Ion the Last Don has once again laced us with some fire. This time he’s on the funky bashment tip, employing some Vybz lyrics to sauce up his new riddim. Sub level stabs dance in circles, slipping skillfully between the syncopation, all punctuated by the crash of cymbals. Steel drum derived loops escalate the bounce, magnifying the sun powered energy of Vybz’s dense rhymes. If you had ‘liked’ our fledgling Facebook page, you’d have gotten this before everyone else – albeit minus the verbiage and visuals. (Image by Hannah Liongoren)

If you’re at home listening to this, it’s perfectly normal to dance with your refrigerator or whatever. This whiteboy is mosdef the king of knee ups, if our experience during his Turrbotax set last month was any indication. Doc Daneeka‘s “Popkorn remix” uses Khalifa-sized bass drums, hype syncopation, sirens and a slew of other madness to make people walking by outside our window add some bounce to their step. Yesterday, he cheffed up a mix for The Queen of England, AKA Mary Anne Hobbs, so go scoop that up for more. And don’t sleep on his label, Ten Thousand Yen, which will drop some CRST next. Wait who? (Image by Jose Carcavilla.) [UPDATE: Brownswood Recordings, who will be releasing the track but originally let it run free in the interwebs, has decided to coax it back. So we've been asked to take the MP3 down, but it's now available for streaming on our YouTube page.]

Warm low ends, skittery percussion, moody but not morbid atmosphere and well-paced, this new mix is a future garage oriented jump off featuring production by all New York area artists. There’s a bunch of others out here, and we’re sure to just be scratching the surface with this mix. A gang of unreleased joints are mixed with some free downloads, a couple classics tracks and some straight fire. (Cover art, before text, by Then One.)

00:01 – Blind Prophet — “From Within” [Unreleased]
03:20 – Svpreme Fiend — “Downfall” [Unreleased]
05:21 – Policy — “Our Secret” [Unreleased]
08:06 – Incyde — “Stares” [Unreleased]
10:01 – Goldielocks — “Addict (Falty DL Remix)” [FreeDL]
12:25 – Peter Gunn — “Troop Surge” [Unreleased]
14:00 – DJ Abstract — “Noxema” [FreeDL]
17:33 – Crystal Fighters — “In The Summer (Sepalcure Dub)” [Zirkulo]
19:35 – Utah Saints — “Power To The Beats (Todd Edwards Sweet Soul Dubified)” [FreeDL]
21:03 – Matt Shadetek — “Beenie Eyes” [Dutty Artz]
23:07 – Mikey Dubs — “Tempting Semara” [Unreleased]
25:49 – D’ Angelo — “Devil’s Pie (KRTS 2-Step Remix)” [FreeDL]

Hardbody stop animation by Travis Czekalski, featuring the beats of Flying Lotus, namely “Pickled!”. (Via Wooster Collective.)

It’s dusk in the rain forest and the last remnants of light glow in the mist. Darkness is soon to come along with all that its enclosure entails. Fast deep drums and haunting synths are a mainstay for these two acts, and them coming together tomorrow for a night of it is an event to catch – if you live in the Bay Area anyway.

Costa Rican badmen Cosmetics are celebrating the release of their eerie stomper “Ratas” on Forecast Recordings, and Djunya is joining them to add flames to the bonfire. On King of the Flies, we featured “Ratas” alongside Djunya’s unreleased “On The Verge,” so our support for their pairing has already been voiced.

But the flames don’t stop there, and below we point you toward a couple other treats. First, there’s “Left Click,” a funky joint for the brooding Ticas, which Cosmetics are gonna drop on Brap Dem shortly. The duo also have a couple mixes y’all might want to peep. .s0n!ka. flipped a Forecast promo mix and UFO! laced Club Muse with his own. Both feature the track “Comfort Kills,” which we can’t wait to get our grubby little hands on. Next, there’s the Djunya produced “Ancient Technology,” a driving and spooky trip through South Asian terrains riddled with bandits. It features live instrumentation by Janover and lyrics by Lynx. $1 dollar at Bandcamp, dunnies! (Image by Artem Sukhinin.)

KRTS‘s take on “1nce Again” isn’t really a remix. The track is more an original production affectionately sampling some vocals from the classic Tribe Called Quest joint. Like many of the other songs on the mixtape that this joint comes from, Kurtis explores rhythms and tempos outside his usual boom bap affiliation. Jumping in at 1:20, “Housed Once Again” begins with a string of polyrhythms worthy of “K.I.M.” Next, homie flips a series of warm, soulful synths that build and build, switching between the atmospheric and the melodic. His penchant for rockin the piano is present as usual, except that it’s more reserved – acting as a support rather than a contrasting element. (We’re trying not to get nostalgic over the vocals, but damn that positivity meant a lot!) Catch KRTS on July 16 at Coco66 alongside Uproot Andy and Cumba Mela for the iBomba party. Also, be sure to grab another of our favorite songs of his, “Dreamin’“. (Image by Edward Babb.)