September 15th, 2011

Melé’s 5 Tunes That Influenced Starlight

Melé’s Starlight EP just dropped this week on Mixpak and has already made its way to the top of the Juno chart! As you may have noticed, it’s a departure from his usual productions and is heavily influenced by techno, rap and early house. We asked him to name five tunes that influenced the record:

Lloyd Banks – Start It Up

I basically listened to this record non stop for about a month when i heard it, still listen to it a lot now! The producer Cardiak has been a huge influence on my sound in the last few months, especially tracks like Lego!

Erol Alkan & Boys Noize – Death Suite

Always been a massive fan of Erol and Boys Noize, I’ve really been going back to and playing a few of there things lately. I tried to capture a lot of the driving stuff they play in their sets in Starlight Express.

Bok Bok – Silo Pass

His Southside EP is by far one of my favourite things to come out this year, Silo Pass is everything I love about grime but somewhere in the future, dope!

Lunice – The Name Dunnit

Lunice is basically my favourite person in this thing right now, his music and his live sets a killing it! Another one that’s been influencing my new stuff heavily.

Joey Beltram – Game Form

The music speaks for itself!

September 14th, 2011

Call Mi A Yardie Official Video

‘Call Mi A Yardie’ is the UK’s biggest bashment hit for the summer, from Robbo Ranx’ protege Stylo G, fresh with an official video. Watch out for big things from Stylo.

September 14th, 2011

J. Beats Instrumentals

These tracks evoke images of a rock star. Not like a guitar wielding party celeb, but a star made of rock. The rocky, sandy terrain of Cape Verde and the rock hard beats blended with glittering electronics and victorious elevation. While they fit very well with recent output from the bass music and beats scenes, they actually come from a producer named J. Beats who arrived at a similar mindset entirely of his own accord. He starts with hip hop and then draws inspiration from his homeland of Cabo Verde for a style he refers to simply as CV beats. Rather than pick one of the many styles popular on the islands, he pulls from them all. C.A.B.O. Zouk Kuduro Love Tarraxa Hop, the title from a recent release of his, is a good example of his take on the matter. He’s been based in Brockton, Mass, for a few years and emigrated there during high school. He often works with a vocalist named D. Lopes who considers himself the music ambassador for Cape Verde. J. usually writes his tunes with the intent of finding a vocalist for them. These two tracks are no exception, even though they stand so well as instrumentals. Especially “Strawberry”. If you are a vocalist and would like to get on one of these tracks, holler at him through his Youtube account. (Image by Justin Mezzell)

J. Beats – “Strawberry”
[audio:http://culturesystem.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Strawberry.mp3]
J. Beats – “Brought The Stars To Me”
[audio:http://culturesystem.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/BroughTheStarsToMe.mp3]

September 14th, 2011

Mixpak FM: Extreme Animals

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Mixpak 020 is brought to you by Extreme Animals, aka artist Jacob Ciocci of the legendary Paper Rad collective and David Wightman, a lecturer in Pop Music Studies at UCSD and member of bands such as Fortress Of Amplitude, Powdered Wigs and Chariots of Fire. Together, they make some of the strangest, high energy and experimental electronic music and videos around. If you’re unfamiliar with their work, here is a glimpse from their bio:

The project began (as early as 2002) as an approach to 90s trance anthems interpreted through the lens of damaged noise music, with David on spastic drums and Jacob on junk electronics and distorted vocals.Their live show and sound has now evolved and consists of elaborate videos, guitar, and incorporates a range of sonic references from baroque music to booty bass to mash-ups and metal guitar shredding, while still maintaining the rawkus emotional immediacy that has been their hallmark for the past 8 years. Their videos (directed by Jacob Ciocci, Paper Rad founding member) have been imitated the world over, combining hyper remixes of popular culture with original animation into a bewildering maelstrom of contemporary American pathos.

Their exclusive Mixpak FM mix is Extreme Animals in a nutshell: exploring the clash of pop culture, from Justin Bieber to Ceephax Acid Crew, adding in humour, parody, reverence and fun (and even some Vengaboys). Make sure you watch out for their interjections during the mix, and stay tuned til the very end for the full effect.

You can subscribe to Mixpak FM via iTunes, subscribe with an RSS reader from the Mixpak FM site or download this mix directly.

[audio: http://traffic.libsyn.com/mixpak/Mixpak_FM_-_Extreme_Animals.mp3]
Mixpak FM 020: Extreme Animals

Tracklist below »

September 13th, 2011

Melé – Starlight EP Out Today

Melé’s anticipated Starlight EP is out today on Mixpak, head to iTunes, Juno or Turntable Lab now to get your copy!

The first track, “Starlight Express,” takes a page out of the bangin’ Jeff Mills playbook while “What’s The 411” flips Dance Mania drums on their face. The other two cuts, “Lego” and “Raider”, manage to merge contemporary rap production signifiers with otherworldly electro, creating the perfect soundtrack to the next Sci-Fi blockbuster starring Waka Flocka Flame.