The Groove Thief

DJ Enso may be famed for running the revered club XXX and for throwing down banging late-night bass-music sets, but he can also assemble one mean mixtape as he proves with Future Dancehall フューチャーダンスホール Vol. 1. Drifting between jungle, hip-hop, and dancehall, the success of the ongoing “Future Dancehall” nights is elevated to a higher level through studio production and the inclusion of some of Hong Kong’s choicest MCs. XXX-regular Rahyym joins Ngabo on Major Popular’s “The Ruler,” 10z and Kafe Hu appear on a Dub Phizix & Skeptical track, while local Cantonese legend Masta Mic, EKORB, as well as my regular partner in crime MC Loki Dolo combine forces on an exclusive Enso refix of DJ Zinc x Dope Skillz. Big tracks from Rebel MC, Million Stylez, Collie Buddz (DJ Yoda remix) and The Bug keep the beats heavy while the styles switch. Hopefully this will become an ongoing series since Hong Kong is certainly in need of more mixtapes and proper releases…

The mix is available on Soundcloud, or you can DIRECT DOWNLOAD and get the jungle-thug (?) artwork as well. Enso recently appeared at the Clockenflap music festival, so check out his bass-fueled live mix as well:

On Superpowers, West Coast electro-futurist The Polish Ambassador decreases his trademark funkiness in order to increase his musical sex appeal. This EP is dripping with sleek, polished (haha) synths delicately laid atop chilled-out bass-lines. Ordinarily TPA drops booty-shaking anthems, here the booties are shaking for entirely different reasons and in an entirely different place: the intergalactic bedroom. This is a cohesive album, the tracks run together smoothly, and the fact that nothing stands out is a testament to the efforts of a multi-talented producer. Available as a free download, this will be playing at an alien sex party near you:

Blend Mishkin & Bruises n Cuts have combined forces to create an eclectic dancehall-meets-moombahton EP, My Boom Raise The Dead Vol. 1.  Tracks are up on Soundcloud, and there are some accelerated floor-shaking anthems here, drawing from a variety of musical influences to create a funky musical stew.  ”Big Up Sister Nancy” not only has a title that speaks the truth, but is arguably the strongest of this collection, assembled by Blend Mishkin under his Mr. Mention alias and featuring Daddy Freddy’s vocals sped up to fit with the frantic pounding beats.  Future dancehall clearly needs to be a genre of its own, as BnC’s pair of tracks (as Bossy Ride) come in slow and thick with sound-effects slapped all over their swaggering moombahton rhythms.  Blend Mishkin also drops a drum n bass cut - less than a day old and a preview of Vol. 2 - “Jamaican Girls,” that is in the same vein as some of Krak In Dub’s dnb work.  Like most everything on Cast-a-Blast these are all worth a listen and ready to start a fire beneath some feet at a late-night party near you…

18/04 EDIT: “Jamaican Girls” now has a video, it’s girls&cars&reggae&jungle:

Krak In Dub continues his success in forging a new sound: rubadubstep.  Equal parts dub, reggae, and bass, which is essentially the musical equivalent of the Holy Trinity, these tracks are solid, heavy, and crushing.  While the melodies/synths are digital, the booming low-end and instrumentation have a nice analog sound, creating a well-crafted future dancehall vibe.  These are the type of tunes that keep vinyl relevant, but for the rest of us digital warriors, the ambling and throbbing bass-lines, here coupled with vocal turns from Capleton on “Rise” and Guive on “New Start” (original track by Lone Ranger), will have to suffice on Youtube for now…

Cadence Weapon’s track “88” takes an interesting musical position.  By combining a lyrical homage to the past with machine-beats from the future, the relevance of now is clearly asserted.  We’re always in search of the next big thing, but in this digital age of recycled musical content, Cadence Weapon makes it clear that having one foot in each time strikes a perfect balance.  This is a short powerful track, available for stream or d/l:

The tribal drums lead Masia One’s “Warrior’s Tongue” until her slightly digitized flow leaps onto the beat.  This is a tight future-bass production, with squelches M.I.A., Santigold, and Nicki Minaj can all appreciate, but Masia One holds her own spitting this track hidden under an androgynous hoodie surrounded by Asian street scenes…

As a bonus, she’s released the acapella track for DJs to freely download and remix, and has posted several already on her blog.  Scroll down for the exclusive .wav, it’s hidden on Soundcloud so there’s no link, sorry.  For more music including remixes from Mochipet & ill.Gates, check out Masia One on Soundcloud.

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…

The legendary Rick Rubin remixes Justice’s “On ‘N’ On” with a delicate dancefloor touch.  This is not rock, but future-disco-funk with soaring-yet-sneering falsetto vocals, a well-timed cowbell break, digital stutters, and a steadily building sense of urgency.  When the track cuts down to the vocals and bare-essential clap, you’ll be making the story go on ‘n’ on by pressing play again.