Adding another on the board for the home team,
today we have the latest from fellow PRTLND-based label/collective –
Dropping Gems
from their ongoing series of split podcast mixes,
featuring some of the scene’s best talents coming together two at a time.

We’re humbled to team up w/ the Gems to present this latest installment,
featuring two FRSH SLCTS family members at the respective helms -
setting things off is newcomer, BoneS – & then,
bringing it home is recent Cali-transplant, devonwho.

BoneS is a name you might not be familiar w/ just yet -
we ourselves were just introduced him to this year,
thanks to devon’s introduction at a Shigeto show
& his insistence that he Bones send us some tracks.
& boy, did he ever!

But we’ll leave the full geek-out on all of that later,
as BoneS will soon be contributing his own release in our WKND Beats series,
but until then -
the first half of this mix should serve as a proper introduction
to the rising Portland talent.
Including here are almost 20 original, & largely unheard, tracks -
all raw & self-mixed, most of them taking their
first-ever breaths outside of the hard drives they were made on.
Also included are a collaboration each w/ fellow newcomers VVO
& Lord Douglas aka Big Grizz,
as well as a Grizz solo track for good measure.

On the flip, devonwho – a name you should hopefully know by now,
provides a varied mix combining the work of some of his inspirations & peers alike,
ranging from Prefuse 73′s Savath y Savalas to recent collaborator, DaM-FunK;
All City labelmates Martyn & Mike Slott;
& of course his partners in the klip, Knxwledge and Mndsgn.
He also took this opportunity to grace us w/ the debut of two new gems,
“Strangebrew” – the A-side to his upcoming All City 12″,
a follow-up to last year’s “Keepthafunkalive” w/ the label,
and also, “Reren” – just one in a recent batch
of co-productions w/ Ghostly Int’l. artist, Shigeto.

Full tracklisting & direct download of the podcast
are both available below.
Be sure to subscribe to the Dropping Gems podcast
& support all of their current releases as well.

BONES –
1. BoneS – The Pipes
2. BoneS – Clap
3. BoneS – LooPCC01
4. BoneS – FakeLuv
5. BoneS – SummerSalt
6. BoneS – Solipsism
7. BoneS feat. VVO – JB41
8. BoneS – BootyJuice
9. BoneS – Rugged Inst.
10. BoneS – Slikish
11. BoneS – NexTime
12. Lord Douglas – Trees
13. BoneS – 3gk
14. BoneS – BegiNES
15. BoneS – Hashed
16. BoneS – GameS
17. Lord Douglas – Klapt
18. BoneGrizzle (BnS x Lord DouG) – Duggy Duggy
19. BoneS – Planetary
20. BoneS – B-Rich
21. BoneS – PlayTime/Playtime(glitchflip)
22. BoneS – Heavyer-err

DEVONWHO –
23. Mndsgn – AstralProjex2011
24. LDFD – Pinheiro
25. Savath y Savalas – Paths In Soft Focus
26. Mndsgn – Post98
27. Knxwledge – (Hell∆)Pretentious
28. Lapti – In The Point
29. Mndsgn feat. devonwho – Trance.dance
30. Shigeto & devonwho – Reren
31. Martyn / Mike Slott – Pointing Fingers
32. DaM-FunK – Burgundy City
33. Hudson Mohawke – All Your Love
34. B. Bravo feat. Lady Alma – Substance
35. devonwho – Strangebrew

Tracks 1 – 22 Selected & Mixed by BoneS
Tracks 23 – 35 Selected & Mixed by devonwho
Podcast Curated by Aaron Meola for Dropping Gems
Hosted by Nag Champa
Cover Painting by Rebekah Long

Carrying on the tradition of the raw, earlier recordings
of groups like Funkadelic, Ohio Players, etc.
& bringing it anew -
we present to you – MUGPUSH.

This new, Bay Area-based live band was founded by bassist/guitarist,
Bill “Billy Bones” Ham – a Cleveland, Ohio native
who moved out to the Bay about 8 years ago
w/ his longtime friend & bandmate at the time, J1 aka The Deer.
At its the core, the nucleus of the loosely knit but tightly familial,
Mugpush collective – is Billy Bones on bass & guitar,
the multi-talented Gyrefunk on guitar,
wunderkind Teeko on the keys,
FRSH SLCTS poet laureate Coultrain on the male lead vocals,
& classicly trained jazz/gospel singer Mikki Boyd on female lead.

Not unlike the Westbound-years of the aforementioned P-Funk groups,
or more recently, D’Angelo’s Voodoo LP -
Mugpush’s group debut album, All U.S…
is a rich stew of gritty funk, dirty rock & vibrant soul -
all of which were culled from the band’s now infamous extended jam sessions
(which they’ve come to refer as “The Xpression Sessions”).

Spawned from a series of conversations btwn Billy & Coultrain
on everything from “politics/history/spirituality/love/life & music,”
the album maintains on-going themes of self-awareness & political conscience,
which is all used to unify & enhance, & never get in the way of – the funk.
Billy explained the concept a little bit further to me below..

The whole album concept is abt thinking critically of the establishment & awakening from within… the album is a purposeful journey w/ a definitive message..which is why the album starts w/ “From Unda Wata We Rise” then “Mikki’s Lament” talking abt love & has an ethereal feel/message & moves n2 [the more direct/political] “All U.S…”
Lyrically, Train & I wanted 2 hav subject matter that we felt was not being covered by the bulk of our musical peers..we def feel like this a modern protest album yet the message isn’t preachy…we def feel like we were ahead of the curve w/ the sentiment of what has become the Occupy Movement & we r speaking 2 those who’s eyes were/are closed…

To get a proper introduction of this multi-faceted collective,
we have three different offerings -
first, the found-source video for the Train & Mikki duet,
“Call Ur Own” – an intergalactic call to self;
second, the Push’ers were nice enough to offer us the title track,
“All U.S…” – a Coultrain-led jam that touches on a barrage of issues,
w/ an infectious recurring melody & chant-along chorus,
as an exclusive free download;
& lastly – we have a homemade video capturing a ‘Push jam live in the studio,
featuring Billy, Teeko, Gyre, Mikki, & Jazz Mafia member Brandon Werlin on the drums,
all coming together in their most natural habitat
for the Xpression Session jam, “Relax In The Moment.”

You can find all of that below,
as well as the iTunes link for All U.S…
which is available online & in stores now.
Be on the look out for much more from Mugpush
coming to the site soon,
including more jams & exclusive remixes.

An artist I was first introduced to thru the Sonnymoon crew,
Atlanta producer Time Wharp
has quickly become one of my favorites of the moment,
& one who I think a lot more people will be catching on to very soon.

The GRN EP is his third release,
& the first in a series
of different color-themed EP’s
that Wharp will be releasing in the coming months.

Time Wharp released the GRN EP for sale today via his Bandcamp page,
but was nice enough to give FRSH SLCTS
the exclusive free download of the project.

The quick, four track warp
gracefully stutter-steps
thru jazz (or ja$$) samples
& Time’s own on-the-$$ synthwork
to come together as some of the most pleasurable
5.2 minutes of recent beat history.

Also included, as a bonus, is a live beatset Wharp recently did
for You’ll Soon Know on NTS Radio in London,
made up of mostly all his own material,
w/ two reinterpretations of OutKast classics
thrown in for good ATLien measure.

Bandcamp preview of the EP
+ liveset tracklisting
& downloads for both all below.

CARPET.BEETS
outtamy.system
thx2knny,dane,tyler,tyler,anna,brian,tim,matt,ben,sam,paul,glen+tate

Produced, Mixed, Mastered & Artwork by Time Wharp

1. Time Wharp – youvechanged(intro) (live)
2. Time Wharp – ja$$2 (demo) (live)
3. Time Wharp – clstrphlia. (live)
4. Knxwledge – eek.ArtofStorytellingPt.4
5. Time Wharp – thedungeon (live)
6. Time Wharp – 1992 (live)
7. Time Wharp – cuspcake (live)
8. Time Wharp vs. Samiyam vs. Big Boi – Quesobugg (live)

Mixed live by Time Wharp for You’ll Soon Know Radio
Aug 1st, 2011 on NTS – London, UK.

Ah… a young artist’s self-made debut.
There’s really nothing else like it.
That freeze frame in time
that captures that pure, raw talent
still just teetering on the cusp of something great -
often times catching an artist @ their most humbled & hungriest,
while still beaming w/ unbridled potential.

In the last ten years,
self-released projects like
Dwele – Rize,
& John Legend‘s live Solo Sessions recordings
have captured it -
that moment of an up-and-coming artist
getting their music out by any means necessary,
finding their way on record
before going on to much more polished & calculated major label releases.

Or there’s the other side,
w/ debuts like The Tiombe Lockhart Bootleg #1,
or Georgia Anne Muldrow‘s Worthnothings -
raw, self-produced projects made by artists in their earliest stages,
experimenting w/ what they knew first,
before later going on to even more avant-garde leaning projects.

It may be too early to call which direction this one’s heading in,
but surely – that first, & arguably purest, artistic statement –
that moment on the brink -
is captured right here for Sam Trump.

A Houston-born & currently Chicago-based, singer & trumpet player,
Sam was just 21 years old when he recorded & released his first EP,
Making Music Like Its Love, Vol. 1, in 2009.
The project shows a great understanding of melody,
& a bold sense of composition
that seamlessly blends R&B song structures
w/ traditional jazz music flourishes,
that would be all too easy & cliche to say were beyond his years.

In just 6 tracks, Trump is able to cover a lot of ground musically -
all the while keeping things very much in the pocket
& easily digestible,
crafting each song w/ a very precise pop sensibility
that can be all too rare w/ DIY artists.
& while his focus is on his vocals & trumpet playing,
Sam also produced, wrote, played & arranged everything that you hear.

While keeping busy as a member of multiple groups,
including rap group, Fang Tshida
& a live hip-hop/jazz band, Sidewalk Chalk,
Sam has also just recently finished recording a full-length
album w/ Portland-based producer, Calvin Valentine -
so there is still much more to come from him in the next year.

But until then, you can preview three of the tracks
& then download his full debut EP for free
+ support it by purchasing it on CD,
all below.

Also included is a bonus video
of Sam rehearsing his rendition of OutKast‘s “Hey Ya,”
live w/ local jazz ensemble, The Ephelon Trio,
for their one night performance of the entire The Love Album album
together in Chicago this past summer.

1. Groove
2. Love
3. Dry Ur Eyes
4. Maybe
5. See U Again
6. U Mean The World

Written, Produced, Arranged & Played by Sam Trump for Superlative Musak
Mastered by MC “M-Dub” Martin

Ah… a post that has been long overdue.
Today, we introduce to you, Blah Blah Blah -
a band from Chicago, whose 5-track demo
I’ve been listening to on repeat at damn near brainwashing levels
for a little over a year now.

While comparisons to bands like The Smiths & The Cure are going to be inevitable -
much of which comes from singer Solomon David‘s bittersweet, prom-like vocal tone
& downtrodden-ly romantic songwriting -
Blah Blah Blah have definitely niched out a unique sound for themselves,
that should fit them among their contemporaries somewhere in between
the pop-nostalgia of Kenna
& the whispery sensibilities of The xx.

They released their debut EP, Charm, in the spring of 2010
& gathered a strong local Chicago following from both critics & fans alike.
And with this summer’s follow up EP, Thank You, Thank You,
that fanfare should hopefully be spreading internationally as well.
Below is a swipe from their press release on how the recording techniques of the EP…

For the new project, Thank You, Thank You, the band decided to ditch the ease of digital and embrace the techniques of yester-year. By recording the entire EP in analog reel-to-reel on 2-inch tape, they convincingly proved the adage, that sometimes you have to take a step back to truly move forward. With the help of music vets, like producer Matt Walker (Morrissey, Smashing Pumpkins) and engineer Sean O’Keefe (Fall Out Boy, Motion City Soundtrack, Less Than Jake), the new recordings serve as a magnum opus for the band and a beacon of hope for the burgeoning indie music scene.

Their recently released video for TYTY‘s first single,
“Why Am I The Only One Laughing?”
(produced & directed by Kasia Konair)
is just the first sign of promising new things to come for the band.

You can watch the video, download the track,
& also stream two highlights from Charm -
“Give Me Some Money” and “They Run To You,” respectively -
all below.

One of my favorite discoveries made during the site’s hiatus last year has to be -
Sonnymoon.
After first hearing about them through Okayplayer’s The Lesson & Blind I –
their self-released album, Golden Age, quickly became the go-to
soundtrack-to-insomnia / music-to-impress-cool-girls-with / headphone-traveling-music
sleeper hit of the year.
And after seeing – no, experiencing – them live at SXSW in 2010, it only furthered my faith that they would soon be a major force to be reckoned with.

A few months later, the group signed to L.A.-based powerhouse, Plug Research
& have since been keeping selectively quiet,
as they carefully construct their upcoming follow-up/Plug debut album.
Luckily however – today, Plug Research has reached out & gave us first dibs on a welcome new addition to Sonnymoon’s increasingly impressive catalog, with “Zodiac Shift.”

Continuing their reputation gained from stellar reworkings of both
Drake‘s “Houstatlantavegas” & labelmate, Bilal‘s “Levels” –
Sonnymoon this time shift the Flying Lotus instrumental, “Zodiac Shit,”
into their own original song.
Producer Dane Orr re-envisions the parts to the FlyLo original in a way that further suggests that he is one of the masters of romantic minimalism in production right now,
while singer Anna Wise lets her angelic voicings & resonating lyrics glide in between the track’s ever-changing surfaces, & dances w/ its subtleties.

Along with the song, Plug provided the following write-up:

Sonnymoon, two mystical beings, also known as Anna Wise and Dane Orr, has just begun their musical imprint on Earth with Plug Research. Sonnymoon now presents us with an intergalactic remix to Flying Lotus’ “Zodiac Shit,” from the acclaimed Cosmogramma album. This one is sure to leave a mark.

While the original song is still in tact with it’s pulsing bass, Sonnymoon adds dreamy lyrics and harmonious textures that float effortlessly over the modulated beat. With a perfect cosmic balance, the vocals glide and crescendo along the glitchy, terrestrial bleeps and kicks – comparable to a collaboration between Flying Lotus and Portishead, but with a futuristic twist.

Sonnymoon is in the last phase of creating a new batch of astronomical sounds. Look out for their new album transmitting soon on Plug Research.

You can stream the track below from Plug Research’s SoundCloud, read the lyrics, and download the song for free -
along with a bonus track, “Blast Off,” from the Potholes x Prefix – Summer Sampler,
& a bonus video for Golden Age‘s “Run Away” animated by Lauren Santorio –
all below.

“Zodiac Shift”
Lyrics by Sonnymoon

Push me
On a cool breeze
Floating down from where They sit
Those all knowing
Put you in where you can fit
Til to Them you are a pale speck
Joining Earthbound ones that They recall
What day what hour will choose you
What sign will you return to

Frightening to think of all the places you could be
No use choosing who you are supposed to meet
Is it better claiming destiny
Or find comfort through your ignorance
Put trust in Those who know
Let Them guide which way you go

Man – these guys.

I can’t even tell you how happy I am this project came together and came out as ill as it did. PRTLND really needed this one – no, hip-hop needed this one.

Okay, lemme fall back. TxE (pronounced “T and E”) is a Portland, Oregon-based trio made up of rappers Tope & Epp with producer G_Force (he’s the little x in the group’s name).

This EP is the first project the three did together after forming the group, and was sold on their first set of West Coast tour dates that included shows in Eugene, San Francisco, Los Angeles and more – back in March of last year. Since then, TxE has been steadily paying their dues, so to speak, and have quickly become one of Portland hip-hop’s most prominent groups. Included on the EP are two collaborations with battle rap champion and PRTLND vet, illmaculate, guest production from another young PRTLND producer – Red Bull Big Tune finals qualifier, TROX, as well as scratches from recent Portland-to-LA transplant, DJ Flip Flop. Artwork was handled masterfully by wonderkid, Craig Sprecher and photography by Kit Crenshaw.

You can listen to and download the full Rain In Cali Tour EP below. Be on the lookout for much more from TxE and its individual members coming to Fresh Selects in the near future as well.

Keeping in line with this last week’s theme, I’ve got even more DMV area hip-hop for you guys today – and this time its an exclusive first look into an emerging talent from the region. Charlie Ross is a producer/MC that holds true to hip-hop’s more raw and bare-boned boom bap days, while still pushing things forward for today. Charlie is originally from Midland, Pennsylvania but is currently based out of the DC area – however, the EP in question today, entitled The Charlie Ross Project, was actually recorded in 2007 when he was living out in Okinawa, Japan.

I was first put onto his music through a mutual friend, yU of Diamond District, who has been working on a project with Charlie as of late and also appears on the Project‘s bonus track, “Nuthin Can.” Be on the look out for yU & Charlie Ross’ Done Deal EP as well as Charlie’s Crate Music beat tape – both of which are on their way in the coming months.

You can preview three tracks from The Charlie Ross Project before downloading the full EP below and hit me some with feedback by leaving a comment. Also, big ups to 00Genesis for providing the artwork.

Here is the FRSHCLSV premiere of the brand new mixtape from one of my new favorite MC’s, ADaD (pronounced uh-dod). Coming out of Chicago, ADaD has been making a name for himself as part of the All Natural, Inc. crew for years now, releasing both an EP and full-length release as one half of the group, Eulorhythmics, with producer Kenny Keys. Recently, he’s been making a lot of noise as a solo artist with The Unbenounced Mixtape – a free download project where he brings a whole new light to the Music From The Color Purple beat CD (which in itself was a free download, inspired by a certain Minneapolis funk pioneer).

I personally first heard of ADaD from Exile and DJ Day, who both went out of their way to recommend his music to me on separate occasions, coincidentally on the same night. So with my interest officially sparked, I checked him out only to be pleasantly surprised that he lived up to all that they were saying, and then some. ADaD is what I consider to be a total-package MC – he effortlessly flips an array of topics through countless styles and cadences, all matched with catchy, well-written hooks and a choice selection of beats. After immediate and endless replays of his mixtape, he has quickly cemented his place in a very small group of up-and-coming/current MC’s that I’m truly impressed with these days.

So, if you’re like me and are just now catching on to ADaD this late in the game (but yet still so early) – his latest offering, the Intro To ADaD mixtape is the perfect place to start. It serves as a smorgasbord of old, current and upcoming music of his, all mixed by All Natural’s own, DJ Tone B. Nimble. Included are tracks featuring original production from Black Spade and Kenny Keys, as well as ADaD’s fresh takes on familiar instrumentals by Dilla, Madlib, Exile and more. For further listening, I’ve also included a download link to the full Unbenounced Mixtape, courtesy of AllNaturalHipHop.com.

You can preview tracks from Intro To ADaD before downloading both that and Unbenounced below. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Also, special shout to my official Chicago connect, DJ Sean Doe (who also co-hosts Intro) for helping making this all happen and for supporting since day one.

Bringing the Weekend Beats back from a brief hiatus with the latest project from a rising Portland talent, Hi-Res. This batch, entitled 1080 Beats, picks up where last year’s Sittin’ Up In My Room left off with more laidback but still headnoddin & bump-worthy beats. I selected a few tracks from SUIR for both the Loose Joints mix and the FSR #1 podcast, so it was only right I bring you guys the next installment.

Look out for much more from Hi-Res coming in the near future – including a collaboration EP with DaveNotti entitled The New Chill. More on that one coming soon. In the meantime, preview three highlights from 1080 below before getting the full download below. Leave a comment and lemme know what you think.

1. Watches
2. Funkshuns
3. He’lyin
4. Thrilla Remix (feat. Epp & DaveNotti)
5. Savepoint
6. Brothaships
7. Anothernotch
8. Marswalks
9. Rentsdue
10. Thrilla Remix (instrumental)

Produced & Mixed by Hi-Res
Artwork by Craig Sprecher