Tag Archives: austin

Double Dosing :: Clemits Drops Back To Back Instrumental Bangers

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Anybody with their finger on the pulse of the Austin hip hop community has had an eye on Clemits for the past couple of years, for sure.  After spending some time bubbling with the rest of the underground pack, a concentrated effort has been made to push ahead.  This has resulted in a handful of strong songs and videos from last year’s solo LP CRUSH, some exposure on a few mainstream blogs, and recently, back to back strong singles in Fentanyl and Gangster Jazz.  Each of these tracks are befitting to their name… Fentanyl has a trippy air to it, with it’s wet percussion, immersive bassline and completely wild flip at the end… Gangster Jazz goes for more of a DITC feel with its musclebound bass and drums imposing a space for the horn loop to move freely.  Clemits has always been one to imprint his soul on the work, and with the release of these two strong instrumentals, my anticipation of what a full-length beat tape (his first in 4 years) could bring is high and hopeful.

-chief

Open Book :: Nathan Painter Leaves It All On The Table For Debut ‘Welcome To Reality’

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Sometimes, being new to a discipline is a benefit, as you do not have the burden of unlearning habits or hesitation.  For example, Austin-based artist Nathan Painter recently dropped his debut project Welcome to Reality, and the gems he’s dropping are those of a seasoned veteran.  This album definitely shows that he is not afraid to hold the mirror up to society, his contemporaries, or even himself, with extremely forthright insight and honestly exploding off of these tracks.  If you’re a fan of the new wave of brutal honesty coming out of the Austin hip-hop scene, Nathan Painter is definitely for you.

-chief

Breakdown Boogie :: Willis Nillis Drops A Gem With ‘Analysis Paralysis’ EP

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From the digital desk of Austin based beatsmith Willis Nillis :

‘i’ve been working on this EP for about a year and after a while of battling my own nerves and self doubt, i am proud to share these songs with people.’

I’m definitely happy to have discovered this.  It’s like chip-tunes with a little bit of soul and a lot more body.  Willis Nillis has definitely jumped onto my radar with the release of Analysis Paralysis.  Here’s to more good tunes in the future, hopefully near future.

-chief

Riding Waves :: Dr. Bobby Banner, MPC Prescribes Us A Dosage Of ‘SYN’

Austin-based beatsmith and musician Dr. Bobby Banner, MPC (a major portion of the Ndelible Ink collective) has just laced us with something special in the form of SYN.  The song, and its accompanying video, are a wonderful mix of hypnotic instrumentation, mesmerizing fractals and fun with a beautiful free spirit.  The music video plays more like an abstract piece of art, taking you on an emotional set of stimuli that is visually and audibly pleasing.  Banner and the crew have been known to drop quality work, but this in particular stands out as something special.. a bright diamond in a pile of diamonds, if you will.  Definitely keep your eyes and ears out for more from the crew, give the video a like/share/comment, and keep supporting that Texas dopeness.

-chief

Building Breakdowns :: AKAdemics Represent CHHK With ‘Creation Of Destruction’ Music Video

Over the last few years, the Austin-based collective College of Hip Hop Knowledge has provided an arena for upcoming creatives to build with one another and hone their energies/skills into productive output.  Most recently, CHHK has birthed the group AKAdemics, comprised of members Big Mic, Jsun the Prophesor, and DJ Berlin.  Their latest single and video, Creation of Destruction, is an honest look at how America tends to be the master of their own negative destiny, glorifying the things that they shun at breakneck intervals.  The newreel footage blends seamlessly with the original images captured for the video, resulting in a very informed piece of work with visual and informational replay value.  Definitely support these guys and their efforts, as they are trying to make positive change on multiple levels.

-chief

Brain Feeder :: Lilli Talks Austin Creatives With Morgan (OVRLD) On ‘Let’s Dish’

Lilli, creator of the Born2bLilli YouTube channel, is always down to dish with interesting folks on the Austin scene.  For the latest go-round, she sat down with OVRLD‘s Morgan to talk about the Austin-based blog, the music scene, I AM TX and his role as a producer, and much more.  Check out the interview, give it a like, share or comment (if not all three), and be sure to subscribe so you can stay dishing with Lilli and company.

-chief

Brutal Honesty :: More Talk Time With DDotElles And Lit Up AV

You know what it is.  DDotElles, the Austin hip-hop version of The World’s Most Interesting Man, took some time to chop it up with Lit Up AV.  On this particular snippet, we get to hear my man speak on hip-hop as a culture, genre and subgenre classification, and the art of knowing you’re great while recognizing there’s a time and place for your particular style of expression.  Enjoy, like, share, and leave a comment!

-chief

Carpe Diem :: Pleasure Venom Release Music Video For ‘Seize’ To Instant Critical Acclaim

As a working, touring band trying to get ahead in an over-saturated game, there is a sense of accomplishment to be felt whenever you complete a creative endeavor such as a music video or an album.  At best, you hope that your blood, sweat and tears are recognized by a handful of appreciative folks.  Sometimes, as in the case of Pleasure Venom and their newest video/single Seize, you put in that work, and then a publication like Afropunk gives you props and posts about it, giving you a bit more incentive to keep doing your thing.  I’m happy for Pleasure Venom, as it’s always nice to see those that deserve recognition get it.  They’ve been on quite the tear closing out 2017 and leading into 2018, so give the video a like and a share, drop a comment, and subscribe to the channel for all of the latest Pleasure Venohaps.

-chief

Catching Up :: Wild Child ‘Expectations’ Music Video Cannot Be Overlooked

Recently, I shared Wild Child‘s newest video, the catchy Think It Over.  I realized soon after that I had overlooked the first single for Expectations, a title track with a much more sultry vibe and an equally impressive music video.  This particular video finds the group taking over a sublimely naturally lit residence, performing from room to room, laying the emotions of their notes and lyrics to bare for all to see.  As mentioned previously, this is definitely a group that deserves all of the acclaim and support possible.

-chief

Ambient Waves :: Epop Nivek’s ‘Second Hand Processing’ Is Experimental Bliss

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While doing my year-end round up, I stumbled across Epop Nivek on Bandcamp.  Being a fan of experimental composers and songs, I put it on the backburner to check out, and as per usual, 2018 got busy to the point that I overlooked it.  Recently, I rediscovered this project, and now it is imperative that I share Second Hand Processing with followers of this blog.  In a world full of same-y sounding synthesizers and drum sounds, it’s interesting to hear someone take field recordings, ambient noise, instrumental and sonic snippets, and turn this vast array into a statement in the form of an album, let alone a song.  If you’re an open-minded fan of music, this one is definitely worth looking in to.

-chief