Posted by: Jay

Speaking of comebacks, blog favorite Gramatik is back with a hot new EP on the Pretty Lights label! And while I love “Talkbox Intended” like this cat loves him some boxes the rest of the EP left me thinking: “Et tu, Gramatik? Et tu??”. Yup, our down tempo/hip hop hero has fallen prey to that wicked temptress know as “dubstep”. No one, it seems, is beyond her seductive reach.

So, if you like dubstep you’re gonna LOVE this EP. If you don’t, it might be worth a listen anyway. Some of the tracks are a bit more “glitch-hop” than pure dubstep, and no matter the genre Gramatik always brings top notch production a touch of soul to his work.

Gramatik - “Talkbox Intended”

Gramatik - “First Up”

Gramatik - “Illusion Of Choice”

Gramatik - “23 Flavors”

Buy these tracks of the whole EP!

*****

PLAY ALL
*****

I know Cor’s gonna freak out, but what do you think of Gramatik’s new sound? Natural evolution or sad pandering to the hot sound du jour?? If you forgot what Gramatik used to sound like, check out Cor’s full break down over here.

Posted by: Flicker

Editor’s note: I am very pleased to present our newest Beatery contributor: Flicker! Flicker and I go so far back that we actually were friends before we even knew what electronic music was. As our first non-DJ blogger Flicker is going to fill in some holes I feel we have in our coverage of the electronic music cosmos. Taking the the “D” out of EDM, look forward to hearing everything from ambient to break-core. Speaking of which, take it away Flicker! ~ Jay

As this is my first submission to The Beatery, I thought that I would post something a little brutal. Take it!!

Bong-ra is one of the more well-known breakcore producers, and while he is generally categorized as raggacore, he has produced a few tracks in the last five years or so that sample some great Slayeresque guitar with his familiar breakbeat sound. The album “Full Metal Racket” is a combination of songs from two previous releases – “Sick Sick Sick” and “Grindkrusher” – plus a couple of remixes by Doormouse and Sick Boy.

I’m sure that we can all list off a dizzying number of electronic music sub-genres, and here is one more.

I present to you: Death Breaks! Drum and Slays? Intelligent Thrash Core. I don’t know what it’s called but I love it, and I want other producers to jump on the bandwagon. I think it’s obvious that death metal and breakcore go together like pickles and peanut butter (meaning a delicious combination). That’s a fact – look it up.

The following tracks are my picks for best of the album.

Slaytronic

Bloody Cenotaph

Terrorizah

More on his site HERE

Posted by: Matt

Back In The Day* I was a really big fan of Ghostly International, a record label specializing in offbeat dance and experimental electronic music. Among other things, they deserve credit for breaking cutting edge club artists like Matthew Dear/Audion and Lusine. Unfortunately, Ghostly also had a streak of what one might at times refer to as capital-A Artistry, which meant a slow (d)evolution towards experimental pop and textural headphone masturbation that is all well and good in the grand scope of Music, but I missed my fresh beats too much to care and gradually lost interest.

Maybe this was just my own personal experience, or maybe Ghostly woke up and was ready to get funky again, but in either case they have gone and released what is currently my favorite album of 2010 to date; Mux Mool’s excellent Skulltaste. It’s an 80 minute bounce-fest that never gets tiring; it really does have something for everyone. Drunken Game Boy beats bounce around memorable melodies with an offbeat charm that carries through from beginning to end. If it had a solid vocalist it would be the best hip-hop album of the year, hands down.

RCRDLBL has been kind enough to host the whole album for streaming, which is something I wish more artists and labels would allow. Highlights include Breakfast Enthusiast, Get Better John, and Wolf Tone Symphony, but I definitely suggest you just hit play and let it run.

Check out Mux Mool on:
Myspace
Twitter

*2003

Posted by: Matt

Welcome to the 25th edition of The Beatery podcast! This week we bring you a hot-off-the-DAW mix from San Francisco FUSF DJ and mashup artist Interrobang!. In his own words:

I went to Montana de Oro State Park outside of San Luis Obispo one evening with some friends to catch a fractal sunset.  However, we turned out to be a little unprepared for the brisk weather that evening and came back quite earlier than we had expected: immediately after the sun had set.  After getting home I curled up on a couch with a blankie and threw on an ambient mix that took us on quite the fantastic journey.

I had been spinning trance and NRG for years and Red Jerry’s Chilled Euphoria album thus inspired me to start collecting ambient in the hope that one day I might mix my own ambient adventure.  That day ended up being 3 or 4 years later after the DJ tools caught up with my ideas.  I labeled this mix “psychedelic” (not psytrance) due to its traverse across various genres in an attempt to keep the active mind entertained while keeping a cohesive journey.

The response to “revenever Land” was fantastic, so three years later I suppose it is time for a second installment!  This time I have been more into the psychill genre (Shpongle et al), so that formed the backbone of the mix in a similar way that ambient did last time.  If you like this one, visit my website to download more!  http://www.kevininterrobang.com/mixes

Interrobang - Between Love and Sunsets

1. Phoenix - Love like a Sunset Part I
2. Yelle - Je Veux te Voir
3. Atmos vs Passion Pit - Rhythm is Swimming in the Flood (interrobang Mashup)
4. Entheogenic - Araras
5. Chronos - Stonehenge vs Younger Brother - I am a Freak
6. Celtic Cross - Khatmandu (Iona on the Ganges Mix)
7. Kelpe vs The Doors - Shipwreck on the Storm (interrobang Mashup)
8. Sween - Water and Glass
9. Hecq feat. Nongenetic - I Will Survive
10. Hadouken! - Wait for You
11. Mistabishi - White Collar Grime
12. ATB - What About Us
13. Xample - The Coma
14. Ben Sage - Rebirth
15. Ben Sage vs Owl City - Firefly Rebirth (interrobang Mashup)
16. Phoenix - Love like a Sunset Part II

Posted by: Matt

I started to write up an epic post about how much I heart L.A. breakcore pop band Captain Ahab, about how they have a new album out in a few weeks and are touring the West Coast right f*cking NOW but the Wikipedia article pretty much sums up everything I wanted to say about them:

Captain Ahab is an electropop duo based in Los Angeles, California. They refer to their sound, a DIY take on dance music, as ravesploitation. The band is made up of Jonathan Snipes and Jim Merson. A typical Captain Ahab live performance consists of playback of recorded beats from a computer and vigorous singing by both members of the band. While performing, members of Captain Ahab are usually partially undressed, covered in sweat, and constantly forcing themselves into physical contact with members of the audience. While their lyrics are satirically misogynistic, their live performance is thoroughly homoerotic.

In June 2006, Captain Ahab won the Snakes on a Plane music contest, with their song “Snakes on the Brain”.

On September 28th, 2006, the song “Girls Gone Wild” was played briefly in “The Convention”, the second episode of the third season of The Office.

Their single “Was Love” was written for and played in the first season episode “Gravedancing” on the Syfy series Caprica.

Jonathan writes and performs the music. Jim gets naked and dances. Jonathan also teaches at UCLA and contributes music and sound design to several television shows. Jim rubs his sweat on you.

I’ve seen them twice at the Hemlock here in San Francisco and had an absolute blast both times. As luck would have it, they are playing there again this Friday (3.19), and I highly recommend you all go with me. Seriously.

Videos with music after the jump.
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