My favorite record label, Anticon, and L.A.’s greatest event-promoting radio collective, Dublab, have teamed up to co-author a series of 12-inch vinyl releases called In The Loop. Dublab curates, while Anticon (taking over from Plug Research) handles the physical release. Read about the two entities’ upcoming collaborative debut, and download an MP3 off of it, here.
Tag: electronic music
L.A. Experiential: Dam-Funk, Casiokids
Cult Bit: Mae Shi + drama = “Pool Party”
In this piece (via LA Weekly), you can download a fresh, new summer jam (“Pool Party”) co-authored by The Mae Shi’s Jacob Safari, Wallpaper and Kid Static, while simultaneously catching up on a little local indie scene gossip. Sounds like the perfect Hump Day cocktail, no?
Feature: Anatomy Of A Web Hit (w/ Wallpaper)
I recently published a piece (via LA Weekly) detailing, blow-by-blow, the way in which Wallpaper’s Eric Frederic, helped by a cadre of rabid friends (myself included), took his latest remix incredibly viral. Which remix? Why the one in which he AutoTunes Jay-Z, of course. Read the new article here.
And watch this too:
Feature: Glasser’s Spectacle, Meet Miss Mesirow
I’ve been enamored with the music of Los Feliz-based Glasser, a.k.a. Cameron Mesirow, for some number of months now, but I’ve mostly gazed from afar. There’s something about her humble-but-bejeweled, dreamy electronic folk-pop that begs to lie undisturbed, like a reflecting pool. Flowery language, I know, but it serves to say that when I finally got the chance to talk to Miss Mesirow, my fears were quelled: to know her music’s story is not to know her songs’ secrets. And discovering that her father is in Blue Man Group is a bizarro sidenote.
Check it all out for yourself at LA Weekly (also on stands). You can also listen to Glasser’s “Apply” in the Lala player.
Cult Bit: Wallpaper. AutoTunes Jay-Z
It’s my honor to introduce a furiously banging track by my dear friends in Oakland-based duo Wallpaper. This thing should be viral soon enough, but for now, you can stream it and download (by right-clicking) below.
Jay-Z & Wallpaper. – “D.O.A. + 99 Problems (Wallpaper. Remix)”
Now the backstory: Jay-Z recently contributed his piece to the raging (har har) international debate over the blatant overuse of AutoTune in radio pop. Essentially hopping on an already existing meme, he named his track “D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune)” — co-produced, ironically, by one of the fad’s biggest abusers, Kanye West — and caused a stir with the lyric, “This is anti-AutoTune / Death of the ringtone / This ain’t for iTunes / This ain’t for sing-along.”
Here, Wallpaper., a group that’s used AutoTune as an instrument since early 2005 (that’s pre-T-Pain, for those taking notes), repurposes that lyric for a very singable, digitally modified hook. The somewhat brillaint ironic appropriation doesn’t end there, however. The meat of the track comes from Jay’s monstrous 2004 hit, “99 Problems,” which leads to this rather astute line from Wallpaper vocalist Ricky Reed: “I’ve got 99 problems but my pitch ain’t one.”
Oh, and did I mentioned that Jay’s voice is AutoTuned throughout?
Review: The Field, “Yesterday And Today”
Night Vision: Flying Lotus @ Downtown Independent
Last night, Dublab threw Labrat Matinee VI at Main Street’s Downtown Independent, the new theater next door to The Smell. After dozens of artful music videos and shorts — ranging from the single-shot mini thriller that Ben Barnes made for WHY?‘s ” Sky For Shoeing Horses Under,” to Tim And Eric’s bizarro Absolut Vodka advert starring Zach Galifianakis — beat music auteur Flying Lotus performed. His set included sizable chunks from 2008’s fantastic Los Angeles LP, hard bop samples, rave send-ups and at least one Squarepusher drum phrase. I captured a wee bit of it below.
Consider donatating to Dublab’s Flash Forward Proton Drive.
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:
Review: Fischerspooner, “Entertainment”
Fischerspooner, Entertainment on The A.V. Club.
Chris Writes Things 