Urban

Hip Hop / Urban / Indy Hip Hop / Soul / Beatmaker

Door #7 : 25 Years in the Making! LofiCat – King Of New York Album (Playlist & Free DL)

Paying respect to Frank White, who was on TV Christmas Eve 1993 in NYC.
Back when 555Soul was the place for Mixtapes and Rock & Soul was rocking. Jeru had come out that year and the first Wu-Tang track was out. Slaughterhouse was my album, Souls made the anthem of the year and Flex’ radio show was the shit.
As i reminisce about the cold winter of 1993..

This Advent calendar Door is a special one and this album is a faint memory of the winter 93/94 is pent in New York City with my halfblood cousin Dominik. So it must be fate that i produced these pictures of my mental memory lane with one of my favourite musical partners also called Dominik. Must be my subconscious at work.

But nonetheless, we tried to capture that rough and rugged feel, that you could feel all over town and in every gritty dirty little sidestreet and corner you saw. It was that early 90’s New York. Babylon 5 was on TV, we watched Christopher Walkens King Of New York on Christmas Eve and went down to some of the most bizarre and grimey places, that are simply not around anymore. There was a liveliness that you do not have in NYC anymore, and musically it was the time when Acid Jazz crossed over into Hip Hop, and that rough and rugged sound of Nas, Mobb Deep didnt exist yet. It was more the era of Supercat, Gang Starr, Jeru, Triple 5 Soul Mixtapes, Masta Ace and of course Krs-1’s first solo “Return of The Boom Bap”. Queen Latifah, Naughty by Nature, Onyx was huge and Tupac Hoodies were sold on every corner. Early 90’s Dj Premier was the man on the street and Wu-Tang had just come out the summer before with the Protect Ya Neck/ Method Man 12″.I will never forget how much i thought of my brother and recognized how connected i am to him, an ocean away… as well as that New Years Eve show at Union Square, where Krs-1 & Wu-Tang played their first show. I remember running into the RZA a few years back and telling him that and the look on his face was like a man who just went all the way down memory lane. That show was legendary. And here is the kicker,besides being the only 2 white guys in that place, we bootlegged & recorded the whole effing show ;) …But that’s an upload for another time.

It was a time before Puff, Biggie, and the rest, it was jazz, soulful loops, breaks, with solid drum break, proper mellow vibes, fender chords, live basses and the amalgamation of the hip hop state of mind and music of days long gone by – just like these days are by now. You had your roughest gear on and tried to find your way during that christmas blizzard, that made the Empire State sway from left to tight.

The songs each tell a story that happened and that feel i had back then.

Door #4: SO MUCH THIS Free DL – Reece Lemonius “Love Me” (Cupidon Edit)

Without having introduced Reece himself, and we will save that for Door#5 and a few other doors, bc the fella is amazing, here is a re-edit of Reece’s first official release. The two Beatsmiths Golo & Leo at it again. Another phenomenal yet simple groovy beat break rendering they are offering here. Officially released a few weeks earlier, it mostly was swept under the rug unnoticed, but i think if you are into the sounds of the modern day beatsmiths you can def hear what these two musicians/Djs are cooking. echoua.com. Ps Leo is one of our own – homegrown at the YUM YUM parties in cologne and around and i just wish i had more time to talk to Golo and get him more involved. The sweetest guys ever and their productions are superb. Enjoy this soulful late night gem by Mr Reece Lemonius & Cupidon.

AND in case you missed it. The two fellas had another impeccable release last year, which you can check out here. Go grab the Free DL djs kids, beatmsiths and chillhop enthusiasts.

Door #3 : Free Download of “PFOS” by Mat McHugh

Nr 3 on our X-mas Advent Calendar holds a Free Download of one of our favourite releases on our brand new Chrome Music Label. It just came out and still has room and time to grow and shine. The story behind this tune is that the original, which is one of the most beautiful acoustic songs in my collection, has been a long time favourite on our side of life. Remixing or rather re-imagining this tune proved to be tougher than originally anticipated. How would you change anything to the better, if you already think it’s perfect? So i took a diff approach and got inspired by a movie called “the Red Turtle” and took on its dark, menacing but still loving and humane touch. And this is where the animation comes from in the video.

I am really happy with the way PFOS turned out and it’s definitely a track for our monthly Top Tunes selection. Time to bring those back I’d say ;)
Listen to PFOS on Spotify and/or for the Djs & Collectors : Grab the free download below.

Door #1: Playlist of Tommy Montana Remixes

Much can be said about Tommy and pretty much everything of it is positive and most of it is right. I always liked Tommy bc he was an observer and appeared to be the Silent Guy, that knew and exactly understood the musical Zeitgeist. When playing music he added his own touch and showed his love and appreciation for what he liked. Compromises for the dancefloor, sure no problemo, but the magic and beauty of the real art of deejaying is still being able to turn it out and give it your personal touch, spin and je ne sais quois.

I think i actually deejayed only once with Tommy before i hit the brakes with the wheels. But this entire observation of what Tommy is about, comes from a sheerly psychological perspective, that you learn while deejaying. You get that ‘look’ for people’s behaviour – rational, aware and completely zoomed out – that sounds prejudiced but ultimately is almost always a 100% spot on. Tommy is that guy and his own mixes speak for himself, and even when producing music, said quality comes shining right through.

Here he is with his very own productions. his own tasteful niche of sound, if you love soul & hip hop based beats for the floor, which are designed & produced by a tasteful dj for djs,. He was and still is part of the clique we had going called YUM YUM.  I bounced for a minute but some of the guys kept on growing and glowing.
You can literally play anyone of these tunes and you won’t go wrong. Even the songs he picked for remixing, reimagining are picked tastefully. Happy Door One with this one!

 

Sátyr “Priapismus – Von München bis Athina”

Check this local talent! Super strong & jazzy beatmaker album by a young man with the right vibes at hand.

Sátyr is a Munich based Hip Hop beat smith. His penchant for crackling jazzy vinyl samples and crisp drums makes the hearts of beat-heads beat faster. The album “Priapismus – Von München bis Athina” was produced during his stay abroad in Athens and reflects his time in this vibrant city.

No socials to follow but his Sc & Spotty. But it’s best when you let the music speak for itself.

Offical Release: Mat McHugh – PFOS (YUM YUM Version)

Mat has always been one of our ChromeMusic favourites going back as long as to the very first Sweet Serenade mixtape, and we felt blessed when we had the chance to work and especially connect with him. He is a special kind of person, you can hear it in everything he does, and by now Mats someone i trust and call a friend.

Only problem is that our tete-a-tete happened a few moons ago and for even many more reasons PFOS and the other ten tracks we did together have been delayed, repacked, and whatnot over and over again… I am super glad that we finally have this one here in our hands, and I am actually proud (you don’t hear me saying that often) of having such a strong track here that does Mats lyrics and deeper underlying intentions just, and actually manages to transform “A pocket full of shells”, as the original was called, into something moody, something else, with a different feel, a completely different mood. Hope you don’t miss our Spotify Link – collect and hooray we finally are back to making YUM YUM Versions, edits, remixes, originals and are releasing them officially.

Of course me referring to a track as strong is subjective, but gladly hearing a tune of your own creation is rather rare …and besides it’s my website so i can say what the EFF i want. Betway recension här

PFOS is a moody monster. Just kidding, not getting high of my own supply here, just dig the vibe and glad to be making music that directly appeals to me… after all the compromises i made to learn while making my steps in the music business. Anyhow i sincerely hope you dig it too and dig the video we did for it.