New Kuhn mix up on London-based bass blog Hyponik today featuring unreleased tracks from Astro Nautico artists under hidden monikers, historic jungle tunes as well some dubs from London and West Coast brethren such as Young Montana? and Matthewdavid.
“Young talent abounds on our latest mix, as we’re welcomed into the multi-faceted world of young Brooklyn talent Kuhn, a man who’s deeply colourful take on world bass looks set to blow up in 2012.
Following a number of self-released free EPs that explored the outer realms of the current bass sound with a sound that took influence from the likes of early jungle, deep South hip-hop and the twisting rhythmics of dark garage, 22 year old Bennett Kuhn is currently sitting on a slew of tracks that push the 2011 template even further. His current ‘Slime Beach’ EP, released via London’s Civil Music, is the first in a series of new EP’s from the young producer, which is winning him fans across the global bass spectrum, from San Franciscan tech-house don Claude Von Stroke, through to the likes of Om Unit and Rinse FM’s Alexander Nut.
His Hyp mix is a sprawling, beat heavy affair that takes in great work from some of our very favourite new artists, whilst tipping its hat that classic jungle sound with tracks from Phillip D. Kick and Ray Keith. Don’t sleep…”
Tracklist:
01. Kuhn – Railroad (Intro)
02. Blank & Kytt – Same Old
03. Rimar – World Drop
04. Shoulda – On My Roost
05. Raja – Go Back To Sleep
06. Dreams – OooOooo
07. Miami Jungle Vice – In Dreamz
08. Ray Keith – Renegade Terrorist
09. Remarc – R.I.P. (Phillip D. Kick Edit)
10. (Derrick May Interview)
11. Kuhn – U Can’t
12. Phanes – Lucky Woman
13. Matthewdavid – stealing_sahara_1
14. Young Montana? – Bonsoir
15. Kuhn – Bombing Oyster Bay (Outro)
Stream/Download on Soundcloud:
Slime Beach EP, my first official release on Civil Music, is out today. It features four new originals as well as a slew of remixes from some truly unique and multi-talented producers from the East Coast and London. From the press release:
‘Slime Beach’ is a slinky angry rasta crunk explosion. Manically ascending 3-octave synth kalimba arpeggios are punctuated by mammoth sharp 808 kicks and g-funk square leads rising up like a symphony, with extra vibraslap for the win. ‘Stoneskipper’ pushes uptempo, again juicing the bass bins with distorted square waves that mutate and screech, while percussion samples salvaged from a dusty Polynesian ethnographic recording keep things generally funky. ‘Back ‘N’ Forth’ is deeper, with brooding detuned pads washing over solid 808 footwork rhythms while two tracks of severely panned vocal mantras intertwine and separate in polyrhythm. ‘Island’ is the most melodic of the bunch, a jubilant glittery synth workout underpinned by quaking sub kicks constantly on the verge of erupting into new and more violent ranges of infrasound.
On remix detail, the recently unmasked Phillip D Kick (read the story of the Footwork Jungle EP Series) and Providence’s best kept secret, The Range, both rework ‘Slime Beach’. Kick’s last-ever remix takes a hybrid half-step juke-junglist route and adds club punch to what is an already arresting number. The Range meanwhile looks in a smoother and more translucent direction, swapping the emphasis to new vocal samples that grow into a majestic and euphoric epic. ’Back ‘n’ Forth’ is retooled by London’s Drop/Dead and Baltimore’s howse. Drop/Dead’s remix shifts into deep funky old school boom bap electro with a Frankenstein new vocal mantra (“What the F***?”), while howse redefines the brooding darkness of the original with a churning ambient track like early Boards of Canada but with a juke sensibility. The EP rounds off with a blast from the imagination of S. Maharba, whose haunting take on ‘Stoneskipper’ showcases his beautifully gloomy yet majestically soulful approach to beatcrafting.
Here’s a preview of the EP on Soundcloud:
Slime Beach EP (CIV028) // PREVIEW // 12” Vinyl & Digital Out 7/11 on Civil Music by Kuhn
And here’s a full play of ‘Slime Beach,’ ripped from Mary Anne Hobbs’ show on XFM last Saturday.
Mary Anne Hobbs Rinses ‘Slime Beach’ on XFM (10.28.11) by Kuhn
Gotta send huge love and thanks to my sister Paige for organizing a surprise party for me this weekend celebrating the release of this record and my 23rd birthday coming up on Wednesday. As you can see, she’s a professional baker:
Who else gets a red velvet 1200 and his first test pressing on his birthday?
Supreme happiness. Thank you all for your support.
(Bennett) Kuhn
PS - Check back here this week, I’ll be following this up with a post every day about each of the remixers, leading up to a major announcement this weekend about our next Astro Nautico release.
Dope azz video done by our friend Elijah (offthemountain) for the Paul Jones remix of howse’s ‘Porch’, from the Trakz EP. Please revisit the release here if you missed it!
Two biggggggggggg back 2 back albums from the kid Time Wharp. GRN is a short but sweet 4-track EP that dropped on Halloween, running velvety synths through pulsating drums that glow in the dark. Cop it for free on Fresh Selects along with a bonus live mix done for NTS radio.. and please don’t be shy to support his music here!
Later rmx is a free compilation of remixes from talented artists like Blum, howse, fat camp, Divine Interface and Featureless Ghost. This is not some run of the mill remix album… Later rmx stands shoulder to shoulder with the original, each track burning with a unique quality and energy that is driving the most exciting electronic music coming out today.
Time Wharp will be joining us for a very special show in Brooklyn on December 5th, along with Astro fam Raja, Howse, The Range and ya boyzzz. more info soon.
Civil Music just made all of its Free Download Series mp3s available at once in exchange for an e-mail address. ‘Island,’ a Kuhn original off his forthcoming Slime Beach EP, is featured, as is his remix of Starkey’s ‘Lost in Space.’
Follow the directions here to download.
1. Kuhn - Island
2. Kotchy - Falling in Love
3. Reason or Romanza - Sunflower
4. Debruit - Like D’s Bees
5. Starkey - Lost in Space (Kuhn Remix)
6. The Starlings - Sirens (Jeeks Remix)
7. Star Reso - Main Sequence
8. Om Unit - Prawn Cocktail
9. Darling Farah - Picture
10. Drums Of Death - Cold Lazarus (Drums of Death’s Club Mix)
11. Reso - Beasts in the Basement (VIP)
12. Starkey - Gamma Rays (Bricks VIP)
Just a last minute heads up here that Kuhn‘s first official radio interview is airing in half an hour at 12pm (NY time) on Zara Wladawsky’s NY-LON monthly show on NTS Radio. He tells the story of Astro Nautico and previews some exclusive forthcoming tunes. Streaming here: http://ntslive.co.uk/
New single from Starchild and ya boy RAJA, with accompanying vid. check check itttttttttttt
Starchild - Computer Games by RajaMusic
Color is Part III of The October Series, a trilogy of themed mixtapes from prolific 19-year-old New York producer RAJA (formerly known as InfinitiRock).
Color, more of an LP than a mixtape, is the most personal music yet released by RAJA. It is dedicated to RAJA’s recently deceased grandmother.
The piano acts as a thread through this album, centrally amidst in the emotional electronics of ‘To Be Alone,’ ‘Diamond Life’ and ‘Sara.’ Mouth clops and drumstick clicks are percussion on ‘The Storm,’ while low end sub dives sink into the listener’s skin like something uncanny. There’s also the upbeat teenage ‘Moon Rising’ and Shirley Abicair (via The Beatles) cover ‘That Girl,’ widening the scope of the release.
RAJA’s voice appears in Color for seemingly the first time in his already expansive catalog, and to great effect (c.f. the autotuned mantra of ‘Luv (Someone Else)’ and gated yearning of ‘You’).
Ultimately, Color aptly marks the culmination of The October Series, displaying Chester Anand the true artist, always behind and yet exceeding the sum of his tracks.
Witch is Part II of The October Series, a trilogy of themed mixtapes from prolific 19-year-old New York producer RAJA (formerly known as InfinitiRock).
Billed as a collection of trap beats, Witch is driven by a series of preposterously epic slow bangers like ‘Blank CD,’ ‘Vapor Trails,’ ‘Rituals,’ ‘Make Me’ and ‘Go Back to Sleep.’ But thunderous noddable crunk is not the sole objective of this tape as tracks like ‘Punk (Buster)’ and ‘Ghost Child’ blossom into double time shuffles, expanding the mix.
Sonically, Witch departs from the sampled acoustic instrumentation of Red, opting instead for heavy duty electronics. Distorted sub kicks and churning drum machines, swooning bass synths and processed female vocal exhortations are all juxtaposed with the characteristic fuzz, hiss and crackle of a beatmaker with a penchant for sounding tactility. 30 tracks in total.
Red is Part I of The October Series, a trilogy of themed mixtapes from prolific 19-year-old New York producer RAJA (formerly known as InfinitiRock) to be released here over the next 48 hours.
Red is roots music: a classic hip-hop beat tape overflowing with jazz and soul samples and, as such, a deeply respectful nod to the origins of contemporary beat music in Madlib and Dilla. Featuring guest appearances from Brainfeeder’s Jeremiah Jae and Starchild of RAJA’s Guns of Kingston (GOK) collective, this tape bespeaks RAJA’s natural ability to bring creative individuals together in the pursuit of musical greatness.
After dropping breakout 40-track beat tape 17Years as a high school student under his ‘InfinitiRock’ alias, RAJA (real name Chester Anand) released Music for Primordial Recollection LP earlier this year on Sufjan Steven’s label Asthmatic Kitty. Anand is currently working on an EP with vocalist/multi-instrumentalist and fellow GOK member Bean under the moniker Slowlight. Download their first single, ‘Copper Mirrors,’ via our friends at Yours Truly.
Tomorrow morning we’re dropping Witch, the next beat tape in The October Series. Color‘s on Tuesday. All together we’re releasing 77 RAJA tracks this weekend. To our knowledge, a series of free releases of this scale is unprecedented. It flies in the face of just about every music business convention we can think of. But this is Astro Nautico, not the music business. Thanks to Chester for his magnanimity. It’s about the music now…
RAJA on
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