this week’s post originally started out with a short rant which was essentially “in defence of r’n’b”. on a re-read, i think i needed to have a lie down and think that arguement through again. however, it does bring us neatly to:
CIARA [U.S.]
oh (ghislain poirer bootleg)
ghislain is a canadian producer that i featured some time ago on fat planet (an excellent mp3 of a ghislain production with guest vox from beans). his field is down/mid tempo broken beat meets alt-hip hop with a smart international flavour thrown in. that avant-beat creation is to the fore here in an unusual bootleg mix for ciara. there’s no doubt that ciara is at the alternative end of commercial r’n’b (the original version of ‘oh’ has some absolutely killer production), yet here ghislain takes it way beyond its original intentions. i can’t say it’s 100% successful, but if you’re a closet sucker for ciara (like me), then it’s a public way to accept your fate. dig around for cadence weapon‘s bootleg of the same track – even more fucked up.
MURDERBOT [U.S.]
fi you
another american artist today, albeit with a decidely carribbean vocal. if crunk or r’n’b isn’t to your taste, how about dancehall breakcore? or ragga jungle? and from an artist who has this golden line cropping up in his resume? “i ate a peanut butter & marshmallow cream sandwich (aka a “fluffernutter”) for lunch EVERY SINGLE SCHOOL DAY from the start of kindergarten until my high school graduation.” what more do you need? murderbot is 22-year old kansas resident chrissy, and you can get a 2nd mp3 at the ever-excellent mashit site, plus more downloads (including mixtapes) at murderbot.com.
DRACULA ZOMBIE USA [U.S.]
bear island
alright, so it’s hat trick of yanks today – it’s not that often i post multiple artists from north amerika, so i’m sure you’ll forgive the excursion. dracula zombie usa had the foresight not only to email fat planet to let me know about their band, but to also back up that email with some top quality tunes. they describe their influences as “aphex twin, daft punk and lightning bolt” – and there’s certainly an odd fusion of styles here. try to conjour a sound that might be described as ‘post-punk breaks’ – like lcd soundsystem getting dirty with an old sampler, more scattered than their usual 4-4 disco. [site]
last week’s radio show: an electronic double-header – switzerland’s lake lustre and sydney’s ollo both dropped in for a chat (lars from ollo confusingly was born in the swiss town that former sydney resident lake lustre now lives…). for more info on lake lustre and to hear tracks from his album ‘indecipherabilia’, head to lakelustre.com. for more on ollo, click here.