August 11th, 2011

Mite + Ewalk – Body Tap

Public access TV images of congas and claves coupled with glowstick synth stabs make up most of the intro for this housey 808 tune by Atlanta’s Mite and Ewalk. After the 1 minute mark, everyone’s favorite giant bass drums come bounding down the stairs in a rush for the floor as a steady zig zagging fuzz complete with trails weaves throughout the crowd. Syncopated toms shuffle all over a buried hypnotic kick matched with subconscious triangular glitters. Soon a warbled melody jumps in before introducing a moment of R&B love break down. Then some Dutchesque sirens build it all back up to the full pace for one last hype dance. B.YRSLF division will release this stomper when Winter comes around. Mite is also co-founder of ATL bass music label Embassy Recordings, along with Distal. Watch for their first vinyl to drop on Aug. 22nd, featuring their latest release by Clicks & Whistles. (Photo of Mite by Megan Jolly. Full image here.)

August 11th, 2011

Introducing Ruff N Smooth

In case you weren’t familiar, it’s Ghanaian hiplife duo Ruff N Smooth that provide the sweet vocals on the new Schlachthofbronx high-energy banger, ‘Wave & Wine’. The two have been blowing up West Africa and providing an alternative to the Nigerian monopoly with their fun mix of RnB, Afropop, Hip Hop, Reggae and a splash of autotune for good measure. They released their first smash single, Swagger in 2009:

Which was followed up with Azingele, remixed and made global by Akwaaba records:

Check out the rest of their hits at their Facebook page.

August 10th, 2011

Y.G. 400 – I’m Good

Y.G. is a Compton based rapper who sprung out of the L.A. Jerkin’ scene and hit the hip-hop charts last year with his infectious “Toot It and Boot It” slow jam. He got a nod in XXL Magazine’s 2011 Freshman Class edition and is going to be releasing his first album on Def Jam sometime later this year.

August 10th, 2011

Schlachthofbronx Top Ten 160bpm

To celebrate the release of Mudders, we asked Schlachthofbronx to pick their top 10 160bpm and high energy soca cuts for us. Put these in your crate and you’re in for a definite carnival.

1) El Marciano 2 (Schlachthofbronx edit) – Rudeboy & El Viz

2) Out in the Streets – Africa Hitech

3) Speakerboxx – Super Jigga TC

4) Yo Relatives – DJ Assault

5) Loose Booty – 69 Boyz

6) Palance – JW & Blaze

7) Whoii Gal Whoii – Busy Signal & Machel Montano

8) Hooked On Ebonics – Knifehandchop

9) Braaain – Chrissy Murderbot

10) That Batucada track Daniel Haaksman is always playin! (What’s that then Daniel?)

August 10th, 2011

RL Grime – Hold It

This track is all punchy percussion, triumphant android trumpets, clicking cog rolls and backwards melodic jibberish. The bass drums that drop early on are so big they should be nominated for listing in the world wonders registry. It’s the type of beat-driven genre splicing you’d expect from labs on the West Coast but comes from New York-based RL Grime (an alias of Clockwork, a well known peak time kinda guy). The track was part of his recent free EP, Clipz, which is mostly comprised of hip hop and R&B influenced jump offs. This particular record is probably the only serious club banger on there, the rest of which are more nuanced in emotional range. (Image by Graham Phisher.)

RL Grime – “Hold It
[audio:http://culturesystem.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/HoldIt.mp3]