DEMENCHA » electronic music

D/L: Future – “Same Damn Time” [Busted by HeRobust]

Chris Mills — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:25:52 +0000

The latest “bust” remix from Georgia’s HeRobust challenges what’s probably the hottest rap artist in the South right now in Future. You may remember a couple of remixes we recently featured from HeRobust in recent weeks (HERE), which we absolutely loved. But on this latest reworking, HeRobust takes the trap out of Future’s original and breaks out the bro-step. In the same damn breath, this “Same Damn Time” bust would probably go over well in the right room, but I’m not sure there’s too much anyone could do to make Future’s track worth more than a couple of listens. Sorry, I just really dislike Future. With that being said, be your own judge and listen below. You can also download the track for free if you “like” HeRobust’s facebook page (linked in the first mention of his name).

D/L: KC’s Z-Sonic Featured On “Moombahdeep Vol. 2″

Chris Mills — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:50:01 +0000

Locally-based DJ, vinyl enthusiast, MC and producer, Z-Sonic, recently saw one of his latest moombahton songs, “I Need You Close”, catch a tracklist slot on the Ginger Shinobi-presented, Moombahdeep Vol. 2. If you remember, Z-Sonic also grabbed some light from one of his tracks featured on Moombahdeep Vol. 1 as well (RIGHT HERE). As any budding (no pun intended) producer should, his own original productions keep improving. The seven-minute deep “I Need You Close” offers a glimpse to what we hope should be some increasingly gleaming tracks from him in the coming weeks, months and beyond.

D/L: Ludacris – “Georgia” [BUSTED by heRobust]

Chris Mills — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:25:52 +0000

Atlanta’s heRobust has been dishing out some really, really amazing beats lately. But expect that dishing to turn into nothing short of an all-out assault on the global beat game very soon with surely enough material to keep us all enthralled for the rest of the year and beyond. His latest “BUST” reps his state to the fullest, taking on Ludacris’ Ray Charles-referenced, “Georgia”, and twisting it into a glitch-hop inferno. Look out for his upcoming duo project with Kansas City’s own beat maker extraordinaire, Leonard DStroy, under the guise “Supachip”.

Hit previous entries we’ve completed regarding heRobust HERE.
Hit his official website HERE.

OTHR & Front Space Present Blank/Face [05.05.12]

Chris Mills — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:44:25 +0000

DRplus2, Osiris-1 and DJ Maangoman are chalked in to throw down some beats at the Front Space gallery on Cinco De Mayo in the Crossroads district of KC. Starting at 7:00, this should unfold as nothing short of a showcase of of just three of the finest electronic beat-makers out of KC. While we’re not sure whether or not they will be playing their own tracks (we have a hunch that they will), just know that these guys have an extremely receptive taste when it comes to current EDM.

DRplus2 Soundcloud
Osiris-1 Soundcloud
DJ Maangoman Soundcloud

Front Space is located at:
217 W. 18th Street
Kansas City, MO
64108

REVIEW: Middle of the Map Fest [Chris Mills' Take]

Chris Mills — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 02:26:58 +0000

I wasn’t expecting Ink and The Record Machine’s Middle of the Map Fest last weekend to be as draining and taxing as it turned out to be this year. Perhaps I’m just getting older? Or perhaps music festivals and I don’t always cooperate with each other.

Back in 2007, after the second night of Coachella, I walked for nearly three hours around the expansive parking areas trying to find my rental car only to finally throw $20 to a groundsperson who gave me a ride in his golf cart in hopes we could locate the vehicle. It was like a little slice of heaven when that black Cobalt SS popped up in a secluded “sub-lot” as I like to think of it now. The next day I woke up in my hotel room practically unable to straighten my body out when I stood up. Oh yeah, I also wound up going to the ER that same weekend in Indio with some odd medical issues, which I later checked myself out of (Tupac style, almost) after one of the nurses told me I would have to wait another four hours for tests to be done.

At Wakarusa last summer, I had a groundsperson tell me that I needed to go see one of the medical people at the festival because my face was so red…and this was after the sun had gone down. Nah, I’m good on that. I drove down there for the sole purpose of seeing Thievery Corporation. In a nutshell, music festivals can be a pain in the ass, but it’s all worth it to see some of your favorite acts. Middle of the Map Fest was not a “camp out” festival or anything of the sort, but it was a good way to get 2012’s festival season in line.

Thursday night (April 5th) at Middle of the Map Fest in Westport got underway at Foundry for Sean Malone, Kalie Mashaney and I for some chatting. I presented a thousand fancy Demencha flyers to them and I don’t think I became aware of the impact the flyers made until a couple of days after the fest. A very, very healthy mix of my adored 90s r&b was flowing through the restaurant’s speakers. After naming off a few artists that were soothing out the Foundry’s patio like Tony Toni Tone, Aaliyah and 112, I felt compelled to tell my story to Kalie and Sean about why I grew up on the 90s r&b sound.

But my personal highlight of Thursday night’s performances was by far and away the local three-piece, Parts of Speech, inside at the Riot Room. When Sean referred me to their bandcamp page the night before, I was on the fence about them. But their live show revealed personal comparisons to another local band – Mouth. While the vocals in Mouth’s music aren’t very prominent, I couldn’t shake a likening between Parts of Speech and Mouth with their sweeping, atmospheric grooves. POS played to a very attentive and surprisingly full floor of bodies at Riot that night. American Catastrophe played at Union, while someone was playing Montell Jordan and other typical party music from a laptop and a folding chair on the Union’s patio.

Friday night really made me think twice about the festival’s diversity, however. Maybe it was just me, but indie-rock overload was beginning to set in as I saw Ghosty play to a packed house at Gusto Lounge full of people just kind of standing around and looking straight ahead at the band. That’s another thing that irks me about indie-rock shows – no one really gets moving or nodding their heads much, in general. Ad Astra Arkestra, Capybara and others had the Beaumont Club’s modest crowd vibing with their own fun on stage. Ad Astra specifically strike me as the kind of band who are going to put on an exciting show no matter how many people are in front of them.

To the delight of my own hip hop fandom, Les Izmore was hosting his “Heartfelt Anarchy” stage on the patio at Riot Room that night. While I thought that dropping a bunch of relatively dark, 2000-2005-sounding underground hip hop wasn’t necessarily a good look on DJ Nick Fury’s part, he did seem to know his way around the turntablism game pretty well. Things were looking rather bleak at Riot Room early on that night, with not many people in attendance for Mask & Glove in comparison to what was probably going on at some other venues in the district. Conquerors put on a heavy, psychedelic standout performance under Izmore’s stage.

When they were done, Diverse Trio jazzed things up with Hermon Mehari’s trumpet sounds piercing through the night air. But it seemed like after Conquerors and Diverse Trio were finished playing to a reasonably large crowd outside, a lot of the crowd was finished too. Either they moved inside or went to other venues. I saw a lot of people being turned away at Riot Room’s patio entry because they didn’t have wristbands noting that they had purchased a ticket to the fest. So perhaps that was a contributing factor to the shaky turnout at Riot Room that night as well. People only really go to the Beaumont, for instance, when there is a big show with drawing appeal. Riot Room is a little different in the generalization that many who go there just go to hang out with their friends.

It was unfortunate because KC North Sider, Gee Watts, at the age of just 20 years old, put on a very solid show to a thinned-out crowd that had apparently moved on for the most part. He performed all new material from his upcoming record “WWGD”, and the first ten minutes of his set were spent sitting on a stool pulled up from the bar, which some didn’t like. But the crowd was very interested, pleasantly surprised and expressed a lot of oohs and ahhs at a number of punchlines he spit from his thin frame. In the middle of his set, one of the girls from Hearts of Darkness asked who he was, then commented, “I like him.” Gee Watts left the crowd wanting more.

Les Izmore may have put on the coolest solo hip hop show I’ve seen in a while. I’ve never seen a rapper do this before, but he was actually throwing on the effects pedal with his foot during his choruses, essentially crashing the typical call-and-response hip hop show ideal. Apparently calculated, he also made major adjustments to his flow and syllable structure on all of the songs he performed that I can remember, which definitely added something different as well. I can’t front, something magical happened when Mr. Mehari jumped up on stage with his band (Diverse Trio) and played along live to Izmore and D/Will’s “Swagger Killer II”.

Saturday evening (back at Riot Room again) saw a very large crowd inside and outside, well before sunset. I felt as though there should’ve been a DJ outside or some kind of live act to appease the people who didn’t want to mess with the elbow-on-elbow action inside with the sun still up (anyone looking forward to Sunday Solace yet?).

At about 8:00, I jaunted over to Gusto Lounge where Steddy P’s Indyground Stage started making some noise with its windows open, soaking Westport Road with the greater good of hip hop (and moombahton, thanks to DJ Mahf). At one point, I could’ve sworn that there was something falling from the ceiling. It didn’t occur to me that there really was some shit falling off the ceiling until I asked the soundman why his drink looked like this—————>

…I haven’t been to a show like that in a long time. Indeed, the sound at Gusto was pumping pretty tough. Central Missouri-based MC, Dallas, did more than his part to ensure a dope hip hop stage with his passionate, stretched syllables, high energy and on-point choruses. Stik Figa and Greg Enemy soon followed with their own respective sets and Deep Thinkers put on a fantastic show to cap the night off. Brother of Moses (MC for Deep Thinkers) reminds me of Black Thought of The Roots more and more everytime I see him perform, which isn’t often enough.

Here’s a video I shot outside of Beaumont Club where the line stretched somewhere between an eighth to a quarter mile:

In closing, I did read some backlash from the area DJ community in the following days after the fest about a lack of representation for electronic music and even hip hop. They have a point. There is a lot more to this city, and to the middle of the map than experimental shoegaze drone music…or whatever. I’d like to think that booking nationally renowned hip hop acts might be a good look, in addition to touring DJs as well for next year’s event. In all, Middle of the Map had a little something for everyone and a whole lot of indie-rock. But I survived, saw some cool bands and had some fun along the way.

Miles Bonny, Reggie B, Joc Max, Brandon Draper @ Kansas City Academy [03.30.12]

Chris Mills — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:11:00 +0000

A tight-knit association of KC-based music icons, singer/producer Miles Bonny, singer/producer Reggie B, DJ/producer Joc Max and drummer/producer Brandon Draper will be putting on what we fully expect to be an outright clinic at the Kansas City Academy on Friday, March 30. For those who don’t know, Kansas City Academy is a small school nestled at 7933 Main, Kansas City, MO 64131, where Miles and Brandon are teaching music throughout the week. I went to the Organic Proof album release event a couple of weeks ago and the auditorium was at near capacity. This Miles, Joc, Reggie and Draper show will take place on the same stage. Whether you’re growing tired of the bars or not, swing through, bring your family and children, and strap in for what should be a one-of-a-kind show.

TONIGHT: “Run De Dance” w/ Shaun Duval & LC @ Gusto Lounge

Chris Mills — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 18:48:04 +0000

[pictured: Shaun Duval]

With Brent Tactic being out of town at SXSW (jealous), LC is filling in for him alongside Shaun Duval tonight at Gusto Lounge in Westport KCMO. LC typically messes with mostly house music, whereas Tactic is usually all over the place regarding genres. But LC will be a dope addition to the event. This should be your spot if you’re wanting to dance tonight and hear some riotous booty shaking music in Westport.

Sunday Soundcloud Scoop #4

Chris Mills — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 20:20:05 +0000

[pictured: Groove Armada]

Soundcloud Sunday at Demencha is spearheaded by a new teaser from Groove Armada’s upcoming EP, “No Knock”. Get to listening, and maybe even drop a comment on one of these if you’re particularly feeling something. Stay tuned for next Sunday’s Soundcloud Scoop. Click HERE for our previous three weeks of SSS.

Album Review: FS – Half Android

Madame E — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 23:16:10 +0000

Grab your most moody apparel and prepare yourself to embark on a journey to a dark place of energetic bang. FS, the talented musician and producer from the duo Ming + FS, just released his solo album Half Android (Play Me Records) this week. I have to admit this album is not quite what I was expecting when remembering FS’ earlier contributions to the albums Hell’s Kitchen and The Human Condition. My first listen ended after the beginning 20 seconds of each track due to the aggressive distorted wobble bass stutter. For some reason, that combination immediately makes me think of a computer shitting out parts of a melted circuit board. Part turn off, part questioning wtf, part intrigue. Telling myself I needed to give this album another chance, upon my third listen, the tracks started growing on me and I began to hear elements from the Ming + FS I remembered from 2001. The influence of hip hop, drum and bass, ragga vocals, and turntablism seeps out in between the continuous flow of dark glitchy electro bass hiccups and well planned chord progressions.

The intro track “Lasers N Bass” doesn’t have a hook that is most baiting, but when Rahzel from The Roots cuts in with his beat boxing and vocals, a sense of anticipation to hear more grows toward the end of the song. The next highlighted moment in the album would be “To The Sky” which is co-produced by Reid Speed. This is an anthem unto itself with male vocals singing a hook that will rumble around in your head for at least half a day. There is also the track, “Cut & Cut” (featuring NapoleonSolo) that stood out with a nice vocal melody and rhythmic ride. I am looking forward to hearing more from this NapoleonSolo.

Overall, this album isn’t necessarily pushing boundaries in bass music, but is a well-executed struggle to merge man and machine and will intrigue a variety of bass heads.

http://soundcloud.com/playmerecords/sets/fs-half-android-album-out

Check out the Lee Scratch Perry samples in the “Touch O Klass” (VIP mix) not posted on soundcloud. The breakdown at 3:22 gets hearts.

Madame E Now Contributing to Demencha

Madame E — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:58:54 +0000

As a DJ, production dabbler, dancer, former radio gal, and lover of all things musical, I am happy to accept the new privilege of contributing to Demencha. While attending an arts high school I became trained in classical orchestration and also found an affinity to underground hiphop and electronic music. Nevertheless, I went on to receive an expensive piece of paper that indicates I spent many hours analyzing works of literature, human behavior, and broadcasting opinions/music over the airwaves. For the past 10 years I have considered myself to be an ethnomusicologist of sorts. However, my opinion on the myriad of genre classifications that continue to be purged forth will have to wait for another time. When I am digging for sounds, I search for ones that encourage me to relate to other humans by identifying an expression coming from the soul. With that being said, I am not biased toward a certain tempo but usually seek out music that contains something similar to the following:

Chords and atmospherics that seduce me in the range from just a content facial smirk to the point of being in a trance like state and having three-dimensional hearts pulsate from my eyeballs

A delicate/sensitive aspect that could be compared to licking a wound or tiptoeing on a cloud

Vocals that have a rhythmic ride, pitch, and presentation that makes sense to a trained ear, and inspires one to sing, shout, or moan along

Percussion and bass that motivates me to arch the back, thrust the pelvis, shake the shoulders, move the feet, and celebrate

It’s all about expressing the colorful moments in life and I look forward to sharing with all of you… so I guess I’ll wrap this up with a sweet little Disclosure track.