Below is the latest edition of our weekly feature, Stuck On Repeat. The premise is simple, we’ve asked all our contributors to submit one track and a brief write-up. The track can be new or it can be old, just whatever we could not stop listening to this week. These are the songs we’ve had Stuck On Repeat.
:: selected by: V :: White Denim – Is and Is and Is
White Denim are one of those bands that indie rock blogger nerds drool over, but only people who play an instrument, or have studied music theory, are any good at explaining. White Denim are musicians’ musicians, capable of blending diverse genres seamlessly through complex song structures. Their new album D is a showcase of their deft musicianship, a circular movement in 10 tracks of classic rock leaning sounds. My only problem with the album is that the vocals are largely relegated to accompaniment, and if you’ve listened to any of White Denim’s previous releases, you know that they are a very vocally capable band. On “Is and Is and Is” though, vocals and instrumentation finally come together, sliding from gentle sounds to rock uproar in unison.
:: selected by: Moneyworth :: Blawan – Getting Me Down
This is the closest thing to a “banger” that I’ve been obsessed with in a minute. Honestly, I am not cool enough to know the proper terminology to aptly describe UK producer Blawan and the right permutation of bass or future whatnot. “Getting Me Down” is what I think a club track should sound like, and I am not really a club type. Once again Brandy rises into 2011’s collective subconscious with a warped sample from her first single, 1994’s “I Wanna Be Down”, when Brandy still dressed kind of Clarissa Explains It All. I like that Blawan takes the trend of R&B samples in bass music and doesn’t pussyfoot around with it like some producers do, using just little bits of the original vocals (not complaining, just saying)—he makes a slightly fucked up chorus out of it. If Chicago had the kind of clubs that played shit like this, I’d consider going out on the weekends.
:: selected by: Jams Dean :: C-San (ft. Skeme) – What’s The Move
I heard about C-San’s mixtape Game Time through Casey Veggies and checked him out this week. He actually raps a lot like Casey Veggies, or maybe that’s just how that circle of people on the West Coast are rapping now. Nothing on the mixtape really blew my brain away from the go, but this song had me laughing so hard I almost pissed my pants on the bus. I’m not talking about anything other than the sample, because this is one of the greatest and funniest samples I have heard in a rap song this year. I hope this track catches fire because I want this jam getting dropped in every club, every time I go out. I also wish Lil Jon was on this joint somewhere. I’m not gonna spoil it for you, I’m just gonna tell you it fits the sports theme.
In a growing post-dubstep world perpetuated by producers like Deadboy, James Blake, Jamie xx, it’s quite refreshing to hear that Burial-like bass mixed with an inordinate amount of acid house. Yorkshire’s Blawan, with only a few singles to his name, has been able to bring that to the table.
Continue reading: Check Out: Blawan – “Kaz”
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Tags: Blawan
If this Brandy sample doesn’t get cleared, then the world will feel my wrath starting with the release of Gwyneth Paltrow’s country album.
Not having this as a full-qual, 320 banger in my portable listening device is getting me down.
Kyle S
