Ready for Strangeland?



© Strange Music

 Not long after the 'All 6s and 7s' album was released last June, the King of Darkness' 'Welcome to Strangeland' album will be let loose on the 8th  November 2011.
For Technicians, this is a big thing! The album promises to be an epic one, possibly even topping previous collabos such as 'Misery Loves Kompany' and 'The Gates Mixed Plate'. From what I'm hearing, there is huge anticipation for this album and the teasers on YouTube aren't helping to ease the tension! Tech recently realeased the tracklist for the album, which will feature: Krizz Kaliko, Jay Rock, 816 Boys, ¡MAYDAY!, Brotha Lynch Hung and more.
The tracklist is as follows:


1. Stars
2. Welcome to Strangeland (featuring Krizz Kaliko)
3. Unfair (featuring Krizz Kaliko, Ubiquitous of Ces Cru & Godemis of Ces Cru)
4. Kocky (featuring Kutt Calhoun & Jay Rock)
5. Who Do I Catch
6. My Favorite (featuring Prozak & Brotha Lynch Hung)
7. Retrogression (featuring ¡MAYDAY!)
8. Bang Out (featuring 816 Boys)
9. Beautiful Music
10. Won't You Come Dirty (featuring Young Bleed & Stevie Stone)
11. Sad Circus (featuring Brotha Lynch Hung & Courtney Kuhnz)
12. The Noose (featuring ¡MAYDAY!)
13. Slave (featuring Krizz Kaliko & Kutt Calhoun)
14. Overwhelming (featuring Jay Da 3rd)
15. Gods (featuring Krizz Kaliko & Kutt Calhoun)
16. I Need A Drink
17. The Real Thing (featuring Liz Suwandi)
18. EMJ

Judging by this alone, it's going to be a massive underground hit!
Personally I can't wait to hear the entire album and once I get it, won't stop listening to it for days!

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Bay Area Dubstep Vol. 2

Photo © Full Melt Recordings.

I recently came across an album entitled 'Bay Area Dubstep Vol. 2' and was pleasantly surprised when I sat down and listened to the album all the way through.

The first track,'Tip Tap Toez' by Djunya is an absolute banger! The combination of the crisp melody, the dubbed-out beat and the crushing yet gentle bassline made this track a feast for the mind!
As track one faded into 'Evolution' by OSC I continued to be amazed by the quality of the dubstep producers in the Bay Area. I had never before really explored dubstep from West coast of America except for Flying Lotus and Burial, both of which are well worth checking out, but I was impressed with this album. Anyway, back to the album, 'Evolution' is followed by 'Oh Contrarians' by Spit Brothers. At first this track sounded like more of a top-notch dub concoction, but after listening to it again and paying close attention to it, you will notice a subtle but effective bassline. Another great plus in this track is the guitar 'riff' or 'chord' that occurs throughout the piece. Correct me if I'm wrong as I'm not a guitar player myself so I'm not very clear on the difference between chords and riffs! I feel this high-pitched chord-riff adds to the track greatly. By the way I'm not going to mention all the tracks on this album, just my personal favourites. OSC delivers again, this time accompanied by DJG with the track, 'One Mile High (Featuring Budros Gali)'. I love this one because of the brassy samples all the way through, not to mention the highly pleasing wobble! A definite favourite of mine!
'Rambo Style' from Antiserum erupts through your headphones/speakers, in my case headphones (Marshall Majors), with a kick and vocal sample that promises great things to come. It does not disappoint! Not long into this track the bass drops and, I promise you, you will never look back. This bass, mixed together with a space-y, ethereal melody, the odd greeting from a steel drum and suitable vocals, makes for a track I could see being a dub-pit classic! 
Moving on we have another distinctive sound bite. 'Airbag', the creation of Blackheart is not something to sneeze at! The tense build up to the drop is very effective and when the bass does indeed drop, the ensueing oscillation is well worth it! A very well put together track, in my opinion.
Finally to the closing track. The atmospheric sounds of Ripple with the track 'Sunday Morning Dub' is a fitting conclusion to one of the most impressive dubstep compilations I have heard. The continuous wavering bass is accompanied by haunting vocals and a foot-tapping beat which leaves the listener chilled-out, relaxed and ready for whatever life could throw at him/her.
I would highly recommend this album to anyone with an interest in electronic music. You can find it on iTunes: HERE. 

I hope you have found this helpful, and I hope you check out the album!


Tony.