I love Latin (OK, Brazilian in this case) inspired chill out tracks. Especially when it’s hot as balls outside.

The flow on this makes me want to get a very large fan, an iced beverage, a large lawn chair and a gigantic plastic palm tree. I would then set up shop outside on my front lawn, drink said drink in said chair under said plastic palm tree with said very large fan running at full tilt with this song blasting, with my middle finger firmly extended in Nature’s direction.

Of course, that’s when the freak thunderstorm rolls in and zaps my boastful ass with a shot of lightening.

I’ve noticed that I’ve been picking a lot of older tunes to feature here. I also do not give more than 1 metric fuck about doing so. I’ll get to some new stuff, but I’ve got 5 years of backlog to get through and bygod I’m going to do it.

You kids today… with your pop music that sounds like bad rap music, and your bad rap music that sounds like the demo off of a 1989 Casio keyboard. And your TwitFaceYouBloggleTuberbooks! You know how we told people about music? Mix tapes! And not these newfangled digital MP3s that have been auto-enhanced for your safety!  Back in my day, we had CASSETTE TAPES. Do you know what those are? Total and complete analog! And they sounded like shit coming directly from the devil’s very own asshole! I’d tell you that we had vinyl too, but that’s making a comeback and I don’t want to sound like a hipster by saying I was there before you were. That and I don’t fit in skinny jeans. And what the hell, why do you want your junk constricted in a denim vice grip like that? Do they even have vice grips anymore? Or are they some kind of 4G high def, digital, cloud connected, socially networked compression device?

Oh yeah, and this song is badass.

Total Disclosure: I’ve worked with Gabe in the past, and I’m a fan of his visual and audio works. While my opinion of the album is not influenced by this, let your own ears be the judge.

I like Steely Dan. So do many people. So does Gabe (who may or may not be a devil), who meticulously ripped apart each song from their discography, extracted the vital juices and samples, threw it all into a blender, and poured it lovingly into the mold of an album.

The album, Day Glow Freaks, breaks down each Steely Dan song into their component instruments and rearranges them into brand new songs. I find myself saying these are remixes, but only for a lack of a better term. It’s more of a re-envisioning, but with respect given to the original works. There’s not a lot of uses of filters and other audio trickery – there’s the occasional EQ here and there to isolate and bridge sections, but nothing over the top. You can truly hear each of the original songs come through in each track on the album if you listen hard enough. In fact, the site has a breakdown of each track and notes on what samples are used and when.

It’s much like a day glow, disco dancing Frankenstein Monster, except less pitchforks and torches are required. I mean this in the nicest, most complimentary way possible, mind you.

You can really hear the amount of meticulous work that’s been put in to each track – each instrument was picked out and sampled individually. At the end of the day, there were 800+ samples at Gabe’s fingertips. Considering this, the amount of forethought and consideration that went in to each song is impressive. Moreover, it would have been easy for anyone to have gotten lost in their idea and had the final work sound muddled, overly complicated, or overly simplified. There’s the right amount of depth in each song, but it doesn’t get too experimental with where it takes you.

The album as a body of work is extremely easy to listen to straight through. A nice solid groove to motivate you at work, but enough bass to roll with it, windows down, in the car. There’s enough to catch your ear but isn’t going to be so intricate and delicate that you can’t let it take a backseat with your attention. I’ve had a chance to throw it on the turntables, and a good number of the tracks work wonderfully in a dance mix, with most everything sitting at a steady 118-120 BPM.

All in all, give it a listen. I can go on all day about it, but the whole album is out there for you to partake of for free. Hit the Listen section on the site if you just want to check out a few of the tracks without downloading the whole thing, or if you want to see the breakdown of what samples were used.

My favorite tracks: Jive Miguel, The Girls, Melanie, Chino.

Go see if you agree.

Gabe Is The Devil – Day Glow Freaks site

Oh man, this brings back memories. The Logical Progression album was the first Drum and Bass album I bought back in high school and really shaped a lot of my tastes. Keep in mind that this album was created just as drum and bass was finding its stride and style, so this tune may not have the polish and focus as more recent Drum and Bass songs might have.

Many artists were doing drastic experimentation with infusing different musical styles and LTJ Bukem took the lead with pioneering the integration of jazz. I’m sure some people will say I’m very wrong here, but I think LTJ had a lot to do with the development of the Liquid Drum and Bass as we know it today.

BONUS!

What the hell, here’s a few more oldies but goodies from back in the day.

Goldie – Innercity Life

Roni Size – Brown Paper Bag

This isn’t the full vocal mix, but goodness is this song still hot. I played this in my Drum and Bass Tinkering mix.

Pure awesomeness. There’s really not much to say about it beyond that. I really dig the song’s flow, as well as the integration of the chiptune bassline. It’s really interesting how you can hear the influence of jazz, newer dance styles and even a little bit of dub hit the speakers. It’s worth noting that this is the Fishy Beat remix which is available on the song’s single release.

The video fits PERFECTLY. The amount of video game and internet meme references are staggeringly fantastical.

Sultry vocals, a super mellow beat, and smooth instrumentation? Yes please.

Not a huge fan of the sounds phasing in and out, though it does add to the trippy vibe it’s got going on. Without it, the song would be one of my all time favorites.

Admission: I’m a gigantic sucker for violins in a breaks song. As such, this song starts off with a few points going for it right out of the gate. Adds a lot of moodiness and tension to the work, and really augments the vocals and lets them stand out a bit more.

A nice and clean opening flirts with the rest of the song, but I would have loved to hear a little more intricacy inside of the bridge.

Also, Katy B. looks like Princess Leia with those headphones on.

Single Track Review

Mistabishi – “Falling In Love” – Falling In Love EP

Mistabishi has always proven himself to be a fantastic producer – he got his name out there with a few remarkable EPs before slamming his LP, “Drop”, on the table like it was the winning domino. Tony Coleman (head honcho at Hospital Records) has mentioned that Mistabishi will be making another full album this year, and if the Falling In Love EP is any indication of quality, we’re in for it. We’re not ready. His album is going to shake the drum and bass scene yet again, and we just can’t prepare for it. It’s going to laugh at our sad attempts to pile sand bags.

The bassline in this a-side doesn’t play around. The moment you hit play on the track it dropkicks the grill off your speakers and pimp slaps your ears across the room. Deep and rugged roots reggae vibes from the vocalist come through and just absolutely tears up just before the drop, when the drum track rushes in through the fog of war with the heavy artillery screaming havok and rips whatever is left of your speakers into nothingness. This isn’t to say it’s overly brutal. It’s measured force, applied with precision.

The vibe this track throws down is deep, slick and sexy. It would fit perfectly during a scene where James Bond is sneaking around his quarry’s lab/home/office, looking for the big clue and narrowly avoiding the guards posted everywhere. Just like Bond, this track is sly and cunning but will gladly apply some force in liberal amounts; it’s not afraid to give you that right hook to the jaw.

Then the b-side of the EP kicks in, and that’s a whole new story of greatness. Get this EP if you’re a Drum and Bass fan, no hesitation.

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Album Review

Bop – Clear Your Mind

This album needs to come with a warning: “Not for use in clubs. For personal use only. Do not listen to while using heavy or motorized equipment.”

Bop’s first album is nothing short of genius once you give it a proper listen. On the surface, it’s very “clicky” – there’s just not a lot there. Then you go about your day while it plays in the background, tailing you around like a quiet and cute dog. From time to time, you remember it’s there, and the musical pup wags its tail at you with a few notes – the more you pay attention, the more personality you see in it.

Each song feels delicate, like a piece of fine china. The percussion is very dry and muted; you can hear it, and it’s quite present in the mix, but it’s not overbearing. The beats fall into place like raindrops on a window – transparent, but still there. It gives the songs a clean feeling without removing the substance of it. The instrumentation is sparse and very wet feeling with echo draped over the xylophone-ish tones. The real beauty comes in the background pads and fills. Long, soft swaths of sound linger in the background and mingle with the instrumentation’s echos and reverbs, giving each piece background and body.

You can’t very well drive to this in your car. You can’t jump around the room to it. You can’t slow dance to it. However, it’s the perfect soundtrack to existing. Who wouldn’t want to exist with a melodic little pug walking behind you, sometimes wagging a little quarter note your way?