Skip to content

BenZel – Fallin’ Love (Alex Young Remix)

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Benzel

I left Washington DC at the wrong time.

I grew up in the immediate suburbs of DC. So immediate that many of my peers and myself would say that we were from DC, or the DC area, as a form of geographic shorthand. Most people don’t get it. Bigger city folk see it as cultural re-appropriation. Part of it is. Doesn’t change the connection I have to the area at large. It’s my de facto home city, seeing as my burb wouldn’t exist without it.

So the musical acculturation of the city is a bittersweet thing for me. Used to be that any contemporary music culture was imported. Go-go had been DC’s main musical contribution to the rest of the world. Most people don’t know what the hell go-go is. But now! Now things are absolutely popping off, thanks in part to electronic music’s growth in popularity over the past few years. And I’m not there to enjoy it!

Ah well. Thanks to this miraculous arrangement of cables, fiberoptics, servers, and chips we know as the internet, I can still enjoy the audio products of the city. Like this remix of BenZel’s Fallin’ Love by DC native Alex Young. Alas, DC can’t claim either Umi Takashi or Yoko Watanabe, the principals that comprise BenZel.

Ah well. Can’t win ‘em all. Besides, this song is a notch in the W column of life. It starts out sunny and funky before Young takes the reins. Then it turns into a straight clapper. This is the kind of song that puts its charms front and center. The hip-hop heart inspires syncopated head nodding. The bright synths and major key melody gives the one the feeling that your turned towards the sky and your hands are extended upwards, palms outstretched. Chill and uplifting. Not a bad way to be.

BenZel – Fallin’ Love (Alex Young Remix)


Filed in Music | Tagged , , , , | Comments

Robby Hunter Band – Hard On Me

Sunday, April 14, 2013

I can’t tell you how much I love a productive Sunday. Waking up early, getting a good run in, sitting for a while on a random bench in the park just staring at the sky, then eating fruits and yogurt for breakfast. It’s all a part of what I’m calling my new weekend regimen. Or at least Sunday regimen. I’ve spent so many Sundays in a less than ideal state of laziness, non-productivity, wiping off the weekend from my eyes until Monday rolls around. Sundays and summertime kind of go hand in hand for me, so I guess that’s why I’ve had a change of heart. This song has been playing on my speakers all morning and I’m so into the attitude of the guitars right here.

But never mind the punch in the guitars, this song is sexy. Like, come on, he just wants to hear your body scream. Is that so much to ask for?

Oh, you give me all you’ve got if you want some
I’ll fight you on the floor if your mother walks in
And give me all the love if you wanna
Take me, fight me on the floor, I’ll give it to you.”

There’s a weird and awesome guilty pleasure thing going on here. It’s that suffering of not wanting to give in, maybe because the other person is just trouble. It’s that wanting from afar. But with a little cockiness, hence the guitar, which works so well. When girls say, “I don’t really know he’s not like super cute or anything but gosh he’s sexy.” This is the song they’re talking about. That voice, that confidence, that attitude.

Open the windows and let a little Robby Hunter Band into your ears and fantasies.

Robby Hunter Band – Hard On Me


Filed in Music | Tagged , , , | Comments

Misun — Promise Me

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Misun has instantly become one of our favorites here on EMPT.  The self proclaimed “Aquawave/Aqua-pop” sound they have been so carefully curating over each and every track is simply proving to be quite undeniable, and who are we to deny?

Misun, the three-piece band from D.C., releases another flavorfully eargasmic love child produced, once again, by their magic man: Nacey. The track features strong hip hop like bottoms, delightfully nutty electro synths, and a purely graceful, super hypnotic set of vocals delivered by Ms. Misun herself.

“Promise Me” is the kind of song that takes on as many faces as you wish it to. It’s the sort of song that can feel so good in the morning as you focus on the extremely  solid and highly captivating production and overall sound of it, and then can so easily be that song at night that you reminisce to on past loves lone gone.  At it’s very barest, it is a beautifully constructed love song that encompasses a little bit of what someone in the honeymoon phase is going through in their mind; those moments of bliss with that person you adore more than anything in life, and wishing them to last forever.

“Promise Me” is a wishful thought transcended through music that each and everyone of us can relate to. It’s a masterpiece that emanates a feeling and idea we have all wished could last forever. It is a song that we will most likely play on -”forever”.

Misun — Promise Me


Filed in Music | Tagged , , | Comments

Kate Boy – In Your Eyes

Saturday, April 13, 2013

There are two things I’d like to address with this song in mind. First, there’s nothing like a great build-up. There’s absolutely nothing like it. Argue with me, I dare ya. How is it that music is able to do this and make us so happy, but any other sort of build-up, be it angry, happy, sad, in life, tires us? Causes us to grow impatient? It’s frustrating, because we are naturally, not patient. And the patient ones among us are like, on some other spiritual level. You laugh, but you know it’s true — we set them apart. This is why a good build-up is so beautiful, but so satisfying on some intrinsic human level. We love the shift, the drop, the climax, whatever you wanna call it.

The lyrics in this song speak to the visions we create from day to day. That may not be the only thing it gets at, but it is one. It’s simple and meaningful because of this. Paired with a spacey tribal drum sound that carries sonic waves through the mind, and eventually to the eyes. Once it reaches that level, it’s a whole different game. The eyes and ears are connected in activity. Eyes work at a vision of what it is that this song brings to life in front of us. Maybe, you begin to understand that the world as you see it, is yours. It’s your world, one that people get to come in and out of at their own leisure. Your eyes lend the power of perception and, deception, in controlling what it is that you can and cannot see. The ears take us on a ride, unconcerned with the other senses.

This song makes me looks in and out all at once, so, I’m happy. Pitchfork said that Kate Boy was Knife-y. I kind of agree. This Swedish pop-duo has a mysterious air about them, but the approachable quality to this song creates a recipe for sheer success. It’s a good sign for things to come, don’t you think? I’m hoping they turn out more jams like this.

Kate Boy – In Your Eyes


Filed in Music | Tagged , , , , | Comments

EMPT Presents Indaba Music Weekly: TÂCHES – “Don’t You Know”

Friday, April 12, 2013

Taches 500x500

UK Bass music has certainly grown immensely in the past decade. From the recent chain of events that begot Grime/UK Garage/Jungle to Dubstep to Post-Dubstep and Future Garage, there’s undoubtedly more energy in the London underground scene than anywhere else in the world. This week, we discovered a track lying around on our site called “Don’t You Know” by producer TÂCHES. TÂCHES deftly combines most of the aforementioned styles and also a few House and Hip-Hop curveballs. It’s not surprising he lists one of his influences as Post-Dubstep poster boys Mount Kimbie but also deeper, older musicians like Errol Garner.

01 Don’t You Know (Original Mix)

Be sure to check out TÂCHES’ Soundcloud page, which is full of beautiful R&B tinged Future Garage. He was just featured on Annie Mac’s Radio 1 show, so be on the lookout for more noise from him in the future.

Check out TÂCHES on Facebook, Twitter and Soundcloud.


Filed in Music | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments

Sir Sly – Ghost

Friday, April 12, 2013

sir sly ghost

Le petit mort, or, “the little death”. The phrase is French in origin, basically a winking, euphemistic term for orgasm. It refers to that final, ecstatic moment of release, when the mind lets go for but a moment. A short, powerful attack, followed by a momentary decay, a sustain that may last just a moment longer, and then the afterglow in the release.

Alright, enough speechifying. The Parisians put it much more concisely and cleverly anyways. But if you’re reading EMPT, you already know that the French have a certain way with words.

Little deaths haunt Sir Sly’s Ghost in a number of ways. The track maintains a steady ebb and flow throughout, compositionally speaking, with the builds in the verses gently cresting at the choruses. This keeps up for the first two thirds of the track, while the last leg unfurls into complete synth-pop maudlin bliss. The instrumentation keeps in line with this theme of loss, with the church-y organs adding some color to the harmony.

What other deaths is Landon James trying to bring the listeners’ attention? At first it sounds like a case of two ships passing in the night. Then it sounds like a true death of the heart, a loss existential. But could it be something more?

Go ahead and stand up straight
Straight against the wall
Why did I go for you?
Pick you up when you fall
Was I too drunk to say what I said to you?
Was I too blind to see right through you?

You flew out on a plane
Came crashing into the ocean
And then you haunted me
Don’t have a clue what’s the motion
So every now and then it feels so soothing
When you float on a bit and move right though me

Get up, save face
Find your way back to the grave
You’ll never find your way back home
You’re a ghost.”

Which isn’t to say that this is a bummer of a cut. Maybe it’s James’ smooth croon, which sounds affecting either in conversational sing-song or hushed falsetto. Maybe it’s the incognito electro vibe it has going on. After a while, you stop asking why or how. You’re too busy hitting play again.

Sir Sly – Ghost


Filed in Music | Tagged , , | Comments

HAIM – Falling (Psychemagik Remix)

Thursday, April 11, 2013

I’ve descended deep into this spiral of something I’m still trying to understand. It’s that feeling that you’re going somewhere but not entirely sure where just yet, but you know that it’s going to be okay. I’ve got full blown allergies making my nose an unstoppable force of terror and anguish, so that is making everything far more intense than it actually is. Here’s a stab at what I’m dealing with. The past is a truly frightening thing when you choose to dwell on it for too long. It’s frightening, but it’s not bad. You only move forward because of the times that you are busy enough to allow yourself the moments of procrastination, which lead to your dwelling on things that don’t occur right now in front of you. So you rewind, hammering away at pieces of your past that you’ve stashed away, the kind of things that hurt but you take some kind of guilty pleasure in returning to them. They’re not ideal memories, but you fall into them because most of the time your brain knows you need to return to them.

Well, that entire idea that I’ve just talked about, is my thesis. Everything about it. It drives me nuts, and I’m sure I’m not unique in saying that. I love it because it’s a part of my heart and a part of my past, but nothing about it is pleasant and it most certainly is not something I ever imagined myself dwelling on for this long. But the incredible thing about it, is that I know at the end of this whole process, I’ll have grown. It’s like getting a kitten (surprise, I got one of those, too) and loving it for its tiny size and adorable thumbs (yes, I have a Hemingway kitty), but knowing for sure that it will absolutely grow up into an awesome and magnificent larger creature. For whatever reason, you won’t see it happen because you’ll be too busy taking care of it, but everyone else who comes in and out of your life will see it and gape in awe at its size and how much it’s grown since the last time they saw it.

That’s how I hope things will be. For both me, and my kitty. Hopefully we’ll both grow up to be really big and awesome, without falling too many times along the way. But I guess that has something to do with this remix? Right? Can we just say that falling is inevitable and that maybe, just maybe, we can all learn how to fall gracefully? Glide with style, if I may? Okay Toy Story references are out of the bag, which means it’s my cue to go ahead and let you guys enjoy this one before I say much else. I am in fact a lover of all things HAIM, and I can’t help but feel like this psychedelic remix is bound to get you falling out of whatever slump you’re in and into a productive and healthy mind space. Which was exactly what I needed today. The funky is turned up a notch here, and it almost matches that indescribable feeling I was trying to convey at the very beginning of this post. This song exists in an in-between dimension, and it excites me.

Cheers y’all.

HAIM – Falling (Psychemagik Remix)


Filed in Music, Remixes | Tagged , , , , | Comments

Jay-Z — Open Letter

Thursday, April 11, 2013

The game controls you. Every choice you make, every corner you try to hide in, and every possible outcome of your life, but not in the way you think. High level control is deep rooted, it comes in the form of values, norms, culture, institution and the perception of need. It takes hundreds of years to fully develop, it’s invisible.

An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly… For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.” - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Think of yourself in the purest form and you will realize that you need nothing. However, there’s no business in self-realization. Make a man believe he needs and you’ve created a constant desire to want, to consume. There are many layers to control and for those not attuned to the truth, the trap can last a lifetime.

They monitor your e-mails and they are legally allowed to.  But, once you’re in the public eye and you are getting too far ahead of yourself, they yank the chord, or, for this matter, we shall say: chains.

The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of fame; every prison a more illustrious abode. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Jay-Z was recently on vacation in Cuba, a communist regime that goes against nearly everything this country stands for.  But, more importantly, Mr. Carter has been in the public eye a LOT lately for his strategic business moves and master-like chess plays.  Something that the “leaders” of this country don’t have the mental capabilities to comprehend.  You don’t have to be smart, you just have to be unplugged and realize that you are living in a construct that can be bent at every which way, otherwise, you are just another sleeper following the system/prison rules that you were born and brainwashed into.

You awoke out of nowhere the day your mom gave birth to you, yet you don’t remember anything before that?  Is it a coincidence that you are born lost?

Recently Jay decided to expand his company’s operations into the sports management world. Remember, change is the only constant in the world, contrary to what anyone says humans are truly limitless and the universe is completely moldable. To be stuck in your ways is exactly what they want, predictable, following, stagnant people. Jay-Z has always understood this and it has been reflected in his music, it’s only natural he would continue that development other aspects of his life. The true masters (not the leaders) of the universe found a discrepancy here, and it had nothing to do with the conflict of interest of him having ownership in a NBA team, because as Jay illustrates in one of his lyrics on “Open Letter“, the free world is one giant constant conflict of interest:

This communist talk is so confusing
When it’s from China, the very mic that I’m using…”

As a player in this Matrix, Jay-Z has taken things into his own hands immediately, shouting “freedom of speech” to awaken some of us up, and placing his “Open Letter” out through the one median they will never be able to control: his music. The sly and cunning will never speak out of hand, they will always hide their true intentions for the sake of diplomacy…

Place your iron first inside a velvet glove.” - Napoleone Buonaparte

But a true passionate artist, the person who cares for truth will undoubtedly express themselves and fight for the truth. It’s emotional and not always the best strategic move but remember this is all a construct and the traitor is nothing but a fearful and weak. Reality is the true power and when you understand that you man up, expose the weakness with absolutely nothing to fear.

If only he wasn’t self-centered in his agendas and were really leading the resistance we would really be on to something. But then again, sometimes success can make one believe the illusion is real and it takes a direct hit to wake a sleeping giant…

The world’s under new management
The new role model, fuck this Zoolander shit”

Jay-Z — Open Letter


Filed in Music | Tagged , , , , , | Comments

Daughter – Medicine (Sound Remedy Remix)

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Sound-Remedy-Daughter

There are some tracks that build up within you, take you to different spaces of your mind, and resonate within you after they finish until you’re half way through the next song. Then there are some tracks that creep up on you, explode inside, and embed their shrapnel beneath your skin and bones. These songs keep you grounded while simultaneously taking you higher — exposing the sublimity of your brain and all its connections. They illuminate the path before you and show you what you could be. They’re not necessarily inspiring songs, they hit a spot in your drive that’s deeper than that. I’m not too sure what that spot is or where it could be located, but if I had to guess, it’s somewhere between the gut and heart; the soul, maybe. Chicago’s Sound Remedy remix of Daughter’s piano crooner is one of those tracks.

I don’t say this often, but this remix is spiritual. The synths and subtle dubstep build in the beginning explode into a sublime menagerie of drums, chopped ethereal vocals, and starbursts of synths. Sound Remedy redefines what it means to be dubstep here; a party atmosphere isn’t laced within the production. They use dubsteps ability to hit you as a means of waking you up, jolting you back to life, and opening your eyes. I can’t quite place my finger on what it is, but this track makes me want to be better. Perhaps it’s the lyrics. Their poetic without the pretense. Elena Tonra’s delivery is innocent and it’s concerned. Her remixed vocals work in concert with the heavy drops, balancing the tension in the production with the lightness of her voice.

There’s this one picture on the internet somewhere showing where Earth is located within the Milky Way. You can’t see it, our planet looks like a tiny speck of dust on the camera lens. The impermanence of your being, the sense of how small you really are is found within that one image. Some would speak to it’s ability to make the viewer feel insignificant, but I’d argue it ignites a sense of awe and wonder; the sublime is found within that picture. It makes losing yourself, wasting the days, and not appreciating the hours you’re alive pointless. Like this track, it sparks a drive to experience, make, and discover. It doesn’t show you how to go about it or what will happen, but it clears your head and assures you that what you want to achieve is possible.

You could still be,
what you want to,
what you said you were,
when I met you.
You’ve got a warm heart,
you’ve got a beautiful brain,
but it’s disintegrating,
from all the medicine.”

There’s something to be found in this track. Enjoy the journey.

Daughter – Medicine (Sound Remedy Remix)


Filed in Music, Remixes | Tagged , , , | Comments

Breakbot — Peanuts

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Staring down at the hustle-n-bustle of NYC traffic from these glass walls up above, Breakbot’s newest flashy cut-up disco style tune: “Peanuts” seems like the perfect soundtrack for the happenings that are taking place right now down there.  Spring colors magnified by the bright and beautiful skies, manicured toes peeking through lovely sandals, and an incredible energy that is normally only felt at this very point, when Mother Nature is in her greatest of moods and gives us that Spring/Summer preview we have all been so patiently waiting for.

“Peanuts” is a much needed breath of fresh air, like these past few days, that makes us want to dance, makes us super happy, and whose sonic waves splash us so welcomingly with drops of feel goodness leaving us soaked in Space Funk that we simply love.

Chord progressions that make us move, disco bells that pull our heads up and ears back, percussions that make our feet stomp, delicious piano keys that smooth our shoulders out, and electro-magnificent sounds that makes it all fresh, fun, cool and young at the same time make for a 2013 season like no other!

Thank you Breakbot, and Mother Nature!

Enjoy the moment!

Breakbot — Peanuts

“I was in the studio making beats and chopping vocals and I suddenly felt hungry. It was way past dinnertime and the only thing edible in the studio was a piece of strawberry gum. So I tried to gather my thoughts and went straight to the convenience store,” Berland tells Rolling Stone. “They were out of pistachios, which was option number one. I was very disappointed and decided to leave as I saw this awesome assortment of chocolate bars next to the cashier. ‘A little sugar has never hurt anyone,’ I thought.”

 “So I bought a few and headed back to the studio. They were not as good as I expected, except for this one that starts with an S. This one just blew all my senses away,” continues Berland. “I asked myself, ‘What is so amazing about this chocolate bar? What does it have that others don’t?’ And then a miracle occurred. A very powerful light emerged from the ceiling and the Tooth Fairy, godmother of all chocolates, appeared. ‘What does it have?’ she said. ‘Why it’s very simple, my dear. It’s peanuts.’”


Filed in Music | Tagged , , , | Comments