Ancient Astronauts - Orion Nebula Remixes Review - ft. ESL artists & friends: Second Sky, J-Boogie, Kabanjak, Subatomic Sound System, more

Ancient Astronauts recently released a remix album that features a ton of ESL Music (Eighteenth Street Lounge - Thievery Corporation's label) artists and friends. Ancient Astronauts are an international trip-hop duo from Germany that have dropped two previous downtempo hip hop albums through ESL Music. This remix album features great producers and artists that hail from ESL Music and other labels that put out great downtempo. Their guests include: J-Boogie, Subatomic Sound System, Entropik, Thomas Blondet, Second Sky, Kabanjak (one half of Ancient Astros), plus more.

This remix album takes Ancient Astronauts unique hip hop sound and adds a variety of international flavor, ranging from dubby reggae and afro-beat rhythms, bouncy funk, chilled lounge snyth melodies, and more - all with atmospheric ambiance that gives this remix album a texture that is distinctly ESL.

Listen to a mini-mashup of the album here, and you can get the album via Amazon here or iTunes.

Rare Korean Jazz Grooves by DJ Soulscape - Turntable Lab Radio Mix

I've been listening to a lot of Turntable Lab Radio over the last few weeks, digging into their mix archives. This particular mix has really held my attention - it's all vinyl rare Korean jazz from DJ Soulscape - a Korean DJ and producer based out of Seoul.

Here's more about DJ Soulscape from The Creators Project: "DJ Soulscape is a wildly impressive Korean DJ and producer based out of Seoul. Deeply influenced by 80s hip-hop, his parents’ extensive collection of soul vinyl, and his engineering background, the musician is a culmination of diversity and contrast. Soulscape composes and arranges electronic symphonies reminiscent of K-pop, yet innovative in style and genre. The artist has been praised for his side project 360 Sound, a party series founded in 2005, that curates regular performances by influential Korean DJs."

Check out his Turntable Lab Radio mix here, and learn more about his approach to mixing and producing via The Creators Project:

E4RTH - "It's Where We Live" - Earth Day Edition!

Happy Earth Day! Earth gave us rhythm - its rooted in our planet, in the vibrations it sends forth, and in every one of us. It gave us energy and instinct to transform rhythm into movement.

E4RTH sent me their track "It's Where We Live" to celebrate our Planet. This bouncy moombahton remix (get ready for latin drums and sires) represents their take on Earth Day. Similar to mine, its not about planting trees, rather celebrating everything the world has given us - both "natural" and "unnatural." Think about this - how are man-made creations any different than those found in the "natural" world? After all, everything we do or create is a product of this planet, it made of the same elements and vibrations that created us in the first place. So listen to E4RTH, and also check out this Earth Day-appropriate track "Beautiful World" from Amirali that I thought was a great addition to our Earth Day listening. Enjoy!

Artist Interview: Rainbo - Volatile EP

Rainbo - an up & coming downtempo, electro hip hop producer in St. Louis - dropped his new EP on me and I'm excited to share it. Rainbo's music has a smooth downtempo vibe rooted in hip hop beats and organic samples from earlier eras, giving it a texture you wouldn't get with computer-based production. This sampling element is what caught my ear, so I asked Rainbo why he uses these samples. Listen to his EP, download it on Bandcamp & read why he finds certain samples below:



Downbeatscape: I noticed you mix samples from musical eras ranging from old, nostalgic, 50's to more recent. What inspires you to use a sample and why ones in these eras?

Rainbo: There are a few different reasons. The first and probably most important reason is the analog sound of these recordings. The natural saturation that occurs during the analog recording process is really difficult to recreate digitally. So for me its a short cut to a more organic sound. Also there's a bouncy soulful vibe that i was looking for, and just seemed to find more often in older recordings. Finally, i would say older pop/dance music has a much more human sound than modern pop. Being that modern pop is basically an auto-tuned vocal over synth and drum machine sounds, usually its easier to go back in time if i'm looking to add a human element to the track.

I have to apologize to Rainbo though - I lied to him. I told him I wouldn't post his replies verbatim, but as I read them I found that I didn't want to paraphrase or interpret. What he said really resonated with me and I thought was important for you to read too.

Damian Marley & Skrillex - Make It Bun Dem

Lovin' this new downtempo reggae/dubstep hybrid by Damian Marley & Skrillex. I really love both of these artists' work in general, and I respect both of them for the way they've embraced collaboration across genres and styles. Damian has been collaborating across hip hop and his recent stint in the super group SuperHeavy with Mick Jagger, Joss Stone, and AR Rahman was awesome. Skrillex has been collaborating with a ton of different people, from the remaining members of the Doors, Ellie Goulding, Korn and now Damain. Good for the them for finding awesome ways to create even more kick ass music.

OHM Dedication Mix Series #1: Beautiful Swimmers present Don Cherry

I recently received a mix from the One Handed Music (OHM) label and the Beautiful Swimmers out of Washington, D.C. that educated me about a legendary jazz artist who influenced the downtempo music that I love today. This mix - the first in the forthcoming OHM Dedication Series - was curated by Beautiful Swimmers (musician based in D.C.) to showcase the influence of Don Cherry - an African-American jazz musician who helped pioneer and showcase avant-garde jazz around the world from the 1950-70s, playing with legends such as John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins. Listen to the mix and keep reading to learn more about Don and his jazz and world fusion sounds:



Don Cherry specialized in the jazz trumpet and cornet - a compact version of the trumpet that creates mellower sounds. He was a jazz purist who emphasized the power of the single note, but didn't hesitate to use "smearing" techniques to bend and blend notes to create distinct sounds. Over the years, in his own exploration of music led him into world fusion where he experimented with Middle Eastern, African and Indian sounds.

I've been listening to and showcasing a lot of electronic music these days, but i'm really glad I got this email from OHM label turning me on to their dedication mix. Jazz is such an important influence on music in general, especially on the downtempo music that I love, ranging from trip hop to acid jazz. This is incredible listening - you'll hear the jazz, the world fusion, and the old meshed with the new.

Suburban Dream - Wandering Around

I've been following Suburban Dream for a few years and his latest - "Wandering Around" - is a downtempo piece that builds with elements of jazz and hip hop, giving it great texture, which is no coincidence considering this track is, in his words, "actually a tribute to Mark Farina's acclaimed Mushroom Jazz series which Ciaran [the man behind Suburban Dream] has repeatedly found inspiration from over the years. It builds beautifully, wrapping the listener within a curtain of sound." Suburban Dream continues to produce great chillout tunes that perfectly toe the line between ambient and head-noddin' electronic lounge music. I'm always excited to hear the latest from Suburban Dream - all his work maintains a dream-like quality (no pun intended) created with light synthetic sounds and pointed percussion that together carry a ton of weight. His songs are aptly named to fit the stereotypical suburban experience - "Wandering Around [looking for my friends]" "We Long To Be" and "They Start Out Using." As I was checking out his latest , I was also surprised to find a track that I hadn't yet heard: "We Long To Be" This downtempo track has a simple lyrical phrase punctuated with drug references and this sense of yearning, that is lifted by synthetic sounds that lighten the track and put it into the clouds (an effect of the drugs maybe?)

New Gramatik EP - #DigitalFreedom - Pretty Lights Music label

Gramatik (Pretty Lights Music) released a new EP last week called #DigitalFreedom. His sound is historically hip hop driven (like most Pretty Lights Music) with gritty funk elements and less electronic sampling than other PLM artists such as SuperVision, Paul Basic or Paper Diamond.

#DigitalFreedom maintains the foundation of downtempo hip hop but brings in a much stronger electronic element (mostly dubstep oriented) than his previous work. I've heard this shift across many of Pretty Lights Music's latest releases. Fortunately, they all incorporate new sounds without sacrificing the style that their listeners have come to appreciate. This is true for the new Gramatik release. It really does meld his style with new elements, and there's a healthy balanced mix of really organic hip hop samples and synthetic downtempo electro. Listen on SoundCloud and download his new album on Pretty Lights Music for free: