NETVERK – November 2012

We're just past mid-November, which brings us to the close of what has been an amazing year for music in general, and for netaudio in particular. Death Grips proved that a band can transition from internet phenoms to IRL going concern very quickly, even if the resulting fallout provides more controversy than sales. NETVERK predicts similar crossovers from the netaudio world to the rosters of independent labels and majors in 2013, as the borders between the traditional music industry and the lawless frontiers of Soundcloud and Bandcamp become more and more porous.

Kicking off with some dubstep, Edinburgh-based ABAGA Records dropped this little slice of bassbin-destroying madness from The Mighty Cream launched late last month, and it's a peach. Download the EP here, and stream the Bite EP below.

Bite EP by THE MIGHTY CREAM

ABAGA also released a free EP by Leeds-based MAKO back in June - this month, MAKO returned with the Tropicality EP on San Francisco-based label Hot 'N' Heavy. Featuring three tracks of upfront, leftfield bass music with a carnival flavour, it's a solid release from a producer whose star is on the rise both in the UK and on the international scene. 

MAKO - 'Tropicality' EP (Preview Clips) by Hot N Heavy Recordings

Staying on a bass tip, but shifting down a gear to more chilled territory, we come to the consistently excellent Fluorescent Records. The first EP we looked at from this label in November was by Miami's AbdeCaf. His second EP, after Unravel (still available via his Soundcloud), sees him developing his themes and motifs with an assured ease - in particular, Old Flame is an instant classic - combining sampled R&B hooks with sun-drenched synth chords and a laidback post-dubstep beat. The EP, Rebuild, is available as a free download. Here's a video of AbdeCaf performing Old Flame live:

One track from Rebuild features fellow chillwave/post-dubstep producer Koda. His latest EP, Shadows and the Wolf Below, was released on Fluorescent back in June, and is definitely worth checking out - the combination of shoegaze guitar textures, delicate bass and beat-work and plaintive vocals is absolutely enchanting. Stream the EP here, and download the standout track Exit for free:

Shadows & The Wolf Below by Koda.

Moving away from the bass-oriented end of things (don't worry - we'll be back there soon enough), another Fluorescent release which caught our ear was the sprawling rap/shoegaze crossover EP by BLK SMK. their new EP The Humbling contains three loose jams or movements, which bleed into each other, each track starting with the melody of the previous track. Combining sleepy, reverb-saturated singing with narcotic, half-asleep rhymes and tweaked-out, minimal post-rock jams, it's a beguiling release that sneaks into the hindbrain and doesn't let go. 

Tash Willmore's very special EP Broken Bloodline came out on Black Bvs Records earlier this year, and is still available to buy on CD. Willmore's way with epic, dreamy, doomy electro is pretty much unparallelled, expanding the template of witch house into something more majestic, sweeping and timeless. Black Bvs recently released Broken Bloodline - An Alternate View, a remix collection featuring reinterpretation's of Tash's work by artists such as BL/\CK CEILING (who, it should be mentioned, just started selling awesome merch) and A/\IMON (who, we should also mention, just released an expanded version of the Flatliner EP, reviewed here). It's a free download, so very much a perfect place to jump on and sample some Tash.

Coming from closer to home, Cru Servers, alias the brothers behind such many and varied projects as Fox Gut Daata and Perfumed Head / Voice Like Bones. their debut EP for Bomb Shop, entitled Tryll Reggoh, is a sludgy, lo-fi, ill-tempered affair, using analogue electronics to create dense, improvised loops. There's an audio-visual element to the collaboration, so look out for Cru Servers at upcoming events in Glasgow. Stream a track from the EP below, or visit the Bomb Shop to bu the limited-edition 7" vinyl.

Juice In the Ruins by Cru Servers

Here are a few hip-hop releases to get your head-nodding - first up, Mr Muthafuckin' eXquire, whose mixtape The Man In The High Castle has been popping up and then disappearing over the past month, following a series of tweets from the rapper where he claimed that his label Universal had refused to release the tape. A case of Death Grips deja vu, it seems. It's a solid release for eXquire fans, featuring rare and unreleased tracks, although if the link we posted falls over, you'll have to dig for it yourselves, somewhere down the back of the internet. As the man himself Tweeted: “They keep taking it down, ima keep putting it up.”   

One particular rapper and producer to keep an eye on is doom-merchant p.WRECKS. You can check his work on Soundcloud (see the unbelievably deep and deadly Old Signs in Flesh). His latest offering, Luggage Checked To Nowhere, is suitably complex, dark and philosophical to have you contemplating life's mysteries while nodding your head to the beat, with production contributed by various p.WRECKS affiliates such as Xrin Arms, Guttahface and K.Clifton.

Also dropped late last month was UK producer Sci-Fi Stu's short, raw-as-fuck EP The Crazies, Vols. 1 & 2. Classic Wu-flavoured production and tough rhymes abound on this collab with US rapper King RA - we hope to hear more of this pairing in the future.

Also blowing up the stereo is this down-and-dirty collab between Blam Lord and Blown. Forthcoming on Aural Sects, it pairs lo-fi electronic producer Blown with rapper and scene legend Blam Lord, whose Blam Blam Fever blog is the go-to place online for dark electronic hookups.

BLOWN & BLAM LORD - NIHILISTIC by AURAL SECTS

Closer to home, talented rising star of the Edinburgh hip-hop scene Jordan Butler has been premiering tracks from his forthcoming release over at his Bandcamp. In particular, this track, featuring Elizabeth Currie on vocals, is both hauntingly honest and immediately infectious. Thanks to Werd (whose rather excellent album Untitled Scot is out now) and the Sons of Scotland (S.O.S.) camp for giving us the heads-up on this release, which is out now.

Falling Down Feat. Elizabeth Currie - Produced by Spazmatic Beats by Jordan Butler

Moving back to less aggro territory, we've been feeling a lot of warm, fuzzy feelings for Brooklynite, shoegaze-influenced dream-pop merchants Small Black, whose Moon Killer Mixtape is available from their site. It's a sedate, shimmering, beatific album, enlivened in no small part by the appearance of Das Racist's Heems on Two Rivers.

Two Rivers (feat. Heems) by Small Black

More super-chilled goodness comes from 14-year old producer Sambien, whose album Chains sees the young tyke cutting-and-pasting some downtempo hip-hop beats with clever samples. We've also been really digging the sounds of Shisa, who has a forthcoming mixtape with Choongum. They gave NETVERK a preview of a track from the collab, the rather marvellous, blissed-out chillwave of Transmissions:

Shisa & Choongum - Transmissions by Shisa

The final recommendation for November is that you check out CoMa, who was mentioned briefly in The Skinny this month as a collaborator with chillwave artist Stumbleine. Over on her Bandcamp page, you can download a sprawling 'best of' from the artist, which features, among other highlights, an acoustic reinterpretation of Burial's Arrchangel, and this Dylan Thomas-quoting gem:

CoMa - Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by -CoMa-

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