After the 2008 release of his mind-bending, lucid-dream-inducing EP She, UK producer s.maharba wasted no time in creating a stellar followup — a short-form, self-titled beat tape (yes, tape as in cassette) for our esteemed colleagues at Sassbologna Records. The tape sold quickly through its initial run and went out of print, after which it was made available for free via Bandcamp.
Since then, the record has becoming a startling viral success. Every week, our Google Alerts hip us to new blogs and podcasts from all over the world that sing its praises, including some heavy hitters like INQ and even Steady Bloggin’. All the buzz is great news for S, who will be re-releasing the album in a sexy vinyl package this year, including brand-new silk-screened artwork and a side order of banging bonus tracks. It’s being handled by our good friends at Ocular Science, so we guarantee it’ll be quality.
Stay tuned for more information on the re-release, and check out “When I Go to Sleep” in the meantime — people can’t seem to get enough of this joint.
By our best estimates, Louis Mackey has well over 100 full-length tracks that have never seen the light of day beyond MySpace or SoundClick. The man is a machine, constantly cranking out beats and lyrics — however, the adverse effect of his rigorous routine is that he’s moved on to the next project by the time the first is finished.
That’s why Funky Motherfucker, Yeah! has been so long in the making: ever since it was conceptualized, it’s been restructured, rewritten and further honed by Lou’s ravenous appetite for quality. In the end, we’re glad he decided to just pull the trigger on the project, because the result is an excellent “best-of” style collection spanning Lou’s entire rap career, from as far back as 2004 to the present.
The record features Lou’s signature brand of lyrical wit and funky production, with cameos from beatmakers Dr. Quandary, Man Mantis and The Banana Hammocks, as well as guest verses from AnP and Vermont freestyle veteran Chris Dizzy.
Click on the cover to download Funky Motherfucker, Yeah! in 320k MP3 format, with high-quality album art by Jacob North and PDF liner notes.
Click on the image above to download 18 exclusive and upcoming tracks from the entire World Around roster, along with high-quality album art and PDF liner notes. Happy New Year!
Tracklist:
S.maharba - The Look
STINK TANK™ - NSFA
Humpasaur Jones - Breakup Music
Naturetone - Lone Wolf
dumate - Devil is Dope
IceMantis - In rmary (feat. Dudu Stinks)
Daimyo! - Two (feat. Louis Mackey)
DJ Multiple Sex Partners - Serious Mammals
Man Mantis - Les Yeux
Algorhythms - No Flower (Snippet)
S.maharba - Briefcase Found
Dr. Quandary - Feijão
Louis Mackey - Hades Isn’t Real (feat. Adam Kadmon)
Man Mantis brings his sampling skills to the world of visual media once again, with this rhythmic wash of human body imagery for his new song Minor Aches and Pains. He’s got a great collection of dumate and STINK TANK™ performance footage, along with some live MPC antics, and he’s always adding new stuff, so be sure to check out his channel on Youtube.
Available exclusively through Bandcamp, Louis Mackey brings you a psyched out web-single with a truly epic sound. The free download includes the new song Space Rock, the B-side Hades Isn’t Real featuring Adam Kadmon and, in true single fashion, instrumental versions of both tracks.
You can preview the whole thing by using the player above, and grab it for your collection by clicking the download link.
Swiss producer Naturetone hasn’t been wasting any time since he won the recent Algorhythms Remix Contest — he’s been working long shifts, late into the night, exploring the nexus where his funk and soul influences meet Japanese classical music.
He’s still being fairly hush-hush about his new album Japan, but Naturetone recently left a cryptic message in our dropbox, along with a little taste of things to come: check out or download “Lone Wolf” right here via Bandcamp, and be sure to keep an eye on things at World Around for more news about Naturetone’s upcoming projects.
World Around is run by techno-mystics, so we pay attention to the business work of Ian Rogers, but we also listen closely to the Zodiac work of Baron Samadhi.
November 11th is a very auspicious day, so our resident producer/weirdo tag team have both dropped something new.
“This is a tribute to the music of Africa — specifically, Mali. Ever since getting introduced to Ali Farka Toure and Lobi Traore, I’ve been increasingly obsessed with the melodies and rhythms of the Sahara. Mahdi Rock stands as a sign of things to come.”
Next up: Boston-based beatsmith Dr. Quandary has released a preview track from his upcoming album, Beyond All Spheres of Force and Matter. The name of the song is Eleven Eleven and it’s a perfect example of how insane his album sounds. Huge, orchestrated, and meticulous, Dr. Quandary has created something timeless and distinct…we can’t wait to put this album out. (But we have to.)
Never one for dormancy, Man Mantis hit us off with his directorial debut today: a music video for “Infirmary,” the lead-off track from his upcoming collaborative project with DLO entitled IceMantis. As if this combination wasn’t potent enough, they’ve also tagged fellow dumate emcee and STINK TANK™ mastermind Dudu Stinks for one of his premium verses, and the resulting track is dope as hell.
Our first Algorhythms Remix Contest was a bigger success than we’d expected, resulting in 61 submissions. We figured the volume of submissions would make it harder to judge, but our winner was a serious standout.
We’d like to introduce you to a producer by the name of Naturetone, from Bern, Switzerland. He’s got a lot of experience, having started out with Swiss rappers Three Tree Posse (3TP) back in 1993. His love of music has brought him back into the game and he’s currently working towards his first solo instrumental album…and you know we’ll keep you posted on that.
Click the cover to download all four of the Naturetone Remixes:
Blowing Numbers:
The smooth and very nice song “Marcella’s Dream” by The Crusaders from their 1978 album “Images” mixed with Quincy Jones’s beautiful version of “Summer in the city” from his 1973 album “You’ve got it bad girl”.
Dreams of Lisbon:
Phil Upchurch & Tennyson Stephens’ great song “Don’t I know you” from their 1975 album “Upchurch/Tennyson” mixed with Millie Jackson’s “The Rap” from her 1974 love concept album “Caught up”.
What’s this:
The Village Soul Choir single “The cat walk” mixed with the song “Soul Suite” from 1972 by Detroit’s grooving Dave Hamilton.
What’s this (alternate take):
The great song “Dolphin Dance” by the great Ahmad Jamal, taken from his 1970 album ...
Props and thanks to Andre Linzmeyer, publisher of 608 Magazine. He’s also had great things to say about our favorite MPC-driven live show wrecking crew in Wisconsin:
“First of all, they are all excellent artists,” Linzmeyer says of the five-member dumate. “They are individuals who all do their own thing but they all come together really nicely, too. They represent the 608 very well. They are a diverse group, which is nice because hip-hop today brings in all kinds of people from all kinds of heritages.”
MORE COVERAGE: the tech-heads and hip hop producers will appreciate the detailed science Man Mantis is dropping in his recent Audible Hype interview, where he’s discussing using the MPC sampler live, as well as what he’s learned in the process of mixing and mastering his last two albums.
