Forget head-nodding because this is just off. Not just off the grid but off everything, like catching an eel in a barrel. Synth, bleeps, bass, drums, it’s all just bouncing off the walls on “Brun” for 30 minutes. Actually I can’t really say anything more about it than that it’s kinda like what psychedelic was for rock music, but for beats. Sortof…

If you like freaked-out beats with weird synths and samples you should try it. And even if you don’t like that you should try it anyway, even if it’s only to help me figure out if this guy is borderline genius or just plain out of his mind.

Get it for free at Bandcamp.

Suddenly changes occured, almost simultaneously. We hit our 20s, MP3 encoding became popular, old-fashioned tracker applications were replaced with midi sequencers and with the emergance of broadband internet the PC/Amiga music scene died and was reborn in the form of netlabels. I’ve never spoken to him anymore and only rarely did his name pop up on the net. People fade away, thus is life and it’s quite possible he’s forgotten all about me and the other online guys. But I have something better than pictures to remember him by: I’ve got his music.

As he and I once did over a decade ago, I now share music with you on this blog. And it doesn’t seem more than fair that I share his music with you. This is Vae a.k.a. Aleksi Virta with “Meets Torsti At The Space Lounge”.

Now Vae wasn’t revered for his skillz in a tracker as much as he was praised for his ability to put just the correct samples and grooves together in any DAW to create something incredible, a fact which is evident on this little 35 minute album which was released through Monotonik.

The ‘Outer Edge Intro’ immediately sets the tone for the album. Spaced out dubby fx, percussion and groovy drums are accompanied with a freaked-out cinematic vocal bit. ‘Nebulae Herb’ continues on the same tip, doing it’s name justice by adding a badass Hammond-like groove and a 60s space-age synth solo. If you listen closely you can hear how a wild cut-up ‘Next Level remix‘ by Show & A.G. forms the basis for this track. Crazy!

Exiting the Nebulae we find ourselves on a beach reminiscent of the Caribbean, apart from the fact that we’re on Mars. Imagine a band playing their organs and Hohners in the red sands to a Southern-American groove. When you’re done slowly swaying your hips, the ‘Gavrila Nebula’ interlude prepares you for the insane jazzyness of ‘The Giant Catch 22′. Easily a candidate for Mark Farina’s “Mushroom Jazz” compilations, this hardcore 90s instrumental hiphop track has it all: walking basslines, jazzy rides, thick beats and harsh piano hits.

After this we’re up for some serious dub (without the stepping) on “Whirlwind Pistols Dub”. Grab your dreadlock-wig from the top shelf and toke up, it’s 4:20. More instrumentalism and short solo’s on this bass-heavy track. Irie! Irie Daily! But it isn’t until Vae goes total latin on “O Tema De Viagem Especial” that he presents his grandeur. Shakers, guitars, horns, organs, drumfills, flute, xylophone, everything is just there. When you’re just getting fired up he throws in a massive funk drumbreak to totally break you loose.

With the ‘Art Of Far’ interlude Aleksi exits the party and ventures back into space, showing off some drum programming that the stutter-boys that are now hype would be jealous of. It’s just a little taste to get us in the mood for the final track, but we’re not there yet. First ‘Dragons’ must be slain on a bombastic breakbeat track which would be in A. Skillz’s top 10 if he ever heard it. If there’s another remake of Shaft, this will be the soundtrack to a heavy fighting scene.

Being almost near the end of the space journey, Vae goes DJ Krush on ‘True Dwelling Place’. Raw beats, heavy bassline and abstract pads are key. Add a little sound fx here and there and it’s done. ‘Princess Melodiae’ sounds like the title reads: beautiful but dangerous. Starting off with moody melodics the track suddenly transforms into a beat and sample mash-up that could fit perfectly in a Flying Lotus set. At the moment you’re comfortably set in that groove, the beast is unleashed and out comes a dark hard synthy breakbeat ending. Going out with a bang was never so true.

You can get the separate tracks at archive.org or download everything in the pack I’ve uploaded at MegaUpload (link updated) or zShare.

As added bonus you can check out an interview with Vae at Imaginary Planet and listen to/download a rework I did of his 2000 track ‘Beige Amme’ below.

Vae – Beige Amme (What’s That In My Sink remix)

That sparked your interest, but you’re not ready to spend your hard earned cash yet? Well you’re in luck, because Suff has a nice collection of remixes online for free, called “Suff Refills”.

The Refills is 45mins of pure Suffness, only this time he’s put acapella’s of your (mostly US) favorite artists on top of his sample-heavy drums. Whether it’s chilled-out mood’ism, heavy boom-bap or über-funky disco tracks, Daddy matches his beats to the vocals like it’s nothing. A must-have for hip-hop heads and beat-dj’s!

Tracklist:
01 – Slum Village – Look Of Love Refill
02 – Suff Daddy & Morlockk Dilemma – Ich Trinke
03 – The Alkaholics feat. Diamond D – Next Level Refill
04 – Guilty Simpson – Before The Verdict Refill
05 – Dabrye feat. J Dilla & Phat Kat – Game Over Refill
06 – Suff Daddy & Fleur Earth – Wasichloswerdenwollte
07 – Notorious B.I.G – Big Poppa Refill Instrumental
08 – Erykah Badu – Honey Refill
09 – Phat Kat feat. Guilty Simpson – Nightmare Refill
10 – D3CCPT feat. Guilty Simpson – Psycho Refill
11 – Notorious B.I.G – Nasty Boy Refill
12 – Fleur Earth feat. Frank Nitt – Changes Refill
13 – The Alkaholiks – Hip Hop Drunkies Refill
14 – Morlockk Dilemma – Unterwegs Refill
15 -Audio 88 & Yassin feat. Morlockk Dilemma – Isolation Refill

Check out track 13 below and get the 320kbps MP3 package at Suff Daddy’s Bandcamp.

Hip Hop Drunkies (Suff Edit) by Suff Daddy

The first EP (”19/76″) that Crookram released on Budabeats back in 2008 was met with open arms in the downtempo scene because of the perfect in-style feel and melancholic atmosphere. Two year later he returns with 19 tracks to show us downtempo isn’t only not dead, it’s actually in damn good shape! Let’s do some quick highlights here of the album that came out on Budabeats as well as Bankrupt Recordings.

The album starts off with an oldschool ‘who am I and what do I do’ intro. A dope beath with a bunch of rap vocals scratched on it. Da Crook still brags and boasts and follows with ‘Crookrilla’, one of his sample-laden breakbeat tracks that Wax Tailor would be proud of.
Next up on the menu are ‘Breakadawn’ and ‘Missione Pericolosa’, two steady 90bpm groove tracks. Dope cinematic vibes with straight drums is the recipe. ‘Bij De Rest’ also features these ingredients but because of the dusty Dutch sample (nice find bro!) it has kind of an early Spinvis vibe.

Speaking about nice finds, ‘Please Get Out Of The New One If You Can’t Blend The Ancient’ is a beautiful and funny interlude. It almost seems like a message to all the young kids out there making hip beats without researching their predecessors (my words, not Crookram’s!). The title track ‘Through Windows’ and ‘Two Seven Three Eleven’ continue the downtempo stream that’s ideal for a sunsplashed sunday morning. It’s the perfect build-up to ‘Good Morning Good Days’, an interlude which welcomes you to the more uptempo track ‘Makedonija’.

After this happy segment it’s back to cinematic moodyness with ‘Your Eyes Are Full Of Hate’, ‘Bodies’ and ‘Badalamenti’, an eastern Europe influenced track in which Crookram shows us he’s capable of more than simple breaks and boom-bap drums. ‘A Man Named Ivan’ continues the exotic sample-trip before getting back to straight funk on ‘Business Is Business’ and ‘Eugène Et Le Cerceau’, which are more minimalistic and reminds me of the Belgian loop-cutters 40 Winks.

Ending the album in style, the last 3 tracks take us back to the Crookram we know from “19/76″. Dragging movie styled sampled accompanied by robust beats. A perfect goodbye and ’till next time that makes you lunge for the repeat button before the final track is over.

On “Through Windows” Crookram not only shows us his growth as a producer, but also that regular downtempo music isn’t dead and the pile of old records to sample from is still not depleted. As much as I love our new erratic stuttering synthy counterpart, I’m filing this release as a classic without a single doubt.

Check out the intro track below and download the album at Budabeats or Bankrupt Recordings (direct links).

crookram-back to school by budabeats

update: The Dutchies can check an interview with Crookram at 3voor12. And here’s a video of the track ‘Through Windows’

Just before dropping his new album with John Robinson (aka Lil’ Sci of Scienz Of Life) called “Jay Are – The 1960’s Jazz Revolution Again”, Rawls pops out  this collection of beats in conjunction with Mighty Healthy NYC.

Although I honestly can’t say this is a superb product from beginning to end (some beats are a bit.. easy or unworked), it still just what you expect from J.: minimal, soulful and funky smooth-jazz on dope beats. Thankfully the few ‘misses’ on the tape are quickly forgotten after hearing the masterpieces like ‘Equinox’, ‘Stand Down’ and ‘4 A.M.’

Also included is a track from the Jay Are album, ‘The Lee Morgan Story’ and a joint featuring L.E. called ‘American Idol’.

Get Hotel Beats vol 1. here (zshare)

While we were out there checking the headliners, a group consisting of 3 young Amsterdam natives almost managed to slip past us. Luckily a friend from Amsterdam slipped us an EP containing 7 sweet and soulful tracks by Nation Of Elzi.

I honestly have to apologize for posting this a couple of months late, because this is that summer barbeque shit right here! Jazzy rhodes, soul guitars and a lot of head-nodding beats are the ground on which some joyful and positive are laid-down. The EP can be easily filed between old Common and Slum Village albums, but without calling it a copycat-effort.

You can get this groovy release in 256kbps MP3 at the Nation Of Elzi website, and I also found a 320kbps version on ZShare for all you Serato/Traktor people out there.

Also, next saturday they’ll be opening for P.O.S. at the Sugar Factory.

Around that same time Kyteman’s album ‘The Hermit Sessions‘ skyrocketed in The Netherlands, ensuing in a shitload of gigs for his Hip Hop Orchestra of which Surreal and Jule are a part of. This in itself is a good thing ofcourse, but in my opinion it kinda meant less shine for these 2 dope EP’s. But hey, that’s what we’re here for, right?

:: Master Surreal – Adaptation EP

Tracklist:
1. All Right Now (Here I Come)

2. I’m Back – Cuts by DJ DNS
3. The God Of War ft. Tyrone of T-N-T
4. Adaptation Interlude (A Message)
5. In Love And War ft. Omar Soulay
6. Infinite Potential ft. Avi
7. Cowboys & Indians – Cuts by DJ DNS
8. Omega ‘09

Buy the EP @ iTunes here, and download the Master Surreal Mixtape here for free.

:: King Jule – The Hunter, The Tracks

Tracklist:
1. Saudacao (Intro)
2. A New Day – Cuts by DJ DNA (beat by yours truely)

3. Culture
4. Ill Format – Cuts by DJ DNS
5. Hold My Own

6. Street Style Lessons
7. R-A-W ft. Avi & Keynote Speakerz

You’ll have to search for this one yourselves for now.. I’m not using iTunes and I’m still waiting for the link =)

Kyteman dropped his well-received album “The Hermit Sessions”, Keynote Speakerz released their “Remix Record“, EP’s by Master Surreal and King Jule are scheduled to blow and if I’m correct Arts The Beatdoctor is (as always) working on tracks in his new pad. Inf’s “The Go Round” is also scheduled to be released soon, and until that time we can still chill out on Pax & Pry’s “A Day Off”.

But let’s put that aside for a second and focus on the recent issue: Skiggy Rapz has signed to the Austin-based Beats Broke label and as of May 12th (yea tomorrow!) you can buy his brand-spankin’-new EP called “Bang To The Boogie” on CD or MP3.

It’s been a while since Skiggy dropped his last EP “Boatdrinks”, so let’s not get into the usual compare-the-old-with-new review style and just check out this EP on it’s own.

As it should be, the release is very well timed. Spring is already in full effect here considering the weather and BTTB fits it well. Venturing into a more musical side of hiphop, Skiggy delivers a fresh and cheerful blend of summer-worthy tracks. Uptempo beats with uplifting melodics are combined with Skiggy’s signature content-filled raps to make a solid feelgood EP.  The guys get proper lyrical lines and the girls get hooks they can sing to.

Also featured on the EP are Tinusz and Annemarie of the happy-go-lucky band Leaf, and remixes are done by Inf and Arts The Beatdoctor.

Ofcourse a release like this should be celebrated. This will take place Thursday the 14th of May @ Ekko. The doors will be open at 21:00 and the damage is EUR 6,-

For people sympathetic with Beats Broke and Skiggy Rapz there’s  a discount on the album. It only lasts until today, so better check your mail/hyves/myspace inbox!

Also, there’s already 1 track up for free download at bandcamp, click!

If you’re not on their mailinglists, shame on you and tough luck! Luckily you can already order the EP here or get it the next thursday at the releaseparty.

Although the album is classified as drum & bass (’intelligent‘ if you want to put it in a corner), it’s way more than that. When put next to the regular dnb album of that time, ‘Colours’ stands out by taking every aspect of composition and arrangement 2 steps higher. Whereas most tracks back then were just beats accompanied by some pads and a little bit of melody, Adam F goes all out on his debut album by serving us extensive arrangementns where the breakbeat is only a pillar on which the music is built and not the entire foundation.

This becomes instantly clear at the intro track which is a 70’s chase-scene funk fueled short with fast hihats and a wah-wah guitar. Before starting off the first full-length track on the album, the intro seamlessly blends into a breakbeat-driven prelude which includes a little live trumpet solo.

After showing off his talents with the 2 short intro tracks Adam brings us an angsty futuristic dnb track that’s based around a single drumloop, a constant pad and a bombastic orchestral hit. By adding other drum excerpts, effects and a filthy heavy bassline, ‘Metropolis’ becomes more and more interesting while maintaining it’s subtle composure.

For a cooling down, the next track offers sweet pads and chords, jazzy guitars and is topped with a crispy vocoder. ‘Music In My Mind’ is a perfect example of how to match dance music with the structure of smooth-jazz composition.  The guitar, trumpets and lead-synth are the main features here, while a thick short bass-hit keeps punching through to keep the pace up.

It’s back to the Metropolis vibe after that, with ‘Jaxx’ being another heavy but atmospheric dark track.

Having shown that he’s capable of doing hard dnb party-tracks, F goes on to show that he’s more than just a dance producer. Starting with ‘Mother Earth’ he explores extensive drum-programming and general atmosphere before going on to the more melodic ‘The Tree Knows Everything’, which is a dnb driven ballad with vocals by Tracey Horn (of Everything But The Girl). The lyrics take you back to childhood times and the accompanying piano and synths compliment that feeling well.

Centre of the release is the commercially viable hit ‘Circles’. Upbeat drums and sunny pads drift alongside a steady and really present bassline.

The only thing drum & bass about ‘Dirty Harry’ are the choice in drums. Apart from those it’s just a straight 70’s blaxploitation funk track, reminiscing of scores Isaac Hayes did. Hard but liquid basslines are key to this track and they’re accompanied by flutes and, ofcourse, the wah-wah guitar again.

‘F-Jam’ featuring MC Conrad (THE dnb MC at the time) goes back to straight intelligent: simple beats, chilled pads, trumpet solo’s and the deep full voice of Conrad.

The not-so-unusual-but-still-surprising guest star Ronny Jordan drops in for ‘Colours’. Adam easily adapts his style to Ronny’s guitar solo’s while maintaining his own sound which became so apparent in the previous track. This track is just straight-up smooth jazz: guitar, rhodes, saxophone and recurring themes. An unexpected but real nice twist at the end of a dnb album.

Finishing off with another ‘intelligent’ track, Aromatherapy is a perfect outro track for this release.

Although we’re more than 10 years down the road since the release of Adam F’s debut, it’s a timeless classic that still sounds fresh now. It’s also clear that this album pushed the limits and upped the bar for regular drum and bass producers.

Enjoy!

In the meantime you might want to check out Pax & Pry’s new album ‘A Day Off’.

After releasing ‘A Day At The Office’ in 2007 (check out our review here), the duo is back with another great musical piece. Being a worthy follow-up, ‘A Day Off’ features the same kind of amalgamation of musical elements that P&P introduced you to on their first release: Hip Hop with a twist.

Guest spots on the album are reserved for Kyteman and GMB. To celebrate both albums, you can also download the instrumentals and acapella’s for free! Dubbing their music as ‘open source’, Pax & Pry invite you to tear their tracks up, remix them, use them in your own productions, and so on.

Get both albums, the instrumentals and acapella’s here.