Fuck a Odd Future. The future of rap (or at least of a significant sidebranch of rap’s now omnipresent underground) lies in its past. A bunch of kids from Florida have been mining rap’s golden decade not for its shiny particles of oft-lauded boom bap, but rather for its dust-covered debris of leftfield aberrations. Reaching back to the beginnings of the discourse of “trill,” SpaceGhostPurrp and his RVIDXR KLVN are resurrecting the occult grave desecrator sound of early Three 6 Mafia, the Slow, Loud And Banging echoes of Screwston, Texas, and – less obscure but yet surprisingly seldom recreated – good ol’ fashioned G-Funk. Fusing homage with deconstruction and retromania, they use their knowledge of the past and their deliberately lo-fi recording technique as devices of style as well as distinction, firmly entrenching them in their subcultural niche. Football team preferences aside, these Raiders are gradually turning into “the World’s most dangerous group.” 
We’ve compiled 8 Raider Klan-affiliated releases (all from 2012) that you shouldn’t miss out on.

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Welcome to MTHRFNKR INTRODUCES a soon to be regular column where we introduce you to the finest and most promising labels around. We wanted to create a way where we can share fucking amazing music with you guys in a way that structurally makes more sense, that goes past the odd post of an absolute banger, and that you can expect once a week from us. What can we say MTHRFNKR’s growing up. So without further ado say hi to boutique Montreal label Infinite Machine. Bwana, Runamucker, Bruises, to name a few all call IM home. IM releases all push a beat-heavy glitchy sound that pays a heavy homage to pre-Skirllex dubstep and UK Garage. Read a mini interview with the guy who started the label, Carlos Juarez below.

Who founded Infinite Machine?
It was founded by myself Carlos Juarez (Charlie). It was December of 2010 that it came to my mind to start a new record label. By then, I was already taking a new direction with the music I wanted to make, the music I wanted to listen and support. Because before, I was really involved in the hardcore scene for like 14 years. So I thought this would be a new beginning for me.

Are they any labels you’re excited about?
Right now I would say Apollo Records, Origami Sound and B.YRLSF DIVISION.

How long does it take for you to decide whether you like a track or not?
It doesn’t take a lot of time really. I would normally give it 2 or 3 listens to a track. That’s enough for me to see if I can relate myself to the track or if I can get into the vibe and rhythm. I always pay good attention to the music I’m listening to.

And finally, the most important question of all, which of the two scenarios would you rather suffer:
1) Having to listen to Skrillex’s ‘Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites’ for 24 hours straight.
Or
2) Having to listen to the Nyan Cat for 24 hours straight.
Wow, this is a really hard question haha, I guess i wouldn’t like to suffer any of those scenarios but if I have no choice and I have to suffer one of those I would say: Nyan Cat

The Essential 3 IM TRACKS

That Hook. You all surely know this by now, definitely gonna be one of the summer tunes of this year. 

Where it all started for IM, the opening track off the first EP they released.

Probably the most nostaglic thing here, breakbeats and a soulful vocal straight from the 90’s.
Infinite Machine have a Bandcamp where all of their releases past, present and future are available to purchase.
If you have any suggestions of labels for a future MTHRFNKR INTRODUCES, please contact me at antonio@mthfnkr.com
Oh yeah shit don’t forget to send thank you notes for this wonderful musical epihany to MTHRFNKR HQ, Willamsburg St, City of Self-important Hipsters, Postcode - HIP3 XXO3 (Chocolates or Skrillex’s head on a platter would also suffice). 
Until next time.

By Antonio Rowe

Alright everyone, it’s high time we decided whether or not Grimes sucks.
According to Pitchfork’s Best New Music hypebaiting and the slobbery “It Girl” blathering from XLR8R and Hipster Runoff, Grimes is a hot new indie darling that you will definitely hear at Urban Outfitters.
Now that we’re saddled with her presence, we discerning listeners are faced with an age-old decision about where we stand with respect to this rising electro starlet: we must determine if Grimes is a twee, overhyped artsy alt-pop gimmick or a respectable musician we’d cheer for all the way to Universal’s front doors (and who we pray will stop releasing boring Joni Mitchell covers that any skinny white boy with a piano and a sad heart could make). In other words, is Grimes only for stupid hipsters?
First of all, her voice is kind of annoying—but maybe it’s one of those voices that seems grating at first. Grimes’s voice is whispery and sounds like a little girl’s, which probably means she’s one of those cute chicks who acts like a baby and is considered “adorkable.” Judging from her lisp, her endearing interviews and her art-dorable music videos, she is pretty annoying and twee, like a Zooey Deschanel who isn’t a painfully staid and normal woman acting “quirky.” Like, what if Grimes were actually a genuinely quirky and charming person? Am I supposed to want to hang out with her because of that? Because I kind of do. Plus I heard that she is “way crusty” from someone who interviewed her, and don’t you like her more now that you know she’s stinky??
And then there’s the fact that Grimes is an electronic musician, but people who labor over the velocity of a hi-hat—you know those people, the dweeby ones who complain about “pitched sine wave bullshit” and have (had?) Rapidshare accounts—they wouldn’t be likely to be into Grimes.
Her “electronic music” is like a photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy of professional, careful and dedicated production—she’s not even in the same wheelhouse as a career producer or DJ. How is a devoted DJ music fan and connoisseur supposed to feel about the watered-down pop-ification of its favorite sounds, and such an adorable one at that?
So you guys, it’s time to decide whether Grimes is bastardizing and ruining serious music with her Urban Outfitters-ready bleep-bloops and colorful hair, or if she’s expanding peoples’ tastes by appealing to listeners who don’t usually like electronic music. For people who aren’t into electronic music, Grimes is like those little dehydrated marshmallows in a bowl of Lucky Charms: not the part with any nutritious value or substance whatsoever, but the sweet and artificially-flavored flakes of plastic that little kids pick out of the box because their brains and tastes haven’t fully developed yet. I have this stupid hipster friend who only likes the Kills and David Bowie and Sonic Youth (I know, right?) and yesterday she was like “Oh I like Grimes.”
And the worst part is, I think I do, too.

By Rave Snob

Genre names are needed for conversations and debates. More importantly, they’re necessary when searching for a particular style of music on the internet. I discovered dubstep for the first time when someone sent me a tune by Burial on Last.fm. Later I was desperately looking for artists on the internet with a similar sound by typing the term dubstep into Google. What I got was Rusko, Deadmau5, Skrillex and overproduced dubstep remixes of popular songs, pretty much the opposite of what I was looking for. Now, if I had typed in “post-dubstep”, things would’ve looked differently. The problem with the term “post-dubstep” is that it indicates that dubstep is over. Dubstep is far from that. The genre only exists since about a decade and it’s constantly changing and re-inventing itself.
First and foremost this change manifested itself in late 2009 when The xx released their debut. They use silence as an instrument and from that moment everything was about to change. But why is silence so important, what does it have to do with arthouse and what the funk is arthouse anyway?
Let’s get one thing straight, arthouse isn’t a genre we came up with, just for the sake of it. We’re not making something up that doesn’t exist, the term didn’t come out of nowhere. There is tons of evidence for the existence of a new genre, so in the following paragraphs we will explain the history, etymology sound and geographical relations. By the end it’s your decision, whether you’ll stick to your authoritarian “It’s all just music” anti-thinking or if you’ill acknowledge the fact that there is currently something very interesting going on in the music scene. 

DEFINITION
+ Arthouse: 
Arthouse describes the fusion between post-dubstep and alternative R&B. It can also be seen as an umbrella term for both genres. 
Artists: The Weeknd, The xx, AlunaGeorge, Rhye, Black Atlass, Active Child, DropxLife, Julian, JMSN, Evy Jane, Jamie Woon, Jessie Ware, Jai Paul, James Blake, the list goes on… 

+ Post-Dubstep:
”A word used to describe music that takes the basic idea/sound of dubstep and takes it in a new direction, often making it more experimental and mixing it with elements of idm, hip hop, and trip hop, see also future garage and wonky”
- Urban Dictionary 

+ Alternative R&B
A progressive and experimental approach to R&B. It’s more complex and forward-thinking than commercial R&B.

SOUND
The first question that arises is, isn’t alternative R&B and arthouse the same thing? Clearly not! You can’t say that artists like Jamie xx, James Blake, Blawan, Deadboy, Eliphino or Sibian & Faun make alternative R&B, simply because they take elements out of it. There is a difference between alternative R&B and music that is influenced by R&B. We’re talking about music that is influenced by R&B. “Okay fine, so let’s just call it all post-dubstep, why do we need another term like arthouse?”. Because there is a pattern, because it makes sense, because it works, because the term post-dubstep is invalid as previously explained. The amount of producers that take elements from dubstep and alternative r&b is ridiculous. Take a look at this:

James Blake - CMYK // Aaliyah & Kelis sample
Joy Orbison - Hyph Mngo // Janet Jackson samlple
James Blake - Bills, Bills, Bills // Destiny’s Child sample
Blawan - Getting Me Down // Brandy sample
Deadboy - Here // Destiny’s Child sample
Ghost Mutt - Thouroughbred // Destiny’s Child sample
Jamie xx - Far Nearer // Janet Jackson sample
Sibian & Faun // Ashanti sample
Joy Orbison - Sicko Cell // Ne-Yo, & Drake feat. Page sample
French Fries - One Thing // Amerie sample
Mele - Digits // TLC sample
Deadboy - Fireworks // Drake sample
Kastle - Technique // Kelis sample
Debruit - Pony // Ginuwine sample
Eliphino - More Than Me/ No More // Lauryn Hill sample
Hugo Frederick - Family Affair // Mary J Blige sample
Girl Unit - Every Time (Kingdom Edit) // Ciara sample
Prince Club - Love Jackson // Janet Jackson sample

The list goes on and on and on, but let’s just stop here, I think you’re getting my point. When it comes to vocals that are beyond getting sampled and chopped up, the sound becomes less clubby more dark, melancholic, haunting, depressing, introverted, nostalgic, minimalistic and even dramatic.
Best examples are The Weeknd, The xx, Rhye, James Blake and Evy Jane.
The best way to describe the sound is how Burial described his own one in an old interview:

”It’s more about when you come back from being out somewhere; in a minicab or a night bus, or with someone, or walking home across London late at night, dreamlike, and you’ve still got the music kind of echoing in you, in your bloodstream, but with real life trying to get in the way. I want it to be like a little sanctuary. It’s like that 24-hour stand selling tea on a rainy night, glowing in the dark. It’s pretty simple.”

Arthouse is all about atmosphere. The often melancholic atmosphere is created by using silence as an instrument. Burial, Mount Kimbie, James Blake and The xx are all perfect examples for that. Even the more “clubbier” arthouse producers have a simple and minimalistic approach to making tunes.
Here two quotes on the importance of silence:

1.
“We’re young, not deaf – Casely-Hayford know it, Press Free Press know it, Jayne Helliwell knew it, and The xx know it. They are part of a generation that understands the strength of silence and the power of whispering – that if you say something quietly, people have to lean in closer. Their music has become shorthand on TV shows, idents and events for a very specific kind of brooding, worried youth…While previous youth cultures have proclaimed to have the answers, the generation that The xx hint at are taking their time with the questions. ”
Source: http://dummymag.com/features/2010/09/07/what-have-the-xx-ever-done-for-us/

2.
“. And so there’s something genius about the way that Blake’s work is premised on an aesthetic of recurrent silence, the counterintuitive result being that the 40 minutes you spend listening to his album may be the only part of your day where you experience silence at all. To listen to James Blake is not just to hear something new, in the sense that the music here marks a clear and creative evolution from any of Blake’s identifiable influences, but also to hear something new, in the sense that Blake knows how to make his listeners receptive to his music through the strategic use of silence.”
Source: http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/review/james-blake-james-blake/2396 

HISTORY
The first time post-dubstep and alternative R&B collided was when The xx released their debut album back in 2009. Thanks to Jamie xx the record has a strong Garage influence. Ruth Saxelby described it in the most accurate way in her article “What have The xx ever done for us”:

“The xx have garage in their blood. You don’t need to second-guess their record collections (you can grab any of Jamie’s superlative mixes for that) – it’s there, in the sumptuous loneliness of VCR, the coiled epic space of Intro, the grinding delicacy of Islands. They’re the most important British band of our times, because they understand instinctively to the codes, expressions and sonic spaces of urban Britain and spontaneously create a new language. Their heritage is the anonymous broadcasts of pirate radio and unsigned whites, but they don’t just react – they move it on, they take it out, take it deep.”

As for their strong R&B influence Pitchfork described it in the best way in their album review of “xx”:

“Strongly influenced by modern R&B— the group made hay with an early cover of Womack & Womack’s “Teardrops”, while UK copies of xx come packed with their version of Aaliyah’s “Hot Like Fire”— the xx use a drum machine to complement their copiously tidy compositions. Unlike contemporary R&B fetishists Hot Chip or Discovery, who have clearly spent long hours internalizing Timbaland, the Neptunes, and other radio cognoscenti, the xx incorporate more abstract elements of the genre: a liberal use of bass tones and an unwavering focus on sex and interpersonal relationships.”

In 2010 Mount Kimbie released “Crooks & Lovers”. Although the album doesn’t have a direct R&B influence, like “xx” and “Untrue” it’s another very important release for the development of arthouse. The most accurate description of Mount Kimbie is calling them “Burial on anti-depressants”. And like The xx and Burial, Mount Kimbie use silence as an instrument to create atmosphere. As you can tell it’s all very well connected. 
2011 was the most important year for the development of arthouse.
James Blake, Jamie Woon and SBTRKT released their debut albums, while Jamie xx remixed Gil Scott-Heron’s “I’m New Here”.
More importantly The Weeknd’s “House of Balloons” trilogy and Frank Ocean’s “nostalgia: Ultra” came out. Those releases reanimated R&B and set a foundation for everything that is going to happen in 2012.
There is a new breed of artists emerging mixing the sounds of post-dubstep and alternative R&B together. Those artists are the class of 2012, making arthouse the sound of 2012. I’m talking about AlunaGeorge, Rhye, Evy Jane, Black Atlass, JMSN, Hoüses, DropxLife, Jessie Ware and many more.
Arthouse is soon going to “reach its climax” when Usher is going to release his next album (assuming that it’s as good as his recent single), this album, The xx’s second album as well as Jai Paul’s will change the game of R&B. Arthouse will most likely become mainstream. The eurotrash-Guetta-beat-making will die out and the sound of 90s and early 00s R&B will have a revival.
All the new arthouse acts that are now in their beginning stages will release more material this year as well, all of this will make arthouse the sound of 2012. It’s inevitable.

ETYMOLOGY
Timothy Hankins used the term arthouse for the first time in the context of music, in a review of James Blake’s debut album and Enough Thunder EP for The Daily Times:

“I’m going to coin a phrase and call Blake’s songs “art house R&B.”
” Blake’s music is electro-pop that is firmly rooted in R&B. His vocal stylings are smooth, inspired by Motown. Rhythmically, the songs lack the pulsing drive of R&B basslines, but they manage to have the same sway-in-your-seat quality of more standard R&B tunes.”

Later on our contributor Antonio Rowe described The Weeknd as arthouse R&B  in our article “Next Big Things For 2012”:

“Lyrically, his words match the druggy morning-after aesthetic of his songs, you can often hear Tesfaye discussing promiscuous, one-night stands and over consumption of drugs and alcohols amidst this slick, hazed art house R&B.”

The music publication Pretty Much Amazing described AlunaGeorge, Rhye and Evian Christ as artstep:
1.
“the duo’s production blends the best trends of bass-inflected pop (that bubbling bass recalls recent hits from SBTRKT and Katy B and UK artstep (that stuttering, deconstructed drum machine)”

2.
”seriously, what with that hyper-minimalist backbeat that’ll have you all psyched for some artstep drum machine skittering before Rhye go ahead and turn the tables completely into orchestral, horns-and-strings indie balladry.”

3.
”Sometimes it seems like your run-of-the-mill UK quasi-ambient artstep (you can probably imagine those skittering, echoing percussion elements before you even press play…”

The term arthouse is obviously a wink to the film genre and movie theatre. Here a short definition from Urban Dictionary:

“Arthouse: A movie theatre that shows independant, noncommercial or foreign films. In the United States, most people like big, expensive movies with lots of explosions and violence. Any film that is made by people outside of the Hollywood production system, and that focuses on more subtle themes, tends to be called an ‘art film”.

Arthouse in the film industry is an antithesis to Hollywood. Post-dubstep is known to be an antithesis to so-called brostep, as well as alternative R&B is known to be an antithesis to commercial R&B, both genres also have a more artful approach to making music.
When looking at artists such as The Weeknd, The xx and James Blake, it’s apparent how aesthetics and images are also very important. 
Therefore using the term arthouse to describe these artist’s music, aesthetic and image makes perfect sense.

GEOGRAPHICAL RELATIONS
Like our contributor Yeah Sara said, music is not about time and region anymore:

“Hip Hop is not about time or region anymore as much as it is about timing and regional influences. Inspiration is coming from everywhere, from the past of ones own culture (cheezy R&B of the US 90s) or the present of foreign cultures (Grime, Dubstep of the UK).
That’s why NYCs A$AP Rocky and his crew rap over drippy Houston beats. That’s why Tyler, The Creator is a rapping like a punk skater kid. That’s why Lupe Fiasco is rapping over Skrillex’ pseudo-dubstep wobble sounds. That’s why Rick Ross is successful: because we soak him in irony. We live half in the nostalgia of the mainstream, half in a transition to a digital craze.”

Even though regional influences are not that important anymore, there are a few similarities when it comes to the geographical relations of arthouse.
Most of the new artists that are considered arthouse come from Canada:
1. The Weeknd, Drake (to an extent considered as arthouse), Julian, DropxLife, Rhye, Evy Jane, Black Atlass and Sibian & Faun. All of those artists have a very similar sound and aesthetic, the same goes for artists that come from the UK:
2. The xx, AlunaGeorge, Jai Paul, Jamie Woon and James Blake.
The latter have a much stronger garage influence, therefore the term artstep can be used as well.

FURTHER INFORMATION
1. What have The xx ever have done for us?
2. R&B: Past, Present, Future
3. Hipster R&B x nappy-headed pop
4. Arthouse tumblr
5. Indie R&b tumblr
6. Tim Jonze on shuffle: R&B
7. Hipster R&B or Alternative R&B? 
8. Pitchfork’s Grime/ Dubstep column on post-dubstep
9. The Post-Dubstep Movement

By K-Tron

Rolling stoned into the tennis club in Toronto I reach into my pocket and feel for the two Ludes, as well as the cool metallic switchblade my brother gave me for Christmas. I’m on my way in to collect research. After all, I’m a professional journalist - not the only one who’s risking their ass for art this time of year. Rapper Rick Ross is doing it too, smoking dope to the excess so he can finish his forthcoming album, God Forgives, I Don’t. Like a lot of rappers, Ross has spent the past half decade branding a particular image for himself, that of a cold-hearted (yet loyal) drug kingpin who thrives in the lavish playground of Miami Beach, Florida. And you best not forget, Ross also hails from the ghetto. So if you happen to claim otherwise he’ll have his goons administer a beat down and leave you in the hospital with serious nerve damage. Ross had that done to popular video blogger DJ Vlad back in 2008, all for the sake of his artistic image. I call that kind of insane devotion to your art martyrdom. Just like when Kanye West jumped the stage at the VH1’s, philandered in public with Amber Rose, and hopped on a float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, all so he could embody the image of a sex-crazed baboon portrayed on the cover of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Again, West, like Ross, jeopardized his own self for his art. He literally became a monster- ahem, a martyr.
Another artist who can be classified alongside Ross and West is newcomer Lana Del Rey, the 26 year old New Yorker behind the Billboard #1 Born to Die, a sugary accumulation of preteen sex fantasies and urban drug romps. The blogs have been going bonkers over this chick ever since she dropped “Video Games” back in August. The Fader - in typical premature-ejaculation-fashion - had her face plastered up on their home page for an entire month, from masthead to ads all the way down to daily blog posts. The whole blogosphere seemed to be up in arms over this Lizzy Grant chick, daughter of domain tycoon Rob Grant, who all of a sudden put on some eyeliner, grafted brass knuckles, and began singing about “wining and dining, drinking and driving, excessive buying, overdosin, dyin.” Lizzy called herself Lana Del Rey, and propelled herself into overnight stardom by abiding by clever branding techniques… popularized by none other than who? Well, Rick Ross and Kanye West, among others. Which makes Lana, tit for tat, more or less a martyr… right? After all, she bought some gangster jewelry, had her hair did by black chicks in Brooklyn, and may or may not have surgically injected collagen into her lips, all for the sake of art. Oh, and then there’s that new knowledge that she drank and smoked too much weed during elementary school, so her father sent her away to boarding school in Connecticut. All these experiences ultimately accumulated in Lana’s music, and are evident in the lyrics, “On our drugs and our love, and our dreams and our rage,” as well as, “Let me kiss you hard in the pouring rain, you like your girls insane, choose your last words.” Evidently, Lana writes songs much like a rich hipster chick who has a killer Facebook profile pic and shops at Urban Outfitters would, if given the opportunity. Which makes her case, compared to those previously mentioned, a rather curious one.
Unlike some of the more tragic artists of our era - Lana’s idols, Kurt Cobain and Marilyn Monroe - Lana Del Rey aka Lizzy Grant has not taken, as far as I know, any enormous risks for her art, ones that could potentially threaten her livelihood. I mean, where I come from half the metropolitan population has probably smoked dope and/or drank too much at least once in the past six months, and that doesn’t make them any more artistic. In contrast, Kurt Cobain and Marilyn Monroe both suffered from severe drug dependencies, which, for good or ill, impacted their art and contributed to their mass appeal. That’s what made them tragic artists. So, just because Lizzie Grant can create a moniker for herself in Lana Del Rey, and come to embody every teenage girl’s glam/hipster fantasy, doesn’t necessarily make her a martyr. Then again, it doesn’t necessarily make her any less of a musician either. Not every competent musician has to be a martyr by rule. Take for instance an incredible talent like Andy Warhol. He wasn’t shooting dope up his veins a la William Burroughs during the 60’s (or maybe he was). He merely adopted the ‘Andy Suit’, which became his trademark brand: factory boots, black trousers, a striped tee, the hallmark wig, and a pair of shades to block out the sun; Andy had very sensitive eyes. Thus, the only real discrepancy I see between the branding techniques of Andy Warhol and Lizzy Grant, is that Andy’s art actually had some sort of technical credibility to it. He had long been acknowledged as a fine illustrator and painter, not to mention a thinker. It was Andy who acknowledged very early on in his career that art had to be about something for it to be considered… well, art.
Lana on the other hand admits to not always having a clear idea of what she wants to create. In a 2011 interview for FaceCulture Lana remarked, “Again, it doesn’t really make sense [her image of Paz de la Huerta in the “Blue Jeans” video]. I just like it. It’s a subconscious choice. Sometimes I do things more deliberately, but often I’m just guided by my intuition.” And there’s nothing wrong with that. But still, it was not too long after that interview that the negative reviews of her debut album, Born To Die, began to roll in. The biggest criticism, that she didn’t have the creative chops or emotional depth to put together a record. In a piece for The Independent, journalist Andy Gill writes, “…what appeared intriguing and curiously attractive in the isolated case of the ‘Video Games’ single becomes, sustained over a longer duration, not just irritating but almost morally objectionable. Don’t get me wrong: Born to Die is a skillfully wrought, carefully calculated piece of work, throughout which the singer never once steps out of character. But it’s the sad, grimly depressing nature of that character which some will find offensive, as the affectless, alienated persona of ‘Video Games’ expands into something more like a charmless, self-abasing sex-doll slithering for empty materialism.” Ouch. Pitchfork’s Lindsay Zoladz went even further and dubbed Born To Die “the album equivalent of a faked orgasm—a collection of torch songs with no fire.” Damn, we’re talking about the same girl here who was once described by her former choir teacher as “[shining] like the top of the Chrysler Building”. But then again, that makes no fucking difference to us, and bleeds rather succinctly into my thesis - that Lana, to my knowledge, has yet to risk anything substantial for her art. She is still only a cardboard cutout, a pastiche, an accumulation of all things a 16 year old girl might consider cool and buzz-worthy… which I’m cautious to say are sex, boys, drink, drugs, and fame. And according to the reviews, Lana doesn’t even communicate those things well.
Nevertheless, the popular press hasn’t always been so altogether bombastic towards her. Right after Born To Die dropped in January The Independent, the same publication that ended up bashing Lana’s album in months to come, applauded Lana’s debut project and awarded it a 5/5 rating. Simon Price from The Independent writes, “Elizabeth Grant is essentially an actress, and Del Rey is a character she’s created. Which is exactly where complaints about her inauthenticity founder: inauthenticity is the point… Never is this more effective than on the world-stopping “Video Games”. It’s a trick as old – and as enduring – as Hollywood itself.” Again, Mr. Price goes on about this actress nonsense, when in reality, no celebrity can ‘essentially’ disengage their private self from their public self. They’re intertwined - see Hunter S. Thompson. For good or ill, life is not like the movie Tootsie, however much we might like it to be. But that’s not the point either. The point is- or rather the question: why did the same publication, The Independent, write a positive review of Lana Del Rey’s Born To Die in January and then one month later anal rape it and award it a 2/5 rating? Well, like most of the papers/blogs, The Independent must have come to the realization that Born To Die, regardless of Lana’s half-baked intentions - she shows some awareness in the record “National Anthem” when she goes, “Money is the anthem of success so put on mascara and your party dress.” - reflects accurately the biggest flaw in contemporary music journalism, lack of care. Think about it. “Video Games” was released in late summer, and then five months later Born To Die came out, which probably leaves two or three months for the recording process. That’s rather rushed in my opinion, considering Dr. Dre has spent the past ten years working on his forthcoming third album, Detox. Even Lana’s manager, a Mr. Mawson, admits to Lana’s career moving a tad too quickly for her own good… that is, once she flopped on SNL. “To be honest, maybe we should have waited,” says Mawson of Del Rey’s SNL booking. “But you get offered ‘Saturday Night Live,’ you don’t say no.” Maybe so, but obviously Mawson couldn’t see that the accelerated nature of Lana’s fame had already manifested itself through her music, as her album began to sound like a mishmash of original records thrown together over pre-made beats, dropped on the public ASAP to cash in on her rising star. And that’s exactly what the papers/blogs were weary of. They became absolutely terrified that they might be shamelessly promoting a record that is little more than an ill-conceived accumulation of catch-phrases, jazz, and empty emotions, with little in substance to back it up. For the press, Born To Die was like looking into a mirror, and having to confront what they had become: a revered tabloid.
So, with all that background info in mind, I rolled up to the tennis club in Toronto to conduct my own market research for Lana Del Rey and her music. What? You thought I would illegally conceal a dangerous weapon and expose myself in public like that solely for recreation? No way. I was going in to ask some teenagers in white mini-skirts what they thought of Lana Del Rey’s Born To Die. After all, chicks between the ages of 12 and 25 are indeed the intended target audience for Lana’s art, give or take a few years. The first girl I questioned was Hannah Nasiry, a 13 year old middle school student who spends her free time on BBM and enjoys recreating shots of American Apparel models for her Facebook profile pic. What Hannah had to say was, “Her voice, it’s like perfect in a unique way… piercing, sharp, it’s unforgettable, and the songs are just different. It’s mellow. You could totally get high with her music too. It’s provocative, very provocative. Some of her songs remind me of Amy Winehouse.” After Hannah I approached another girl, this time a 17 year old, Mya, who has a Facebook pic of herself in a New Year’s Eve cap blowing a kiss, digitally-enhanced in black and white and taken on Photobooth. Mya was a little less enthusiastic about Lana, though still somewhat receptive, “You know what sucks, I wanna listen to some good music but I’m listening to Lana Del Rey. I didn’t even listen to the lyrics. It just sounded kind of bizarre and they all sounded the same to me. But for some reason I’m still listening to it. It’s infectious.” Right. Which means… regardless of the revelations Lana’s art might invoke for grad-school-educated music bloggers, it appears that Born To Die has seamlessly infiltrated the underdeveloped cerebellums of teenage girls, who take lyrics like “put your red dress on, put your lipstick on, sing your song, song, now, the camera’s on, and you’re alive again” as further ammunition to propel their ongoing classroom dramas. To these girls, Lana Del Rey is neither satire no pastiche, she’s a role model, further evidence that they are correct in their hormone-addled assertions about the world. Which is kind of scary in a way. Because I don’t think Lana Del Rey aka Lizzy Grant really gives a rat’s ass about what kind of reaction her music precipitates. And if she does, we’ll never know it. Just look at her past interviews. She gives away nothing! All she has done is shamelessly redefine the American Dream as a hollow collage of glittery noise, and now she’s going to bath in it. Whether you blame that on society, the music biz, or perhaps even me, doesn’t change the fact that Lana’s music is on many fronts a slap in the face to traditional culture, to the blogs, to teenage girls, to everyone really. And according to music critics, she’s not even talented, nor has she ever been - check her old records! All she is is a girl interested in art, who thought it would be cool to dress up like one of her idols, and play martyr. I’m sure Lizzie understands that you cannot hide behind your art. You have to live and die by it! Yet, because of her rich father or whatever, she has chosen to do neither. She merely strolls through the park with it.

By Peter Marrack

Remember in 2005 when it was impossible to enter a parking lot without hearing the voices of Mike Jones, Chamillionaire and Trae blasting slowed and throwed out of at least one car stereo? When lean and Screw-music ruled the Universe, or at least an entire microcosm? If you don’t, chances are that you were not in America’s South at the time. Even though the movement did reach way beyond the Mason-Dixon Line via MTV, satellite radio and Limewire, spreading the original “purple sound” originated by Houston’s legendary DJ Screw in the 1990s, it was first and foremost a regionalized trend. Centering around a form of local patriotism intent on preserving the legacy of their town’s most iconic DJ, Houston’s rap scene rode on fo’s and bumped Screw simply “cause that’s how they do in H-Town”. Looking at today’s chopped and screwed revival we can see a movement which serves as a prime example for a “post-regional” and genre-transgressing scene. In places as diverse as Harlem, Miami, Los Angeles, and even Canada and the UK, the cool kids are embracing the aesthetic, slowing down their beats and chopping up their samples to create ambient, promethazine-induced atmospheres. Starting the forensics at square one – or rather 1.1, as an examination of the original Screw-movement would burst the scope of this article – Houston’s part in the most recent revival should not be neglected. For one there is the army of loyal Screw-disciples who have diligently carried the torch for their late friend and idol. The Swishahouse family led by Michael ‘5000’ Watts and OG Ron C have followed pretty much the same path as their forbearer ever since launching their record label in 1997, chopping up popular rap records and giving them their own releases. In 2008, OG Ron C launched the website chopnotslop.com which hosts mixtapes chopped by a select assortment of OG-approved DJs aka Chopstars. As of late, thanks in part to the patronage and fandom of Drake and The Weeknd, these tapes have made a remarkable comeback.When talking about a C&S revival, one also has to mention witch house, with its heavy reliance on the slowing and down-pitching of synth-melodies and vocals and its 808-drum patterns invoking southern-style hip hop beats. Interestingly enough, the genre also has a foot planted in Houston, in the form of the Disaro label, which is in fact based in Screw’s hometown and has done much to popularize the movement. You will find further examinations of witch house in our upcoming articles. The summer of 2011 then marked the arrival of a young rapper who made his entrance in the most Houston-esque of ways. Gold grills, styrofoam cups, purple graining, slowed vocals, references to dripping candy-paint, purple drank and “Texas trill” – ASAP Rocky never tried to conceal the fact that he was “influenced by Houston”, embracing the C&S style for aesthetic value rather than a lack of originality.Their shared love for old school southern hip hop, weed, lean and an almost fetish-like stylization of everything “trill” make ASAP and his mob and SpaceGhostPurrp and his RVIDXR KLVN obvious matches. But whereas Rocky sculpts his own distinct (if highly referential) sound from a cut-and-paste technique of “immaculate taste”, as Jeff Weiss fittingly put it, SpaceGhost’s brand of decidedly lo-fi dungeon rap is essentially a retromanic re-imagining of southern hip hop from Mystic Stylez-era Three-6-Mafia, to Memphis proto-crunk, occasional Miami Bass-detours and chopping and screwing in its purest form. Besides taking up C&S elements in his original songs, Purrp also makes his own tapes true to the style – “Purrped & Chopped”, as he calls it. Not least because of his tendency to furnish song titles with 90s year dates does his music feel like a journey to a pre-bling-rap-commercialization state of southern hip hop.While little material from ASAP’s mob-affiliates has as of yet surfaced, SpaceGhostPurrp has been busy putting his KLVN on the map. Running mates likeDenzel Curry and Amber London share not only SGP’s affinity to Raiders-gear, but also his love for slowed vocals and druggy atmospheres. But – besides Witch House – it is not just the hip hop World that has been getting drunk on cough syrup lately. FACT mixes like those by hip hop-deconstructionist James Ferraro and neo-trap knob tweaker Kuedo ooze with purple. Above all, there is Shlohmo’s flawless stroke of genius which feels almost like an ode to lean culture. Though the latter, LA-based producer’s own music is a far cry from woodgrain-gripping trunk-popper, he does make his love for Screwston music felt in other ways. He regularly posts chopped and screwed songs on his facebook page, models some of his own edits after the style and incorporates these elements in his live sets.Drake – I’m On One (Shlohmo Remix)

The wave of chopped and screwed retromania has even touched ground on the other side of the pond, where it has seeped into the production technique of a certain Evian Christ, the man of the hour if you ask your neighborhood hipster blogger. Christ’s amalgam of genres seems to be a cocktail of every sound that is hot right now: there is footwork, future garage, fissures of cloud rap, the stripped-down minimalism popularized by Noah ‘40’ Shebib – and also chopped and screwed. Is there better proof for a revival than the critically acclaimed “next big thing” picking up on the trend as well?Evian Christ – Fuck It None Of Y’All Don’t Rap

Of course there are numerous other noteworthy examples of current Screw-nostalgia: AMDISC’s Lord Boyd, CFCF and his figurative “Night Bus” rides, the Richmond-based CMLK crew with RVIDXR KLVN-affiliate Lil’ Ugly Mane as their spearhead – just to name a few. There is even a tape of chopped and screwed K-Pop floating around out there. So the fact that some of the internet’s most popular DIY-artists are currently mining the purple hues of sluggish, druggy Screwston for inspiration shows that this is becoming more of a thing than a fling. A distinguishable scene is developing and it has loosened its ties to the original locale and genre. Can we please just call this “trillwave” now?
By Anthony Obst

“Hey” she said “how are you doing?” 

You’re young. Just another fuck up possessed by the demons living inside of you. You’re young. Just another brain-dead train-wreck. And nothing really matters. Nothing but the next drag of your cigarette, the next sip of your beer, your next line of coke, your next fuck, your next love. Apathy. You stopped caring about the world when you discovered sex, drugs and music. Why bother? “There is nothing on the news but the blues”.
Generation Y. Generation Why? Generation “fuck this shit I’m going to Hogwarts”.
You’re too white. You’re too black. You’re too skinny. You’re too fat. You’re too straight. You’re too gay. You’re not good enough. Society mentally raped you. But you’re fine. You’re oh so fucking fine, standing there with that invisible rope around your neck. 
And maybe this is why you stopped fighting.  
Movement? What movement? The only thing that moves is your vibrator.
What you really need is another Nirvana. Another band that speaks to an entire generation. Guitar bands seem to be dying out anyway. Indie is dead, but no one says that it can’t be reanimated. Just give us another Nirvana, we need a second coming of Christ.
Whatever, nevermind. 

“Fine” you replied “I’m doing fine”.

By K-Tron

We all have a label or few that we consider ‘up there’ in terms of aesthetic and output. In our minds they’ve never released a dud, have original and distinctive artwork, and are just generally awesome.
For MTHRFNKR, Squelch & Clap is one of those labels. We don’t know that much about them besides the fact that they’re based in Sheffield (North England for all you international readers) and are only one year old, if that. Nonetheless, in such a short time they seem to already have found their feet with a slightly risqué and cartoonish approach to artwork and a decisive mind-set when it comes to what music they want to release. While the six artists present are from all over the globe, they all swim in the musical waters that is electronic music. Below is a brief lowdown on every single one of them. Along with checking out the artists mentioned below, make sure to check out S&C’s website and SoundCloud. There are some free EPs and mixes that are worth downloading.
We treat you guys too well.

123MRK
Undoubtedly a highlight of the label’s small but brilliant catalogue, 123MRK is a French producer who was recently described by a blog as ‘the son of Jamie XX and James Blake’. We’ll agree with that description. Like his ‘fathers’, the sounds he creates are a mixture of 2-step garage and post dubstep with a undeniable pinch of inspiration coming from the soundtracks of old Sega games. His Refined Madness EP is a brilliant display of what he is and foreshadows he may be capable of in the near future. Be sure to check it out and keep an eye for this guy in the near future. We predict big things.

Tete De Tigre
Producer Tete De Tigre was responsible for the label’s first release (Pelican Bay EP) and is also another Frenchie. However, unlike 123MRK, TDT gives his music a warm tropical hue by combining funky and house to create music that’s more summertime in Ibiza than Boiler Room in wintertime London, if you get my drift. See his Summer Mix 2011, Schiefield EP, and Pelican Bay EP if you need further convincing.

Kidnap Kid
Another gem out of the label’s small bunch is Leeds based Matthew Relton. After being in bands for 10 years and DJ’ing since he was 15, Relton switched his focus to electronic music with his first flirtation with the genre being in the form of Kidnap Kid. Sonically, his tracks dodge the coffee table and land on the dancefloor even if they are more content with being twitchy, slick numbers rather than bangers featuring big basslines. Here at MTHRFNKR we’re pro-choice, so give both his Great Confusion EP and Apocalypse of John EP a listen and decide for yourselves.

Arcade
Federico Ferrer goes by the name of Arcade. Coming from capital city Buenos Aries, Argentina his music has already gained support from acts like Crookers and MSTRKRFT. Since moving to Europe, he’s called Squelch & Clap his home. Arcade’s major source of inspiration is house music, however the odd dash of garage appears from time to time. Listen to his Contrincante EP now on Soundcloud.

CDBL
You don’t really get playlisted on Rinse FM by Seb Chew for nothing really, do you? And after listening to CDBL it’s clear why the YOYO co-founder, Rinse FM DJ, and ex director of A&R for Polydor decided to give this France based duo exposure. On tracks like I Need You their hybrid of bass and house music is so infectious it could lift anyone out of the dampest spirits (maybe even a comedown). Music that could potential cure a comedown? We’re in. Are you? Catch out their Vices EP on Soundcloud.

B-Ju
Producer B-Ju from Germany is yet to release any work since signing with Squelch & Clap, but after tracking down his 2010 Dog Day EP and new songs like Vector Love, an EP will be something worth waiting for. B-Ju’s music is all about playing with builds, drops, and the stretching plateuas between them. His transitions between these work seamlessly, creating tracks that often feel like journeys rather than just potential soundtracks for future journeys.

By Antonio Rowe 

Along the Ohio River on the Ohio-West Virginia border sits the pleasant city of Steubenville, Ohio, approximately 33 miles from the thriving hub of Pittsburgh, and smack dead on the former site of Fort Steuben, built to guard The Geographer of the United States at the time, a Mr. Thomas Hutchins. Although the fort would go down in flames in 1790, the city would continue to witness bloodshed and folly all the way leading up to the befuddling events of 1992, when a young rap artist and street hustler from New York City migrated to the town.
Back in 1992, “[Steubenville] was a blue collar town on the Ohio River,” recalls former Steubenville law practitioner Dominick E. Olivito Jr., who now presides over the Carroll County Common Pleas Court as Judge. “There were a lot of ethnic groups that had settled there, but most were second and third generation Americans.” Economically, the town’s spirits had been dwindling for a long while. “It [Steubenville] was spiraling down, losing population, and losing employment,” admits Olivito Jr. “There weren’t opportunities there for young people. It was a typical Ohio River mill town in decline.” And what happens to a small town when the job market dries up, relegating a large portion of the population to unemployment insurance? Well, crime begins to infiltrate. And that’s exactly around the time, in December of 1992, that 22 year old Robert F. Diggs, also know as Prince Rakeem, Bobby Digital, or most famously, the RZA, entered Steubenville and got mixed up in one of the most pivotal court trials in hip-hop history.

At the time, Christmas of 1992, the RZA was a self-proclaimed and rather bonafide street hustler, though his debut EP, Ooh I Love You Rakeem, had just begun to create minor waves in the New York City hip-hop scene. Rakeem came to Steubenville toting his minor street celeb to take advantage of an untapped crack market in Jefferson County, which had been fueled by the recent unemployment and rabid poverty. “After we got established there, it [Steubenville] became known as Little New York,” recounts the RZA in his 2009 book, The Tao of Wu. “We made money and were able to feed ourselves, but it was the most negative point in my life. This was the time I broke my one vow to myself.” The RZA had become a low-level drug dealer, or as he words it, he began “killing [his] own people”.
Nevertheless, the soon-to-be Wu abbot also journeyed to Steubenville for more civil reasons, namely to see his mother, Linda Hamlin, who resided in town. It was during one of these visits to Steubenville to see his mother - during Christmas of 1992 to be specific - that the young rapper wound up in his mother’s kitchen, entertaining some guests, when his sister came into the room and asked if he would drive three of her girlfriends home to the other side of town. Being a good brother, The RZA naturally agreed. But as he began to chaperone the young girls into his car, he learned that “one of these girls ha[d] a jealous boyfriend, and apparently the jealous boyfriend had beg[un] to follow them.” Seeing that the RZA was, at the time, a known drug dealer in town, wanted at large by his competitors, he chose to return home and pick up his brother for extra protection. So, again, all parties filed into the RZA’s car and attempted “to make this journey from one side of town to another side of town.” “It was like a movie,” describes then law practitioner and attorney to the RZA, Mr. Olivito Jr. “They [the assailants] knew the RZA, they knew of his little reputation, and they were envious. They’re thinking, ‘he’s scoring some points with the girls’”, and on top of everything else, he was probably stealing their business.

So, as the RZA arrives on the opposite side of town, a “declining part of town” as Mr. Olivito Jr. puts it, to drop off these girls, a set of headlights immediately floods the dead-end part of the street, cornering the RZA and his brother. Out of the lights emerges this 19 year old street hustler named Willie Walters, leader of the opposing gang, who, supposedly, jumps out his car and rushes the RZA “in a martial arts fashion”. Seeing again that the RZA hails from New York City, he deals drugs, and is a budding African American rapper, he has on him a .25 caliber firearm, tucked in his coat pocket. Hoping to scare Walters off, the RZA reaches for the gun in his pocket, but, as he goes to pull it out Walters charges, causing the RZA to recoil in panic. As he recoils, the RZA pulls down on the trigger and fires a straight shot down at the ground, which ricochets up and strikes Walters dead in the “lower rear thigh, upper buttocks.” A second shot follows, also from the RZA’s gun, and strikes his brother in the same manner, in the lower thigh, upper buttocks. After the smoke settles, blood is left trickling down the RZA’s brother’s leg, and Walters and his crew are bumbling back to their vehicle to get the hell out of there.

At least that’s the story according to the RZA and his lawyer, Mr. Dominick Olivito Jr., who worked in tandem to convince a Jefferson County jury with “one black guy on it” that Robert F. Diggs was in fact innocent of felonious assault with a firearm, which would have landed him in prison for eight years, altering the course of hip-hop forever… Think about it, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) came out in November of 1993, a little under two years after the RZA’s acquittal, and is still one of the most influential hip-hop albums of all-time. Enter the Wu-Tang jumpstarted the careers of such acclaimed rappers as Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, not to mention inspiring the likes of Kanye West and Just Blaze, who cite the RZA as one of their major influences. None of these careers would have come to fruition (more or less) if the RZA hadn’t convinced the jurors in Steubenville that he was in fact an honorable young man, an honest one at that, despite how the police wanted to obscure and exaggerate the case. “It seemed like the police wanted to get the RZA convicted because they thought he was a bad influence,” remarks Mr. Olivito Jr. “I think if the RZA had been convicted he would have gotten the maximum penalty from the judge.”

Let us consider the scenario from the police’s perspective then. Their town is dying, crime and drugs are about to leave a permanent scar on the community, and here comes this out-of-state drug dealer/minor celebrity who lands almost in their laps, wielding a .25 caliber pistol and a gun-shot victim in Willie Walters to boot. Hell, the police have got to be thinking, the RZA is the perfect scapegoat, blame the unsavory turn-of-events in Steubenville on his presence, almost symbolically, and kill two birds with one stone, dissuade other thugsters from moving in on Steubenville. No wonder the trial received so much publicity in local presses. The cops wanted to nail the RZA to the cross as the whole city looked on, so as to remove the blame from the city (or from the natural cycle of decay) and lay it on this one outsider. “Quite frankly, the police knew of his vocation and in a way I think they wanted to step on him. I think they were that mean that they wanted to step on him,” recalls Mr. Olivito of the cop’s mentality. “They [the police] had an opportunity to grind him and they took their best shot. They weren’t willing to listen to, ‘Well, what did the other guy do?’ What they wanted to say was, “what did Rakeem do?”

So, with all that in mind, how did the RZA ever manage to convince a jury that he, the supposed drug-slanging, gun-wielding, homicidal vagrant, was actually a good man with good morals and an important future ahead of him? Well, if you’ve ever watched the RZA’s poignant eulogy to his late friend Ol’ Dirty Bastard on Youtube, you can understand how communicable and persuasive the flowering rap artist could be, and still can be. Even the RZA’s lawyer, Mr. Olivito Jr., was able to recognize this stalwart tick in his client’s character, which he believes won the case for the RZA. “I think that his positiveness reached out to the jury. They saw his heart, they saw that he wasn’t a criminal, that he wasn’t what the prosecutor and the police would have wished the jury to see him as, as a scary, young, black man from New York coming to Steubenville to cause mischief and harm or otherwise. He completely dispelled that notion to the jury.” And he really did it by his own testimony. “I gave the most important performance of my life that day, and it was from the heart,” says the RZA of his time on the stand, to which Olivito Jr. adds, “I knew that he had plans for himself. I know that he had started his career and he knew where his career could go. He seemed to have a way of looking at himself, almost like an out-of-body experience. And when he and I would council and meet, getting prepared for the trial, he knew it then, that this was going to be one of those moments in his life that was going to change everything.”

Thus, although the RZA did originally come to Steubenville to make money, to capitalize on the somewhat infantile drug trade going on in the city, this was by no means relevant to the case at hand. The issue at hand was whether Willie Walter’s injuries had in fact been forceful, an assault with a firearm, or really an act of self-defense. In the end, the jury sided with the RZA, recognizing that the police intended to blame a city’s decay on one individual, when in reality, the entire community was responsible for the city’s economic downturn. “They knew the significance of the case,” added Mr. Olivito, remarking on the jurors. “They felt Rakeem had done nothing wrong, he had defended himself, and that this other man had been accidentally shot.” Both the RZA and Olivito admit now that some of the jurors were in fact crying upon coming out of the box, and one woman came up to Rakeem and said, “Now remember, don’t play with guns anymore.” The jurors were relieved that this young man would not lose eight years of his life, and they were very sympathetic to the fact that the police had not reviewed the facts properly. Mr. Olivito summed up the case rather succinctly in a press statement for the Weirton Intelligencer back in 1992. He’s quoted as saying, “the individual jurors had to be commended for shouldering the responsibility as jurors and recognizing an honest person and not being tricked by the chicanery the state tried to use to prove its case against him.”
And now, in retrospect, what can we take away from the Tale of RZA as the Steubenville Scapegoat? Well, for one, that the citizens of this small town did not bow down to the state’s malicious convictions for this one individual, and two, that they were able to correctly diagnose the goodness in an almost assuredly fettered street kid. The people of Steubenville corrected the state’s mal intentions, and proved once again why governments should be afraid of their citizens. Also, and most significant to us as music lovers, a brilliant musician was granted the proper freedom to pursue his gifts. And like Mrs. Linda Hamlin, RZA’s mother, lamented as she watched her son embark from the stand that Spring morning in Steubenville, “this is your second chance, son.”

By Peter Marrack