Red Pèrill - Planeta Crunch (2014)

I have a large number of club/dance records that can not be danced to. They exist solely for the distorted movements you create when drunk/high and in your room late at night in the absence of company. Many were made by experimental artists with a pop bent (or vice versa), so they are not simply an exercise in creating music that is a challenge; many of them are well recorded and have a sturdy beat to lead your feat, but are just strange enough to make their way off any respectable DJ's set-list. It's a shame really, and while you can find clubs that allow for such tunes on an odd Tuesday evening, they generally keep it boring and predictable.

There is nothing "boring and predictable" about Spain's Red Perill. This record leaps in each and every direction, a sign of a musician not willing to play it safe and stay within the confines of any one genre. Much like those dance records in my collection, the structure and heart of Perill's tracks is pop, but the scattered beats and vocals are anything but conventional. Hell, he reprises the title track of this record with an acid-jazz drenched variation that was my favorite track on the record.

It costs a few Euros, but at least give it a stream on Bandcamp.

Get it here:
Red Pèrill - Planeta Crunch (2014)

A-Natural - Imperfect People (2014)

R&B and Soul music makes up a small amount of the music we have submitted and cover here the SRM, but we are always interested to hear folks doing interesting things with the genre. In fact, of any style of music receiving decent airplay on corporate radio stations, I find much more experimentation in the Hip-Hop world than I do on any of the major "rock" stations. Far to content to play the same classic and Butt rock, major rock radio is a wasteland of piss-poor imitators masquerading as music.

You have not likely heard A-Natural on any major radio station yet, but if things work out as they should, you will soon enough. He is about to drop a full length full of distorted, twisted, and re-imagined beats layered with soulful and smooth harmonies capable of bringing even the most jaded hipster to a rhythmic nod. Nothing gets my heart a flutter like experimentation with its foot clearly in the pop realm. This single has it, and since it is free to download, you have little reason not to give it a spin.

Get it here:
A-natural - Imperfect People (2014)

Torky Tork - Black (2007)

Confession time: I've been getting super burnt out listening to garage/psychedlia/lo-fi music all day. How many mornings have I woken up, head throbbing with memories of relentless tom-toms. reverb coating the windows in frost. What day is it? Floor scattered LPs imprinted with names like "Burger" and "In The Red"... this vinyl flooring... did I pass out in the kitchen?

I believe it an integral aspect of human health to switch things up. Variety isn't just the spice of life, it's the essence of life. We all must keep moving; keep experiencing. Once we stop moving, we die.

To all of you avid reader(s) and podcast listener(s), you've heard of my love for the hip hop, the trip hop, and yes... even the bibidy bop. But were you aware how much I love DJ music? That sample-based genre that makes art out of the lost and found? I mean, at this point that's all music is, right? DJs are different in that they aren't delusional about what they "borrow" from others. They know they're taking samples from records. And often times, what they create ends up MORE unique than another Velvet Underground rip-off.

Torly Tork is a great example of the talent that's out there... a lot of which you can find on bandcamp for free. I love this self-description he has on his bandcamp page, "Skipping through endlessly boring 70s flics from Eastern Germany and digging in the crates for 1€ records crammed with scheisse Volsmusik is something TORK does all the time...don't ask yourself why. Listen!"


"Scheisse Volksmusik" translates to "shitty folk music" or something close. It seems our Berliner friend, Torky Tork, can turn shit into gold. Good thing for us. What we've here are strange German records and films sampled and spliced over some tasty hip-hop beats. That's about it. There's quite a bit of German spoken word over top, too, I'm guessing from one of those East German flicks he mentions. I didn't pay close enough attention in high school German class to understand much here... it might be a bunch of communist propaganda for all I know. If it is, it's the phatest (kids still say that, right?) communist propaganda record in existence.
23 tracks.

Torky Tork - Black

Dexter Gilmore – Coldiloqs Part 2 – Even Coldi-er (2014)

Here is a pleasant surprise of a submission. This New Orleans musician/vocalist has put together some of the best pop songs submitted to the site in some time. Although the record is tagged under “psychedelic” and “shoegaze,” most fans of those styles may be in for a bombshell upon spinning this set of tunes. After hearing the first two tracks (AdulTS being my favorites on the record), you see that the well of sounds Gilmore is pulling from is much deeper than your average indie act. Sure, everyone borrows a bit from My Bloody Valentine, but how many take an equal dose from Prince? I get a distinct Dirty Mind vibe, with the off-kilter rhythms and twisted synth pulses. I mentioned on the podcast that the indie scene is just about ready for an angular rock revival, but we could also use a weirdo pop rebirth, especially if it means we get more musicians like Dexter Gilmore.  

Get it here:

Dexter Gilmore – Coldiloqs Part 2 – Even Coldi-er (2014)

L'Orange - The Mad Writer (2013)

I am a sucker for instrumental Hip-Hop, especially the soulful end of the spectrum. I wrote a short bit about the Berlin based group's previous record which sampled heavily from Billie Holiday records, and their most recent record is well within that vein. While this record doesn't have a single vocalist to root the project's attention, the sound and flow of the record is reminiscent of their past work. Multiple MCs are brought in to help realize the highly cut-together samples and rhythms, making this an excellent example of how the past and present can co-habitat a space politely.

Get it here:
L'Orange - The Mad Writer (2013)

EP Grab Bag vol. 49

Chelsea Wolfe - Pain is Beauty (2013)

When you are a dark lord like myself, you often require minions to carry out nefarious plans. Yet, minions provide little in the way of conversation and companionship, and thus a black queen is required. Chelsea Wolfe would be an ideal ruler of my evil domain in hell, and her 2013 is one of the best "pop" records I have heard in some time. "We Hit a Wall" showcases her haunting vocals as a cold beat lurches the track towards its ominous end. Even if she were to reject my advances, a shrine will be built to her visage in Hell.

Yosa Buson and Travel by Train - Izarra (2013)

My label-mates have crafted another fine set of drone and dark-synth inspired jams that were played while I tortured a few pirates from the 18th century.  Pirates from that era have a real aversion to experimental music, and my master on high wanted to send a message to all the miscreants on the open sea.

Atu - Pictures on Silence (2013)

Hip Hop is a new thing in your world, so we have only started to recruit members of the community into Hell's fold. Little do most humans know, but simply owning a Rap record is enough to get you a meeting with a dark lord once you have bitten the dust. I think we will make an exception for Atu. This is clean, bouncy Hip-Hop that is just odd enough to make it out of place at a high school dance party. Beautiful and enchanting beats that show what a producer can do when not confined to the whims and ego of a popstar.

Harmaa Getto - Suomimorsiamen pyhä tie (2009)

This shit is damned spooky. Harmaa Getto is a Finnish electronic rock and hip hop band that features the recently shared musician Joose Keskitalo. I ran across this band when I found his music but put off downloading and listening to it for a bit as I didn't really know what to make of the idea Finnish hip hop. Truth be told, listening to it doesn't really make it any easier to figure out. However, if you're willing to suspend that feeling that something is wildly out of place with the general conceit of this project, you may find it quite enjoyable. There have been crazy mash-upped and blended styles in the past that have done remarkably well like Matisyahu's Jewish reggae/hip hop. I should note that music is pretty disincentive from any references I might make. It really needs to be heard to even being to understand, and the massive eccentricity from song to song makes it even harder to get a bead on. I think Harmaa Getto falls somewhere between novelty and innovation, but certainly the uniqueness alone was enough to provoke my interest

To be had here:
Harmaa Getto - Suomimorsiamen pyhä tie [192 VBR kbps]

Madlib - Shades of Blue (2003)

If you haven't run across him yet, Madlib is a prolific hip-hop artist, releasing under other monikers like Quasimoto and was half of the duo that made up Madvillian (with MF Doom). He does it in what I feel is a more respectable fashion than the televised video-rap industry does. Using myself as an example I dislike the vast majority of hip-hop, but Madlib has undeniable talents. For those like myself disinclined from hip-hop or rap, even better news about this release, it is not really either. The title Shades of Blue is a reference to the fact that this is a set of remixed jazz singles from Blue Note Records. Personally, I find this mixture of the two forms of music to be a match made in heaven, for although there is damned good jazz out there, sometimes it is too mellow for me to sustainably listen to. With Madlib's additional beats and sounds it makes a wonderful album for working, driving or relaxing to. Moreover, there are segues which remind you're listening Shades of Blue by notables connected to Blue Note, somewhat like listening to old Ed Love on the radio. My brother who introduced me to Madlib asked me to remove them, but I feel like give the album a special tone it'd otherwise lack. Definitely check this out if you haven't before, a fan of hip-hop and jazz not required.

To be had here:
Madlib - Shades of Blue [160 kbps]