MetaFilter posts tagged with beats

Flume: Australian post-glitchpop

filthy light thief — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:18:42 -0800

If you follow music chart news in Australia at all, you might have heard of a young chap who goes by Flume, born Harley Streten in November '91. Now a mere 21 years old, Flume's self-titled debut knocked One Direction off the #1 spot last November (though the boy band ended up out-ranking the homegrown talent in following charts) and earlier this month bumped Bieber down a notch on the Aussie charts, too. But what is the sound of this Australian chart-topper? There's plenty of the "spectral beats ... 21st-century, post-glitchpop" on his Soundcloud page, including the complete album, or as individual tracks on Grooveshark. Pitchfork was fond of the album scoring it a 7.4/10, warning that many of his songs have a similar structure, but ending on the note that "Flume could easily evolve into a sought-after producer." He got a similar rating from The Guardian, who likened to the album as a modern take on "1980s experimentalists Art of Noise," with clear influences from California wonky beat producer extraordinaire Flying Lotus. If you're looking for more from Flume, his discography is slim at the moment, with the album and a single, plus some remixes. You can find that material (some repeated) on Grooveshark, or you can check out a few of his mixes, from Fader (with an interview), and Streten put up his hour-long Triple J mix to stream or download from Soundcloud. He also put together a 38 minute mix for Oyster Magazine, again streaming and downloadable from Soundcloud. And like every young producer, he's got a bunch of stuff on his YouTube collection.

The Gaslamp Killer: West Coast Weird Beats, Turkish Psych, Astral Jazz

filthy light thief — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 10:57:18 -0800

William Benjamin Bensussen is a DJ and producer who started DJing in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter, where his weird, heavy sound was generally a dancefloor killer, earning him the name The Gaslamp Killer But he kept at it, and found a home in Los Angeles, performing with the Low End Theory crew. On December 1, 2012, Gaslamp Killer joined an ever-growing list of notable DJs and appeared on BBC Radio 1 with an Essential Mix "This runs the gamut, freak flag and spliff waving in the air. 2 brutal and beautiful hours of raw beats, boom bap, and Birdman. There is psych-rock, there is juke, there is Spaghetti Western. Exclusives from Lotus, HudMo, and Dilla." If you like what you hear, there's even more below the break. Though Bensussen has been DJing for quite a while, he hasn't released that many original works. His wide accolades came for his work on Gonjasufi's A Sufi and a Killer (prev). It wasn't until last September that the first Gaslamp Killer album, Breakthrough (YT playlist), was released.

It's a run of occasionally disorienting, sometimes frantic, usually unnerving trips into distinct corners of psychedelic and experimental influence that spark briefly to reveal vivid life and fade out just as quickly.

With that, there are quite a few of his mixes online, giving a broader view of his musical influences and tendencies.

Gaslamp Killers (Soundcloud stream | partial tracklist and MP3 download) 2007
It's A Rocky Road vol. 1 (Grooveshark | Discogs tracklist) 2007
It's A Rocky Road vol. 2 (Grooveshark | Discogs tracklist) 2007
We Make It Good Mix Series Volume 5 (info, MP3 stream/download | Discogs tracklist) 2008
All Killer: Finders Keepers Records 1-20 Mixed by The Gaslamp Killer (MySpace stream | tracklist on Discogs) 2009
Hell and the Lake of Fire Are Waiting For You! (4 of 5 tracks on YT | Discogs tracklist) 2009
Daylight Fades into Dawn (Grooveshark | MP3 download | incomplete tracklist at MixesDB) 2009
A Decade of Flying Lotus (YT playlist | Discogs playlist) 2010
Death Gate EP (MySpace, 3 of 5 tracks | EP tracklist on Discogs) 2010
Fast Times at Ridgemont High mix for the Cinespia movie screening (MP3 download, no tracklist) 2011
Flange Face / Seven Years Of Bad Luck For Fun (MySpace stream | release on Discogs) 2012
Resident Advisor podcast RA.329 (Soundcloud stream/download | RA information page/interview) 2012
Boiler Room 75 minute mix (info and Soundcloud stream/download | YouTube video of the performance) 2012

A whole lot more:

More Gaslamp Killer mixes and tracks to stream and download at Dublab
Low End Theory Club podcasts, 19 posted to date, including some mixes by GLK
Gaslamp Killer on YouTube, sharing a variety of videos from his life, including The Gaslamp Killer's 23rd birthday morning solo drum session

Interviews with The Gaslamp Killer:

Get your hi-hat on.

iamkimiam — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 08:30:59 -0800

Real-time MRI study of human beatboxing, with lots of videos. See what snares, kick drum effects, cymbals and more look and sound like as they happen inside the head. Here's a BBC radio segment on the project.

The Holy Soul reads

Isadorady — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 23:16:16 -0800

Allen Ginsberg's four box set "Holy Soul Jelly Roll: Poems & Songs 1949-1993" is a collection of released and unreleased recordings. Eight poems are free on Soundcloud. More Ginsberg, including Howl, "What Would You Do If You Lost It?" and with Paul McCartney. Previously

The flying fingers of AraabMUZIK

filthy light thief — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:03:55 -0800

If you've browsed some of the many year-end Best Album Lists, you might have seen AraabMUZIK's Electronic Dream rank highly. If his name means nothing to you, check an interview with the then 19 year old Hispanic kid from Rhode Island, who had recently graduated high school and connected with Dipset, or the 20 year old drummer-turned-producer whose performance was copied by Kanye (and other information on his life and times). Or maybe you follow producers, and knew he made the beat for Cam'ron's track I Used To Get It In Ohio, or cuts on the Dipset Trance Party mixes (DatPiff has volume 1, 2, and 3). If you want to know more, you can check a mini AraabMUZIK documentary (6:38 on YouTube), or just watch him work the MPC. MPC previously, including a couple links to AraabMUZIK Electronic Dream on Wikipedia, including original artist/track information; more sample tracks from the album on Soundcloud AraabMUZIK on Soundcloud and YouTube

The Little Anarchist Collective That Could

The Whelk — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:17:04 -0800

George Whitman, founder of the Parisian landmark bookstore Shakespeare And Company, has died at the age of 98

Breaks and Beats from Tino Corp CEO, Tino, and just in time for the holidays!

filthy light thief — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:56:20 -0800

"Hello friends, my name is Tino. Do you like the drums? Great man! I love them!" As CEO and principal artist, Tino launched [Tino Corp] the label with a series of instructional albums called Tino's Breaks, which teach a new style of drumming with each installment. Straight from their factory to you, six volumes of breaks, from mambo (YT) and dub (YT), to hallowe'en music (YT) and Christmas dubs (Grooveshark). No one puts the "fun" in functional like Tino, the action-figure alter ego of breakbeat mavens Ben Stokes (DHS), Jack Dangers (Meat Beat Manifesto), and Mike Powell (Bo Square), who graces the covers of all Tino Corp. albums and gets the credit for the multifarious breaks and beats contained within. Although these albums are primarily intended for use as raw material by DJs, they are also all genuinely fun listening experiences. Unlike most breaks-and-beats collections, they develop themes and proceed more or less logically from track to track, just like real albums! Vol. 4 in the acclaimed Tino's Breaks series focuses on Cuban and Brazilian percussion, with lots of fun vocal samples and some virtuosic conga playing.

Bookseller/Zine Publisher/Free Speech Hero

Toekneesan — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:59:48 -0800

"Born Shigeyoshi Murao in 1926, he was universally known as Shig. His playful demeanor—not to mention his signature beard, Pendleton shirts, Royal Air Force exercise vest, horn-rimmed glasses, and bowler—rendered him unforgettable. But that did not make him easy to know. Shig, who died in 1999, is largely remembered for an event that occurred on June 3, 1957, when two undercover agents from the San Francisco Police Juvenile Squad showed up at City Lights to buy a seventy-five-cent book of poetry." "It is my hope that this website will serve as a resource for those who are fascinated by the bohemian culture of the mid-twentieth century and will illuminate Shig’s little-known role as the soul of City Lights during its heyday." —Richard Reynolds

Get Based! Instrumental cloud rap with Clams Casino

filthy light thief — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:05:42 -0800

The name Clams Casino has been floating around for a while, whose production was likened to a castle floating in the clouds by the BasedGod himself, Lil B [prev]. But recently, 24 year old Mike Volpe has shot up from relative obscurity to being dubbed a "visionary beatmaker" in Rolling Stone. You can hear the start of the north Jersey bedroom producer's ethereal sound in his 2006 remix of Mobb Deep's "Get Twisted", which has carried forward into tracks for Squadda Bambino, Lil B, Havoc (of Mobb Deep), and Soulja Boy. Clams Casino has since released a free mixtape of his instrumental production (streaming) to glowing reviews. A couple months back, he had some good interviews with the Village Voice blog and Space Age Hustle, and Clams made a general hip-hop mix for Fact Magazine (which will go offline in 2 weeks). Clams Casino also has an EP out on Tri Angle (er, TRI▼ANGLE), the label by 20 Jazz Funk Greats [prev] blogger Robin Carolan, home to witch house or drag artists [prev, ish]. So what do you call this sound? Cloud Rap is one title (with a mixtape), though Clams Casino is generally considered part of Lil B's Based Music world. Fun fact: Mike Volpe has not had Clams Casino, at least when he discussed it in some of his past interviews.

Pluto should be the hidden track

cross_impact — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 08:06:51 -0800

"I've been studying the planets and learning the personalities of each planet." Dr. Dre is considering a hip-hop instrumental answer to Gustav Holst.

Rockin', beats...beats beats.

cashman — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 05:46:12 -0800

Free Beats. Classic Beats. Lost Beats.

The End of Bonus Beats?

analogue — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:33:16 -0800

The "Bonus Beats" tracks on 12" singles were used by DJ's to either extend the mix of the main track, or sometimes played within a dj mix on their own. One DJ mourns their passing. The track was usually comprised of the beats (all the drum and percussion parts) of a song, usually without the vocals, keys, bass, melody and other musical elements (though the definition was not strictly enforced).

Free Poetry MP3s that don't suck!

elr — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 16:54:11 -0800

In the late Seventies and Early Eighties, Dial-a-Poem put out recordings of William S. Burroughs, John Giorno, Sonic Youth, Cabaret Voltaire, Coil, Diamanda Galas, Anne Walderman, Charles Bukowski, Amiri Baraka, Gregory Corso, Phillip Glass, Patti Smith, and many many more. Apparently, the incredibly awesome Ubuweb has streaming mp3s of all twelve Dial-A-Poem releases here. Yay!

10 great beat-making videos

nthdegx — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 11:09:10 -0800

10 greatest beat-making videos ever* "*Or, you know, today." A Music thing thing.

This is a journey...into sound

Ogre Lawless — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 22:18:40 -0800

45King Perhaps you'll remember his 1-900 song that Ed Lover used to (and still apparently does) shake his ass to. Turns out the guy -- 45 King -- has been producing into the modern age. The interface runs the gamut from "OK" to "barely passes", though doesn't overly interfere with your ~~download and~~ enjoyment of beats, loops and YES!!! More beats! • Caution: may make noise come out your speakers • please enjoy [with help from the good folks at 32944...]

The beat goes on...

veryape — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 04:18:48 -0800

Looks like Buk is b a c k and Jack is On The Road again.

Robert Creeley (1926-2005)

digaman — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 09:17:05 -0800

Robert Creeley, one of the most exquisite and influential poets of our era, died this morning at age 78. I'd link to a story, but it's not in the news yet. This is a note from one of Robert's friends: "American poet Robert Creeley passed away this morning at 6:15 am in Odessa, Texas, where he was fulfilling a Residency at the Lannan Foundation. (Mr. Creeley was a recipient of the Lannan Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.) His wife of twenty-eight years, Penelope, and son Will and daughter Hannah were at his side. The cause of death was complications from respiratory disease." Though a comrade and muse for Beat Generation writers like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, Creeley was much less well-known, and had a style rather unlike theirs, distinguished by extreme economy of words and an understated approach toward emotion. Creeley was often cited as a pioneer by the so-called language poets, and his most creatively generative friendship was with another poet's poet, the late Charles Olson. Creeley's subtlety and balance will be missed.

brazilian hip-hop

vronsky — Sun, 27 Feb 2005 13:15:57 -0800

funky do morro From the ghettos of brazil comes this funky and fun music that recalls the energy and optimism of early 80's hip hop. Think Afrika Bambaataa and Malcolm McLaren. Before rap crossed over to the dark side.

Human Beatbox

Dark Messiah — Sat, 01 May 2004 15:18:59 -0800

The Human Beatbox (Video). I meant this to be a follow-up to another previous thread about this specific ability, but the search page won't give me my results. At any rate, this guy amuses, entertains and scares the bejeezus out of me all at the same time. Good enough for me!

Move Your Feet - Junior Senior

MintSauce — Thu, 27 Feb 2003 03:25:15 -0800

Yay, after the flash fest that was Royksopp's 'Remind Me', here's anoter retro-pixel music video (and a damn catchy choon), from Junior Senior and it can be distributed freely too. "A Tummy Touch-esque slab of nu-disco breaks. The single The Avalanches forgot to make, slick discoid beats, wonderful smile-inducing vocal & beats to make you throw down the funk." according to breaksworld.com

On The Road...

serafinapekkala — Thu, 29 Aug 2002 07:48:54 -0800

On The Road... coming to a theater near you (scroll down in link). Francis Ford Coppola is working on a film adaptation of Kerouac's classic (?), starring Brad Pitt. Genius? Heresy? I can see the Barnes & Noble tie-ins now...

Ken Kesey's page, in which:

Optamystic — Mon, 25 Sep 2000 14:50:56 -0800

Ken Kesey's page, in which: He offers to burn copies of about two hundred minutes of recordings that he made of Neil Cassady, driving the Magic Bus, in 1964. Here's the kicker....no credit cards, no C.O.D.....you order them, they send them, they bill you, you pay them. Trust me, folks, if you're a fan of the Beats, this is amazing stuff. Hearing Kerouac's muse rant into the night while ballin' down the highway is a rare treat indeed.

Break it down.

Mo Nickels — Wed, 31 May 2000 14:30:38 -0800

Break it down. Shockwave grooves and beats.