March Dispatch \ Don't Die Wondering mix

LOVE March with its tantalizing suggestions of Spring, blossoming time of the snowdrop/milk flower.

I was fashionably late on the OFWGKA house party and therefore slightly wary to enter, as by this point everyone inside is friendly with one another, has their own private jokes and doing things they will regret in the corner. Instead of standing by the wall moping and talking shit however I empowered myself and downloaded a handful of albums off their Tumblr, to discover that it is never too late. I’ve been particularly enjoying the Voyager album from where this excerpt is from, consisting of wonky space age instrumentals and mutant r&b exercises.

Chris Browns’ Look At Me Now featuring Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne is a quick burner: blinding at first listen, entertaining at second, slightly tiring by the third and unbearable by the fourth. Favorite line: “you niggas ain’t eating, fucking tell a waiter”.

Kingdom’s recent podcast for XLR8R is my favorite mix in ages, so I nicked not one but two tracks off it. I’m as of yet unconvinced by any of the genre names I’ve heard being thrown at the brand of hyperactive, carnival fantasia club music churned out by him and other members of the Night Slugs collective, but it’s definitely one of the most exciting things to happen in dance music for a while so it doesn’t really matter. When You Buck off the mix is pure catharsis of grandiose, imaginary hip hop, while the remix of Jacques Green that comes later on in the mix infuses the original’s emotive house with those by now signature footwork drum rolls.

Brushmetal by Portland producer Devonwho exists in that increasingly crowded twilight zone of hip hop and electronic psychedelia pouring out of LA that Leaving Records among a few others seem to be specializing in. This one is particularly disjointed, sat on an awkward downbeat and reptillian r&b bassline, while tiny drops of melody descend upon it, seemingly created by an instrument species that is half 808 sample half koto. Favorite line: this song is an instrumental.

I believe most people are already familiar with the state-of-the-art, uber-serious R&B of The Weekend so I won’t expound on it. Suffice to say that what distinguishes this project to my ears is the clinical, noticeably self-aware quality it has, every song flooded with so much pouring heartbreak emotion that it feels bereft of any kind of emotion. Which is cool in itself.

L Train by Leeds based DJ/producer Chris Baker is a slab of dark funky house that feels more suited to headphones rather than the dancefloor but will definitely play in both.

The closing house classic Good Life by Inner City is certainly the odd one of the bunch and I’m pretty sure doesn’t really fit in with the overall context of this mix, but I thought it was too much of a party to leave out after coming across it this week on Facebook. If anyone knows of any worthwhile remixes of this tracks please email me at dontdiewonderingmusicDELETETHESEWORDSINCAPS@yahoo.co.uk with the subject line IH GD REMIX FOLLOWUP in caps. Thank you.

TRACKLIST

1. The Jet Age Of Tomorrow – My Good Girl (excerpt)
2. Chris Brown feat Lil Wayne & Bustah Rhymes – Look At Me Now
3. Kingdom – Let Me Buck (off XLR8R mix)
4. Devonwho – Brushmetal
5. The Weekend – What You Need
6. Jacques Green – Tell Me (Kingdom Edit)
7. Chris Baker – L Train
8. Inner City – Good Life