Christmas Freebies..

Christmas is here and it seems its not just me getting into the festive mood. Waking up this christams morning to find not one, two, three or four, but five free tracks from some of this blog's favourite artists... Soul Clap, PillowTalk, Danny Daze, Miguel Campbell and Alexis Raphael. Strongly recommend you download all five free edits by clicking through to Soundcloud links or for MAM's edit on the Mrtz link below...

1. Soul Clap - Shake Those Fries

Charles Levine and Eli Goldstein of Soul Clap have a tradition of spreading the love in the holidays. In 2008 they released the Thanksgiving In The Basement mix for Daily Candy, an absolute classic mix that helped gain their Hip-Hop House reputation. This time around Soul Clap have decided to release one track from their Soul Clap Edits IV EP that has just dropped on Wolf + Lamb Black Label. "Shake Them Fries" is a funky house edit of George Clinton 80's electro-boogie anthem “Do Fries Go With That Shake?” The track is definitely more upbeat than Soul clap's normal productions but has the same has the bouncy, sleazy sound that we have come to expect from Soul Clap edits.

Shake Those Fries by Soul Clap



2. PillowTalk Vs. Mayer Hawthorne - The Makings of A Lover Edit (Feat. The Festivals)

Next up is San Fran's PillowTalk. After my previous blog entry, I have been paying very close attention to all and any of PillowTalk's online profiles and came across this beauty this morning. The edit sees PillowTalk combining with the very talented canadian musician Mayer Hawthorne (Left). Similar to PillowTalk, Hawthorne's style is hard to pin down, but takes inspirations from Jazz, Soul and Hip-Hop. For more information check out StonesThrow bio.

Coming from Hawthrone's album Impressions, “The Makings Of A Lover” is a cover from the little know Dallas, Texas group called The Festivals, recorded in the 60's. PillowTalk’s version of “The Makings Of A Lover” includes vocals from Mayer Hawthorne, Sammy D (PillowTalk) and even original bits from The Festivals.

Mayer Hawthorne vs PillowTalk - The Makings of A Lover 'Edit' (Feat. The Festivals) by PillowTalk Music

3. Danny Daze - Niki And Da Dub

Third edit comes from Miami's Danny Daze. While the track name maybe comedic the track is certainly not, Danny Daze has produced the dark, moody dub remix for Swedish euro-pop group Niki And The Dove. Whilst not being quite in the christmas spirit the edit is an excellant piece of Deep House and im loving it!

Danny Daze - Niki And Da Dub by Danny Daze



4. Daft Punk - Around The World (MAM Edit)

The fourth comes from 2011 rising star, the disco-king Miguel Campbell and his counterpert Matt Hughes. Having spent quite a bit of time with Miguel i can tell you he is an absolute hero, and one of the biggest music lovers i have ever met! Perform under the moniker MAM, Hughes and Campbell have produced what maybe seen by many as a very bold edit of an all-time dance classic... Daft Punk - Around The World. With MAM's sound being heavily influenced by Daft Punk and the french house genre, the edit contains a lot of the original with the clear Miguel Campbell flavour that has given him so much success this past year.

Download Here

5. Alexis Raphael - Cocktails Of Dreams

Last but by no means least is Alexis Raphael's edit of Wham 'Cocktail Of Dreams.' This track started to get a lot of play time earlier in the year being charted on RA by Dan Ghenacia as early as February. It now seems Raphael seems like he has mastered the edit and posted the track through his soundcloud for all of us to enjoy. The track itself is a very sexy edit wrapped in funk that’ll get you grooving real quick.
  Cocktail of Dreams (wham edit)  by Alexis Raphael

I'm loving the free downloads this year, hope you do too...
 Merry Christmas And Enjoy The Music.

PillowTalk

PillowTalk are a fresh new group comprising of Sammy D, Ryan Williams and Michael Tello, based in the California Bay Area. Their sound blends classic R&B, motown, boogie and disco, with modern underground house and techno resulting in some seriously beautiful and inspiring music. Drawing inspiration from such a diverse array of musical experiences and backgrounds, trying to pin down the Pillow Talk's sound is notoriously difficulty. This combined with their borrowed motto of  ‘D.A.G’ (Destroy All Genres - a term borrowed from a famed underground San Francisco DJ) has created a pretty impressive increase in demand, from labels such as Visionquest, Wolf + Lamb and Life & Death.

Their debut single, 'Love Makes Parks' was released on Visionquest Beach Collection, alongside two of 2011 big hitters Tale Of Us and Maceo Plex and gained a respectable plays and props from the likes of Soul Clap to Justin Martin...

 Love Makes Parks by PillowTalk

The next move for PillowTalk was to release their massive debut EP 'The Come Back EP' on italian label Life And Death Records. The four track EP features a Life & Death remix of 'Soft,' with co-founder Manfredi Romano teaming up with Tale Of Us, to produce one of may favourite tracks of the year. This track alone gaining over 100,00 hits on youtube. Here's a preview of the whole EP...

PillowTalk - The Come Back EP (Life and Death)

With a growing reputation, the pressure was on when it came to working on their second EP for Gadi and Zev at Wolf + Lamb Music. The label renowned for supporting some of the finest emerging producers, such as Seth Troxler, No Regular Play, Nico Jaar and Soul Clap. With the danger of spreading themselves thin and falling behind the previous W+L artists, PillowTalk have not disappointed the hype. The 'Far From Heaven EP' is available at Juno, forthcoming 28th December.

Check out all four tracks below...

In a recent interview for the Miami blog mybeatFix, Sammy D casually illustrates the current demand for Pillow Talk's unique sound...

"Life and Death really wanted to put out 'Love Makes Parks' but I had promised it to Seth [Troxler] a year back. I just sent over a new batch of tunes and Manfredi and Greg [of Life and Death] were really into them. That’s how the Life and Death EP happened. We are also really excited for the Wolf+Lamb EP, which should be out by the end of year."

Whats coming up for Pillow Talk? Not much...

"We have been working with Gadi and Zev from Wolf + Lamb and have releases coming out on their Double Standard imprint, as well as their Black Label and Wolf + Lamb label. We have collab releases slated for early next year with Deniz Kurtel and Tanner Ross and a Life and Death all-stars EP. An EP on Bang The Box is in the works as well. We are definitely thinking album next year."

Without a doubt, big things expected for Pillow Talk in 2012.. I can't wait!

Donald Glover / Childish Gambino

Simply put, Donald Glover is a very talented man. Actor, Writer, Comedian and Musician, there's not much left in the entertainment industry for Glover to leave his mark on. Glover first came to my attention, playing the role for which he is known best, Troy Barnes, on the the critically acclaimed US sitcom Community (I strongly recommend you watch this). He has also written for and cameo'd in the hit show 30 Rock, had his stand-up Weirdo aired on Comedy Central and is currently getting a respectable rep for his hip-hop alter ego Childish Gambino. Funny interview for Rolling Stones interviewing himself...

As an artist Childish Gambino has joined the new era music talent by gaining significant success through viral hits "Freeks and Geeks" and the very popular Jamie xx-produced remix of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." Even though Glover is a comedian by nature, his 4th Album Camp, released this november is the real deal and steers clear of the perception that Glover is mocking the rap genre. Being linked to the likes of 'college dropout' Kanye and Lupe Fiasco reflects how Glover is taking claim of the rap genre all his own.

Childish Gambino - Bonfire

"'You're my favorite rapper now' Yeah, dude, I better be
Or you can fuckin’ kiss my ass, Human Centipede"

Troy from Community

"Don't eat the crab dip, Yaayyyaayyy"

iamdonald

@DonaldGlover