ManyColors - Gladys [Single]

Lo-fi hip-hop is an ascendent style right now, generating hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify and coalescing around itself an global online community. Although like all hip-hop this style is composed with sampled drums and audio, instrumentalists from Paris to Japan to New York City are beginning to approach the music from their own angle and compose tracks free of sampling. Rarely, though, does one find a full band employing this approach. But travel to Denver, Colorado to the small basement studio of upstart label Color Red and you’ll find guitarist Brant Williams and his four-piece ensemble ManyColors recording sparse, low-slung hip-hop grooves direct-to-tape. Their first single “Bangs” used jazz modalities to riff over stuttering beats, and with their second song “Gladys” the group does the same but with more chemistry and confidence.

Color Red has been bringing all sorts of instrumentalists into their studio, where the board has only eight tracks and everything is recorded straight to tape. “The limitations of it are kind of neat,” says Brant - who originally hails from Des Moines, Iowa - tells me over the phone. Brant comes from a jazz background and plays frequently with jam and funk groups including Workshy and Judo Chop. “I’ve always played that sort of way, in the funk jam style. Being a guitar player, that can lend itself to extended solos and that sort of stuff. It’s fun to play that way, but eventually I ran into J Dilla’s music. I just loved the crossroads between jazz and hip-hop, and just the idea of chillin’ out. That was super attractive coming from this background of extended solos and extended forms.”

Brant is not a hiphop head by any stretch, although he does not dig for instrumentals after catching the scent of groove from Dilla. ManyColors is a great example of how intersectional lo-fi hip hop has become. That drag, that quintessential bodyrock shuffle, truly transcends genre and culture. Guided by Color Red - a real musician’s label run by Eddie Roberts of The New Mastersounds - Brant linked up with his bandmates. He gives them bare-bones charts and they - Braxton Khan, Eric Luba and Kirwan Brown - let it fly in the studio in true jazz fashion. Working in tandem with the keyboard player Eric Luba the group crafts rich, comforting harmonies on “Gladys” that float on top of Khan’s popping percussion. “The tempos are all up,” In the funk and jam band, says Brant, but now he’s, “vibing in the lower tempos, and that’s super refreshing.”

Brant’s not the only musician to approach instrumental hip-hop through the back door of jazz, and he certainly won’t be the last. Indeed, he says once he began playing in this new style he realized many people around him were doing the same, he just “wasn’t hip to it”. But with the group’s emphasis on harmony, the slightest touch of Americana in their melodies, and the relative absence of hip-hop in Brant’s musical background, ManyColors has a take on lo-fi hardly replicated anywhere else. Look out for more music from this group in 2019, and if you’re in Denver tonight check out their J Dilla tribute set at Cervantes’ Other Side as part of Live for Live Music’s ‘The Funk Sessions”.

FOLLOW ManyColors: Official

FOLLOW Color Red: Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp / Instagram

Reso - Sandrock EP

Amidst the aural chaos and calamity of Slug Wife’s ongoing invasion of the United States, the label continues to put out top-tier sound system slappers. Their most recent offering is Sandrock, an EP from long-time label collaborator and frequency freak Reso. It’s filled with pulverizing low-end, naughty rhythmic jaunts, and flexible dance-floor compositions. This release actually marks the second full year of Slug Wife’s existence, and there couldn’t be a better set of tracks to commemorate the occasion.

Sandrock is replete with all of the guttural synthesis and slanted hip-hop rhythms that Reso fans have come to expect in the past few years since the producer’s relative departure from drum and bass. Gut-busting bass lines and meter-slamming downbeats dominate the record, while augmented melodies and brain-tickling glitch artifacts paint a foreboding background. “Flexible Neck” opens the record with drizzling arpeggios and sharp-clawed stabs. All throughout the track, an impending sense of a hammer pounding a proverbial nailhead is created through clever pitch modulation and percussive elasticity. Amplifying the pure rhythmic power of the EP, “Gastroplaz” takes things in a particularly slimy direction. Bandpass filters blast across the frequency spectrum, juicing up those especially nasty bits of low-end in between bouts of wild FM modulation.

Kicking the tempo up just a notch, “Chuckin Up” scoops the mid-range and flashes between monstrous sub movements and high-end pulses. The staccato percussion and juggled arrangement flip the track inside out, upside down, right-side up, and every direction in between in a break-neck dash for the speaker cones. Closing out the record, “Loshun” opens up with lush minor chords over a cascading drum line. Ramping up the energy for an appropriate climax, the evolution of textures resolves into a cornucopia of bass weight and jazz modalities, setting the record straight on Reso’s musical vision.

With each successive release, Reso reminds discerning listeners why he’s earned such a vaunted place in the wider world of bass music. Influencing younger producers on both sides of the Atlantic, he’s a highly sought-after agent of the low-end not satisfied to rest on his laurels. There’s many opportunities to catch Reso this summer, including a headlining performance at the Mercury Lounge hosted by The Rust Music on June 22, as well as plays at Camp Bisco and Disc Jam.

FOLLOW Reso: Bandcamp / Soundcloud / Spotify / Facebook

The Rust Presents: Reso at Mercury Lounge

Lo-Fi Sundays 071 - standingwolf

Cracking open a melodious morning egg for this edition of Lo-Fi Sundays is the California-based beatsmith standingwolf. Replete with all of the traditional hip-hop deliciousness that we’ve grown so fond of, standingwolf demonstrates a knack for a wide array of modalities and musical motifs; stretching from dusty samples and melancholy atmospheres to textured synthesis and processed percussive glitches, this Golden State rhythm junkie has both feet dancing around the boundaries of the lo-fi universe.

From a traditionalist point of view, standingwolf’s discography is mostly imbued with boom-bap sensibilities and an overt hip-hop orientation. Swells, heavy side-chains, organic sampling, and hypnotic composition play a heavy role in the majority of their musical output. Tracks like “once in a while, wilder” and “feint” hone in on compositional staples of lo-fi, blending faded melodies and tactile rhythms into head-nod anthems. Breaking away from these motifs, “translating the color of you” and “Awful Gut.” put a spin on the standingwolf catalog, with the former being an experiential dive into melody, and the latter being a break-neck jaunt into a glitched-out stereo space.

With a small discography stretching back three years, it seems standingwolf has a particular and frugal approach to musical exhibition. This frugality translates into nearly 30 top-notch tracks covering various nooks and crannies of lo-fi musical territory. Given the quality and consistency to their existing releases, you’d be best to keep a watchful eye on standingwolf from here on out.

FOLLOW standingwolf: Soundcloud / Spotify

Losion - Swarm [Premiere]

The UK collective Outtallectuals is at it again with their genre-challenging behavior. We covered the label's philanthropic activities when it released its Warpball compilation in 2017, but their goodwill extends past donating to charity in Nepal and is, in this instance, laser-focused on uplifting an unknown self-releasing artist from France. Reflecting their taste for the avant-garde and a penchant for global sound, Outtalectuals’ latest EP ventures towards the harsher and darker universe of metal music. Forged by the design of a neuromancer and bearing a prog aesthetic, Imminent by Losion exists at the intersection of chugging guitars and IDM sound design. Occasionally using the label “neurohop” to describe his sonic experiments, Ludovic Delespierre (Losion) is more notable for his guitar playing and use of crash cymbals than this genre tag might imply, though his own term “djently” pretty much sums up the vibe.

Here is an invitation to dive deep into the most sedate of the five songs from Imminent. “Swarm” has enough quiet space in the mix to reveal fingers shaping the guitar strings' notes on the frets, while also possessing enough layers of ambient texture and double bass to make the label's chosen tag of “neuroprog” feel spot on. Glittering glitch noises and soft steel strings rest atop lightly tapped cymbals. Inverted drum samples turn the head, while the metal melody draws forth an epic emotive sensation that builds into a delicious drum breakdown in the final third. An unambiguous crossover track, “Swarm” is dominated yet not overpowered by the taste of metal, and its overtly complex progressive structure pushes it towards the IDM universe that inspired its sound design.

This EP is a big move for Ludovic’s project, which has languished on the internet since Imminent was first self-released on Bandcamp in 2016. Who can say what Ludovic has been up to since then, but the album was taken down some time ago and has since been passed around on metal forums and chatrooms, while nary a part of his artistic presence has been exceedingly active in that time. Such a unique voice has the potential to unite disparate subgenres, so one can only hope that this new label activity is indicative of a continued commitment to the Losion project. With a release on Outtallectuals, he is certain to reach fortunate new ears and inspire more activity around the project.

FOLLOW Losion: Bandcamp / Soundcloud / Official / Tumblr

FOLLOW Outtallectuals: Official   /   Facebook   /   Soundcloud 

Aaron Johnston's J.E.D.I. - Momento [Single]

Aaron Johnston stands at the helm of an ambitious live project that brings together virtuoso musicians across a broad span of genres; Aaron Johnston’s J.E.D.I. An acronym for “Jazz-Electronic-Dance-Improvised", J.E.D.I. is exactly what it suggests; a high-octane, hybrid-jazz fusion with a dance floor mentality and jazz fluidity. The group’s roster is improvised, too, in that it rotates and has included members of the String Cheese Incident and Thievery Corporation, among others. Recently, Aaron tapped the talents of Borahm Lee (Break Science, Pretty Lights Live), Dominic Lali (Big Gigantic), and Josh Fairman (SunSquabi) to take J.E.D.I. out of the live sphere and into the studio. The group is working with the upstart Color Red imprint out of Denver, a progressive new label focusing on jazz, soul, and the gooey bits in-between, to record and produce original J.E.D.I. compositions to be released on a monthly basis.

The third of these monthly tracks is “Momento”, a vibratory, seat-of-the-pants excursion into instrumental harmony. Bringing the sum of the band’s influences and styles under a single release, “Momento” sets the tone with a vivacious keyboard melody, slowly introducing the washed-out synthesis and low end. Not but a few measures in, the percussion punctures the stereo space with a drum and bass saunter that flips the atmosphere from pensive to industrial. All along the way, the saxophone takes the lead with a meandering legato, dancing above the instrumental interplay like the canopy of a forest. Bringing the energy to a ballistic climax, the percussion launches into a mad build-up, buoying the rising textures of interpolated synthesis around it. As the tension breaks, a simpatico of improvisation and instrumental dialogue sets off through the jazz multiverse. As the song reaches a break-neck conclusion, all instrumental elements are left adrift, slowly fading out through a haze of smokey tones and asymmetrical audio glitches.

J.E.D.I. found a home on Color Red through a chance meeting at Jazz Fest in New Orleans. According to Aaron:

“Eddie [Eddie Roberts, guitarist of The New Mastersounds and Color Red founder] and I had the chance to play together for the first time last year when J.E.D.I. played at Jazz Fest. I had played the fest earlier that evening with David Byrne so I was able to slip that one gig in between tour dates with David. So happy I did!  Everyone just had a blast. I think it was refreshing for Eddie to be placed in a different element.  We hit it off instantly and from there we continued working together when our schedules allowed, and then he basically brought up Color Red to me and the timing was right for me to start to get some music recorded and out there.”

The timing feels ripe indeed. The burgeoning sounds of modern jazz are in constant flux, and rightly so. It is an inherently amorphous genre that flows in and out of musical modality. Aaron Johnston is a quintessential audio astronaut and explorer, combining the cutting edge with an ability and desire to look back on our sonic origins. As a result, J.E.D.I. is a project with few comparisons. With Color Red connecting the group to extremely talented audio engineers (the label always prioritizes top tier mixing and mastering talent), and with Eddie producing and co-signing the vision, it’s no wonder this quartet feels like it’s been a decade in the making.

FOLLOW Aaron Johnston’s J.E.D.I: Color Red / Bandcamp / Facebook / Soundcloud

FOLLOW Color Red: Official / Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp / Instagram

Chalky - One Long Summer [Video Premiere]

Taken from his debut LP 'Second Beach'.

Cornwall-based instrumentalist and producer Chalky is no stranger to jazz overtures. Hot off the heels of his debut LP Second Beach, Chalky dives into the album’s visual influence, delivering an introspective journey into the track “One Long Summer”; bursting with lush textures and stereophonic psychedelia, the track is a latin-jazz fusion of note relationships and instrumental call and response.

These elements undergo a further fusion through the soft-edged coastal aesthetic in the music video. The choice of location in Looe, Cornwall, is an ode to the hazy nostalgia of Chalky's youth. In order to properly flesh out his audio-visual headspace, Chalky enlisted the assistance of his childhood friend, Joseph Dunn, who recently earned accolades for producing Yussef Dayes’ “Love Is The Message” music video. Altogether, the package is another mark of Chalky’s burgeoning artistry through freeform music. For those interested in soaking in the rest of Second Beach, you can read our full review here.

Credits:
Written and recorded by Chalky
Saxophone by Sandy Finlayson
Piano by Luke Withecombe
Mixed by Chalky and Sandy Finlayson 
Mastered Sandy Finlayson
Equipment supplied by Will Burgass
Credits by FYONAFINN
Joe Carrol as Joe Carrol
Film by Joseph Dunn

FOLLOW Chalky: SoundCloud / Bandcamp / Facebook

Lo-Fi Sundays 070 - Korey Wade

Korey Wade is a diversely talented producer based in Phoenix, Arizona, and one of the instrumental (ha!) individuals behind Brunch Collect, a community-based platform for beats, food and the combination thereof, also based in Phoenix. In a word, Wade’s music can be described as fun. it’s rich with soul and full of colorful sampling and bright melodies. His instrumental hip-hop is the perfect kind for this time of year, if you’re in the northern hemisphere, that is, when the hues, smells and textures of spring are appearing all around.

His latest effort, the Sunrise EP, is a spectacular blend of light electronica and impactful beats. One can hear how much of this EP is composed as opposed to sampled. He works with keys and synths to delightful effect, tapping out melodies that can be as energetic as they are meditative. He’s no stranger to the low-frequency oscillator and other key elements of digital production.

Our curated playlist attempts to be a microcosm of Wade’s expansive catalog. Beyond his deep reservoir of soul-infused beats, he also produces exceptionally funky and cool house music that we’ve only teased at with the inclusion of the tune “In the Middle” off his 2018 release “This ones for you”. This track, like many of his beats, show how enthusiastic he is about soul, funk and disco music. May of his best cuts sound like the 1970’s were dragged from the attic and recolored and remastered for modern ears. He’s even made some bass music . Indeed, whatever your pleasure, it probably exists somewhere in Wade’s catalog.

FOLLOW Korey Wade: Bandcamp / Soundcloud / Instagram / Spotify / Facebook

Es-K - ReCollection

Burlington-based beatmaker Es-K releases music at a blinding clip without compromising quality. So it’s no surprise that following his spellbinding Continuance LP from February he’s back with another full-length album ReCollection, this time on Cold Busted. 24 beats, each named after a specific element on the Periodic Table, await listeners who crack this one open. The Es-K stamp of excellence is all over this album, but it’s less ambitious from a songwriting standpoint than recent work like Continuance or Koan. Instead of lofty and epic, these beats are more introspective and trance-inducing.

There’s a bit of mysticism in all of Es-K’s music, even those hard-hitters that sound like they’re coming straight out of a subway station, off a city stoop, or up from the hot asphalt of urban America itself. ReCollection includes a few of those bangers, but mostly it’s full of pocket grooves that lead the listener deep into a hypnotic state. Here, there’s time and space to think. The imagination is able to fill its lungs and exhale fully. Novel thoughts or perhaps bits of wisdom bubble up out of the ether - “essential knowledge”, which is what Es-K stands for.

One of our favorite cuts is “Crbn”, (“Carbon”) which features Es-K’s signature style of bass line. He has a technique whereby he coats the bass synthesizer with this electronic twang then lets it wobble, like a true space cowboy. It’s a small audio effect with a big payoff. Whenever this sound appears, one can be sure Es-K is hitting the right notes with it and playing a sidewalk-stomping melody. Then there’s “Cblt” (“Cobalt”). I’m not even sure what Cobalt looks like, but the word conjures images of hard grey. The track, too, with a stoic string sample covered in reverb and compression, evokes this same hard grey. Znc (“Zinc”) may take the cake on ReCollection, though, on the sheer strength of its main sample. Then again, this is the type of record one can sink into at first, then walk away from only to come back and find new gems.

Cold Busted is one of the foremost beat labels worldwide, and they and E-K are no strangers to one another. Indeed, Es-K has realized over a dozen times with the label, including 12 (yes 12) installments of his Spontaneous Grooves series. ReCollection is its lack of fidelity. It sounds more sample-based than programmed, another factor that distinguishes it from Es-K’s recent work, which is very crisp and hi-fi. Yet in the context of his prior work with Cold Busted, this new LP is right at home. If these comparisons are of no value to the reader, then we sincerely apologize and strongly recommend peeping Es-K’s back catalog so this jargon can obtain some meaning. Es-K will be performing in Madrid on April 17, and in Boston on May 4.

FOLLOW Es-K:   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp   /   Spotify / Facebook   /   Twitter

Chord Marauders - Polar Bear

In August 2018, London-based dubstep producer Geode was unable to perform at the Chord Marauders showcase at Shambhala Music Festival due to the severe illness of Ola, his partner. Her illness has persisted, and so Chord Marauders, the innovative label Geode co-founded around 2013, releases Polar Bear, a charity LP compilation to support Ola. All proceeds will go towards Ola's medical bills, particularly towards a costly new medication not yet covered by British healthcare. The compilation features each of the Marauders’ label artists - B9, Congi, FLO, Geode, and Jafu - and a number of their associates. Ola, we hope you're comfortable, because our ears are certainly feeling plush on your behalf.

Polar Bear is a striking assertion of the label's usual ideals, with opener “Jazzy” by legend Sub Basics properly setting the mood through a smooth and dusky lounge aesthetic. There’s a strong attraction to the warm fuzz of a soulful ‘80s synth, with this and other conventional instrumental samples giving the arrangement a completely organic sound. Contrast this with the closing track, “Feeling This Way About You” by Marauders co-founder Congi, a bare-bones lo-fi dub, which is cold, emotional and isolating with its plucked guitar tears. The space between is the realm of melodic intrigue the Marauders have carved out for themselves in the speculative territory of “third wave dubstep”.

Fellow co-founder Jafu turns in “Eyes Down”, a by-the-numbers Jafu track that manages to be one of the best on the compilation, bouncing and popping on a skanky two-step. Geode encourages healthy breathing with “Peppermint”, a layered pep-up track with classy Casio sounds and a low-key hand-drummed finish. Co-founder B9 teams up with Circula to bring us “Stage”, which balances a delicate off-kilter synth melody with a noire-dipped horn while jungle breaks drive the mood. Geode returns towards the end of the compilation in a more experimental and emotional mood to deliver “Cluster” (feat. Alicia Kiah), an ode to cluster chords with moving violin and vocals.

Polar Bear is highlighted by a six-and-a-half-minute epic from Phaeleh, a well-known supporter of the Chord Marauders. The veteran producer is in full form here. His fast yet calming contribution “Roller” goes through progressive shifts in tone and rhythm, grounded by wooden flute, bird calls, and the wind in the trees. Yet it’s up-and-comer Kercha who puts in our favorite track on the compilation, “Ninja”. It's a sly, low-profile dub with impressive sound design moments and moody synth key work, but in the context of the compilation it’s “the banger”. By contrast, a straightforward dub with steel drum roots like “Far Out” by Somah & Surreal feels almost ambient. Also notable is Gerwin's contribution “Reach Out”, which fits most firmly in the Chord Marauder aesthetic of all the contributions from non-label artists. The slow-n-low boom bap shuffle induces a trip-hop mindset before the arrival of a glittering pulse of synth chords and steel chimes.

The Chord Marauders never fail to suspend the audience within their particular sonic spaces. With a deep and talented network of supporters, labelmates, and associates, the label continues to integrate their sound into the greater musical consciousness with this forceful, beautiful compilation. George (Geode) brings the full strength of that network to bear in loving support of his partner. Listeners can show their support, too, by purchasing the compilation or a track or two. We wish the best for Ola - more life, more music!

FOLLOW Chord Marauders:   Official   /   Soundcloud   /   Bandcamp

Lo-Fi Sundays 069 - CPY

Bringing in clear, pure-bred cuts for this week’s Lo-Fi Sundays is CPY. With banging beats out of the United States, CPY brings the smooth vision of complimentary samples and volume-conscious mixing to the lo-fi table. His productions exude a particularly familiar dust that stirs in the mind images of mid-November dusk strolls and the scent of a town gone sleepy.

CPY infuses his tracks with lush instrumental layers and the unmistakable touch of beat-pad fundamentalism. Every song utilizes minimal audio for maximum space, allowing choice samples to sing clearly through the mix while maintaining a full palette. Rhythmically, anything from 70-90 bpm exists in the CPY catalog, and each direction he takes has a light musical saunter. The vibe stays vivacious with a fellow like CPY, no matter the form or content of the song in question.

CPY’s discography stretches back over a year, with nearly 100 tracks to date. With neither his frequency nor quality of output in question, CPY is an unsung gem in the lo-fi sphere. Keep a close eye on this taciturn crate digger, as he’s surely cooking up new content as we speak.

FOLLOW CPY: Soundcloud

Kiefer - Bridges

Following the release of prolific LPs in each of the past two years, the Los Angeles-based pianist and jazz hip-hop producer Kiefer is back with his third drop, a smooth yet experimental six-track EP titled Bridges on the stalwart Stones Throw Records. Kiefer has more than earned his stripes in Los Angeles’ happening beat scene; he’s a constant in Mndsgn’s live trio and has production credits with Anderson .Paak and Kaytranada. In just a few days he’ll be hitting the road to perform Bridges and more with a robust jazz ensemble.

Among contemporary musicians who boldly blend jazz and hip-hop, Kiefer distinguishes himself with his virtuosity on the piano. He was taught to play at a very young age by his father, and would later study under renowned jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell at UCLA’s Jazz Studies program. He works with melodic jazz chords and offers insane riffs, moving up, down and across scales and styles to create colorful and diverse tonal palettes. Bridges finds Kiefer using new instruments including analog synthesizers alongside his signature piano, and taking a more thoughtful and intricate approach to songwriting.

On his debut Kickinit Alone and then 2018’s Happysad, Kiefer kept close at hand beat tape motifs like repeating phrases and piano loops (although he played the loops were played by Kiefer himself and not sampled himself). With Bridges, an entendre alluding to the musical bridge, he expands the scope of his composition and arrangement and takes greater risks. Listen closely as analog synthesizers delicately garnish “Orange Crayon”, or take the lead in “Cute”. True to its name, “Sunny” is a musical representation of a fantastical stroll in the sunshine. Kiefer lets his fingers loose on this one and serves up dizzying piano phrasing, though in key moments it’s the notes not played that may evoke the greatest response.

Next week Kiefer is hitting East Coast cities including New York and Philadelphia then heading abroad for his first headlining European tour. He’ll be backed by jazz musicians including Jonah Levine (trombone, keys), Sam Gendel (alto saxophone), Andy McCauley (bass), and Will Logan (drums). For a small taste of his live show, check out this live recording of tunes from Happysad.

Kiefer hit on such an attractive and indeed addictive jazz-hop sound with his first two releases that it would have been all too easy to stay in that lane and continue crushing. It’s all the more admirable, then, that he sought out new musical ground on Bridges. Despite the slight switch up in style, the warm, welcoming vibe of his music is unchanged. He hopes it can provoke smiles and positive emotion from his audience. “It’s comforting to see someone who is truly dedicated to making beautiful stuff,” he says, “I want people to see someone genuinely pour their heart into something.” 

FOLLOW Kiefer: Bandcamp / Spotify / Soundcloud / Instagram / Stones Throw

Lo-Fi Sundays 068 - Arthur_Clark

Breaking the beat straight out of Sevastopol, Crimea, Arthur_Clark weaves and sews melody and rhythm with a keen ear for the golden moments hidden away in his choice of samples. Channeling the notation and compositional vibe of traditional lo-fi flavors, he falls somewhere amongst the ambiguous lines of beats music, with elements of trip-hop and jazz overtures making their way to the surface of each mix. From breezy afternoons to moonlit nights, all manner of aesthetic and emotion is present in his discography.

By allowing so much color to shine through his sampled material, Arthur_Clark separates himself from the pack; the bright textures and the slow drenching of stereo space reinforces the strength of his arrangements. Crafty filters and spectral sweeping push and pull at his melodies, with slight EQ changes happening consecutively throughout the duration of his tracks. Not content to let the audio rest, the palette of his music is expanded exponentially through even the smallest bit of modulation. Through his clever homogenization of ingredients, Arthur_Clark is just as much a gourmet chef as he is a gourmet beat machine.

Going back as far as seven years, the catalog of Arthur_Clark covers a vast array of hip-hop territory, and no matter where one chooses to dive in, only auditory gold awaits. With virtually no fanfare and a fairly consistent output, he is a gem waiting to be uncovered by the multitude of ears hovering around the lo-fi world. Take this afternoon to familiarize yourself with our latest friend from the eastern hemisphere.

FOLLOW Arthur_Clark: Soundcloud / Bandcamp / VK

Mike Wallis [Interview]

Although his name may sound unfamiliar, Mike Wallis has spent the better part of two decades subtly shaping the landscape of broken beat electronic music by releasing forward-thinking sounds under various aliases, collaborating with producers like Tipper and Kursa, and founding the London-based label Colony Productions. On March 15, Mike released a cerebral four-track downtempo EP Lab Notes through Colony, the first under his latest alias Osmetic. Some may know Osmetic as the “O” in the producer collective and live scratch project K.L.O with Kursa and Lone Drum, which recently performed across the states from the Bay Area to New York City. The Rust Music had the opportunity to correspond with Wallis about the production process behind Lab Notes, his recent travels with K.L.O, and the arch of his life-long musical journey.

3NA Visuals

Mike began DJing at 15 years old and producing at 18. He’s released under “10 or 11” different aliases, and most are collaborations with other producers. After releasing as PSI SPY and then Abstrakt Knights, a collaboration with Sam Ashwell, he founded Colony Productions in 2001. Primarily, Colony was created as a platform to release early work from Crunch, a collaboration with Mike’s childhood friend Dave Tipper. Although the minimal, textured and ambient Crunch sound was foundational for Colony, the label has come to embrace a broad spectrum of exploratory electronic music, issuing releases from VENT, Kursa, Opiuo, and Bogtrotter during the formative years of their respective careers. These days, Mike is helping to shape the modern wave of sound design and low-end music through K.L.O. He continues to show an insatiable appetite for collaborative projects and a willingness to help other producers rise through the ranks.

Lab Notes is a downtempo dive into lush, vivacious rhythms and spaced-out stereophonics. Although Osmetic is an offshoot of the high-octane K.L.O, these songs are tonally smooth, and distinct from the razor-edged abrasion and guttural sound design of that project. There’s a neural aesthetic across the release, with sounds firing like synapses gracefully in synchronization, the kind of mechanical efficiency that only biology can thus far produce. Utilizing sparse waveforms and precise textures, every song is an ode to minimalism, bringing the listener into a hypnotic space through repetitive phrasing and droning melodies. Resting squarely on broken-beat rhythms, Lab Notes offers a head-nod mentality fused with modern foley and sound design paradigms.

This interview features a companion “Colonization” mix, Rusted Rhythms Vol. 30, featuring one-hour of selections from the Colony Productions catalog mixed by Mike. This all comes ahead of Elements Lakewood Camping Festival on Memorial Day Weekend in Lakewood, Pennsylvania, where Mike Wallis will headline The Rust Music’s late night stage takeover. In some instances, the interview has been edited for length.

The Rust: The Osmetic project seems to be under tight wraps, with very little music available for public digestion. Why the frugality?

Wallis performing with K.L.O at the Black Box in Denver, CO in July 2018 (Credit: Dark Matter Photography)

Mike: Osmetic was born of wanting to find an “O” for K.L.O because we liked the sound of it and the guys already had the “K” and the “L”. It came from seeing a Cosmetics sign that had the “C” and the “S” not lit up. I’m not a big fan of most of my names to be fair but I also like to keep coming up with new ones. My favourite is probably Faek which I used on the Bad Taste release with Kursa. As far as why I don’t like putting out much solo stuff, I’m not really sure. I have a track coming out on a Street Ritual compilation in a few months under the Osmetic moniker. I work on things and dump them on my hard drive when I get bored of working on them. Sometimes I go back and sometimes I don’t. Occasionally I find a tune I’ve completely forgotten about. The four on Lab Notes are my favourites from the last year.

The Rust: From Osmetic and Crunch to K.L.O and more, your back catalog is diverse. Can you dive into some of the creative differences between these separate projects?

Mike: What makes my output over the years as diverse as it is comes from a combination of being inspired by different artists; those that I get to work with and those that I come across when seeing what’s out there. I’m picky about what I like, I know pretty quickly if I’m into something. I’m just as picky about who I work with. There’s nothing like being in a physical space with someone and being in the same headspace. I hadn’t worked with three people before K.L.O and it’s great. Multiple filters make for a better end result, I think. Creatively, it’s about the mood as well, finding a vibe, getting into things. When we did the Crunch tracks back in the day it was about just spending a day together each week, doing something different and having some fun with it - no end aim. One person does something and that sparks the next thing. I generally prefer working with people to working on my own for music I want to release, but I really enjoy the semi meditative state you fall into when working alone, too.

What’s it like running a label while also working with other imprints and artists as a producer yourself? Does your work as a musician inform your work as a label director, and vice versa?

Mike Wallis founded Colony Productions in 2001 as a platform to release the first work from Crunch, a collaborative project with Dave Tipper. Today, Colony embraces a wide spectrum of exploratory electronic music.

Mike: I like to think of the label [Colony] as bit of a stepping-stone. I want to push the sounds I like, and I feel like we’ve always been slightly ahead of the curve. The label was originally started to release the Crunch work we did after that first Crunch 1 album on Musik Aus Strom. Then Seven Ark aka Justin De Nobrega sent me a demo, I loved it and I wanted to put it out. I actually rang him in the middle of the night by mistake as I was so excited I forgot to check what the time was in South Africa. Sam Ashwell, who I run the label with, got involved around 2005. Sam and I had already been writing together under the Abstrakt Knights moniker, and he was interested in jumping on board. When I had my daughter a few years later, something had to give and he basically kept the label going those first few years she was around. That’s when the Vent releases he was working on with Dan [Havers] (who’s also half of DC Breaks) started coming through. I have an idea of what a label should be but everyone does it differently. Some are better than others. I’m proud of what we’ve done so far and I really appreciate that all the acts and visual artists we’ve featured want to work with us.

Lab Notes is especially lush from start to finish, from its solid, honed-in textures to its extensive foley work. Can you describe your songwriting and production process? What digital/analog tools and instruments did you favor when designing the EP?

Mike: I use the Native Instruments Komplete 10 suite (I’ve just upgraded to 12 but that was after those tracks) and Ableton 9 (which I will upgrade to 10 soon) with a bit of sampling from my Virus b, my TB303, my TB03 and my record collection as well as a bunch of samples I have on drives from over the years and I monitor through my Adam S3A’s. My controller is the NI Kontrol S61 and for playing out I use an APC40 MK2. I like to just mess about and make sounds then piece them together. It’s the ultimate puzzle, really. As far as the Osmetic tracks, the first was born out of finding the Michael Norris plug-ins and it just came together from that. I usually start with a string and build from there. Once I have a basic melody to work with I just add elements until I have something more coherent. I think the track finds you rather than you writing the track half the time. “Low Fly” is literally a string, a bass, a break and a loop, but it’s got a nice feel, I think. “Simples” I just started with the sample and it went from there. “Oh Klahoma” I was tinkering with the melody line on another track and that one came out of it. I don’t really have a format for writing tracks. I just run with what I hear in my head once I hear a sound, it’s more reactionary than a planned route. I don't set out to make a certain type of track.

Hip-hop rhythms/motifs are especially prevalent in the states, while the UK traditionally spotlights drum and bass. What drove you towards half-time based musical projects?

Mike: The first record I bought myself was a De La Soul 7” when I was 12 years old. Until then I’d only had a Beatles tape and a funk compilation set of double LP’s my parents had given me. So I just thought it was all melody, groove and breaks. Which it kind of is. I went to college at 16 and there was a shop called Troublesome Records in my hometown which sold hardcore and techno (before d&b was invented yet). I got into that heavily and spent most of my free time in that shop just hanging about and getting into the scene in general. I studied sound engineering, bought a sampler, and started trying to write some tracks. I was also into the Warp Records catalogue by then, too, after coming across Aphex Twin’s digeridoo on R&S [Records] and this Mike Dred clear vinyl on Rephlex at Troublesome. That introduced me to the world of weird stuff and then I got really in to trip hop and breaks as well. I do love drum and bass though to this day. I’m a firm believer that there are good tracks in every genre as well as bad ones too. For me, it’s either electronic music or acoustic/band music rather than worrying about styles within those. They’re all just made up names really anyway. For me it’s 100% more about whether it’s good or not rather than what people are calling it. I’ve always judged tracks on how they make me feel rather than the tempo or genre.

How does Osmetic compare with Crunch or Mike Wallis in the live sphere? Which project do you prefer to perform with?

Mike: I basically play as K.L.O on the whole at the moment. Ben [Ben Parker aka Lone Drum] and I have been playing together under various names since I asked him to cut over my set at Glade Festival in 2012. I knew straight away I’d like to have him cutting on all my sets if I could. He has a great flow, and the scratching is key for the more uptempo sets, I think. It adds a real live element and makes it feel different every time. I do listen to music with vocals but for me the instrumental vibe is king. As ‘Mike Wallis’ I either play a downtempo set or a Colony set depending on the time and place [Rusted Rhythms Vol. 30 is one such “Colony” mix, featuring only music released through Colony Productions]. I’d say I prefer playing with Ben as K.L.O because it’s fun up there and it’s never the same twice. I don’t want that to take away from my solo sets, because I do really enjoy those too. I also really like the sound we're pushing with the K.L.O sets. The Crunch set at the first Suwanee Full Moon Gathering was a one-off. I doubt we’ll do that again but I’m glad we did it.

The K.L.O project has been booked throughout the US now. What cultural/social differences stand out to you between the nightlife/music scenes in the UK and US?

Mike: The scene is bigger in the states for that style definitely. I knew we were on to something when Rob C got me over for the Tipper pre-party for Red Rocks [in 2015] as that was the first time I dropped any of the K.L.O tracks we'd been working on and they went off. The festival scene is good in the states for sure. I don’t like all the talking in sets, though, if I’m honest. That kind of throws me, I just don’t get it. I think we have a darker vibe here in the UK born out of electro and drum and bass nights. There’s less emphasis on the visuals and rarely any live painting, but we do have it at the odd festival. Noisily is a good one if we’re talking festivals, as is Boomtown in the UK. We have more emcee’s in the UK but I don’t really get that either.

How do stateside festivals compare to their United Kingdom counterparts?

Mike: I think I covered this already but you guys do it very well. Especially the sizes I’ve played at. I haven’t played any massive ones so no idea on that front but they look less good I’d say but that’s a guess. I’d like to check out Burning Man one day. The UK has a few decent ones. I think my favourite festival, although I think it’s more than that, is Sonar though in Barcelona. That is done really well although I haven’t been since I drove a straight 20 hrs to get there after French air traffic control went on strike and my flight was cancelled a few years back, there was no way I was missing Kraftwerk though! Really looking forward to checking out Elements Lakewood for the first time.

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With little fanfare and great modesty, Mike Wallis has operated under the radar throughout his illustrious but quiet career. Playing the role of the curator above all else, his guiding hand continues to shape the current landscape of electronic music, both through his label and his performance and production projects. Wallis is scheduled to perform numerous sets as K.L.O, and “Mike Wallis” over the next several months, including at Elements Lakewood Camping Festival (tickets), where he’s sure to continue pushing genre-defining sounds.

FOLLOW Osmetic:   SoundCloud / Facebook

FOLLOW Colony Productions:   SoundCloud / Bandcamp / Beatport / Facebook

Lo-Fi Sundays 067 - Flavors

For boom-bap beats with the right touch of lo-fi aesthetic, tune in to the hard-knock sound of Connecticut-based beatmaker Flavors. With a deep catalog and a consistently slamming style, his music is perfect for hours spent studying, strolling or daydreaming. One will be satisfied drifting away with his beats as background, or digging into them to focus on their careful curves and layered sonic details.

He collaborated with a long list of talented beatmakers including soho, BLVK, chief, and floridomi. He has a particularly close relationship with this last producer, floridomi. They’ve performed together in Boston before, and their excellent collaborations, which fill this weekend’s playlist, informally take on the awesome “flavordomi” moniker. Flavors works with lo-fi motifs, but his production more often than not falls into the boom-bap bucket, and, here, his percussion hits harder than most. He’s able to crank the compression to 11 on kick and snare combinations that nearly blow out the speakers and compel your body to bump back and forth.

Because it’s just that good, his tune “empower” is included twice in our curated playlist; once on it’s own, and once at the beginning of his latest album “summit”, which was released just a few days ago and is available to purchase on Bandcamp. If you’d like to learn more about the producer, check out his interview with Pastry Beats, a Boston-based beats collective, which is coupled with a killer guest mix.

FOLLOW Flavors: Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp / Instagram / Twitter

ALEPH - NEXT HYPE [EP]

@aleph_sound Art: www.instagram.com/matt.psd/ Blending classic motifs with modern production ethos, Renraku presents NEXT HYPE, a 4-track ep by ALEPH. Following his debut on Mat Zo’s imprint, MAD ZOO, and several widely successful sample packs on splice, ALEPH brings his self-described “Apocalypse Rave” sound to the next level. Whether it’s the break ridden analog bass music “ULTRAVIOLET”, the subharmonic grooves of the titular “NEXT HYPE”, the deconstructed-then-refined riddim in “CHAMPION SOUND”, or the wall shaking warehouse-on-acid “LA$ER BEAM$”, NEXT HYPE brings a far future sound to electronic music built from the remnants of the past that will keep you moving from now til 20XX.

Fresh out of the wake of his single release last week, ALEPH unveils his newest collection of sonic hand grenades with the full release of the NEXT HYPE EP. Thoroughly germinated with his signature fidelity-busting textures, this EP is at once both familiar and entirely unique; utilizing his preferred language of audio asymmetry and brutish compression, ALEPH covers a host of tempos of atmospheres across the four collective tracks.

“ULTRAVIOLET” is the brain buster you didn’t know you were looking for, opening the EP with spectral filtering and positively massive breaks. High-resonance filters sweep across the upper-mid-range, highlighting harmonics and distorting the brightest points of synthesis into a veritable ceiling. The bass lines are a vicious amalgamation of home-brewed sound design and relentless resampling, with every last audio artifact taken fully advantage of.

“LA$ER BEAMS” is the heavy-weight closer, bringing the EP to an eruptive end. The song itself is a 12-gauge blast to the senses, with every texture, tone, and waveform viciously distorted into an aural 1-inch punch. Staccato resampling busts the beat in half while fractured acid synthesis spikes and phases in and out of the wider stereo space. Just when you think you’ve hit the peak of intensity, the next bar is waiting to push the audio envelope even further.

Renraku Global Media has featured ALEPH across their release cycle for nearly two years and running, and it’s absolutely no wonder why. With such a diverse production palette coupled with his massive execution, ALEPH is shaping up to be far more than just the typical low-end enthusiast. Pay close attention to his future endeavors, as he’s sure to continue busting boundaries and redefining the landscape of sound design and engineering. For a further look into the EP, check out our premier and review of the title track “NEXT HYPE” here.

FOLLOW ALEPH: SoundCloud / Facebook / Spotify

FOLLOW RENRAKU: SoundCloud / Facebook / Bandcamp

Lo-Fi Sundays 066 - Eyukaliptus

Smashing beats like a true beast from the East, EYUKALIPTUS delivers a diverse hip-hop package that spans the wider breadth of broken-beat rhythms. Based out of New York City, his tracks exude a palatable head-nod coupled with supple composition. From dazzling jazz overtures to traditional boom-bap flare EYUKALIPTUS manages to touch upon each nuanced niche of lo-fi music.

With classically bit-crushed percussion and the intonation of finger-drumming, the rhythmic dynamic in the EYUKALIPTUS catalog is hypnotic in its own right. The duality of the percussion and the flickers of sub movement create a pocketed groove for each track to rest in, fomenting the best aspects of every sample utilized in his discography. The sampling itself demands particular note, as his careful touch on each slice of audio allows the original texture to flourish while simultaneously blending into a new paradigm. As a on-going demonstration of attentive musicianship and song-writing, his melody structure fails to fall flat at any point, instead bringing a vibe and an atmosphere that feels especially weightless.

With three years of constant releases under his belt, the EYUKALIPTUS track count stands at 120 and rising. It’s no wonder his choice of style and tempo can vary so greatly, given his rapid-fire output. Various live mixes dot his catalog, featuring the delicious audible touch of SP 404 sampling power. With hands touching so many various aspects of musicality and production, watching EYUKALIPTUS with a close set of eyes can only do you justice.

FOLLOW EYUKALIPTUS: Soundcloud / Bandcamp / Instagram / Tracktrain

ALEPH - NEXT HYPE [Premiere]

Breaking beat boundaries and blasting brain waves, ALEPH returns to the spotlight with the release of NEXT HYPE. A longtime resident with the label Renraku, ALEPH specializes in musical asynchronicity. This marks his production and makes it recognizable. Extremely saucy interpolation, audio artifacts, and crushing wave forms are the staples of his arsenal, and his newest endeavor takes all those assets along for the ride.

The title track “NEXT HYPE” is a fresh interpretation of the ALEPH style, channeling the power of breakbeat dance floor madness. He steers his preferred textures in new directions, and a retro-future smoothness is substituted for the hair-splitting intensity of his usual work. The percussion is an amalgamation of drums, pops, smacks, and aural bubbles slapping back and forth in the stereo space, throwing the listener into a hyperspace disco. Low-end grit and distortion plays it's part subtly, with bass lines laying down a follow-the-leader funk that shimmies in between each pang of the drums. Topping off the track like a cherry, the glitched-out audio trinkets that dance throughout the composition bring three-dimensional life to what would otherwise become too static of a song.

ALEPH always makes a killer first impression, and if you're just now learning about this stalwart audiophile, you're in for an absolute treat. If you have to get your hands on more, fear not; NEXT HYPE drops in full next Friday, March 15.

FOLLOW ALEPH: SoundCloud / Facebook / Spotify

Lo-Fi Sundays 065 - Mirrorish

Instrumental hip-hop is often just one shade away from trip-hop, that debated and revered underground genre. In some respects, much of the ascendant lo-fi hip-hop sound could be classified as trip-hop. Without getting bogged down in genre talk, if you interpret that word “trip-hop” at face value, it’s just psychedelic hip-hop. And so many of the out of phase, off-pitch beats in the lo-fi universe are trippy as hell. Certain beatmakers are just inherently psychedelic, even if they’re not aiming towards it. Enter Mirrorish from the state of Maryland.

His catalog is bountiful, with more than 10 LPs and EPs to his name. His latest release, Every Other Color, may be his most impressive. The production is crisp and clean, and it’s full of both straightforward head nods and also cinematic compositions. He produced a contemplative tape with British producer Drkmnd that journeys into a psychological abyss to find some paradoxical combination of focus and disorientation. Percussion limps along while whirring melodies create dissonance with the pads in the backdrop. The Mirrorish catalog is full of this sort of meditation music, beats that can stone you. He also has dozens and dozens of chops that hit the jazzy vein, with crushing boom-bap drums and dainty piano samples.

Often his tunes approach the atmosphere of downtempo electronic music while remaining in the realm of beats through their faithful use of sampled percussion. One can hear this on Every Other Color. The second song “Deadline” takes a dazzling dive down the rabbit hole. Here’s hoping that future releases from the producer continue to explore synthesizer work and incorporations of glitch. Seen from a bird’s-eye view, Mirrorish is yet another talented producer blurring the lines between beats and other styles of music, all amidst a damp psychedelic haze.

FOLLOW Mirrorish: Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp / Instagram

Lone Drum - Pedal Boss

Ascending from the mutant landscape of Gastropodia Prime, Lone Drum steps out of the lab and into the spotlight with his first solo release, Pedal Boss. The 5-track EP is a brain-busting hay maker of a record, ripe with dirty interpolation and space-aged hip-hop rhythms. As the scratch savant of the neuro-hop trio K.L.O, Lone Drum has been steadily injected into the bloodstream of the global bass music ear canal, and he absolutely smashes the bar with his first personal explosion out of the Slug Wife home base.

Pedal Boss is an ode to nastiness; blistered and distorted frequencies are let loose like a race horse straight out of the stable, only to be reigned back in through sharp-edged EQ bands and swelling modulation. The entire EP remains firmly planted in hip-hop’s rhythmic territory, but contains everything other than a classic head-nodder. The sonic bravado bursting out of each track sends the adrenaline pumping, with every song begging to be rinsed through a bone-busting sound system. The brackish textures of the low-end synthesis splinter and break around the beat, with beefy kick drums firing off raucous, heat-seeking bass lines and every snare snapping each line back into place. From start to finish, this is an aural onslaught more than well deserving of the Slug Wife platform and seal of approval.

While this may be the first official Lone Drum solo release, there was never a slither of doubt as to the quality this EP would offer. Being a fellow UK gastropod, it was only a matter of time before his individual works would begin to breathe out in the open. For those as swept up in the pulse of this EP as we are, our good friends Sermon and Envisioned Arts Atlanta are teaming up on March 30th to host the only US Slug Wife takeover to date to feature K.L.O. thus far. Fans of Lone Drum will be in for more than a handful of treats should they make the trek.

FOLLOW Lone Drum: Facebook / Soundcloud / Bandcamp

ManyColors - Bangs [Single]

ManyColors is a new four-piece band that opens up new musical space by using a hip-hop format to explore chords and motifs usually reserved for jazz on their debut single “Bangs”. Soft and sure, “Bangs” offers comfort to the listener but presents a series of unanswered questions. Sonically it combines the twinkle of contemporary lo-fi aesthetics with the electric groove of older, more established styles. This is a new sort of notch in the catalog of Color Red, a Denver-based label run by Eddie Roberts, the guitarist from British jazz fusion quartet The New Mastersounds.

Braxton Kahn dials in drums that stride with a subtle and seemingly off-time step. According to Color Red, guitarist Brant Williams “aims to capture all the musicians as if they were sampled while cultivating a fresh harmonic approach.” It’s impressive that a four-piece band of trained jazz musicians can be recorded to sound like a lo-fi hip-hop beat. It’s more intriguing that they would want to. Eric Luba tickles a Fender Rhodes electric organ, gently laying down those warm melodies that are so frequently sampled in lo-fi beats. Kirwan Brown works the bass guitar well, especially during the song’s swinging second movement.

The direct-to-tape approach of the producers Mike Tallman and Josh Fairman is another gesture towards hip-hop and creates a layer of dusty reverb across the stereo spread. Despite this dust, the audio quality is top-tier, and this is refreshing. (Not to discredit anyone, but much lo-fi music mistakes poor audio quality for an aesthetic). Apparently Color Red has “several” more songs from ManyColors scheduled for 2019. If you dig the audio quality, intelligent harmonics and of course the smooth vibe, then stay chooned.

FOLLOW Color Red: Soundcloud / Spotify / Bandcamp / Instagram