Despite Danger

Life is dangerous but the sun is still on your back. Matter-of-fact street life tales paired with warm rootical riddims. This is Subatomic Sound meets See-I. The track retains much of the original; It relaxes on the same stoop but captures the scene as clouds move, allowing a flood of light. It revels in the little joys like glittering reflections on reverberating surfaces sustained in billowing, smokey delay. The track is a free release from DC’s Fort Knox Recordings and comes just in time for Subatomic’s Sound System tonight with Deep Space at Cielo. It’s the birthday party for the man otherwise know as Emch tonight, so come through and bask in Funktion One sound and toast another year. (Art by Francesco Brunotti.)

See-I — “Dangerous (Subatomic Sound System RMX)”

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Cloudy Ice

Reclined in a leather seat, “Ice” slides over synth fogs that obscure an unknowable deepness below. Depth charge downbeats encase distant bang fills. Subs zero in on sheets of toms. Ice so dry it clouds the mind. Neako prefers that this placeless beat mystify and invites the listener to roll with his mentality. The vocals, featuring Three 6 Mafia’s Juicy J, are more concerned with musicality than substance, consisting of a smooth flow and distortion that matches the rest of the soundscape. The most notable line is, “Time flies when your days are always better than your last, and your joy is in the future and your pain is in the past.” Hailing from Newark, this Taylor Gang affiliate’s latest mixtape The Number 23 [taken offline?] shows a strong ear for beats. This is evidenced by his own production work on cuts like “Ice” and though the selection of others’ music like Flying Lotus and Radiohead. (Image by Aymeric Rouillard.)

Neako – “Ice (feat Juicy J)”

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Living Environs

The intersection of projection art, music, architecture and graffiti is a place that this Polish team is turning into a welcome destination. Nawer vs Temporary Space Design is the pairing of projection mapping VJs with a graffiti writer to become immersive installation artists. The project featured in the above video is exemplary of their approach, where Nawer paints an abstract design that TSD brings to life with 3D mapping and an element of audio responsiveness. Although there is a number of interesting moments throughout, the highlight of the piece comes at about 4:35 when each abstract shape flickers with multiple complementary colors. Nawer has proven their adeptness at transforming spaces with nothing but paint, including the playground below. But with the addition of TSD, they manage to compete with television for a society long saturated by all-encompasing media.

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Amended Promises

Aiko should have nothing to complain about now that Nadus has come along with some different type of beats. Everyone else may be the same while claiming they’re not, but he follows through on the promise with this remix. Taking her tune into garagey territory, the Newark producer brings a subtle East Coast club sensibility to the track. To catch more of this Brick Bandits affilate’s style – which ranges from Jersey and Baltimore club to juke and moombahton – come through to Bushwick tomorrow night for the Thread NY party. (Art by Wojciech Pijecki.)

Jhene Aiko — “Stranger (Nadus RMX)”

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