Chicago, congrats on beating the bum ass Nets in the NBA playoffs despite half your team having the goddamn bubonic plague. That shows real mental fortitude and toughness. To celebrate your recent victory and eventual defeat at the hands of Lebron and The Heat, we’re bringing you a Мишка Warehouse sale.
Now’s your opportunity to get very dapper while staying cozy as fuck; for wild cheap. Our sale will be running from May 9th through May 19th, with up to 75% off on items from seasons past; including samples, one offs, collaborations, and wild shit we bought off of eBay. Come through to 1448 N. Milwaukee Ave., hang out with the ladies and gents working the sale, bro down, and get new gear for your national television debut—sitting behind Derrick Rose, pantomiming blowjobs.
Мишка Chicago Sample Sale
Thursday, May 9th – May 19th
1448 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, Il 60622
There’s a ton of Spring product now on sale in our store, everything from hats, to jackets, hoodies, sweaters, and shirts. All available at deep discounts, for the discerning shopper—that’s you.
If you live in the Southern hemisphere, what’s up. It’s about to get cold where you live, and these joints will keep you warm. If you live in the Northern hemisphere and just don’t give a fuck about being dressed appropriately for the weather, we’ve got gear for cheap. Finally, for all of our friends who like to go skinny dipping, and then come out of the water looking like Adonis, we’ve got you. Skinny dipping is fun, but there’s the risk of having your package shrink up like scared turtle after you get out of the water. Cop a hoodie or pullover to keep you warm in the cool Summer’s night breeze. Preserve the structural integrity of your junk. Hook up the heavy petting. Relax your limbs.
Thing is, we’ve got every possible scenario covered here. There’s no reason, for you not to buy shit.
Soultrap is the best and most accurate self-named genre ever. It’s progenitor, Tree, blasted the hip-hop community last March with the first installment of Sunday School, entirely produced by himself, melding catchy soul samples with 808 trap beats to great effect. And that’s entirely without mentioning his raspy, Tom Waits-flow. Now, after being showered with blog buzz, Tree is back with Sunday School II. While not his true second release, it does serve as a stepping stone to show how Tree has reacted to the newfound spotlight, and how he’s managed to advance and mature an already distinctly original sound.
Tree has branched out (sorry) in the mere fact that he enlists other producers; not many, but when he’s built a fledgling career on being a consummate rapper/producer, it could be a risky move. Luckily, it seems like the other producers must’ve been taking notes from the first Sunday School, so all the beats mesh well, even when they don’t contain the chopped-up soul samples that he’s known for. A direct nod to this is made on the track ‘Tree Shit’, produced by Tye Hill, while it isn’t too similar in structure to tracks off the first mixtape, it is still, as the chorus says, that “Tree shit”. Which really just means that it’s packed with justified braggadocio, combined with a nostalgic reminiscence as Tree contemplates his past and future struggles.
Tree’s raps don’t rely on clever wordplay or sheer speed, instead it’s the interplay of his unique voice, the soul samples, and prolific use of ad-libs. He’s a great songwriter, and over an hour-long tape he revisit topics such as growing up in Cabrini Green housing projects and his undying determination to succeed, with distinctly new lights in each track. A succinct summary of the tape might come on “Hurt”, with the Teddie Caine-sung hook “If it doesn’t kill me let it hurt”. Tree seems fully prepared to bare all aspects of his past, not just apathetic to the pain, but knowing, knowing that it is that honesty that makes his music strong. Obvious highlights include the high-profile features of Danny Brown, who nearly steals the show with an even crazier flow than we usually see on ‘No Faces’, and Roc Marciano on ‘Trynawin’. The transitions and track ordering is on point — ‘No Faces’ leads into the menacing ‘Busters’, and the whole tape could be listened to front-to-back. It may not pack the same oomph as the first Sunday School, when the world witnessed the birth of a surprisingly unique artist operating within a tired medium (soul samples), but Sunday School II shows the artistic progression and maturity that one would hope from a sophomore project. For me, Tree remains one of the most exciting rappers/producers to watch, and I can only hope he sets his roots deep in the industry (sorry again).
Shouts to Giovanni Luciano for the artwork on the latest SCSM cover.
SOUNDCLOUDSOUNDMOUND 16 is about the development of creep music this week. Not “creep” like your neighbor grinning at you like he knows what color your lace is. And not “creep” like 90s sitcoms hot girls shook their stank face at. You get it. “Creep” like sounds inching up on one another, unsettling your system. But I also included tracks whose content follows the idea. That man that got the drop on you, lurkin around about to leave you cold in the street, creepin. One part sound, one part content.
It’s good to hear music that threatens our well-being. Americans are feeling way too safe out here. Fuck that, humans are feeling way too safe out here. Louis C.K. is right, for most of us, we’re basically out of the life cycle. Unless you’re in the middle of the jungle punching endangered species in the face because they got too close to your wife, you’re too safe. The most common threat of random violence and disruption to our daily lives as humans is that you might get pressed around the way. I see too many cats runnin around Harlem swiping their iPads like its been sweet for them. Everyone needs a little reminder that their whole shit could get cutt short.
Here, you’ll get an instrumental lightly pinging organs to the sound of a cemetery, Chicago’s King using hi-hats like a machine gun drum, FRAZUMAKI having it out with old acquaintances, A remixed remix thumping with Daughter’s lead voice coaxing you to “Get Lucky”, FERG and his remix crew over Chinza//Fly’s head banging dark trap masterpiece, two Gorgeous Children’s slowly-churning suicide fantasy, oOoOO’s instrumental rendition of a yound girl’s drowning, Atlanta’s oddest/most adventurous rapper/producer quickly-swelling deep-space diatribe, FRIENDZONE’s female monologue urgently-chopped, Metro Boomin’s smokily-tippin horror fantasy for Flocka and Ben G, and finally, Joey Fatts’ darkly-keyed g-code.
These aren’t all dark, murderous, angry tracks. But they do each employ aspects of creep/threat/urgency. They all keep us on our toes in their own unique ways. In subtle and overt fashions, you’ll experience a host of anxiety-inducing pieces. And that’s good. Embrace that. Return to the nature in you and respond to music in a guttural, animal way. We spend too much time inside our apartments talking crazy on twitter knowing nothing’s going to come of it. This mix is guaranteed to bring you to a place that keeps you on your toes. You’ll thank me later.
“Where do/I go/When I’m/In my zone?” wonders Khalil Nova on the hook to his newest single, ‘Gunnin 4 a Palace’. It’s a rumination that comes over melodic pianos, laid back hi-hats, and massively distorted vocals, the kinda shit you bump in the year 3000, taking a light-night ride in your spaceship. That’s the magic of Khalil Nova’s music: it sounds so far removed and abstracted from anything in the music landscape today, aside from maybe SpaceghostPurrp. But Khalil is both more spiritual, and, dare I say it, even weirder and more obscurely referential that Purrp, dropping knowledge on Bandai and Bill Nye.
The music is both darkly confessional and haunting, reaching beyond the limitations facing rap in an astral journey for something greater. It’s esoteric without being self-centered, though I wouldn’t be surprised if playing this shit backwards revealed some Satanic brainwashing. It’s Khalil Nova’s ability to straddle the line between 90s ATL alum, weirdo internet rapper, and his own astral projection that lends credence to the project, and makes him an artist to follow. Such is the message behind 808s of Life, out May 21st through us.
Catch the track premier here, thanks to our buddies at Spin.
Nvr Mnd’ s Trey La Trash presents Dizzyland at Spectrum (Brooklyn) tonight, Saturday May 18. The event headlines one of the New York’s finest underground electronic producers, Slava.
Alongside Slava is a whole host of amazing performance pieces and music shows including burlesquie hip hop popstar Rica Shay, arty allrounder and performer Ms. Fitz and Post Religion hip hop artist from Miami, Robbie Lee - who released his latest video just the other day from the In The Moment EP on Post Religion.
Band bios usually read pretty generically. Some info on where dudes are from, some bullshit about how they got together, and then a bunch of lines about how their new record will cure cancer and increase dick length/girth with every isten. The bio for electronic duo Tireme is on some other shit, which serves less as a standard informational packet and more as a prologue to get you in the mood for their new release “Virgin Island”. Read this shit while you listen to the track and think about seafaring vessels, migratory peoples, and whether or not this whole thing is a danceable reimagining of the Mayflower voyage.
“The Two Travelers looked into the sky. The Old World was dying, they couldn’t stay here. The Elders told myths of the island above the ocean, but they were gone now. The Travelers gathered their supplies and boarded Tireme. They knew they could never come back.
Tireme emerged from the sea. The sky was bright orange. The Travelers looked to the horizon and embraced. “We’ve found it.” They left the vessel and fell to their knees. The Travelers ran their hands through the soil of the Virgin Island.”
BLVCK CEILING fuckin’ D-E-S-T-R-O-Y-S!! The reason I know he destroys and I am not totally delusional is every time I am djing and I play one of his songs, everyone gets up and dances. EVERYONE! Except maybe those two doods in the corner who are “too cool” to dance (which is just a roundabout way of saying “too insecure to dance”). Seriously don’t frikin go to a club unless you’re gonna dance, it’s called “dance music”, not “stand around and creep everyone out music”. OK sorry I am digressing a little, I’ll stop now.
BLVCK CEILING has been getting a lot of hype lately with a slew of remixes and a seemingly endless supply of great new songs and releases. I asked BLVCK CEILING a few questions and here is what he said:
Sins: Who is the man behind BLVCK CEILING? BLVCK CEILING: Blvck Ceiling is Dan Ocean. I am 32 years old. I live in Spokane WA. I have a beautiful girlfriend and two crazy house cats. I am obsessed with collecting t-shirts and movies on VHS. The name BLVCK CEILING was actually the title of a song I was working on that I ended up scrapping but liked the name so I began calling myself BLVCK CEILING. BC has only been in existence for a little over two years. That Grimes remix just hit 20k on its third day. Wtf, haha.
Sins: What is your musical and artistic background? BC:I have been making electronic music in some vein for about 16 years. My older brother gave me an Alesis sr-16 drum machine and a Tascam 4-track recorder when I was about 15. I sat in my room and made drum beats all day. The rest is history, hah. I think that’s why my music has been and always will be heavily focused on drums. It’s my foundation, so to speak.
Sins: What is your Creative process? BC: Weed.
Sins: Your music is heavily inspired by the occult, what is your relationship to the occult? BC: When you don’t get the answers you are seeking, eventually you will look in other places. I found my home with the dark arts. I mean, most of my music comes from a happy place. I get pumped when I am working on something. I love taking played out, hard to deny you once loved, pop radio bullshit and making it my own. I would be doing this even if nobody was listening. I was doing just that. I def embrace the idea of it. I’m not hurting animals in my basement or anything but I will wear a pentagram to church.
Sins: What gear are you using in the studio lately? BC: I have always been a fan of Reason and Recycle. Coming from an analog musical background, it was really easy for me to understand the software right away. I just got a new laptop so I guess I’m a PC. I’m running Reason 5 on that. I used to sample and chop shit a lot more when I was producing beats for mc’s but not so much anymore. If I want to sample a movie clip or something, I just record it with my phone, haha. I can make music on whatever. I don’t give a fuck about bells and whistles.
Sins: What’s the scene like in Seattle? BC: I live about 5 hours from Seattle but I go over there a few times a year, usually to see a show. Playing Second Sight last October was euphoric and definitely a goal of mine. Those guys brought so many awesome acts to Seattle. Cold Cave and Trust were two of the best shows I have ever been too and they were both Second Sight shows. S/O RXCH WXTCH & ACTUAL PAIN!!! There is awesome music coming out of Seattle. I guess like any big city, the scene is bigger which means better also. I am really digging Crypts right now. They are from seatown.
Sins: What projects/releases are you currently working on? BC: Currently working on next BC album (no title yet). ThatWasThenThisIsNow, my side project with Moon Mirror, is about to be released on c-34 chrome cassette tapes through IHadAnAccident Records. I am collabing with this dude SINS at the moment as well as doing some tracks with DELOREAN BLVCK. I am always working on music.
Sins: There is a graffiti artist in my hood tagging BLVCK, do you want me to hunt him down for you? BC:That’s dope. Tell him to throw up a BC!! Sins: Haha, for sure if I ever encounter that graffiti kid in a dark alley late one night, I will totally make him do a BC for you.
IF you have never heard anything by BLVCK CEILING here is a good introduction and one of my favorites by him.
I normally take slight umbrage to a split release. I have been burnt too many times by completely loving one artist and enduring a mad scramble to avoid the mismatched, subpar, hanger-on that is trying to attach to someone else’s glorious talent. I felt like one only existed with the other, because one had the money and the other had the talent, or something equally ungenerous (I really do think cruelly sometimes).
It’s not so with the Petra Shcelm//ZOO split LP released on Clan Destine Records. These artists were introduced to the idea of doing a split through the label and damn, it was a wise decision. It is a harmonious pairing indeed.
How do I review such a beast? Do I contemplate it as a whole or review the artist’s efforts separately even though (after a many thoroughly enjoyable listens) the efforts of both artists are completely intertwined. I feel like I have to make a few grand statements and then explore their work separately, as it is not fair otherwise.
Even though comparisons are odious, here are some common attributes these artists share in this release:
1) There is some superb production going on, beautifully cold and spacious, full of reverb, echoes and darkness; a subtle blend of discomfort and intrigue, of danger and beauty.
2) Both these women/artists are writing music about the darker aspects of human nature and sexual perversions. Does anyone out there have a problem with that? No? Good. Let’s move on.
My first introduction to the EP was the track ‘Softcore’ by //ZOO, a soundcloud teaser promoting the pending release about a month or so ago. This is a perfect example of both the above points, as well as my reason to seek out the rest of the release. Ashlee Luk, accompanied by Luna Fang on guitar, creates a litany of sexual repression and perversion that is entrancing and uncomfortable.
With a combination of minimal percussive beat, a solid wall of fuzzed out guitars and the lackadaisical counterpoint of the lyrics ‘I got you down on your knees’, the track is both darkly aggressive and nonchalant about the dangerous path it is leading you down. This pathway leads to the tracks ‘Close’ which is like an empty shattered heartbeat enclosing around the wanderer and ending up the in the shadow lands of ‘Breath and Fuck’. Although ‘Softcore’ and ‘Close’ both contain a wall of guitar Phil Spector would be proud of, I find the //ZOO tracks to be strongly reminiscent of early EBM and minimal synth/post-punk, an orchestration that can be heard more clearly in ‘Breath and Fuck’.
Such darkness is also present in the Petra Shcelm tracks (solo effort of Mollie Wells from Warm Hands), although it has a lighter touch in regard to the sexual kinks. Having said that, ‘Come Over Lover’ is definitely a sexually charged piece, evocative of early PJ Harvey with a swaggering beat and healthy dose of reverb drench surf rock guitar. This surf rock influence is continued in the tracks ‘Stills’ and the almost seven minute lush and immersive epic ‘Let Me Float’. In ‘Stagger Into’ there seems to be a bit more of a cross over of influences, as the heavily space-out guitar takes a back seat to the squidgy electronic beats, climaxing in the tracks swelling conclusion.
I think the idea of the slow build is pretty apt for the entire release, really. It creeps up on you and sucks you into a place that is dark, sometimes claustrophobic and at other times, spacious and expansive. As much as it might make the faint of heart uncomfortable it is, in fact, beautiful.
Press Gang hosts a radio show on an long running Australian community radio station. She enjoys longs walks along the beach, nights in front of the fire and telling you what you should think about music** **Probably just that last one.
Pull up in a helicopter to some brutalist architecture in a fur coat, to lean carefree on a “it must be jelly, cause jam don’t shake like that” booty…It could only be The-Dream. Terius’ title track from his new record IV Play, goes back to the heyday of “baby, we fucking tonight” R&B—the early 90s. Catch some vibes of Silk’s “Freak Me” on this one. Vibe off the booty in the video that says “freak me”.
The-Dream tells the ladies he’s not down with foreplay in this video, which seems entirely antithetical to R&B. The whole genre is built around seduction and teasing. The bump n’ grind is key to it, but so are the tongue baths. Make no mistake, this is why The-Dream is a trendsetter in R&B. He breaks rules with aplomb. No fucks given. Also, he dresses his dancers in futuristic leather gear and then has them pose at the top of stairs in superhero poses. Very fashion forward. Very R&B forward. The future of R&B is now.
Guillermo Del Toro, has made a movie about giant robots fighting giant monsters. Your either in one of two camps right now, you either got a lil bit of a chub reading that last sentence or your dead inside. There’s really no sell to be made with a movie like this, no justifications, or explanations. This is battles you had with monster toys and Voltron/Power Rangers, played out photo-realistically. If there’s a faint whiff of a plot in this movie, they’re doing too much.
For shits and giggles Stringer Bell Idris elba, Charlie from Always Sunny, and Ron Perleman are in the movie, because there need to be a few scenes where humans talk about human things, so fanboys don’t suffer mid movie heart attacks. If anything is right in the world, this will be the biggest movie to ever be imported to Japan. If anything is wrong in the world, some dude will subject a first date to watching this in 3D.
Pacific Rim will be released on July 11th to the excitement of otaku everywhere.
