Exmag: Proportions Review

Exmag- Proportions

Lowtemp: 2014

Exmag is a group based out of Brooklyn and shortly after signing to Gramatik’s Lowtemp record label late last year, they released their debut album Proportions for free online. The project captures all the elements of the neo-soul, jazz-hop, dance/house, and funk genres with a tasteful and approachable method of delivery.

Although they aren’t getting played on the radio with the rest of the popular rubbish, the group has definitely made a splash in the contemporary music scene, receiving high praise from a parade of jazz, electronic, hip hop, funk, soul, and fusion listeners all over the world. Some of the singles on this record possess the knack to top hip-hop and pop charts globally, but the mainstream recognition of the group is slow to come. However, I believe fame will have no trouble finding these talented musicians as their following continues to grow. They are cleverly executing a groove that has one mission: making the listener move. One would be hard pressed to make it through the album without tapping a toe or submitting to a rhythmic head nod. 

The feel of this album is one of danceability and groove, and the listener is hit with that vibe instantly. The opening track on Proportions is entitled, “True love from the Future.” The song begins with a very open synth chord that rings out warmly while the guitar player sparsely plucks out a few chord tones. This interaction welcomes listeners with warm tones and an easy to follow 2/4 groove. This means the hardest hits are on beats two and four of each measure, which is a common occurrence in dance music. The song continues to build with more funky layers and effects through the climax of the song, where we hear the album’s first lyrics: “Am I hearing voices… or is this true love from the future?” This lyric speaks loudly, and captures the attention of listeners effectively. It is something for us to savor and digest as listeners.

Proportions is true love in the present. It’s blend of live and electronic instrumentation is flawless and adds to the project’s overall funkiness. The track “NuFunk Odyssey,” does this well. It begins with a blues guitar lick, backed by another chugging guitar riff that fades out and fades back in as a synthesized bassline. This subtle change, and others like it, build new layers onto the groove and keep the listeners interested for the full eight minutes. The group plays well at infusing different layer additions which is crucial when creating polyrhythms-- the spine of the groove’s body. The groove is fully embodied throughout the rest of the album. This is something we can rely on with this group. Listeners can count on Exmag to cradle them safely in the pocket. They will not let the groove die or get boring. 

Within Proportions there are three hot singles, “Creep Steady Part 1,” “Juke,” and “Tilt Mode,” featuring Gibbz. These two songs accompany a handful of other tracks that spur certain groove ignition. “Proportions,” “Junk In That Thang,” “We Run Shit,” and “Persian Temptress,” are certain to have hips shaking and toes tapping if not to inspire a full on dance party. Their use of hard basslines, disco drums, synth, and repetition are all keys to filling the dance floor. 

Exmag incorporates a lot of ideas from jazz, blues, and disco throughout Proportions which may explain the urge to dance while listening. The group’s ability to adopt and foster the elements of other musics into their own creation is unique and highly relatable to listeners of all types. Although they are not currently circulating in the mainstream or the “top 40” people who like music on that scene would still enjoy Exmag. It matters not where a band comes from when they groove like this. If “Tilt Mode” got a mainstream screening 14 year-old girls would most likely end up reciting the lyrics or singing along. Proportions’ frame of appeal is vast but shrouded by the underground music scene. One day soon they will shine above the surface for all to see.

Exmag has put Proportions out there for the music world to bump and grind, jive and slide, or groove and ride. Download it for free and surrender to the groove. 

http://www.mediafire.com/download/zfxpfa9zkd0as3f/Exmag+-+Proportions+%28Full+Album%29.zip

Review: Salad Days - Mac Demarco

Noah: Salad Days, out April 1^st, is the sophomore return of the Canadian multi-instrumentalist Mac Demarco. The artist is probably most famous for his eccentric performances (see: sticking his thumb up his butt in a middle of a concert), so when sorting this album into my iTunes summer playlist, I had a hard time categorizing his often spontaneous and erratic style; Do I call it jingle pop? Nah, brings too many Beach Boys comparisons. Psychedelic indie rock? I guess, but it has a sunny sound that doesn't tie it to the often confusing and dark soundscape of many modern psych acts. Schizo synth rock? I don't even know if that sub-genre exists... It's unmistakably Demarco-ish, if that means anything at all.

   
Writing up this review, I mistakenly called Demarco 'Californian' several times before I double-checked his wikipedia. The guy comes from British Columbia, but his music is so sun drenched that it's easy to make that error. Mac's first LP, '2', was on constant repeat during 2012 for me. A quarter through 2014, i'm still jamming out to it in the car, in the library, in bed, and while I play Playstation. It's happy mood music, and puts you in the best possible mind-set to start the day. So understandably, when Demarco first teased Salad Days, I absolutely lost my shit.

   
The intro and title track starts up on my iTunes queue, and I can't help but grin. Demarco plays all of his studio album and concerts with a shitty little childrens guitar he picked up at a garage sale (literally, at a garage sale), and the cheesiness of that little shitty guitar rings true. It sounds slightly out of tune, but in such an appealing way that you cant help but imagine the track being played at a Hawaiian beach party. Jumping into 'Blue Boy' right away, that same slightly off pitch guitar shines through. Mac's voice is sleepy, yet alert... But nobody is really listening to this album for lyrical content. They're listening to have a really fucking good time. “You’re better off dead, when your mind’s been set from nine until five” Demarco croons on 'Brother', and these lyrics definitely are true to the slacker attitude of the LP .

   
'Let My Baby Stay' is a typical Demarco love song, set to some soft strokes of his guitar. “I was made to love her, been working at it/Half of my life, i've been an addict” he sings, and I felt almost like Demarco had hit my brains g-spot. I wanted to pass out, but not out of boredom; the track is so tranquil. What sets the song apart from the others, though, is not its content, but its place alongside the next track. As the last stroke of the guitar and Demarco's wailing fades out, a jarring synthesizer breaks out with a hypnotically rhythmic and warm tone that signifies the start of 'Passing Out Pieces'. This track is SO fucking good. I'm so goddamn obsessed. In the last day alone, i've made excuses to take showers just so that I can stand in the warm water and listen to this song on repeat. Sadly, the next track ('Treat Her Better') is a snoozefest compared to the energy that 'Passing Out Pieces' provides. It's a shame that Demarco couldn't expand on that warm tone.

   
Nearing the end of the short LP (only 11 songs), there are a couple of standouts. 'Chamber of Reflection' provides more of the warm synths that make 'Passing Out Pieces' a standout, albeit a lack of energy. The last two tracks, 'Go Easy and 'Jonny's Odyssey', end the album in a confident and positive mood. But by the time the last song faded out, I couldn't help but be sad. Who knows when we'll get more Demarco? I don't know if I can wait another two years like I did for Salad Days. In the meantime, i'll be sitting poolside, jamming out to some shitty garage sale guitar tunes. This album is a must listen for any indie rock (or plain indie music) fans.

PROS: Lots of character. Instrumentals are the absolute star of this album, and Demarco is a damn good lyricist, too. Each track has a personality, and you can put this LP on shuffle and jam out any time, any mood. You have the moody tracks, the happy tracks, the upbeat anthems, the slow jams. Overall good ass vibes.

CONS: Sometimes the order of the tracks can be jarring. Super upbeat songs next to oddly slow ones, and vice versa. Not a harsh criticism.

9.5 shitty garage sale guitars/10 shitty garage sale guitars. SUPPORT THE ARTIST!!!

2014 is going to be a pretty huge deal for De La Soul

In case you missed it, De La Soul has a kick ass year in store for us. Besides releasing their entire discography for free on valentines day, De La announced that it they would be releasing a full length LP this year as well as an EP (produced entirely by Pete Rock and DJ Premier) and their recent Dilla-produced mixtape "Smell the Da.I.S.Y." which you can download here, or from BitTorrent (which gets you a whole bundle of De La/Dilla goodness along with the mixtape).

Smell the Da.I.S.Y. (which stands for "Da Inner Soul of Yancey," referring to J Dilla's real name, James Dewitt Yancey), features reworked classic De La lyrical content over some unreleased Jay Dee instrumentals. While a few fans were disappointed with this concept, I personally think it's awesome (and nowhere near as bad as that Q-tip/Busta Rhymes The Abstract and the Dragon debacle last year). It's good to see that De La is back. It's still the D.A.I.S.Y. age, yo! Keep an eye out for our coverage of these upcoming De La Soul projects as they release.

The Black Keys Release New Single "Fever"

It's been a minute since we've heard from the Akron, Ohio alt-rock duo The Black Keys. Comprised of guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and Drummer Patrick Carney, The Black Keys are known for their signature low-fi, filtered, blues heavy garage rock which is at its aesthetic best when it's being blasted at high volumes out of shitty car speakers. The Key's last album, the critically acclaimed El Camino, came out almost a little over two years ago (can you believe that?) and, since it's release, the Keys had gone uncharacteristically silent (aside from that huge tour that they did). That silence ended earlier today, when the duo released "Fever" a single from their upcoming project Turn Blue.

You can listen to the song below, but be warned; the video will hypnotize you (actually if you are prone to seizures, I would avoid actually watching the video and turn it on in the background, while you do something else).

Free Release: Mo Kolours self titled LP "Mo Kolours"

If you're not up on your UK-based, underground, alternative-soul (and that's most of us here in the US), then it's very likely that you've never heard of Mo Kolours. When I stumbled across the Producer/Singer/Percussionist earlier today, I really had no clue what to expect. When I clicked play on "Brixton House," the first track of his first full LP, the self titled Mo Kolours, I was greeted by a drum beat that instantly reminded me of some of Ann Arbor based Shigeto's more minimalistic work, supplemented by an insanely smooth chord progression that captivated me for all of two and a half minutes of the track. On the next track, "Little Brown Dog" Mo shows off his singing chops, as well as an unusual but entrancing steel drum sample. I am unclear as to whether these were samples of his own sounds, or a traditional record chop, but either way Mo assembles his sounds in a beautifully messy way, constructing a cacophony that weaves in and out of mass discord, continuously assembling and dissembling itself. As the album progressed, I was also struck by how straightforward and unpretentious Mo's voice is. He sings each track like he has nothing to prove; there are little to no embellishments, save a warbling vibrato present in a few tracks.

As far as a lasting impression goes, I'll have to give a few more listens to Mo Kolours to get an idea of how long it will last me, but the LP has made a very good first impression.

Download the Mo Kolours LP here.

What We've Been Listening To - Week Of 3/21/2014

Every week, the Dynamicism staff takes a look back and talks about the albums that they have been listening to. We get to showcase albums that may not otherwise get attention on our blog. Below are the staff's weekly picks and, as always, I (Adlai) will add more as they come in.

Adlai: This past week has been insanely hectic, but I still got some time to enjoy some great music. I've had Piñata, the Madlib and Freddie Gibbs collaborative effort, on heavy rotation (check out our review), but otherwise I've been revisiting some of my favorite jazz albums of all time, most notably the classic Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. This was one of the first jazz albums I ever owned (I received it for Christmas in 2009, along with John Coltrane's A Love Supreme and Freddie Hubbard's Hubtones) and Miles Davis is certainly one of my earliest influences on my playing. On Kind of Blue, Davis plays with one the best lineups in the history of jazz. The horn section is padded out by John Coltrane on tenor and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley on alto and the rhythm section features Jimmy Cobb on drums and Paul Chambers on bass as well as both Bill Evans and Wynton Kelley on piano.

In addition to a great lineup, the album features an amazing sense of style and structure; the beautifully climactic ballad "Blue In Green" is sandwiched in between two blues songs, "Freddie Freeloader" and "All Blues," which in turn are bookended by two modal tunes, "So What" and "Flamenco Sketches," that begin and end the original album respectively. On the Legacy Edition, however, the album continues with a series of alternate takes, studio sequences and false starts that, while they are a neat novelty for the avid fan (which I certainly am), could be off-putting to the average listener. Really, I don't listen much past the original five tracks, but when I am, I am fascinated by the studio chatter and noodling of these legendary musicians. The real reason to own the "Legacy Edition," to me, is the second disc which is full of rare and overlooked cuts. Highlighting these are "On Green Dolphin Street" and "Stella By Starlight," which, while they did appear on the often overlooked 1958 Miles, serve to give the listener a sense of Miles transition from his earlier bebop style (like on Round About Midnight) to his new, more modern and modal preference.

Hazel: So I didn’t realize that everyone was introducing themselves during last week’s roundup - I’m Hazel, and I listen to a lot of alternative pop/folk and soul. I was asked to join the blog as an equalizer to the many hip-hopcentric reviewers. I also run Community High’s radio station, and have a show every Monday 8-9, should you be inclined to tune in. This week I’ve been listening to Cherub’s second album, MoM & DaD. The album isn’t one I listen to a lot as a whole, mostly I just dig certain tracks, Cherub has found their niche in 80s inspired electropop, reminiscent of fellow electropop artist Work Drugs’ earlier work. Cherub’s lead singer Jordan Kelly owns the falsetto, and many of the choruses on MoM & DaD have you straining to sing along to the high notes. “Doses and Mimosas,” my personal favorite track off the album, is dedicated to “All the bitch ass hoes who hate me the most.” It’s the ultimate fuck you anthem, and catchy as hell. Other notable tracks include “xoxo,” a cautionary tale of a cheating ex girlfriend, “All,” one of the slower tracks on the album, featuring the sultry voice of Natalie Press, and “Lynndenberries,” filled with ear candy harmonies. Cherub, while not as profound lyricists as, say Passion Pit, have succeeded in creating an album that’s fun to listen to, and great dance music. For any readers in the greater Michigan area, they’re playing at Saint Andrew’s Hall in Detroit this Friday, and they’re sure to be a fun concert.

Noah: Tastes change. Music is such a fluid, personal thing to many musicians and listeners, and I pride myself in being open minded to stylistic change and experimentation. Sometimes, this experimentation can be extremely hit or miss (ahem, Kid Cudi), but on occasion my casual listening can be intruded by eclectic genres and artists. This week has just been... one of those weeks, I could say. The Handsome Family's 2003 album Singing Bones is unmistakably country. From the wailing (literally wailing) saw in "24 Hour Store" to the deep vocal range of the singer, Brett Sparks, this album is a breath of fresh air. The husband-wife team of The Handsome Family can be undoubtably creepy at times, singing with a deep southern twang about loneliness and long lost love... But it's not supposed to be uplifting. It's supposed to be moody as hell, something you play in the background of a sensitive conversation in a desert convenience store parking lot. It's wild west desert music. I couldn't help but singing along to tracks such as "Gail With the Golden Hair," and nodding my head sleepily to "Far From Any Road," The latter might be recognized by some as the theme from "True Detective," and anyone who's seen the show would admit it's pretty spot on in creating a gloomy mood. For anyone interested in a slower change of pace, and an alternative country album of rare quality, check out Singing Bones.


\Hannon: I like an album that I can sing along to; which means the lyrics on the album have to be great, and Mat Cothran of Coma Cinema is a great lyricist. This past week I've been listening to his LP of 2013: Posthumous Release. I would describe it as indie-bedroom-rock. If that means nothing to you, then it's sort of like if you wanted the energy of a live indie rock band in your bedroom but didn't want to wake up your roommate across the hall. They have a very unique energy, with a smooth and sweet delivery which makes me keep this 11 track LP on repeat. One of my favorite tracks is called: "Satan Made a Mansion." There's a sort of mellow-depressive element in this delivery that gives the song an added beauty as the band jams hard behind him, emotions are contrasted. This song reminds me of his other cleverly named band: Elvis Depressedly. This band as the title suggests, takes on a lot of depressive vibes coupled with great lyrics and better melodies.

Another favorite on Posthumous Release is the album opener: "VHS White Trash," which makes me smile every time I see it. Although the song itself doesn't make me crack a smile, I really get down with the harmony and again- the lyrics are on point. "Sick refusing sleep- childhood lie in dreams- somewhere out of reach- safe from all bad feeling." 

So if your looking for some mellow beauty, Mat Cothran and Coma Cinema are all over it. I initially picked up this album on a recommendation from a friend and I'm quite pleased with the result. You can download it here. I'm not gonna get all preachy about name your price, but this album will be worth every cent of your contribution.

Erez: The one great advantage of having a huge iTunes library is that you forget about albums. This week, I was browsing through my artists when I stumbled upon the Digable Planets album Reachin' (A new Refutation of Time and Space). 

Digable Planets busted out on the scene with Reachin' as their debut album, showcasing their smooth and funky rhymes coupled with deeply jazzy beats. The year was 1993, Wu-Tang and ATCQ had both released landmark albums, while Snoop Dogg was being charged for murder. It was a complex time for Hip-Hop, with gangster rap rearing it's head and competing with fans of artists like ATCQ. Then, rising from the turmoil, came the Digable Planets. 

In Reachin', Digable Planets come through with what I consider to be a beautiful and hard-to-find sound in Hip-Hop. The whole album is produced by Butterfly, one third of the trio, and his production truly incorporates jazz in a way few producers, save Madlib or DJ Premier, have achieved. In the classic song Rebirth of Slick, a sample of an Art Blakey's song appears, with the horn theme almost made for sampling. However, Butterfly also chooses to employ Dennis Irwin's great bass line in the song, showing at least some mature perspective on jazz music. In What Cool Breezes Do, the same type of horn theme is used, giving the song a melody for the listener to grasp onto. Plus, the beats, while not too imaginative, are very tight, leaving room for the rapper to bounce around lyrically. Ladybug MEcca, the only woman in the group, delivers great flow throughout the album, partly because having a woman in the group is a nice refresher form the male-dominated hip-hop world at the time. Her voice is slightly sing-songy, which goes perfectly with the more melodic beats. of the album.

The rhymes are immensely clever, from the title track (butterfly uses the rhyme "others from our brother planet" a spoonerism referencing the classic John Sayles film). In the track, Appointment at the Fat Clinic, Dp is at their best, with a strong grooving beat with jazz organ samples and a live-sounding drum loop. Most of the rhymes on the album are standard Hip-Hop "rapping about our funky lives" kind of stuff, save for a few songs. However, the delivery, especially from Doodlebug, the third group member, has a jazz solo like feel, with the rappers bouncing their words with the beat, clipping words so that they sound like they're trying to be part of the surrounding drum loop. In Fat Clinic, the lyrics talk about chaining music, and there are some great jazz references, such as Ladybug alluding to the song "Straight No Chaser," and Doodlebug talking about young sax players having the ability to play Charlie Parker licks. In this album, the rhymes fit the beats, the beats fit the groove, the groove fits the style, and the style fits life. Enough said.

Kirikou: Grooves. Kirikou love grooves. Kirikou love to groove. I was digging and came upon a two dollar copy of Cheryl Lynn's self titled LP. I'm familiar with this record and most importantly with the opening track "got to be real", but I bought the record and have been back up on it the past few days. Not an amazing album through and through but at least you gotta check out the opening track. Serious banger grooves. The rather hard to find classic old school track "How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise" by Brother D and The Collective Effort is recorded over "Got To Be Real". Other tracks are worth checking out but I'll let you do that. Nuff Said. This album is serious heat.

Top Dog Entertainment CEO Announces an Insane Release Schedule for the Rest of 2014

The CEO of Top Dog Entertainment took to Twitter earlier today to announce that new albums from Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and Kendrick Lamar will release in the remainder of 2014.

2014 has already seen the release of ScHoolboy Q's Oxymoron in February, the first of what is now known as the "TDE Takeover."

While each of the TDE members have released at least one generally acclaimed project, perhaps best known is Kendrick Lamar, who gained a huge mainstream following after the 2012 release of Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. Although we are certainly looking forward to the releases from Ab-Soul and Jay Rock, we are most excited to see how Kendrick can expand on his 2012 magnum opus. 

Check out the CEO's tweet here and make sure to keep up on Dynamicism, as we will most definitely be covering the TDE releases as they come.