Get on this groove from Echo Park

Friends of 64 bar will recognise the name Echo Park from his appearance on the sixth 64 bar challenge mix.

His track, All Told, is a bouncy upbeat little number that represents his LA sunshine sound roots, with a twist of his South American domicile.

Back to the matter of this blog post, and the track above is out on Disfigured Dubs. Its about  as 80s as you can get, but in an impeccably cool way. He sang, played the keys and built the beats on the track. 64 bar have am exclusive interview with him this week, lookout for this

Echo Park is the brain child of Brian Gibbs. Los Angeles born and now living in Santiago, Chile, Brian is a true adventurer – musically and in life.

He cut his musical teeth in LA alongside the kind of artists who would later form the Brainfeeder / Low End Theory axis – but in 1999 got itchy feet and left for Tokyo, where he founded the notorious techno labels Deafmosaic and Gunjack Series.

Another relocation to Madrid, Spain saw him reconnecting with hip hop and funk roots but also, via Jaxx Records, experimenting the sort of dark sub-bass mutations that inadvertently prefigured dubstep. Moving again to Mexico City, he met his wife, a Chilean national from Santiago, and returned home with her – only to discover a fascinating and intricate experimental hip hop scene thriving underground despite much adversity in the Chilean capital.

Remdog, the man who never sleeps?

Remi/Rough, Remdog. This is a man who has dual identity, and with each I.D comes a sack of projects. This is a man who seems to have mastered the 25 hour day, lord knows there shouldn’t be enough time in a standard day to fit in all the shiznit he has on his plate.

Bristol headz get super sneaky 64:5 peek

The famed Pipe and Slippers bar in Bristol was the setting for an exclusive reveal of the latest beats from 64barmusic, on February 24.

DJ Moneyshot and Roy Strong host a night each and every Thursday by the name of Flipzilla. It’s an opportunity to showcase their eclectic tastes to a crowd that are open to persuasion.

If you’re not familiar with this location, think of a compact bar with vintage stylings. There’s a mish-mash of clientele, ranging from socially functioning crackheads to asymmetrically hair-cutted hipsters.

Its also a hub for headz who like nothing more than a progressive bassline and a crackling beat.

In fact, the first person to arrive on the scene is Purple Radio‘s Sherlock Ohms, a character whose nu-funk record bag has seen plenty of action in the recent weeks.

He openly describes himself as an “obsessive music nerd since his formative years” on his Soundcloud page.

“Hot.” was his simple assessment of the beats of Cosmo Lopez, just one of the artists showcased during the hour long set.  And Sherlock couldn’t resist a sneaky peep at Kovas’ laptop every time a new beat dropped. He added:  “Sonic lushness from the 64 bar music boys and girls – I’d love to get my hands on a few of these tunes …”

He wont have to wait much longer as the 64:5 mix is now due in March.

“It was good to get a feel of which tunes actually work in a live setting,” said Kovas. “It’s one thing mixing them in the house, but you never really know how the mood will be in a place at a particular time.”

“I was especially pleased with the response to ‘Yellow’, by Cosmo Lopez. Pleased but not surprised. His beats are bang current and expertly crafted.”

The 64barchallenge mix is of course a free download, and will be available on Postbocks and Mixcloud from the first week in March.

There will also  be a high value-lo cost EP available from Bandcamp from March  with six selected slices from the mix.

the crane puts out new ep through bandcamp

 

The Crane, aka Stephen Hedley, who has been on both 64:1 and 64:4 has put out a rather dapper ep via Bandcamp.

It’s a collection of ambient/glitchy tracks which he made in the  summer .

He explains:  “It’s the first time I’ve deliberately tried creating several pieces with a similar feel and sound palette.

“The idea was to do a lot of tracks without any ‘proper’ beats in, as they’re always the weakest point in my productions. I didn’t think there was any theme to it, but when I came to the point of gathering the tracks together I noticed that a lot of the track titles obliquely refer to a girl-related heartbreak scenario which took up a lot of my headspace while I was writing the music.”

The big poof.

He continues: “That accounts for the somewhat melancholy vibe and the (rotten) punning title. I hope people enjoy it, anyway. “

asian glitch by james++

an escape by jamesswift

Abstractions from Asia. We likey

Travelling through unknown parts of the Globe is obviously providing inspiration for James. Play that track up there and you’ll see what we’re on about. There’s a relentless glitch with spooky overdubs and an eastern kinda feel. He tells me he’s in Iran and “there’s nothing to do.” Fairplay son, get on that laptop and start beatmaking.

Here’s his relentlessly long blog – >>>clicky<<< which always has an amazing photo gallery of his happenings.

And by way of manners,  here’s a link to all  James++  64bar stuff

recked

DJ Reck, who’ll be making a tune for 64:5, has just made a new mix..

EmMix by DynomiteSoul

1. The Foreign Exchange : Happiness
2. Grand Puba : I Like It
3. Group Home : Up Against The Wall
4. Ghost : Dedication
5. Slum Village : Fall In Love
6. Mo & Grazz : Home
7. Nicholas Kopernicus : Commentariolus
8. Uphigh Collective : Blend
9. Weslee : Purple Peas
10. Aloe Blac : Green Lights
11. Ty : I’m Leaving
12. Incksalonius : Push
13. El Da Sensei : Keep It Live
14. Beasty Boys : Triple Trouble
15. Stevie Wonder : All I Do
16. Funky Bompa : Southern Sunset Edit
17. Billy Palmier : Free
18. Cerrone : Give Me Love
19. Chic : Everybody Dance
20. Dionne Warwick : You’re Gonna Need Me

Total running time: 74 minutes