The Groove Thief

Full-power Flappage is about to invade Hong Kong, so it seems foolish to ignore this monumental musical event! You might think the city would have other regular musical festivals, but that is sadly not the case as profit is routinely prioritized over anything else in this supposedly international city. Sure, HK always has a lot of shows going on, but it’s “see and be seen” over musical quality all too often. At least Clockenflap, the hopefully now annual music fest, is supporting true musical diversity (especially if we ignore the lack of reggae music…). Nonetheless, there’s a lot of great bands and DJs that will be braving the inclement weather this weekend!

Time Out Hong Kong has some solid write-ups, including a feature, their Top 10 acts, local bands not to be missed, an interview with Team Clockenflap, and a helpful map.

The Groove Thief’s official recommendations include:

Saturday:

Azealia Banks, Noughts and Exes, Uptown Rockers, !!!, DJ Enso XXX and Dan F

Sunday:

De La Soul, Brandt Brauer Frick, Magnetic Soul vs Heavy, Bassmen 3, Kid Fresh, Yao and Tiga

Now if only these acts were scheduled so they could all actually be seen…

Representing Kingston, Jamaica, Kabaka Pyramid spits pure fiya atop beats that merge the best of reggae and hip-hop. His latest, the Rebel Music EP, is full of powerful tracks. Opener “The Sound” could easily be by Jr. Gong, which ought to be enough for the download right there, but “Free From Chains” is equally strong and well-worth the video treatment. Mellower tracks do prevail, but even then the flows stay memorable, and cuts like “Real Music” show that Kabaka Pyramid is talented and versatile on any type of beat. As a bonus, there’s a video with Sara Lugo on the Reggaeville Riddim:

AND, here’s a killer downloadable mixtape from Free Roots Sound, with a delightful dub remix at the very end…

The creatively-styled music of ︻╦╤─ ƱZ ─╤╦︻ presents guns, topless girls with guns, and ridiculously-crushing trap/bass beats.  If you just like your instrumental music loud, you won’t like this.  If you like your instrumental music to break things though, you will be satisfied.  The electro ripples are polished yet dirty, oppressive yet inviting, and simply masterful.  The latest and greatest, “ŤɌ∆Ҏ ᶊῌῗ† √7,” is brash and ready for the filthiest techno party you can imagine.  Six more are available on Soundcloud.

NYC-based Mischief dwells in the murky underworld of moombahton and bass: synths swirl, drums pound at multiple speeds simultaneously, and the vocal samples are no less hypnotizing.  The Moombaswag Mixtape features an nice selection of remixes from Queen to The Jungle Brothers, Big Sean, and Jay-Z alongside original tracks from the likes of ill.gates and Mischief himself.  Oh, and then all types of moombahtronic madness, with tracks from Zedd, Afrojack, Skrillex, and Diplo getting the electro-shuffle treatment.  Originals, including the fresh banger “Into The Trap,” and additional mixes are available via Mischief Music:

From MountBlood comes what can only be described as cheerleader-death-techno.  Yes, this is dark music with light vocals, but the blend of the two is quite unique, needing to be heard to be believed.  At times poppy, at times angry, but then also energetic, haunting and just pounding, this music is definitely blurring genre lines - is this techno, dubstep, trance… all, or none?  Here are the first two installments of the Blood Sessions Mix series via Soundcloud, go ahead and bombard some speakers with bass and leave those silly genres alone:

Tinariwen entered to hopeful applause, but exited to a roomful of awe and a standing ovation.  Playing their second of two nights as co-headliners of the 40th Annual Hong Kong Arts Festival - along with New Orleans blues legend Dr. John - the band embraced Hong Kong with their dusty, mournful, droning desert rock.  This was deep music to revel in, and between the last minute lineup changes (due to outbreaks of violence in the band’s homeland Mali) and a bit of a language barrier, it fairly took the crowd a while to warm-up.  But with the relentless hand-clapping and the dizzying layers of sound laid out by the mesmerizing sextet, coupled with the soaring guitar melodies and well-harmonized vocals, the crowd gradually became entranced, enraptured and wildly enthusiastic.  By the end of the almost two-hour set the majority of the sell-out crowd was on their feet, clapping feverishly as the band exchanged solos and instruments.  Fans briefly stole the stage to dance and to thank the crowd in Cantonese on behalf of the band, but this night belonged to the desert.

The talent runs deep with Tinariwen, so while they may have been influenced by 60s rock the sound they have forged is wholly original: Saharan campfire music that is clearly Grammy worthy.  Like equally renowned Malians Amadou & Mariam, this is passionate music meant for the world, not just “world music.”  Hong Kong should be thankful for nights like this, when the bustling city fades away and the stars come out…

(Please click here for my original review of the band)

Jantsen’s Gutter Music Mix is an UNClassic. As in “unappreciated + classic.” From 2007, this is dubstep/glitch-hop/future-bass/reggae/hip-hop; clearly ‘dub-hop’ is the best amalgamation of all of those silly genre titles. After hearing this, it should be readily apparent why Jantsen is now working with Bassnectar and blowing up in the bass scene.  Features bass-heavy remixes of Dead Prez, MIA, Sister Nancy, Tenor Fly, Kelix, Modeselektor, and eDIT amongst other examples of low-end theory.  If you like the earlier work of Antennae this will fit nicely in your earhole:

DIRECT DOWNLOAD

For comparison sake, here’s a more recent mix from 2011, I actually like his older style better…

Bassnectar’s latest mixtape, Amorphous Music Mixtape Vol. 7, not only has a straightforward and irony-free title, but also strict controls on accessibility.  You can only stream and download the mix by ‘Liking’ Bassnectar’s Facebook page.  Hmmm… perhaps a bit shameless on the promotional end, especially given that his previous mixtapes have been readily available via his website, Soundcloud, and elsewhere, but this mix is at least sounding more worthy of repeat listens compared to some of its recent predecessors.  Really, some great tunes and nice variety here, with less of a focus on ‘making the bass as bassy as possible and then adding more whomp to it’ which seems to be a sad trend in Bassnectar’s production of late.  Tried to sort out the code here and failed, sorry.

TRACK LIST

Beastie Boys - Intergalactic (Bassnectar Remix)
Bassnectar - Wildstyle [live edit]
Futurebound - Blind Cobblers Thumb (Giz-roc edit)
DC Breaks - The More I Want (Bassnectar edit)
BLUR - Song 2 (Bassnectar Remix)
Bassnectar & Jantsen - Red Step
NastyNasty - The Goalie (Bassnectar Remix)
Foamo - Centavo [live edit]
Bassnectar vs Mochipet - Sloppy Face
Shotgun Radio - A Bad Place Ft. Mimi Page (Minnesota Remix)
MyBack - Blomman
Little Jinder - Youth Blood (12th Planet & Flinch Remix)
Bassnectar - Underwater