Suburban Dream - "Not Dead, But Sleeping" New EP & Mix

Suburban Dream is back with 3 new downtempo tracks of his signature hip hop beats, scratches and chilled lounge sounds. Ciaran McCarthy is Suburban Dream and he's been sharing his music with me for a few years now. He consistently delivers a uniquely chilled out sound built over simple (yet very effective) drum breaks with introspective vocal samples that create an overall downtempo, lounge mood. I also particularly love how his samples and lyrics always have a loose connection to the stereotypes of suburban life - its an interesting commentary on the fear many of us face: being exiled to the boredom and irrelevance of the suburbs. For example his lyrics in "Switch It All Off" are telling: "Can you focus on anything? I can't focus on anything. Do you understand what you're feeling? I just want to switch it all off." And the titles of his new tracks say it as well - "Switch It All Off," "Safely Sane," and "Not Dead, But Sleeping."

Take a listen below, and also check out his mix for the Late Lounge Sessions on Urban Jazz Radio, a downtempo show based out of Antwerp in Belgium. Happy chillin'...

Special Suburban Dream Late Lounge Session - Urban Jazz Radio Broadcast #14:2 by Cham O on Mixcloud

Monday Mix - a "classic": Mikey Dubs - One Drop Ruination

This is one of my favorite mixes of all time. Mikey Dubs dropped this back in 2008 and I'd say it was pretty eye-opening for me in terms of the spectrum of dub and reggae. This mix is deep, chilled and dubby and as near to perfect mix composition as you can get (in my humble opinion).

Here's the tracklisting, it includes downtempo tracks from a lot of artists who have really blown up in the DJ scene since, included Zed, Caspa, Rusko and Skream:

01 Zeb-Lovers Step
02 Frankie Paul - Worries In The Dubstep
03 Skream - Dutch Flowers
04 LV feat. Dandelion - CCTV
05 Caspa+Rusko- King George
06 Clouds - Elders
07 Headhunter - Physics Impulse
08 Skream - Shake it
09 The Others - Light Up Your Spliff
10 Joker - Gullybrook Lane
11 Parsons - Big Killaz
12 Deadbeat - Babylon Correction
13 Skream - Dub Period
14 Kromestar - High is the limit
15 Unknown - Big Up An Bun Her
16 6Blocc Remix - Uptown Top Rankin
17 Carlton Livingstone - Chalice In Hand (Dubstep Rmx)
18 Syncho- Jahlove
19 12th Planet - Just Cool
20 Sublomatic - Spliff
21 Whitelabel - ??? (sorry I lost the sleeve)
22 Matty Heilbronn - Matty's Dub
23 Dread Fox - Moments in Dub

Downtempo Mix: Afro Monk - Love Sacrifice Dream

This is an absolutely gorgeous, chilled groove - a mix that puts your mind at ease and releases all tension in your body. This is the type of energy and flow that inspires me to share music and to mix my own. Thank you, Afro Monk, for this mind-bender.

Michal Menert - The Same Disease

I've been delinquent in sharing music! Thankfully, I'm in my last year of school so during the holidays and after the new year i'll be sharing more, and especially when I'm back in the real work - very soon!

In the meantime, I've still been seeing a lot of shows and getting to DJ pretty often in Madison. Tonight I'm seeing Pretty Lights and Paul Basic in Madison, and I've seen Paper Diamond, Eliot Lipp, Flosstradamus, and more over the past few weeks. It's been a heavy Pretty Lights Music show schedule!

To get ready, I made sure I downloaded all the latest FREE Pretty Lights Music on www.prettylightsmusic.com   I hadn't heard the latest Michal Menert album, and was stoked to see he had a newer one out (released in April) that is chock full of what I call "psychadelic electro funk hip hop jams." Here's one of my favorite .... if you like it you can download his entire album at www.prettylightsmusic.com

Hidden Orchestra - Archipelago Album Mini-Mix

Whew, I've been delinquent in posting! Getting back into my FINAL YEAR of grad school has been a transition. But I'm working to continue to bring you great downtempo music.

Here's a mini-mix from Tru Thoughts artist Hidden Orchestra. The Tru Thoughts label distributes amazing artists like Quantic, Benji Boko and this is a a mini-mix of Hidden Orchestra's second album "Archipelago." It's a string-infused trip hop journey with a lot of atmospheric elements and hip hop drum rhythms that keep this album grounded in an organic, acoustic sound. If you like the mix, watch for the album to drop on October 9 via Tru Thoughts.

THE UPSIDE OF DOWN: Hula Cam at Burning Man

This is an awesome video - not just for the beautiful women, but for the energy, flow and perspective that this delivers. This isn't quite "downtempo" - but it is representative of the greater expression I hope to encourage. And I love how they're all smiling - it concentrates their energy at us even more. Just think, what can you do to bring this type of energy and perspective to the world?

Here's your weekend mix: Calculon - FABRICLIVE x Bukem In Session Mix

CHILLED D&B - BUKEM SAID => NUFF SAID:

Calculon - FABRICLIVE x Bukem In Session Mix by Ltj Bukem on Mixcloud

Monday Mix #10: Downbeatscape / EROK LIVE at Kulturez

Today's Monday Mix is another of my own - recently recorded during a live mix session at my friend's urbanwear store KULTUREZ in Cambridge, MA. Whenever I visit Boston (where I got my DJ start), I swing by and play a set at the store. The store specializes in Boston-local urbanwear - mostly graphic tees with a street sense along with being a hub for the graffiti, hip hop and breaking crews in Boston. Check out the mix - this one is more chilled out hip hop and reggae oriented, with a dose of Downbeatscape eclecticism (is that a word?). I think you'll like it :)



Tracklist:
1. Mourning Unknown - Talib Kweli (Max Tannone's Dub Kweli Project)
2. Neva Stop Riddim - Ancient Astronauts
3. Wandering Around (Spooky O Mansion Remix) - Suburban Dream
4. Do You Wanna Get Funky - London Funk All Stars
5. Scale It Back (Benji Boko Remix) - DJ Shadow ft. Little Dragon
6. Maximum ft. La Methode - DJ Vadim
7. Oblivion (Make Remix) - Ancient Astronauts
8. Thrill 103 - DJ Vadim
9. Oh! (Benji Boko Remix) - Beardyman ft. Foreign Beggars
10. Let There Be Horns - RJD2
11. HBR (Michel Menert Remix) - Paul Basic
12. Swordfish Hotkiss Night - Empire of the Sun
13. Kalimba - Mr. Scruff
14. Wanna Be Loved (Benji Boko Remix) - Kidda