I’ve been working on a new project for 2012 and it’s about time I share it with you all! The past few months I’ve become a bit more critical than usual. Bass music hasn’t been doing what it use to do for me. My relocation back home to Miami has changed a lot of things especially my life style. When I lived in Texas I was always out with friends, partying, DJing, traveling, etc… Now I spend most of my time relaxing enjoying the ocean breeze on my balcony. My nights consist of digging for more music and that peaceful state of mind. I’ve grown up and feel like an adult. Music now plays a different role for me now.
It’s not that I’m disappearing now but expect much of my focus to go in this new direction. Lounge Temple is ultimately Afro Monk 2.0 with its primary genres being downtempo, trip-hop, and future bass. It’s a lot more laid back and lounge like.
Not only will the site be something new i’ll be exploring but also have a supporting weekly lounge night here in Miami. I’ve been offered an industry night at The Stage here in Miami. It offers a great environment as well as chance to start something entirely different from your typical club rave night. Gooddroid and I will be playing lounge music ever Sunday night! Chilled Out Sundays starts up February 19th, 2012!
Kalya Scintilla is ready to beam you to a totally different dimension with the new release “Dance the Spiral Never Ending” Ever release I have heard of his as been excellent in pulling my head out of every day life and transport me to somewhere totally new. This multidimensional tranmission is no exception. Grabbing influences of dubstep, glitch hop, and sounds from his home star system,”Whomp” and blending them naturally with the seductive sounds of the middle east and traditional gypsy. Hard to believe I’m sitting here watching snow fall as I listen to the release because my mind is somewhere all together much more exotic. Pick up “Dance the Spiral Never Ending” over atKalya Scintilla’s Bandcamp!
Shadow Attack’s new album Aqua Dipped out now on Deepblip records was a real surprise when it showed up in my mail box earlier this week. I spend a lot of time sorting through numerous submissions to this website and every once in awhile the time pays off. The sounds that move me are constantly changing, but a few of the tracks on Shadow Attacks release really grabbed me and made me do a double listen. Thank You! He nailed it on this one. Tracks like “You Work For It” and “Simply Beautiful” are gorgeous demonstrations of sound design. Both of these tracks are on the mellower side of this release, but the combination of beats that propel the mood forward towards some unknown dark space and complex eery atmospherics really work for me. This is one of those Albums you should put on a good system or headphones lean back and enjoy!
Inanna’s new EP “Cariad” released on Florida’s Dubporn records is a musical bass journey into the dimension of chilled back vibes. The EP consists of one single, plus three remixes from the onetime garage/2 step stalwart of North America. This release moves into a much more melodic and sexy direction with a smoothing downbeat sound that works perfect for any late night after-party set or on a chilled out Sunday relaxation session. Ptr1′s remix adds some broken beats that add tempo and bass, but keep the blissful sound intact. I personally really enjoy this version. The experimental mix add a 4×4 kick for movement, but doesn’t overpower the heart and soul of this tune. Dubporn really put together a nice release providing a track that will appeal to all different tastes.
While talking to Inanna about this release she was really excited about her current project, “Dalliance”. She really thought this was a huge step up in her production and was really excited to get the tracks out to all of us. As of now, it isn’t signed with any label, but I’m sure we will hear the finished tracks soon!
I had the privilege to ask a few questions to Inanna about her journey into music.
My inspiration comes from my experience, mostly my journey of self realization, truth and light. It is always an expression of emotion, and a way to creatively express and realize myself. I think with Cariad especially when you watch the video, it is also apparent I love faeries, and am inspired by nature, and beauty in general. The story of the video is one of the passage of that moving towards light and truth. An emergence of the truth of the soul. I filmed it at my house that I grew up in that is now empty. In the ‘dream’ I discover who I am, breaking the mask. It is actually based on a faerie dream I have where a young girl searches chasing her faerie self, when she finds her she awakens to the truth she is the faerie, the being of light.
The song I originally worked on with the intention of creating beauty. I love melody driven music that carries your imagination and heart to pleasant bright altitudes. Cariad I think differs from some of my more structured album future garage/bass music I am working on now, and is very different from the kirtan devotional music I am working on that I am singing on under the name Sat Avtar Kaur. The original Cariad version had so much heart and depth to the melody the beats were just a little sprinkling of structure.
I started teaching myself maybe a decade ago but couldn’t seriously start getting into it until about four years ago. Even then I didn’t have a permanent studio until a year and a half ago and I could still use some upgrades with equipment but I have what I really need. My first track came out in 2001 I think when I was dj’ing heavily in the North American garage/2-step scene. Iv recently listened back to it, Iv come a long way but I appreciate it, it wasn’t as bad as I remember, in fact it had a great little groove. I’m always reaching though.
Gravitas Records has just announced its second official release, Virtus in Sonus, for FREE on Addictech! The 24-track compilation is comprised of a diverse roster of producers that invite you on a gratifying musical rollercoaster ride. The album kicks off smooth and sexy for the first few tracks (my personal favorite of these being Rion King’s “Bliss”) and evolves into more funky and ethnic varieties found in Blunt Instrument’s and Govinda’s work – where the coaster is doing pleasing twists and turns. Then after enjoying the scenery for a moment comes the exhilarating peak, where you can sense a division between soul and body with One4All’s, Cryptex’s and Brede’s awe-inspiring tracks. Cryptex’s “Reset” is absolutely phenomenal; it’s drippy and melodic yet packs in some serious heat. After finding yourself again, you have a chance to reflect on the experience with some effervescent tunes including Jake Scarborough’s bouncy “Radar Junkie”, The Digital Connection’s lazerblappy “Starwalker”, and Bobby Tank’s 80’s-inspired “Good Girl Bad Girl”. The Virtus in Sonus coaster may have left you stunned, and that’s simply because it encompasses such an array of sounds that flow impeccably.
Given the fact that Gravitas Recordings has only been in the game since May 2011, the caliber of this release is exceptional. Jesse Brede, founder of Gravitas Recordings explained that he “reached out to guys that [he] knew would provide a certain type of sound so it wasn’t the same BPM or style the whole time. The compilation has just about every genre of electronic music on it – everything from downtempo to dubstep to house to electro to dnb to trip hop to glitch hop, so if you listen from start to finish you really don’t get bored.” I agree; the genre-encompassing album is brilliant for listening all the way through while on a road trip, at work, or chillin with friends. Grab it here from Addictech, give it a thorough listen, and gain the “Power of Sound”!
Whats your Phobia? Do you have a overwhelming fear of Heavy Bass, Melodic synths, and Sick Beats then Woofer Cooker’s new release Phobia is going to drive you over the edge! This compilation was created by the members of the Glitch Hop Forum Community. The winners of the 2ed forum production contest were picked for the best original song following the theme, Phobias. The results were across the board and were judged by some big names in the Glitch Community. There were prizes and the such, but the selected were offered to be released for everyones listening pleasure! After listening to this collection, I’m proud to be a member of our little community at Glitch Hop Forums and once again am totally impressed by how talented our members our!
Make sure you check out Noel Planet’s sick ink blots. Each tracks gets its own orginal creation! Check Her out here!:
Here is a little Tease!
The release is going to be exclusively on Addictech for one month and then will be for sale through Woofer Cookers. Grab it here!
Turntable.fm is changing the game for online social media. If you haven’t heard of Turntable.fm you should probably be warned it’s VERY ADDICTING. The site is fairly new and currently still in Beta from my understanding but quite complete as is already.
Ever want to DJ and play music for others? Turntable.fm gives you the opportunity to do just that. There are rooms that you can join that have a specific theme or you have the option to make your own. The rooms can have up to 5 DJ spots when created. Create or join a room that suites your mood.
Once you’re in a room you’ll notice there are tons of fun avatars of people with points and fans. Depending on how many DJ spots there are you’ll find people on the stage with one person having a spotlight on them showing that they are playing a song. The name of the song and artist scroll across the screen of the stage giving you the option to add the song you’re listening to any of the more popular music social sites to share or buy.
The bottom of the room you’ll find a meter with a Lame button and Awesome button. This is where the whole social media thing comes in. You’ll be able to vote Lame or Awesome for each song playing. Every time you hit Awesome the DJ who is playing the song gets 1 point. Now if you hit Lame the meter will tip closer to the Lame side. No points are deducted from the DJ if someone hits Lame but if the meter gets too close to Lame it will skip the song.
The major success and appeal of the site is that you can create your own custom que of music from the existing library that Turntable.fm has hosted by Medianet. You can search a particular song or artist and a list of music related to your search appears where you can preview the songs and easily add the song to your que list. Now this is where it gets good. If you’re a producer or have songs that are not contained in the library you have the option of uploading your own music!!! That is right! You are limited to 40mbs and MP3 format but besides that you can upload your own music, works in progress, or favorite song not listed in the library. A huge concern is that if once uploaded will the song be added to the Turntable.fm library. The answer is NO BUT keep in mind that any user can add the song you play to their list. I’ve uploaded a few dubs that I have and realized later that others have added it to their list. No one can download it but I can see how some artist and people might be upset that some of their unreleased music is being played. The major plus of the que list is that Turntable.fm saves everything you’ve added to your list including the MP3 you’ve uploaded so you can have a giant list of music ready to go for whatever room you’re in.
The more points you get from people hitting Awesome allows you to unlock some sweet new avatars. Also keep in mind that you can tell who Awesome’d the song you are playing by seeing who is bobbin’ in the room. There’s nothing like the rush you get from seeing the whole room just bobbin’ to your tune. You can also become a fan of someone in Turntable.fm. Right now it doesn’t mean much but the feature enables notifications to your e-mail about when someone you’re a fan of takes a DJ spot in turntable.fm. This allows you to know when someone you follow is in a specific room so you can go listen to them DJ.
The last thing I want to mention about Turntable.fm is how there are Owners and Mods for rooms. If you create a room you’re allowed to Boot people from the room or remove them from the DJ spot. The owner of the room also sets the room description and creates the rules. The mod of the room is usually the owner of the room but if the owner leaves the room the person who has been in the room the longest is assigned as the mod. If the owner returns he still maintains authority without having to worry about it. If the mod leaves the room it is passed on to the next person who has been in the room the longest.
Why is Turntable.fm so addicting?! The chat room, hearing new music others play, seeing what people enjoy, talking crap to people who play terrible music, networking with other similar likeminded DJs or producers, and most of trying to acquire as many points as you can and flex your musical taste. I’ve been recommending Turntable.fm to everyone I know because it’s a great way for producers to connect and network with their fan base. I run a run a room on Turntable.fm that has guest appearances by Mexicans with Guns, +verb, Ben Samples, Elfkowitz, Michael Menert, Protohype, Subsynthesis, etc… Overall it’s a great way to connect with other people who enjoy the same style of music. My room is: Glitch / Chill Dubstep / IDM you can generally find me in there throughout the entire week while I’m at work. Come out and check it out! Be warned though… Only rule implemented is NO BROSTEP! So no aggroo basslines! Keep it chill for the most part so we can all jam and enjoy music while we work or hanging out online.
Things I’d like to see added to Turntable.fm:
iPhone APP
Owner/Mod can skip a song
Avatar add-ons: hoola hoop, poi, glowsticks, etc…
More Avatars
Of Porcelain aka Josh Mayer is no joke my favorite producer. Anyone who has ever talked to me about producing music eventually knows that my biggest influence would be Of Porcelain. The downtempo trip-hop artist is most well known by his other alias Ooah of The Glitch Mob. He also has other projects he is part as well such as PantyRaid and The Seedling Escape.
Josh has created such an impression with me that he’s probably one of the few artist out there that still feel starstruck whenever something appears from him. Despite recently seeing him preform with MartyParty as PantyRaid at Lightning in a Bottle he regained my faith that there’s a possibility of some more Of Porcelain or melodic sexy music still inside him after that underwhelming Superior EP. Watching him play you could see Marty jumping up and going crazy during the heavy aggressive basslines and you could see Josh just chillen grooving. It was obvious when Josh picked a tune as you could see him swaying to the chill beat and getting into it and see Marty just standing there. It’s interesting to see and hear the obvious differences in their music today. You can really tell the parts Marty wrote and the parts Josh wrote.
This new track by Of Porcelain brings so much faith back into music and where I first fell in love with chill glitchy beats. Ooah’s most recent track on soundcloud The Love I Need almost left me questioning if he was just experimenting or changing his sound towards this new direction PantyRaid was going for. He is extremely busy now with the upcoming Glitch Mob tour and has quite the insane life touring with Marty as well so I can only hope after the tours tone down we will see Of Porcelain revisited or hell even The Seedling Escape. Kitty D has been on a role as well and still has that unique sound which continues to stray away from the heavy bass beats. I can’t tell you how disappointing it is to see so many others fall to the trap of making heavy dance floor bangers.
Josh, Thank you for what you do and the music you create. I think I speak on behalf of many of your fans and lovers of music when saying this: PLEASE Of Porcelain album is way long overdue and in this brostep era something beautiful is needed baddddd. Take your time. BUT please everyone is craving something new with those hypnotic tones you’ve shown in the past. See you at the Dallas date if not out of town for a show. Much Respect & Love.
Grab the NEW Of Porcelain tune off the Seek Sick Sound Comp Vol. 2
Gladkill, will always be a legend in my book. I’ll never forget when he first caught my ear when he entered The Glitch Mob contest. I was completely star struck once I spending more time checking out his work. I made it a mission of mine to push this guys sound like no other. I’ll never forget getting his short mix for his last release Ghostwork. I had just moved to Dallas that week-end and I must of listened to it 10x in a row. I played it to my good friend Gooddroid and she even was impressed considering she is one of the pickiest out there like myself.
Fast forward to todays world and I just was in California for Lightning in a Bottle where I got to see Boris aka Gladkill show the west coast bass scene how it’s done proper. It was his debut of his new release to a large crowd. It was a honor to see him received so well. Boris has become one of the closest people to me whether he sees it or not haha. He’s the one dude that I see walking around and can relate to the most. His attitude and take on this whole thing is one of the most humbling I’ve seen so far. He is one of people I always enjoy running into and just kicking while walking around and lightning up with whoever is around. It doesn’t hurt that his music and style is probably some of the best in my ears.
Boris has matured a lot in this EP since his last Ghostworks release. You can hear a deeper and more developed sound. The release flows smoothly with tones you are familiar with when it comes to Gladkill yet has a bit more depth and feel to it. I had the pleasure of hearing some of this while it was being finished up and wow you can really hear a difference in quality and improvement over the past couple months of following his music.
I can’t wait for you all to experience Lovelost! June 13th marks its official release on Made in Glitch. Also expect to see his remix of ill-esha’s Only Fair to appear as it instantly became an instant classic in my book after my first listen of it. Keep watch for Gladkill coming to a festival near you. He’s on fire right now melting hearts on stage at many of this years major events. Expect a mini mix of Lovelost to appear soon as it will be added here once I get it =)
Nothing but tons of respect and love for my good friend Boris.
Truly one of the great producers of our time.
I’m glad to call him a friend and have had opportunity to spend a good amount of time around him.
Afro Monk
January 31st by Afro Monk 
Tags: Afro Monk, downtempo, future bass, Gooddroid, Miami Lounge Night, The Stage, Trip-Hop
1 Comment »
