Beglitched | West Coast Glitch-Hop

Week in Review: 2/13-2/19

I have a lot more time on the weekends to do blog posts and have been thinking about doing little blurbs and links to some of the music that has me captivated each week- new releases, old stuff revisited, upcoming or unreleased stuff… just a place for random music.

This week Ben Samples put out another huge release, this time on Simplify Recordings.

The Skyscraper EP is the young Colorado producers fourth major solo release in less than a year. Ben has been pumping out massive bass for a couple years now and has pretty much become a household name in the scene. This EP is his most sophisticated production to date and considering he spent the first part of his production career giving away his tunes on Bandcamp, it is well worth the price to purchase. Buy the Skyscraper EP here! Grab more of Samples music on Bandcamp and follow him on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Tommy Cappel aka Sidecar Tommy, the beat master drummer from Beats Antique just dropped a song on Soundcloud available for free download. Tommy’s solo work is every bit as inspired as his work with Beats Antique and we should keep an eye out for more solo music from Tommy in the future. Download Bangin Beauty here! Follow Sidecar Tommy on Facebook and Twitter. BANGIN BEAUTY – SIDECAR TOMMY by sidecartommy

The Glitch Mob released Drink The Sea- The Remixes Volume 2 this week. This second round includes remixes from Virtual Boy, Beats Antique, Machinedrum, and DJ Vadim among others. All proceeds from sale of the album go to help rebuild Haiti. Buy both remix albums for one donation here! Follow The Glitch Mob on Facebook and Twitter.

Oakland is home to David Sugalski, the producer of many names. You may know him as Ample Mammal or The Polish Ambassador. This week, The Polish Ambassador released Homeboys In Outer Space- Episode 1. This five song EP includes remixes of songs by Outkast, Young MC, and The Roots. Name your price here! Follow The Polish Ambassador on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Dave Seied has been DJing in Denver for several years now and came out strong last year on Addictech’s charts with his debut release Speaker Organisms. He just dropped a mix of original and unreleased songs on Memkast this week. Grab the mix here! Follow Seied on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Goldrush-Love Hz

In this day and age when every teenager with Ableton is trying to pump out dubstep tunes in the search for fame and fortune, it is hard to find the true jewels amidst the junk. LA based producer GoldRush has been promoting his music for just 5 months on Soundcloud and is already well known in the bass music community, playing huge shows including The DoLab show in LA at the end of the month with Marty Party, Freq Nasty, and Opiuo.

Generation Bass is always quick to see true talent and released the GoldRush debut album Love Hz on Valentine’s Day. GoldRush delivers the goods with Love Hz. These songs evoke a vision in my mind of mountains of shimmering jewels- each sound is a precious stone sparkling in the bright sunlight. GoldRush brings out the romantic side of dubstep through his skillful use of melodic organic sounds layered over basslines that mirror the complexity and beauty of love.

Love Hz is available here.
Free Bjork remix available here.

Follow GoldRush on Facebook and Soundcloud.
(album art by Daniel Jung)

Heyoka- Mandelbass

Heyoka is the master of glitching and tweaking the sounds of alien gibberish… Alien step! Heyoka is a pioneer in the west coast music scene and is a regular at summer festivals such as Burning Man, Harmony Festival and Lightning in a Bottle. DJs, producers, and listeners all hang on his every last bass drop because of his unique style that is constantly evolving and pushing the genre forward.

Mandlebass is the fourth full length album released since Heyoka’s first EP Space Case came out in 2008. The album is named after mathematician and ‘creator’ of fractals Benoit B. Mandelbrot. When listening to any of Heyoka’s albums or mixes, one gets the feeling of flowing endlessly like a fractal- one thing morphing into the next constantly changing. The songs contain funky honky tonk piano, breaks, blues, 1960’s garage influences, as well as that deep chest rattling, “neighbor-is-about-to-call-the-cops-because-her-china-keeps-falling-of-the-shelf” bass. Heyoka has broken all of the molds and created some really interesting songs that are sure to thrill old and new fans alike!

The album is out now on Muti Music as an Addictech exclusive- grab Mandlebass here!

Follow Heyoka on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Don’t miss Heyoka on tour this spring at one of these shows:

Woofer Cookers- Wildlife Reserve EP (Dewey dB, Love & Light, Bevvy Swift, J.Me.J, Vudutron)

Canada is home to many amazing DJs and producers- Dewey dB and the crew at Woofer Cookers are some of the rowdiest in the pack.

The Wildlife Reserve EP is interesting and fresh- its not more of the same ole dubstep/glitch-hop blah blah boring stuff. These beats are HEAVY! The first song is mellow and makes you think these animals are going to be nice and cuddly and chill to be around. Sneaky. The next four songs are anything but chill, and if they are any indication of what Canadian Wildlife Reserves are like you can sign me up! These songs are massive, which we have all come to expect from J.Me.J, Dewey dB, and Love & Light. Each of these producers knows exactly what they want to do and how to do it. The beats are heavy, complex, and unique- each song feels like an adventure. To end the EP, Bevvy Swift comes along and soothes your ravaged ears with a little “Wombat’s Lullabye”. Strangely, it works… I love these tunes!

Grab the album on Woofer Cookers now- That’s a direct order! Do it now!

Random Rab

Random Rab is considered by many to be “The Master of Emotion” because of the soulful sound he brings to his west coast beats. His style is hard to categorize into one single genre- from sounds of instruments from the middle east, to beautiful piano melodies and chilling vocals often sung by Rab himself, to deep bass beats from the west coast- Rab is in a category of his own. He is best known for his sunrise sets at festivals around the world including Burning Man, Coachella, Lightning in a Bottle, and almost any other festival you can think of. When the sun is getting ready to rise to greet the fading night, Rab’s beats are playing somewhere, soothing the hearts and souls of everyone who can hear. The sound of his music makes a passion well up in my heart- a joy bubbling through my being that feels and sounds so beautiful that it often brings me to tears.

To celebrate the launch of his new website, Rab is giving away three of his albums for free!! These albums are all incredible works of art that will always be my favorites. Make sure you grab these albums while they are free on his site at http://randomrab.net
Follow Rab on Facebook, Soundcloud, and Twitter.

DJ UMB- Popstep Dub Symphony Vol VI (HippyStep)

DJ UMB (Una Musica Brutal) has been DJing in the UK for the last 6 years and has over 14 commercial releases available and 40 mixtapes of various genres. You all might know him as the co-editor of the blog, Generation Bass.

This is the sixth mix in the Popstep Dub Symphony series for 2010 and the focus is peace and love- HippyStep baby!! This mix is full of those deep dubstep beats that rock you to your core mixed with soothing vocals and nostalgic songs from the Summer of Love to the grunge rock scene of Seattle. This music has gotten into my soul and is still giving me goosebumps with every play.

DJ UMB has woven a masterpiece with this HippyStep mix that I won’t soon forget.

Download Popstep Dub Symphony Vol VI (HippyStep) here!
POPSTEP DUB SYMPHONY VOLUME VI [HippySTeP] (DEC 2010) by djumb

Follow him on SoundCloud, Facebook, and Twitter.

2010-Mixtapes of the Year

I am a big fan of DJ mixes so I wanted to mention some of the best mixes of 2010.

When I first heard “Speaker Bump vol.1” by Indaskyes, I was blown away and scoured the internet to find out who this DJ was and why I hadn’t heard of him. His name made me wonder if he was some big name going by this name as an alias (“in disguise”). It turns out this mix was Jared Lindo’s second gig EVER recorded in a small club in San Jose, CA! This mix is amazing and still gets me moving even after a solid 9 months of bumping. Download “Speaker Bump vol.1” here. Follow Indaskyes on Facebook.

David Starfire has been a favorite of mine since I saw him at Love Parade in San Francisco a couple of years ago. He is an amazingly talented producer and DJ whose beats are heavy on the bass mixed with a huge variety of ethnic sounds, from Middle Eastern to gypsy funk to hip hop. This mix takes you along on a psychedelic journey of massive proportion. Download the “Psychonaut Spinner Mix” here (right click… save as). Thanks to Reality Sandwich for hosting this mix. Follow David Starfire on Facebook. You can also watch David’s site for free songs and mixes at http://davidstarfire.com

Cory O is one to watch in 2011. His Bandcamp and Soundcloud are full of remixes and original music up for grabs. He has been playing at all of the major clubs in Portland for the last couple years and is amped up to take on the world. His mixtape “Fuckin N Tha Streets” is just the right combination of glitched up hip hop beats with heavy bass. It’s not the same old run of the mill stuff many people are putting out these days. He has a unique new sound that works perfectly with the glitch hop music we all love. Grab the mix here.

Kitty-D has been playing music in California for years. He is not on any label and doesn’t have a huge catalog of releases, but that makes what you can get your hands on even more valuable. He has collaborated with Mimosa around the country at festivals as Halo and with Ooah as Of Porcelain. This mix from a full moon party in Humboldt 2008 is a must have! Get it here (right click-save as).

Konekta is someone I started to see around Glitch Hop Forum and I was surprised when I found all kinds of great songs on his Soundcloud. When he released his “Audio Splash Promo Mix” I made sure to check it out and was glad that I did. This mix is bangin’! This dude has serious DJ skills and his remixes are spot on. When I shot him an email to find out more about him, I was happy to find out that he had just moved to Santa Rosa, California- just a few miles from me! He is moving in the scene, working hard on his music- I have no doubt 2011 h0lds huge promise for him. Grab the “Audio Splash Promo Mix” here and make sure to follow him on Soundcloud and Facebook.

MiHKAL- Snuglife Mixtape

MiHKAL is an Oakland based shamanic crunkster whose ceremonial approach to music has been getting attention from bassheads around the world. Though he has not released an official album, he has been DJing and remixing since 2008 and has played at huge parties alongside his homies Mimosa, Heyoka, Sleepyhead, Knowa Knowone, Kitty D, NastyNasty, GladKill, ChrisB, An-ten-nae, Bassnectar, R/D, EPROM, Joker, Marty Party & PANTyRAiD. MiHKAL is on the same level as every one of these artists. His DJ skills truly move me.

Snuglife is full of soothing female vocals, emotional instrumentals, heavy bass, and crunk vocal samples. He knows how to weave these different styles together in a way that I rarely hear to create an amazing dance floor experience that moves your body and your spirit. It is no surprise to me that Beat Church keeps him as a resident shamanic DJ. I expect him to release some music this year, but until then, he has several mixes available on his Soundcloud. You can DOWNLOAD Snuglife HERE (right click, save as)
Be sure to attend Beat Church to praise the bass music gods and dance yourself to a higher place under MiHKAL’s beats.

Find MiHKAL on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Stephan Jacobs & Sugarpill- Level Attack

Stephan Jacobs & Sugarpill have been working together on songs this year like a couple of crazed music scientists. Both reside in LA and play there regularly and they are both starting to tour around the US for gigs. You can also find them on Glitch.fm for the Polybeat Plant show on Tuesdays at 6pm PST. Sugarpill and Stephan Jacobs have each had a busy year in 2010 with several big singles and mixtapes released, and Sugarpill’s huge success with his debut album Flow Goggles.

Stephan Jacobs and Sugarpill worked on Level Attack and came up with a nicely polished piece of glitch hop art, complete with tough yet sexy vocals of Naada, who was also featured in a single that Stephan Jacobs and Love & Light collaborated on a few months ago. Her vocals give Level Attack that human voice that is so often missing in electronic music. This release features remixes by +verb, Ben Samples, Willy Whompa, Great Scott and ChrisB. Each remix focuses on a different highlight of the original and I am actually able to listen to the entire release without getting bored of this song! A separate post should be written about each of the amazing artists who remixed this song- each artist is doing amazing work to shape the future of glitch hop in their own way. Make sure to check them out! Thanks to Stephan Jacobs & Sugarpill for making “Level Attack” and inspiring these remixes!

Stephan and Sugarpill are sharing a free download from the release- grab it here! (right click-save as) and the grab Level Attack on Addictech here!

Follow Stephan Jacobs on Facebook, Twitter, and Soundcloud.
Follow Sugarpill on Facebook, Twitter, and Soundcloud.

Stephan Jacobs- All Original Mix 2011

Stephan Jacobs has quickly risen to the top of the Southern California glitch-hop bass music scene with his massive remixes that pack any dancefloor in seconds, combined with his huge arsenal of original material that grows with each day. He is a dedicated producer who spends more time working on music than most people are awake in a day and his Soundcloud is full of songs with thousands of plays and comments. His recent remix of “Under The Sheets” screamed to the top of the charts at Hypem.

Stephan Jacobs released music in 2009 as one half of Kether, with their chart topping albums Marine Layer and Layer 2, both on Muti Music, San Francisco’s most successful underground music label. He recently released a song on Gruntworthy Vol. 1 with other big up and coming artists +verb, Sugarpill, Dr. Knobz, Minnesota, and Carly-D. On December 6, Muti is dropping another release on Addictech called Level Attack, a collaboration of Stephan Jacobs & Sugarpill Featuring Naada on vocals. The release is a single with remixes by +Verb, Ben Samples, Willy Whompa, Great Scott and ChrisB. This is guaranteed to be one not to miss!

As a preview for what is to come on Level Attack, Stephan created a mix of originals for 2011 that you can grab here- http://beglitched.com/mixes/StephanJacobs_OriginalMix2011.mp3 (right click, save as…)

Tracklist-

1. Bluetech – Leaving Babylon (Stephan Jacobs Remix)
Notorious Thugs Accapella
2. Ben Samples & Stephan Jacobs – Nano Puppy
3. Ellie Goulding – Under The Sheets (Stephan Jacobs Remix)
4. Stephan Jacobs & +Verb – Blind Dreams
5. Stephan Jacobs & Sugarpill – Level Attack feat Naada (Original Mix)
7. Stephan Jacobs & ChrisB. – Flux Capacitor (Luniz Edit)
8. Stephan Jacobs – Hyperion
9. Stephan Jacobs – Top Shelf

Keep your eye on this guy because 2012 is going to be a year of touring and releasing a huge backlog of tunes. Expect to see him at a lot of the major summer festivals and parties. You can also catch his monthy radio show on Glitch.fm the last Tuesday of the month at 6pm PST.
Follow Stephan Jacobs on Facebook, Twitter, and Soundcloud. Check out his website for more remixes and dj sets.

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