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….
This edition of Leftover Links is all about the rappers. We get so many submissions every day, it’s not possible to get to them all as and when they come through. That means we miss things and get to them late. A bit like when you’re stuck for something to eat and have nothing substantial in, you put together a mish-mash concoction. And then it…
Point Blank’s Ski Oakenfull shows you how to create a track from scratch using vinyl samples in this special guest post. Point Blank’s Lead Course Developer Ski Oakenfull knows Ableton Live like the back of his hand – and he’s also an avid record collector and all round music nerd to boot. In Shop ‘n’ Chop, Point Blank asked Ski to head to Vinyl Pimp in Hackney,…
We have a special guest editorial from Point Blank Electronic Music School and it’s all about sampling. Sampling is the use of someone else’s recording within your own to create something new. It can range from lifting sections of drums or other isolated instruments to entire musical ideas and right down to milliseconds of material. It’s such a common technique that we’ve developed instruments to…
If you’re on the Pokémon Go hype (hell, who isn’t?), then you might enjoy Akira The Don’s Pokémon Go “peakwave” remix. The latest social craze hitting the streets quite literally is Pokémon Go. I’ve seen plenty of creative offshoots in the form of memes and some raps, courtesy of a contest held by El-P, but now we have a remix from Akira the Don. Due…
LA’s LINAFORNIA whipped up a fantastic track entitled “wetttt” last year and we’re bumping hard to it. Thanks to DJ Spaed for the tip. This is what happens when you have a talented producer, an SP-404 and a community like Los Angeles as your backdrop. What’s more, it’s another fine example of a female producer from the West Coast. LINAFORNIA’s wetttt lives up to its…
The debut single off Henry Canyons’ collab album with Keor Meteor is here. Collab albums are great, especially when they involve producers like Keor Meteor. We’ve featured one previously with Jack Wilson but now he has lent his services to “half-French, Jewish Brooklynite transplanted in Los Angeles” Henry Canyons. The album, Canyonland, drops on 16th June and to whet the appetite, he has released the…
Eleven months ago, Los Angeles producer Iman Omari “unleashed” the second of three “Vibe Tapes”. Here’s a devilishly good cut from the project. Soundcloud may be on its way to becoming a commercial cesspool but that hasn’t stopped some fine talent from falling through the cracks. Iman Omari is one such musician and while listening to something completely unrelated, this track began to play. It…
Remixes of Janelle Monáe and Miguel’s PrimeTime by Chloe Martini and Kastle are our Song(s) for Sunday. There’s been a lengthy absence of songs for Sunday and I must apologise for that. To say sorry, you’re getting not one but TWO songs this week and they’re both equally phenomenal. We’re featured Janelle Monáe and Miguel’s PrimeTime a few months back and now we have a…
Richard Pryor’s appearances in the Wattstax documentary of 1973 are the focus of our Throwback Thursday feature this week. In 1972, record exec Al Bell oversaw the Wattstax festival, a one-day event brought together in the aftermath of the Watts Riots that took place in 1965 in Los Angeles and held during its 7th anniversary. The documentary itself showed performances from the event by the…