Here’s how the story goes. We’re exhausted and dehydrated, the four of us, blazing through LA at 3am, fresh from airplanes and bone-dry air and not enough sleep. We don’t where we’re going—where are we? what’s close?—but here we are in this car; here we are having not seen each other for a year; here’s Santa Monica Boulevard like a monolith of neon preen and we’re racing through it, just so fucking fast, fighting to stay awake while the city lurches in a sleepy slow motion. Everything’s gone soft at the edges. There’s no beginning or end. Just tired disorientation, the burning blur of vision tracers and my best friend, steering us like hellfire into deep Hollywood, saying: “Here, listen to this.”

I don’t know which Bruxa song he played. I don’t even know if I registered it as music — because in that moment of sleep-deprived psychosis, with the whole of Hollywood writhing beneath us like some possessed un-thing, it just felt like the hallucinatory world behind my eyes. Santa Monica Boulevard speeding up and slowing down, rattling all demonic in the color-drenched haze.

It was, by far, the best way to experience Bruxa for the first time.

RaVeRS UniTE-SHAKE THAT ASS BITCH BRUXA REMIX by ▲BRUXA▲

This new Portland trio makes witchstep, if you want to call it that, and you should—it’s too perfect a tag. Bianca Radd, Derek Stilwell and Saint Micheal spin songs like a coven, transforming air and earth with seething drag inspired by equal parts dubstep, IDM and Tricky.

“Eye on Everybody” especially has the same wicked vibe as Pre-Millennium Tension’s killer “Bad Dreams”, but the evil heat of it carries through their entire debut release. Even the hysterical, glitched “Aqui” and their slippery remix of “Shake That Ass Bitch” quake with the raw energy.

But Bruxa are more than a strategic genre tag. There’s some serious production skill behind these songs, the sort of thing that sends you into a sensory space where time slows, pulses speed, you’re not just hearing the thing — you’re breathing it. You feel it in your jaw and neck, your fingernails, your heartbeat. You’re careening through LA in a desperate search for nothing, and you haven’t slept, and the gutters undulate, the skyline growls, the sidewalks warp and spit and here, they say, listen to this.

Bruxa’s debut release Eye on Everybody is out now via Sweating Tapes. Hand-numbered cassettes, limited to 100. You can preview the whole thing below and buy the digital version (plus a Black Ceiling remix) on the label’s Bandcamp.

BRUXA – Eye On Everybody by sweatingtapes

Not to worry, It’s not what you think. I just needed something attention-grabbing to, well, grab your attention and direct it toward Adult Swim’s fairly new, consciousness expanding show Off The Air. After some covert research, which really means a good couple hours website surfing and message board scouring, I found that not many people have seen, or even know about, this radical program, a disjointed collage of video clips transmitted from your cable box to your third eye.

I first stumbled upon the absurdist presentation on the official Adult Swim website on that little marquee thing they have that enables visitors to watch episodes they might’ve missed during regular programming, online at their leisure. Used to seeing King of The Hill and Metalocalypse premieres in that area, naturally my interest was peaked when I saw something I couldn’t identify. Off The Air was nestled there, waiting patiently for someone to pick it up, open the floodgates and unleash it’s chaotic power upon the universe, a Pandora’s Box kind of situation. “Animals”  was the name of the episode, coincidentally, the show’s debut, the start of a sequence of themed, 10-minute chapters that would get progressively more disturbing as it went on.

“Animals” flanked my senses from the get-go with a missile of color, sound, and allegory that made my psyche recoil in defense. Actual footage of an eagle and a mountain goat, starts the party with a bang, as the bird’s gigantic talons grab the goat and fly away with it, smashing its skull on the rocks below and dropping it into a valley, watching as the helpless billy falls hundreds of feet to its death. Pressing ahead toward insanity, clips of ostriches skiing, cats meowing and multiplying to a beat (Meow Mix), and music videos from Flying Lotus and Blockhead, kept shit groovy and in accordance with the zoological motif.

Airing originally on New Year’s Day sometime in the early moring, I’m talking 3 or 4 am, the show drew contradicting reactions from audiences, with some commending it for it’s “trippiness”, some tearing it down for it’s “stoner-crowd appeasement”, and others too bewildered to comment. Still it wasn’t until the release of the second episode, “Food”, that viewers saw the show, as a show, and not just a one-off holiday special or an elongated bump. “Food” dropped on May 25th of this year, again at some obscenely late hour, giving those die-hard enough to disregard their bedtime a sweet treat that their neurons would savor forever.

Overwhelming and frightening at times, this show continues to haunt those who lays eyes on it, dishing up brain-munchies for the late-night, couch-sitting, burnouts. Only two episodes of the series have been released thus far but word on the street is that Adult Swim has got plenty more rounds of Off The Air psychedelia locked, loaded, and ready to blow, your mind that is. The show airs pretty infrequently with no set schedule, keep your eyes peeled in your ears open for any developments. Now heed my word and find a comfortable place to lounge, spark up a bowl, and see for yourself what all the fuss is about.

The jovial-looking fellow pictured above, to the left of the photo, is none other than legendary Brooklynite DJ Ayres. For those of you who’ve been out of the loop this past decade, Ayres has been setting the borough off for years, hosting the now infamous Rub parties, which kicked off all the way back in 2002. Although, he may best be known for spinnin’ tunes in the club, the man some know as Ayres Haxton Jr. has also pumped out a torrent of killer mix tapes over time, as well as putting together remixes for a series of genre-defining acts on his own record label. Recently, Ayres was gracious enough to bless us with his presence at our NYC locale, alongside his right-hand-dude Nick Chacona, who as been known to help engineer tunes for the DJ.

Chocona is an established producer in his own right, as he’s recently mixed a slew of recent Plant releases, and remixed an Eli Escobar record with Roy Dank. The duo call themselves Beg To Differ, and put a distinct spin on the track “Desire.” You can check out a whole list of Chocona’s work at his Discogs page.

Anyway, the noted multi-tasker Ayers just dropped the Silence of the Lambs-inspired I’d Fuck Me mixtape last month, which kicks off with a brief Q Lazzarus sample at the outset, and only gets funkier from there. You can sample the EP below, and get a feel for the DJ’s signature sound, as well as his distinct take on classic Club music. Drawing from a number of sources and genres, Ayres comes away with a sound that is super dance-able, but should also appeal to the crate diggers of the world. In other words, the guy makes it look easy.

Ayres has a slew of gigs coming up this month, which I’m sure he would be glad to have you attend. As always, The Rub will be happening next month, but you should also make a point to send along some good tidings to the DJ as he plays the Strictly Hits party on July 30th, which happens to land on his Birthday. For a full list of dates, as well as any other DJ Ayres related news, be sure to check out his home page/blog. Ayres is making it happen!

Мишка
350 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY
718-388-1725

J/M/Z to Marcy Ave
G to Broadway
L to Lorimer

When some brave soul finally decides to write the book on deconstructionist rock n’ roll, it seems that U.S. Maple may finally get the attention they so rightly deserve. I’m not sure how lucrative this particular endeavor would prove, but it’s possible that authors are running out of genres to highlight in their writing. Whatever the case, until this book gets published, I assume the Windy City quartet will unfortunately remain shrouded in a cloud of noise rock obscurity. Considering I currently find myself in a position of unlimited power and influence here at the bloglin, I figured I could provide the band some much-needed ink, and quickly highlight their killer debut album.

According to the band’s now defunct website, members of the group had claimed that they sought to “erase Rock and Roll from their collective minds” and  ”devise a working method for reorganizing the genre, keeping only what they felt were its most important core elements” when forming up. While I’m not sure exactly what they were getting at here, or whether or not they ever actually ended up reaching their supposed goal, I’m relatively certain of one fact. The process of listening to Long Hair in Three Stages within the confines of my own bedroom almost always makes me spaz out and throw punches into thin air (aiming at nothing in particular).

As far as I’m concerned, there may be no better litmus test, when it comes to judging the validity of a rock record, than to see what kind of reaction it elicits when taking a listen in private. Generally if something violent happens, I think it’s working. While the material found throughout Long Hair may come off as slightly less aggressive or heavy-handed than some of the more punk influenced noise records that were dropping in the mid-90′s, one could still certainly throw a hissy fit to this stuff. Basically, you don’t need to own a closet-full of black t-shirts, and crave the grime of a mosh pit to really get U.S. Maple… You probably have to be a pretty weird dude though.

Long Hair in Three Stages was the direct result of a melding of two members from the group Shorty, and two members from the band Mercury Players. Al Johnson, Marc Shippy, Todd Rittman, and Adam Vita all came into contact at DeKalb’s Northern Illinois University at some point in the 90′s, and contrived the mission statement that I had described earlier in the text. Their first record was put out by the small label Skin Graft, and was produced by Chicago indie-rock demigod Jim O’Rourke. If you’re not in the know, O’Rourke is best bros with Jeff Tweedy, cut his teeth in the seminal post-rock outfit Gastr Del Sol with David Grubbs, and was also an on-again-off-again member of Sonic Youth for a long period of time throughout the aughts. As you could imagine, the dude’s involvement in the recording process added a higher pedigree, as well as little bit of gravitas to the first LP of this newly hatched band.

Anyway, I get the feeling that Long Hair may have initially slipped through the cracks because it never exclusively appealed to a single fan base. U.S. Maple certainly didn’t embody the delicacy or deliberate nature of a group like Slint, and they were also creating sounds that were far more strange and avant-garde than anything Thurston Moore and the gang were releasing at the same time. I suppose the gibberish spouting band could be compared to a man without a country. With any luck, however, the music-headz of this digital age we currently find ourselves immersed in will wise up to these weirdos, and pick up the baton.

U.S. Maple – Long Hair In Three Stages

If you frequent the pages of the Bloglin, then it’s likely that you’re probably well aware of the waves Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire has been making in the hip hop game lately. Around the time dude stopped by Мишка HQ a few weeks ago, it seems that we’ve been hearing his name everywhere we turn. Taking a step toward a full-blown rap-game takeover, the native New Yorker will be participating in the “On Deck” interview series that’ll be featured on MTV2′s Sucker Free Countdown this coming Sunday at 11 AM. Presumably, the segment will highlight a number of hip hop up-and-comers, including Mr. MFN eXquire, that are poised to blow the fuck up.

In the excerpt posted above, eXquire was filmed on the humid streets of Brooklyn, lounging on the corner of Utica and Eastern PKWY, and got to speak of what he’s bringing to the table these days. Adorned with his trademark bundle of neckwear, including some Keep Watch Good Wood, and capped off with our Knicks-inspired snap-back, the emcee also talked about the worrisome state of current NY hip hop. This Sunday, tune into the actual program, and you’ll get an extended cut of the interview, where Mr. eXquire is sure to drop some more knowledge on your head.

Also, if you find that you still haven’t gotten your eXquire fix upon watching that MTV joint this weekend, then you’ll be pleased to know that we here at Мишка will be unleashing his latest mixtape at some point this coming September. Entitled Lost in Translation, the tape is sure to be straight fire, as it will feature the monster “Galactus”, which can be listened to at the bottom of the post. While I’m not sure if the new material was heavily informed by the Sofia Coppola film of the same name, I’m pretty positive that you should cop this thing the second it becomes available fo DL.

Anyway, I think it wold be pretty hard for anybody to dispute the points our guy makes in the short clip taken from his interview. This dude has a a bone to pick, so you all better listen up!

Mr. Muthafuckin eXquire - Galactus

Don’t ask me how someone decided that an animated children’s series would make the perfect forum in which to flex their aptitude for media mash-ups. I can’t claim complete ignorance to the phenomenon of a mature audience adapting kid’s TV as their guiding light, seeing as how I wrote a post last month about my obsession, and that of many other 20-something males, with iCarly. There’s no judgment here, ‘bro-nies’ (the self-proclaimed nickname for guys into My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic). It just so happened that there is a whole smattering of these lonely saps that have a thing for fantastical talking horses who, if I were a betting man, would have my money on their appearance on To Catch A Predator in the near future.

The ‘bronies’ don’t just watch the show religiously, collect the toy’s from their daughters’ happy meals, or gather behind closed doors to share their passion for the show with other men of the same camp, they also make fan videos. Mashing the rainbow mares with different songs and movie/TV show dialogue, these fanatics have undergone scrutiny from the press in that they have not only been able to avoid prosecution for copyright infringement but have been glorified by Hasbro studios, the company that owns the rights to MLP (My Little Pony; it’s just easier this way).

These amateur editors are just as guilty of breaking the royalty-reinforcing law as mash-up artists like Girl Talk and video DJ, Pogo in the minds of the public. But what happens when the company whose material is unquestionably being used has their head screwed on straight and decides to shake the hands of the devotees instead of demanding they empty their pockets or face legal action? I’ll tell you exactly what happens, both the owner and borrower share a mutual appreciation for the output instead of suing and countersuing. Hasbro has even released a video that thanks the viewers for their loyalty and promotion. That’s the way it should be but I doubt any significant change will come from this, just a message to the people that artists and DJs (audio, video, whatever) can live together in perfect harmony free of bad blood and court costs.

Have you ever clicked on a YouTube video only to receive a message and a red diagonal-line mouthed face, I think this means uncertainty but they know just what they have done, that reads “This video has been removed due to copyright blah, blah, blah?” Of course you have and that’s because you can’t share anything online anymore without having an army of tight-assed lawyers chasing after you making threats and appeals. I know it’s a little different seeing as how we’re discussing mash-ups and the recognition of their artistry by big business but it’s more of the same, evil bequeathed from the same toughened, lifeless bosom.

Now that I’ve gone completely off the rails we can start talking about video mashing again, an act with same basic premise as sampling beats or songs. I mean we’ve got Seinfeld, The Watchmen, 300, The Dark Knight, Lord of The Rings, Inglorious Basterds, The Hangover, Wu-Tang Clan (one of the most mashed up groups ever), and much more copywritten output being lip-synced by a bunch of ponies for goodness sake.

It doesn’t get any better than this and I’m not alone in my assumption, Hasbro thought so too, and that’s what matters. Meanwhile, I’ve been enjoying these brony videos, the editing is unreal and the hardwork that went into them, clear as day. Bottom line, stop censoring online parodies and tributes. Haven’t you heard of viral marketing, morons?

Variety wrote a full-on analysis of this timeless battle over creative licensing and ownership through the twinkly eyes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and it’s  available to read here. Equestrian Swag!

I hate to break it to you jerks, but Summer 2011 is slowly drawing to a close. August looms just around the bend, and the X Games are about to pop off any day now. Before you know it, you’re going to be at the mall picking out some fresh back-to-school gear, and attempting to decide which Dawson’s Creek Trapper Keeper suits you best. While I’m assuming some of you readers have long since stopped attending any sort of high school or college, I’m willing to bet that you still haven’t forgotten the feeling in your gut that comes along with the end of a solid Summer vacation.

Although the nefarious-sounding track name wouldn’t suggest it, the latest tune by Mickey Mickey Rourke perfectly soundtracks this type of late-season discontent. The video clip for “Satanic Youth Brigade” breezily floats around, while a distorted guitar is strummed, and the sun sets on a mysterious cloaked figure. Similar to the weird melancholy that was brought on by the classic Smashing Pumpkins tune “1979“, this MMR jam captures a distinct mood that’s kind of hard to put into words. Suffice it to say, Satanic Youth Brigade may not set the party off, but is certainly a worthwhile listen.

Anyway, the track only lasts a mere minute and fifty seconds, so you might say the feelings it elicits are fleeting. Like the summertime, this thing is over before you know it.

When we last heard from the Ninjasonik crew, the dudes weren’t actually putting out records, but were rather attempting to help dissipate a riot that had broken out at South Street Seaport earlier this summer. Ninjasonik were given the opportunity to open up for that Drake character at a free NYC show, but ended up dealing with a giant angry mob after they were forced to announce that the Degrassi graduate wouldn’t be performing on that particular evening. Lucky for us, the Brooklyn dwellers have returned to form with the release of their latest mixtape, and seem to have put their crowd control days behind them.

In a press statement that was put out just prior to the release of No Swords Or Mask, Ninjasonik member Telli claimed that the tape represents their “strongest body of work, consisting of original songs that express every aspect of what Ninjasonik represents. We tapped into so many genres of music, really giving a fresh perspective on hip-hop”. Upon  spending a little bit of time with the new material, I think I would have to concur. While the group has primarily branded this new release a mixtape, and are giving the thing away for free, it plays out more like a legitimate LP. The quality of the material found on here certainly suggests this point.

Many of the joints found throughout No Swords or Masks retain the signature hyphy nature, and break-neck pace that fans of the group have come to know and love. Standout track, and de facto single “Moshpit“, is a shining example of this, as you’re urged to actually “break your neck” all track long. At other points though, the dudes aren’t afraid to cool down the pace a little bit, Gregory Isaacs-style. Listen to “93 Til infinity”, their smoothed out take on the Souls of Mischief classic, to hear what I’m talking about.

Did I happen to mention there is also a semi-demented Smiths cover on this thing? If I haven’t convinced you to give the mixtape thing a listen by this point, you may want to go get your head checked out… I’m just sayin’.

Hello there. I suck at talking to you. I am sorry. I have been busy—so busy—with many—so many—things. Babies. Working. Websites. Thinking about Space. Dreaming of Electric Sheep. Making a sound in the forest while nobody’s around to hear it.

You get it. And you’re like, save it, Hateball. And you can go ahead and call me Thrifty, cuz I’m bout to save that shit. Takin it to the bank and putting it to work. Straight. Up. Collecting dividends on this whine shit. Balling. Motherfucking Hi-Bounce balling. Reckanize.

And so, it’s July. It’s the very end of July. And I’m sure you know what happens every year at the end of July. Comicon. Of the San Diego variety.

This piece of meat was there, son. Beer in my hand, camera on my face…stunting like a fucking daddy. I took so many photos (with serious help from my good friend Mr. Stash Blackner) and spit so much booth game and drank so much beer and spun so much chrome while I was down there that I needed my own Flickr feed to remember it all. That’s the future, duder: exporting memories. To social networking services everywhere.

You can share in my wealth of Comicon memories—as always—on my photostream. I have cropped, color-touched, smacked up and flipped, and packaged them up—nice and tidy—for you to peruse. I have also take the two following unprecedented steps: made a Short Attention Span Theater version (embedded below) as well as selected—for you, feel?—my top 5 favorite shots.

I’m the guy with his mouth open.

##

1. Doc Fucking Hammer

Co-Creator of one of my favorite shows ever to be on television. Or in my case, on DVD, as watched on my standard definition television. I was SO. TOTALLY. STOKED to see him. So much so that I gave him the pin off my shirt…and he was nice enough to both take it and act excited about it. What a thrillride. Getting giddy just ‘talking’ about it.

—–

2. Thee Brian Ewing and I drink a beer

To each other. For your health.

—–

3. META Muppet

You’ve read me here before (probably? Maybe?) You know that when something like ‘Muppet’ or ‘Meta’ is in the title, well then, I’m all about it. I’m all about this photo. Just stop—drop the internet persona for a second—and LOOK at this photograph. LOOK at it. Allow yourself to realize JUST. HOW. SURREAL it is. That is all. Carry on.

—–

4. Droid Boing

I sort of promised myself that this list would NOT be comprised of a bunch of photos of me with pretty girls in costume…and for the most part, I think I’m succeeding. This one, however, is absolutely not pass-uppable. Like. Not at all. IMPOSSIBLE to not include on a list like this.

—–

5. Do you love Katamari as much as I do?

So much so that you put the theme song on your baby announcement CD? Yeah. Well. That’s how I roll. So you can imagine my pants-wetting excitement when I saw this gal in her home-hewn cousin costume. Like, what.

—–

BONUS!: THE Becky Cloonan, dog.

Not only is she incredible at art, not only is she just, like, the coolest fucking person ever, not only is she an angel sent from gingerbread heaven…she like, tolerates a person like myself. This isn’t the only photo she agreed to take with me. For serious. There were others. I didn’t even have to pay for this. People are planes. This gal’s a jet. Write it down.

(more…)

Toddla T is on top of the world. In the last couple of years, he’s obtained both a slot on BBC Radio 1’s In DJs We Trust and a residency at Fabric. So what’s behind Toddla T’s meteoric rise?

Let’s start at the beginning. Toddla T is Tom Bell, a 26-year old from Sheffield, a city in England that has contributed to everything from industrial (Cabaret Voltaire) to new wave (The Human League) to post-punk revival (Artic Monkeys). The Steel City has also been important to electronic music, as the home of the groundbreaking Warp Records and the birthplace of bassline. With that rich musical background in mind, Toddla T’s globe-trotting sound makes a lot more sense.

His stage name is a tribute to his early start: DJing in Sheffield clubs since 14, Toddla focused on music full-time at 16. Originally into hip-hop, he didn’t even like electronic music until going to parties run by Sheffield DJs Winston Hazel and Pipes. Techno, house, and especially dancehall would become the calling cards of Toddla’s sound.

Since 2008s much-hyped mixtape Ghettoblaster #1, Toddla’s mix of dancehall riddims, jump-up rave accents, and wiggly bass has filled playlists across the world. His unique style is on full display on his 2009 debut record, Skanky Skanky, especially on single “Shake It,” where MC Serocee commands the listener to “shake it, shake it / get naked, naked.”

Toddla T kept things moving in 2010, with the hands-in-the-air “Sky Surfing,” featuring vocalist Wayne Marshall. The video for the song shows Toddla’s fun-loving irreverence – a key to what separates him from his more dour counterparts in the bass world.

Toddla has remixed songs by artists as diverse as Hot Chip, Roots Manuva, and Ladyhawke. His finest moment, however, was giving the high-energy treatment to Gyptian‘s reggae anthem “Hold You,” with a little help from Double D on the mic.

His latest album, Watch Me Dance, is Toddla T at his most eclectic. There are plenty of the riddim-and-bass bangers that he’s known for, along with new experiments like the disco-funk title track and the Timbaland-influenced R&B of “Body Good.” The track that you’ll be playing on repeat, though, is the rave-throwback “Take It Back.” Like all of his songs, “Take It Back” is a feel-good jam designed for the dance floor.