Progressive House | The XX – Fiction (Funkagenda Bootleg Re-Edit)
Posted by Middy on December 26, 2012
Britain native, Funkagenda has released his much requested bootleg, remix of The XX’s “Fiction” that had originally been slated for an official release, but now is being given out as a Christmas gift by himself and his label, Funk Farm. Funkagenda is able to capture impeccably the smooth, easygoing essence of the original, notably the ethereal guitar melody and build on that with a similar synth chord progression and a slow chugging bass line.
Free Download: The XX – Fiction (Funkagenda Bootleg Re-Edit)
Trance | Gareth Emery & Ashley Wallbridge – DUI
Posted by Middy on December 20, 2012
As the follow up to their highly successful single “Mansion”, fellow British trance producers Gareth Emery and Ashley Wallbridge team up once more to finish out the year with “DUI”. Gareth Emery has put out some of the biggest trance tracks in the past 12 months like “Concrete Angel”, the aforementioned “Mansion”, and “Tokyo”, and “DUI” falls into that driving, uplifting style that he has espoused and become so well known for. “DUI” shines with its quick key play, fast paced bass line and big, uplifting drop aided with a powerful snare. The release on this song was delayed which is odd because it is Gareth Emery’s own label, but I guess at a certain point, those decisions are taken out of his hands..
Beatport: Gareth Emery & Ashley Wallbridge – DUI
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
Drum & Bass, Dubstep, Electronic | Monsta – Monsta EP
Posted by Sev on October 30, 2012
OWSLA is in full force this year cranking out release after release and showing no signs of stopping. Having just released Seven Lions new EP not more than two weeks ago and now releasing Monsta’s new EP and planning on releasing Kill The Noise’s EP during the first week of November, what label is going to be able to catch up to all these gigantic releases? You have nothing out of the usual remixes from this superstar lined up squad featuring Alvin Risk, Kill Pairs, Dillon Francis, and none other than Skrillex alongside Nero. Monsta’s originals on the EP are geared more toward the electronic style rather than the heavier Dubstep and DnB remixes. The EP contains a little bit of both spectrums and is well rounded for everyone. Grab the EP off of iTunes HERE.
Hip-Hop | Skiff – Van Wilder
Posted by BIGLIFE on October 22, 2012
In the mix of what has been labeled “Frat Rap” and has received criticism for lack of lyricism, a new artist emerges with a new sound, complimented by witty lyrics and a smooth flow. Enter; Skiff. The San Francisco native drops his 1st single out of his home at Wyclef Jean’s new label, “All Handz On Deck”. With his Hip Hop single “Van Wilder”, Skiff pretty much tells the story of the average college student, without the sugarcoating and simple lyricism.
Connect and stay posted with Skiff through his twitter, @RealSkiff
Dubstep, Electro-House, Review | Seven Lions – Seven Lions EP
Posted by Mach on October 16, 2012
People have been saying Seven Lions is very lucky to have been signed under OWSLA, I disagree, it is OWSLA that is lucky to have Seven Lions. This EP may be one of the most amazing things to release through the label. I want to cry listening to these 4 tracks, they are that incredible. Seven Lions, the man behind our bass filled emotions.
The first track, “Days to Come,” is absolutely beautiful. Despite the fact that he runs with the same producing strategy for his melodic work, his style is still one of a kind and no matter how many times he uses it on a track he will still dominate with tracks like “Days to Come.” “The Truth” is actually Electro-House which came to be quite a surprise seeing as Seven Lions is known for his Dubstep/Trance. It is awesome to see him go out of his comfort zone to come out with a cool track like this. Third, “Fractals,” which might be my favorite track on this EP. Again he went out of his comfort zone of Dubstep and delivered an Electro-House track, but this time he went hard, like, oh my god the heavy bass on this track made me poop my pants. In other words, he went H.A.M. His last track he actually gave away for free a few days ago, what a class act. Anyways, “She Was” is a Glitch-Hop/Break Beat track that I could easily compare to the level of Haywyre’s great Glitch-Hop productions. This is why this EP is one of the greatest things to release on OWSLA, because everyone expected to get an EP full of Seven Lions’ usual, clearly not the case. All in all, this EP is a must have, and I would go as far to say this is my EP of the year 2012. Simply the best.
Electronic, Glitch | Jayglow – Final Scenes EP
Posted by Sev on October 9, 2012
Inspected is a label known for having a vast variety of genres released from all sorts of artist. They supply their fans with everything from the heaviest of the heavy to the most melodic of tunes. Their latest release comes from an artist known for his incorporation of funk into his glich styled tunes, Jayglo. His newest EP on Inspected entitled “Finals Scenes” encompasses some jazz influenced, gliched out tracks that bring something fresh to its listeners. Jayglo keeps a great upbeat melody in all the tracks adding along his addition of heavy synths through to go along with the hip-hop style sounds. I had no intention of posting the EP, but after one listen through the EP I was hooked right away. Grab the EP off of Beatport HERE.