Download: DJ C “The Blends” ->
Or listen on Mixcloud:

The Blends by Dj C on Mixcloud

Sure enough, the most talked about aspect of the Super Bowl this year — besides Clint Eastwood’s ode to American sticktoitiveness — was M.I.A.’s middle finger. It doesn’t sound very interesting on the surface but if there’s one thing M.I.A.’s really good at, it’s being controversial, and with one tiny little gesture she was able to whirl media spin rooms into a frenzy.

Meanwhile, M.I.A.s new video for her track Bad Girls had already been generating some controversy of its own. Whether it’s for vapid lyrics, or stereotypical Arab imagery, not everyone gives the track or the video a +1. But I tend to agree with this assessment in Albawaba  In Defence of MIA’s ‘Bad Girl’ Arab-Bashing. Here’s an excerpt:

Bad Girls is surely not something new in the pop-world with Madonna and many before singing vacuous lyrics on ‘material’ feisty or just ‘naughty’ girl types. If ‘bad girls’ on this occasion signifies gun-touting or even, in being strewn over, and in, cars, criminal, girls in a country that prohibits them from driving (while filmed in Morocco it is distinctly meant to represent Saudi Arabia), then the video presents a distinct challenge to the stereotype of Arab subjugated women.”

Anyway, I find it to be a compelling piece of pop with an underlying sense of rebellion that invokes the kind of discussion which brings me back to the heyday of Public Enemy. It’s beautifully crafted in a way that truly paints M.I.A. as a bad girl in the eyes of both the east and the west. What’s your take?

The drawback for me was that I couldn’t easily find an instrumental version of the bangin’ beat by Timbaland protege Danja, so I decided to make one through the magic of editing.

M.I.A. Bad Girls (Instrumental) MP3
[See post to listen to audio]

And while I was at it I whipped up a little mashup featuring another of my favorite female vocalists, Yukimi Nagano from Little Dragon.

DJ C Bad Girls Scale it Back (ft. M.I.A. & Little Dragon) MP3
[See post to listen to audio]

On the first and third Wednesdays of the month I’ll be be throwing down genre-blends with Jesse Kriss, John Tolva and various special guests at Villain’s in Chicago’s South Loop.

The Boston branch has hosted some of the best and brightest DJs and producers of underground bass music in the world, given a number of young luminaries their first gigs, and presented an utterly motley collection of tech-addled live performances. The long list of guests includes DJ Rupture, Kingdom, Eclectic Method, Ghislain Poirier, Vex’d, edIT, and Scuba.

Beat Research has been hard to match for Bostonians seeking out innovative sounds. Now Chicagoans can look forward to their own bi-weekly session for discerning dancers and enthusiastic head-nodders.

For more information, and to sign up for the Beat Research Chicago mailing list, mosey on over to BeatResearchChicago.com and follow our tweetings @beatresearch.

I also remember when I first heard Fatboy Slim’s Rockafeller Skank I thought the vocalist was saying “Right about now the funk’s so rubber” and while that was a great way to describe the bouncy guitars in the track, it was an even better way to describe the elastic acid-breaks tracks I had been getting into at the time. So I was disappointed when I figured out the vocalist was not sharing my enthusiasm for rubbery sounds but instead was conjuring “the funk soul brother.”

Those acid sounds which developed in the ’80s Chicago house movement, and continued to evolve throughout the ’90s worldwide, are still a major influence on bouncy tunes today. I’m always a sucker for a good tweaked out acid line and this mix encapsulates some of my favorite rubbery tracks throughout the ages:

MP3 Download
DJ C – The Funk So Rubber ->

Tracklist

1. The Big Heist ft. TOK & Beenie Man – “Bring It On”
2. Hardfloor – “Knuckle Skills – Home Run”
3. Mr. Scruff – “Sea Mammal”
4. Luke Vibert – “Lover’s Acid”
5. Mr. Scruff – “Ug”
6. Luke Vibert – “Funky Acit Stuff”
7. Hardfloor – “Dubdope”
8. Hardfloor – “Drive Thruw”
9. South Rakkas Crew – “Hotter Than Them (Extended Mix ft. Kid Foreigner & Bigga Boss)
10. Like Vibert – “Acid2000″
11. LyricL – “Loose Broken”
12. Fast Eddie – “Ain’t it Funky”
13. Josh Wink – “Higher State of Counciousness (Tweekin Acid Funk Mix)”
14. Blawan – “Kaz”
15. Fatboy Slim – “Everybody Needs a 303″
16. Crookers – “Embrace The Martian (ft. Kid Cudi – Seiji Acid Remix)”
17. Ultramarine – “Butch”
18. DJ C – “Nanocheck”
19. DJ Scotch Egg – “Aaron Spectre’s Scotch Acid Remix”

“Don’t Believe The Hate: Skrillex Is Already The Next Big Thing…”

&

“James Blake is Not Feeling the U.S. Dubstep ‘Frat Boy Market‘”

It’s quite obvious that “Dubstep,” weather it’s the indie-rock version or the metal version, has seeped it’s way into the pop world.

So I was excited to find in my inbox on the very same day, some music that to me represents something closer to a direct descendant of the roots of dubstep:

Max Ulis’ soundtack to Illustrator, Tyler Fewell’s Seven:

Disclaimer: Listen to this on a system with large bass capacity.

I added it on as the last track on my Umami album, but instead of selling it along with the rest of the album I decided to give it away as a free bonus track.

Listen and download

Thursday, June 16
Beauty Bar
1444 W. Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL

Sets by:

DJ C [Mashit]
Lokua [Moment Sound]
Vapor Eyes [Boom Juice]
Shazam Bangles [Cutz on Cuts]

Preceded by:

The Chicago Ableton Live user group is starting up again for 2011 with a Free Ableton Workshop and The June Chicago Usergroup Meeting Thursday, June 16th from 8:00PM-10:00PM. Certified Ableton Instructors Thomas Faulds and Orville Kline will host and give presentations on cutting edge studio production and live performance techniques with Live, Max for Live, and Ipad Live control.

Thursday, June 9
with

DJ C
MEGA MIKE
BOOGYMON
SAM GRAY

Tickets: FREE!

21 & Over
Doors: 10pm / Show: 10pm

Smart Bar
3730 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL

Listen to “Umami” on SoundCloud:

Available from these and other fine music download outlets: iTunes | Juno Download | Amazon MP3 | eMusic | DJ Download | Satellite Records | 7Digital | Napster | Rhapsody

Please join us for a free Umami album release party at Smart Bar in Chicago, June 9.

They call it Boston Bounce but we call it banging. A bouillabaisse of b-more, dubstep & uk bass, a gleeful disregard for genre and rules. Uniquely American & awesome

The sense of fun and humor that pervades the tracks is a welcome break from all the moody and dark sounds more typical in the bass scene”

- Satellite Records

DJ C has to be one of the best but most under-exposed artists out there. From Boston and now Chicago he is one of those rare artists whose every production is top notch, can’t find a bad track under his name. I have been dropping heavy tracks off his Sonic Weapons album in my sets for years, these things are party monsters that still manage to be smart and intricate. His remix of Gregory Isaacs “Gone a Jail” on the Shockout label and his “Let it Billie” 7″ are two of the favorite records I own. The man himself has a new album out called Umami, check it, dig it, buy it and support great music!”

- The Double Bounce blog

A real journeyman of house, garage, funky and beyond, DJ C shows how he’s able to conquer a variety of sounds on this new full-length album… With future-funky rhythms underscoring big tunes like “Nu Strut”, “Blaze” and the lethally minimal brilliance of “Whistler”, there’s also slower beats to enjoy, such as “Dear John Bounce” which flits between jump-up jungle and slow, punchy dancehall. With London don The Heatwave joining C on “Change” and Sub Swara hooked up on “Belgrade”, this is a belting album, replete with some of the baddest beats out there at the moment.

- Juno Records

Party scientist & beat producer, DJ C is known far & wide for his Boston-bounce sound, but he’s now called Chicago his home for the past 4 years and the influence of that historical home of house music, those fertile fields of footwork & juke, that booming base of booming bass, has seeped stealthily into his subconscious. Add this new layer to DJ C’s eclectic signature sound and this album equals an irresistibly fresh sonic flavor. From dubstep & club bangers to ravey dancehall anthems; from balkan to bhangara to baile, DJ C mashes it all into the deliciously varied and delectably danceable Umami.

DJ C – Umami

Party scientist & beat producer DJ C is known far & wide for his Boston-bounce sound, but he’s now called Chicago his home for the past 4 years and the influence of that historical home of house music, those fertile fields of footwork & juke, that booming base of booming bass, has seeped stealthily into his subconscious. Add this new layer to DJ C’s eclectic signature sound and this album equals an irresistibly fresh sonic flavor. From dubstep & club bangers to ravey dancehall anthems; from balkan to bhangara to baile, DJ C mashes it all into the deliciously varied and delectably danceable Umami.