Often a man behind the scenes, Imperial is now at the forefront with his debut album, Layers. Lord knows this project has been a long time coming. The Cambridge producer has been a frequent collaborator with K.I.N.E.T.I.K but now Imperial has a solo record to himself. The title represents Imperial’s life over the last few years. His family welcomed the birth of a baby daughter and…
Mysterious Russian producer The Eighth gives us some of his “Lost Readings”. There’s something intriguing about The Eighth. His releases always seem to hide something you can’t figure out until you listen. Lost Readings is now different. It’s the first instalment of his “big experimental project”, originally created as a soundtrack, of “lost” content. But where does the mystery come in? The concept is a…
UK-based multi-disciplinary label ID Spectral announces launch project “IDS001”. Our good friends at ID Spectral are to release their launch compilation tomorrow. Entitled “IDS001”, the album will feature over an hour of experimental vibes, from artists such as Ability II, Anji Cheung, and label head AUXX. Founded by AUXX (real name Louis Sterling), ID Spectral is based in Brighton, with some great connections around the world….
SWARVY has dropped a new tape called Anti-Anxiety. Hands up if you hit a creative slump and you listen to your favourite artist to pick you up. Pretend I have both hands up as you read this. But in this instance, I didn’t run into the proverbial arms of a familiar musician. SWARVY was my object of inspiration and Anti-Anxiety provided the gateway I needed….
Cali producer Ahwlee’s latest tape, [G]ist, is just what you need to chill. Ahwlee’s been on and off my radar for years and a tumble down the Bandcamp rabbit hole lead me to [G]ist. It’s a sub-15 minute journey through sweet calming tunes, perfect for a summer’s day or a quiet night while you’re relaxing. As major artists begin to embrace shorter releases, it’s important…
Music consumption has changed quite a lot in the past 30 years. The latest metamorphosis reduces songs to samples of their individual components. Forbes writer Cherie Hu wrote an interesting piece on the next wave of recorded music’s disruption detailing the emergence of “sample services”. The popular format changes from vinyl to compact disc were groundbreaking but Napster’s deconstruction of albums into profitable singles changed the…
Leftover Links has returned after a lengthy hiatus with links from Illect Recordings and Jakarta Records. It’s been 3.5 years since we last did an instalment of Leftover Links. As Soundcloud took down a lot of links featured in previous editions, we took a break. But now we’re back with some great links from our favourite record labels. Illect Recordings We kick things off with…
Beat Rabbi shows retirement needn’t mean complete obscurity with Mazel Tov Cocktail. You can’t keep a good hip hop clergyman down. While Beat Rabbi has no calls to return to the beat bimah, he has blessed us with a farewell project of sorts. Mazel Tov Cocktail is a 31-track beat tape, the last hurrah to a brilliant career, packed with classic boom bap and break-filled…
London producer Eahwee gives us !Healxng_ [Side.A] A lot of the lo-fi scene comprises of American producers but there are plenty on this side of the Atlantic. One such artist is Eahwee (pronounced errr-wee). The London beatmaker has been around for a few years but his latest tape, !Healxng_ [Side.A], is our focus today. A defining feature of the scene is the ability to stimulate….
Orlando’s BYSON takes us shopping in Japan with konbini. We featured BYSON a few months ago with his album, refresh, and now he is back with something new. “konbini” is a collection of Japanese-themed beats. The tape opens with sounds of supermarket shuffling and meanders into a piano-drum loop. The rest is a journey through Japan’s array of sounds and genres. I find myself swaying…