News Roundup: Dam-Funk + Slave, Jim Henson + Beat Music?!, Radiohead Donor Revealed, Trip-Out Tuesday, ASKA + Flea + Spike Jonze

Quick bloggy bits* from around the L.A. underground (and up).

Durlin Lurt's 'Him Jenson'

  1. ‘Him Jenson’ Releases Wild Muppets Mixtape [MP3s]
  2. Dâm-Funk Making LPs w/ Steve Arrington, Nite Jewel [MP3]
  3. Trip-Out Tuesday: Psychedelic Visions from Red Sparowes
  4. And The Top Radiohead Benefit Donor Is… Dangerbird?
  5. ASKA of Moonrats Collaborates Flea, Spike Jonze
  6. (all stories via West Coast Sound, via LA Weekly)

*If you like it, then you better put a tweet on it.

Trip-Out Tuesday: Psychedelic Visions from Red Sparowes

All Things Considered: Best L.A. Music with Foreign Born, Nosaj Thing and Nite Jewel

Care to hear  the best songs from the L.A. underground in 2009? Click on over to KPCC, where I visited last week in order to talk to All Things Considered host Alex Cohen about three of my favorites. Discussed: Foreign Born’s “Vacationing People,” Nosaj Thing’s “Coat Of Arms,” and Nite Jewel’s “Artificial Intellience,” as well as the scenes/movements each artist represents. Listen to the audio by clicking the little play button at the top of the article, and feel free to download each song via the side panel.

Foreign Born take a victory lap.

Further reading:

An interview with Foreign Born’s Matt Popieluch (via The A.V. Club)

A feature on Nosaj Thing (via LA Weekly)

Various items about Nite Jewel (mostly via LA Weekly)

Bassmaker Shlohmo Signs To Friends Of Friends, Plays Calling All Kids Friday [MP3]

Something less, erm, bawdy from the L.A. music universe.

Friends Of Friends — friends of ours responsible for a growing crop of exciting releases — has just announced its signing of L.A./S.F. beat music artist, Shlohmo, a.k.a. 19-year-old Henry Laufer, a former intern at Dubab. […]  Shlohmo’s glitchy, bass-heavy soundscapes are already drawing comparisons to the output of Flying Lotus and Nosaj Thing, both of whom are part of the Alpha Pup family, so dude should fit right in.

Read more, and download an MP3, here, via LA Weekly.

INCHES004: New Wax from Division Day, Nosaj Thing, Anticon/Dublab and Bygones (+ MP3s, chart)

INCHES004 has landed over at LA Weekly‘s West Coast Sound. Installment number four picks off where last week left off, an unthemed collection of just-released (this week!) L.A.-relevant vinyl reviewed, photographed, and MP3’d, accompanied by a top ten vinyl sales chart from one of our neighborhood record shops. Inside, you’ll find a Velveeta-yellow slab of wax by Bygones (Zach Hill + Tera Melos’ Nick Reinhart), the latest from Division Day, the premier Anticon/Dublab release (featuring music by Hecuba, Lucky Dragons, Julia Holter, matthewdavid, and four others), and the long-delayed vinyl version of Nosaj Thing‘s Drift. Plus, check out the local-friendly list from Origami Vinyl.

Bygones, "by-"

Stay tuned for much, much more, and if you’ve got ideas, reach out.

Cult Bit: Daedelus/Jogger RMXs, free Nosaj MP3

An exciting, young L.A. label has just officially released a sweet set of remixes from the likes of Nosaj Thing, Eliot Lipp, Mexicans With Guns, Meanest Man Contest, and others. The label is Friends Of Friends, and the original artists: Daedelus and Jogger. Read about it here (via LA Weekly), where you can download Nosaj’s remix of Jogger’s “Nice Tights,” learn about the label’s remix contest, and play with a rad mixing widget.

Friends Of Friends Vol. 1 Remixed

Friends Of Friends Vol. 1 Remixed

Feature: L.A.’s new underground mecca

Tucked-away northeast L.A. venue The Airliner has been playing host to some exceedingly fresh talent on Wednesday nights under the Low End Theory banner. Names like Flying Lotus, Nocando, and Nosaj Thing are regulars there, and you can read about the latter-most (Nosaj) in a feature published in this week’s LA Weekly, online here.

I’m happy to report that music news aggregator The Daily Swarm picked up the article. It should remain on the front page through the weekend. If you dig beat music and you’re L.A.-local, I highly recommend a visit to L.E.T. The resident DJ is none other than D-Styles, which is a mind-boggling thought in and of itself: