Well, well. Seems we’ve got a wealth of free creativity for y’all today. As luck would have it, there’s two free compilations up for grabs, and a bunch of the artists are from Brooklyn. The first is a collection of remixes called There Will Always Be Echos, courtesy of the local label Moodgadget. It’s comprised of mostly delicate sounding, downtempo instrumental hip hop, and features the likes of Machinedrum, Praveen, Mux Mool, and dungeon master Mogi Grumbles. Second is the unfortunately titled Secret Hangout, Vol. 2, released by Turntable Lab, one of the few remaining record stores around here. This one veers toward the funk and disco side of things and includes selections by Michna, Cosmo Baker, and DJ Ayres. It’s even got a moombahton track by Sabo. To get Secret, you need to visit their digital store and enter the “newfriend” promo code. Below are our picks from each joint. (Photo by Jon Damaschke.)

Remixes that simply aim to take a particular song and turn it into a preferred genre are usually lazy efforts worth ignoring. And when it comes to wubstep remixes of gangsta rap joints, there’s even more reason to be skeptical. But this Rick Ross bootleg remix by Dubspot’s DJ Subset won us over after a few listens and seemed worth sharing. It’s a rather simple beat - some crunchy, intimidating bass stabs and some subtle wobbles. But it matches the lyrics in complexity, swagger and mood. (Artwork by AVone and Pomer.)

This substantive dub scrub is an auspicious start for Brooklyn’s Smoke Machine. His first release is a quick footed commute through a series of short melodies using a variety of instrumentation; a broad collection of dubbed out effects employed for atmosphere, accents, and melodic touches; and rich sounding percussion that dips and dives in a sea of echos and delay. It’s a near total rework of a song by Brooklyn indie electronic band Destronauts - the original being a bit dubby itself, but grounded mostly in a trip hop, fuzzy shoegaze feel. (Image by Leonid Ershov.)

When Turrbotax first started, New York most definitely needed a party that focused on the percussive, housier side of bass music. And with their one-year-anniversary party coming up this Friday, it continues to grow increasingly relevant. Like always, they hit us off with the freebies this month - you can get in free if you show up before 11PM. And as is standard, free Asahi will be handed out. Todd Edwards, Jersey’s garage OG, will be headlining the night, backed by New York’s next garage star, Falty DL.

To celebrate, we’ve got this nice funky mixtape flipped by Mayster, one of the Turrbotax residents. What to expect from it? City destroying stabs, global drums, sneaky syncopation, and jump tempos. Tracklisting after the jump. (Image by Heiko Klug.)

Jersey City roots reggae to be precise. This is one of those rare times when music from an actual CD made it onto our hard drive and into your RSS reader. Plastic discs usually pose a hurdle to Culture System’s musical consumption. But once Kiwi made it out of the growing stack, “Cherry Tree” presented itself. All of the song’s various elements bask in the warmth of a consistent bassline, soaking up its brisk rhythm. It begins with a series of subtle notes and stabs mixed with a diverse, rich percussion before moving on to some nice vocals and clever rhymes. Then it bursts into a horn melody which serves as the lead into an elongated, rather melodic rub a dub session. Very happy to have found this one. (Image by Candas Sisman.)

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]

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.)

Brenmar’s Cassie remix starts as an unambiguous house track with vocals that come off as expected. But pretty quickly he flips a bunch of layers that open it up to numerous possible associations, making it more widely accessible and interesting. The sound palette is subtle enough to allow its own unique categorization too. Low frequency pop melodies mixed with triple XL house stabs ride over conga, clapper, and tambourine polyrhythms while Cassie’s voice readily lets you know how good things could be. Someone needs to throw this joint on Youtube over the original video. (Image by Tom Bagshaw.)

Joell Ortiz, Bushwick’s biggest rapper right now. Also, check his other recent video with Jim Jones, AKA “I eat pizza in rap videos.”

Sands of time blow along a cracked and deserted highway, recently traveled by two embarking on a search for inspiration and meaning with some composition of another as guide. Bright stars of distant minds reflect shining and timeless melodies in the chrome of their vehicle, which pours forth warm baritone encouragements in harmony. Their previous discussion rings on - now unspoken - in the star lit interior, one pressing the arts, the other an infinite reminder. A knowing guitar is strummed unseen, a guiding hand for the sojourners’ pace. Records are kept of the journey, but their knowledge is privileged to only a few. Acolytes can still, however, find details in the cloud. Subatomic Sound also provides serial dubwise insight on the matter at Brooklyn Radio. (Artwork by Gabriel Moreno via Koi Koi Koi.)