Top Ten Chillwave / Alt R&B / Downtempo Tunes

Posted by StrangeFlow on June 10, 2013
Posted in: Articles, Top Ten Lists. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Top Ten Chillwave Trax! by Will Dunn (aka StrangeFlow, aka 5ifty$ix K)

Top Ten Chillwave Trax! by Will Dunn (aka StrangeFlow, aka 5ifty$ix K)

So, in the last few years, there’s been a new sound in music.. For now, I’m going to refer to it as ‘chillwave,’ as some other folks have been – but really, it’s a loosely applied label. It’s a broad-ranging sound, and really, it’s best to understand it (in my opinion) as more of a mood that’s taken told, rather than a genre. Alternative r&b is another label given to it. Or, just ‘vibes.’ Some of it you could call downtempo-wonky, an some of it has a decidedly throwback 80s-shoegaze-y feel to it, as well. But, as I said, it’s better to understand it, for the time being (again, in my opinion) as more of a mood that’s gotten bigger in the last few years, perhaps as a cultural shift has taken place. When you’re done raging out, and want some chill grooves (but still want the same drum boxes, grooves, and aesthetics as what you might hear in electronic or hip hop music, you might journey over to the smoking lounge, put on some chillwave shit, and chill.

Modern, retro, lush, chill, thick, vibey, and dreamy; these are all, in a surprisingly cohesive way, descriptions of this sound. As with much of the music of the Internet Generation (Ha, yea that’s right – I’m not calling it Generation Y. Sorry, condescending Baby Boomers) there is such a willingness of young people to learn about and engage themselves in a large range of artistic and musical styles that a music as open and loosely as chillwave was bound to emerge.

Also, it’s good to point out that this is often how new styles of music have always organically emerged, until corporate media whores like Rolling Stone, NME, MTV (or the idiots at VH1) pick up on – and over-label the fuck out of – it, stagnate it, look for their “Kurt Cobain” of the art form, and then, a few years later, declare it ‘passed it’s peak;’ only to pick up on the next wave of music they can jerk off and sell back to us in a cheaper, triter shell.

Or, you could look at it from a much simpler angle; people need music to chill out to, and this shit is modern chill out music, plain and simple. I say, since there are so many variations of modern hip hop-ish / electronic-ish / retro-80s-ish lush of chill out music, I’m happy to just find some good tunes and go with ’em. Eh?

Hell, I’ll probably have to do a top ten for wonky, a top ten for alt. r&b, top ten for shoegaze shit, eventually to; just to differentiate a bit. Though if there’s crossover, that’s fine. This top ten is ALL about crossover, really.

OK, Let’s get to it!

10. Washed Out – Feel it All Around

9. Neon Indian – Polish Girl

8. Flying Lotus – Massage Situation

7. Lindsay Lowend – Mmmmm

6. Flying Lotus – RobertaFlack(Mike Slott’s Other Mix)

5. Luvian – Haze

4. Samiyam – Return

I can say, from personal experience, that Samiyam is GREAT sex music ;)

3. Teedra Moses – Be Your Girl (Kaytranada Extended Edition)

2. Samiyam & Hudson Mohawke – Eff This – Juice Vol. 88

1. Xxyyxx – About You

KidLogic Drops a Birthday Mixtape on us, AND Exclusively Premieres New Songs!

Posted by StrangeFlow on June 6, 2013
Posted in: FREE!!!, mixtape. Tagged: , , , , . 3 Comments

Lotta fuckn thrilling juke, jungle, rave'd out bass music, and a few original KidLogic tunes on this one!!!!

Click above to get the free mixtape, or go here…

Or here.

Thank you, KidLogic, for dropping this bomb of a gem of a jam on us. Bassadelic is 200 posts old, one year young, and still offering the dopest mixtapes ON THE WHOLE INTERWEBZ for you! This is some immediately exciting shit, too. You won’t find something this interesting anywhere else, outside of the deepweb!

Lotta fuckn thrilling juke, jungle, rave’d out bass music, and a few original KidLogic tunes on this one! Yes, you heard right, new KidLogic material is ON THIS MIXTAPE – and? …And it’s fuckin FREEEEE! OOOH my gosh. What a happy 200th Post Celebration this is turning out to be!! OOOOhhh goodness!!!

So light up your candles, put this mixtape on and make love to a birthday cake – because this is an action-packed series of tunes that you’re going to want to download immediately. Think I’m over-exaggerating? Well, maybe with the ‘make love to a birthday cake’ I am… (OR AM I???)

Here’s the mix. Or, if that link doesn’t load (or if it takes a bit too long for your liking) go here, instead.

Starts out with a classic, then moves into a new KidLogic tune, then jumps to two of my all-time-favorite juke trax of all time – Dj Manny’s ‘All I Do Is (Smoke Trees)’ followed by DJ Spinn’s ‘She Turnt Up,’ followed by… Well, I won’t describe the entire thing for you, just have a download and take a listen! Here’s the track listing:

Sublime – Summertime
KidLogic – Woman That’s Ruffa
DJ Manny – All I Do Is (Smoke Trees)
DJ Spinn – She Turnt Up
KidLogic – Big Butt
DJ Spinn & DJ Manny – Over There (Gettin’ It)
DJ Earl – Set It Off
Kode9 – Kan
KidLogic – Oval Red
KidLogic – Gob’s Aztec Tomb
Happa – Beat Of The Drum (Throwing Snow Remix)
DLX – Get Back
Sound of the Future – Lighter (Phillip D Kick Remix)
Q Project – Champion Sounds (Phillip D Kick Remix)
Shy FX & UK Apachi (Homesick Footwork Remix) – Original Nuttah
Remarc – Drum and Bass Wise (Skanx Footwork Jungle Remix)
Optical – Moving 808s (Plot Twist’s +808 mix)
Calculon & Austin Speed – Back The Fuck Up
KidLogic – Menace
DJ Manny – Hyperlife
Wellbelove – Questions
DMZ – Anti War Dub (BLVKLGHT Juke Remix)
Roni Size & Represent – Brown Paper Bag (Sideswipe Edit)
DJ Manny – The Funky Beat

on Discount: Neurostep / Neurofunk Samples! The Best Around, Check em Oooout!

Posted by StrangeFlow on June 5, 2013
Posted in: Review, Samples. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

New funky neuro samples, for your neurofunk production, neurostep production, dubstep, trap, or glitch hop production!

Question: Who is responsible for this neuro madness? (Yes, I said ‘neuro madness’)

Answer: Simteks and StrangeFlow, champions of music production and music blogging!

We have teamed up, in this most-unholiest of sample products, as this is a rebranding of the previously (and perhaps unfortunately titled,’North Korean Neuro Bass Bombz From Outer Space!’

Funny story.. We originally named this sample pack, thinking, “Hey, this’ll grab people’s attention, and it’s funny..,”

Well, about a month or so later, North Korea started threatening the US, claiming they were going to soon be capable of detonating weapons of mass destruction.

Sooo, we decided, “Ya know, maybe we should change the name…”

…and with that, we had to change the cover graphic that featured Kim Jon Ill. So uh, yes, yes…

On sale for 16 bucks. Buy a couple drinks and a tiny sandwich at Starbucks, or invest in your future as a music producer? :)

>>>>Click here to funk it up and download these dope samples!<<<<<

Anyway, to give a bit more info on the creators of this package; Simteks is known for his incredible music production website (SimteksMusic.com) as well as for his high-powered bass-killing electronic music – and for his skills in the field of audio mastering.

StrangeFlow (aka 5ifty$ix K) is known for his funkified and forward-thinking electronic music, as well as for his various music websites (Bassadelic.com, Jukemusicforum.com, and the record label, Dynastyshit.com – as well as being the guy who came up with neurohopforum.com, before selling it and seeing it turned into the massively giant beast of a forum it is now! – Props, Tex.)

Anyway, Sims and Strange teamed up to put these ‘North Korean Neuro Bass Bombz’ (Oh, I mean ‘Ultra Funky Neurostep’ … “bombz”…) into a series of .WAV files, and these samples are ready to be plugged into your DAW immediately, and shoot insane bass-fire out onto your dancefloor!

It was our mission to capture a specific sound of modern electronic music… something on the funkier and bass-heavy side of neurostep music, including bass riffs and sustains with massive oscillations, frequency changes, and overall sound progressions typical to much of what is considered, “the neuro sound.”

We have also taken great influence from many artists, including KOAN Sound and Opiuo, just to name a couple. We have nothing but props for these musicians, and for all musicians who continue to push the boundaries and expectations of music and sound!

We have added a number of beats and drum samples, as well. All the beats, as well as the bass loops and riffs, are in the 100 BPM to 106 BPM range, allowing the producer the ability to create funky / neuro midtempo grooves as quickly as possible. Though, it should be noted that you can, of course, speed up the tempos when using these loops, if you want to, and that 100 to 106 BPM is merely the speed at which these sounds were recorded at, and you will find that most of them sound best when played closer to their original tempo (or faster).

In addition to everything else, a number of bass one-shots have been added which are solid and easy to use in production. We have included some bonus material, as well, and these extra samples can be used easily however you see fit, in helping your tracks attain that extra ‘OOMPH!’

These are all .WAV samples, and are compatible with all major devices that allow for use of .WAV files:

including:
ACID PRO,
ABLETON LIVE
PROPELLERHEAD REASON,
+ and any other programs that allow for .WAV (which are most of them, as .WAV is the universal standard.)

There’s nothing else quite like this sample pack out there, and we really hope you enjoy these samples and find them useful!

These samples are recommended for: neurofunk, neurostep, drum n bass, dubstep, trap music, or glitch hop!

>>>>Check out these samples, and get modulated!<<<<<

what about a demo?????

Sure thing! Here you go!

(c)2013. Bassadelic and Simteksmusic.

Here’s a mix that Simteks made for this package.

These samples are legal to use in commercial as well as non-commercial applications.
It is unlawful to resell the samples contained in this product.

BASSADELIC.COM
SIMTEKSMUSIC.COM

5ifty$ix K Releases First EP Ever – Some Footwork Jungle Material For FREE

Posted by StrangeFlow on June 4, 2013
Posted in: Articles, Interviews, New Music, Review. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

5ifty$ix-K---Brain-Drain-EP-(Dynasty-Shit-Record-Label)-(ds0002)

5ifty$ix K (aka StrangeFlow, aka The Guy Who Made This Site) is releasing a new ep today, ‘Brain Drain.’ Resurrecting the sounds of old jungle breakbeats, and fusing them with the start-stop retro drum machine sounds of Chicago juke and footwork, this 5 track (4 plus a secret bonus track) is a lot of fun, and extremely forward thinking. 5ifty, along with other footwork jungle producers like him, such as KidLogic, Kid Lib, Wellbelove, Calculon, Dr J!nx, and others; is helping to map out the territory for this new style of electronic music.

“That’s one of the most exciting things about footwork jungle right now,” says 5ifty$ix, “there’s so much uncharted land that’s being uncovered now, everyone’s going into it with their own take on it. Every new album or even new track has the potential to dig up a whole new musical space that can be worked on in the future. I’m hoping my style on this album helps with that process, and I hope people enjoy it, it’s also a lot bass-heavier than my last album.”

The last album he did was under the moniker of StrangeFlow. Why the direction change?

“Well, I remember thinking that, for years, jungle was a lot of fun, but a lot of it got kind of stale after awhile, and I lost some interest. Even some of the breakcore stuff seemed to get old after awhile, like some of the artists didn’t care as much… I still loved the basic sound of drum n bass and jungle, but a lot of what was comin’ out wasn’t killin’ me. Around a year or so ago I started listening to footwork and juke a little bit, and then discovered there were some folks putting it with jungle, like Om Unit, and that inspired me like nothing else has in a long time! I’d been thinking for some time that something needed to come around, some new style or slant on jungle / dnb to give it some new life again, and this, in my opinion, is DEFINITELY it.”

“So, I decided I wanted to try working with this really fun new template, a lot of it’s basically unwritten and waiting for precedent. I like how the footwork rhythm cuts the jungle up a bit, but if you tweak it right, you can get both sounds to work together in a completely new strain of music altogether,” the musician went on, adding, “…So, since I wanted to be a part of this, I figured it was time for a name change, as well – I’d been using StrangeFlow since… 2006 or 2007, and it started out as an MC name, actually.. I used that name for glitch hop, funk, hip hop, and I had a lot of fun with it, and there’s a good chance I’ll go back and make some more StrangeFlow trax, but for the time being, I wanted to just say ‘fuck it,’ and try to move into a wholly new set of directions. I’m probably gonna keep using that speaker-headed dude though, cuz that shit’s fun! Ha.”

You can get the entire album for “pay what you want” (free plus) @ Dynasty Shit.com

Track listing is as follows:

1. Brain Drain 04:53
2. Tornado Rave 03:52
3. Stuck Inside the Stereo 03:27
4. Cuz I’m Countin Money 03:40
5. (bonus track) Bam! Bustin! 01:59

FractalStein KILLS it With His New Free EP – The Slip!!! Download it Here!

Posted by StrangeFlow on June 3, 2013
Posted in: FREE!!!, News, Review. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

fractalstein - the slip (ep) from dynasty shit records

FractalStein, the powerhouse of a glitch hop musician, has released a new EP with Dynasty Shit (Bassadelic’s record label) and it’s a fucking incredible release.

It’s full of bouncy, unique and melodic synthesizers that gently lift you up and take you to a magical, psychedelic rave world – but then the hardcore trap and thumpin’ glitch hop bass lines start banging away, reminding you to dance!! FractalStein is one of my favorites right now, and I’m sure he’s going to be doing a lot of incredible things in the future. He’s definitely one to watch. If you don’t believe me, take a listen, below! He makes some of the most forward-thinking glitch hop anyone’s ever heard. It bounces all over the place, and yet, at the same time, it does it in a very organic way; it feels like a very concrete and actualized musical vision.

Anyway, long story short, it’s dope as fuck, it’s free as fuck, and you might as well give it a shot.

This is, as stated, a release from the new Bassadelic record label, Dynasty Shit… But not only that, it’s also THE FIRST release from Dynasty Shit! Get ready for a LOT more incredibleness. We’re defnitely going to be emphasizing the jungle footwork side of things, though not always. Glitch hoppy trap style shit, like this FractalStein ep, fit right into our mantra of releasing high quality and cutting-edge electronic music. Basically, we want to give you as much hardcore / mezmorizing material as possible. We want to blow your mind completely with every EP, every LP, every compilation, and anything else we release.

Scientists don’t yet know how to encode LSD into a sound wave, but when that day comes, WE PROMISE WE WILL UTILIZE THAT TECHNOLOGY! Though there aren’t any drugs in our actual audio files, there might as well be, because our music is insanity in a sound wave. So, basically, we’re almost like drug dealers. I guess that’s why we’re trying to say. Hmm.

DYNASTY SHIT DOT COM

200 Posts! The History (and Birthday) of Bassadelic!

Posted by StrangeFlow on June 3, 2013
Posted in: Articles. Leave a comment

Bassadelic turns ONE!

Welly, welly well. Bassadelic is a 200 posts in, and 1 years old. It’s been a great year! If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to go through some of the history of this site, and bring everyone up to the present..

When I first started working on this site, it was over a year ago. It was February, 2012; I was living in Michigan, at the time. Originally, I thought I would make a music forum, and call it the Bassadelic Forum.

It started out OK, though there wasn’t much traffic. Peope didn’t seem super interested. I didn’t know what the problem was, until I realized that just calling a music forum ‘bassadelic,’ might not exactly be too descriptive. What I mean by that is that if I called it Juke Music Forum, or Neuro Step Forum (two forums which I later bought domains for – Neurohopforum.com is now being ran by a friend of mine, and he’s really turned it into something massive, and Jukemusicforum.com I started a month or so ago, and it’s also really starting to blow up)…

So, I went to the drawing board, and thought about what I could turn Bassadelic.com into. It had been a dream of mine for awhile to start a music blog. If the Bassadelic Forum was still around, it would be easy to see that, because I was producing most of the content for the site. In trying to get the conversation going, I had about 50 posts or replies, outweighing the entirety of posts by other users. I also wanted to make sample packs. So, I decided to restart Bassadelic.com as a blog with music tutorials, sample packs, reviews, and many of my rants and ramblings about music that I’ve built over years of obsessively listening to electronic music since the 1990s.

Thus, Bassadelic.com was born. Though I restarted it and turned it into a blog, it was around June that I really kicked it into full gear. I had a lot of time to sit there and do nothing but build up the site, as I was in Seattle at this time, waiting around for an apartment manager to give me the green light on moving into my new place. Well, it took a week or two longer than I’d anticipated, so I had time to just hang out in my hotel and work on the site (along with exploring Washington state, getting Jack in the Box, watching godawful cable news and sitcoms, and of course, going down the street to get a refill on my six or eight shot espresso at the lingerie barista stand by the highway. Ah, those lingerie baristas are great!)

So, I started really getting the foundation for Bassadelic set, and I finished my second sample pack, ‘StrangeFlow’s Authentic Electro Swing Samples.’ My other one, ‘StrangeFlow’s Insane Glitch Hop,’ got picked up by Industrial Strength Records and was featured on Loopmasters (and still is) by BHK Samples, an awesome samples company based out of Germany. I finally began making a few bucks – and let me tell you – the first time you see a sale of one of your products online that you sold on your website – it will make your month! Even though I only sold about three in the first month, I was thrilled!

(Below is an EXTREMELY accurate map of the U.S., highlighting the country-wide voyage of Bassadelic over the last year. Mostly, Michigan and Seattle are highlighted, and yes, that’s … “supposed” to be the Space Needle. Though I never went into that thing, and really, I think the Space Needle only represents Seattle to people who’ve never really been there. Ah well. !howdidithappen

Well, long story short, I continued on this path, making sample packs and working on articles and posts for the site, even after I moved into my apartment in Seattle. Seattle’s a fun area. Though, it is hard to make friends (something that was confirmed by several people to me, telling me that, apparently, “we just keep to ourselves more, here,” and there is also a lot of crime (I got robbed TWICE in six months) living in Seattle is an experience that I know I’ll look back on with great fondness.

I also managed to write a book while I was in Seattle, ‘Guerilla Blueprints for Creative Passive Income,’ an ebook designed for electronic music producers to find a way (as I did) to make some money to help pay the rent, and to be able to avoid working in the food service industry just for a few extra bucks. I put it on Amazon, as well as sold it on my site. Haven’t sold one damn copy on Amazon, but sold some on this site. (Hmm, outselling Amazon…somehow??)

After about six months I moved in with a buddy of mine in the Silicon Valley area in Northern California. I’ve been here for the last six months, and in another month I’m going to go back to that stankin’ mitten (Michigan) and see my family and friends, in the town I was born. But before the end of my stay in California, I expanded a bit. I discovered footwork jungle, and decided to start Dynasty Shit, a net label for footwork jungle music and musicians. As well, I created a new musical moniker, 5ifty$ix K. Mostly for footwork jungle type of music, but we’ll see how it goes… Maybe this will be the end of StrangeFlow, and the rise of the 5-$ix! Ha. I also, as stated earlier, started Jukemusicforum, which I’m very proud of.

I’ve also made some really great friends in the last year! I did finally make some friends back in Seattle, and a few more friends here in the Bay, and met some awesome folks on the interwebz as a result of putting together some of the projects I’ve been involved in. It’s been a great time, and I plan to keep going even harder (in the paint?) in the 2013-14 season!

SO, what free shit can you offer us, StrangeFlow, or 5ifty$ix K, or whoever you are?

First of all – it’s ‘whom.’

Second of all, yes, there’s some awesome free shit on the plate today. Dyasty Shit, Bassadelic’s record label (focused on cutting edge electronic music, specializing but not limited to footwork jungle) is releasing a couple of awesome things this week. The first thing is a FREE ep by FractalStein, a glitch hop producer who is giving away his new release @ Dynasty Shit . com now. Check it out. It’s some fun glitch hop / trap shit, and very melodic. FractalStein is a talented young producer who you will DEFINITELY be hearing more from in the coming months.

fractalstein - the slip (ep) from dynasty shit records

What else is there?

A couple of things:

The first thing? KidLogic Drops a Birthday Mixtape on us, AND Exclusively Premieres New Songs!

Also:

StrangeFlow – I mean 5ifty$ix K – uh.. I mean, “ME,” has a new EP coming out tomorrow! Yes, it’s some footwork jungle stuff, and you can check that out as well, on DynastyShit.com – as I said, it’ll be available on the 4th of June, so stay tuned for that one!

5ifty$ix-K---Brain-Drain-EP-(Dynasty-Shit-Record-Label)-(ds0002)

5ifty$ix K – Brain Drain EP is coming out June 4th, 2013 – and it’s free!

Yes, it’s a great footwork jungle release, in my opinion. I’m super excited about it! And yes, that familiar speaker-headed dude (me) is there, too. Get 5ifty$ix K’s new EP, Brain Drain! 4 track + a bonus fifth track, all for “pay what you want.” what whaaat!! It was going to be two bucks, then I decided, “meh, for a new-alias’ first-EP, it should be free…” So, free it is.