Here is something we tried starting awhile back that almost got lost in the dustbin of time due to unforeseen cirumstances and overall laziness. BUT starting now, we plan to bring back the Virtuality series wherein each week a contributing poster will share five different audio and/or visual releases that people need to know about. So, without further ado, here are this week’s picks, brought to you this time by Paul Jones.

1. Maths Time Joy – Hideaway EP

Serious music for serious people. Live For The Funk proves it ain’t nuttin to f*ck with, coming out hard with a second impeccable EP release from 22-year old UK based producer Tim Worthington aka Maths Time Joy hot on the heels of Jaw Jam‘s perfect Untitled EP which kicked off LFTF’s series of official releases. Download (for free!) and be happy.

2. Nangdo – Bootyleg EP

Yet another dope release from our friends at the ever-prolific and constantly growing Soulection digital label. This EP by Nangdo released in September is reminiscent of Machinedrum but equally strong in production quality. Enjoy this amazing free release and don’t be afraid to check out the rest of Soulection’s expanding library… lots of hidden gems in there!

3. Sweater Beats

Not an official release per say, but definitely someone you should be listening to. Having supposed to have played at our October  FREECANDY event with Dreams et al only to have his equipment jacked uptown days before, we’ve got nothing but love for Sweater Beats and fully support his music. Expect to see him re-scheduled at a future Astro Nautico event and in the meantime, BUMP THIS ISH.

4. Full Service – All Stars Vol. 1

Brooklyn-based Full Service crew brings the late-night heat with it’s debut compilation EP “All Stars Vol. 1″  featuring tracks from local artists like Dunes and Astro’s own Obey City. If you see these guys throwing an event in NY, you’d be well-advised to get there. In their own words:

“Full Service was born just over 5 years ago in a basement in Williamsburg. Since then it has quickly become the kiln in which new and unheard DJ/Producer talent is forged. While venues and residents have changed here and there, the core concept remains the same: no pretentions and no genre boundaries.

Full Service All Stars Vol. 1, the first in a series of free EPs, is a chance to take the dubs our residents and friends share with us and disseminate them beyond the ether of the dancefloor, straight into your home.”

5. Ventla – 100 albums

As fantastical as it sounds, there is – believe it or not – an artist based in Tokyo named Ventla who is in the process of releasing 100 albums digitally for free, and well on his way to completing this goal. Currently on album #18 with no signs of slowing or the obvious danger of quantity trumping quality, Ventla has been churning out warm, tape-friendly pop songs (mostly instrumentals) using a wide variety of instruments all of which are listed on the right side of his/her(?) soundcloud page. Thanks to Astro friend Ville Kamppainen for the tip.

Did we mention all the albums are freeeeeee?

Previously unknown to us until we received some banger DJ kicks from him, Lithuania’s 26 year-old Mantas Stonkus aka Marriage Proposal is responsible for our 29th Astrocast. With a strong background in house and techno, it isn’t surprising that this mix is filled primarily with heavy-hitting club tracks that demand a big, bassy system in order to be properly enjoyed. In light of our cancelled November 2nd show scheduled at FREECANDY, please take this as a consolation mix of things you may have heard that night. In order to make it a bit more realistic, may we suggest that you find some cold beers, surround yourself with beautiful people, and turn the volume to 11. Find out more about Marriage Proposal and what goes on in his brain below.

Interview

1. Who is Marriage Proposal? And who is the proposal for? Are you getting married?

“I ask you to pass through life at my side, to be my second self, and best earthly companion.”

- Charlotte Bronte

With music it’s the same thing. I wanted to propose to people’s minds and hearts, I want people to be my music companions –  I want to take a walk side by side with them. I know that music has a lot of ego, but without “others”, there’s no point of doing it ;]. But to get away from a philosophy side – it’s just me, Mantas Stonkus – born and raised in a small town called Gargzdai.

2. What is the music scene like in Lithuania? Our last astrocast was from Mik Mo in Russia – are there any musical connections or otherwise that you’re aware of between Lithuania and Russia?

To be honest, a couple of years ago I was away from any club thing, didn’t go to any events. I was tired of the Lithuanian music scene, tired from any native producer’s works, bored of it. Now it’s getting better everyday. It’s strange, but nights are more shiny now than days (if we’re talking about everything that includes Lithuanian events). Someone even called Vilnius Eastern Berlin ;].  I can’t say anything about the Russian scene or compare it with ours – to me, they’re just neighbours, and I’m sure they got a lot of great places to dance shit out of them. And I hope there will be no DJs/producers who get in jail because of their free expression, like Pussy Riot did.

3. You’ve had some involvement with one of our favorite independent labels Mondayjazz, who have been doing their thing for a long time now. Can you expand a bit upon how you came in contact with them, as well as what you’ve released/planned to release with them?

Yeah, and since then my career has accelerated into one wild journey. They’re good, funny guys, helped me a lot. I did some tracks and posted onto my soundcloud, one of them contacted me and asked me if I want to release something on their new label, which they started couple of month ago (and it’s not independent anymore). Their first release was a compilation called “Workers #1“, which included my track called “Kiss Me” and a bunch of other best Lithuanian’s workers and a couple foreigners too. I’m planning to release my first EP with them, its almost done. There will be more news in December/January ;].

4. A lot of your tracks are very rhythmic and DJ-friendly – is there a philosophy behind this? Are you a DJ first or a producer first?

First, i was doing more home listening stuff, but when I started to DJ or play semi-live sets more, my sound evolved into more rhythmic and more bassy constructions, it’s natural I guess, when you’re playin in clubs, bigger soundsystems, you want to knock yourself out, you want to get your guts splashed into peaces, and when you’re making music, you start to think more how it will sound in a club. Marriage Proposal is getting less romantic ;]].

5.  Who is this Zoé Zoe character and what is his connection Marriage Proposal?

In the beginning of my involvement in electronic music, I was in a project called M&D Substance. We were making more 4×4 stuff, i guess it’s still in my veins, so i decided to make another alter ego for my stuff which can’t fit into the Marriage Proposal window. And out of my expectations, i got a 12″ release of the first Zoé Zoe EP called “Church” on Sneaker Social Club, title track even got included into Maya Jane Coles DJ Kicks mix cd! It was a dream come true to me. now i’m in a process of makeing another 12″ EP, so far as i can tell ;].

DOWNLOAD

If you’ve been following Astro Nautico for more than a year or so, you’ll know that I (Obey City) have a very special place in my heart for smooth music…so much so that I put together two compilations of the stuff and posted them up back when we were just a blog.

That’s why I’m very excited to announce a new party that I’m curating with my good friend and musical brother Kim Robinson (@Krinternational) .

Sea Level

“The Best Curation of smooth from all era’s and genres”

And in case you aren’t one of those old followers and would like to catch up on this so called “smooth music” here are the two compilations that I put together a while back:

Smooth Jamz: The Definitive Collection (2010)

Smooth Jamz: The Ultimate Collection (2011)

Look for another edition soon

Ztar Curse from Camila Carrillo on Vimeo.

A new video by Camila Carrillo for Dream’s “Ztar Curse” from his Lost Kingdom LP that was released on October 5th. With a video planned for each track on the album, we will showcasing more of them as they come in. Expect more videos from Elijah Rosa Pratts, Jono Mi Lo and several from 6-bit Collective‘s PXL.

We regret to inform you that tonight’s event has been cancelled due to the hurricanes effects on the subway system. We will be back with a vengeance on Friday, December 7th.

Welcome to our monthly party at FREECANDY, a former car parking garage filled with street art, neon UV paint, a full-service bar and a 20’ x 12’ projection area.

We’re bringing in another cast of five globally-minded young East Coast producers and DJs. Astro Nautico residents will be holding down all the in-between sounds for the night and Paul Jones will be curating movie-theatre-sized VHS video projections.

We’ll also stream the whole night live on Ustream for our foreign friends.

As always, you don’t have to be a music head in order to enjoy what we’re planning. Thunderous bass weight and raw visuals form a potent electronic cocktail capable of offering just about anyone a uniquely invigorating party experience.

TORONTO/PHILLY TAKEOVER

FEATURING
———————————————————–
MUSIC BY RESIDENTS: OBEY CITY • KUHN • PAUL JONES
AND GUESTS: KNC (KRUEGER X COPOUT) • DEEBS • KNOMAD • MICHAEL JUKESON
VISUALS BY: PAUL JONES
———————————————————–

Got a question of any kind? –> info@astronautico.com

Want to pay $5 at the door instead of $8?. Send an e-mail with your full name to rsvp@astronautico.com.

*Limited to +1 guest per reservation.

**RSVP list is valid ONLY BEFORE midnight.

Follow @astronautibro on Twitter for live updates.

Show us you’re with us on fazebook here.

Our bar takes cash only, and the nearest ATM is two blocks away, so please take out cash ahead of time. Sorry for the inconvenience.

November 2nd, 2012
FREECANDY
905 Atlantic Avenue (located next to the “Roofing” sign)
Brooklyn, NY 11238

New video by Paul Jones/Paolo Xz for Dreams‘ “Touching The Surface” from the Lost Kingdom LP, released on Friday, October 5th.

Our 28th Astrocast comes all the way from St. Petersburg through a DJ/designer/producer who goes by Mik Mo. In addition to his personal endeavors, he helps run a label/party called Safe’N'Sound, which in many ways sounds like a Russian version of Astro Nautico. This mix he sent over (which was recorded live at FM666, something like a Russian Boiler Room) is a an eclectic one, showcasing a mix of his favorite local and foreign producers in the scene and taking us on a trip “from sobriety to maximum dope” as he put it. Clocking in at almost two hours, it’s our also our longest Astrocast to date and a look into the new electronic and bass music he is helping to cultivate in Russia.

interview

1. What inspired this mix? You’ve got a wide mix of styles and genres, is this reflective of the music scene in St. Petersburg?

I was inspired by the day I had leading up to the recording really. I never prepare the mixes, only the first track. I have a big playlist of old and fresh stuff from my favorite producers from all around the world. I smoked, drank some beer, pressed record and started playing while thinking about Astro.

I don’t think that it reflects the real situation on the St. Petersburg music scene, but rather what I would like to see it become. Most guys you know from Russia are better known outside the borders of our country than in their native cities.

2. How has electronic music evolved in Russia to this point? What did you guys all grow up listening to?

All this music is still in the deep underground. In Saint-P really high quality electronic music is interesting for a few groups of strange people sitting at home at the computer and attending each other’s parties. Moscow has fared much better, but Moscow is not representative of all of Russia and you often don’t know what is happening in other cities. I am afraid that in many parts of our vast Motherland people have not even heard what electronic music is.

For me it started from sounds of Argentine and Dutch Techno in early 2000s and before that it’s not even worth mentioning. I grew up singing in chorus for 7 years, learning in musical school and playing drums in a rock band. I was introduced to the beat/bass music scene through Ras G and FlyLo about 5 years ago and after that some really sad events in my life inspired me to make Safe’n'Sound.

However, my true musical love will always be hip-hop…Pete Rock and A Tribe Called Quest.

3. What are some upcoming plans for the Safe’n'Sound crew? Releases? Tours? Collaborations? Remixes for t.A.T.u.?

My dream is to make the production for the new t.A.T.u. reggae album after they travel to Jamaica and realize their true purpose.

But before that, we are going to release our first compilation. It will be out very soon in October. I am writing music very rarely … I’m more involved in graphic design, DJing and organizing it all. I created and launched the site safensound.me. At the moment it is working in a test mode and will officially launch after the compilation is released.

I want to combine fashion with music. We just made our first collection Saint-P x Safe’n'Sound…Saint-P is one of the most popular Russian street wear brands and I’ve been designing for it, but it was a commercial project…this collection will be from the heart and soul, some kind of the first Russian premium class street wear. So you will be able to buy quality clothes and get a Safe’n'Sound CD with quality music with them.

My best friends have opened the showroom “Phunkie Market” and are selling brands like Neighborhood, Visvim, BBC, Raf Simons, Bernhard Willhelm etc. and so we want to collaborate to combine it all into one. Music will be given away for free in the store and they will write about clothing for Safe’n'Sound.

I’m not sure what it will become in the end but I hope it can work.

4. Tell me about Russian food – what’s good? Is vodka essential to the diet? What would your mom make us if we can over to eat?

What I really like is the fried potatoes my grandmother makes. That shit is made really differently than what you eat in McDonalds and so on. I’m not sure know how but it it’s really dope! Pelmeni are also great. Google tells me there is no english translation but it is some kind of meat , very good with sour cream. I am in love with cheese and scrambled eggs, but sadly it’s not russian food.

Vodka is essential for everything! For a diet, for food, anything…You better come over to eat to my grandma’s…I’m not sure what she will cook but I am sure you will not leave until you eat everything.

5. Who’s winning the space race? Or is it already over?

I don’t know…ask someone of who’s still not signed up to the Outer Spaceways Incorporated.

FROM RUSSIAN WITH LOVE

Dreams’ debut full-length Lost Kingdom is like a vortex, inhaling disparate moments in the history of electronic dance music and turning out sonic pathways to tomorrow.

Formerly residing in Los Angeles, Dreams’ recent move to NYC is met with a shift towards a much more club-driven sound, but his retro-future sonic signature remains intact.

Starting at the street level, the album begins with two feet planted firmly in the rich history of house music and ascends to an unabashedly synth-powered zenith. Single ‘Over’ begins with doomy horn samples before flipping dramatically to effervescent synth pads, while title track ‘Lost Kingdom’ sounds like a SNES hardwired into a Roland Jupiter, with a soaring prog lead carrying the track to its climax. Meanwhile, tracks like ‘Ztar Curse’ and ‘Quick’ fuse the drum programming of contemporary hip-hop and the synthetic opulence of the 1980s.

Chicago, Detroit, Miami: the roots of this music spread across geographic boundaries to simulate a fictional urban territory in which everything vibrates at the fundamental frequency of a kick drum.

Dreams ‘Over’ from 6BIT COLLECTIVE on Vimeo.

We are proud to announce Dreams’ “Lost Kingdom” LP as our eighteenth official release, scheduled to drop on Friday, October 5th, just in time for the album release party the following night at FreeCandy. To celebrate the event, we present you with the first single of the LP, “Over” along with a heady accompanying video by PXL of the 6-bit collective.

Sprawling and deep, the first half of the track invokes a keen sense of urban menace, walking down the freeway with a bag full of drugs. Relinquished from the aggressive synth stabs and relentless hard-nosed percussion, it eventually gives way to light-filled chords that signal the break of a new day.

Stay tuned for a multitude of videos accompanying songs from the album to be leaked within the next month leading up to and following the album release,  and if you’re in New York, please join us on Saturday, October 6th in welcoming New York’s newest West Coast transplant to Brooklyn and Astro Nautico!

For those who missed it, Djemba Djemba (previously St. Andrew of The Melt) released a single EP with Jeffrees/Mad Decent last week with an accompanying video by Paul Jones for “Oh Okay Yeah That’s Cool”. Fast, fluid and bass-thumping, these tracks go hard in the club (or anywhere with a system for that matter).

And keep an eye out for Obey City‘s remix of “I Just Go” to be released shortly.