Jam of the Day: Chloe Kae - "Misconception"

Chloe Kae, better known as one half of the Australian pop duo Kllo, has released her first solo material. Produced by Machinedrum, "Misconception" is a starkly minimal electronic R&B track that is quite gorgeous.

Jam of the Day: Dawn Richards - "Stopwatch"

Euphoric kiss off song from Dawn Richards, produced by her frequent collaborator Machinedrum. We should all follow her lead when people aren't up to snuff in our lives: "Ain’t got no time to waste anytime on you."

Jam of the Day: D∆WN - "Not Above That"

Sleek, slamming new track from D∆WN. Produced by Machinedrum.

Jam of the Day: Sepalcure ft. Rochelle Jordan - "Fight For Us"

Sleek mid-tempo track from production duo Sepalcure, the combination of Machinedrum and Braille, featuring the dusky vocals of Rochelle Jordan.

New: Azealia Banks - "Aquababe"

New track from Azealia Banks' upcoming mixtap Fantasea, coming out July 4. Originally produced by Eprom, it has been remixed by Machinedrum. It sounds like Missy Elliot cracked out at a rave.

New: Azealia Banks - "1991"

Title track to the new Azealia Banks EP out today digitally. This is another collaboration with Machinedrum.

Jam of the Day: FaltyDL & Machinedrum - "Give In 2"

Skittering collaboration between producers FaltyDL and Machinedrum, which perfectly combines Falty DL's post-dubstep sleekness with Machinedrum's clatteringly, percussive style.

Azealia Banks with Machinedrum: "NEEDSUMLUV (SXLAND)"

New track from 2012 "IT" girl Azealia Banks made with Machinedrum. The track can be heard and downloaded for free here:



She is going to kill it at Coachella this year.

CHLLNGR: Haven

CHLLNGR
Haven
Rating: Meh

I recently reviewed the new electronic music cd from Machinedrum that attempted, somewhat successfully, to marry a slew of differing music styles with UK bass' penchant for using warped vocal samples. However, the album as a whole left me wanting more. Although CHLLNGR and Machinedrum don't necessarily sound alike, both draw liberally from the dubstep well on their albums, while coming up with similar problems. Unlike Machinedrum, CHLLNGR uses a very monochrome palate, allowing skeletal beats and wobbly bass to frame minimal electronic backing, shifting focus to gentle washes of keyboards, and again, like Machinedrum, to heavily treated vocal samples. CHLLNGR doesn't cut and manipulate the samples as readily as Machinedrum, instead, allowing them to drag out and flow hypnotically over the tracks. Listening to individual tracks makes for an interesting listen, however, over the course of ten tracks it begins to lose its lustre, and blunts the impact of the album.

But there are some great tracks to dig into on Haven. "At Last" pulses and throbs menacingly, with a click track beat and ominous metallic keyboards. "Sundown," one of the few tracks with actual vocals, contrasts the warmth of Coco O's voice with the icy-cold backing.

CHLLNGR - Sundown by Uwe Uzi

Lead track "Ask For" mixes wobbly bass, hip-hop beats and keyboards, with pitch-shifted vocals that actually becomes one of the highlights of the album because it doesn't sound like anything else. I actually wish CHLLNGR had pursued this path more.

CHLLNGR -Ask For by Sound Injections

Title track "Haven" works off the Burial template effectively, warped vocal samples echo off atmospheric keyboards and rumbling bass.

CHLLNGR "Haven" by CHLLNGR

"Out Of Your Hands" slides against heavily manipulated vocal samples and keyboards, sounding like calls from a foggy street. And "Dark Darkness" creates the same ominous mood, but with the echoing vocals feeling like voices in your head, taunting you.

But while these tracks work fluidly together, the rest of the album just lays there rather inert. Too many tracks are just mood and no texture, and like the issues I had with the Machinedrum album, the vocal samples and vocals are just not distinct enough to make the songs stand out. "Dusty" is just throb and warbled samples.

CHLLNGR - Dusty (feat Jessica Brown) by nwsm

While "The End" never seems to gain a pulse, the whoosh of synthesizers and bland soul vocals failing to add any interest.



The remaining tracks are not horrible in any way, they simply lack any distinct element that prevents them from being removed from my hard drive. Haven's issues are similar to those I had with Machinedrum, but where Machinedrum's vocal samples were thematically indistinct he at least changed up his sound enough to where the music was always interesting. Here, CHLLNGR's music fades into the background, which pulls the vocal samples along with it, making it a decent, yet unmemorable album.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Machinedrum: Room(s)

Machinedrum
Room(s)
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Producer Travis Stewart uses several monikers for his music, but is probably best known for Machinedrum, excluding the fact that he doesn't really have a signature sound under that name, using it mostly to indulge whatever genre that is striking his fancy. Previously he has traveled from deep house, to IDM, to gitch-hop, and sometimes utilizing all three at once. Apparently Stewart is enamored at the moment with UK bass music, as Room(s) sports his take on dubstep and two-step, while also throwing in all of his previous fascinations. Musically, Room(s) can be daunting and schizophrenic, with each track whiplashing the listener back and forth seeking dominion. While the overall tracks are not truly linked via musical style, the two things that do connect them are that each track is almost filled to bursting with ideas, so thick it is almost touchable, and by Stewart's use of vocal samples. He borrows heavily from the Burial school by taking snippets and warping, twisting, and manipulating them into whatever emotional context suits the track. But where Burial uses them sparingly, creating loneliness and a haunting allure, Stewart clips them, cuts them, almost using them percussively.

The less traditionally UK bass-style tracks work the best on the album. Tracks like "GBYE" which cut up vocal samples into percussive streams and interplays them with dizzyingly busy percussion and staccato synths.



"Come1" takes on house music and makes it all about the build with very little release, releasing the tension in measured strokes.



"Now U Know The Deal 4 Real" creates a unique pairing of electro house with the sterile R&B gloss of acts like The Weeknd and Drake.



Stewart even gravitates towards Flying Lotus LA beat music on the track "Sacred Frequency," which is all loopy beats and psychedelic swirls of keyboards.



I also really enjoyed the gorgeous Burial-like track "The Statue" with its minimal, skittering two-step beat, ghostly keyboards, and the haunting vocal sample stretched and manipulated into a lament.



There are very few missteps on Room(s). The only tracks that don't really speak to me, mainly fail from lack of ideas, spinning in place without truly going anywhere (though as a caveat, the album is always impeccably produced). "Lay Me Down" is rather tepid two-step, looping the same drum track and vocal sample over its 4:00 running time. "U Don't Survive" reminded me too much of Weekend Players' house/trip-hop hybrid. And the loan IDM track, "Where Did We Go Wrong," merely feels like a Boards of Canada demo.

I loved the thickness of this record and the almost sensory overload it gives you. Many times while listening to it on headphones, I had to take them off to give my overworked ears a rest. But there is just something about Room(s) that never seemed to burrow deeper within me, and make me love the album rather than merely appreciating it. There is just not a lot of connection with it, no sense of taking a journey and reaching your destination, and perhaps that is because there really isn't a unifying feature to the record aside from the vocal samples. Perhaps if, like Burial, he had kept a tonal consistency over the course of the tracks, that connection would have taken hold. Alas, Room(s) is a beautiful record, but just falls short of adoration.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.