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Crazy Titch – Crazy Times Volume 2

David — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:53:09 +0000

Initially due for release at the end of August, stock restrictions and various other limitations meant that we had to wait a few extra days to hear Crazy Titch’s new material. Crazy Times Vol. 2 — recorded in prison — is a 23 track mixtape which is now available to buy from all good retailers (well…UK Record Shop). In it Titch retreads the ever more obscure path of grime and also strays into hip-hop territory, spitting venom and heartfelt emotion almost in equal part.

Admittedly I’ve not had a chance to really get to know it yet, but judging by a couple of hours listening today, it [almost] lives up to the hype. As lyrically powerful as he ever was, perhaps even more so now that his claims are backed by reality, Titch has undoubtedly assembled some weighty tracks brimming with genius one-liners… I suppose it all begs the question as to how good the release would have been were he a free man…I guess we’ll never know. Crazy, eh?

I’ll post again once I’ve had time to thoroughly listen to it, but for now, here’s a tune to warm you up.

Crazy Titch – Live in the Booth (feat. Ghetts)

Buy Crazy Times Vol. 2 at UK Record Shop.

Slugabed and Robot Genitals

David — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:46:34 +0000

Most notably signed to Planet Mu, Slugabed is Gregory Feldwick, a unique producer that originally hails from the proud city of Bath. In his bio he describes his music as “lazer battles in the future” although quickly asserts that “everyone says something like that”, illustrating his tendency to avoid convention. Quirky, irregular and more out there than Mork on LSD, Slugabed’s music is peculiarly charming, rather like disabled animals or crazy old men who flirt with their nursing home carers. If you want it in simple terms, it sounds like someone’s dropped a robot’s bollocks in a blender and I very much like it.

His EP Ultra Heat Treated, a 6 track labyrinth of mangled bass and impossibly sweet synths, dropped in February to positive reviews and everything I’ve heard from him before and since has been similarly mind-bending. If they ever remake Weird Science (with Kelly Brook please) Slugabed should bang out the soundtrack, it’d be sick.

Listen to ‘Ultra Heat Treated’ below and experience a vivid flashback to the time you got fucked by the Mysterons…

Buy Slugabed tunes at 7digital.

Minilogue Remixed (TRAUMV127)

David — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:16:40 +0000

The genius of Minilogue lies in their ability to formulate organic yet paradoxically regulated minimal, aligning vast swathes of atmosphere, hooky rhythmic sweetness and eccentric nuance to heart-achingly sublime effect. Their music is a beautiful canvas upon which many producers would love to scrawl and last week saw the release of Remixed, Traum Schallplatten’s 3 track EP comprising reinterpretations of some (well…a couple of) Minilogue classics.

Dominik Eulberg and Freska have both applied their talents to aspects of Certain Things, Minilogue’s first release on Traum way back in 2005. Eulberg’s instalment is melodic and haunting, spectrally drifting through an array of textures, melodies and intricate percussion, adding countless layers of depth and a glitchy, crushed charm. Freska’s effort takes a different turn however and buoys its source material to a jauntier and more optimistic plateau. The bassline and wonky vocals drive it like a sand buggy through a crowded town centre and the beat shines through, unashamedly waving itself in your face.

Dividing the two Certain Things tunes is Max Cooper, the man behind dancefloor banger ‘Wasp’. His effort expertly injects the anodyne beauty of ‘Seconds (Colour & Sound)’ with a dose of energy and movement, arousing the original’s hidden anthemic potential to produce the sure highlight. Relaxed yet uplifting, it conjures images of a stuporous night time stagger in a deserted big city district and the rise and fall of the relentless note towards the end lends it an epic quality that really tips it into the “something special” pile. I think it’s an incredibly beautiful track and were I not such a strong, masculine man, I’d probably get a little wet around the eye area right about now…

Short but sweet, this is a brilliant release which will surely placate all the heads patiently awaiting new Minilogue material. I would urge you to spend whatever you’ve earned in the brothel on this and turn it up really loud. As a wise yet possibly morally corrupt huge corporate entity once said: just do it!

Minilogue – Certain Things (Part 1 – Dominik Eulberg Remix)

Minilogue – Seconds (Max Cooper Remix)

Minilogue – Certain Things (Part 1 – Freska Merged Mix)

Buy Minilogue Remixed at 7digital.

Breakin’ Battles

Oldsy — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:15:34 +0000

Have you heard the one about Tyondai Braxton leaving Battles? Well probably not because this is no joke. Due to clashes with his own solo work and the band’s desires to tour along with finishing their much-anticipated second album. The official statement on the Warp Records site describes it as ‘a sad but amicable split’. As much as Braxton was the closest thing Battles had to a proper front man I don’t like to think this latest development will damage the quality of the band’s output. If anything, John Stanier will just makes the drums even louder and the quiet guy on bass will lay some beefy lines down on top. Drug reference? Just an excuse to post the video to ‘Atlas’ innit. Enjoi!

The Kid Koala Solid Steel Mix

Oldsy — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 15:41:42 +0000

Check me using ‘The’ like I’m an integral, nay crucial cog in the Ninja Tune machine. I love playing dress-up; ties and stuff. Those cheeky otters over at Ninja Tune keep throwing out awesome treats every week in celebration of 20 years providing us with some of the best damn music ever made. It’s all getting a tad overwhelming. Like some fat kid who can’t catch all the Werther’s originals that his Grandad keeps throwing at him from across the room.

If you’re an idiot and haven’t done got involved with Ninja Tune XX then it’s really about time you pulled your finger out. This Kid Koala mix is really, really, really lovely. I mean top-notch. Prime cuts of spaced-out, trippin-balls, chill bones goodness. No mix that opens with Boards of Canada is ever going to disappoint.

Only potential downside for grumpy grumpers is you have to sign up to download the mix. However, if I remember correctly the last scheme that didn’t involve the ol’ electronic sign up left me one pinkie short of a once-useful right hand. No such thing as a free lunch.

Click here for the Ninja Tune XX homepage and links to the download. The goose is cooked.

Since We‘ve Been Gone

David — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:59:34 +0000

Updates have been pretty sparse over the last couple of weeks due to the fact that me, Oldsy and a select few other badmen have been traversing the globe and spreading our bullshit everywhere. Generally Coca Cola representatives have already been and gone, but at least when we’re about we don’t cause litter problems. Normal — sporadic and unpredictable perhaps — service will resume in a week or so and we shall continue to crack our heads against the impenetrable nut that is music. In the meantime, I’m going to slather myself in sun cream. I’m already a bit of a twat, I don’t want skin cancer too.

Crazy Titch Interview

David — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:35:38 +0000

SBTV never fails to bring the goods and yesterday they characteristically delivered, uploading a video of Crazy Titch discussing the forthcoming Crazy Times Vol. 2 mixtape and the current grime scene in general. It’s a phone interview — because, you know, he’s in prison — so the quality isn’t exactly amazing, but if you hold your earlobes like an incompetent talent show contestant, most of it’s audible. It runs just over 20 minutes and is definitely worth getting your ears around, especially for the nuggets of respect afforded to Dizzee ya get me? I’m hyped for this mixtape…

Sick freestyle from the first Crazy Times:

Crazy Titch Freestyle 4

Childish Gambino – Culdesac

David — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:30:32 +0000

We here at Box Musique have long been advocates of Donald Glover, both as producer mcDJ and rapper Childish Gambino. It is under the latter persona that he has released his latest — and once again completely free — album. Entitled Culdesac, the 15 track release is musically superior to anything else he has ever put out and is packed with tongue-in-cheek wit, mad little rhymes and some damn good tunes. Highlights include ‘Put it in My Video’, ‘Let Me Dope You’, ‘Fuck It All’ and ‘The Last’, but to be honest, the whole album is pretty sick. The only song I’m not keen on is ‘I’m Alright’ which doesn’t quite flow as well as some of the other tracks, but at just under two minutes long it seems to act as more of an interlude than a major player anyway.

Basically, I’m loving it and I still can’t believe it’s free…the world needs more artists like this. The world needs less Bono too, but I guess that’s kind of unrelated. Fucking Bono.

Childish Gambino – Put it in My Video

Listen to and download the entire album for free at the official site.

Coki – Emergency

David — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 18:26:21 +0000

Every now and again Coki pokes his head above the parapet and drops a mad tune from a great height; ‘Goblin’, ‘Red Eye’ and ‘Burnin’ all spring to mind. Following this trend, his latest blast of sporadic genius is ‘Emergency’, a step back to the days when dubstep was frightening and the bass kicked harder than a ’90s rave mule. Wheeled up about a million times by Chef on Rinse FM the other day, it’s as heavy as a hefty dose of swine flu and will make you want to swing your grandma by her legs until you take off like a fucking helicopter. Madness.

Buy Coki tunes at 7digital.

Timbaland Created Dubstep? Wait…

David — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 13:42:14 +0000

Not only does he bombard the world with mediocre tunes and clog up music channels with his pudgy bulldog face, Timbaland has now claimed to have created dubstep. Recently talking to Danny Walker from RWD, Timbaland discusses the UK scene as if he somehow conceived it in his super-womb, possibly around the time he incubated Kanye West’s foetus in a nest made of Missy Elliot’s liposuction run-off.

“The UK scene”, he muses, “they’re always telling me that I started it. You have Dub-bass…”. George Lamb — yes, George Lamb was there — interjects at this point asking if he’s talking about dubstep and Timbaland exasperatingly continues “Yeah, dubstep but I call it dub-bass [as the room laugh]. It’s the bass that drives the music. It’s funny cos they went back to some of my old music that really created that sound and just, instead of going fast, they went slow with more bass. To me, I like it but they call it dubstep. I like how they dance to it now, it’s cool.”

So basically, Timbaland reckons he initially created and further inspired dubstep. What. The. Fuck? He thinks that Horsepower, El-B and Oris Jay were sitting about listening to Bubba Sparxxx and Destiny’s Child thinking “How do I make thiiiis?!”. My neighbour’s sausage dog makes better bass than Timbaland when it farts. He’s a lunatic.

Original Article / Thread at Dubstep Forum