"You local karaoke bitches ain't my speed, grow the weed." - BbyMutha
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Favorite Mixtapes
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From Gunna & BbyMutha to Kodak Black & Tru Sno
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Thu, 2018-02-01
With a cascade of releases spewing from the likes of DatPiff, LiveMixtapes, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud, it can be difficult to keep up with the overbearing yet increasingly vital mixtape game. In this column, we aim to immerse ourselves in this hyper-prolific world and share our favorite releases each month. The focus will primarily be on rap mixtapes — loosely defined here as free (or sometimes free-to-stream) digital releases — but we’ll keep things loose enough to branch out if/when we feel it necessary.
Styles: garage rock, surf, experimental pop, psych, singer-songwriter Others: Superchunk, Courtney Barnett, Belly, Guided By Voices, Shudder To Think, Sebadoh
A Breeders song is often a friend to intentional hesitation. Not zoning out, not exactly stuck. More like craning your neck to a curious sound. Steady, sublimated tension lines, stretched tight enough to faintly twang in your head. In the distance, strength. In the depth, what’s still tangible in artistic heroism. Kim is there keening, poking at her own dread, weariness and wonder, as infinitely glib, sweeping pronouncements about the state of music are made and forgotten. Being a quintessential 90s band, her group’s sound will always recall that time.
18+’s Justin Swinburne goes solo as jj18, announces debut mixtape with accompanying 48-minute visual18+’s Justin Swinburne goes solo as jj18, announces debut mixtape with accompanying 48-minute visual
The provocative, hyperreal duo that is 18+ has been one of TMT’s favorites since 2012, so it is with considerable excitement to see Justin Swinburne now going at it solo. Under the moniker jj18, the L.A.-born, Berlin-based artist has prepped a 14-track mixtape titled jj’s prayer. The tape sees Swinburne attempting to piece together his “own narrative of identity in an increasingly fragmented world,” with themes revolving around disaster fantasy, trauma, divorce, codependency, avatars, smoke, and more.
Christina Vantzou announces new album N°4 on Kranky, remains dedicated to established naming conventions like a true minimalistChristina Vantzou announces new album N°4 on Kranky, remains dedicated to established naming conventions like
Maintaining incredible chronological accuracy despite the knowledge that time isn’t, in fact, linear, Belgium-based composer Christina Vantzou has announced her fourth album on Kranky. It’s called N°4, and it comes out April 6. Now, not to put too fine a point on it here, but April is the FOURTH month of the Gregorian calendar. Again: this is her fourth album. (Are you getting it?)
Styles: underground folklore, garage rock historiography Others: SST Records, college rock
It’s easy to overlook the beauty of anonymity in craft. At least since the Renaissance, Western societies have considered authorship and originality as essential to any noteworthy creative work.
Rui Ho announces new EP Becoming Is An Eventful Situation on Objects Limited, shares track “Theia Impact” to help heighten the impactRui Ho announces new EP Becoming Is An Eventful Situation on Objects Limited, shares track “Theia Impact”
Just the nuts and bolts, kids: Berlin-based Chinese producer Rui Ho will be releasing their second EP, Becoming Is An Eventful Situation, via Objects Limited on March 23.
Aïsha Devi insists that you call your genetics, announces new album DNA Feelings on Houndstooth, shares trackAïsha Devi insists that you call your genetics, announces new album DNA Feelings on Houndstooth, shares trac
The Swiss-born, Nepalese-Tibetan producer Aïsha Devi released her debut album Of Matter and Spirit via the Houndstooth label in 2015, and even if you weren’t familiar with the her previous work under the Kate Wax pseudonym — or you didn’t know the philosophy behind her now-established Danse Noire label — it was hard to avoid the conclusion after you listened that Devi was trying upend certain notions that we have about music.
A series of questions with no answers, words thrown at voids, 700 Bliss propose a music of and for survival. The poet-writer-rapper Moor Mother and DJ/producer DJ Haram have been playing with and for each other in Philadelphia’s noise scene for several years now, divulging the results of their collaboration intermittently.
In late January, I stood among dozens of Denverites in awe of DJ Taye, among the most energetic performers I’ve ever seen. Earlier that evening, I’d talked with a very sleepy Taye over bowls of ramen just around the corner from the venue. Having spent the intervening two hours with Taye, who smoked three blunts at least and napped for 10 minutes at most, I wasn’t sure what to make of this new development.
