Thievery Corporation - Stargazer (Second Sky & Thomas Blondet Remix)

Second Sky and Thomas Blondet just released this excellent remix of Thievery Corporation's "Stargazer," a track off their 2011 release Culture of Fear. I've been listening to Thomas Blondet and Second Sky for several years, having found their sounds through the network of chillout, trip hop, dub and international fusion that continues to pour from Washington, D.C. based labels ESL Music and Rhythm & Culture. For the past year, Thomas and Second Sky have been partnering on many great remixes, collaborating to remix tracks such as "Stargazer" and Thomas even remixing some of Second Sky's original work. Check out the Stargazer remix, and many more below.

Thomas Blondet is a regular DJ and producer supporting ESL and Rhythm & Culture artists. His influence can be heard all over ESL and Rhythm & Culture recordings. Second Sky is a trio on the Rhythm & Culture label who continue to create amazing original work and do remixes with Thomas Blondet. Follow both of these artists and their DJ, production, original work and remixes - you won't EVER be disappointed.

Two Fingers - 101 South (free download)

Y'all have likely heard by now that Amon Tobin is back with a profound new side project "Two Fingers." Amon is famous for his pioneering experimental Drum & Bass and trip hop - he simply makes the music he wants and pushes entire genres forward by making his peers think differently. As Two Fingers, Amon takes a similar approach and experiments with hip hop inspired bass music. Two Fingers' new album Stunt Rhythms comes out Oct 1 on Big Dada (Ninja Tune's sister label). You can download the new single off the album for free:

And here's more about Stunt Rhythms directly from the Big Dada website - go there and check out more great music from Big Dada artists!

"Although Amon’s love of the lower reaches of low end will undoubtedly cause people to reach for lazy comparisons with dubstep, Stunt Rhythms is in fact more accurately viewed as his love letter to hip hop – less the rampant consumerism of, say, G-Unit’s “Stunt 101” than the early culture of innovation and freshness, of showing off simply that you’re better at what you do than anyone else. So while tracks like “Snap” could be said to literally break down classic hip hop to its constituent components and put them back together in completely new shapes, the more uptempo tracks like “Razorback” come on like a whole new soundtrack for an as-yet-uninvented future pop-locking. If you imagine Mantronix as a Kenworth K100 truck, Two Fingers is what happens when the truck turns into Optimus Prime."

Monday Mix #8: Properly Chilled's August 2012 Propercast

I've been delinquent on sharing great downtempo music, but I'm back! Travel can do that to ya - which is nice though, because sometimes we all need a respite from posting/tweeting/facebooking/etc. to focus on spending a bit more time offline. So with that, I come back w/ a great downtempo mix that's all about celebration: the latest Properly Chilled Propercast by Brandon, a fellow downtempo afficionado who runs ProperlyChilled.com. Brandon really has his ear to the ground in all styles of downtempo and chilled party music, and his "Propercasts" always feature the latest and greatest downtempo - he is a constant source for me. So check out his latest downtempo showcase - a great selection of international dub, reggae, indian/bollywood, brazilian/flamenco and more.

Properly Chilled Podcast #86: August 2012 by Properlychilled on Mixcloud