Beat Meet: The Combined Forces, Cowboy Gambling, Sex Talking, Boudoir Blunted, Second Introductory Edition

You been getting that jonesin' for some beats, too, lately? Let's scratch that itch, shall we? The good news about delayed Beat Meets is the fact that there's generally more beats to share when we do get together like this. The real question, however, remains: did you bring me my cheez whiz, boy?

It had been almost a minute since we last heard from our favorite label, Project: Mooncircle, and i was beginning to get a tad worried. Turns out they were just putting the finishing touches on Robot Robinson, featuring stellar beats by Robot Koch and tight rhymes by John Robinson. Koch maintains his otherworldly, spaceship soundtrack while Robinson keeps those alien heads bobbing with his lyrical flow. A powerful one-two punch, to say the least. i keep waiting for P:M to drop the ball and put out something less than phenomenal. Fortunately, i have a feeling i'm going to be waiting a long time before that happens.

mp3: Sun RA ft. I.D. 4 Windz (Robot Koch & John Robinson from Robot Robinson)

If oddisee is willing to back your beats, odds are your beats are worth hearing. If you would agree, you're going to want to hear this joint by Maverick. Apparently, oddisee was so impressed with Maverick's stuff that the established producer talked the relative rookie into dropping this debut. All instrumental hip-hop, there are some real gems in here.

mp3: When Speakers Spoke (Maverick from The First Step)

mp3: 'Til Next Rhyme (Maverick from The First Step)

mp3: On the Street (Maverick from The First Step)

Proving that unsolicited submissions from you dirty bastards often yield some of Beat Meet's finest gems, we recently received some great stuff from Lawrence, Kansas-based Say My Name. This stuff is a bit more of the experimental variety; think Shigeto without the obvious Asian overtones or maybe somewhere between Teebs and Baths. Or think something else. Just give it a listen and hear for yourself.

mp3: Say My Lame (Say My Name from his Sound Cloud)

mp3: Stop Snitching (Say My Name from his Sound Cloud)

Just in time for Valentine's, in this corner, weighing it at beats the hell out of me, Star Slinger dropped another beast. Sporting tracks like Slow 'n Wet, this three track EP continues to show that someone's about to take the next step and start hitting the big time. Sure, that may just mean a CD on an obscure label that about 100 of us listen to, but what the hell have you done today, you smarmy bastard?

mp3: Casanova's Jump Off (Star Slinger from Bedroom Joints)

mp3: Baby Mama (Star Slinger from Bedroom Joints)

And finally, a little something from someone whose name you're probably going to hear a fair amount 'round these parts in the coming days and weeks and sometime thereafter i haven't decided yet. Maybe a...fortnight. With a self-described sound falling somewhere between Nosaj Thing and Flying Lotus, i'm of no mind to disagree with oddlogic. His beats are low end heavy, but have that weird blunted, spacey vibe that marks the best work of the genre. oddlogic will be gracing with our very own, FIRST EVER, LET EXCLUSIVE MIX. Suck on that, all you other blogs! To let you know why we're so very excited about this, check out this joint. More, as they say, to follow.

mp3: Intro Redux (oddlogic from his Sound Cloud)

More Label Love for Project: Mooncircle

Is it just me, or is damn near everybody out there going on and on about Ninja Tune's 20th anniversary? Don't get me wrong, they deserve all the love and attention, and probably even some more, but let's not forget the other labels out there, doing what they do for off-center, instrumental, beat music or whatever you want to call it (and yes, i realize Ninja Tune does more than that, but bear with me, i'm writing a fucking post here).

Project: Mooncircle is back at it yet again with more goodies for our earholes. Remember that new Robot Koch joint i told y'all about a while back? Well, not only has Songs for Trees and Cyborgs hit the streets, good ol' RK has his first video out for the project, too. "Threats" features a robot, weeds, grass, and occasional light-ups. Now, i'm not one to read symbolism into everything, but, well, you do the math.

And if that weren't enough, they've put together another "everybody on the label" compilation, now with theme-y goodness inside! Inspired by their new A&R, Jinna, it's dedicated to her dream of going to the moon. Now, i don't want to say this is their best group project yet, as that would diminish all the other outstanding work they put out regularly, but i'm not NOT saying it, either. You've got label standard bearers like Robot and Pavel Dovgal here, as well as up and comers like Juj. The tracks all have a spacey, dream-like quality, a bit softer around the edges than you might expect from the label, but the end result is fantastic. Not that i have favorites or anything, but MyOwn's "Tit Tit Tudi Tit Ti" definitely has made my short list of best beat tracks of the year. Here's a snippet of glitchy goodness to prove my point. Make sure to snag this beast when it drops November 5, 2010.

mp3: The Moon Comes Closer Snippet (Project: Mooncircle Artists from The Moon Comes Closer)

Beat Meet

i really need to come up a name for this recurring column. "Beat Meet" seems to be both truthful, as we're here to discuss the latest i've dug up from the beat music scene, plus the double entendre in the name is just childish enough to work for me. i'll gladly accept other suggestions should any of you care to post in the comments, but we may just have a winner here.

Anyway, as luck would have it, we have a particularly good haul this week.

From one of my all-time favorite labels out there today, the folks over at Project:Mooncircle have remained busy. Hell, Robot Koch apparently is working on the Madlib model and will drop his Songs for Trees and Cyborgs this October. The LP comes essentially on the heels of his phenomenal Listen to Them Fade EP, which came out just a few months back. This time around, the Mad German Maestro teams up with the likes of Boxcutter, 1000 Names, Doshy, RQM and Graciela Maria, amongst others. Koch happens to be one of my favorites in the game right now. His stuff demonstrates a bit more of the European sensibilities you don't always find in U.S. beat scene, more structured and textured than a lot of the other players out there. Just to get you pumped, we've got an early listening treat for your ear holes.

mp3: Brujeria (robot koch vs graciela alatorre) (Robot Koch from Songs for Trees and Cyborgs)

The other main reason this week is so good is that i finally got off my ass and downloaded a new browser, thereby allowing me the ability to download from the fantastic XLR8R site. Holy Christ, it's like a freakin' treasure trove of grooves over there! And guess what? They had even more Robot Koch, remixed by my hero, Alex B.

mp3: Devil Drums (Alex B Remix) (Robot Koch from Friends of Friends Volume 3)

What's more, Alex B just released a brand new podcast mixtape for XLR8R, thereby bringing perfect symmetry to where we are. And thus, it all returns to foot wear.

mp3: XLR8R Podcast: Alex B - August 24, 2010 (Alex B from XLR8R website)

Hell, while we're at, i dug up a boatload of remixes over there that need to be shared with you lucky bastards. Truth be told, i don't know too much about the first two actual artists, but you know of my love for Shigeto and Flying Lotus. Of course, the last one is just the opposite; i'm way down with Baths (thanks, Ernie and Bert!), but couldn't tell you too much about the One AM Radio or the Los Feliz Ladies Choir. All share one thing in common, however, and that's that they're all bad mama jammas.

mp3: Lost Where I Belong (Flying Lotus Remix) (Andreya Triana from Lost Where I Belong)

mp3: Black Canyon (Shigeto's As I Inhale Mix) (Ana Caravelle from XLR8R site)

mp3: Hall (The One AM Radio Remix feat. The Los Feliz Ladies Choir) (Baths from XLR8R site)

Since i'm feeling so generous today, i've got to also throw love towards We Did It Collective yet again for these two new gems from jonwayne, both from his upcoming Doodles CD. Sounds like that's only going to be available at shows, so pick up these tracks and say you got there first.

mp3: Big Like Curby (jonwayne from Doodles)

mp3: Infinite (jonwayne from Doodles)

The Pro~Ef camp just sent us over a sample of their upcoming adventure score series, Compression Chamber, due out September 21st 2010. Stuttering beats over hazy grooves. Me likey. If you've read this far, i'm guessing you will, too.

mp3: Paper Trail Exerpt (Pro~Ef from Compression Chamber - Episode One: Paper Trail)

Maybe Not the Greatest You Ever Will Hear, But A Pretty Damn Good Robot Mix Nonetheless

OK, i've got a boatload of reviews and freebies i need to get to, but guess what? That ain't happening today, my friends. Work has been hectic, and equally if not more importantly, i need to get my ass to the Velvet Lounge to go catch the early show with the Elastic Waste Band headlining. Who are they? Just the remaining members of Morphine with a Delta Blues Man sitting in for Mark Sandman. Too bad the Lounge's website is sucky, and they won't answer their own phone to tell folks when the show actually starts, because the real losers here are the LET readers deprived of the daily fix of little heard gems as dictated by yours truly.

And the Flyers. They're losers, too.

Fortunately, apropos of absolutely nothing, i've been sitting on a robot mix for some time now. i'd like to say it's The Greatest Robot Mix You Ever Will Hear, but that might be pushing it this time. i'd probably need some Heartbeeps clips to reach that stratosphere, but this one is pretty damn good nonetheless.

Without further ado, it's Maybe Not the Greatest You Ever Will Hear, But A Pretty Damn Good Robot Mix Nonetheless.

mp3: Robots in the Garden (Autolux from Future Perfect)

mp3: Freak-A-Zoid Robotz (RMXXOLOGY Theme) (Delicious Vinyl All Stars feat Bobby Evans from RMXXOLOGY)

mp3: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Live On The BBC) (The Flaming Lips from Future Soundtrack for America)

mp3: Robots (Live) (Flight of the Conchords from The Distant Future)

mp3: Orion's Belt Buckle (Free the Robots from Ctrl Alt Delete)

mp3: Do You Like Robots? (Mike Doughty from Smofe and Smang)

mp3: Revelation of the Robots (Luke Kuzava from Zombies Can't Dance)

mp3: Grocery Robots (Patton Oswalt from My Weakness is Strong)

mp3: Tonight (The Robot Ate Me from Carousel Waltz)

mp3: Death Star Droid (Robot Koch from Death Star Droid)

mp3: Mr. Roboto (Styx from Kilroy Was Here)

mp3: Paranoid Android (Sia covering Radiohead from Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads)

And, of course, the greatest robot dance i've ever seen, which means it's probably that much greater than the greatest you thought you had seen prior to seeing this one. Or something like that.

In the Inbox: Robot Koch

While i'm always delighted to receive any and all submissions, to be completely honest, most of the stuff that hits the LET inbox is from artists i haven't heard of prior to opening and reading said email. Which is all good, as one of the main reasons i personally do LET is to discover (and share) new music with the unwashed masses. Let those bathed motherfuckers find their own music, those showering bastards. To rely on an overused cliche, imagine my surprise when i actually heard from the PR team for an artist i truly dig when i opened ye olde inbox this morning. It was a tingling sensation, not unpleasant, that circled briefly 'round my nether regions, but i'm perhaps telling you too much right now.

Long story short, if it's not too late already, Robot Koch, beat producer par excellence, has a new EP (12" and casette, too) coming out May 7. Better yet, it's just a sample of a new LP that's supposed to drop this fall on Project: Mooncircle.

To say this shit is dope would be an understatement. With traces of dubstep, burbling bass lines and almost tribal vocals by his lady friend, Grace, i have been listening to what was shared non-stop since this morning. Hell, the sampler alone could be one of my favorite tracks thus far in the still relatively young year. The static between beats on this thing is phenomenal, for chrissakes. i can only imagine what kind of beast the full EP must be. We're talking a two pounder here. Wow.

mp3: Listen To Them Fade Snippet (Robot Koch from Listen To Them Fade)

mp3: True Short Edit (Robot Koch from Listen To Them Fade)