The 13th Plate

Artist of the Day: Aphilas

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 20:56:00 -0700

Aphilas is a duo from Helsinki, Finland. They make sample based instrumental hip hop.

They have released “Instrumentally Ill EP” (2003) and “Prisoners of the Planet” (2006) on the Internet. They have also had some kind of record deal with the label merck and “Instrumentally Ill” is also released on vinyl. “Prisoners of the Planet” was to be released on merck as well, but merck closed their doors and this didn’t happen (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Aphilas’ music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Aphilas

Released Albums:

Aphilas - Instrumentally III EP

Reference:

(2010). Aphilas. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/Aphilas

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Artist of the Day: Cheju

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 20:40:00 -0700

Cheju is Wil Bolton, London-based composer and producer of experimental melodic electronica, and co-owner of Boltfish Recordings. His style is a mixture of warm synth tones, crunchy broken beats, and layered atmospheric textures (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Cheju’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Cheju

Released Albums:

Cheju - As The Leaves Turn EP

Cheju - A Year Apart EP

Cheju - Forked Mountain EP

Cheju - Rorschach EP

Cheju - Sliding Window EP

Cheju - Taito-Ku EP

Cheju - Transparencies EP

Cheju - Despite All Resolutions

Cheju - Pica

Cheju - Shifting Focus EP

Cheju - Diode

Cheju - Foil EP

Cheju - Magnesium EP

Cheju - Trip Switch EP

Cheju - Hutton EP

Cheju - Brancaster EP

Cheju - Broken Waves

Cheju - Waiting For Tomorrow

Reference:

(2010). Cheju. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/Cheju

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Artist of the Day: Eleven Tigers

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:23:00 -0700

Eleven Tigers (real name Jokūbas Dargis) is a Dubstep producer from Lithuania, who started out self-distributing his tracks through such channels as dubstepforum.com or sub.fm. After he was discovered by the “godmother” of dubstep, Mary Anne Hobbs, who played ‘Prosthesis’ on her ‘Experimental’ show on BBC Radio 1, he started performing live. His first LP ‘Clouds Are Mountains’ was released 05 June 2010 (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Eleven Tigers’ music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/eleven+tigers

Released Albums:

Eleven Tigers - Clouds Are Mountains

Reference:

(2010). Eleven Tigers. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/eleven+tigers

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Artist of the Day: 9th Cloud

Sun, 26 Sep 2010 20:05:00 -0700

Turntable’s spinning to the warm intonations of A Tribe Called Quest, Cam, and Pete Rock… 9th Cloud progressed with the supplementary emotional dimension discovered via the blues, trip hop, DJ Shadow and Krush , and in the end-result, found its residence in Abstract hip hop .

9th Cloud mixes and composes in a spontaneous and creative manner, highlighted with groove, nourished by tone’s within jazz and funk; music offering incredible possibilities to spontaneous creations and interpretations.

A gloomy yet smiley approach of Abstract hip hop; without having any pretension of re-inventing the genre, this work gives off a particular state-of-mind through hypnotic vibrations.

9th Cloud proposes its interpretation, purely and surprisingly, just like he wishes to reproduce during his live sets (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to 9th Cloud’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/9th+Cloud

Released Albums:

9th Cloud - Delicate Sound

9th Cloud - A Monkey In a Yellow Hat

Reference:

(2010). 9th Cloud. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/9th+Cloud

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Artist of the Day: Ginormous (producer)

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 09:39:00 -0700

Ginormous is the music of artist Bryan Konietzko. This work isn’t consciously part of any specific movement, and pledges no allegiance to any particular genre. On that same note, Ginormous doesn’t stand in defiance of any form of music. Rather, it is a love letter to music itself.

The artist is using the medium as an attempt to tap a direct conduit in his biggest, most potent and varied emotions. In this way, the creation of the music acts as a sort of self-help therapy. In the spirit of this, Mr. Konietzko keeps this music like a daily journal, and plans on a schedule of one-album-a-year, as long as that remains possible.

As can be expected, the tones and languages of the music will certainly evolve throughout these yearly editions. The artist couldn’t hope for anything less, as this isn’t a career, but an undertaking of personal and emotional anthropology (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Ginormous’ music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Ginormous

Released Albums:

Ginormous - At Night, Under Artificial Light

Ginormous - The Sound of Love Impermanent

Ginormous - Our Ancestor’s Intense Love Affair

Ginormous - The Endless Procession

Reference:

(2010). Ginormous. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/Ginormous

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Artist of the Day: Nicolay

Fri, 24 Sep 2010 21:39:00 -0700

Born and raised in The Netherlands, Europe, Nicolayʹs passion for music has dominated his life for as long as he can remember. He was brought up with equal parts of Stevie Wonder and Neil Young, and as a youth, most of his days were spent listening to whatever music he could get his hands on.

Nicolay’s early love for classical music drove him to seek a formal music education. A true multi-instrumentalist, Nicolay is proficient in playing piano and keyboards, guitar, bass and drums. Nicolay’s diverse understanding of music led him to play in several Hip-Hop and R&B bands, opening up for artists such as K-Ci & JoJo, Boyz II Men, MC Lyte and many others.

After being a live musician and bandleader for nearly a decade, Nicolay started producing in 2000, and shortly thereafter, came across Phonte Coleman of Little Brother through the Okayplayer message boards. The two soon began trading tracks and rhymes back and forth over instant messenger, which in turn created the b-side single for Little Brotherʹs critically acclaimed 2003 album The Listening, called Light It Up. At the time, neither of them suspected that they were actually laying the foundation for what would become one of the most cohesive and innovative albums of 2004. Together they called themselves The Foreign Exchange, and appropriately titled the project Connected.

Since the August 2004 release of Connected, on BBE Records, Nicolay has not rested. His production talents have been requested by a slew of artists and record labels and he has received accolades from the likes of Jazzy Jeff, Questlove (The Roots), 9th Wonder, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and The Beatminerz, to name a few.

Along with Connected, Nicolay now has two other album releases that continue to tell the story of his universal gifts and abilities, while allowing his music to speak for itself. Nicolay’s City Lights Volume 1.5 was initially offered as a very limited promotional CD on hiphopsite.com and Nicolay’s own website.

BBE Records was pressed to officially release the album as a result of an overwhelming demand and the cult like status that City Lights attained. The album has been remastered and updated with five bonus songs that display a glimpse of Nicolay’s forthcoming artist album to http://www.nicolaymusic.com/ released in 2006. In May of 2005, Hard Boiled Records released Nicolay’s third full length album, The Dutch Masters, Vol. 1. Testing new personal achievements, Nicolay put his own spin on some great underground hip-hop and soul tracks, while polishing up his new found skill, the art of DJing (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Nicolay’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Nicolay

Released Albums:

Nicolay - Here

Nicolay - City Lights Vol. 1 and 2

Nicolay - The Dutch Masters Vol. 1

Reference:

(2010). Nicolay. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/Nicolay

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Artist of the Day: edIT (Glitch Mob)

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 21:22:00 -0700

Born and bred in Weston, Massachussetts, Edward Ma, now known to the world as edIT, began his music career as “The Con Artist” just before the turn of the millennium. As a resident DJ at the now defunct Konkrete Jungle Los Angeles, he shared the stage with Hive, Daddy Kev, James Tai and mic rockers Busdriver, P.E.A.C.E. and Mikah 9. Konkrete Jungle marked the golden age of indie hip-hop in Los Angeles, and was the bridge between the jungle and b-boy massives. During this time, he also held a residency at Dublab Radio. He was one of the very first Dublab DJs and broadcasted two weekly shows from the legendary Melrose Avenue studio. Far ahead of its time, Dublab operated as an internet radio station and served as a unifying force for the melting pot of L.A.’s intellectual DJ culture. During this musical renaissance, edIT used “The Con Artist” name to produce and engineer for the likes of Sole (Anticon), Busdriver (Epitaph), Aloe Blacc (Stones Throw), Emanon (Shaman Work), and Dr. Oop (Black Love).

It was 2003 when “The Con Artist” adopted the edIT moniker, while finishing his debut solo album Crying Over Pros for No Reason. The album was released by µ-Ziq’s Planet-Mu imprint a year later in 2004. The album was a downtempo love-maker’s epic about opportunities lost. Shortly thereafter, he shifted gears towards the dance floor and remixed Daedelus’ “Dumbfound” for Plug Research, which became a party rockin’ classic, and further established edIT as a force to be reckoned with in the IDM and electronic worlds. Aside from remixes, edIT garnered a lot of fame through his mash-ups of Top 40 radio jams by ridiculously cutting up a cappellas with hyper-glitch edits over original and popular hip-hop beats. His MySpace page started getting serious traffic (over 250,000 plays at this point) which led to URB Magazine naming him one of the “Next 100” artists to watch in 2006. The popularity of his mash-ups also led to a full-length mixtape commissioned by Hefty Records for their 10-year anniversary where he mashed the Hefty catalog with the likes of Li’l Wayne, T.I., Paul Wall and more. This mix became an overnight cult classic and was talk of the blogoshpere.

Next, edIT’s focus turned towards original productions and his highly-anticipated sophomore album Certified Air Raid Material. Being released this Fall by L.A.’s most daring indie label Alpha Pup Records, the album has been a long four years in the making, featuring collaborations with close allies such as The Grouch, Busdriver, TTC, Abstract Rude and D-Styles. Suffice to say, Certified Air Raid Material is a dramatic departure from the melancholy downtempo sounds of Crying Over Pros for No Reason. Upbeat, energetic and impossibly complex, Certified Air Raid Material has certainly raised the bar for state-of-the-art electronic music production. The record is a tour de force of sheer production and engineering genius, resulting in a soulful and futuristic style of dance music that is incomparable to anything else out there (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to edIT’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/edIT

Released Albums:

edIT - Crying Over Pros For No Reason

edIT - Certified Air Raid Material

Reference:

(2010). edIT. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/edIT

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Artist of the Day: Architeq

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 21:09:00 -0700

A working name of Sam Annand, from Dundee, UK

“Architeq’s command of beats, space, sonics and timing is masterful. Rarely do you hear tracks that manage to take in the rare, sad, strange sonic magic of buzzing 80s synths, the head-nodding pleasure of the best hip-hop tracks of the past two decades, and the fearless rythmic experimentation that’s now possible in 2009 and beyond. Both the Birds of Prey EP and it’s companion remix EP manage to do all this and more in spades, and Samuel Annand’s vision for his music shines through it all, clear as the sound of a bell. Whether his music makes you get down, lounge out sideways, or just sit up and listen, these are Sci Fi journey beats that everyone and their mother would do well to pay attention to. Timeless music.” - Kid Kameleon of XLR8R Magazine (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Architeq’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Architeq

Released Albums:

Architeq - God + Green

Architeq - Birds of Prey EP

Reference:

(2010). Architeq. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/Architeq

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Artist of the Day: Holdcut

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 20:52:00 -0700

Holdcut’s Biography:

I was born in 1985. From the beginning of my life, my parents never thought of me as a musician. I always had different hobbies: I collected stamps, bottle caps, I was a swimmer with dreams of being a pro. But it wasn’t that. Throughout my childhood, I observed my father’s nearly obsessive passion for music, but music didn’t interest me much back then.

When I turned ten, my family and I moved from Gdansk to a small town in Mazury, where my history with music really started off. When it comes to diggin’, my dad is a true king. I got it from him too, although maybe not in the same way. He pushed me towards finding the best music genre for myself. I learned one thing from him - there is no best genre of music out there.

The development of Hip-Hop in Poland was definitely slow at that time. When I first heard Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, Ice-T, ATCQ, Gang Starr, Common etc., it were the times when you could get beaten up for wearing baggy jeans and being true to the hip-hop culture. It was a long time before Warszafski Deszcz (a classic album of Polish Hip-Hop) came out, long before Stare Miasto and Thinkadelic. When I was searching for different types of sounds and concepts I learned that hip-hop is multi-dimensional. When the first hip-hop oriented magazines started off, I quietly took the spray cans in my hands. A couple of drawings around the city later I realized that graffiti wasn’t for me.

My first serious soundsystem (pretty good at the time) and a PC changed my position in the culture. Music Production… that was it! I was the conductor of MY hip-hop music. I was in control of the sound. I treated it as a part of my education, believing that by learning how to produce, I will understand my favourite genre better.

1998 was a special year, not only did I start producing, I also began to write my own rhymes. I didn’t work out for me that well, but today I understand rhythm better and, you know - vocals and beat concept. And that’s how I divided myself into 2 personalities - the MC and the producer. I was recording over my own beats, but I did instrumental albums as well. During that era I released couple albums of my own, and one as Soundfeel Productions (Dj S-Master and me).

In between 2003 and 2004 Holdcut is born and search for my own distinguished sound begins.

Since 2001, after seeing ‘Scratch’, dj’s shown in that movie caught my attention more and more. I turned myself to Shadow, Z-Trip, Numark, Steinski and biggest influence for my work Cut Chemist. Chemist’s attitude towards hip-hop culture, his music, biography and just everything had a positive influence on me - he is the ideal reflection of how I see hip-hop. In 2003 I already knew, that some day, I’m going to do my own ‘Lessons’. ‘I’m going to take drum breaks and mix them with funk music and my own melodies and samples, and we will see, where it takes me’ - that’s what I thought.

Before I got into that stage, I had to close a chapter in my life. This chapter are those 10 albums, starting from ‘Critical Status’ and ending on ‘You Will Be Witness’, that contained new looks on old ideas. After 2 years of practically non-stop production work, the time finally came to do my own Lessons. SoundWriter was slowly coming to life. The moment, when he truly came to life was my return to Gdansk, after 10 years of living in a province. That’s when I started working on first volume of an album, that I simply named ‘Remixes’ (half of the album consisted of remixes).

A really important thing happened to me before that, though, in 2002, when I accidentally ran into big St. Dominic’s fair. Exactly there, that was the first time, when I got in touch with the true essence of the hip-hop music. On that day, I never saw so many records in one place in my life. First time in my life, I spent all my money on wax (I didn’t have any money for the bus to my town, but I didn’t matter). I found lots of things that I was looking for before.

From that moment, I got into the passion of crate diggin’ and I don’t regret it. From those records, I made most important album in my career so far. And I didn’t learn hip-hop from hip-hopers. I learned hip-hop from the masters of funk and jazz and those two genres were imported to my albums, in different styles and techniques.

2002 was also very important for me, since I started working in one of the biggest internet radio stations in my country - Rapgra, where I had my broadcast Cut Style Time every week. I also started Cut-Orgia Recordz that year. As for myself, I work with many different artists, but in most cases, these projects end up unfinished.

In 2005 I started my job in Magazyn Hip-Hop, where I write news, do interviews, artist’s bios, write articles and piss off the editor-in-chief.

I have many plans for 2006 and 2007. I will try to do something new and fresh. I plan a lot of things and lots of those things are never brought to light, so I would rather not talk about any specific dates or anything. You should know one thing? something is coming up for sure.

You can listen to Holdcut’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Holdcut

Released Albums:

Holdcut - Inept Vision

Holdcut - Remote Vision

Holdcut - Critical Status EP

Holdcut - Night in my Mind

Holdcut - The Only One EP

Holdcut - Break Trouble 2 The Battle

Holdcut - Break Trouble EP

Holdcut - Since I Have Been Here EP

Holdcut - The New Reality

Reference:

(2010). Holdcut. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/Holdcut

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Artist of the Day: TOKiMONSTA

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 20:23:00 -0700

Born and raised in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, TOKiMONSTA (Jennifer Lee) was an unfocused pupil of classical piano. However, she has come to use this background to understand and create vast soundscapes and textures through the usage of live instruments, percussion, digital manipulation, and dusty vinyl. Through the creation of beats, she is able to fuse the sounds of the past with her musical prowess into something avant garde (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to TOKiMONSTA’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/TOKiMONSTA

Released Albums:

TOKiMONSTA - Cosmic Intoxication EP

TOKiMONSTA - Midnight Menu

Reference:

(2010). TOKiMONSTA. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/TOKiMONSTA

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Artist of the Day: The Heliocentrics

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 20:07:00 -0700

Led by the relentless drummer Malcolm Catto, the UK collective’s objective lays quite a ways beyond what ordinary listeners know or expect. In an alternative galaxy, where the orbits of Hip-Hop, Funk, Jazz, Psychedelic, Electronic, Avante-Garde and Ethnic music all revolve around “The One” – that’s where you might find The Heliocentrics.

A listen to a song or two reveals no small influence from the funk universe of James Brown. But there’s also the disorienting asymmetry of Sun Ra’s music. The cinematic scope of Ennio Morricone. The sublime fusion of David Axelrod. But the Heliocentrics’ music isn’t retro. It’s brand new. And it’s timeless. They have well-placed fans in the likes of Madlib (Catto was featured on his Shades of Blue album and on various Yesterdays New Quintet releases) and DJ Shadow (the band backed him on the song “This Time I’m Gonna Do It My Way” from his The Outsider album), who will tell you that this band is really the next shit but that they have the consistency and musicianship that seems to have been lost somewhere in the analog to digital shuffle over the past thirty years (Last.fm, 2010).

Malcom Catto – drums & piano
Jake Ferguson – bass & thai guitar
Mike Burnham – modular synthesizer & effects
Jack Yglesias – flutes, percussion & santur
Adrian Owusu – guitars, oud & percussion
James Arben – clarinet, tenor & baritone saxophones
Ray Carless – alto, tenor & baritone saxophones
Max Weissenfeldt – vibraphone & percussion

You can listen to The Heliocentrics’ music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/The+Heliocentrics

Released Albums:

The Heliocentrics - Out There

The Heliocentrics - Inspiration Information

The Heliocentrics - Fallen Angels

Reference:

(2010). The Heliocentrics. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/The+Heliocentrics

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Artist of the Day: Ayatollah (producer)

Sat, 18 Sep 2010 22:21:00 -0700

Ayatollah (Lamont Dorrell) is a hip-hop producer from Queens, New York, with a soulful sound who has provided beats for many of the big names in the genre, perhaps most notably Ms. Fat Booty for Mos Def. He has nine full length instrumental releases, including: Listen, Now Playing, Drum Machine, The Quixotic and the newly released Cocoon (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Ayatollah’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Ayatollah

Released Albums:

Ayatollah - Listen

Ayatollah - Now Playing

Ayatollah - Drum Machine

Ayatollah - The Quixotic

Ayatollah - Cocoon

Ayatollah - Personal Legend Vol. 1

Ayatollah - So Many Reasons To Rhyme

Ayatollah - Live From the MPC 60

Reference:

(2010). Ayatollah. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/Ayatollah

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Artist of the Day: Machine Drum (producer)

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 22:03:00 -0700

Born Travis Stewart on March 4th 1982, Machinedrum has produced and composed several albums under various aliases since his first independent release in 1999. Covering an astonishing variety of styles with ease, he has always been a trailblazer - bridging the gap between genres that would otherwise never have met before.

His debut Now You Know, was released in 2001 on the influential Miami-based Merck Records and gained worldwide attention and praise from musicians, fans and critics. It was heralded as the “standard to which the next wave of imitators aspires” by Pitchfork.com

Having a strong background in both acoustic and electronic instrumentation, he dances between those elements on all his releases. This can be heard in the field recording and vintage synth laden Urban Biology to his seminal production and mixing of the This Charming Mixtape with MC Theophilus London. His critically acclaimed 2009 album Want To 1 2? was the latest showcase of his most recent production. With a combination of the songwriting skills of Timbaland, huge club sound of Daft Punk, and crafty experimentation of Aphex Twin, he manages to bring a new and bold take on electronic music.

This summer, Machinedrum dropped his Many Faces EP on LuckyMe and he performed alongside other label mates at Sonar Festival in Barcelona. Under the name Sepalcure, he’s also released the Love Pressure EP on Hotflush with friend and collaborator Preveen Sharma- a sound they describe as “an exploration of chopped up 90s diva house acapellas and wooden sounding snares reminiscent of UK funky and dubstep”.

A true electronic music Renaissance man, Machinedrum blends together current pop music standards and trends with his own extensive knowledge of experimental production techniques, delivering his quality signature on every thing he touches (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Machine Drum’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Machine+Drum

Released Albums:

Machine Drum - Now You Know

Machine Drum - Bidnezz

Machine Drum - Cached

Machine Drum - Want to 1 2

Machine Drum - Many Faces

Reference:

(2010). Machine Drum. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/Machine+Drum

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Artist of the Day: Greyboy

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 21:42:00 -0700

Greyboy is San Diego producer and DJ, Andreas Stevens, he makes spacy acid jazz with hip-hop roots. Also variously known as Dj Greyboy and also contributed to The Greyboy Allstars.

“Soul Mosaic” is the latest Greyboy album, and was recorded 10 years after the release of “Freestylin’,” the first Greyboy full-length album for Ubiquity. The tracks crafted into this fourth Greyboy album include groundbreaking territory for the Southern California based producer/DJ. For the first time he recorded full vocal songs adding a new soulful dimension to his music. The trademark laid-back West Coast Greyboy beats remain central to “Soul Mosaic” but are now enhanced by collaborations with folks like Sharon Jones, Bart Davenport (Honeycut), and Bing Ji Ling.

A decade ago “Freestylin’” became a surprise underground hit, it was a building block of the early acid jazz movement and still holds cult status today. Since then Greyboy has released the equally jazz-based instrumental “Land of the Lost” and the soundtrack and hip hop inspired “Mastered The Art”, which featured musicians and MCs in a prelude to the “Soul Mosaic” album.

Greyboy has recorded with AG (Showbiz & AG), and the Greyboy Allstars (whom he helped put together and produce). His music has been featured in movies like Get Shorty, Celtic Pride, The Kelly Slater Surf Pro video game, Budweiser commercials, and he was handpicked to provide a mix CD for DC shoes.

Over the years Greyboy has DJ’d in Japan, Europe, and across the USA. His largest DJ gig was to 5000 people in the countryside outside of Rome, but throughout the summer of 2003 he played to over 20, 000 people a night on tour with Ben Harper and Jack Johnson. His DJ philosophies have never changed, he practices to stay technically on top of his game but never practices a set for a specific night preferring to put together tunes and based on the vibe at each gig.

Working up the rough drafts for “Soul Mosaic” Greyboy recorded parts, solos, and lyrics with guests returning to the lab in his Long Beach home to deconstruct and sift through all the elements. And just like the aesthetic of Killingsworth, the well-known Case Study House architect who built the house which Greyboy recently restored (it was featured twice in Dwell Magazine), less is definitely more. In fact the process of restoring the home is not unlike his approach to making music. His mid-century modern building has been altered, remodeled and added onto over the years, Greyboy is currently putting it back the way it was supposed to be.

Vocalists like Bay Area underground favorite Bart Davenport sings on the two sold-out singles “To Know You is To Love You” and “Genevieve”, cover versions of a Stevie Wonder tune (originally recorded by Syreeta) and Cymande respectively. “Genevieve” was nominated as one of the songs of the year by Radio 1’s Worldwide host Gilles Peterson. East Coast based Sharon Jones has made a storming come back with Daptone Records over recent years and also appears on two tracks. San Francisco up n’comer Bing Ji Ling adds a lil’ Shuggie Otis folksy soul and guitar while MCs like Mainflo (TVT), and musicians and turntablists like D-Styles and Ricci Rucker (Sound In Color) maintain the hip hop pressure, and Robert Walter and Karl Denson (of the Greyboy Allstars) add a touch of jazz. Rounding out the mosaic are co-producers like the UK-based Quantic and West Coaster Mike Andrews, who recently had a hand in the Christmas #1 spot on the UK charts with a version of Tears for Fears “Mad World” from the Donnie Darko soundtrack (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Greyboy’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Greyboy

Released Albums:

Greyboy - Soul Mosaic

Greyboy - Mastered The Art

Greyboy - Freestylin’

Greyboy - Land of the Lost

Greyboy - Shades of Grey

Greyboy - 15 Years of West Coast Cool

Reference:

(2010). Greyboy. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/Greyboy

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Artist of the Day: Pleq

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:07:00 -0700

Pleq is an experimental project by Bartosz Dziadosz, a 27-year-old philosophy student. Based in Warsaw, Poland; Pleq has developed his highly-synthetic competencies through a series of dis-reality attempts, monastery supervision and a romantic way of handling peer pressure. His motives in sound resemble an abandoned ironworks garage during the industrial revolution, where melancholy is paired with harmonies of magnetizing structure (Discogs, 2010).

You can listen to Pleq’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Pleq

Released Albums:

Pleq - But it Does Not End There

Pleq - Lucid Dream

Pleq - The Fallen Love

Pleq - Metamorphosis

Pleq - Our Words Are Frozen

Pleq - A Minute Extra Thinking

Pleq - Intelligible

Pleq - The Lost Beauty

Pleq - Pocket Full of Blue EP

Pleq - Good Night

Pleq - My Life Begins Today

Pleq - The Seed

Reference:

(2010). Pleq. Discogs. Retrieved from

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Pleq

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Artist of the Day: Crookram

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 21:32:00 -0700

Two years since his latest release on the Budabeats netlabel, Crookram is finally coming out with a new album. If you’re familiar with his previous work this album might be somewhat of a surprise. It has been a couple of years in the making, during which time musical genres like soul, funk, hiphop and library music have been combined with modern downtempo beats and movie samples to create a funky yet dusty seventies vibe (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Crookram’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Crookram

Released Albums:

Crookram - 19/76 EP

Crookram - Through Windows

Crookram - Old Unreleased Tracks

Reference:

(2010). Crookram. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/Crookram

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Artist of the Day: Dayeve Xienze

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 21:41:00 -0700

Hailing from Southern California, Dayeve Xienze, real name Dayeve Masangcay is a skilled underground hip hop and trip hop disc jockey, who loves to make sample-based music with a touch of acoustic guitar and keyboard ever since 1998. His music can be considered abstract, experimental, distinctive, eccentric, weird and wonderful. It can be categorize as trip hop, underground hip hop, turntablism, breakbeats, electronica, cinematic, avant garde, film score, and space age (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Dayeve Xienze’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/dayeve+xienze

Free downloadable albums at:

www.mediafire.com/dayeve

www.mediafire.com/xienze

Released Albums:

Dayeve Xienze - Elan Vital

Dayeve Xienze - The Flight of the Lotus Eaters

Dayeve Xienze - The Elysian Galaxy

Dayeve Xienze - Ernest Gonzales - Been Meaning to Tell You, Xienze Remixes

Dayeve Xienze - JANRYAN EP

Dayeve Xienze - A Star-Crossed Meretrix

Dayeve Xienze - Poles Apart EP

Reference:

(2010). Dayeve Xienze. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/dayeve+xienze

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Artist of the Day: Mono/Poly

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 10:42:00 -0700

Mono/Poly (Charles E. Dickerson) is an electronic musician from Bakersfield California. His name is taken from the 1980’s Korg keyboard but pronounced “Monopoly”. The name “Mono/Poly” symbolizes his multifaceted audio productions (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Mono/Poly’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Mono%252FPoly

Released Albums:

Mono/Poly - Paramatma

Mono/Poly - The George Machine EP

Reference:

(2010). Mono/Poly. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/Mono%252FPoly

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Artist of the Day: Illum Sphere

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 10:16:00 -0700

Known to his friends as Ryan Hunn, Illum Sphere’s debut EP landed on Manchester’s Fat City Recordings in March 2009. Still only 24, Illum Sphere is one of the duo behind Sketch City & Hoya:Hoya.

Using a knowledge of music that is beyond his years, Illum Sphere creates a sound that draws influence from hip-hop as much as it does from psych, jazz and Detroit techno. Already being deemed ‘one of the most exciting young producers in the UK right now’ without releasing a record, 2009 is set to be a big one, dropping remixes for Mr Scruff, Foreign Beggars, Kidkanevil and more!

One of the most interesting, energetic and uncompromising DJs around, this was validated recently by an invitation to play at the world renowned Low End Theory night in Los Angeles. This night is know for breaking artists like Flying Lotus, Daedelus, Samiyam, Gaslamp Killer, Ras G and DJ Nobody from the flourishing LA beats scene. The week before, Mary Anne Hobbs featured the night on her BBC Radio 1 show.

Gaining support from a wide a range of underground music heavyweights, such as Mr Scruff, as well as seminal dubstep radio station, Rinse FM, things look promising for this talented producer (Last.fm, 2010).

You can listen to Illum Sphere’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/Illum+Sphere

Released Albums:

Illum Sphere - Incoming EP

Illum Sphere - Long Live The Plan EP

Illum Sphere - Titan EP

Reference:

(2010). Illum Sphere. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/Illum+Sphere

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Artist of the Day: J.Viewz

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 09:48:00 -0700

The multi-genre project of electronic-music producer Jonathan Dagan. With the collaboration of many diverse musicians in the studio, The J.Viewz project presents a unique kind of Breakbeat and Chill (Discogs, 2010).

You can listen to J. Viewz’s music at:

http://www.last.fm/music/J.Viewz

Released Albums:

J. Viewz - Muse Breaks

J. Viewz - Your Country

J. Viewz - The Besides EP

Reference:

(2010). J. Viewz. Last.fm. Retrieved from

http://www.last.fm/music/J.Viewz

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