Afro Monk

Handbook was an artist I wasn’t too familiar with until a friend of mine send me a collection of tracks. The track that was sent over to me really stood out and reminded me of that classic downtempo vintage feel. Last night I got sent over a copy of his new EP from one of my best friends in the entire world, Gooddroid. Her label Loveless has been a secret weapon of mine and recommend anyone into future garage and chill beats to dig deep into their releases.

This release totally hit home for me. The opening track, Vapour, is STUNNING. It reminds me of the original track that I heard by him. The vibe is just right and meets all the needs that I have for a beautiful track. The rest of the album has a lot more variation but kept my attention more than I had anticipated. The track Alone left a solid impression on me as well. Overall if you’re into trip-hop beats mixed with that head nod feel to it check this out. This guy has plenty of talent and it has been awhile since a solid trip-hop beats album has really taken me back to the early days where a solid instrumental beat could really be appreciated. I can’t thank artist like this enough for taking the risk of making music like this when the heavy dance floor sound is the clear path of fame. It’s not do I hear tracks like Rememberance anymore. Nothing but Love goes out to Gooddroid and Loveless for putting out quality classy music out and believing in artist like Handbook.

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!

For more information and your chilled out needs go to:
Lounge Temple: Downtempo, Trip-hop, & Future Bass Blog

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.

Dubporn Records is getting ready to launch! Founded by the infamous Gooddroid! Adrianna is originally from Brooklyn New York and been in Miami for about 9 years now. She has made such a major impact on the EDM community in Florida. Gooddroid could most likely be credited to be the first DJ to ever play Dubstep in Florida. She started a bi-weekly event called DOWN which is the longest going Deep Dubstep night in Miami. Don’t expect any Rusko or Datsik played on her nights. DOWN has featured some of the biggest names in Dubstep such as Joe Nice, Faulty DL, Headhunter, and Scuba. Not only does Adrianna run that ongoing event but she also is a major player in many of the other events that goes on in Miami. Many of the major acts such as Distance, Hulk, Matty G, Nick Argon, etc have come into town thanks to her. She is also a resident DJ for the massive Get Low party that brings some of the biggest heavy hitting brostep DJs from all over the world. Adrianna has no genre limits and can do it all. She’ll drop one of the sexiest sets early in the night and then dash over to play along side people like Borgore when he’s in town. Chances are if you’re remotely into Dubstep in Miami you’ve seen her play more than a handful of times as I call her the “Queen of Miami Dubstep”.  LOL She’s going to kill me for writing that!

Adrianna is now starting her new project, Dubporn Records. She is bringing together a collection of good friends together to launch a new label that features some of the future bass sounds to the table. Expect quality releases in the near future from this labels as Adrianna has made many friends along the way of her music career. Expect one of the first releases from Miami raised Gray Ghost. Brandon is one of my favorite people in Miami and always has such a great attitude when it comes to music. Also in the works are releases from Chismosa and Munkz. Get ready fans of deep dubstep and funky juke vibes.

Here is a special mix Gooddroid put together to give everyone a taste of what she really loves. Expect vibes like these to be the theme of Dubporn. This mix is perfect for any mood. I’ve listened to it a few times already and have to say its one of my favorite mixes of this year in this style of music.

1. Grimelock- My Balance
2. Objekt- The Goose That Got Away
3. C.R.S.T.- The Bells (girl unit remix)
4. DZ- My Moon My Dub
5. George Fitzgerald- Don’t You
6. Jamie Grind- Now You Know
7. KG- I’m feeling funky
8. Mortem- Reversed Motion
9. Royal-T- The Whistle Song
10. Amerie- One Thing (French Fries Remix)
11. Boddika- When I Dip
12. Julio Bashmore- Ask Yourself
13. Kode9- Black Sun (Chismosa’s real lumidee edit)
14. Rachet- Electrical Bass Sweep
15. Unknown- LFO
16. Egyptrixx- The Only Way Up (Ikonika Remix)
17. Sepalcure- No Think
18. Unknown Shapes- If I should Die
19. Maddslinky- Further Away

Also pick up this fresh mix from Dubporn artist Gray Ghost!

Miami Dubsteps Queen, Gooddroid!

This weeks Fire Friday Mix goes to the QUEEN of Miami Dubstep, Gooddroid.
She is the first to play Dubstep in Miami and begin the revolution of bass.
The amount of work that she puts into this scene is unheard of.

Many other players have entered the game from different roots but in the end this woman is the first one who dropped the deep dubstep sound. It’s an honor to be a partner of hers and call her one of my best friends. I’m going to say this right now and have no problem saying it… She deserves to be called the Queen, not a princess. You have no idea who she is if you call her a princess.

You can catch her spinning at almost every commercial dubstep event or at her bi-weekly events, Friction & DOWN. She is a maverick at what she does. She’ll drop the filthiest brostep grime at Friction or Get Low and then the next night drop serious minimal 2 step garage dubstep at DOWN. Hell you can even catch her playing hip-hop and tribal house all over the beach if you want. She has no limits.

If you ever get the chance to meet her thank her for everything she has done for the Miami Dubstep scene and what she continues to do. Now go check out one of her most recent mixes.

May 24th, 2010 we were live on Glitch.fm for our weekly Slippery Slopes radioshow. It’s been awhile since I post one of our mixes. This show features Munkz vs Claro for the first hour. The second hour consist of special guest Gooddroid for 35mins and myself, Afro Monk, for the last 25min. I didn’t expect to play but ended up jumping on the APC40 last minute, was feeling real gooood.

You can check out our show every Monday from 11pm-1am EST on Glitch.fm
Brought to you by: Miami Glitch

Afro Monk – Munkz – Claro

Slippery Slopes – May Trip Sessions

Machine Drum once a Florida resident comes back to show people what’s up with the funk, boogie, and dance grooves. Expect hella dope set from him that will leave you wanting more. It’s always a pleasure to see a live DJ with pads dropping live beats and samples over tracks. Be sure to check out his event he host in NY, cassettenyc!

I’m beyond excited to share a stage with such a prolific producer. Also on the bill is Romulo from Soul Oddity. I can’t wait to relive the set I caught during WMC. This man is a pioneer for electronic music in Miami. One of the founders of Schematic records which has put Miami on the map for many around the world. Pay your respects to this man because he has done a lot for the music scene here. He is one of the people I look up to and consider a role model of what I’m doing myself here in Miami.

Lets get this out here in the public. I promise to bring you some fresh new sounds. My motto of this site is “Keep it Fresh!” and that is what I plan to do this Thursday at Vagabond. The set I plan on dropping will have a heavy glitchy bass feel with popular tracks we all have heard remixed with some big drops. I’m calling this my Glitchy Bass Set. Majority of it will be dubstep but with an added glitch feel sprinkled with some Glitch Hop.

Be sure to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Gooddroid and Munkz!
Now for all the details of the event!

SHAKE joins up with BassHead Music to GET LOW once again at Vagabond! MACHINE DRUM is flying down from New York to bring a fresh new sound to your favorite monthly bass party.

Machine Drum (Normrex/Merck/NYC)
Romulo (Schematic/Phoenecia/Soul Oddity)
Afro Monk (Miami Glitch/Glitch.fm)
Juan Basshead (BassHead Music)
Gooddroid (Down)
Bunnyfuzz (Smut+Bass/WVUM)

Visuals by VJ MUNKZ

MCs Jumanji + Nome

FUNKTION1 Sound System to fill your BASS needs!

Resident DJs DS, A-Train, Alex Caso + The Whisper keep the SHAKE soundsystem going in the other two rooms.

Ladies Free before Midnight.

No Cover all night with your GET LOW Tshirt! If you don’t have one yet, hit up jsinjimenez@gmail.com
RSVP to Shake305@gmail.com for No Cover before 11pm.

$1 Colt 45 til 11pm, $5 Cuba Libre all night!

This past WMC Munkz and I together formed Miami Glitch and threw our first party!
We had tons of special guest in town and raged all week!

Here are some small clips from the week!

Many Thanks:
Shilo, Ben Samples, Fisk, HipGnosis, S.P.E.C.T.R.E, Mochipet, Siren, Pressha, Mindelixer, Epcot, Stutterfly, JSB, & special thanks to Gooddroid!

I’ve neglected the site for awhile now. Things at my daytime are a bit nuts and have been working 10+ hr days. Don’t let this fool you though, I’m still squeezing in time to keep up to date with music. Right now I have a couple of featured producers I’m drafting up post for. No idea when these will go live but know this site is still active and don’t plan on letting it die.

These next upcoming weeks are going to be absolutely mad for me!
May 20th I’ll be playing at the biggest Dubstep monthly in Miami, GET LOW!
Machine Drum will be headlining! Romulo Del Castillo aka Phoenecia & 1/2 of Soul Oddity, Juan Basshead, Gooddroid, and Bunnyfuzz will be the support! It’s going to get rowdy as hell!!! Time to show Miami at a proper show what’s going on with Glitch-Hop!

May 28th I’ll be flying out to California for Lightning in a Bottle!!!!
I have no idea what to expect or even how to prepare for this one. I’ll be going out completely on my own and meeting up with a tiny handful of friends. I’ll be camping for the first time in my life and still haven’t gotten a tent =X

June 11th I’ll be flying out to Boston to go catch CocoRosie LIVE!!! I’ll be meeting up and staying with the Lost in Bass crew! I’m hyped to finally meet these guys in person. We’ll most likely be hosting an event and I’ll be playing with them!

Last week-end of July I’ll hopefully be going to Defcon in Vegas!!! I’ll be celebrating my 25th birthday! I have a shot at playing at Defcon and ecstatic at the opportunity to be able to spin some music for such a large crowd!

I have a residency now at Chesterfield Hotel and Lounge on the beach. Every Friday I’ll be joining Gooddroid, Munkz, and Grayghost. Playing the best in Lounge, Trip-hop, Minimal, Dubstep, and Glitch. Going to be exciting to have the whole crew together doing a little bit of everything being dropped.

Considering our original venue fell through we have a new place 90% locked down for our monthly event,Slippery! It’s going to be a huge announcement and assure you it’s going to be intense! The summer is off to a good start! Hoping to bring many great producers into town for the next couple months. Get ready Miami for some serious bass heat!

Alright here is another special WMC mix. It’s all about the dubstep on this one. This mix is from none other than Gooddroid! She is the one local DJ that I will always support and care about. She is the biggest sweetheart in the business here. There is no other DJ out here in Miami that has been so supportive for new things and working in all sorts of different stuff besides dubstep.

Look out for her in the future! She’s only 22 and running around the city playing almost every night. This NY native has such a serious background in music it’s not even funny. Don’t forget to check out DOWN a weekly dubstep night at Club Cinema that she host on Sundays.

Come out and support her WMC Edition of DOWN on Sunday the 28th at Club Cinema

Safe Noogie Mix (New Dubstep/WMC Promo) (3-17-10) by  gooddroid

TRACK LIST! Enjoy!

1. Numan- Secrets
2. Silkie- Illegal Immigrant
3. Monsta- Street Fighter
4. Hektagon- Tokyo
5. Plan B- She Said (16 Bit Remix)
6. Ginz & Kool Money- Oreo
7. Siyoung- Fire!
8. Drumsound & Bassline Smith- Clap Your Hands (Remix)
9. Louis La Roche- Malfunction (The Killabits Dubstep Remix)
10. Vibezin- I Need You
11. Jakes- Rhythm
12. Joker- Tron
13. Rumble Inna Station (Skream Remix)
14. Starkey- Stars (Slugabed Did A Remix)
15. Von D Feat Moxy Phinx- Miss Maui