Tag: 2014
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a-void.ca’s best albums of 2014
WHERE IS T-SWIFT? Ok, I admit it, I didn’t listen to it. Nor did I get through albums by Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Jessie J, Keyshia Cole, Calvin Harris, et al and sundry. I also didn’t hear all of Ariel Pink, Foxygen, Swans, TV on the Radio, Leonard Cohen, Julian Casablancas and too many others…
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Cot Damn Fall ’14 Masterpiece No. 3: Clap! Clap!
Clap! Clap!Tayi BebbaBlack AcreReleased Sept. 8 2014 Maybe it was the mysterious nature of the Italy-based producer behind Tayi Bebba, but the phrase ‘cultural appropriation’ is now probably the first thing dance aficionados associate with Clap! Clap!. That’s a shame. Let’s assume for a moment that the person is a white man; is this then…
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New mix: Jaws
This one is especially rugged – lots of raw, sort of distorted sounds, though there’s a nice mellow bit in the middle with the Mala single (which is gorgeous) and the SBTRKT/Jessie Ware collab. My favourite tune in here is definitely the DJ Big O remix of the BFlecha tune. I could mix a whole…
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New mix: Not Foliage
With apologies/homage to John Oliver’s rant on native advertising, I titled this mix after the under-the-radar vibe of these tracks. Only one or two of them are big attention-grabbing room-fillers; the rest are slow-burners, grow-ers, subtly-getting-their-hooks-into-you-so-as-you-don’t-notice kind of tunes. Don’t sleep on the Tommy Four Seven track, and definitely don’t miss Henrik Schwarz’s funky all-noise…
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New mix: Paths
Where did all the boom-bap go? I’m finding myself missing the drums, though it might just be a reaction to the onset of fall. Still, the producers I have hearted from the beginning of this blog, like Mono/Poly, are making great stuff, it just doesn’t happen to have that swing. My kingdom for a fat,…
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The five best records you missed in August
(Well I don’t actually know if you missed them, for all I know you’ve been bumping Lee Gamble in your jeep at all the cookouts I just don’t get invited to.) James Hoff Blaster PAN I did not know that James Hoff was 1) a “conceptual artist” – scare quotes very much intentional – or…
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New mix: Out of office
Last week, from my studio on the 436th floor of the a-void.ca Communications Complex here in downtown Metropolis, I was distraught at the lack of posts around here. But then I remembered it was still technically summer so I should get off my ass and go drink something, outdoors. In the meantime I made you…
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New mix: Massive 2: Metal Plates
Drum and bass was my first dance-music love (unless you count a flirtation with C&C Music Factory in grade school); I think it was a direct route from seeing Prodigy’s “Firestarter” video on MuchMusic to getting hold of MTV’s first Amp compilation and just playing and replaying Goldie’s “Inner City Life” over and over and…
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Top 25 Singles of 2014 so far
There have been a lot of records this year in the burgeoning BANG! BOOM! CRASH! subgenre, where the samples and/or drums are so loud they feel like they’re jumping out of your speaker and hitting you in the face, even at low volume. But the best of them remain undeniably musical, and even catchy. Evian…
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New mix: Connecting
*cover art lovingly appropriated from the poster for the 1980 Japanese movie Crazy Thunder Road This mix is not new, but it’s too much fun to sit on any longer. I feel funny big-upping my own stuff, I keep hearing the kid from De La Soul Is Dead going “it’s slammin! Yo, it’s slammin!” So…