In the meantime, I thought it'd be wise... well - uhh, necessary, ummm... - okay, I've heard a lot of great music over the last month. I'm almost bursting at the seems with so much tasty tracks that this is going to be yet another sampling of what I have heard. These are some nice gems to come out of the tracklistings on my iPod and from my downloading.
Now to begin!
Chris23 - Western Rains
In my journeys through the sounds of dubstep (I'm still in the learning stages of this genre) you can hear sounds ranging from stomach shaking wobbles to what you hear in this sampling of music: laid back chillout! I've called music like this before "chillstep" (I wonder if that has been used before) where the basics of dubstep are there - such as the drumlines which have been toned down, driving synths which aren't as destructive and happening melodies (for example on this record: gentle). "Western Rains" takes these chill elements, with a mix of eastern vocals, and helps you rethink the way you view the genre of dubstep. At first, I didn't even consider this at all along those lines - I thought of it as just good chillout. With his tutelage, and repeated listenings, I'm a firm believer in both Chris23 and the flexibility of dubstep. I first came in contact with Chris last year when I was looking for artists to put on an episode of the Chilldown Period. He was working on some music and I was going to play some of it on the show. Then he broke his ankle and he had to put some of his production on hold. I'm so glad he is back to health! And with his health came this gem of an EP.
You'll get to hear one of the songs from this album on my next installment of the Chilldown Period.
Ras Amerlock & Special Guests - 2010: A Bass Oddity (Trinity All-Stars) - LCL
All thanks to Thomas Raukamp for this head's up! Dub, dub, dubbity dub! This is a sweeeeet album. To add more frosting to this cake: it's been a staple of my listening habits for the past month due to its raw production quality and keen meanderings through the neat sounds of dub. Ras Amerlock drops a tasty treat of an LP on your doorstep and brings some guests along the way. In my early mornings in the kitchen at work, the skanking guitars, bouncing synths and tight beats have helped me out of many a eeeeeeeeeeeeeearly morning funk. So, do yourself a favor and head over to the LCL netlabel's website and download your copy of Ras Amerlock's latest.
Nameless Beats - BE[ats]ORIGIAL Vol. 2
This technically isn't a Creative Commons release, but you know what? I'm adding it anyway! I was introduced to Nameless by the one and only Illingsworth about a month ago while on Ustream. The doctor informed me that the Nameless one had beats! So, I figured that if the good doctor is a fan, I might as well check it out. After listening to his killer first beat tape, I was waiting with anticipation for his second installment. And it doesn't disappoint! One hour of sampling, mixing and head nodding makes this album worth the download. Plus, anyone who can take the Old Spice commercial with Isaiah Mustafa ("I'm on a horse") and use the samples without it getting too kitschy is okay in my book. He takes some old favorite tunes (example on Doot-N-Doo), some new flavors, and toe tapping beats and throws them all into one nice mix.
Plus, "I'm on a horse" - c'mon, what's not to love?
Titus Twelve - Dig and Delve - Planet Terror
I was meandering around the interwebs looking for music to highlight on a future dubstep program I will post in a month, and I came across a fascinating netlabel called Planet Terror. I found some choice cuts for my show and I found another interesting take on the dubstep sound. It's a sound that's heavy on dub with touches of step to keep it's feet firmly planted on the ground. Titus Twelve's Dig and Delve album is another piece to my past month's listening puzzle. Inventive, creative and calculating are three words I use to help explain what I listened to. There are the nostalgic themes of skanking guitar and beats, but throw in accordion samples, harmonica and speaker testing bass/synths and you have Dig and Delve. Only one song hasn't caught on with me as much, and that's the last track, "The Table of Six." It starts of with some speedy dnb, happy hardcore, something. It comes back into the thesis of music he brings later on in the song, and maybe I haven't been broken yet of my tentativeness of the happy hardcore subgenre (I used to like it...), but it has some nice sounds in the song.
With a few more listens...
Mt. Eden Dubstep - Mt. Eden Album
Another not-so-creative-commons album.I've been listening to this album over and over for the past few days. He's got remixes of Bat for Lashes, Sarah McLachlan, Sigur Ros (?), Imogen Heap and Freshlyground, and ranges from drum n bass to floor stomping dubstep to chillstep. The last remix mentioned (called Sierra Leone) is the on that made me a fan of the man from Mt. Eden. I posted a few videos in a previous post - so check them out.
Now, to get one of his songs on my dubstep show...
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