It's the Supersound

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 :: Faithless – If Lovin’ You Is Wrong

When I played this song the other night at My Beautiful Dark Twisted Wednesdays Moneyworth said she had never heard of Faithless. I gave some oldster guffaw and decided to use this space this week to educate you kids one of the defining acts of my formative years. I really feel sorry for anyone who didn’t get to experience the golden years of trip-hop in the mid-’90s (that sentiment coming from an American, I can only imagine starry-eyed what it must have been like to live in Bristol during that time). Faithless was the trio of Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo and they made this sort of trip-hop that wasn’t as hip-hop as Tricky or as morose as Portishead. They borrowed a lot of big sounds from house music for their production. If you were lucky enough to hear a Faithless track played out, the club turned into a cathedral and the floor rattled heavenly. I hate when “seminal” is used to describe an album, but Faithless’ 1996 LP Reverence really was that term to me, swinging from downtempo soul to bass-quaking club tunes. Maxi Jazz’s lyrics had a very raw, animal edge as you’ll hear in “If Lovin’ You Is Wrong”.

:: selected by: BryanB :: Feadz – Hawaian Smu

In another time, another place, I probably would have been a dancing machine. It’s not that I am physically unable, I just would much rather prefer to be the voyeur, lurking in the shadows watching the youth make beautiful fools of themselves under the mirrorballs. But Feadz is one of those artists who not only gets my toes tapping and shoulders shifting, but when the doors are locked and I am sure no one’s home…well, let’s just say rugs have been known to be cut. He has a great new track on the compilation Let The Children Techno, but 2008′s “Hawaiian Smu” always gets first spin. It’s primary color palette and spongey tempo are the perfect antidote to my leaden feet.

:: selected by: MoneyWorth :: Brandy – Afrodisiac

I recognize that this is the second time I’ve had Brandy stuck on repeat, which may seem extreme but I think people are finally coming to the realization that all things “future garage”/”UK 2-step whatever”/”something something dubstep” pretty much sound like 2004 Brandy. Seriously, for a girl next door type, Brandy had some fucking raw beats. For the Afrodisiac album, she took a break from Darkchild (I guess they had beef, which makes me sad) and hooked it up with Timbaland. “Afrodisiac” (the song) sounds like a Timbaland/Aaliyah joint which, I mean, beat that.

:: selected by: Jams Dean :: Wolf Couture – Do the Dishes Like We Did Last Week

I love DJ Teenwolf, ever since I first heard him on the Free Gucci Mixtape (which I think is, probably his best work). I also love his original tracks, his remixes (his “Drop It Low” remix is a party in itself), and all of the goofy fun he has with Ninjasonik. He’s from Brooklyn in that cool crew of post-Death Set people that I wish would just invite me over for one night, because their music videos always scream party (the real kind, not the promoted kind). But recently he tweeted the link to this Wolf Couture mixtape, which I could barely get through half of without getting a headache because it was so, so bad. But it’s supposed to be bad, it’s like a stoner joke, and that’s also why it’s funny. “Do the Dishes Like We Did Last Week” is only a taste of a really long, monotonous, meditative, drugged out journey that any of my friends in high school would have dubbed a genius piece of art. I’m not saying everyone should listen to this, but I can promise you that everyone will either love it or hate it. I do both.

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: BryanB :: Elite Gymnastics – We Don’t Dream Anymore

Chill-swamp-garage-funk-space-groove-wave…I don’t know how to classify Elite Gymnastics‘ new EP, entitled Neu! ’92, all I know is that it’s got the magic touch, especially “We Don’t Dream Anymore” which lies somewhere between Visage and Autre Ne Veut in it’s murky synth pop meets rhythm and blues. A simple, echoing keyboard loop, sounding kind of like a dying calliope creates a angular spine while off kilter percussion cushions the very matter-of-fact vocals. You can pick up the whole EP, for free, here.

:: selected by: Moneyworth :: Studio – Out There

Get fucked, February. Hard. I’m over it. Fuck the block between the Blue Line and my apartment that nobody feels like shoveling and snow goes down your shoes and you have to spent all of work with damp socks. Fuck my heat bill. Fuck my ugly ass black coat. Fuck everyone’s ugly ass black coat and black/gray everything, as if things couldn’t get any aesthetically worse. Fuck all the appropriately miserable music people like to listen to in February (by which I mean a secret fuck you to James Blake but don’t tell anyone because it’s the best album of all time or something even though it sounds like Imogen Heap). Fuck my cabin fever-addled emotionally strung-out brain for wanting to snap on everyone, including James Blake, who never did anything to me. Let’s listen to Studio. “Out There” is fifteen minutes long and it feels warm.

:: selected by: Jams Dean :: Dave Coresh – Fire (Produced by Tapez)

This song is deceptive. First, it deceives you by sampling the absolutely terrible “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon. Believe me, I rolled my eyes for the first 0:25 of the song, was just about to click the X and find something else to listen to, and then that hook dropped. My face made that shocked, pissed face that happens when a rap song really is that hard. Then, just when you think you got the song figured out, at 2:35 the synths drop for long enough to only come back and slap your mouth again. Don’t worry, those drums will be back again in a minute. Dave Coresh raps about fire in a way that actually sounds cool, reminding me a little of J. Cole (but that might be because I listen to J. Cole way too much). This beat by Tapez is just retarded, where’s the rest of his stuff? I want to hear more of him. At any rate, this Chicago track is motivating enough to make me want to start setting things on fire right away.

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 :: Gil Scott-Heron And Jamie XX – My Cloud

I didn’t immediately hop aboard the Jamie xx bus. His remixes have been hit or miss for me and I needed something special to make me a believer. Jamie goes beyond with We’re New Here, his remix album of Gil Scott-Heron’s I’m New Here. The use of “We’re” in the title is especially appropriate. Jamie handles Gil’s material with kid gloves, each track respectful, and often delicate, in its reworking. “My Cloud” is amongst the most subtle of the bunch. Gentle, pastel-colored loops pulse in sleepy-eyed splendor. I’ve never been to San Francisco, but I think this song must be what daybreak looks like as it engulfs the Golden Gate Bridge.

:: selected by: BryanB :: Gwen Stefani with André 3000 – Bubble Pop Electric

There was a minute there from ’03 to late ’04 that it looked like André 3000 might rightfully take the purple crown from Prince and take us further down a warped rabbit hole of pop and R&B. His half of the Outkast album, The Love Below, was equal parts sunny Earth, Wind and Fire demos and frenetic, lost children of Sign O’ The Times. Great stuff. And he extended his reach by working with a select number of artists during that time on mostly bizarre, slightly socially conscious duets like Kelis’ “Millionaire” and Gwen Stefani’s “Long Way To Go“. Again, great stuff. This was his golden period, and it’s only been downhill from there. A stillborn Idlewild soundtrack, and several, frankly boring, cameos on records for John Legend and Ciara finally culminated in a “remix” for Ke$ha’s “Sleazy” which is really just him mumbling over some extended opening and calling it a day.

I made a playlist collecting all my favorite André 3000 tracks earlier this week and it’s been on repeat ever since. “Bubble Pop Electric” (from said Golden period) really stood out for several reasons. Andre is barely on it, but his imprint is all over the track. Having written and produced the bouncey, 50′s high school dance meets electropop number, it’s Peggy Sue Gets Married vibe even references some of Prince’s mid-80′s work from Parade and Under a Cherry Moon. And Gwen Stefani plays the perfect coquettish pop tart cheerleader to his bra-snapping, letter jacket quarterback. You can just hear Andre playing out his inner retro sock hop fantasies (something that would later reveal itself more visually in his clothing line). I’m not saying his best days are behind him, I just want Andre to find himself again.

:: selected by: Jams Dean :: Avant – Phone Sex (That’s What’s Up)

I don’t know how I missed this track from 2003, but it is absolutely amazing. Complete with water drop laden snares, plenty of That’s-What’s-Ups and sexy sex noises at the end, “Phone Sex (That’s What’s Up)” competes with the slowest of slow-sex songs. You can tell by listening to it that Avant really wants to have sex really bad, for a really long time. The best line is, “gettin’ freaky at the movies, I don’t care if it’s PG.” I hope Avant gets what he wants, and I hope it does happen with a family of five sitting three rows behind.

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: BryanB :: Gwen Stefani with André 3000 – Bubble Pop Electric

There was a minute there from ’03 to late ’04 that it looked like André 3000 might rightfully take the purple crown from Prince and take us further down a warped rabbit hole of pop and R&B. His half of the Outkast album, The Love Below, was equal parts sunny Earth, Wind and Fire demos and frenetic, lost children of Sign O’ The Times. Great stuff. And he extended his reach by working with a select number of artists during that time on mostly bizarre, slightly socially conscious duets like Kelis’ “Millionaire” and Gwen Stefani’s “Long Way To Go“. Again, great stuff. This was his golden period, and it’s only been downhill from there. A stillborn Idlewild soundtrack, and several, frankly boring, cameos on records for John Legend and Ciara finally culminated in a “remix” for Ke$ha’s “Sleazy” which is really just him mumbling over some extended opening and calling it a day. I made a playlist collecting all my favorite Andre 3000 tracks earlier this week and it’s been on repeat ever since. “Bubble Pop Electric” (from said Golden period) really stood out for several reasons. Andre is barely on it, but his imprint is all over the track. Having written and produced the bouncey, 50′s high school dance meets electropop number, it’s Peggy Sue Gets Married vibe even references some of Prince’s mid-80′s work from Parade and Under a Cherry Moon. And Gwen Stefani plays the perfect coquettish pop tart cheerleader to his bra-snapping, letter jacket quarterback. You can just hear Andre playing out his inner retro sock hop fantasies (something that would later reveal itself more visually in his clothing line). I’m not saying his best days are behind him, I just want Andre to find himself again.

:: selected by: Jams Dean :: Avant – Phone Sex (That’s What’s Up)

I don’t know how I missed this track from 2003, but it is absolutely amazing. Complete with water drop laden snares, plenty of That’s-What’s-Ups and sexy sex noises at the end, “Phone Sex (That’s What’s Up)” competes with the slowest of slow-sex songs. You can tell by listening to it that Avant really wants to have sex really bad, for a really long time. The best line is, “gettin’ freaky at the movies, I don’t care if it’s PG.” I hope Avant gets what he wants, and I hope it does happen with a family of five sitting three rows behind.

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 :: Nite Jewel – It Goes Through Your Head (Dam-Funk Clubdub)

Dam-Funk is the best thing that could have possibly happened to Nite Jewel. Now that Dam has had his fingers all over Ramona Gonzalez, it’s hard to listen to Nite Jewel without wishing she’d just oust “that other bro”, unleash Nite Funk on the world and never look back. Nite Jewel’s new EP, It Goes Through Your Head, gives another teaser of that long-awaited (and not yet delivered) Nite Funk release, in the form of Dam-Funk’s Clubdub remix of the EP’s title track. The original is decent enough, a sultry slow mo burner with some nice guitar thrown in, but easily forgotten once Dam’s had his way with it. Adding his magic boogie synths, Dam transforms Gonzalez’s overshot, abrasive vocals into a mix of sexed up funk and echoing loops. As much as I love Dam-Funk’s original work, I’d love to hear the result of him producing someone else’s album. He’s got the Midas touch.

:: selected by: BryanB :: Chrisette Michele (ft. Rick Ross) – So In Love

In lieu of explaining why my selection has been stuck on repeat this week, I will instead share a passage from a book I am reading, that I found particularly appropriate and illuminating:

“…his nasty ass crew who never leave and eat all the food…the way he leers at my little sister…the duffel bags from “work”…coming home at 3am without calling to let me know…the countless nights, waiting up…the lipstick smears on his pants…that cracked out bitch who set his car on fire…the pics on his phone from his last trip to Vegas…his secret account for his side ho…making me lie under oath…all these bastard kids…despite all these things, when I’m at my breaking point, when this Queen can’t take no more, he just holds me so tight and I know deep in his heart, that he cares for me. I’m still so in love...”

— excerpt from Brick by Brick, The House that Thug Built, A Love Story by Shawnda Jackson

:: selected by: Jams Dean :: Robot Koch – Away From

I was on a four hour bus ride late at night recently, and it was one of those times where I wanted to listen to music but nothing fit my night traveling, dark winter chill vibes. Then I ran into this song and listened to it on repeat for maybe an hour or so. I kind of got lost in the trance of it, which I never do with music, so I just kept playing it over and over so I would keep getting lost in it, like a meditation. “Away From” by Robot Koch, isn’t necessarily the most exciting song in the world, but it makes the rest of the world a more interesting place when applied to your headphones. If I worked in film, I would be ecstatic for music like this.

:: selected by: Moneyworth :: Lil B – Reggie Miller

In full disclosure, the only things I listened to at all this week were “Black and Yellow,” approximately 200 times, and Lil B‘s Evil Red Flame mixtape. Hey guys, you heard this new song “Black and Yellow”? Anyway, until pretty recently I found Lil B more interesting in theory than in actuality; I adored his vocabulary, crazy lyrical themes and Twitter persona but found it slightly difficult to get through his mixtapes, particularly the older ones. I’ve realized, though, that if you give him enough time  Lil B will make you love him, you don’t really have a choice. And for all the charm of his more absurd rhymes, he is actually getting more coherent with everything he puts out. “Reggie Miller” isn’t as funny and weird as “Ellen Degeneres” or “I’m Paris Hilton”; it’s just straight up dope/rare.

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 :: Nite Jewel – It Goes Through Your Head (Dam-Funk Clubdub)

Dam-Funk is the best thing that could have possibly happened to Nite Jewel. Now that Dam has had his fingers all over Ramona Gonzalez, it’s hard to listen to Nite Jewel without wishing she’d just oust “that other bro”, unleash Nite Funk on the world and never look back. Nite Jewel’s new EP, It Goes Through Your Head, gives another teaser of that long-awaited (and not yet delivered) Nite Funk release, in the form of Dam-Funk’s Clubdub remix of the EP’s title track. The original is decent enough, a sultry slow mo burner with some nice guitar thrown in, but easily forgotten once Dam’s had his way with it. Adding his magic boogie synths, Dam transforms Gonzalez’s overshot, abrasive vocals into a mix of sexed up funk and echoing loops. As much as I love Dam-Funk’s original work, I’d love to hear the result of him producing someone else’s album. He’s got the Midas touch.

:: selected by: BryanB :: Chrisette Michele (ft. Rick Ross) – So In Love

In lieu of explaining why my selection has been stuck on repeat this week, I will instead share a passage from a book I am reading, that I found particularly appropriate and illuminating:

“…his nasty ass crew who never leave and eat all the food…the way he leers at my little sister…the duffel bags from “work”…coming home at 3am without calling to let me know…the countless nights, waiting up…the lipstick smears on his pants…that cracked out bitch who set his car on fire…the pics on his phone from his last trip to Vegas…his secret account for his side ho…making me lie under oath…all these bastard kids…despite all these things, when I’m at my breaking point, when this Queen can’t take no more, he just holds me so tight and I know deep in his heart, that he cares for me. I’m still so in love...”

— excerpt from Brick by Brick, The House that Thug Built, A Love Story by Shawnda Jackson

:: selected by: Jams Dean :: Robot Koch – Away From

I was on a four hour bus ride late at night recently, and it was one of those times where I wanted to listen to music but nothing fit my night traveling, dark winter chill vibes. Then I ran into this song and listened to it on repeat for maybe an hour or so. I kind of got lost in the trance of it, which I never do with music, so I just kept playing it over and over so I would keep getting lost in it, like a meditation. “Away From” by Robot Koch, isn’t necessarily the most exciting song in the world, but it makes the rest of the world a more interesting place when applied to your headphones. If I worked in film, I would be ecstatic for music like this.

:: selected by: Moneyworth :: Lil B – Reggie Miller

In full disclosure, the only things I listened to at all this week were “Black and Yellow,” approximately 200 times, and Lil B‘s Evil Red Flame mixtape. Hey guys, you heard this new song “Black and Yellow”? Anyway, until pretty recently I found Lil B more interesting in theory than in actuality; I adored his vocabulary, crazy lyrical themes and Twitter persona but found it slightly difficult to get through his mixtapes, particularly the older ones. I’ve realized, though, that if you give him enough time  Lil B will make you love him, you don’t really have a choice. And for all the charm of his more absurd rhymes, he is actually getting more coherent with everything he puts out. “Reggie Miller” isn’t as funny and weird as “Ellen Degeneres” or “I’m Paris Hilton”; it’s just straight up dope/rare.