Ceschi - Forgotten Forever Tracklist

This seems to be the tracklist from Ceschi's upcoming album Forgotten Forever. It will be released sometime this year on Cooler Than Cucumbers Records. It will be 100 vinyl copies with 100 unique covers. It will be sold auction style. I might not totally like that, but we'll see when it's time. It will be a gem though I'm sure. The photo here is of one of the covers, courtesy of Serafima Skibyuk. 

01. Easy Arithmetic
02. One Million Battles
03. Love Song For The Apocalypse
04. Work Song (feat. Baracuda, NGAFSH & Child Actor)
05. Set In Stone
06. Death Cake
07. Terrible Twos
08. Sellouts (feat. Mike Mictlan)
09. Injuries Being Called Suspicious
10. Forgotten Forever (feat. Busdriver, Onry Ozzborn & Child Actor)
11. Must Forget (feat. David Ramos & Max Heath)
12. My Dog
13. Weather Person
14. The Hill
15. Never Write A Song About You

Beatoven - Tangled EP

I think I first stumbled across Beatoven when I found out that the guy behind the moniker, Stephen Baxter, also was a part of the amazing group Wild Dogs in Winter. They have now sadly enough stopped making music together, but the members have not been sleeping since then. Luke Payne creates stunning music under the name Thverfellshorn, Rhys Baker is A Native Hundred, and like earlier mentioned, Stephen is releasing music under the name of Beatoven. And such beautiful music it is! I liked Fully Baked EP that dropped back in 2010, but Tangled EP feels more matured, more finished somehow. 5 songs that hold their own no matter if they are instrumentals, such as Ground Born, or if we are treated to the vocals of Amy Hiller and the Palistinian emcee Boikutt. It feels like the time now is ready for a full length from Beatoven, I know that I will listen with enjoyment.

Rating: 6.5/10

sole - No Wising Up No Settling Down

Time again for yet another album from the man we call sole. And what is good about his releases is that you know that they will never leave you untouched. His material always envokes some kind of emotional response in you, and I wish that I could say the same about the majority of records being released out there today. I was going to say that on No Wising Up No Settling Down, sole is angry, but sole is always angry. He wouldn't be the interesting artist that he is without that fire inside him. And this is an album where he, as always, shares his views on the world around us in a personal and trustworthy way. 

I know I have dissed him from time to time lately, but I admit that some of my opinions have been wrongly aimed at sole's talent and material. He IS a very good emcee and he has lyrics that actually say something, and in many ways he is the Chuck D of our age. Unfortunately though, the beats and music that backs him up is not by todays The Bomb Squad. Far from it. To be quite honest, most of the music on N.W.U.N.S.D. leaves me completely cold, and even bored. So if a could put a grade on the lyrics and vocals alone on this album, it would probably end up being a 7. But because of the music and production, the grade can only be a 5.

Rating: 5/10

Kadyelle - The Theory of Everything

I first heard Kadyelle a bit over a year ago, and I really liked her style. She has a nice jazzy flow and a voice that is pleasant to listen to. And she keeps showing why she's a force to be reckoned with here on The Theory of Everything. She has developed as an emcee and as a lyricist and she feels much more secure in what she is doing. 

Unfortunately the album itself doesn't quite work in its entirety, and that's mainly because of the beats. They are not bad, but too many of them are a bit too weak to really lift the album to where it needs to be. In the end though it's still a decent album featuring a really talented artist. I thought about giving the album a 6 out of 10, but the horrible beat for Safe  unfortunately brings it down to a 5.

Rating: 5/10

Interview #26 - DOS4GW

Make Your Ears Bleed

It's very easy to think that all good producers come from places such as the US, Europe and Japan. There are tons of interesting names all over the place doing great music and new interesting sounds. DOS4GW is one of those. I listened to him a bit a few years ago, but after meeting the guy down in Melbourne last year got me really into his stuff. So it's with pleasure that I present one of my current favourite beatmakers. He's not just an great Australian artist, he's a great artist period.

First off, please tell us a little bit about yourself. Who's DOS4GW and why shouldn't we miss out on what you got going on?

DOS4GW is a few things - a roguelike hiphop producer and post-rave terror, progressive crunk-noise and skweeeelectronica artist, mainly. Basically it’s samples flipped from anywhere and everywhere from SNES roms to MegaDrive roms to GBA roms to NEOGEO roms, big drums, heavy bass synths and sleigh bells. Airhorns.

Why shouldn’t you miss out? well. It’d be presumptive for me to say ‘cos i’m a bad ass’ or something but you should definitely take a listen because I’ve been working hard on my sound for years now and feel like a) I’m super happy with everything I’m doing now and b) I’m still improving. also c) I like offending people with loud, digital abrasion combined with analog synths and drum machines and seriously if you don’t like that i) you can fuck off and ii) you’re probably reading the wrong fucking interview amirite?

Seriously though your mate Dave likes me so check it out.

How did you get into music making and can you tell us about your musical history?

My mother is a very musical person and she took me to Suzuki Method classes before I could consistently shit in the correct domestic appliance. To give you an idea of ‘very musical’ she has a severe degenerative brain condition and is in residential care but can still play a bunch of Beethoven. Anyway, piano and trumpet lessons all throughout primary school, then tuba in high school, and a stint at the University of Western Australia studying classical music performance. I didn’t last long there though. Took up guitar when I was a spotty teenager as well, and spent about ten years playing with rock and funk bands.

However I was always much more interested in computer generated music and synthesizers, from the age of about 13. I worked a whole summer at a petrol station for $6 an hour to buy a sampler when I was that age, and I’ve been obsessed with collecting gear for longer than I can remember.

The other piece of the puzzle is my obsession with technology and computers. When I was growing up, my Dad got on board with the newish personal computing trend. We had a bangin’ old XT which he wrote a thesis on. I mostly used it to play pinball and King’s Quest. My older brother was also into computers and we used to spend our pocket money at computer trash-or-treasure markets. We’d buy a shitload of old motherboards, CPUs, RAM etc and try to cobble them together into working units. I think the first one that I managed to get working by myself was a 286. To say that I was stoked would be an understatement. I had set off the surge protector more than a few times before that but it was a small price to pay. It was the start of a lifelong obsession with being hands on with technology.

I think being an electronic music artist was somewhat inevitable, right from the start. It scratches a lot of my itches. Plus I enjoy doing it and enjoy meeting other people who do it too. Plus sometimes people give you free drugs!

How would you describe your music and would you mind sharing your creative process with us? Don't hesitate to get geeky for the readers out there.

I find describing my music difficult. Here goes though: it’s 60-170bpm electronic music, more on the head nod type tip rather than the dancefloor vibe, but with rave and tech influences. I produce lots of doom electronica hiphop beats for rappers also. 

My process can start in one of two places:

1. Digging at the trash and treasure market or

2. Generating a weird/cool noise/riff with a synth or sampler on hand.

I have a few spots I hit regularly, and I try to only buy a few records at a time to sample. Too much choice = no creative pressure. There’s always a few crates with unusual stuff spread over the markets. And if not, buy some banging percussive techno riddims or a cheesy soundtrack. Get home, play through, flip anything that sounds good. Sometimes it jumps straight out, other times it’s a long wait or a miss, but there’s usually something to try. Once I’ve got the sample, I find that I can hear what it needs (to my ears, anyway) pretty quickly, be it breaks, drum machine hits, bassline, synth melody/harmony, whatever really. I have a massive collection of sounds that I’ve been collecting over the years, but nowhere near as big as some of the libraries I’ve seen. I’m probably somewhere in the middle on that one, e.g. more than 100 breaks but less than 10,000,000,000. Again, too much choice is a bad thing for me.

I’ve got a few favourite synths and samplers too. I used to be a big hardware sampler junkie but downsized recently. Favourite keyboard sampler? Ensoniq Mirage, or possibly the Korg MicroSampler, which is fucking massively underrated, buy one now. Favourite rack sampler? Akai S612, if you’ve played with one you know what I mean. Favourite desktop sampler? MPC1000, only because it’s the only MPC I’ve had and it’s a lot better than my ES-1! haha. Favourite synth? Hands down, my Roland System100 semi-modular, with expander, sequencer (12 step yeah baby!!?) and mixer. Original Virus is up there too (although Yes No Maybe stole mine! jerk). I haven’t bought a new synth in a while so I’m looking forward to finding something a bit more weird. Always been fascinated by the Kurzweil K2000 series so maybe I’ll try to track one of those bad boys down. Controller-wise I mostly just use my MicroSampler because it’s USB and is always plugged in, or if I’m feeling a bit more fruity then I have an EWI-4000S, or padKontrol.

From a recording standpoint, it’s LPs -> Shure M44-7 -> SL1200 -> Pioneer DJM 600 -> dbx 376 tube strip eq, compressor and de-esser, or straight from synth/sampler outputs to the dbx or direct to interface. On that side, I use a MOTU 896HD interface, all routed into Cubase. Most sequencing, processing and extra FX are within the box, with a range of VSTs. I won’t say exactly what (come on, a girl’s gotta have secrets) but there’s distortion FX, delays, EQs, filters and sequenced fucking-with-shit FX. Brands like Waves, Camel Audio, TC Electronic, Audio Damage and Ohm Force. I’m using a Windows 8 PC, with an i7 CPU, Kingmax RAM, Gigabyte boards and Samsung SSDs. I’ve always been a PC hardware guy so I’m fanatical about things like having a good PSU, top end motherboards with good controllers, really inane stuff like that. Makes the tunes sound better, haha. I use Macs at work and hate them, plus a lot of my hardware has stopped working with Macs as they’ve updated things in the last few years. I’ve always been able to make PCs work in the past, and now they just work without any fuckery, so that particular choice is a no brainer for me.

In terms of monitoring I’m outputting to a Mackie Big Knob which is the piece of kit I touch the most in my little studio. Big fan of a Big Knob. I’ve got Mackie 824s (the old ones) hooked up to that for near-field monitoring. I use the headphone outs to see what mixes sound like on shitty canalphones, those TDK ones you see for $12 on the high street, as well as Sennheiser HD 202s (which I maintain are the cheapest yet most flexible headphone on the market, if you need something that you can DJ with, check mixes with in the studio and use on the train without looking like too much of a cock). I also have reed fencing, plastic plants, and fairy lights. And a 40” LCD screen so that I don’t have to squint.

In terms of tunes, sometimes I can hear a sample, flip it, add a break, chop the break, add another kick and some sleigh bells, layer a bassline, play a synth line in, loop it up, arrange and vary it a bit, export it and be done inside an hour. Other times, it takes me three months to go through exactly the same process. I try not to force things too much - if I try a few things and they suck, well, not point trying to rape a track out of the sample. That said, if a sample sounds like it has potential but it’s not quite there yet, then I keep trying. I make on average about 2 beats I’m happy with per month. Slow, but I’m happy with everything that is coming out now, which wasn’t always the case. People are noticing and that’s really motivating because it means that my process is working, even if it is slow. I am jealous of people who can crank out quality beats much faster than me, but I’m happy with where I am, so doubt I will pressure myself to up the ante in terms of sheer output volume.

What are your influences?

I’m heavily influenced by: hiphop. rave electronica, acid house, and a range of drum and bass from 90s jungle to current 2010s tech. youtube. the rings of saturn. hardcore (all kinds). thrash and doom metal, animated gifs, breakcore music.. um.. dobermans.. and magic mushrooms. and whisky. That’s definitely what my music sounds like. It’s the sound of tenuously controlled techno-alcoholism punctuated by psychedelic experiences, amen breaks screwed to 69bpm and Tony Robinson from Time Team smoking a blunt on the site of a Roman villa excavation.

When I was a kid, my older brother was my god, and he was a grunge and metal guy, so that’s what I was. It was acceptable to like The Prodigy, NIN and Cypress Hill because they crossed over. Then I heard Temples of Boom.. the production on that album is godlike. Muggs absolutely kills it. That disc hit me at exactly the right time. I spent some time in Sweden when my mother went on a lecturing exchange there when I was a teenager and it was just a perfect soundtrack to the eternal darkness and heated bus stops in the north of Sweden. It opened my eyes up to hiphop in a way that no record before it did. It’s funny how a ‘3 and a half star’ album can hit you like that sometimes. I was born in ‘84 so I missed rap music the first few times around, but after discovering Gravediggaz and Wu-Tang after that fateful trip, my path was pretty much set (even though I didn’t know it at the time).

I would say that my list of influences is getting smaller over time as I find more confidence in my own sound. But that might just be the sake talking.

Seeing that you're from Australia, what is your opinion about the hip hop/beat scene over there? 

I’m probably not the best person to ask about that really. I have never been much into the scene here. This is going to sound like a cop out but.. all my favourite rappers growing up were from the USA. That’s just how rap music sounds to me.

That said though, I love the fact that a lot of crews in Australia don’t really give a fuck about what’s happening on a larger scale, they just do what they want. There’s a big wonky beat scene here but I don’t get into that much... and there are a lot of Dilla-likes fucking everywhere. However, there are lots of people who represent originality in pretty much every city in Australia and I have a lot of respect for that. I think that’s what I like about the scene here - people are really dedicated and you can tell that they love what they do. My Dad always told me that was the most important thing in any aspect of life - loving it and being proactive about what you love - and that makes me optimistic about the future of hiphop and beat music in Australia. A lot of guys are having commercial success too which is great because it always drives more engagement with the more real scenes, no matter how commercial and fake the progress might seem. It might seem like those guys have it easy but a few people around me are on that path and it has a whole lot of other stresses and troubles that underground guys don’t even have to know about. Imagine your whole career trajectory being determined by an FM radio tastemaker! crazy.

I’ve been really lucky in that I’ve been at the right place at the right time when it’s come to meeting the right people in my journey through the underbelly of the weird music scenes in Australia and via the internet, the world. Hooking up initially with The Community was a godsend, and then when I moved over to Melbourne from Perth, the genesis of L-Burn was happening and I just lucked straight into such a tight thing with those guys.

Tell us a bit about The Community and L-Burn ILLuminati.

I met Mathas from The Community when we were in high school. We both went to a pretty conservative school that was pretty supportive of the traditional arts like orchestral music, theatre etc. so it was a strange place to meet someone like that. Mathas is a great MC and awesome producer, but I didn’t know that at the time. I knew he was a good actor because I played in the bands for the school plays. I knew the guy and we were friendly but we weren’t tight. A couple of years later I started getting a bit more confident with my beats and my man Loss suggested that I talk to Mathas because ‘he does hiphop’. Fucking lucky that I did too, I took a beat CD down to the Hyde Park Hotel in Northbridge, WA one night because I saw Mathas on the bill there. Shout outs to the old Hyde Park, 40 cent pool representing. I got chatting with him after his set, gave him the CD, and boom, things were rolling. He guested on tracks for me, I recorded his 10lb Hairless Sasquatch album at the house I was living in at the time, and Diger and the whole Community family just opened their arms to me pretty much just through that. Looking back they were insanely tolerant of me, which was lucky because I was a bit of a cunt back when I was younger. Drank way too much, got out of hand easily. I remember once trying to choke Diger’s partner because she stole my walking stick at a party. I bumrushed the decks at another party when YLEM was playing. I was mortified afterwards of course. Getting off on the wrong foot like that can be fucking damaging in the wrong scenes. But they were patient and I am forever indebted to them for that. These days, The Community has grown into a huge artist and creative collab group, making dope beats, tunes, raps, art, visual, everything. Nothing but good shit comes out of there. Peace Community fam, I still got you.

Things were going good and I was getting my MySpace friend numbers up (shout outs Justin Timberlake bringing that back) when a guy called Brendan Webb hit me up asking me if I wanted to play the opening of a night called Render in Melbourne, and he knew this rapper GDP who was coming out, did I have any beats I could send for him? I went over, played the night, met AOI, Mr DNA and GDP (who was in town at the time, in from New Jersey). Got drunk as hell, as usual. GDP and AOI and I made the Magic Bullet tape, in our bedrooms and whatnot, over the internet, which I think still bangs pretty hard. A few years later, after I had moved over to Melbourne and met a few more guys, L-Burn was born. Props to DNA and AOI for getting me in on the ground floor with that!! haha. L-Burn is going from strength to strength now. We’ve got some great releases coming in 2013, Kwasi just dropped his EP which is dope as hell, Yes No Maybe dropped his tape loops EP which is on repeat in my headphones right now, amazing, me and DNA are just about to drop our EP, AOI is still going nuts with the records to prove it coming out left right and centre (24 releases in 2012!!!! what the fuck!?!?!!), Epps is coming hard and killing the battle scene as well as making waves in the acting community and recording on the side, we’ve got Tigermoth down in the L now throwing out MAJOR waves across the globe, watch out for his new disc, KLB is rolling out the soundpond crew in Melbourne, what up Calum, Class A is up for best female MC in the ozhiphop.com awards this year and has more Facebook likes than all of us put together!! GDP starting some major shit in NYC/NJ, NoEmotion GoldMask cranking out videos and internet hits from Miami, Suckerfish P Jones is in Melbourne reppin’ L, watch out for him, RIP Prince Mackadilly, Namine is going to blow everyone away, that kid is amazing, watch out for his album in the first half of this year, DJ LAME rolling out his Drty Shdws Prjkt label worldwide, DANKCITY filming more amazing shit, So High finally being persuaded to release his beats (COME ONNNNNN!!!), watch for that, Dyl Thomas smoothin’ out on y’all, fuck son and we got the L-Burn crew album starting recording in two weeks!!! I’ve heard a lot of the beats for it already and they are m_e_n_t_a_l. so.. watch out for L-Burn in 2013, is what i’m tryin to say I guess, haha. 

Do you have a dream project that you would like to work on?

Yep I’d love to produce a record featuring Sadat X, Count Bass D, Klashnekoff, Prodigy, B-Real, GDP, No Emotion and Danny Brown. Then, I’d just put out the instrumentals. Release the raps on like limited bonus 7”s or something :)

What do you want to accomplish with your music?

Strange question. I’m not consciously trying to accomplish anything, except for self-gratification. I make music because I do, and always have. It would be nice to leave something other than a gravestone and a few memories on this earth, so music is a good avenue in there. Seriously though, I’m not really sure. I think that’s why I enjoy it so much. No boundaries, no expectations, just art.

What are you up to when you're not making music?

I work in user experience design, which is kinda like at the junction of designing interactions (so things like web sites, apps, etc), market research (finding out what users of said apps, sites etc actually want and need) and service design (making sure all touchpoints between a user and a brand, business or organisation are cohesive and comply with a consistent message and vision).

Basically I’m a designer who can also do research and analysis. Sounds sexy, no? I work 9-6 like a good boy, and work my music around that.

I live in Hawthorn with my girl and a cat called Pepper who meows at me a heap. She’s sitting next to me right now actually. I like to watch QI, Time Team, nerd shit like that. I like videogames too, but after 25ish years of playing them, other things in life are taking priority. I used to play maybe 8 hours per day, videogames on PC, when I was a teenager. Now I try to funnel that energy into more creative channels and for the most part it is working. I play games to relax now, not to hone my Counterstrike skills to the next 0.01 percentile. That said I have clocked more than 300 hours in TF2. :S 

What can we expect from you in the near future?

The near future: DNA x DOS is coming out very soon, early April. We’re in final stages of mastering it, so it’s done, 99% there. Release party at the Croft on April 13!! I’ve also got a few remixes coming out soon that have been in the bag for a while, most notably a remix for Walter Gross + sole that I did late last year, as well as a Cult Favorite remix that I’m really liking at the moment. New L-Burn album, as I mentioned before - I will have a couple beats on there. New DOS4GW instrumental record, the follow up to SUICIDE, called SUISIDE B, is coming along slowly... it’s a year since I put out SUICIDE and I’ve been getting distracted with other projects so haven’t been spending enough time on it like I planned. That’s the big one for me this year though, I’m getting it done no matter what before mid year so that I can ramp that up with a bit more publicity and what not than I usually do. I’ve got another release with GDP coming this year hopefully too, if I can get onto the guy. AOI/DOS4GW split cassette dropping soon on Seaby Records. DOS x k(no o) split EP also, look out for that, we haven’t started though haha!!

I could drop a bunch of names and say oh I’m hoping to write with this person and collabing with that person but to be honest who knows what will happen this year. I actually want to get started on that dream record I mentioned too (and have a couple of ins so ... who knows, it could happen!). Basically what I’m gonna do is write a whole bunch of music, put it on the internet, update twitter, and see how things go. I have the luxury of hardly anyone knowing who I am, so pressure is self-created for the most part. The blessing of being ‘underground’. But don’t worry, lots of stuff coming, for real.

Shout outs?

You know who you fucking are. L-burn. Community. Reservoir Sound (whatup AM, elucid, let’s do it). GDP, Slangcorp, if you’re still around. Can’t wait for AOI x TMFSE. 3BY3, thanks for the mixtape love - same to SKYWLKR, thanks for putting me on the mixtape god. Shouts to all my heads working community radio and online radio, soundpond, RTRFM, 3RRR, PBS, electric crush, down underground. Shouts Seaby. Kimi Räikkönen, come through this year son. Glenlivet, I’m keeping y’all in business so how about a free hat or something? Dan Murphy. My new dentist, you rock, and BUPA for footing most of my bills like a boss. Insurance is finally paying off. All the hardworking people I pirated programs off of over he last 15 years, I’m sorry, I’m paying for your shit now mostly, I got you, you know me, shouts. I’m good for it. Meow outs to Pepper and to Stevens, RIP you crazy motherfucker. And Kerrianne, I love you, and now you can’t tell me I never shout you out!! and beats breaks & big smiles :) peace!

http://dos4gw.com

https://soundcloud.com/dos4gw

http://dnaxdos.com

Interview #25 - Moshe

קען ניט זאָרגן ווייניקער

When I started up this series of interviews, Moshe was one of the first people I wanted to do one with. I don't know why I never got around to it until now, but better late than never I guess. Being the man behind Milled Pavement, one of my absolute favourite record labels these last few years, as well as releasing great music on his own was the main reason for me to invite him to do this. Him being devilishly funny and nice was another one.

Can you please tell us about who you are, your background and how you got in to this crazy thing called music?

What up?!, I’m Marc Shepard, some know me as Moshe. I began DJ’ing as a little dude, spinning tracks at local high school dances and parties in the late 80’s. Once I was old enough to play at clubs I started looking for a place to spin underground hip-hop – the unconventional shit at that time like Sole, Arsonists, Saafir, O.C, shit very few heads had on their walkman. I got my first turntable from high school friend Moodswing9, and learned to blend from a few local legends like DJ Nicotine & Dale Da Dred. After scratching records with a few different groups I started producing my own tracks. My first album was Milled Pavement release number 001.

I've heard rumors that you have a new EP coming up. What can we expect from that one, and how come it took so long to release it? 

The rumors are true, Suffering Makes for Great Bedtime Stories, will be released sometime this year on Milled Pavement Records. The album features vocal styling’s from Noah23, jamesreindeer, babelfishh, EVAK1, Brzowski, Monsieur Saï, THMS, Riddlore?, Swordplay and more. I started the EP over a year ago, but have been concentrating my creative side towards DJing filthstep, touring Europe with fellow brother-of-the-beard, Brzowski, and running the label. Winter in Maine is the perfect time to lock yourself in and make things happen.

You're the man with the plan behind Milled Pavement, the big cheese so to speak. Can you tell us about how the label all came about, and what are your views about its development so far? 

Milled Pavement goes beyond Moshe truly, we are a conglomerate of artists working together towards a common goal. I mean, I may have the final say, but it truly is a group effort.

Once I released a few of my own albums under the MP label, I figured I could help other like-minded artists do the same. I was meeting other producers & mc’s from all over the world on websites like Myspace and MP3.com who eventually became part of the extended family.

What does a typical day look like in the life of Moshe? What are you up to when you’re Marc and not Moshe?

I wake up, get coffee, smoke 40 cigarettes and see what happens. I don’t recommend this, however.

Apart from the EP, what can we look forward to from you in the future?

I’m currently working on an album with wonky producer 32french, a new Desert People project should be starting up soon with Mike Clouds, an upcoming 12” release and full length album with Brzowski will be started soon. I’ll also be releasing more filthstep mixtapes this year (if the dubstep producers stop making trap music and get back to the filth).

What are your influences? What made you the artist that you are today? 

As a youngster I was highly influenced by early death metal bands like Slayer, etc. and then 90’s hip-hop. As I grew older I was into a lot of downtempo beats, hip-hop instrumentals from artists on Ninja Tune, Shadow, etc.

You are without a doubt one of my favourite tweeters, because you never seem to care what other people might think of what you say. Is this a typical trait for you?

Absolutely! Ha. I’ve never cared what others think of me. That could be a curse, but I don’t care! Truthfully I enjoy making people laugh, and Twitter is a great outlet for that.

What do you want to accomplish with your music?

The music is the accomplishment. Having people listen, and enjoy what I do only makes the process that much more fulfilling.

Any final words?

Big ups to you for thinking of me! Shouts to the entire Milled Pavement Records fam, EmBen Digital and 2-99 Records.

http://www.milledpavement.com/
http://www.twitter.com/moshstep
http://www.facebook.com/moshemusic
http://www.soundcloud.com/moshe-1
http://www.mixcloud.com/moshebenyitzhak

Sadistik - Flowers for My Father

It's a true joy to see an artist constantly evolving, improving, reaching. Sadistik is one of those artists. Someone who doesn't settle for what's easy or trying to fit in with what everyone else is doing. He strives to bring out the personal in everything he does, and we as listeners get to enjoy beautiful music because of it. I really liked The Balancing Act when it dropped back in 2008, and ever since then he's slowly but surely picked out his own path with his music. 

Flowers for My Father is 13 songs of some of the best hip hop out there at the moment. Well, let me rephrase that, it's some of the best music out there at the moment. Simply defining Sadistik as a hip hop artist is only restricting him, and he's so much more than that. Flowers for My Father is a great start of the year for him and for Fake Four Inc.

Rating: 8/10

Serengeti - Saal

I like Serengeti. You never quite know what to expect each time he releases a record, and that's something I admire. When I first put on Saal I was really pleased. I liked the soulful, singy album that sometimes are as far away from typical hip hop as you can get. He doesn't really get away with his new style though. At times he borders on the sound of Buck 65, and that's a good thing. All too often though he borders on the style of another Canadian rapper that I won't mention by name here. And that's not a good move. 

Even if I still like the album, I get less and less impressed by it, and I don't think that this is one of the Serengeti records that I will return to very often.

Rating: 5.5/10

Hectic Zeniths - Type One Era

When Hectic Zeniths dropped his album with the same name back in 2011, I got hooked. Hooked to the beautiful melodies, the moods he created and the worlds the music opened up for me inside my head. That album is one that I still listen to quite often, whenever I feel I need to hide a bit from the world outside. So when I heard about type one era, I got really excited. Unfortunately I wasn't as taken this time around. This EP, while still good, is much less focused and more fragmented and it feels at time that it has no real sense of direction. It confuzes me at times, while sometimes creating that beautiful feeling in my head. Perhaps I need to give this record some more spins to really appreciate it fully, but for now I'm not feeling it that much.

Rating: 5/10

Kay the Aquanaut & Factor - Letters from Laika

Kay the Aquanaut and Factor are probably two of Canada's most reliable artists, and have been for several years now. As soon as either one of them release something, you know that the standard will be very high and that the risk of getting disappointed is slim. So when these two guys team up for the full length album Letters from Laika, you know that you're in for some first class hip hop. 11 tracks of the smoothest beats and tightest rhymes around is what we're getting served here, and it sure is a tasty meal. I'm also very happy to see that the number of guests are minimal, and that these guys fill this plate in their own right. Ok, enough with the food terms now. 

I can't really pick out a favourite track here, but at the same time no bad ones either. And that's both the blessing and the curse here. What I do miss when it comes to these guys is something a bit more rough, a bit more out there so to speak. But it's all very precise and perfect which kind of makes it too much after a while. I would like something a bit more chewy at times. That put aside though, do pick up this album. Both because it's really good, but also because artists like these deserve all the support they can get.

Rating: 7/10

Now Streaming: Connect the Machine to the Map

In a collaboration between Dora dorovitch and Quixote R.P.M. comes a majestic compilation of tracks. It spans beautifully between electronica and shoegaze hip hop, and every single track is a gem. Amongst the 24 tracks we find artists such as bleubird feat. Ceschi, Brad Hamers, variex., Ancient Mith, Riddlore?, mattr., otem rellik and James Reindeer. The album will be available on February 28, but today you can get the exclusive feel for what to expect by streaming it here on beats, breaks & big smiles 2.0!

greencarpetedstairs - greencarpetedstairs presents 1222

As much as I liked greencarpetedstairs full length album from last year, as much this latest offering leaves me feeling nothing at all. I should like it a lot considering guest vocals from people such as bleubird, Ceschi, Noah23 and Kaigen. But unfortunately I don't. I can't even really say if the EP is good or bad. Some people might like it, but I forget what it sounded like as soon as I turned it off.

Rating: 4/10

Fresh Dirt - The Bedroom Tape

Fresh Dirt consists of Andrew Milicia, Pagezmusic and Emoh Betta. The Bedroom Tape is their first release, and it's not half bad. Andrew definitely got a nice vocal style, and backed up by Pagezmusic and Emoh, it's quite solid, straight up hip hop. Just a shame that solid, straight up hip hop don't do it for me the same way that it used to. In general I think that is one of the problems that I have with Fameless Fam that these guys represent. Not that they make bad music, on the contrary, they are all very talented artists and deserve any praise they can get. But I've heard it all before and most of it don't excite me as much as I perhaps would like. Still a good record though, please check it out for yourself.

Rating: 5/10

James P Honey - dIv_ØØNYgHN

Brand new tape from James P Honey. Just the sentence itself makes me happy. Here he's hooked up with Divergent Series to release 30 minutes of basically him with a guitar. If you are familiar with the sounds of A Band of Buriers, dIv_ØØNYgHN can best be described as what James P Honey did in the interludes between recording songs for Filth. In many ways there is a striking resemblance between this tape and what ABOB is doing, but this is the raw, unfiltered version. It might not be as good as their material, but for a fan of James P Honey's way with words and feel for melodies, dIv_ØØNYgHN is a treat not to be missed.

Rating: 6.5/10

ESH & ARC - Nightworks

A year ago, ESH released The Invisible EP together with Dox. I truly enjoyed that record in it's simplicity, and therefor I looked forward to checking out Nightworks, an EP ESH made together with Arc. Here he keeps doing what he does best, music that is straight on without a lot of bullshit. It's nothing too clever or special about this, but you don't really need that as long as you can do good music. And that's something the guys have made here. Looking forward to an full length album from ESH in the future. 

Rating: 5.5/10

Interview #24 - Emoh Betta

Diggin in the Crates

The DJ has been a crucial part of hip hop ever since it's humble beginnings in the 70's. Without them the culture wouldn't even exist. Most hip hop artists nowadays thinks that the DJ is just part of the history, and that the need for them is non existent. One of the people proving them wrong is Massachusetts own Emoh Betta. 

Would you like to introduce us to the world and mysteries of Emoh Betta? Tell us a bit about your background and what makes you, you?

My name is Emoh or Emoh Betta. I'm a scratch DJ/turntablist and I make beats occasionally. I rep Fameless Fam and Milled Pavement. I was born in 78. I grew up on rap music and got introduced to punk/hardcore at the age of 14/15. This was around '92 I believe. This had a huge impact on my life. The name stems from being part of a scene that shaped who I am. These were some of the best times. Touring with bands, attending every show, meeting new people, finding veganism, straight edge, etc,. Anyway people used to call me Emo Dan, not the best name and I don't think the name fit, but that's what happened when you listened to bands like Indian Summer, Still Life, Mineral, and Ethel Meserve, rather than just Judge and Cro-Mags. Haha. The name just stuck with me, and when I started DJing, thanks to finding Skratch Piklz cassettes in my local music store, it was back to hip hop for me. Whichever DJ name I would choose, people would still call me "Emo". At this point it wasn't cool, not that it ever was, but it wasn't this big deal that it is today. Long story short, my mom sold our house and moved back to Canada, and I added the "H" to my already determined name. Emoh is home backwards. It has a deep meaning to me, regardless how it sounds. The "Betta" was added later on by my homie Al-J.

You're just about to drop the tape Boogie Boy Metal Mouth together with J.Ring. What can you tell us about the project and what kind of expectations do you have on it?

BBMM started this past summer as a result of not giving a fuck about all these sub-genres of music. Not giving a fuck but taking it very seriously if that makes sense. I guess we make psychedelic punk rap, which is what we've been told. J-Ring and I go back years. Him and my ex-roommate, Normal, used to be one of the livest, rawest, hip hop duos in Boston like 6 or 7 years ago. Awkward Landing. Their live show was incredible. DJ Shiftee used to be their DJ, homie is nasty. He went on to win the world DMC's and I started to fill in for him here and there. As time passed, everyone started to do their own thing. J went on to form Gun Shop Daddy, a punk rock blues band. People say he left the scene, but few know he never left, he just went punk rockin for a bit. After not seeing each other for a couple of years, we crossed paths at a Busdriver show and I told him to make a song or two just for fun. He said he didn't wanna do just straight rap, and I said "that's perfect." He brought tracks over he made with his band. I chopped them up, added other samples, and cuts. Most our stuff is isn't really sequenced out, I just lay down live takes of stuff on the turntables. No metronomes. Timing might even be off somewhat, but that's our thing, we don't give a fuck. The samples are played live. It's sample based music for sure. Most, if not all of J's verses are one shot takes. No punch ins. It's a smorgasbord of sounds and it has its hip hop moments, but I wouldn't call it rap. We just have fun making music and that's all it comes down to. The name was made up by J. We had a lot of ideas, but this one stuck. Boogie Boy Metal Mouth.

As far as expectations, we are having fun making it, and that is all we need. Obviously we want people to enjoy it also, but whatever happens is fine. So far so good.

What are you up to when you're not making music and causing havoc?

I work at a supermarket. Ive had the same job for over 16 years. Some people may think I just DJ. Haha. That's cool that people think that I guess, but I don't really DJ clubs. There is def money in that, my homies do it. Ill let them do it. I guess i like the idea of making music more. When I'm not making music, I'm eating or working. I work about 45/50 hours a week. So many hours wasted at a job, but I need a steady income to support my food and music addiction.

Apart from BBMM, what can we look forward to from you this year?

Lots!!! My collective/crew Fameless Fam has so many projects dropping over the course of early 2013 which I am heavily involved with. 

F.Virtue & I have our album We Are Not The Shame (WANTS) dropping on Cooler Than Cucumbers. It will be on vinyl, and the digital will be a joint effort with Fake Four Inc.

F.Virtue & I also have an EP in the works with our homie J57 (Brown Bag Allstars).

Daniel J. W!shington (Exquisite Corpse) has his album dropping soon as well. It's unfuckingbelievable! 

Fresh Dirt (Andrew Milicia, pagezmusic, & myself) have an album The Bedroom Tape out around the same time as this interview is done. 

F.Virtue, Ira Lee, and myself also recorded an album under the name Uncle Prince. The Cluhhh is the name of the album and is being finished as we speak. 

H.W. and I will be releasing new music as well, if he ever comes home. We are roommates. 

I've done a few tracks with my homies Grey Sky Appeal for their new release. 

And BBMM is already working on new stuff including a bunch of videos. Our debut album is out now on I Had An Accident Records.

Nowadays it seems like the DJ has been kind of left behind in the hip hop world, especially when it comes to groups and so on. You seem to be very proud of your origin. Can you tell us what being DJ means to you?And also, do you consider yourself a DJ first and a beat maker second, or vice versa?

I consider myself a Scratch DJ or turntablist first. Beat maker second, if that. I still don't think of myself as a producer to be honest. I have made beats years back. I have an MPC2000xl, which I didn't even touch for the BBMM record. Most of those beats were made with my Technics, a pair of Dicers, records, a Rane 56s, a Roland SP-404, and Serato. All of the samples were chopped, cut, and manipulated live and then layered. Sort of a different approach to sequencing, if that makes sense. 

It's more fun to play with the individual sounds and samples rather than just loop it them. 

As far as DJing goes, there are millions of 'em. There are so many types and it's funny to me that rappers don't have them anymore. Some do, don't get me wrong, but I mean DJs that actually cut. It's a rarity. Things go in cycles and scratching will make a comeback for sure. The scratch nerds are out there and respect goes out to them. We inspire each other and many of us make art. Some push buttons and make people dance and love what they do. That's fine.

What inspires you, both when it comes to your music, but also in life in general?

Inspiration comes from a wide variety of things. Hanging with friends, homies that stop thru on tours, finding new music, new food. Sometimes I'll throw on an old X-Men mixtape or watch a Turntable TV VHS tape and become instantly inspired like it was 2001. Or I can throw on a Dirtstyle or Mr. Henshaw loop and cut for hours. I'm lucky to be friends with, and surrounded by so many talented people in music and art. Every one of my closest friends inspires and pushes me to keep doing what I do. I've played a million shows, toured (not as much as I have wanted) and worked with so many talented artists.

You're an outspoken vegan. How important is that to you and how has that changed you?

I'm vegan. I haven't had any meat or animal products in over 15 years. To me it is very important, it's my choice and I feel great about it. It wasn't hard for me to do, it just takes dedication much like anything. I have a GO VEGAN sticker on one of my laptops but I don't go around talking about it or preaching. It's a personal choice, much like straight edge was for me growing up. I prolly have like 4 vegan friends. I don't judge people on what they eat, never. Would it be awesome if everyone gave up meat? Of course! Only because it would make eating out so much easier everywhere, but it won't happen. I have friends that won't even step into a vegetarian restaurant. Haha. I'm lucky to live in an area with many places that have options though. I eat out all the time. Every day. I can't cook.

Shout outs?

Shout outs are tough because you realize you have friends you may not have seen in some time, you accidentally leave them out, they pop up and get mad you didn't mention them. Haha. Peace to everyone I make music with, hang with, eat with, cuddle with, etc,. I love everyone of you.

http://www.facebook.com/djemohbetta

http://www.facebook.com/BoogieBoyMetalMouth

http://boogieboymetalmouth.bandcamp.com/

http://www.famelessfam.com/

http://www.facebook.com/milledpavement

Buck 65 - Who By Fire

From Buck 65's album 20 Odd Years comes the video for Who By Fire, his version of the classic Leonard Cohen track.

We are disco doom REVENGE - Connect the Machine to the Lips

We are disco doom Revenge is a brand new discovery for me. I really don't know anything more than that French producer Francis Esteves is the man behind it. What we are given here are 7 tracks that could be described as something like post-electro shoegaze or just plainly good music with interesting melodies. There are guest vocals on most tracks, but except for Stuporman where Th'Mole is doing his thing, I would have prefered to have the rest of the tracks instrumental. The vocals on the other tracks don't really bring anything to the songs, and then I would much rather enjoy the music on its own. It will be interesting to follow Francis Esteves, I'm sure he will come up with more interesting things in the future.

Rating: 5.5/10

Sadistik - City in Amber feat. Lotte Kestner

New video from Sadistik's upcoming album Flowers For My Father that drops on Fake Four Inc. Feb 19th.

Boogie Boy Metal Mouth - BRN.TH.FCKN.house.DWN

Spanking new video from Boogie Boy Metal Mouth. Their self named tape drops on I had An Accident Records on Feb 5.

Boogie Boy Metal Mouth - 'BRN. TH. FCKN.house.DWN' from iraleeiswack on Vimeo.