POSTS TAGGED : Beats

Channel Swimmer – ‘Poolside’

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Channel Swimmer is the alias of London based Welsh beat-smith Mathew Mayes.

Mayes’ 2013 album, Alphabet is an epic cut and paste, sampladelic adventure and one of the best and most inventive records of recent years. A master of sound manipulation, Mayes’ is a world of lavish exploration through genres, styles and eras – something continued with his brand new single ‘Poolside’. Taken from forthcoming album Souvenirs, it is meticulously crafted with a breezy, feelgood freshness, combining breathtakingly lush layers, sumptuous strings and flourishes of seductive beats. One to get lost in, ‘Poolside’ forms a real sense of familiarity, oozing nostalgic feelings for hazy summer days and nights. An exemplary talent, as always.

Check out ‘Poolside’ below, while we eagerly await details on Channel Swimmer’s new album, Souvenirs. And while you’re at it, if you haven’t already, check out Alphabet.

 

Millions Like Us Podcast – Episode #8

We’re thrilled to share the first Millions Like Us podcast of 2016. It’s great to back and the latest, the eighth, of music podcasts hosted by Justin & I, in conjunction with Vancouver news & culture site 604now.

On a bi-weekly basis we aim to please, providing relief from all life’s toils* with lively and entertaining chat and eclectic selection of fabulous music from metro Vancouver and BEYOND. There’s plenty in there, well over an hour in fact, of new tunes, reflection on 2015, anticipation for the forthcoming year and more.

You can read more on it here and listen below, and the tracklist (with links) is after the jump too. You can subscribe to ‘Millions Like Us’ on iTunes & Podcast Republic or find us on Facebook & Twitter. Or you can email us at millionslikeuspodcast[at]gmail[dot]com.

Thanks for listening as always, enjoy!

Podcast #8 Tracklist:

2015 According to SertOne

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One of my proudest achievements on the blog this year, or any year for that matter, is the release of GruffWuff; a 19 track compilation of new, previously unreleased and exclusive recordings from some of my very favourite acts over the past 5 years of blogging.

It was a truly fantastic way to mark 5 years of BarryGruff and I am incredibly grateful to everyone involved and the overwhelmingly positive and enthusiastic response. As 2015 draws to a close, I have enlisted help from people who made the compilation what it was, to chat about their favourite moments and sounds from year, and up next is SertOne.

Liverpool-based Irish producer SertOne has been one of Ireland’s finest producers for some time. Always fresh, original, innovative and thoroughly enjoyable, and that’s the way we like it. It’s splendidly slick and riveting beat music, indebted to Hip Hop as much as the electronic side of production. Layered warm textures meet twitchy percussion and rhythms, stabs of synth for a wholly irresistible listen. A class act. No doubt about it.

Before we take a look at his 2015 sound selections, you should check out SertOne’s superb back catalogue here and his GruffWuff inclusion, ‘Seventeen’ – of which you can download here for FREE.

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The Expert – ‘Devine’

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Dublin’s hip hop producer extraordinaire The Expert (aka Cian Galvin) will released his long awaited and highly anticipated debut album, Dynamic Drift, next week.

We already heard ‘Da Wha?’, when it premiered here back in May and with next weeks big day in mind, The Expert has returned with another absolute marvel, ‘Devine’. Casting his gaze far back into the annals of soul, he’s come up trumps with new single, ‘Devine’ in all its stunning, instrumental glory. Oozing with confidence and swagger, it rolls hypnotically along, amid a confederation of slick samples, beats and atmospheric flourishes. Irrefutably superb and irresistibly infectious. The Expert has long been a firm favourite, be it his work as part of stellar hip-hop duo Messiah J & The Expert or his solo output,  so it’s no surprise that ‘Da Wha?’ is brilliant, ‘Devine’ is astounding and his new album promises to be on par with the this gold standard.

You can check out ‘Devine’ and the Tom Hill produced video below. Also, you can listen to The Experts’ GruffWuff inclusion, ‘Swapsies’ – of which you can download here for FREE.

Premiere: The Expert – ‘Da Wha?’

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Dublin producer The Expert has been has been crafting beats for over fifteen years and it certainly shows. Mostly his work has been as the production half of stellar Hip Hop duo Messiah J & The Expert but his solo output to date, consisting of beat tapes and EPs, has been nothing short of amazing too.

Possessing something of a midas touch and yet to put a foot wrong, he’s ready to share his debut solo LP with the world. Entitled Dynamic Drift, The Expert’s debut LP will be released next month and ahead of its release we’ve got an exclusive first listen to ‘Da Wha?’. This is gloriously upbeat and sublimely smooth psychy/soulful Hip Hop jam. Grooving along with some serious swagger and more bounce than zebedee; beats are spliced and diced with soulful samples that unite in perfect harmony for this head nodding, infectious and melodic groover. The Experts’ debut LP certainly promises to be quite a record. A supreme talent, an expert you might say.

Dynamic Drift will be with us next month but for now, behold the master class in sound manipulation that is ‘Da Wha?’.

Fly High Society’s ‘Fly Thai Green EP’

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Fly High Society – a collective of DJs, producers and artists predominantly based across the UK & Europe – have put together an EP, Fly Thai Green.

A homage to Mary Jane, it was fittingly released last Monday, for 4/20. Featuring cuts from Bolts, Monto, Igloohost, and Tre’bore (along with guest appearances from some of your favourite screen dealers – including Moz from Ideal), the EP is simply sublime. The pick of the bunch (for me) is Bolts’ inclusion, ‘Beginning’, with its patted bongos, click-clacking percussion, perfect bass and eastern strings exuding an aura of supreme, smooth coolness. A blazing 20 minute offering their signature ‘bass, beats and bleeps’, as well as slick samples and ethnic-inspired beats, it is perfect chill-out soundtrack. Magnificent!

The EP is available for purchase (here) as a limited edition cassette, coupled with a download & sticker pack. Plus all UK purchases also come with a complimentary Fly High Society lighter. Check it out below.

Cuinciu – ‘Face Facts’

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Wicklow producer Ross McDonald’s output under his Cuinciu guise (formerly Sliab Cuinciu), has seen him impress no end with releases to date, and he’s proven to be a rather steady source of quality electronic music.

New leaner moniker aside, McDonald continues this positive trend, keeping the tunes coming thick and fast with new EP, Face Facts. The new three-track EP draws inspiration from a wealth of hip hop, synth pop, disco and electronic influences, as McDonald delivers yet another convincing effort, of which, opener ‘Cosmonaut’, sets the tone. Driving beats and synths combine to create a smooth, slinking and captivating sound, with a dusky dream character (Kavinsky meets John Carpenter if you will). ‘Dayglo’ meantime is more playful, bouncing along as it goes. Closer and title track ‘Face Facts’ is like a bridging point between the previous two, chirpy and cheerful, while keeping the driving groove going, in a captivating soundtrack kind of way. As has been mentioned prevously, it’s been both interesting and enjoyable to witness Cuinciu’s progress the past 12 months, which has firmly placed him in the top end of a rather talented bunch of emerging homegrown electronic producers. If the past is anything to go by too, we’ll be hearing more from Cuinciu before too long.

You can download the Face Facts EP for free from Cuinciu’s Bandcamp page.

Sliab Cuinciu – ‘No Way, You’ll Never’

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Last year Wicklow native Sliab Cuinciu added his name to a growing list of talented homegrown electronic producers with the release of his 8-track collection, ####.

Mr. Cuinciu, aka Ross McDonald, is back with his latest musical offering, ‘No Way, You’ll Never’, ahead of a forthcoming, as yet untitled EP. Like his previous work ‘No Way, You’ll Never’ remains heavily indebted to raft of sounds and styles, influenced by hip hop, synth pop, disco and a wealth of electronic music. Saying that, it offers a slightly different side to his talent, in his own words, it’s “a distinctive mix of paranoia, self loathing, synthesizers and hip hop.” Add to that a persuasive array of  head nodding beats, sustained smooth-as-fuck groove and warped, twisted vocals, including some borrowed from Gang Starr’s ‘Mass Appeal’. It is as shadowy and eerie as we’ve heard Sliab Cuinciu but importantly it comes together ever so well and it works.

Not fixed date for Sliab Cuinciu’s next release but for now, there’s ‘No Way, You’ll Never’. You can stream and download it for free below.