Tycho – Coastal Brake (Lusine Remix)

September 2nd, 2010  |  by Kyle Suss  |  published in ambient, glitch-hop, remixes  |  1 comment

Let me take this opportunity to discuss my two favorite experimental artists with the Indie Shuffle community: Tycho & Lusine. Both artists create music under Ghostly International alongside those oh-so-sweet pop melodies of School of Seven Bells. An art gallery as well as a design house, this once-coined “boutique label” has branched out to encompass all elements involved in creating a piece of art.

Fashawn – Ode To Illmatic

August 30th, 2010  |  by nolan  |  published in hip-hop  |  3 comments

Earlier this summer, the XXL Freshman released Ode To Illmatic, a tribute to one of the all-time greats. Cognisant of the hallowed territory he was encroaching on, Fash was sure to make one thing clear: he wasn’t biting. By using every beat in its organic, original form, the young emcee made it clear that the tape was about NaS as much as it was about himself.

Exile – Radio AM/FM

August 28th, 2010  |  by sweeneykovar  |  published in experimental, hip-hop, instrumental, house  |  4 comments

Exile follows up last year’s instrumental opus, Radio, with Radio AM/FM, a collection of remixed versions of tracks from the original album. Guest collaborators include Samiyam, Clutchy Hopkins, Grouch & Eligh, Blu, Evidence and Alchemist amongst a wide array of others.

Air 2 A Bird – Crow Hill

August 21st, 2010  |  by Cory Zechmann  |  published in electronic, hip-hop, trip hop  |  1 comment

Air 2 A Bird’s first LP, Crow Hill, has an interesting theme to it. Along with their group/album name, their instrumentals center around birds.

Live at Outside Lands 2010: Pretty Lights

August 18th, 2010  |  by Taylor Fife  |  published in electro, glitch-hop  |  1 comment

Honestly, Pretty Lights was better than what Outside Lands had to offer him. Playing to a fully ready-to-party crowd just before midnight could have been epic, but instead he did the most he could with a crowd of dead heads and squares lazily waiting for The Strokes and Further.

My Sick Uncle – (500) Days of Weezy

August 14th, 2010  |  by nolan  |  published in hip-hop, indie rock  |  2 comments

The likes of Simon & Garfunkel, The Smiths, and Doves are sampled, among others, and although many of them are brief, the tracks are all their own version of relaxing stimulation. A sprinkling of Weezy interview audio clips gives the tape (free download) personality and establishes an emotional connection with the listener, who then has no quips with listening to the tape all the way through…three times in a row.

BBU – Fear Of A Clear Channel Planet

August 2nd, 2010  |  by Curtis  |  published in hip-hop  |  1 comment

Like a raucous Kanye West infatuated with electro samples, BBU have developed a really great niche in turbulent Juke-house rhythms. Chi-town trashy hip-hop: “I Do This For My Culture”. And they do. Because BBU’s album ‘Fear of a Clear Channel Planet’ is FREE.

Macklemore x Ryan Lewis – The VS. EP

July 27th, 2010  |  by nolan  |  published in hip-hop  |  2 comments

Sometimes drug abuse and selfishness just seems like a bunch of fun and games enacted by endearingly flawed icons, living a life worlds away from ours that we can’t possibly understand. However, Macklemore puts it best when he says, “He just wanted to act like them/He just wanted to rap like him/Us as rappers underestimate the power and the effects we have on these kids.”

The Roots – How I Got Over

July 25th, 2010  |  by Curtis  |  published in hip-hop  |  3 comments

If you think this is The Roots gone soft, it isn’t. They still remain one of the most imaginative, talented and intelligent hip-hop acts of the next ten years (much as much as they were for the last ten years). Lyrically, The Roots are doing what they always have and filling the pot-hole voids for subtly, soul and genius that are often missed by major-label hip-hop. ‘How I Got Over’ is worthy of the mantle bestowed on albums ‘Things Fall Apart’ and ‘Game Theory’ that came before it. A great Roots record.

Major Lazer & La Roux – Lazerproof

June 29th, 2010  |  by Taylor Fife  |  published in hip-hop, reggae, remixes, world music  |  1 comment

‘Lazerproof’ is a genius rework of nearly all of La Roux’s self-titled debut. The entire mixtape is entertaining, fun and hilarious in that very special Major Lazer way. Even though it seems Diplo and Switch didn’t do much writing or producing for the tape, it still shows off their eclectic taste and knowledge of various dance and island genres.