It’s no secret that as time passes by, your tastes in music, clothes, friends etc. will inevitably change. While I still love my EDM music as much as ever before, I’ve recently found myself more and more seeking out new down-tempo, chilled out tracks from younger, up-and-coming producers, and New York’s Cream Dream is one of the producers who’s caught my ear because of his infectious hip hop instrumental beats. His music is in a somewhat similar vein as Clams Casino, another beatsmith who I can’t seem to get enough of these days. Here’s what the man himself had to say about his new EP:

“Cream Dream is pleased to present his third release, Spliffy Beats Vol.I. It’s a smooth, chilled out beat tape perfect for easy listening or cruising around town with the bass turned up. The tape consists of 5 original bass heavy, airy beats and 2 screwed tracks that pay homage to the late DJ Screw. The tape is available now for free download for your listening pleasure!”

You can download the whole EP here for free.

Keep your eyes out for this guy in the future, now here’s a small taste of what you’re in for.

Fast Life (Screwed by Cream Dream) by Cream Dream

Purple Keys by Cream Dream

So I was browsing through Mad Decent’s most recent Soundcloud Roundup, a feature they run every week to promote up and coming unsigned artists, when guess who’s name should appear but Montreal’s own Jaekwon Waxmoney (aka Jacob Waxman). I’ve featured his tracks before on the blog, and this most recent track “Off Balance” is a slice of bass-heavy goodness layered in between very chill melodic vibes. Big ups to the man for getting some recognition from one of the biggest labels out there today, make sure you keep your eye out for Jacob’s name in the future. Check out the track below as well as a link to Mad Decent for some more great tunes.

Jaekwon Waximoney – Off Balance by Jaekwon Waximoney

Mad Decent Roundup #57

It’s shameful that it’s taken me so long to write up a review of a release by one of my favorite artists, but better late than never I suppose. Renaissance Man Project, released at the beginning of November on Turbo records, is the latest creation of Finnish duo Renaissance Man, who I’ve praised profusely on many occasions in the past. Their new LP spans the spectrum all the way from bizzare, yet extremely creative art-house type music, to insanely catchy basslines and infectious drum riffs that will crawl inside your head and stay there for days. This album definitely warrants the use the word “Project” in the title, because it has the feel of musicians who really wanted to push their boundaries and see what they could come up with.

On some tracks, specifically “Stalker Humanoid,” “Knocking Doors,” and “Nonsensus,” the guys stay true to their tech-house roots, constructing complex beats and incorporating eclectic samples of gongs, chimes and even bouncing ping-pong balls. (Side note: the ping-pong ball sample at the beginning of “Nonsensus” immediately reminded me of the sample used in Marble Anthem) On the other hand, the album also has some songs, like “Vancouver” and “Sensemaker,” are a bit harder to wrap your head around. The dance elements in each song are still strong at points, and when you hear them it’s hard not to admire the way Renaissance Man can craft a rhythm out of even the oddest and most unnerving pads and samples.

All in all, I have a mountain of respect for these guys. Not simply because of their tremendous skill as producers, but also in their willingness to push the envelope to create something brilliant and unique. Go pick up the whole album ASAP, Renaissance Man Project has quickly established itself as one of my favorite albums of 2011.

Nikolai Kopeloi- Renaissance Man

Nonsensus- Renaissance Man

S.O.S- Renaissance Man

Happy Friday everyone, welcome to the other side of another long week. As I mentioned earlier, we have a lot of great shows coming up this month, and I’ve just updated our concert calender in accordance. On Sunday one of my favorite hip hop duos of all time, Black Star, will be stopping by La Olympia and limited tickets are still available. Get on that fast if you’re planning on going, hope to see you there.

So NT89, one of my favorite producers to keep track of at the moment, has just released his newest Payne EP. Don’t bother trying to download this one, it’s locked up pretty tight, but you can always check out this teaser on NT89′s soundcloud. Enjoy the this minimix, although it’s pretty much just torture for me.

NT89 – Payne EP teaser inluding Obi Blanche rmx [Bad Life] by NT89

And now your tunes for the weekend

Anticipate ft. Sam Frank (Netsky Remix)- Skream

GO (Original Mix)- Diplo & Oliver Twizt

Globus (Original Mix)- SCNTST

Buzzin (Original Mix)- Overwerk

New Theory (RAC Remix)- Washed Out

Epic (Original Mix)- Sandro Silva & Quintino

 

I just got a tip about a new drum and bass duo out of London from the blog’s friend Claudia who writes over at Miss Foxy Learns to Blog. Here’s what she had to say about this new mixtape from Delta Heavy.

“If you haven’t heard of Delta Heavy, why ever not? I recently got hooked to their amazingly brilliant EP ‘Hold Me’ released on Ram Label on October 24th, and featured on the free mixtape above. The music video includes lots of dead cats coming to life, perfect for this Halloween season. If you haven’t been carving pumpkins, pouring fake blood over yourself or generally trick or treating you should be ashamed of yourself :p. But Delta Heavy are definitely on the cards as the new leaders in drum’n’bass and dubstep. They have achieved marvellous things in but a year of their arrival on the scene. Countless evenings this week have been spent listening to the likes of Skrillex, Culture Shock, Joker and Sub Focus mixed perfectly. Good time spent with no money, no place to go and a speaker system at my disposal. So check em out. Nuff said.

x”

You can listen to the whole mixtape here. Peace

I just got this video in my inbox today from two of my favorite underground rappers, Classified and Brother Ali. Both of these MCs have been around for a long time now, consistently putting out great music that’s way under the radar of most casual hip-hop fans. There’s something about the quiet confidence and low profile that these guys keep that for me is incredibly refreshing. Here’s Classified’s newest video for “Maybe It’s Just Me,” enjoy.

Here are a few more tracks from the Canadian, check em out.

Put It All In Perspective- Classified

Cheap Talk- Classified

5th Element- Classified

Skrillex’s new OWSLA collective project just keeps picking up steam…this is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Coming off the recent success of Porter Robinson’s “Spitire” EP, OWSLA is back with two new tracks from the M Machine. And good lord are they dirty.

“Promise Me a Rose Garden” is a classic fusion of electro-house and dubstep that also features some beautiful vocals and soulful pads. Meanwhile the second single “Glow” has much more of a retro vibe to it, demonstrating the versatility of these California-based producers. The M Machine will be in Montreal in a couple of weeks for Kill Halloween 2011, much more on that coming up soon. In the meantime enjoy these two beauties.

Promise Me A Rose Garden / Glow by The M Machine

Trust in the M Machine.

It feels like a looong time since we last heard from M83, so naturally when I heard that the new album, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, leaked onto the internet I jumped right on it. It’s clear from the impressive production on this 2 CD album that M83 has not spent his time slacking since his last release, 2008′s Saturdays=Youth, but has clearly been hard at work on his newest creation for quite some time. I’m pretty pressed for time these days so I’ll forgo a lengthy review for the moment. However, I will tell you this album is definitely worth grabbing when it’s officially released on the 18th of this month (or before that if you’re so inclined). Here are a few of my favorites from the album so far (stream only for now unfortunately). Enjoy

New Map- M83

Steve McQueen- M83

Year One, One UFO- M83

New stuff fresh off the presses from Justice, this track was posted a few hours ago on Ed Banger’s soundcloud page. It’s a remix done by the prolific French duo of the song “Golden Age” by The Asteroids Galaxy Tour , check it out.

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – Golden Age (Justice Remix) by EdBanger

September 13th marked the release of two highly anticipated albums, and in the interest of saving myself a little time, I’ve decided to write up a quick review of both in the same post.

Neon Indian- Era Extraña (Mom & Pop Records/Static Tongues)

Era Extraña is the sophomore LP from Chillwave maestro Alan Palomo, better known as Neon Indian. Palomo comes back in a big way on this album, which had a lot to live up to considering the commercial and critical success of his 2009 debut Psychic Chasms. On this album, Palomo had to prove that his prior success was no fluke, and that his spacy, ethereal and occasionally disorienting synth melodies had staying power among his more casual fans. Era Extraña (which translates to either “strange era” or “she was strange” in Spanish) expands on his previous work, creating a more refined and substantive sound while simultaneously retaining the inherent weirdness that first gave him his popular appeal. This album is appropriately titled, as Palomo looks to blend the popular with the bizarre to create something we’ve never heard before.

Like most albums, this one is not without its weak points. For example, ”Fallout,” the first single released off of the album,  heavily favors a lo-fi, 80s vibe that is ultimately too subdued to be catchy. On the other hand, when Palomo gets it right, he really gets it right. The best tracks on the album, such as “Arcade Blues,” “Halogen (I Could be a Shadow),” and “Polish Girl” settle comfortably into that tricky middle ground that he is looking to capture (that is, somewhere between too poppy to be taken seriously and too weird to be enjoyable). Overall, I really enjoyed this album, here are a few personal favorites.

Arcade Blues- Neon Indian

Future Sick- Neon Indian

Halogen (I Could be a Shadow)- Neon Indian

Das Racist- Relax (Greedhead)

Das Racist are back with their debut LP  Relax, and admittedly, this is the album released on September 13th that I was most excited for. I couldn’t wait for this album to drop for a few reasons. First and foremost, if you read TNM often you already know that I’m a fan of the off-color, irreverent and occasionally nonsensical styles of Heems, Kool AD and Dapwell. Secondly, I was curious to see how the trio would handle the release of an actual legit album. Up until now we’ve been familiar with DR only through their personally released internet mixtapes, which often felt like an inside joke and a jab at the established music industry. Granted, Relax was released through Heems’ own Greedhead label, but still it feels a bit strange to see DR join in on the same industry they spent so much time dissing.

Don’t worry, this is not going to turn into a “Das Racist sold out” rant by any means, and for the most part I really like the album. It’s clear from the first time you hear the manic beat of “Michael Jackson” or the pounding bass in “Happy Rappy” that the boys went all in on this album, trying to bridge the gap between the college crowd who already knows every word of their mixtapes and the more conventional music fan who has no fucking idea who these guys are.

There are a few filler spots on this album to be sure. Tracks like “Brand New Dance” and “Booty in the Air” feel somewhat contrived, leading me to believe they were probably throw-away tracks that found their way on at the last minute. There are a few bangers as well, like “Punjabi Song” and “Power,” and overall the trio’s signature style shines through. Whatever limitations the boys faced due to switching away from the mixtape format were put to the side, and what’s left is something bizzare and unique; exactly what I’ve come to expect from the stoner-rap superstars.

Happy Rappy- Das Racist

Selena- Das Racist

Power (Ft. Danny Brown & Despot)- Das Racist