put together and produce). His music has been featured in movies like Get Shorty, Celtic Pride, The Kelly Slater Surf Pro video game, Budweiser commercials, and he was handpicked to provide a mix CD for DC shoes.
Over the years Greyboy has DJ’d in Japan, Europe, and across the USA. His largest DJ gig was to 5000 people in the countryside outside of Rome, but throughout the summer of 2003 he played to over 20, 000 people a night on tour with Ben Harper and Jack Johnson. His DJ philosophies have never changed, he practices to stay technically on top of his game but never practices a set for a specific night preferring to put together tunes and based on the vibe at each gig.
Working up the rough drafts for “Soul Mosaic” Greyboy recorded parts, solos, and lyrics with guests returning to the lab in his Long Beach home to deconstruct and sift through all the elements. And just like the aesthetic of Killingsworth, the well-known Case Study House architect who built the house which Greyboy recently restored (it was featured twice in Dwell Magazine), less is definitely more. In fact the process of restoring the home is not unlike his approach to making music. His mid-century modern building has been altered, remodeled and added onto over the years, Greyboy is currently putting it back the way it was supposed to be.
Vocalists like Bay Area underground favorite Bart Davenport sings on the two sold-out singles “To Know You is To Love You” and “Genevieve”, cover versions of a Stevie Wonder tune (originally recorded by Syreeta) and Cymande respectively. “Genevieve” was nominated as one of the songs of the year by Radio 1’s Worldwide host Gilles Peterson. East Coast based Sharon Jones has made a storming come back with Daptone Records over recent years and also appears on two tracks. San Francisco up n’comer Bing Ji Ling adds a lil’ Shuggie Otis folksy soul and guitar while MCs like Mainflo (TVT), and musicians and turntablists like D-Styles and Ricci Rucker (Sound In Color) maintain the hip hop pressure, and Robert Walter and Karl Denson (of the Greyboy Allstars) add a touch of jazz. Rounding out the mosaic are co-producers like the UK-based Quantic and West Coaster Mike Andrews, who recently had a hand in the Christmas #1 spot on the UK charts with a version of Tears for Fears “Mad World” from the Donnie Darko soundtrack (Last.fm, 2010).
Released Albums:
Greyboy - Soul Mosaic
Greyboy - Mastered The Art
Greyboy - Freestylin'
Greyboy - Land of the Lost
Greyboy - Shades of Grey
Greyboy - 15 Years of West Coast Cool
Reference:
(2010). Greyboy. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/Greyboy
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Pleq is an experimental project by Bartosz Dziadosz, a 27-year-old philosophy student. Based in Warsaw, Poland; Pleq has developed his highly-synthetic competencies through a series of dis-reality attempts, monastery supervision and a romantic way of handling peer pressure. His motives in sound resemble an abandoned ironworks garage during the industrial revolution, where melancholy is paired with harmonies of magnetizing structure (Discogs, 2010).
Released Albums:
Pleq - But it Does Not End There
Pleq - Lucid Dream
Pleq - The Fallen Love
Pleq - Metamorphosis
Pleq - Our Words Are Frozen
Pleq - A Minute Extra Thinking
Pleq - Intelligible
Pleq - The Lost Beauty
Pleq - Pocket Full of Blue EP
Pleq - Good Night
Pleq - My Life Begins Today
Pleq - The Seed
Reference:
(2010). Pleq. Discogs. Retrieved from http://www.discogs.com/artist/Pleq
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Two years since his latest release on the Budabeats netlabel, Crookram is finally coming out with a new album. If you’re familiar with his previous work this album might be somewhat of a surprise. It has been a couple of years in the making, during which time musical genres like soul, funk, hiphop and library music have been combined with modern downtempo beats and movie samples to create a funky yet dusty seventies vibe (Last.fm, 2010).
You can listen to Crookram's music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/Crookram
Released Albums:
Crookram - 19/76 EP
Crookram - Through Windows
Crookram - Old Unreleased Tracks
Reference:
(2010). Crookram. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/Crookram
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Hailing from Southern California, Dayeve Xienze, real name Dayeve Masangcay is a skilled underground hip hop and trip hop disc jockey, who loves to make sample-based music with a touch of acoustic guitar and keyboard ever since 1998. His music can be considered abstract, experimental, distinctive, eccentric, weird and wonderful. It can be categorize as trip hop, underground hip hop, turntablism, breakbeats, electronica, cinematic, avant garde, film score, and space age (Last.fm, 2010).
You can listen to Dayeve Xienze's music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/dayeve+xienze
Free downloadable albums at:
www.mediafire.com/dayeve
www.mediafire.com/xienze
Released Albums:
Dayeve Xienze - Elan Vital
Dayeve Xienze - The Flight of the Lotus Eaters
Dayeve Xienze - The Elysian Galaxy
Dayeve Xienze - Ernest Gonzales - Been Meaning to Tell You, Dayeve Xienze Remixes
Dayeve Xienze - JANRYAN EP
Dayeve Xienze - A Star-Crossed Meretrix
Dayeve Xienze - Poles Apart EP
Reference:
(2010). Dayeve Xienze. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/dayeve+xienze
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Mono/Poly (Charles E. Dickerson) is an electronic musician from Bakersfield California. His name is taken from the 1980’s Korg keyboard but pronounced “Monopoly”. The name “Mono/Poly” symbolizes his multifaceted audio productions (Last.fm, 2010).
You can listen to Mono/Poly's music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/Mono%252FPoly
Released Albums:
Mono/Poly - Paramatma
Mono/Poly - The George Machine EP
Reference:
(2010). Mono/Poly. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/Mono%252FPoly
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Known to his friends as Ryan Hunn, Illum Sphere’s debut EP landed on Manchester’s Fat City Recordings in March 2009. Still only 24, Illum Sphere is one of the duo behind Sketch City & Hoya:Hoya.
Using a knowledge of music that is beyond his years, Illum Sphere creates a sound that draws influence from hip-hop as much as it does from psych, jazz and Detroit techno. Already being deemed ‘one of the most exciting young producers in the UK right now’ without releasing a record, 2009 is set to be a big one, dropping remixes for Mr Scruff, Foreign Beggars, Kidkanevil and more!
One of the most interesting, energetic and uncompromising DJs around, this was validated recently by an invitation to play at the world renowned Low End Theory night in Los Angeles. This night is know for breaking artists like Flying Lotus, Daedelus, Samiyam, Gaslamp Killer, Ras G and DJ Nobody from the flourishing LA beats scene. The week before, Mary Anne Hobbs featured the night on her BBC Radio 1 show.
Gaining support from a wide a range of underground music heavyweights, such as Mr Scruff, as well as seminal dubstep radio station, Rinse FM, things look promising for this talented producer (Last.fm, 2010).
The multi-genre project of electronic-music producer Jonathan Dagan. With the collaboration of many diverse musicians in the studio, The J.Viewz project presents a unique kind of Breakbeat and Chill (Discogs, 2010).
Depth Affect’s long-lived eclecticism makes their production one of the strangest at the moment, putting together Prefuse 73’s breakbeats, ISAN’s electronic lullabies and Fennesz’ sound treatments. Depth Affect is creating a relevant, intelligent and dancing (in a wobbly way) work of art.
You can listen to Depth Affect's music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/Depth+Affect
Released Albums:
Depth Affect - Mesquin EP
Depth Affect - Arche-Lymb
Depth Affect - John Cassettes EP
Depth Affect - Coton Candy EP
Depth Affect - Hero Crisis
Depth Affect - Chorea
Reference:
(2010). Depth Affect. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/Depth+Affect
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Ben Lamdin’s creations range from heavy funk, to hip-hop based beats mixed with dusty old jazz, obscuro funk and psych bits and pieces.
Nostalgia 77, aka Ben Lamdin, first burst onto the scene with his heavy, new funk based sound in 2002. His hard work and prolific creation process has led to the release of many outstandingly high quality albums in a relatively short amount of time, containing a diverse and varied fusion of styles and influences from more mellow, solemn, moody yet beautiful offerings to more upbeat, heavy funk, hip-hop based beats mixed with dusty old jazz, obscuro funk and psych bits and pieces. This driven sound spectrum of audio offerings led to the development into the full 2007 nu-jazz orchestrated release of ‘Everything Under The Sun’ in March 2007. This hard work ethic, gifted writing talent and dedication to his music contributed towards Ben winning the ‘Jazz Album of the Year’ award at the ‘Gilles Peterson BBC Worldwide Awards’ in 2006.
The success of this release led Lamdin to a style he describes as “a combination of soul and jazz composition with computer based production techniques”. Coming from producing hip hop style beats he had always heard snippets of jazz tracks he loved, so the fuller musical expression of actually making his own jazz music was inevitable.
His cover version of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” with Alice Russell has also helped bring his mission to a wider audience. Aiming for an edgy sound whilst continuing to search for a more personal expression, Nostalgia 77’s influences include free and spiritual jazz as well as 60’s funk and soul and Afro sounds.
2008 saw the release of Nostalgia 77’s One Offs, Remixes & B Sides album – an eclectic and stunning collection spanning jazz, hip hop, electronica, funk and more – which has gained dazzling reviews. A host of inspired collaborations on this double CD include guest vocals by eminent jazz diva Beth Rowley and remixes from the likes of Bonobo. Nostalgia 77 recorded a Maida Vale session for Gilles Peterson’s Radio 1 Worldwide show in May. His collaborative work last year extended to producing the debut album by new Tru Thoughts signing Lizzy Parks, entitled ‘Raise The Roof’. A heady combination of jazz, soul and cinematic soundscapes, Lamdin’s production on this album perfectly complements Lizzy’s unique talent as a singer songwriter.
The latest project from Nostalgia 77 is an intriguing collaboration with bona fide legends of contemporary jazz and avant-garde experimental music, Keith and Julie Tippett. Entitled ‘Nostalgia 77 Sessions featuring Keith And Julie Tippett’, the album came out in April 2009; it is a collection of beautiful original material that spans blues, jazz and soul music, threaded through with experimental flourishes, and represents a journey of musical discovery for all the artists involved (Tru Thoughts, 2010).
You can listen to Nostalgia 77's music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/Nostalgia+77
Released Albums:
Nostalgia 77 - Seven Nation Army EP
Nostalgia 77 - Song For My Funeral
Nostalgia 77 - The Garden
Nostalgia 77 - Everything Under The Sun
Nostalgia 77 - One Off, Remixes and B-Sides EP
Reference:
(2010). Nostalgia 77. Tru Thoughts. Retrieved from http://www.tru-thoughts.co.uk/artists/nostalgia-77
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While the roster on England's much-hyped trip-hop label Mo'Wax is packed to the gills with bedroom boffins turned recording artists, Attica Blues is the closest it comes to having an actual band.
The pancultural collective began life in 1994 when producers D'Afro (born Charlie Williams) and Tony Nwachukwu first met up. D'Afro had previously founded London's Urban Poets Society collective, but the duo later became Attica Blues for their continuing studio experiments.
While trying to sell some Japanese hip-hop records, D'Afro met up with Mo'Wax founder James Lavelle and was offered a spot on the label. The duo began recording their first single alone but when a local student, the Egyptian-born Roba El-Essawy, visited the studio during the recording for their debut single, D'Afro and Nwachukwu decided to add her to the group.
Attica Blues released their first two EPs Vibes, Scribes 'N Dusty 45s and Blueprint in 1995, and followed with two more during 1996-97. Mo'Wax issued their self-titled debut album in September 1997. D'Afro and Nwachukwu have also worked as remixers for Flora Purim and Sneaker Pimps as well as label-mates U.N.K.L.E., DJ Krush and Adriana Evans (Bush, 2010).
You can listen to Attica Blues' music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/Attica+Blues
Released Albums:
Attica Blues - Vibes, Scribes, 'N' Dusty 45's EP
Attica Blues - Attica Blues
Attica Blues - Test. Don't Test
Reference:
Bush, J. (2010). Attica Blues. All Music. Retrieved from
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0vfwxqugldde~T1
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Kenichiro Nishihara (西原健一郎) is a Japanese producer with a yen for jazz and hip-hop. But in his capacity as a keyboardist, he also shows a keen ear for incorporating a little classicism into 2008’s Humming Jazz . And while it might be just a big lightweight for your average hip-hopper, it’s an interesting detour nonetheless.
Kicking off with a samba-meets-jungle-lite “Nebulosa,” Humming Jazz is constantly switching gears from piano-based, house-inflected hip-hop (“Heart”) to straight-ahead R&B (“Rain Falls”) to jazz shuffle (“Step Out”) (Last.fm, 2010).
Based in Strasbourg, the man behind the Kira Neris project is a truly unique individual. Motivated by an absolute passion and desire for all things radio and music related from the age of 11, it was inevitable that one day he would produce his own creative masterpiece full of the influences of his formative years. Having explored most genres and styles, from a brief affair with Rock to a longer relationship with House and Dance music, Jazz and Classic Groove are now his regular partners in producing what is without doubt original and captivating music.
Having been influenced by the early French radio days of Dimitri from Paris and the Skyrock nights along with an equal love for the sounds of Rickster and Joe Smooth amongst others, he eventually stumbled across the legendary tastemaker Gilles Peterson who opened up a whole new sonic world to him, which as he puts it ‘caused a radical change’ in his relationship with music, all thanks to The Cinematic Orchestra’s ‘Motion’ album in 1999. These shows particularly provided the opportunity for him to discover old school tracks, persuading him to ‘go back to these roots’. He developed a passion for finding good samples and taking an approach of spontaneous self-expression, rather than working to strict theoretical concepts, he compiled a vast and comprehensive library of minidiscs containing over 4000 samples from which he crafts his beautiful soundscapes using only an Akai S20.
Inspired by the character from Star Trek Deep Space 9, he took the name ‘Kira Neris’ finding that there was a co-relation between his music’s thought provoking melancholy and the character’s complex personality. He continues to challenge himself by working on a range of diverse musical projects, constantly finding new inspiration in artists like Prefuse 73, Jelinek, Herbert, Theo Parrish, 3 Chairs and Moodymann. “Incredible new jazz music” - Gilles Peterson “Lovely album - beautifully done” - Patrick Forge “A big big album from a very exciting artist” - Dom Servini, Straight No Chaser “What a cracking find - a stunning debut” - Simon Harrison Basic Soul “Spellbinding - a set of depth & beauty” - Sammy Goulbourne New Style Radio (Last.fm, 2010).
In 2006, classically trained musician and electronic sound scientist Matt Preston was swept up in the wake of the Dubstep phenomenon. His diverse influences resulted in an equally diverse musical output, ranging from the euphoric heights of Nordic electronica through cinematic breakbeat to the depth charges of Dubstep.
Phaeleh’s unique sound has garnered support from the scene’s leading artists, including Skream, N-Type, Scuba, Distance, Kryptic Minds, Oris Jay, RSD and Jakes to name but a few, as well as radio support on BBC Radio 1, BBC Asian Network, BBC 6 Music and Kiss FM. This has helped Phaeleh to top the sales charts with releases on Surface Tension, Against the Grain & Urban Scrumping as well as future releases on Skream’s Disfigured Dubz, N-Type’s Wheel & Deal Records and label of the moment Black Box (Last.fm, 2010).
Repose is a collective music project led by Jason Greenberg with a foundation of chill electronic percussive textures and vivid ambiences. Repose is evolving into a mix of mellow mood induced instrumental music as well as vocal accompanied electronica textures with various vocalist collaborations.
Collaborating vocalists so far have included Sue Passmore, a very talented Toronto based vocalist and writer (Repose Music).
A chronic bout of myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome, was the catalyst for Dan Berridge's Broadway Project. An illness without cure that strikes sufferers down with a combination of fatigue and poor concentration often resulting in a subsequent depression, Berridge left his home in London for his parent's house in Sussex to recuperate.
With many sufferers advised to take on something creative, Berridge bought a sampler and, drawing on influences ranging from Tom Waits and Miles Davis through to 1970s jazz-funk, was quick to find his own take on melancholic, instrumental hip-hop for the Memphis Industries label. His combination of DJ Shadow's cut and paste approach with the '60s film aesthetic of Portishead and the optimism of Saint Etienne saw Berridge conjuring beauty from his overworked Akai sampler, whose bank of stolen sounds blended modern classical, rock solos, and obtuse vocals into a wide-eyed future sound reminiscent of Aphex Twin or Future Sound of London. A handful of hard to find extended players laid out his musical agenda before the Compassion album filled in the full cinematic majesty of the project (Marshall, 2010).
Released Albums:
Broadway Project - Compassion
Broadway Project - The Vessel
Broadway Project - One Divided Soul
Broadway Project - In Finite
Broadway Project - Born Spirit EP
Broadway Project - The Kingdom of God (Is In Your Head) EP
Broadway Project - For The One EP
Broadway Project - Crash/Recovery EP
Reference:
Marshall, K. (2010). Broadway Project. All Music. Retrieved from http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll
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Slugabed is Brighton based producer and DJ working in dubstep and hip-hop scenes. In 2009 he released records on Ramp Recordings, MYOR and stuffrecords labels. Now in 2010, he moved into the big-boy ranks and released his first 12” on Planet Mu - Ultra Heat Treated EP (Last.fm, 2010).
Hailing from Southern California, Dayeve Xienze, real name Dayeve Masangcay is a skilled underground hip hop and trip hop disc jockey, who loves to make sample-based music with a touch of acoustic guitar and keyboard, ever since 1998. His music can be considered abstract, experimental, distinctive, eccentric, weird and wonderful. It can be categorize as trip hop, underground hip hop, turntablism, breakbeats, electronica, cinematic, avant garde, film score, and space age.
This blog is dedicated to my Trip-Hop, Downtempo, Electronica, Dubstep, and Underground Hip-Hop Instrumental Addicts.In this blog, I will be spotlighting a beat innovator from around the world each day. I will also provide the artist's bio, album releases, music videos and more.
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