You might have seen
the hours of music from Bloglin last year, but
Мишка ("Mishka," or "bear cub" in Russian) has another treasure trove of music:
free albums, anthologies, and mixtapes on Bandcamp. They started a bit slow with
a single mixtape in 2009 from
Ninjasonik, and 2010 wasn't too active. But in 2011 they had 9 releases, and already 14 in 2012, the newest being
the debut album from
19-year-old nu-disco producer Cream Dream. A handy rundown of the releases to date below the fold.
First, a note: Mishka is fond of nudity in their banners, so if you aren't blocking ads, consider MishkaNYC links NSFW. Bandcamp links are visually fine, but there's a good chance you'll hear some swearing.
Hip-hop mixtapes/albums
September 2010:
Right Now is an album produced by Aaron Clevenger, aka
AC Slater, with vocals by Dell “o8o” Harris (former frontman of
Thunderkatz).
February 2011:
Lincoln Way Nights: Intelligent Trunk Music is a mixtape/album from
NYC resident Stalley repping his hometown of Cleveland, featuring production by
Rashad.
May 2011:
Car Keys & Rabbit's Feet is a album/mixtape from the LA four-man crew
The '87 Stick Up Kids,
boisterous and diverse, "consistent with the band’s upbeat and thunderous style".
August 2011:
808s & Dark Grapes II by Main Attrakionz is the sequel to their original
808s & Dark Grapes mixtape.
Pitchfork has a great write-up on the California "DIY hip-hop" duo and 8&DG2.
September 2011: Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire first released
a no-budget video for The Song That Never Ends (Part 2), hyping his debut mixtape
Lost In Translation, which featured production by El-P. eXquire has
20 other videos on his YouTube account, if this is your kind of NY rap.
December 2011: Mishka continued to support the Das Racist crew, with one of their
guest members Lakutis' release
I'm In the Forest EP.
February 2012: BBU,
short for Bin Laden Blowin’ Up, "are products of the 80s and Reaganomics, just like Bin Laden was" (their own description). Or it could stand for Black, Brown and Ugly, and they make "revolutionary juke music" (again, their own description). Mishka teamed up with Mad Decent to put together the
bell hooks mixtape, mixed by DJ Benzi.
Audible Treats has a run-down of the mixtape.
March 2012:
Children of the Night are a young crew from NY, a part of the larger
World's Fair group.
Queens... Revisited is their mixtape for Mishka.
April 2012: Victor Vazquez, aka Kool A.D., is one third of Das Racist. He released
a disjointed mixtape that was titled in reference to
a seminal work of modern African literature. His follow-up tape,
simply titled "51", was
regarded more highly.
May 15: The
Toothy Wavy EP is a weird collaboration, between
Isaiah Toothtaker,
incarcerated rapper Mike B whose lines are recorded from phone conversations, and production by The Hood Internet.
June 2012: Lil B is prolific, so much that Mishka put together four anthologies of his work in June, each with 20 tracks, and each focused on one face of B.
Faces of Lil B Vol. 1: Based God The Star, in which we see "
the fun loving Lil B that comes the closest to making pop music (but is still weird as fuck)."
Vol. 2: Based God Is Eternal, which focuses on
the spacier side of Lil B, the "soothing and expansive" tracks, and early tracks from when he rapped over (nearly) ambient soundscapes.
Vol. 3: Based God Struggles are
his songs about struggles in the hood. The fourth and final volume is titled
Based God Is Gorgeous, covering Lil B's
"Pretty Boy Music" phase.
Party Mixes of Mayhem
November 2010:
Australian art punk group The Death Set threw together
a party mix called Artificially Sweetend,
available on Soundcloud as a single long track, or
on Bandcamp as 43 tracks.
December 2011:
The Hood Internet are a Chicago duo known for their mashup mixtapes, and
Mishka released their debut "album," a self-titled compilation of 14 tracks, including original remixes and production.
Electronic Somethings
January 2012: Cameron Reed, aka
Babe Rainbow, released a couple EPs, first the
Shaved EP (with a creepy video for the title track:
Vimeo,
YouTube), then
Endless Paths. Both EPs are streaming on Bandcamp, available to purchase elsewhere.
Pitchfork has a good summary on Babe Rainbow's background and self-titled "surf-step" style (summary: "it's difficult to imagine surfing to Reed's more ominous tones"). Mishka got involved, and got the track "Greed" from the Endless Paths
remixed 6 times, and included the instrumental for good measure.
May 2012:
Mishka paired EPs from the married couple from Columbus, Ohio,
Funerals and a producer from Mexico,
Ritualz, titled
Hypermotion B and
Hypermotion X, respectively. Where Ritualz is "gothic trance," Funerals makes "deep midnight techno" with sounds of the early 90s and samples ripped from 50s nuclear propaganda.
June 2012:
Carrie Wilds has a more traditional musical background, singing with her school chorus, then attending a youth opera camp at the age of eleven. She moved from Florida to New York, where she
worked with a variety of producers. Her
self-titled mixtape showcases her voice over the music of other folks.
Blogin has a bit more info, and links to
her video featuring Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire.
Grave Wave/ Neo-Goth/ Witch House/ Dark Post Rock
November 2010:
The Guide to Grave Wave is a 3 disc set with 35 tracks:
disc 1,
disc 2, and
disc 3
January 2011:
Texas-based //TENSE// makes
Industrial/EBM, "born with dreams of resurrecting the forgotten Wax Trax! sound".
Available on limited edition 7" vinyl, and a video (on
Vimeo and
YouTube.
The Bandcamp release extended the release with additional remixes.
April 2011:
Hussle Club's Loose Tights was
Mishka's 3rd 7" release, keeping in their Grave Wave sound. The single was accompanied by a video (
Vimeo,
YouTube) of the A-side. The b-side is a cover of
The Cult's song She Sells Sanctuary (YT video).
The Bandcamp EP is expanded with 7 diverse remixes of the title track.
July 2011: Witch house mastermind
Mater Suspiria Vision (
previously) teamed up with Mishka to release
a limited 7" single and a video, which was expanded Seduction of the Armageddon Witches EP, featuring 5 distinctly non-witchy remixes of the B-side track.
January 2012: The next limited 7" and video from the post-rock side of Mishka is
a split from C V L T S and Virgin Spirit. And this time, instead of including the original tracks, the Bandcamp release is
Time Debt/Bathed In White Remixed EP, without the original cuts. Less dark, more hypnotic.
posted by schyler523 at 1:35 PM on July 5, 2012