Modular Tapes Vol. 1

Modular Tapes is a series of beat-tapes reflecting unconventional electronic productions from artists across the globe, who create weird and distorted 8-bit, wonky, space age sounds.

In this feature, the beatmakers hail from the United States, London and Belgium. xxyyxx starts Vol. 1 off right with an upbeat, experimental electronic track layered with some lady vocals, followed by a future bass track from the enigmatic Lesotho Protokol. Next up on the tape is a grimy, fat analog beat from NastyNasty, and lastly, finished off right with an even fatter beat from the dude Pomrad.

Peep the tracks here,  note that the NastyNasty track and the Pomrad track are available for free download:

http://soundcloud.com/xxyyxx/faces

http://soundcloud.com/pomrad/bimzal

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Africa Beats Vol. 1

Africa Beats is a series of experimental electronic hip-hop beat-tapes, showcasing some productions of artists residing on the continent.

Vol. 1 explores some beatmakers making moves in the electronic scene, such as White Nite and Slabofmisuse. The tape starts off with a cosmic, jazzed out beat by O’ltak, followed by a funky raw, headbanging hip-hop joint from the one they call Slabofmisuse. Next beat is from the dude White Nite, and is a synthed out hip-hop beat complimented by some smooth vocals. Lastly, the closing beat is one from DANk, and is a hip-hop beat with blues-type elements and glitchy sounds of a space age sort.

Peep the tracks here and note that two of the tracks (White Nite’s and DANk’s) are available for free download:

http://soundcloud.com/oltak/hole-from-a-distance

http://soundcloud.com/slabofmisuse/impressions

Africa is the future

Featured artist: Bläp Dëli

Healdsburg, United States

Member of  TheSandboxCollective, beatmaker Bläp Dëli produces abstract electronic hip-hop beats categorised as “NSIDM”.

According to the homie, NSIDM involves warped out sounds that are most likely to make the listener feel intoxicated and bizarre. These intoxicating productions come about through vinyl cut sampling, live recordings, remixes and dope beats bounced out of drum pads.

The homie Bläp D’s beats consist of elements of raw hip-hop instrumentals, dreamy soulful synths, and smooth vocal hooks. Another admirable facet of the dude’s productions, are his change-ups. His beats tend to start off fairly modest, easing into things, and at a certain point, the beat escalates about 5 notches towards the future.

Residing in the woods, it appears as though Bläp Dëli gains a lot of his influence from his surroundings, as his productions have an ambient, planetary element as well, whilst still bearing that bass heavy hip-hop. Furthermore, one can appreciate the creativity that goes into the creation of these abstract beats, as each one takes the listener on a different encounter. However, one of the things that makes this dude next level is his selflessness, as the majority of releases (beats and albums) are available for free download or name your price.

Finally, having released a 20-track album at the beginning of this month “Astral Wax Experience”, Bläp D has a few projects in the pipe, such as featuring on a Pragmatic Theory release in the near future.

Grab some of the homie’s releases here, particularly “Muddy Waters” because it’s extra dope: http://blapdeli.bandcamp.com/

Cop “Astral Wax Experience” as a pay what you want download here: http://sandboxcollective.bandcamp.com/album/astral-wax-experience

Some dope Bläp D beats to peep:

http://soundcloud.com/bl-pd-li/openurmxnd-astral-wax

http://soundcloud.com/bl-pd-li/wutwrx4yu-off-keep-kalm-and

http://soundcloud.com/bl-pd-li/ghoscrnk

http://soundcloud.com/bl-pd-li/bl-p-d-li-gin-with-candlz

Word

A Sol Mechanic

Los Angeles, United States

A Sol Mechanic is an LA beatmaker that produces variations of experimental electronic hip-hop.

Sol’s productions comprise of a blend between new school and old school hip-hop, to create experimental sounds in the form of triphop, and chillwave. The dude’s beats are melodic and embody the boom bap-type hip-hop beats, and include raw, soulful vocal hooks.

A Sol Mechanic has a boatload of releases on his bandcamp available for download, and a variety of dope hip-hop oriented beats on his soundcloud. Peep some standout beats here:

http://soundcloud.com/a-sol-mechanic/l-kngl-ss

http://soundcloud.com/a-sol-mechanic/galaxy-diamonds

http://soundcloud.com/a-sol-mechanic/sunriseotreats-from-unheard

http://soundcloud.com/a-sol-mechanic/blowing-os-1

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Placeholder

United States

Somewhat unknown beatmaker Placeholder, produces experimental electronic beats, influenced by future garage and deep house.

Placeholder’s productions typically comprise of pitch bent soulful vocal hooks over warm synth sounds and bass. The chopped and screwed vocals are arranged to sound melodic and compliment the beat.

The dude has yet to release a full album, having only released 2 tracks on soundcloud, and an EP in 2012 “Brothers”, as well as a track featuring on the “West In Dust” (2012) compilation.

The Brothers EP is an experimental deep house and future garage release, which illustrates the off pitch vocals and wonky synths over smooth beats. Lastly, the current tracks on the dude’s soundcloud are of an ambient nature suggesting an expected shift in style of production in his upcoming releases.

Cop Brothers EP here: http://www.beatport.com/release/brothers-ep/900136

Some dope Placeholder tracks to peep:

http://soundcloud.com/pplaceholderr/faint-forever

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I kicked a cloud once

Berlin, Germany

Enigmatic, Danish beatmaker residing in Germany, “I kicked a cloud once”, produces experimental electronic hip-hop beats of an astral sort.

I kicked a cloud once appears to be a solo project, by illustrator and photographer, Rasmus Johansen. The dude’s productions are in the form of space age synth sounds, intertwined with raw 90s hip-hop drum patterns. The I kicked a cloud once project is fairly new, and has been running for 2 months now according to the dude’s soundcloud. Although a fairly recent producer on the scene, the homie has released some fat analog hip-hop beats of the 5th kind, and is clearly ahead of his time.

Yet to release a debut album, I kicked a cloud once has a boatload of dope beats worth a listen.

Scope some of them here:

http://soundcloud.com/ikickedacloudonce/crystal-something

http://soundcloud.com/ikickedacloudonce/but-does-it-float

http://soundcloud.com/ikickedacloudonce/milk-and-cookies

http://soundcloud.com/ikickedacloudonce/untitled01

Free Mix:

http://soundcloud.com/ikickedacloudonce/throwaways-mix-free-download

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Card On Spokes

Cape Town, South Africa

South African Jazz musician Shane Cooper, produces experimental electronic hip-hop beats, under the alias “Card On Spokes (CoS)”.

Bassist for the jazz fusion band “Closet Snare”, as well as one half of a new alternative beats collaboration project with DANk, the dude’s productions are infectiously melodic, and unique. The crunchy analog synths, chords, and glitched out sounds significant of the Card On Spokes beatmanship, suggest experimentation through pushing the boundaries of different genres.

Card On Spokes released an EP in 2011, “In You Go”, his debut and only release thus far. This release, along with his Red Bull Studio mixtape, displays the warped out electronic hip-hop sounds infused with elements of jazz and funk, associated with the CoS style of production.

The collab with DANk, “Seafood ∆∆∆”, where CoS is referred to as “Datsun Brown” involves more of an acid trap, bass heavy, synthed out hip-hop sound, still influenced by jazz in certain elements of production. Both CoS productions are dope in their own right, and are different takes on similar genres in music.

Cop In You Go here: http://www.amazon.com/In-You-Go/dp/B0060I13K2/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321862742&sr=301-1

Peep some dope CoS releases here:

http://soundcloud.com/red-bull-studio-ct/card-on-spokes-dont-eat-that

Righteous

Featured artist: Harmonic 313

Sydney, Australia

Harmonic 313 is an experimental hip-hop electronica side project by electronic music producer and DJ, Mark Pritchard.

Formed in 2008, the 313 solo project involves galactic hip-hop and dancehall productions, along with golden era hip-hop, mixed with trap, jungle, and dancehall DJ sets. The project is an off-shoot of the Detroit style electronic hip-hop project Harmonic 33 with Dave Brinkworth.

The 2008 Harmonic 313 beatmanship was significant of warped out, 8-bit, cosmic sounds supported by heavy bass and bumping hip-hop drum patterns. The dude released 2 EPs in 2008, “Dirtbox” and “EP 1”, both in line with this style of production. As 2009 approached, 313 released “When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence”, a full length album, which comprised of tracks from his previous EPs, as well some new ones. These new age, left-of-centre electronic hip-hop beats were clearly ahead of their time, and are mainly beatstrumentals, with the odd vocal track or two.

The 2012 to present 313 production style has shifted towards electronic reggae, and dancehall and is mainly evident in the dude’s DJ sets and the occasional track posted on his soundcloud

Cop EP 1 here: http://warp.net/records/releases/harmonic-313/ep1

Cop Dirtbox EP here: http://warp.net/records/releases/harmonic-313/dirtbox

Cop When Machines Exceed Human Intelligence here: http://warp.net/records/releases/harmonic-313/when-machines-exceed

Some ill 313 tracks to peep:

http://soundcloud.com/markprtchrd/dutty-bounce-harmonic-313

http://soundcloud.com/n1ke7up/13-harmonic-313-cyclotron

http://soundcloud.com/kbaye/call-to-arms-harmonic-313

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Spies On Bikes

Tampa, United States

Visual artist and actor Nathan Cochran, produces experimental folk, electronica and hip-hop under the alias, Spies On Bikes.

The Spies On Bikes project has been running just over 2 years now, and the dude has gone from creating hip-hop beats, to future garage, to electronica, to ‘folktronica’; his current style of beatmanship. Characterised by warm old school synths, hip-hop drum patterns, and folk vocals, Spies On Bikes productions make for laid back Sunday afternoon listening. The lo-fi nature of the beats allow the listener to unwind, and straight max and relax.

Dude’s latest release and debut album “Man Overboard” (2012), is an ambient, atmospheric, folktronica album with elements of hip-hop and future garage. Some personal favourite tracks off the release include, “Warm”, “Long Walks And Recorded Talks”, and “Love Like Hours”.

Cop the album here on the dude’s bandcamp: http://spiesonbikes.com/

Some Spies On Bikes tracks to peep:

Safe Sunday

B-Ju

Germany

Squelch & Clap (UK) artist, B-Ju, produces experimental electronica bass, and hip-hop tracks on a future tip.

B-Ju’s latest release, “Eclectic Zoo” (2012) is an experimental bass EP that features elements of UK/future garage, and electronica. Each of the tracks on the release have chopped and screwed vocals, supporting the left-of-centre, spaced out beats. In addition, the release features elements of cosmic jazz, in terms of the melody of certain instruments. The lush 80s synth pads, a prevalent element of the homie’s production, are smooth in texture and make for an enjoyable sound.

On the electronic hip-hop side, B-Ju released “Prozac People” also in 2012, still in line with the B-Ju style of lush synth and chopped vocals, however, the drum kicks being more ‘hip-hop’ in this release. Although the dude has been quiet of late, the current tracks on his soundcloud, as well as his current releases are straight up timeless.

Cop Eclectic Zoo here: http://www.beatport.com/release/eclectic-zoo/935501

Cop Prozac People here: http://www.beatport.com/release/prozac-people/858879

Some dope B-Ju tracks to peep:

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