SOUNDHEALERS

A 14 track compilation featuring laid back hiphop productions, compiled by UK producer Bambooman, has just been released on the net. Bambooman's aim was to shed a light on some of the worlds finest up and coming electronic beat producers, and according to Lock it Down he passed the test with flying colors. 

Apart from John Phonics  and the compiler himself, I haven't heard of any of these producers before, making it all the more impressive that the overall sound of the compilation is very coherent. The ambient vibes and chilled out beats on SoundHealers bring back the days when Morr was king and the gordian knot of idm was loosened. Although getting fed up with that sound back in the day, this set of tracks sounds remarkably fresh. The main reason for that is, although the producers clearly take influence from their older peers, they've managed to timewarp it into the now. Taking as much from the old days as from current events such as dubstep and the LA beat scene, these soundhealers created a niche of their own. One I hope to hear more from in the near future.

Tracklist

1. Danaet-If I get Iced

2. Blank and Kytt-Same Old

3. S.Maharba-Nice to meet you

4. Crewdson-Metal and Wood

5. Bambooman-Drips 

6. Sina-One I Love

7. Soosh-Stay Ft. Sarah H 

8. Kashmere-Astro Crunch 

9. Option Command-Sunday Sausage 

0. Zack Christ-Fox Prawns 

1. Deft-Last Night 

2. Jabu-Can't See 

3. Jon Phonics - 5 stax Max 

4. Roof Light- Shut in a box

5. Grouphums-Words 

Download (free): http://soundhealers.bandcamp.com/album/sound-healers-vol-1

COSMOGRAMMA

One of my biggest musical revelations of the past decade was, without a doubt, hearing Flying Lotus' "Los Angeles" album (Warp Records/2008.) Being an avid fan of IDM, jazz and big bass music, all of which FlyLo smoothly combines into a unique blend of his own, this album seemed to be specially made for my ears. Although, at first, I didn't really get into it . It was only after seeing the man live on stage that his magic caught on and sure 'nuff I fell in love with his sound right there and then. Head over heels.

And I was not the only one because soon everyone was onto the man. Deservedly so, I might add, because this focus on the LA scene and its satelites brought us many great things. Through his music FlyLo tapped into a collective vein, serving a much needed freshness to a heavily segregated music scene and, in doing so, uniting different scenes which led to interesting new music and collabs. Artists from around the globe started working together; new artists arose on the scene, finally getting what they deserved after a long struggle of self chosen contrariness; scenes intertwined and exchanged ideas, opening up a whole new spectrum where there are no rules and, thank God almighty, no genre names (yet). Although most people still file it under dubstep, which couldn't be further away from the truth. The above goes for me too, on a personal level. I discovered many great tracks and albums since I was lured back into the idm/electronica scene by "Los Angeles." I had followed the scene for more than 10 years but left after every record started sounding alike. It seemed to me everything had been done, limits were reached, ideas were copied instead of progressed; yes, even the great Warp Records, always a label to look out for, faded a bit. Apparently all it needed was an injection of FlyLo to propell it into a new orbit. Ever since I heard interesting collabs of hiphop, jazz, psychedelica, reggae, dubstep, idm, house, uk funky and so on, and so on. Everything goes!

Flying Lotus is about to unleash his much anticipated third album, Cosmogramma, on may 3rd, but Warp decided to throw the fans some corn. They're giving away three tracks that won't appear on the album, but to call these a taster isn't doing them justice. All three of them are frigging great tunes and also a great example of what this piece is all about: they're fresh, and openminded. Oh, and yeah: they do promise a whole lot about the forthcoming album...

Go get them here!