On one stage this Summer you can catch some of the best in American bass music from Jade Cicada, CharlestheFirst and Bogtrotter, international OGs like Hedflux, Rumpistol and Ott, and a living legend like Solar Fields; the Chill Out stage at Psy-Fi Festival: Seeds of Science, returning in its seventh year to Leeuwarden, Netherlands this weekend, August 28 to September 1.
Read More"It Was Really About the People & the Land" - A Weekend At Shambhala
As the climate, laws, music, people, and the popularity of the entire electronic music enterprise has changed, Shambhala Music Festival has preserved and grown. How? It’s run by an enduring crew that comes back year after year. It’s become part of Western Canadian culture. And It’s centered around ideas that don’t lose value with time or trends; respect for the Earth and oneself; independence from corporate influence; reverence for higher powers; passion for good music.
Read MoreJourneyman Matt Carey Releases Grab Bag LP Xtra Curricular Communication
The journeyman Matt Carey has been keeping a low but productive profile for several years on the festival circuit in the Northeastern United States. Yesterday, he released his second full-length album Xtra Curricular Communication, a grab bag ranging in styles from hip-hop to house to drum and bass and breaks. Questions about the nature of the world today are woven tastefully through the album.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 082 - Puar
We first found the British Columbia-based producer Puar through his collaborations with Vancouver’s bsd.u, and we had the good fortune to catch his set at the Grove Cedar Lounge (a side stage) at Shambhala Music Festival on the Salmo River Ranch in BC. He was playing his signature style of highly vocalized phonk, some lo-fi, and a ton of straight west coast bass beats evocative of the Lab Group.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 081 - DLJ
Hailing from Toulouse, France, DLJ has spent the last two years producing a steady stream of top tier lo-fi content. A standout member of Retro Jungle Records, DLJ is a constant practitioner of musical cleanliness. His tunes are full of life and specificity, giving his catalog an approachable, well-rounded veneer.
Read MoreHow JPOD the Beat Chef Became a Shambhala Favorite
JPOD aka JPOD the Beat Chef aka Jason is a fixture of the Western Canadian electronic music scene. This year from August 8-11 on the Salmo River Ranch in Salmo, British Columbia, Canada will be his fifteenth at Shambhala Music Festival. It’s only right that we end our “Shambhala Favorites” interview series by learning about the beat chef and how he first made his way to Shambhala.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 080 - Beasty P
Our next edition of Lo-Fi Sundays brings us to the city of Minsk, Belarus. Beasty P is a European beats producer who runs with the internationally acclaimed NINETOFIVE Worldwide Beatmakers record label. He’s packing a stereophonic quality to his dusty tunes that is in short supply in the lo-fi world, and has a clear skillset for flipping breaks and samples.
Read MoreSound of Solasta - Pathwey
Solasta Festival is leaving its original grounds in northeastern Tennessee for the misty, hill-bound Deerfields Retreat in southwestern North Carolina. The event is known for its niche curation, booking the cream of the contemporary crop in psychedelic broken beat music. Unlike their location, this ethos hasn’t changed. Our Sound of Solasta interview series investigates the back stories of artists on the lineup, and this year we’re focusing on the ascendant audio alchemist Pathwey from the nearby city of Asheville, NC.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 079 - RudeManners
The experimental hip-hop and R&B producer RudeManners follows the axiom that a diverse portfolio is a stronger portfolio. Pegging this New York producer with one style is hard. He makes jazzy work, boom-bap tunes, “phonk” and trap beats, a bit of lo-fi house, and a ton of spacey trip-hop-influenced songs. But in comparison to his peers, his catalog has a distinct and recognizable sound that’s defined by a lounge aesthetic.
Read MoreGet to Know the Shambhala Favorites Fort Knox Five & Qdup
If you trace back the career of the Fort Knox Five, you’ll also discover the evolution of the musical style commonly known as electro funk. Almost 15 years ago they found their way from Washington D.C. to British Columbia, Canada and Shambhala Music Festival, and they’ve made it their home ever since. More recently, Fort Knox Five began performing with fellow DC DJ Qdup, and soon the duo will funk Shambhala for the fifth year in a row.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 078 - nick tesla
Channeling New York City's undeniable hip-hop legacy, nick tesla reinvents the relationship between sampled gold and head-nod rhythms. His style absorbs the melodic sensibilities of soul, jazz, blues, and disco wrapped up and delivered in a Lo-Fi veneer.
Read MoreEnigmatic Austrian Producer Voljum Drops First EP 'Cyberglobe'
The backstory of Austrian producer Voljum is a novel one. He’s a 19-year-old classical pianist who produces electronic music in his spare time, and offers ghost production across several genres of music. He’s released six original tracks to date, and each one demonstrates extraordinarily advanced sound design. Little else is known about the producer beyond this, although perhaps more will come to light following the release of his first EP, Cyberglobe, which is available today through the experimental outlet VALE.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 077 - Telemakus
Telemakus is a 19-year old producer from the Bay Area who is skilled beyond his years on the piano and in the digital audio workspace. His first productions appear to come from three or four years ago, and his most recent work came earlier this year; Calantha Vol. 2, the second of his two LPs. On this record from Inner Ocean Records, you can hear Telemakus truly indulging his jazz sensibilities.
Read MoreGet to Know the Shambhala Favorites Starting with Slynk
Hailed by some as “the funkiest DJ on the planet”, the Australian-born Vancouver-based DJ/producer Slynk has been performing at Shambhala Music Festival for nearly a decade and returns this summer as one of several acts labeled on the 2019 lineup as “Shambhala Favorites”. Shambhala has chosen to recognize this group of artists whose roots run especially deep with the festival, so we decided to see what the buzz is about, starting with the fun-loving and funky Slynk aka Evan Chandler.
Read MoreSixis Embraces a Fierce New Direction
Is it challenging for an artist who has found a degree of success to consciously decide to switch up their style? If one earns recognition doing things a certain way, how will they fare once they begin doing things differently? The experimental producer Sixis has some insight on these questions. He made his name with a handful of EPs and singles marked by ambiance, attention to detail, slow progression, and tropes of transcendence. Now the producer is pursuing a “fierce new direction”.
Read MoreMaynix - Trumours
After quietly pushing tunes through a series of boutique labels and outlets for three years, the shadowy producer Maynix shares the breathtaking full-length debut Trumours. The compositional risks are so bold and the sound design so potent that Trumours easily matches up against some of the brightest releases of 2019. Appropriately, it comes courtesy of Open Outlets, the label owned and operated by the UK heavyweight Culprate.
Read MoreElements Lakewood 2019 Stands Out Among Small Festivals
By presenting diverse lineups in an immersive summer camp setting since 2017, Elements Lakewood Music and Arts Festival has been edging towards becoming the premiere electronic music festival in the northeastern United States. This year on Memorial Day Weekend, they solidified that spot by taking their stage production, logistics, and guest offerings to the next level.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 076 - J. Vibes
While the majority of lo-fi hip-hop content is, by definition, low fidelity, a few producers take a walk off the beaten path. Fusing lo-fi textures and sampling motifs with audio dynamics characteristic to trip-hop and other sibling genres, the music of J. Vibes comes out extremely lush and stereophonic.
Read MoreChalky - Blooe EP
Rounding back into the public spotlight for his sophomore release, Chalky doubles down on his particular brand of nu jazz in the Blooe EP. His debut album, Second Beach, saw him meander through various jazz modalities via intuitive instrumentalism and keen composition. The Blooe EP is a refined and tonally conversational next step in the Chalky catalog.
Read MoreLo-Fi Sundays 075 - Mecca:83
Every weekend we curate 10 tracks from one instrumental hip-hop producer to try to capture his or her essence. This can be a challenging task, but it may have never been more challenging than this weekend as we feature the music of Manchester-based producer Evan Jones aka Mecca:83. His catalog is vast, and virtually every cut is worthy of a deep listen. What’s more, music from his jazz alias Rise just became available for streaming for the first time.
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