First up, the Madison heavyweight hip hop live band dumate has been having an amazing year, and to celebrate, they’re offering their full length album, We Have the Technology, for free through Bandcamp. Click here to get yours. This is a limited time offer deal.
The dumate team has been very, very busy this year…especially MPC player / producer Man Mantis. He’s dropped an experimentally awesome EP’s with J. Dante, Whole New World, and a classic-flavored EP with dumate emcee DLO titled The IceMantis EP, which has been getting great reviews.
I mean, really great reviews. The Onion’s A/V Club gave it an “A” rating, concluding that the dumate crew was “grotesquely underrated on both a local and national scale.” Amen.
Up next, Man Mantis is working on an instrumental release, Cities Without Houses. Based on what I’ve heard, I think it’s going to make some serious noise for him…stay tuned.
We’ve got a lot of extremely dope producers on the World Around roster.
This year has seen incredible releases from nearly all of them. First we dropped Naturetone’s debut, Nihon, an ambitious and exotic tribute to the music and culture of Japan. Naturetone was fortunate enough to make a pilgrimage there this year…and he got married this year, too!
Then came Dr. Quandary’s magnum opus, Beyond All Spheres of Force and Matter. It’s been a trip watching this release ripple through Teh Internets — we see a ...
Here at World Around, we’ve been fans of Witness since his outstanding Ever Since EP, way back in 2005. After that, he stepped up his game ferociously with the Evermore EP (Buy it here) and dropped a collaboration with AZ producer Mobb Robb named .45 Sweetheart.
Whatever he’s working on now, it’s crazy. Nobody knows if this collaboration will grow into something bigger, but for now — enjoy this for what it is. An exceptionally dope song.
Dr. Quandary - Beyond All Spheres of Force and Matter
May 23, 2010
Releasing this project is a huge milestone for World Around Records. Beyond All Spheres of Force and Matter is a vision that Dr. Quandary had back when we first started World Around, and I’ve listened to this album evolve for several years now.
I thought what I was hearing back then was dope, but Quan had a very specific vision and he kept pushing himself until he achieved it. Clearly, he was going for one of the most epic, spaced-out, and cinematic instrumental hip hop albums humanly possible, because that’s pretty much what happened.
After years of building the huge, intricate percussion and the rich layers of samples, Dr. Quandary turned to synthesizers to flesh out his vision even further. For several of the tracks here, he’s also worked with multi-instrumentalist mastermind Matt Scott who laid down (fretless) live bass to bring the final mix together. The result is something timeless, and the sci-fi cover painting by Federico Piatti compliments the project perfectly.
Yes, there will be posters. And vinyl.
For now, though, we’ve got it up on Bandcamp for $5. You can of course listen to the entire thing, for free, all day at work. We encourage that sort of thing. As a “thank you” for helping us to fund our operations, Dr. Quandary is including a bonus EP, Semuta, with every Bandcamp purchase.
By our best estimates, Louis Mackey has well over 100 full-length tracks that have never seen the light of day beyond MySpace or SoundClick. The man is a machine, constantly cranking out beats and lyrics — however, the adverse effect of his rigorous routine is that he’s moved on to the next project by the time the first is finished.
That’s why Funky Motherfucker, Yeah! has been so long in the making: ever since it was conceptualized, it’s been restructured, rewritten and further honed by Lou’s ravenous appetite for quality. In the end, we’re glad he decided to just pull the trigger on the project, because the result is an excellent “best-of” style collection spanning Lou’s entire rap career, from as far back as 2004 to the present.
The record features Lou’s signature brand of lyrical wit and funky production, with cameos from beatmakers Dr. Quandary, Man Mantis and The Banana Hammocks, as well as guest verses from AnP and Vermont freestyle veteran Chris Dizzy.
Click on the cover to download Funky Motherfucker, Yeah! in 320k MP3 format, with high-quality album art by Jacob North and PDF liner notes.
Click on the image above to download 18 exclusive and upcoming tracks from the entire World Around roster, along with high-quality album art and PDF liner notes. Happy New Year!
Tracklist:
S.maharba - The Look
STINK TANK™ - NSFA
Humpasaur Jones - Breakup Music
Naturetone - Lone Wolf
dumate - Devil is Dope
IceMantis - In rmary (feat. Dudu Stinks)
Daimyo! - Two (feat. Louis Mackey)
DJ Multiple Sex Partners - Serious Mammals
Man Mantis - Les Yeux
Algorhythms - No Flower (Snippet)
S.maharba - Briefcase Found
Dr. Quandary - Feijão
Louis Mackey - Hades Isn’t Real (feat. Adam Kadmon)
World Around is run by techno-mystics, so we pay attention to the business work of Ian Rogers, but we also listen closely to the Zodiac work of Baron Samadhi.
November 11th is a very auspicious day, so our resident producer/weirdo tag team have both dropped something new.
“This is a tribute to the music of Africa — specifically, Mali. Ever since getting introduced to Ali Farka Toure and Lobi Traore, I’ve been increasingly obsessed with the melodies and rhythms of the Sahara. Mahdi Rock stands as a sign of things to come.”
Next up: Boston-based beatsmith Dr. Quandary has released a preview track from his upcoming album, Beyond All Spheres of Force and Matter. The name of the song is Eleven Eleven and it’s a perfect example of how insane his album sounds. Huge, orchestrated, and meticulous, Dr. Quandary has created something timeless and distinct…we can’t wait to put this album out. (But we have to.)
Our first Algorhythms Remix Contest was a bigger success than we’d expected, resulting in 61 submissions. We figured the volume of submissions would make it harder to judge, but our winner was a serious standout.
We’d like to introduce you to a producer by the name of Naturetone, from Bern, Switzerland. He’s got a lot of experience, having started out with Swiss rappers Three Tree Posse (3TP) back in 1993. His love of music has brought him back into the game and he’s currently working towards his first solo instrumental album…and you know we’ll keep you posted on that.
Click the cover to download all four of the Naturetone Remixes:
Blowing Numbers:
The smooth and very nice song “Marcella’s Dream” by The Crusaders from their 1978 album “Images” mixed with Quincy Jones’s beautiful version of “Summer in the city” from his 1973 album “You’ve got it bad girl”.
Dreams of Lisbon:
Phil Upchurch & Tennyson Stephens’ great song “Don’t I know you” from their 1975 album “Upchurch/Tennyson” mixed with Millie Jackson’s “The Rap” from her 1974 love concept album “Caught up”.
What’s this:
The Village Soul Choir single “The cat walk” mixed with the song “Soul Suite” from 1972 by Detroit’s grooving Dave Hamilton.
What’s this (alternate take):
The great song “Dolphin Dance” by the great Ahmad Jamal, taken from his 1970 album ...
Even though the entire point of the Algorhythms remix contest was to make solid connections with new producers, we also wound up with about a dozen in-house remixes.
Prime example: a haunting new take on “Blowing Numbers” by Algorhythms’ very own Dr. Quandary.
FAQ: What happened with the remix contest?
WE ARE SO DAMN SORRY. We know, we are months behind the ball on that. The announcement (and release of the winner’s tracks) will be next week. We’ve had our hands very full and we’re still learning what our responsibilities are, and how to juggle them. Thank you for your patience. We got a total of 61 submissions (!!!!) and that’s an amazing turnout.
This Dr. Quandary banger has been in our secret files for at least two years now. That’s…way too long. Dr. John remixed by aliens with stolen drum machines. This is also excellent morning music for a turbo-charged wakeup routine.
Since the Algorhythms EP dropped last year, there’s been a slow but steady demand for accapellas. Rather than just drop these quietly, we’re going to run a whole summer-long remix contest and keep feeding you more.
THE RULES:
Do whatever you want. When you’re done, though, we do have a few regulations.
Submissions have to be rendered in at least 256 kbps mp3 format. We don’t want any .wav files until we decide we like your track. All entries will be judged by a rotating panel of WAR artists, with me and Dr. Quandary making the final decisions.
Submit your track to djmspbeats@gmail.com
Deadline for submissions is August 1st. We might suggest/request changes if we dig the track but the mix is off. The deadline for finished tracks is September 1st.
The winning submissions will all get included in a World Around Remix collection we’ll be releasing online and promoting like crazed fire ants. You’ll be alongside our in-house team, this won’t just be the “Random People Online Remix Our Shit EP” — this is an album-length project and it will be dope.
Humpasaur Jones - Breakup Music
Dr. Quandary - I Walk on Gilded Splinters (Remix)
