Cet article John Barera & Brian Abelson – The Arc [Toucan Sounds] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Moist Briefs is a New York-based producer, DJ, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Having played at some of the city’s most respected nightclubs and radio shows, such as The Lot Radio, Mood Ring, Rash, Jupiter Disco, and Half Moon BK, as well as releasing a well-received string of self-released singles and EPs, Moist Briefs now arrives on toucan sounds with the wonderfully varied ‘Orbiter’ EP.

Leading the release, ‘Low Key’ brings rattling drums and off-kilter sampling together for a high-octane start to the release. ‘Last Min Check In’ keeps the energy levels high with pounding house rhythms and chopped samples before ‘Just Blaze’ brings a flurry of breakbeats and lush pads. ‘Death From Above’ sees Moist Briefs go for the jugular, with booming subs, fast 4/4 kicks, and rave stabs taking centre stage. ‘Earidescent’ follows, a hazy deep house jam with gorgeous chords, vocal snippets shuffling percussion, which also receives the vocal treatment from toucan sounds’ family Brandon Markell Holmes as the final track on the release.

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Cet article Moist Briefs – Low Key [Toucan Sounds] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

New York’s toucan sounds ready ‘Playground Compilation (Vol. 3)’, featuring Shifting Gears, Haruka Salt, John Barera, and more.

Comprising a mammoth seventeen tracks and being released exclusively on Bandcamp with all proceeds going directly to artists, toucan sounds’ ‘Playground Compilation (Vol. 3)’ compiles various sounds and genres from label regulars such as Haruka Salt, Shifting Gears, Toribio, as well as newcomers to the imprint John Barera, Laenz, Matt FX, and more.

The compilation aims to encapsulate the underground sound of New York City, with many of the tracks and contributors deeply rooted in its musical lifeblood. ’Same Ole Thang’ by Whatever, Girl aka Louie “Balo” Guzman & Bill Coleman was pulled off a cassette from the mid-90s (remixed and remastered for today) while the two were releasing records on Strictly Rhythm and Eightball Records. All the way to the 2020s, with Love Letters, who has appeared on some of Brooklyn’s top underground labels like Mister Saturday Night, Allergy Season, and The Bunker. They all join toucan sounds for the first time alongside artists like fleet.dreams and Escaflowne, who often play b2b, and whose fantastic releases on Sorry Records have seen them pushed forward in the local Brooklyn scene.

Overall, from the hazy opening house jam ‘can’t stop the moment’ through to the washed-out electronica of derek muro’s ‘ramble3 (Balearic Dub)’, the compilation successful exemplifies the open-minded ethos of the label. By emphasizing a focus on the local talent forged at their YouYooCanWoo Studios, as well as artists from further afield, the compilation is an assured collection of exciting music from the wide-ranging friends and family of the fast-rising imprint.

Brooklyn’s toucan sounds are a label at the forefront of emerging sounds and artists. Curated by French Horn Rebellion out of the You Too Can Woo studios in New York, the imprint has been championing acts such as Haruka Salt, Toribio, Brandon Markell Holmes, and many more since its inception in 2019.

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Cet article Haruka Salt – 2001 Shibuya [Toucan Sounds] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Brooklyn-based label toucan sounds’ latest project, Playground Compilation Vol. 3,  is a staggering, 17-track compilation featuring some of the most exciting new names in the New York electronic underground. Mostly recorded out of toucan sound’s Brooklyn studio, You Too Can Woo, this compilation sees both newcomers to the label, like John Barera, Laenz, Matt Fx, Escaflowne, and regulars such as Haruka Salt, Shifting Gears, musclecars, and Toribio, bringing the heat and carrying the torch for New York dance music. The result is a kaleidoscopic portrait of the city’s vibrant underground dance community. 

Kicking the project off is first-time toucan sounds guest, fleet.dreams, with his anthemic, melodic slice of tropical house, “Can’t Stop the Momentum”. The song serves as a fitting introduction to this massive compilation, with the main ear-worm refrain, “This is how we do it from the Brooklyn side”, serving as a kind of rallying cry for the rest of the tracks that follow. Everything about this opening track is energetic, unabashed, jubilant, and just damn fun. Its spunky attitude and brash confidence feel very akin to the spirit of the city itself. The track is replete with bongos, handclaps, truncated synths, an undeniably funky bassline, and layered ‘80s-sounding vocal samples which feel like they could have been ripped straight out of a long-lost Run DMC hidden gem.

The effect here is a kind of filtering of New York music culture– namely the golden age of hip-hop and funk– into ecstasy-inducing modern dance music. This song is a great opening and encapsulation of the unbridled energy which each of the other tracks on this compilation build upon and harness to their own unique and delightful ends.

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Gilad.

Cet article Fleet.dreams – Can’t Stop the Momentum [Toucan Sounds] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Glassio readies ‘Summertime (Kept the Blues Away)’ for toucan sounds this December, featuring a remix from Robert PM.

Originally appearing on the 2020 album ‘For The Very Last Time’, Irish-Iranian musician Glassio’s ‘Summertime (Kept the Blues Away)’, a sun-soaked slice of indie pop, receives the remix treatment on toucan sounds. The release sees Glassio revisit his track alongside a remix from label boss Robert PM, dropping ahead of their New Years Eve party at Mercury Lounge in New York City, which features Glassio and French Horn Rebellion on the lineup. Flipping ‘Summertime (Kept the Blues Away)’ into a deep and driving cut, Robert PM introduces a 4/4 pattern, fluttering arps, and resonant low-end into the mix, making for a dynamic and engaging listen from start to finish.

Following this is Glassio’s own ‘Italo Mix’, with lively claps, heavy-hitting disco toms, and a chugging bassline making way for classic Italo-disco tropes. Closing out the EP, both the instrumental mix of Robert PM’s remix and the emotive original track appear, available exclusively to digital stores. “When I first heard the original version of this song, it reminded me of one of my favorite things to explore deep in my memories, which is summertime growing up in Wisconsin. I think back to those summers and how it seems anything was possible to happen. We can keep the blues away, we can go dancing, we can fall in love.”

Robert PM Glassio ‘Summertime (Kept the Blues Away)’ drops on toucan sounds 10th December.

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Cet article Glassio – Summertime (Kept the Blues Away) [Glassio Italo Mix] [Toucan Sounds] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

Sometimes you’ve got to take a victory lap. Nothing wrong with that — especially if you’ve been pumping out Body & Soul and providing Shelter for dancers young and old like musclecars have been. The defacto torchbearers for a traditional yet vital and very much alive strain of New York City house; Brandon Weems and Craig Handfield have put in the work through beautiful productions, cathartic DJ sets, and their regular party turned stand out record label Coloring Lessons. It’s hard to believe the two made their production debut less than a year ago with toucan sounds’ fantastic “Don’t Go” alongside powerhouse vocalist Brandon Markell Holmes. Returning to the source with this new deluxe edition of their beautiful debut Street Dreams EP, musclecars and toucan sounds present a joyful and realized companion piece that further proves they’re here to stay.

Anchored by the massive “She Raised Us In Sunset Park;” this three track package of smartly curated remixes and spiritual sequels is bursting with the life and emotion of a city in its reawakening. Perhaps the duo’s finest moment yet, “She Raised Us In Sunset Park” is an everything-in-its-right-place hand percussion latin jazz house groover that takes Pink Flamingo Rhythm Revue’s Eric Mendelsohn’s lush guitar tone from EP standout “The Man Who Kept Bedstuy Warm” and pushes it to the floor with a searing solo drenched in reverb and power. Percussionist Jimmy Lopez steals the show with a flurry of shaker, congas, and a fiery timbale solo. It’s like an early Santana cut and I want to hear it played loud on the streets of New York every day this summer.

An international array of remixers seal the deal including well executed mixes from London’s K15 and Tokyo’s beloved Dazzle Drums. The sound of birds mesh with the cool whisper of vocalist Tiff Ortiz, twinkling grand piano notes, and beautifully mixed deep house percussion laid on top of an irresistible bass line for K15’s take on “Sol.” Hopeful and curious; this is a track you can easily melt into. Another Tiff Ortiz featuring track “Sun Track I,” Dazzle Drums balance meditative calm with lounge dub deepness with craft filled intentionality. All together — Street Dreams (Deluxe) is a natural expansion and well needed victory lap for a group that is just getting started.

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Cet article Musclecars – She Raised Us In Sunset Park [Toucan Sounds] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

toucan sounds (est. 2018) has got a good thing going on. From the lovely lived in oasis of their YouTooCanWoo studio located on a sleepy street in North Brooklyn opposite an elementary school, French Horn Rebellion’s house of groove has built quite the family of regular contributors over the last few years. Frequent toucan collaborators include local favorite Toribio of Conclave fame, NYC house torchbearers musclecars who made their incredible production debut on the label, and Japanese DJ/producer Haruka Salt who will be making her sophomore release with the label on June 4th’s Everything We Love Will Fade In Time produced in collaboration with the fantastic W. Y. Huang under his Tongji moniker.

A seasoned DJ and longtime fixture of New York City lineups since 2006, Haruka’s recently minted house/disco focused Haruka Salt moniker came out the gate swinging with last year’s fantastic HarukaMart EP on toucan featuring inspired collaborations and remixes from Fat Tony, W. Y. Huang, Toribio, Felipe Gordon, and the great AceMo. She’s obviously got a gift for collaboration, bringing countless disparate folks into her fold with grace, yet still her and Tongji’s work on Everything We Love Will Fade In Time may be her strongest and most natural pairing yet.

Fresh off two fantastic experimental, R&B-influenced releases under the name W. Y. Huang for True Panther Sounds affiliated imprint TWIN, the Singaporean producer makes an exciting turn towards the Brooklyn underground with his techno/trance moniker Tongji. Perhaps the most forwardly techno-oriented release from the label yet, Everything We Love Will Fade In Time finds Haruka balancing eery yet playful synth menace and touches of electro, jack, breakbeats, dub, and bassy low end with joy. Opener “Never Satisfaction” and its subsequent true-to-form Dub Mix provide a propulsive drum workout with a unique submerged mix bouncing from submarine warfare techno to jacky hip-hop-esque sub-bass interjections beautifully. Visions of Pikmin float through my head listening to “Scrabble;” a dubbed-out drum track full of wonky bliss, lovely piano chords, and satisfying hand percussion that brings to mind the master Maurice Fulton and Ewoks raving on Endor.

Bolting Bits is pleased to premiere the title cut “Everything We Love Will Fade In Time” — Haruka and Tongji’s emotional third act via a propulsive, consistent kick, carefully mixed breakbeat swell, and synth melodies that recall Damon Albarn’s stand out late 2000s production for Amadou & Mariam’s “Sabali” and Gorillaz’s “Up On Melancholy Hill.” A cool glimpse at catharsis, lost in the groove the two have woven so well.

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Nick Boyd

Cet article Haruka Salt & Tongji – Everything We Love Will Fade In Time [Toucan Sounds] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.

On April 9th, Brooklyn-based ambient artist and film composer, Derek Muro, releases his debut solo record, cues. Releasing on Brooklyn-based indie-house label, toucan sounds, this record finds the composer honing his cinematic music chops into an immersive, sonically restless, texturally diverse set of tracks.

Muro’s music exists somewhere in the space between ambient, jazz, drone, found-sound, and, of course, old-school movie soundtracks. With his work in film scores, Muro brings a highly-attuned sense of pacing, emotion, and storytelling to his solo music. Penultimate track, “ramble2”, feels like it could fit right in at the climax of an ‘80s-action movie, with its imposing electric guitar line and metronomic drums setting the stage for an epic showdown. Despite this enveloping heaviness, the emergence of a crooning saxophone and ambient washes keep the track well-balanced and emotionally resonant. There’s a deft touch to the drama which never allows the track to careen too far into cliche.

As the track builds in momentum, Muro’s sonic world begins to reveal itself as involving elements of found-sounds. By the end of the track, with the instruments fading, the sound of a train emerges. This seems to be a reminder that inside the grandiosity and theatricality of this music, the reality of the modern world will always remain. But how wonderful to be given a chance to escape, if only for a brief moment.

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Cet article Derek Muro – ramble² [Toucan Sounds] est apparu en premier sur Bolting Bits.