Hello all you good people of the interweb! Supersonic Speakerbox has been alive for just over 6 months now and Tozz and I have had so much fun sharing our music and opinions with you! Sorry about the lack of posts lately, we went away for a while and well sometimes life just happens. Anyway we would like to welcome you to the new and improved design of SSSB: same tasty music, new snazzy look. We hope that you have enjoyed visiting our blog as much as we've enjoyed running it, so drop us a comment on this post to let us know what you think! Any improvements you can suggest, any compliments, any insults, any requests, any marriage proposals, we wanna know! You stay classy now, until next time!
The polarizing new album from Kanye West was truly something unexpected from the mad genius, an album which doesn't have anything for the radio, nor anything for the clubs, nor anything for a casual listen on a Sunday afternoon, but rather a dark journey into the artist's manic vision. The album has an extremely dark tone, with a combination of seemingly bizarre influences ranging from industrial rock to acid house and techno to dancehall and other eclectic sounds.
The controversially-titled Yeezus is Kanye's most experimental and unorthodox release yet, and features the rapper at his most aggressive and dangerous. Filled with as many racially charged political statements as filthy lines about bad bitches, lyrically he takes the ironic position of "anti-celebrity" and music's king of controversy. However, whereas many contemporary artists try to create shock value for it's own sake, Kanye actually has the skills and motives to back it up. He claimed to not really care about selling records anymore, just releasing music that we can enjoy, and while I can safely say that most people will probably not enjoy this music, I know that I do (but then again, I am a giant fan of Kanye).
In all honesty, you have to listen to this album 3 or 4 times before it stops becoming such a jarring assault on the ears, but once you do you can really appreciate it for what it is. And what it is is Kanye's Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy turned even more dark and twisted, where he travels uncharted sonic territory in search of his own sanity, trying to escape the tabloids and the fame but never truly being able to anyway. It is an album which only Kanye West could have ever made, and it's tenacious 'anti-pop' attitude makes for some really hard-hitting music that throws traditional structure and musicality out the window in what could start a new movement in hip hop. Say what you want about Mr West and his massive ego, but he is still on the forefront of his genre and a musical force to be reckoned with in any capacity.
BONUS TRACK:
Check out this super fresh hard-hitting remix from French producer DJ Snake of New Slaves that takes Kanye's epic banging beat and turns it into a fricking bananas trap/bass dancefloor smasher, free download too! Thanks DJ Snake! Cobra venom on this one dude, will definitely destroy those Hampton houses and spouses and blouses.
British boys Bloc Party have released the first single off their upcoming 5 track EP entitled The Nextwave Sessions due out in August, which was apparently recorded whilst on tour for their 2012 album Four. The release of new Bloc Party material so soon after the release of their last great album is exciting news, made even more exciting by just how good the new single sounds. 'Ratchet' is a bonafied (bloc) party starter and features a rad bassline and rapid snares joined by rough guitar riffs and cheeky fast paced lyrical delivery akin to Helicopter. It was produced by Hot Chip's Dan Carey and his upbeat dance influence can really be heard. Good things are expected from this EP based on this rocking tune!
The time has come for the second edition of the Thursday Stumble, a short and sweet selection of tracks that I like to post on a Thursday (for some reason). This week's selection features a mixture of mellow groovy tracks with a number of heavy dangerous ones, with genres spanning from nu-disco to jackin house to tech to bass to indietronica. Let's see what's on the menu:
Cause & Affect - The Tickle
Some dank heavy bass transforming into funky synths and back again for a dirty rave
Boys Noize - Starwin (download in player)
A new one from Boys Noize, a feel-good nu-disco number with a bit of acid house thrown in for taste
My goodness, Hannah Wants is amazing! Her Soundcloud page says the following "Hannah Wants is a self-taught house music DJ from Birmingham. She mixes a variety of house genres but her style is often heavily ‘bass’ influenced". I can definitely agree with that last phrase, bass in yo face!
I've seen Hannah Wants live and let me be honest, she is the business! I've known about her for a while but it seems that she's only recently gained the recognition she really deserves. Often teaming up with Chris Lorenzo, the two create beats that will shake your bones and definitely have you bobbing your head or going full crazy (if you're that type), either is acceptable!
These are my favourite Hannah Wants tracks! Some amazing stuff!
Hannah Wants and Chris Lorenzo feat Janai - Signs (Sunshine Mix)
Her latest track, and probably my favourite of them all. Very chilled. Great vocals! Amazing track!
IYES - Lighthouse ( Hannah Wants and Chris Lorenzo remix)
This one starts off slowly with some slow guitar and some neat vocals, but dont be fooled. The drop will smash you!
Hannah Wants and Chris Lorenzo - I Refuse
The genre on soundcloud states this as "Ghetto Bass". That pretty much says it all!
Hannah Wants and Chris Lorenzo - I Still Love You
Ahhh what a classic! I still love youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!
Hannah Wants and Chris Lorenzo - Sick Sunshine
"This is sick"
Check out her Souncloud page for free downloads of some of her tracks and fresh mixes!
Today we have some funky fresh tunes to spice up your life. Groovy baby groovy!!!!
Tom Novy & Christopher Groove - (Like I'm Falling In) Love
Some groovy deep house for your young ears from legendary German DJ Tom Novy. It's got a sick summer vibe. So for all of you currently enjoying the warm sun on your faces, this will make you very happy!
This is by far my favourite type of deep house. Very bouncy and very simple! This track has some pretty weird vocals but overall the track is top notch! FABOlous remix
Sydney's Michael Di Francesco of Van She aka Touch Sensitive has produced an amazing synth pop/disco track. I've had this on repeat ever since I heard it and its got a really cool video too, where Michael Di Francesco (Touch Sensitive) is the pizza guy and drives around in his Ferrari delivering pizza boxes with vinyl in them. The customers all seem relatively satisfied. If I got this vinyl in a pizza box I wouldnt complain either. Touch Sensitive delivering beats to the benefit of society. We definitely need more of this! (See Video Below)
Classic Track of The Week : Shonky feat Jennifer Cardini - Tuesday Paranoia (Jamie Jones Submerged House Mix)
It was probably the second time that I had ever been to a club that only played underground deep house and tech house and I heard this. Ya I went pretty crazy! This song is really hypnotizing, the vocals, the bassline and those "submerged" sounds throughout the track. Jamie Jones is a deep house legend. He also has a label called Hot Creations which continually releases some crazy shit! Favourite tracks of his? Tourist Trap, Say What and his remix of Hungry For The Power. Check check check check check check it out!
I've been meaning to post about the incredibly talented Australian beat-maker known as Flume for a while now ever since I got hold of his self-titled debut album near the beginning of this year, and now that he has just released a brand new remix, here is my opportunity!
This guy is seriously making big waves in the electronic music industry, especially in his home country of Australia where his album managed to debut at number one last year. When listening to the man's music though its not difficult to see why. He has a unique fresh sound which combines a multitude of influences, ranging from hip hop to soul to trance to electro to dance and on and on... all of which culminate in his unique amalgamations that have a dreamy and soulful, sometimes chilled and trippy, sometimes hard-hitting glitch-hop techno vibe. The man of the hour when it comes to the contemporary electronic genres that end in 'wave' or 'step' in my opinion. My words probably fail me at this point, so take a listen for yourself to his brand new remix of Disclosure's You & Me, which Flume likes to call 'orchestral crunkwave':
Wow I know right?! After you're done picking up the fragments of your brain splattered around you from that mind-blowing goodness, download the track through Mp3juices.com here.
Then after you're finished doing that check out my two personal favourite tracks from his album below: On Top feat. T.Shirt by Flume
Oh man, I think I got the Flume fever, this guys gonna be big, watch this space!
BONUS:
As a bonus, a couple of Aussies made a free EP in which they mix Flume instrumentals with acapellas from none other than the late great Biggie Smalls a.k.a Notorious BIG! How's that for a combo you ask? Pretty damn decent I say, or in the words of Biggie himself, "its all good baby baby!". Check that out below:
