Saturday, January 17, 2009

T.R.O.Y.

T.R.O.Y.

Kimani's Recent Rotation

Posted: 17 Jan 2009 03:00 PM CST


We're fans of Kimani. He runs a blog, he's a T.R.O.Y. Forum regular, and his taste in music is impeccable. We recently hosted a digital mix he made aimed at those of you who prefer to listen to music while driving. Today he contributes merely the tracks he has in steady rotation as of late, and it turns out it's a great mix. Peep the tracklist and decide for yourself - I personally find it difficult to resist a compilation that features AK Skills, a rare Nas remix, Ill Distracxion, and Capital Tax, but maybe that's just me.


GZA - Labels (Unreleased Exclusive Remix) 3:06
AK Skills - East Ta West (Dirty) 4:28
Fundamentals - Code Red 3:20
Big Scoob & The Booty Banditss - Booty Bandit (Dirty) 5:18
Kirk - Catch The Beat 4:18
Eclipse 427 - Next Question 5:10
Almighty Arrogant - Fed Up 3:52
Fierce - Crab (Vocal) 3:30
Fierce - Come Close (Vocal) 3:53
Call O' Da Wild - Ruffturrain (Dirty) 4:21
Sometimes The Neighborhood (Vocal) 3:50
Madstyle - Run 4:05
Fundamentals -Love 4:47
Ill Distracxion - Calm With Datrom 4:59
Harleckinz - Represent The Real Hip Hop 5:11
The Outfit - The Outfit Presents 3:47
Yasheen & The Murder 1 Squad - Bring It! 3:41
sons of sam - oooh he got an afro 5:08
Hi-Tech - Continuously 4:44
Nine - Knocked 3:29
Brainwash 2000 - King Of Demos 3:42
Nujabes - One Love (Dimention Ball Remix) [Nas] 5:43
Capital Tax - The Masha (Jazz Mix) 5:25
Sons Of Sam - Charisma (Bad Sound Clip) 2:29

Mommy, What's A Gravedigga?

Posted: 17 Jan 2009 08:00 AM CST

One of the best new posters on the T.R.O.Y. forum, FatFaceFreddy drops an 18-track Gravediggaz odds n' ends compilation for that ass. The tracks were gathered from the Diggin' Up The Future EP, Double Suicide Pack EP and the bootleg 36 Chambers of Death.

1-800-Suicide (New Vocal Version)
1-800-Suicide (Flip Squad Mix)
1-800-Suicide (Gangsta Mix)
1-800-Suicide (Dig Deep Mix)
1-800-Suicide (Poisonous Mix)
1-800-Suicide (Guillotine Mix)
Mommy Whats A Gravedigga (Rza Mix Clean)
Mommy Whats A Gravedigga (Uptight Cratedigga Mix)
Nowhere To Run (Portishead Main Mix)
Nowhere To Run (Portishead Mix Part 2)
Pass The Shovel
Diary Of A Madman (No Courtroom Clean)
Reincarnation Of Freud
Freak The Sorceress
Bang Your Head (Underdog Mix)
Unexplained (Kasz Mix)
Unexplained(Vinyl Blair Rework)
Gravediggaz Vs Tricky - Tonite Is A Special Nite (Chaos Mass Confusion Mix)

DOWNLOAD

Instrumentals
1-800-Suicide (Poisonous Mix)
Constant Elevation
Freak The Sorceress
Diary Of A Madman
Mommy Whats A Gravedigga (Rza Mix)
Mommy Whats A Gravedigga (Uptight Cratedigga Remix)

DOWNLOAD


Bonus Track
1-800-Suicide (Extended Remix) with a verse by MF Grimm


Props to FatFaceFreddy and Kimani for the hook-up!

--Philaflava

Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Link to Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Filastine – Dirty Bomb (Soot Records)

Posted: 17 Jan 2009 06:23 AM CST

Filastine - Dirty Bomb

The idea of a new Filastine record is an exciting one, his particular style sitting somewhere between a tangle of electronics, acoustic percussion, and his modernist take on riddim culture. He's a sought after man these days, more than 60 gigs last year alone, from tiny breakcore parties in Osaka, to massive crowds at the Boulevards festival in Casablanca, always firing on all cylinders no matter the size of the audience, pleasing the crowd with his stage presence, even following in experimentalists Einsturzende Neubauten’s footsteps by amplifying a shopping cart for live performances.

Dirty bomb is a dirty bomb, dropping riddims on every track, tinged with eastern influences, unusual instrumentation and dancehall rhythms designed to blow up dancefloors. Featuring a great range of very talented vocalists and MC's, Rabah, Jessika Skeletalia Kenney, Malena D’Alessio, La Perla, ECD and our own talented indigenous Wire MC. Musically, Filastine lays down a gritty transnational soundclash of urban rhythms, splicing dubstep with balkan brass, hip-hop with bollywood, inserting generous doses of politically charged spoken word.

A great album, but don't expect break-core mayhem, its far more focused than that, containing more complex rhythms, and uplifting vocal contributions. Miss this at your own risk.

Check out his new ep on Shockout with partner Maga Bo as Sonar Calibrado, or catch them live if you can, as they are currently touring Australia extensively.

Wayne Stronell

Various Artists – Get Familiar Mixed By Sinden (Fabric)

Posted: 17 Jan 2009 03:56 PM CST

Fabriclive mixed by Sinden

Switch & Sinden present this new mix installment for Fabriclive, having started the club 'Get Familiar' a few years back, with an eclectic philosophy to dance music encompassing the sounds of Baltimore Club Music, Baile Funk, Dancehall, Hip-Hop, House, Dubstep, Electro, and everything in between.

I was expecting a more techno oriented mix from Sinden, but this is fun, genre hopping, body poppin' good fun! Mixing at a furious pace through the sounds of Juiceboxxx, Yo Majesty, Aquasky, Armand Van Helden, Scottie B & King Tutt, Mujava, Tigerstyle, MixHell, Buraka Som Sistema, Radioclit, Alan Braxe, Joker, JME, Skream, Zomby, Caper, Project Bassline, Piddy Py, Roisin Murphy, Machines Don't Care, Kudu, M83 and Salem.
Straight up 'genre' mixes seem to be becoming a thing of the past, DJ's preferring to keep things interesting, continually grabbing the listeners attention with changes in style, vocal tracks, post-rave references, but retaining a dancefloor friendly theme that makes for a fun ride.

Overall it's a good selection of tracks from disparate genres, it does suffer from the odd weak track, but it still plays out with 'fun' as the main ingredient. Those of you who swear by the Fabriclive series will no doubt love this new installment.

Wayne Stronell

Various Artists – Sci-Fi-Lo-Fi Volume 2, Compiled By Damian Lazarus (Soma/Inertia)

Posted: 17 Jan 2009 03:55 PM CST

Sci-Fi-Lo-Fi Volume 2

Volume 1 in this emerging series bought us an eclectic mix from the infamous Andy Weatherall, and Volume 2 follows with an equally eclectic track listing, compiled this time by Damian Lazarus. Lazarus chooses a Weatherall remix of Innersphere to kick the mix off, moving swiftly into the equally 'aquatic' Etched Headplate by Burial and IVX 4 by To Rococo Rot. This warms things up for a change to the electro end of the dancefloor, one that works well in the mix, although I think I would have preferred the mix to further develop the warm 'aquatic' theme that started the mix so well. Moving through artists such as Q, Jus Ed, Hercules & Love Affair, Man, Unique 3, Portable, Pulp remixed by Moloko to name a few, the mix manages to retain that eclectic edge that seems to becoming the trademark for this mix series, but also ties it securely to the dancefloor. Great cover art also, Damian Lazarus brings us a fine mixed compilation, "Night Of The Dark Machines" is a apt subtitled for this interesting release.

Wayne Stronell

Virus Syndicate – Sick Pay (Planet Mu/Inertia)

Posted: 17 Jan 2009 03:56 PM CST

Virus Syndicate - Sick Pay

Virus Syndicate are probably Manchesters formost grime crew, and in my humble opinion, are probably the only refreshing grime outfit around. Where the MC is all important in the genre of grime, so many acts these days seem to fall short, with vocals that are almost laughable. Virus Syndicate on the other hand have a vocal delivery that is fierce and focused, obviously drenched in a youth bought up on hip-hop, both from the UK and the US, developing into a distinctive English sound.

Never frightened to experiment, with the eastern influences of Taxman Returns, the often dubstep influences and tempo's of many of the tracks, but always pushing the bass and vocals to the fore. Be Like Us has that dubstep wobble bass, but with a sharp vocal riding the rhythm, somewhere between grime, hip-hop and r'n'b… M.R.K.1's production shines through, showcasing his versatility, yet perfectly suiting the vocal delivery of MC's Goldfinger, JSD and Nika D, even delving into post-rave territory to great effect, looking back for the sounds of a rave long gone, and projecting this way into the future. Included here are the two Various Production remixes previously only released as a limited 7" vinyl release, again pushing the vocal to the fore, but with the Various studio production genius, obviously different from M.R.K.1's production, but sitting comfortably along side each other, complimenting each producers strengths. Apollo oozes the future r'n'b that Various Production are becoming renowned for, where Neva Argue has the more manic, unhinged production we've come to expect from this production powerhouse.

This album gives me hope that there is still life left in grime for 2009.

Wayne Stronell

Drone Lebanon/Wertham – Roma Yerushalayim (Topheth Prophet)

Posted: 17 Jan 2009 03:57 PM CST

Drone Lebanon & Wertham

What seems to be a split release by Drone Lebanon and Wertham, recorded in Tel-Aviv, Israel, and Como, Italy respectively.

Drone Lebanon comes across similar to Muslimgauze with the middle-eastern chants and voices, but negates all rhythm in favour of noise, set to overload, for the first two tracks at least. On Self Hating Jew the rhythm emerges as somewhat motorik, but dispels again for the remaining tracks, where the noise again takes over, the distortion seems to blanket everything, disguising even the pummeling death-metal like vocals of Ch4.

Wertham contribute two long tracks to round out the cd, one of noise, similar in style to Drone Lebanon, the second is more subdued, more drone than distorted noise, embedded with lost radio transmissions and SPK style rhythmic undercurrents.

One for the noise and drone fans, brutal.

Wayne Stronell

The Crystal Sun – Landscape (12 Apostles)

Posted: 17 Jan 2009 03:58 PM CST

The Crystal Sun - Landscape

Being penned as 'nu-prog pioneers', The Crystal Sun release their debut studio album Landscape, steeped in a hazy late 60's, early 70's delicate pop through to motorik rhythms and mellotron freak-outs.

Landscape starts with Sunhoney, all bubbling brooks, bird some and ambient atmospheres, morphing into a sweet, simple acoustic guitar and slow flute melody, moving straight into There Is A Field Beyond All Nations Of Good And Evil, with a harder kraut motorik edge, dischordant organ lines, pulsing synths shifting to prog guitar workouts. The title track plods at almost a dirge, whereas Orffyreus' Wheel moves at some pace with fuzzed out guitar and kraut drums. Devoid of drums, Hallucinating Angel expels exactly that, an other worldly vibe hidden in a sea of echo and effects. Its this shift from pastoral to motorik that makes this album a compelling listen, shifting from quiet to loud, slow to fast, delicate to forceful… There seems to be an effortless presence here, yes, the progressive rock influences are there, but also the urgency of a post-punk ethic, coupled with a psychedelic backdrop oozing with textural sounds, mostly instrumental, with the occasional vocal that is treated to seem disembodied, detached from reality.

A great album, teaming up with the perfect label for their work, "analogue solutions for a digital age", is exactly what has been achieved here.

Wayne Stronell

Dub Dentist – Selection Without Objection (Trans Dental)

Posted: 17 Jan 2009 03:58 PM CST

Dub Dentist - Selection Without Objection

David Kagan, aka The Dub Dentist, has been threatening to release this album for many years, I remember having a conversation with him some years ago now to that effect. He was DJ'ing at the same party as myself, playing dance friendly tunes to a thankful crowd at an inner city venue, but what struck me was his love for dub, always showing some influence in the music he chose to play. Yes, he is a dentist too, a damn good one I'm told, but it is the dub that shows through here as a common thread on this double cd.

A result of extensive traveling, sound sourcing, eastern influences and sampling has created a blend of bass driven electro-funk, squarely aimed at the dancefloor, but peppered with an undercurrent of dub, after all, David is a self confessed devout reggae nutter. The first disc has more of the dance friendly tunes, reminding me of bands like Banco de Gaia and the more dub-dance side of early Fila Brazillia, two of the stand out tracks being remixes of others. The Dub Dentists versions of The Versionaires and King Tide are quite epic, but all the time centred around the outstanding vocal talents of both acts. The second disc comes across as more experimental, with more downtempo cuts to break the mood. Some of the more 'electro stomper' tracks aren't exactly to my taste, but there is so much music in here worthy of investigation, especially if you like your dub squarely aimed at the dancefloor, its not like pulling teeth at all, quite the opposite.

Wayne Stronell

Toob – Push Me, Pull You (Process/Inertia)

Posted: 17 Jan 2009 03:53 PM CST

Toob - Push Me, Pull You

Toob, an artist I'm unfamiliar with, sounds like it could be a side project from one of the members of Tunng, but stepped up a gear, with more dance friendly beats, and electronica seething through more than the folk. It is in fact a member of Red Snapper, teaming up with a sometime Red Snapper collaborator.

Treetop Frequency starts with a beautifully catchy chopped and sliced acoustic guitar melody, giving way to an electronic pulse, shifting more upbeat with inventive scratching, but scratching with what sounds like a crow's call! More scratching with bird sounds, then the beat drops, and the pulse of warm synth lines takes the track to the dancefloor. Skinbox keeps the synths in your face, but at a slower death disco pace, punctuated by a moody vocal croon. Open The Gates pushes clicks and cuts into a far darker realm, this time with the synths simmering under the surface, making way for an incoherent vocoder vocal and tribal rhythms. Mr Brown kicks straight in with a Rhythm & Sound style dub skank, without the undercurrent of hiss and noise. Offset (Swamp Mix) digs more into the post-punk sound of yesteryear, but making it very dancefloor friendly.

A surprisingly refreshing album, full of fierce synthesizers, dance friendly beats and new-wave and post-punk references. If you enjoy the output of artists like Optimo, Lemon Jelly and Hot Chip, give this a try, you might be surprised.

Wayne Stronell

F**K Buttons, Dead Meadow & Afrirampo gig @ The Oxford Arts Factory, 15/1/09

Posted: 17 Jan 2009 12:20 AM CST

It's Thursday night at the Oxford Arts Factory in Darlinghurst. Playing tonight are F**k Buttons, who are rapidly becoming legendary for their unique dance/drone sets. In the middle are Dead Meadow and starting up front are the wonderfully crazy Afrirampo girls from Osaka. The place is packed with revellers, despite the competition for attention that occurs this time of year. Just down the road, The Beck's Bar is hosting the Popfrenzy party with the indie pop cult sensation Metronomy as headliners and the influential Michael Gira is lulling his fans to the Basement. The 'All Tomorrow's Parties' festival will showcase all these acts and more twice over the weekend and yet, there's still no room to move at this gig. It's a good sign.

I think to myself…a) Either Sydney kids just can't get enough of the good times in summer (which of course, is a well-known fact) and/or b) The crowd has made the effort to show up because the bands are worth it.

And then it begins. Afrirampo are a torrent of red energy on stage, sporting matching red velour short-shorts outfits and red war-paint across their faces. There is an amazing wall of sound produced by this grrrl duo with Oni on guitar and lead vocals and Pikachu on drums and backup. There is head banging, lots of it, and riffs to match the most prized cock rock band. But there is sweetness too. Like when Pikachu takes the microphone, her soaring vocals reverberating around the room for a moment of angelic calm and then the whole thing kicks off again, a theatrical frenzy. A girl beside me in the crowd is so excited she turns and cries, wild-eyed over the din, "That was insane! Who are they? I'm really stoned, it's freakin' me out!"

Next comes the improvised 'Kangaroo, Koala' song. Pikachu jumps into the crowd, pretending to be the loveable furry koala, using audience folk as her tree. Oni scratches around on stage, bowed into the shape of a kangaroo. They chant, "Kangaroo!", "Koala" over and over again until the crowd is exploding with laughter. Then they climb onto the drum kit and bang with a fevered ferocity. It's nuts. I love it. I don't think I am alone.

During interval I'm wondering what Dead Meadow will be like. Will they be able to maintain the energy? They enter the stage, all rock star swagger, sculling whisky from a bottle that is being passed around. The drummer takes a seat. He's got a Class-A Hairy Trucker Handlebar Moustache and, I dunno, you gotta laugh at that. Well, that was the only thing funny about the performance. I'd read that these guys are all new wave psychedelic rock, but tonight was just straight up hard rock. Posed, predictable and dull. The crowd seemed to go for it but I set my will against falling asleep, at least, not until I'd seen F**K Buttons.

It was around about this time that the performance 'artists' arrived to slowly undress and dress themselves in a gothic-themed glass atrium that's situated between the two main bars. Things just got worse.

"Exhibitionism: the act or practice of deliberately behaving so as to attract attention", versus "Performance: the execution or accomplishment of work, acts, feats, etc."

There is a difference, right?

Finally, just when my patience had well and truly run out, F**k Buttons take over. They bring their synths in an old suitcase and a laser that beams out to the crowd. The set is pretty much a carbon copy of the album but executed with precision. Motifs begin to emerge from the haze of noise – tribal drumming, incantations, and distorted vocals run through a toy microphone. The drone with the beat becomes melodic as it progresses over time and it's beautiful. Well worth the wait.

Missnae