The Verge - Left-field Beat Makers

Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the edge of a breakthrough. Last week's column profiled some throwback house music stylists, while today I'll take a look at a few forward-thinking, left-field beat makers.

For all our talk of dubstep, you might think that anyone producing electronic music that isn't equipped with a four-on-the-floor beat must describe their music in that way. Clearly, this isn't the case, as a whole crop of producers are making music that defies easy classification. With influences from hip hop, turntablism, jazz, and R&B, among others, these artists tend towards the atmospheric and orchestral rather than danceable hits and boom-bap bangers. This is background music for an edgy tea house, or for partaking an herbal refreshment at home.

One of the most prominent purveyors of this sound is Flying Lotus. First gaining notoriety for producing the bumper music on Adult Swim, he eventually signed to like-minded record label Warp and began releasing a steady stream of music soon after. His highly anticipated sophomore record, Cosmogramma, is set for release on May 3rd.

The jittery, laser beam electro of Cosmogramma's "...And the World Laughs with You" features a brief, heavily processed appearance by Radiohead's Thom Yorke. The song builds over a stop-start rhythm, adding fuzzy synths like so many blankets on a cold, rainy day before devolving into a beat somewhere between jungle and minimal.

Flying Lotus - ...And the World Laughs with You by greenplastic

He also produced for R&B chanteuse Muhsinah on her slept-on 2009 release The Oscillations: Triangle. The DC native and Foreign Exchange collaborator brings out the sultry side of FlyLo's music on "Lose My Fuse," a swirling beat and bass combo acting as the perfect soundscape for her vocal style.



Tokimonsta, a Flying Lotus protege and member of his Brainfeeder Records family, produces a more hip hop based sound. The LA-based artist played a live set at SOVA back in January, and rather than DJing, she manipulates and tweaks beats live. Her remixes give tracks a grimy, lo-fi character, that re-create the music in exciting new ways. Here's her take on Lupe Fiasco's "Kick Push:"



Check out Toki's free 2008 Attention Deficit mixtape, which includes remixes of "How High" by Meth and Red and "A Mili" by Weezy. Her debut EP Cosmic Intoxication is due on Brainfeeder on April 29th.

FlyLo's Warp labelmate Hudson Mohawke makes music that glitches and shimmers like CPUs singing love songs. At 15, he was the youngest ever UK DMC finalist. At 24, he's an in-demand producer/DJ, quickly making a name for himself. His compositions are dense, moving, and groundbreaking. "FUSE," off his 2009 Warp record Butter, is a massive tune full of bubbling synth lines and percussion that crashes through your speakers:



Technology not only allows electronic music to be made in new ways, but it also expands the breadth of sounds and styles that exist. Thanks to the diffusion of music made possible by file sharing and a robust Internet culture, more artists in the mold of Flying Lotus, Tokimonsta, and Hudson Mohawke are over the horizon and on the verge.

Japandroids @ Rock & Roll Hotel - 3/29/10

Indie rock is defined by trends. Call it revival, tribute, or pastiche, but bands that fall under the generous umbrella of "indie rock" are constantly going back to the well of rockers past for inspiration. A current trend finds many bands aping the sound of shoegaze pioneers like My Bloody Valentine, creating huge walls of fuzz that wash over the listener like waves of static.

Vancouver's Japandroids get fuzz, but rather than waves, they release blasts of distorted guitars like a fire hose. Playing Rock and Roll Hotel last night, the band captivated a packed house for over an hour with aggressive but fun garage rock.

Guitarist Brian King and drummer David Prowse split the stage like Solomon's baby. Like other notable duos, chiefly Death From Above 1979, they compensate for the lack of a bass guitar with a full-frontal sonic assault, all muscular chords and non-stop drumming. Earplugs are necessary, but the sound is clear despite being extremely overdriven. The riffs are familiar and catchy, recalling alternative rock from the mid-90s and early 2000s, be it grunge or emocore. While they share vocal duties, King takes the lead, with a charming blend of mania and Canadian aw-shucks pleasantness. They're genuinely appreciative but self-deprecating, like when King told the crowd that they didn't deserve applause after an unsatisfactory (to the band) performance of "Hearts Sweats."

Japandroids played most of their Pitchfork-approved record Post-Nothing, along with older material, including a cover of Mclusky's "To Hell with good intentions" and obscure songs like "Body Bag." After a brief intro, the band kicked into high gear with "The Boys Are Leaving Town," where Prowse's extended drum fills mirror the chorus: "will we find our way back home?" On "Rockers East Vancouver," King took the opportunity to "dance around and play guitar like an asshole," his favorite part of the set. After a bit of hypnotic sludge that bordered on stoner rock, the band launched into standout "Young Hearts Spark Fire," with it's sing-along chorus of "We used to dream / now we worry about dying / I don't wanna worry about dying / I just wanna worry about those sunshine girls."



Opener Love is All, a five-piece from Sweden, played a set of bouncy punk and pubhouse rock. Lead singer Josephine Olausson, looking like Steve Zissou in her striped shirt and orange skullcap, sings slightly off-kilter rallying cries, reminiscent of other Scandinavian singers like Ida Maria and Lykke Li. Unfortunately, the band was pushing into the red, and the resulting cacophony sounded unfocused and repetitive. The band could stand to take a cue from Japandroids and perfect the mixing; it's a shame that the rollicking songs on the recently released Two Thousand and Ten Injuries were lost in a bad mix.

Hard Jams: Eminem - Bad Influence

(Part of TGRIOnline.com's on-going focus on "hard jams.")

After listening to the Dead Wrong remix, I was reminded of a track that was the hardest jam I had ever heard at the impressionable age of 15. Hidden amid the nu-metal of the End of Days soundtrack was Eminem's non-album cut "Bad Influence," a companion piece to The Slim Shady EP's "Role Model" (which is namedropped in the song).

Resigned to his role as musical bad boy, Em relishes his media image and hits his usual talking points. He attacks his peers (Brandy, Ma$e, Lauryn Hill), and promotes violent misogyny ("Looking for hookers to punch in the mouth with a roll of quarters"), drug abuse, and suicide. The song is a sarcastic nod to the PMRC-crowd. Fuck a subliminal message, Em puts his suicide solution right there in the chorus.



The first two verses are pretty pedestrian for Em, but the third kicks off with the sickest 12 seconds that he's ever laid down, both in terms of lyrics and flow:

My laser disc will make you take a razor to your wrist
Make you Satanistic, make you take the pistol to your face
and place the clip and cock it back
and let it go until your brains are rippin' out
your skull so bad to sew you back would be a waste of stitches.

I vividly recall replaying that rhyme over and over again. Even at 15, we got the joke. Clearly, Em didn't have the power to make us end it all. But he had the power to point to the idiocy of authority figures and shine a light on their ignorance, which is actually empowering to most teenagers. Once again, Emimen got the last laugh. And that's hard.

The Verge - Disco / Funky / House

Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the verge of a breakthrough. Following up on last week's exploration of rising dubstep stars, this week's topic is emerging sounds in house music.

Hercules and Love Affair released one of the most exciting albums of 2008, a journey back in time to the coke-fueled sounds that lit up Studio 54, Paradise Garage and Crisco Disco. DJ Andy Butler's disco-house project utilized a live band that included Andrew Raposo on bass, Morgan Wiley on keyboards, and Nomi Ruiz on vocals. Post-tour, the trio has continued making music as Jessica 6, covering similar sonic territory; they classify their sound as "contortionist jazz exotica," a tongue-in-cheek name for their sultry, soulful disco. Jessica 6 opens for electroqueer act Dangerous Muse on April 2nd at the U Street Music Hall. The video for their lead single, "Fun Girl," gives you an idea what to expect from the group.



While the most talked about EDM sound coming from across the pond may be dubstep, a more dancefloor-friendly style deserves your attention: UK funky. This brand of house music substitutes the typical snare sounds of house for African and Latin percussion, adds in a touch of R&B vocals, and keeps the rhythm brisk enough for a cardio workout. You've probably heard some funky mixed into house and electro sets, from Crazy Cousinz' "Do You Mind" to Geeneus' remix of "Show Me Love." UK funky lends itself to the hip roll rather than the fist pump, a welcome development in clubs everywhere. "Give It Up" by DJ MA1 (featuring Sim Simi) is a perfect example of a UK funky banger, and it first appeared on Geeneus' Volumes One, a great introduction to the genre. Check it:



Staying in the UK, a house music producer in the dubstep stronghold of Bristol fights an uphill battle for exposure. Julio Bashmore is doing just that, DJing and producing a mix of deep house that includes elements of disco, dubstep, and funky. Called "the next Joy Orbison" - as if Joy Orbison's time has already come and gone - Julio Bashmore combines the disparate strands of UK EDM into a signature sound that is enigmatic and experimental. He recently did a fantastic mix for Vice which is available for free on their site, and here's a mix he did for Crazylegs:
CRAZYLEGS 004.3: mixed by JULIO BASHMORE by crazylegsclub

Album Review: Starks and Nacey - TRO/Lydia EP

Starks and Nacey are no strangers to the DC scene. The two are a big part of the city's hottest dance parties: the electro freakout Nouveau Riche (coming soon to the U Street Music Hall aka "Temple of Boom") and the hip hop senior prom KIDS. The pair released a self-titled EP last year, showcasing their musical range: from Bmore club (“You Don’t Want None”), to exotic electro (“So Sexy”) and all points in between.

Released today, Time Run Out / Lydia EP (T&A Records) finds the duo going further down the rabbit hole. "Time Run Out" kicks off the EP; with its heart-palpitating rhythm, grimey synth stabs and a rumbling bassline, it builds to a fist-pumping crescendo. The track is a deep, layered beast ready for the dancefloor. Starks gets a little funky on "Lydia," a Latin house romp that blew up Austin dancefloors throughout SXSW (keep watch for a Moombahton remix). Nacey's contribution here is "Work for This," a re-release from the initial EP. The looped horn sample over reverse cymbals gives the song a sexy, hypnotic appeal.

Remix duties are handled by friends of the group. Label-head DJ Ayres gives "Time Run Out" a two-step feel and focuses on the ricochetting synthlines. Both Smalltown Romeo and Sabo take a crack at "Lydia;" the Canadian collective / recent Plant Records signees amp up the electro funk and vocode the vocals, while Sabo takes another route and accentuates the track's Latin roots. Rounding out the EP is Nouveau Riche partner Gavin Holland's ravey reworking of "Work for This." In trademark style, Gavin adds both the drops from Rob Base's seminal "It takes two" and the smooth synth from Snoop's "Sexual Eruption," taking the track to the next level.

Starks and Nacey are currently laying seige to Miami as part of WMC festivities, and EDM fiends of all stripes will eat up the tracks on this EP. But hopefully they'll also hear tracks from the guys' first EP, as well. While "Time Run Out" and "Lydia" are fun tracks, there is nothing on the EP as exciting as the disco banger "Lose Your love" or the breathy groove on "Don't Let Me Go." Still, TRO/Lydia gives some of DC's finest DJs a chance to take their game to the next level. And that's exciting on its own.

FOUR OUT OF FIVE STARS

Grab the EP on Amazon or Juno, and check out Starks and Nacey's mix for Flashing Lights!

DJ A-Mac and the Moombahton Movement

We can't stop talking about it: moombahton. Bubbling just under the surface, moombahton is poised to be the Next Big Thing on dance floors everywhere, in places that might surprise you. Dave Nada's serendipitous slow down of Dutch house has even found an evangelist 2,000 miles away: Calgary's DJ A-Mac. I had a chance to talk with a DJ/producer whose moombahton edits are already annihilating playlists and setlists.


The basic biographical: where are you from and where are you based now?

I'm originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, but have been living in Calgary, Alberta for the past 4 years.

How long have you been DJing? What's the basic trajectory of your tastes and style?

Ive been DJing for 7 years now and really have only been working on production stuff during the past year, even though I bought an MPC way back before I even owned a pair of turntables. I started out playing hip hop / funk / disco jams and have gradually moved into playing house music and rave bombs that I used to never touch. With the introduction of Serato, I've found my musical tastes going all over the map.

How did you get on the moombahton tip? What's the reaction been when playing it out?

I was up in Vancouver for the Olympics and all the homies were in town for various gigs all over town. We were up at this Monster Energy party on the top of a mountain overlooking Vancouver. It was earlier in the evening, so basically the place was just filled with the DJs that were going to be playing and various other people who helped throw the party. Dave Nada got on the decks and started playing these joints and everyone just got up and started to get down on the dance floor. My homie Neoteric was telling me that Dave had just played a radio show with him, and had introduced him to Moombahton. He knew what type of music I am into and was like, "you are gonna love this shit." We all got down to it super hard, and afterwards, I grabbed the edits that Dave had made.

My first couple of edits, which include the "Heads Will Roll" joint, were originally just to have more of a crate to play a set with. I got a lot of really good feedback from those so I sat down and started putting some work into making some tracks with a lot more of my own personal touch. I have played it out a few times, and I find that it can get a dance floor going hard. It works especially well if the crowd knows some of the original house tracks in the back of their heads, but are more inclined to dance to slower tempo music like hip hop or reggae.

The Verge - Dubstep

Welcome to The Verge: a column dedicated to music on the verge of a breakthrough. This inaugural column is inspired by the life-changing bass of the U Street Music Hall, and will focus on a few of the subsonic sounds coming to a system near you.

Rusko, the king of wobble, dropped the video for Woo Boost this week. The track is the lead single off his Mad Decent debut, O.M.G! As I’ve written about previously, Rusko is leading the way in the dubstep world with a singular sound that is aggressive and abrasive yet eminently listenable, like Charlie Brown’s teacher on acid. The video is the perfect visual complement to the ostentatious tunage. Obnoxious and glaring, the clip is a collage of broken video effects, swirling fluorescents, and a Union Jack-draped Rusko rocking a keytar. It is a total guilty pleasure, in all of its seizure inducing glory. The most defining visual is Rusko tearing through the green screen; it’s like watching the violent birth of something twisted and wrong. Enough words, watch the damn clip:

Janelle Monae @ Black Cat, 3/15/10

Janelle Monae is an alien, an outsider, a misfit. Confounding critics and listeners since appearing on the Big Boi- curated Got Purp? Volume 2 back in 2005, she’s also been Exhibit A in one of the music industry’s most persistent and perplexing failings: what to do with black alternative artists. For an industry that hasn’t used the term “race records” since 1958, not a lot has changed, especially for artists that challenge the “hip-hop, R&B or nothing” paradigm. Unlike the census form, there isn’t an “other” box to check. Just ask Saul Williams, K-Os, and Kenna.

But all of that may be changing, with the little-d democratizing of the digital age, especially for an artist like Monae. At the Black Cat on Monday to kick-off her ArchAndroid tour, her performance art-cum-concert even made a few tongue in cheek references to Twitter, Facebook, and God forbid, MySpace. And playing to a sold-out crowd, something must be working. Maybe the wave of (rightly deserved) hype that she’s been riding for nearly half a decade is finally ready to break.

With Monae not taking the stage until two and half hours after doors opened, the audience was anxious, to say the least, as introductory music and video played until around 10:30. But any ill will was quickly forgotten as the performance kicked off. Monae, in trademark throwback trappings, stayed “in character” the entire show, with her herky-jerky dance moves and impressive vocal range. She was joined on stage by an on-spot three piece band and a few other performance artists, throwing balloons and noise makers into the first rows.

The songs of ArchAndroid dominated the set; only “Sincerely, Jane” from her debut EP Metropolis: The Chase Suite made an appearance, bittersweet for fans hoping to hear favorites like “Violet Stars Happy Hunting” and “Many Moons.” However, the first singles off her debut full length, the smooth, swinging “Tightrope” and the stirring “Cold War,” are in familiar enough territory that fans, old and new alike, will be singing and dancing along in no time.

After a dense 45 minute set that moved between operatic ballads and jams that just drip funk, it was time for Monae to blast off and head for her home planet. But not before fearlessly crowdsurfing the entire crowd, threatening to brain herself on the low ceilings at the Cat. Forgoing an encore for an after party at the Renaissance was an interesting choice, although I don’t know how many restless androids took her up on the offer. ArchAndroid lands on May 18.

My McGangbang Experience

It was bound to happen eventually. Once in a while, usually right before pay day, I treat myself to a four forty feast: two McChicken sandwiches (no mayo), a small fry, and a sweet tea. But for only $0.19 more, one of those McChickens becomes a double cheeseburger, as if by some low-rent alchemy. And thanks to the Internet, I knew what that meant.

The McGangbang is Ronald McDonald's dirty little secret: a McChicken sandwich inside a double cheeseburger. Allegedly, you can order this off-menu delight and the paper-hatted staff will begrudgingly assemble it. While I was too proud to order by its colloquial name, I wasn't too proud to construct and devour this once I got back to the office. (Apologies for the Weekly World News-quality photo.)

Is it worth it? Flavor-wise, the fried chicken patty dominates the underwhelming burgers. The cheese and occasional pickle help, though. Mostly, go for the McGangbang if it's on your Bucket List, you have reached your broke/hungry/sadness triple point, or if you have given up on treating your body with any respect. Oh, and for people who care about this sort of thing, a table:

	Calories	Cal/Fat	Fat	Chol.	Sodium	Carbs
DblChsBurger	440	210	23	80	1150	34
McChicken	360	150	16	35	830	40
McGangbang	800	360	39	115	1980	74