Artist of the Day: Paul White

A talented library producer with BBC and Channel 4 credits to his name, Paul White crafts his distinctive psychedelic nuggets at his South London rooftop studio, The Skylight. Paul’s earliest transmissions took the form of a series of mesmerizing beat tapes: rapid-fire scrapbooks of rough-edged artifacts passed between small circles of music-lovers.

A couple of sought-after 7”s and a handful of remixes later and Paul’s was the name to drop amongst the cognoscenti, from old-schoolers such as Ashley Beedle and Danny Breaks to new kids on the block like Gaslamp Killer. Amongst his most vocal champions are the BBC’s Mary Anne Hobbs, Benji B and Gilles Peterson - the latter featured Paul in his ‘Beat Generation’ special amongst the pick of the new breed. In print, Dazed & Confused enthused that he “embodies all that is good about a new generation of producers” while FACT magazine have tipped Paul as a key practitioner in the renaissance in instrumental hip-hop.

This last phrase is perhaps a key to distinguishing Paul from much of the pack: while he appeals to lovers of prog rock, of electronica, of a multitude of bass-heavy hybrids, there’s something unmistakeably ‘hip-hop’ in his approach and his sound (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Paul White's music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/Paul+White





Released Albums:
Paul White- The Strange Dreams of Paul White
Paul White- Paul White And The Purple Brain
Paul White- One Eye Open EP

Paul White- The Punch Drummer EP
Paul White- Sounds From The Skylight

Reference:
(2010). Paul White. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/Paul+White

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Artist of the Day: Mr. Chop

Coz Littler, aka Mr. Chop, is the proprietor of Cheshire, UK based Ape Recording Studios – one of the finest analog studios in the world, and a repository for vintage synthesizers, guitars, drums and gear sourced from the world over. He is also a multi-talented instrumentalist who records and releases music. His Lightworlds EP, released on Now-Again in 2009, is a futuristic blend of Vangelis-style, cinematic synthesizer prog, psychedelic funk, jazz and musique concrete – and is just a hint at where this enigmatic genius plans to take his growing faithfully (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Mr. Chop's music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/Mr.+Chop





Released Albums:
Mr. Chop - For Pete's Sake
Mr. Chop - Lightworlds EP
Mr. Chop - Sounds from the Cave

Reference:
(2010). Mr. Chop. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/Mr.+Chop

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Artist of the Day: The Heliocentrics

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

You can listen to The Heliocentrics' music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Heliocentrics



Released Albums:
The Heliocentrics - Out There
The Heliocentrics - Inspiration Information
The Heliocentrics - Fallen Angels

Reference:
(2010). The Heliocentrics. Last.fm. Retrieved from http://www.last.fm/music/The+Heliocentrics

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Artist of the Day: Dimlite

«Cosmic dust taking you wherever you like. That's creativity. That's freedom. [...] There's a great quality of soul about this. What's even more alluring is, you know not why.» (StraightNoChaser Magazine, 2005). 

Dimlite is the main alias of musician/producer Dimitri Grimm, originally from a tiny village somewhere in Switzerland. On his productions he fuses real instruments, voice, samples from any thinkable source, field recordings and boundless electronic trickery into a genre-mashing array of styles, that have also placed him on the map as one of the many pioneers of that certain electronic, dirty, sloppy and mostly instrumental hiphop-sound sweeping the planet since a couple of years. 

After releasing a first EP («A/DD», 2003) and two albums («Runbox Weathers», 2005 & «This Is Embracing», 2006) on the Berlin-based label Sonar Kollektiv and additional records under other outlets The Slapped Eyeballers (a pop-rock-ish duo w/ Balt Mirczok) or Misel Quitno (a more tripped out lo-fi moniker, dedicated to 1/4-inch tape and an imaginary 60's-sound), Dimlite is currently playing shows throughout Europe and simultaniously working on his forthcoming records on Egon's recordlabel Now Again (Alternative Addiction, 2010).
It’s been a startling couple of years for instrumental beats of all persuasions: the likes of LA’s Brainfeeder crew and Glasgow’s LuckyMe collective have developed styles with a scope far beyond creating merely ‘instrumental hip hop’. Amongst all the hype and promotion, one of the music’s reclusive architects seems to have been mysteriously overlooked.

However, ask the likes of Gaslamp Killer or Ras G and they’ll tell you the same thing: Dimlite’s production was astounding from the start. His EPs of 2003 and debut album Runbox Weathers two years later revealed a Swiss producer beholden to no one, possessing a style as nuanced as his friend Prefuse 73 and yet enriched by a careworn romanticism and quirkiness that rewarded repeat listens and has, over time, made him something of a ‘producer’s producer’.

Another album, singles, remixes and side-projects followed, taking Dimlite’s sound further left, further into a singular world where soul music, latin rhythms, hiphop and more are reconstituted into dreamy, lovelorn beat constructions. And so he takes his place on Now-Again, home to a cadre of similarly singular spirits such as The Heliocentrics and The Whitefield Brothers, each bent on refracting music history through their own unique lenses.

And while copycat producers abound, Dimlite’s uniqueness is only throw into sharper relief. It’s clear the moment he sings, such as on EP highlight Elbow Flood or the astonishing (and miniature) closer, Can’t Get Used To Those. It’s apparent in every one of his strangely abrupt changes. It’s even in his song titles. Perhaps Prismic Tops will be the record that sparks a critical reappraisal of this gifted producer’s work. And if not, Now-Again Records is still proud to present this, the latest in a line of remarkable releases from a quiet pioneer (Now-Again).

You can listen to Dimlite's music at:
http://www.last.fm/music/Dimlite



Released Albums:
Dimlite - Runbox Weathers
Dimlite - A/DD
Dimlite - This Is Embracing
Dimlite - Prismic Tops

Reference:

(2010). Dimlite. Alternative Addiction. Retrieved from 

http://www.alternativeaddiction.com/search/band_artist.asp?artist=DIMLITE&bio=1

Dimlite. Now-Again. Retrieved from http://www.nowagainrecords.com/dimlite/

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