Electro, Mashups, Trap | ETC!ETC! & Brillz (New Jack Swoop)
Posted by mimada on March 8, 2013
This has been one of my favorite trap tracks for a while now but ETC!ETC! & Brillz somehow managed to make me want to boogie even more to this now with their upgraded remix of Swoop. I’m a sucker for hip hop and electronic mashups, what can I say. What really gets me going about this one though are the hints of Bell Biv Devoe’s Posion. Takes me back to the good ol’ days…
ECT!ECT! FACEBOOK | BRILLZ FACEBOOK
Albums, Review | Rusko – KAPOW EP
Posted by Spice on November 5, 2012
And thus begins Rusko’s pledge to release all of his music for free in the wake of some very public complications with Mad Decent. Kudos to the dubstep don — always something of a rabble-rouser in the electronic music community — for taking an aggressive stand and choosing to operate outside of the system. KAPOW comes on the heels of Rusko’s rather disappointing collaboration with Cypress Hill and navigates us back to more familiar territory. However, this isn’t his best effort. There’s a funky, fizzy vibe to these tracks that at times gives fresh life to those trademark glitchy womps and wobbles (“Yeah”) but at others seems unfocused and chaotic (“Booyakasha”). The latter two tracks are fresh and bouncy — he even toys with a rollicking moombah bassline on “Like This” — but lack the measure of oomph that would otherwise take this EP to the next level. (Okay, to be fair, I’m also automatically comparing this to Bassnectar’s recent Freestyle EP, and that was a brilliant mind-melt that totally blows this out of the water.) This is a 6.5/10. Possibly a 7.
Fortunately, KAPOW is free if you “pay” with a tweet/Facebook status or sign up for Rusko’s newsletter, so there’s not really any reason not to download it. And his goal of self-promoting his music without label assistance is certainly worth supporting; if he is successful, it will be a clear indication that times are officially changing.
Download Free: Rusko – KAPOW EP
Trap | Clockwork – Titan (Coyote Kisses Remix)
Posted by Juicebox on September 16, 2012
Our boys over at Coyote Kisses don’t always make trap music, but when they do, they win contests & break records. They didn’t actually break any records, but they definitely just won Mad Decent’s remix contest of Clockwork’s Titan! For those of you who don’t know, Clockwork also goes by the alias RL Grime…the genius who produced Kanye West’s “Mercy.” The duo wanted to emphasize that while they switched up the style for this remix, they will not be going “trap” with their future releases. Make sure you keep these guys on your radar, they’ve got a bright future ahead of them.
Hip-Hop, Videos | Diplo Speaks on Signing Riff Raff to Mad Decent
Posted by A on May 29, 2012
Just last week, Riff Raff was featured on DJ Green Lantern’s “Invasion Radio” on XM 44. During the interview, Mad Decent head honcho Diplo called in from Japan to talk about why he signed Riff Raff, and what the future holds for the dynamic duo. During the course of the interview, Riff Raff broke Green Lantern off with a very ricey freestyle that lasted nearly 8 minutes long. As a bonus, I’ve included a fascinating article in the LA Weekly featuring Riff Raff’s complicated story. Read the article here.
Moombahton | Trap Stars: Baauer and Bird Peterson
Posted by Spice on May 25, 2012
As the subject would suggest, this isn’t really moombahton; it’s trap. Did we say or did we say it? Trap-influenced dance music is about to take over as the next big urban sound and you might as well be early to the party. So without further adieu, let’s dig into these tracks.
First up we’ve got Baauer. Baauer is an up and comer out of Brooklyn with a diverse array of hip hop remixes under his belt and an obvious flair for funk. Perhaps it was therefore inevitable that he’d eventually catch Diplo’s eye. I’m digging the bouncy booty bass vibe in “Harlem Shake,” a track which has already seen major airtime on BBC Radio 1’s “Diplo and Friends” show and which seems perfectly suited to the beautiful weather we’re seeing here on the east coast (#THREEDAYWEEKEND). And how about those tropical marimba tones in “Yaow!”? Bottom line, both of these songs were built to light a fire on a packed dance floor.
Rounding it out this week is Bird Peterson, whose chill, hypnotic reboot of M83’s “Steve McQueen” brings a slightly different vibe than the two songs above. In fact, I’d go as far as to call this song haunting. This is a good one for humid, sticky summer nights in someone’s backyard.
Dubstep, Review | Cookie Monsta – Riot! EP
Posted by Mach on April 3, 2012
When it comes to filthy dubstep, the artists that come to mind are usually Circus Record’s own FuntCase and Cookie Monsta. The filth monger Cookie Monsta dropped his new EP, ‘Riot!’ today, and there is no doubt that he out did himself again. Cookie doesn’t need to make a name for himself, just about everything he releases is dirty gold.
The title track ‘Riot’ I assume to be influenced greatly by number of riots that have been held recently in England. Cookie Monsta definitely inspires people to stand up…on cars and well… RIOT! The track is filthy, destroying your ear drums one decible at a time. Videogames seem to inspire all of us nerds in some way, in the case of ‘Level Up,’ the 8 bit sound effects just lead up to the finishing blow, #1-up. Between ‘Time To Get Crunk’ and ‘HedRokkA’ I couldn’t decide which one was my favorite on the EP. coming in second place is ‘Time To Get Crunk,’ sampling Mad Decent’s Lil Jon (that is correct, Lil Jon was signed onto Mad Decent by Diplo). I love the pace of this track, it starts off fast drumstep/drum & bass and halfway through Cookie takes it down a notch for us to enjoy a slower nasty drop. Sev and I both agree that ‘HedRokkA’ is the filthiest track on this release. Smooth and grimy, this track is nothing short of a panty wetter, and for guys it is like if Borgore just created a website to post up all the “submissions” he receives from the ladies. Dubstep fans, this EP is a must have. Buy it, rip it, torrent it, what ever you have to do to get it, because you need this.
Check Out Cookie Monsta
Albums, Dubstep, Review | Rusko – Songs (Album)
Posted by Mach on March 27, 2012
I was holding onto this post because there were no preview set to post up of the album. Today Rusko’s album was supposed to drop on beatport, but it has yet to happen. Once it is I will add in a player for you all to hear the tracks. Despite how pissed Rusko is at Mad Decent for allowing full previews being uploaded online of his new album, he still went with the original release plans. Slightly disappointed myself, considering Rusko in his rage was threatening to release the album for free.
With every album as big as this one, there are a few tracks no one is impressed with, but then there are a bunch that are very impressive. Rusko had stated back in November that the idea behind this album was to also give people a few tracks they could dance to. I can definately make out what he was saying. With that said, my favorite track on the album is undoubtably ‘Thunder.’ It is one of the dance tracks Rusko was talking about, something we are not use to from him.
Rusko still stuck with his classy reggae vibe on a good amount of the tracks. ‘Roll Da Beats,’ ‘Mek More Green,’ and ‘Skanker’ are top reggae/dubstep tracks in my opinion, leaving ‘Love No More’ and ‘Be Free’ the reject reggae vibes off this album. People seem to be raving ‘ASAD Car Park,’ but I think there is nothing really exciting about it besides the fact Rusko knows how to make a good bass-line on a drop. I would say the same for ‘M357,’ but then the track got more into its trancy blend which I love. Despite how much the drop makes me think the adults from Charlie Brown, ‘Opium’ is another one of the top tracks on this album. Everyone has already been listening to ‘Somebody To Love’ for the past month so the last track I am mentioning is ‘Dirty Sexy.’ To be honest, the vocals make this track a beast. I have no idea who’s voice these vocals belong to, but I give her a lot of credit for covering Rusko, which she makes seemingly easy. Despite the tracks that I am not wild about on this album, I say this is still a great release from Rusko.