Eye On New Releases: October 25th

Halloween is right around the corner, which begs the question, what is the most legendary costume of all time?  Hint, it's not the unfunky drummer, or an eleventhfloorrecord.  Those are clearly two of this week's releases!
                                           

Label: Nordic Trax

Release: Unfunky Drummer EP

Artist: Charles Scott

Genre: Deep House                                                   

Seasoned Los Angeles Producer Charles Scott, aka Scott Findley, is finally back on the scene after a ten-year hiatus, releasing the Unfunky Drummer EP on house music imprint Nordic Trax.  The album has seen upfront support from a variety of international selectors, including Slam, Abyss, Nick Holder, Robert Owens, Nacho Marco, Alland Byallo, Mark Bell / Blakkat and Murray Richardson.  If we establish a working definition of funky to mean “offbeat”, then this writer is convinced of this production’s “unfunkyness.”  Charles Scott’s rhythmic deliberateness on this album transports clubbers to a vivacious dance floor utopia, one filled with purifying textures of dreamy synth melodies layered into propulsive and winning house anthems.  On the title track, the production is loaded with a mantra of deep thumping bass that’s sure to get the masses moving.  If you’re one who’s keen on having their music act as a spaceship that leads you through the galaxy that is the dance floor, let the Unfunky Drummer EP be your soundtrack.  

Label: n5MD 

Release: Self Titled 

Artist: eleventhfloorrecords

Genre: Electronic, Indie Rock

Oakland’s electronic label, n5MD, is ready to share with the world the self-titled debut from Sweden’s modern shoegaze duo, eleventhfloorrecords.  The Eleventhfloorrecords title symbolizes the location of the apartment where best friends Niso and Henke birthed these recordings, and additionally, as the duo describes, “the endless formless collection of sounds and events.”  The album’s expansive textures successfully build a sonic bridge between the influences of chillwave and modern electronic music, while cleverly weaving guitars, drum machines, synth lines, and angelic vocals into one cohesive and tranquil whole.  For listeners, the juxtaposition of these two styles creates a uniquely cinematic and whimsical environment, one that feeds into the album’s emotional comforts.  For fans of M83, Maps, or Jatun, eleventhfloorrecord’s debut album is an extension of n5MD’s manifesto, a release that symbolizes an “emotional experiment in music.”

Eye on New Releases: July 26th

Black Rob is back and so is 1982! We had a blast with this week's releases and we know you will too!




Label: Duck Down Records
Album: Game Tested Streets Approved
Artist: Black Rob
Genre: Hip Hop

Black Rob, whose biggest hit single "Whoa!" has recently been sampled in B.O.B.'s "The Biz" and Girl Talk's "Let It Out," is back with a brand new album of his own. Black Rob dropped his first album Life Story in 2000 while signed to Bad Boy. It instantly debuted at number three in the Billboard top 200 and number one in the rap chart. Now he's back and better than ever! His new album Game Tested Streets Approved features production work from names as big as Jay-Z and his long time Bad Boy friend, Diddy. "The biz is reefer, I sold more of that s*** than Wiz Khalifa," raps featured fellow Duck Down artist Sean Price on the album's last track "No Fear." Track 14 is the only with a vocal guest appearance but the album is so good, it didn't need to be sugar-coated with a multitude of guest artists. Definitely a must-listen for hip hop lovers.




Label: FiXT
Album: RED (The FiXT Remixes)
Artist: Cell 7
Genre: Electronic Rock

After Cell 7's last album RE: COGNITION reached number one in FiXT store music sales and was named one of FiXT's "Must Have Albums," the track "Red" was selected to be remixed by FiXT's online community. The result was RED (The FiXT Remixes). The album consists of the original version of "Red," as wells as eight remixed versions and two different mixes of the previously unreleased track, "Splinter." The two western Aussies, Nick and Paul, that comprise Cell 7 have a very unique musical chemistry. Their sound is genuinely unlike any other. If you can imagine scene-metal vocals and guitar over electronic house music with bursts of industrial sound effects, you may be getting a pretty close idea. Oh, who are we kidding? The sound is indescribable. This is definitely worth hearing for yourself.





Label: Moodgadget Records
Album: Vintage Romance
Artist: 18 Carat Affair
Genre: Electronic, R&B

Time to break out the acid wash jeans, color block tee's and AquaNet because the '80s are back in full swing in 18 Carat Affair's Vintage Romance. These 14 tracks of throwback lo-fi synth-pop will have your bangs standing up on end. Even the music video for the track "Pretty Girls I Don't Know Anymore" screams 1980s in everything from the apparel to the video quality. The album hops back and forth between long, lyrical songs and short, instrumental interludes. Nonetheless, it keeps a very chill-wave consistency all the way through. Time to break out your favorite '80s movies and reminisce about the Vintage Romance of the days of Top Gun and Dirty Dancing.