Weekend Wind-Down No. 1: Trip-Hopping
–Words and list by Kevin Madert
Here’s the first in a series of playlists we’ll be running weekly via Spotify: our Weekend Wind-Downs. In the words of the oft-marginalized Semisonic, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” No matter the amount of debauchery, the number of mistakes, and the richter-scale magnitude of your hangovers, weekends end (hell, it’s in the name). We’re here to take that back-to-reality transition and make it a bit smoother for you in ten-song, hour-long segments.
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Weekend Warm-Up No. 1: The Funky Shit
–Words and list by Kevin Madert
Here’s the first in a series of playlists we’ll be running weekly via Spotify: our Weekend Warm-Ups. Averaging ten songs, clocking in at around an hour in length, we’re envisioning these collections finding your ears as you zoom home from work, or as your early evening pregame escalates towards whatever may be the main event. It’s not like you need help getting stoked for the 48 hours you wish lasted all week, but we figure a kick-ass soundtrack can’t hurt.
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In Case You Missed It: Jazzsteppa’s Hyper-Eclectic “Hyper Nomads”
–Written by Kevin Madert
Hi all. This is the first in a recurring series we’re calling “In Case You Missed It,” where we’ll feature non-new music we feel went unnoticed, as well as music that may have been somewhat popular but has since faded from the consciousness of the general population. Alert us to any music you feel fits this description by emailing contact@thealternatefrequency.com; we love to hear music for the first time and we’re certainly not infallible.
If you put a couple of dudes on Mars with some production equipment, some Red Bull, a twelve-piece brass section and a sheet of LSD, you may just recreate the conditions I imagine were necessary to concoct an album as sporadic and multi-faceted as Jazzsteppa’s “Hyper Nomads.”
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Frequency Of The Week No. 1: Moon Hooch
–Written by Kevin Madert
This is the first in a recurring series we’re calling the “Frequency of the Week.” We’ll be spotlighting up-and-coming artists you should be keeping a close eye – ear? – on. Got a group you think fits this description? Drop us a line at contact@thealternatefrequency.com and we’ll be sure to give it a listen.
Two saxophones. One drummer. That’s it. The Moon Hooch experience isn’t one anyone could imitate. It’s not a genre, it’s not a style, it’s not a sound; it’s a state of being. They call it Cave Music – “It’s like house, but it’s more wild, more jagged, more free, more natural to live in” – and it’s not something that can be wholly understood until you’re immersed in it.
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Review: Branx Brings The Funk On Debut EP “Look But Don’t Touch”
–Written by Kevin Madert
When foraying into the ever widening future-funk landscape, it’s good to have two things: serious talent and serious friends. Branx (formerly DCarls) has more than enough of the former to not even need the latter, but it doesn’t hurt when everyone from Gramatik to Opiuo is singing your praises. Case in point: the producer’s debut EP under his current moniker, Look But Don’t Touch. Over five tracks he pilots the listener on a funk-fueled odyssey, often changing the tempo but never straying from the crisp basslines and shimmering synths that shape the album tonally.
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