LISTEN UP :: Yo Yo Yo! It's FreQ Nasty Friday.

I first heard FreQ Nasty's music on a remix he and Switch did of the Santogold (aka Santigold) track Creator in 2007. More recently, I was steady bumping the bass-heavy FreQ Nasty vs. Bassnectar remix of Everybody for a few weeks straight. It seems as if, no matter how many times I play FreQ's music, I never get sick of it. I believe this can be almost entire;y attributed to the fact that the music he creates is a perfect blance, and mix, of heady Rasta (aka REAL DUB), Dubstep, and Electronic.

 
While digging a little deeper into FreQ Nasty's online presence, I found an extensive bio of the artrist on The Untz and thought it would be a nice addition to this post, for those of you who actually read the posts I write and enjoy knowing more about the artists you listen to, than if they prefer blunts or tequila.

Freq Nasty (also spelled as FreQ Nasty) is a glitch hop, breakbeat, dub, and electronica producer. Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, breakbeat pioneer Freq Nasty is widely-acknowledged by critics for consistently breaking boundaries with his music, from his classic breaks tunes such as "Boomin Back Atcha" and "Move Back," to remixes of pop icons like Fatboy Slim, Kelis and KRS-One. At the same time, Freq is receptive to all that surrounds him; for example, his move to London and immersion in its developing scenes in the 80s resulted in seminal releases on Botchit & Scarper. Forward thinking and progressive, his releases evidenced a sign of the fast-moving times.

These days, FreQ Nasty is staying one step ahead of the ongoing, hype-fueled evolution of electronic music with his contributions to the Futurestep sound. The recently released FABRICLIVE.42 mix album is evidence of this shapeshifting sound: with it, Freq takes on the bass heavy stomp of L-Vis 1990's UK take on Baltimore house, the blistering shatter of TRG, and several of his own storming productions, including Creator, a co-production with Switch on a Santogold tune released in 2007.

Freq is also well-known in the music scene for his social activism. In early 2008, Freq launched Giveback.net, a socially-conscious site featuring music campaigns, whereby musicians donate music in support of non-profit "action campaigns".The first campaign, in support of the Tibetan People's Uprising Movement, featured a collaboration with West Coast breaks artist, Bassnectar, Viva Tibet. The campaign successfully raised $8,000 in support of TPUM's March to Tibet earlier this year. His reasons for supporting the campaign, in his own words:

"It's time we as a music community reached out on a grassroots level and showed some love to those who need it, to whatever extent we feel able. Most of us don't vote, most of us see the news as something that happens to somebody else, and most of us have excess that the majority of the people we see on the news can only dream of. If we can help spread the idea that creating positive change in the world elsewhere is an investment in our own security and happiness then I'm a happy DJ."

Freq also collaborated with San Francisco-based Heavyweight Dub Champion, remixing the group's Snared tune, in support of The World Family's creation of an irrigation system in the village of Gara Dima, Ethiopia, and Michael Franti, remixing Franti's "The Future", in support of a Bay Area nonprofit to help create a music studio for at-risk youth. 

While perusing The Untz, I also stumbled upon a press release, dated January 25th and entitled, "FreQ Nasty at the Controls" (see below) announcing that FreQ Nasty's first release on Muti Music was set to drop the folllowing day. 

"Dread at the Controls" is the first track from FreQ in quite a while, and represents the future of futurestep, among others. FreQ Nasty has been at the forefront of several D&B genres, from garage and grime, to dubstep and now drumstep. Along with "Dread at the Controls", his track "Drum Play" shows off his ability to smash genres. In this case, it's Drumstep and Dancehall. A bombastic pair (what would you expect from the creator of "Boomin' Back Atcha"), Dread at the Controls is even more evidence that FreQ Nasty will always be a vanguard, and Muti Music keeps putting out the freshest sounds around.

FREQ NASTY'S LATEST TRACKS

THE UNTZ PODCAST EPISODE 49 :: FREQ NASTY

I will finally get the opportunity to see FreQ Nasty throw down on stage when the Monster of Bass Tour hits Chicago on March 8th.

If you live in the area, and don't have tickets to this event yet, get them NOW! I truly believe this tour will be one of the best to roll through ChiTown all year. In addition to FreQ Nasty, MartyParty and Opiuo, two of my favorite Electronic music-makers, are also on the Monsters of Bass bill. And if you don't understand why I'm so geeked on this ish, or why it is imperative that you score tickets to Monsters of Bass, watch the promo video below. Okayyy, get ya mind right...

The music that will be made by these MONSTERS OF BASS on March 8th is going to be so grimy...

I'll be showering the nassst off me for weeks 8 ) 

Bio: The Untz / Music: Soundcloud / Images: Clubtix & The Big Up Magazine

LISTEN UP :: Preview "Sirimande / Feed My Meat Machine."

SIRIMANDE / FEED MY MEATMACHINE (MONKEYTOWN011) 

* DROPS MARCH 25TH *

Image source: Nashville Nights

LISTEN UP :: Sip, Sip, Sippin on Some Sweet Team Sizzurp.

Sweet Team, a duo from Belgium, consists of members Lil' Panini and Vomit Clown. To be perfectly blunt, their lyrics are pretty fucked up. But Sweet Team's sometimes strange and always nasssty, futuristic, beats and slurrred flow have an undeniable brain-melting, addictive quality to them.

Soooo, without further ado, sip on this Sweet Team sizzurrrp...

SWEET TEAM :: MEET YOU IN THE NEBULA FT. SLY DOG

SWEET TEAM :: RUINED CASTLE

SWEET TEAM :: SPIRITUAL COCK

SWEET TEAM :: ONE OF A KIND

Image source: Mishka NYC

CAPTURED :: Big Shots.

 ... BIG SHOTS ...

Andy Warhol Polaroids of Celebrities

As an iconic member of the pop movement of the 1960′s, Warhol gained fame and recognition for his depiction of recognizable objects and individuals, from brand names products to faces of the rich, famous, and powerful.

“Big Shots: Andy Warhol Polaroids of Celebrities” provides a look at a lesser-known but seminal body of work by the artist who was dazzled by celebrity and found much of his inspiration in the photographic image.

Comprised of over thirty Polaroids of subjects ranging from Debbie Harry to Yves St. Laurent and Giorgio Armani to Yoko Ono, the pictures were taken between 1970 and 1986 on Warholʼs favorite camera – the Polaroid Big Shot.

Created by Polaroid for practical purposes like the quick creation of I.D. cards and passport pictures, the cameraʼs fixed focal length and point-and-shoot mechanism were perfect for the snapshot-loving artist.

The camera also served as an indispensable tool for Warhol in the production of commissioned portraits. He would take several packs of film at each sitting, and then select his favorite image to be silkscreened onto canvas by his assistants. The resulting image became the ground and basis of each painting.

Proving that the simplest tools are no impediment to creativity, Warhol’s Polaroids are both a celebration of fame and an intriguing look at the cleverness behind the façade Warhol so often used to disguise the intelligence and innovation of his work.

Within the tight rectangle that the camera dictated, and behind an implement that provided a necessary barrier between himself and his sitter, we see Warhol finding numerous ways to create memorable, varied, and iconic compositions. They may be small in size, but Warholʼs Polaroids serve as vivid portraits and artful time capsules of an era.

In recent years, Warhol’s Polaroids have gained attention and respect in exhibitions and books, both for their centrality to his portrait practice and as works in their own right. While Warhol is not best known as a photographer, he loved the medium, an apt one for the artist due to its repetitive, mechanical nature and its ability to illuminate the sense of star-power Warhol felt when faced with his famous subjects.

BIG SHOTS

 Andy Warhol Polaroids of Celebrities

DANZIGER PROJECTS

534 West 24th Street

New York, New York 10011 USA

212 629-6778 / info@danzigerprojects.com

Jan 8, 2011 – Feb 26, 2011

Mon & Tues (by appt only) / Wed - Sat 11 - 6

All written content via: Danziger Projects

LISTEN UP :: I Like My Bass Twice Baked.

The following originally appeared on Simplify Recordings' blog. The post was entitled BLUNT INSTRUMENT – “TWICE BAKED EP” + FREE TUNE PACK. I just recently discovered Blunt Instrument's music and think the words of an entity that actually represents the group is more appropriate in this circumstance, then my own. Enjoy!

It’s become apparent to anyone who’s paying attention that the West Coast of the US has become the forefront for glitch hop and experimental bass music, but from time to time producers from far fetched corners of the world chime in on the conversation with their take on what it means to womp.

Example: Luke Latimer and Rocco Mico are a production duo from the rural northern coast of the New South Wales province in Australia. A chance 5 minute encounter with a set of turntables started the duo on a 5 year journey to become the glitch hop act Blunt Instrument.

Drawing early influence from instrumental hip hop maestros DJ Food and Shadow, the two have been on a constant mission to create the most cutting edge beats available; its no wonder they’re currently working in glitch hop and don’t see stopping anytime soon. With recent chart success on "Acid Crunk Volume 3” (Beatport Breaks Charts #2), appearances in support of Ant-ten-ae and Ill Gates, and releases on notable labels such as Muti, among others, the duo is quickly kicking up some international dust in the global glitch arena.

On Blunt Instrument’s debut release for Simplify, the duo draws heavily on a 00’s era funky nu skool breaks production style in creating their midtempo shlump funkers.On this five pack, Blunt Instrument combines swing samples, heavy bass lines, dance hall cadences, and spooky classic dub ambience to carve out a gleaming slice of funky glitch they can call all their own.

BLUNT INSTRUMENT :: TWICE BAKED EP

BLUNT INSTRUMENT's FREE TUNES PACK (ZIP)

Blunt Instrument :: Turtle Slap
Beatnuts :: “Watch Out” (Blunt Instrument RMX)
Bob Marley :: “Get Up Stand Up” (Blunt Instrument RMX)

Dillinja :: “Twist Em’ Out” (Blunt Instrument RMX)

Radiohead :: “Street Spirit” (Blunt Instrument Dubstep RMX)

Rolling Stones :: “You Can’t Always Get…” (Blunt Instrument RMX)

Toots & The Maytals ::“Funky Kingston” (Blunt Instrument RMX)

BONUS DOWNLOAD :: Blunt Instrument's first single entitled tURTLE sLAP

Source: Afro Monk, Soundcloud & Simplify Recordings.

CAPTURED :: Energy Trails.

IN MOTION :: Badass Bias Behaving Badly.

LISTEN UP :: Hmmm. Kinda Sounds Like Some Purp.

Thanks to Soundcloud and super-blog Mad Decent, I bring you...an exclusive remix of the Deerhunter track entitled Helicopter.

As some of you may know, Deerhunter, who goes by the name Bradford in the "real world", is Diplo's cousin. Diplo and Canadian-born producer Lunice, collabed to rework Helicopter, a track off Deerhunter's latest album, Halcyon Digest.

I had yet to hear of Lunice before today. Wait wait wait...not true! While I have "heard" Lunice's music, I had not "heard of" him (by name). Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I didn't know what to expect. It's not like I thought the track would suck...I mean, with Diplo and Deerhunter both in the mix, how could it? That being said, I still didn't know what to expect.

I don't know if I've told you this before, but... I LOVE  ♥ SURPRISES!

And I knew, as soon as the drippy, droppy, dribbly beat kicked it, that this track would only keep getting better the longer I listened to it.

Halcyon Digest on :: iTunes / Amazon / Beggers Store

LISTEN UP :: Diplo & Sleigh Bells Tell Em.

As I searched for deets on the new Diplo remix of Tell Em by somewhat still unrecognized Indie Rock gods, Sleigh Bells, I stumbled upon commentary from the man himself, on the pages of Mad Decent, a blog I frequent from time to time. The following are his words (with a few slight punctuation and capitalization corrections)...

"Derek from Sleigh Bellz and me have matching Florida tattoos and we both are from shitty parts of Broward County ... And their last album was one of the sickest of '10 ... It's soo sick, it gave me a stomach ache ... Half Lnyrd Skinnard, half Bangladesh, half man, half alligator ... Me and Derek and Alexis are bros and sis for life.  In fact I like Sleigh Bells so much ... Me and Switch was in studio in NYC tryin to make tracks with Derek and Beyonce last week after we played her team their album ... Dunno if we gonna manage to finish, but was good times. I started this mix for them like a year ago, but it took Derek about 6 months to send stems so it was kinda in remix limbo, but i really wanted to get it out to u guys cause I think the bass and the drums sounds nice and u can play it at your next party."

The track is getting a ton of love, and hype, from bloggers. I could have left this post alone after the above statement from Diplo, but I wanted to find the one blog that had something to say about the remix, that differed from the rest.  After a few minutes of intense googling, I found the following commentary on Prefixmag...

"The write-up Diplo put up underneath his okay remix of Sleigh Bells' massive "Tell 'Em" is probably more interesting than the remix itself: Apparently Diplo was having meetings with Beyonce for her new album, and he played her team Treats, which lead Slegh Bells' Derek Miller to team with Diplo and Switch for tracks that could be on the new Beyonce album. Can you imagine what it would be like to hear Sleigh Bells on the radio? Sleigh Bells would win this internet indie rock shit, hands-down. They'd go from unsigned CMJ hype to producing for Beyonce on a song that will surely be Top 40. Nuts. But that's just in the planning phase at this point. For now, we've just got Diplo fucking around and cutting up "Tell Em."

OUCH! Right? Prefixmag seems to have nothing but straight-up hate for this one. 

I, on the other hand, have nothin' but... L.O.V.E. 

Sources: Soundcloud, Hypetrak, Prefixmag & Mad Decent