Single Malt Scott

Prepschool Blog

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:14:24 -0600

Prepschool Blog: This is it, the new blog/dj crew/life plan and all the rest. Just note that all music blogging will take place over there, instead of here.

Happy Trails

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:45:31 -0600

Over the course of the next few weeks I will be migrating most of the blogging action over to a new site. Details will be forthcoming, but needless to say lots of new developments are in the works. Look out for a a new mixtape, a new myspace, a new blog, a new facebook, and perhaps a new name. And many, many more edits and remixes coming real soon. Thanks to everyone who’s been there to support me from the start, and advance thanks to everyone who continues to follow me to newer, greener pastures.

A-Side: Chavy Boys of London - Friday Night Flu B-Side: Chic -...

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:39:38 -0600

A-Side: Chavy Boys of London - Friday Night Flu

B-Side: Chic - Dance Dance Dance (Yowsah Yowsah Yowsah)

Let me see if I understand this fully, take a classic dance track which repeats a refrain about getting loose on the dancefloor, chop, apply drums in much greater measure than the original, include breakdowns and drum builds, and press to wax? Well, I’m not mad at that. This track is straight up effective. Scottie B, King Tutt, & Shawn Caesar don’t do much to this classic gem of disco swirl, but they do enough. And when the breakdowns themselves breakdown further, well, my face tends to crease with a long and abiding smile.

As for those of you who think all Baltimore Club music is repetitive and annoying, well this song isn’t going to help much. So as a public service i have included the original here as a means of comparison. With its forward leaning strings and clean production it really represents the more accessible disco style Chic helped bumrush to the top of the charts. And yes, it is less repetitive than The Chavy Boys’ version but it is by no means a stalwart of Stockhausian theory. This is dance music people, repetition is key. So dance, dance, and dance again, neither of these tracks is gonna loose the groove. I think it’s rather obvious that one has more energy than the other, but I’m not gonna labor that point.

Needless to say, this post is quite obviously pointed at the argument of merit in Baltimore Club music, with some very clear allusions as to my personal preference. So what if its repetitive, or crude, or offensive? Bmore has been standing up proud about this music, warts and all. And as the message boards and boutique labels have brought it into the fold we’ve seen some very good and some absurdly bad music claiming its heritage in the Baltimore Club genre. Whether you blame that on the producers, club DJs or just the simplicity of music that is almost always derived from the “Sing Sing” and “Think” breaks, really, is your own prerogative. Just don’t miss out on some really great opportunities to dance to some rough simple songs which do the job.

Digi-12” Tuesdays are Back! A-Side: Charles Mingus - II...

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:45:00 -0600

Digi-12” Tuesdays are Back!

A-Side: Charles Mingus - II B.S.

B-Side: Gangstarr - I’m The Man

To start things back up right on this blog, i think it is fitting that we visit some past masters. Mingus, the bass genius behind some of the world’s finest jazz music, never sat contentedly in the rhythm section. His vision of what the low end means to a song was revolutionary to his time and opened up contemporary music to explore the lower sonics as a place for complexity and pride, not merely to hold the beat and give some swing. His solo work really shows his chops off and gives an idea of just how powerful a force a bassline can really be. Not only did Ming Mingus Mingus expand my own personal idea of what a jazz album could sound like, I have consistently returned to it as source of music inspiration and tool to focus myself. And that bassline; it will follow you around for days.

And while you are happily letting the bassline fill your soul and make you think about strutting on your way back to the train today after work, imagine that with Jeru The Damaja on top. That’s what DJ Premier had to have been doing on his way to and from the studio while working on Daily Operation. It’s only natural. So for the B-Side today, the posse-cut of posse-cuts, I’m The Man with the majority of Preemo’s crew at the time on the same song with their own beats. Coming up third on the mic, Jeru and the whole reason to pay attention to this track. The rest of it has, in my opinion, not withstood the test of time; but Jeru came strong, Premier came through even stronger with that simple loop, rough drums, and horn stab. What can one say but, “I’m the muthafuckin’ man.”

Click here to download DIGI 12” A-Side = The Black Ghosts...

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:54:00 -0500

Click here to download DIGI 12”

A-Side = The Black Ghosts - Any Way You Choose To Give It

Simon Lord and Theo Keating have only just recently met, but that hasn’t stopped them from releasing a whole heap of good music together; ah the power and humor of the interwebs. The Black Ghosts are two British fellas with a lot to say, and following their prior successes with other notable groups, they got together via the internet to make some amazing psychedelic electropop. Ex-Simian frontman Simon Lord proves he’s got more to say these days than “I used to in a band with these guys” by providing some stellar, swirling vocals all over the track, while former Wiseguy Theo Keating produces in line with his current handle. Anyway you cut it, these guys rip out a good jam with decent wordplay and a bassline to be jealous of.

B-Side = MGMT - Metanoia

In the same vein of psychedelic electropop, we have the sub-genre’s heroes, MGMT. These boys (and they are young) got together their Freshman year at Wesleyan and have put out surprisingly good music ever since. Now exploding all over the cultural landscape; opening for Of Montreal and Beck, and getting play in movies and CW programs, MGMT are the it boys of the moment. And as the remixes roll in, Justice and Soulwax being the real heavyweights to chime in, we see that everyone seems to love these guys. This track is a departure, with multiple movements and an expanded intrumental scope as evidence. Is this what we’ll see on the next album? Considering this song has considerably less of the electro and more of the psyche, just like their transition from single to album earlier in their career, I think we can reasonably expect at least one opus like this one their next disc. Whatever they do, lets hope they continue to take whatever drugs they have been so far.

Lykke Li - Little Bit (Klumpfisk Remix) (No audio player for this as its over the file size limit. ...

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 12:28:00 -0500

Lykke Li - Little Bit (Klumpfisk Remix)

(No audio player for this as its over the file size limit. Sorry, just download it. It’s good)

Going a long way away and getting records is one of those things I desperately wanted to do when I was first coming up in digging. The hope of finding that ethereal gem of a song, shrouded in dust, stacked amid a hundred old represses of Huey Lewis, in a little family-owned record store in Holland, was such a romantic idea to this young brain that I literally figured out which stores to go to in Tokyo. I had the bug deep under my skin. I was just out of High School, possibilities were myriad, and the world was my oyster; forgive me my sentiment, for the young want things the old know don’t exist. If you asked me what that moment in time felt like for me, I’d sigh a little, shuffle my feet, and hand you this record.

“Little Bit” was a happy find for me. I liked most everything about it from voice to production to lyrics, and finding out that it came from the same shop as a previous hit surprised me not even a little. I played it out a few times, watched it get played out, and finally watched it sell bras. Done with that, right? Well no… enter Klumpfisk, of the same land as Lykke, with his soaring production. This track really does feel like the way pop music ought to be, as he alluded to in a liner note. Those of us who self identify as romantic will get it, and those who like guitars will too. So girls grab your boys, guys stop grabbing your dicks, and just enjoy the effortless crescendo of Klumpfisk’s take on Little Bit.

A-Side = Justice - Phantom Suite Phantom was a big single for...

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:21:55 -0500

A-Side = Justice - Phantom Suite

Phantom was a big single for Justice in a lead up to truly massive singles. This one fell through the cracks for a lot of people mainly because it was so rough, and when all you know Justice for is an homage to Michael Jackson, rough might not be your cup of tea. Well, here today your gonna get a double dose of rough, as I’ve stitched together Parts I & II of Phantom into one big long mess. It kicks you in the teeth for nearly 8 minutes, no break.

B-Side = Midnight Juggernauts - Shadows

Another one of those electronic influenced Australian bands for the B-Side. Midnight Juggernauts took me utterly by surprise with this one. Shouldn’t have, their label puts out hot shit all the time. But there I was, wondering what the shrieking was all about, when that bass line hit. ooohooooh. S’good no? The video is great too. And that’s definitely the reason I put these two together: the bass line. I gotta give the lads credit, they put together a great sounding mix on this record with, of course, bass line front and center. As it should be.

Download the fake 12” Here.

Modem trouble

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:23:19 -0500

Unplug, let stand for a minute, replug.
Digi 12” Tuesdays will be posted tomorrow, this message comes from my phone.

Organized Konfusion - Walk Into The Sun (Bill K...

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:08:38 -0500

Organized Konfusion - Walk Into The Sun (Bill K Remix)

Organized Konfusion is maybe my favorite hip hop duo of all time, and its got mainly to do with their breadth. Walk Into The Sun is a summer breeze of a joint and was a real breath of fresh air for a lead single, so to see them follow it up with a remix of this caliber was truly inspirational. Classic samples abound in the original but the remix is a bit more bare-bones, which is precisely why I like it so much. This has been a staple of my crate since the early days post-high school because it toes so many lines so gracefully; it’s warm, accessible, smart, and mixable. In short, this shit works. When did we loose all these sensibilities in hip-hop? In the case of Organized Konfusion, we lost it the very next album with their uber-classic “Stress: The Extinction Agenda”. And here we see their depth: it’s dark, claustrophobic, and confrontational, without being contrived or whiny. In fact, it makes you like it almost in spite of itself. How did two guys from queens manage to pull this leap between styles off?

A couple of clues are easily accessible even if you only know Pharoahe Monch from his Godzilla sampling days, or alternately from my last post. His album on Rawkus, “Internal Affairs” is definitely one of the most cohesive disc from the label, and shows a real commitment to artistic breadth. Many of the themes we see in OK’s first two LPs are intelligently employed and we begin to understand where the early successes may have stemmed from. This is not to malign the other half of this landmark hip-hop group, Prince Po, as he continues to put out high quality work, most notably “The Slickness” on Warp subsidiary Lex (with gorgeous album artwork, as Lex always seems to). This album seemed to pop up at a strange time in hip-hop and somewhat dove-tailed the ascendancy of production luminary Dangermouse, and accordingly was lost in shuffle by a majority of heads. Tragically so; go check it out.

As to the question of who this Bill K is, I really have to plead ignorance. The internet turns up little info on him that seems relevant, so I’m left wondering… wondering if he’s out there googling his name and still has the tapes from the session. I would beat a donkey to death for the a cappella for this track. Just sayin’.

N.E.R.D. - Maybe (Sa-Ra Remix) This track may be relatively easy...

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:59:00 -0500

N.E.R.D. - Maybe (Sa-Ra Remix)

This track may be relatively easy to find on the old interwebs these days, but damn if I didn’t have to work to get it initially. That’s one reason this gets a Thursday post, I must have put about two solid weeks of work tracking down a copy. I really don’t know why it was so hard to track down, but since I’ve never heard anyone else use it except Blu Jemz and Roger Yamaha I’ll continue to tout it as a secret weapon.

The other reason is that most people have never heard of Sa-Ra Creative Partners and couldn’t have cared less about a bi-coastal production trio before I played them this song. For music heads these guys are well known as a forward-looking, much hyped trio, whose lazy (in a swinging, loose kind of way) productions have been lauded by other production heavy weights such as Pharrell (obviously) and Dr. Dre. But for all their production brilliance for others, their own compositions are getting traded between record companies like baseball cards. Their full length debut is sometimes incorrectly credited as Second Time Around (2005) when in reality The Hollywood Recordings (2007) is their proper full length put out on Babygrande. Babygrande? No disrespect to the label, it’s got some good stuff, but these guys were rumored to be on Star Trak, G.O.O.D., and a major label at various points during their career. Any one of those could have given them the push they needed to really hit. They first flew into my radar through a 12” of one of my favorite MC’s, Pharoahe Monch’s horribly neglected Agent Orange. Just try and tell me that beat isn’t the nastiest thing you’ve heard in a month, that’s a double dog dare.

As for the track itself, the production is BONKERS! Kinda makes me like Pharrell’s vocals, no easy task. Analog synths and tricky melody lines are a lock for me, so when the chorus kicks in and guitars mix in with everything else and the backup vocals come up in the mix, ooh I just can’t stand it. My only response to it was to absolutely lose my shit to it when it breaks down two-thirds of the way through (2:36). Is that an oboe? I dunno but i wanna be smoking what they are! That’s for sure. Light up SA-RA, and pass some more new shit to me. Please.

Note: Upon researching this i found out that they released something titled Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love in November 2007 possibly as a Japan only release. Other sites list it as coming out on Ubiquity (please say its so) but all info is sketchy at best. Two questions: 1) Why hadn’t I even heard of this? 2) Why is Japan always getting the hottest shit as exclusives?

...and now featuring Weekly Features.

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:19:00 -0500

Starting this Thursday I’ll be adding a few regular weekly features to the blog. Each feature will take a simple influence as its basis and give you a sliver of a view into the many ways I like to appreciate music. New tactics for this blog war. Here’s a cheat sheet for the new features:

DIGI 12” Tuesdays: This feature is an homage to my favorite music delivery device, the twelve inch record. On the A-Side you get a heater, the go-to hit of the record, while the B-Side often went to a sleeper hit, something less likely to grab you immediately but likely to sneak its way back into your head. Each Tuesday I’ll put together two tracks for a dream 12”, perhaps by different artists, perhaps dovetailing each other, but perhaps not. You download both and decide which side wins.

Even Deeper Thursdays: Through the years of putting together my music collection I have come across some really curiosities. Some of these are indisputible gems, rare records or just great ones; others are too strange even for me sometimes. This Thursday afternoon feature will give you one track that you would be hard pressed to track down, with a little background provided by me. I may not always slip one past you, but I guarantee you’ll learn something at least once.

Sundays are for ALBUMS: When do you have time to sit down and listen, really listen, to a whole ablum start to finish anymore? Sunday, of course. Every Sunday I’ll pray at the altar of this dying format (gasp! please don’t let it happen) and provide a brief commentary on all the tracks and ephemera of the album. These albums will be undeniable classics; undeniable for the reason that I don’t have comments on this blog, nyah nyah! But really, these are my classics, which may include some of yours, or might be grossly offensive to you. If you trust me, you’ll get to know some new tunes, or see some old ones in a new light. Either way you’ll get to download my pick off the album.

And so you have it, the new Fall Lineup from Single Malt Scott Industries. Hope you like the designs and thoughts, but if not, ehh…

Ok, it’s been a little over most of the year now for a...

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 23:18:00 -0500

Ok, it’s been a little over most of the year now for a while, so I think it’s right about time to start tossing discs into that legendary album-of-the-year ring and let everyone have a chance to listen to the dang things. My pick, which should come as no surprise to anyone who hears me coming down the street with my boombox, is Cut Copy’s brilliant newest effort “In Ghost Colours”.

I must say, they really hit my buttons pretty hard with this one and just don’t quit until I’m out of breath and panting on the floor; dancefloor that is. I have played out virtually all the playable tracks at one place or another and have never recieved an even lukewarm response out of any of ‘em. So without making too much of a fuss about it, and because the Ausie blokes are on their way over here to Chicago next week (sold out… sniff) I thought I would prod my readers to get out there and check the album. And here, as a proverbial carrot on a proverbial stick, is my favorite album cut “Nobody Lost, Nobody Found”.

Do me a favor and listen to the album; getting one song off of a blog and running to your friends with new hot shit is all well and good (my blogroll is LARGE, trust the experience here) but this LP burns all the way through. This song that you’re listening to -at least I hope you’ve started listening to (sheesh)- is the second to last one on the album and the build all the way to this is worth it, even to those of you out there who think Girl Talk waits too long.

Download | Purchase | Info

Lost But Not Forgotten

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:41:53 -0500

It has been awhile since Apple released the iPhone 2.0 firmware update and as the apps roll in it has sapped more than a little bit of my attention away from this website. So now that a decent iPhone tumblr posting app has made it to market, I am taking this opportunity to post a reminder from my phone to all my loyal readers that I have not forgotten you. Paying gigs and family drama have reminded me just how important it is to stay focussed on the stuff that matters. And so, lots of posts are upcoming, including more free tracks, more edits, and yet another Mixtape perhaps even a themed one. Stay tuned.

Okay, so i have been a little bit lax on the blog game of late....

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:09:00 -0500

Okay, so i have been a little bit lax on the blog game of late. Time passes us by and we wonder where it goes, and if you look behind, more of it has gone. Kind of like this track. I enjoyed it so thoroughly that by the time I looked up it was over… thank god I can play it again.

“Robo Tussin” is the newest one from the spacemaster-general Flying Lotus. Hailing from Winnetka, CA (enjoy the inside joke there fellas) he happens to be eating up all unused credibility in the Los Angeles metro area, due to his prodigious output, stallwart collaborators, and his family name. And no, he’s not the long lost third son of Otis Jackson. His family name actually runs a little deeper than that, well, a lot deeper: sound it out with me here coal-train. That’s right that family name does include one of the greatest ever, but more important for our purposes is the close relationship he has with his aunt Alice Coltrane. Go check the video if you want that info from the source.

If you’re like me though, you’ve already clicked the clip and you’re thinking that you’ve heard his work before; and before you start to rack your brain for it, think of yourself stoned on a couch dreaming of cartoon characters battling for late-night supremacy. You got it: our familialy blessed friend got his start by submitting his music for the bumps in between Adult Swim shows. So not only is he good - i mean it, check the rest of his stuff - he’s already subliminally boom-bapped his way into the heads of you, your little brother, and that cute asian girl you like.

download here zshare

investigate here myspace

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First Mix In A Long While

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:37:00 -0500

Those of you who know me, know that I am nearly always talking about my next mix. Sometimes it’s all pie-in-the-sky, “I’m gonna remix every song you ever liked” kind of stuff, and consequently I don’t hold it against you when you don’t pay any attention to me. It comes with the territory of being a wide-eyed creative idealist perfectionist; it’s a tradition that rarely if ever do I come through on that new mix or that wonderful idea I had.

But, to paraphrase from the best movie ever, is it not also tradition that times must and always do change? Jeebus I hope so. So, in the effort of trying to make postivie steps forward doing, y’know, anything, I present to you my newest mix The Eclecticist. It runs an hour and eight minutes long and spans everything from Tom Petty and the Arcade Fire to Digitalism and The Presets. I think most people can find something to like all over it, and it does retain some thematic sensibility. So its got that going for it, which is nice.

A nice shiny nickel goes to whomever can spot all the different film references in the above paragraph because, just like my DJ style, I borrow and steal from all over the place for this stuff. Hope you all like the new mix and can pass it along to anyone and everyone who you think might like it. Just tell them to go become my fan on facebook, hire me, or buy me lottery tickets; anything works, ‘cause I’m easy like Sunday morning.

Download link: http://www.zshare.net/audio/1347105895c20307/

Photo

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:29:00 -0500

Here’s a first look at my newest mix The Eclecticist. ...

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:06:44 -0500

Here’s a first look at my newest mix The Eclecticist. Short and sweet, you only get the first two tracks on this one; the full length mix will be over an hour and use over 30 songs from wildly different genres. Enjoy, and click on my the link to my facebook site and become a fan, thanks!

Single Malt Mux

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:43:06 -0500

Gathering sites up like a moss on a rock.

So, friends keep on a hitting me up with new sites to check and all that jazz. This one’s quite good, in fact I will be using this for promo material and other goodies.

http://singlemaltscott.muxtape.com

Actual mixtapes (y’know, mixed) will still be posted here; assuming, of course, I actually get around to making a new one any time soon.

Paul McCartney - Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five (Single Malt...

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:54:00 -0500

Paul McCartney - Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five (Single Malt Scott Remix)